"You didn't answer when I knocked at your door this morning, and I was afraid to wake you. I thought the sleep would do you more good than anything else."
Dick spoke tenderly, for he was really very fond of her, and anxious that the scene of the night before should be forgotten.
As Lola held out her hand pleadingly, and with an air of sweet repentance, Mrs. Harlan, who was kind-hearted enough in her way, completely surrendered, and kissed her warmly, although she had vowed to herself that she would make no more efforts to live at peace with her.
"And you, Bob?" As she stood with her arm about Mrs. Harlan, she held out her left hand to him. "Will you forgive me also? You see that everyone else has; you don't want to be the hard-hearted one of the crowd, do you?"
"Lola, you're all right," said Bob, enormously flattered by all this unusual attention.
"We're going to cut out rows after this, and have a great time. Let's go to lunch!"
"Right again, Bob," cried out Mrs. Harlan. "I always said you had more brains than any of us."
"Oh, no," replied Bob modestly, as they started for the dining-room, "I don't claim to have more than my share of brains, but I'm practical."
They had arrived here, at Narragansett Pier, only the day before, and Lola, who had been tired out by the long journey from Bar Harbor, had refused to go down stairs to dinner, and had, as she always did of late, taken breakfast in bed; so this was her first sight of the pretty dining-room.
They were given a table by one of the front windows looking out over the water, and as she seated herself and looked around she made up her mind that she was going to like this new place.
The room was crowded, although the season was drawing to a close, and she noted with approval that the guests were of a quieter sort than those to whom they had been accustomed of late.
"It's a fine assortment of old dopes we've fell into this time," remarked Mrs. Harlan, looking about her scornfully. "Hadn't you better say grace, Bob, or start a hymn?"
"Good God, Madge!" exclaimed Bob in horror. "It ain't as bad as that, is it?"
"It's a good thing for all of us," said Lola. "It's a rest to get where you can see decent women and children again. I'm tired of those sporty hotels we've been living in lately. I'm going in for the simple life, and besides, these are smart people; you can tell that by looking at them. There isn't a thing in the world the matter with them, outside of their being respectable."