The Girl Scouts of the Round Table 24
“Yes, I suppose you are. You are one of the persons who would be right,
yet I have an idea it has been hard for Uncle Richard.”
Her speech made Miss Frean’s answer more difficult, nevertheless she
went on firmly:
“Your uncle and I were more than friends when we were younger. I don’t
know how much or how little you have been told. His family never wished
him to marry me, and for that and other reasons our engagement was
broken. I have never cared for any one since. Well, this winter when
we renewed our friendship I was enjoying it. I am lonelier than you
believe, Tory, with your rather hard opinion of me. But by and by,
Richard--Mr. Fenton seemed to have the impression that we might ignore
the passing of nearly twenty years. I thought he was mistaken and that
it was wiser we should not meet often. Do you understand?”
Tory shrugged her shoulders with the little foreign gesture that she
had not yet wholly lost.
“Yes; how can I fail to understand? It is just as I thought.”
The silence that followed was not comfortable and Miss Frean added:
“Suppose we don’t talk about ourselves, Tory. Please tell me about
Kara. I am deeply interested and not so surprised as most people by her
attitude toward Mr. Moore.”
“Well, I am surprised and, more than that, I am awfully annoyed with
Kara. Not that it makes the slightest difference to her. You know Kara
is one of the quietly firm people whom one cannot change. She must see
for herself.
“She has decided to accept the fact that Mr. Moore is her guardian in
the sense that her mother begged this favor of him many years ago, not
otherwise. She has declined to allow him legally to adopt her. She is
friendly but does not wish him to do anything for her. She says that he
will not find her congenial and that as soon as she is well enough she
wants to come back to the Gray House on the Hill until she has finished
school. Nothing will induce her to give up the idea that she wishes to
make her own living as soon as she is strong enough. In the meantime
she is studying stenography whenever she has any leisure. And actually
Mr. Hammond and Dr. McClain and Uncle Richard uphold her. They say
they admire her spirit. Mr. Hammond has given Kara a typewriter which
she was at least gracious enough to accept. She has taken nothing from
poor Mr. Moore, who wants to be as nice as possible, except books and
candy and flowers. She has condescended to drive with him a few times.
I really think Kara is partly obstinate because I used to tell her
she would be sure to develop a romantic history. She insisted I wanted
her to have a rich guardian and to grow up and marry him like the
sentimental stories of girls in orphan asylums the world over. So now
Kara, who might have a rich guardian, repudiates him!”
Memory Frean laughed.
“Well, I must say I too admire Kara’s fortitude. And we all suffer a
little from your romantic tendencies, Tory. By and by Kara will become
more friendly. Naturally she is more concerned with getting well at
present.”
“If she does not recover in New York, Mr. Moore has spoken of taking
Kara and Lance to Europe so that Lance can study music and Kara see
what can be done for her. If she does not get well I don’t see how she
can refuse this. I believe Kara would accept anything to make her walk
again, even if she insisted on earning the money in the future and
returning it to Mr. Moore.
“Isn’t it nearly teatime, Memory? I see several of the girls walking
toward the evergreen cottage.”
The arrangement had been that after a walk to the woods the Girl Scouts
and their Captain would have tea inside their cabin with Philip
Winslow, the artist, who had been living there during the winter and
been added as a member of the Girl Scout Council.
At this moment he and the Troop Captain were walking away from the
cabin toward them.
“Tory, if you are determined upon a romance, have you ever thought
there may be any deeper feeling between Mr. Winslow and Sheila than
mere friendship? I know she has been very kind to him all winter,
wishing to make him feel less a stranger in Westhaven.”
Tory laughed.
“Thought of a romance between them? Why, Dorothy and I feel perfectly
certain. Haven’t you noticed not only the change in Mr. Winslow but in
Sheila? Isn’t she gay and charming? She never talks of being unhappy
any more. Dorothy and I are so pleased and responsible. You see, we
really persuaded Mr. Winslow to come to Westhaven and actually Dorothy
suggested the idea of Sheila’s helping him to recover from some
disappointment we felt sure he had suffered. Sheila was annoyed but
seems to have followed the advice.”
No other conversation upon the subject was possible, since at this
moment the Troop Captain and Philip Winslow were within a few yards of
Tory and Miss Frean.
“We were afraid you would forget to come to the cabin in time for our
feast,” Sheila Mason remarked, slipping her hand inside Miss Frean’s.
“There is something I want to tell you.”
Tory and Philip Winslow were walking on together.
“I have had a piece of good luck, Tory. I want you to congratulate me.
You have been my mascot, you see.”
“Good luck? I am so glad! Dorothy and I thought it was true, but we
were not sure. It is such a heavenly relief to know.”
Her companion appeared puzzled and amused.
“How could you have guessed I was going to receive a prize at the
National Academy exhibition this year? I had no conception of any such
good fortune, myself. And what’s more I have sold the picture for two
thousand dollars. I believe the fates have turned and I am now in
their good graces. This is all due to you and my coming to Westhaven
and becoming, well, not a Girl Scout, as you once suggested, but the
nearest thing I could manage, a member of your Council.”
In spite of the good news Tory made no immediate reply.
“Aren’t you going to congratulate me, Tory? I thought we artists had a
fellow feeling for each other! As a matter of fact, I thought we were
great friends. Some day I am going to be proud of you as an artist,
Tory, when your time comes.”
Still Tory was reluctant and surprisingly ungracious.
“Oh, yes, I do congratulate you,” she said finally with a change in
manner and tone. “And it is not only because of the picture, although
that is wonderful, but I realize this will help with the other thing.
Not that _she_ would care, but that you will feel so much more sure of
yourself and your future.”
If Tory was not very clear or coherent, Mr. Winslow made no pretence of
not understanding her.
“Yes, Tory, I did not dare to speak to Sheila until this happened. She
and I were going to tell the Girl Scouts when we had finished tea, but
I am glad to tell you first and alone.
“We are to build a house near Westhaven and for a time I am going
to make pictures of this beautiful Connecticut valley. We will work
together, you and I, Tory. The disappointed, dissatisfied man you met
in the old New York studio not many months ago seems almost a stranger.
Come, they are waiting for us.”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE LAST ROUND TABLE
In honor of Katherine Moore’s farewell visit to Westhaven there was to
be a special meeting of the Girl Scouts of the Round Table in Memory
Frean’s House in the Woods.
After all, circumstances had been more powerful than Kara. The doctors
had agreed that a sea voyage and a consultation with certain eminent
surgeons in Europe would be helpful. So Kara had decided to accept the
kindness from a stranger who might have played so different a rôle in
the last twelve years of her life, but was now deeply anxious to make
amends.
In any case Mr. Moore had intended going abroad for the summer with
Lance McClain. He explained that he wanted Lance’s companionship,
having developed a keen interest in him and wishing him to have the
best possible musical education.
During the latter part of the spring--the date had not been finally
settled--Mr. Moore, with Kara and Lance, was to sail for London.
The length of Kara’s visit to Westhaven was to depend upon the time of
departure.
It was pleasant to think of the number of invitations that the young
girl, who had been in a fashion the ward of the village, had showered
upon her for these few weeks before her farewell.
With something approaching relief, Kara allowed Miss Victoria Fenton
to make the decision for her. She was to come directly to her brother
and herself and her niece. Her other friends might see her there at any
time, as their house was large and fairly quiet, when Tory permitted
it to be. The downstairs bedroom, so rarely used, was at their guest’s
disposal. Moreover, Miss Victoria permitted herself to acknowledge that
she very much wanted the pleasure of having Kara in her home. She had
developed a deep interest and affection for her.
For once Tory concurred with her aunt’s desire.
She was fascinated to observe Miss Victoria in her tender and
thoughtful attitude toward Katherine Moore during her visit in their
household and to learn her own lesson. Never had Miss Victoria
outwardly displayed so much affection, not even toward her own
brother, whom she adored. They had differed with regard to his
engagement many years before, and, although neither was aware of the
fact, the sympathy of their relation had never been entirely restored.
Kara’s practical nature, her humor and courage did not jar upon Miss
Victoria, for she had been compelled by circumstances to spend her life
with dreamers, who were trying to her narrow, well-ordered nature.
Moreover, she had a passion for looking after people who needed
her. Kara was almost embarrassed by her kindness and her attentions
until Tory confided the discovery she lately had made that her aunt
required just what Kara could give her. Certainly Miss Victoria would
rather have perished than confess the fact that in the past year she
had suffered many qualms of jealousy over her brother’s and niece’s
congeniality and a devotion that had left her out in the cold.
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