Shedidmostofthetalking，hermotherlisteningwithahalf-absentair，asshepickedupfragmentsofred-hotwoodemberwiththetongs，andpiledthemuponthebrands。Butthenumberofspeechesthatpassedwasverysmallinproportiontothemeaningsexchanged。
Longexperiencetogetheroftenenabledthemtoseethecourseofthoughtineachother’smindswithoutawordbeingspoken。Behindthem，inthecentreoftheroom，thetablewasspreadforsupper，certainwhiffsofairladenwithfatvapours，whicheverandanonenteredfromthekitchen，denotingitspreparationthere。
’Thenewgownhewasgoingtosendyoustaysaboutonthewaylikehimself，’Sally’smotherwassaying。
’Yes，notfinished，Idaresay，’criedSallyindependently。’Lord，I
shouldn’tbeamazedifitdidn’tcomeatall！Youngmenmakesuchkindpromiseswhentheyarenearyou，andforget’emwhentheygoaway。Buthedoesn’tintenditasawedding-gown——hegivesittomemerelyasagowntowearwhenIlike——atravelling-dressiswhatitwouldbecalledbysome。Comeratheorcomelateitdon’tmuchmatter，asIhaveadressofmyowntofallbackupon。Butwhattimeisit？’