"Whist, Mother! He is most at the doorstep. That is Andrew's foot, or I am much mista'en."
"Then I'll away to Lizzie Robertson's for an hour. My heart is knocking at my lips, and I'll be saying what I would give my last bawbee to unsay. Keep a calm sough, Christina."
"You need not tell me that, Mother."
"Just let Andrew do the talking, and you'll be all right. It is easy to put him out about Sophy, and then to come to words. Better keep peace than make peace."
She lifted the stocking she was knitting, and passed out of one door as Andrew came in at the other. He entered with that air of strength and capability so dear to the women of a household. He had on his kirk suit, and Christina thought, as he sat down by the open window, how much handsomer he looked in his blue guernsey and fishing cap.
"You'll be needing a mouthful and a cup of tea, Andrew?" she asked.
Andrew shook his head and answered pleasantly, "Not I, Christina. I had my tea with Sophy. Where is mother?"
"She is gone to Lizzie Robertson's for an hour. Her man is yet very badly off. She said she would sit with him till the night turned. Lizzie is most worn out, I'm sure, by this time."
"Where is Jamie?"
"He said he was going to the fishing. He will have caught his boat, or he would have been back here again by this hour."
"Then we are alone? And like to be for an hour? eh, Christina?"
"There will be no one here till mother comes at the turn of the night. What for are you asking the like of them questions, Andrew?"
"Because I have been seeking this hour. I have things to tell you, Christina, that must never go beyond yourself; no, not even to mother, unless the time comes for it. I am not going to ask you to give me your word or promise. You are Christina Binnie, and that is enough."
"I should say so. The man or woman who promises with an oath is not to be trusted. There is you and me, and God for our witness. What ever you have to say, the hearer and the witness is sufficient."
"I know that. Christina, I have been this day to Edinburgh, and I have brought home from the bank six hundred pounds."
"Six hundred pounds, Andrew! It is not believable."