"There is that cap that is too large for Miss Van Allen--" the
milliner's assistant remarked.

"It would not suit Mrs. Randolph at all," was the answer aside.

But I begged to see it. Now this was a comfortable, soft quilted silk
cap, with a chinchilla border. Not much style about it, but also
nothing to dislike, except its simplicity. The price was moderate, and
it fitted me.

You are going to be a different Daisy Randolph from what you have been
all your life--something whispered to me. And the doctor said, "That
makes you look about ten years old again, Daisy." I had a minute of
doubt and delay; then I said I would have the cap; and the great
business was ended.

Margaret's purchases were all found, and we went home, with money
still in my bank, Dr. Sandford informed me. I was very tired; but on
the whole I was very satisfied, until my things came home, and I saw
that Mrs. Sandford did not like them.

"I wish I could have been with you!" she said.

"What is the matter?" said the doctor. It was the evening, and we were
all together for a few minutes, before Mrs. Sandford went to her
sister.

"Did you choose these things, Grant?"

"What is the matter with them?"

"They are hardly suitable."

"For the third time, what is the matter with them?" said the doctor.

"They are neat, but they are not _handsome_."

"They will look handsome when they are on," said Dr. Sandford.

"No they won't; they will look common. I don't mean _vulgar_--you
could not buy anything in bad taste--but they are just what anybody's
child might wear."

"Then Mrs. Randolph's child might."

Mrs. Sandford gave him a look. "That is just the thing," she said.
"Mrs. Randolph's child might _not_. I never saw anybody more elegant
or more particular about the choice of her dress than Mrs. Randolph;
it is always perfect; and Daisy's always was. Mrs. Randolph would not
like these."

"Shall we change them, Daisy?" said the doctor.

I said "No."

"Then I hope they will wear out before Mrs. Randolph comes home," he
said.

All this, somehow, made me uncomfortable. I went off to the room which
had been given to me, where a fire was kept; and I sat down to think.
Certainly, I would have liked the other coat and hat better, that I
had rejected; and the thought of the rich soft folds of that silky
merino were not pleasant to me. The plaid I had bought _did_ wear a
common look in comparison. I knew it, quite as well as Mrs. Sandford;
and th