Page:Authors daughter v1.djvu/279

Rh "And is Mr. Lufton to escort us as he offers to do, mother?" said Isabel.

"No; Allan will go with you. With brothers o' your ain you need be beholden to no stranger for sic service, and as they are no throng wi' the wark at this time he can be the easier spared," said Mrs. Lindsay.

On the whole the result of the visit to Richlands was that both Isabel and Amy were better satisﬁed with their own home on their return. Mr. Troubridge was a man who never took any trouble to amuse his wife's guests; he liked a good dinner, and a liberal allowance of Wine after it, and after his day's work looking after his men and his stock he was more apt to fall asleep in the evenings than to add to the liveliness of the party by conversation; and although Mrs. Troubridge wish ed to make the girls happy, and was kind to them and talked a great deal to them, the house was not half so cheerful as Branxholm. They heard a great deal about Mr. and Mrs. Orme, Mrs. Troubridge's father and mother; and Miss Orme's own life before she was married, with sketches of several of her admirers, and also those of her sisters, who were now married and settled too; but no amount of leading on would induce her to reveal any particulars as to Mr. Lufton's love