"You unlucky child! What has brought you home to-day?"
Therese was certainly very much taken aback, but she was familiar with her mother's moods; and besides, she thought she understood at once the cause of Mrs. Beaubien's evident discomposure:
"Don't be alarmed, mother. I know what you are thinking of, but I have not lost my place. On the contrary, they want me to stay all summer. But Mrs. Tremaine said I must consult you about the matter, and so she let me come for a little visit, and I am to stay till Monday."
By this time Mrs. Beaubien seemed to have recovered her presence of mind.
"She is very good, I am sure. I hope she has not put herself to inconvenience in the matter?" said she, trying to speak in her usual tone.
"Oh no; she said she did not mind. See what she has sent you. And only think, mamma! She has paid me seventy-five cents a week instead of fifty for all the time I have been there. So I have half as much again as I expected, and I have brought it home to you."
"You should not have done that," said her mother. "Better leave it in madame's hands. She is a good lady, and will advise you how to lay it out to the best advantage."
"I thought you would take it and buy yourself a new dress for Sunday," said Therese, evidently disappointed.
"No, no, child! What have I to do with Sunday? Well, there! Never mind. You are a good girl to think of me; but you need clothes more than I. Run up-stairs and see the new kittens."
Therese did as she was bid. She certainly did brush away a tear or two from her long black lashes as she bent over the kittens' basket and fondled the old cat.