Mable giggles along side Nettie.  It was so easy to do when she was so nice, and funny!  She imagined Edmund wearing a dress, and Edward, and then Francis too.

“Miss Nettie, I think you’re the smartest person in the world, because you’re absolutely right!  I think men would feel much happier if they got to work around in a dress every now and again!”

She laughed again, now imagining Father Brennan in a fluffy, frumpy dress.  The image was the best of all.

“What’s the prettiest dress you wish you could wear, Miss Nettie?  I think mine is a pretty pink one, made of silk.  With long sleeves and lace!  But I think Father Brennan would look much nicer in it!”

Nettie was nearly beaming as the girl made her feel so much better. She agreed with her, almost commenting how priest's robes were like dresses but thought better of it.

"Oh, well I have a dress that I think is very pretty that I got a little while back for a dance back in London. I didn't use it so I brought it here and wore it a few nights ago. It's green and black. I can show it to you later, if you like." She giggled a little. "Yours sounds ever so pretty. I imagine he'd look very nice in it. Long figures do tend to look nice in dresses sometimes."

A green and black dress sounded lovely, and so did dances.  Mable had always wanted to go do a dance! She was so impressed with Nettie right then.

“I’d absolutely love to see it!  I just know you look absolutely gorgeous in it Miss!”  Excited, Mable let go of Nettie’s hand and ran forward, twirling as she did so.  Already, she could see stalls with tons of pretty fabrics.

“When I learn to sew very well, I’ll really make a nice dress for long figures and gift it to Father Brennan so he can feel pretty too.  And I’ll make one for you too!”

Nettie watched the girl run ahead and gave a cheerful laugh. She walked towards her and nodded. "Sounds wonderful. I'll teach you all I know. And I'm sure you can figure out a lot yourself, you seem like a very bright girl. I'd love to wear any dress you made." A smile stuck to her face as she walked quicker to catch up to the girl. "What would you like to look at first?" She called out to her.

"Everything!" was Mable's immediate, happy response, but she knew that was not possible.  She spun around again, actually taking time to look at everything that surrounded her this time before pointing off somewhere, looking back at Nettie.

"How about there?  Do those clothes look like ones I could embroider?"

Nettie laughed and walked with her towards the place she pointed out. As she neared it, she gave the clothing a critical eye. "Oh they are very lovely. I see some of these pieces would be very good. The key to good embroidery for clothing is you don't want anything too spectacular on it's own, that way your work catches the eye more. You understand?" She asked and walked towards the door to go in. She held it open and gestured politely to Mable, "After you."

Mable nodded wisely at Nettie's advice, stepping within the store with wide eyes full of wonder.  Oh, finding something that wasn't spectacular on its own was going to be very hard.  Everything within this store was beautiful and clean and frilly and new - maybe Mable just had low standards.

Still, she was afraid to even touch the clothes on display as she wondered through.  Eventually, she spotted a simple white, large enough for a man to wear.  She pointed it out to Nettie.  "Something like that, do you think I could embroider flowers on that?  Or should I start with something smaller, like your handkerchief?"

Nettie stared at it in surprise. It would never fi- she looked over and smiled kneeling down. "I think we should get some scraps for practice, a couple of handkerchiefs when you are ready. And then when you can make me three beautiful handkerchiefs, I'll buy you that. You'll make Father Brennan very pretty. Almost like a bride. " She said with her voice lowered so no one else could hear.

Mable was a little disappointed to hear they'd have to hold off on the shirt, but she understood why.  What if Nettie bought the shirt for her, and then Mable ruined it because she was inexperienced?  She would feel terrible forever!

Imagining Father Brennan as a bride cheered her up, even if it also made her cheeks flush.  Could men be brides?  Would Father like to be?  Mable would have to ask him when he was back in town.

"Let's look for some nice, very average looking handkerchiefs then, so I can make them very beautiful!"

She was happy the girl agreed. Nettie remembered her first attempts and failures. She wanted the girl to not feel bad for ruining a nice cloth. "Of course. I believe with a little practice you can make them prettier than rainbows and roses." She said and then lead her to look at handkerchiefs, quickly picking up a few small pieces of cloth that wouldn't work well for much other than patching and cleaning.