"Pretty nearly; we will have you quite so in a minute," Violet answered. "Tie her sash Agnes, and smooth down the folds of her dress."
"Mamma Vi, is that strange lady any relation to you?" asked Lulu.
"Yes, she is my aunt, mamma's sister."
"She is pretty, but not nearly so pretty as Grandma Elsie."
"No; I have always thought no one else could be half so beautiful as mamma."
"Why, Mamma Vi, you are yourself!" exclaimed Lulu in a tone of honest sincerity that made Violet laugh.
"That is just your notion, little girl," she said, giving the child a kiss.
"Oh, I have eyes and can see! besides, papa thinks so, too, and Max and Gracie."
"Yes, my dear husband! he loves me, and love is very blind," murmured Vi, half to herself, with a sigh and a far-off look in the lovely azure eyes. Her thoughts were following him over the deep, wide, treacherous sea.
She stole on tiptoe into the next room for another peep at his sleeping baby girl, Lulu going with her; then hearing the tea-bell, they went down to the dining-room together.