His face was white and stern and pitiless. "You want to ruin my life,
Maggie, and your ain too. Mr. Cameron will speak of having seen you here.
And it is nae less than evendown ruin for a theology student to have
women-folks coming to his room--young women like yoursel'."
"I'm your ain sister, Davie."
"Who is to know that? Can I go about saying to this one and to that one
'the woman who came to see me, or the woman I went to see, on Sabbath last
is my sister.' It would not do for you to stay here, for I have company
to see me and to study with me, and you and I would both be spoken of. It
would not be right for you to take a room and live by yourself, and sew
out by the day. You are too noticeable, and I could not spare the time to
call and look after you in any way. And as to going out to service, I am
mair than astonished to hear you naming a thing like that. We are
fisher folk. Nane of the Promoters ever served mortal man as hand-maid
or flunkey. We have always served God and cast the nets for a living. We
werena indebted to any human being. We aye took our daily bread from His
hand. And if you, Maggie Promoter, would dare to go out as a servant I
would give you the back of my hand for ever."
"Then what will I do, Davie? What will I do? I am sae miserable. Do hae
some pity on me."
"You speak as if happiness was 'the because' of life. Do? Do your duty,
and you will be happy, whatever wind blows. And as to my having pity on
you, I would love you little if I gave way now to your impatience and
your wounded pride. Who loves you if I don't? I am aye thinking of the
days when we will have a braw house of our ain. Can you not wait?"
"It is lang waiting; and many a hope goes wi' the weeks and the months.
Davie, I canna go back."
"You must go back. I will write a letter to Dr. Balmuto and ask him to put
you with some decent family in Kinkell: and keep his own eye on you. What
can you want more than that? And let me tell you, Maggie, I think it very
unsisterly of you, bothering and hampering me with women's quarrels, when
I am making myself a name among them that will be looked to for the
carrying on o' the kirk in the future. But I'll say no more, and I'll
forgive this romantic folly o' yours, and to-morrow I'll put you in the
Stirling train, and you'll go, as I tell you, to Dr. Balmuto."