Radnor meanwhile was in the parlor, entertaining a large company of boys with stories of his bicycling experiences. It was while thus engaged that Mrs. McBrinton touched him on the shoulder and asked him if he would not make up a hand at whist.
When Mrs. Barnes came in a few moments later she caught her breath quickly on beholding her cousin seated vis-a-vis to Olive Bellman at the card table.
After that the acquaintance progressed as rapidly as she could have desired. Nearly every morning found the two on the tennis courts, where they were the most evenly matched pair of players that the Lorimac had seen that season. Then in Olive Radnor found as enthusiastic a lover of the water as himself, and the afternoons were devoted to exploring tours around the shores of the lake.
Mrs. Grant or Mrs. McBrinton generally accompanied them on these expeditions, and it was odd to hear them sing Radnor’s praises among themselves.
He was naturally chivalric towards all, and the little attentions he bestowed on the chaperones were so self evidently spontaneous and disinterested that the hearts of the old ladies were completely won.
Mrs. Barnes felt as though she were on wings. It was a real effort for her to keep her exultation under. Indeed, even now she never trusted herself to mention Olive’s name to her cousin.
Thus affairs went on till the last week in August, when the grand Venetian Carnival was held on the lake. General Barentham took the greatest possible interest in the celebration and was determined that the Lorimac House should outdo all competitors in the grand procession. He constructed a Lohengrin swan boat out of his naphtha launch, and after begging and entreating for three days, almost on his knees, succeeded in obtaining Olive Bellman’s consent to be the Venus who should sail in it.
“But you don’t want a Venus, General Barentham,” she protested. “Venus belongs to Tannhaeuser. You want a Lohengrin if you are going to have a swan boat.”
“I want nothing of the kind,” the general responded. “I want you, and I am going to have you,” and in the end he triumphed.
Radnor was selected to be Olive’s companion in the launch and do the steering in the dress of the Swan Knight, while the engineer, concealed as deftly as possible by the counterfeited wings, was tucked away in the stern. General Barentham was here, there and everywhere, managing the rest of his flotilla, and the guests of the Lorimac not in the “show,” as Radnor insisted on terming it, were accommodated on the steam launch Meteor.