“Cut the cold pudding in finger-lengths, make a batter of two table-spoonfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and milk to make it as thick as thick cream; dip each piece into the batter, and fry in deep fat till brown; sift sugar over it, and serve with hard sauce.”
As Molly wrote the last words she heard Mrs. Bishop coming down-stairs, and wondered much what she could do to entertain her. She had actually never been with her without Harry before, but the matter solved itself, for the elder lady questioned her as to her mode of life, what she did with her time, how Harry and she spent the evenings, and when told as simply as Molly knew how, she laughed, with a sort of good-natured sarcasm.
“Quite idyllic, I declare; so Harry reads aloud while you sew,—or else you both play chess.”
“Yes; of course we are almost strangers in Greenfield. When we are better known no doubt we may go out more, but all our neighbors are very pleasant.”
“Now that is one thing I wanted to caution you about; one of the penalties of living in a place like this is that you must know every one, and are apt to make intimates that you can not shake off easily when you go away.”
“But,” said Molly, with some dignity, “I shall make no intimacies I should ever want to shake off; people good enough to be my friends now will be good enough at all times.”
“My dear, I think when I was your age I had just such ideas, but I found as I grew older I had to do as others do.”
The time did not pass very gayly, and Molly wondered how she would get through the afternoon if they should stay, for she believed that she and her mother-in-law had nothing in common.
When the time came, Molly excused herself and went in to help Marta lay the cloth. The silver and glass were always bright, so there was no hasty rubbing and polishing at the last minute. That morning Harry had brought in from the tiny flower-bed a handful of geranium and coleus, saying: “We have to take them as they are ready; frost may come at any time now.”
And they were now ready for the centre, arranged in a deep glass dish, the rich coleus round the edge, the geraniums in the middle. They gave the little table an air of brightness that nothing but flowers could have done.