Mrs. P. You’d like to see it on, sister? I’ll open the shutter a bit farther.
Mrs. T. Well, if you don’t mind taking off your cap, sister.
Mrs. P. I’ve sometimes thought there’s a loop too much of ribbon on the left side, sister. What do you think?
Mrs. T. Well, I think it’s best as it is. If you meddled with it, sister, you might repent. How much might she charge you for that bonnet, sister?
Mrs. P. Pullet pays for it. He said I was to have the best bonnet at Garum Church, let the next best be whose it would. I may never wear it twice, sister; who knows?
Mrs. T. Don’t talk of that, sister. I hope you’ll keep your health this summer.
Mrs. P. But there may come a death in the family, as there did soon after I had my green satin bonnet.
Mrs. T. That would be unlucky. There’s never so much pleasure in wearing a bonnet a second year, especially when the crowns are so chancy—never two summers alike.
Mrs. P. Ah, it’s the way of the world! Sister, if you should never see that bonnet again till I’m dead and gone, you’ll remember I showed it to you this very day.