Mrs. Cameron's hands quivered in hers.
"We must keep her cheerful, not let her spirits get down," one of the visitors said in Deirdre's ear.
Jessie Ross brought in tea, and some newly-made scones.
"You must eat this now, dear, to keep up your strength," Mrs. Ross said to Mrs. Cameron, taking a chair beside her.
Mrs. Ross talked of her milking, and the calves she had poddied during the wet weather; and the other women, gathering round, talked in serious and melancholy fashion of their milking and the calves they had had trouble with during the winter. They gave each other recipes for cream cheese, and jam, and cakes to be made without eggs.
"And I've discovered a sure way of making hens lay in the winter," said Mrs. Ross.
"Have you?" replied Mrs. Cameron, listlessly.
"Yes, indeed, and I'll tell you just what it is, Mary!"
"Oh, it's of no interest to me now, with Davey away and his father gone," Mrs. Cameron cried.
She kept her hold of Deirdre's hand.