Mrs. Moss took out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes furtively, but the baby waking at this interruption, she was forced to give all her mind to hushing it.
Mrs. Hewson sat pondering.
She remembered that she had once thought that life with Dan Moss would be rather a jolly affair, but if his jollity was always kept for out-of-doors, it wasn’t all beer and skittles after all.
“Ye treat ’im too meek-like,” said she after a minute. “I wouldn’t mind so much.”
“’Ow can ye ’elp mindin’ when ye’ve married a man?” retorted the other.
“Well, I’d be cheerfuller—I’d pay ’im back a bit in ’is own coin, I be blowed if I wouldn’t,” laughed Martha.
Milly shook her head.
“Dan ain’t one to stand no nonsense,” said she. “I tried it on a bit when we was fust wed, and blessed if ’e didn’t up and off it for a week! Didn’t say nothink, mind you, but jist up and off it. Said it were business, but o’ course that wasn’t what I wanted!”
“Lor’ bless me!” ejaculated the other. “Well, I be pleased my Bill don’t give me no tantrums. We ain’t ’ad a word ever since we was wed.”
“Oh, well, who said we had words? Everybody ’as their faults. We don’t ’ave no words,” retorted the miller’s wife, tossing her head a bit proudly. And she got up and began busying herself over the tea.