"Has twice as much sense as ever she showed when she was in all that muss. I am sure, come to think of it, I don't wonder. Things outside works in, somehow. I believe, if I didn't keep my window panes clear, I should begin to grow deceitful—or melancholy. And folks can't have clean hands and a dirty house."
"Thank you, Miss Redwood," said Matilda, rising.
"Well, you ain't goin' now? The minister 'll be in directly."
"I'll come another time," said Matilda. "I'm afraid Mrs. Laval would be anxious."
"La, she don't mind when her horses come home, I'll engage."
"But she might mind when we come home," said Matilda. "We have been out a great while."
"Out? why, you don't never mean you come from Mrs. Laval's'?"
"Yes, she does," said Norton. "We've got her."
"Hm! Well, I just wish you'd keep her," said the housekeeper. "She's as poor as a peascod in a drouth."
At which similitude Norton laughed all the way home.