Mandie entered the room and sat in a straight chair, and Celia took the one beside her. Miss Prudence only had the bare essentials for running a school. She didn’t believe in luxurious offices.
“Good morning, Miss Prudence,” Mandie began.
The lady quickly said, “I’m so glad you are going back to Europe with your grandmother this summer, and I understand she is taking all your friends. Why, she even asked Miss Hope and me, but of course we can’t take time off like that from the school. I’m sure you are going to have a very educational journey with your grandmother to supervise it.” She paused to take a breath. “Now, what can I do for you young ladies?”
Mandie and Celia looked at each other and grinned.
“Well, you see, Miss Prudence, my grandmother has not told me yet that we are definitely going. Then Mary Lou spoke to us about it so I decided to ask you about it,” Mandie said, feeling as though she was jumbling up her words.
Miss Prudence smiled at Mandie and said, “You don’t know about it?” Then she said, “That’s just the way your grandmother does things. She’ll get around to telling you about it in her own good time, I’m sure.”
“But all my friends want to know so they can arrange their vacations for summer,” Mandie said.
“This is only January, dear,” Miss Prudence reminded her. “You have plenty of time before your graduation in May to make plans.” She stood up and added, “Now, I have some business to attend to.”
Mandie and Celia also quickly rose.
“Yes, ma’am, thank you for telling me,” Mandie said as she and Celia started out the door. She turned back to ask, “Miss Prudence, will those girls from Italy be graduating with us in May, or are they in lower classes?”
“Yes, they will be graduating with you. And I must say they have an excellent education already,” Miss Prudence replied. “Have you met them?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am, and they seem to be very nice,” Mandie told her. Then, looking back one more time as she stood in the doorway, she asked, “Maybe you could find some time to go with us yourself to Europe.”
“I see no time right now, thank you, dear,” Miss Prudence replied, and began picking up papers on her desk.
Mandie and Celia walked back down the hall toward the main staircase.
“I was going to say let’s go back to our room and get our books for our first class and then come down here and wait so we can see everyone going and coming. Maybe someone else will stop to tell us we are going to Europe with my grandmother,” Mandie said, grinning.
As they climbed the main staircase Celia said, “You know, Mandie, I have a feeling that your grandmother has been keeping the trip to Europe a secret so she could surprise you with it for graduation.”
Mandie paused to look at her friend and replied, “Maybe, but she knows all my friends have to make plans for the summer and she should at least let them know.”
Celia grinned at her and replied, “Maybe they all know already.”
Mandie stomped her foot as they stood on the staircase. “Don’t you dare tell me that you and all my friends have known about this trip all along and I’m the only ignorant one in the bunch.”
“Mandie, please don’t let anyone know I told you, but Mrs. Taft has organized this trip with all our parents—mine, Joe’s, Jonathan’s, Sallie’s, and everyone’s, and she asked that we keep it secret because it was to be a surprise graduation present to you,” Celia explained.
Mandie clenched her fists and stomped her foot again. “Well, she certainly managed to make me look like a dumb idiot.”
“Come on, let’s get our books,” Celia reminded her as she started on up the stairs.
In their room the girls grabbed their books for their morning classes and then quickly returned downstairs. They sat in the parlor again. Most of the students were already attending other classes and no one came to join them.
After the two morning classes, everyone got in line again, this time for the noonday meal. Mandie noticed that no one seemed to meet her eyes as she looked around at the other girls. Now she knew they were hiding a secret, but it was no longer a secret from her and she intended to have a talk with her grandmother. This situation had turned out to be embarrassing, being the last one to know what her own grandmother was planning.
Mandie felt uncomfortable with the other girls, and then a few days later something happened that caused her attention to revert to another matter.
The mailman for the neighborhood always delivered mail to the school immediately after noontime each day. And on Friday he brought an important letter to Celia as she and Mandie sat in the alcove looking out into the wintry front yard.
“A special one for you, Miss Hamilton,” the postman told her as they waited in the front hallway while he took the mail for the school out of his bag.
“For me?” Celia asked as he handed her a large white envelope.
Mandie quickly looked over her shoulder. “Celia, that’s from the College of Charleston. Quick, see what it is.”
The two moved back into the alcove and sat down. Celia opened the envelope and withdrew a business letter. Her eyes grew big as she read it and said, “Here, read this. The college received my application too late and they can’t accept me.”
“What!” Mandie practically screamed as she took the letter and read it. “Celia, didn’t you turn in your application about the same time I did?”
“Well, yes, I suppose. I actually gave it to my mother to mail,” Celia explained.
“And she didn’t get it mailed in time. Oh, Celia, what are we going to do? I can’t go without you,” Mandie moaned.
“I’ll have to get word to my mother about this,” Celia said, her eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, Mandie, I’m so sorry.”
Mandie straightened up and said firmly, “My grandmother can fix anything. We’ll just take this letter to her and see if she can change their minds, that’s what we will do, this weekend.” Mandie smiled at her.
“But Mandie, it won’t do any good to change their minds if they are already filled up. There still wouldn’t be any room for me,” Celia replied.
“They’ll make room when my grandmother talks to them.”
The girls heard the mailman come back inside.
“Miss Hamilton, sorry, but I have another letter for you that I overlooked,” he said, looking around the hall as the girls came out of the alcove.
Celia took the letter. “Thank you,” she said.
As they went back inside the alcove Celia said, “Look, Mandie, this letter is from the University of Virginia. Remember I applied there, also, and I never did tell them I wanted to cancel out.” She quickly opened the letter. “And they have accepted me.” She waved the letter at Mandie, smiling.
“But Celia, that doesn’t solve anything. I didn’t apply to the University of Virginia and I’m sure it’s too late now,” Mandie replied.
“I don’t know, Mandie, but they would probably make room for you if you wanted to go since I am accepted there already,” Celia replied.
“Celia, this is one big mess,” Mandie said with a sigh. “This is one time I’ll be glad to ask for Grandmother’s help.”
Everything seemed to jam up on the girls with no solution in sight. Mandie sent word to her grandmother that they would like to come spend the weekend with her, and Uncle Cal, the school handyman, brought back the message that Mrs. Taft was away for the weekend.
“Sorry, young ladies, but Miz Taft she ain’t home till Monday,” the old man told them in the hallway that afternoon.
“Thank you, Uncle Cal,” Mandie said. Turning to Celia she said, “Guess we will have to wait till Monday, but you could write a letter to your mother and get it in the mail this weekend.”
“Yes, I will, Mandie,” Celia agreed.
While they sat in their room that Saturday and Celia wrote her letter, they discussed college.
“I cannot go to the College of Charleston without you, Celia,” Mandie said emphatically
as she stood up to walk the floor. “They just have to make room for you. They have to.”
“But Mandie, if they don’t have room, then they don’t have room. You can’t just make up a space out of thin air,” Celia told her. “However, registration is still open at the University of Virginia and most likely you could get in there.” She quickly folded the letter she had been writing to her mother and placed it in an envelope.
“So many things have been going on I can’t get a chance to breathe lately,” Mandie complained, stopping by the bureau to brush her long blond hair.
Celia licked the flap on the envelope and sealed it. “Mandie, I need to take this downstairs so the mailman can take it for me when he comes with the mail.”
“All right, let’s go,” Mandie said, going to open the door.
When they got downstairs Celia said, “I’ll just give this to Miss Prudence to mail for me because the postman always gives her the mail for the school.” She led the way back to Miss Prudence’s office.
After giving Miss Prudence the letter to pass on to the mailman, Celia said, “I have had bad news, Miss Prudence. You know Mandie and I both applied to the College of Charleston. She was accepted a while ago but now I’ve received a letter saying mine was rejected due to no more spaces available.”
“Oh, dear, then I would advise you to get Mrs. Taft right on the problem. She has good luck at persuading other people. I’m so sorry,” Miss Prudence replied.
“Do you know of any other girls here who have applied to the College of Charleston, Miss Prudence?” Mandie asked.
“Let me see now, I believe Mary Lou Dunnigan did apply, but I don’t know whether she was accepted or not, or in fact whether she decided that she really did want to go there,” Miss Prudence replied.
“Mary Lou,” Mandie repeated, looking at her friend.
“Mary Lou who is going with us to Europe,” Celia added.
“Maybe we could persuade her to attend another college and give up her space,” Mandie suggested.
Miss Prudence, listening to the conversation, said, “I don’t know about that. You see, her parents can’t afford to send her off somewhere to college. And she lives in Charleston, so she will be a day student there.”
“Thank you, Miss Prudence,” Mandie said as she and Celia left the office.
As they walked down the hall Mandie said, “Remember all that money my grandmother has. She could afford to pay Mary Lou’s tuition somewhere else if Mary Lou would agree to give up her space,” Mandie said with a big smile.
“That is a delicate situation, Mandie,” Celia reminded her. “You can’t just go around shaking money in people’s faces to get them to do whatever you want.”
“Oh, Celia, I certainly didn’t mean it that way. I thought perhaps there is another college somewhere that Mary Lou wishes she could attend but can’t because of the money,” Mandie replied.
“We can certainly come up with some problems lately, can’t we?” Celia said with a loud sigh.
“Yes, but I intend talking to Grandmother as soon as she returns on Monday,” Mandie replied. “So let’s not give up hope yet.”
“I haven’t, because if I go to the University of Virginia, I know you will probably be able to get accepted, too.”
So much confusion and so many problems to solve. Everything will come out all right but it will just take time, Mandie thought as they walked along the hall.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ERRORS
Mandie couldn’t think about a single other thing all weekend. Finally Monday morning came and Mandie once again asked Uncle Cal to go to her grandmother’s house, not far from the school in Asheville, North Carolina, and take a message that she urgently needed to see her.
“We’ll stay right here in the parlor until you come back, Uncle Cal,” Mandie told the old man. She and Celia didn’t have a class scheduled for another hour.
“I’ll hurry right back, Missy,” Uncle Cal told her, heading for the front door.
And this time he returned with a note for Miss Prudence, asking that Ben, Mrs. Taft’s driver, pick up the two girls at the school at four o’clock and bring them to her house for supper. She sent Mandie a separate note explaining that she was arranging for their visit.
Mandie had a hard time keeping her mind on the classes she had to attend that day. She was wishing for the time to come to go to her grandmother’s house. Celia didn’t have much hope that Mrs. Taft could really do anything about her not being accepted at the College of Charleston.
Late that afternoon the girls joined Mrs. Taft in her parlor.
“Now, what is this all about, Amanda? What is so urgent?” Mrs. Taft asked, looking from one girl to the other.
“Oh, Grandmother, Celia was not accepted at the College of Charleston because they said her application was too late and they were filled up,” Mandie began, hurriedly speaking without even taking a breath.
Mrs. Taft turned to look at Celia. “Why, my dear, was your application really too late to be considered?” Mrs. Taft asked.
“Yes, ma’am, that’s what this letter says,” Celia replied, taking the letter from her pocket and handing it to Mrs. Taft.
Mrs. Taft read the letter and then asked, “Well, what is your mother going to do about it?”
“I wrote her a letter but of course it’ll take the mail a while to get to her,” Celia replied.
“Mail? Does your mother not have a telephone?” Mrs. Taft asked.
“No, ma’am, not yet. The electricity has not been run all the way out in the country to our house yet,” Celia explained.
“Grandmother, since you are right here for us to talk to I thought perhaps you could do something about this,” Mandie suggested.
“No, Amanda, that would not be proper without having consulted Celia’s mother,” Mrs. Taft said. “But I have another idea. We’ll just ask our sheriff here to call the sheriff near your home, Celia, and give Jane the news. Our sheriff has a phone and I’m sure yours must have, too. I must get around to having a telephone installed here in my house. I’ve just been so busy since they ran the wires out this way I haven’t had time to do it.” She suddenly stood up. “Therefore we must hurry down to the sheriff’s office and talk with him before he goes home to supper.”
“Yes, ma’am,” both girls said as they followed her into the hall.
Mrs. Taft had timed it just right. When they arrived at the sheriff’s office, Sheriff Jones was getting ready to go home for supper. He was on his way out when they went into his office.
“Mrs. Taft, how nice to see you,” the sheriff greeted her as he removed his wide-brimmed hat, hung it back on the hook on the wall, and motioned to a seat. “Please sit down.”
“Thank you, Sheriff Jones,” Mrs. Taft replied as she quickly sat down near the desk. The girls sat in the chairs near the door. “This will only take a few minutes of your time so we won’t delay your supper.”
“I’m at your service, madam,” he replied, going behind the desk and sitting in his chair.
“I need to get a message to Mrs. Jane Hamilton in Virginia for her daughter here,” she replied, motioning toward Celia. “It seems we have a mix-up in her college registration.” She went on to explain and then said, “Since I don’t have a telephone yet I thought perhaps you would call the sheriff up there and ask him to take a message to Mrs. Hamilton for me.”
“Certainly, Mrs. Taft, I’d be glad to,” Sheriff Jones replied. “And I can understand how urgent this message is.” He smiled at Celia.
“Here is the letter Celia received from the College of Charleston, and if you could just get the sheriff up there to inform Mrs. Hamilton about this and ask Mrs. Hamilton what she plans to do about this, I would be most grateful,” Mrs. Taft explained, handing him the letter to read.
“Yes, ma’am, this is urgent business,” Sheriff Jones said as he read the letter. “And I will ask the sheriff in Virginia if he will call me back with Mrs. Hamilton’s response for this. And I’ll do th
is right now.”
Mrs. Taft and the girls listened while Sheriff Jones made the call to Virginia and identified himself to whoever answered the call.
“You say the sheriff has gone to supper,” Sheriff Jones repeated over the phone. “Please have him call me as soon as he returns. I have an urgent message for him. Yes, I’ll be here. Thank you very much.” He hung up the receiver.
“So he is not in then?” Mrs. Taft quickly said.
“No, ma’am, he’s gone to supper, and while he’s gone I’ll just go ahead to supper, and by the time I return he should be back at his office. And I will let you know as soon as he has contacted Mrs. Hamilton and has a reply for me,” he explained.
Mrs. Taft rose and the girls quickly joined her as she started toward the door. “I thank you very much, Sheriff Jones, and I will wait to hear from you,” Mrs. Taft told him as she and the girls left the office.
Ben, Mrs. Taft’s driver, was waiting and took them back to Mrs. Taft’s house.
On the way Mrs. Taft said, “I think you girls should just spend the night at my house tonight. I’ll send Ben to tell Miss Prudence what we are doing, and of course you all will have to get up early and return to school in time for your classes. However, we may not get a message from the sheriff tonight.”
“Thank you, Grandmother,” Mandie said, smiling at Celia.
“And I thank you, Mrs. Taft,” Celia said.
Mrs. Taft allowed the girls to stay up till midnight, but no message had been received when everyone finally went to bed.
And the next morning, immediately after breakfast, the girls returned to school. They stayed around the parlor between classes all day, but when time came for supper there had not been a message.
When the huge clock in the front hall struck nine, Mandie and Celia were sitting on a settee just inside the parlor door.
“Nine o’clock!” Mandie exclaimed. “I wonder why we haven’t received any news. Do you think your mother could possibly be gone away somewhere and the sheriff could not reach her, or something?”
The Mandie Collection Page 20
