"I hope not," said Clarissa.
"It is an absurd arrangement anyhow," Mrs. Candy went on. "Matilda at Mrs. Laval's, and Anne and Letitia earning their bread with something not a bit better than mending lace. They will not like it very well."
"Why not, aunt Candy?" Matilda asked.
"Wait and see if they do. Will they like it, do you think, to see that you do not belong to them any more and are part and parcel of quite another family? Will they like it, that your business will be to forget them now? See if they like it!"
"Why I shall not forget them at all!" cried Matilda; "how could I? and what makes you say so?"
"You are beginning by forgetting your mother," said Mrs. Candy, with a significant glance at the silver-grey pelisse.
"Yes," said Clarissa, "I noticed the minute she came in. How could Mrs. Laval do so!"
"What?" said Matilda. "That isn't true at all, aunt Candy."
"I see the signs," said Mrs. Candy. "There is no need to tell me what they mean. In this country it is considered a mark of respect and a sign that we do not forget our friends, to wear a dress of remembrance."
"It reminds us of them, too," said Clarissa. "And we like to be reminded of those we love."