Kates Ordeal | Page 8

said it wasn't genteel!"
"Mother liked me to go to Sunday school, and I promised her I would
find out a Bible-class, as soon as I could," said Kate.

"Well, so you can, I daresay, after a little while, but you must look
round a bit first Now where shall we go on Sunday? You see the fine
weather won't last long, and there's such lots of things for you to see.
Of course, you would like to see Buckingham Palace, and the Houses
of Parliament, and the Albert Memorial, and Kensington Gardens. But
we can't see everything in one Sunday, so we had better make up our
mind to go and see the Parks and the Memorial next Sunday."
Kate did not answer, but Marion chose to consider the matter settled.
Later in the day, when they had time for a few minutes' chat to
themselves, Marion said, "You will soon forget your old-fashioned,
countrified notions about Sunday schools and Bible-classes. They were
all very well, I daresay, for the country people could go out and get a
breath of fresh air any day in the week; but you can't here, and so we
are obliged to manage our Sundays the best way we can."
"Yes--but--but I should like to go to church next Sunday. Mother asked
me in her letter this morning to tell her whether I had found a nice
Bible-class, and where I went to church."
"Oh! well, we'll go to church for once, just to satisfy your mother, Kate,
only she can't expect us to go every Sunday."
Kate thought she had better be content with the small victory she had
gained, and perhaps, by-and-by, she might be able to persuade Marion
to go to Bible-class with her, and thus put an end to these Sunday
excursions. In the meantime, she must go with her cousins for a walk or
a pleasure trip on a Sunday afternoon, or else Marion would refuse to
accompany her to school.
It seemed strange to Kate, at first, to be walking about in the noisy
streets, or gazing at the fashionable, gaily-dressed people in the Park,
but she soon began to enjoy discussing this one's dress and that one's
bonnet almost as much as her cousins did, and her younger cousin said,
"You will soon wear off all your country rust, Kate. How could you
have lived in that pokey place so long?"
"Oh, it wasn't pokey a bit," said Kate warmly; "I had lots of friends

there, and that is what we are not allowed to have here. Don't you find
that rule of Mrs. Maple's rather hard to keep sometimes, Marion?" she
added.
"What rule?" said Marion.
"About saying as few words as possible to the customers in the shop;
Mrs. Maple told me she was most strict about it."
"Well, I suppose she is," said Marion, carelessly; "at least, just at first;"
but they were joined at this moment by two young men, whom Kate
instantly recognised as being frequent visitors at the shop.
She cast an inquiring glance at Marion, as one of them said, "This is the
cousin you told me was coming to help you in the shop, I suppose?"
"I have been there all the week, and seen you several times, I think,"
said Kate quickly, at which they all burst into a loud laugh.
A few minutes afterwards they were joined by some more friends, who
were likewise customers at the shop, as Kate's eyes instantly told her,
and she wondered whether her cousin did keep the rule about friends
and customers, as strictly as Mrs. Maple supposed.
Before the next week was over, she found that these friends of Marion's
came in for buns or pastry when Mrs. Maple was sure to be out of the
way, and a good deal of laughing and chatting went on between them.
"Of course I don't keep such a stupid rule as that, Kate, how can I?"
said her cousin afterwards, when they were talking about this. "It would
not do to laugh and chat with the old lady in the way, but where is the
harm I should like to know?"
Kate shook her head. "Of course I don't understand business," she said,
"but I thought it was a strange rule, myself."
"A strange rule! It is the most stupid and absurd one that could be
thought of. Some people come into the shop every day, and to think I

am only to say 'yes' and 'no' to them is ridiculous."
"But all those young men you met on Sunday--surely you knew some
of them in a different way than just coming into the shop?" said Kate.
"No, I don't," replied her cousin; "I never saw them until I came here,"
she added, laughing.
Kate