"No, not now. I did at the time, but afterwards I began to feel differently. I—I thought perhaps you did not understand how much I minded to hear mother spoken of like that."
"Oh, but I did understand. I did it on purpose to annoy you," Muriel confessed frankly. "I disliked you, because I saw Miss Smith thought a lot of you. She said to me one day: 'I wish you were as good and attentive as Marigold Holcroft; I never have to tell her the same thing twice!' I was jealous of you from the first."
"Oh, Muriel!" in reproachful tones.
"I was; and you must have seen it. That is why I was so astonished when you offered to help me with that sum. What made you do it?"
"I was sorry to see you crying."
"How odd! I should have been glad if it had been you! I wonder why you don't hate me?"
"I'm afraid I did hate you once; but I found if I went on hating you and feeling wicked I couldn't pray, so I tried to forgive you instead."
"Why couldn't you pray?" in accents of intense astonishment and curiosity.
"Because I couldn't say, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us.' That was why."
"You funny girl! I should never have thought about that at all."