"Babie," said her mistress, "offer some bread and honey to the Lord
Keeper and Miss Ashton; they will excuse your awkwardness if you use
cleanliness and despatch."
Babie performed her mistress's command with the grace which was
naturally to have been expected, moving to and fro with a lobster-like
gesture, her feet and legs tending one way, while her head, turned in
a different direction, was fixed in wonder upon the laird, who was more
frequently heard of than seen by his tenants and dependants. The bread
and honey, however, deposited on a plantain leaf, was offered and
accepted in all due courtesy. The Lord Keeper, still retaining the place
which he had occupied on the decayed trunk of a fallen tree, looked
as if he wished to prolong the interview, but was at a loss how to
introduce a suitable subject.
"You have been long a resident on this property?" he said, after a
pause.
"It is now nearly sixty years since I first knew Ravenswood," answered
the old dame, whose conversation, though perfectly civil and respectful,
seemed cautiously limited to the unavoidable and necessary task of
replying to Sir William.
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