CHAPTER XII.
THE CONFERENCE IN MRS. JUDSON’S CHAMBER.
Ellen opened a door at the upper end of the hall, and Jane Kelly found herself in a spacious chamber, brilliantly lighted, with a broad, tall mirror rising from floor to ceiling, and a Psyche glass swinging between gilded supporters, in which she saw herself from head to foot.
Several easy-chairs, shrouded in white linen, stood about the room, and a bed, canopied with lace and crimson satin, was laden down with loose garments, which betokened the presence of ladies enough for a large dinner-party.
On the dressing-table, toilet articles lay about as if but recently used. Combs and ivory-handled brushes, carved into richness, were scattered over the white marble, and on a table close by, an elaborate dressing-case stood open with all its crystal flasks and cases exposed, glittering with gold, and, in some instances, surmounted with exquisite cameos that might have befitted a lady’s necklace.
Jane Kelly, after gazing about the room in wonder at its costliness, went up to this dressing-case and began to handle the dainty articles it contained. Ellen turned upon her sharply enough,—
“Don’t,” she said. “You will get me into trouble.”
Jane’s eyes flashed; she settled the flask which she had been examining into its place with an angry jerk. “Are you afraid that I shall steal something?” she demanded rudely. “If you are, say so.”
“There now, you are going off into one of your old tempers, Jane Kelly. I a’n’t afraid of anything of the sort; but you aren’t used to handling such things; why, one of them bottles is worth two months of your wages.”
“Well, let her keep ’em; I have no use for such things; wouldn’t take ’em for a gift if it wasn’t to sell ’em again, not I. Things that one can wear are worth having; but I wouldn’t give shucks for a load of gimcracks like these. Who wants ’em to dress with?”
After expressing her disdain of Mrs. Judson’s dressing-case, Kelly turned her back upon it, and took a full-length portrait of herself in the mirror.