'Master and Mr.Elsmere are just coomin' down t' field by t' stepping-stones.' Mrs.Thornburgh signalled assent and the tea-table was brought.

Afternoon tea was by no means a regular institution at the vicarage of Long Whindale, and Sarah never supplied it without signs of protest.

But when a guest was in the house Mrs.
Thornburgh insisted upon it; her obstinacy in the matter, like her dreams of cakes and confections, being part of her determination to move with the times, in spite the station to which Providence had assigned her.
A minute afterward the vicar, a thick-set gray-haired man of sixty, accompanied by a tall younger man in clerical dress, emerged upon the lawn.
'Welcome sight!' cried Mr.Thornburgh; 'Robert and I have been coveting that tea for the last hour.

You guessed very well, Emma, to have it just ready for us.' 'Oh, that was Sarah.

She saw you coming down to the stepping-stones,' replied his wife, pleased, however, by any talk of appreciation from her mankind, however small.