Then Katy prepared to do battle for the child of her heart.
“Was the dress ye ordered sent the one Miss Linda was telling ye about?” she asked tersely.
“Yes, it was,” said Eileen. “Linda has got mighty good taste. Any dress she admired was sure to be right. She said there was a beautiful dress at ‘The Mode’. I went and looked, and sure enough there was, a perfect beauty.”
“But she wanted the dress for herself,” said Katy.
“It was not a suitable dress for school,” said Eileen.
“Well, it strikes me,” said Katy, “that it was just the spittin’ image of fifty dresses I’ve seen ye wear to school.
“What do you know about it?” demanded Eileen.
“I know just this,” said Katy with determination. “Ye’ve had one new dress in the last few days and you’re not needin’ another. The blessed Virgin only knows when Miss Linda’s had a dress. She thought ye’d done yourself proud and sent it for her, and she put it on, and a becoming and a proper thing it was too! I advanced her the money myself and sent her to get some shoes to match it since she had her car fixed and could go in a hurry. A beautiful dress it is, and on her back this minute it is!”
Eileen was speechless with anger. Her face was a sickly white and the rouge spots on her cheeks stood a glaring admission.
“Do you mean to tell me?——” she gasped.