hand-glass, began twisting and turning
before the mirror so as to get a view of her hair, which was no longer
plaited into a pigtail, but screwed into a knot the size of a walnut,
planted accurately in the middle of her head.

"I say, what do you think of my coiffure?"

Rhoda looked, and burst into a shriek of laughter. "Oh, Tom! that's it!
I noticed there was something different, but couldn't think what it
was. Oh, no, no, Tom, you can't leave it like that! You must make it
bigger, and wear it either high or low. It's too ridiculous--that
little button just in the very wrong place. Sit down for one moment,
and I'll arrange it for you!"

But Tom beat her off resolutely with the hair-brush.

"I won't! It's my own hair, and I like it this way. It's _distingue_--
not like every other woman you meet. Now that I've left school and am
grown-up, I must study _les convenances_, and it's fatal to be
commonplace. I may be prejudiced, but it seems to me that in this get-
up I'm a striking figure!"

The beaming good-humour of her smile, the utter absence of anything
approaching envy or discontent, struck home to Rhoda's heart, and
silenced further protestations. She put her arm round Tom's waist, gave
her an affectionate grip, wishing, for perhaps the first time in her
life, that she herself had put on an older frock, so that the contrast
between herself and her guest should be less marked in the eyes of the
household.

Alas! socially speaking, Tom was not a success. Mrs Chester was
plainly alarmed by her eccentricities; Mr Chester did not know whether
to take her in fun or in earnest; and Harold's languor grew more and
more pronounced. The very servants stared with astonishment at the
peculiar guest, and when dinner was over Rhoda, in despair, took Tom up
to her own den to avoid the ordeal of an evening in the drawing-room.

Once alone, with closed doors and no critical grown-ups to listen to
their conversation, the hours sped away with lightning speed, while Tom
told of her own plans, sympathised with Rhoda's ambition, and let fall
words of wisdom, none the less valuable for being uttered in the most
casual fashion. Every now and again the remembrance of her recent
disappointment would send a stabbing pain through Rhoda's heart, but, as
she had said, it was impossible to remain in low spirits in Tom's
company, and if no one else enjoyed that young lady's society it was
precious beyond words to her girl compa