“For all so plentiful as they were, neither you nor me, Mrs. Ogilvie is thinking, ever came to that advancement,” said Miss Dempster. “And that’s true. But I’m not against young engagements, for my part. It is a great divert to them both, and a very good thing for the young man; where there’s land and sea between them that they cannot fash their neighbours I can see no harm in it; and Ronald was a good lad.” “Without a penny!” “The pennies will come where there’s good conduct and a good heart. And I would have let her choose for herself. It’s a great divert----” “I must do my own business my own way, Miss Dempster, and I think I am the best judge of what is good for Effie. I and her father.” “Oh, no doubt--you, and her father; her mother might have been of a different opinion. But that’s neither here nor there, for the poor thing is dead and gone.” “Well, Sarah,” said Miss Robina, “it’s to be hoped so, or the laird, honest man, would be in a sad position, and our friend here no better. It’s unbecoming to discourse in that loose way. No, no; we are meaning no interference. We’ve no right. We are not even cousins or kinswomen, only old friends. But Ronald, ye see--Ronald is a kind of connection. We are wae for Ronald, poor lad. But he’s young, and there’s plenty of time, and there’s no saying what may happen.” “Nothing shall happen if I can help it; and I hope there will not be a word said to put anything in Effie’s head,” said Mrs. Ogilvie. And ever since this discussion she had been more severe than ever against the two old ladies. “Take care that ye put no confidence in them,” she said to her stepdaughter. “They can be very sweet when it suits their purpose. But I put no faith in them. They will set you against your duties--they will set you against me. No doubt I’m not your mother: but I have always tried to do my duty by you.” Effie had replied with a few words of acknowledgment. Mrs. Ogilvie was always very kind. It was Uncle John’s conviction, which had a great deal of weight with the girl, that she meant sincerely to do her duty, as she said. But, nevertheless, the doors of Effie’s heart would not open; they yielded a little, just enough to warrant her in feeling that she had not closed them, but that was all. She was much more at ease with the Miss Dempsters than with her stepmother. Her relations with them were quite simple. They had scolded her and questioned her all her life, and she did not mind what they said to her. Sometimes she would blaze into sudden resentment and cry, or else avenge herself with a few hot words. But as there was no bond of duty in respect to her old friends, there was perfect freedom in their intercourse. If they hurt her she cried out. But when Mrs. Ogilvie hurt her she was silent and thought the more.