“Nay, Mary, what’s come ovver thee? Its noan like thee to turn agen them ’at’s i’ trouble. It wer’ at Kirklees, just before we started for Rawfolds.”
And I told Mary of what had passed between John Booth and me.
“Well, what is it all leading to?” she asked.
“A’ve been turning things ovver i’ mi mind, Mary, as aw’ve laid o’ mi back. Yo’ see, Faith’s nobbut a poor weak thing, an’ fra all aw can hear her father’s awmost as bad. Don’t yo’ think we ought to do summat to help her?”
“With all my heart—as how?”
“Nay, that’s wheer aw’m fast. Cannot yo’ suggest summat?”
“Yo’ might happen ask her if she wants a home—Martha ’ll mebbe be so accommodatin’ as to mak’ room for her i’ th’ house. Martha could get another job fast enough, an’ then yo’ll have Faith under yo’r own e’en, an’ it’ll be little trouble to look after her then.”
“The thing’s preposterous, Mary. The idea of Faith scouring and, milking and such like.”
“Yo’ might perhaps offer her work at the spinning.”
“Why, Faith’s been brought’ up a lady,” I cried.