"And pay long visits to the cupboard between meals, eh, mamma?"
Mr. Delancey looked anxiously to note the progress his daughter had made in the viands before her.
"Don't do anything outré in public, Della, no matter what you are obliged to do in private."
"No, papa."
"I want to see you very perfect in all things,—in all things, Della—do you understand?"
"Yes, papa."
"Make it your aim to be everything a young lady can
be. Remember you are all the child that's left me now. All my hopes are upon you—try never, never to disappoint me!"
Mr. Delancey rarely spoke so feelingly—it was a rare manner for him, and the effect of his words was very strange. Della's elegantly embroidered kerchief was clasped suddenly to her face, and she burst into a violent fit of weeping.
"Della, how un-self-possessed! you astonish me."