"'I am not quite bad tempered enough to take offence where none is meant, Miss Eaton.'
"'Bad tempered? Why, I think you have the sweetest disposition I ever knew! Mamma was saying only this morning, that you had a face like an angel.'
"I doubted that, for I was confident Mrs. Eaton had no great prepossession in my favor, but of course I let it pass.
"'I am so heedless,' moaned Lucy; 'I say everything that comes in my head—mamma says she wishes I could acquire a little of your dignity—but I never shall be like you—never.'
"The glance of self satisfaction which she cast in the mirror where her pretty figure was reflected gracefully curled up among the sofa cushions, was extremely amusing to me.
"'I think,' I said, 'that you may congratulate yourself on there being no resemblance between us.'
"'Oh, that was not what I meant,' she replied. 'You are very beautiful, and I am sure nobody would ever say that of poor little me.'
"I thought I had now talked all the nonsense that the most exaggerated idea of courtesy could require, so I said—
"'You must not think me unkind, but—'
"'Unkind?' she repeated. 'I never knew you to have an unkind thought. Whatever you do or say would always be considered charming.'