"Now, you won't disappoint me? I am counting on your company."
"Well, I shall have to dream over it," replied Cora. "Mother says it is always safest to let our ambitions cool overnight."
"'Think not ambition wise, because 'tis brave?'" he quoted. But he did not guess how well that quotation fitted Cora's case.
It seemed scarcely any time before the girls were back from the park, just bubbling over in girlish enthusiasm about the wonderful woodland performance. And that Cora should have missed it! Even Gertrude, the staid and steady, could not understand it.
The Bennets' home was a very large country house, but with all the motor girls scattered over it the house seemed comparatively small. Chocolate and knickknacks were always served before bedtime, and Daisy had reason to be proud of her part in the entertainment of the girls.
"And to-morrow," said Adele, between mouthfuls of morsels, "we shall have to decorate for the fete. I am going to do the Whirlwind all my own way, am I not, Cora?"
"You certainly may," replied Cora vaguely. "I am the poorest hand at decorating. I prefer driving."
And they all wondered why she took so little interest in the preparations for the fete.
"I know," whispered Bess. "You are thinking of that little mahogany man. And so am I. I can't just wait to see the table."
Bright and early, the next morning the girls were astir. They had need to be "up with the lark," for the gathering of stuffs with which to decorate cars is quite a task, and they planned to make the fete a memorable affair, as Belle put it.