Stella, unabashed, proffered her skirt, full of fruit, to her aunt. "Do have some, Aunt Ellen," she cried joyously. "They're ripping, especially the big, hairy fellows."
"You will spoil your dinner," said Aunt Ellen severely, "as you have already spoilt your frock."
"Like little Miss Jane," and Stella chanted:
"Greedy, greedy little Miss Jane,
I'll never give her a present again.
She spent her sixpence on raspberry rock,
And spoilt her dinner as well as her frock."
Colonel Crayfield actually laughed; moreover, he accepted a gooseberry from Stella's grubby fingers and ate it fastidiously, burying the skin in the mould with the toe of his boot.
That evening grandmamma's hopes ran high. Augusta sent Stella to bed early, and afterwards Colonel Crayfield listened, apparently entranced, while Ellen played the piano—played "Yorkshire Bells" and "The Village Blacksmith."