"Aye, though she's a little clearer than him - doesn't chatter at ye ten to the dozen, and she doesn't mix up her w's and v's," Scotty said. "Anyway, it's not so hard to understand. People have said worse about the way I speak." Stupid people who didn't listen properly, generally, but it was still something that happened, now and then, and he'd accepted it as a fact of life. If only because he wasn't as young as he used to be and wasn't so sure he'd win if it came to blows.

"There's definitely some funny sorts round here. One fella I met just seemed baffled by the idea of anyone wanting to build their own house. And I might have overheard something wrong but I'm almost convinced there's a woman here who's from a Jane Austen novel."