At last my sister made a move, and the spell was broken. We separated
for the night, and many were the lady-like whispers that reached my
ears, all ending in: "So like Ideala!"
But, as Ideala herself remarked on another occasion, "You can't sweep a
room that requires it without raising a dust; the thing is to let the
dust settle again, and then remove it."
CHAPTER XXIX.
Claudia did not see the change in Ideala all at once. She said: "She is
looking her best, and is our own Ideala again--faults and all! How she
talked last night!"
"Just in the old way," I agreed, "but with a difference; for in the old
days she talked at random, but now I feel sure she has a plan and a
purpose, and all that she says is part of it."
This suggested new possibilities to Claudia, and when Ideala joined us
presently, she asked, abruptly: "Are you going back to China?"
Ideala answered deliberately: "I did think of becoming a
missionary--that was why I went out there. But I know all radical
reforms take time, and when I saw what the Chinese women were doing for
themselves, and compared their state with our own, it seemed to me that
there was work in plenty to be done at home, and so I returned.
Pages:
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306