Free The Flower Brides by Grace Livingston Hill Page B

she could forget it entirely, count it a bad dream and let it go at that.
    But then, she thought, with a quick wistful catch in her breath that brought the color softly up in her cheeks,
perhaps
after all, Laurie would come over that evening and somehow straighten out the painful part of things and fix it so that she could go to the party and still take her mother to Washington, too. She wouldn’t let herself reason out the possibilities. She just liked to think that there was a little alleviating possibility in the vague uncertain way of the next few days.
    It might even be that Laurie would call her up at the school during the morning, after he found out that she had sent her regrets.
    So she cheered herself on her way into the day.
    And her mother, watching her from the window as she did every morning, said softly to herself, “Dear child! Such an unselfish girl! But I wonder what has changed her mind? There is surely something behind all this. God must be answering my prayers for her in some way I do not understand.”

Chapter 5
    B ut the day went by and there came no word from Laurie.
    Mrs. Trescott had taken good care of that.
    Her sister-in-law dropped by in the course of the morning.
    “Well, Adele, are you all ready for the grand parade?” she asked sarcastically as she threw aside her coat and helped herself to some specimens of confectionery that had been sent up for selection.
    “Mercy no!” said the harassed hostess, reaching out and choosing a luscious bit of sweet. “You can’t imagine what a lot of things can come up to make trouble. Here’s my new butler mad as a hatter because he’s got to wait on the caterer’s men tomorrow night, and threatening to leave; and Daniel Trescott saying he can’t have any peace in his own house with parties, and you know yourself, Irene, we haven’t had any besides my regular bridge afternoon in three weeks. I can’t see why your mother didn’t bring her son up better! Men are so selfish!”
    “Yes?” said Irene dryly. “I suppose you’re looking out that you don’t repeat the trouble with Laurie.”
    “Indeed I am!” said Laurie’s mother. “I told him only this morning that since I was taking all this trouble for him he ought at least to help me out a little with the guest of honor. Sometimes I wonder why I do things for other people. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been brought up to be so unselfish.” She gave a heavy sigh and took another piece of candy.
    “Oh yes?” said Irene, lifting her brows in a way that made her look exasperatingly like Laurie. Mrs. Trescott hated to think either of her children looked like the Trescotts. She wanted them to be like her family.
    “Well, I’m sure I don’t know why I do so much for people when they are so ungrateful. I don’t know why I took all this trouble to have this party tomorrow night. I don’t believe Robena is a bit grateful, either.”
    “Yes you do, Adele!” said Irene. “You know perfectly well that you did it to shake Laurie free from that rowdy little Marigold. By the way, has she replied to her invitation?”
    “Oh yes, replied all right, jumped at the chance. ‘Miss Brooke accepts with pleasure.’ And then, what do you think came in just now from her? Regrets! Can you
imagine
it? After she had accepted! Now what do you make of that? Do you suppose she hadn’t money to get the right kind of gown? I understand they’re very poor.”
    “That’s odd!” said Irene, struggling with a particularly sticky caramel. “No, I don’t believe it’s that. I tell you she’s clever. She could make a dress you couldn’t tell from Paris, if she wanted to. Doesn’t she give any reason?”
    “‘A sudden change of circumstances,’” quoted the mother, lifting Marigold’s note with a disdainful thumb and finger as if it might contaminate. “I declare it’s discouraging, after all the trouble I’ve taken, and now to have her drop right out of the picture—all my work for