And I have put all this in though I do hate telling about it, because I own I have been hard on Dora, but I never will be again.

She is a good old sort; of course we never knew before about what Mother told her, or we wouldn't have ragged her as we did.

We did not tell the little ones, but I got Alice to speak to Dicky, and we three can sit on the others if requisite.
This made us forget all about the sherry; but about eight o'clock there was a knock, and Eliza went, and we saw it was poor Jane, if her name was Jane, from the Vicarage.

She handed in a brown-paper parcel and a letter.

And three minutes later Father called us into his study.
On the table was the brown-paper parcel, open, with our bottle and glass on it, and Father had a letter in his hand.