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“GraceVanHorne’sengagedtobemarried，that’swhatitis。Lookout！Oh，you——“
Justhereoccurredtheaccidentalreadydescribed。Knifeandfishballdescendeduponthewaistcoatbelongingtothe“Sundaysuit。“
Laviniaflewforwarmwater，ammonia，andacloth，andthesoiledwaistcoatwasindustriouslyscrubbed。Thecleansingprocesswasaccompaniedbyalivelytonguelashing，towhichKyanpaidlittleattention。
“Engaged？“hekeptrepeating。“GracieVanHorneengaged？Engaged？
En——“
“Bestill，youpollparrot！Dear！dear！dear！lookatthemspots。
Yes，yes；don’tsayitagain；she’sengaged。“
“Who——who——who——“
“Nowyou’veturnedtoanowl，Idobelieve。’Hoo！hoo！’She’sengagedtoNatHammond，that’swho。Nothin’verysurprisin’aboutthat，isthere？“
Kyanmadenoanswer。Herubbedhisforehead，whilehissisterrubbedthegreasespots。Injerkysentencesshetoldoftheengagementandhowthenewshadreachedher。
“Ican’tbelieveit，“falteredAbishai。“Shegoin’tomarryNat！
Why，Ican’tunderstand。Ithought——“
“Whatdidyouthink？Seehere！youain’tkeepin’anythingfromme，beyou？“
Theanswerwasenthusiasticallyemphatic。
“No，no，no，no！“declaredKyan。“OnlyIdidn’tknowtheywas——
was——“
“Neitherdidanybodyelse，butwhatofit？Folksdon’tusuallyadvertisewhenthey’rekeepin’comp’ny，dothey？“
“No——o。Butit’sgen’rallyfoundout。IknowifIwaskeepin’
comp’ny——oryouwas，La-viny——“
Hissisterstarted。
“Whatmakesyousaythat？“shedemanded，lookingquicklyupfromherrubbing。
“Why，nothin’。OnlyifIwas——oryouwas，somebody’dseesomethin’
suspiciousandkindofdropahint，and——“
“Betterforthemifthey’tendedtotheirownaffairs，“wasthesharpanswer。“Iain’tgotanypatiencewithfolksthat’salwaystalkin’abouttheirneighbor’sdoin’s。There！nowyougooutandstandalongsidethecookstovetillthatwetplacedries。Don’tyoumovetill’TISdry，neither。“
SotothekitchenwentKyan，tostand，asortoflivingclotheshorse，besidethehotrange。Butduringthedryingprocessherubbedhisforeheadmanytimes。Rememberingwhathehadseeninthegrovehecouldnotunderstand；buthealsoremembered，evenmorevividly，whatKeziahCoffinhadpromisedtodoifheeverbreathedaword。Andhevowedagainthatthatwordshouldnotbebreathed。
ThedeathandfuneralofCaptainEbenfurnishedTrumetwithasubjectofconversationforaweekormore。Then，atthesewingcircleandatthestoreandafterprayermeeting，bothattheRegularmeetinghouseandtheCome-Outerchapel，speculationcenteredonthemarriageofNatandGrace。Whenwasittotakeplace？Wouldthecoupleliveattheoldhouseand“keeppackettavern“orwouldthecaptaingotoseaagain，takinghisbridewithhim？Variousopinions，proandcon，wereexpressedbythespeculators，butnoonecouldanswerauthoritatively，becausenoneknewexceptthosemostinterested，andthelatterwouldnottell。
JohnElleryheardthediscussionsatthesewingcirclewhen，incompanywithsomeofthemenofhiscongregation，hedroppedinatthesegatheringsforteaafterthesewingwasover。Heheardthematchurch，beforeandafterthemorningservice，andwhenhemadepastoralcalls。Peopleevenaskedhisopinion，andwhenhechangedthesubjectinferred，someofthem，thathedidnotcareaboutthedoingsofCome-Outers。Thentheyswitchedtoinquiriesconcerninghishealth。
“Youlookawfulpeakedlately，Mr。Ellery，“saidDidamaRogers。
“Ain’tyoufeelin’well？“
Theministeransweredthathewasaswellasusual，orthoughthewas。
“No，no，youain’tnuther，“declaredDidama。“Youlook’sifyouwascomin’downwithaspellofsomethin’。Iain’ttheonlyonethat’snoticedit。Why，ThankfulPaynesaystomeonlyyesterday，’Didama，’saysshe，’theminister’sgotsomethin’onhismindandit’swearin’ofhimout。’Youain’tgotnothin’onyourmind，haveyou，Mr。Ellery？“
“Iguessnot，Mrs。Rogers。It’sabeautiful
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