“Where are you going to live, then?” persisted Marjorie. “Not at some cheap room——”
“Oh, no! But really you needn’t worry, Cap. Your mother has invited me to stay here till I get settled, and I promise you I will if you don’t approve of where I will be living. Now, your mother wants you please to tell me what you’d most rather have for dinner tonight. It’s your party, you know.”
“Anything but chicken,” returned Marjorie laughingly. “I’m so tired of chicken broth, and spring chicken, that I feel as if I never wanted to taste another. Let’s see. Roast beef, I guess—and a real fancy salad!”
“Ice cream and birthday cake for dessert?” concluded Queenie.
“Birthday cake? It isn’t my birthday!”
“It’s just like it, though.”
It seemed indeed to Marjorie that Queenie’s words were true, for all day long she continued to be treated as if it were her birthday. Her wishes were consulted upon every detail of the dinner, and her comfort looked out for. She received more flowers than she usually did on her real birthday, and, when John Hadley arrived just before dinner, he capped the climax by presenting her with a tiny jeweler’s box.
“Marjorie,” he began, “I ventured to bring you a pin—a friendship pin, in honor of the occasion. Will you accept it?”
“Of course I will, John!” she replied radiantly, taking the box and opening it. It was a narrow circle, bordered on both edges with the finest, the daintiest, carving.
“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, pinning it upon her dress. “And,” she added softly, “I will always wear it.”