"I have been over to Nurse's Farm, grannie."
"To Nurse's Farm, indeed? Ye don't tell me sae. An' did ye walk it a' the way there an' bock? Ah, weel-a-weel! I dinna wonder an' ye are a' used up. Ye are na' fit to be gangin' sae lang a walk."
"Oh, it was not that, grandmother," said Alice, relapsing into tears again. "I did not mind the walk."
"To Nurse's Farm?" repeated the old woman. "Oh, Allie, my dearie, how could ye hae the heart to go there?"
"Say, rather, how could I have the heart to keep away," answered the sobbing girl. "Think how kind and good she was to me, and how much I loved her; think, too, what they have suffered. Oh, how could I keep away, and let them think I believed all those lying, infamous charges?—think that I did not love her, and sorrow with them? Oh, I could not keep away; and though to go has almost broken my heart, still I am glad I have been."
"I believe ye, dear. It wa' a hard thing to do; but ye wa' right to go. Tell me aboot it, Allie."
