"I think so too; and I had a right to be angry." She began to feel quite certain of this.
"I have been talking it over with Emma," said Mrs. Morrison, "and I find she did not understand the game. She really played as Gladys said, but she did it by mistake."
"Did she? But Gladys ought to have known Emma wouldn't cheat."
"And of course there was nothing for you to do, but throw down the dominoes and accuse Gladys of telling a story?"
"But, mother—" Frances hesitated.
"Suppose you had told Gladys that there must be some mistake, and then had tried to find out what it was."
"But I was so provoked."
"Yes, and you lost your self-control. You let yourself be ruled by your temper. It is sometimes right to be angry, but it is never right to be in a passion."
"Don't you think I am getting better of my temper?" Frances asked meekly.
"Yes, dear; I have thought so lately, and it was right for you to want to defend Emma; but to throw the dominoes on the floor, to be in such a fury—my darling, it makes me afraid for you! You might sometime do something that all your life would be a sorrow to you. God meant you to rule your feelings and passions, not be ruled by them. You are like a soldier who has surrendered to the enemy he might have conquered."