"Not I, lass. I'm varry happy. Nobbut I'm going to be wed."
"Thou—art—what?"
"Going to be wed."
She stood up and looked at him, turning white as she did so, even to her lips. A sense of wrong and a great anger welled up in her heart; and she lifted the loaf and went with it into the pantry to hide the tears she could not suppress.
Steve kept his eyes on his plate. He was eating with a keen relish, now that his confession was made, but there was a bitter moment or two in Sarah's heart, ere she could command herself sufficiently to ask, "Who is ta going to wed?"
"Joyce Barnes."
"Niver!"
"Ay, it's a wonder such a bonny lass should hev me. But Joyce hes promised, and I'm that set up to-night, I can scarce tell what I'm doing or saying."
"How is ta going to keep her?"
"I'll work steady now. I've been so bothered about Joyce lately that I couldn't work; but I'll miss no days now."
