There was no reason in the world why she shouldn't have
gone to the ball and had a good time instead of thinking of them in
their hours of trouble. But here she was, actually going out of her
way to be kind to her employers: supplying a complete family for
Christmas Eve purposes and never uttering a word of complaint!
The more he thought of it, the prettier she became. He mentioned it to
his wife and she agreed with him. Melissa was much too pretty, said
Mrs. Bingle, entirely without animus. And she was really quite a
stylish sort of girl, too, when she dressed up to go out of a Sunday.
Much more so, indeed, than Mrs. Bingle herself, who had to scrimp and
pinch as all good housewives do if they want to succeed to a new dress
once a year.
Melissa had something of an advantage over her mistress in that she
received wages and was entitled to an afternoon off every fortnight.
Mrs. Bingle did quite as much work about the house, ate practically
the same food, slept not half so soundly, had all the worry of making
both ends meet, practised a rigid and necessary economy, took no
afternoons off, and all without pecuniary compensation--wherein rests
support for the contention that Melissa had the better of her mistress
when all is said and done.
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