He was attending to two little girls. He nodded with calm benevolence
to Rachel and then to Louis Fores. It is true that he lifted his
eyebrows--a habit of his--at sight of Fores, but he did so in a quite
simple, friendly, and justifiable manner, with no insinuations.
"In one moment, Miss Fleckring," said he.
And as he rapidly tied up the parcel of cheese and snapped off the
stout string with a skilled jerk of the hand, he demanded calmly--
"How's Mrs. Maldon to-night?"
"Much better," said Rachel, "thank you."
And Louis Fores joined easily in--
"You may say, very much better."
"That's rare good news! Rare good news!" said Malkin. "I heard you had
an anxious night of it.... Go across and pay at the other counter, my
dears." Then he called out loudly--"One and seven, please."
The little girls tripped importantly away.
"Yes, indeed," Rachel agreed. The tale of the illness, then, was
spread over the town! She was glad, and her self-consciousness somehow
decreased. She now fully understood the wisdom of Mrs. Maldon in
refusing to let the police be informed of the disappearance of the
money. What a fever in the shops of Bursley--even in the quiet shop of
Ted Malkin--if the full story got abroad!
"And what is it to be to-night, Miss Fleckring? These aren't quite
your hours, are they? But I suppose you've been very upset.
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