Rehearsals for the ballet in which Jack and his partner were featured had ended before Patricia was banned; so it was not until Saturday night that Jane discovered who the sub was to be.
“What is she doing here?” whispered the harried director to Frances, who had sufficiently recovered from her annoyance to help with the make-up.
“Who?” inquired Frances, busy laying out grease, paint, and powder.
“Clarice. She’s out there on the stage as large as life. We can’t have any unnecessary people back here.”
Just then Jack approached his partner, and as they practiced a couple of difficult steps together, the awful truth dawned upon Jane. Though usually slow to anger, her temper suddenly flared up at the trick which had been played on her.
“I think that’s just contemptible!” she exclaimed, rapping a brush sharply on the table.
“What on earth is the matter?” inquired Ruth, who had just entered with an armload of costumes.
“For Pat and Jack to have given Clarice a part in the dance without telling me.”
“But,” said Ruth, “you didn’t ask Pat who was to take her place. I wondered at the time.”
“I never dreamed of its being Clarice! I thought it was some friend of Jack’s.”