"My mother is rather better, she says; thank you, ma'am."
"'Ma'am, how polite we have grown all of a sudden!" said Bab, winking at her maid. "One can see you have been in good company. Come, tell us all about it."
"Did you see the ladies themselves," asked Betty, "or only the housekeeper?"
"What room were you in?" went on Bab. "Did you see Miss Somers or Sir Arthur?"
"Miss Somers," replied Susan.
"Betty, she saw Miss Somers! I must hear about it. Susan, stop gathering those things, and have a chat with us."
"I can't indeed, Miss Barbara, for my mother wants her soup, and I am in a hurry." And Susan ran home.
"Would you believe it, her head is full of soup now?" said Bab to her maid. "She seems to think nothing of her visit to the Abbey. My papa may well call her Simple Susan. But simple or not I mean to get what I want out of her. Maybe when she has settled the grand matter of the soup, she'll be able to speak. I'll step in and ask to see her mother. That will put her in a good humor in a trice."
Barbara went to the cottage and found Susan standing over a pot on the fire. "Is the soup ready?" she asked. "I'll wait till you take it in to your mother and go in with you. I want to ask her how she is, myself."
"Sit down then, miss," said Susan, "I have put in the parsley, so the soup is nearly ready."