Neith Boyce

“ Tom smiled in spite of himself, fascinated by the life, color, and dash in her face and manner.
The two girls hurried for their train, Bertha turning a deaf ear to her sister's reproaches.
"I don't care," she cried, "I was bound to make him come. I won't be snubbed by Tom Jackson!"
"But Cecilia will be mad as a hornet when she——"
"Cecilia! I don't care. She isn't my boss. You seem to think she owns the whole family—and so does she. I have a right to do as I please." ”

“ Bertha's desire for pleasure and naive feeling that she was entitled to it had constantly to be repressed. Mabel was jealous of Bertha, and, with her mother, thought that Cecilia was unnecessarily business-like with them. They were dependent on her, and that fact gave an edge to their criticism of her. Cecilia's conscientiousness presented an angular side to them. ”

“ Thus, since Bertha was to have a new hat, she bought one for Mabel too, taking the girls first to the milliner's, then to luncheon at a restaurant, and leaving them at the door of their theatre. Every Saturday Cecilia gave them two tickets to the gallery, and sometimes the girls went together, sometimes one of them with Mrs. Clayber. (They thought that Cecilia might as well have sent them three tickets.)
On this particular Saturday Bertha was in high spirits, while Mabel was correspondingly gloomy. The privations of a plain girl with a pretty sister were sharper than ever to her. ”