run it contemptuously with her little finger

[Coffee Break]

I encountered the expression "run it contemptuously with her little finger", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:

Yet what did he want? A domineering woman who bossed him? A woman who filled the house with her own friends and drove him to his bedroom—or one who was always out, neglecting the children and the house? Or one who whimpered and grumbled for more money?

He knew that the household management of their small home strained her fragile little body and mind to breaking point, but would he have had a masterful woman to run it contemptuously with her little finger?

- R. C. Sherriff, The Fortnight in September, Chapter 10

This is a novel published in 1931, which describes a fortnight in September in which an English family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mary, Dick, and Ernie go on a holiday. On the day of departure, Mr. Stevens is looking across at his wife who is seated opposite to him in the carriage of a train, and is thinking about his wife and household management.

In this part, I am not sure what the underlined expression means.
I vaguely guess that "little finger" might be a metaphor to mean "with little effort", but I am not so sure...

Actually, there is another instance where "little finger" is used in this novel:

“Let’s go the other way. We’re walking along like a girl’s school!”
It was the first thing he had said to her, or at least, the first words of his that came intelligibly to her bewildered brain: she turned with him as if some mighty power had reached out and twisted her with its little finger.

So I guess it does not necessarily have to do with a physical little finger, but I cannot grasp what it means, so I just wanted to ask you.

 

[Tarheel]

It's a guess in my part, but it seems that something that is done with your little finger is something easily done. I'm guessing that "contemptuously" indicates it's something that takes so little effort that it's beneath her.

 

[Barque]

He knew that the household management of their small home strained her fragile little body and mind to breaking point, but would he have had a masterful woman to run it contemptuously with her little finger?

He knew the household management was an effort for her. He's asking himself, "Would I have preferred someone who could effortlessly run the household?"

I vaguely guess that "little finger" might be a metaphor to mean "with little effort", but I am not so sure...

Yes.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Tarheel and @Barque,

Thank you very much for the explanations.
So this "little finger" is the author's metaphor to mean "with little effort"!

The masterful woman runs the household, but the running of the household requires so little effort that she "contemptuously (in a little condescending/looking-down manner)" runs it.

And as for the second quote, she turned her body with him, just as if the fate gave a little effort on its part to turn her body around.

I sincerely appreciate your help.

 

[Barque]

And as for the second quote, she turned her body with him, just as if the fate gave a little effort on its part to turn her body around.

In the second quote, he suggested a change of direction. He turned to go the other way and she followed him.

She seems to have been bewildered by something and she wasn't really thinking about what she was doing. She just turned automatically, as if some mighty power had picked her up and turned her around.