“Very well indeed,” replied the young man cheerfully.  “Did you arrive home safely the other day?”

Barbara colored hotly.  She felt certain now that despite her promise of secrecy Mrs. Wilson had betrayed her confidence and told Peter Dillon about the borrowed money.  Why she had done so was a mystery and why he had lied to Bab in saying Mrs. Wilson was out was also a problem Bab could not solve.

While all this was passing through her mind Peter stood regarding her with a quizzical smile.  Then he said smoothly:  “Miss Thurston, will you do me a favor?”

Bab flashed a peculiar glance at him.  “No,” she replied abruptly.

The young man looked surprised.  “I am sorry,” he declared.  “I was only going to ask you to go in the other room to look at a picture with me.”

A little later in the afternoon, Harriet managed to get the four “Automobile Girls” together.  “Mrs. Wilson wishes us to stay to dinner with her,” Harriet explained.  “She has asked eight or ten other people and Father has telephoned that he will come in after dinner to take us home.”

CHAPTER XV

BAB REFUSES TO GRANT A FAVOR

The dinner party was delightful.  The “Automobile Girls” had not had such a good time since their arrival in Washington.  Mrs. Wilson was a charming hostess.  She was particularly gracious to Bab, and the young girl decided to forget the disquieting suspicions she had harbored against this fascinating woman and enjoy herself.

It was almost ten o’clock.  Mr. Hamlin had not yet arrived at Mrs. Wilson’s.  Bab was sitting in one corner of the drawing-room talking gayly with a young Annapolis graduate, who was telling her all about his first cruise, when Elmer Wilson interrupted them.

“I am terribly sorry to break into your conversation like this, Miss Thurston,” he apologized.  “But Mother wishes to have a little talk with you in the library before you leave here.  I am sure I don’t know what she wishes to see you about; she told me to give you her message and ask no questions.  May I show you the way to her!”

Bab’s gay laughter died on her lips.  She rose at once and signified her willingness to accompany Elmer to the library, but both young men noticed that her face had grown grave and she seemed almost embarrassed.

Elmer Wilson wondered why Miss Thurston had taken his mother’s simple message so seriously.  He was almost as embarrassed as Bab appeared to be.

When Barbara entered the room where she had received the envelope from Peter Dillon the room was but dimly lighted.  Two rose-colored shades covered the low lamps, and great bunches of pink roses ornamented the mantel.

Mrs. Wilson wore a black and white chiffon gown over white silk and had a little band of black velvet about her throat from which hung a small diamond star.  Her beautiful white hair looked like a silver crown on her head.  She was leaning back in her chair with closed eyes when Bab entered the room, and she did not open them at once.  She let the young girl stand and look at her, expecting her unusual beauty to influence Bab, as it had many other older people.  Mrs. Wilson looked tired and in a softened mood.  Her head rested against a pile of dark silken cushions.  Her hands were folded, in her lap.