“Sarah? That is one of the servants, isn’t it? A gaunt, shrewd-looking person? I’ve often met her on the road to and from Beaconsburgh.”
“Yes. She goes out when she likes, I think. She is a very important person in the household, much more so than Mrs. Rayner.”
“Oh! And she is a trouble to you?”
“Yes; I’m afraid of her. She doesn’t like me. And whenever I used to give her letters to post I never got any answers to them.”
“Does Mr. Rayner like her?”
“Like her? I don’t think any one could like Sarah, except, of course, her ‘young man.’ That doesn’t count. But Mr. Rayner thinks a great deal of her.”
“So a young man’s liking doesn’t count?”
“Of course Tom Parkes is prejudiced in her favor,” said I, preferring that the talk should remain personal.
“Surely it is a compliment to a woman that a young man should be prejudiced in her favor?” said he, preferring that the talk should become abstract.
“He must have finished by this time!” I cried; and a vigorous thump on the counter did at last bring in Mr. Bowles, who declared it was the first sound he had heard.