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Hello and welcome to the Storytime for Grown Ups Christmas Spectacular. I'm Faith Moore and for the months of November and December, we'll be reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Each episode I'll read one chapter from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So gather your family together, brew a pot of tea or a mug of hot chocolate, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time. Hi everyone. Welcome back. This is it. We made it. We're about to read the last two chapters of this book. I really cannot believe how fast this time has flown. November and December just feel like, where did they go? I don't understand. We're a week away from Christmas. Exactly a week. And we're about to finish the book. This is crazy, but you know what? I think that part of what has made the time fly is just this time together with you. It's so, so enjoyable. It's such a joy to be here with you reading this book. And I have absolutely loved it. I have loved getting your comments and your questions. I have loved all of the Victorian Christmas activities that we have done and the ways that we've connected in new ways. I have loved, loved, loved having kids listening to the show and writing in that has been such a wonderful part of this experience. So I just, I could not be happier. And it's always sad when things end, but it. If it's sad, it means that it was wonderful. So I am okay with feeling a little sad as this comes to a close and I'm also so excited to keep going. There are so many more books that we are going to read together and the next one is, as you know, David Copperfield. And I cannot wait to start that with you in January. So. Endings are bittersweet, but I would much rather have had the experience than not. So. So thank you for being here and thank you for listening to Storytime for Grown Ups. Always. Not just this time, but we're not done yet. We do get to read these last two chapters and then on Monday there will be a conclusion episode where we won't read anything else because there'll be nothing else to read. But I will try to kind of wrap up all of the various elements that we've been talking about and tie them up with a lovely Christmas bow and send you off to celebrate the season with your loved ones. And I hope that you will. So that will be on the 22nd. That is also when I will play you our Victorian Christmas sing along, which is shaping up very nicely. I'm so excited to share it with you if you would like to join in on that. If you want to sing along with us and you haven't yet sent me your recording, this is the final day to do it. If you're listening in real time, and if you're not, then the deadline has passed. December 18th, which is today, is the deadline to get me your recordings. If you have no idea what I am talking about or you forgot how to do this, there is a link in the Show Notes to the Storytime for Grown Ups page where there are directions for you to read and figure it out. And if you read the directions and something's still not clear, feel free to get in touch with me and you can ask any questions that you have, but all of the information is there. The idea is that even though we can't actually gather around our piano in our lovely drawing room in our lovely Victorian house, we can't do that. But we're going to do the next best thing, which is that you are going to send me a recording of yourself and singing along to this track that is there on the website. So follow those directions and I'm going to put it together with everyone else who sent me the same thing and then it's going to sound like we're all singing together. So remember, your own individual voice won't be heard. Don't worry about it. It's not about whether you sound beautiful, it's just making music together is a way to come together in community and that's what we've been trying to do this Christmas time. So I hope that you'll join in with that. I think it's going to be really fun. So that's that. The only other reminder that I have is that we still have a prize drawing open. The prize is the final prize, which is your choice of either a free signed copy of my book, Christmas Carol that will be signed in the book as opposed to with a sticker, or instead you can have your money back for one copy. So I would send you your money back for one copy that you bought and that would turn that book into a free book. So if you win, you would let me know which of those two options you want and then I would get you set up with your prize. So. So the way to enter, you can still enter this drawing and the way to do that is to buy a copy of my book, Christmas Carol. The link is there in the show notes to the Amazon page. Some people, like a couple of people, were having issues with getting it on Amazon. If that's you, it's also available in other online bookstores. You can find it on Barnes and Noble, for example. So just go to Barnesandnoble.com, search Christmas Carol by Faith Moore, and you'll find it there. So you might have more luck there if you're not having luck on Amazon. But most people are doing okay with Amazon. So you can click that link and do that. Buy the book and then follow the link in the show notes. A different link. It's clearly labeled. Follow the link in the show notes and you'll find directions for how to enter the drawing. You can also have a signed book plate. You don't need to enter or win that. You just get it. Buy a book, get a book plate. And I will send that to you if you follow those directions on the website as well. And that's a sticker that I sign with my signature. I'll write a note and I will put the name of whoever you want to give the book to or your name if you want to keep it, and I will send that to you in the mail. And we're kind of wrapping up here. So if you want a book pleat, after this Christmas spectacular is over, that option will be closed. You can obviously still buy the book, but there won't be any more prize drawings and there won't be any more book plates. So if you want that, this is the time. So order the book and then get in touch with me via those directions to get your book plate and enter the drawing. I hope you'll do that. And thank you. Thank you so much to all of you who have bought the book. I'm really so touched and so grateful. I'm happy to be able to give you these things in return. And I hope you enjoy the book. Okay, speaking of books, let's get into this book. Don't forget to subscribe because that way you'll get all the episodes and all the January episodes coming up, Please tap the five stars. This is a great time. If you've been enjoying this show, if you liked this book, tap the five stars. If you haven't already, and if you have a couple of extra seconds, leave a positive review. Those things really help other people to find the show. And when the show grows, it means that we can keep doing the show. So if you could please do that. And of course, as always, spread the word. Tell your friends, tell anyone, tell your colleagues. Tell people on the street, people in coffee shops, that you're listening to this podcast. And we're about to start a new book in January called David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. And you think that they would like it and see if they'll listen. And if they do, and you happen to know this person, then you'll have someone to talk to about these books, which is always really fun. So please do those things, and let's spread the word. Okay, so last time we read chapters 16 and 17, and today we're going to finish the book by reading chapters 18 and 19. I have some great questions. We're going to talk a little bit and then we'll finish the book. But first, here is the recap. Okay, so where we left off, Sara and Becky eat the food that was left for them, and they sleep that night in cozy warm beds. They are certain that this was all magic, and Sara is so happy to know that she has this mysterious front. In the morning, they're supposed to be in disgrace, but instead they are happy and well fed, and Ms. Minchin can't figure it out. As the days go by, more and more things are left in Sara's room, and food is brought in every day, and she starts getting healthy again. She shares everything with Becky, and so Becky also starts to get healthy, and Ms. Minchin can't figure out why Sara looks so happy and well fed. One day, some packages are delivered to the girl in the attic, and Sara opens them to find beautiful clothes with a note saying that she should wear them and that they'll be replaced. Replaced when she grows out of them or wears them out. This frightens Ms. Minchin because she sees that perhaps Sara actually does have someone who cares about her. So she lets her wear the clothes and come back into the schoolroom in case this mysterious benefactor is watching what they're doing. Sara wants desperately to thank her friend, and one day finds that writing things have been left for her. So she writes a letter thanking him. The letter is taken away in the morning, so she knows that her friend has it. One evening, there's a sound at the skylight, and Sara finds the monkey out in the cold. So she brings him in, and in the morning, she goes over to Mr. Carrisford's house to give him back. Mr. Carmichael, the father from the large family, has just come back to say that the girl in Russia was not the girl that they were looking for, and Mr. Carrisford is upset. But then Sara comes in with the monkey, and by questioning her, Mr. Carrisford and Mr. Carmichael discover that Sara is in fact, the girl that they've been looking for. All right, I'm going to read 3 comments today. The first one comes from Virginia Chapman. She writes, oh, how glorious this episode was. I am so happy that it included the reunion of Mr. Carrisford and Sara. What a wonderful, satisfying episode. Every part of it was delicious, especially the horrible behavior of Ms. Minchin. Cruel to the end. Seeing the lovely clothing, sorrow received from her unknown benefactor, the evil Ms. M straightens up and begins to treat Sara the way she knows is right. Relentlessly, she still justifies herself. This next one comes from Danya Ivory. She writes, I am wondering if there is going to be a prince for our princess, or perhaps maybe her dad filled that role for a while. And this last one comes from Luca, who is 8. Luca says, I think Ms. Minchin is the stepmother, and Lavinia and Jesse are the evil stepsisters. Okay, so, yes, as this story wraps up, I love that you guys are all trying to track which elements of Cinderella match up with the elements of this story. It's sort of like we've had all these puzzle pieces floating around, and we've been slotting a few in here and a few in there, but now at the end, they're all kind of flying into their correct spots, and we're seeing the full picture of how this story is going to end for Sara. The puzzle's not complete yet. We still have two more chapters. There are still questions left to be answered, but things are starting to fall into place. And like Virginia says in her letter, it's really, really satisfying. So last time I talked about how part of Cinderella's transformation, the transformation that only the fairy godmother can create, because only the fairy godmother could perform this magic act of causing people to see your inner self on the outside. So part of Cinderella's transformation is that she has to go out into the world and be recognized by. By the world as the princess that she is. And I was saying that it's kind of hard for Sara to do that because if she allows the world to see all the things that Ram Dass has put in her room for her, then they'll all be taken away because Ms. Minchin is still in total control of her. But now I think we can see how the magic that ram Dass and Mr. Carrisford created for Sara wasn't done yet. There was more. And eventually it allowed Sara to step out into the world and be seen as her princess self again. But I want to back up for just a second before I get there, because I think Sara's ability to re enter the world and be seen again as a princess is kind of a gradual thing. And I think it makes sense to look at it here. One thing that I think is worth noting is the way in which this thing that has been Sara's superpower all along, right? This ability to pretend and through pretend, make positive change. There's a way in which this superpower is kind of meshing with the situation that Sara is finding herself in and making it become real. Like, because Sara has been living in this world of make believe for so long, she is uniquely able to assimilate this new experience into her life and kind of run with it, right? She accepts the magic because she has been preparing all her life for something magical like this to happen. Here's what we're told. This is a quote. It says she had lived such a life of imaginings that she was quite equal to accepting any wonderful thing that happened happened, and almost to cease in a short time to find it bewildering. So in other words, she has always been a fairy tale princess on the inside. She has known that about herself all along. So when this thing happens that transforms her life into a fairy tale and transforms her into a princess, it's less like something super radical and crazy and more like something that was always meant to be sort of slotting into place. She has always been a princess on the inside. Now she is a princess on the outside. It makes sense. And she says, here's a quote. It is exactly like something fairy coming true. And it is right? And she's ready to accept that because she's been practicing for it her whole life. And part of Sara's princessness is that she has always wanted to share her good fortune with those around her. And Becky is the person whose life Sara has changed the most simply by being who she is. I mean, in chapter 16, we see the way that Sara has completely changed Becky's way of viewing the world. This scullery drudge, who'd never even really heard of pretending before she met Sara, is saying, and here's a quote. Do you think it could melt away? Miss, hadn't we better be quick? She believes in magic now. She accepts magic as a matter of course, as a thing that just happens. And she's come to feel grateful for whatever magic there is and grateful to Sara for making it true for her. Okay, here's another quote. This is Becky talking again. It says, if it ain't Here in the morning, Miss. It's been here tonight anyways, and I shan't never forget it. Okay, so she's grateful for this miracle that has happened to her. And if she doesn't get to keep it, she's still grateful. And the miracle isn't just the food or the clothes or the warm blankets. The miracle is Sara and the love that Sarah has given her. Always before when she was a princess on the outside, during all the hard times when she was only a princess on the inside. And now that she is becoming a princess, princess on the outside again. This is what I mean about love being the most important magic of all. It is in a fairy tale. True love is the most transformative of all the magical things in fairy tales. And it is true here as well. It's the love that powers everything that happens for good in the story and probably also in the world too, come to think of it. So anyway, it's easy for Sara to merge the fairy tale, make believe part of her life to this new reality that feels like a fairy tale. So internally, this transformation is complete right away. She has always been a princess on the inside. Now she has the trappings of princess ness. So all is right with the world. But because she has to hide all her new things in the attic, and because she has to pretend like she's not well fed and warm and all of this, the transformation isn't at first visible to those around her. And it throws into stark relief, I think, the true wickedness of Ms. Minchin and of Lavinia. I mean, there's a way in which this transformation that Sara is going through, this transformation that's going to make her princessness visible to the world, there's a way in which it's working on us too, the reader. Because when we thought that Sara had no hope, when we thought that there was no rescue for her, we were angry with Ms. Minchin and we raged against how unfair she was in. Our hearts ached for Sara, but we were trodden down and defeated too, because we didn't know what Sara could do. She couldn't fight back. She had nothing but her inner courage to keep her going day after day. We saw her in a way, as a little drudge, even though we loved her. But now that we see the end coming, now that we see that Sara is going to burst forth into the world a princess again, our hearts are bursting with the sense that all is going to come right with the world, that the bad guys are going to get their comeuppance, the Good guys are going to get their reward. It's all going to be okay. We don't know exactly how, but we know that Mr. Carrisford knows that Sara is Sara and that this will somehow save her. And it really does make Ms. Minchin's and Lavinia's behavior seem even worse, doesn't it? I mean, knowing that Sara is about to be revealed to the world to be a princess, it makes it clear how wicked our wicked stepmother and stepsisters were really are. Right. Luca is right. Ms. Minchin is the stepmother and Lavinia and Jesse are the stepsisters. And the difference between our Cinderella and our wicked family is that Sara believes in people, in connection and love and family. And Ms. Minchin and Lavinia care about status, just like the wicked stepmother and stepsisters care about marrying the prince for his money and his title and all of this. And Cinderella only wants to marry him for love. Sara cares about people. And Ms. Minchin and Lavinia care about status. And that is what makes them wicked. Listen to what Lavinia says. She's Talking about when Ms. Minchin found Sara and Ermengarde and Becky in the attic with the feast, right? She says, pretending some silly thing Ermengarde had taken up her hamper to share with Sara and Becky. She never invites us to share things. Not that I care, but it's rather vulgar of her to share with servant girls and attics. I wonder Ms. Minchin didn't turn Sara out, even if she does want her for a teacher. Okay, well, she does care, right? She cares that Ermengarde had something and she didn't get any. She cares that servants are being treated better than her in this instance. She cares about her own status. And the only thing that matters about people is that they don't mess with Lavinia's place in the world. I mean, that's evil. That's wicked. It's so wicked, in fact, that Jesse, who is our other wicked stepsister, she actually won't go along with it. Jesse says sees Sara's humanity and Lavinia's inhumanity and she knows which one is right. Okay, here's another quote. It says Jesse was not as ill natured as she was silly. She picked up her book with a little jerk. Well, I think it's horrid. She said they've no right to starve her to death. Okay? And it kind of shows us how bad. What Lavinia is saying is if even her best friend won't go along with it. But Lavinia sticks to her guns and so does Miss Minchin. Both Miss Minchin and Lavinia have a kind of personal vendetta against Sara. But Ms. Minchin has it the most because Ms. Minchin is supposed to be in charge of Sara. And there's something about Sara that won't be crushed. Right. Miss Minchin wants to crush her, to subdue her and make her pay, essentially. And she just can't do it. And now after she's taken away all her food for the day and all of this, she thinks she's done it, but she hasn't. Here is what we're told. Ms. Minchin saw her for the first time when she entered the schoolroom to hear the little French class recite its lessons and superintend its exercises. And she came in with a springing step color in her cheeks and a smile hovering about the corners of her mouth. It was the most astonishing thing Ms. Minchin had ever known. It gave her quite a shock. What was the child made of? What could such a thing mean? So there's a way in which Ms. Minchin is starting to see see Sara's princessness. Even though she's still in her old clothes and doing her drudge work. The magic is like sparkling through the magic of Sara not being hungry and having slept well and being warm. These things that are transforming her back into a princess, they're shining through now just a little. And Ms. Minchin is starting to get a sense of them. The transformation is gradual, but it's happening and Ms. Minchin knows it. Okay, here's another quote. This is Ms. Minchin talking. The spirit and will of any other child would have been entirely humbled and broken by by the changes she has had to submit to. But upon my word, she seems as little subdued as if. As if she were a princess. As if she were a princess. It's like the princess ness that she's always had is suddenly too big to hide and it's beginning to shine through into the world. And then of course, Mr. Carrisford does a really clever thing. And it's the thing that causes Sara to be able to come into the world a pr. He sends Sara these beautiful clothes not to her attic, but to the front door. Because of course, if he'd had Ram Dass put the clothes in the attic, the whole attic situation would be discovered when Sara turned up in her new clothes, right? Ms. Minchin wouldn't know where she'd gotten them and she'd tell her to take them off. But Sending them so that Ms. Minchin sees them arrive. And then putting the note on them that says to be worn every day will be replaced by others when necessary. It makes it so that Ms. Minchin can can't object. And also so that she knows that Sara has a benefactor. And this allows Sara to re enter the schoolroom as the Princess Sara again. And Ms. Minchin, who, remember, only cares about status and the way things look, suddenly accepts Sara as Princess Sara instead of scullery maid Sara. Here is what she as the things have been sent and you are to have new ones. When they are worn out, you may as well go and put them on and look respectable. After you are dressed, you may come downstairs and learn your lessons in the schoolroom. You need not go out on any more errands today. Okay? But this isn't enough. Sara isn't just a rich little schoolgirl anymore. Sara is a princess, right? A fairy tale princess. And living in a school with a headmistress who hates her and no family and everything. That's not her happy ending. It can't be, right? Danya asked in her letter if Sarah is going to have a prince. Well, I'm not going to answer that directly because the book's not over yet. But I do want to just remind us of what the prince is, what he does in the Cinderella story. Because the prince recognizes Cinderella, he sees the her of her. Her true self. He sees it because the fairy godmother has allowed Cinderella to wear it on the outside. But he also, and he is the only one who can do this. He also makes it permanent. Remember, Cinderella's ballgown melts away at midnight. The fairy godmother's magic only goes so far. It's love that seals the deal, right? The love that the prince feels for Cinderella, it causes the transformation to become permanent, to stick. Without the prince's love, Cinderella can't stay a princess on the outside. But with it, she becomes a princess forever through marriage in the fairy tale, right? But what is a marriage? It's a union in love. It's two people becoming a family. So Sara's too young to get married, right? That's not going to happen. Spoiler. She's not going to get married to somebody right now. There is no Prince Charming in this story in that sense. But there is someone in the story who could love Sara enough to want to become her family. Someone who, if that happened, would be able to give her the life of a princess. So I won't say yet who that person is, but I Think you can probably guess. And the magic of this story, this magic that might be supernatural or might just be kindness and love, but maybe I'm repeating myself there. The magic of this story is like sparkling all around us now, right? Was it magic that sent the monkey over the roof to Sara just at that moment and led her to the Indian gentleman? We don't know. The children of the large family certainly feel that Sara is magic. They see Sara's princessness, they call her the little unfairy princess. Which really is pretty apt, right? There aren't any real fairies in this story. This isn't a fairy tale. Except that it is a fairy tale. At the same time, here is what Janet from the Large family says. She says it is because though she is not exactly a fairy, she will be so rich when she is found that she will be like a princess in a fairy tale. We called her the fairy princess at first, but it didn't quite suit. Okay, it doesn't quite suit because magic, the way we think of it in a fairy tale isn't real in this world. But there is a sort of magic in this book. It's the same magic that is in the world around us right now, which is the magic of love. And I think if we keep reading, we're about to see what that magic can do. Okay, so let's finish this book, let's do this together. And please do join me on Monday for our conclusion episode. Those are always really fun and you'll get to hear the Victorian sing along and we'll talk about the end of the book together. And then after that, have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. Of course I'll wish you that on Monday, but that was what will happen after that. And then on January 5th, we'll be back to begin David Copperfield together. So please enjoy the end of this book and please join me on Monday for our wrap up episode. And of course, please get in touch faithkmoore.com, click on Contact or just scroll into the show notes and click the link that's there. Let me know your reactions, thoughts, questions, all of it to the end of the book. All right, let's get started with chapters 18 and 19 of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's story time, Chapter 18. I tried not to be. It was pretty comfortable. Mrs. Carmichael who explained everything. She was sent for at once and came across the square to take Sara into her warm arms and make clear to her all that had happened. The excitement of the totally unexpected discovery had been Temporarily almost overpowering to Mr. Carrisford in his weak condition. Upon my word, he said faintly to Mr. Carmichael, when it was suggested that the little girl should go into another room. I feel as if I don't want to lose sight of her. I will take care of her, Janet said, and Mama will come in a few minutes. And it was Janet who led her away. We're so glad you are found, she said. You don't know how glad we are that you are found. Donald stood with his hands in his pockets and gazed at Sarah with reflecting and self reproachful eyes. If I'd just asked what your name was when I gave you my sixpence, he said, you would have told me it was Sara Crewe, and then you would have been found in a minute. Then Mrs. Carmichael came in. She looked very much moved and suddenly took Sarah in her arms and kissed her. You look bewildered, poor child, she said, and it is not to be wondered at. Sarah could only think of one thing. Was he, she said with a glance toward the closed door of the library, was he the wicked friend? Oh, do tell me. Mrs. Carmichael was crying as she kissed her again. She felt as if she ought to be kissed very often because she had not been kissed for so long. He was not wicked, my dear, she answered. He did not really lose your papa's money. He only thought he had lost it. And because he loved him so much, his grief made him so ill that for a time he was not in his right mind. He almost died of brain fever. And long before he began to recover, your poor papa was dead and he did not know where to find me, murmured Sara. And I was so near. Somehow she could not forget that she had been so near. He believed you were in a school in France, Mrs. Carmichael explained, and he was continually misled by false clues. He has looked for you everywhere. When he saw you pass by, looking so sad and neglected, he did not dream that you were his friend's poor child, but because you were a little girl too. He was sorry for you and wanted to make you happier. And he told Ram Dass to climb into your attic window and try to make you comfortable. Sara gave a start of joy. Her whole look changed. Did Ram Dass bring the things she cried out? Did he tell Ram Dass to do it? Did he make the dream that came true? Yes, my dear, yes. He is kind and good, and he was sorry for you, for little lost Sara Crew's sake. The library door opened and Mr. Carmichael appeared, calling Sara to him with a gesture. Mr. Carrisford is better already, he said. He wants you to come to him. Sara did not wait. When the Indian gentleman looked at her as she entered, he saw that her face was all alight. She went and stood before his chair and her hands clasped together against her breast. You sent the things to me, she said in a joyful, emotional little voice. The beautiful, beautiful things. You sent them. Yes, poor dear child, I did, he answered her. He was weak and broken with long illness and trouble, but he looked at her with the look she remembered in her father's eyes, that look of loving her and wanting to take her in his arms. It made her kneel down by him just as she used to kneel by her father when they were the dearest friends and lovers in the world. Then it is you who are my friend, she said. It is you who are my friend. And she dropped her face on his thin hand and kissed it again and again. The man will be himself again in three weeks, Mr. Carmichael said aside to his wife. Look at his face already. In fact he did look changed. Here was the little misses and he had new things to think of and planned for already. In the first place there was Miss Minchin. She must be interviewed and told of the change which had taken place in the fortunes of her pupil. Sorrow was not to return to the seminary at all. The Indian gentleman was very determined upon that point. She must remain where she was, and Mr. Carmichael should go and see Miss Minchin himself. I am glad I need not go back, said Sarah. She will be very angry. She does not like me, though perhaps it is my fault because I do not like her. But oddly enough, Miss Minchin made it unnecessary for Mr. Carmichael to go to her by actually coming in search of her pupil herself. She had wanted Sarah for something, and on inquiry had heard an astonishing thing. One of the housemaids had seen her steal out of the area with something hidden under her cloak, and had also seen her go up the steps of the next door and enter the house. What does she mean? Cried Miss Minchin to Miss Amelia. I don't know, I am sure, Sister, answered Miss Amelia. Unless she has made friends with him because he has lived in India, it would be just like her to thrust herself upon him and try to gain his sympathies in some such impertinent fashion, said Miss Minchin. She must have been in the house for two hours. I will not allow such presumption. I shall go and inquire into the matter and apologize for her intrusion. Sarah was sitting on a footstool close to Mr. Carrisford's knee and listening to some of the many things he felt it necessary to try to explain to her. When Ram Dass announced the visitor's arrival, Sara rose involuntarily and became rather pale, but Mr. Carrisford saw that she stood quietly and showed none of the ordinary signs of child terror. Miss Minchin entered the room with a sternly dignified manner. She was correctly and well dressed and rigidly polite. I am sorry to disturb Mr. Carrisford, she said, but I have explanations to make. I am Miss Minchin, the proprietress of the Young Ladies Seminary next door. The Indian gentleman looked at her for a moment in silent scrutiny. He was a man who had naturally a rather hot temper, and he did not wish it to get too much the better of him. So you are Miss Minchin, he said. I am, sir. In that case, the Indian gentleman replied, you have arrived at the right time. My solicitor, Mr. Carmichael, was just on the point of going to see you. Mr. Carmichael bowed slightly, and Miss Minchin looked from him to Mr. Carrisford in amazement. Your solicitor, she said. I do not understand. I have come here as a matter of duty. I have just discovered that you have been intruded upon through the forwardness of one of my pupils, a charity pupil. I came to explain that she intruded without my knowledge. She turned upon sorrow. Go home at once, she commanded indignantly. You shall be severely punished. Go home at once. The Indian gentleman drew Sara to his side and patted her hand. She is not going. Miss Minchin felt rather as if she must be losing her senses. Not going, she repeated. No, said Mr. Carrisford. She is not going home. If you give your house that name, her home for the future will be with me. Miss Minchin fell back in amazed indignation. With you. With you, sir. What does this mean? Kindly explain the matter, Carmichael, said the Indian gentleman, and get it over as quickly as possible. And he made Sarah sit down again and held her hands in his, which was another trick of her papa's. Then Mr. Carmichael explained in the quiet, level, toned, steady manner of a man who knew his subject and all its legal significance, which was a thing Miss Minchin understood as a business woman and did not enjoy. Mr. Carrisford, madam, he said, was an intimate friend of the late Captain Crewe. He was his partner in certain large investments. The fortune which Captain Crewe supposed he had lost has been recovered and is now in Mr. Carrisford's hands. The fortune? Cried Miss Minchin, and she really lost colour as she uttered the exclamation Sara's fortune. It will be sara's fortune, replied Mr. Carmichael rather coldly. It is Sara's fortune now. In fact, certain events have increased it enormously. The diamond mines have retrieved themselves. The diamond mines, Miss Minchin gasped out. If this was true. Nothing so horrible, she felt, had ever happened to her since she was born. The diamond mines, Mr. Carmichael repeated, and he could not help adding with a rather sly un lawyer like smile, there are not many princesses, Ms. Minchin, who are richer than your little charity pupil. Sara Crewe will be. Mr. Carrisford has been searching for her for nearly two years. He has found her at last, and he will keep her. After which he asked Miss Minchin to sit down while he explained matters to her fully and went into such detail as was necessary to make it quite clear to her that Sara's future was an assured one, and that what had seemed to be lost was to be restored to her tenfold. Also that she had in Mr. Carrisford a guardian as well as a friend. Miss Minchin was not a clever woman, and in her excitement she was silly enough to make one desperate effort to regain what she could not help seeing she had lost through her worldly folly. He found her under my care, she protested. I have done everything for her. But for me she should have starved in the streets. Here. The Indian gentleman lost his temper. As to starving in the streets, he said she might have starved more comfortably there than in your attic. Captain Crewe left her in my charge, Miss Minchin argued. She must return to it until she is of age. She can be a parlour boarder again. She must finish her education. The law will interfere in my behalf. Come, come, Ms. Minchin, Mr. Carmichael interposed. The law will do nothing of the sort. If Sara herself wishes to return to you, I dare say Mr. Carrisford might not refuse to allow it. But that rests with Sara. Then, said Miss Minchin. I appeal to Sara. I have not spoiled you. Perhaps, she said awkwardly to the little girl, but you know that your papa was pleased with your progress, and, ahem, I have always been fond of you. Sara's green gray eyes fixed themselves on her with the quiet, clear look Miss Minchin particularly disliked. Have you, Miss Minchin? She said. I did not know that. Miss Minchin reddened and drew herself up. You ought to have known it, said she, but children unfortunately never know what is best for them. Amelia and I have always said you were the cleverest child in the school. Will you not do your duty to your poor papa and come home with me. Sara took a step toward her and stood still. She was thinking of the day when she had been told that she belonged to nobody and was in danger of being turned into the street. She was thinking of the cold, hungry hours she had spent alone with Emily and Melchizedek in the attic. She looked at Miss Minchin steadily in the face. You know why I will not go home with you, Miss Minchin, she said. You know quite well. A hot flush showed itself on Miss Minchin's hard, angry face. You will never see your companions again, she began. I will see that Ermengarde and Lottie are kept away. Mr. Carmichael stopped her with polite firmness. Excuse me, he said. She will see anyone she wishes to see. The parents of Miss Crewe's fellow pupils are not likely to refuse her invitations to visit her at her guardian's house. Mr. Carrisford will attend to that. It must be confessed that even Miss Minchin flinched. This was worse than the eccentric bachelor uncle who might have a peppery temper and be easily offended at the treatment of his niece. A woman of sordid mind could easily believe that most people would not refuse to allow their children to remain friends with a little heiress of diamond mines. And if Mr. Carrisford chose to tell certain of her patrons how unhappy Sara Crewe had been made, many unpleasant things might happen. You have not undertaken an easy charge, she said to the Indian gentleman as she turned to leave the room. You will discover that very soon the child is neither truthful nor grateful, I suppose to Sara, that you feel now that you are a princess again. Sara looked down and flushed a little because she thought her pet fancy might not be easy for strangers, even nice ones, to understand. At first I tried not to be anything else, she answered in a low voice. Even when I was coldest and hungriest, I tried not to be. Now it will not be necessary to try, said Miss Minchin acidly, as Ram Dass salaamed her out of the room. She returned home and, going to her sitting room, sent at once for Miss Amelia. She sat closeted with her all the rest of the afternoon, and it must be admitted that poor Miss Amelia passed through more than one bad quarter of an hour. She shed a good many tears and mopped her eyes a good deal. One of her unfortunate remarks almost caused her sister to snap her head entirely off, but it resulted in an unusual manner. I'm not as clever as you, sister, she said, and I am always afraid to say things to you for fear of making you angry. Perhaps if I were not so timid. It would be better for the school and for both of us, I must say. I've often thought it would have been better if you had been less severe on Sara Crew and had seen that she was decently dressed and more comfortable. I know she was worked too hard for a child of her age, and I know she was only half fed. How dare you say such a thing? Exclaimed Ms. Minchin. I don't know how I dare, Miss, Amelia answered with a kind of reckless courage. But now I've begun, I may as well finish, whatever happens to me. The child was a clever child and a good child, and she would have paid you for any kindness you had shown her. But you didn't show her any. The fact was she was too clever for you and you always disliked her for that reason. She used to see through us both. Amelia gasped, her infuriated elder looking as if she would box her ears and knock her cap off, as she had often done to Becky. But Ms. Amelia's disappointment had made her hysterical enough not to care what occurred next. She did, she did, she cried. She saw through us both. She saw that you were a hard hearted, worldly woman and that I was a weak fool and that we were both of us vulgar and mean enough to grovel on our knees for her money and behave ill to her because it was taken from her. Though she behaved herself like a little princess even when she was a beggar, she did, she did, like a little princess. And her hysterics got the better of the poor woman and she began to laugh and cry both at once and rock herself backward and forward. And now you've lost her, she cried wildly, and some other school will get her and her money. And if she were like any other child, she'd tell how she'd been treated and all our pupils would be taken away and we should be ruined. And it serves us right. But it serves you right more than it does me. For you are a hard woman, Maria Mitch, and you're a hard, selfish, worldly woman. And she was in danger of making so much noise with her hysterical chokes and gurgles that her sister was obliged to go to her and apply some salts and sal volatile to quiet her, instead of pouring forth her indignation at her audacity. And from that time forward, it may be mentioned, the elder Ms. Minchin actually began to stand a little in awe of a sister who, while she looked so foolish, was evidently not quite so foolish as she looked, and might consequently break out and speak truths people did not Want to hear? That evening, when the pupils were gathered together before the fire in the schoolroom, as was their custom before going to bed, Ermengarde came in with a letter in her hand and a queer expression on her round face. It was queer because while it was an expression of delighted excitement, it was combined with such amazement as seemed to belong to a kind of shock just received. What is the matter? Cried two or three voices at once. Is it anything to do with the row that has been going on? Said Lavinia eagerly. A row is like an argument. There has been such a row in Miss Minchin's room. Miss Amelia has had something like hysterics and has had to go to bed. Ermengarde answered them slowly, as if she were half stunned. I've just had this letter from Sara, she said, holding it out to let them see what a long letter it was from Sara. Every voice joined in that exclamation. Where is she? Almost shrieked Jessie. Next door, said Ermengarde, with the Indian gentleman. Where? Where has she been sent away? Does Miss Minchin know? Was the row about that? Why did she write? Tell us, tell us. There was a perfect babble and Lottie began to cry plaintively. Ermengarde answered them slowly, as if she were half plunged out into what at the moment seemed the most important and self explaining thing. There were diamond mines, she said stoutly. There were open mouths and open eyes confronted her. They were real. She hurried on. It was all a mistake about them. Something happened for a time and Mr. Carrisford thought they were ruined. Who is Mr. Carrisford? Shouted Jessie. The Indian gentleman. And Captain Crewe thought so too. And he died. And Mr. Carrisford had brain fever and ran away and he almost died and he did not know where Sarah was. And it turned out that there were millions and millions of diamonds in the mines and half of them belonged to Sarah and they belonged to her when she was living in the attic with no one but Melchisedech for a friend and the cook ordering her about. And Mr. Carrisford found her this afternoon and he has got her in his home and she will never come back and she will be more a princess than she ever was, a hundred and fifty thousand times more. And I am going to see her tomorrow afternoon. There. Even Miss Minchin herself could scarcely have controlled the uproar after this. And though she heard the noise, she did not try. She was not in the mood to face anything more than she was facing in her room while Miss Amelia was weeping in bed. She knew that the news had penetrated the walls in some mysterious manner, and that every servant and every child would go to bed talking about it. So until almost midnight the entire seminary, realizing somehow that all rules were laid aside, crowded round Ermengarde in the schoolroom and heard read and re read the letter containing a story which was quite as wonderful as any Sara herself had ever invented, and which had the amazing charm of having happened to Sara herself and the mystic Indian gentleman in the very next house. Becky, who had heard it, also managed to creep upstairs earlier than usual. She wanted to get away from people and go and look at the little magic room once more. She did not know what would happen to it. It was not likely that it would be left to Ms. Minchin. It would be taken away and the attic would be bare and empty again. Glad as she was for Sarah's sake, she went up the last flight of stairs with a lump in her throat and tears blurring her sight. There would be no fire tonight and no rosy lamp, no supper, and no princess sitting in the glow, reading or telling stories. No princess. She choked down a sob as she pushed the attic door open, and then she broke into a low cry. The lamp was flushing the room, the fire was blazing, the supper was waiting, and Ram Dass was standing, smiling into her startled face. Missy Sahib remembered, he said. She told the sahib all she wished you to know the good fortune which has befallen her. Behold a letter on the tray she has written. She did not wish that you should go to sleep unhappy. The sahib commands you to come to him tomorrow. You are to be the attendant of Missy Sahib tonight. I take these things back over the roof. And having said this with a beaming face, he made a little salaam and slipped through the skylight with an agile silentness of movement which showed Becky how easily he had done it before. Chapter 19 Anne never had such joy reigned in the nursery of the large family, never had they dreamed of such delights as resulted from an intimate acquaintance with the little girl who was not a beggar. The mere fact of her sufferings and adventures made her a priceless possession. Everybody wanted to be told over and over again the things which had happened to her. When one was sitting by a warm fire in a big glowing room. It was quite delightful to hear how cold it could be in an attic. It must be admitted that the attic was rather delighted in, and that its coldness and bareness quite sank into insignificance when Melchizedek was remembered and one heard about the sparrows and things One could see if one climbed on the table and stuck one's head and shoulders out of the skylight. Of course, the thing loved best was the story of the banquet and the dream which was true. Sara told it for the first time the day after she had been found. Several members of the large family came to take tea with her and as they sat or curled up on the hearthrug, she told the story in her own way, and the Indian gentleman listened and watched her. When she had finished, she looked up at him and put her hand on his knee. That is my part, she said. Now won't you tell your part of it, Uncle Tom? He had asked her to call him always Uncle Tom. I don't know your part yet, and it must be beautiful. So he told them how when he sat alone, ill and dull and irritable, Ram Dass had tried to distract him by describing the passers by. And there was one child who passed oftener than anyone else. He had begun to be interested in her, partly perhaps because he was thinking a great deal of a little girl and partly because Ram Dass had been able to relate the incident of his visit to the attic in Chase of the Monkey. He had described its cheerless look and the bearing of the child who seemed as if she was not of the class of those who were treated as judges and servants. Bit by bit Ram Dass had made discoveries concerning the wretchedness of of her life. He had found out how easy a matter it was to climb across the few yards of roof to the skylight. And this fact had been the beginning of all that followed. Sahib, he had said, one day I could cross the slates and make the child of fire when she is out on some errand. When she returned wet and cold to find it blazing, she would think a magician had done it. The idea had been so fanciful that Mr. Carrisford's sad face had lighted with a smile, and Ram Dass had been so filled with rapture that he had enlarged upon it and explained to his master how simple it would be to accomplish numbers of other things. He had shown a childlike pleasure and invention, and the preparations for the carrying out of the plan had filled many a day with interest which would otherwise have dragged wearily on the night of the frustrated banquet. Ram Dass had kept watch, all his packages being in readiness, in the attic which was his own, and the person who was to help him had waited with him, as interested as himself in the odd adventure. Ram Dass had been lying flat upon the slates, looking in at the skylight, when the banquet had come to its disastrous conclusion, he had been sure of the profoundness of Sara's wearied sleep. And then, with a dark lantern, he had crept into the room while his companion remained outside and handed the things to him. When Sarah had stirred ever so faintly, Ram Dass had closed the lantern slide and lain flat upon the floor. These and many other exciting things the children found out by asking a thousand questions. I am so glad, Sara said. I am so glad it was you who were my friend. There never were such friends as these two became. Somehow they seemed to suit each other in a wonderful way. The Indian gentleman had never had a companion he liked quite as much as he liked Sara. In a month's time he was, as Mr. Carmichael had prophesied, he would be, a new man. He was always amused and interested, and he began to find an actual pleasure in the possession of the wealth he had imagined that he loathed the burden of. There were so many charming things to plan for Sara. There was a little joke between them that he was a magician and it was one of his pleasures to invent things to surprise her. She found beautiful new flowers growing in her room, whimsical little gifts tucked under pillows. And once, as they sat together in the evening, they heard the scratch of a heavy paw on the door. And when Sara went to find out what it was, there stood a great dog, a splendid Russian boarhound with a grand silver and gold collar bearing an inscription. I am Boris, it read. I serve the Princess Sara. There was nothing the Indian gentleman loved more than the recollection of the little princess in rags and tatters. The afternoons in which the large family or Ermengarde and Lottie gathered to rejoice together were very delightful. But the hours when Sara and the Indian gentleman sat alone and read or took talked had a special charm of their own. During their passing, many interesting things occurred. One evening, Mr. Carrisford, looking up from his book, noticed that his companion had not stirred for some time, but sat gazing into the fire. What are you supposing, Sarah? He asked. Sarah looked up with a bright color on her cheek. I was supposing, she said. I was remembering that hungry day and a child I saw. But there were a great many hungry days, said the Indian gentleman with rather a sad tone in his voice. Which hungry day was it? I forgot. You didn't know, said Sarah. It was the day the dream came true. Then she told him the story of the bun shop and the fourpence she picked up out of the sloppy mud and the child who was hungrier than herself. She told it quite simply and in as few words as possible. But somehow the Indian gentleman found it necessary to shade his eyes with his hand and look down at the carpet. And I was supposing a kind of plan, she said when she had finished. I was thinking I should like to do something. What was it? Said Mr. Carrisford in a low tone. You may do anything you like to do, princess. I was wondering, rather hesitated. Sara, you know, you say I have so much money. I was wondering if I could go to see the bun woman and tell her that if when hungry children, particularly on those dreadful days, come and sit on the steps or look in at the window, she would just call them in and give them something to eat, she might send the bills to me. Could I do that? You shall do it tomorrow morning, said the Indian gentleman. Thank you, said Sarah. You see, I know what it is to be hungry, and it is very hard when one cannot even pretend it away. Yes, yes, my dear, said the Indian gentleman. Yes, yes, it must be. Try to forget it. Come and sit on this footstool near my knee and only remember that you are a princess. Yes, said Sarah, smiling, and I can give buns and bread to the populace. And she went and sat on the stool and the Indian gentleman, he used to like her to call him that too, sometimes, drew her small dark head down on his knee and stroked her hair. The next morning Miss Minchin, in looking out of her window, saw the things she perhaps least enjoyed seeing. The Indian gentleman's carriage with its tall horses drew up before the door of the next house, and its owner and a little figure, warm with soft rich furs, descended the steps to get into it. The little figure was a familiar one and reminded Ms. Minchin of days in the past. It was followed by another as familiar, the sight of which she found very irritating. It was Becky, who, in the character of delighted attendant, was always accompanied her young mistress to her carriage, carrying wraps and belongings. Already Becky had a pink round face. A little later the carriage drew up before the door of the baker's shop and its occupants got out oddly enough, just as the bun woman was putting a tray of smoking hot buns into the window. When Sarah entered the shop, the woman turned and looked at her, and leaving the buns, came and stood behind the counter For a moment she looked at Sara very hard indeed, and then her good natured face lighted up. I'm sure that I remember you, miss, she said, and yet. Yes, said Sara, you Once gave me six buns for fourpence and and you gave five of em to a beggar child. The woman broke in on her. I've always remembered it. I couldn't make it out at first. She turned round to the Indian gentleman and spoke her next words to him. I beg your pardon, sir, but there's not many young people that notices a hungry face in that way, and I've thought of it many a time. Excuse the liberty, Miss, to Sara, but you look rosier and well better than you did that. That I am better, thank you, said Sorrow, and I am much happier. And I have come to ask you to do something for me. Me, miss? Exclaimed the bun woman, smiling cheerfully. Why, bless you. Yes, miss, what can I do? And then Sarah, leaning on the counter, made her little proposal concerning the dreadful days and the hungry waifs and the buns. The woman watched her and listened with an astonished face. Why, bless me, she said again when she had heard it all. It'll be a pleasure to me to do it. I am a working woman myself and cannot afford to do much on my own account, and there's sights of trouble on every side. But if you'll excuse me, I'm bound to say I've given away many a bit of bread since that wet afternoon just along a thinking of you and how wet and cold you was and how hungry you looked, and yet you gave away your hot buns as if you was a princess. The Indian gentleman smiled involuntarily at this, and Sara smiled a little too, remembering what she had said to herself when she put the buns down on the ravenous child's ragged lap. She looked so hungry, she said she was even hungrier than I was. She was starving, said the woman. Many's the time she's told me of it since, how she sat there in the wet and felt as if a wolf was a tearing at her poor young insides. Oh, have you seen her since then? Exclaimed Sara. Do you know where she is? Yes, I do, answered the woman, smiling more good naturedly than ever. Why, she's in that there back room, miss, and has been for a month, and a decent, well meanin girl she's going to turn out, and such a help to me in the shop an in the kitchen, as you'd scarce believe knowin how she's lived. She stepped to the door of the little back parlour and spoke, and the next minute a girl came out and followed her behind the counter and actually it was the beggar child, clean and neatly clothed and looking as if she had not been hungry for a long time. She looked shy, but she had a nice face now that she was no longer a savage and the wild look had gone from her eyes. She knew Sarah in an instant and stood and looked at her as if she could never look enough. You see, said the woman, I told her to come when she was hungry, and when she'd come I'd give her odd jobs to do and I found she was willing and somehow I got to like her, and the end of it was I've given her a place and a home and she helps me and behaves well and is as thankful as a girl can be. Her name's Anne. She has no other. The children stood and looked at each other for a few minutes, and then Sarah took her hand out of her muff and held it out across the counter and Anne took it and they looked straight into each other's eyes. I am so glad, sarah said, and I have just thought of something. Perhaps Mrs. Brown will let you be the one to give the buns and bread to the children. Perhaps you would like to do it because you know what it is to be hungry too. Yes, Miss, said the girl, and somehow Sara felt as if she understood her, though she said so little and only stood still and looked and looked after her as she went out of the shop with the Indian gentleman, and they got into the carriage and drove away. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to check out my novel Christmas Carol. That's Carol with a K using the link in the Show Notes. I would be so grateful if you would consider buying a copy or a few copies for yourself or as a gift. If you buy a copy of the book and email me a screenshot of your receipt, you'll be entered into a drawing to receive your choice of either your money back or an additional signed copy. The email to send the receipt to is in the Show Notes. If you buy multiple copies, you can enter the drawing multiple times. The winner will be notified by email. Also, everyone who buys a copy of the book is entitled to a free signed book plate, which you can stick into the book to make it a signed copy if you'd like one. Just just email the screenshot of your receipt to the email address listed in the show notes and let me know whom you'd like the book plate made out to and what address to mail it to. Thank you so much for supporting me and the work I do by buying my book this Christmas time. And of course, don't forget to get in touch with comments or questions about this episode, please go to my website, faithkmoore.com, click on Contact and click Send me your questions and thoughts. Or you can click on the link in the Show Notes to contact me. I'll feature one or two of your entries at the start of the next episode. All right, everyone, story time is over. To be continued.