Letty laughed. "Father doesn't want me to get much taller. He doesn't want me to be tall when I'm grown up—but I can't help it, if it keeps up. Do you think I've grown any since the last time I measured, Mammy Riah?"
"Naw, honey, dat you ain't. You ain' growed a winch."
"She means an inch," said Letty. "Some people can't understand her. Even father can't sometimes, but I always can." Then drawing Caroline down on the bed, she began stroking her arm with a soft caressing touch. "Do you suppose mother will come back now that you have?" she asked. "When you are here she wouldn't have so much trouble. She used to say that you took trouble off her."
"Perhaps she will. You would like to see her, darling?"
The child thought earnestly for a moment. "I'd like to see her," she answered, "she is so pretty."
"It would make you happier if she came back?"
A smile, which was like the wise smile of an old person, flickered over Letty's features. "Wasn't it funny?" she said. "Father asked me that this morning."
A tremor shook Caroline's heart. "And what did you tell him?"
"I told him I'd like her to come back if she wanted to very badly. It hurts mother so not to do what she wants to do. It makes her cry."
"She says she wants to come back?"