‘I said fifty who would subscribe—­a very different thing indeed.’

’Oh no, you didn’t, mamma; you said there weren’t fifty spinsters in Galway—­a jolly lucky thing it would be if there weren’t; wouldn’t it, Alice?’

Alice was busy trying to disentangle a difficult sentence.  Her startled face made May laugh.

‘It isn’t cheering, is it?’

‘I didn’t hear what you were saying,’ she answered, a little vexed at being misunderstood.  ’But fifty, surely, is a great number.  Are there so many unmarried women in Galway?’

‘I should think there are,’ replied May, as if glorying in the fact.  ’Who are there down your side of the country?  Let’s count.  To begin with, there are the Brennans—­there are three of them, and all three are out of the running, distanced.’

‘Now, May, how can you talk like that?’ said Mrs. Gould, and she pulled up her skirt so that she could roast her fat thick legs more comfortably before the fire.  There being no man present, she undid a button or two of her dress.

‘You said so yourself the other day, mother.’

’No, I didn’t, May, and I wish you wouldn’t vex me.  What I say I stand by, and I merely wondered why girls with good fortunes like the Brennans didn’t get married.’

‘You said the fact was there was no one to marry.’

‘May, I will not allow you to contradict me!’ exclaimed Mrs. Gould; and she grew purple to the roots of her white hair.  ’I said the Brennans looked too high, that they wanted gentlemen, eldest sons of county families; but if they’d been content to marry in their own position of life they would have been married long ago.’

’Well, mother dear, there’s no use being angry about it; let the thing pass.  You know the Brennans, Alice; they are neighbours of yours.’

’Yes, Cecilia and I walked over to see them the other day; we had tea with them.’

’Their great hunting-ground is the Shelbourne Hotel—­they take it in turns, a couple of them go up every six months.’

‘How can you say such things, May?  I will not suffer it.’

’I say it!  I know nothing about it.  I’ve only just come back from school; it is you who tell me these things when we are sitting here alone of an evening.’

Mrs. Gould’s face again became purple, and she protested vehemently:  ’I shall leave the room, May.  I will not suffer it one moment longer.  I can’t think how it is you dare speak to me in that way; and, what is worse, attribute to me such ill-natured remarks.’

’Now, mother dear, don’t bother, perhaps I did exaggerate.  I am very sorry.  But, there’s a dear, sit down, and we won’t say any more about it.’

’You do annoy one, May, and I believe you do it on purpose.  And you know exactly what will be disagreeable to say, and you say it,’ replied Mrs. Gould; and she raised her skirt so as to let the heat of the fire into her petticoats.