“Come in, ye fairy, and shut the door,” commanded Mrs. Catherine.
The girl obeyed, casting long sharp glances from under her dark eye-brows at the wondering Alice.
“If you please, Miss Anne, my grandmother says—”
Jacky had paused to ascertain who it was that the young stranger was like, and muttered a private memorandum of her discovery before she went on.
“It’s the little picture in the west room—my grandmother says, Miss Anne, that Mr. Lewis—but she bade me say, Merkland—”
“What of him, Jacky?” said Anne, rising hastily.
“If ye please, Miss Anne, he came to Portoran in the coach with a young lady to-night.”
“Came to Portoran to-night!” repeated Anne, “then you must let me leave you immediately, Mrs. Catherine. I must hasten to tell my mother, if indeed Lewis is not at home already.”
“Away with you down the stairs, you elf,” cried Mrs. Catherine, “and see if the horses are put up yet; and if they’re not, let Simon be ready to drive Miss Ross to Merkland. Anne, doubtless you must go, but mind the bairn Alison is not used to such company as a staid auld wife like me, and be soon back again.”