Alice and Sally Ashton were both in white; as Alice had reddish hair and the complexion which usually accompanies it, white was always more becoming to her than anything else. But tonight Sally looked too thin and white herself to have worn so colorless a costume. One can scarcely imagine how Sally had altered in the past months; her soft rounded outlines had disappeared and she was now almost painfully thin. There were hollows under her brown eyes, which had lost their childish expression, and hollows in her cheeks, where the dimples which she had so resented had formerly been.
Mary Gilchrist wore a blue dress made as simply as possible, which emphasized the almost boyish grace of her figure. Her hair, with its bright red lights, was piled in a loose mass on top of her head, her cheeks were glowing.
In spite of the change in the conditions of their present Camp Fire life, Mary Gilchrist had not given up her outdoor existence. A portion of nearly every day she devoted to driving wounded, convalescent soldiers about in her motor car in order that they should enjoy the air and entertainment.
Yvonne Fleury wore a violet crepe as she had promised her Camp Fire guardian not to wear mourning, but did not wish to appear in any more brilliant color.
There was only one sombre note tonight at Miss Patricia’s table; a young girl, a stranger, who sat near Mrs. Burton, was in black. The dress she was wearing, although of an inexpensive material, was light in texture and not unattractive. Nevertheless, its wearer seemed to feel both shy and uncomfortable. She must have been about nineteen or twenty, older than the Camp Fire girls.
Some weeks before, having introduced the young French dressmaker, Marguerite Arnot, into her family, Miss Patricia had since insisted that she become an actual member of it. In spite of her work she was expected to appear with the family at the table and to share in so far as possible in the ordinary daily life of the other girls. Tonight vainly had she pleaded to be spared the ordeal of a fashionable dinner, only to find Miss Patricia adamant.
Mrs. Burton was placed beside a former acquaintance, whose appearance as one of the guests at Miss Patricia’s hastily arranged dinner, had caused her a moment’s surprise. No suggestion had Miss Patricia made to her, that she intended inviting Senator Georges Duval, for whom she had always expressed a decided antagonism.
But after a little consideration of the matter, Mrs. Burton understood Miss Patricia Lord’s sudden change of front.
During the months of their work in one of the devastated districts of France, Miss Patricia had at least appeared to dislike her friendship with the distinguished Frenchman. However, since their arrival in Paris and now at Versailles, there might be a number of ways in which a French senator might be of service to the Camp Fire girls. Bettina’s recent adventure particularly emphasized the fact that his friendship might prove useful. And Miss Patricia was not in the least averse to using persons for the sake of her friends, provided that she did them no harm.
Her invitation tonight to Senator Duval to meet the young American named David Hale, had a well thought out purpose behind it.