Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Marriage -- Fiction; Women -- Social and moral questions -- Fiction
"Not 'Judge' Deedes," said Katie smiling. "That's a County Court Judge."
And she explained. Mr. Miller opened his eyes wide.
"Is that so-o-o? Well now, if that isn't interesting! That's noos. He's
a Honourable with a 'u' in it, and a Sir, and you call him his Lordship,
and he's Mister Justice Deedes! Ain't that English!... Now let me see if
I'm on the track of it. 'Your Worship'--that's a Magistrate. 'Your
Honour'--that's the other sort of Judge. And 'My Lord'--that's Miss
Deedes' uncle. And an English Judge has a Marshal.... Do you recollect
our Marshals, Mrs. Stan?----"
Building (as it now appeared) even better than he knew, Mr. Miller had,
in the past, granted the rank of Marshal to Messrs. Hallowell and
Smiths' shopwalkers.
Dorothy's reason for thus flagrantly introducing Sir Joseph's name was
this:--
Katie had left the Eden, and she herself was presently off to Ludlow.
Thus there was the possible reversion of a job of sorts going a-begging.
Katie might as well have it as anybody else. Dorothy had strictly
enjoined upon her impulsive friend that on no account was she to
contradict or disclaim anything she, Dorothy, might choose to say on her
behalf to Mr. Miller; and she intended that the credit, such as it was,
of the last Idee she even intended to propose to Mr. Miller--the Litmus
Layette--should be Katie's start. Once started she would have to look
after herself.
So when Mr. Miller passed from the subject of Hallowell and Smiths'
Marshals to that of his long-hoped-for Idee, Dorothy was ready for him.
Avoiding the weak spot, she enlarged on the tradition--very different
from a mere superstition--that, in Layettes, blue stood always for a boy
and pink for a girl.
"You see," she said, "this is England when all's said, and we're
_fright_fully conservative. Don't condemn it just because it wouldn't go
in New York.... You've heard of the Willyhams, of course?" she broke off
suddenly to ask.
"I cann't say I have, Mrs. Stan. But I'm sitting here. Tell me. They're
a Fam'ly, I presoom?"
"Yes. Upshire's their title. Now that title's descended in the female
line ever since Charles the First. Ever since then the Willyham Layettes
have been pink as a matter of course. And now, not a month ago, there
was a boy, and they had to rush off and get blue at the very last
moment.... Let me see, your children are little girls, aren't they?" she
again interrupted herself to say.
"Three little goils, Mrs. Stan, with black-and-white check frocks and
large black bows in their hair."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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