chool, and
one of them was now in a millinery establishment in London, where she
wore a silk dress every day. This was sufficient to excuse airs of
superiority in anyone. It was natural, therefore, to repay Lilac's
devotion by condescending patronage, and to look down on her from a
great height; nevertheless it was extremely agreeable to Agnetta to be
worshipped, and this made her seek her cousin's companionship, and
invite her often to Orchards Farm. There she could display her smart
frocks, dwell on the extent of her father's possessions, on her sister
Bella's stylishness, on the last fashion Gusta had sent from London,
while Lilac, meek and admiring, stood by with wonder in her eyes.
Orchards Farm was the most beautiful place her imagination could
picture, and to live there must be, she thought, perfect happiness.
There was a largeness about it, with its blossoming fruit trees, its
broad green meadows, its barns and stacks, its flocks of sheep and herds
of cattle; even the shiny-leaved magnolia which covered part of the
house seemed to Lilac to speak of peace and plenty. It was all so
different from her home; the bare white cottage on the hillside where no
trees grew, where all was so narrow and cold, and where life seemed to
be made up of scrubbing, sweeping, and washing. She looked longingly
down from this sometimes to the valley where the farm stood.

But other eyes, and Mrs White's in particular, saw a very different
state of things when they looked at Orchards Farm. She knew that under
this smiling outside face lay hidden care and anxiety; for her brother,
Farmer Greenways, was in debt and short of money. Folks shook their
heads when it was mentioned, and said: "What could you expect?" The old
people remembered the prosperous days at the farm, when the dairy had
been properly worked, and the butter was the best you could get anywhere
round. There was the pasture land still, and a good lot of cows, but
since the Greenways had come there the supply of butter was poor, and
sometimes the whole quantity sent to market was so carelessly made that
it was sour. Whose fault was it? Mrs Greenways would have said that
Molly, the one overworked maid servant, was to blame; but other people
thought differently, and Mrs White was as usual outspoken in her
opinions to her sister-in-law: "It 'ull never be any different as long
as you don't look after the dairy yourself, or teach Bella to do it.
What does Molly care ho