A woman who could go to Hintock House and be friendly with its mistress, enter into the views of its mistress, talk like her, and dress not much unlike her, why, she would hardly be contented with him, a yeoman, now immersed in tree-planting, even though he planted them well.

"And yet she's a true-hearted girl," he said, thinking of her words about Hintock.

"I must bring matters to a point, and there's an end of it." When he reached the plantation he found that Marty had come back, and dismissing Creedle, he went on planting silently with the girl as before.
"Suppose, Marty," he said, after a while, looking at her extended arm, upon which old scratches from briers showed themselves purple in the cold wind--"suppose you know a person, and want to bring that person to a good understanding with you, do you think a Christmas party of some sort is a warming-up thing, and likely to be useful in hastening on the matter ?" "Is there to be dancing ?" "There might be, certainly." "Will He dance with She ?" "Well, yes." "Then it might bring things to a head, one way or the other; I won't be the one to say which." "It shall be done," said Winterborne, not to her, though he spoke the words quite loudly.

And as the day was nearly ended, he added, "Here, Marty, I'll send up a man to plant the rest to-morrow.

I've other things to think of just now." She did not inquire what other things, for she had seen him walking with Grace Melbury.