Lilybel__often wondered about things. When she was not wondering about her father—mysterious and wonderful father!—she frequently wondered about his clothes. She always. stared. at them. They were absorbingly wonderful and enthralling. -She sometimes thought about her own clothes, or about. her mother's costumes, but chiefly about the latter as being approved or disapproved of by her father. Discriminating, critical father!
Lilybel's clothes seemed diabolically designed to impede her movements. Her skirts wrapped about her legs. Her sleeves held back her arms. Her buttons and hooks and eyes took wearisome moments to fasten, irksome periods to unfasten. "Further inflictions. Tiresome sashes, hair ribbons. crowning annoyances of collars and cuffs. Her mother, her sisters, the housemaids, aunt Ella, cousin €elicia, the ladies who came to the house, all hampered, impeded, thwarted, circumvented, Silly clothes! Choking clothes! Femininely foolish clothes!
Men's clothes of course were different, just as men were different. Lilybel was older now. She knew that men's clothes were infinitely more important and wonderful than women's. She knew that al-.though women had to wear clothes made specially for them, after all -they only wore what. men wanted them to wear, or or what they thought men wanted them to wear. Even" Lilybel had to put on a clean pinafore when her father was coming to the nursery. Certainly men were nui-sauces.
Lilybel's father had once brought Lilybel's mother a hat from London. Whenever her mother put it on it wag as if some one had put an extinguisher over a candle. It drowned the blue in her eyes. It faded the pink in her cheeks. It made her face look all nose and mouth. Extraordinary hat! Admirable hat, however. Wonderful father!
"Who bought that hat? I did of course. No woman can buy a hat. Seo the hat Anna is wearing. Wretched object. Makes her look worse than ever. Now this hat. See? That's a hat! Do you see those good lines? Do you see the stylish shape? Do you notice the exquisite colours? There's a right kind of hat and a wrong kind of hat to buy.
I bay _the right kind."
Clever father! Natty father!
Men's clothes. They actually serméd designed for comfort. If a coat got in their way running races they took off a coat. Women were different. What could they take off? Women had to carry a handkerchief in their hands if they wanted one, Of course they were always dropping them and if there were no men about to pick them up often they were lost. Futile handkerchiefs! Incompetent women! Miserable! Maddening!
en now. They had pockets. They kad such efficient pockets that thay never had to carry bags for it possessions. They could carry four handkerchiefs, each in a separate pocket and still have pockets left. Incomprehensible, stupendous, admitable men!
Mother: now, and the girls ad-ways had. to be altering their dresses. If a dress had big sleeves one year, the next spring the sleeves had to be small. If it still lasted another year it was time for sleeves to be big again. Father's sleeves now, stayed the same year after year, and so did Howard's and Egbert's except as they got too short. Yes, men were different.
Shoes' again. Lilybel's sister Flora would not wear any shoes that were comfortable. As soon as they grew at all loose she said they were stretched and made Anna wear them. But if the shoeer Sent home boots to father that were in the least tight father would shout "Beastly shoemaker! Idiot Shoemaker Outrageous shoemaker! Blow the Shoemaker! Dash the shoemaker! Blow_ the shoemaker Mysterious Men! Masters not only of themselves but of their clothes. Marvellous, magnificent men!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.