“Christina wished they were girls. But she did not argue; she was used to being moved about, following an exchange of letters, or a family discussion. It never occurred to anybody that she should ever be consulted as to what was best for her. It never occurred to Christina, either, that she should.”
″...she herself had been whipped for her peccadilloes within an inch of her life, Miss Heliotrope caring now not two hoots whether Maria liked her or not, if only she could make the child a fine and noble woman. This is true love and Maria had known it;”