Beth's Wonder-Winter by Marion Ames Taggart

Beth sat by the window in spotless order. Her hands were clasped in / her lap; she was so still that her favorite doll, sitting stiffly / opposite to her, seemed, by contrast, to be romping. But the reddened / tips of the clasped fingers betrayed the severe pressure that held / them so motionless, and the pallor of the usually rosy round face, and / the dilated blackness of the blue eyes told the effort which kept the / little girl so quiet at her post. Beth was watching for the arrival / of her Aunt Alida Cortlandt's maid, who was to carry her off to the / crowded metropolis. Beth had never seen a maid -- she had seen "girls," / "help," even "servants," but a maid! Somehow she had gathered from / her beloved story-books vague ideas of maids as exalted persons who / beautifully served beautiful princesses, or noble ladies. The coming of / one of these to the brown village house which had been Aunt Rebecca's / home for more than fifty years, and Beth's home for a fifth of that / time was the beginning of the wonderful experiences into which the maid / would lead the little girl.

Outside in the hall stood Beth's small trunk, locked and strapped, / and plainly tagged in Aunt Rebecca's clear handwriting. The knowledge / that it was there made it harder for Beth to watch quietly out of the / window. Aunt Rebecca had rebelled against Mrs. Cortlandt's suggestion / that Beth should be fitted out with winter clothing in New York. Aunt / Rebecca "guessed that her nephew's daughter wasn't going to visit her / mother's folks as if she hadn't had a friend in the world till they / remembered to ask her! " She had prepared what seemed to Beth a lavish / wardrobe, and had packed it in the little trunk that Beth had always / admired as it stood in the attic under the eaves. Miss Tappan had made / the navy blue coat and gown to match which Beth wore then, ready to / travel in. She liked it so much that she was glad that it had three / tucks in the skirt, so that if New York air made her grow fast the / skirt could be let down three tucks' length, and she could wear her new / suit all winter. It had a hat to match; a round navy blue felt, trimmed / with navy blue ribbon that was not precisely the same shade as the hat, / but was the nearest to it of all the ribbons Miss Ludd, the milliner, / had. It also had a bunch of blue quills that caused Beth delightful / anxiety, because of their tendency to split at their tips when she put / her hat into its box.