“No, ma’am.” Mary felt like a queen dethroned.
“You were ‘clothed with a little brief authority’ yesterday, to be sure, but you should have waited till to-day and reported any misbehavior to me, or—if I was too ill to hear it—to Julia.”
“Yes, mamma,” said Mary meekly.
“Not that I blame you for this mistake, dear. You have shown judgment and self-control, and no harm has been done as yet, I hope. Only remember, if you are left to take care of the children again, you are not the one to punish them, whatever they may do.”
“Yes, ma’am,” repeated Mary; but her face had brightened at the words “judgment and self-control.”
“I am afraid Ethel’s repentance doesn’t amount to much,” said Julia.
“I thought of that myself. I’m afraid it doesn’t,” admitted Mary.
She watched the brush as it passed slowly and evenly through her mother’s hair. Her color came and went as if she were on the point of saying something which after all she found it hard to say.