Joseph, I am resolved that they
shall come to us at Shortlands, and have the instructions of the very
best governess I can procure for them, and then in the spring the
darlings shall come up to town, and have masters for every conceivable
sort of accomplishment. Oh, Joseph, we shall have our Jasmine yet, as
our very own."
Mr. Ellsworthy smiled, kissed his wife, patted her on the cheek, told
her to do just what she liked, and went downstairs to his beloved
books. But Mrs. Ellsworthy's excitement kept her on thorns for the
greater part of the evening.
That night she dreamt of the Mainwarings; dreamt that she saw Daisy's
piteous little face when she was turned away from her gates; dreamt
again a brighter dream, that Jasmine had her arms round her neck, and
was calling her mother; that Primrose, with none of her sweet dignity
abated, was smiling at her, and saying gratefully, "I accept your
kindness; I will gladly take your money; I will come and live with you
at Shortlands, and be to you as a daughter." And Daisy was saying, in
that funny little sententious voice of hers which she sometimes used,
"Weren't we all naughty, and aren't we good now, and is it not a good
thing that our pride should have a fall?"
Mrs.
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