“Do you think I could get something?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said, reaching over and filling her cup with tea. “I’ll help you.”
She looked at him, and he laughed reassuringly.
“Now I’ll tell you what we’ll do. We’ll go over here to Partridge’s and you pick out what you want. Then we’ll look around for a room for you. You can leave the things there. Then we’ll go to the show to-night.”
Carrie shook her head.
“Well, you can go out to the flat then, that’s all right. You don’t need to stay in the room. Just take it and leave your things there.”
She hung in doubt about this until the dinner was over.
“Let’s go over and look at the jackets,” he said.
Together they went. In the store they found that shine and rustle of new things which immediately laid hold of Carrie’s heart. Under the influence of a good dinner and Drouet’s radiating presence, the scheme proposed seemed feasible. She looked about and picked a jacket like the one which she had admired at The Fair. When she got it in her hand it seemed so much nicer. The saleswoman helped her on with it, and, by accident, it fitted perfectly. Drouet’s face lightened as he saw the improvement. She looked quite smart.
“That’s the thing,” he said.