Mysie had left off courting her cousin, finding that it only brought
her rebuffs, and went her own way as before, pleased and honoured when
Gillian would consort with her, but generally paring with her younger
sister.
Dolores, though hitherto ungracious, missed her attentions, and decided
that they were 'all falseness.' Wilfred absolutely did tease and annoy
her whenever he could, Fergus imitated him, and Valetta enjoyed and
abetted him. These three had all been against her ever since the
affair of the arrow; but Wilfred had not many opportunities of
tormenting her, for in the house there was a perpetual quiet
supervision and influence. Mrs. Halfpenny was sure to detect traps in
the passage, or bounces at the door. Miss Vincent looked daggers if
other people's lesson books were interfered with. Mamma had eyes all
round, and nobody dared to tease or play tricks in her presence. Hal,
Gillian, and even Mysie always thwarted such amiable acts as putting a
dead wasp into a shoe, or snapping a book in the reader's face; while,
as to venturing into the general family active games, Dolores would
have felt it like rushing into a corobboree of savages!
There was one wet afternoon when they could not even get as far as to
the loft over the stables; at least the little ones could not have done
so, and it was decided that it would be very cruel to them for all the
others to run off, and leave them to Mrs. Halfpenny; so the plan was
given up.
Partly because Lady Merrifield thought it very amiable in Mysie and
Valetta to make the sacrifice, and partly to disperse the thundercloud
she saw gathering on Wilfred's brow, she not only consented to a
magnificent and extraordinary game at wolves and bears all over the
house, but even devoted herself to keeping Mrs.
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