“Oh, yes,” she said, “I ’amember. Does everybody’s teeth come like that? Doesn’t any babies have them all ready?”
“No,” said nurse; “why, even the Perrys’ baby that’s more than a year old hasn’t got all its teeth yet, and it can’t say many words. Don’t you trouble, Miss Mary, the teeth and the talking will come all right. There now,” as little Dolly looked up with a crow in nurse’s smiling face, “Miss Baby knows all about it, you see!”
Mary put her arms round baby and gave her another big hug.
“Oh, you dear little sweet!” she said. “Oh, nurse, I do think she’s got such lots of things to tell me if only she could speak!”
Baby gave a little chuckle as much as to say, “No fear, I’ll talk fast enough before long;” and Mary, who was rather like an April day, set off laughing so much that she did not hear steps coming along the terrace till a voice said, quite close to her—
“Well, Mary, darling, what are you and baby so merry about?”
It was mamma. Mary looked at her, and then mamma saw that her eyes were red.
“It’s all right now ma’am,” said nurse, for she knew that mamma was wondering what was the matter even though she had not asked; so mamma went on to tell them what she had come out about, for she knew that when Mary had had a fit of crying the tears were rather ready to come back again if anything more was said about her troubles.
“Nurse,” she said, “I want you to dress Miss Mary as quickly as possible after her dinner. I’m going to take her a drive with me—quite a long drive; I’m going to the town to choose a perambulator for baby.”
“Oh, mamma!” said Mary in great delight, “how lovely! And may I get into the p’ram-bilator to see if it’s comfor’ble for baby?”