Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/249

Rh thing had happened. On the afternoon of the Bazaar, Madame Du Launay, a wealthy and eccentric old lady who had taken a fancy to Julia, had visited it, and had bought liberally of the pretty things displayed there. Suddenly, in the midst of her purchasing, she fainted away. Later it was learned that Miss South had been the innocent cause of this fainting spell. For when the old lady’s eyes fell on her, she was overcome by Miss South’s resemblance to her  own dead daughter. To make a long story short, Miss South proved to be old Madame DuLaunay’s granddaughter, of whose presence in Boston she was wholly unaware,  until she saw her at the Bazaar.

Miss South, of course, had known for some time that the eccentric Madame Du Launay was her grandmother, but she  had hesitated to intrude upon her, because the old lady had  acted so unkindly toward her father and mother. But the affair at the Bazaar had brought about a complete reconciliation between grandmother and grandchild, and Miss South  had promised Madame Du Launay that while she lived she  would make her home with her.

When the barge drew up in front of the cottage. Miss South and Fidessa ran down to the road to meet the girls. Fidessa, indeed, jumped and circled about in the frantic fashion in which she always displayed her joy.

“It’s all for you, Julia,” cried Brenda; “Fidessa never cared much for me. No, keep your paws off me, you little wretch,” she concluded, as the graceful dog, without much  discrimination, threw herself first upon one girl then on the  other, to the probable destruction of their foulard gowns.