OldMr。Rivers，shesaid，wasaplainmanenough，butagentleman，andofasancientafamilyascouldbefound。MarshEndhadbelongedtotheRiverseversinceitwasahouse:anditwas，sheaffirmed，“aboontwohundredyearold—forallitlookedbutasmall，humbleplace，naughttocomparewi’Mr。Oliver’sgrandhalldowni’MortonVale。ButshecouldrememberBillOliver’sfatherajourneymanneedlemaker;andth’Riversworgentryi’th’owddayso’th’Henrys，asonybodymightseebylookingintoth’registersi’MortonChurchvestry。”Still，sheallowed，“theowdmaisterwaslikeotherfolk—naughtmichouto’t’commonway:starkmado’shooting，andfarming，andsichlike。”Themistresswasdifferent。Shewasagreatreader，andstudiedadeal;andthe“bairns”hadtakenafterher。Therewasnothinglikethemintheseparts，noreverhadbeen;theyhadlikedlearning，allthree，almostfromthetimetheycouldspeak;andtheyhadalwaysbeen“ofamak’oftheirown。”Mr。St。John，whenhegrewup，wouldgotocollegeandbeaparson;andthegirls，assoonastheyleftschool，wouldseekplacesasgovernesses:fortheyhadtoldhertheirfatherhadsomeyearsagolostagreatdealofmoneybyamanhehadtrustedturningbankrupt;andashewasnownotrichenoughtogivethemfortunes，theymustprovideforthemselves。Theyhadlivedverylittleathomeforalongwhile，andwereonlycomenowtostayafewweeksonaccountoftheirfather’sdeath;buttheydidsolikeMarshEndandMorton，andallthesemoorsandhillsabout。TheyhadbeeninLondon，andmanyothergrandtowns;buttheyalwayssaidtherewasnoplacelikehome;andthentheyweresoagreeablewitheachother—neverfelloutnor“threaped。”Shedidnotknowwheretherewassuchafamilyforbeingunited。
Havingfinishedmytaskofgooseberrypicking，Iaskedwherethetwoladiesandtheirbrotherwerenow。
“GoneovertoMortonforawalk;buttheywouldbebackinhalf—an—hourtotea。”
TheyreturnedwithinthetimeHannahhadallottedthem:theyenteredbythekitchendoor。Mr。St。John，whenhesawme，merelybowedandpassedthrough;thetwoladiesstopped:Mary，inafewwords，kindlyandcalmlyexpressedthepleasureshefeltinseeingmewellenoughtobeabletocomedown;Dianatookmyhand:sheshookherheadatme。
“Youshouldhavewaitedformyleavetodescend，”shesaid。“Youstilllookverypale—andsothin！Poorchild！—poorgirl！”