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distinguished looking, with
    quick observant eyes and an apparent intelligence. There was
    comprehension and responsibility in this man. What in the world
    would he and she ever see in each other?
    Emory and Ralph, talking together languidly, saw both of them, and
    they immediately approached. 'Where have you been?' asked Emory
    with a smile. 'I noticed you were gone several minutes ago, and
    nobody knew where you'd vanished to.'
    'We explored the lake!' exclaimed she, with an extravagant gesture,
    her eyes sweeping Pierce's but not quite meeting his. She laughed
    and then took held of her skirt, trying to twist it so that she could see
    the back. Then she mourned, 'And I got my skirt dirty.'
    'Quite the adventurer,' said Ralph mockingly, and the two chuckled to
    see her turn in a circle. She put her outspread hands behind her in a
    concealing fashion, and wore a half guilty, half sheepish expression.
    'I'd better go upstairs and see if I can clean this,' she said then. She
    turned to a silent, rather reserved Pierce, and told him, 'Thank you
    again. Oh, good! You've got the glass. I'd forgotten it. Well, I'll say
    good night then. See you all in the morning. If you happen to see
    Rox, would you tell her I've gone up?' Then with a smile given to
    them all impartially and a flurry of good nights from the men in
    response, she abandoned her abashed pose and lightly strode inside to
    skip up the stairs and to her room.
    The three stared after her. Still laughing, Ralph shook his head and
    said, 'Rowing around in a dirty boat, in a dress that must have cost a
    fortune!'
    'That's Caprice,' said Emory, rocking back and forth on his heels.
    Then both the younger men looked at Pierce, who was expensively
    clad in his dark sober business trousers, his jacket hooked carelessly
    on one finger and draped over one white shoulder. Pierce just twirled
    an empty, long-stemmed glass between two fingers and smiled,
    imperturbably.
    In her room, Caprice stripped and then slipped into a rose silk pyjama
    suit. She inspected the back of her white skirt, her lower lip pinched
    between her teeth in thought. An obvious streak of greyish brown
    marred the top layer, and she then consulted the cleaning directions
    on the inside tag. Wouldn't it be just her luck that the dress was to be
    dry cleaned? It was indeed, and she had to content herself with
    shaking the dress as vigorously as she could before hanging it in the
    wardrobe. The material was too delicate. She didn't dare risk wetting
    it down.
    She then turned her attention to her hair, and took out the pins that
    held the braid in place. She loosened it, and then took a brush to her
    hair hard, wondering why she felt as though everything that had
    happened that evening had gone flat. Sighing, she ran her fingers
    through the ripples from the confining braid, and rubbed at the back
    of her head.
    There was a knock at the door. Curiously, she went to answer it,
    thinking perhaps that Roxanne might want to talk about the party, but
    as the door swung open, she found an older woman on the other side,
    with a smile on her thin face. Caprice smiled back. 'Yes?'
    'Miss Hagan? I'm Mrs Vandusen, the Langstons' housekeeper.'
    Now she remembered the other woman, and she threw the door open
    wide as she held out her hand. 'Yes, of course. What can I do for
    you?' she asked as they shook hands, liking the housekeeper's strong
    grip. She wondered what on earth the other woman could possibly
    want.
    'It's actually what I might be able to do for you,' said Mrs Vandusen,
    her eyes warming from Caprice's friendliness. 'Pierce mentioned to
    me that you needed someone to see to your dress?'
    'Oh!' For a moment, she felt quite flustered. Recovering, she
    grimaced wryly. 'Oh, yes, well, it was my own fault, I'm afraid. I've
    looked at it, and it must be dry cleaned, so I'll have to see to it when I
    get home.'
    'No problem,' said the housekeeper cheerfully. 'I can get it taken care
    of tomorrow, if you'd