"How could I remember you?
I intended to send you a governess or a nurse, or some one of that sort, but I forgot." "Please," began Mary.

"Please--" and then the lump in her throat choked her.
"What do you want to say ?" he inquired.
"I am--I am too big for a nurse," said Mary.

"And please--please don't make me have a governess yet." He rubbed his forehead again and stared at her.
"That was what the Sowerby woman said," he muttered absentmindedly.
Then Mary gathered a scrap of courage.
"Is she--is she Martha's mother ?" she stammered.
"Yes, I think so," he replied.
"She knows about children," said Mary.

"She has twelve.

She knows." He seemed to rouse himself.
"What do you want to do ?" "I want to play out of doors," Mary answered, hoping that her voice did not tremble.