The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Carroll Girls, by Mabel Quiller-Couch

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Title: The Carroll Girls

Author: Mabel Quiller-Couch

Release Date: June 20, 2009 [EBook #29171]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CARROLL GIRLS ***

Produced by Lionel Sear

THE CARROLL GIRLS.

By

MABEL QUILLER-COUCH.

CHAPTER I.

Up and down, to and fro, backwards and for wards over the sunny garden
the butterflies, white, sulphur, and brown, flitted and fluttered,
lightly poising on currant-bush or flower, loving life as they basked
in the sunshine; and Penelope lay and watched them. What did it matter
to them that the garden was neglected, the grass rank and uncut,
the currant-bushes barren from neglect, the lilacs old and blossomless?
It mattered no more to them than it did to Penelope, lying so lazy and
happy in the coarse grass.

Penelope had never known the garden other than it was now, except,
perhaps, at very far-distant intervals when a visitor was expected--
usually Aunt Julia, when a shilling or so had to be found to pay a
gardener to come and 'tidy up.' She herself was always better pleased
when he did not come, for almost invariably he charged too much,
or Lydia said he did, and would tell him of it, not too politely, and tell
her mistress that she was encouraging robbery; and Mrs. Carroll--who would
far rather pay too much and hear no more about it than be bothered--would
be worried, and Lydia would be cross; and to Penelope it seemed a pity to
be made so uncomfortable for the sake of sixpence or a shilling.
She could not bear jars and discords. These, though, were troubles that
occurred but seldom to ruffle the surface of her usually happy life.
As a rule, like the butterflies, she saw only the sunshine, and the green
things growing, and nothing of the sordidness and neglect of everything
about her. If she did, if things jarred or fretted her, she just walked
away, far out into the country and the woods where everything was
peaceful, and nothing seemed to matter; and out there she would very soon
recover again and become her old happy self.

There were three other Carroll childr