"We generally have tea here," she said, "because it is so sunny and pleasant at this hour of the day. Won't you take this easy chair, Miss Selina?"
"No, thank you," was the reply, as Miss Selina selected a straight-backed chair, on which she sat bolt upright, looking as gaunt and stiff as usual. "I was never accustomed to loll when I was young, and I don't mean to begin now I'm old."
Miss Penelope laughed as she accepted the seat which her sister despised. She was looking brighter and more cheerful than she generally did.
"We had a visit from the boys this morning," she told Mrs. Barton; "they came to show their watches, and to bring us some flowers from their own gardens."
"We did not fail to appreciate the kindly thoughts which evidently prompted their gifts to us," Miss Selina remarked. "How well both boys look! You know I am nothing if not outspoken, and I always speak my mind. So I must tell you how much I consider Theodore has improved. He was always a dear boy; but I can mark your influence on him—I can indeed."
"It is most evident," Miss Penelope said; and she spoke cordially, for she had long ceased to grudge Mrs. Barton her due. "We were very pleased to hear how he spoke of you," she continued earnestly; "he called you 'mother,' as though he was accustomed to do so, too."
"He always does now," Mrs. Barton responded, her face beaming with happy smiles.
"Did I not say he would one day of his own free will?" Miss Selina exclaimed heartily.
"You did indeed!"
Miss Penelope flushed, for she remembered the occasion well. She recognised now how foolish and spiteful she had been, and was honestly glad that Theodore was on good terms with his stepmother. A few minutes later Mr. Barton came in, and was shortly followed by the boys.