"Tell me about it, my friend," said her hostess. "Is it that he won't
let you keep on with the business?"
Diantha nodded.
"And you won't give it up to marry him?"
"No," said Diantha. "No. Why should I? I'd marry him--to-morrow!"
She held one hand with the other, tight, but they both shook a little.
"I'd be glad to. But I will not give up my work!"
"You look thin," said Mrs. Weatherstone.
"Yes--"
"Do you sleep well?"
"No--not very."
"And I can see that you don't eat as you ought to. Hm! Are you going
to break down?"
"No," said Diantha, "I am not going to break down. I am doing what is
right, and I shall go on. It's a little hard at first--having him so
near. But I am young and strong and have a great deal to do--I shall do
it."
And then Mrs. Weatherstone would tell her all she knew of the intense
satisfaction of the people she served, and pleasant stories about the
girls. She bought her books to read and such gleanings as she found in
foreign magazines on the subject of organized house-service.
Not only so, but she supplied the Orchardina library with a special
bibliography on the subject, and induced the new Woman's Club to take up
a course of reading in it, so that there gradually filtered into the
Orchardina mind a faint perception that this was not the freak of an
eccentric individual, but part of an inevitable business development,
going on in various ways in many nations.
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