“Mary and I have each been looking through certain of our old treasures to see if we could find anything suitable to give you for this happy occasion, and we have decided upon the two fans our uncle, General Alvers, gave to us for our first ball in Dublin. They are old-fashioned, perhaps, but they are very good and we hope you will value them for our sakes.”
“Yes, that is it, sister,” murmured Miss Mary; “we hope you will value them for our sakes.”
“How good of you!” cried Paddy and Eileen together, and then Paddy flew straight at each little lady and hugged them both in turn. When she had released them, Miss Jane rose and went to a drawer, and took from it two parcels which she slowly began to unfold. At last, from enough tissue paper to have kept half a dozen fans in, she drew two beautiful hand-painted ivory ones, and presented them to the two girls.
“Oh! lovely! lovely!” and Paddy was almost beside herself. “But how can you bear to part with them!”
“Are you sure you would not rather lend them?” asked Eileen gently.
“No, my dear, Mary and I have thought it over, and we have decided it is folly to hoard up pretty things that might be giving pleasure to someone we love. We had our time when we were young, and we were very happy, and loved pretty things as you do. Now it is your turn, and we must sit and look on.”
“You seem to have been doing that always,” exclaimed Paddy with a sudden burst, “just sitting and looking on at other people’s happiness,” while Eileen slipped a hand into little Miss Mary’s with her slow sweet smile.
“Oh, no, my dear,” Aunt Jane answered at once, “we had just as gay a time as you and Eileen when we were your age.”
She paused.
“And then!” said Paddy, with half-veiled eagerness.