Toland presently took Miss Sanna aside for a long,
distressed confidence. Theodora, it seemed, had had a stormy argument
with her father on the subject of her admirer, Robert Carleton, some
days before, and yesterday had left, in defiance of all authority, to
meet him for a walk, and lunch with him. She and her father had not
spoken to each other since, and Ted was keeping her room. Julia met
Ned's wife, a pretentious, complacent little gabbling village belle, and
was dragged about by the younger sisters to look at everybody's
presents.
"Must be a long time since we saw you here, Miss Page?" said the old
doctor, smiling at her over his glasses, as he carved at luncheon.
"I was here two years ago, one afternoon," Julia smiled. "But I think I
haven't seen _you_ since 'The Amazons'--eight years ago!"
"Eight years!" Barbara said, struck. "Mother, do you realize that it is
eight years since I was in that play with the Hazzards and Gray Babcock
and the Grinells? Isn't that _awful_?" She fell into sombre thought.
Julia went through the day in a sort of deep study. This was the
enchanted castle that had stood to her for so long as the unattainable
height of dreams; these were the envied inhabitants of that castle.
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