Ruth Dimm is a nosy woman who works in the Dungatar post office. She’s the sister of , the schoolteacher. Ruth is secretly a lesbian and is having an affair with ; together, the two women root through people’s mail and gossip about them based on what they find. Ruth and Nancy take a particular interest in Tilly’s mail, which arrives from all over Europe, and they steal many of the and ointments that Tilly orders from abroad.