As for Celia herself, she dismissed Delia, the maid of all work, with a
kindly farewell and the letters of recommendation her mother had
prepared, and plunged eagerly into business. She was a born manager, and
loved many of the details of housework, particularly the baking and
brewing, and she was soon enthusiastically employed in putting the small
kitchen to rights.
At noon Charlotte and the boys were served with a light luncheon, with
the promise of greater joys to come, and by five in the afternoon the
house was filled with the delightful odours of successful cookery.
At that hour Charlotte, whose labours had been enlarged by herself to
cover a thorough overhauling of the entire house--such tasks being her
special aversion, and therefore to be discharged without mitigation on
this first day of self-sacrifice--wandered disconsolately into the
kitchen with broom and dust-pan, looking sadly weary. She gazed with
envious eyes at her sister, flying about in a big apron, with sleeves
rolled up, her cheeks like carnations, her eyes bright with triumph.
"Well, you do start in with vim," the younger sister observed, dropping
into a chair with a long sigh.
Pages:
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42