Aunt Charlotte, tying the soft, blue ribbon into the brown curls, looked into the mirror before which they were standing, and smiled at the thoughtful face.
"Will it keep until then, dear?" she asked.
"Oh, yes," said Nancy, "I only tell it to you because I love to tell you everything."
"Dear child," said Aunt Charlotte, "I bless the day that you, as a little waif, were taken in by Mrs. Dainty, and that I was asked to come and care for you. I could not love you more if you were my own little girl."
"I never saw my own mamma; she died when I was a baby," said Nancy, "so, because you love me, you seem like my very own."
Gentle Aunt Charlotte's eyes were wet with happy tears, as she hooked the pretty, white muslin frock, with its slip of light blue, and tied the soft blue belt.
"Your shoes must be changed, Nancy," she said. "You know how particular Mrs. Dainty is about the matter of shoes and stockings. They must match the frock."
"Oh, yes," said Nancy, "and with this one she said: 'Wear blue stockings and bronze slippers,' so I will."
She found the blue hose and the pretty bronze slippers, then, with elfin grace, she caught the edge of her skirt, and with rosy, bare feet, tripped across the floor in a graceful, gliding step, crying:
"Look, Aunt Charlotte, look! This pretty step Bonfanti taught me."