and particularity in all that concerned her
little person; and to have such plenty of things to wear, so nice of
their kind, and full liberty to put them on clean and fresh as often as
she pleased, fulfilled her utmost notions of what was desirable. Her
mental confusion arose from the articles furnished by Mme. Fournissons.
The lustre of the silk, the colour of the blue, the richness of the
green, the ruffles, the costly buttons, the tasteful trimmings, the
stylish make, all raised a whirl in Matilda's mind. She was a little
intoxicated. Nobody saw it; she was very demure about it all; made no
show of what she felt; all the same she felt it. She could not help a
deep satisfaction at being dressed to the full as well as Judy; a
feeling that was not lessened by a certain sense that the satisfaction
was on her part alone. Of the two, that is. Mrs. Laval openly expressed
hers. Mrs. Lloyd nodded her dignified head and remarked, "That child
will do you no discredit, Zara." Mrs. Bartholomew looked at her, which
was much; and Norton declared that from a pink she had bloomed out into
a carnation. All these things Matilda felt; and unconsciously in all
that concerned dress and equipment she began to set a new standard for
herself. One thing must match with another. "Of _course_, I must have
round-toed boots," she said to herself now. She began to doubt whether
she must not get at least one pair of gloves more elegant than any she
found at Shadywalk, to go with her silk dresses and her new coat. She
hesitated still, for the price was a dollar and a quarter.

Upon all this came Mr. Richmond's letter; and Matilda found it did not
exactly fit her mood of mind. She was confused already, and this made
the confusion worse. Then Saturday came; and Norton was free; and he
and Matilda made another round of shop-going. The matter was growing
imminent now; Christmas would be in a fortnight. But the difficulty of
deciding upon the choice of presents seemed as great as ever. Seeing
more things to choose from, only increased the difficulty. They went
this morning to Stewart's, to find out what might be displayed upon the
variety counter; they went to a place where Swiss carvings were shewn;
finally they went to Anthony's; and they could not get away from this
last place.

"It's long past one o'clock, Pink," said Norton as they were going down
the stairs.

"What shall we do, Norton? I'm very hungry."

"So am I. One can always do something i