The ex-cook folded her bony hands over her black skirt and spoke with regretful candor.
“I’m afraid not, ma’am. The girl’s every bit as bad as the man.”
“Dear, dear,” said Mrs. Mince again, “how very scandalous, to be sure! only married eight months, and his wife away on a holiday. And you caught them in the dark, you say?”
“In the dark, ma’am, during that terrible storm on Wednesday night.”
“In the dark, yes.”
Mrs. Mince’s face was suffused with a shiny avidity; even her colorless eyes were eager.
“Well, ma’am, I shouldn’t like to say all I thought I saw.”
“Of course not, Eliza; it is too shocking a subject for clean-minded women to discuss. Dear, dear, how badly people turn out in this world; human nature has nothing but disappointments for us. Only to think of it,” and Mrs. Mince sighed.
“I thought I ought to come and ask your advice, ma’am,” said Mrs. Primmer, with great deference.
“It shows a most excellent spirit in you, Eliza.”