She fancied she could _learn_ to run that house, and run it well! And forthwith she descended to the kitchen and told the then reigning tormentor that her wages would be paid until the end of the week, but that her services would be immediately dispensed with.
Billy was well aware now that housekeeping was a matter of more than muffins and date puffs.

She could gauge, in a measure, the magnitude of the task to which she had set herself.

But she did not falter; and very systematically she set about making her plans.
With a good stout woman to come in twice a week for the heavier work, she believed she could manage by herself very well until Eliza could come back.

At least she could serve more palatable meals than the most of those that had appeared lately; and at least she could try to make a home that would not drive Bertram to club dinners, and Uncle William to hungry wanderings from room to room.

Meanwhile, all the time, she could be learning, and in due course she would reach that shining goal of Housekeeping Efficiency, short of which--according to Aunt Hannah and the "Talk to Young Wives"-- no woman need hope for a waneless honeymoon.
So chaotic and erratic had been the household service, and so quietly did Billy slip into her new role, that it was not until the second meal after the maid's departure that the master of the house discovered what had happened.