The Lilac Sunbonnet

"Is this the way to the manse of Dullarg?" asked the young man, standing up with his hat in his hand, the brim just beneath his chin. He was a handsome young man when he stood up straight. Jess looked at him attentively. They did not speak in that way in her country, nor did they take their hats in their hands when they had occasion to speak to young women. "I am myself going past the Dullarg," she said, and paused with a hiatus like an invitation. "This is the first time you have been hereaway?" Ralph nodded a quick affirmative and smiled. "Then," said Jess Kissock, the rich blood mantling her dark cheeks, "I am the first from the Dullarg you have spoken to " -- "The very first " said Ralph. -- "Then I am glad," said Jess Kissock. But in the young man's heart there was no answering gladness, though in very sooth she was an exceeding handsome maid.