“What do you think of these wild girls, Hadley?” he asked, while they were all waiting for their dessert. “Imagine them strutting around in trousers all summer, on a ranch in Wyoming! I’ll bet they join the cowboys, and never come back!”
“What? What?” demanded John, in a most perplexed tone. Marjorie had said nothing about any such plans.
“Oh—haven’t the girls told you yet? Well, there hasn’t been much time. Still—I thought you and Marj kept up a steady correspondence!”
“The steadiness is all on my side,” replied the young man, quietly. Then, louder, “No, I didn’t know a word about it. Tell me!”
Marjorie hastened to relate all there was to tell: her father’s desire to plan something particularly nice for her for this vacation, Mrs. Remington’s suggestion, and the Girl Scout party. John said nothing about his shattered hopes, but Marjorie saw that the slight had cut deeply. If only she had written to him! But it was too late now for regrets.
She did not find an opportunity until the following afternoon to apologize for her failure to explain the project to John. The party, which had stayed together all morning on the beach and in the ocean, decided to go their separate ways after luncheon. Mr. Wilkinson joined a fishing excursion, and Lily and the two older women planned to take naps. Jack found it his duty to be in the office if he wanted the evening off, so John seized the chance to ask Marjorie to go walking. She was only too glad to accept.
Taking the car as far as Ventnor, so that they might avoid the crowd and the shops, they started their walk in the prettier part of the town. Marjorie plunged immediately into the subject that was uppermost in both minds.
“John,” she began, “I didn’t mean to go back on my promise, and I wanted to tell you all about it before anybody else did. But you see papa and Mrs. Remington planned everything; I had practically no say in the matter.”
John regarded her intently, wishing that he might believe that she was as keenly disappointed as he was because they were not to be able to spend the vacation together. But no; she certainly did not appear heart-broken.
“You’re not sorry, though,” he said, somewhat bitterly. “The whole thing suits you exactly.”