"No, my dear, I do not," he agreed.
"Still, perhaps I ought not to have talked as I did to a stranger. She was very nice to-day, though, wasn't she, Mrs. Tiddy?"
"Very. Will you run into the house, Peggy, and say we are ready for dinner?"
Then as the little girl obeyed, Mrs. Tiddy turned to her husband and said gravely:
"Ebenezer, what can have brought Miss Leighton here? Until Peggy told her her name the other day, she had no idea who she was or even that her niece had children. I don't believe she has forgiven Peggy's mother yet. Isn't it shocking to bear malice in one's heart so long? 'I don't wish to hear anything concerning your friend or her husband,' she said to me in a tone without an atom of feeling in it; 'but I was never one for visiting the sins of the parents upon the children. My niece proved herself ungrateful, and I regard ingratitude as a sin, but I feel no resentment against her innocent daughter.' I should think not indeed! I made no answer, however, for I was afraid, if I did, I might say too much."
"Surely she did not make that remark before Peggy!" exclaimed Mr. Tiddy, his ruddy colour deepening with indignation.
"No, certainly not; Peggy was not within hearing then. What shall I do? Miss Leighton asked me to call on her and bring Peggy with me, and I half promised I would; I did not like to refuse. I think the old lady has taken a fancy to the child. Isn't it strange that those two should have crossed each other's path again?"
The farmer nodded, a very thoughtful expression on his face. "There's One above Who planned they should meet, that's my opinion," he said gravely; "and I don't think we ought to try to keep them apart. Maybe the old lady will get to feel more kindly towards her niece when she knows Peggy better and realises what a dear little soul she is and how well her mother has brought her up. I am sure Mrs. Pringle will not object to your taking the child to call on her aunt. By the way, does Miss Leighton like her lodgings?"
"She said they were fairly comfortable. She strikes me as a rather dissatisfied body. She is anything but a happy woman, Ebenezer, though God has given her so much; and I hear from the servants, who have become friendly with her maid, that she is a very jealous, exacting temper, and she is always imagining people are trying to cultivate her acquaintance on account of her wealth."
"Well, she cannot possibly imagine that about you," Mr. Tiddy replied, "for she has sought your acquaintance herself. I suppose we had better go in to dinner now. There's Peggy under the porch beckoning to us."