The noon whistle had blown.  People had begun to come in, men whose first movement on entering was to peel off collars and coats.  They barely glanced at the quiet, white-clad figure as they passed the open parlor door, but stampeded for the basement dining-room.  Mr. Champneys could hear the scraping of chairs, the rattling of dishes, the hum of loud conversation; then the steady clatter of knives and forks, and a dull, subdued murmur.  Dinner was in full swing, a dinner of which boiled cabbage must have formed the piece de resistance.

Came a hurried footstep, and Nancy Simms entered the room.  He was sitting with his back to the window; she sank into the chair fronting him, so that the light fell full upon her.

She was strong and well-muscled, as one could see under the enveloping apron.  Her hands bore the marks of dish-washing and clothes-washing and floor-scrubbing and sweeping.  They were shapely enough hands, even if red and calloused.  The foot in the worn, down-at-the-heels shoe was a good foot, with a fine arch; and the throat rising from the checked gingham apron was full and strong; her face was prettily shaped, if one was observant enough to notice that detail.

She was not pretty; not even pleasant.  Her discontented face was liberally peppered with the sort of freckles that accompany red and rebellious hair; her mouth was hard, the lips pressed tightly together.  Under dark, uncared-for eyebrows were grayish-green eyes, their expression made unfriendly by her habit of narrowing them.  She had good teeth and a round chin, and her nose would have passed muster anywhere, save for the fact that it, too, was freckled.  Unfortunately, one didn’t have time to admire her good points; one said at first sight of her, “Good heavens, what a disagreeable girl!” And then:  “Bless me, I’ve never seen so many perfectly unnecessary freckles and so much fighting-red hair on one girl!”

“You’ll hafta hurry,” she admonished him, fanning herself vigorously with a folded newspaper.  She wiped her perspiring face on her arm, tilted back her chair, revealing undarned stockings, and waited for him to explain himself.

He handed her his card, and at the name Champneys a faint interest showed in her face.

“I had a aunt married a feller by that name,” she volunteered.  “Was you wishin’ to find out somethin’ about him or Aunt Milly?  Because if so I don’t know nothin’ about him, nor yet her.  I never set eyes on neither of ’em.”

“I am your Aunt Milly’s husband,” he told her.  “And I have come to find out something about you.”

“It’s took you a long time to find your way, ain’t it?” Her manner was not cordial.

“We will waive that,” said he, composedly.  “I am here, and my visit concerns yourself.  To begin with, do you like living with your mother’s step-sister?  That is her relationship to your mother and to my wife, I believe?”