"I should not like at all to live as you do."
"Do you always wear such splendid frocks?" asked Phyllis, examining her
from head to foot with critical eyes.
"Yes," said Hetty. "I have much finer ones than this; I am always
dressed like a lady. How can you bear to be such a sight in that ugly
linen thing?"
"My dear, simple clothes are more becoming to children," said Miss
Davis, while Phyllis only curled her lip. "If you lived more among those
of your own age," continued the governess, "as I hope you will
henceforth do, you would find that little girls are much happier and
more free to amuse themselves when dressed suitably to their age. You
shall see how we enjoy ourselves at tennis, as we could not do in
dresses as rich as yours."
Miss Davis and her pupils began to play tennis, and Hetty tried to join;
but her dress was too warm and too tight to allow of her making much
exertion, and so she was obliged to stand by and watch the game. Seeing
the great enjoyment of the players, Hetty began to feel the spirit of
the game, and remembered how she had often longed to be one of the happy
children whom she had seen at play in other scenes than this.
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