"We can't well talk in the street," said the lady. "Come inside. I will ask Miss Shipley about you."
Peggy followed her in with bright eyes and red cheeks.
"We don't know anything about her, Miss Churchhill," said Miss Shipley when questioned. "She appeared about an hour ago. We wonder if she is quite—well, quite bright!"
The lady looked down at Peggy's eager face.
"Not much the matter there," she said, with a smile.
"The fact is, Miss Shipley, we are giving up our town house, and my sister and I have taken a small cottage in the country. We thought of taking some respectable girl down with us."
"Oh, please 'm," broke in the irrepressible Peggy, "'tis the very place for me. Mrs. Creak says the country is so clean, and I'll have to be awful careful with my caps and aprons. Oh, please try me, and see if I don't soot you."
Miss Churchhill smiled again, and then questioned her closely as to references. The interview ended in Peggy leading the lady straight to Mrs. Creak's sweet-shop.
"Mrs. Creak will tell you all about me 'm. And she knows what good service is, for she lived in a Rectory. I s'pose 'm, you haven't a Rectory and a church belongin' to you!"
Miss Churchhill's eyes grow moist.