"I am in a newspaper, mother," she said, "only imagine that!"
Mrs. Brace sighed, as she generally did in answer to Doris. The girl was far above her comprehension, and she owned it humbly with a sigh.
"What do they say, I wonder? Oh, there is a letter from Mr. Leslie!" She opened it hastily, then read aloud:
"My Dear Miss Brace,—Need I tell you my picture is the great success of the season? All London is talking about it—the papers are filled with its praise. See how much I have to thank you for! There is even a greater honor than all this praise in store; the queen has signified her gracious desire to purchase my picture! My fortune is made; the face that made sunshine at Brackenside will now shine on the walls of a royal palace. No one admires it more than your sincere friend,
"Gregory Leslie."
"There!" cried the girl, triumphantly, "the queen—even the queen is going to buy me!"
"Not you, child," said Mrs. Brace, rebukingly—"only your picture."
"It is all the same thing; the queen must have admired, or she would not have wished to purchase it."
"Gregory Leslie is a grand artist," said Mattie. "Surely some merit is due to him."
Doris laughed, as she always did at her sister's admonitions.
"If he had painted you, my dear," she said, laughingly, "I do not think the queen would have bought the picture."