Page:The Keeper of the Bees.pdf/343

 in bed. You know, Lolly’s my girl. I had her by my first marriage. She wasn’t really related to the children. Mr. Cameron was her stepfather and she might have thought a lot more of Donald than I knew she did. Anyway, Molly and I had to lay him away alone. Molly felt so bad I most forgave her. Besides, I didn’t actually know that she had planned to get Lolly away from home. I just felt she had. The whole thing has upset me a good deal of late and Molly hasn’t been here as often as she used to come. I don’t know why, because the truth is, I thought a lot of the boy myself and I could have been honest and sincere in mourning him with her.

“Now come these letters from Lolly hinting about going farther north in the state for a summer vacation and only being home a few days at the very last, and going away again to teach the coming year. The whole thing is just the way it shouldn’t be. I wonder sometimes if I’ve been too clean and too particular about where the girls went and what they did. The way things seem to be going among the youngsters these days, it doesn’t look as if a mother could be too particular, but if she is so particular that she drives her young folks away from home, I don’t know that that gets her anything except a good big heartache. No, there wasn’t either of my girls with me. If there’s a feminine touch in your house to-day that you don’t understand, I’m telling you truly I don’t know who the female is or where she came from.”

Jamie thought deeply.

“All right,” he said, at last, “if you don’t know, why you