"It might rather upset arrangements now," faltered Olive.
"Yes, I agree," said Janet, flashing round; "I agree with Ruth and Olive."
"Ruth doesn't know her own mind, so you can't agree with her," interrupted Frances.
"Yes, Ruth does know her own mind," said Janet; "she's a little bit timid, I grant, but she knows it well enough. You don't want Evelyn to be asked to join us, do you, Ruthy?"
"No," said Ruth, with sudden boldness, "no, I don't."
"Well, then, the votes are against you, Frances," said Janet; "so the matter is settled; three against two. I suppose we needn't waste any more time now; we can all go away and set to work."
"No; wait a minute," said Dorothy. "The decision you have come to, Janet—of course, Olive and Ruth always go with you; you know that, so they scarcely count—the decision you have come to seems to us most extraordinary. You offer a direct slight to Evelyn Percival; you leave her out in the cold. I do not see that there is anything for it, but for Frances and me to send in our resignations, if Evelyn is not to join us."
"I have very good reasons for what I am doing," said Janet. "When I stayed with my aunt, Mrs. Greville, last summer, she had a Fancy Fair very much on the lines on which I propose to conduct ours. At the last moment a lady of influence in the neighborhood was asked to join. She was very nice and very important, just as Evelyn is very nice and very important, and the people said just what you say now, that they could not possibly do without her, and that it would be a great slight not to have her. Well, she was asked at the eleventh hour to come on the committee, and from that moment everyone else's arrangements were turned topsy-turvy, and the fair was an absolute failure. Had Evelyn been here at the beginning, we could not have helped asking her to join, but I know that it's a mistake now. I don't think I'm unreasonable in saying this."
Janet had great control of her emotions, and her words, now uttered very calmly and quietly, had a certain effect upon Frances Murray.
"There's something in what you say," she remarked after a pause. "Of course, Evelyn might be told that matters are too advanced now for her to take any active part, but there is another matter, Janet, which you have overlooked. It is this: There is not a single rich person on our committee. I am as poor as a church mouse, and am not ashamed to own it. I don't suppose you are overburdened with pelf, and I know that Dolly and Ruth and Olive are not oppressed with the weight of their purses. Now, Evelyn is rich. If Evelyn took an interest in this bazaar, she would think nothing of spending five or six pounds in buying all sorts of pretty things; she would send to London and have some big packets sent down full of those sorts of little fresh tempting souvenirs which people always take a fancy to at bazaars and always buy."