Meg began to dream rose-coloured dreams of the time when her fair,
shining hair should be gathered up into "a simple knot at the back
of her head" or "brushed into a regal coronet," these being the
styles in which the heroines in the novels invariably dressed
their hair. A pigtail done in three was very unromantic. That
was why, as a sort of compromise, she cut herself a fringe and
began to frizz out the end of her plait. Her father stared at her,
and said she looked like a shop-girl, when first he noticed it,
and Esther told her she was a stupid child; but the looking-glass
and Aldith reassured her.
The next thing was surreptitiously to lengthen her dresses, which
were at the short-long stage. In the privacy of her own bedroom
she took the skirts of two or three of her frocks off the band,
inserted a piece of lining for lengthening purposes, and then
added a frill to the waists of her bodices to hide the join. This
dropped the skirts a good two inches, and made her look quite a
tall, slim figure, as she was well aware.
And none of these things were very harmful.
But Aldith gradually grew dissatisfied with her waist.
"You're at least twenty-three, Marguerite," she said once, quite in
a horrified way.
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