So we
will all have a cup together. No one will disturb us. Feyther is
down at the 'Brown Cow,' and when I told the children I had to go
out on special business they all promised to be good, and Jarge
said he would see them all safely into bed. I told him I should be
back in an hour."
While Polly was speaking she was bustling about the room, putting
things straight; with a wisp of heather she swept up the dust which
had accumulated on the floor, in a semicircle in front of the fire,
and laid down the rugs and blankets to form seats. Three cups and
saucers, a little jag of milk, a teapot, and basin of sugar were
placed in the center, and a pile of slices of bread and butter
beside them, while from a paper bag she produced a cake which she
had bought at the village shop on her way up.
Ned watched her preparations listlessly.
"You are very good, Polly," he said, "and I shall be very glad of
the cup of tea, but I cannot eat anything."
"Never mind," she said cheerfully. "Bill and I can do the eating,
and perhaps after you have had a cup of tea you will be able to,
for Bill tells me you have had nothing to eat since breakfast."
Ned felt cheered by the warm blaze of the fire and by the cheerful
sound of the kettle, and after taking a cup of tea found that
his appetite was coming, and was soon able to eat his share. Mary
Powlett kept up a cheerful talk while the meal was going on, and
no allusion was made to the circumstances which had brought Ned
there.
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