After leaving York, the cars went through Selby, and stopped at Doncast long enough to give the tourists time to visit the gargoyled church. Then they sped on to Sheffield where Mr. Fabian showed the girls how the famous Sheffield Plate was made.
The next stopping place was Haddon Hall, the home and burial spot of Dorothy Vernon. The country in this part of England is wild and ruggedly beautiful, with good roads for automobiles. So the cars sped smoothly along to Derby, where the collectors had dreams of old Crown Derby ware, but found nothing to materialize those visions.
Jimmy had been so annoying with his attentions to Polly, with his hang-dog expression, as he followed her everywhere, that the others began to feel impatient about it, instead of laughing as at a good joke as they had done. Finally Mr. Fabian spoke to him severely.
“See here, James, I can make allowances for a young man of your type, naturally, but when you make a beastly nuisance of yourself, I must interfere. Now leave Polly alone, and don’t annoy her further with your transitory love. Throw it away on some girl who wants it.”
But Mrs. Fabian felt that a better cure might have been applied. “If Polly would only hang on his arm and tell him how she loves him, he will drop her like an old shoe.”
“I don’t believe it! He has a double-edged axe to grind, and there’s no use getting Polly in wrong, in case he wanted to get her and what she owns,” returned Mr. Fabian, wisely.
Jimmy had not the character that would give perseverance and persistence for any problem, so he finally lost interest in the affair he had created for himself with Polly. Mrs. Alexander felt greatly elated when she saw him casting eyes at Dodo, oftener than he had in the past. And to show her appreciation of this, she quietly urged another roll of bills into his willing palm.
Perhaps it was the understanding that Polly and Dodo had had with each other that had caught Jimmy’s attention. To spare Polly any further annoyance, Dodo had offered to divert the silly affair to herself, if possible. So she dressed in her finest, and flirted with Jimmy, and tried in every way to attract his eyes to herself. And it was not difficult to do, either.
Before they started for London, having done the points of interest at Coventry, Kenilworth, and so on to Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon, Jimmy was recovering from his desire to die, and was taking notice of Dodo. By the time they reached Stratford he was able to act any lover’s part in the Shakespearian plays, provided Dodo was the lady-love in the scene.
His companions, excepting Angela and Dodo’s mother, were out of all patience with him. He was such a weak-hearted lover who had no idea of the first principles of the game, that they had very little to say to him the last days of the trip.