ma'am, thank you,' to me, and that is the extent of our conversation.
Generally her face is pale and her eyes red, and at the first possible
moment she begs to be excused, and retires to the privacy of her own
room and locks her door. Her father has stopped her music lessons; at
least she preferred to have them stopped rather than take lessons of
any other person, so she practices no more. She continues her German
and French, and secures good reports from the professors, but there is
an air of weariness and dreariness about everything she does that
makes one alternate between a feeling of deep pity for her, and a
desire to box her ears or shut her up in a corner until she can behave
herself. As a rule, however, I am sorry for her. I was young once
myself. I was undisciplined, I had no mother, and I had a thousand
wild fancies, any one of which might have ruined me. What do you think
you would do, dear, if Mr. Roberts had a daughter, and you were her
mother? You are all in a flush, now, and have lain down this sheet and
said aloud: 'What an idea! Marion does say the most absurd things!'
Well, then, if you were Marion Dennis, and stood before God in the
place of mother to Grace Dennis, what do you imagine you would do?
I'll tell you my policy; I am uniformly cheerful in her presence--gay,
if I can make gayety out of anything; not toward her father, you
understand, because I can fancy that might irritate her. I really try
to be gay toward Gracie herself; but can you imagine an attempt to be
cheery with a tombstone? I study as much as I can, her tastes, in the
ordering of dinner and desserts, and arrange the flowers that I know
she likes best, and in short try to do all those little bits of nice
things that I feel certain you would do in my place; and just here I
may as well own that I learned these small prettinesses, studying you;
never should have thought them out for myself. Flossy, Dr. Dennis is
one of the most patient and long-suffering of men, but it is very hard
for him to be patient with poor Gracie; harder than it is for me;