"Come here, you dear," said Mollie, folding her tenderly in her arms
and finding comfort in the contact of her cold china cheek. She had
loved her so long that she had given her a soul; and to Mollie's heart
the doll was as fit for loving as if she had had breath and speech.
She did not play with her any longer, but Helena was still her dear
old friend--an almost human confidant and crony.
As she held her closely, suddenly she thought of Mr. John. If he had
objected to the petting of babies, what would he say to dolls? She
gave her a frantic kiss, put her away, and turned her back on her
to reflect; for she did not mean to shirk the most disagreeable
reflections in the new line of duty she had chosen to follow.
If it had really been a human friend whose destinies Mollie
considered, she could not have been more serious; and if it had been
a human friend whom she at last decided must be put far from her, she
could hardly have suffered severer heart-pangs. But she would have no
compromising with inclination in this matter.
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