FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   >>   >|  
It made me so vexed that I came away there and then, and wouldn't have one--no, not at a gift.' 'They call them young onions here,' said Ethelberta quietly; 'you must always remember that. But, Gwendoline, I wanted--' Ethelberta felt sick at heart, and stopped. She had come down on the wings of an impulse to unfold her trouble about Picotee to her hard-headed and much older sister, less for advice than to get some heart- ease by interchange of words; but alas, she could proceed no further. The wretched homeliness of Gwendoline's mind seemed at this particular juncture to be absolutely intolerable, and Ethelberta was suddenly convinced that to involve Gwendoline in any such discussion would simply be increasing her own burden, and adding worse confusion to her sister's already confused existence. 'What were you going to say?' said the honest and unsuspecting Gwendoline. 'I will put it off until to-morrow,' Ethelberta murmured gloomily; 'I have a bad headache, and I am afraid I cannot stay with you after all.' As she ascended the stairs, Ethelberta ached with an added pain not much less than the primary one which had brought her down. It was that old sense of disloyalty to her class and kin by feeling as she felt now which caused the pain, and there was no escaping it. Gwendoline would have gone to the ends of the earth for her: she could not confide a thought to Gwendoline! 'If she only knew of that unworthy feeling of mine, how she would grieve,' said Ethelberta miserably. She next went up to the servants' bedrooms, and to where Cornelia slept. On Ethelberta's entrance Cornelia looked up from a perfect wonder of a bonnet, which she held in her hands. At sight of Ethelberta the look of keen interest in her work changed to one of gaiety. 'I am so glad--I was just coming down,' Cornelia said in a whisper; whenever they spoke as relations in this house it was in whispers. 'Now, how do you think this bonnet will do? May I come down, and see how I look in your big glass?' She clapped the bonnet upon her head. 'Won't it do beautiful for Sunday afternoon?' 'It looks very attractive, as far as I can see by this light,' said Ethelberta. 'But is it not rather too brilliant in colour--blue and red together, like that? Remember, as I often tell you, people in town never wear such bright contrasts as they do in the country.' 'O Berta!' said Cornelia, in a deprecating tone; 'don't object. If there's
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Ethelberta
 

Gwendoline

 

Cornelia

 

bonnet

 

sister

 
feeling
 
confide
 

thought

 
caused
 

changed


gaiety

 

escaping

 
interest
 

unworthy

 
miserably
 

servants

 
bedrooms
 
entrance
 

grieve

 

perfect


looked

 

clapped

 

Remember

 

brilliant

 

colour

 

people

 

deprecating

 

object

 

country

 

bright


contrasts

 
whispers
 

whisper

 

relations

 

attractive

 
afternoon
 

Sunday

 
beautiful
 

coming

 
murmured

advice
 

headed

 
unfold
 
trouble
 

Picotee

 

interchange

 
homeliness
 

wretched

 
proceed
 

impulse