She might have said these things, but why say them?
The shamed face of the woman convicted her of "rummaging," as she had termed it.

Without a word Kate sat down beside the table, drew her writing material before her, and began addressing an envelope to her brother Hiram.

Mrs.Holt left the room, disliking Kate more than if she had said what the woman knew she thought.
Kate wrote briefly, convincingly, covering every objection and every advantage she could conceive, and then she added the strongest plea she could make.

What Hiram would do, she had no idea.

As with all Bates men, land was his God, but it required money to improve it.