“Certainly—I am as much interested as any of you. I almost feel as if I couldn’t go to sleep tonight, if I didn’t know the returns.”
“Of course, there really isn’t any doubt,” Lily repeated. “But still——”
“Well, if you think so, why not let me have one more good night’s sleep?” interrupted Marjorie. “Mrs. Hadley, may I have another sandwich?”
She gave herself up to the enjoyment of the refreshments while the others waited in suspense as John dialed his number. At last they were relieved by his, “Hello, Daisy, that you?”
“This is John Hadley. Can you give me the election returns?”
Lily could sit still no longer; she rushed up to the instrument.
“Marj is elected!” he repeated. “Of course! ‘Overwhelming majority,’ you say? We knew it! Thanks. Hurrah! Good-bye! What did you say? Oh, yes, the dance? All right, I guess—Marj will tell you about it tomorrow. Good-bye!”
The mention of the unfortunate circumstance of the evening at the settlement, directed Marjorie’s thoughts back to unpleasant channels, so that amid the congratulations and rejoicing that followed, she was almost an outsider. She had not thought before of Daisy’s disappointment because of their failure, she had pictured only Miss Winthrop’s. Yet the tender-hearted girls would probably be more deeply affected than the other.
Noticing Marjorie’s evident fatigue, Mrs. Hadley suggested that the party break up in order that the girls might go to bed.
The morning, however, failed to bring Marjorie a fresh point of view. All the way out she brooded over her experience, seeking, if possible, to consider it from the girls’ angle. She felt sure that it was not personal insult to her companion and herself that troubled her, but the effect of such conduct upon the offenders themselves. What kind of homes could they come from, in which such blatant rudeness would be overlooked or tolerated? Did their parents know what they did with their spare time, had they met their associates and friends? How would it be possible ever to hope to touch them, to influence them to something better?