"I s'pose if I'd talked about these crockery dishes, she'd have faced me down, an' tried to make me believe they didn't cost as much as mine."
"Oh, no, she wouldn't," said Mrs. Taggess, who overheard the remark; "but I think 'twas very kind of her to set out her very best china, don't you? Most people do that only for their dearest friends—never for people who forget the manners due to the woman of the house, whoever she may be."
"I don't see what you mean by that, Mis' Taggess, I'm sure. I only—"
"Ah, well, try not to 'only' in the parlor, for Mrs. Somerton is trying very hard to make us feel entirely at home."
"Well, I think she's just tryin' to show off, 'cause she's come into old Jethro's money."
"Show off with what? Do tell me."
"Why, with her fine furniture an' fixin's. If that best room o' hern was mine, I'd be 'feared to use it, an' I'd expect the house to be struck by lightnin' to punish me for my wicked pride."
"I'm a-dyin' to ask her what some o' them things cost," said another, "but I don't quite dass to."
"Then you may stop dying at once, for I'll ask her for you, although I already know, within a few cents, the price of everything in the room. Come along, now. Ahem! Mrs. Somerton, there's much curiosity among the ladies as to the cost of furnishing your beautiful parlor. Won't you tell us?"