"That's just what I said, when I heard that she was in the parlor,"
said Sprite.

"Well, when I saw her carriage coming up the avenue," Rose said, "the
shivers went up and down my back, but Uncle John, when he got up to
go in to see her, stooped and whispered in my ear: 'Don't be frightened,
little girl, for remember that you now belong to me, and I shall not
easily give you up. Now, come in with me, dear. You know I can not
refuse to let her see you.'

"So he took my hand, and we went in together.

"Great Aunt Rose sat stiff and prim in the center of the sofa.

"'How do you do, Aunt Rose?' I said, but she kept looking at me without
speaking.

"'Doesn't Rose look as if the air at Avondale had done her a world of
good?' Uncle John asked.

"'Really, John, I'm not sure,' Aunt Rose said, looking at me through
her glasses, just as if I were a queer bug, or butterfly such as she'd
never seen before. Uncle John looked vexed.

"'You certainly see that her cheeks are rosy, and she is rounder than
when she first came to me,' he said.

"That's what I was thinking of,' she said, 'and when she was at our
home, she was more delicate in her appearance. More slender, and pale,
as an Atherton should be.