Joe did not answer. Esther stole an appealing glance at him.
"Does it seem a queer thing to do?"
"Well, yes, rather."
Her face quivered. "She said I'd done so much for Mis' Lawrence—"
"Well, you have, and I've wished a good many times that you wouldn't. I'm sure I never knuckled to her, though she is my great-aunt."
"I never knuckled to her, either," protested Esther.
"You've done a sight more for her than I would have done, fixin' her dresses and things, and she with more money than anybody else in town. But your mother ain't going to call on everybody, is she?" he asked, anxiously.
"Of course she ain't. Only she said, if it was going to be in June—but I don't want it to be ever," she added, covering her face.
"Oh, it's all right," said Joe, penitently. He went over and put his arm around her. Nevertheless, his eyes held a worried look.