Of course Alec called to ask for his uncle, and he was quite shocked to find him looking so ill. His face was pinched and haggard, his hand thin and trembling; so that, to Alec’s inexperienced eyes, it seemed as if death had already set his seal upon him. Old Mr. Lindsay was secretly pleased with Alec’s demeanour. The young man could not express his concern, but it appeared plainly enough in his face and manner. He evidently believed that his great-uncle was in a condition demanding great care, sympathy, and consideration; and that was exactly what Mr. Lindsay wanted the world to believe concerning him. He made Alec sit down beside him, and asked him many questions in a feeble, piping voice, about his work, his prospects, and his ultimate aims. James Lindsay was entirely changed from the fussy, consequential, conceited being of three or four years before. Alec was almost touched by the meekness and painfulness (so to speak) of the old man’s manner. ‘That’ll do now, Alec, my man,’ he said, when he was at length tired of his companion. ‘Go downstairs and see your aunt Jean.’ (Here he sighed and lifted his eyebrows as if the very mention of that lady’s name gave him an opportunity of exercising the virtue of patience.) ‘Come and see me again soon. Good-day;’ and he lay back as if exhausted, and closed his eyes. Alec stole on tiptoe from the room, and went down to the drawing-room, where he found his aunt (as he called her) seated alone. ‘I was very sorry to see Uncle James so poorly,’ said Alec, as he took her hand. Aunt Jean said nothing; but her sniff and look of contempt were sufficiently expressive. ‘Don’t you think my uncle very ill?’ asked Alec, opening his eyes. ‘He micht be waur,’ said Aunt Jean. She always spoke a broader dialect abroad than she did at home, as a protest against what she deemed the affectation and ‘mimmou’d’ character of the English utterance. ‘He seemed very weak,’ said Alec, surprised and a little shocked at the old lady’s want of sympathy. ‘Maist fowk’s no as strang at seventy-fower as they were at seventeen,’ replied Aunt Jean, smoothing out her apron as she spoke. Then the conversation turned upon other matters; and Alec began to fear that he would have to leave without seeing Laura. But just as he was preparing to go a knock was heard at the hall-door, and Laura came in from a stroll in the gardens.