"Here!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean in this house?"
"Yes, here, sir, and there's no need to excite yourself; they are here with a quiet nice lady, not a real aunt, but some way kin to them, and they're all going away soon."
"Oh, they are going away?" and Sir Albert felt unaccountably disappointed.
"Well, sir, they came for a few weeks, and they liked the place and liked the cooking and felt comfortable, and they stayed on."
"I am sure I do not wonder," said Sir Albert, politely, "if you make them as comfortable as you do me."
"Hoot, sir, and you that has aye slops. How can ye tell?" and Mrs. Macrae laughed comfortably; she was beginning to feel at her ease with him.
"Ah, slops—are slops," he said, with a little grimace, "but there is a right and a wrong way of sending them up. I still remember being ill at school, and the greasy broth and cold gruel—cold gruel!"
"And may be a deal paid for you there; well, I do not believe in schools for my part."
"Now your beef tea is good, though I am getting tired of it; and has the doctor never spoken to you about my moving? I am pining to get out."
"Ech, sir, and you all smashed—you are wonderful, and so cheerful."