n that she was not altogether pleased to see that
her guests were as appropriately dressed as herself. She eyed them up
and down, and made remarks to the maid in that fluent French of hers
which was so unintelligible to the schoolgirls' ears. The maid smirked
and pursed up her lips, and then, meeting Peggy's steady gaze, dropped
her eyes in confusion. Peggy knew, as well as if she had understood
every word, that the remarks exchanged between mistress and maid had
been of a depreciatory nature, not as concerned her own attire--that was
as perfect in its way as Rosalind's own--but with reference to the
home-made dresses of the vicar's daughters, which seemed to have
suddenly become clumsy and shapeless when viewed in the mirrors of this
elegant bedroom. She was in arms at once on her friends' behalf, and
when Peggy's dignity was hurt she was a formidable person to tackle. In
this instance she fixed her eyes first on the maid, and then on Rosalind
herself with a steady, disapproving stare which was not a little
disconcerting.

"I am sorry," she said, "but we really don't know French well enough to
follow your conversation! You were talking about us, I think. Perhaps
you would be kind enough to repeat your remarks in English?"

"Oh-h, it doesn't matter! It was nothing at all important!" Rosalind
flushed, and had the grace to look a trifle ashamed of her own
ill-breeding, but she did not by any means appreciate the reproof. The
girls had not been ten minutes in the house, and already that
aggravating Peggy Saville had succeeded in making her feel humiliated
and uncomfortable. The same thing happened whenever they met. The
respect and awe and adoring admiration which she was accustomed to
receive from other girls of her own age seemed altogether wanting in
Peggy's case; and yet, strange to say, the very fact that she refused to
fall down and worship invested Peggy with a peculiar importance in
Rosalind's eyes. She longed to overcome her prejudices and add her name
to the list of her adorers, and to this end she considered her tastes in
a way which would never have occurred to her in connection with Mrs
Asplin's daughters. In planning the pink luncheon Peggy had been
continually in her mind, and it is doubtful whether she would have taken
the trouble to arrange so difficult an entertainment had not the party
from the vicarage included that important personage, Miss Mariquita
Saville.

From the bedroom the girl