“Yes,” said Julia. “A little desk there,” she went on; “white wood, you know, the kind of thing that you get in the High Street all ready for painting, or poker work. We might sketch all over it, or get our friends to autograph it.”
“Autograph it?”
“Yes. And then varnish it over with a very clear, colorless varnish. It would look very beautiful, and it would be original too.”
“Yes, it would be original. Supposing we have all the furniture like that?”
“No, no, not all the furniture—only the writing-table. There’s something appropriate about autographs on a writing-table,” Julia declared.
Eventually Mr. Whittaker agreed to have the room done up according to the girls’ ideas, and to give them a certain sum for furnishing it according to their own taste.
“Now I do beg, dear Alfie,” said Mrs. Whittaker, who, in spite of her desire that her girls should be original, was a person who loved to have a finger in every pie, “now I do beg, Alfie, that you will not be too lavish. Have the room thoroughly done up according to their ideas; that is only right. I like the notion of delicate bouquets of roses, tied together with a sky-blue ribbon, on a white satin stripe. It is elegant, refined, and capable of great things in the general effect. I would have a suitable ceiling paper to match, and you must give them a pretty electric light arrangement in place of this simple one. After that, leave everything to the girls. Yes, dears, the paint will have to be touched up. It won’t require newly painting, because, you see, it has been white, and it is not in very bad condition. So have it entirely done, Alfie—ceiling, walls, paint—then give them a sum of money, just enough for them to exercise their ingenuity in making it go the very furthest.”
“I’ll give you thirty pounds,” said Alfred Whittaker, slapping his pocket and thrusting his hand into it with an air of firm determination. “Thirty pounds after I have done the decoration, and no more. If you can’t make a room look smart with thirty pounds, you don’t deserve to have a room of your own.”
“All right, daddy. Thank you very much,” said Julia.
“Yes, daddy dear, we’ll make it do very nicely,” said Maudie.