belonged to Stuart's cavalry and had fallen at Yellow Tavern; there was
Miss Meason of the glove counter, and there was Mrs. Burwell Smith of
the ribbon counter--for, though she had married beneath her, it was
impossible to forget that she was a direct descendant of Colonel Micajah
Burwell, of Crow's Nest Plantation.

Then, if one happened to be in search of cotton goods, one would be
almost certain to remark on the way home: "Miss Peters, who waited on me
in Brandywine's this morning, has unmistakably the manner of a lady," or
"that Mrs. Jones in Brandywine's must be related to the real Joneses,
she has such a refined appearance." And, at last, in the middle
'nineties, after the opening of the new millinery department, which was
reached by a short flight of steps, decorated at discreet intervals with
baskets of pink paper roses, customers were beginning to ask: "May I
speak to Miss Gabriella for a minute? I wish to speak to Miss Gabriella
about the hat she is having trimmed for me."

For here, also, because of what poor Jane called her "practical mind,"
the patrons of Brandywine & Plummer's were learning that Gabriella was
"the sort you could count on." As far as the actual work went, she
could not, of course, hold a candle (this was Mr. Plummer's way of
putting it) to Miss Kemp or Miss Treadway, who had a decided talent for
trimming; but no customer in balloon sleeves and bell-shaped skirt was
ever heard to remark of these young women as they remarked of Gabriella,
"No, I don't want anybody else, please. She takes such an interest." To
take an interest in other people might become quite as marketable an
asset, Mr. Plummer was discovering, after fifty years of adherence to
strictly business methods, as a gift for the needle; and, added to her
engaging interest, Gabriella appeared to know by instinct exactly what a
customer wanted.