“Indeed I do, ‘Gentle Hands,’ but I am not without some spirit, my little daughter. Nobody there shall know what I feel.”
“Good. And don’t feel that you are ‘company’ there, Mother. Since Aunt Sue runs it all, I have always felt that way, but now it seems as if things ought to be different, don’t you think so?”
“We shall be Mother’s guests, of course. Yet, Ann, things cannot be changed all in a minute,—even if my mother were a younger woman, you know, able to take charge of a big establishment like that. I shall most certainly not place myself in opposition to my sister in regard to household affairs. They are not of enough importance. Mother is thinking matters over. Unless your Aunt Sue persists in making trouble, and I think that she has had a lesson in that respect, there will be little change, unless it is as regards financial affairs. Mother intends to look into that, she says. If they are not straight, it may make a difference.”
“I see,” said Ann. “Whatever happens, Mother, you can count on me not to embarrass you by making any trouble. I’ll be peaceful unless attacked!” Ann was laughing now.
“No aggressive warfare?”
“Exactly, Mother, and yet I am ready to defend you and Grandmother to the last gasp!”
“My Montana heroine!” laughed her mother, falling into Ann’s melodramatic mood. “Very good. I told you that I would not go without you, you see.”
CHAPTER II
WHISK!—NEW ENGLAND AGAIN
How differently Ann felt this time as she approached the now dear home of her Grandmother on her trip from the West, no one but Ann herself could have told. Then, the mystery of her Grandmother’s attitude toward her mother was to be solved; now, her mother and grandmother were with her, peacefully talking of their plan to go South after Christmas, her mother showing nothing of any strong feeling which may have at times possessed her when she thought of it all. Then, Ann was wondering who would meet her, how her aunt’s family would regard her; now, she was returning and would count upon a warm welcome from Roy and Madge, Maurice, Suzanne, and perhaps her Uncle Tyson, though she was not sure but he might consider her responsible for any new attitude of her grandmother in respect to finances. Uncle Tyson was next to the throne, thought Ann, the throne as expressed in Aunt Sue.