"I don't," replied Janet. "I shall be sorry enough when my college days are over, yet I do not like the idea of repeating them."
"You will come and make me long visits, won't you?"
"Oh, yes, of course," said Janet, lightly. "Now tell me what your plans are. Where shall you go when you leave the Austins'?"
"I shall go back to Abington and stay with my stepmother. I can be of some use there. I think I shall be married early in the fall. Then, oh, then, Janet, we shall have a dear little home of our own. I don't want to live in a boarding house; I want to make a home. Do you think I am too young to marry?"
"You are younger than I shall ever be," said Janet, smiling, "but in your case, Polly, I think it is a wise step. I believe in a woman's gaining all the knowledge that she can if she has the opportunity, but if the knowledge must come through such struggle and privation as you endured last year, I think it is much better to know a little less and be happier. Homemaking is the end to which all good women are best fitted, and it is the best of ambitions. That is my opinion from my long experience. I speak as a senior, my dear, not as I shall probably speak next year, when I have discovered that I don't know anything and that nobody listens to my opinions. I shall want a good long visit from you this summer, and we'll talk it all out. Don't go yet. Ted will be in directly, and we will have some tea. I always wait for her because she delights to make it. Can't you stay?"
"I'm afraid not. I promised to be back by five o'clock; and you know Mr. Austin's ideas upon the subject of punctuality. If I am three-fifths of a minute late, I shall never hear the last of it. Come and see me soon, Janet. I want you to meet Minnie."
Janet promised, and let her go, feeling that though in most ways she was the same old Polly, she had stepped into a world which was not familiar to her, and that the shabby, shy little freshman would soon blossom into a beautiful, self-possessed woman.
"But she will always keep her dear, loyal, true heart," murmured Janet.
She saw Polly less often than she expected. Their interests were no longer the same. The Austins absorbed their guest and, with Minnie and Marian, Polly was constantly flying hither and thither. Van had insisted upon announcing the engagement, so, many attentions were showered upon his lovely fiancée.
Janet who found her little world in the college, seldom met her friend outside. Becky gave a luncheon to which Janet was invited. The Austins gave a tea where Polly, radiant in a soft pink gown, was one of the receiving party, but these occasions were not satisfactory and except for occasional flying visits, the two seldom had an opportunity of meeting.