"I want to look at aunt Emma's watch," replied the child, "I hear it ticking in her pocket, and she says I must not see it till I have done!"
"How came you by a watch, Emma?" enquired Mrs. Watson, in a tone which seemed to imply a suspicion of its being honestly acquired. "Let me see it!"
"It was a gift from my uncle," replied poor Emma, producing it rather unwillingly.
It was a very handsome one, and had her name engraved inside the lid.
"I want a watch very much—mine is not to my taste," observed Mrs. Watson, greedily eyeing her sister-in-law's property. "You would not like to exchange, would you, Emma?"
"Certainly not," replied she hastily; "it was a keepsake from him, and I would not willingly part with it for any thing."
"Don't you think you had better take Janetta to the nursery?" said Mrs. Watson, "I am sure she would learn a great deal better there than here, where we are talking. There, darling, go with Emma like a pet."
Emma saw that her sister-in-law wanted to get rid of her, but she really thought the quiet of the nursery would be preferable to the drawing-room worries, and she gladly withdrew.
"I don't quite understand that sister of yours, Margaret," said Jane, as soon as they were left together; "I think she seems very proud and unpleasant—a good deal of conceit and pertness, mingled in her manner."
"Exactly so, dear Jane, with your usual candour and penetration, you have precisely described her character."