Fanny said, still struggling to get up.
Sophie held down her waving parasol. “He doesn’t really,” she said. “Do listen. He’s not wicked at all!” There was a bit of a fizz from the grate at this, where Calcifer was watching with some interest. “He isn’t!” Sophie said, to Calcifer as much as to Fanny. “In all the time I’ve been here, I’ve not seen him work a single evil spell!” Which again was true, she knew.
“Then I have to believe you,” Fanny said, relaxing, “though I’m sure it must be your doing if he’s reformed. You always did have a way with you, Sophie. You could stop Martha’s tantrums when I couldn’t do a thing with her. And I always said it was thanks to you that Lettie only got her way half of the time instead of all the time! But you should have told me where you were, love!”
Sophie knew she should have. She had taken Martha’s view of Fanny, whole and entire, when she should have known Fanny better. She was ashamed.
Fanny could not wait to tell Sophie about Mr. Sacheverell Smith. She launched into a long and excited account of how she had met Mr. Smith the very week Sophie had left, and married him before the week was out. Sophie watched her as she talked. Being old gave her an entirely new view of Fanny. She was a lady who was still young and pretty, and she had found the hat shop as boring as Sophie did. But she had stuck with it and done her best, both with the shop and the three girls-until Mr. Hatter died. Then she had suddenly been afraid she was just like Sophie: old, with no reason, and nothing to show for it.
“And then, with you not being there to pass it on to, there seemed no reason not to sell the sop,” Fanny was saying, when there was a clatter of feet in the broom cupboard.
Michael came through, saying, “We’ve shut the shop. And look who’s here!” He was holding Martha’s hand.
Martha was thinner and fairer and almost looked like herself again. She let go of Michael and rushed at Sophie, shouting, “Sophie, you should have told me!” while she flung her arms round her. Then she flung her arms round Fanny, just as if she had never said all those things about her.
But this was not all. Lettie and Mrs. Fairfax came through the cupboard after Martha, carrying a hamper between them, and after them came Percival, who looked livelier than Sophie had ever seen him. “We came over by carrier at first light,” Mrs. Fairfax said, “and we brought-Bless me! It’s Fanny!” she dropped her end of the hamper and ran to hug fanny. Lettie dropped her end and ran to hug Sophie.
In fact, there was such general hugging and exclaiming and shouting that Sophie thought it was a marvel Howl did not wake up. But she could hear him snoring even through the shouting. I shall have to leave this evening, she thought. She was too glad to see everyone to consider leaving before that.
Lettie was very fond of Percival. While Michael carried the hamper to the bench and unpacked cold chickens and wines and honey puddings from it, Lettie hung on to Percival’s arm in an ownerlike way that Sophie could not quite approve of, and made him tell her all he remembered. Percival did not seem to mind. Lettie looked so lovely that Sophie did not blame him.
“He just arrived and kept turning into a man and then into different dogs and insisting that he knew me,” Lettie said to Sophie. “I knew I’d never seen him before, but it didn’t matter.” She patted Percival’s shoulder as if he were still a dog.
“But you had met Prince Justin?” Sophie said.
“Oh, yes,” Lettie said offhandedly. “Mind you, he was in disguise in a green uniform, but it was obviously him. He was so smooth and courtly, even when he was annoyed about the finding spells. I had to make him up two lots because they would keep showing that Wizard Suliman was somewhere between us and Market Chipping, and he swore that couldn’t be true. And all the time I was doing them, he kept interrupting me, calling me ‘sweet lady’ in a sarcastic sort of way, and asking me who I was and where my family lived and how old I was. I thought it was cheek!
小说推荐
- 穿成豪门亲妈我哈哈哈哈哈哈
- 医学大佬顾南烟穿成了豪门团宠千金,上有富可敌国容貌妖孽完美老公,下有人见人爱智商超群亲儿子偏偏原主是个恋爱脑,被闺蜜设计爱上渣男,与家人断绝关系还要抛夫弃子和渣男私奔恶毒闺蜜?看我踩她脸挖她祖坟情深渣男?一脚踹得他断子绝孙“老公,我突然发现你才是我的真命天子”豪门亲妈不香吗?必须抱紧老公大腿作天作地
- 都市言情风很暖连载中
- 最新章:第195章 男人至死是少年
- 修仙:哈哈哈鸡汤来咯
- 易枝姬没想到自己有一天会穿越,而且物种还不是人类 特么的,她一个黄花大闺女居然穿越成了一只肉鸡,被养得白白胖胖,刀已磨好,水已烧开,等着她洗干净下锅 鸡命休矣【滴,您的系统233号已经上线 希望的曙光再一次出现【请选择任务模式:1,白斩鸡,2,叫花鸡,3,鸡汤 曙光又熄灭了 易枝姬 三长一短选最短,
- 武侠小说君子不朽连载中
- 最新章:第两百零三章
- 想读我心飞升?被套路了吧哈哈哈
- 【无cp+读心术+天才流 明心宗的青荷女君偶然下山一次,救了个小姑娘,小姑娘就缠上了她,要做她徒弟 青荷女君表示,掌门师兄已经替自己看好了徒弟,还是个万里无一的单火灵根 今朝自荐:我也是单火灵根啊,看看我,看看我!不会给你丢脸的 明心宗宗主自从发现能听见自己小师侄心声后,便总往问凌峰跑【掌门师叔做什
- 武侠小说应却酒连载中
- 最新章:第59章 银铃遇害
- 穿越中世纪:从建立哈布斯堡开始
- 又名《哈布斯堡竟是我自己《从中世纪开始的千年家族。一觉醒来,居然回到了中世纪 还好,开局就能造奇观。第一座奇观,就造哈布斯堡吧。哈布斯堡是我建的,那这个世界就没有哈布斯堡家族了吧 等等,不对劲,为什么别人都叫我的家族叫哈布斯堡呢?坏了,哈布斯堡竟是我自己 算了,既然如此,那就让别人去打仗吧,哈布斯堡
- 穿越架空雨墨呀雨墨连载中
- 最新章:第333章 陛下何故禅让
- 欧奈维尔城堡的秘密
- 作者:莫里斯·勒布朗译者:金永亚森罗平在赴欧奈维尔城堡“收集其中的艺术品时,发现有人捷足先登,而这些人的兴趣却不是那些价值连城的画廊里的画,而是城堡的管家-老贝纳丹,老贝纳丹究竟掌握着城堡的什么秘密呢 作者:所写的《欧奈维尔城堡的秘密》无弹窗免费全文阅读为转载作品,章节由网友发布
- 侦探推理未知连载中
- 最新章:第30章
- 废土上的移动城
- 废土之上,秩序崩塌,仅在移动城内维持人类仅有的文明。有的人偏安城内享受余生,有的人向往城外却曝尸荒野,更有一批人,恨透了这个世界,想要重建文明 而朱元只想守护身边的人,却一不小心踏入秩序崩塌的旋涡内 作者:租来的缘分所写的《废土上的移动城》无弹窗免费全文阅读为转载作品,章节由网友发布
- 恐怖灵异租来的缘分连载中
- 最新章:第417章 谁知离别苦(全书完)
- 移动城市:我在末世演化机械
- 持续几千年的末日天灾让整颗星球化为了人间废土。废土之上,人类再也种不出一粒粮食,只能苟延残喘在一个个【移动城市】上过着逐兽而生的游牧生活 所谓移动城市,就是建立在车轮上的城市…有居住类的【移动堡垒】有贸易类的【移动小镇】当然也有专攻狩猎的【掠食者城市…天灾历2999年,罗凡带着科技之书穿越而来,随之
- 恐怖灵异佬书虫连载中
- 最新章:开新书【移动城市:开局一个移动村】
- 穿越之我的哈哈爱恋
- 她是一个来自21世纪的‘拽’女,莫名奇妙的穿越到了一个距离一千多年前的古代去‘拽’女来到古代,似乎也改变不了她的个性,照样‘拽’四方 虽然我很‘拽’可是我‘拽’的不一般 我的优点就是:能吃就吃,能睡就睡,能玩就玩 我的缺点就是:缺点这一框,本大小姐就省了好几万字 我可以学武功学到半桶水 我选‘花魁’
- 穿越架空夏雪草完本
- 最新章:夏宫剑的现代长篇版
- 哈哈,大学
- 国内首部多媒体小说《哈哈,大学》和本书作者一样的大学生不是生活在单一的世界中,他们同时生活在“理想世界“虚拟世界”和“现实世界”这三界中。在“理想世界”中,由于教育的错位,家长、学校和社会“共谋”把一个以应试教育为核心的标准世界灌输给他们,使他们无法从个性、兴趣和才能出发来营造自己。在“虚拟世界”中
- 穿越架空未知连载中
- 最新章:第26章