He felt a little embarrassed at the prospect of meeting her the next
morning, but she broke the ice at once by coming to him on the piazza and
extending her hand in smiling frankness as she said: "You are neither
unjust nor ungenerous, Burt, or you would not have written me such a
note. I take you at your word. As you said the first evening I came, we
shall have jolly times together."
The young fellow was immensely relieved and grateful, and he showed it.
Soon afterward he went about the affairs of the day happier than he had
been for a long time. Indeed, it soon became evident that his explosion
on the previous evening had cleared the air generally. Amy felt that the
one threatening cloud had sunk below the horizon. As the days passed, and
Burt proved that he could keep his promise, her thoughts grew as serene
as those of Johnnie. Her household duties were not very many, and yet she
did certain things regularly. The old people found that she rarely forgot
them, and she had the grace to see when she could help and cheer.
Attentions that must be constantly asked for have little charm. A day
rarely passed that did she not give one or more of its best hours to her
music and drawing; for, while she never expected to excel in these arts,
she had already learned that they would enable her to give much pleasure
to others. Her pencil, also, was of great assistance in her study of
out-door life, for the fixed attention which it required to draw a plant,
tree, or bit of scenery revealed its characteristics.
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