Caprice Read Free Page A

force of Roxanne's exuberant exit. The
    brunette skipped down the steps lightly, suitcase in hand, and was in
    obviously better spirits than she had been when Caprice had last
    talked with her.
    'I decided to forgive you,' said Roxanne with a puff, as she tossed her
    suitcase along with Caprice's.
    'That's very generous of you. Get in. Forgive me for what, though? I
    think I've forgotten.'
    'For driving, idiot. You knew I wouldn't fly without you.' Roxanne
    climbed in and ran a covetous hand over the passenger seat. The
    brunette had been frankly envious of Caprice's car ever since her
    father had given it to her for her twenty-first birthday.
    'Yes, well, it's a lovely day, and we're going to have a marvellous
    time,' said Caprice a bit absently, as she backed out of the driveway.
    'I hope you didn't forget the map?'
    'Of course not.' Roxanne patted her handbag complacently. 'It's right
    here, never fear.'
    'That's good,' Caprice replied cheerfully, as she pressed down the
    accelerator and the car gained speed. Hot wind whipped through her
    hair. 'I hope you can read it. I never could make sense out of a map.'

    Later that day, Caprice looked out of her bedroom window at the lush
    wooded greenery that surrounded the Langstons' large house. Lodge
    was scarcely the word for it; it was nearly as big as her own family's
    house, and this was used only for holidays. She shook her head. Her
    family was what one might call rich, but this was a totally different
    meaning to the word.
    She and Roxanne did have a lovely drive north, arriving with sunny
    spirits, a bit of glow on their noses and arms from the open sun roof,
    and windblown hair. They found Jeffrey's parents in residence, along
    with several of the weekend guests who had already arrived, so the
    house was lively, with the promise of a party and dancing later in the
    evening. She took one more look around the room she'd been given, a
    lovely one, though quite small. That didn't matter to her in the
    slightest, for she was simply thankful she didn't have to team up with
    one of the other girls.
    Roxanne was located across the hall from her, so, after she had
    brushed her silver gilt hair into some semblance of order, she strolled
    across and rapped on the door.
    Rox's voice called out for whoever it was to enter, and Caprice stuck
    her head around the edge of the door. 'I'm ready to go back down,'
    she said. 'Are you?'
    The brunette was touching up her make-up, and peering at herself
    closely. 'How do I look?' she asked through stiff lips, as she ran her
    lipstick over them. 'No, don't answer that. I don't think I want to
    know. Yes, I'm ready if you are.'
    Caprice's laughter pealed merrily down the halls. 'Quit acting like a
    martyr!' she exclaimed. 'Come on. We're here to enjoy ourselves,
    right?'
    And she led the way down the stairs, lightly skipping. When they
    reached the large living room, they ran smack into Jeffrey, a
    handsome, dark fellow, who laughingly caught at Caprice's arms to
    keep her from being bowled over. 'There you two are!' he said, still
    laughing. 'I was just coming to get you.'
    Some of the people she knew, and some she didn't. As she set about
    getting to know each of them without delay, there was soon a slight
    but definite gravitational shift in the room. One by on§ the young
    men wandered over, lured by Caprice's flashing, laughing eyes and
    light voice. With four men and four women, ages from early twenties
    to about twenty-five or six, there was obviously supposed to be some
    pairing, but that seemed to be upset at once.
    Perhaps the reason why the other three women didn't get extremely
    annoyed with Caprice was because she never did quite give any one
    man too much attention. She flitted from person to person, watchful
    of the atmosphere under her careless facade, and talked with as much
    enthusiasm to each of the young women as she did with the men, so
    that soon everyone was jabbering quite comfortably with everyone
    else, and nobody was