Page:The Country-House Party.djvu/21

Rh it. There will be no trouble about the future in my year, no fretting for old age, no fear of poverty. I shall live all, spend all, in my great year.'

She began to think what would happen if she went away. Would the servant get up in the morning in time to get breakfast ready, so that John and James would go to their offices early? No, the maid would never have the place dusted before they got down. But then, they would never notice that; it was only a woman who would worry about such matters. Who would mend their things? She took up the coat and began sewing. Who would be there when James would rush in with, 'Mother, is that ready?' or 'Mother, I wish you would do this!' After all, she had little more of James now than that. His clothes in her hands, his face to look on for a few hours each day, just while he was hurrying through his breakfast, or in the evenings, when he was studying after dinner, if he did not go out.

James was a good boy, always reading, always trying to educate himself, working for a future.

And John, after all John was of her own time. There was nothing more for John. He had no