CHAPTER IX The Dinner Party
Tonight, as the group of Camp Fire girls were seated at dinner, theirappearance afforded a striking contrast to the ordinary simplicity oftheir lives within the past few years which they had spent together.
The long oval dinner table held a basket of white roses in the center.Above the roses and attached to the crystal chandelier was a white dove.On the table were white candles and two silken flags, the United Statesflag and the French, which lay one beside the other across the whitecloth.
Seated at the head of the table and presiding over her peace dinner wasMiss Patricia Lord, but a Miss Patricia whom no one of the Camp Firegirls had ever beheld before tonight.
Vanished was her usually shabby and old-fashioned attire! In its placefor this occasion she wore a gown of black satin and lace of unusualelegance. Indeed, through the art of her French dressmaker even MissPatricia's ordinary ungainliness had been metamorphosed into a uniquedistinction. Never lacking dignity even in the shabbiest attire throughsheer force of personality, tonight she was almost handsome as well.
Her hair had been arranged by a hair dresser, so that the soft waves overher forehead gave her a less severe expression, a slight color due to theexcitement of her dinner party and her gratification over Mrs. Burton'sand the Camp Fire girls' appearance, made her cheeks glow with somethingapproaching the past radiance of youth.
Moreover, Miss Patricia was finding herself agreeably entertained by theguest who sat upon her right.
Mr. David Hale was probably not aware of what extent the dinner, with itssuggestion of a peace table, had been hurriedly arranged in order toimpress him. But if Miss Patricia had desired to make an impression, shehad accomplished the result she wished to achieve.
As he talked to Miss Patricia, whom he discovered to be an extremely wellinformed woman as well as a decidedly original character, he was at thesame time able to observe with a good deal of pleasure the group ofcharming girls by whom he was surrounded.
Any other hostess than Miss Patricia Lord, under similar circumstances,would have seen that Bettina Graham was placed beside her newacquaintance, who had been so kind after their unexpected meeting. Butany one, who has learned to know Miss Patricia, by this time must haveappreciated that her tactics were not always those of other people.
Bettina did not sit next Mr. Hale but almost directly across from him.Yvonne Fleury was placed on his other side. As Yvonne was French and theyoung man an American, they might be supposed to be interested in makingeach other's acquaintance. So far as Bettina was concerned Miss Patriciahad a definite purpose in her dinner arrangement. Mr. Hale was not toimagine that his passing acquaintance with Bettina, or his opportunity torender her a personal service, was necessarily to lead to furtherintimacy.
In Miss Patricia's eyes Bettina had appeared, before a stranger, in anextremely unfortunate and undignified position. She must therefore berestored to proper dignity both by her own behavior and the attitude ofher friends.
In the adventure between Sally Ashton and Lieutenant Fleury,[2] MissPatricia had been actuated by this same motive, although she hadexpressed it so differently.
Tonight, in spite of her critical attitude, Miss Patricia was fairly wellsatisfied with Bettina Graham's demeanor. Whatever Bettina's impressionof herself as lacking in social grace, she had been witness for manyyears to the charm of her mother's manner, to her gift for knowing andsaying just what the occasion demanded and must have learned of her.
In her greeting of Mr. Hale on his arrival earlier in the evening,Bettina had displayed just the proper degree of appreciation of hiskindness, neither too much or too little. Immediately after she hadeffaced herself in order that he might devote his attention to her CampFire guardian and Miss Patricia.
If the young American had become interested in Bettina through theirromantic encounter, Miss Patricia had decided that he could be allowedthe privilege of looking at her, or even of addressing a remark to heracross the table, but for the present this was sufficient.
If her own judgment counted for anything, Bettina was well worthobservation on this particular occasion.
Notwithstanding her leniency in regard to Bettina's previous costume,Bettina had answered her unspoken wish and was now wearing her prettiestevening gown. The dress was made of white chiffon with bands of silverembroidery over the shoulders and around the waist. She also wore alittle fine string of pearls, a gift from her father several yearsbefore.
Bettina's fair hair was bound closely about her head in two heavy braids;it was a characteristic of her's that she was always at her best inevening clothes, partly because her head was so beautifully set on herlong, slender neck.
She was next Ralph Marshall and on his other side was Peggy Webster.Peggy wore a rose-colored gown and with her dark hair and eyes andbrilliant color formed a striking contrast to Bettina's fairness.
How utterly different had been the circumstances of the lives of thisparticular group of Camp Fire girls before their association with oneanother! And yet in their own way each girl appeared tonight at almostequal advantage!
Vera Lagerloff was the daughter of Russian peasants who had emigrated tothe United States and were at present small farmers upon a portion ofPeggy Webster's father's large estate.
Vera was perhaps not beautiful in the opinion of most persons, but wassingularly interesting, with her long Slavic eyes of a curious grayishgreen shade, her heavy hair, and her expression of dignity andintelligence.
Moreover, she also had been transformed into greater beauty through theart of Miss Patricia's newly discovered French dressmaker.
Vera's dress was of an unusual shade of green, a little like the color ofher eyes, a shade few persons could have worn, but peculiarly suited toher. Following simple, almost severely plain lines, the dress was trimmedwith an odd piece of old Russian embroidery, of bronze and green and bluethreads.
Alice and Sally Ashton were both in white; as Alice had reddish hair andthe complexion which usually accompanies it, white was always morebecoming to her than anything else. But tonight Sally looked too thin andwhite herself to have worn so colorless a costume. One can scarcelyimagine how Sally had altered in the past months; her soft roundedoutlines had disappeared and she was now almost painfully thin. Therewere hollows under her brown eyes, which had lost their childishexpression, and hollows in her cheeks, where the dimples which she had soresented had formerly been.
Mary Gilchrist wore a blue dress made as simply as possible, whichemphasized the almost boyish grace of her figure. Her hair, with itsbright red lights, was piled in a loose mass on top of her head, hercheeks were glowing.
In spite of the change in the conditions of their present Camp Fire life,Mary Gilchrist had not given up her outdoor existence. A portion ofnearly every day she devoted to driving wounded, convalescent soldiersabout in her motor car in order that they should enjoy the air andentertainment.
Yvonne Fleury wore a violet crepe as she had promised her Camp Fireguardian not to wear mourning, but did not wish to appear in any morebrilliant color.
There was only one sombre note tonight at Miss Patricia's table; a younggirl, a stranger, who sat near Mrs. Burton, was in black. The dress shewas wearing, although of an inexpensive material, was light in textureand not unattractive. Nevertheless, its wearer seemed to feel both shyand uncomfortable. She must have been about nineteen or twenty, olderthan the Camp Fire girls.
Some weeks before, having introduced the young French dressmaker,Marguerite Arnot, into her family, Miss Patricia had since insisted thatshe become an actual member of it. In spite of her work she was expectedto appear with the family at the table and to share in so far as possiblein the ordinary daily life of the other girls. Tonight vainly had shepleaded to be spared the ordeal of a fashionable dinner, only to findMiss Patricia adamant.
Mrs. Burton was placed beside a former acquaintance, whose appearance asone of the guests at Miss Patricia's hastily a
rranged dinner, had causedher a moment's surprise. No suggestion had Miss Patricia made to her,that she intended inviting Senator Georges Duval, for whom she had alwaysexpressed a decided antagonism.
But after a little consideration of the matter, Mrs. Burton understoodMiss Patricia Lord's sudden change of front.
During the months of their work in one of the devastated districts ofFrance, Miss Patricia had at least appeared to dislike her friendshipwith the distinguished Frenchman. However, since their arrival in Parisand now at Versailles, there might be a number of ways in which a Frenchsenator might be of service to the Camp Fire girls. Bettina's recentadventure particularly emphasized the fact that his friendship mightprove useful. And Miss Patricia was not in the least averse to usingpersons for the sake of her friends, provided that she did them no harm.
Her invitation tonight to Senator Duval to meet the young American namedDavid Hale, had a well thought out purpose behind it.
Should Bettina become involved in suspicion and gossip due to her lastnight's experience, they would both have learned to know Bettina'sposition. They would also understand how entirely accidental her entranceinto the secret garden had been and how impossible to leave after thesmall gate had closed behind her.
Certainly the French authorities must accept so simple an explanation.
Mrs. Burton also felt a little amused by Miss Patricia's now transparentreason for desiring her to be more elaborately dressed for dinner thanshe had originally intended.
As a matter of fact on retiring to her room she had hesitated beforeputting on the exquisite costume which Aunt Patricia had evidently justpurchased for her from one of the best known designers of women's clothesin Paris. The ungraciousness with which she had been ordered to her roomand told to dress a second time was also explained. For years, ever sinceMiss Patricia's inheritance from her brother of her large fortune, bothMrs. Burton and her husband, Captain Burton, had been protesting againstthe extravagant gifts which Miss Patricia frequently insisted uponbestowing upon them, and especially upon Mrs. Burton, who was the oneperson for whom she cared most in the world.
Whatever Miss Patricia's economies and conscientious scruples with regardto spending money upon herself, she had no such scruples in connectionwith Mrs. Burton.
Therefore risking the possibility both of wounding and offending MissPatricia, Mrs. Burton had positively declined allowing her to bestow uponher any gifts of value.
An ordinary evening frock, Miss Patricia would of course declarepossessed no value. Yet Mrs. Burton had appreciated that the dress shewas at this moment wearing at dinner was not of this character.
She had felt she should refuse to accept it, but she had not wished tohurt Miss Patricia and also she had not wished to relinquish the dressonce she had tried it on.
It looked simple, yet Mrs. Burton had a sufficient knowledge andappreciation of clothes to recognize the exceptional beauty of herpresent gift.
As she sat talking and laughing with Senator Duval, Miss Patriciasurveyed both Mrs. Burton and her own purchase with entire satisfaction.
The dress looked as if it had been designed solely for Mrs. Burton andcould have been successfully worn by no one else.
Once Miss Patricia nodded with a peculiar satisfaction which, had heraction been observed, no one would have understood.
As a matter of fact she was thinking that there were persons who insistedthat Polly Burton, the well known actress, was in no sense a beautifulwoman and that her success was due entirely to her magnetism.
Miss Patricia was wishing that these same critical persons might havebeheld Mrs. Burton tonight.
The new evening frock was an unexpected combination of yellow and bronzechiffons and so skilfully were the delicate materials arranged that therewas never a decided contrast. The two colors seemed to melt into eachother as if they had been a combination from an artist's brush.
The dress might have obscured another woman's personality, making thewoman appear of less interest than her costume, but this was not true ofMrs. Burton.
Every now and then one of the Camp Fire girls would glance toward Mrs.Burton with a fresh appreciation of her charm. Until tonight they had notseen her in this particular setting of richness and elegance.
During the years of their outdoor Camp Fire life together, Mrs. Burtonhad lived almost as simply and plainly as her Camp Fire girls.
Yet it was an interesting experience for all of them, this brief changeinto sumptuousness which Miss Patricia's generosity was affording. Mrs.Burton revealed her own enjoyment of it.
At present her blue eyes were glowing with enthusiasm, as she sat talkingwith interest to her present dinner companion.
"I wonder if the French people will ever realize how glorious we feelFrance has been in the past four years to have endured so patiently andso courageously all the long strain of the war fought upon her soil.Remember that in the old days one always spoke of France as 'La BelleFrance.' Now I think she has earned the new title of 'Glorious France.'"
But at this moment Mrs. Burton and Senator Duval were no longer able tocontinue their conversation, since at a signal from Miss Patricia, herguests were about to leave the table.
The Camp Fire Girls in Glorious France Page 9