A.D. work? The Squire had been like a fractious child over the
compulsory rations. Nobody was less of a glutton--he pecked like a
bird; but the proper food to peck at must be always there, or his
temper was unbearable. Pamela made various blunders; the household
knew hunger for the first time; and the servants began to give
warning. Captain Dell could do nothing with his employer, and the
timber business was hung up.
Then came Pamela's outbreak after a tirade from the Squire bitterly
contrasting his lost secretary's performances, in every particular,
with those of his daughter. The child had disappeared, and a message
from the station was all that remained of her. Well, who could
wonder? Mrs. Gaddesden reflected, with some complacency, that even
she had spoken her mind to her father that night, conveniently
forgetting some annoying retorts of his about herself, and the
custom she had developed of sitting for hours over the fire
pretending to knit, but really doing nothing. After her enormous
exertions in the cause of the war--she was accustomed to say--of the
year before, she was in need of a rest.
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