His dog went and laid its head upon her knee, and she fed it with crumbs; its master, after watching them a minute, stepped out on the road with the intention of sitting down between them and the weeds.
As he did so he caught sight, as he thought, of a man seated in the very place he intended to occupy.

So strong was the impression that he started and stared; but again, as before, there was no one to be seen.
The sunshine was bright upon all things; the palings were so far apart that he could see everything in the fields behind; there was no one far or near but the ploughman at half a field's distance, and they two, and the dog.
The woman turned coolly round and looked through the paling, as if she supposed he had seen something behind her.

'Was't a haer ?' she asked, eyeing him with interest; 'ye ain't feared o' the like o' that ?' 'No, it was not a hare; I did not see a hare.' 'What was't ye seed then ?' she asked, looking at him with bold determination.
'What did I see ?' he repeated vaguely, 'I saw nothing.' 'Thought ye looked as if ye'd seed something',' she remarked incredulously, and then went on eating and feeding the dog, as indifferent to his presence as she was to the presence of the weeds.
'Are you going far to-night ?' he asked at length, thinking he would make more progress toward friendship before he sat down.
'To th' town.' 'Indeed, as far as that! Which town, may I ask ?' he said, with mechanical politeness, for his mind was running on what he had seen.
'Yer a fool and noae mistake,' she replied with emphasis.

'There's but one town wi'in a walk.' 'On the contrary, I am considered a man of great learning,' he replied, with more eager self-assertion than he could hitherto have believed possible under the circumstances.
'Is't larning ye've got ?' she asked, with much greater interest than she had before evinced.
'Yes; I am a man who spends his life seeking for knowledge.' 'Are ye wiser ner parson ?' 'Very much wiser,' replied the man of science, with honest conviction.
She looked much more impressed than he had hoped; and thinking that he had made himself sufficiently interesting, he began to speak about her own affairs, supposing they would please her better.
'You are not a married woman ?' he said, looking at her ringless hand.
'Married or no,' she replied, 'it's nowt to you.' 'I beg your pardon; everything which concerns such a beautiful woman must be of interest to me.' At that she laughed outright in hard derision, and went on eating her bread and meat.
'But won't you tell me if you are married or not ?' he pleaded, pursuing a subject which he thought must interest her.

He was surprised to see the sudden expression of womanly sorrow that came over her face, giving her eyes new depth and light.