“Why afraid, uncle?”
“Too much money is a bad thing.”
“But I can give it away, you know; that is always the pleasantest part of having it I think.”
“I'm glad you feel so, for you can do much good with your fortune if you know how to use it well.”
“You shall teach me, and when I am a woman we will set up a school where nothing but the three R's shall be taught, and all the children live on oatmeal, and the girls have waists a yard round,” said Rose, with a sudden saucy smile dimpling her cheeks.
“You are an impertinent little baggage, to turn on me in that way right in the midst of my first attempt at teaching. Never mind, I'll have an extra bitter dose for you next time, miss.”
“I knew you wanted to laugh, so I gave you a chance. Now, I will be good, master, and do my lesson nicely.”
So Dr. Alec had his laugh, and then Rose sat down and took a lesson in accounts which she never forgot.
“Now come and read aloud to me; my eyes are tired, and it is pleasant to sit here by the fire while the rain pours outside and Aunt Jane lectures upstairs,” said Uncle Alec, when last month's accounts had been put in good order and a fresh page neatly begun.
Rose liked to read aloud, and gladly gave him the chapter in “Nicholas Nickleby” where the Miss Kenwigses take their French lesson. She did her very best, feeling that she was being criticised, and hoping that she might not be found wanting in this as in other things.