"Mrs. Gourlay," said Mr. B——, "you are the wife of George Gourlay, blacksmith?"
"Ay, and have been for nine years, come the time, the day, and the hour."
"Please throw your mind back twenty years."
"It ower aften gaes back to that time o' its ain accord, sir."
"Well, tell us where you lived, and what you did about that time."
"I was servant to Mr. Patrick Guthrie,—this gentleman sitting at my right hand."
"Was Mr. Guthrie a married man?"
"Ay, sir, he was married to a young lady, whose maiden name was Henrietta Douglas, ane o' the Brigstons, as I hae heard."
"What kind of woman was she?"
"Bonny, sir, as ony that ever walked the High Street or the Canongate; and the mair wae, sir. Cheerfu', too, and light-hearted and merry as the lavrock when it rises in the morning; ay, and the mair wae!"