Irish -- England -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- Juvenile fiction
"But don't you like them?" said Kitty. "I thought girls loved pretty
dress. Aunt Honora says so, and so did Aunt Bridget when she came to see
us at Castle Malone a month ago. When she heard I was going to England
she said: 'Why, then, my dear Kitty, you must titivate up. It will never
do for them to see you not looking as bright as a sunbeam and as gay as
a cricket. It's colors you'll want, Kitty, and rich materials, and
spangles, and jewels, and beads, and all the other fal-lals.' And father
said to Aunt Bridget:
"'Why then, now, Biddy,' said he, 'you just get what's right for the
child, for she hasn't a notion, and no more have I, what's worn in that
foreign place England.'
"So Aunt Bridget said: 'A wink's as good as a word,' and I'll dress her
up in dashing style!' So she took the measure of my chest, and the round
of my waist, and the length of my skirt, and she saw how many inches I
wanted in the sleeve, and she said: 'You leave the rest to me, Kitty.'
And of course I did, and in three weeks' time down came a trunk that
would make your eyes shine even to look within it. Oh! wasn't it just
the darling entirely! Here's one of the dresses. Now, what do you think
of that?"
As Kitty spoke she pulled out a pink nun's-veiling, made up with
innumerable ruffles and frills and laces and embroidery, a really very
pretty dress for quite a gay party, but totally unsuitable for a
schoolgirl of Kitty Malone's age.
"Why, it's a long dress?" said Alice. "How old are you, Kitty?"
"It's fifteen I'll be my next birthday, darling. Well, and is there
anything wrong about fifteen? I always thought it was a jewel of an
age."
"Yes, but this dress is long; why, there's a train to it!"
"Oh, mercy me! so there is," said Kitty. "To tell you the truth, I never
even tried on the skirt, I was so bamboozled and overexcited with the
others. A train to be sure! Oh, won't I bewitch 'em entirely. Let me try
it on, darling. Have you got a long looking-glass anywhere?"
"Not in this room," answered Alice; "it is not necessary."
"Not necessary? Well, now, I should say it's the one thing you ought to
have in every room, a long looking-glass that you can see yourself in
from top to toe. Why, half your elegance is lost if you cannot see how
you look your own self. Is there one in any other room?"
"In mother's dressing-room, I think."
"And where's that room situated, my jewel?" asked Kitty.
"Oh, at the other end of the passage; but really, Kitty--"
Kitty, however, was off. Alice stayed in her room, too disgusted to
follow her.
"Something must be done to put a stop to this," she thought. "Of course,
mother won't keep a girl of that sort. Why, she's a regular wild Indian;
I shall be ashamed to take her out this afternoon."
But at that moment a high voice, accompanied by peals of laughter, was
heard shouting for Alice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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