ith me when I needed
companionship--and, I think, we are good friends! I can spare a few
hundreds to give you your training _and_ your fun--and it will be a
pleasure to me to do so. I will make a formal arrangement in my will so
that in the case of my--so that in any case the money may be
forthcoming. So, my dear, you may look upon the matter as settled, and
make your arrangements accordingly."

Darsie put her hands to her head. Her cheeks were white, but around her
eyes and nose an increasing pinkness of hue betrayed the inward struggle
of emotion.

"I'm going to cry! I'm going to cry!" she cried. And when Lady Hayes
began a protest, "Oh, Aunt Maria, don't, _don't_ be proper!" she pleaded
piteously. "I can't bear it just now. Please, please let me thank you
in my own way! I must howl! I _must_! I'm all seething and churning
with emotion, and if I don't cry I shall burst; but oh, I _do_ love
you--I adore you--I shall worship you until my dying day... You'll be
like a saint to me. I'll put you up on a pedestal and burn incense to
you every day of my life. If you _knew_ what it meant! And I've been
so mean and hateful--such a contemptible little worm! Oh, if I lived a
hundred thousand years, I could never repay you for this!"

"My dear, does it strike you that you are talking in a very wild,
exaggerated fashion?"

"I am, I am! Girls _do_, Aunt Maria, when they are off their heads with
joy. Wild, I mean, not exaggerated--I mean it, every word. Oh, I
_must_ hug you. Never mind your cap; I must give you a bear hug, if I
die for it. Dear, dearest, kindest, best--"

The old lady's stiff, upright figure disappeared bodily within the
swooping arms; she was squeezed, hugged, rocked to and fro, and pelted
with kisses until she was speechless and gasping for breath. When she
was released her cap was askew, and the muslin folds in the front of her
gown crumpled out of recognition; but for a marvel she spoke no word of
reproach, and Darsie saw, with a sobering thrill, a glitter as of tears
in the old eyes, and the mental question which arose at the sight was
answered with intuitive sharpness. It was so long since she had been
hugged before, so many, many years since anything more than a
conventional peck had been pressed upon her cheek! Old, stern, proper
as she was, Aunt Maria loved to be loved!

For the rest of the morning Darsie was as subdued and gentle in manner
as she had hitherto been boisterous.