Rose was delighted, but at what Pearl said next, her heart leaped. "Oh please, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you," she said as she let her friend lead her away. But really she did want that. Pearl's dresses were beautiful, and the thought of wearing one of those, and having all the other girls admire her and having Andrew think her pretty was enough to make her head spin.

"I don't even wear them all," she said with some exasperation, though not toward Rose but toward herself. She led the girl up to her room and threw open her wardrobe, pulling out a lovely gown of ivory that was most certainly a wedding dress. "I am never going to wear this." She thrust the pretty dress her way and then rummaged through her hope chest for the veil.

Rose caught the dress, rather shocked at her friends carelessness. She laid it out on the bed and sat down beside it, admiring it. Her fingers moved over the dress, feeling the fabric, and her eyes took in every detail. It was one of the prettiest dresses she had ever aid eyes on, let alone touched. "Oh Pearl..." she said breathlessly. "This is truly the prettiest dress I've ever seen. But I can't wear it... This is the kind of dress you should wear on your wedding day."

"There will be other gowns," she said, waving her hand and then holding up the veil. "It's just sitting there collecting dust, I'd rather see you in it than see it continue to sit here." Pearl smiled then as she gently lay the veil on top of the gown. "I have plenty of gowns in the wardrobe if you feel like you don't like that one."

Rose shook her head. "Oh I like it, Pearl. I like it very much, indeed. It's beautiful. But I cannot wear it. Its too beautiful... too expensive." Her hand moved over the fabric tenderly once more. "I'd embarrass myself. People would think I'd forgotten my place. Perhaps..." she looked up at Pearl. "If you have another white dress? I don't have one, and I don't want to buy one for the occasion, since it would be impractical to wear in other circumstances."

"Oh..." she said softly. "People can be cruel over such little things." Pearl frowned and sighed, leaving the dress where it was at and rifling through more. "Here is a more plain one. The sleeves aren't even puffed." She lay the next one out, which was a pale yellow color, not quite ivory.

"Aye, but I suppose they'd have a point," she muttered quietly. Rose took the dress with a smile, although she could not help feeling a little disappointed that it was not quite white. She scolded herself mentally for such greed and vanity, and put the dress down on the bed, to give it a good look. She managed to keep that smile plastered on her face. "It will be perfect," she said.

"Hmm," She held the dress up to her friend and wrinkled her nose a little, "I don't like it. Do you? Be honest." She wanted to give Rose what she was looking for, so she turned and dug a little deeper until she found one that was white. It wasn't as fancy as the ivory one, or as plain as the yellow one, but it was white. "This one?"

Rose dared not say anything negative about the dress. After all, she should be grateful for this opportunity to begin with. "Oh, Pearl, this dress is prettier than any of my own and I'd be very grateful to wear it," she said diplomatically. But when Pearl held up the white dress, she jumped up and clasped her hands. "Oh that is lovely indeed!"

Pearl moved to hold the dress up in front of her friend, giving a keen eye. "You will look lovely!" she declared then. It wasn't her least expensive gown but it wasn't her most expensive either, and it was plain enough that it could pass for a wedding gown for someone like Rose. "Your Andrew will not be able to keep his eyes off of you." She was sure of it. It made her happy to see Rose ecited about the white dress.