Poor and Proud; Or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn: A Story for Young FolksOptic, Oliver
General
Poor and Proud; Or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn: A Story for Young Folks
Optic, Oliver
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Poor -- Juvenile fiction
Katy gazed with wonder and admiration at the rich furniture of the
house, and thought that perhaps her grandfather lived in as good style
as Mrs. Gordon, and that she might some day go to Liverpool and be an
inmate of just such a palace. The door of the sitting-room was open,
and she had an opportunity to look at all the fine things it contained.
She had never seen anything so luxurious before, and I must say that
she regretted the poverty of her lot, which deprived her mother and
herself of them.
All round the room hung pictures in costly frames. Some of them were
portraits; and one which hung over the mantelpiece directly before her,
soon attracted her attention, and made her forget the soft divans, the
beautiful carpet, and the rich draperies of the windows. It was the
portrait of a lady, and her expression was very like that of her
mother--so like that she could almost believe the picture had been
painted for her mother. Yet that could not be, for the lady was young,
and plump, and rosy, and wore rich laces, and a costly dress. She
seemed to look down upon her from the golden frame with a smile of
satisfaction. There was something roguish in her eye, as though she was
on the point of bursting into a laugh at some mischief she had
perpetrated. O, no! that could not be her mother; she had never seen
her look like that. But there was something that seemed very much like
her; and the more she looked at it, the more the picture fascinated
her. She tried to look at something else, but the lady appeared to have
fixed her gaze upon her, and, whichever way she turned, those laughing
eyes followed her, and brought back her attention to the canvas again.
In vain she attempted to fasten her mind upon some of the other
portraits. There was an elderly gentleman, with a full red face; but
the jealous lady would not let her look at him. She turned round and
looked out the windows at the side of the door; but the spell of the
lady was upon her, and she could not resist the charm. The more she
studied the portrait, the more convinced she became that it looked like
her mother, though there was something about it which was as unlike her
as anything could be. "What makes you keep looking at me?" said Katy to
herself, or rather to the lady on the canvas. "You needn't watch me so
closely; I shall not steal anything."
The lady, however, insisted on watching her, and kept her roguish
glance fixed upon her with a steadiness that began to make her feel
nervous and uneasy; and she was greatly relieved when she heard
footsteps on the stairs.
"Mrs. Gordon will be down in a moment," said Miss Grace, in kind tones.
"Won't you come into this room and sit down?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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