“Aye, he does,” replied Keturah, taking again to rubbing her shin. “Aye, so he does, an’ it’s like to have ruined his life. A woman’s no right to hold out to stay with her parents, be they as old as Methuselah, when a man needs her to wife. Aye, he’s grown old with it all, an’ he the first man in Gelligaer! But I’m thinkin’ he’ll not marry her.”
“Not marry her!” exclaimed Deb, in real alarm. “Not marry her in the end?”
“Not marry her,” solemnly repeated Keturah. “Since he went to see his lady mother last he’s acted brisker, aye, he’s stepped firmer and swifter, an’—an’——”
“An’ what?” asked Deb breathlessly.
“An’ he’s been to see the schoolmistress three times since Sabbath once before last.”
Deb gasped, her eyes helplessly fixed on the erect Keturah. “The schoolmistress!” she exclaimed. “Tudur Williams’s sister?”
“Aye, the schoolmistress.”
“But she’s poor.”
“Aye, so she is, an’ your mistress is rich, but a minister cannot stay unmarried all his life, now can he, with all the women in the parish pursuin’ him. Jane Elin’s a handsome, capable young woman.”
“But does he love her?” persisted Deb.