Nothing more quaintly sweet and pretty than the dress and its wearer could have been imagined.
Jaquelina gave her hand shyly a moment to Walter Earle, then he stepped aside to introduce her to his friend.
"Miss Meredith, allow me to present to you my friend, Ronald Valchester."
Jaquelina bowed to a tall, grave-looking man with dark hair thrown carelessly back from a high, white brow, and twilight-colored eyes—blue-gray in quiet moments, starry-black in moments of excitement.
He touched the girl's slim, brown hand lightly with his firm, white one, then stepped quietly aside a moment later, and allowed Walter Earle to lead her out upon the lawn.
"My friend is not what you would call a lady's-man," Walter said to her. "He is a dreamy student, quite absorbed in his books, and yet the best friend and the bravest that man ever had. He is very intellectual, and leads in everything at college. We are all proud of him there. Miss Meredith, you have read of men who stood head and shoulders above their fellows? Valchester is one of them. I could tell you a hundred delightful things that he has done if you——"
"Walter, I'll never forgive you if you say another word," said Valchester's voice behind them.
Walter turned and saw his friend walking after him with Violet clinging to his arm.
"Listeners never hear good of themselves," he retorted, to cover his embarrassment at being overheard.
"The old adage is falsified in this case," laughed Valchester, "and for fear of not coming up to the ideal you have raised in Miss Meredith's mind, I shall always tread on thorns in her presence."