"How interesting everything is in the country!" Marigold said thoughtfully. "Oh, how I wish mother and the boys could have half the pleasures I get!"
"Perhaps their turn will come some day," was the cheery response. "One can never tell what the future holds in store for us. Your aunts seem very good, kind women, and anxious to make you happy."
"Yes; and indeed I am happy," the little girl declared earnestly.
"Then you can say, like the Psalmist: 'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.' Is it not so?"
"Yes."
After a moment's hesitation, Marigold explained to her new friend all about her mother and brothers, and her London home. Mrs. Adams listened with great interest, her bright dark eyes full of kindly sympathy.
"I see the thought troubles you that life is so much easier and pleasanter for you than for your mother and brothers," she said gravely; "but I would not let that worry me if I were you. It seems to me that your duty lies with your aunts at Exeter, for the present, at any rate. Has it ever occurred to you that they may want you more than your mother does?"
"No, never!"
"I think it is very possible they do. You tell me they make a happy home for you; you should enjoy it with a thankful heart, as a blessing God has given you, and not wonder why He has selected you instead of others to receive so many benefits. It is His will it should be so. When God bestows the good things of this world upon anyone, depend upon it He means them to be made the most of and appreciated. Do not worry about your mother, child; she has her Heavenly Father for a Guide, and He will mark out the fitting path for her, as He does for all who trust in Him. It seems to me that to be troubled because your dear ones are denied the pleasures you enjoy is almost to mistrust God."
"But it is so hard that I should be going away for a holiday by the seaside, when I know they want a change far more than I do!" Marigold cried, her voice full of a wistful sadness. "Poor mother has not been out of London for years, and the boys have so often talked of what they would do if they were in the country. Oh, Mrs. Adams, don't you think it is hard?"