"The maid had told her that the dear sister was going to eat her salmon for her lunch, with bread and butter, but it was much better with kale, and if she had none, her maid might come down now and cut some in the garden. This was what she had to say. She heard, indeed, that the sub-prioress and Agnes Kleist ate their salmon stewed in butter, but that was too rich; for one should be very particular about salmon, it was so apt to disagree. However, if sister Sidonia would just mind her, she would teach her all the different ways of dressing it, and no one was ever the worse for eating salmon, if they followed her plan."
But before Sidonia had time to answer, the chatterbox had run to the door and lifted the latch—
"There was a strange woman in the courtyard, with something under her apron. She must go and see what it was, but would be back again instantly with the news."
In a short time she returned, bringing along with her Sheriff Sparling's dairy-woman, who carried a large bundle of flax under her apron. This she set down before Sidonia—
"And his worship bid her say that she must spin all this for him without delay, for he wanted a new set of shirts, and the thread must be with the weaver by Christmas."
When Sidonia heard this, she fell into a right rage in earnest—
"May the devil wring his ears, the peasant carl! To send such a message to a lady of her degree!"
Then she pitched the flax out of the door, and wanted to shove the dairy-woman out after it, but she stopped, and said—
"His worship gave all the nuns a bushel of seed for their trouble, and sowed it for them; so she had better do as the others did."
Sidonia, however, was not to be appeased—