But she is not the sort to have followers," she concluded complacently.
"Shall I go to the workroom ?" asked Gabriella in a businesslike voice when she had taken off her hat, "or do you wish me at the sale ?" Her soul shrank from the showrooms, but she had determined courageously that she would not allow her soul to interfere with her material purpose, and her purpose was to learn all that she could and to make herself indispensable to Madame.

Only by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business and making herself indispensable could she hope to succeed.

And success was not merely desirable to her; it was vital.

It meant the difference between food and hunger for her children.
"Miss Smith will find something for you to do this morning," replied Madame, politely, but without enthusiasm.

"If there is a rush later on in the millinery, I will send for you to help out." In the old days, when Dinard's was a small and exclusive house in one of the blocks just off Fifth Avenue, Madame would have scorned to combine the making of gowns and hats in a single establishment; but as she advanced in years and in worldly experience, she discovered that millinery drew the unwary passer-by even more successfully than dressmaking did.