"No, she does not," agreed Lucy. "I will go home with you, Hester," clinging affectionately to her new ally, as she considered Hester.
"Your mother was so nervous at your being so late, that Miss Somerville sent me to look for you."
"Come on, Lena," said Milly, and linking her arm into her elder sister's, they hurried on first, followed by Hester and Lucy.
At first neither of the two girls spoke as they walked quickly along, but soon the steep hill, they had to ascend, made them slacken their pace.
"Lena," said Milly, "you are not still angry with Lucy; she is so dreadfully passionate sometimes, but she does not mean all she says."
"Then she ought to be punished," was the short answer.
"So she always is. And she does not get into rages nearly as often as she did, because she knows how wicked it is, and how it grieves the Lord Jesus," said Milly reverently, adding, as a sort of apology for her little sister, "And she is very young, you know."
The life of a child in India is very different to what it is in this country; and Millicent, thoughtful and gentle by nature, had become more so, from having been the constant companion of her parents; for in the hill station, where their home was situated, she had no companion of her own age. The few children that were near them were all quite little, and looked upon Milly as "quite old" in comparison. Mrs. Graham had been very far from well, the last two years of their stay, and when Colonel Graham had to be away, as he often was obliged to be, on duty, it was Milly's delight and privilege to be her mother's loving little nurse and attendant. And Mama loved to have her gentle little daughter beside her, during the long days of weakness that followed the attacks of fever from which she suffered; and Milly would sit so quietly with her work, or read out to her, but oftenest they spoke of the dear child and sister in the English home. In this way, Mama soon began to depend upon her little nurse, and even to consult her, when Papa was away, upon many subjects; and she dearly liked to be consulted and trusted by Mama, and would put on an air of wisdom, and answer quite gravely and sedately on such occasions, and was beginning to think herself almost grown-up compared to little Lucy, who was full of baby fun and frolic, and apt to become so wild and noisy that she would disturb Mama, if Milly did not amuse her and keep her good. "She was a pet and a darling, and didn't know better," Milly would say at such times. It was only natural then, that Milly considered it her duty to apologise for her little sister's outburst of naughtiness. As Lena made no answer, she went on, "You won't mind, Lena dear, will you?"
"It's very hard," burst out Lena. "Mama trusted her to me, so she ought to have obeyed me; and Hester blames me, I know she does, from what she said, and she takes her part, and she has been my nurse, and ought to like me best; but nobody does love me but Auntie."
"O Lena, I do, and Papa and Mama, and Lucy."