Mrs. Clover, though the quarrel
was prolonged until four o'clock, had offered no refreshments, which
seemed to Miss Sparkes a very gross instance of meanness and
inhospitality.
At a table near to her sat two girls, for some reason taking a
holiday, who conversed in a way which proved them to be "mantle
hands," and Polly listened and smiled. Did she not well remember the
day when the poverty of home sent her, a little girl, to be
"trotter" in a workroom? But she soon found her way out of that. A
sharp tongue, a bold eye, and a brilliant complexion helped her on,
step by step, or jump by jump, till she had found much more
agreeable ways of supporting herself. All unimpeachable, for Polly
was fiercely virtuous, and put a very high value indeed upon such
affections as she had to dispose of.
The girls were appraising her costume; she felt their eyes and
enjoyed the envy in them. Her hat, with its immense bunch of
poppies; her blouse of shot silk in green and violet; her gold
watch, carelessly drawn out and returned to its pocket.
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