"Is that your best neckerchief, child?" said the old lady.
"Yes, ma'am," blushed Madam Liberality,
So when they got home her godmother went to her odds-and-ends drawer.
Podmore never interfered with this drawer. She was content to be
despotic among the dresses, and left the old lady to faddle to her
heart's content with bits of old lace and ribbon which she herself
would not have condescended to wear.
The old lady fumbled them over. There were a good many half-yards of
ribbon with very large patterns, but nothing really fit for Madam
Liberality's little neck but a small Indian scarf of many-coloured
silk. It was old, and Podmore would never have allowed her mistress to
drive on the esplanade in anything so small and youthful-looking; but
the colours were quite bright, and there was no doubt but that Madam
Liberality might be provided for by a cheaper neck-ribbon. So the old
lady shut the drawer, and toddled down the corridor that led to
Podmore's room.
She had a good general idea that Podmore's perquisites were large, but
perquisites seem to be a condition of valuable servants in large
establishments, and then anything which could be recovered from what
had already passed into Podmore's room must be a kind of economy.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245