And mair, I'm not going to hae Isabel Strang, or Isabel Callendar here.

A young woman wi' bridish ways dawdling about the house, I canna, and I willna stand.

You'll hae to choose atween Deacon Strang's daughter and your auld cousin, Jenny Callendar." John had no answer ready, and indeed Jenny gave him no time to make one: she went off with a sob in her voice, and left the impulsive old matchmaker very unhappy indeed.

For he had an unmitigated sense of having acted most imprudently, and moreover, a shrewd suspicion that Jenny's analysis of Deacon Strang's tactics was a correct one.

For the first time in many a year, a great tide of hot, passionate anger swept away every other feeling.