She whisked into a fourth seat, this time opposite the portieres.  To her consternation the parted curtains revealed an appalling fact.  Not only could the winding stairway be seen from where she sat, but the entire interior of the reception room must be equally visible to any one coming down the steps.  The dignified white-haired Personage now on the bottom step must have seen every move she made as she darted around the room trying the chairs in turn.

The faint gleam of suppressed amusement on Madam Chartley’s face as she entered, confirmed the girl’s fears.  It was unthinkable that such a mortifying situation should go unexplained, yet for a moment after Madam’s courteous greeting Mary stood tongue-tied.  Then she burst out, her face fairly purple: 

“Oh, I wish you could change places with me for just five minutes!  Then you’d know how it feels to always put your worst foot first and make a mess of everything!”

Madam Chartley had welcomed many types of girls to her school and was familiar with every shade of embarrassment, but she had never been greeted with quite such an outburst as this.  Desperate to make herself understood, Mary began in the middle of her carefully planned speech and breathlessly explained backward, as to why she had arrived at this inopportune time.  The explanation was so characteristic of her, so heart-felt and utterly honest, that it revealed far more than she intended and opened a wide door into Madam’s sympathies.  As she stood looking down at the girl with grave kind eyes, Mary suddenly became aware of a strangely comforting thing.  This was not an awesome personage, but a dear adorable being who could understand.  The discovery made the second part of her explanation easier.  She plunged into it headlong as soon as they were seated.

“You see, I’ve heard so much about Hawkins and the way he sometimes confuses the new girls with his grand London airs till they’re too rattled to eat, that I made up my mind that even if I am from Arizona, I’d made him think that I’ve always ’dwelt in marble halls, with vassals and serfs at my side.’  I thought I was making a perfectly regal entrance, till I looked into the mirror and saw how dilapidated I was after my long journey.  It took all the heart out of me and made me dreadfully nervous about meeting you.  I was trying to get into an easy attitude that would make me feel more self-possessed when you came down.  That is why I was experimenting with all the sofas and chairs.  Oh, you’ve no idea how the Walton girls and Lloyd Sherman and Betty Lewis have talked about you,” she went on hurriedly, eager to justify herself.  “They made me feel that you were—­well—­er—­sort of like royalty you know.  That one ought to courtesy and back out from your presence as they do at court.”

Madam laughed an appreciative little laugh that showed a thorough enjoyment of the situation.  “But when you saw that the girls were mistaken—­”