"
"I then said that when I was twelve years of age I had read the Lady
of the Lake for the sixth time, and that I had made Fitz James my
greatest hero, and notwithstanding his many short-comings, I yet
looked upon the benefactor of the noble Douglas, and the lovely
Ellen, with fond admiration."
"What a glow kindled in Marguerite's cheek," added Mrs. Montgomery,
as she listened, and then with exclamation of delight she cried,
"Aunt Hester, I really adore Scott, and I think that I outdo you,
for I have committed to memory nearly all of the Lady of the Lake."
"But about the bracelet," I said, remindingly.
"Well, you know, Aunt Hester, I was not at all times a very good
girl," said Marguerite, with a sympathetic glance, "and, indeed,
found opportunity to make myself very disagreeable. It is indeed
true, Auntie. Well, one day papa brought in a very handsome bracelet
as a birthday present for Evelyn. It was a cluster of garnets in
gold setting, and at night time, when the light fell upon it, shone
brilliantly. I envied Eve her pretty bauble, and as I saw my sister,
many admirers glanced upon it. I felt uncharitable. Why could papa
not have given me one as well, I thought; and bitter feelings were
cherished against my dear papa, and indeed, Aunt Hester," exclaimed
the girl in all humility, "they might have rankled there, and made
me worse than I would care to acknowledge, when a little
circumstance, or trivial accident, came to my aid and taught me to
rise above it.
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