Belle entered Pauline's room to find her cousin revelling in the
exquisite pathos of Whittier's _Snowbound_ before dressing for dinner.

The problem of clothes had been solved by Aunt Rutha in her pleasant,
tactful way.

'You are just Belle's age, my dear,' she had said the day after
Pauline's arrival, as she lifted a delicately pencilled muslin from a
large parcel which had been brought in from White's, and laid it against
her fresh young cheek.

'That is very becoming, don't you think so, Gwen? It is such a delight
for me to have two daughters to shop for. I have always had a craze to
buy doubles of everything, but Gwendolyn was so much older, I could
never indulge myself. There is no need to say anything, dearie,' and she
kissed away the remonstrance that was forming on Pauline's lips. 'You
belong to us now, you know, and your uncle thinks he owes your mother
more than he can ever hope to repay.'

Then she led her to the lounge which Gwendolyn was piling high with
delicately embroidered and ruffled underwear.

'I did not know whether you would like your sets to be of different
patterns or not, but Belle has such a horror of having any two alike
that I ventured to think that your tastes would agree. The girls are
going in town to-morrow to order their summer hats, so you can finish
the rest of your shopping then, if you like, and get an idea of our
city.'

And then had followed a morning such as she had never dreamed of. The
excitement of driving to the station in the exhilarating morning air,
past houses which, like her uncle's, seemed the abodes of luxurious
ease. Before many of them carriages were waiting, and through the open
doors she caught glimpses of white-capped servants and coloured nurses
carrying babies in long robes of lawn and lace. A vision of Polly in her
pink checked gingham flashed before her. How could life be so different?

The ride in the cars was delightful, past a succession of elegant houses
and beautifully laid out grounds, until she began to feel she had
reached a new world where care was an unknown quantity.

Then the city, with its delightful whirl of cars and horses and people.
She had never imagined there could be so many in any one place before.
She marvelled at the condescension of the gentlemen in the handsomely
appointed shoe store, and blushed as one of them placed her foot on the
rest. She looked in amazement at the elegantly furnished apartments of
Madame Louise, and