But all the while her thoughts were concerned with the coming distasteful interview , and she kept rehearsing mentally her part in it . She wished it were over -- she wished she had never tried to get up a Belgian Relief concert -- she wished she had not quarreled with Irene . After all , disdainful silence would have been much more effective in meeting the slur upon Walter . It was foolish and childish to fly out as she had done -- well , she would be wiser in the future , but meanwhile a large and very unpalatable slice of humble pie had to be eaten , and Rilla Blythe was no fonder of that wholesome article of diet than the rest of us . By sunset she was at the door of the Howard house -- a pretentious abode , with white scroll-work round the eaves and an eruption of bay-windows on all its sides . Mrs. Howard , a plump , voluble dame , met Rilla gushingly and left her in the parlour while she went to call Irene . Rilla threw off her rain-coat and looked at herself critically in the mirror over the mantel . Hair , hat , and dress were satisfactory -- nothing there for Miss Irene to make fun of . Rilla remembered how clever and amusing she used to think Irene 's biting little comments about other girls . Well , it had come home to her now . Presently , Irene skimmed down , elegantly gowned , with her pale , straw-coloured hair done in the latest and most extreme fashion , and an over-luscious atmosphere of perfume enveloping her . `` Why how do you do , Miss Blythe ? '' she said sweetly . `` This is a very unexpected pleasure . '' Rilla had risen to take Irene 's chilly finger-tips and now , as she sat down again , she saw something that temporarily stunned her . Irene saw it too , as she sat down , and a little amused , impertinent smile appeared on her lips and hovered there during the rest of the interview . On one of Rilla 's feet was a smart little steel-buckled shoe and a filmy blue silk stocking . The other was clad in a stout and rather shabby boot and black lisle ! Poor Rilla ! She had changed , or begun to change her boots and stockings after she had put on her dress .
This was the result of doing one thing with your hands and another XXXXX your brain .
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