"Have you come to join the class?" he asked, and she smiled and nodded her head. "It's a coarse sort of a night," she added, coming into the classroom.
He did not know her name, and he wondered where her home was. He knew everybody in Ballymartin, and many of the people in the country outside it, but he had never seen Sheila Morgan before.
"I thought I might as well come," she said, "but I'm only here for a while!"
Then she did not belong to the village. "Yes?..." he said.
"It's quaren dull in the country," she continued, "an' the classes'll help to pass the time. I wish it was dancin', but!"
Dancing! They had not made any arrangements for dancing, though the Gaels were very nimble on their feet. He glanced at Marsh reproachfully. Why had Marsh omitted to revive the Gaelic dances?
"Perhaps," he said to Sheila, "we can have dancing classes later on...."
"I'll mebbe be gone before you have them," she answered.
"How long are you staying for?" he asked.
"I don't know. I'm stopping with my uncle Matthew ... it's him has Hamilton's farm ... an' I'm stoppin' 'til he knows how his health'll be. He's bad...."