“This was our first meeting this afternoon, Aline, to plan the campaign. Various girls were brought up,—their names, I mean,—as desirable to consider, but there was no thought of bidding any one to-day, until your name was suggested and the fact was made known that you were not a Sig. I wish you could have heard the girls! They surely will feel bad if you turn us down, for I am authorized to invite you to join the Betas and as soon as possible. It was unusual, Aline, just as it is unusual for me to tell about one of our meetings.”
There was a pause. Then Aline replied, “Ann, I—but thank you and the rest of the Betas very, very much, I don’t know. Last year, I suspect I might have joined you. Mother was a member of your sorority. But now, so many of my friends are Sigs,—”
“But you aren’t joining the sorority, are you? I happen to know that they want you as much as ever.”
“No, on account of Mother; and, well, I don’t care for all of them, you know, girls like Genevieve and Madeline.”
“Are there any of the Betas that you object to?”
“Oh, no!”
Ann did not know what else to say. They had stopped in the lower hall of the Castle to finish their private conversation and were in constant danger of being interrupted. “Well, Aline,” she finally said, “think it over. I hope that you can tell me tomorrow. You will receive a more formal notice and note from Alice, through the secretary, tomorrow anyhow. But the girls wanted me to tell you tonight and they hope very earnestly that you will see your way clear to join us.”
“You are a dear, Ann,” said Aline, “I will——”
But here came Eleanor from one of the downstairs suites. “Here you are, Aline, I wondered what was keeping you. I’ve stayed over time. We’d better get to work, if Bunny does not get us and give us a black mark.”
“I want to see you about something tomorrow, Eleanor,” said Ann. “Keep a date for me, will you?”