Presently Rose looked up, and meeting the bright pleasant eyes,

observed--"Violetta has been very good, and said all her lessons quite

perfect, and she would like to sit up till her Aunt Ailie comes home. Do

you think she may?"

"Will she not be tired to-morrow?"

"Oh, then she will be lazy, and not get up when she is called, till I

pull all the clothes off, and that will be fun."

"Or she may be fretful now?"

A series of little squeaks ensued, followed by "Now, my love; that is

taking a very unfair advantage of my promise. You will make your poor

Aunt Ermine's head ache, and I shall have to send you to bed."

"Would not a story pass away the time?"

"You tell it, Aunt Ermine; your stories are always the best. And let

there be a fairy in it!"

The fairy had nearly performed her part, when the arrival took place,

and Rose darted forward to receive Aunt Ailie's greeting kiss.

"Yes, Rosie--yes, Violetta; what do you think I have got for you?"

And out came a doll's chair with a broken leg, condemned by the

departing pupils, and granted with a laugh to the governess's request

to take it to her little niece; but never in its best days had the chair

been so prized. It was introduced to Violetta as the reward of virtue

for having controlled her fretfulness, and the repair of its infirmity

was the first consideration that occupied all the three. After all,

Violetta's sitting posture was, as Alison observed, an example of the

inclined plane, but that was nothing to Rose, and the seance would

have been indefinitely prolonged, but for considerations for Violetta's

health.

The sisters were alike, and Alison had, like her elder, what is

emphatically called countenance, but her features were less chiselled,

and her dark straight brows so nearly met that, as Rose had once

remarked, they made a bridge of one arch instead of two. Six years

younger, in full health, and daily battling with the world, Alison had a

remarkable look of concentration and vigour, her upright bearing, clear

decided speech, and glance of kindness won instant respect and reliance,

but her face missed the radiant beamy brightness of her sister's; her

face was sweet and winning, but it was not habitual with her, and there

was about her a look as if some terrible wave of grief or suffering

had swept over her ere yet the features were fully fixed, and had thus

moulded her expression for life. But playfulness was the tone that

reigned around Ermine's couch at ordinary moments, and beside her the

grave Alison was lively, not with effort, but by infection.

"There," she said, holding up a cheque; "now we'll have a jubilee,

and take you down under the East cliff, and we'll invest a shilling in

'Ivanhoe,' and Rose and Violetta shall open their ears!"




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024