“Queer, but Yorkshire; queer, but varry sensible. Her husband, like the majority of Yorkshiremen, niver took off his hat, unless to put on his nightcap, or if he was going inside a church, or hed to listen to the singing of ‘God Save the King.’ When he died, his wife hed his favorite hat trimmed with black crape, and it hung on its usual peg of the hat stand, just as long as she lived. You see his hat was the bit of his personality that she remembered best of all. Well, what I wanted to show thee was, the importance of the hat to a man, and then what matters the color of his hair.”
By this time they were in the thick green grass of the meadow, and Kitty laughed at her aunt’s illustration of the Yorkshire man’s habit of covering his head, and they chatted about it, as they gathered great handfuls of shepherd’s roses. And after this, Josepha spoke only of her plans for the village, and of Faith’s interest in them. She felt she had said plenty about love, and she hoped the seed she had sown that afternoon had fallen on good ground. Surely it is a great thing to know how and when to let go.
CHAPTER XII—THE SQUIRE MAKES GOOD
“Busy, happy, loving people; talking, eating, singing, sewing, living through every sense they have at the same time.”
“People who are happy, do not write down their happiness.”
THE summer went quickly away, but during it the whole life of Annis Hall and Annis Village changed. The orderly, beautiful home was tossed up by constant visitors, either on business, or on simple social regulations; and the village was full of strange men, who had small respect for what they considered such an old-fashioned place. But in spite of all opinions and speculations, the work for which all this change was permitted went on with unceasing energy. The squire’s interest in it constantly increased, and Dick’s enthusiasm and ability developed with every day’s exigencies. Then Josepha was constantly bringing the village affairs into the house affairs, and poor women with easy, independent manners, were very troublesome to Britton and his wife. They were amazed at the tolerance with which Mistress Annis permitted their frequent visits and they reluctantly admitted such excuses as she made for them.
“You must remember, Betsy,” she frequently explained, “that few of them have ever been in any home but their father’s and their own. They have been as much mistress in their own home, as I have been in my home. Their ideas of what is fit and respectful, come from their heart and are not in any degree habits of social agreement. If they like or respect a person, they are not merely civil or respectful, they are kind and free, and speak just as they feel.”
“They do that, Madam—a good bit too free.”