“No, we have had enough of that; women have been called queens a long time, but the kingdom given them is n't worth ruling,” answered Rebecca.
“I don't think it is nowadays,” said Fanny, with a tired sort of sigh.
“Put a man's hand in hers to help her along, then,” said Polly, whose happy fortune it had been to find friends and helpers in father and brothers.
“No; my woman is to stand alone, and help herself,” said Rebecca, decidedly.
“She's to be strong-minded, is she?” and Fanny's lip curled a little as she uttered the misused words.
“Yes, strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied; that is why I made her larger than the miserable, pinched-up woman of our day. Strength and beauty must go together. Don't you think these broad shoulders can bear burdens without breaking down, these hands work well, these eyes see clearly, and these lips do something besides simper and gossip?”
Fanny was silent; but a voice from Bess's corner said, “Put a child in her arms, Becky.”
“Not that even, for she is to be something more than a nurse.”
“Give her a ballot-box,” cried a new voice, and turning round, they saw an odd-looking woman perched on a sofa behind them.
“Thank you for the suggestion, Kate. I'll put that with the other symbols at her feet; for I'm going to have needle, pen, palette, and broom somewhere, to suggest the various talents she owns, and the ballot-box will show that she has earned the right to use them. How goes it?” and Rebecca offered a clay-daubed hand, which the new-comer cordially shook.
“Great news, girls! Anna is going to Italy!” cried Kate, tossing up her bonnet like a school-boy.
“Oh, how splendid! Who takes her? Has she had a fortune left her? Tell all about it,” exclaimed the girls, gathering round the speaker.
“Yes, it is splendid; just one of the beautiful things that does everybody heaps of good, it is so generous and so deserved. You know Anna has been longing to go; working and hoping for a chance, and never getting it, till all of a sudden Miss Burton is inspired to invite the girl to go with her for several years to Italy. Think of the luck of that dear soul, the advantages she'll have, the good it will do her, and, best of all, the lovely way in which it comes to her. Miss Burton wants, her as a friend, asks nothing of her but her company, and Anna will go through fire and water for her, of course. Now, is n't that fine?”