"She is all of that," said Miss Priscilla; "and, on the other hand, Ladybird is a fiery, mischievous little scamp; and yet I suppose it's because I've known her longer, but somehow I love Ladybird a thousand times the most." The portières at the doorway parted and Ladybird came in. Calmly walking toward the open piano, she seated herself on the keyboard of that instrument with her feet on the piano-stool. This position she took and kept in such a serene, gentle way that it seemed, after all, the only correct place for her to sit. "No, aunty," she said placidly, resting her chin on her little, thin brown hand, "it isn't because you've known me longer than Lavinia that you love me more; it's because I suit you better. Lavinia is a dear girl, and I like her--pretty well; but she isn't our sort; and somehow she hasn't any gumption about fun." Ladybird was not familiar with the phrase "sense of humor," or she would have used it right here. "And so," she went on cheerfully, "I hear you've had a letter from old Mrs. Lovell." "Your grandmother, Ladybird," said Miss Priscilla, a little severely. "And how did you hear it?" "Yes, my grandmother," said Ladybird. "And I heard it by listening at the hall door." "You're a naughty girl," said Miss Dorinda. "I am," said Ladybird, serenely; "no nice old lady in London would want such a naughty girl as I am, would she?" "That doesn't matter, Ladybird," said Miss Priscilla. "And you must stop your nonsense now; for your grandmother Lovell has really sent for you, and you must go to her." "Indeed!" said Ladybird, with a most derisive accent. "_In_deed!" "Be quiet, Ladybird," went on Miss Flint; "I am in earnest now--very much in earnest. Mrs. Lovell has sent for you; for naturally she wants one of her grandchildren with her, and Lavinia, being our niece, and the rightful heir to the Flint estates, must, of course, stay with us. By the way, where is the child?" "She's up in her room," said Ladybird; "and she's crying her eyes out because she can't go back to England and live with her grandmother Lovell. But she'll get over it. Oh, yes, she'll get over it! She'll change her mind, and she'll love to live with her Primrose aunties; and she'll forget all about her London grandmother! Oh, yes! _Oh, yes!_ Oh, yes!" Ladybird had bounded down from the piano-stool, and with her eyes flashing, and her voice rising to a higher pitch at each word, she flew out of the room, and was heard stamping up the stairs. "Something must be done, Clops!" she said, shaking her dog almost viciously as she reached her own room. "Something must be done, and it must be done right away! Right here and now, and we're the ones to do it, Cloppy-dog!"