At this moment Mr Hogg and Auntie Bell's husband--a person of no great account--passed the window on their way into the house. "Come awa' tae yer tea, Mr Hogg. Hoot, Dauvid, awa' an' pit on anither coat. Ye're no' fit tae speak tae the leddies." David meekly withdrew. "We were in seeing the Browns," said Rachel complacently. "They were wanting us to stay to tea." "Ay! I've no' seen them this mony a day." "How is he getting on, do you know, in the way of business?" asked Mr Hogg. Auntie Bell brought the palm of her hand emphatically down on the table. "A' thing i' that shop is guid," she said. "I'm perfectly convinced o' that; but ye can get things a deal cheaper i' the toon nor ye can wi' Maister Brown, an' folks think o' naething but that. I aye deal wi' him mysel'. He haena just a gift for the shop-keepin', but he's been mair wise-like lately, less taen up wi' his butterflies an' things." Before her visitors had finished tea, Auntie Bell was hard at work, in spite of a mild remonstrance from Rachel, packing a fat duck and some new-laid eggs for them to take home with them. Something of the kind was the invariable termination of Rachel's visits, but she would not have thought it "manners" to accept the basket without a good deal of pressing. Mr Hogg was beginning to get impatient before the "ladies" rose to go. "I'll see ye intae the cairt," said Auntie Bell to Mona, when the first farewells had been said, "Rachel'll come whan she gits on her bannet." As soon as they were in the garden, the old woman laid her hand impressively on Mona's arm. "Are ye onything weel pit up wi' Rachel?" she whispered. "Oh yes, indeed." Auntie Bell shook her head. "It's no' the place for the like o' you," she said, and then further conversation was prevented by Miss Simpson's appearance. "Well, you'll be in to see us soon," she said. "Eh, I daursay you'll be here again first." "_I_ will, certainly," said Mona. "I mean to walk out and see you some day." "Hoot awa', lassie. It's ower far. Ye canna walk frae Borrowness. Tak' the train----" "Can't I?" laughed Mona, as Mr Hogg drove off. "Why, why, _why_," she thought as they trotted down to Kilwinnie, "did not the Fates give me Auntie Bell for my hostess instead of Rachel Simpson?" CHAPTER XVIII. A SILHOUETTE. About a week after Mona's visit to Auntie Bell, Dr Dudley was sitting alone in the dining-room at Carlton Lodge. It was nearly midnight, and a terrific storm was raging outside. One of the great trees at the foot of the garden had been blown down into the road, carrying with it a piece of the wall; and the wind roared round the lonely house like a volley of artillery. Within, a bright wood-fire was reflected dimly on the oak wainscot, and a shaded lamp threw a brilliant light on scattered books and papers, shrouding the rest of the room in suggestive shadows.