remarkable thing was that the glasses survived three generations, unbroken and with only a few deep scratches, even though Piney’s face was so narrow and his ears so small that the glasses kept slipping off his nose.
Despite his homely appearance, Mrs. Woods loved Piney with a passion, and she suspected most other women of secretly sharing her sentiment. Ever since the first Literary, when she caught Piney staring at Margaret Chambers during the introductions, she had imagined a spark of interest between them. Of course, there was no such illicit romance between her husband and the schoolteacher. But jealousy is a passion of its own making. The more Mrs. Woods thought about the possibility of someone else sharing her Piney, the more certain she became that something had to be done to stop Margaret Chambers.
Piney dismissed his wife’s concerns as so much women’s talk, but he did notice a new attentiveness in Mrs. Woods, and when she had touched his leg three nights in a row, it occurred to him that her preoccupation with Margaret Chambers might not be such a bad thing.
“Oh, Mrs. Woods is always saying that,” Piney said. “She says there’s something going on with that Swenson boy. Now that ain’t right. God’s hand will fall hard on any teacher that takes a boy. I find it hard to believe.”
John Buckhorn sat quietly through the discussion, mainly because he had never heard any of these accusations before. He was single, lived alone in his family’s home on the edge of Nickerly, and had known Margaret Chambers all his life. Indeed, he probably knew Margaret better than anyone at the mill, and he did not recognize the picture they were painting.
“John,” Ed said, “do you think we could run her out of town, get her to leave on her own?”
“What?” John asked. “What are you talking about? Why would she leave?”
“What if we told her to leave?” Ed said. “Just told her we don’t approve of her carrying on, told her to get out.”
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