She went round to Lizzie and Sarah to see what they thought. Sarah
thought: Well--it was rather a difficult question, and Harriett resented
her hesitation.

"Not at all. It rested with Maggie to go or stay. If she was incompetent I
wasn't bound to keep her just because she'd had a baby. At that rate I
should have been completely in her power."

Lizzie said she thought Maggie's baby would have died in any case, and
they both hoped that Harriett wasn't going to be morbid about it.

Harriett felt sustained. She wasn't going to be morbid. All the same, the
episode left her with a feeling of insecurity.



XII


The young girl, Robin's niece, had come again, bright-eyed, eager, and
hungry, grateful for Sunday supper.

Harriett was getting used to these appearances, spread over three years,
since Robin's wife had asked her to be kind to Mona Floyd. Mona had come
this time to tell her of her engagement to Geoffrey Carter. The news
shocked Harriett intensely.

"But, my dear, you told me he was going to marry your little friend, Amy--
Amy Lambert. What does Amy say to it?"