"Why, that would be delightful," said Ada, clapping her hands, with the pleasure of a child over a new toy. "I think that is just what I am needing—a new sensation."
"You consent, then?" said he, smiling at her pretty enthusiasm.
"Oh, yes, if Mrs. Vance will go, too. Will you do so?" inquired she, turning to the lady, who had as yet taken no part in the conversation.
"Do you wish to go very much?" inquired she, looking up from her work with a very pleasant smile.
"I think I should enjoy it very much."
"I don't know that I care for it very much," said the widow, with a light sigh; "but I will go to please you, Ada."
"It is settled then," said Lance. "We will go, and I think I can promise you both a very enjoyable evening."
It could not fail to be otherwise, Mrs. Vance thought to herself, with a thrill of pleasure at the knowledge that she would be seated beside him for hours, hearing his musical voice and looking into his handsome face.
"If it were not for that hateful Ada going, too," she said to herself, "what a chance I could have to make an impression on his heart!"
But regret it as she would she could not prevent Ada from going, for she saw plainly enough that the excursion was planned for the young girl's pleasure, not her own. She was merely secondary in the affair. A thrill of jealous pain cut through her heart like a knife, and the furtive glance of hatred she cast upon Ada boded no good to the lovely and high-spirited young girl.