"Why, mother," and Katie's face flushed. "I am sure Connie Pafford is very nice. And it's very kind of her to want to be friendly with me. They are very much better off than we are. She has an uncle who keeps his carriage."
Mrs. Grainger smiled.
"I hope my little daughter will be wiser some day, and not think that because a little girl has an uncle who keeps his carriage, her friendship should be cultivated. But indeed, Katie, I am not at all anxious that your intimacy with the Paffords should increase; it is not likely to bring you any real good or happiness. Had it not been that on hearing of our trouble Miss Loam offered to take you and Dora on greatly reduced terms, you could not have remained at so good a school, and you must remember that your social position is very different from that of most of Miss Loam's pupils."
"Yes, and that's just what makes it so hard," rejoined Katie, with a sigh.
"Some of the girls would not think any the worse of you for being poorer than themselves, dear child," said her mother; "and there is no reason why you should not be friendly with them. But from what I have heard, I should not think the Paffords are of that class, and I do not think it well for you to seek their acquaintance."
"I don't consider the Paffords at all nice," remarked Dora. "They are proud and stuck-up, and Mrs. Pafford never takes the least notice of us if we happen to meet her in the street."
"You couldn't expect her to stop and speak to you when you were carrying that big basket the other day," said Katie. "You looked exactly like a servant."
"Let us hope she did not recognise your sister," said Mrs. Grainger, quietly, "for if Dora had been a servant and Mrs. Pafford had known her, it would have shown great ill-breeding to pass without any outward sign of recognition. It would have been more, a direct violation of the command 'be courteous.' But," she added, changing her voice, "we must break off our talk, or you will not get the long walk I want you to have. Katie dear, it is my desire that you go with your sister."
The words were said very kindly, but with a certain firmness that left no room for argument, and Katie went away to get ready herself and help to dress her little brothers and sisters.
But she forgot her vexation when she found herself in Regent's Park. It was a remarkably clear fine morning, and the trees were covered with tiny particles of hoar-frost that glittered like diamond dust in the bright sunshine. No wonder Phil wanted to get out of his perambulator and run and stamp his little feet on the hard, frozen ground.