'Ah!' said Laura, as she went; 'it was no kindness in you to encourage
Charlotte to stay, Amy, when you know how often that inquisitive temper
has got her into scrapes.'

'I suppose so,' said Amy, regretfully; 'but I had not the heart to send
her away.'

'That is just what Philip says, that you only want bones and sinews in
your character to--'

'Come, Laura,' interrupted Charles, 'I won't hear Philip's criticisms
of my sister, I had rather she had no bones at all, than that they
stuck out and ran into me. There are plenty of angles already in the
world, without sharpening hers.'

He possessed himself of Amy's round, plump, childish hand, and spread
out over it his still whiter, and very bony fingers, pinching her 'soft
pinky cushions,' as he called them, 'not meant for studying anatomy
upon.'

'Ah! you two spoil each other sadly,' said Laura, smiling, as she left
the room.

'And what do Philip and Laura do to each other?' said Charles.

'Improve each other, I suppose,' said Amabel, in a shy, simple tone, at
which Charles laughed heartily.

'I wish I was as sensible as Laura!' said she, presently, with a sigh.