Patty in Paris | Page 5

no occasion for
further anxiety, but in response to their queries he gave them no
satisfaction as to the cause of his unusual tardiness, and only smiled at
their exclamations.
It was not until they were seated at the dinner table that Mr. Fairfield
announced he had something to tell them.
"And I'm sure it's something nice," said Patty, "for there's a twinkle in
the left corner of your right eye."
"Gracious, Patty!" cried Nan, "that sounds as if your father were cross-
eyed, and he isn't."
"Well," went on Mr. Fairfield, "what I have to tell you is just this: I
have arranged for the immediate future of Miss Patricia Fairfield."
Patty looked frightened. There was something in her father's tone that
made her feel certain that his mind was irrevocably made up, and that
whatever plans he had made for her were sure to be carried out. But she
resolved to treat it lightly until she found out what it was all about.
"I don't want to be intrusive," she said, "but if not too presumptuous,
might I inquire what is to become of me?"
"Yours not to make reply, yours not to reason why," said her father
teasingly. "You know, my child, you're not yet of age, and I, as your
legal parent and guardian, can do whatever I please with you. You are,
as Mr. Shakespeare puts it, 'my goods, my chattel,' and so I have
decided to pack you up and send you away."
"Really, papa!" cried Patty, aghast.

"Yes, really. I remember you expressed a disinclination to leave your
home and family, but all the same I have made arrangements for you to
do so. It was the detailing of these arrangements that kept me so late at
my office to-night."
Patty looked at her father. She understood his bantering tone, and from
the twinkle in his eye she knew that whatever plans he may have made,
they were pleasant ones; and, too, she knew that notwithstanding his air
of authority she needn't abide by them unless she chose to. So she
waited contentedly enough for his serious account of the matter, and it
soon came.
"Why, it's this way, chickabiddy," he said. "Mr. Farrington came to see
me at the office this afternoon, and laid a plan before me. It seems that
he and Mrs. Farrington and Elise are going to Paris for the winter, and
he brought from himself and his wife an invitation for you to go with
them."
"Oh!" said Patty. She scarcely breathed the word, but her eyes shone
like stars, and her face expressed the delight that the thought of such a
plan brought to her.
"Oh!" she said again, as thoughts of further details came crowding into
her mind.
"How perfectly glorious!" cried Nan, whose enthusiasm ran to words,
as Patty seemed struck dumb. "It's the very thing! just what Patty needs.
And to go with the Farringtons is the most delightful way to make such
a trip. Tell us all about it, Fred. When do they start? Shall I have time
to get Patty some clothes? No, she'd better buy them over there. Oh,
Patty, you'll have the most rapturous time! Do say something, you little
goose! Don't sit there blinking as if you didn't understand what's going
on. Tell us more about it, Fred."
"I will, my dear, if you'll only give me a chance. The Farringtons mean
to sail very soon--in about a fortnight. They will go on a French liner
and go at once to Paris. Except for possible short trips, they will stay in
the city all winter. Then the girls can study French, or music, or

whatever they like, and incidentally have some fun, I dare say. Mr.
Farrington seemed truly anxious to have Patty go, although I warned
him that she was a difficult young person to manage. But he said he
had had experience in that line last summer, and found that it was
possible to get along with her. Anyway, he was most urgent in the
matter, and said that if I agreed to it, Mrs. Farrington and Elise would
come over and invite her personally."
"Am I to be their guest entirely, papa?" asked Patty.
"Mr. Farrington insisted that you should, but I wouldn't agree to that. I
shall pay all your travelling expenses, hotel bills, and incidentals. But if
they take a furnished house in Paris for the season, as they expect to do,
you will stay there as their guest."
"Oh," cried Patty, who had found her voice at last, "I do think it's too
lovely for anything! And you are so good, papa, to let me go. But won't
it cost a great deal, and can you afford it?"
"It will be somewhat expensive, my dear,