parties and wear well, for you know it ought to last all one’s
lifetime, and it is very sad if it doesn’t.?
“I declare it quite scares me to think of it, for I don’t usually go
beyond my wedding day in making plans. I remember, though, that
when I was engaged the first time you don’t know the man; it was
just after you went away, and I was only sixteen someone very
ill-naturedly said I should ‘marry in haste and repent at leisure,’ and
that made me try to imagine how it would seem to go on year after
year with Gustavus who had a dreadful temper, by the way and it
worried me so to think of it that I broke the engagement, and was
so glad ever afterward.?
“You were a wise girl and I hope you’ll do it again if you find, after
a time, that you and Steve do not truly trust and respect as well as
love one another. If you don’t, you’ll be miserable when it is too
late, as so many people are who do marry in haste and have a
lifetime to repent it. Aunt Jessie says so, and she knows.?
“Don’t be solemn, Rose. It fidgets me to think about life-times, and
respecting, and all those responsible things. I’m not used to it, and I
don’t know how to do it.?
“But you must think, and you must learn how before you take the
responsibility upon yourself. That is what your life is for, and you
mustn’t spoil it by doing a very solemn thing without seeing if you
are ready for it.?
“Do you think about all this?” asked Kitty, shrugging up her
shoulders as if responsibility of any sort did not sit comfortably on
them.
“One has to sometimes, you know. But is that all you wanted to
tell me?” added Rose, anxious to turn the conversation from
herself.
“Oh, dear, no! The most serious thing of all is this. Steve is putting
himself in order generally, and so I want to do my part, and I must
begin right away before my thoughts get distracted with clothes
and all sorts of dear, delightful, frivolous things that I can’t help
liking. Now I wish you’d tell me where to begin. Shouldn’t I
improve my mind by reading something solid?” And Kitty looked
over at the well-filled bookcase as if to see if it contained anything
large and dry enough to be considered “solid.?
“It would be an excellent plan, and we’ll look up something. What
do you feel as if you needed most??
“A little of everything I should say, for when I look into my mind
there really doesn’t seem to be much there but odds and ends, and
yet I’m sure I’ve read a great deal more than some girls do. I
suppose novels don’t count, though, and are of no use, for,
goodness knows, the people and things they describe aren’t a bit
like the real ones.?
“Some novels are very useful and do as much good as sermons,
I’ve heard Uncle say, because they not only describe truly, but
teach so pleasantly that people like to learn in that way,” said
Rose, who knew the sort of books Kitty had read and did not
wonder that she felt rather astray when she tried to guide herself by
their teaching.
“You pick me out some of the right kind, and I’ll apply my mind to
them. Then I ought to have some ‘serious views’ and ‘methods’ and
‘principles.’ Steve said ‘principles,’ good firm ones, you know.” And
Kitty gave a little pull at the bit of cambric she was cutting as
housewives pull cotton or calico when they want “a good firm
article.?
Rose could not help laughing now, though much pleased, for Kitty
was so prettily in earnest, and yet so perfectly ignorant how to
begin on the self-improvement she very much needed, that it was
pathetic as well as comical to see and hear her.
“You certainly want some of those, and must begin at once to get
them, but Aunt Jessie can help you there better than I can, or Aunt
Jane, for she has very ‘firm’ ones, I assure you,” said Rose, sobering