There was nervousness in Priscilla's tone.
Martine had made no effort to go to Angelina.
"How is the prima donna to get to town?" asked Lucian. "Are you going to look after her, Martine?"
"Oh, no, her brother John is here. He is that tall, good-looking youth, standing near the door. She can depend on him."
"Then we may start," continued Lucian, "even if the show isn't wholly over. We cannot wait for further instalments."
"We've had more than the value of our money," added Robert. "Mrs. Stinton's performance alone was worth the price."
"Yes, girls, you should have heard her express her surprise and gratitude when we gave her the fifteen dollars, and when we told her we were Harvard students, she could hardly believe it."
"But what did Angelina think?"
"Oh, we told her, Martine, that you had sent it, and that she must pay it back gradually. So you see that you, dear sister, will make the most out of this evening, as we'll let you keep whatever she pays back."
With Angelina's fiasco to talk over, the four found the journey back to town much less tiresome than the "voyage," as Martine called it, to Chelsea. It seemed shorter, perhaps, because Robert discovered that they could return to Boston by a bridge instead of the ferry. When at last they left Priscilla at her door, it was not as late as it might have been if Angelina had carried out her full program.