She grew more antagonistic as the year advanced.

Every fault that could be found in the undertaking she pounced upon and enlarged; every doubt that could be cast upon it she heavily piled up; and her opposition grew more rancorous as Mr.Thaddler enlarged in her hearing upon the excellence of Diantha's lunches and the wonders of her management.
"She's picked a bunch o' winners in those girls of hers," he declared to his friends.

"They set out in the morning looking like a flock of sweet peas--in their pinks and whites and greens and vi'lets,--and do more work in an hour than the average slavey can do in three, I'm told." It was a pretty sight to see those girls start out.

They had a sort of uniform, as far as a neat gingham dress went, with elbow sleeves, white ruffled, and a Dutch collar; a sort of cross between a nurses dress and that of "La Chocolataire;" but colors were left to taste.

Each carried her apron and a cap that covered the hair while cooking and sweeping; but nothing that suggested the black and white livery of the regulation servant.
"This is a new stage of labor," their leader reminded them.