And so rejoiced that he
was at work, even in the face of her hopes as to his college career. And
also so rejoiced to take up the gay, careless thread of their mutual
pleasure again.
The morning after the gathering of the party was Saturday and an ideal
day--that sort of ideal day when house parties naturally sift into pairs
and then fade away altogether. The country surrounding our particular
party was densely wooded and not at all settled, the woods were laid out
in a fascinating system of walks and benches which in no case commanded
views of one another, and the shade overhead was the shade of July and as
propitious to rest as it was to motion. Mitchell took a girl in gray and
two sets of golf clubs and started out in the opposite direction from the
links, Clover took a girl in green and a camera and went another way,
Burnett took a girl in a riding habit and two saddle horses and followed
the horses' noses whither they led, and Jack--Jack smoked cigarettes on the
piazza and waited--waited.
Mrs. Rosscott came out after a while and asked him why he didn't go to
walk also.
"Just what I was thinking as to yourself," he said, very boldly as to
voice, and very beseechingly as to eyes.
"Oh, I'm so busy," she said, laughing up into his eyes and then laughing
down at the ground--"you see I'm the only married daughter to help mamma."
"But you've been helping all the morning," he complained, "and besides how
can you help? One would think that your mother was beating eggs or turning
mattresses.
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