“Gray, you mean. Keep cool. I’ll fix it all right. Oh, Mr. Cushman the groom had to leave the other young ladies back yonder on the road and he’s a good bit upset about it. Hadn’t he better ride back to them? They’ll be scared blue you know.”
“Certainly. Certainly. By all means. Return to them at once. This young lady will be carefully looked after,” and Jefferson lost no time in going.
“You’d better bring the whole outfit—I—er—I mean you’d better bring the other young ladies to the Hall,” called Mr. Ford, deciding that if Beverly was a sample of the Leslie Manor girls it would be just as well to see more of the material. Had he caught the sudden flash in Archie’s eyes perhaps he would have grown a bit wiser.
Twenty minutes later all five girls were seated in Mrs. Kilton’s cozy living room, the boys, and the instructors who had shifted into drawing-room garments in record time, serving hot chocolate and little iced cakes.
As they were not expected home until five anyway there was no cause for concern. There would be no alarm at Leslie Manor. Meanwhile Jefferson, who had looked after the horses, was holding the floor in the servant’s quarters. If a report of that afternoon’s experiences did reach Leslie Manor he meant to have first scoop.
After an hour spent very delightfully, for Mr. Ford was attention itself to Beverly, to Archie’s ill-concealed disgust, Hope MacLeod advised a move toward home. As they were about to start Beverly asked sweetly:
“Oh, dear Mrs. Kilton, would you mind if Athol showed me his room? You know we have never before in all our lives been separated and I get so homesick for him and his traps it just seems as though I couldn’t stand it.”
“Why of course you may go up, my dear,” smiled kindly Mrs. Kilton. She was too wholesome to see the least impropriety in so simple a request.
“Oh, hold on a second, Ath. Keep her a minute until I rush up and stow a few of our duds. We didn’t stop to slick things up when we shifted,” and Archie bounded away.
“Come on now, Bev. I reckon he’s had time to make Number 70 presentable,” said Athol three minutes later, and the brother and sister went demurely from the room.