“Voile?” asked Winona.
Adelaide shook her head.
“No, lawn—if I come. But maybe I won’t be there.”
“Why, what a shame!” said Winona with the bright friendliness that was a part of her. “Of course you must be there. Helen accepted for all of us.”
“I know, but—but maybe I can’t come,” repeated Adelaide.
“Of course you can!” insisted Winona.
Adelaide’s eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head.
Winona slipped one arm around her. The two girls were sitting a little apart from the rest by now, in a dusky corner.
“There’s some reason why you think you can’t, some horrid reason,” she coaxed. “Now, just tell Winona what it is.” She spoke as if she were petting her own younger sister, though Adelaide was only a year younger than she was.
Adelaide’s eyes overflowed, and she felt gropingly for her handkerchief, to dry her eyes.