"You precious little thing," she said, "the book is wonderful, but my Annie is more wonderful because she can be told so and never get the fact into her head.

Here is your work, dear." An expression of dismay came over Annie's face.

"Oh, dear," she said, "I have only embroidered half a daisy and what will Aunt Harriet say ?" "You have embroidered a whole garden as nobody else can, if people only knew it," said Alice.
"But Alice," said Annie ruefully, "my embroidery is really awful and I don't like to do it and the linen is so grimy that I am ashamed.
Oh, dear, I shall have to face Aunt Harriet with that half daisy!" Alice laughed.

"She can't kill you." "No, but I don't like to have her so disappointed." Alice kissed Annie again before she went, and watched the slight figure flitting down between the box-rows, with a little frown of perplexity.

She wished that Annie had not told Margaret Edes about the book and yet she did not know why she wished so.