Nellie, who was Hetty's only comfort in the great
and, as it seemed to her, unfriendly house, too often showed her
sympathy in a covert way which made Hetty feel she was half ashamed of
her affection; and this deprived such tenderness of the value it would
otherwise have had.
Hetty, now above eleven years old, was very much grown and altered. Her
once short curly hair was long, and tied back from her face with a plain
black ribbon. Her face was singularly intelligent, her voice clear and
quick, her eyes often much too mournful for the eyes of a child, but
sometimes flashing with fun, as, for instance, when Mark engaged her in
some piece of drollery. Then the old spirit that she used to display
when she performed her little mimicries for Mrs. Rushton's amusement
would spring up in her again, and she would take great delight in seeing
Mark roll about with laughing, and hearing him declare that she was the
jolliest girl in the world.
One Easter time, just two years after Hetty's return to the Hall, when
Mark was at home for his holidays, he proposed to Hetty to play a trick
on Miss Davis.
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