"
"What, for instance, would you do for Lady Florimel, now? You say
you would die for her: what does dying mean on a fisherman's tongue?"
"It means a' thing, my lord--short o' ill. I wad sterve for her,
but I wadna steal. I wad fecht for her, but I wadna lee."
"Would ye be her servant all your days? Come, now."
"Mair nor willin'ly, my lord--gien she wad only hae me, an' keep
me."
"But supposing you came to inherit the Kirkbyres property?"
"My lord," said Malcolm solemnly, "that 's a puir test to put me
till. It gangs for naething. I wad raither clean my leddie's butes
frae mornin' to nicht, nor be the son o' that wuman, gien she war
a born duchess. Try me wi' something worth yer lordship's mou'."
But the marquis seemed to think he had gone far enough for the
present. With gleaming eyes he rose, took his withered love letter
from the table, put it in his waistcoat pocket, and saying "Well,
find out for me what this is they're about with the schoolmaster,"
walked to the door.
"I ken a' aboot that, my lord," answered Malcolm, "ohn speirt at
onybody."
Lord Lossie turned from the door, ordered him to bring his riding
coat and boots, and, ringing the bell, sent a message to Stoat to
saddle the bay mare.
CHAPTER LXIV: THE LAIRD AND HIS MOTHER
When Malcolm and Joseph set out from Duff Harbour to find the laird,
they could hardly be said to have gone in search of him: all in
their power was to seek the parts where he was occasionally seen
in the hope of chancing upon him; and they wandered in vain about
the woods of Fife House all that week, returning disconsolate every
evening to the little inn on the banks of the Wan Water.
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