“I’ll stay with Aunt Elspeth, Uncle Darcy. I can keep her from fretting.”
A smile of relief broke over the old man’s face and he said heartily:
“Why, of course you can, honey. It never occurred to me to ask a little lass like you to stop and care for her, but you can do it better than anybody else, because Mother’s so fond of you.”
Neither had it occurred to him or to either of the others that it was a sacrifice for her to give up this ride. There was not a word from anyone about its being a noble thing for her to do. Mr. Milford, in a hurry to be off, merely nodded his satisfaction at having the matter arranged so quickly. Uncle Darcy stepped back to the window for a parting word with Mrs. Saggs.
“She’ll keep an ear out for you, Georgina,” he said as he went back to the car. “Just call her if you want her for any reason. There’s plenty cooked in the cupboard for your dinner, and Mrs. Saggs will tend to Mother’s tea when the time comes. When she wakes up and asks for me best not tell her I’m out of town. Just say I’ll be back bye and bye, and humor her along that way.”
And then they were off with a whirr and a clang that sent the chickens in the road scattering in every direction. Georgina was left standing by the gate thinking, “What made me do it? What _made_ me do it? I don’t want to stay one bit.”
The odor of gasoline cleared away and the usual Sabbath-like stillness settled down over all the court. She walked slowly across the shady little grass plot to the front door, hesitated there a moment, then went into the cottage and took off her hat.
A glance into the dim bedroom beyond showed her Aunt Elspeth’s white head lying motionless on her pillow. The sight of the quiet sleeper made her feel appallingly lonesome. It was like being all by herself in the house to be there with one who made no sound or movement. She would have to find something to do. It was only eleven o’clock. She tiptoed out into the kitchen.
The almanac had been left lying on the table. She looked slowly through it, and was rewarded by finding something of interest. On the last page was a column of riddles, and one of them was so good she started to memorize it so that she could propound it to Richard. She was sure he never could guess it. Finding it harder to remember than it seemed at first glance, she decided to copy it. She did not know where to look for a sheet of paper, but remembered several paper bags on the pantry shelves, so she went in search of one. Finding one with only a cupful of sugar left in it, she tore off the top and wrote the riddle on that with a stub of a pencil which she found on the table.
While searching for the bag she took an inventory of the supplies in the pantry from which she was to choose her dinner. When she had finished copying the riddle she went back to them. There were baked beans and blueberry pie, cold biscuit and a dish of honey.