MRS. SPENCER did not speak to Lizzie again that night; she thought it would be best to wait until the girl was in a better frame of mind.
So the next morning, when breakfast was over, and a suitable opportunity offered, she said, "Elizabeth, are you sorry for what took place last night?"
Instead of answering Lizzie picked up the corner of her apron, and began twisting it round her fingers.
"We must come to some understanding with each other, you know," went on the lady; "because I cannot keep you if you are determined to go on as you have been doing this last month. The first month you were with me you did very well indeed, and beyond showing you how I liked things done, you gave me no trouble; but since then, scarcely a day has passed but I have had to find fault with you."
"If I don't suit, I'd better go," said Lizzie sullenly.
"But do you know what that will mean for you, my girl?" asked the lady. "You have made a bad beginning of life as it is, and if you leave me, it will make things worse. You have already had three situations within twelve months, and for a girl to be constantly changing her places like that, proves that there must be something amiss with her."
"No! It ain't me; it's the places," said Lizzie.
"Well now, tell me frankly why you left your first place," said Mrs. Spencer. "I don't like to see a girl act so foolishly as you are doing. It will end in trouble for you by and by, I feel sure."
"I must take my chance of that, I suppose," said the obstinate girl still twisting at her apron.
"But you have not answered my question, and I should like to know why you left your first place," reiterated the lady. "You left your last on account of the children, but I have heard that there were no children where you lived first."