To be sure , Denise was not much bother , and Little Joyce did most of the waiting on her . At the tea table nothing was talked of but the concert ; for was not Madame Laurin , the great French Canadian prima donna , at the hotel , and was she not going to sing ? It was the opportunity of a lifetime -- the Marshalls would not have missed it for anything . Stately , handsome old Grandmother Marshall was going , and Uncle Roderick and Aunt Isabella , and of course Chrissie , who was always taken everywhere because she was pretty and graceful , and everything that Little Joyce was not . Little Joyce would have liked to go to the concert , for she was very fond of music ; and , besides , she wanted to be able to tell Denise all about it . But when you are shy and homely and thin and awkward , your grandmother never takes you anywhere . At least , such was Little Joyce 's belief . Little Joyce knew quite well that Grandmother Marshall did not like her . She thought it was because she was so plain and awkward -- and in part it was . Grandmother Marshall cared very little for granddaughters who did not do her credit . But Little Joyce 's mother had married a poor man in the face of her family 's disapproval , and then both she and her husband had been inconsiderate enough to die and leave a small orphan without a penny to support her . Grandmother Marshall fed and clothed the child , but who could make anything of such a shy creature with no gifts or graces whatever ? Grandmother Marshall had no intention of trying . Chrissie , the golden-haired and pink-cheeked , was Grandmother Marshall 's pet . Little Joyce knew this . She did not envy Chrissie but , oh , how she wished Grandmother Marshall would love her a little , too ! Nobody loved her but Denise and the little black doll . And Little Joyce was beginning to understand that Denise would not be in the kitchen chamber very much longer , and the little black doll could n't tell you she loved you -- although she did , of course . Little Joyce had no doubt at all on this point . Little Joyce sighed so deeply over this thought that Uncle Roderick smiled at her .
Uncle Roderick did smile XXXXX her sometimes .
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