“There is half of our fortune gone;” said Fanny, “but I don’t grudge a penny of it. Indeed I feel like spending the rest on dear papa.”
“Papa has had his share, fully. Now I must do some shopping for you girls. And I have a surprise in my mind for Mrs. Whitcomb.”
“A present, I know. O mamma, tell us at once.”
“She would not take any pay for her services in the summer, so I shall spend part of my gift upon her. It is one of the chinks, and I think it can best be filled with a new dress.”
“Just the thing. She has a nice black silk dress, so let this be a poplin, a beautiful dark wine color. You know how pretty she looked in the neck tie,” said Fan.
“I had been puzzling on a color. You and Rose and Nelly must have a new winter dress apiece.”
“And mine shall be wine color. Can we afford poplin, mamma, real pretty, I mean?”
“Hardly, I think. You will want a walking suit and what with overskirt and jacket—”
Fan made a mental calculation.
“No, mamma mia, it will never do. A dollar and a half a yard will be our utmost limit. Well, there are lovely empress cloths. We will be neat if we cannot be gorgeous. And if I could have velvet like it for a hat, and a tiny real lace collar.”