"I think I did, dear. Do you really think you can attempt all this?" she asked rather anxiously.
"Do it! Of course I can—every bit, if only you will let me."
"Hurrah for the States!" Jamie cried triumphantly; "Marcia, you're a trump," he added emphatically.
Mrs. Macleod turned to me, saying half in apology:
"I really have no initiative, my dear; and when so many demands are made upon me unexpectedly, I simply can do nothing—just turn on a pivot, Jamie says; and the very fact that I am a beneficiary here would be an obstacle in carrying out these plans. It is so different in my own home in Crieff."
I heard the note of homesickness in her voice, and it dawned upon me that there are others in the world who may feel themselves strangers in it. My heart went out to her for her loneliness in this far away land of French Canada.
"Well, so am I a beneficiary; so is Cale and the whole household; and if only you will let me, I 'll make Mr. Ewart himself feel he is a beneficiary in his own house," I retorted gayly. "And as for Doctor Rugvie, we 'll see whether his farm will have such attractions for him after he has been our guest."
Mrs. Macleod laid her hand on my shoulder and smiled, saying with a sigh of relief:
"If you will only take the generalship, Marcia, you will find in me a good aide-de-camp."
Jamie said nothing, but he gave me a look that was with me all that day and many following. It spurred me to do my best.