Romping about freely with her girl friends in the little summer colonies, doing unusual things, some of which had turned out wonderfully important for mere girls to accomplish, and, above all, that surrounding of loved ones--these were the things and conditions that Nancy missed.
Not that she didn’t love Rosa, for she really did, but because Rosa was so very hard to understand, and was apt to do almost anything reckless, foolish and even risky.
Pitying herself a little, Nancy gave in to her homesickness. She refused to go over to Durand’s with Rosa after dinner, she refused to take a walk with the suspecting Margot, who must have understood the signs she could not have helped noticing about Nancy, she even refused to listen to the radio, and decided to go to her own room--and read.
Passing Rosa’s room she saw the precious blue cape thrown carelessly over a chair. The sight of it brought on a new fit of bitterness, and she dashed into the room, grabbed up the cape, hugged it, as if it were her own, then threw it swiftly over her shoulders.
There was no one in that part of the house. Rosa had gone over to Durand’s and Nancy felt free to indulge in the coveted joy.
It was lovely! She stood under the big soft lights and gazed in the broad mirror, spellbound.
“It’s mine,” she whispered, “and I’ll always make believe I’m wearing it.”
Glad or sorry? Was she honestly, truly glad or sorry that she had not told Rosa all that Betty had told her about the contents of that box?
Rosa felt so kindly now toward Betty, and Betty would have bought her any sort of a cape she had wished for, could she have only known!
Again she whirled around and hugged closer the soft, white fur collar.
Then she heard a step, a very light step, and turning quickly, she found herself facing Orilla Rigney!
The strange girl’s vivid hair seemed ready to ignite, it was so blazingly red! Her eyes, a queer green, glared at the frightened Nancy, and altogether the intruder’s attitude was one of defiance and challenge.
“Humph!” she sniffed. “So this is why you don’t go out with Rosa; you like trying on her clothes when no one’s around!”
Nancy flushed scarlet. So sudden had come the accusation, and perhaps because of her secret state of mind concerning the party cape, that she felt like one struck down by an enemy. Somehow the other girl seemed to tower above her, although Nancy was quite tall. The glare of those malicious green eyes seemed to take root in Nancy’s own, and above all that red hair--yet Nancy had previously always loved red hair!