She took his dark blue tie and

She gave Rufus a new white shirt from which he slowly and with fascination drew the pins, running them between his teeth as he watched Aunt Hannah help Catherine into her new dress, which was white, speckled with small dark blue flowers. Catherine stood holding the hem and looking at the skirt and at her white-stockinged feet, which she could see through the skirt. “And now your necktie,” Aunt Hannah said. She took his dark blue tie and made expert motions beneath his chin while alternately he tried to watch her hands and looked into her intent eyes behind their heavy lenses. Her eyes looked stern and sad and exhausted. Then she cleaned their nails and combed and brushed their hair, and put a clean handkerchief in Rufus’ breast pocket and blacked their shoes. “Now wait a moment,” she said, leaving the room. They heard her rap softly on their mother’s door. “Mary?” she said. “Yes,” they heard dimly. “The children are ready. Shall I bring them in?” “Yes do, Hannah; thank you.” “Come in now and see your mother,” she told them from the door. They followed her in. “Oh, they look very nice;” she exclaimed, in a voice so odd that it seemed to the children that she must be sorry that they did. Yet by her face they could see that she was not sorry. “Hannah, thank you so much, I don’t know what I’d have ...” But Hannah had left the room and closed the door. They stood and looked at her with curiosity. Her eyes seemed larger and brighter than usual; her hair was done up as carefully as if she were going to a party. She wore her wrapper and where it opened in front they could see that she had on something dull and black underneath. Her face was like folded gray cloths.