They proved, however, to be quite hard enough.
The very next day, when Patty went down to the breakfast room, determined to do her best to please Mrs. Van Reypen, she found that lady suffering from an attack of neuralgia.
Though not a serious one, it seriously affected her temper, and she was cross and irritable to a degree that Patty had never seen equalled.
She snapped at the servants; she was short of speech to Patty; she found fault with everything, from the coffee to the cat.
After breakfast they went to the sunny, pleasant morning room, and Patty made up her mind to a hard day.
Then she had an inspiration. She remembered how susceptible Mrs. Van Reypen was to flattery, and she determined to see if large doses of it wouldn’t cure her ill temper.
“How lovely your hair is,” said Patty, apropos of nothing. “I do so admire white hair, and yours is so abundant and of such fine texture.”
As she had hoped, Mrs. Van Reypen smiled in a pleased way.
“Ah, Miss Fairfield, you should have seen it when I was a girl. It was phenomenal. But of late years it has come out sadly.”
“You still have quantities,” said Patty, and very truthfully, too, “and its silvery whiteness is so becoming to your complexion.”