During the next three days there were stirring times, and Leslie, even
with a heavy heart, was kept busy. Clive Terrence was ignored as
utterly as if he had been a fly on the ceiling, and Leslie managed to
keep every minute full. Moreover, her mind was so much occupied with
other things that she had not time to realize how fully she was
cutting their guest out of sight of her, nor how utterly amazed it
made him. He was not accustomed to being ignored by young ladies, even
though they were both beautiful and rich. He felt that he was quite
ornamental himself, and had plenty of money, too, and he could not
brook any such treatment. So he set himself to procure revenge by
going hot-foot after the Freshman "vamp"--who, to tell the truth, was
much more in his style than Leslie and quite, _quite_ willing--though
Leslie, dear child, was too absorbed to know it.
She came home at lunchtime a bit late and called Allison from the
table to give him an excited account in a low tone of something that
had happened that morning. Julia Cloud, from her vantage point at the
head of the table, could see the flash in her eye and the brilliant
flush of the soft cheeks as she talked and wondered what new trouble
had come to the dear child. Then she noted the sudden stern set of
Allison's jaw and the squaring of shoulder as he listened and
questioned. Meanwhile she passed Clive Terrence the muffins and jam,
and urged more iced-tea and a hot, stuffed potato, and kept up a
pleasant hum of talk so that the excited words should not be heard in
the dining-room.
"Jane's had a perfectly terrible time!" had been Leslie's opening
sentence, "and we've got to do something about it! Those little _cats_
in the AOU have done the meanest thing you can think of. Jane looked
just _crushed_! They've hauled up that old stuff about her father
being a forger and urged it as a reason that she shouldn't be made
treasurer in place of Anne Dallas--who is leaving on account of the
death of her father and she has to go home and take care of her little
sisters--and JANE HEARD THEM!"
A low growl of indignation reached Julia Cloud's ears from Allison,
who squared his shoulders into position for immediate action.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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