“I just couldn’t bear to come in at all,” she explained, beamingly, laying her treasures down on the breakfast table: “it’s too lovely in the woods.”
“Go and put your flowers in water and make yourself presentable as quickly as possible, Elizabeth,” her aunt said.
Some of the brightness vanished from Blue Bonnet’s face. She gathered up her flowers in silence and left the room, returning in a few moments to take her place at the table.
“It must have been delightful in the woods this morning,” Mrs. Clyde said.
“It was, Grandmother! I’m going right back as soon as breakfast is over,” Blue Bonnet announced.
“There will not be time before church, Elizabeth,” Miss Clyde told her. “You will have to hurry, as it is.”
“But I’ve decided not to go to church this morning, Aunt Lucinda. I’ve been two Sundays, you know. It was dreadfully tiresome—the sermon. Mr. Blake does so remind me of Sarah.”
“Elizabeth!”
“He does, Aunt Lucinda. I like him out of church, all right. I wouldn’t mind going to church, if they’d have it out-of-doors, the way we used to sometimes on the ranch when the missionaries came. The singing does sound so good out-of-doors.”
“There is not time to argue the matter, Elizabeth,” Miss Clyde said, quietly. “Finish your breakfast; then go and get ready for church.”