Colm Ferris was standing in the lane outside the tea-house at ten to seven on the Monday morning with his hat already in his hands.
Hesper saw him through the glass while she was tying her apron, and knew the whole of it before she had got the bow done. A warden who wants his breakfast comes in at half past and talks about the mill. A warden who waits outside a shut door in the wet at ten to seven has something in his coat.
She unbarred the door and stood back.
“Not in the room,” Colm said. “In the kitchen, if you’ll have me, with the door to.”
“Sit down, then. Don’t stand there turning that hat, I’ve watched you do it since you were twelve and it’s never yet made a thing better.”
He sat. He put the hat on the table, flat, which he did not…
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