“I don't know,” she answered, her upper lip trembling as though she were going to cry. “I want to go home with Mother.”
“You can't go home,” he said firmly, “and you can't see your mother, because she's asleep.”
“I've made my shoes dirty,” she said, looking down at her feet, “and I'm so tired of holding my sunshade.”
“I should shut it up,” Jeremy said without any hesitation. “I think it's a silly thing. I'm glad I'm not a girl. Do you have to take it with you everywhere?”
“Not if it's raining. Then I have an umbrella.”
“I think you'd better come and see the crabs,” he settled. “They're only just over there.”
She moved along with him reluctantly, looking back continually to where her mother ought to be.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Jeremy asked politely.
“No,” she said, without any hesitation, “I want to go home.”
“She's as selfish as anything,” he thought to himself. “We're giving the party, and she ought to have said 'Yes' even if she wasn't.”