And then they were back again at Grandpa Maynard"s, and were admitted with more footmen and formality.
But Marjorie, with her adaptable nature, was beginning to get used to conventional observances, and, followed by the other three, she entered the drawing-room, and went straight to her Grandmother. "We had a very pleasant drive, thank you," she said, and her pretty, graceful manner brought a smile of approbation to her grandmother"s face.
"I"m glad you did, my dear. Where did you go?"
"We drove in the park, and along the avenue," said King, uncertain whether to mention the soda water episode or not.
But Marjorie"s frankness impelled her to tell the story, "We stopped at a drug shop, Grandma, on our way home, and had soda water," she said; "I hope you don"t mind."
"You stopped at a drug shop!" exclaimed Grandma Maynard. "You four children alone!"
"We weren"t alone," explained Marjorie "Parker went in with us, and he paid for it. Wasn"t it all right, Grandma?"
"No; children ought not to go in a shop without older people with them."
"But Parker is older than we are," said Kitty, who was of a literal nature.
"Don"t be impertinent, Kitty," said her grandmother. "I do not refer to servants."
Now Kitty had not had the slightest intention of being impertinent, and so the reproof seemed a little unfair.
Unable to control her indignation, when she saw Kitty"s feelings were hurt, Marjorie tried to justify her sister.
"Kitty didn"t mean that for impertinence, Grandma Maynard," she said. "We didn"t know it wasn"t right to go for soda water alone, for we always do it at home. The only thing that bothered me was because I didn"t have the money to pay for it."
"The money is of no consequence, child; and I suppose you do not know that in the city, children cannot do quite the same as where you live.
However, we will say no more about the matter."
This was a satisfactory termination of the subject, but Grandma"s manner was not pleasant, and the children felt decidedly uncomfortable.
Their own parents had listened to the discussion in silence, but now their father said, "Don"t be too hard on them, Mother; they didn"t mean to do anything wrong. And they are good children, if not very conventional ones."
But Grandma Maynard only said, "We need not refer to the matter again,"
and then she told the children to go to their supper, which was ready for them.
As the four sat down to a prettily-appointed table, they were not a happy looking crowd. Rosamond was too young to understand what it was all about, but she knew that the other three were depressed and that was a very unusual state of things.
"I don"t want any supper," began Kitty, but this speech was too much for King. Kitty was very fond of good things to eat, and for her to lose her appet.i.te was comical indeed!
A pleasant-faced maid waited on them, and when Kitty saw the creamed sweet-breads and fresh peas and asparagus, with delightful little tea biscuits, her drooping spirits revived, and she quite forgot that Grandma had spoken sharply to her.
"You"re all right, Kit," said King, approvingly. "I was frightened when you said you had lost your appet.i.te, but I guess it was a false alarm."
"It was," said Kitty. "I do love sweet-breads."
"And there"s custard pudding to come, Miss Kitty," said the maid, who smiled kindly on the children. In fact, she smiled so kindly that they all began to feel more cheerful, and soon were laughing and chatting quite in their usual way.
"What is your name, please?" inquired Marjorie, and the maid answered, "Perkins."
"Well, Perkins, do you know what we are to do to-morrow? Has Grandma made any plans for us?"
"Oh, yes, Miss Marjorie; she made the plans some weeks ago, as soon as she heard you were coming. She is giving a children"s party for you to-morrow afternoon."
"A children"s party! How kind of her!" And Marjorie quite forgot Grandma"s disapproving remarks about the soda water escapade.
"Oh, I don"t know," said King. "I expect a children"s party here will be rather grownuppish."
"Oh, no, Master King," said Perkins; "there are only children invited.
Young boys and girls of your own age. I"m sure it will be a very nice party."
"I"m sure of it, too," said Marjorie, "and I think it was awfully good of her, as we"re to be here such a short time."
"Well, she needn"t have said I was impertinent, when I wasn"t," said Kitty, who still felt aggrieved at the recollection.
"Oh, never mind that, Kit," said good-natured Marjorie. "As long as you didn"t mean to be, it doesn"t really matter."
When the supper was over, Rosamond was sent to bed, and the other three were allowed to sit in the library for an hour. The ladies were dressing for dinner, but Grandpa Maynard came in and talked to them for a while.
At first they were all very grave and formal, but by a lucky chance, King hit upon a subject that recalled Grandpa"s boyish days, and the old gentleman chuckled at the recollection.
"Tell us something about when you were a boy," said Marjorie. "I do believe, Grandpa, you were fond of mischief!"
"I was!" and Grandpa Maynard smiled genially. "I believe I got into more sc.r.a.pes than any boy in school!"
"Then that"s where we inherited it," said Marjorie. "I"ve often wondered why we were so full of capers. Was Father mischievous when he was a boy?"
"Yes, he was. He used to drive his mother nearly crazy by the antics he cut up. And he was always getting into danger. He would climb the highest trees, and swim in the deepest pools; he was never satisfied to let any other boy get ahead of him."
"That accounts for his being such a successful man," said King.
"Yes, perhaps it does, my boy. He was energetic and persistent and ambitious, and those qualities have stood by him all his life."
"But, Grandpa," said Marjorie, who had suddenly begun to feel more confidential with her grandfather, "why, then, do you and Grandma want us children to be so sedate and poky and quiet and good? At home we"re awfully noisy, and here if we make a breath of noise we get reprimanded!"
"Well, you see, Marjorie, Grandma and I are not as young as we were, and we"re so unused now to having children about us, that I dare say we do expect them to act like grown people. And, too, your grandmother is of a very formal nature, and she requires correct behavior from everybody.
So I hope you will try your best while you"re here not to annoy her."
"Indeed, we will try, Grandpa," said Marjorie. "I think she"s very kind to make a party for us to-morrow, and I"m sure we ought to behave ourselves. But, Grandpa, you don"t know what it is to have to sit so stiff and still when you"re accustomed to racing around and yelling."
"Yes, I suppose that is so; though I didn"t know that you were noisy children. Now I"ll tell you what you can do. You can go up in the big billiard room on the top floor of the house, and there you can make all the noise you like. You can play games or tell stories or do whatever you choose."
"Oh! that"s lovely, Grandpa," and Marjorie threw her arms around his neck. "And won"t anybody hear us if we make an awful racket?"
"No, the room is too far distant. Now run along up there, and you can have a pillow-fight if you want to. I believe that"s what children enjoy."
"Well, you come with us, Grandpa, and show us the way," said Kitty, slipping her hand in his.
And with Marjorie on the other side, and King close behind, they all went upstairs. The billiard room, though not now used for its original purpose, was large and pleasant. There was not much furniture in it, but a cushioned seat ran nearly all round the room with many pillows on it.
As soon as they were fairly in the room, Marjorie picked up a soft and fluffy pillow, and tossed it at her grandfather, hitting him squarely in the back of the neck.