CHAPTER XXVI
A GATHERING IN THE ATTIC
When Bonnie May went down-stairs and learned that Mrs. Baron had gone out calling, she entered her own room and pushed her door partly shut, so that she would be invisible to any one passing.
Her most earnest wish, for the moment, was to see her two friends next door. Of course, she would see them before long, but she did not like to leave the matter to chance.
There was no reason why she should not simply go to their front door, and knock and ask for them. No reason; but undoubtedly a prejudice. The Barons wouldn’t approve of such a thing. She really hadn’t been aware of the existence of the house next door until now. She realized that there were worlds between the people who lived over there and the people who lived in the mansion. So far as she was concerned, the Barons were a Family, while Heaven only knew what those other people were.
Well, she would think of some way of getting at Clifton and Jack some other time. Something would happen. And in the meantime, Mrs. Baron was gone and there were various things which might be done now which couldn’t be done at any other time.
Rummaging among her possessions in search of an inspiration she came upon a hat covered with little silk butterflies.
She had the liveliest appreciation of the silk butterflies, though she did not quite approve of the shape of the hat upon which they were bestowed. On the other hand, there was a hat of adorable shape which had an insufficient decoration in the form of a spray of roses which were not of the right color, and which were in too advanced a stage of development.
In another moment a small pair of scissors was travelling over one of the hats with a snipping sound and a startlingly destructive effect.
The snipping was not suspended until voices, subdued and confidential, arose in the near-by sitting-room.
Baron had come down-stairs, too, and was talking to Flora.