Patty was singing softly to herself, as she fluttered around her boudoir at a rather late hour the next morning. Robed in a soft blue silk négligée, with her golden curls tucked into a little lace breakfast cap, she now paused to take a sip of chocolate or a bit of a roll from her breakfast tray, then danced over to the window to look out, or back to her desk to look up her calendar of engagements for the day.

“What a flutter-budget you are, Patty,” said Nan, appearing at the doorway, and pausing to watch Patty’s erratic movements.

Patty flew across the room and greeted her stepmother with an affectionate squeeze, and then flew back and dropped comfortably on the couch, tucking one foot under her, and thereby dropping off a little blue silk boudoir slipper as she did so.

“Oh, Nan!” she began, “it was the most exciting 126 party ever! What do you think? Christine and Mr. Hepworth are engaged!”

“Christine! and Gilbert Hepworth!” and Nan was quite as surprised at the news as Patty could desire.

“Yes, isn’t it great! and oh, Nan, what do you think? Christine was all broken up,—crying in fact,—because,—did you ever know anything so ridiculous?—because she thought she was taking him away from me!”

Nan looked at Patty a little curiously. “Well; you must know, Patty, he certainly thought a great deal of you.”

“Of course he did! And of course he does!—You speak as if he were dead!—and I think a great deal of him, and I think a heap of Christine, and I think they are perfectly suited to each other, and I think it’s all just lovely! Don’t you?”

“Yes,” said Nan, slowly. “Then, you didn’t care for him especially, Patty?”

“Good gracious, Nan, if you mean was I in love with him, I sure was not! Little girls like me don’t fall in love with elderly gentlemen; and this particular little girl isn’t falling in love anyway. Why, Nan, I’m only just out, and I do perfectly adore being out! I want three or 127 four years of good, solid outness before I even think of falling in love with anybody. Of course I shall marry eventually, and be a beautiful, lovely housekeeper, just exactly like you. But, if you remember, my lady, you were some few years older than nineteen when you married my revered father.”

“That’s true enough, Patty, and I can tell you I’m glad I didn’t accept any of the young men who asked me before Fred did.”

“I’m jolly glad, too; and father was in luck when he got you. But you’re not going to be rid of me yet for a long time, I can tell you that much. Well, more things happened last night. Philip and I made up our quarrel,—which wasn’t much of a quarrel anyway,—and Roger and Mona are pretty much at peace again; though, if Mona keeps on with that Lansing idiot, Roger won’t stand it much longer. And I’m going to the opera to-night in the Van Reypen box, and I’m going skating to-morrow,—oh, there’s the mail!”

Patty jumped up and ran to take the letters from Jane, who brought in a trayful.

“Quite a bunch for you, Nansome,” and Patty tossed a lot of letters in Nan’s lap. “And a whole lot of beautiful, fat envelopes for me. 128 ’Most all invitations, as you can see at a glance. Two or three requests for charity,—they show on the outside, too. A few bills, a few circulars and advertisements, and all the rest invitations. Isn’t it gorgeous, Nan, to be invited to such heaps of things?”

“Don’t wear yourself out, Patty,” returned Nan, a little absent-mindedly, being absorbed in a letter from her mother.

Having weeded out the more interesting looking letters, Patty returned to her sofa, and curled up there with both feet under her, looking like a very pretty and very civilised little Turk. With a slender paper cutter she slashed all the envelopes, and then went through them one by one, making running comments of delight or indifference as she read the various contents.

But suddenly a more excited exclamation broke from her. “Oh, my goodness, gracious, sakes alive!” she cried. “Nan, will you listen to this!”

“Wait a minute, honey, till I finish this letter,” and Nan went on reading to herself.

Patty dashed through eight pages of sprawly penmanship, and as soon as she finished she read it all over again. 129

“Now, Miss Fairfield, what’s it all about?” and Nan folded her own letter and returned it to its envelope.

“Well, in a nutshell, it’s a Christmas Country House Party! Could anything be more delightfuller?”

“Who, where, what, when?” And Nan patiently awaited further enlightenment.

“Oh, Nan, it’s too gorgeous!” And Patty’s eyes ran through the letter again. “You know Adèle Kenerley, who was down at Mona’s last summer,—well, she and Jim have bought a place at Fern Falls,—wherever that may be,—somewhere up in Connecticut,—in the Berkshires, you know. Heavenly in summer, dunno what it’ll be in winter. But all the same that’s where the house party is, Christmas,—stay two or three weeks,—all our crowd,—oh, Nan! isn’t it beatific!”

Patty bounded to her feet, and gathering up the sides of her accordion-pleated gown, she executed a triumphant dance about the room, winding up by kicking her little blue silk slipper straight over Nan’s head.

“Moderate your transports, my love,” Nan said, calmly. “I don’t want concussion of the brain, from being hit by a French heel.” 130

“Not much of a compliment to my skilful ballet dancing,” and Patty flung herself into the cushions again. “But, Nan, you don’t understand; everybody’s going! Elise and Mona and the boys, and oh, gracious, do show some enthusiasm!”

“Don’t have to,” said Nan, smiling, “when you show enough for a dozen.”

“Well, I’ll call up Mona, she’ll have something to say.”

Patty reached for the telephone, and in a few moments both girls were talking at once, and the conversation ran something like this:

“Yes, I did, and, Patty——”

“Of course I am! Oh, I don’t know about that! If I——”

“But of course if Daisy is there——”

“Well, we can’t help that, and anyway——”

“Tuesday, I suppose; but Adèle said——”

“No, Monday, Mona, for us, and the boys——”

“I’m not sure that I’ll go. You see——”

“Now, stop such nonsense! Of course he isn’t invited, but I’ll never speak to you again if——”

“Oh, of course I will, but I’ll only stay——” 131

“Yes, all our best frocks, and lots of presents and, oh, Mona, come on over here, do. There’s oceans of things to talk about!”

“All right, I will. Good-bye.”

“Good-bye.” And Patty hung up the receiver. “She’s coming over here, Nan; there’s so much to plan for, you know. Do help me, won’t you? A regular Christmas tree, and all that, you know; and presents for everybody, and a dance at the country club, and I don’t know what all.”

“Yes, you will have a lovely time.” And Nan smiled with sympathy at the excited girl, whose sparkling eyes and tumbled hair betokened her state of mind.

Mona came over and spent the rest of the day, and plans were made and unmade and remade with startling rapidity.

Mona began to voice regrets that Mr. Lansing was not invited to the house party, but Patty interrupted at once:

“Now, Mona Galbraith, you stop that! Adèle has a lovely party made up, and you’re not going to spoil it by even so much as a reference to that man! Roger will be there for Christmas, and if that isn’t enough for you, you can stay home!” 132

“Isn’t Elise going?”

“No, she can’t. She’s going South next week with her mother, and I doubt if Philip Van Reypen will go. His aunt won’t want him to leave her at the holidays. Do you know, I’m a little sorry Daisy Dow is up there.”

“You don’t like her, do you, Patty?”

“I would, if she’d like me. But she’s always snippy to me.”

“’Cause she’s jealous of you,” observed Mona, sapiently.

“Nonsense! She has no reason to be. I never interfere with her.”

“Well, never mind, don’t let her bother you. Hal Ferris will be there. You don’t know him, do you? He’s Adèle’s brother.”

“No, I never met him. She wrote that he’d be there.”

“He’s the dearest boy. Well, he’s older than Adèle, but he seems like a boy,—he’s so full of capers. Adèle says it’s a beautiful big house, just right for a jolly, old-fashioned Christmas party.”

The days simply flew by as Christmas drew nearer. There was so much to do socially, and then there............