For surely I could never find anything for Frank and Uncle Charlie better than these queer little desk things. Aren"t they unusual, Elise?
Are they rococo?"
"Patty," said Elise, in a stage whisper, "I hate to own up to it, but really, I never did know what rococo meant! Isn"t it something like cloisonne, or is it ormolu?"
Patty laughed. "To be honest, Elise, I don"t exactly know myself, but I don"t think you"ve struck it very closely. However, I"m going to buy this inkstand; I don"t care if it"s made of gingerbread!"
"And here"s a bronze Napoleon; didn"t Marian want that?"
"Oh, yes, indeed she did! I"m so glad you discovered him. Isn"t he a dear little man? Just about three inches high; I believe the real emperor wasn"t much more than that. Isn"t he on a funny little flat pedestal?"
"It"s a seal," explained the shopkeeper kindly.
"A seal!" echoed Patty blankly; "why no it isn"t! a seal, indeed! why it isn"t a bit like a seal; you might just as well call it a Teddy Bear! It"s a man!"
Elise was giggling. "He doesn"t mean that kind of a seal, Patty," she said; "he means a seal to seal wax with."
"Oh," said Patty, giggling, too; "why, so much the better. I beg your pardon, I"m sure, and I"m glad it"s a seal. I can have Marian"s monogram cut on it, and she can seal her letters by just letting Napoleon jump on them."
She left the order for the monogram, and the affable shopkeeper promised to send the finished seal home the next day. He seemed greatly interested in his two young customers, and had it not been for Lisette"s sharp eye he would have urged them to buy even more of his wares.
But the canny young French girl had no notion of letting her charges be imposed upon, and she glared haughtily at the shopkeeper when he seemed too officious.
As they were about to leave the shop, some young people entered, and to the surprise of all, they proved to be the Van Ness girls and their cousins.
The four young people were out by themselves, and though quite capable of finding their way about alone, Lisette"s French notions were a trifle shocked at the unchaperoned crowd.
But Patty and Elise were so glad to see their friends again that they gave little thought to conventions, and fell to chattering with all their might.
"Why haven"t you been to see us?" asked Alicia; "you had our address."
"I know," said Elise, "but we"ve been so busy ever since we"ve been here that there hasn"t seemed to be time for anything. But we"re glad to see you now, and isn"t it jolly that we chanced to meet here?"
"Yes, indeed, because we"re going on to-morrow,--on our travels, I mean, and we wouldn"t have had a chance to see you again. But now that we have met, let"s put in a jolly afternoon together. Where are you going?"
"Nowhere in particular; we"re just walking around Paris."
"That"s exactly our destination; so let"s go nowhere in particular together."
CHAPTER XIII
CHANTILLY
This plan seemed to please everybody except Lisette, who was a little troubled to have her young ladies going around with these Chicago people, of whom she did not quite approve.
But Patty only laughed at the anxious expression on the French girl"s face. She knew well what was pa.s.sing in her mind, and she said to her quietly: "It"s all right, Lisette, they"re our American friends, and I a.s.sure you Mrs. Farrington won"t mind a bit, since you are with us.
You"re dragon enough to chaperon the whole State of Illinois."
It"s doubtful if Lisette knew what the State of Illinois was, but she was devoted to Patty, and waved her scruples in deference to Patty"s wishes, although she kept a stern watch on the big Van Ness boys.
But Bob and Guy behaved most decorously, and two more polite or well-mannered young men could not have been found among the native Parisians themselves.
Leaving the shop, they continued down the Rue de Rivoli till they reached the Louvre.
Doris proposed their going in, and as Patty was most anxious to do so, and Lisette saw no objection to visiting the great museum, they all entered.
It was Patty"s first glimpse of the great picture gallery, and she began to wish she was not accompanied by the chattering crowd, that she might wander about wherever her fancy directed. But she remembered she would have ample opportunity for this all winter, so she willingly gave up her own desire to please the Van Ness girls.
They cared little for pictures, but were really good historical students, and they wanted to visit the rooms which contained curios and relics of famous people.
So the whole crowd followed the lead of Doris and Alicia, who had visited the Louvre before, and Patty found herself learning a great deal from the experienced way in which the girls discussed the exhibits. She found, too, that historical relics were more interesting than she had supposed, and she almost sighed as she thought of the many things she wanted to see and study during the winter.
"I hope you"ll be here when we come back," Guy Van Ness said to her, as they stood together, looking at some old miniatures.
"I hope so, too," said Patty. "When are you coming?"
"I don"t know exactly; it depends on uncle"s plans; but probably about January."
"Oh, yes, we shall surely be here then, and probably living in a home of our own. Of course, I mean a temporary home, but not a hotel. I hope you will come to see us."
"Indeed I will. I wish we could have seen more of you this week, but uncle has rushed us about sightseeing so fast that there was no time for social calling."
"We saw Bert Chester and his crowd," said Patty; and then she told about the day at Versailles.
"What a lark!" exclaimed Guy; "I wish I had been along. But you must go somewhere with us when we"re here in January, won"t you?"
"I"d like to," said Patty, "but I can"t promise. It all depends on the Farringtons. I"m their guest, so of course I"m under their orders."
"Well, it won"t be my fault if we don"t have some fun when we come back here," declared Guy, "and I shall do all I can to bring it about."
When they left the museum it was getting late in the afternoon, and Lisette decreed that her young ladies must go home at once. The Van Ness crowd raised great objection to this, but Lisette was obdurate, and calling a cab, she ushered the girls in, and then getting in herself, gave the order for home.
Patty couldn"t help laughing at the serious way in which Lisette took care of them, but Mrs. Farrington told her it was quite right, and she would have been displeased had Lisette done otherwise.
"You don"t quite understand, my dear," she said kindly, "the difference between the conventions of Paris and our own New York. It may seem foolish to you to be so carefully guarded, but I can"t quite explain it to you so you would understand it, and therefore I"m going to ask you to obey my wishes without question, and more than that, when Lisette is temporarily in charge of you to obey her."
"Indeed I will, dear Mrs. Farrington," said Patty heartily; "and truly I wasn"t rebelling the leastest mite. I"m more than ready to obey you, or Lisette, either, only it struck me funny to be put into a cab, like babies in a baby-carriage by their nursemaid."
"You"re a good girl, Patty, and I don"t foresee a bit of trouble in taking care of you. To-morrow I shall feel better, and I"ll go shopping with you girls myself, and perhaps we may have time to look in at a few other places."
So Patty danced away, quite content to take things as they came, and sure that all the coming days were to be filled with all sorts of novelties and pleasures.
Their purchases had been sent home, reaching there before they did themselves, and Patty immediately fell to work on the alb.u.ms, placing the cards in the little slits which were cut in the leaves to receive them.
The days flew by like Banders.n.a.t.c.hes. Patty herself could not realise what became of them. She wrote frequently to the people at home and tried to include all of her young friends in America in her correspondence, but it seemed to be impossible, and so finally she took to writing long letters to Marian, and asking her to send the letters round to the other girls after she had read them.