Blue Frocks and Pink Frocks
Rosalind and Pauline Wyvill were not twins, though at first sight nearly every one thought they were. Rosy was eleven and Paula only nine-and-a-half, but Paula was very tall for her age, and Rosy, if anything, small for eleven, so they were almost exactly the same height. And though Paula was much fairer than her sister, who had brown hair and rather dark grey eyes, still there was a good deal of likeness between them, and they were generally dressed exactly the same, which made them seem still more like twins.
Their mother was particular about their dressing the same, but now and then it was a little difficult to manage, for somehow Paula's frocks and hats and jackets generally got shabby long before Rosy's, and if an accident—such as tearing or burning or staining—was to happen, it was perfectly sure to come to Paula's clothes, and not to her sister's. In such cases, however, the misfortune had often to be endured, for their mother could not of course afford to get new things every time Paula's came to grief, though now and then she had to get an extra frock or jacket of some stronger or stouter material for the little girl to wear, if those the same as her sister's had been spoilt past repair.
It came to pass, one Christmas holiday, that the two children were invited to spend a week with an aunt by themselves. It was the first visit they had ever paid on their own account, and they were both pleased and excited about it.
This aunt was their father's elder sister. She was very kind, but not very much accustomed to young people, and in some of her ideas she was perhaps extra particular and what people now-a-days call rather "old-fashioned."
"You must show your aunt that I have taught you to be very neat and tidy," said their mother, a few days before the little girls were to go, "for she is rather strict about such things; it may be a little difficult for you, as you will have no maid of your own with you. Whatever you do, be sure always to be dressed exactly alike, that is one of the things that your aunt will notice the most."
"Which of us must fix what we are to wear?" said Paula; "mayn't we take it in turns?"
"I don't think there should be any difficulty about it," said their mother. "I should think it would be the nicest to consult together, without any fixed rule."
