Nevertheless as the bevy of light-hearted diners left Madison Hall and strolled bare-headed in the sunset toward Rutherford Inn, a vague uneasiness took hold of Jane. She regretted that she had not gone upstairs to see Alicia. Nor did it leave her until after she had reached the Inn, where for the time being the lively chatter of her companions served to drive it from her mind.
CHAPTER XI
REJECTED CAVALIERS
One glaring result of Jane's dinner party was the ignoring of the ten-thirty rule that night.
It was eight o'clock when the congenial diners finished an elaborate dessert and strolled gaily out of the Inn. The beauty of the night induced the will to loiter. Some one proposed a walk into Chesterford and a visit to a moving-picture theatre.
When they emerged from it it was half-past nine, thus necessitating a quick hike to the campus. Jane and Judith made port in their room at exactly twenty-five minutes past ten.
Visions of unprepared lessons looming up large, they decided that for once "lights out" should not be the order of things.
As a consequence of retiring at eleven-thirty, both overslept the next morning and dashed wildly off to chapel without breakfast.