Nathan and Susan Hornby disagreed, as much as it was possible for them to do, on the way home.
“You may say what you please, if she don’t come it’s because she don’t want to. You couldn’t ask for a more rousin’ welcome ’n he give us,” Nathan said as he watched the forefoot on the off horse to see whether it was a cake of snow that made it limp or a more serious trouble.
“It wasn’t any more rousing than hers was when I went in and—and look how he spoke of Luther,” Susan replied hesitatingly. She hardly dare point out the weakness of John, however angry she was at him, for she had had trouble enough to get Nathan to bring her at all.
“That’s so,” Nathan admitted. “They’re a pair of snobs, anyhow. You think she treats you all right, but you saw how she shied round th’ subject when I put it straight to ’er. I went because you wanted me to—but I ain’t sure——” Nathan Hornby ceased to speak before his sentence was finished. Elizabeth’s neglect had been another nail in the coffin of his friendly trust. Susan had had hard work to persuade him to bring her to-day and had hoped that some lucky circumstance would help to dispel his suspicions. This had looked possible at first, but she saw that he still nursed his grievances.
Susan had her suspicions also, but they were of John, not of Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been as glad to see her as she had always been, whatever there might have been that was unexplainable on the surface. Susan Hornby knew with a knowledge that was unassailable that Elizabeth Hunter loved her as much as Elizabeth Farnshaw had done.
“I don’t care, I’m going again some day before long,” she said; “she won’t be going out much now for a while.”
“Well, now, look here,” Nathan said, stubbornly sticking to a conviction from which he was unable to get away. “You think Hunter keeps her from coming. He give us more of a welcome ’n she did, a good sight.”
Susan Hornby glanced around at her husband in astonishment. She had never said that she thought Elizabeth was prevented by John from coming to see them. Nathan had measured her better than she had realized.
“No-o, he didn’t,” she replied slowly. She resolved to speak frankly. “You didn’t see her when she took me into the house. Honestly, Nate, it was better than a whole revival service to have that girl tell me of—of——”
“I didn’t see that,” Nathan interrupted, “I only know he was glad t’ see us; you saw that for yourself.”