“I wish Jerry were going,” she said, regretfully. “He’d dance with me if nobody else did, but he hates parties; and Mrs. Chester thinks he’s too young to have a good time. Your dress is lovely, Gretel, and I never saw you look prettier.”
Gretel flushed with pleasure. It is pleasant to be admired, even by a girl a year younger than one’s self. Those weeks of sea air had certainly done Gretel good. There was a color in her cheeks, and a light in her eyes, that had not been there during her first few days at the Chesters’. Since that Sunday afternoon, now more than a week ago, nothing had occurred to trouble or annoy her. She had not seen Fritz Lippheim again, and Ada Godfrey, as if to atone for her cousin’s rudeness, had been unusually kind and tactful. The Chester family all liked her, and she had found a real friend in Mrs. Cranston. She had good news from her own family in Washington, and altogether her days had been very happy ones.
“I’m so glad you like my dress,” she said. “Barbara bought it for me that last day in New York, and there wasn’t any time for alterations. If my hair were as long and thick as yours, I’m sure I shouldn’t mind having people see it. Let me help you on with your dress. I think we ought to hurry a little; it’s after eight.”
At that moment Molly, already dressed for the evening, appeared in the doorway.
“How nice you both look!” she exclaimed admiringly. “If you knew how becoming your long hair was, Geraldine, you would never want to put it up. Oh, Gretel dear, I’m so sorry you’re going away to-morrow.”
“You’re not any sorrier than I am myself,” said Gretel. “I’ve had a perfectly lovely visit, and would give anything to stay till Monday, and go home with the Barlows. But it couldn’t be arranged. Percy doesn’t know when he may be in New York again after to-morrow, and he and Barbara don’t want to let me travel alone.”
“I know,” said Molly, “but that doesn’t make it any easier to let you go. You’ll have a long time to wait in New York, if your brother doesn’t leave till the night train. Is your house open?”
“Oh, yes, there’s a caretaker in charge, and Percy often spends the night there when he is in New York. I shall manage very comfortably, and Percy will take me out to dinner.”
“You might go to see Mother,” Geraldine suggested. “She’d love to see you and you could tell her all about us. But be sure not to mention that the rowboat upset the other day, and Jerry and I had to swim ashore. She’d be sure to think we had both been drowned, and you were trying to break it to her gently.”
“We have had some pretty jolly times together, haven’t we?” remarked Molly.