Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/73

Rh glance with Edith, who herself was always natural and girlish.

As Frances’ mother was away, she had to do the honors of the house, and certainly, as a hostess, she appeared to  advantage. The cool dining-room was a delightful place, with its long, broad windows. One gave a clear view of the ocean and the distant North Shore, and the other opened upon a beautiful old-fashioned garden, with the  beds laid in terraces down to the tennis-ground at the foot  of the slope.

“Oh, no, I don’t play tennis now,” said Frances, as they sat on the piazza after dinner. “You know it’s almost entirely out of fashion for girls. When the weather is cooler, I’m going to take up golf. But in warm weather I think it’s a duty simply to keep cool. Nobody ought to exert herself in the least in hot weather. I don’t approve of it.”

“Then I’m glad that we did n’t try to walk up that hill when we got out of the omnibus,” said Nora, mischievously. “Perhaps you would n’t have been willing to receive us when we arrived at your gates.”

“What nonsense!” cried Frances; “but then, really, it’s very foolish to walk in summer, it makes one so red  and uncomfortable.”

“Everybody does n’t have horses and carriages at command, as you have, Frances,” said Belle, impatiently. She realized that Frances had spoken foolishly. “It’s very seldom that my grandmother gives me a chance to  drive, and a great many families have no carriage at all.”