Schoolgirls -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- England -- Juvenile fiction
"Brought your habit with you?"
"No," answered Merle, who did not possess a riding-habit at all.
"What a pity! But of course your uncle has sold all his horses. He
always goes about in that little yellow car now, doesn't he? Motoring's
well enough--one must have a car naturally--but give me a horse."
"Yes, give me a horse, too, for choice," echoed Tudor. "I simply
couldn't live without horses."
On the whole the Ramsays spent a pleasant day at The Warren. Gwen and
Tudor might be rather patronizing, and too fond of showing off their
possessions, and "talking large", but these were their obvious failings,
the direct result of their early training and upbringing, and they were
not without pleasanter traits. Everybody is a mixture of perfect and
imperfect, in greater or lesser degree. The young Glyn Williamses might
have false standards of life, and would perhaps have to suffer many hard
knocks before they learnt to revise them, yet in their own way they
certainly meant to be kind. Gwen gave Mavis several foreign stamps, and
was liberal in handing round chocolates. Little Babbie waxed really
affectionate. She had liked the Ramsays from the first, and had begged
her mother to invite them. In the drawing-room, after tea, she asked
them to repeat the dialogue which they had given at The Moorings on the
wet afternoon when the day girls waited for the storm to clear.
"I've never forgotten how you two acted," she urged. "It was splendid!
Just like going to the theatre. _Please_ do it again! _Please!_ Mother
and Tudor haven't heard it."
"We want two other characters," objected Merle.
"Oh, never mind! We'll imagine the other two, and you can say their
parts for them. Give the funny piece where the aunt says what she thinks
about the modern girl. You did it so well."
"May we dress up a little?" asked Mavis.
"As much as you like. Come upstairs and take what you want."
So after a time the visitors returned duly costumed for the piece, Merle
as an elderly spinster with white cotton-wool hair and a black veil tied
over a toque, and Mavis in a sporting coat and rakish hat belonging to
Gwen. They played up to the best of their ability, and delivered the
amusing little sketch with much vigour. Merle, as the maiden aunt, was
inimitable, and quiet Mavis astounded everybody in her pose of the
up-to-date damsel. Tudor stared as if he had not suspected she had so
much in her. The audience of four clapped tremendously at the close of
the performance.
"It's really very clever. You're quite actresses," commented Mrs. Glyn
Williams. "Have you ever performed in public? No! Why, when you leave
school I should think you'll be tremendously in request for dramatic
performances in aid of charities."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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