"It _is_ what I want, dearie," she said. "They say blood is thicker than water, but I don't know about that. If we had known Lavinia first, we probably would have cared more for her than for you. But after you came and twined your foolish, ridiculous little self around our old hearts, we wanted no one else. I don't know exactly what it is myself: there must be some reason." "It is because I love you," said Ladybird, simply. * * * * * * Transcriber's note: Obvious typographical errors were corrected without note. Non-standard spellings and dialect were left unchanged.