Free The girl in the blue dress by Mary Burchell

the heavenly knowledge
that, even that very day, Geoffrey would go into Castleton to have his
grandmother's ring reset as her own engagement ring.
    As she walked up the lane to Huntingford Grange, her new inner happiness tended to be slightly
over cast by the strong impressions which she associated with the Grange.
Somehow, it was not so easy in this setting to be sure that Toni had been wrong
in her conjectures or to know that Geoffrey loved her, and had loved her for years.
    On the contrary, she thought, with disquieting clarity, of how Sara had run from Geoffrey's
studio, flushed and agitated, and
with every air of having passed through some emotional scene. And she asked herself
how she was to reconcile this with the coolness of Geoffrey's own references to
Sara, and the fact that she herself was the girl he had asked to marry him.
    Fortunately a very busy day lay ahead of Beverley. And not only was there no question of her talking
to anyone about her own affairs, even had she wished to do so, which she did
not, but, in addition, she even had
very little time to think about them herself.
    Towards the end of the afternoon, however, the dance dresses for Sara and Madeleine had
progressed as far as a final fitting.
And the unfeigned delight of the two girls with her work certainly warmed Bever ley's heart.
    "You clever, clever
girl!" cried Madeleine, with generous enthusiasm. "I simply adore
this uncluttered line. I don't know when I've looked so good in anything.".
    "You're much too beautiful ever to look less
than good, " Beverley assured her
frankly. "But I do agree that
this particular style brings out all your best points."
    "Isn't it wonderful, Mother?"
Madeleine turned eagerly
to her mother, who had come in to watch and to appraise while the last fitting was made.
    "Very beautiful, "
Mrs. Wayne agreed, in an extremely satisfied tone. "You couldn't have done
better, Miss Farman. And, Sara dear, you were quite right to have that chiffon.
Franklin will love you in all that floral femininity."
    "I hope he will love me
in anything, " retorted Sara, but a trifle carelessly. "I'm delighted
with it, though, Miss Farman. You have even a touch of genius, I think."
    It was impossible not to be
delighted with all these I compliments. And Beverley felt so happy and so well disposed towards them all
that she almost became expansive enough, on her side, to tell them her own good news.
    But some lingering doubt of
the way they might receive
this held her back. And so she just smiled, and coloured slightly and
becomingly, and said she was very glad indeed that they were all so pleased.
    "I think Toni's party
dress is going to be lovely too, " she added, as that young woman came
bounding in, just returned from school. And, at Toni's urgent and rather
maddeningly reiterated requests, this dress also was tried on and pronounced ideal.
    "You are clever, Miss
Farman. I think you ought to have a specially nice tea, as a reward, "
declared Toni.
    And although they all laughed
a good deal at this point of view, Beverley had the conviction that there would
be no querying of her "high prices, " when her bill came in.
    Perhaps Toni was not the only one who felt vaguely that some special acknowledgement of the first
suc cess would not be out of place. At
any rate, just as Beverley was
thinking of packing away her work for the day, Sara came upstairs again and put
her head round the door.
    "Miss Farman, are you in any special hurry to
get home? Because Franklin, Mr. Lowell, has
just come, to drive me over to his place to see about some alterations which the builders have been
doing. And he suggests that you
might like to take the opportunity of coming to see your portrait."
    "Why, how kind of you!"
    Beverley was a good deal touched by the
friendliness of the gesture, and the fact that Sara, as well as Franklin Lowell, seemed to think it was perfectly
natural to change a casual suggestion into a definite invitation.
    "I'd love to come, " Beverley