At last she made a proposition
which nearly took her own breath away with the magnitude of its
generosity. She would treat the entire party to a drive in the omnibus
to St. Paul's Cathedral. Poppy earnestly begged to be allowed to go
with Jasmine on the roof, but this the good lady negatived with
horror. She finally ushered her young charges into the seclusion of an
omnibus going citywards, and then was conscious of breathing a sigh of
relief. Inwardly she made a vow that never again should her
good-nature lead her into such a troublesome adventure.
"We must be solemn here, Poppy," said Jasmine, as they were entering
the cathedral; "we must forget the beautiful bonnets, and those dear
little tight-fitting jackets, and those muslin dresses. We must forget
the little story we made up of imagining ourselves rich enough to buy
all these things. Perhaps we may think a very little of one or two of
the pictures, but we must forget the vanities now. It has always been
one of my dreams to come in here--oh! oh!--Poppy." Jasmine clasped her
companion's hand, and her excitable little face grew white--the
magnitude of the great cathedral, the solemn hush, and quiet, and
sense of rest after the rushing noise outside, was too much for
her--her eyes filled with tears, and she was very nearly guilty of
committing the offence which would have obliged her to learn some of
Butler's "Analogy" by heart.
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