Nathan Hornby was only too glad to live in the house with Jack Hunter. As he remarked, it would take no more time to drive over to his work than to cook his own breakfast in the morning.
Hepsie was at this time Elizabeth’s principal defender. While listening to the reading of the will on the day of the funeral, Hepsie, old in the ways of her little world, had known that some explanation would have to be made of so unusual a matter as a man leaving his money to another man’s wife, instead of to the man himself, and had begun by giving out the report which she intended the world to accept, by talking to Sadie Hansen before she got out of the dooryard. Hepsie knew that first reports went farthest with country folk, and Luther, who understood better than any one else why the money had been left to Elizabeth, was inwardly amused at Sadie’s explanations afterward.
“You know, Luther,” Sadie had said on the way home that day, “Mr. Noland told Hepsie he was agoin’ t’ leave his share of th’ land to Lizzie, ’cause Doc Morgan says She’ll never be strong again after overworkin’ for all them men, an’ things. An’ she says he felt awful bad ’cause he was a layin’ there sick so long an’ her a havin’ t’ do for ’im when she wasn’t able—an’ do you know, she thinks that’s why he killed hisself? I always did like ’im. I think it was mighty nice for him t’ leave ’er th’ stuff. My! think of a woman havin’ a farm all ’er own!”
And Luther Hansen listened to Sadie telling her mother the same thing the next day, and smiled again, for Mrs. Crane could talk much, and was to talk to better purpose than she knew.
Also, when Elizabeth went to the little schoolhouse to meeting the first Sunday of her widowhood, being determined to be a part of the community in which she lived, Hepsie was on the outskirts of the little crowd after services were over, to explain in a whisper that Lizzie was “goin’ t’ go t’ meetin’ now like she’d always wanted to do, only Mr. Hunter never ’d take ’er anywhere ’cause ’e felt hisself too good.”
Hepsie was to fight Elizabeth’s battles on many occasions and stayed on, watchful as a hawk of Elizabeth’s reputation. A sly joke among the hired men while discussing their position in the house of “the grass-widder” drove Hepsie beside herself and made her even more ready than she had been at first to serve the interests of one who was to have no easy time among her jealous neighbours. Elizabeth knew that in that hour she could have had most of these people for her friends had it not been that she was supposed to be “stuck-up.” This also was a price she was to pay for having let her husband dominate her.
When Doctor Morgan was told of Elizabeth’s plan to farm the place herself he was delighted and approved of it heartily.
“You’re a little brick, Mrs. Hunter,” he said. “I’ll back you in anything you decide to do. It was devilish mean to run off without settling affairs up. If any of these yahoos around here say anything about it they’ll get a setting up from me that they won’t want again. But I’m mighty glad you’ve got Hornby. That’ll keep actual slander off of you. How much did you say you owed now?”
“Five hundred—and some expenses for Mr. Noland—besides the note you hold for the team. I’ve got about a hundred in the bank, but I shall need a pony to ride about the farm, and that will take about half of what I have ready.
“The pony’s a good idea. There’s no telling what would be made out of you wandering around the fields on foot to look after the hired men, but on horseback you’d be all right. Now don’t you worry about that note of mine—I’m in no hurry,” the doctor said encouragingly. Elizabeth saw the advantage of having Doctor Morgan as an enthusiastic advocate of her plans.