or you will fancy that
Lord Nelson fought at the battle of Blenheim, and that Henry VIII. cut
off Queen Mary's head."

"Not quite so bad as that, grandmama! I seem to have known all about
Lord Nelson and Queen Mary, ever since I was a baby in long frocks! You
have shewn me, however, that it would be very foolish not to feel
anxious for lessons, especially when they are to make me a fit companion
for you at last."

"Yes, Laura! and not only for me, but for many whose conversation will
entertain and improve you more than any books. The most delightful
accomplishment that a young person can cultivate, is that of conversing
agreeably; and it is less attended to in education than any other. You
cannot take a harp or piano about with you, but our minds and tongues
are always portable, and accompany us wherever we go. If you wish to be
loved by others, and to do good to your associates, as well as to
entertain them, take every opportunity of conversing with those who are
either amiable or agreeable; not only attending to their opinions, but
also endeavouring to gain the habit of expressing your own thoughts with
ease and fluency; and then rest assured, that if the gift of
conversation be rightly exercised, it is the most desirable of all, as
no teaching can have greater influence in leading people to think and
act aright, than the incidental remarks of an enlightened Christian,
freely and unaffectedly talking to his intimate friends."

"Well, grandmama! the moral of all this is, that I shall become busier
than any body ever was before, when we get home; but in the meantime, I
may take a good dose of idleness now at Holiday House, to prepare me for
settling to very hard labour afterwards," said Laura, hastily tying on
her bonnet. "I wonder if I shall ever be as merry and happy again!"

Most unfortunately, all the time of Laura's visit at Holiday House, she
had been, as usual, extremely heedless, in taking no care whatever of
her clothes; consequently her blue merino frock had been cruelly torn;
her green silk dress became frightfully soiled; four white frocks were
utterly ruined; her Swiss muslin seemed a perfect object, and her pink
gingham was both torn and discoloured. Regularly every evening Lady
Harriet told her to take better care, or she would be a bankrupt in
frocks altogether; but whatever her grandmama said on that subject, the
moment she was out of sight, it went out of mind, till another dress had
shared the sa