Terel said more, but Nellie wasn’t listening. Part of her was telling herself that she should have known that something would happen to ruin this evening. She had wanted it too much for it to have come about. Another part of her was enraged. How could Terel have done this to her?
“It was an accident,” she muttered to herself.
“Of course it was an accident,” Terel said, indignant. “You don’t think that I—that I could have…” She put her hands over her face. “Nellie, how could you hate me so much as to think that I could have wanted to ruin your dress? Why would I have wanted to hurt you?”
Nellie’s anger left her as she hugged Terel. “I’m sorry. Of course it was an accident. Of course you wouldn’t have done something like this.” She looked down at her dress. Now she wouldn’t be able to go to the ball, for she had no other dress at all suitable.
Terel pushed away from Nellie. “We must hurry and find you something else to wear. The men will be here soon.”
“I have nothing else,” Nellie said tiredly.
“Then you’ll have to wear something of mine. You can wear my green gown. The color will look good on you.”
Nellie was trying to keep her dignity. “I could not possibly wear one of your dresses. I’m too…I’m not your size.”
“Oh,” Terel said, looking at Nellie. “I don’t guess we can even let out the seams enough. We’ll just have to borrow a dress. Now, who in town is your size?”
“No one is my size,” Nellie said, fighting tears. “No one at all.”
“Mrs. Hutchinson,” Terel said thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s it, we’ll go to Mrs. Hutchinson and—”
Mrs. Hutchinson was a horrid old woman who lived on the edge of town. She was three hundred pounds if she was an ounce, and she dressed like a man and smelled like the pigs she raised. It was rumored that in her younger days she had been a mule skinner.
“No,” Terel said, “Mrs. Hutchinson would never have a ball gown. But who else in town is as large as you?”
The muscles in Nellie’s throat were working as she tried to keep from crying. Was she as fat as Mrs. Hutchinson?
Terel put her shoulders back. “I shan’t go. If my sister can’t go, then I won’t either.”
Nellie wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “That’s ridiculous. Of course you’ll go.”
Terel began picking up marbles from the floor. “No, I won’t. What kind of sister would I be if I let you stay here all alone, and besides it was my ink, and I’m the one who bought the marbles. And it was my coughing that must have knocked them off the table. I shouldn’t have coughed. I don’t know why I’ve been coughing lately. I must go see Dr. Westfield. I should probably stay home tonight and rest anyway. You and I will make cookies, and you can eat all of them. Yes, Nellie, that’s what we’ll do. Now, will you help me out of my dress? Anyway, you said it was an ugly dress.”
Terel’s words made Nellie stop thinking of herself. “Your dress is beautiful, and you are beautiful, and you must go to the ball.”
“Not without you.”
It took Nellie forty-five minutes to persuade Terel to go to the ball without her. Her escort came and had to wait in the parlor for thirty minutes while Nellie tried to persuade Terel to go without her. But at last Terel left with her escort in a swirl of roses and lace and pink silk, and Nellie closed the door behind them.
She was still wearing her blue dress, the ink stain now over most of the skirt. Hunger attacked her, deep, gnawing hunger. She pushed away from the door and started for the kitchen, but a knock on the door halted her. She opened it to see Jace standing there. He wore dark evening clothes, and he looked as handsome as a prince in a fairy tale.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, “but there were cows on the railroad track, and the train was delayed, and—Nellie, what’s wrong?”
Even as he said it he pulled her into his arms, and her tears, held back for over an hour now, came pouring out. Jace could hardly understand what she was saying. He pulled her head off his shoulder and put his fingers under her chin. “What is this about your not being able to go?”
“My gown is ruined.”
He stepped back to look at her skirt. “Your little sister been at it again?”
“Terel didn’t do this. She was coughing, and the marbles fell, and I—”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped Nellie’s eyes. “Now, sweetheart, blow your nose, because I have a surprise for you.” He stepped back to reveal two people behind him, a man and a woman. The man’s arms were full of boxes, and the woman carried a little leather case. Nellie looked at Jace questioningly.
“This is Houston’s maid, and she’s come to do your hair.” He looked at the curls on Nellie’s head. “Did Terel burn yours?”
“She didn’t mean to, she—”