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Page 103
"Indeed it willunless the ship sinksand you wouldn't want to be aboard then," Linda said, smiling. "Everything will be crated and insured." She stopped abruptly, barely swallowing the information that her Aunt Evelyn regularly shipped articles to her house in the south of Spain.
"Yes, of course." Mrs. Bates did not seem to have noticed the awkward stop. "You will then have to let Josephine know by telephone or cable the exact date that we will arrive and the name of the ship on which the baggage will come as soon as you have completed the arrangements. She will have to arrange to check that everything has arrived safelyof course you will have to make a list and send thatand see that my things are transported to the villa. Put in the proper number of pleases and thank-yous for me."
"Yes, Mrs. Bates."
"As soon as you have finished writing, you had better go to the steamship and train offices. You may take the car if you think that will be more convenient, or I will reimburse you for underground and cab fares."
"Rose-Anne asked whether I would make plane reservations for her and Donald while I was doing the rest of the travel work."
Mrs. Bates tskd, but good-humoredly. "Lazy children! I suppose she told you to do it as if you were a messenger girl, too. I don't know how Harriet raised those children, but she certainly didn't teach them manners. Wellif you don't mind, Linda, it would simplify matters. But if

 
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