As they pursued their walk, Emily felt something about her feet, and
looking down discovered her pantalets; she hastily stooped to pull them
off and the pin scratched her foot severely. Mrs. Manvers saw all this,
but said nothing; she knew that her daughter had wasted time enough to
have mended all her pantalets, and she added another hour to the already
long account of wasted minutes in her memorandum.
The following day was Friday, and it was part of Emily's duties on this
day to arrange her bureau-drawers and put her closet in order. She went
up stairs after dinner with this intention, but there were so many
little gifts and keep-sakes in her drawers, to be successively admired
and thought over, so many sashes to unfold, and odd gloves to be paired,
that the whole afternoon was consumed, and the tea-bell rang before she
had quite finished the second drawer, and consequently the duty of that
day remained to be finished on the next.
"Well, my little girl," said her father the next morning, "I hope you
will have my handkerchief nicely hemmed by this afternoon; you have had
it several days now, and I suppose it is nearly finished. I shall want
it, as I am going away after dinner."
"You shall have it, papa," replied Emily. She did not like to tell him
the handkerchief was not yet commenced, as she felt quite sure she could
finish it in time, and determined to begin immediately after breakfast.
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