A motherly woman came out from the house, spoke to her son, and nodded pleasantly to me.

There was no especial introduction.

I said merely, "My name is Grayson," and I was accepted without a word.
I waited to help the man, whose name I had now learned--it was Stanley--with his horse and wagon, and then we came up to the house.
Near the back door there was a pump, with a bench and basin set just within a little cleanly swept, open shed.

Rolling back my collar and baring my arms I washed myself in the cool water, dashing it over my head until I gasped, and then stepping back, breathless and refreshed, I found the slim girl, Mary, at my elbow with a clean soft towel.

As I stood wiping quietly I could smell the ambrosial odours from the kitchen.