A little before the breakfast hour Mr. Dinsmore and Elsie went to the drawing-room, where they found Rose, Mildred, and Annis.
No one else was there at the moment, though very soon Dr. Landreth and Mr. Travilla came in; then one guest after another until nearly all were present.
The two ladies and Annis embraced Elsie in turn, saying how glad they were to see her looking so well in spite of her accident, and how alarmed about her they had been.
“Are you quite sure that you feel none the worse for it?” asked Rose.
“No, mamma; I am so very sorry to have broken that lovely statue.”
“It is a pity,” Rose said with a slight smile, “but I am sure your papa does not want you to grieve in the very least over it, and my query referred altogether to bodily injury.”
“Please excuse me, mamma,” Elsie said, “I’m afraid my misunderstanding was partly wilful. I have a few bruises, but they scarcely hurt me unless they are touched.”
Inquiries, condolences, and Christmas greetings and good wishes were showered upon her as the other visitors gathered in, until at length Enna remarked with a disdainful toss of the head, “Dear me! Elsie, what a fuss everybody does make over you, just because you had a trifling accident—a fall off a chair!”
“A fall off a chair, Miss Enna,” said Mr. Travilla, “has sometimes proved a very serious affair; and if that statue had fallen on instead of alongside of our little friend, it would without doubt have broken some of her bones, if nothing worse.”
“I’m glad it didn’t then; ’twould have spoiled all our fun, for of course Horace would have sent us all home at once.”