Sally Groves came in. She had brought Estelle the seed of a flower from her garden.
"I put it by for you, Miss Waldron," said the big woman, "because you said you liked it in the fall."
They talked together while Mercy Gale doffed her overall and woollen bonnet.
"Tell me," said Estelle, "of a very good sort of wedding present for Mr.
Ironsyde, when he marries Sabina next week."
"A new temper, I should think," suggested Nancy.
"He can't help being rather in a temper," explained Estelle, "because they can't find a house."
"Sabina can find plenty," answered the spinner. "It's him that's so hard to please."
Sally Groves strove to curb Nancy's tongue.
"You mind your own business," she said. "Mr. Ironsyde wants everything just so, and why not?"
"Because it ain't a time to be messing about, I should think," retorted
Nancy. "And it's for the woman to be considered, not him."