Peter’s voice was low and eager. He held one of Penny’s hands tightly in his.
Penny was not the sort to keep the man she loved in a state of uncertainty. “Did you know you’ve loved me all summer, Peter? I wish you’d told me sooner, because you see, I’ve been in love with you, too.” It was all right at last. “I knew last year that I loved you Peter, but I couldn’t very well let you know it!” Penny’s hand was almost crushed as Peter’s face lit up with joy. He swept her into his arms again for another kiss, and Penny said, “I could stay here and forget all about my duties to my guests, but we mustn’t forget about Mr. X. And I’ll have to go upstairs again, Peter. See how you have mussed this veil.”
“Not beyond repair, I hope,” he said, smiling. “Penny, before you go, say you’ll marry me this fall, as soon as the guests leave?”
“Silly man! You take my breath away,” Penny laughed. “But it is wonderful that you are silly about me, Peter. I can’t think straight right this minute, but we’ll talk about it later. Marjorie and Jimmy are going to school in September. Phil is going to New York to work for Mr. Prentice and to go to school nights. He wants to be near Adra. Mercy--I’m all mixed up. There will be so much to see to. Could you--could we have our honeymoon right here?”
“I can’t think of a more wonderful spot,” Peter said. “Our life is going to be all honeymoon from now on. As long as I know we love each other that’s enough to make me walk on air the rest of the evening. What a pity we can’t be by ourselves. I’ll be thinking of you every single minute, darling.”
Peter waited until Penny went back to her room to repair damages. It took her but a few minutes and when she made her appearance in the living room, she was immediately surrounded and admired by everyone.
With the keen eye of an experienced hostess, she glanced around to see that everyone was being entertained in some fashion. She recognized most of the guests regardless of their masks, and she noted that there was quite an assembly of townspeople whom she could not recognize because of their disguises. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were dressed as George and Martha Washington and they looked very distinguished. They were talking to Marjorie just now and saying something that made her laugh. There was Charles Curtis dancing with a lovely girl who had spent several weekends at the Lodge and had come back for the masquerade. When he danced by Penny he stopped for a minute and said, “I’ll wager that this is our fair hostess. Shall I telephone the parson? It’s hard to resist such a bride!”