hunt for them. She has some letters she
wants to read, and she can't till she has her glasses," insisted Nancy.

"Then let her come for them!" cried Floretta, when a quiet voice spoke.

"Very well, I _have_ come for them," it said, and there in the doorway
stood Mrs. Fenton.

The silly maids who had laughed so loudly, now hastily disappeared in
the kitchen.

Floretta dropped the glasses upon the table, and then, wholly ashamed,
crawled under it, where Mrs. Fenton's sharp eyes might not look at her.

Mrs. Fenton took the glasses, and without another word, swept from the
room.

Nancy, waiting in the hall, crept softly toward her, and gently laid her
hand on the lady's arm.

"I'm _so_ sorry she did that. I wish I could have got the glasses from
her, and brought them to you before you came to find them. Then you
needn't have known how naughty,--" Nancy caught her breath.

"Never mind that, Nancy. Remember, as _I_ shall, that _you_ were not the
naughty, disgusting child," said Mrs. Fenton, and she turned, with her
letters and glasses in her hand, and went up the long stairway to her
room.

It was nearly time to dress for dinner, which was always served
promptly at six.

Mrs. Dainty with Dorothy, and Aunt Charlotte with Nancy hastened to
their rooms, to freshen their toilettes, and Nancy realized that there
would not be time to tell Aunt Charlotte all about the unpleasant
happening.

"I've something to tell you, but I'll have to wait till we've plenty of
time," she said.

Aunt Charlotte, tying the soft, blue ribbon into the brown curls, looked
into the mirror before which they were standing, and smiled at the
thoughtful face.

"Will it keep until then, dear?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," said Nancy, "I only tell it to you because I love to tell you
everything."

"Dear child," said Aunt Charlotte, "I bless the day that you, as a
little waif, were taken in by Mrs. Dainty, and that I was asked to come
and care for you. I could not love you more if you were my own little
girl."

"I never saw my own mamma; she died when I was a baby," said Nancy, "so,
because you love me, you seem like my very own."

Gentle Aunt Charlotte's eyes were wet with happy tears, as she hooked
the pretty, white muslin frock, with its slip of light blue, and tied
the soft blue belt.

"Your shoes must be changed, Nancy," she said. "You know how particular
Mrs. Dainty is about the matter of shoes and stockings. They must match
the frock.