I drew back quickly enough, feeling, I don't know why, rather vexed at Amabel's words.
The gentleman in question was a tall, stout young man of thirty, or thereabouts, not at all handsome, but with something very attractive in his face. He was twirling a thick stick, and whistling to a rough little dog, which ran to and fro among the monuments.
Somehow I took a liking to that gentleman the moment I saw him. There was a kind of real manliness about him which made one feel that he was a person to be relied upon in case of danger or distress. I took another peep and saw that he was pulling up some weeds from a baby's grave.
"Well, my dears—I must learn to say young ladies, I suppose, now you are at home in England," said Mrs. Thorpe, knocking and entering at the same moment. "But, laws me, it does come so easy to me to mother all young girls for the sake of my own two—I suppose you are quite ready for your suppers. Will you join us at the table, or shall I send you something up here?"
"Oh, we will go to the table," answered Amabel; "and, dear Mrs. Thorpe, I am sure we shall be only too glad to be mothered, as you say. We are all ready, if you please."
"Please, Mrs. Thorpe, who is that lady below in the shop?" I ventured to ask as we descended the stairs. "Is she a sister?"
"No, she is not a sister, but a Friend," answered Mrs. Thorpe, smiling. "She is what people call a Quaker. Have you none in France?"
"I do not know," replied Amabel; "we know not much more about France than England."
"Ah! Yes, that is true. Well, the Friends are a people by themselves, and have their own ways and notions—very odd ones, too, some of them are. They never go to church, and have no sacraments, and no settled order of clergy, but they hold by the Bible, and are very good, honest kind of people. Some of their women, even, are ministers, like Rebecca Carter's sister. Rebecca is a good creature, and very faithful to me, but she has her ways, as who has not? You must not mind if she calls you by your plain, Christian names. That is a part of her religion."
At another time, I suppose all this would have surprised me very much, but the last two or three weeks had been so full of wonders that I was beginning to lose the power of being surprised at anything.