"You mean "Perle de Jaddin,"" Ronny said quickly. "We have acres of them at "Manana." They are my favorite rose."
"I love them, too," Marjorie nodded. "I remember that name now. I will collect two dollars apiece from the girls. Two times nine are eighteen.
We ought to be able to buy an armful of roses for eighteen dollars. I"ll ask Leila to drive to Hamilton for them. She has no cla.s.s the last hour.
I think we had better walk to Hamilton Arms. Miss Susanna seems to be rather down on girls who drive cars. So there is no use in flaunting her dislike in her face. I may be in error on that point. She made a remark on the day I met her that led me to think so."
"You go and find the other girls. I"ll tell Lucy as soon as she comes in," Ronny offered. "The sooner you see them, the better. If they have engagements for tomorrow afternoon they will have to gracefully slide out of them. We all must accept Miss Susanna"s invitation. It is a case of now or never."
Marjorie left Ronny to go joyfully on her pleasant errand. Her second quest was more successful. Leila and Vera had returned while she was in Ronny"s room. Both were elated over the unexpected honor. Leila was more than willing to make the trip to the florist"s shop. Marjorie met Katherine in the hall just as she was leaving Leila"s room.
The trio of absentees, Helen, Muriel and Jerry, she decided must be out somewhere together. She smiled to herself as she pictured Jerry"s face when she heard the news. "Just because I am in a hurry to tell Jerry she will probably go to dinner off the campus and come marching in about nine o"clock," was her half-vexed rumination.
To her satisfaction Jerry walked into the room at ten minutes to six.
She and Helen had taken a ride in the latter"s car. Jerry was full of mirth over the fact that they had met Elizabeth Walbert"s car at the side of the road with a blown-out tire. A mechanician from a Hamilton garage was on the scene adjusting a new one under the verbose direction of the owner.
"Helen drove her car past at a crawl. We wanted to hear what she was saying to the man from the garage. Honestly, we could hear her voice before we came very near her. She shrieks at the top of her lungs. She was trying to tell him what to do. He wasn"t paying any more attention to her than if she hadn"t been there. That blond freshie, who snubbed Phil the day she tried to help her at the station, was with her. I heard her say, "My, but he is slow. Our chauffeur could have put on three tires while he was thinking about putting on one." So encouraging to the workman!" Jerry"s tones registered gleeful sarcasm. "I wish she had been stuck there for about four hours."
"You should not rejoice at the downfall of others," Marjorie reproved with a giggle. "That is, if you can cla.s.s a bursted tire as a downfall."
"It did me a world of good to see those two little snips stuck at the side of the road," returned Jerry. "That Walbert girl and her car are a joke. I wish we had a college paper. I"d write her up. Funny there isn"t one at Hamilton. Almost every other college has one, sometimes two. I think I shall start one next year, if I"m not too busy."
"You might call it "Jeremiah"s Journal,"" suggested Marjorie. Both girls laughed at this conceit. Marjorie then acquainted her room-mate with the invitation, at the same time handing her Miss Hamilton"s note.
"Will wonders never cease!" Jerry laid down the note and beamed at Marjorie. "All your fault, Marvelous Manager. You went ahead and paved the way into Miss Susanna"s good graces for the rest of us. You certainly do get on the soft side of people without trying."
"Not a bit of it," Marjorie stoutly contested. "Any one of you girls would have done as I did and with the same results. I am so glad you are all going to meet her. She can"t help but have a better opinion of our dear old Alma Mater after she has met some of her nicest children. I guess that basket handle broke at the psychological moment."
CHAPTER XVI-OUT OF THE PAST
The invited guests were in scarcely more of an antic.i.p.atory flutter than Miss Susanna herself. She had broken down her prejudice against girls partly out of curiosity to see and know Marjorie"s friends, partly because of her growing fondness for Marjorie. The innocent beauty of the young girl, and her utter lack of conceit and affectation, had made a deep impression on the suspicious, embittered old lady. She had no expectation of liking Marjorie"s friends as she was learning to like the courteous, gracious lieutenant. It was her skeptical opinion, uttered to Jonas, that, if _one_ of the "new ones" turned out to be half as worthy as "that pretty child," she would not regret the experiment.
"You may take me for an old fool, Jonas," she declared to her faithful servitor of many years. "Here I am entertaining college misses after I"ve sworn enmity against them for so long. Well, everything once, Jonas; everything once. If I don"t like "em, they won"t be invited here again."
"The young lady"s friends will be all right, Miss Susanna," Jonas had earnestly a.s.sured. "She is a fine little lady."
The "young lady"s friends," however, were seized with a certain amount of trepidation when, on the designated afternoon, they advanced on Hamilton Arms, looking their prettiest. Each had worn the afternoon frock she liked best in honor of her hostess. Marjorie, Leila and Jerry headed the van, Leila bearing in her arms a huge box of roses. Marjorie had insisted that Leila must present these to Miss Susanna. Leila had st.u.r.dily demurred, then accepted the honor thrust upon her. All the way to Hamilton Arms she had kept the party in a gale of laughter with the humorous presentation speeches which she framed en route.
Within a few steps of the house her fund of words deserted her. "Take these yourself, Marjorie," she implored. "I am in too much of a glee at my own foolishness. I shall laugh and disgrace us all if I undertake to give her the roses."
"You"ll be all right, you goose. I refuse to help you out." Marjorie waved aside the proffered box. "Rally your nerve and say the first thing that occurs to you. It will be sure to be the best thing you could possibly say."
"I doubt it. Well, I can but take firm hold on the box and make the best of a bad matter." Leila grasped the box with exaggerated force, cleared her throat and burst out laughing. She continued to laugh as they ascended the steps. She had hardly straightened her face when Jonas answered the door and ushered the guests over the threshold they had never expected to cross.
"I have not seen so many girls at close range for a long time,"
announced a brisk voice. Miss Susanna had come from the library into the hall to greet her visitors. She was attired in a one-piece dress of dark gray silk with a white fichu at the throat of frost-like lace.
"How are you, my child?" She now took Marjorie"s hand. "And these are your friends." Her bright brown eyes were inspecting the group of young women with a kind of reflective curiosity. "Introduce them to me and tell me each name slowly. I wish to know each one by name from now on. I used to have a good memory for names."
Marjorie complied with the instruction, adding some friendly little point descriptive of each chum. This evoked laughter and helped to ease the slight strain attached to the presentation. Leila then proffered the box of roses with a frank, "Here is our good will to you, Miss Hamilton."
"What"s this?" Miss Susanna viewed the long box in amazement. A swift tide of color rose to her cheeks. She reached for it mechanically as though uncertain what to do next. She held it for an instant, then said: "I thank you, girls. You could have done nothing that would please me more. I love flowers; particularly roses. Come into the library now and let us get acquainted."
In the library Miss Susanna explored the florist"s box with the pleasure of a child. She exclaimed happily over the ma.s.ses of gorgeous roses as she lifted them from the box and inhaled their fragrance. She sent Jonas for vases and arranged them to suit her fancy, talking animatedly to her guests as her small hands busied themselves with the pleasant task.
The girls gathered informally about her, looking on with gratified eyes.
The flower gift had established a bond of sympathy between them. Already Miss Susanna was beginning to glimpse the reason for Marjorie"s devotion to her special friends. The girls also understood Marjorie"s growing interest in the last of the Hamiltons. Miss Hamilton had an oddly fascinating personality which commanded liking.
"There!" Miss Susanna exclaimed, as the last rose went into a vase to her satisfaction. "I shall leave them in the library while you are here.
Afterward I shall take my posies to my room. They will be the last thing I see tonight and the first in the morning. I have selfishly fussed with my lovely roses instead of giving you hungry children your tea. We are going to have it in the tea room today. I will ask you to come now."
She led the way from the library to an apartment directly behind it. A subdued chorus of admiration ascended from the guests as they stepped into a room which was quite Chinese in character. The walls were hung with rare Chinese embroideries and delicately-tinted prints. A pale green matting rug with intricately-wrought lavender and buff characters covered the floor. The tables and chairs were of polished teak, beautifully inlaid with mother of pearl. In one corner was a tall Chinese cabinet topped by two exquisite peachblow vases. Here and there were other vases of value and beauty. It was an amazing room. With so much to look at, it required time to appreciate fully its worth from an artistic point of view.
While there were several small tables, there was a large oblong one which would seat the party. It was laid for tea and graced by the most wonderful tea set the girls had ever seen. It was of faint, almost translucent, green banded by an odd Chinese scroll border in silver.
"What a perfectly wonderful room!" gasped Vera, her hands coming together in an admiring clasp, so characteristic of her.
Her approval was echoed by the others. The mistress of Hamilton Arms piloted them to the large table, taking her place at the head of it.
"Have your tea first, then you may explore Uncle Brooke"s famous tea room as much as you please." Miss Susanna glanced about at the circle of eager young faces with a bright smile. She was enjoying this innovation so much more than she had thought she might. "This will really be a meat tea. I know you girls will need something more substantial than tea and cakes, as you won"t be home in time for dinner."
The invaluable Jonas now appearing, an appetizing collation consisting of creamed chicken, hot m.u.f.fins, a salad and sweets was served, together with much tea and more talk and laughter. The girls were hungry enough to enjoy every mouthful of the delicious food provided by their hostess, agreeing with Marjorie as to the super-excellence of the tea.
"Please tell us about this tea room, Miss Susanna," coaxed Marjorie. The repast finished, the party still sat at table. "I suppose it was planned and arranged by Mr. Brooke Hamilton."
"Yes; it is considered the finest private tea room in America," was the reply. The odd part of this room is that every article in it was a gift to my great uncle. Shortly after LaFayette"s visit to America, when Uncle Brooke was a young man in his early twenties, he embarked on a business venture to China. He expected to be gone only a year. Instead, he remained in China for twelve years. Unlike many persons, he did not antagonize the Chinese. They learned to appreciate him for his n.o.bility, and became his firm friends. Every now and then, someone would make him a present. A true Chinaman will give the best he has if he wishes to give.
"Uncle Brooke was so much pleased with his growing collection of things Chinese, that he announced his intention of having a Chinese room in his home when he returned to America," continued the old lady, a gleam of pride in her eyes. "He told his Chinese friends of his idea and they were delighted. Eventually a rich n.o.ble, who had been one of Uncle Brooke"s truest friends, died. He bequeathed a priceless collection of Chinese antiquities to my ancestor. Among them was this tea set, those two peachblow vases, and that print on the east wall. When he returned to America it took him six months to arrange this room to his satisfaction. He arranged it and pulled it to pieces dozens of times before he produced the effect he desired."
"Do you remember him, Miss Susanna?" asked Marjorie eagerly, then blushed for fear her question might be considered too pointed by her hostess.
"Very well, indeed. I was a young woman when he died. He was seventy-nine years old the week before his death. My father was the son of his only brother who was several years older than Uncle Brooke.
Father was an invalid during the last years of his life. We came here to live when I was twelve. As a child, Uncle Brooke would often take me for walks about the estate. He taught me the names and habits of trees, shrubs and flowers. He was a true nature man."
"It seems odd to hear so much, all at once, of Mr. Brooke Hamilton,"
observed Helen. "We have not heard anything of him before except what little is known on the campus. He is almost a mystery at Hamilton College."
"The fault of the college," retorted Miss Susanna with bitterness.
"There was a time when the college board might have had the data for his biography. That time has pa.s.sed. They shall never have one sc.r.a.p of information concerning him from me. What I have told you of him today is in strict confidence. I have spoken freely of him because Marjorie has a.s.sured me that you are to be trusted. Were you to break this confidence, I would refuse to verify whatever you might tell and forbid any publication of the information."
Miss Hamilton glanced defiantly about the circle. Her kindly expression had entirely vanished.
"We can but a.s.sure you of our discretion." It was Leila who made an answer, a hint of wounded pride in her blue eyes.
"You can trust us, Miss Susanna," added Marjorie, smiling bravely. She was experiencing a queer little sinking of the heart at the displeased old lady"s intent to permanently withhold from the college the true history of its founder.