“Don’t they look lovely together!” exclaimed Fan. “Mamma is as much of a lady as Miss Churchill.”
CHAPTER VII.
“O mamma, wonders will never cease!” exclaimed Fan. “To think that I should be singled out for such favors! Why, Kate Fairlie would die of envy this blessed moment, if she knew it!”
“And how charming Miss Churchill was!” I said.
“She is a very lovely woman, and she was unusually cordial to-day.”
“Do you suppose it was that she—wanted a favor?” asked Fanny, slowly.
“No my dear. I think she told the simple truth. They were lonesome at home, and the unsocial element at the Maynards’ jarred upon her. Our homelikeness, if I may use the word, just fitted in with her longing. It always appeared to me such an unwise fashion of the members of a family meeting only at meals. I am not willing to be shut out of your lives, my girls.”
“And you shall not be, mamma mia. We will share our sorrows, and joys, and new dresses. I’ll talk of sublime resignation to poverty, and then make visits in aristocratic circles.”
“And in the meanwhile we might try on this garment. But, my dear, do not let your spirits run away with you. Flippancy is not brightness.”