Dorothy Dixon and the Double Cousin by Dorothy Wayne

Author:Dorothy Wayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781634215329
Publisher: Duke Classics

Chapter XI - Gretchen

*

Dorothy awoke from troubled dreams to find that it was another day. Through the open window she saw the swirl of snowflakes driven in a high wind. The bedroom was cold and in the grey light of the winter morning it had lost its cheerful air.

She heard a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" she called drowsily.

"It's the maid, miss. Mrs. Lawson thought you might be wanting your breakfast now."

Dorothy looked at her wrist watch. The hands marked ten-thirty. She jumped out on the rug, which felt cold and clammy under her bare feet, went to the door and unlocked it. Then she scampered back to bed and snuggled under the warm covers.

In walked a trim little figure wearing the small white apron and gray uniform of a chambermaid. Dorothy saw a round merry face, and a pair of big blue eyes beneath the white lawn cap, and thick flaxen braids were coiled round the neat head. She was surprised and somehow pleased to discover that this attractive member of the household staff could not be much more than sixteen, just her own age.

The little maid shut the door softly, crossed to the window and closed it, turned on the steam heat and came to the bedside. "Good morning, Miss Jordan." She smiled engagingly. "I'm Gretchen, miss. Will you have your breakfast in bed?"

"Why, thank you, Gretchen—that will be cozy. But if it's going to give you any trouble, don't bother." With the covers drawn up to her eyes, Dorothy smiled back at the girl.

"Oh, no, miss—it's no trouble at all." Gretchen was insistent. "It's all ready now. I'll run down and bring it up."

She whisked out of the room and Dorothy rolled over for another cat-nap.

"If you'll be good enough to sit up now, Miss Jordan—I have your breakfast here."

Dorothy awoke again, yawned and stretched luxuriously. Gretchen stood beside her bed with the breakfast tray.

"If you'll be good enough to sit up, miss?" she repeated.

Dorothy punched the pillows into position behind her, slipped the quilted gown about her shoulders and leaned back. Gretchen moved nearer—then almost dropped the tray.

"Why—why—miss—"

Dorothy leaned over and steadied the tray. "What's the matter, Gretchen?" The little maid was staring at her open-mouthed, her big blue eyes as round as saucers.

"Oh, I—I beg your pardon, but it's—it's the resemblance, miss—Miss Jordan." She set the tray over Dorothy's knees and drew back still with that astonished look. "I couldn't see you very well before, miss, with the covers up to your eyes. But when you sat up, it sure did give me a start."

"What do you mean, Gretchen? The resemblance to whom?" Dorothy, outwardly calm, fingered her glass of orange juice, but her thoughts raced toward this new complication.

"Why, you look so much like Dorothy Dixon—the flyer, you know, miss. She's my hero—I mean, heroine, Miss Jordan. I've read everything the newspapers printed about her and Bill Bolton. You must have read about them too, everybody has?"

"Oh, yes, I've heard about them." Dorothy hoped her tone sounded indifferent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.