"You do not quite understand," Angela went on. "Wait a little. Do you consent, Rebekah?"
The girl's eyes flashed and her cheeks became aflame. Then she thought of the sudden promotion of Joseph, and she took confidence. Perhaps she really was equal to the place; perhaps she had actually merited the distinction.
"Very well, then," Miss Kennedy went on, as if it was the most natural thing in the world that a humble workwoman should be suddenly raised to the proud post of manager. "Very well; that is settled. You, Nelly, will try to take care of the workroom when Rebekah is not there. As regards the accounts——"
"I can keep them, too," said Rebekah. "I shall work—on Sundays," she added with a blush.
Miss Kennedy then proceeded to expound her views as regards the management of her establishment.
"The girls will be here at nine," she said.
Rebekah nodded. There could be no objection to that.
"They will work from nine till eleven," Rebekah started. "Yes, I know what I mean. The long hours of sitting and bending the back over the work are just as bad a thing for girls of fifteen or so as could be invented. At eleven, therefore, we shall have, all of us, half an hour's exercise."
Exercise? Exercise in a dressmaker's shop? Was Miss Kennedy in her senses?
"You see that asphalt. Surely some of you can guess what it is for?" She looked at Harry.