“Oh, my dears, if you only would! But do you really mean it? Do they?” And she looked at Aunt Molly for confirmation of an offer too good to be true.
“I think they do,” said Aunt Molly, smiling; “and I can assure you, dear Mrs. Lennox, that whatever these young ladies undertake will be well and thoroughly done.”
“How can we do it?” said Nan. “Do you mean for the English ladies to think we’re really servants?”
“Of course they must,” cried Millicent, who had waked up to the glorious possibilities of the situation. “Unless it’s a real masquerade it’ll be no fun at all. But where can we get the right kind of caps and aprons?”
Aunt Molly volunteered to go to town for them that very afternoon, and Mrs. Lennox, seeing that these strange girls were really in earnest, accepted the blessing Heaven had so unexpectedly sent her, and at once began to make the most of it.
“Which of you are the best cooks?” she inquired, with the air of a general marshaling his forces—but such a capable and straightforward general that no offense could possibly be felt.
“Hester and Marjorie,” was the immediate reply of the other six.
“Very well,” said Mrs. Lennox. “Hester shall be head cook, since you named her first, and Marjorie assistant.”
Then Jessie and Betty were selected as being the deftest waitresses, and Millicent and Helen were declared ideal lady’s-maids. Helen preferred to be Mrs. Lennox’s own maid, so Millicent was allotted to the English visitors.
All agreed that Marguerite would make the most picturesque parlor-maid, and as no other post could be thought of, Nan said she would be private secretary and librarian.