"Eh; it's you, is it?" said Plunkett. He did not think much of seeing the two together, merely supposing that they had just met, and Todd remarked,—
"Fine day!"
"Father, James has walked with me all the way from the Common,—from half over the Common. I did not want him. I've let him do it before, and I was wrong; and I told him not to-day, and he would come."
"Well, why not?" said Todd sulkily.
Plunkett looked from the one to the other.
"I told him I would tell you, and now I have," said Marigold. Then she went indoors, leaving the two together.
Plunkett presently followed, to find her alone in the little kitchen.
"What's all this?" he demanded.
"Father, I thought I ought to speak about it. Mother said once you wouldn't be pleased . . . And I wouldn't listen . . . But Mrs. Heavitree's been talking . . . And—I thought—I ought—" Marigold's voice failed.
"An idle fellow like that! You've too much sense to care for him!"