Gladys stared after the retreating form of this, the first of her followers to desert her, and then turning to the others she remarked, scornfully, “We are well rid of her! Hereafter we will snub Janet Nagel as well as this Carol Lorens. Adele Doring is the one whom we should cultivate, for Anita’s aunt wrote that Mr. Doring owns nearly all of the land around Sunnyside and that he is very rich.”
The next day Gladys Merle tried to cultivate Adele but to her surprise, instead of acting as though she felt highly honored, that maiden, nodding coolly, gathered up her books and walked away.
“Well, I declare!” Gladys Merle thought. “Such airs! But perhaps she hasn’t heard how rich my father is.” Gladys was secretly glad that none of her clique were in the library to see their leader being snubbed.
Adele did know how rich Gladys Merle’s father was, but she also knew that her friend, Carol Lorens, had been rudely treated, and the Sunnysiders were always loyal one to another.
Before many hours had passed, Gladys Merle deeply regretted that she had asked Anita to write that letter of inquiry.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TRUE NOBILITY
The next day Gladys Merle received a letter from her mother in Chicago stating that her father had gone to Buffalo on business and would drop in at Linden Hall and pay her a call. Gladys was alone in her room when she read this letter, which was lucky, for her uncontrolled anger and grief were so great that she threw herself down on the bed and sobbed.
“I’ll be disgraced forever if Pa comes here,” she thought, “after all I’ve said about his handsome looks. But he shan’t come! When he telephones, I’ll tell him that I would rather meet him in Buffalo.”
Because of her tear-swollen face, Gladys Merle did not go down to the library for the “hour of politeness.” It might have been better for her peace of mind if she had been there. Miss Merritt had been drilling the girls in graceful curtsies and they were just resting in groups, when, at the open front door there appeared a short, stout, red-faced man who was smiling affably. To the amazement of the girls, he walked into the room without ceremony.
“This here is the young ladies’ boarding-school, ain’t it?” he asked genially of Janet Nagel, who happened to be nearest.