morning? Before she could think of a substitute remark Emily had vanished upstairs. Mistress Ruth Dutton was left with the unpleasant sensation that, somehow or other, she had not come out of the affair quite as triumphantly as she should have.
“Shrewsbury,
“April 28, 19—
“This was my week-end at New Moon and I came back this morning. Consequently this is blue Monday and I’m homesick. Aunt Ruth, too, is always a little more unlivable on Mondays—or seems so by contrast with Aunt Laura and Aunt Elizabeth. Cousin Jimmy wasn’t quite so nice this week-end as he usually is. He had several of his queer spells and was a bit grumpy for two reasons: in the first place, several of his young apple trees are dying because they were girdled by mice in the winter; and in the second place he can’t induce Aunt Elizabeth to try the new creamers that every one else is using. For my own part I am secretly glad that she won’t. I don’t want our beautiful old dairy and the glossy brown milk pans to be improved out of existence. I can’t think of New Moon without a dairy.
“When I could get Cousin Jimmy’s mind off his grievances we explored the Carlton catalogue and discussed the best selections to make for my two dollars’ worth of owl’s laughter. We planned a dozen different combinations and beds, and got several hundred dollars’ worth of fun out of it, but finally settled on a long, narrow bed full of asters—lavender down the middle, white around it and a border of pale pink, with clumps of deep purple for sentinels at the four corners. I am sure it will be
