s respect of it. When he met
Joanna Godden again, he would be nice to her.

The opportunity was given him sooner than he expected. Walking up the
High Street in quest of some quiet place for luncheon--every shop and
inn seemed full of thick smells of pipes and beer and thick noises of
agricultural and political discussion conducted with the mouth full--he
saw Miss Godden's trap waiting for her outside the New Inn. He
recognized her equipage, not so much from its make or from the fat cob
in the shafts, as from the figure of old Stuppeny dozing at Smiler's
head. Old Stuppeny went everywhere with Miss Godden, being now quite
unfit for work on the farm. His appearance was peculiar, for he seemed,
like New Romney church tower, to be built in stages. He wore, as a
farm-labourer of the older sort, a semi-clerical hat, which with his
long white beard gave him down to the middle of his chest a resemblance
to that type still haunting the chapels of marsh villages and known as
Aged Evangelist--from his chest to his knees, he was mulberry coat and
brass buttons, Miss Joanna Godden's coachman, though as the vapours of
the marsh had shaped him into a shepherd's crook, his uniform lost some
of its effect. Downwards from the bottom of his coat he was just a
farm-labourer, with feet of clay and corduroy trousers tied with string.

His presence showed that Miss Godden was inside the New Inn, eating her
dinner, probably finishing it, or he would not have brought the trap
round. It was just like her, thought Martin, with a tolerant twist to
his smile, to go to the most public and crowded place in Romney for her
meal, instead of shrinking into the decent quiet of some shop. But
Joanna Godden had done more for herself in that interview than she had
thought, for though she still repelled she was no longer uninteresting.
Martin gave up searching for that quiet meal, and walked into the New
Inn.

He found Joanna sitting at a table by herself, finishing a cup of tea.
The big table was edged on both sides with farmers, graziers and
butchers, while the small tables were also occupied, so there was not
much need for his apologies as he sat down opposite her. Her face
kindled at once--

"I'm sorry I'm so near finished."

She was a grudgeless soul, and Martin almost liked her.

"Have you done much business to-day?"

"Not much. I'm going home as soon as I've had my dinner. Are you
stopping long?"

"Till I've done a bit of shopping"--he found