All the ladies consented to go, except Odalite, who decided to stay home for the chance of being admitted to see her invalid mother, and of receiving a visit from her lover, should his official duties give him time to call.
But Le found no opportunity to visit his sweetheart that day, and Odalite remained alone, unsummoned even by her mother, who, jealously guarded by her nurse, was kept in a state of complete quietude.
She did not go down to lunch because she disliked to enter alone the public dining room, crowded as it was at all times with officers, soldiers and civilians.
She remained in the ladies’ parlor, ate a few crackers, read a few newspapers, went occasionally to her mother’s door to inquire after the patient, and hearing that she was resting quietly, returned to her parlor and her reading.
So passed the day.
It was late in the afternoon when Sam Grandiere and his party returned from their sightseeing excursion.
The ladies were hungry and fatigued, and anxious to get something to eat, and then to go to their rooms and lie down.
But Sam was full of the wonders of agriculture, horticulture and floriculture to which he had been introduced that day.
“If I was to be condemned for my sins to live in the city—which Heaven in mercy forbid—and was allowed to choose the place of my punishment, it would be the Agricultural College. I could stand that better than any other place,” he said.
And this was high praise, coming from such a quarter.