"Oh, Aunt Jo," the girl burst out impatiently, "I don't mean for saints! I dare say there ARE some girls who wouldn't mind being poor and shabby and lonesome and living in a boarding-house, and who would be glad they weren't hump-backed, or blind, or Siberian prisoners! But you CAN'T say you think that a girl in my position has had a fair start with a girl who is just as young, and rich and pretty and clever, and has a father and mother and everything else in the world! And if you do say so," pursued Susan, with feeling, "you certainly can't MEAN so---"
"But wait a minute, Sue! What girl, for instance?"
"Oh, thousands of girls!" Susan said, vaguely. "Emily Saunders, Alice Chauncey---"
"Emily Saunders! SUSAN! In the hospital for an operation every other month or two!" Mrs. Carroll reminded her.
"Well, but---" Susan said eagerly. "She isn't really ill. She just likes the excitement and having them fuss over her. She loves the hospital."
"Still, I wouldn't envy anyone whose home life wasn't preferable to the hospital, Sue."
"Well, Emily is queer, Aunt Jo. But in her place I wouldn't necessarily be queer."
"At the same time, considering her brother Kenneth's rather checkered career, and the fact that her big sister neglects and ignores her, and that her health is really very delicate, I don't consider Emily a happy choice for your argument, Sue."
"Well, there's Peggy Brock. She's a perfect beauty---"
"She's a Wellington, Sue. You know that stock. How many of them are already in institutions?"