“Yes, miss,” Theresa answered. “You’re the last, miss.”
“Then we must hurry,” said Miss Cissy, and her own wraps were cast aside in no time.
She and Polly went down-stairs as they had come up, hand-in-hand. At the foot Miss Cissy stopped long enough to give her little companion one last, careful look and then led her toward the room where all the talking was. As they entered it Polly heard a very tall gentleman say:
“Oho! Here she comes at last! We thought she had deserted. We had been led to believe that it was customary for a hostess to be present to receive her guests, but don’t let a little thing like that trouble you, Cicely. You usually manage to reverse the natural order of things and as your guests are here to receive you, it’s all right.”
Miss Cicely laughed and blushed and then the very tall gentleman suddenly stood extremely erect by the doorway and announced in a loud, solemn voice:
“Miss Duer and—and——”
“Polly Carter,” prompted Miss Cissy.
“And Miss Polly Carter!” echoed the gentleman.
If Polly had been used to children’s parties, this one would have seemed extremely curious to her, for there appeared to be so few children and so many grown-up people. By looking very carefully, one could have discovered five little girls, each of whom was tucked away somewhere behind or beside one of the couples of ladies and gentlemen present. None of the children seemed very glad to be there, and Polly, who herself made the sixth, was beginning to feel dimly disappointed, when Miss Cicely spoke up in her bright, jolly fashion:
“Now, dear people,” she said, “the first thing to do is to introduce these little girls to one another. Grandfather and Grandmother Duer, will you kindly let me present my little guest to yours? This is Polly Carter.”