“No; I shall never wish to hide you again,” she said.
“You think I’m all right, then, eh, Millicent?”
“I know you are,” she answered, and, releasing herself and giving him an April smile, she ran down the steps.
It was no small undertaking for Miss Frink, in the days that followed, to keep her word about not idolizing her grand-nephew. What she did for him she tried to clothe in such a matter-of-fact manner as to disarm him. Almost at once invitations began to come to Hugh from the young people of Farrandale for tennis parties, dances, picnics, and so on. Miss Frink saw that he was declining them all. She went to his room one morning with another envelope in her hand.
“This has just come from the Tarrants,” she said, “and I suppose it is another invitation. I hope you will accept, Hugh, for they are among our best people.”
“I don’t know much about society, Aunt Susanna. I’d rather keep off the grass if you don’t mind.”
“Yes, I do mind,” she answered pleasantly. “People will misunderstand if you refuse to mix. They will think that either you don’t know how, or else that you feel superior.”
“Both of them correct,” replied Hugh, laughing.
“Neither of them correct,” returned Miss Frink. “The first thing for you to do is to get suitable clothes for the different sorts of things. Sports clothes, evening duds, and so on.”