'It is such a pity,' I thought, 'that we can't have Taisy. She wouldn't have minded teaching the children a bit, and she is so clever. Lots of my own lessons I could have done with her too. And I know the little ones won't obey me; Denzil would, but not Esmé, and she will set him off.'
I suppose my face was looking rather cloudy, for mamma went on again.
'I daresay we shall all feel a little depressed for a time, for we have had a good deal of really tiring work as well as excitement. And the worst of over-excitement, at least for young, strong people, is, that when it is over, everything seems flat, and we find ourselves wishing something else would happen.'
'Yes,' I said; 'that's just what I feel. You do understand so well, mamma.'
'I have a mild piece of excitement in store for you to-day or to-morrow,' mamma went on again. 'I think it is quite time that I called on our tenants. They must be fairly settled by now.'
'I don't see that there was any settling for them to do,' I said. 'You left everything so beautifully neat and nice.'
Somehow I felt a little cross at the poor things!
'They have to unpack what they brought with them,' said Geordie; 'and I'm sure——' he stopped short.
I knew why he stopped. He thought that what he was going to say might vex me, for, as I think—or hope I have owned—I have a quick temper. But Dods was not famous for 'tact'; that habit of his of stopping short all of a sudden often made me crosser than almost anything he could say.
'It's very rude not to finish your sentence,' I said sharply. 'What are you so sure about?'