Her face had perhaps been washed and a portion of her makeup removed, but she still had a vivid look and her hair was more startling than ever, now that her rakish hat was removed. It stood out in a fluffy puffball, like a dandelion gone to seed, and gave her an amazing appearance. Her father stared at her with a fascinated horror and was speechless.

She had changed her traveling clothes for an accordion-pleated outfit of soft jade-green silk with an expansive neckline and sleeves that were slit several times from the wrist to shoulder and swung jauntily in festoon-like serpentine curves around her plump pink arms. She had compromised on a pair of black chiffon-silk stockings with openwork lace and black satin sandals with glittering little rhinestone clasps. A plantinum wristwatch and a glitter of jewels attended every movement of her plump pink hands with their pointed seashell fingertips, and a long string of carved ivory beads swung downward from her neck and mingled with the clutter of a clattering, noisy little girdle. No wonder he stared. And she had done all that while he was talking with the minister.

He stared, and her dimples began to come like a reminder of her mother in the old luring way, filling him with pain and anger and something worse than helplessness. Her mother’s face was not as full as hers, but the dimples went and came with such familiar play!

“Dad, you needn’t think you can keep me shut up away from things,” she said archly. “I’m going to know all your men friends and be real chummy with them. The men always like me. I’m like Lilla in that! They bring me stacks of presents and slews of chocolates. I’ve got a lot of going-away boxes in my trunks. Some of them are real jim-dandies. This watch is a present from Bobs. You know who Bobs is, don’t you? Bobs Farrell. He was dead gone on Lilla. He gave me this watch on my last birthday. It’s platinum and diamond. Isn’t it great? He brought me out in his car this morning or I would have had to wait two hours. When I found out what time this little old train started, I just called up his apartment, and he came right down and got me and took me up to his place for breakfast. He has the darlingest apartment all by himself with a servant to wait on him and the most wonderful meals! And he’s going to have a theater party for me some night with a dinner afterward at his apartment. Won’t that be simply great? I’m to ask any two girls from school I like, and he will get the men. And by the way, Daddy, I’ve invited a house party for the first week in June. You don’t mind, do you? There are ten of the girls in my class, and I’ve promised them the time of their life. The fellows will be here only at the weekend. They have to be back at prep Monday morning. Their old school doesn’t close for another two weeks after ours.”

His most amazing child had rattled on without letup thus far, and this was the first period he had been able to grasp. He hurried to make use of it, meanwhile glancing nervously at the clock. “School!

Yes. School! May I ask why you are not in school yourself?”

“Oh!” she wreathed the dimples coquettishly around her lips.