Chapter XXI
Virginia came in tired and worn-looking. Her clothes were soaked through from the storm and in her hand she carried a dripping umbrella. She smiled wearily as she greeted the others:
"Hello, Fanny! How's this for weather?" Holding out her umbrella to her brother-in-law she said: "Here, Jim, please take this."
While he went to put the gingham in the bathtub, Fanny helped to make the newcomer comfortable. With concern, she exclaimed:
"Poor darling—you're wet through. You'd better change everything."
Virginia threw off her raincoat and dropped, exhausted, into a seat.
"I'm too tired to do anything but sit down," she exclaimed wearily.
"Was it a hard day?" inquired her sister as she brought a pair of comfortable slippers to be exchanged for the wet shoes.
"Very," replied Virginia with a sigh of relief. "There are some days when everything goes wrong. This was one of them. People were cranky and exacting—there was a terrific rush. I scarcely had time to lunch and tonight the cars were so crowded that I had to stand all the way."
Jimmie, re-entering from the bedroom, caught the last few words. Anxious in furtherance of his plans to improve every opportunity of ingratiating himself in his sister-in-law's good graces he exclaimed apologetically: