"Mamma."
"Why would she?"
"She said so."
"I don't see why she would, I am sure. If Aunt Erminia hires a girl, she'll pay for her."
"But that will come out of what Aunt Erminia pays to mamma; and what Aunt Erminia pays to mamma is what we have got to live upon."
"Who said so?"
"Mamma said so." Matilda answered with her lip trembling; for the bringing facts all down to hard detail was difficult to bear.
"Well, I do think," exclaimed Maria, "if I had a sister sick and not able to help herself, I would not be so mean!"
Matilda sat still and cried and said nothing.
"Who is going to do all the work then, Tilly?"