“If you think you are going to be purely ornamental you are much mistaken;” declared Fanny. “Here is a mallet and here is a place.”
“If you will excuse me—”
“But I will not. No running away to the study to talk with papa, or to play with Edith. If you will come uninvited to a party you must take the consequences.”
“Can I not soften your heart, if like the old man I should ‘sit on the stile and continue to smile?’”
“Not any smiles. I am obdurate.”
He pretended to be much aggrieved, but in reality he was very gay. I had never seen him so amusing and entertaining.
“I don’t see how you get acquainted with such loads of nice people;” said Allie West. “And you always have such good times here.”
The good times came without any trying. There are numberless gates called Beautiful all along life, at which you give such as you have, and find it more precious than silver or gold.
It was a lovely moonlight night, so after supper we walked part of the way with the merry crowd. It did not seem to me that I had ever been so happy in my life. I could not tell why but I felt as if I must have wings somewhere that were lifting me off the ground at every step.
We rambled around under the trees and by the way side. Louis came back to my vicinity and we fell into a rather grave talk about the future.