But he was away
about an order for shells (not sea; war), and I was to bear my
chiding alone. I had eaten my fruit and serial, and was about to
begin on sausage, when mother came in, having risen early from
her slumbers to take the decorations to the Hospital.
"So here you are, wreched child!" she said, giving me one
of her coldest looks. "Barbara, I wonder if you ever think
whither you are tending."
I ate a sausage.
What, Dear Dairy, was there to say?
"To disobey!" she went on. "To force yourself on the
atention of Mr. Beresford, in a borowed dress, with your
eyelashes blackend and your face painted----"
"I should think, mother," I observed, "that if he wants to
marry into this family, and is not merely being dragged into it,
that he ought to see the worst at the start." She glired,
without speaking. "You know," I continued, "it would be a
dreadfull thing to have the Ceramony performed and everything to
late to back out, and then have _me_ Sprung on him. It wouldn't
be honest, would it?"
"Barbara!" she said in a terrable tone. "First
disobedience, and now sarcasm.
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