“Well now, young Madge,” Bess said, “I taught Peter to read and write, and I’ll do the same with you.”
Madge looked up. Scrubbed clean and dressed in the youngest maid’s cast-offs, she looked nearly respectable except for her bleak eyes.
“What if I don’t want to read and write?”
“Then you and I will have a falling-out,” Bess said, “and neither of us wants that.” She produced the books she had used with Peter and laid a rag doll on the table. “We’ll start with the alphabet.”
“What’s that?” Madge asked.
“What’s the alphabet?” Bess said.
“No.” Madge pointed to the doll. “What’s that for?”
“Oh, that,” Bess said. “That’s what good girls get when they learn their ABC.”
“ABC,” Madge said and reached for the doll.
“That’s a start,” Bess said. “You’ll get her when you learn the whole alpha
