"They're crying little monsters." Rose said in a flat tone. "But they're kind of sweet when they are asleep, or not crying and peeing all over the place."

Goodness, "So you don't want any of your own, I take it?" she asked with some surprise. "I suppose they are not for everybody." And then she perked up and changed the subject, "Have you seen the new baker in town? Now there is a handsome fellow if I ever saw one." Not that she would up and ignore Pony for him.

"Oh I probably will," she said. She didn't want to be an old spinster. But she was distracted by what Pearl said next and she grinned widely. So much for Pearl not marrying, if she was gawking at guys like that. "I've shopped for bread there a few times. He's a handsome man. Why, are you interested in him?" she teased. Surely Pearl could not be interested in a man so far below her station.

"I am not. I am interested in someone else, not that it matters a bit. But I am also not blind to the charms of some men." Whoops, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, her face went red. She had just confessed she had interests in men in general, let alone one in particular. "I mean... Uh... More tea?!"

Rose chuckled, more at Pearl's embarrassment than at what she said. "Yes please. Don't worry! There's nothing wrong with... well... admiring the beauty of God's creation." She winked at her friend.

She poured more tea for her friend and then said, "Mister Willaby is much too tall for the likes of me," she chuckled and set the pot back down. "I doubt my family would approve of the man I like, and I don't think he has as much interest in me as I do him in any case." Not that she knew too much about Pony McBride. "Mister McBride is a handsome devil though."

"Watch out with men like him." Rose said grimly, as she took her cup. "He might just be messin' with you, but might end up hurtin' your feelings."

"What do you mean?" Pearl sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing a little but not in anger toward her friend. She clearly wanted to know what Rose was talking about.

Rose blushed, wondering if she had offended her friend. "Well, I don't mean anythin' by it, miss. Just that I think a young man has no business hanging around a young lady of a good family like yerself. Some young men... they like seein' t' lasses fall in love with them, and might even take advantage of them, but they're not serious about it... All I meant to say is... Young men shouldn't hang around ladies they have no business with."

She blinked. "... You said men like him, Rose. What about men like him?" She wasn't offended, she was baffled as to why Rose would say that. "I suppose it doesn't matter," she said then and sighed, looking down into her cup.