'I
rather like to disappoint fidgety people--don't you, Emily?'
'Well,' said Emily, 'only papa does not like that she should be
disappointed.'
'You might have written, if you had not dawdled away all the
morning.'
This was true, and it therefore stung Emily, who complained that Lily
was very unkind. Lily defended herself sharply, and the dispute was
growing vehement, when William happily cut it short by a summons to
Emily to make haste.
When they were gone Lily had time for reflection. Good-temper was so
common a virtue, and generally cost her so little effort, that she
took no pains to cultivate it, but she now felt she had lost all
claim to be considered amiable under disappointment. It was too late
to bear the privation with a good grace. She was heartily ashamed of
having been so cross about a trifle, and ashamed of being
discontented at Emily's having a pleasure in which she could not
share. Would this have been the case a year ago? She was afraid to
ask herself the question, and without going deep enough into the
history of her own mind to make her sorrow and shame profitable, she
tried to satisfy herself with a superficial compensation, by making
herself particularly agreeable to her three younger sisters, and by
writing a very long and entertaining letter to Eleanor.
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