Читать книгу Kings Row - Henry Bellamann - Страница 9

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There were only five guests in the Tower parlor when Parris arrived. They did not represent “leading families,” but neither Cassandra nor Parris knew that. Cassandra looked very pretty in a much-ruffled white dress, but she seemed bewildered.

“I don’t know why everybody’s so late,” she said to Parris. “I invited ever and ever so many.”

Parris blushed and looked away. Cassandra didn’t really seem to understand. She must certainly have heard of the other party.

“Oh, well,” he said casually, “you know how awful busy everybody is on Saturdays. Come on, let’s play something. What do you want to play, Cassie?”

She looked very solemnly at him. “I don’t know. What do you play at parties?”

“Oh—croquet, or—or just anything.”

“I haven’t got a croquet set. Maybe they’d like to play crokinole.”

“All right—let’s ...”

The party was a failure. Only one more guest came—Pearl Houston who lived up on Berry Street. Parris remembered that someone said the Houstons weren’t very nice—Mr. Houston worked in a dairy—but he didn’t know about that. Anyway, this was a party, and you had to have a good time.

The games weren’t very successful, either, but there was a huge amount of ice cream and many colored cakes.

He saw Dr. and Mrs. Tower talking quietly together. Dr. Tower was speaking very rapidly and Mrs. Tower said “sh-h” when Parris came into the hall. He repeated polite party speeches to them, and Dr. Tower bowed gravely. Mrs. Tower smiled. Parris liked her.

“Thank you,” she said gently in response to his formality. “I hope you’ll come again.”

“I certainly will,” he said heartily. “If—if I may,” he added.

Cassandra looked cross by this time. She was almost snappy when he said good-by.

The Gordon party was in full swing when he passed. There was a gay, fluttering marquee on the croquet ground, and everyone was noisy.

Drake McHugh caught sight of Parris and shouted, “C’mon, Parris, c’mon in.”

Parris shook his head and walked on. He heard Louise say, “Oh, let him alone. We don’t want him.”

Parris decided that Louise had been very mean to give this party the same day as Cassandra’s. He believed she must have done it “on purpose.”

At the end of the next week the school principal received a note from Dr. Tower saying that he was withdrawing Cassandra from school. “I shall henceforth undertake my daughter’s education myself,” it concluded.