Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/228

212 life which Amy had led, isolated at least as far as other girls were concerned, until she met Brenda, had given her  great independence.

Julia did not always accompany the other three on their drives and jaunts. She had a certain amount of definite work to do, as her preparation in modern languages had  not been as thorough as the Radcliffe requirements prescribed. Then there was her music—no matter how hot the day, she spent a fixed amount of time practising, and  it seemed to her that the very fact that she was occupied  prevented her feeling the heat as her cousin and Nora did. But though she might not always go with Nora and Brenda, she knew that if she had gone, she would have been welcome. There was none of that feeling of being left out which the winter before had given her some uneasy moments.

Though Amy did not miss Fritz as much as she would have missed him a year before, had anything happened to  interrupt their friendship, she still felt sore on the subject. In her inmost heart she felt that she ought to try to do something to bring about a reconciliation.

“Although we have n’t quarrelled, still I suppose that it comes almost to the same thing; but then I’m not to  blame, and so I don’t see why I ought to take the first  step.”

On further reflection, Amy decided that she would not take the first step. No, she really would not. If Fritz enjoyed the society of his new friends so much, why she  would be contented with her new friends, and yet—