Water-party

The day came blue and full of sunshine, with little wafts of wind. The
sisters both wore dresses of white crepe, and hats of soft grass. But
Gudrun had a sash of brilliant black and pink and yellow colour wound
broadly round her waist, and she had pink silk stockings, and black and
pink and yellow decoration on the brim of her hat, weighing it down a
little. She carried also a yellow silk coat over her arm, so that she
looked remarkable, like a painting from the Salon. Her appearance was a
sore trial to her father, who said angrily: 'Don't you think you might as well get yourself up for a Christmas
cracker, an'ha' done with it?' But Gudrun looked handsome and brilliant, and she wore her clothes in
pure defiance. When people stared at her, and giggled after her, she
made a point of saying loudly, to Ursula: 'Regarde, regarde ces gens-la! Ne sont-ils pas des hiboux incroyables?'
And with the words of French in her mouth, she would look over her
shoulder at the giggling party.

'No, really, it's impossible!' Ursula would reply distinctly. And so
the two girls took it out of their universal enemy. But their father
became more and more enraged.

Ursula was all snowy white, save that her hat was pink, and entirely
without trimming, and her shoes were dark red, and she carried an
orange-coloured coat. And in this guise they were walking all the way
to Shortlands, their father and mother going in front.