"No," said Lulu, and flushed. "Thank you," she added, formally.
Mrs. Bett's voice shrilled from within the house, startlingly close—just beyond the blind, in fact:
"Go on, Lulie. It'll do you good. You mind me and go on."
"Well," said Ninian, "that's what I say. You hustle for your hat and you come along."
For the first time this course presented itself to Lulu as a possibility. She stared up at Ninian.
"You can slip on my linen duster, over," Ina said graciously.
"Your new one?" Dwight incredulously wished to know.
"Oh, no!" Ina laughed at the idea. "The old one."
They were having to wait for Di in any case—they always had to wait for Di—and at last, hardly believing in her own motions, Lulu was running to make ready. Mrs. Bett hurried to help her, but she took down the wrong things and they were both irritated. Lulu reappeared in the linen duster and a wide hat. There had been no time to "tighten up" her hair; she was flushed at the adventure; she had never looked so well.
They started. Lulu, falling in with Monona, heard for the first time in her life, the step of the pursuing male, choosing to walk beside her and the little girl. Oh, would Ina like that? And what did Lulu care what Ina liked? Monona, making a silly, semi-articulate observation, was enchanted to have Lulu burst into laughter and squeeze her hand.