She was much like Winona, except that certain professional touches of colour at waist, neck, and wrists made her appear, in spirit at least, the younger woman.

There were times when Winona suffered herself to doubt her mother's seriousness; times when the woman appeared a slave to levity.
She would laugh at things Winona considered no laughing matters, and her sympathy with her ailing husband had come to be callous and matter of fact, almost perfunctory.

She longed, moreover, to do fancy dressmaking for her child; and there was the matter of the silk stockings.

The Christmas before the too downright Dave Cowan, in a low spirit of banter, had gifted Winona with these.

They were of tan silk, and Dave had challenged her to wear them for the good of her soul.
Winona had been quite unpleasantly shocked at Dave's indelicacy, but her mother had been frivolous throughout the affair.