l you will understand discipline and all that.
But I believe Joanna won't have her darlings smacked, and they are such
troublesome little monkeys that a sound smacking would do them all the
good in the world," wound up their young aunt with a vigour that showed
the subject was one on which she felt strongly. "Not that you," with a
careless glance at Margaret's pale, thoughtful face, "look strong enough
to give them much of a whacking."

Margaret made no reply, simply because at the moment she felt absolutely
incapable of speech. Dismay at the thought that she was to be a governess
held her spellbound. She certainly had not gathered from anything that
Eleanor had said that she was expected to teach, and two naughty unruly
children into the bargain. No wonder that she grew paler even than her
wont at the appalling thought. Luckily for her, however, Maud was far
from guessing the dismay her casually given information was causing her
silent companion, and under cover of her chatter, Margaret had time to
recover a little from the shock she had received and to resolve to try
and make the best of it. Of one thing she was sure, Eleanor herself had
no idea of the services she had been expected to give in exchange for
being asked to spend her holidays at The Cedars. Neither had Mrs. Danvers
wished to get her there under false pretences. After all, had not her
letter said that she was both to enjoy herself and to make herself
useful. So she had no right to complain at the discovery that the latter
half of the sentence meant so much more than either she or Eleanor had
suspected. "To make yourself useful," Eleanor had said airily; "oh, that
means that you will be expected to arrange flowers for the dinner table,
and to write notes, and so on. Little things of that sort, you know."

So, naturally, it had been a great shock to discover that "little things
of that sort" included the entire control of two unruly children. It was
not the prospect of having to work that perturbed Margaret, it was the
knowledge of how incapable she felt to deal with children. Why, she had
scarcely ever spoken to a child in her life, and now she was to have the
entire charge of two thrust upon her. She could not help wondering what
Eleanor would have said or done in her place, but was unable to answer
the question satisfactorily. The situation, however, could hardly have
dismayed her as much as it was dismaying her substitute. To fill the post
of holiday go