"Nearly eighteen, ma'am."
"Oh, well! time enough for a good deal of growth, bodily and mental,
yet. So you have been at the West?"
"Yes, ma'am, and have heard some curious things there,--some things
that I think will interest you. Have you ever thought of adopting a
little girl, ma'am?"
Mrs. Legrange sadly shook her head.
"No, Theodore: I never wished to do that. She never could be any
thing like her to me, and it would seem like giving away her place.
I had rather wait."
"I am sorry, ma'am; for I saw a little girl, where I have been, that
I was going to speak of."
"Was she a pretty child?"
"Very pretty, and looked like"--
"Theodore, don't say that, because I shall think either you have
forgotten or never learned her face. No child ever looked like her,"
said the mother positively.
"This little girl was very pretty though," persisted Teddy.
"How did she look?"
"She had great blue eyes (if you'll excuse, me, ma'am), just like
yours, with long brown eyelashes, and a great deal of bright hair,
not just brown, nor yet just golden, but between the two; and a
little mouth very much curved; and pretty teeth; and a delicate
color; and little hands with pretty finger-nails."
"Theodore!"
Teddy, for the first time in his description, dared to raise his
eyes, but dropped them again.
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