The lift of his head, the flourish of his hat, and the book all told Linda that he had struggled and that he felt the struggle had brought an exhilarating degree of success.

That had made the day particularly bright for Linda.
She had gone home with a feeling of uplift and exultation in her heart.
As she closed the front door she cried up the stairway: "Eileen, are you there ?" "Yes," answered a rather sulky voice from above.
Linda ascended, two steps at a bound.
"Thank you over and over, old thing!" she cried as she raced down the hallway.

"Behold me! I never did have a more becoming dress, and Katy loaned me money, till my income begins, to get shoes and a little scuff hat to go with it.

Aren't I spiffy ?" She pirouetted in the doorway.

Eileen gripped the brush she was wielding, tight.
"You have good taste," she said.