No--not a word of apology, I beg and pray.
Maria, my dear, take your sister's hand, and we will follow." She put her arm in Carmina's arm with the happiest mixture of familiarity and respect, and she nodded to Carmina's old companion with the cordiality of a good-humoured friend.
Teresa was not further irritated by being kept waiting for any length of time.

In a few minutes Carmina joined her on the bench.
"Tired of the beasts already, my pretty one ?" "Worse than tired--driven away by the smell! Dear old Teresa, why did you speak so roughly to Miss Minerva and Maria ?" "Because I hate them! because I hate the family! Was your poor father demented in his last moments, when he trusted you among these detestable people ?" Carmina listened in astonishment.

"You said just the contrary of the family," she exclaimed, "only yesterday!" Teresa hung her head in confusion.

Her well-meant attempt to reconcile Carmina to the new life on which she had entered was now revealed as a sham, thanks to her own outbreak of temper.

The one honest alternative left was to own the truth, and put Carmina on her guard without alarming her, if possible.
"I'll never tell a lie again, as long as I live," Teresa declared.