If Mr. Winslow accepted their invitation, Dorothy and Tory decided to do everything in their power to make his stay in Westhaven a success. They would omit no detail. He should not be bored by their attentions, but never allowed to feel neglected.
“Suppose he should meet some one in Westhaven who would console him for what he must have suffered in the past?” Dorothy suggested.
In amazement Tory stared at her and smiled.
She was as surprised as their Troop Captain by Dorothy’s unexpected romantic attitude. Of all her friends Dorothy was less given to vicarious romanticism. Most of the girls indulged in dreams for themselves and their friends. Dorothy was as matter-of-fact as many boys. Her own family and friends and the daily routine of life so far satisfied her.
But Mr. Winslow had touched her imagination as well as Tory’s. The truth was that Lance’s absence from home left a vacant place in Dorothy’s life which she had not known he had so completely filled.
She and Donald confessed to each other that always they had had Lance upon their minds without appreciating the fact. He was so often in trouble with some one, or not well, or proposing some impossible suggestion out of which he had to be argued or bullied.
Realizing Dorothy’s need, Tory decided to be generous. She would have preferred Mr. Winslow to be principally known as her friend upon his arrival. In reality, she had the chief claim upon him. Still, after all it might be pleasanter if she and Dorothy shared the pleasure.
Neither girl apparently doubted the artist’s acceptance of their suggestion. They were right in their surmise. Before another week he might be expected. The evergreen cottage appeared to be the one place in the world most suited to his needs.
The arrangements to make it habitable for the winter Dorothy and Tory gladly undertook. Mr. Winslow insisted upon paying a small rental. Miss Virginia Fenton agreed to allow Tory to use any old furniture she might find stored away in the attic of their house.
An entire afternoon she and Dorothy spent in fascinated search. They discovered a battered but beautiful mahogany table, two chairs slightly uncertain in their legs, but otherwise whole. However, the cabin was well supplied with tables and chairs. The treasure that pleased them most was a worn pair of dark blue and gold damask curtains. Drawn across the windows they would make the cabin room safe from the cold and full of beautiful color. They were, of course, too long and too large for the cabin windows, so that odd pieces were cut off for table covers and scarfs.