“You girls must surely understand by this time what my inspiration was. You both look a trifle bewildered. Can’t you add two and two, children?” she asked playfully. “You ought to know the result.”
“But it’s such an overwhelming result, Miss Susanna!” Marjorie drew a long breath. “Two, which stands for the dormitory girls, plus, two, which stands for the Ellerton library make—” Marjorie paused. She gazed at Miss Hamilton, her eyes bright as stars. “It’s too wonderful even to think about;—until I grow more used to the idea. It’s too great a gift, Miss Susanna, after all you’ve already done for the dormitory project.”
“Nonsense. Nothing is too great for me to give, provided I have it to give, and feel like giving it,” declared the old lady brusquely. “I like the idea of the dormitory having its own library. I have only one request to make concerning it. I’d like to have the library named the Brooke Hamilton Dormitory Library.”
“Just as though we could give it another name!” Marjorie exclaimed with fond fervor. “I’d say it ought to be named for you but I know you would rather use Mr. Brooke’s name.”
“Of course I should.” Miss Hamilton gave an emphatic little nod of the head. “I shouldn’t like the ‘Susanna Hamilton Dormitory Library,’ as a name. Should you, child?”
“Yes; I should,” Marjorie disagreed with affectionate frankness. Jerry echoed the opinion.
“You’re a couple of nice children. I appreciate your loyal approval,” Miss Susanna told them. Her tones took on an odd grimness as she added: “My name shall not appear in connection with a Hamilton College movement, however worthy it may be. In the case of his name, there’s a difference. He had the right to hope that his name might be perpetuated in the college his genius and benevolence raised up.”
“‘The college his genius and benevolence raised up,’” Marjorie meditatively repeated. “How beautiful that would be in a biography of Mr. Brooke Hamilton.” She flushed, but looked bravely at Miss Susanna. She had, in thus speaking, obeyed an irresistible impulse.
Answering color signals displayed themselves in the old lady’s cheeks. A frown sprang to her brows. It disappeared almost instantly. Her alert dark eyes grew tender. “It was a fortunate day for Hamilton when a certain curly-haired little girl first set foot on the campus. Why not call the new dormitory the Marjorie Dean Dormitory? The dream dormitory that Marjorie Dean’s unselfish work made a reality. That’s what Uncle Brooke would say if he were here.”
“How I love you for saying that, Miss Susanna, about Mr. Brooke Hamilton!” Marjorie cried happily. “But I think Robin has done more hard work than I to make the dormitory a reality. It should be named for her.”