"We shall be happy if you will stay to luncheon, Mr. Mackinnon," she said, obeying the instructions from Sadie’s eyes. "My brother will be very sorry to have missed you. He has gone to the Forth Bridge to-day to meet the contractors there and have a talk with them. It seems it is the annual inspection--or something. Anyway, Peter had an invitation to go. He won’t get back till quite late, perhaps not even until to-morrow." Malcolm Mackinnon did not care. He was in no hurry to meet Mr. Hylton P. Rosmead so long as there was such a charming substitute to take his place. He wouldn’t have hesitated about making this glib compliment to another woman, but there was something about Vivien Rosmead which repelled any attempt at even the slightest familiarity. She held herself aloof, and her mouth, made for sweetness, seemed as if it were chiselled in marble. Malcolm wondered what the experience had been that had given her that petrified expression, and he longed to be the man to melt her heart. Sadie, as usual, did the talking and proved herself an admirable hostess. But while he answered her gay badinage it was Vivien who had his whole admiration. He noticed how little she ate and that her eyes had in them a far-away look which seemed to detach her from the common things of life. Yet she was not dull. A word now and then indicated that she was not by any means dead to the possibilities of life or to the interests of everyday. "We like your sister so much, Mr. Mackinnon," she said with a sudden warm flash of interest when Sadie left a moment’s breathing space. "We hope that she is going to allow us to be friendly with her." "Oh, yes, of course. Why not? She will be only too pleased, I’m sure," murmured Malcolm eagerly. "She was so kind about letting us come here in a hurry that we can never forget it. And it is so lovely to see her with your father." As she spoke of the old General, Vivien’s eyes grew large and pitiful, more and more like those of the Madonna. "It’s even more lovely to find how adored she is in the Glen, in all the glens," said Sadie the irrepressible. "Everywhere you hear nothing but her praises. Don’t you find it a little hard, Mr. Mackinnon," she added with just a little malicious flash, "to live up to such a sister?" "Sadie, Sadie, do be careful!" said Vivien softly. "That is not quite kind." "It’s true, Vivien, and I see from Mr. Mackinnon’s face that he admits it. You and I must be pals, Mr. Mackinnon, for I’m just like that with my sister. She’s so frightfully good that she ought to have a halo, and she makes all common folks who approach her feel worship in the air." "I am sure of that," said Malcolm with a queer little bow in the direction of Vivien who, though she laughed, was a little vexed.