So I was--but although I say _so_, I hardly know why
I was pleased to see her thus, except it was from a vague belief in the
anodyne of slumber. But this pleasure did not last long; for as I stood
regarding my two treasures, even as if my eyes had made her uncomfortable,
she suddenly opened hers, and started to her feet, with the words, "I beg
your pardon, papa," looking almost guiltily round her, and putting up her
hair hurriedly, as if she had committed an impropriety in being caught
untidy. This was fresh sign of a condition of mind that was not healthy.
"My dear," I said, "what do you beg my pardon for? I was so pleased to see
you asleep! and you look as if you thought I were going to scold you."
"O papa," she said, laying her head on my shoulder, "I am afraid I must be
very naughty. I so often feel now as if I were doing something wrong, or
rather as if you would think I was doing something wrong. I am sure there
must be something wicked in me somewhere, though I do not clearly know what
it is. When I woke up now, I felt as if I had neglected something, and you
had come to find fault with me. _Is_ there anything, papa?"
"Nothing whatever, my child.
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