“I am afraid I also have bad news!”
“How?”
“I went to see my uncle, Mr Hayes.”
“Yes; it was good of you—I remember.”
“I failed in my mission. Mr Hayes says that Miss Peel, our Prissie’s aunt, would rather die than accept help from anyone.”
“Oh, how obstinate some people are!” replied Maggie, wearily. “Happiness, help, and succour come to their very door, and they turn these good things away.”
“That is true,” replied Hammond. “I am firmly convinced,” he added, “that the good angel of happiness is within the reach of most of us once at least in our lives; but for a whim—often for a mere whim—we tell him to go.”
Maggie’s face grew very white. “I must say ‘Good-bye’: I am going home,” she said, rising; then she added, looking full at Hammond, “Sometimes it is necessary to reject happiness; and necessity ought not to be spoken of as a whim.”