“My own opinion is,” she answered, “that it is nearly well.  Mother knew exactly what to do for it; she wrapped it in wet cloths and dry cloths, and this morning I scarcely think of it.  But there is one thing I want to tell you before you meet father and mother—­for they want to see you, I know.  We talked a great deal about you last night.  You may have thought it strange I told you about the peas, but I had to do it to explain why I could not ask you to stop.  Now I want to tell you that this accident made everything all right.  As soon as father and mother knew that I was hurt they forgot everything else, and neither of them remembered that there was such a thing as a pea-vine in the world.  It really seems as if my tumble was a most lucky thing.  And now you must come in.  They will never forgive me if I let you go away without seeing them.”

The mother, a pleasant little woman, full of cheerful gratitude to me for having done so much for her daughter, and the father, tall and slender, hurrying in from the garden, his face beaming with a friendly enthusiasm, apologizing for the mud on his clothes, and almost in the same breath telling me of the obligations under which I had placed him, both seemed to me at the first glance to be such kind, simple-hearted, simple-mannered people that I could not help contrasting this family with the one under whose roof I had passed the night.

I spent half an hour with these good people, patiently listening to their gratitude and to their deep regrets that I had been allowed to go on in the storm; but I succeeded in allaying their friendly regrets by assuring them that it would have been impossible to keep me from going on, so certain had I been that I could reach the little town of Vernon before the storm grew violent.  Then I was obliged to tell them that I did not reach Vernon, and how I had spent the night.

“With the Putneys!” exclaimed the mother.  “I am sure you could not have been entertained in a finer house!”

They asked me many questions and I told them many things, and I soon discovered that they took a generous interest in the lives of other people.  They spoke of the good this rich family had done in the neighborhood during the building of their great house and the improvement of their estate, and not a word did I hear of ridicule or scandalous comment, although in good truth there was opportunity enough for it.

The young lady asked me if I had seen Miss Putney, and when I replied that I had, she inquired if I did not think that she was a very pretty girl.  “I do not know her,” she said, “but I have often seen her when she was out driving.  I do not believe there is any one in this part of the country who dresses better than she does.”

I laughed, and told her that I thought I knew somebody who dressed much finer even than Miss Putney, and then I described the incident of the Duke’s dressing-gown.  This delighted them all, and before I left I was obliged to give every detail of my gorgeous attire.