I speered o' the hussies in the kitchen whether they kenned what was
amiss wi' the family, but the cook she answered me back that it wasna
for her tae inquire into the affairs o' her superiors, and that it was
naething to her as long as she did her work and had her wages.
They were puir, feckless bodies, the twa o' them, and would scarce gie
an answer tae a ceevil question, though they could clack lood eneugh
when they had a mind.
Weel, weeks passed into months and a' things grew waur instead o' better
in the Hall. The general he got mair nairvous, and his leddy mair
melancholy every day, and yet there wasna any quarrel or bickering
between them, for when they've been togither in the breakfast room I
used often tae gang round and prune the rose-tree alongside o' the
window, so that I couldna help hearin' a great pairt o' their
conversation, though sair against the grain.
When the young folk were wi' them they would speak little, but when they
had gone they would aye talk as if some waefu' trial ere aboot to fa'
upon them, though I could never gather from their words what it was
that they were afeared o'.
I've heard the general say mair than ance that he wasna frighted o'
death, or any danger that he could face and have done wi', but that
it was the lang, weary waitin' and the uncertainty that had taken a' the
strength and the mettle oot o' him. Then my leddy would console him and
tell him that maybe it wasna as bad as he thocht, and that a' would come
richt in the end--but a' her cheery words were clean throwed away upon
him.
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