"Oh yes! Isn't it a lovely little teapot? I was so disappointed when I found I had not enough money to buy it! I have five shillings; and please, Aunt Pamela, you'll let me pay you that, won't you?"
"You will probably want it for something else, Marigold."
"No. I should like you to take the money, please, if you do not mind, for then it will seem more like my present to mother, won't it?"
"Very well. You need not mention to her that I paid anything towards it; do you understand, child?"
"I will not tell her if you don't wish it, Aunt Pamela. Let me see; she will get it to-morrow, and if she writes at once, I shall have a letter from her the day after."
Marigold was right in her surmise, for two days later came the expected letter. Mrs. Holcroft told what a surprise Marigold's present had been to her, and how much she liked and admired it. Then she went on to say that the boys had returned from Hastings set up in health, and looking as brown as berries, after a most enjoyable visit. "I shall never be able to properly thank all those who are so good to my dear children," she wrote, "but I am sure God will bless them! Oh, Marigold, if your father could but know! Perhaps he does."
Marigold showed her mother's letter to Miss Pamela, who read it in silence, and returned it without a word.
"Mother is very pleased, isn't she?" Marigold said timidly.
"Evidently. I am glad your brothers have benefited by their change."
"Yes," the little girl answered happily. "So am I!"