Altogether it was,
if not a perfectly self-assured, at least a very poised-looking
little figure that came smiling into Mrs. Hewitt's embrace from
the motor, with her lover close behind her, like a bodyguard.
"You little angel! You look perfect!" said her mother-in-law-elect
rapturously. "And you match my lavender grandeur perfectly. That's a
sweet frock, Phyllis. Hurry down, girls, you want to have a little
time to rest before you have to stand up for years and receive."
It was early still when they came down from the dressing-rooms, and
no guests had arrived yet. So they settled themselves in the
dining-room, informally, to wait and visit a little.
"One has _no_ chance for fun with an earnest-minded son," Mrs.
Hewitt complained amiably. "This is the first doings of any sort I
have ever had that John was even remotely connected with. A nice
little daughter that would dance and flirt and turn the house upside
down--that was what I was entitled to--and I got a brilliant young
physician who specializes on the _os innominata_, or something
equally thrilling! I sometimes wonder how he ever found time to
annex you, Joy!"
Joy colored. It was a random shaft, but it caught her breath.
Then--"He didn't," she said gallantly. "I simply rubbed my ring and
wished for him, and he came."
"I'll be bound he didn't come hard," said her _enfant terrible_
of a prospective mother-in-law placidly. "Johnny, keep away from
those cakes! They're for much, much later, and for your guests, not
the likes of you!"
"They are excellent.
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