Susan Hornby heard it too and caught the sick look on her face, but though she wondered about it she asked no questions, for Elizabeth Hunter was a woman of reserve. Elizabeth Hunter had developed a power unknown to Elizabeth Farnshaw.
“Got a good many sheds built a’ready, I see,” was the next remark the girl heard.
“Yes,” John replied, still devoting himself to the fire. “I expected to get the stock sooner—haven’t used it all this year—but it’s there for next season. I’ve got about all the cattle I’ll get now. I told Carter I’d take seventeen head of his. He was going to put them up at his sale next week, but I persuaded him to let me have them in a bunch. I’ll get them home to-morrow. Got ’em on 6 per cent. They’ll grow into money every day this summer—mostly two-year-olds. Don’t you think so?”
“That’s all owin’,” Nathan replied slowly. “Cattle take a lot of cover, an’ you ain’t usin’ straw sheds.”
“Oh, my sheds ain’t cost so very much,” John replied easily. “They’re substantial too. I don’t think much of the straw-shed business. It’ll do for Hansen, now, that ain’t got anything to put under cover, but when a man’s got anything——” John filled out the sentence with an expressive gesture, and then before any one could speak said casually: “By the way, I hear the Swede’s going to be married to-morrow.”
“Married?” Elizabeth Hunter exclaimed. Every word of the conversation had been a stab, but to have Luther called a Swede was too much.
“Yes, dear,” Aunt Susan said, laying a hand on her arm. “I meant to have told you and I hadn’t got to it yet. Nate and I are invited to the wedding. It’s Sadie Crane, you know.”
Elizabeth fell into the nearest chair utterly limp. “Sadie Crane?” she said over and over.
“I knew you’d hate to have it Sadie, but any woman could be glad to get a man as good as Luther, and she’s crazy over him. He’ll make her a good husband whether she makes a good wife or not. She’ll have her own way a good deal further than most wives.”
John Hunter suspected that the latter was said for his benefit.