第25章

There’snaesuchthingasanewspapereverdarkensmydoors。

Ye’vegottheAuldandNewTestamentsinyourbedchambers，andthenaturalhistoryo’Pairthshireonthecoffee-roomtable——andifthat’sno’readingeneughforye，yemayeengaebackSouthagain，andgettherestofitthere。“

ThiswastheinnatwhichAnneSilvesterhadappearedalone，withnothingbutalittlebaginherhand。Thiswasthewomanwhosereluctancetoreceivehersheinnocentlyexpectedtoovercomebyshowingherpurse。

“Mentionyourchargefortherooms，“shesaid。“Iamwillingtopayforthembeforehand。“

Hermajesty，Mrs。Inchbare，neverevenlookedathersubject’spoorlittlepurse。

“Itjustcomestothis，mistress，“sheanswered。“I’mno’freetotak’yourmoney，ifI’mno’freetoletyethelastroomsleftinthehoose。TheCraigFerniehottleisafaimilyhottle——andhasitsaingudenametokeepup。Ye’reower-well-looking，myyoungleddy，tobetravelingalone。“

ThetimehadbeenwhenAnnewouldhaveansweredsharplyenough。

Thehardnecessitiesofherpositionmadeherpatientnow。

“Ihavealreadytoldyou，“shesaid，“myhusbandiscomingheretojoinme。“Shesighedwearilyassherepeatedherready-madestory——anddroppedintothenearestchair，fromsheerinabilitytostandanylonger。

MistressInchbarelookedather，withtheexactmeasureofcompassionateinterestwhichshemighthaveshownifshehadbeenlookingatastraydogwhohadfallenfootsoreatthedooroftheinn。

“Weel!weel!saeletitbe。Bideawhile，andrestye。We’llno’

chairgeyeforthat——andwe’llseeifyourhusbandcomes。I’lljustlettherooms，mistress，to_him，_，insteado’lettin’themto_you。_And，sae，good-morrowt’ye。“Withthatfinalannouncementofherroyalwillandpleasure，theEmpressoftheInnwithdrew。

Annemadenoreply。Shewatchedthelandladyoutoftheroom——andthenstruggledtocontrolherselfnolonger。Inherposition，suspicionwasdoublyinsult。Thehottearsofshamegatheredinhereyes；andtheheart-achewrungher，poorsoul——wrungherwithoutmercy。

Atriflingnoiseintheroomstartledher。Shelookedup，anddetectedamaninacorner，dustingthefurniture，andapparentlyactinginthecapacityofattendantattheinn。Hehadshownherintotheparloronherarrival；buthehadremainedsoquietlyintheroomthatshehadnevernoticedhimsince，untilthatmoment。

Hewasanancientman——withoneeyefilmyandblind，andoneeyemoistandmerry。Hisheadwasbald；hisfeetweregouty；hisnosewasjustlycelebratedasthelargestnoseandthereddestnoseinthatpartofScotland。Themildwisdomofyearswasexpressedmysteriouslyinhismellowsmile。Incontactwiththiswickedworld，hismannerrevealedthathappymixtureoftwoextremes——theservilitywhichjusttouchesindependence，andtheindependencewhichjusttouchesservility——attainedbynomeninexistencebutScotchmen。Enormousnativeimpudence，whichamusedbutneveroffended；immeasurablecunning，masqueradinghabituallyunderthedoubledisguiseofquai