She put a letter into his hands.

He was to read it; he might skip the first page, it was all about calico.

There--that was what she meant.
The letter was from Mrs.Wilcox imploring her to go back to Drayton "till this little cloud blows over." "I don't want to go to Drayton, to those people.

They talk.

I know they talk, and I don't like them.