“Oh, yes, this gown is all right, and you can lend me a hood and cloak or something. Haven’t you extra ones?”
“Yes, of course,” said Patty, wondering if this girl had no idea of social formalities. “But perhaps she never had anybody to teach her things,” thought Patty, who, now that she was trying to be generous-minded toward Mona, found it easier than she had thought.
Patty rang for Miller, and ordered the car; then she asked Mona to come into the house, that she might fit her out with proper wraps. It was a warm, pleasant day, so a dust cloak of Nan’s, and a silk hood belonging to that same amiable lady, were borrowed for Miss Galbraith’s use.
“Of course I have all these things at home,” she said, as she tied the ribbons under her chin; and Patty wanted to say, “Why don’t you go and get them, then?” but she well knew it was because of Mona’s unwarranted feeling of intimacy in the Fairfield household that she borrowed their wraps instead of going for her own.
This whole principle was foreign to Patty’s nature. Systematic and methodical herself, she always used her own belongings, and never would have dreamed of borrowing those of another, unless through sheer necessity.
“There’s one thing,” she thought to herself, “if I give her this ride and get it over with, she may keep away while those other people are here. I must be careful not to let her know they are coming.”
The car was at the door and they were soon started. Patty determined to be kind and pleasant to her guest, but to avoid personalities, and to say nothing which could be construed as an invitation to further acquaintance.
One point she conceded, however, and concluded to call Miss Galbraith by her first name. This she did, only because Mona persisted in calling her Patty, and it sounded so purposely stilted and ungracious to persist in saying Miss Galbraith.
Patty asked her guest to choose the road they should take, and was surprised to find that Mona knew of a great many lovely drives which Patty had not yet discovered. Though, of course, it was not surprising, as Mona had spent four summers at Spring Beach, and it was Patty’s first one.
Mona chose a route called the Blue Lake Drive, which took them through a lovely stretch of pine woods, and out into an orchard-dotted country, the goal being a small and very blue lake. On the shore was a tiny Tea House, which proved a pleasant resting-place for a half-hour.