“The Orchid Club is most certainly in an enthusiastic state,” Vera Mason remarked tranquilly as she raised her eyes from a bit of difficult Greek prose and listened to the faint, concerted sounds of applause that ascended in waves from behind the closed doors of the living room.
“A regular gale of glee,” Leila spoke with a faint touch of good-humored satire. “What is it that calls for such applause, I wonder?”
“We shall never know.” Vera made a gesture of resigned futility. “Their worthy president has forgotten how much she objected to our demonstrations of joy in 15 last year. They are making a great deal more noise than ever we made.”
“They are welcome to make it. Shut up in the living room, they are at least out of mischief.” Leila promptly forgot the demonstrative assemblage below stairs in the writing of a stirring scene in the “melodramer” she had long promised Robin and Marjorie she should one day write. She had named it “The Fatal Message,” and it abounded in scenes, villains and thrilling situations to a 174ludicrous extent. The hero’s name was Rupert and the heroine’s Madelene. The greater part of the stage scenery belonging to Leila’s theatrical paraphernalia divided the lovers throughout the play until they met in the palatial drawing room of Madelene’s long-lost millionaire father in the last scene of the fifth act.
As usual Augusta Forbes had been selected for the heroic part of Rupert. Gentleman Gus had acquired great glory as a portrayer of male roles. Because the Hamilton girls loved to see her grace the stage in her golden beauty, Doris Monroe had been selected to play the part of Madelene. In ministerial-appearing Miss Duncan, Leila had also discovered a treasure. Miss Duncan had proved upon acquaintance to be as humorous and jolly as she seemed staid and severe. She had confessed a longing to swank about the stage in male attire and had covered herself with glory as Henry the Fifth in three scenes from the splendid play which had been given at a “Shakesperian Show” managed by Page and Dean.
“Shut up in the living room,” however, the Orchid Club were hardly verifying Leila’s light supposition. A week had passed since Julia Peyton had triumphantly boasted to Clara Carter that she had found the means she had been seeking to drive Leslie Cairns from Wayland Hall. All she and Mildred Ferguson lacked toward starting the ball 175of injustice rolling was the promised tabulated list from Dulcie Vale.
Dulcie had not seen Leslie since the two girls had been students at Hamilton. She had known herself to be so thoroughly despised by Leslie and the other Sans for her treachery toward them that she had preferred to keep at a distance from them. She had once met and greeted Joan Myers and had received a snubbing which she never forgot. In her heart she had the same old envious dislike for Leslie as in the days on Hamilton campus when she had resented Leslie’s undeniable sway over the Sans.
During the interval of more than two years which had elapsed since the downfall of the San Soucians at Hamilton College, Dulcie Vale had not improved either in wisdom or truth. She had the same lack of regard for the truth as ever. When she had discovered at the Vale’s New Year’s re-union that Mildred Ferguson was a student at Hamilton, and had also learned to her nettled amazement that Leslie Cairns had by some means or other managed to return to Hamilton, she immediately planned mischief. She was as ready to drag Leslie down into the dust of humiliation as ever.
It was with malicious pleasure that she set to work on the tabulated list of Leslie’s misdeeds the day following the re-union. She spent the greater part of three days composing and arranging the list, then mailed it to Mildred with satisfaction. It 176had arrived in the afternoon mail of the previous day and the Orchid Club had been notified to a member to be on hand at eight o’clock in the living room of the Hall on the next evening.
Julia and Mildred had spent the entire evening previous to that of the meeting in drawing up the fateful petition. Due to Mildred’s selfish ability to steer conveniently clear of snags, the petition was worded so cleverly as to carry the effect of a protest against deep injury reluctantly stated. It began:
“We, the undersigned do hereby make plea for a condition of affairs at Wayland Hall which shall be in entire harmony with the ideals and traditions of Hamilton College.”
Followed in “the interests of truth and honor” a dignified protest against Leslie Cairns’ presence at the Hall. The petition ended with the crafty assurance that three representatives from among the objectors were prepared to state in private conference with Miss Remson their objections to Leslie Cairns as a resident of Wayland Hall.
While Julia Peyton had a known grievance against Leslie, Mildred also had one, though it was less tangible. She had shrewdly estimated Leslie at sight as a person of some consequence. She had accordingly decided to cultivate Leslie’s acquaintance. She had met with a peculiar kind of defeat. She had all of a sudden understood that Leslie understood her. She sensed as clearly as though............