she grew afraid of her project: she had not had much experience in
deception, and the mere concealment of Mairi's coming was a hard thing
to bear. But surely her husband would take this trick in good part.
It was only, after all, a joke. To put a little barbaric splendor of
decoration into the little smoking-room, to have a scent of peat-smoke
in the air, and to have a timid, sweet-voiced, pretty Highland girl
suddenly make her appearance, with an odor of the sea about her, as
it were, and a look of fresh breezes in the color of her cheeks,--what
mortal man could find fault with this innocent jest? Sheila's moments
of doubt were succeeded by long hours of joyous confidence, in which a
happy light shone on her face. She went through the house with a brisk
step; she sang to herself as she went; she was kinder than ever to
the small children who came into the square every forenoon, and
whose acquaintance she had very speedily made; she gave each of her
crossing-sweepers threepence instead of twopence in passing.
The servants had never seen her in such good spirits; she was
exceptionally generous in presenting them with articles of attire;
they might have had half the week in holidays if Mr. Lavender had not
to be attended to. A small gentleman of three years of age lived next
door, and his acquaintance also she had made by means of his nurse. At
this time his stock of toys, which Sheila had kept carefully renewed,
became so big that he might, with proper management, have set up a
stall in the Lowther Arcade. Just before she left Lewis her father had
called her to him, and said, "Sheila, I wass wanting to tell you about
something. It is not every one that will care to hef his money given
away to poor folk, and it wass many a time I said to myself that when
you were married maybe your husband would think you were giving too
much money to the poor folk, as you wass doing in Borva. And it iss
this fifty pounds I hef got for you, Sheila, in ten banknotes, and you
will take them with you for your own money, that you will not hef any