Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
“Go and lie down, you dear, kind soul, and don’t think of my nonsense
again,” said Kitty, feeling remorseful, till Pris was comfortably
asleep, when she went to her room and revelled in her finery till
bedtime. So absorbed was she in learning to manage her train gracefully,
that she forgot the facing till very late. Then, being worn out with
work and worry, she did, what girls are too apt to do, stuck a pin here
and there, and, trusting to Priscilla’s careful bastings, left it as it
was, retiring to dream of a certain Horace Fletcher, whose aristocratic
elegance had made a deep impression upon her during the few evenings she
had seen him.
Nothing could have been lovelier than the morning, and few hearts
happier than Kitty’s, as she arrayed herself with the utmost care, and
waited in solemn state for the carriage; for muslin trains and dewy
roads were incompatible, and one luxury brought another.
“My goodness, where did she get that stylish suit?” whispered Miss Smith
to Miss Jones, as Kitty floated into the station with all sail set,
finding it impossible to resist the temptation to astonish certain young
ladies who had snubbed her in times past, which snubs had rankled, and
were now avenged.
“I looked everywhere for a muslin for to-day and couldn’t find any I
liked, so I was forced to wear my mauve silk,” observed Miss Smith,
complacently settling the silvery folds of her dress.
“It’s very pretty, but one ruins a silk at Class Day, you know. I
thought this organdie would be more comfortable and appropriate this
warm day. A friend brought it from Paris, and it’s like one the Princess
of Wales wore at the great flower-show this year,” returned Kitty, with
the air of a young lady who had all her dresses from Paris, and was
intimately acquainted with the royal family.
“Those girls” were entirely extinguished by this stroke, and hadn’t a
word to say for themselves, while Kitty casually mentioned Horace
Fletcher, Lyceum Hall, and Cousin Jack, for _they_ had only a little
Freshman brother to boast of, and were _not_ going to Lyceum Hall.
As she stepped out of the cars at Cambridge, Jack opened his honest blue
eyes and indulged in a low whistle of astonishment; for if there was
anything he especially hated, it was the trains, chignons and tiny
bonnets then in fashion. He was very fond of Kitty, and prided himself
on being able to show his friends a girl who was charming, and yet not
over-dressed.
“She has made a regular guy of herself; I won’t tell her so, and the
dear little soul shall have a jolly time in spite of her fuss and
feathers. But I do wish she had let her hair alone and worn that pretty
hat of hers.”
As this thought passed through Jack’s mind he smiled and bowed and made
his way among the crowd, whispering as he drew his cousin’s arm through
his own,—
“Why, Kitty, you’re got up regardless of expense, aren’t you? I’m so
glad you came, we’ll have a rousing good time, and you shall see all the
fun.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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