A PARTY AT THE NEW HOUSE
THE society people in that part of Wyoming within the radius of the
Rainbow Ranch were deeply interested and some of them a good deal
excited over the fact that an American-Italian Princess and an Italian
Prince were being entertained in their midst.
For some time previous to the coming of their guests Ruth and the girls
had planned giving a large evening party. Originally the idea had been
to make it a kind of house-warming as well as a formal announcement of
Jack's engagement. But as Jack begged not to be made specially
conspicuous in regard to the invitations, they were finally issued by
Mr. and Mrs. Colter asking that their friends do them the honor of
meeting Miss Katherine Winthrop, the Princess Colonna and her nephew,
the Prince Giovanni Colonna, on a certain September evening. According
to the desires of the Ranch girls the entertainment was to be both a
reception and dance, for the new home was large enough for both. For
while the older guests were talking to one another in the music room and
library, the big living room could be used for dancing.
It was about six o'clock on the afternoon before the ball when the four
girls in dressing gowns of various shades slipped through the wide
colonial hall and entered the big parlor. Frieda dropped into a chair
set close against the wall and sighed deeply. Her yellow hair had been
washed only a few hours before and was now in a big loose knot on top of
her head, though it kept breaking forth into delicious curls about her
white forehead and neck.
In answer to the sigh Jack sat down on the floor at her younger sister's
feet. "Isn't everything all right, Baby? Isn't the room as lovely as you
expected?" she asked anxiously. For although Jack had always been
unusually tender and devoted to Frieda, she was even more in these days,
with the thought of leaving her so close at hand.
Again Frieda sighed, but this time she explained herself. "It is more
than all right. It is more beautiful than I ever expected any place
belonging to us could be. Not that I did not love the dear old Lodge,
but this house is, well--different. Isn't it dreadful that you are going
away so soon, Jack, dearest, after all our work and planning? It will
never seem just like home without you."
With a sudden movement Jean crossed the room, placing her fingers
lightly upon Frieda's lips.
"We have promised Jack not to say anything like that, Frieda dear," she
protested, "at least not tonight. We must all have the happiest evening
of our lives, one that none of us shall forget."
The younger girl glanced up at her cousin wistfully with a question on
her lips, but instead of asking it she clapped her hands softly
together.
"See that lovely light coming through our stained-glass window! Isn't it
like a rainbow! Oh, I hope it means good luck just as it always has in
the past! And somehow it makes this room more beautiful. I did not dream
anything could!"
Naturally Frieda was prejudiced and an enthusiast, and yet she had ample
reason for her point of view. For a moment there was an unusual silence
as the four girls looked around them. Consciously or unconsciously they
realized that these next few weeks were to mark important changes in
their lives. For after they had slipped by things could never be exactly
the same. Jack would be married and that would represent the first
important break, and after that--well, they were not little girls any
longer, for even Frieda had lately shown unmistakable signs of being
grown-up.
The walls of the long room were hung with western smilax and since the
party was to be a typical American one, the girls had been wildly
extravagant and used American Beauty roses for the decoration. Now the
air was fragrant with their rich and penetrating perfume. The old
colonial mantel was banked with them, and garlands of green swinging
from one white column to another had big baskets filled with roses
suspended between the posts. The room itself was fifty feet long and
three-fourths as broad. All the woodwork and the walls were a warm gray.
The greater part of the furniture had of course been removed and a white
tarpaulin covered the hardwood floor, but in the bay window there were
palms and vases of roses and an old-fashioned colonial sofa, besides
several chairs. Also there were occasional chairs along the walls for
the older persons who might care to watch the dancing. The music was to
be concealed in the hall behind a bank of evergreens just beneath the
wide mahogany stairs.
"Well, if there is anything more that can be done to make this place
more attractive, I am sure I don't know what it is," Jean insisted at
last. "And I am especially glad that we asked Mr. Parker to come
tonight. Because of course he may have built more expensive houses than
ours, yet I am quite sure he has never made one more attractive.
Besides, he is awfully nice. Gracious, girls, who is that knocking? Ruth
thinks we are being nice and obedient and lying down until seven."
But Olive had walked over to the closed door and opened it half-way.
"Don't be alarmed," she laughed back. "It is only the flowers Frank is
sending us for tonight. Let's open them now and see what choice he has
made. Ruth told him about our dresses, so that he could not make any
serious mistake."
Almost concealed by four great boxes reaching as high as her head,
Olive came back to where Jack was sitting and placed them in a great
pile before her.
"You give them to us, Jack dear, since they are from Frank," she urged.
The first was marked with Frieda's name, but as she took the top off the
box and lifted out a card her cheeks turned suddenly crimson.
"These are not from Frank after all," Frieda remarked with a pretense of
unconcern, "Mr. Russell says that I was so kind about reading to him
when his leg was broken that he asked Frank as a special favor to let
him send me my bouquet for tonight." Her fingers fumbled nervously at
the tissue paper and her eyes were downcast, since she did not specially
care to have any one staring at her at this moment. She could imagine
Jack's puzzled and slightly worried expression and Jean's and Olive's
teasing looks. For the absurd friendship that had developed between the
solemn young Professor and Frieda was one of the ill-concealed jokes in
the family.
"What do you suppose that a man who dabbles in Egyptology for an
amusement would send as a bouquet to a baby?" Jean inquired mockingly.
"Possibly a lotus flower, for there are learned persons who declare that
Cleopatra was a bewildering blond lady," and Jean pulled at Frieda's
yellow curls.
The next moment along with the other girls she gave a cry of admiration.
Who would ever have suspected the Professor of such exquisite taste? For
in some way he had managed to make his bouquet suggest the girl to whom
it was offered. For it was formed of hundreds of tiny forget-me-nots set
close together and encircled with small white star-like flowers.
Jean's roses were the deep pink color that she always loved and Olive's
were a wonderful golden yellow. But Jack hesitated a moment before
opening her box, which was the largest of the four and curiously heavy.
Half guessing how she felt Olive laid her hand lovingly on her friend's.
"Take your flowers up to your own room and look at them first by
yourself if you would rather," she suggested. However, Jean and Frieda
both raised a storm of protest.
And Jack laughed. "It isn't that I am such a bashful person that I don't
want you to see even the flowers Frank has given me--I would not be so
absurd," she confessed. "But I have an idea that perhaps Frank has put
something more than flowers in my box. And I don't think I shall ever,
ever be able to wear them. Oh, children, what made me fall in love with
an Englishman and one who may inherit a title? Certainly I shall never
be able to live up to it!" Doing her best to hide her nervousness Jack
buried her hot cheeks in a great bunch of white jasmine flowers; but
Frieda's fingers were pointing inexorably to a white velvet jewel case
which still remained in the flower box half buried in evergreens.
With a smile Jack picked it up, touching the spring. On the satin shone
a miniature crown of diamonds and pearls and an exquisite necklace of
the same jewels.
"Gracious," Frieda gasped, "I didn't know Frank Kent was a millionaire!
Why he always has declared that he was a great deal poorer than lots of
American fellows! I wonder if he has been deceiving you all this time,
Jack, to keep you from marrying him for his money."
"Goose!" Jack laughed; but Frieda's absurdity relieved the situation.
"Don't you know that these jewels are heirlooms in the Kent family,
that they always belong to the wife of the eldest son? I told Frank to
wait until our wedding day; but he seemed to wish me to wear them
tonight. I don't believe I possibly can, they are too lovely--and
somehow they don't seem to suit me."
Olive placed the tiara on Jack's gold-brown head. The girl's gray eyes
were shining softly, her head was tilted back the least bit and a rich
color flooded her cheeks and lips.
"I don't think Frank need be exactly ashamed of you, Lady Kent," Jean
murmured with teasing affectation. And then: "You funny Jack! Is there
any other girl in America who would not care more than you do for
Frank's splendid position and all the rest of it? Not for a single
instant do I believe that you gave it a thought! Dear me, I wish your
own sweet cousin were so high-minded!"
"Girls," said a reproachful voice suddenly, "is this the way you keep
your sacred promise to me to rest until dinner time? Go back to your
rooms instantly," Ruth Colter scolded. Yet she was hardly an impressive
figure with her hair rolled up in a tight knot and a light shawl thrown
over her kimono. "I heard such a terrible chattering in here that I was
afraid a collection of magpies had gotten in an open window and thought
they had come upon an enchanted garden." Here Ruth ceased talking
suddenly, having caught sight of the beautiful ornament on Jack's hair.
"Gracious, dear, what a wonderful possession! Do let me see it more
closely," she asked. "But take it off first and then come here and kiss
me. A diamond tiara is hardly appropriate with a dressing gown and I
can't bear to see you looking so regal and so far away from the rest of
us."
And with a break in her voice, Ruth put her arm around Jack and then led
the small procession forth from the room.