Then the light broke, dazzling and diabolical, and Diva bounced to her feet, blinded by its splendour.
“My coat and skirt are yours, Janet,” she said. “Get on with the work both of you. Bustle. Cover it with roses. Have it finished to-night. Wear it to-morrow. Wear it always.”
She gave a loud cackle of laughter and threaded her needle.
“Lor, ma’am!” said Janet, admiringly. “That’s a teaser! And thank you, ma’am!”
“It was roses, roses all the way.” Diva had quite miscalculated the number required, and there were sufficient not only to cover collar, cuffs and border of the skirt with them but to make another line of them six inches above the hem. Original and gorgeous as the dress would be, it was yet a sort of parody of Elizabeth’s costume which was attracting so much interest and attention as she popped in and out of shops to-day. To-morrow that would be worn by Janet, and Janet (or Diva was much mistaken) should encourage her friends to get permission to use up old bits of chintz. Very likely chintz decoration would become quite a vogue among the servant maids of Tilling…. How Elizabeth had got hold of the idea mattered nothing, but anyhow she would be surfeited with the idea before Diva had finished with her. It was possible, of course (anything was possible), that it had occurred to her independently, but Diva was loath to give so innocent an ancestry to her adoption of it. It was far more sensible to take for granted that she had got wind of Diva’s invention by some odious, underhand piece of spying. What that might be must be investigated (and probably determined) later, but at present the business of Janet’s roses eclipsed every other interest.
Miss Mapp’s shopping that morning was unusually
