Now hear me, do not cry; I will tell you what you may do. Nobody has heard it, we will take the pieces and put them together behind a dish; and to-morrow, all of a sudden, you may say you have heard something fall in the closet; then go and look, and Lady Grandison will think the cat threw it down, or some other accident made it fall.
EMILIA.
No, Edward,—that I will never do; it would be much worse than breaking it through idle curiosity.
EDWARD.
What will you do then? your mother will be displeased.
EMILIA.
I would sooner bear her displeasure a week, than tell such a falsehood. Hear me, I will go to her, confess my fault; and indeed I shall be more careful for the future.
She then ran trembling to her mother; but how was she astonished, when the good Lady spoke kindly to her. If you had broken all my china by accident, my child, I should not have chid you; your foolish curiosity was blameable; but your attention to truth has more than atoned for it: I find I can rely on your veracity. She kissed her mother’s hand, and returned to tell us what had happened. Edward looked ashamed, and said, he would never advise such an artifice again, he should not like to deceive such a kind Lady, or lose her good opinion. Charles could not help saying, when we tell a lie we offer an affront to God. Dr. Bartlett often observes, he is ever present, and abhors a liar.
WILLIAM.