"Parties! Oh, dear, no! They are such a trouble and expense. But tennis and tea on the lawn is just nothing,--nothing at all. One can give a little fruit and some home-made cake. No one need scruple at that. Archie is not rich,--clergymen never are, you know,--but he means to entertain his friends as well as he can. I should like you to see Miss Middleton. She is a charming person. And the colonel is as nice as possible. We will just ask them to meet you in a quiet way, and, if your mother is not too much of an invalid, I hope she will give us the pleasure of her company, for when people are such close neighbors it is stupid to stand on ceremony," finished Mattie, bringing herself rapidly to a full stop.
"You are very kind. But you do not understand," returned Phillis. And then she stopped, and a gleam of fun came into her eyes. Her sharp ears had caught the rattle of cups and saucers. Actually, that absurd Dorothy was bringing in tea in the old way, making believe that they were entertaining their friends in Glen Cottage fashion! She must get out the truth somehow before the pretty purple china made its appearance. "Oh," she went on, with a sort of gulp, as though she felt the sudden touch of cold water, "you come here meaning kindly, and asking us to your house, and taking compassion upon us because we are strangers and lonely, and you do not know that we are poor, and that we have lost our money, and----" But here Mr. Drummond was absolutely rude enough to interrupt her:
"What does that matter, my dear Miss Challoner? Do you think that is of any consequence in mine or my sister's eyes? I suppose if I be your clergyman----" And then he stopped, and stroked his beard in an embarrassed way; for though Phillis's face was pale, there was laughter in her eyes.
"Oh, if this be a parochial visit," she began, demurely; "but you should not have talked of tennis, Mr. Drummond. How do you know we are not Roman Catholics, or Wesleyans, or even Baptists, or Bible Christians? We might have gone to your church out of curiosity on Sunday, or to see the fashions. There is not a Quaker cut about us; but, still, we might be Unitarians, and people would not find it out," continued Phillis, looking with much solemnity at the bewildered young Anglican.