“I have been requested to make just this appeal,” said Mr. Pierce. “I had written to Mr. Huber of the circumstances surrounding the rescue of his niece, and he begged me to ask Mrs. White to continue her interest. If ever Mrs. Huber grows strong enough, of course, she may want to take back the charge, but her husband is determined to take her on a long voyage as soon as she shall be strong enough to endure it. This, the doctors think, will be the best kind of treatment for her case.”
“Oh, I suppose so,” said Mrs. White happily. “My daughters are multiplying wonderfully of late.”
At the word “daughter,” Miette arose and very solemnly touched her lips to Mrs. White’s forehead.
“You will be a mother to me, I am sure,” she said, “and I will try to be a dutiful daughter to you!”
“But I cannot just exactly understand about that letter,” said Miette, the next day, as she and Dorothy began their packing for Glenwood.
“What more do you want to know?” asked Dorothy archly.
“Why, I just added a line, as Mrs. Pangborn said I might. I said that you were in distress, and if she knew where your aunt lived, should she go there and see if she still was at the same place. Then I asked if she would send me your aunt’s address.”
“Well, I cannot just exactly tell you,” stammered Dorothy, “but I knew if Aunt Winnie went to New York she would not mind calling on your aunt.”
“So,” said Miette, giving Dorothy a gentle hug (everything Miette did was gentle), “you had really decided to have me investigated?”
“And I was so ashamed to have worked in a store,” reflected Miette aloud.
“That was because you were really a ‘somebody,’” answered Dorothy. “I do believe in inheritance. You see, you inherited a perfectly honorable pride. And do you realize you are very rich?”
“I know it, but I do not realize it,” said Miette. “Like the pride, I suppose I consider that my lawful right.”
Dorothy saw how different can be a foreign girl to one accustomed to our delightful American independence.
“Now, if Tavia ever fell into such luck,” said Dorothy, “I can scarcely imagine what would happen.”
“I hope Tavia will not think I have taken her place in your heart,” remarked Miette, at that moment snapping the spring on her suitcase. “I dearly love Tavia myself.”