Then Emily blamed her
ungraceful position, Jane laughed at her uniform taste, and Lily
proposed some story about modern children, such as Phyllis never
could like, and the constant speech was repeated, 'Only look at Ada!'
till Phyllis considered her sister as a perfect model, and sighed
over her own naughtiness.
German Popular Tales were a recent introduction of Claude's, for
Eleanor had carefully excluded all fairy tales from her sisters'
library; so great was her dread of works of fiction, that Emily and
Lilias had never been allowed to read any of the Waverley Novels,
excepting Guy Mannering, which their brother Henry had insisted upon
reading aloud to them the last time he was at home, and that had
taken so strong a hold on their imagination, that Eleanor was quite
alarmed.
One day Mr. Mohun chanced to refer to some passage in Waverley, and
on finding that his daughters did not understand him, he expressed
great surprise at their want of taste.
Poor things,' said Claude, 'they cannot help it; do not you know that
Eleanor thinks the Waverley Novels a sort of slow poison? They know
no more of them than their outsides.'
'Well, the sooner they know the inside the better.
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