Cecilia went to spend a month with her aunt in the country. She was very
much pleased at being in a place where she could run in the garden and
in the fields as much as she liked, but she would have been much happier
if her sister had been with her; and Fanny, who fancied she should have
no pleasure in any thing without the company of her dear Cecilia, was
tired of her absence, and longed for her return, before she had been two
days gone.
They could both write tolerably well, and Cecilia, the week after her
arrival at her aunt's, addressed the following letter to her sister:
"MY DEAR FANNY,
"I wish mamma could have parted with us both at the same time, that
we might have rambled about together in my aunt's beautiful
gardens, and in the fields and meadows which surround the house:
but I believe I am wrong in forming such a wish, for she would then
be left quite alone, and that I do not desire on any account; if I
did, I should appear very selfish, and as if I thought of nobody's
pleasure except my own, and that I should be extremely sorry for.
"I am sure you will like to know that I am very happy at my
aunt's, and how good and kind she is to me. All the long border
behind the summer-house is to be called our garden, and it is now
putting in order for us; and when neither of us are here, my aunt
says the gardener shall take care of it: it is full of beautiful
rose-trees and flowering shrubs; and Thomas is planting many more,
and sowing mignonette, and other seeds, so that when you come here,
you will find it quite flourishing.
"My aunt sends me very often with Biddy to walk by the sea-side,
and I have found a number of very pretty shells and sea-weeds,
which I shall bring you, and a great many curiosities which I have
picked up on the beach. I never saw such things before, and I am
sure you never did. We never see any thing where we live but
houses and pavement--here I have seen the mowers and the haymakers,
and I know how to make hay, and how butter is made, and many other
things.
"Good night, my dear Fanny! Pray give my duty to dear mamma, and
believe me,
"Your most affectionate sister,
"CECILIA."
Fanny was delighted at receiving this letter, and wrote the following
answer to her sister:
"MY DEAR CECILIA,
"How glad I am to hear that you are so happy in the country! I
should certainly like very much to be with you, but not to leave
mamma alone; and she is so good, that I am not half so lonely as I
thought I should be in your absence. Only think, my dear sister!
she has bought me the sweetest little goldfinch you ever saw, and
it is so tame, that the moment I come near the cage, it jumps down
from its perch to see what I have got for it.
"But this is not all: she has taken me to a shop, and bought me a
great many pretty prints, which I am sure you will have great
pleasure in looking at when you come home. We have been twice at
M---- to spend the day; and indeed, my dear Cecilia, I have had a
great deal of pleasure, though perhaps not quite so much as you
have had in your fields and meadows, and among your haymakers; but
mamma says we may be happy in any place if we choose it, and will
determine to make ourselves contented, instead of spending our time
in wishing ourselves in other places than where we are: and I am
sure she is very right, for if I were to fret and vex myself
because I am not in the country, and you do the same because you
are not in town, my goldfinch and my prints, my pleasant walks in
the gardens at M----, and all mamma's kindness, would be lost upon
me, and you would have no pleasure in your little garden, or in
looking at the haymakers, your shells, your sea-weeds, or any of
the curiosities you meet with.
"Pray, dear Cecilia, let me have one more letter from you before
you come home, and do not burn mine, for I shall like to see how
much better I write next year; and so will you, I dare say, so I
shall lock up your letters in my little work-trunk.
"Mamma desires her best love to you. Give my duty to my aunt, and
believe me
"Your affectionate sister,
"FANNY."
It was almost a fortnight before Fanny heard again from her sister, when
one morning a basket, covered very closely, and a small parcel, with a
letter tied upon it, were brought up stairs, and placed upon the table
before her. The letter was from her sister, and contained the following
words:
"MY DEAR FANNY,
"You would have heard from me much sooner, but I waited to write by
George, whom my aunt told me she should be obliged to send to town
on business. He brings you a basket of strawberries from her, with
her love to you: fourteen of them are from _our_ garden, and I
assure you I had a pleasure in picking them, which I cannot
describe: they are in a leaf by themselves, and I beg you will let
me know if they are ripe and sweet, for I did not taste them; I was
determined to send you all the first. I send you also a little
parcel of shells and sea-weeds, and when I am with you, I will
teach you how to make very pretty pictures of them, as my aunt has
had the goodness to teach me.
"I have been very happy here, though I could not persuade myself to
believe it possible when I first came, because I could not have
mamma and you with me; but I shall remember her advice, and always
endeavour to be pleased, and find amusement where I am, and with
what I have, instead of fretting, like our cousin Emily, because
she had not a blue work-bag instead of a pink one, or because see
had an ivory toothpick-case given to her when she was wishing for a
tortoise-shell one.
"My aunt says, that children who do so are so very tiresome, that
they make themselves disliked by every body, and that they are
never invited a second time to a house, because people are
generally tired of their company on the first visit.
"I hope I shall see you and my dearest mamma next week; but you may
write to me by George, for I shall be very much disappointed if he
returns without a letter from you.--Adieu! dear Fanny.
"I am affectionately yours,
"CECILIA."
Fanny had only time to write a short note to her sister, which George
called for soon after dinner; and Cecilia's return the following week,
put an end to the correspondence for that time. The two sisters were
extremely happy to meet, though they had not made themselves
disagreeable, and teased people with their ill humour when they were
separated; and they were very well convinced, that if they had done so,
they should have suffered by it, and have been very uncomfortable.
The following summer Fanny paid a visit to her aunt, and had the
pleasure of finding their little garden in such good order, and so many
strawberries in it, that she could send her sister a basket-full. She
could work very neatly; and her aunt having given her a large parcel of
silks, riband, twist, and gold cord, she made the prettiest pincushions
that ever were seen, to send to her mamma, her sister, and her cousins.
Cecilia was extremely fond of drawing, and was so attentive to her
lessons during her sister's absence, that she had a portfolio full of
pretty things to shew her on her return.
No little girls in the world could be happier than Cecilia and Fanny,
and the reason of it is very plain: they were always obedient to their
mamma's commands, kind to the servants, and obliging to every body;
always contented with what they had, and in whatever place they happened
to be; and never fretful and out of humour for want of something to do,
for they had endeavoured to learn every thing when they had an
opportunity of doing so, that they might never be at a loss for
employment and amusement.