have come over both the nurse and the cook; their manner was much kinder
than ever it had been before. Neither of them said a cross word; yet I was
almost certain that the nurse had been telling the cook that I had
overheard what she had said to my mistress. The cause of this change
puzzled me at first, but I soon suspected that they each wanted to coax
me; the one to say nothing about "the large appetite," the other about the
lost book.

Since the loss of the book, every time the bell had rung, my heart leaped
as though it would burst through my body, and I looked anxiously at Mary
Wild when she came into the kitchen again; but nothing came of all this.
One day, Mary, having a bad fit of toothache, I had to wait at table. That
very afternoon mistress sent to speak to me; she was sitting in the inner
drawing-room. Strange to say, that much as I had thought about the book,
at that very moment I had forgotten all about it, and almost started when
mistress said, "Fanny, I want to know if you have misplaced a book that
was on that table: it is nearly a week since I missed it, but not chancing
to want it till now, I forgot to make inquiry about it." I turned very
red. I could not speak. My mistress looked questioningly into my face. "Do
you know where it is, Fanny?" "No--yes--no, indeed, ma'am, no." "Fanny,
Fanny! I am sure you are not speaking the truth; there is something
wrong--you _do_ know something about it." And she looked fixedly on my
face. I became redder still, but did not answer. "Where is it? what is
become of it?" "Indeed, I have had nothing to do with the loss of that
book." "To do with the _loss?_ Then you allow that you do know that it is
lost? How can you know this without having something to do with it?" "Oh!
pray, ma'am, pray, pray ask the nurse." "The nurse! what can she possibly
have to do with the loss of that book?" Again I was silent. The bell was
rung, and the nurse ordered to come down. A glance at her face told me
that she knew what was going on. "Nurse," said my mistress, "Fanny asks me
to go to you to account for the loss of a book which has been missing for
some days out of this room. Do you know any thing about it?" "I, ma'am!"
said the nurse, pretending to be very much surprised. "Yet I can't say
that I know nothing about a book that _was_ in this room." Then turning to
me--"Did you not put it back again? you know very well that I threatened to
tell mistress about it; and I'm very sorry, now,