“Frolic, my child! You seem to have plenty.”
“Not enough—not enough—not nearly enough for a wild girl of Aberdeenshire, a girl who has lived on the moors and loved them.”
“What do you want, dear child?”
“I want most awfully, with your permission, to go with my two sisters Sylvia and Hester to have tea with the Mileses. I want to pet those dogs again, and I want to go particularly badly between now and next Thursday.”
“And why especially between now and next Thursday?”
“Ah, I can’t quite give you the reason. There is a reason. Please—please—please say yes!”
“It is certainly against my rules.”
“But, dear Mrs. Haddo, it isn’t against your rules if you give leave,” pleaded the girl.
“You are very clever at arguing, Betty. I certainly have liberty to break rules in individual cases. Well, dear child, it shall be so. I will send a line to Mrs. Miles to ask her to expect you and your sisters to-morrow. A servant shall accompany you, and will call again later on. You can only stay about one hour at the farm. To-morrow is a half-holiday, so it will be all right.”
“Oh, how kind of you!” said Betty.