eyes.

"I was asking Addie if she didn't want Horace to be the heir. I know you
do, mamma--oh, just for his own sake, because you think he's the nicest,
don't you? I heard you tell him one day "--here Lottie looked up with a
candid gaze and audaciously imitated Mrs. Blake's manner--"that though we
knew his cousin _first_, he--Horace, you know--seemed to drop _so_
naturally into _all_ our ways that it was quite _delightful_ to feel that
we needn't stand on _any_ ceremony with him."

"Good gracious, Lottie! what do you mean by listening to every word I say?"

"I didn't listen--I heard," said Lottie. "I always do hear when you say
your words as if they had little dashes under them."

"Well, Horace Thorne _is_ easier to get on with than his cousin," said Mrs.
Blake, taking no notice of Lottie's mimicry.

"There, I said so: mamma would like it to be Horace. Nobody asks what I
should like--nobody thinks about me and Percival."

"Oh, indeed! I wasn't aware," said Mrs. Blake. "When is that to come off? I
dare say you will look very well in orange-blossoms and a pinafore!"

"Oh, you think I'm too young, do you? But a little while ago you were
always saying that I was grown up, and oughtn't to want any more childish
games. What was I to do?"

"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mrs. Blake. "I'll buy you a doll for a birthday
present, to keep you out of mischief."