I found Jean at her spinning-wheel, alone in the kitchen. The moment seemed opportune, so, without any preface, I opened my heart to her. "You must have seen," I said, "that Mary and I are very warm friends. Indeed we are more than friends, for we love each other, and I would make her my wife; but she will not promise without your consent and her father’s. Dare we hope for it?" She stopped her spinning and took a long breath. "So that’s the way o’t," she said. "I thocht as muckle, and I’m no’ ill-pleased, for I like ye weel. But I dinna ken aboot her faither. He’s a queer man, Andra. If ye speir at him he’ll want to ken if ye are ane o’ the elect, and by your answer ye’ll stand or fa’. "Weel dae I mind his ongoin’s when he speired me. A Scotsman’s aye practical even in his love-making: but Andra was waur than practical, he was theological. But he couldna help it--that’s aye been his weakness. As a maitter o’ fact maist Scotsmen are as fu’ o’ sentiment as an egg is fu’ o’ meat. But ye’ve to crack their shell afore ye fin’ that oot. An’ they’ll watch ye dinna. For they’re feared that if ye fin’ they’re saft i’ the hert ye micht think they were saft i’ the heid as weel. Weel, as I was sayin’, he had been courtin’ me for maybe a twalmonth. No that he ever talked love--but he would drap into my step-faither’s hoose o’ a nicht maybe twice a week, and crack aboot horses and craps, and sheep, and kye, tae the auld man, and gi’e me a ’Guid E’en’ in the bye-goin’. But aince I catched him keekin’ at me through his fingers when we were on our knees at the worship--and though I was keekin’ at him mysel’ I never let on. But I thocht tae mysel’ he was beginnin’ to tak’ notice o’ ane o’ the blessings o’ the Lord--and so it turned oot, for maybe a month later he brocht me a bonnie blue ribbon frae Dairy; and he cam’ to me in the stack-yaird and offered it tae me, kind o’ sheepish-like. It was a bonnie ribbon, and I was awfu’ pleased; and first I tied it roon my neck, and then I fastened it among my hair. And he looked on, gey pleased-like himsel’: and then a kind o’ cloud cam’ ower his face and he said, ’Eh, Jean, ye maunna set your affections on the gauds o’ this earth.’ I was that angry that I nearly gi’ed him back the ribbon; but it was ower bonnie.