Marian wanted to play Hansel and Gretel. "But Gram is too nice to be the witch, isn't she, Muvver? And we must have a witch."
"Miss Kelly could be witch," said Spencer.
"She's too nice, too!"
"She could pretend not to be." Spencer peered at Catherine, and suddenly giggled.
"That isn't funny," protested Marian.
"When your mother was a little girl," began Mrs. Spencer, "I took her to see Uncle Tom's Cabin." The children listened, entranced, to the account of Catherine's impersonation of Little Eva. Catherine, amused, went back to Spencer's giggle. He hadn't accepted Miss Kelly, as Marian had. His laugh was a secret declaration of his withholding of himself. But he no longer protested outwardly.
"And just then, I went out of the kitchen door," said Mrs. Spencer, "and saw Catherine in the loft window of the barn. She had on one of my best white sheets, and she was leaning forward, way out of the window, and waving her arms."
"Oh, Muvver!" Marian sighed in delight.
"I said, 'What are you doing!'"
"You tell us what you said, Muvver," begged Marian, her eyes darkly shining. "Please."