Then she stood waiting. She was a small woman, short and straight-waisted like a child in her brown cotton gown. Her forehead was mild and benevolent between the smooth curves of gray hair; there were meek
downward lines about her nose and mouth; but her eyes, fixed upon the old man, looked as if the meekness had
been the result of her own will, never of the will of another.
What does this description of mother reveal to the reader?