BETTINA'S FIRST GUEST
"HELLO! Yes, this is Bettina! Why, Bob, of course! Is he a real woman-hater? No, I've never met any, but I'll just invite Alice, too, and tomorrow you won't be calling him that. Six-thirty? Yes, I'll be ready for you both; I'm so glad you asked him. He'll be our first guest! Good-bye!"
Bettina left the telephone with more misgivings than her tone had indicated. She couldn't disappoint Bob, and she liked unexpected company, but the dinner which she had planned was prepared largely from the recipes filed as "left-overs" in her box of indexed cards.
"Well, Bob will like it, anyhow," she declared confidently, "and if Alice can come, we'll have enough scintillating table-talk to make up for disappointments."
Alice accepted with delight, promising to wear "a dream of a gown that just came home," and confessing to a sentimental feeling at the thought of dining with such a new bride and groom.
"Let's see," said Bettina in her spick and span little kitchen, "there is meat enough, but I must hard-boil some eggs to help out these potatoes. 'Potatoes Anna' will be delicious. Goodness, what would my home economics teacher have said if she had heard me say 'hard-boil'? They mustn't really be boiled at all, just 'hard-cooked' in water kept at the boiling point. There will be enough baked green peppers for four, and enough of the pudding, and if I add some very good coffee, I don't believe that Bob's Mr. Harrison will feel that women are such nuisances after all! It isn't an elaborate meal, but it's wholesome, and at any rate, our gas bill will be a little smaller because everything goes into the oven."
When Alice arrived, Bettina was putting the finishing touches on her table. "Alice, you look stunning!"
"And you look lovely, which is better! And the table is charming! Those red clover blossoms in that brown basket make a perfect center-piece! How did you think of it?"
"Mother Necessity reminded me, my dear! My next door neighbor has roses, but I covet some for my luncheon tomorrow, and did not like to ask for any today. So I had to use these red clover blooms from our own back yard. They are simple, like the dinner."
"Don't you envy me, Harrison?" asked Bob at the table. "This is my third day of real home cooking! You were unexpected company, too!"