there and get things in your own hands, there's no telling what may happen.
He'll get a girl to help you, and Jane's big enough now to do a good deal.
Why, you'll be the same as keeping house like the rest of us."

Further discussion was cut short by the arrival of the victim. He stood
awkwardly in the door of the Weeks sitting room for a moment, seemingly at a
loss how to state his case.

Mr. And Mrs. Weeks now resolved to appear neutral and allow the farmer to make
his terms. Then, like other superior powers in the background, they proposed
to exert a pressure on their relative and do a little coercing. But the
widow's course promised at first to relieve them of all further effort. She
suddenly seemed to become aware of Holcroft's presence, sprang up, and gave
him her hand very cordially.

"I'm glad to see you, sir," she began. "It's very considerate of you to come
for me. I can get ready in short order, and as for Jane, she's never a bit of
trouble. Sit down, sir, and make yourself to home while I get our things
together and put on my bonnet;" and she was about to hasten from the room.

She, too, had been compelled to see that Holcroft's farmhouse was the only
certain refuge left, and while she had rocked and waited the thought had come
into her scheming mind, "I've stipulated to stay a year, and if he says
nothing against it, it's a bargain which I can manage to keep him to in spite
of himself, even if I don't marry him."

But the straightforward farmer was not to be caught in such a trap. He had
come himself to say certain words and he would say them. He quietly,
therefore, stood in the door and said, "Wait a moment, Mrs. Mumpson. It's
best to have a plain understanding in all matters of business. When I've