"You have no idea how angry she will be."
Mrs. Grey was silent.
"And then how she'll tease!"
"The sooner she learns the uselessness of teasing the better."
Mrs. Thayer twisted her pocket-handkerchief around her fingers uneasily. At last she said:
"I can't tell you how I dread entering on this contest."
"There need be no contest. It takes two for that, and I don't propose a fight."
"What am I to do, then?"
"Do nothing while the tempest lasts. After it is over, speak to her kindly, but firmly; and state it as a simple fact that a new leaf is to be turned over in the family life."