"
"That is all very well to say," answered Eugenia. "The nuns can
enforce these rules in their boarding-schools, but hardly in a
day-school like this. We'll wear what we please, or what our mothers
select. Mamma has decided to get the white silk for me, because so
many of our friends will be present, and she wants my dress to be the
handsomest of any."
This information was received without comment, but it aroused in some
foolish little hearts a feeling of envy, and in others a desire of
emulation.
Eugenia Dillon was the richest girl in the school. Her father, a
plain, sensible man, who had lacked early advantages, had within a few
years amassed a considerable fortune, which he would gladly have
enjoyed in an unostentatious, unpretending manner. This, however, did
not suit his wife at all. Mrs. Dillon, though a kind-hearted,
charitable woman, was excessively fond of style, lavishly extravagant,
and inclined to parade her wealth upon all occasions. She did not
realize that the very efforts she made to attain the position in
society which would have come to her naturally if she had but the
patience to wait, caused her to be sneered at as a _parvenu_ by those
whose acquaintance she most desired.
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