Sarah felt dizzy. She bent lower as she sat and held her head in her two
hands, and the strange lady came on the other side of her, and she was
enveloped in a fragrance of some foreign perfume.

"My brother has been almost mad," she whispered in her ear, "and I have
just found out what the trouble was. He would not tell on account of our
mother, but poor mother is dead and gone."

Then the old woman on the other side raised her voice unexpectedly, and
she spoke to her granddaughter, Mrs. Lynn. "You are a fool," said she,
"if you wouldn't rather hev Serrah merry a man like Hyacinthus Ware,
with all his money and livin' in the biggest house in Adams, than a man
like John Mangam, who sets an' sets an' sets the hull evenin' and never
opens his mouth to say boo to a goose, and beside bein' threatened with
a suit for breach."

"I don't care who she marries, as long as she is happy," said Sarah's
mother.

"Well, I'm goin'," said the old woman. "I left my winders open, and I
think there's a shower comin' up."

She rose, and Mrs. Wilford Biggs at the same time. Sarah's mother went
into the house.

"Won't you?" whispered the strange lady, and it was as if a rose
whispered in Sarah's ear.

"I didn't know that he--I thought--" stammered Sarah.