Her friends had not been welcome at the house, and one (whom
Quin devoutly hoped was Mr. Phipps) had been openly insulted. She had not
been allowed to take part in the play given at the club-house, when it
had been planned with her especially in mind for the leading role. She
had even been forbidden to go to the last boathouse dance, because it was
a moonlight affair, and grandmother had never heard of such a thing as
dancing without lights.
"She has spent the entire summer nagging at me," Eleanor concluded. "I
couldn't do a thing to please her. If I stayed in she wanted me to go
out; if I went out she thought I ought to stay in. If I put on one dress
she invariably made me change it for another. And as for being late to
meals, why, each time it happened you would have thought I'd broken the
ten commandments."
"Couldn't you have pushed up the stroke and got there on time?" asked
Quin, whose army training made him inclined to sympathize with Madam at
this point.
"No, I could not. I am always late. It's a Martel trait--that's why it
infuriates grandmother. But it wasn't any of these things I've been
telling you that caused the real trouble.
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