When night came, Rollo found that he always felt much happier if he had kept the Sabbath strictly, than when he attempted, either secretly or openly, to evade the duty. There was a sort of freshness and vigor, too, with which he engaged in the employments of the week on Monday morning, which, though he had never stopped to account for it philosophically, he enjoyed very highly, and which made Monday morning the brightest and most animated morning of the week. So Rollo was accustomed to acquiesce very willingly in the setting apart of the sacred day to religious observances and to rest, thinking that the restraints and restrictions which it imposed were amply compensated for by the peace and comfort which it brought to his mind when he observed it aright, and by the novelty and freshness of the charm with which it invested the ordinary pursuits and enjoyments of life when it was over.
Accordingly, on this occasion, feeling a little dissatisfied with himself and uneasy in mind, in consequence of the manner in which he had spent the afternoon, Rollo determined to make all the atonement for his fault, if fault it was, that was now in his power. Accordingly, when the family rose from the table after dinner, which was about seven o'clock, and his father and mother went and sat upon the sofa together, which stood in the recess of a window looking out upon the Place Vendome, Rollo said to Jane, in an undertone,—
"Jennie, come with me."
He said this in the tone of an invitation, not of command; and Jennie understood at once, from her experience on former occasions, that Rollo had some plan for her entertainment or gratification. So she got down from her chair and went off with him very readily.
They went out at a door which led into their mother's bed room.
"Jennie," said Rollo, as he walked along with her across the room, "I am going to get the Bible and sit down here by the window and read in it. Would not you like to read with me?"
"Yes," said Jennie, "if you will find a pretty story to read about. There are a great many toward the first part of the Bible."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I will."
"And let us go into my room to read," said Jennie. "I like my room the best."
"Well," said Rollo, "I like your room best, too."