Then
taking the red-and-white cloth from the cupboard, she set the table for
five, and brought the dish of turnips and boiled beef from the stove.
Every detail was carefully attended to as if her thoughts were not
on the hillside with Abel, but she herself could not eat so much as a
mouthful. A hard lump rose in her throat and prevented her swallowing.
The men did not appear, so leaving their dinner in the stove, she went
upstairs and put on the black poke bonnet and the alpaca mantle trimmed
with bugles which she wore on Sundays and on the occasional visits
to her neighbours. As it was her custom never to call without bearing
tribute in the form of fruit or preserves, she placed a jar of red
currant jelly into a little basket, and started for her walk, holding it
tightly in her black worsted gloves. She knew that if Molly divined her
purpose she would hardly accept the gift, but the force of habit was
too strong for her, and she felt that she could not start out to make a
visit with empty hands.
Her chief anxiety was to be gone before Abel should return, and for
this reason she left the house by the back door, and chose the small,
descending path that led through the willows to Jordan's Journey.
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