“Goodness me, child! Why, he has no business now more important than you! What a chump!”
Cassandra stiffened proudly and drew away, taking up her shuttle and beginning her work calmly as if nothing had happened to destroy her composure.
“I’ve not written David — anything to disturb him — or make him hurry home.”
“Oh, Cassandra, Cassandra! You’re not treating either him or yourself fairly.”
“For him — I can’t help it; and for me, I don’t care. Other women have got along as best they could in these mountains, and I can bear what they have borne.”
“But why on earth haven’t you told him?”