"Is it the pretty widow?
Is it Mrs.Armstrong ?" A good handful of the hardware fell to the floor.

Jed thankfully scrambled down to pick it up.

Miss Hunniwell, expressing contrition at being indirectly responsible for the mishap, offered to help him.

He declined, of course, but in the little argument which followed the dangerous and embarrassing topic was forgotten.
It was not until she was about to leave the shop that Maud again mentioned the Armstrong name.

And then, oddly enough, it was she, not Mr.Winslow, who showed embarrassment.
"Jed," she said, "what do you suppose I came here for this morning ?" Jed's reply was surprisingly prompt.
"To show your new rig-out, of course," he said.