A little sigh followed Barbara's words.
"Then do you know Colonel Douglas as well as Miss Lorraine?" asked Jean.
"Yes, slightly; but he was in the service when we knew the family, so was only home occasionally."
When supper was over, Michael McTaggart went out. Jean lingered on in the room, watching Chris clear away the remnants of the meal, with some surprise. Barbara asked to be excused, and followed Chris into the kitchen, leaving Jean by herself for a short time.
When the sisters came back, they brought work with them, and talk began again. Jean listened in wonder to an account of what seemed to her a hard, barren life, with an ever-present anxiety as to how to make both ends meet. Yet the sisters were perfectly cheerful and happy. When she went up to her bedroom that night, she felt a decided interest in the family into which she had come as a paying guest.
Early hours were kept in Kingsford Farm, but Jean came down fresh and vigorous at eight o'clock the next morning. She was surprised to hear that Chris had been up since five.
"I do all my dairy work before breakfast," she said, "and in summer, the best part of the day is in the early morning."
Jean went up to the panelled room directly the meal was over.
"I will take the morning for work and enjoy myself for the rest of the day," she announced.
And Barbara smiled in her quiet amused fashion, but said nothing.