As many tall young ladies rose to offer you a seat, so that it was really difficult to know which way to turn, besides which the old grandfather with silvery hair pressed you to take his chair by the fire.
They had just sat down to the old-fashioned tea at half-past four, and in a moment there was a cup and plate ready.

The tea had a fragrant scent, warm and grateful after the moist atmosphere of the meadows, smelling of decaying leaves.

The mistress suggested that a nip of brandy might improve it, thinking that tea was hardly strong enough for a man.

But that was, declined; for what could be more delicious than the sweet, thick cream poured in by a liberal hand?
A fine ham had already been put on the table, as if by magic--the girls really seemed to anticipate everything you could possibly want.

As for the butter, it was exquisite, and so, too, the home-baked bread, the more so, because only touched in the processes of preparing by the whitest and softest of hands.