For the
sake of the pink coral, Rosalind had manoeuvred for her white dress;
for its sake she had knowingly stinted her mother and sisters; for its
sake she had also stolen a five-pound note from Maggie Oliphant. She
dreamt many times of the triumphs which would be hers when she
appeared at the Elliot-Smiths' in her white silk dress, just tipped
with the slight color which the pink coral ornaments would bestow.
Rosalind had likened herself to all kinds of lovely things in this
beautiful yet simple toilet-- to a daisy in the field, to a briar
rose: in short, to every flower which denoted the perfection of baby
innocence.
Yet, as she held the coral necklace in her hand tonight, she hesitated
deeply whether it would be wise to appear at the Elliot-Smiths' in her
treasured ornaments.
Rose had not felt comfortable all day. She had banished thought with
the usual device of extra hilarity: she had crushed the little voice
in her heart which would persistently cry, "Shame! shame!" which would
go on telling her, "You are the meanest, the most wicked girl in St.
Benet's; you have done something for which you could be put in
prison." The voice had little opportunity of making itself heard that
day, and, as Maggie Oliphant evidently did not intend to investigate
the matter, Rosalind had every hope that her sin would never be found
out.
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