"And I am the housemaid; I wash the dishes and lay the cloth and sweep
and dust, and an apron keeps my dress clean," Bessie had answered him,
laughingly, and when she came to London she brought her best apron with
her, and after Neil was gone put it on and commenced her task of
darning.
"Oh, if you could have a new coat; this is so worn and threadbare," she
said to her father, who was sitting near her in his dressing-gown. "I
wish Neil had sent you a coat instead of that dress to me. I do wish we
were rich! I would buy a lot of things, but first of all I would have a
drive in the park. Wasn't it grand! I wish Neil would take us, though
perhaps he has not the money of his own to pay for the carriage."
"Bessie," her father said, rousing up from the half dozing condition in
which he was most of the time when in the house, "you are hugging a
delusion with regard to Neil. He is very kind in a way, when it costs
him nothing, but he would never sacrifice his comfort or his feelings
for you or me. We are his poor relations, from the country; we are not
like his world, or that powdered piece of vanity who was with him
yesterday.
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