THE OTHER
MARGARET
497
to have a gift in advance of her birthday, it was something she had
always wanted as a child and had never been able to induce her
parents to allow, that she should have one, just one, of her presents
before the others, and the lamb itself was simply beautiful, quite the
nicest thing Margaret had ever made. "Oh, I love it," she said, strok–
ing its face and then its rump. "Why darling !" she cried, "it looks
exactly like you!" And Margaret had to submit to the child's pain
at seeing the eminence of grief and grievance swept away. But at
last, carried beyond the vacant moment when the forgiving and
forgiven feeling had not yet come, she sat there in an embarrassed
glow, beaming shyly as her mother kissed her and said quietly and
finally, "Thank you."
When they were in the dining-room, all three of them feeling
chastened and purged, Lucy said, "I must have it here by my place."
And she put the lamb by her at the table, touching its cheek affec–
tionately.
The dinner that Lucy had cooked was served by the other Mar–
garet. She was a tall,
r~ther
light colored girl, with a genteel manner
and eyebrows that were now kept very high.
As
she presented the
casserole to Lucy, she looked far off into a distance and stood a
little too far away for convenience. Lucy sat there ·with the serving
spoon and fork in her hand and then said, "Come a little closer, Mar–
garet." Margaret Elwin sat rigid, watching. Margaret the maid edged
a little closer and continued her gaze. She moved to serve Elwin but
Lucy said, "It's Margaret you serve next." Her tone was a little dry.
Margaret Elwin flushed and looked mortified. It had been a matter of
some satisfaction that she was now of an age to be served at table just
after her mother, but she hated to have a point made of it if Mar–
garet objected, and Margaret did seem to object and would not ac–
cept the reassuring smile that was being offered her over the casserole.
In the interval between the serving of the casserole and the
serving of the salad that had once that evening made the
fam~ly
peace,
Margaret held her parents with a stern and desperate eye. But she
was unable to suppress a glance her mother sent to her father, a
glance that had in it a touch of mild triumph. And her father did not
this time fortify himself against it. The odds were terribly against her
and she looked from one to the other and said in ap intense whisper,
"It's not her fault. She's not responsible."
"Why not?" Elwin asked.
It was his voice that made the question baffling to Margaret.
She did not answer, or try to.
It
was not merely that the question was,
for the moment, beyond her powers. Nor was it that she was puzzled
