Francie Again (19 page)

“Pop? Oh, I didn't tell him. I didn't want to bother him,” said Francie.

Mrs. Barclay said, “But he knows!”

“Aunt Lolly, how could he know? I didn't tell him.”

“He cabled me,” said Mrs. Barclay. “He's been cabling regularly for several days. I was sure you had written. Now, how in the world? Oh, here's some mail for you, too, and a telegram from your father.”

OUGHT TO GIVE YOU GOOD SHAKING BUT WON
'
T
, Pop had cabled,
CONGRATULATIONS NEW CAREER COME HOME SOON BY THE WAY WHO IS RUY DA SOUZA LOVE

Francie folded the flimsy paper and looked up at Aunt Lolly with happy eyes. “That makes me feel so much better, I'd like to jump up and yell,” she said.

“I think his affairs are running smooth again,” said Mrs. Barclay. “He wrote to me about all this. He's really awfully proud of you, Francie, for having made this effort for yourself—the patterns, I mean, not the running away. Though even that—” She checked herself. “He's not as angry as he might be,” she admitted.

Francie had opened a letter and was reading it, listening to Aunt Lolly with only half her attention.

“Mark is coming over to tea,” Aunt Lolly said.

“Oh, yes, Mark. I only hope
he
won't start trying to save my reputation by sacrificing himself,” said Francie. “No, never mind, Aunt Lolly, I'll tell you about all that later. Oh, now I know how Pop found out. I saw Bob Chapman in Barcelona, and he thought something was funny about me being there, and he seems to have cabled Glenn. What a nerve!”

“So Glenn told your father,” said Mrs. Barclay.

“Yes, right away. I can't find anything in this letter about his engagement,” said Francie. “This is Glenn's letter.… Oh, here it is. My goodness! Listen to this, Aunt Lolly. ‘Your friend Gretta is engaged to a man from out of town. Seems she's been keeping him under her hat for several months.' So that was it! I thought it was sort of funny that Glenn wouldn't tell me if he was engaged.” She looked out of the window at the sea. “I'm glad,” she said. “He's too young to be engaged. So am I, for that matter. So is Mark—and Ruy. There's plenty of time.”

Aunt Lolly said, “But not much time left for Portugal. We're starting home in a week, you know. What were you saying about Ruy?”

“I'll tell you later,” said Francie. “He
is
nice. But there's plenty of time.”

She went on looking dreamily at the sea.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1953 by Emily Hahn

Cover design by Mauricio Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2473-0

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