Master Sutcliff, seeing the intense delight on the face of the maiden, said within himself:
"She shall remain until it cometh time to serve the syllabubs, the cream froth and the nectars, then can she slip away without being seen."
It came all too soon, the pause in the merry dancing, for refreshments, when Master Sutcliff said, kindly:
"Now then, young friend, I fear me the time has come when you had best depart. I will go with you to the side door, so that none shall question or trouble you."
As they passed a long room, he said, "Peep within a moment."
And Sally looked upon tables covered with all kinds of fancy dishes: there were froths, foamy custards, jellies she could almost see through, plum cakes, pound cakes, and the odor of strong, rich coffee, mingled with the scent of flowers.
Colored servants were moving to and fro with the slow step of the Southern waiter, and everything was orderly, abundant, and inviting.
Master Sutcliff said something to a man close at hand, and the next moment he was bidding Sally good night, at the same time he laid something on her arm.
"Merely a cheese-cake," he said, and in the soft moonlight Sally saw that she held a heart-shaped cake filled with currants, with thin spires of cocoanut and cheese standing thick all over the top.
She entered the house through the shed at the side, went to her cubby of a room, and sat down on the floor with her head against the bed.