There was a burst of laughter, Gwendolyn’s father and mother joining in.  The man who had presented the box laughed heartiest of all; then rose.

First he bowed to her mother, who acknowledged his salute graciously; next he turned to her father, whose pale face softened; last of all, he addressed her: 

“Miss Gwendolyn,” said he, “a toast!”

Gwendolyn looked at those bread-plates which were nearest her.  There was no toast in sight, only some very nice dinner-rolls.  Moreover, Potter and Thomas were not starting for the pantry, but were standing, the one behind her mother, the other behind her father, quietly listening.  And what this friend of her father’s had in his right hand was not anything to eat, but a delicate-stemmed glass wherein some champagne was bubbling—­like amber soda-water.  She was forced to conclude that he was unaccountably stupid—­or only queer—­or else indulging in another of those incomprehensible grown-up jokes.

He made a little speech—­which she could not understand, but which elicited much laughter and polite applause; though to her it did not seem brilliant, or even interesting.  Reseating himself, he patted her head.

She put the candy under her left arm, said a hasty, half-whispered Thank-you to him, went to the next high-backed chair, curtsied, bobbed the ribbon-bow and put out a hand.  A pat on the head was dismissal:  There was no need to wait for an answer to her question concerning her sweet tooth.  Experience had taught her that whenever mirth greeted an inquiry, that inquiry was ignored.

When one whole side of the table was finished, and she turned a second corner, her father brushed her soft cheek with his lips.

“Did your dolls like the merry-go-round?” he asked kindly.

“Yes, fath—­er.”

“Was there something else my little girl wanted?”

Now she raised herself so far on her toes that her lips were close to his ear.  For there was a lady on either side of him.  And both were plainly listening.

“If—­if you’d come up and make it go,” she said, almost whispering.

He nodded energetically.

She went behind his chair.  Thomas was in wait there still.  Down here he seemed to raise a wall of aloofness between himself and her, to wear a magnificent air, all cold and haughty, that was quite foreign to the nursery.  As she passed him, she dimpled up at him saucily.  But it failed to slack the starchy tenseness of his visage.

She turned another corner and curtsied her way along the opposite side of the table.  On this side were precisely as many high-backed chairs as on the other.  And now, “You adorable child!” cried the ladies, and “Haw!  Haw!  Don’t the rest of us get a smile?” said the men.

When all the curtseying was over, and the last corner was turned, she paused.  “And what is my daughter going to say about the rabbit in the cabbage?” asked her mother.