MARY. Nothing! O nothing! I am in trouble, and I know not what I say. And I cannot help you; I cannot help you if I would. He is not here; and I believed he was; and ill . . . ill; and he is not—he is . . . O, I think I shall lose my mind! JEAN. Ay, it’s unco business. MARY. His father is dead within there . . . dead, I tell you . . . dead! JEAN. It’s mebbe just as weel. MARY. Well? Well? Has it come to this? O Walter, Walter! come back to me, or I shall die. (LESLIE _enters_, _C._) LESLIE. Mary, Mary! I hoped to have spared you this. (_To_ JEAN.) What—you? Is he not here? JEAN. I’m aye waitin’ on him. LESLIE. What has become of him? Is he mad? Where is he? JEAN. The Lord A’michty kens, Mr. Leslie. But I maun find him; I maun find him. SCENE III MARY, LESLIE MARY. O Walter, Walter! What does it mean? LESLIE. You have been a brave girl all your life, Mary; you must lean on me . . . you must trust in me . . . and be a brave girl till the end. MARY. Who is she? What does she want with _him_? And he . . . where is he? Do you know that my father is dead, and the Deacon not here? Where has he gone? He may be dead, too. Father, brother . . . O God, it is more than I can bear! LESLIE. Mary, my dear, dear girl . . . when will you be my wife? MARY. O, do not speak . . . not speak . . . of it to-night. Not to-night! O not to-night! LESLIE. I know, I know dear heart! And do you think that I whom you have chosen, I whose whole life is in your love—do you think that I would press you now if there were not good cause? MARY. Good cause! Something has happened. Something has happened . . . to him! Walter . . . ! Is he . . . dead? LESLIE. There are worse things in the world than death. There is O . . . Mary, he is your brother! MARY. What? Dishonour! . . . The Deacon! . . . My God! LESLIE. My wife, my wife! MARY. No, no! Keep away from me. Don’t touch me. I’m not fit . . . not fit to be near you. What has he done? I am his sister. Tell me the worst. Tell me the worst at once. LESLIE. That, if God wills, dear, that you shall never know. Whatever it be, think that I knew it all, and only loved you better; think that your true husband is with you, and you are not to bear it alone. MARY. My husband? . . . Never. LESLIE. Mary . . . ! MARY. You forget, you forget what I am. I am his sister. I owe him a lifetime of happiness and love; I owe him even you. And whatever his fault, however ruinous his disgrace, he is my brother—my own brother—and my place is still with him. LESLIE. Your place is with me—is with your husband. With me, with me; and for his sake most of all. What can you do for him alone? how can you help him alone? It wrings my heart to think how little. But together is different. Together . . . I join my strength, my will, my courage to your own, and together we may save him.