"Do you mean to say she works for a shop?" Muriel asked, her blue eyes round with astonishment.
"Yes," was the reply. "I wish you could see some of her beautiful designs."
"And she keeps no servant, but does the housework herself! And you have been accustomed to black your own boots! Oh! I never heard of such a thing before!"
"But she cannot afford to keep a servant," Marigold said hastily, half regretful that she had spoken so openly.
"What was your father?" was the next question.
"He was in the army."
It struck Marigold that Muriel's manner was far less genial than it had been when she first joined her, but she could not think what was the reason of the change. She was not left long in ignorance, however, for when the girls were dispersing after school in the afternoon, one of them came up to her and asked if it was true what Muriel Wake was telling everyone, that Marigold's mother had been a servant before her marriage.
For a moment Marigold was so astonished that she stared at her questioner in silence. Then a great wave of anger swept over her, and her eyes flashed ominously.
"If Muriel Wake said that, she told a wicked story!" she cried passionately.
"She did say so," the other girl replied, "but I did not think it was true."