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The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
page 24 of 135 (17%)
it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not
listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was
thus planning silly schemes about herself.

And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you
may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are
talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat
companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural
and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let
their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But
now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little
girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box
set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about
court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This
lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had
them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box,
and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a
present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the
daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a
fairy.

You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this
box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was
_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that
away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop
could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had
been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to
her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great
cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was
so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish
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