"
"I think she is doing pretty well, mother; at least she behaves better
to Miss Davis. As for me, I have very little to do with her. I notice,
however, that she has quarrelled with Mark. He and she used to be great
friends, because she is such a romp and ready for any rough play. But
now he does not speak to her."
"That does not matter much," said Mrs. Enderby smiling; "she will be
better with Miss Davis and you. You must continue to take an interest in
the poor child, dear Phyllis. I wish she gave as little trouble as you
do."
Phyllis was one of those girls for whom mothers ought to be more uneasy
than for the wilder and naughtier children who cause them perpetual
annoyance. She was so proper in all her ways, and so well-behaved as
never to seem in fault. Her reasons for everything she said and did were
so ready and so plausible, that it required a rather clever and
far-seeing person to detect the deep-rooted pride and self-complacency
that lay beneath them. To manage all things quietly her own way, to be
accounted wise and good, and greatly superior to ordinary girls of her
age, was as the breath of life to Phyllis.
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