She had learned the tailoring and dressmaking trade in her youth, and she always cut and fitted the garments for the family.
She worked assiduously; by the middle of the forenoon the dress was ready to be tried on.

Ephraim and his father were out in the barn, she and Rebecca were alone in the house.
She made Rebecca stand up in the middle of the kitchen floor, and she began fitting the crimson gown to her.

Rebecca stood drooping heavily, her eyes cast down.

Suddenly her mother gave a great start, pushed the girl violently from her, and stood aloof.

She did not speak for a few minutes; the clock ticked in the dreadful silence.
Rebecca cast one glance at her mother, whose eyes seemed to light the innermost recesses of her being to her own vision; then she would have looked away, but her mother's voice arrested her.
"Look at me," said Deborah.