Page:Jean Webster--Much ado about Peter.djvu/44

36 "Don't you mind it, Annie darlin'," said Nora, trying to comfort her. "Miss Ethel did n't mean nothin'. She was in a hurry, likely, an' she did n't stop to think."

"Did n't think! Why can't she wear some other dress? She's got a whole room just full o' dresses, an' she has to have that special one ironed at a minute's notice. An' Kate comin' three days in the week! It is n't my place to wash—that is n't what Mrs. Carter engaged me for—I would n't 'a' minded so much if she'd asked it as a favour, but she just ordered me as if washin' was me work. On Fourth o' July, too, an' Mrs. Carter tellin' me I could have the afternoon off—an' all those ruffles—'have it done by five o'clock,' she says, an' goes out to play."

Annie threw the dress in a fluffy pile in the middle of the floor.

"I shan't do it! I won't be ordered about that way by Miss Ethel or anybody else."

"I'd do it for you meself, Annie, but I