I have been in sad mischief, for I
broke the conservatory and a palm-tree with my umbrella; and I did
still worse, for I broke my promise and told all about what you told me
never to. I will tell you all when I come home, and I hope you will
forgive me. I wish I was at home. It is very horrid when they say one
is good and one knows one is not; but I am very happy, and Lord
Rotherwood is nicer than ever, and so is Fly.
'I am your affectionate and penitent and dutiful little daughter,
'MARIA MILLICENT MERRIFIELD.'
With all mamma's intuitive knowledge of her little daughter's mind and
forms of expression, she was puzzled by this note and the various
fractures it described. She obeyed its injunctions of secrecy, even
with regard to Gillian and Bessie, though she could not help wishing
that the latter could have seen and judged of her Mysie.
Grandmamma was somewhat disappointed to have missed her eldest
grandson, but she was obliged to leave Silverton two days before his
return with his little sister. She had certainly escaped the full
tumult of the entire household, but Bessie observed that she suspected
that it might have been preferred to the general quiescence.
In spite of all the regrets that Bessie's more coeval cousins, Alethea
and Phyllis were not at home, she and her aunt each felt that a new
friendship had been made, and that they understood each other, and
Bessie had uttered her resolution henceforth always to think of the
impression for good or evil produced on the readers, as well as of the
effectiveness of her story.
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