"I don't know how it is," said Charlotte, in a tone of distress, "but I seem to be saying things I ought not to speak of. If I were clever it would not happen."
"You are clever, dear, and you are good; that is why I love you."
"If I only thought that what I have said without intending it, and what perhaps I have made you think without intending it, wouldn't make you run away from us----"
"I will not run away, Charlotte. If you wish it, I will stay as long as I have promised."
"I do wish it; with all my heart I wish it. I never had a friend like you; I never had a sister----"
But here Charlotte quite broke down; her sobs would not allow her to proceed.
"There, there, dear," said Mrs. Grantham, soothing her. "Tears on your birthday! Why, Charlotte, what are you thinking of? And with a true friend by your side----!"
"I know, I know," murmured Charlotte. "I am very ungrateful."
"You are a dear, loveable young woman, and you have won my heart. And who knows whether I may not be able to help you just where you most need help? There is a knock at the door. Don't move; no one must catch you crying, or they will have a bad opinion of me. I will go and see who it is."
It was a maid with a little parcel for Charlotte.