Presently the men were heard laughing outside as they cleaned their muddy boots on the scraper. Reggie had apparently achieved something new. His ignorance of everything pertaining to farming furnished the material for most of the amusement that was going. Fortunately, he was always good-natured. Gertie, with unusual good spirits, entered into the joke of the thing at once and even bantered Reggie playfully upon his latest discovery.
Nora did not even hear what it was all about. She was searching for the bread plate which always stood on the dresser.
'Why, Gertie, I----'
'It's all right,' said Gertie, without looking up from pouring the tea. 'I took it. I'll get it in a minute. Come, sit down.'
Nora obeyed.
Hornby was just about to begin his explanation for whatever it was he had done, when Eddie interrupted him:
'Hold on a minute, Reg. I want some bread. I declare you two girls are getting to be as bad as Reggie, here. Setting a table without bread!'
'I was keeping it for a surprise,' said Gertie, getting up slowly. 'I want you to appreciate the fact that Nora helped me by doing the baking this morning.' Nora's face flushed with pleasure as her brother patted her on the shoulder with evident approval. She looked at Gertie with eyes shining with gratitude. At that moment she came nearer liking her sister-in-law than she ever was to again.
Gertie went slowly across the room--she usually moved with nervous quickness--and picking up the missing bread plate from where it was leaning against the wall behind the stove went into the little pantry that gave off the kitchen. Slowly she returned and stood beside her husband's chair. On the plate, burned almost to a cinder, was the loaf of bread that Nora had forgotten.
'Here it is,' said Gertie. Her smile was cruel.
'Oh, I say, Gertie, that's too bad of you.' It was Frank who spoke.
'Too bad!' Nora sprung to her feet with flashing eyes. 'Too bad. It's mean and despicable. There are no words to do it justice. But what could I expect from----'
'Nora!' said her brother sharply.
Nora rushed from the table to her room. And although Eddie knocked repeatedly at her door and begged her to let him speak with her if only for a moment that evening at supper-time, she made no sign nor did anyone see her again that night.
She made a point of not coming down to breakfast the next morning until after the time when the men would be gone. She thought it best to meet Gertie alone. It was time that they came to some sort of understanding. To her surprise and annoyance Taylor was still at the table. Gertie was nowhere to be seen.
'Come down to keep me company? That's real nice of you, I'm sure.'
'I supposed, naturally, that you had gone. You usually have at this hour.'
'You don't know how it flatters a fellow to have women folks study his habits like that,' he said with a grin.
'I knew that my brother had left the house, since I saw him go. I took it for granted that all his employees left when he did. Let me assure you, once and for all, that your habits are of no possible interest to me.'
Taylor put on his hat and went to the door. Just as he was about to open it, he changed his mind and came back to the table where Nora had seated herself and stood leaning on the back of his chair looking down at her.
'It's all right for us to row,' he said, 'but if I were you I'd go a little easy with Gertie. She's all right and a good sort at bottom, you can take it from me. Yesterday, I admit she was downright nasty. I guess you rile her up more than she's used to. But I want to see you two get on.'
'It's my turn to feel flattered,' said Nora sarcastically.
'Well, so long,' he said with undiminished good humor as he went out.
Gertie appeared almost at once from the pantry.
