She valued her authority and asserted it incessantly.

That authority had until last year been unchallenged, but Jeremy now was growing.

She had, although she did not as yet realise it, a difficult time before her.
Helen and Mary advanced with their presents, laid them on the breakfast-table, and then retreated to watch the effect of it all.
"Shall I now ?" asked Jeremy.
"Yes, now," said Helen and Mary.
There were three parcels, one large and "shoppy," two small and bound with family paper, tied by family hands with family string.

He grasped immediately the situation.

The shoppy parcel was bought with mother's money and only "pretended" to be from his sisters; the two small parcels were the very handiwork of the ladies themselves, the same having been seen by all eyes at work for the last six months, sometimes, indeed, under the cloak of attempted secrecy, but more often--because weariness or ill-temper made them careless--in the full light of day.
His interest was centred almost entirely in the "shoppy" parcel, which by its shape might be "soldiers"; but he knew the rules of the game, and disregarding the large, ostentatious brown-papered thing, he went magnificently for the two small incoherent bundles.
He opened them.