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There was woe in Ethelwyn's heart and pain in her throat, and the woe was on account of the pain; for Elizabeth and her mother had gone to town to arrange things for Dick, who was to be taken to the hospital, where he was to undergo an operation that would, in all probability cure him.
Even Dickie's hair, which wanted to curl, was sternly checked, and kept closely cropped like a boy's; it was only Cicely's that was allowed at present to do as it liked and wave about in soft little rings of gold. Pennie made her plans and thought her thoughts, and often went to bed with Ethelwyn's imaginary figure so strongly before her that she had wonderful dreams.
My Ethelwyn's face was bright with the brightness of a pale silvery moon that has done her harvest work, and, a little weary, lifts herself again into the deeper heavens from stooping towards the earth.
But Ethelwyn's voice was hoarse, and the next morning she was not well enough to go to town. Such fun to have a secret! To tell one too is fun. But then there is no secret That's known to more than one. Ethelwyn had intended to have a most unhappy day, so after her mother and Beth went, she lay face down in the hammock with a very damp ball of a handkerchief squeezed up tightly against her eyes.
Ethelwyn's advice, which might have been useful under these circumstances, was quite the reverse; for the suggestions she made were absurdly above Pennie's means, and only confusing to the mind. "I should buy that," she would say, pointing to something which was worth at least a shilling.
Sitting up straight against the velvet cushioned seat, the two children looked about the same age; the two heads were nearly on a level, as were both pairs of feet stuck out straight in front of them; but Ethelwyn's came a little farther out than Beth's, and her golden head came a little farther up on the seat than Beth's dark one. Just now there was a small cloud on their horizon.
This uncomfortable state of things had been going on for nearly a fortnight, and Ethelwyn's visit was drawing to a close, when one morning there came a letter from Miss Unity. It contained an invitation to Pennie to stay three days at Nearminster, and ended with these words: "If my god-daughter has her little friend still with her, I shall be glad to see her also, if she would like to come."
As often as I looked round, the blue of them seemed the reflection of the sea in their little convex mirrors. Ethelwyn's eyes, too, were full of it, and a flush on her generally pale cheek showed that she too expected the ocean. After a few miles along this breezy expanse, we began to descend towards the sea-level.
She did not like even Ethelwyn to abuse Nearminster, and she was beginning to be just a little tired of hearing so much about London. Unfortunately for Ethelwyn's temper the next day was decidedly wet so wet that even Miss Unity could not get out into the market, and settled herself with a basket of wools for a morning's work.
She did not understand, perhaps, how much Dickie wanted them. Such a pretty graceful creature as Ethelwyn could not do anything purposely unkind. Nancy, however, not the least dazzled by Ethelwyn's appearance, was boiling with anger. "I call that " she began; but Pennie nudged her violently and whispered: "She's a visitor," and the outspoken opinion was checked.
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