You'd ha' done fine with them soft arms an' shoulders an'--"

"But I'm not a goddess, Ann, I'm only poor Hermy Chesterton--with a
hole in one stocking and the lace on her petticoat torn, and her other
things--well, look here!" and up whirled gown and petticoat, "see what a
state they're in--look, Ann!"

"My dear, I am!" nodded Mrs. Trapes over her teacup, "an' what I say is,
it don't matter a row o' pins if a stockin' 's got a bit of a hole in it
if that stockin' 's on sich a leg as that! An' as fer--"

"But," sighed Hermione, "don't you understand--"

"My dear, I do! I was a married woman once, mind. An' I tell you 'beauty
doth lie in the eye o' the beholder', my dear, an' the two eyes as is
a-goin' t' behold you this night is goin' t' behold so much beauty as
they won't behold nothin' else."

"But--he loves dainty things, I'm sure."

"Well, ain't he gettin' a dainty thing? Ain't he gettin' th' daintiest,
sweetest, loveliest--" Here Mrs. Trapes set down her cup again to clasp
Hermione in her arms.

"Do you think he'll--understand, Ann?"

"He'll be a fool if he doesn't!"

"And make allowances? He knows how poor we are and how busy I have to
be."

"He does so, my dear. But, if it's goin' t' comfort you any, there's
that corset cover you made me last Christmas. I ain't never wore it;
I ain't dared to with all them trimmin's an' lace insertion, an' me s'
bony here an' there. You can have it an' willin', my dear, an' then
there's them--"

"Ann, you dear thing, as if I would!"

"Why not? That corset cover's a dream! An' then there's them--"

"Dear, I couldn't--I wouldn't! No, I'll go to him just as I am--he
shall marry me just like I am--"

"An' that's a goddess!" nodded Mrs. Trapes, "yes, a young goddess--only,
with more clo'es on, o' course. I'm glad as he's quit peanuts; peanut
men don't kind o' jibe in with goddesses."

"Ann," said Hermione, sitting back on her heels, "I think of him a great
deal, of course, and--just lately--I've begun to wonder--"

"My dear," said Mrs. Trapes, blowing her tea, "so do I! I been wonderin'
ever since he walked into my flat, cool as I don't know what, an', my
dear, when I sets me mind t' wonderment, conclusions arrive--constant!
I'll tell ye what I think. First, he ain't s' poor as he seems--he wears
silk socks, my dear. Second, he's been nurtured tender--he cleans them
white teeth night an' morn. Third, he ain't done no toil-an'-spinnin'
act--take heed t' his hands, m