It was a small, but very active, indignation meeting that was held when the two girls were at last together. Leslie would not permit Phyllis to go indoors for a time after she arrived, though the night was rather chilly, but kept her on the veranda to explain what had happened.
“The deceitful little thing!” cried Phyllis. “Now I see exactly what she took us all out for this afternoon, even Miss Marcia—to get rid of us all for a good long time while some accomplice of hers did what they pleased in Curlew’s Nest, quite undisturbed by any one around!”
“That’s exactly what it must have been,” agreed Leslie. “But who could that other person have been?”
“The man with the limp?” suggested Phyllis.
“No, I’m very sure it was not he. This person sprang into the car while it was still in motion—was very active, evidently. I’m certain the man with the limp could never have done that!”
“Well, was it a man or a woman? Surely you could tell that!”
“No, actually I couldn’t. It was getting so dark, and the figure was so far off, and it all happened so quickly that I couldn’t see. But, Phyllis, I’m horribly disappointed in Eileen! I had begun to think she was lovely, and that we had misjudged her badly. And now—this!”
“She’s simply using us—that’s plain,” agreed Phyllis. “She evidently intended to do so from the first, after she found out we were right on the spot here. She deliberately came out to cultivate our acquaintance and make it seem natural for her to be around here. Then she and the one she’s working with planned to get us away from here for the whole afternoon and have the field free for anything they pleased. Faugh! It makes me sick to think of being duped like that!”
“But after yesterday—and the way she acted when you played Chopin, and what she said about our friendship, and all that—Was anything genuine at all?”
“Not a thing!” declared Phyllis, positively. “All put on to get a little farther into our good graces. Well, I’ll never be caught like that again. We’ll continue to seem very friendly to Miss Eileen Ramsay, but we won’t be caught twice!”