“You never told anyone a single thing about it, did you?” The question was close to wistful. It seemed remarkable to Dulcie that Marjorie could have kept the matter secret.
“No.” Marjorie shook her head slightly.
“Did your friends ever say a word about it? Those were your friends who burst in on us and made such a noise, weren’t they? Who was the one who looked so horrible and blew out the candles?” Dulcie seemed suddenly to give over to curiosity.
“I can’t answer your questions, Miss Vale.” Marjorie could not repress the tiny smile that would not stay in seclusion. “I wish you would sit down and tell me frankly why you came to see me. You have not been in my room since the night of my arrival at Wayland Hall as a freshman.”
“I know.” Dulcie’s gaze shifted uneasily from Marjorie’s face. “I thought I would come again,” she excused, “but——”
The steadiness of Marjorie’s eyes forbade further untruth. She became suddenly silent. Very humbly she accepted the chair her puzzled hostess shoved forward. Marjorie sat down in one at the other side of the center table.
“I suppose you’ve heard all about my trouble with the Sans,” the visitor commenced afresh and awkwardly. “I don’t belong to the Sans Soucians now. I wouldn’t stay in a club with such dishonorable girls. I simply made Leslie Cairns accept my resignation. She was wild about it.”
Now safely launched upon her story, Dulcie began to gather up her self-confidence. “You see, my father, who is president of the L. T. and M. Railroad, has done a great deal for the Sans. You know we have always come to Hamilton in the fall in his private car. I have lent the Sans money and done them endless favors, yet they couldn’t be even moderately square with me.” She fixed her eyes on Marjorie after this outburst as though waiting for sympathy.
“I have heard nothing in regard to your having left the Sans Soucians. I have noticed that you were no longer at the table where you formerly sat at meals.” Marjorie could not honestly concede less than this.
“Didn’t you hear us fussing one night in Leslie’s room? It was before Christmas. That was the night I called them all down. I was so angry! I went into a perfect frenzy! I’m so temperamental! When I am really in a rage it simply shakes me from head to foot.” There was a faint impetus toward complacency in the statement.