She got into an open fly and drove along the flat marshes, smelling the salt scent of the sea, and wondering if the past four years had only been an interlude, and as she had lived for so many years in this dreary bit of country, so now she was going to continue to do the same for the rest of her life.
"I feel my independence and liberty fast oozing away!" she said to herself, and then she smiled at the thought. When she at last reached her grandfather's house, she found it unchanged—a little shabbier and drearier, that was all. She paid and dismissed her driver, for the hall door was open, and no one seemed about. Then she carried her small portmanteau into the hall, and met Charlie and the doctor coming downstairs. Charlie looked worried, his immaculate head of hair was ruffled, but as he saw Jean a broad smile of relief came over his face.
"Here she is, Doctor! You're a trump, Jean! Come right in, have a good square meal, and then you'll be able to tackle us all. All right, my good fellow, you go on; we shall weather through now without your nurse."
He dismissed the doctor in an airy fashion, then tucked Jean's arm in his, and marched her off to the kitchen, where Mary was sitting before the fire enveloped in shawls, and groaning audibly.
"Now you'll have to buck up, old lady," he said, taking hold of her by the shoulder. "Here's your mistress. A nice state of things she will find! Give her some food at once. Here! I'll forage in the larder. It's no use waiting for John. He's attending to his master, and heaven only knows when he'll be set at liberty."
He bustled off, and Mary, trying to rise, began to cry weakly.
"Oh, Miss Jean, 'tis terrible to find me like this, but I've just crawled out of bed, and the sink is piled with dirty dishes, and the floor hasn't been swept for a week, and there isn't even a drop o' hot water. Me that never let the kettle get cold from one year's end to another! Ever since Elsie left, there's been trouble on trouble, the master hasn't seemed to care how things go, and I'm that ashamed of your seein' the house so topsy-turvey, that I could sink to the door for shame!"
"Nonsense, Mary; I think you had better go back to bed. You arn't fit to be up. I'll see that things come straight. I shall have a woman from the village to help me."
Before Jean went to bed that night, she had worked wonders. The knowledge she had gained at Kingsford Farm when Chris was away, stood her in good stead now, and Charlie was lost in admiration.
She did not see her grandfather that evening. She went down to the village and engaged a capable woman to come the next day and take Mary's place in the kitchen. She cleaned out the kitchen and made Charlie work with her.