That night she was "not quite herself," as the saying is, and it was borne upon her with some force that a simple sentence may hold several diverse meanings--mostly disagreeable.

How was it just as well?
And why?
But she did not allow herself to fall into the idleness of barren speculation.

She was rather confirmed in her belief that things did not stand being looked into.
Practical and subtle in her way, she brought Stevie to the front without loss of time, because in her the singleness of purpose had the unerring nature and the force of an instinct.
"What I am going to do to cheer up that boy for the first few days I'm sure I don't know.

He'll be worrying himself from morning till night before he gets used to mother being away.

And he's such a good boy.