Page:Margaret Sherwood--A Puritan in Bohemia.djvu/84

76 "I like Shakespere best," she said.

"What do you like best in Shakespere?"

The child wriggled in her seat, looking slightly nonplussed.

"I've been in Shakespere's house," she said evasively.

"Where is it?" demanded the inquisitor.

"I've forgotten the name," said Annabel, yawning.

"Tell me what parts of Shakespere you like best."

"The poems, all of 'em," said Annabel boldly.

"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Stanton.

"And," continued Annabel after a moment's consideration, "I like Lady Clara Vere de Vere best of all."

The child was hurt by the laugh that followed.

"Did you ever read 'The Children of the Abbey'?" she asked reprovingly.

"No."

"That's lovely," said Annabel with the air of a hardened littérateur. "Wouldn't