"Oh, I daresay it will be all right," said Rosy, thinking to herself that, as she was older than her sister, it would be only fair for her generally to have the first choice. "Do you think we shall have the same room, mamma?"
"No," their mother replied. "I was forgetting to tell you that you are to have two small separate rooms, as there will be other people staying in the house, and the larger rooms will be needed for them, so I have told Ann to pack up your things in two small boxes instead of together, but remember you have everything exactly alike, so that there will be no excuse for your not always being dressed the same. And, Paula, I do hope you will manage not to spoil anything during these few days."
"No, mamma, I'll try not," Paula replied, but she spoke rather absently, for she was not really attending to her mother's last words.
"What a lot of settling it will take, every time we dress," she was thinking to herself. "I hope we shan't quarrel about it." For it must be owned that though Rosy was a very kind elder sister, she was sometimes rather masterful, and that, though Paula would give in readily enough when spoken to gently, she could sometimes be very obstinate, if not taken exactly in the right way.
This is not a story, as you might expect, of Paula's misfortunes in the way of accidents to her clothes during their week's visit. More by luck than good management, probably, no very important disaster of the kind occured, and the first two or three days at their aunt's passed prosperously. Paula gave in to Rosy's wishes as to what frocks they were to wear, and indeed during the daytime there was not much chance of difference of opinion, as, being winter, they had only two each, Sunday and every-day ones. But their kind mother had given them some new and pretty evening dresses, prettier than they had ever had before, and the little girls were very much pleased with them. Unluckily, however, they had a disagreement of taste about them, Rosy preferring the pink ones and Paula the blue.
On the third evening of their visit, an hour or so before it was time to dress, they began talking about what they should put on, for coming into the drawing-room before dinner.
"It is the turn for our pink frocks to-night," said Rosy, in the very decided way that always rather roused Paula's spirit of contradiction. "And I'm very glad of it, for I like them ever so much the best."
"I don't," replied Paula, rather crossly, "I think the blues twenty times prettier, and we never fixed that we were to wear them in turns."
"Perhaps the blue suits you best," said Rosy, "but the pink suits me; I heard somebody say so the night we came, and to-night is rather particular, for you know it's uncle's birthday, and we are to go in to dessert and sit up an hour later. It is only fair that I should have what I like best, as I'm the eldest, besides it's the turn of the pinks."