(608) Sara's way

Elizabeth is a person who likes others to like her. She has been in awe of Veronica for quite a while. One thing Veron is years older than her. The next thing is that Veron is usually so well turned out that Elizabeth looks like a peahen beside Veron. Thirdly, Veron is extremely articulate in her speech and has a sharp side to her versatile tongue.

One night it was rather chilly as it had been raining dogs and cats the entire day. Elizabeth dug out her warmest T-shirt which happened to be rather the worse for wear. After the meeting, Veron pulled her aside and asked if she has insufficient clothes to divide between university and home. I have forgotten how Elizabeth responded. Anyway, the long and short of it is that the following week Veron brought two big bagful of her clothes for Elizabeth. After another week she bought Elizabeth a new T-shirt.

Actually Elizabeth has sufficient clothes. Perhaps she might carelessly leave what she wanted to wear for the weekend in uni. Or maybe she meant to bring a particular outfit for presentation in uni but forgot to do so. But, well! Who would complain about having more clothes to choose from? On the one hand Elizabeth is grateful for Veron's kindness, on the other hand she was very surprised to be so well treated and singled out among her peers. This incident showed clearly that beneath the sophisticated looks and the rather hard boiled manners, Veronica must have a very tender and caring heart. Else why should she care to take the risk of being rejected or being laughed at, not that Elizabeth would dream of doing that!

Here I am reminded of story number 10: Sara's way in Further Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. On page 108 we find "It was always Sara's way. When any creature got sick and unfortunate, she seemed to take it right to her heart. So you might say Lige Baxter's failure was a success after all." You see, Sara refused to marry Lige when he was the most eligible bachelor in town. But as soon as his business failed because of another person's dishonesty, Sara decided to marry him and start anew in the West (as in settling in the pioneering wild, wild west of USA or Canada.).

Should my family be rather wealthy and could afford much new clothes, Elizabeth may never see this special trait of Veronica.