it is up-stairs--endless old lumber-rooms which you would never think of
going into if I didn't take you. When I was a little girl I wasn't often
allowed down-stairs: the top of the house still seems to me more real than
any other part.' Throwing open a door at the head of the stairs, she said:
'This used to be my nursery. It is all bare and deserted now, but I
remember it quite different. I used to spend hours looking out of that
window. From it you can see all over the park, and the park used to be my
great delight. I used to sit there and make resolutions that next time I
went out I would be braver, and explore the hollows full of bushes and tall
ferns.'

'Did you never break your resolutions?'

'Sometimes. I was afraid of meeting fairies or elves. There are glades and
hollows that used to seem very wonderful. And they still seem very
wonderful, only not quite in the same way. Doesn't the world seem very
wonderful to you? I'm always wondering at things. But I know I'm only a
silly little girl, and yet I like to talk to you about my fancies. Down
there in the beech wood there is a beautiful glade. I loved to play there
better than anywhere else. I used to lie there on a fur rug and play at
paper dolls. I always fancied myself a duchess or a princess.'

'You are full of dreams, Emily.'

'Yes; I suppose I am. Everything is pleasant and happy in dreams. I love
dreaming. They thought I'd never learn to read; but it wasn't because I was
stupid, but because I wouldn't study. I'd put my hands to my head, and,
looking at the book, which I didn't see, I'd think of all sorts of things,
imagine myself a fairy princess.'