The girls drifted away with their precious Flemish lamps, and this time Babe made no pretence of not wishing to be the last to go.
“Well, I’ve made good,” said John when they two were alone, “and if my father insists upon it I shall go back to college and do my best to make good there, too. Will you wait for me, Babe?”
Babe flushed and gasped. “I thought you’d talk about your trip awhile first. I haven’t decided. It’s so much more serious somehow, now that I’ve had time to think it over longer. Let’s just be friends for awhile, and I guess I can decide before very long. Don’t ask me again till I say you may.”
It was now that Madeline’s pension developed a new advantage. The garden was certainly an ideal one for promoting a romance. John was always down early for breakfast. Mr. Dwight considerately came very late. Betty and Madeline, when they were ready, peeped surreptitiously out between the magnolia branches, and if John hadn’t come or was still alone they went down, ate hastily, and found it absolutely necessary to go up-stairs again at once. If Babe had joined him—of course Babe never, never peeped nowadays—they loitered in Babbie’s room until the two in the garden had had ample time for a leisurely tête-à-tête. Before and after dinner the garden was the favorite loitering place, and then again there were chances for judicious management. But the days sped by, and still Babe hesitated. One afternoon she had an inspiration.
“Maxim for travelers: ‘When in doubt drink afternoon tea.’ I’m certainly in doubt, and we haven’t had a real tea-drinking for ages.”
She was dressing for dinner, so she slipped on a kimono and made a dash through the hall to Madeline’s room.
“I think we ought to have a tea-drinking,” she announced. “Can’t we, to-morrow afternoon?”
Madeline nodded. “It’s a queer coincidence that I’ve just heard of the most fascinating tea place. Also I had decided to make you girls give me a going-away party there to-morrow. I simply must be off for Sorrento.”
“Is it a real tea place?” Babe inquired anxiously. “I insist upon tea this time—not lemonade or ices.”
“Since when have you gotten so fond of tea?” asked Madeline curiously. “In England you always fussed——”