And with that she turned and left the house, without another word said, only the girl gave an insolent laugh. Dame Lee, on whom we called afterward, and whom we found spinning of fine thread, though she is above eighty years old, told us that the Smiths were a shame and scandal to the whole village—that the housewife herself was no better than she should be, and Roger a good deal worse.
"That is the way the good Sisters get imposed upon, because they cannot go out to see for themselves," said she. "There is no need for that family ever to ask an alms, and the same is true of others in the place; while those who really need help, are many of them too modest to ask, or too feeble to reach the gate, or hold their own amid the press about it."
"Can you direct us to some of these poor souls of whom you speak?" asked the Queen.
Dame Lee spoke of several, and pointed out their dwelling-places to us, and then mentioned another.
"There is Magdalen Jewell, who lives alone by herself in the moor, at the foot of Grey Tor," said she. "'Tis a lonesome place, and perhaps your ladyship may not care to walk so far."
"How far?" asked the Queen.
"Nay, 'tis but a scant mile, but the way is somewhat rough," answered the dame.
"And is this Magdalen of whom you speak a widow?" asked the Queen.
"No Madam, she hath never been married. She took care of her old father as long as he lived, and was a most dutiful and kind daughter to him; and since his death she has bided alone, till of late that she hath adopted a little orphan maid, one of the survivors of the great wreck last winter. Magdalen owns the house she lives in, and a small garden and orchard, which, with the thread she spins, makes most part of her living. I fear she is often pinched, but she never complains, or asks for help. She might have changed her condition many times, for she was wonderful fair when I first knew her, and of good conditions, and she is a well-favored woman even now; but, nobody knows why, she would none of her suitors, and still lives alone, save, as I said, for the child she hath adopted."
"We must see this woman, I think," said the Queen, turning to Patience and myself. "And now, dame, can we do naught for you?"