It was not easy to answer the argument, though the strong
feeling remained that it was not keeping Sunday as the true Lord's
Day. While abstinence from such enjoyments created mere negative
dulness, there must be something wrong.
Otherwise, Mary was on the happiest terms, made her own laws and
duties, and was treated like a sister by Caroline, while the children
were heartily fond of her, all except Elvira, who made a fierce
struggle against her authority, and then, finding that it was all in
vain, conformed as far as her innate idleness and excitability
permitted.
She behaved better to Miss Ogilvie than to Janet, with whom she kept
up a perpetual petty warfare, sometimes, Mary thought, with the
pertinacity of a spiteful elf, making a noise when Janet wanted
quiet, losing no opportunity of upsetting her books or papers, and
laughing boisterously at any little mishap that befell her. The only
reason she ever gave when pushed hard, was that "Janet was so ugly,
she could not help it," a reason so utterly ridiculous, that there
was no going any further.
Janet, on the whole, behaved much better under the annoyance than
could have been expected. She entered enough into the state of
affairs to see that the troublesome child could hardly be expelled,
and she was too happy and too much amused to care much about the
annoyance.
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