And here, at last, was Mr. Ingram come; and the mere sound of his voice seemed to carry her back to Borva, so that in talking to him and waiting on him as of old she would scarcely have been surprised if her father had walked in to say that a coaster was making for the harbor, or that Duncan was going over to Stornoway, and Sheila would have to give him commissions.  Her husband did not take the same interest in the social and political affairs of Borva that Mr. Ingram did.  Lavender had made a pretence of assisting Sheila in her work among the poor people, but the effort was a hopeless failure.  He could not remember the name of the family that wanted a new boat, and was visibly impatient when Sheila would sit down to write out for some aged crone a letter to her grandson in Canada.  Now, Ingram, for the mere sake of occupation, had qualified himself during his various visits to Lewis, so that he might have become the home minister of the King of Borva; and Sheila was glad to have one attentive listener as she described all the wonderful things that had happened in the island since the previous summer.

But Ingram had got a full and complete holiday on which to come up and see Sheila; and he had brought with him the wild and startling proposal that in order that she should take her first plunge into the pleasures of civilized life, her husband and herself should drive down to Richmond and dine at the Star and Garter.

“What is that?” said Sheila.

“My dear girl,” said her husband seriously, “your ignorance is something fearful to contemplate.  It is quite bewildering.  How can a person who does not know what the Star and Garter is be told what the Star and Garter is?”

“But I am willing to go and see,” said Sheila.

“Then I must look after getting a brougham,” said Lavender, rising.

“A brougham on such a day as this?” exclaimed Ingram.  “Nonsense!  Get an open trap of some sort; and Sheila, just to please me, will put on that very blue dress she used to wear in Borva, and the hat and the white feather, if she has got them.”

“Perhaps you would like me to put on a sealskin cap and a red handkerchief instead of a collar,” observed Lavender calmly.

“You may do as you please.  Sheila and I are going to dine at the Star and Garter.”

“May I put on that blue dress?” said the girl, going up to her husband.

“Yes, of course, if you like,” said Lavender meekly, going off to order the carriage, and wondering by what route he could drive those two maniacs down to Richmond so that none of his friends should see them.