Hester had no recollection of any such compact so she looked up and said mischievously, “What a wonderful memory you have, Mr. Landor,” turning the while as if to move off with the younger man.
“You come with me, won’t you?” urged Charley Bemis, “Landor always claims the earth and never gives us younger fellows a chance. We’ll have to hurry a bit, Miss Dale,” looking at her entreatingly, “if we want to see the bride cut the cake.”
“The cake!” she repeated, suddenly shrinking back. “Oh! Mr. Bemis, you go on without me, will you? I—”
“Run along, Charley,” said Landor. “Miss Dale and I will follow. The dining-room will never begin to hold us all anyway, so if we do not get in you look us up and tell us who got the ring. You may get it yourself if you hurry, who knows!”
“Oh!” said Hester when the man had departed, “I couldn’t go in there—I just couldn’t.”
“Of course not,” emphatically, “it is much too crowded. They’ve covered in the piazza by the dining-room. Won’t you let me bring you something to eat out there?”
“How could you fib to that boy so!” exclaimed the girl at the same time signifying her willingness to be led to some less crowded spot.
Kenneth laughed. “You drove me to it. Do you suppose I intended to let him walk off with you under my very eyes?”
“Why not? I’m sure he seemed a very nice boy,” with marked emphasis.
“Oh! yes, he’s nice enough,” cheerfully, “quite nice, now you mention it, but I’m not just yearning for his society at the present moment.”