“Well, you are booked for to-morrow now,” said Molly; “and Jehoshaphat! if you don't come in time—”
“Oh, Molly!” whispered Nora.
“There, I won't say it again.”
Poor Miss Truefitt looked much shocked. Molly and Nora bade her good-by, and nodded to Stephanotie, who stood upon the doorstep and watched them down the street; then she returned to her aunt.
“I did think,” said Miss Truefitt slowly, “that the girls belonging to your school were ladylike; but to come here without gloves, and that eldest girl, Miss Hartrick, to use such a shocking expression.”
“Oh, bless you, Aunt Vi! it's nothing to the expressions she uses at school. She's a perfect horror of a girl, and I like her for that very reason. It is that horrid little Linda would please you; and I must say I am sorry for your taste.”
Stephanotie went upstairs to arrange her wardrobe for the next day.
She had long wished to visit Molly's home. The Laurels was one of
the prettiest places in the neighborhood, and Molly and Linda were
considered as among the smartest girls at the school. Stephanotie wished
to be hand-and-glove with Molly, not because she was supposed to be
rich, or respectable, or anything else, but simply because her nature
fitted to that of the wild, enthusiastic American girl. But, all the
same, now that she had got the entrée, as she expressed it, of the
Hartricks' home, she intended to make a sensation.
“When I do the thing I may as well do it properly,” she said to
herself. “I will make them open their eyes. I have watched Mrs. Hartrick
in church; and, oh dear me! have not I longed to give her a poke in the
back. And as to Linda, she thinks a great deal of her dress. She
does not know what mine will be when I take out my very best and most
fascinating gown.”
Accordingly Stephanotie rifled her trunk, and from its depths she produced a robe which would, as she said, make the members of The Laurels sit up. It was made of rose-colored silk, and trimmed with quantities of cream lace. The skirt had many little flounces on it, and each was edged with lace. The bodice was cut rather low in the neck, and the sleeves did not come down anything like as far as the wrists. The rose-colored silk with its cream lace trimmings was altogether the sort of dress which might be worn in the evening; but daring Stephanotie intended to appear in it in the morning. She would encircle her waist with a cream-colored sash, very broad, and with much lace upon it; and would wear many-colored beads round her neck, and many bracelets on her arms.
“The whole will have a stylish effect, and will at any rate distinguish me from everyone else,” was her inward comment. She shook out the dress, and then rang the bell. One of the servants appeared.
“I want to have this robe ironed and made as presentable as possible,” said Stephanotie; “see you have it all done and put in my wardrobe ready for wear tonight. I guess it will fetch 'em,” she added, and then she rushed like a whirlwind into the presence of Miss Truefitt.