and
they drove home. Then Madam Liberality's godmother directed the butler
to dispatch the wire baskets to her ladyship, which he did by coach.
And her ladyship's butler paid the carriage, and tipped the man who
brought the parcel from the coach-office, and charged these items in
his account. And her ladyship wrote a long letter of thanks to Madam
Liberality's godmother for her kindness in saving her unnecessary
expense.

The old lady did not go to the bazaar again for some time, but Madam
Liberality went there with Podmore. She looked at the toys and
wondered which of them might one day be her very own. The white china
tea-service with the green rim, big enough to make real tea in, was
too good to be hoped for, but there were tin tea-sets where the lids
would come off, and wooden ones where they were stuck on; and there
were all manner of toys that would be invaluable for all kinds of
nursery games and fancies.

They helped a "fancy" of Madam Liberality even then. She used to stand
by the toy-stall, and fancy that she was as rich as her godmother, and
was going to give Christmas-boxes to her brothers and sister, and her
amusement was to choose, though she could not buy them.

Out of this came a deep mortification. She had been playing at this
fancy one afternoon, and having rather confused herself by changing
her mind about the toys, she went through her final list in an
undertone, to get it clearly into her head. The shopman was serving a
lady, and Madam Liberality thought he could not hear her as she
murmured, "The china tea-set, the box of beasts, the doll's furniture
for Darling," etc., etc. But the shopman's hearing was very acute, and
he darted forward, crying, "The china tea-set, did you say, miss?"

The blood rushed up to poor Madam Liberality's face till it seemed to
choke her, and the lady, whom the shopman had been serving, said
kindly, "I think the little girl said the box of beasts."

Madam Liberality hoped it was a dream, but having pinched herself, she
found that it was not.

Her mother had often said to her, "When you can't think what to say,
tell the truth." It was not a very easy rule, but Madam Liberality
went by it.

"I don't want anything, thank you," said she; "at least, I mean I have
no money to buy anything with: I was only counting the things I should
like to get if I had."

And then, as the floor of the bazaar would _not_ open and swallow her
up, she ran away, with her red face and