All these were rather stiff and badly painted, yet gave an air of neglected grandeur to the grotto.

There were marble seats, and a rickety marble table, and a little broken statue of Cupid in the corner, and the floor under the rubbish was of blue glazed tiles, so that the building, though fallen on evil days, still showed some remnants of its former glory.

As it was in an out-of-the-way spot and far from the tennis courts, it was not often visited, and had therefore been appropriated by the Camellia Buds as a suitable place for the secret meetings of their sorority.
The nine were all assembled here waiting impatiently for Irene.

She brushed through the jessamine-covered doorway, took her seat, and breathlessly explained the reason of her delay.
"Would you have believed such meanness ?" she ended.
Peachy nodded solemnly.
"I told you some of our precious Transition would make you blush.

Was it Bertha?
I thought so! I knew she had got hold of Mabel.