"Does that damn Sims bother you?"
No, the housekeeper did not bother her; neither did Noonan, general superintendent.
"Are you sure you are feeling perfectly well?"
"Yes, dear."
"And you are enjoying the people?"
"Yes.... The Tennant girls are so kind to me."
"Why the devil shouldn't they be?" he said harshly. "They never met a better woman!"
"Jacob, dear, don't speak that way."
"Well, then—don't be so eternally surprised if people are nice to you, mother. They'd better be!"
She smiled. "I am a rather plain and unattractive old woman to young people—to most people. I have little to say, but Diana Tennant and her sister are very sweet to me. Poor, motherless girls! I wonder—it troubles me—sometimes—a great deal——"