“If you like to bring your sister with you when you come to stay with us,” said Mrs. Boffin, “of course we shall be glad. The better you please yourself, Miss Bella, the better you’ll please us.”

“Oh, my consent is of no consequence at all, I suppose?” cried Miss Lavinia.

“Lavvy,” said her sister, in a low voice, “have the goodness to be seen and not heard.”

“No, I won’t,” replied the sharp Lavinia. “I’m not a child, to be taken notice of by strangers.”

“You are a child.”

“I’m not a child, and I won’t be taken notice of. ‘Bring your sister,’ indeed!”