"Oh, stitched; I have a beautifully running machine, and I want to get them out of the way as soon as possible, for there is dressmaking to be done. Can you run a White machine?"
Mona was conscious that her companion was regarding her very earnestly during this conversation, but she appeared not to notice it, and replied:
"I never have, but if I could be shown how to thread it, I think I should have no difficulty."
She was very thankful to know that all that mountain before her was not to be done by hand.
"Do you like to sew?" Mrs. Montague inquired, as she watched the girl's pretty hand in its deft manipulation of the needle.
Mona smiled sadly.
"I used to think I did," she said, after a moment's hesitation, "but when one is obliged to do one thing continually it becomes monotonous and irksome."
"How long have you been obliged to support yourself by sewing?" the woman asked, curiously, for to her there seemed to be something very incongruous in this beautiful high-bred girl drudging all day long as a seamstress.
Mona flushed at the question.
There was nothing she dreaded so much as being questioned regarding her past life.