"After an hour for dinner we shall go to work again. I have thought a good deal about the afternoon, which is the most tedious part of the day, and I think the best thing will be to have reading aloud."
"Who is to read?" cried Rebekah.
"We shall find somebody or other. Tea at five, and work from six to seven. That is my programme."
"Then, Miss Kennedy," cried her forewoman, "you will be a ruined woman in a year."
"No"—she shook her head with her gracious smile—"no, I hope not. And I think you will find that we shall be very far from ruined. Have a little faith. What do you think, Nelly?"
"Oh, I think it beautiful!" she replied, with a gaze of soft worship in her limpid eyes. "It is so beautiful that it must be a dream, and cannot last."
"What do you say, Mr. Goslett?"
"I say that cabinet-making ought to be conducted in the same liberal spirit. But I'm afraid it won't pay."
Then Miss Kennedy took them to the room on the first floor. The room at the back was fitted as a dining-room, quite simply, with a dozen chairs and a long table. Plates, cups, and things were ranged upon shelves as if in a kitchen.
She led them to the front room. When her hand was on the lock she turned and smiled, and held up her finger as if to prepare them for a surprise.