"
Mrs. Adams's arms grew tighter about her daughter, while she said
gravely, very gravely,--
"Polly, dear, I am much too sorry for you, to scold you."
As she spoke, the doctor rose quietly and left the room, for he
felt that what would follow was for mother and daughter alone, and
even he had no right to sit by and listen to their words.
"I am sorry for you, dear," her mother went on, after a moment;
"not so much for what you are suffering now, as I am because,
little by little, you have let your temper get the better of you
until to-day, for just this trifle, you have forgotten yourself
entirely. The pain you have borne tonight on Alan's account is
only a blessing to you, the natural punishment for what you have
done, and it will help you to remember this another time, when you
are angry. Each one of these fits of temper leaves a scar, Polly,
that nothing can ever entirely heal; and I want no such scars on
my Polly's womanhood, which must be above reproach. You are very
dear to me, my daughter, and my whole life is bound up in my hopes
for your future."
"Oh, how can I remember!" sobbed Polly. "It is all over, so in a
minute, and then I just hate myself, but it doesn't do the least
bit of good.
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