"
"I will not listen to you any more if you talk so foolishly. Try and
think of something else--of the Christmas pantomime. You know grannie
says you shall go if you do your lessons well," returned Katherine.
"It isn't silly!" exclaimed Cecil. "Mammy tells us we must take care of
her when we are rich men, and that we shall be able to hold up our heads
as high as any one. _I_ can hold up my head _now_."
Such conversations were of frequent occurrence, and kept Katherine in a
state of mental irritation.
Toward the end of October Mrs. Burnett brought relief in the shape of an
invitation to Mrs. Frederic.
The Burnett family were spending the "dark days before Christmas" at
Brighton, and thither hied the lively young widow in great glee. Things
generally went smoother in her absence; the boys were more obedient, the
meals more punctual.
Nevertheless Katherine observed that her mother did not settle to her
writing as usual. Occasionally she shut herself up in the study, but
when Katherine came in unexpectedly she generally found her resting her
elbow on the table and her head on her hand, gazing at the blank sheet
before her, or leaning back in her chair, evidently lost in thought.
"You do not seem to take much to your writing, mother dear," said
Katherine one morning as she entered and sat down on a stool beside her.
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