Mrs Aldworth required a great deal of looking after, and Marcia spent a very busy morning. First of all there was the untidy room to put straight; then there was the invalid to wash and comfort and coddle. Presently she induced Mrs Aldworth to rise from her bed and lie on the sofa. "It is a great exertion, and I shall suffer terribly afterwards," said the good woman. "But you always were masterful, Marcia." "Well, you see," said Marcia gently, "if I nurse you at all, I must do it according to my own lights. You are not feverish. The day is lovely, and there is no earthly reason why you should stay in bed." "But the exertion, with my weak heart." "Oh, mother, let me feel your pulse. Your heart is beating quite steadily." "Marcia, I do hope you are not learning to be unfeeling." "No," replied the girl, "I am learning to be sensible." "You look so nice. Do sit opposite to me where I can watch your face, and tell me about your school, exactly what you did, what the girls were like; what the head mistress was like, and what the town of Frankfort is like." [Four pages missing here.] "I am sorry, dear." "How could we go? Whoever is with mother this afternoon will be too fagged to go. We simply couldn't go. And to think that this is to go on for ever. It's more than we can stand." "I am waiting to know, not what you can stand, or what you cannot, but which of you will look after mother this afternoon? You won't have a very hard time; her room is in perfect order, and her meals for the entire day are arranged. You have but to sit with her and chat, and amuse her." "We're none of us fit to go near her, you know that perfectly well," said Molly. "Very well," replied Marcia in a resolute tone. "You all know my firm resolve. You have got to face this thing, girls, and the more cheerfully you do it the better." In the end it was Molly who was induced to undertake the unwelcome task. She shrugged her shoulders and prepared to leave the room, her head drooping. "Come, Molly," said Marcia, following her. "You mustn't go to mother in that spirit." She took Molly's hand when they got into the hall. "Can you not remember, dear, that she is your mother?" "Oh, don't I remember it. Isn't it dinned into me morning, noon, and night? I often wish--" "Don't say the dreadful words, Molly, even if you have the thought. Don't utter the words, for she is your mother. She tended you when you could not help yourself. She brought you into the world in pain and sorrow. She is your mother. No one else could ever take her place." "If you would only take her to-day, Marcia, we would try to behave to-morrow. If you would only take her this one day; it is such a blow to us all, you know," said Molly. Marcia almost longed to yield; but no, it would not do. If the girls saw any trace of weakness about her now, she would never be able to uphold her position in the future.