"But you shouldn't want we girls to set up housekeeping in rooms?"
she suggested; and he said that he should, and that he thought it
would be more independent and home-like.
"We're half doin' it now," said 'Manda Grier, "and I know some
rooms--two of 'em--where we could get along first rate, and not cost
us much more 'n half what it does here."
After she cleared up the tea-things she made another errand
downstairs, and Lemuel and Statira went back to their rocking-chair.
It still amazed him that she seemed not even to make it a favour to
him; she seemed to think it was favour to her. What was stranger yet
was that he could not feel that there was anything wrong or foolish
about it; he thought of his mother's severity about young folks'
sickishness, as she called it, and he could not understand it. He
knew that he had never had such right and noble thoughts about girls
before; perhaps Statira was better than other girls; she must be;
she was just like a child; and he must be very good himself to be
anyways fit for her; if she cared so much for him, it must be a sign
that he was not so bad as he had sometimes thought. A great many
things went through his mind, the silent comment and suggestion of
their talk, and all the time while he was saying something or
listening to her, he was aware of the overwhelming wonder of her
being so frank with him, and not too proud or ashamed to have him
know how anxious she had been, ever since they first met, for fear
he did not care for her.
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