aster will be so put
out if there isn't enough. You must go at once and get some--six
bottles. Bring one with you, and let them send the rest."

The girl turned upon her with a scowl. "And who's to do my dinner?"
she demanded.

"I'll do what I can," Mrs. Caldwell answered. The servant threw the
knife down on the potatoes, and turned from the sink sullenly, wiping
her hands on her apron as she went.

Mrs. Caldwell rolled up her sleeves, and set to work, but awkwardly.
Household work comes naturally to many educated women; they like it,
and they do it well; but Mrs. Caldwell was not one of this kind. She
was not made for labour, but for luxury; her hands and arms, both
delicately beautiful in form and colour, alone showed that. Her whole
air betokened gentle birth and breeding. She looked out of place in
the kitchen, and it was evident that she could only acquit herself
well among the refinements of life. She set to work with a will,
however, for she had the pluck and patience of ten men. She peeled
vegetables, chopped meat, fetched water, carried coals to mend the
fire, did all that had to be done to the best of her ability, although
she had to cling many times to table, or chair, or dresser, to recover
from the exertion, and brace herself for a fresh attempt. When she had
done in the kitchen she went to the dining-room and laid the cloth.
The sulky servant did not hurry back. She had a trick of lingering
long on errands, and when at last she did appear she brought no
whisky.

"They're going to send it," she explained. "They promised to send it
at once."

"But I told you to bring a bottle!" Mrs. Caldwell exclaimed, stamping
her foot imperiously.

The girl walked off to the kitchen, and slammed the door.

Mrs. Caldwell's forehead was puckered with a frown, but she got out
the mending again, and sat down to it in the dining-room with dogged
determination.

Presently there was a step outside. She looked up and listened. The
front door opened. Her worn face brightened; backache and weariness
were forgotten; her husband had come home; and it was as if the clouds
had parted and the sun shone forth.

She looked up brightly to greet him. "You've got your work over early
to-day," she said.

"I have," he answered drily, without looking at her.

The smile froze on her lips. He had come back in an irritable mood. He
went to the sideboard when he had spoken, and poured himself out a
stiff glass of whisky-and-water, wh