, are the easiest to deal with. I know
that without your telling me. I know it by your face. You are naturally
gentle, courteous, and kind. You are easy to manage. You are also the
most important of all to be brought round to my views, for whatever you
do the others will do. It is on you, therefore, that I mean to exercise
my greatest influence and to expend my heaviest forces."

"I don't quite understand you, Aunt Sophia. I know, of course, you mean
kindly, but I would much rather----"

"That I went away? That I left you in the disgraceful state in which I
have found you?"

"Well, I don't consider it disgraceful; and----"

"Yes? You would rather I went?"

Verena nodded. After a moment she spoke.

"It seems unkind," she said--"and I don't wish to be unkind--but I
_would_ rather you went."

"And so would I, please, Aunt Sophia," said Pauline.

Miss Tredgold looked straight before her. Her face became a little
pinched, a little white round her lips.

"Once," she said slowly, "I had a sister--a sister whom I loved. She was
my half-sister, but I never thought of that. She was to me sister and
mother in one. She brought me up from the time I was a little child. She
was good to me, and she instilled into me certain principles. One of
these principles can be expressed in the following words: God put us into
the world to rise, not to sink. Another of her principles was that God
put us into the world to be good, to be unselfish. Another one, again,
was as follows: We must give account for our talents. Now, to allow the
talent of beauty, for instance, to degenerate into what it is likely to
do in your case, Verena, is distinctly wicked. To allow you to sink when
you might rise is sinful. To allow you to be selfish when you might be
unselfish is also wrong. Your talents, and the talents of Pauline, and
the talents of your other sisters must be cultivated and brought to the
fore. I want to tell you now, my dear girls, that for years I have longed
to help you; that since your mother's death you have scarcely ever been
out of my mind. But circumstances over which I had no control kept me
away from you. At last I am free, and the children of my sister Alice are
the ones I think most about. I have come here prepared for your
rebellion, prepared for your dislike, and determined not to be
discouraged by either the one or the other. I have come to The Dales,
Verena and Pauline, and I mean to remain here for at least three months