Sinton's help made most of them, and Elnora had paid
the bills. The white dress of the previous spring was the first made at
a dressmaker's. She had worn that as junior usher at Commencement; but
her mother had selected the material, had it made, and it had fitted
perfectly and had been suitable in every way. So with her heart at rest
on that point, Elnora hurried to the bed to find only her last summer's
white dress, freshly washed and ironed. For an instant she stared at it,
then she picked up the garment, looked at the bed beneath it, and her
gaze slowly swept the room.
It was unfamiliar. Perhaps this was the third time she had been in it
since she was a very small child. Her eyes ranged over the beautiful
walnut dresser, the tall bureau, the big chest, inside which she never
had seen, and the row of masculine attire hanging above it. Somewhere a
dainty lawn or mull dress simply must be hanging: but it was not. Elnora
dropped on the chest because she felt too weak to stand. In less than
two hours she must be in the church, at Onabasha. She could not wear a
last year's washed dress. She had nothing else. She leaned against the
wall and her father's overcoat brushed her face. She caught the folds
and clung to it with all her might.
"Oh father! Father!" she moaned. "I need you! I don't believe you would
have done this!" At last she opened the door.
"I can't find my dress," she said.
"Well, as it's the only one there I shouldn't think it would be much
trouble.
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