Margaret Cameron

“ For Dorothy, after a vain effort to speak, had hidden her convulsed face against Blaisdell's arm. "Bring her to my tent, Billy!—and tell her as you come! Hurry! They may begin looking for her any minute! I'll find Jack!"
It was perhaps half an hour later that Patricia and Blaisdell stood, with Howard and his wife, beside Ordway's biplane, wherein sat two helmeted figures in khaki, one of whom, since she wore Kate's uniform, the few remaining stragglers lingering about the machines naturally assumed to be Miss Carlyle's mechanician. ”

“ Her wings have never been allowed to develop. That sister of hers has always kept them pruned too close for sustained flights. So what defense has the child left but beak and claws? If you knew her, Patty, you'd realize how unhappy she is—and how misunderstood?"
"Should I?" Patricia had a vision of Ordway's tortured eyes as he sat on the stone wall beside her that day when Dorothy, in Stannard's glittering car, drove past with no sign of recognition in her level, supercilious glance. ”

“ Billy! She's not here!"
"Yes, she is. They came home unexpectedly, and Stannard brought them over here late. I've just left them."
"My word! Where's Jack? Has he seen her?"
"I don't know. What if he has?" He seized her hand, detaining her.
"Heaven only knows what he'd do! Let me go!"
"He'd probably survive. Other men have."
"Yes, yes! But can't you understand—no, of course you can't! But just as everything's coming right—"
"Patty!" He caught her other hand and looked searchingly into her eyes. "Are you sure you're not in love with Ordway?" ”

“ As an aeroplane does not lend itself to secrecy, it was soon a matter of common knowledge that Patricia spent the greater part of every day with Ordway, and suggestion speedily ripened into assertion that the prodigal's heart had been caught on the rebound by his sister's attractive guest. ”

“ One day, hoping to draw him, through his enthusiasm for aviation, into touch with some of his former associates, Patricia said: "By the way, they've asked me to do a stunt at that charity fête they're planning. One of the features is to be a 'society circus,' you know. Wouldn't you like to do an exhibition flight with me?"
"Sure! We'll loop the loop together," he acquiesced, grinning.
"I'm ower young to perish yet," she objected. "Besides, I could think of pleasanter forms of suicide, if I put my mind on it."
"All women are selfish. ”

“ Which only shows that you've missed my point again—or else that you've no perspective on yourself. You are the eternal feminine—for all eternity—to me! That's the one of all your adorable qualities that I most adore! ”

“ And you're making it impossible for her to turn to the man she loves, because—like everybody else—she thinks he's in love with you!"
"O-oh, I see!" Amusement replaced the inquiry in Patricia's face. "And if I'll remove myself and clear the path—?"
"Exactly!"
"That's rather clever, Billy." She cocked her head critically to one side. "Quite the cleverest thing you've tried yet. But you should study restraint. It's still too obvious—not subtle enough."
"Good Lord!" he broke forth, after a startled stare. "Patty, have you played with emotions until you can't recognize sincerity at all? ”

“ Of course, ivy and oak is an effective combination," she teased, "but—impossible as it may seem to the noble oak—the ivy generally manages to find something to hang itself upon, even where there are no trees. Besides, if worse comes to worst, Mother Earth always offers support and sustenance to anything with honest roots, doesn't she? So why eliminate me to save your pretty friend from Stannard?" ”

“ That this situation, which Blaisdell had deliberately created and from which he hoped much, did not result quite as he had reckoned was due to Patricia's foresight and to her experience of his methods of interference.
"I suppose there'll be wars and rumors of wars now," she suggested to Ordway, the morning after the minister's arrival, drolly adding, "And the race not always to the swift, perhaps."
"What?" He was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
"Billy Blaisdell. A diplomat—even a minor diplomat—is by way of being more or less a personage here, isn't he?" ”

“ Make them all think that you're gay and happy—as you ought to be, with your future!—and to-morrow you shall go away and stay until the wedding."
Patricia heard no more. Veering around some bushes, she ran on, her thoughts in a tumult, abating her pace only when she came into the crowded paths again. After a little search, she discovered Blaisdell near the dancing-pavilion, as she expected, and he joined her at once.
"Billy, I need help," she began, without preamble, leading him rapidly in the direction from which she had come. "Dorothy Alexander's down here a little way—with Ada. ”

“ No sooner was she out of sight, however, than the minister said:
"You don't seem to be very keen about dancing, and neither am I. Suppose we walk—and talk—instead, eh?"
They were well down the deserted east walk, and he had almost decided that the whole thing was merely another ruse of Patricia's, when he caught sight of her quickly approaching. She stopped directly before Dorothy, who recoiled a little and would have turned aside, had not Blaisdell prevented her. ”

“ He's a lot more interested in doing things himself than he is in arguing and haggling over things other people have done. If life had gone smoothly, perhaps he'd have stuck to the bar. But when he lost Dorothy—and had most of his ideals knocked in the head at the same time—he also lost his incentive to do uncongenial work. ”

“ My point is that she's still in love with Ordway, and that his devotion to you is making her so desperate that—"
"I'm not from Missouri," she interrupted, "but I submit that the burden of proof is with your Excellency."
"For one thing, there's her dislike of you," he returned. "Your position as Mrs. Howard's guest would naturally keep you apart, but she—she almost hates you, Patty."
"Of course she hates me," she cheerfully conceded. "In certain parts of the world men are killed for trying to regain the heads of their friends and kinsmen, held as trophies. ”

“ Howard to telegraph to her husband, urging him to lend his presence immediately to what she felt might be a critical situation.
Notwithstanding the confident prediction of Ordway's return, three days dragged by bringing no tidings of him. Wednesday morning Howard arrived, and after a long talk with his wife he sought Patricia, who was obliged to admit that Jack's protracted absence was discouraging.
"But he'll pull himself together," she reiterated. "Only he must get away from here. He needs change—and congenial, absorbing work." ”

“ But it's well, on the whole, to have it over. Naturally, it hurts—hideously, I suppose-—but he'll pull himself together. You'll see! He'll be home to-night—surely to-morrow—and this may be the last time. If I can only get him West before the wedding!"
"West?" repeated his sister.
"You see, he needs active occupation—and he's naturally an out-of-door man. So I'm trying to get him interested in cattle-ranching again."
"Oh no! No!" Mrs. Howard made a dismayed, negative gesture. "Jack mustn't give up his profession!"
"But he's already given it up," Patricia reminded her. ”

“ We've had a wonderful day, and I've never seen him in such spirits! We've scarcely been home half an hour—barely time to dress—" Patricia broke off, her glance fixed on a newspaper lying on one of the chairs, on the upturned fold of which was an excellent picture of Dorothy Alexander. "Ah! Here it is!" she said, in a different tone. Opening the paper, she disclosed the headlines announcing that plans for the Stannard-Alexander wedding had been hastened and that the ceremony would take place within a fortnight. "Poor old Jack! ”

“ But Ada, appreciating the cheering effect his persiflage invariably had upon her sister's spirits, warmly seconded his suggestion that the dancing-floor was less crowded than it would be later, and confidently sent them off together, returning herself to Stannard. ”

“ For that pretty speech you shall have another chance, though you don't deserve it. I had a letter from the scientist yesterday. I've written him more or less about our flying and the amazing way you've learned to handle the plane, and he seems quite excited about you. ”