“Is not this nice, mama?” asked she, laying herself back among the cushions with a sigh of satisfaction.
“Very nice and pleasant,” said her mother, touching her hand gently. This stood to the blind girl for a smile.
“And you are glad you came, mama?”
“Very glad, love. You have quite a colour already.”
“And so have you, mama,” said Frederica, glancing round. “When were you out last?”
“Not for a long time—not since we went in a sleigh,” said Selina, answering for her. “We thought the roads could not be quite good yet. And mama is afraid of the cold.”
“Not since sleighing!” exclaimed Frederica: “you don’t know your privileges. Dixen, I am surprised at you.”
“It has no’ been my fault, Miss Frederica, I can assure you,” said Dixen gravely.
“I have not felt inclined to go out,” said Mrs Vane; “and, indeed, there is little pleasure in going when one has to be so muffled from the cold.”
“But, mama, you thought you could not come to-day. You thought it would be too much for you, and now you enjoy it. It is just what you need, and Selina too. You want me to be at home to take care of you both.”