But I bude to beir't; sae
I bore't an' bore't till I cam by beirin' o' 't to tak it verra
quaiet, an' luik upo' the thing as the wull o' a Providence 'at
sudna be meddlet wi'. I broucht mysel' in fac' to that degree o'
submission,'at I gae mysel' no trouble more, but jist confint my
ainergies to the raisin' o' the kail an' cabbage, the ingons an'
pitawtas wantit aboot the place."
"And are things no better," asked Cosmo, "since the present lord
succeeded?"
"No a hair--'cep' it be 'at there's no sae mony ill words fleein'
aboot the place. My lord never sets his nose intil the gairden, or
speirs--no ance in a twal--month, hoo's things gangin' on. He does
naething but rowt aboot in 's boaratory as he ca's 't--bore-a-whig,
or bore-a-tory, it's little to me--makin' stinks there fit to
scomfish a whaul, an' gar 'im stick his nose aneth the watter for a
glamp o' fresh air. He's that hard-hertit 'at he never sae muckle
as aits his denner alongside o' his ain sister,'cep' it be whan he
has company, an' wad luik like ither fowk. Gien it gaedna ower weel
wi' her i' the auld man's time, it gangs waur wi' her noo; for sae
lang as he was abune the yird there was aye somebody to ken whether
she was livin' or deid. To see a bonnie lass like her strayin'
aboot the place nae better companied nor wi' an auld buik--it's
jist eneuch to brak a man's hert, but that age kills rage."
"Do the neighbours take no notice of her?"
"Nane o' her ain dignity, like.
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