And such a flimsy coat! Might not the dear child be allowed to judge for herself in a matter purely of her own feelings ?" Mrs.Le Geyt, with just the shadow of a shrug, was all sweet reasonableness.

She smiled more suavely than ever.

"Surely, Lina," she remonstrated, in her frankest and most convincing tone, "_I_ must know best what is good for dear Ettie, when I have been watching her daily for more than six months past, and taking the greatest pains to understand both her constitution and her disposition.

She needs hardening, Ettie does.Hardening.

Don't you agree with me, Hugo ?" Le Geyt shuffled uneasily in his chair.