“Have a drink, darlin’?” asked Kate, looking up at the dowager.
“Thank you, my dear,” said Beulah, in an affected voice. “It’s so sweet of you to ask me.”
Kate ladled out two drinks. As she handed one to Carrie, she said, “That’s a lovely gown, honey. Drewena told me you made it yourself. Why don’t you drop around at my place some time next week and show me how you do it?”
Beulah coughed slightly and pinched Carrie’s arm.
Kate turned to her with another glassful of punch.
“Here you are, dear,” she said. “It will be good for you.” But she was thinking, “I’ll bet it’s the first free drink she’s had in months!” Aloud, Kate spoke again. “And now, darlin’, do have another.”
Beulah nodded graciously, her eyes a little brighter.
Kate thought once more, “You old bitch! I hope you choke on it and get as blue as blue can be!”
“Kate, dearie,” said Beulah, after her fourth, “there’s just the right touch of bitters to the bottle—it makes one have a feeling of heavenly bliss!”
Kate smiled and thought, “You don’t know a good drink from a bad one. You just take all you can get, and that’s all you know. You might have been pretty in your day—but your blooming days are past forever.”