Mr. Verstraeten sat for a moment in contemplation: then he whispered something to his wife, and for a long time they talked together in an undertone.
Marie however could not get along with her reading, so she went up-stairs to Lili. She found her sobbing, with her little head buried in the pillows.
“Lili!” she cried softly.
Lili started when she heard Marie’s voice.
“Oh, leave me alone, do!” she cried impatiently.
But Marie took her hands and forced her to look up.
“Lili, how can you be so foolish?” she said, in her gently penetrating tones. “You are making yourself miserable about nothing. In this way we won’t be able to get along at all together, if you sit and brood like that at every word that is said. Lili, come now.”
“Oh, do let me alone!”
“Do you think it so nice, then, to make yourself unhappy, and lie here alone, crying? Why don’t you speak to me frankly? Isn’t it much better to trust one another, and be open and straightforward?”
How gladly would she herself have spoken, and unbosomed herself to Lili or to her mother! But no, she could not, there were some feelings that were best hidden.