Reginald has the measles.
Lois made the announcement breathlessly, as she stood outside of the
drawing-room, addressing the visitors who sat on the sofa, talking to
Dosia.
The doctor has just gone, and he says it is the measles. I dont
suppose I had better come in the room. There was a tone of resentment
in her voice which seemed to originate in the idea of being excluded; in
reality, it was caused by the bitter thought that she had known for a
couple of days that Redge was not well, and that his father had been
exacting with him. I really suppose I had better not come in.
Oh, dont mind me! Mrs. Leverich, gorgeous in velvet and furs, spoke
reassuringly. There are no children at our house, and Ive had the
measles.
Of course, its not scarlet fever, continued Lois, dropping into a
chair, or diphtheria. I suppose Zaidee will get it, and we have to be
quarantined. I dont know what to do about you, Dosia. She was feeling
the fell blow of a contagious disease, which upsets every previously
stable condition.
Ive had the measles, said the girl, but she added with quick anxiety:
There are my lessons; do you suppose it will make any difference about
them? I dont see how I can lose them now, and theres that concert
Saturday.
If were quarantined, youre quarantined, said Lois tersely. If there
was _any_ place where you could go and stay
Mrs. Alexander, let her come to me, said Mrs. Leverich warmly. Id
love to have her; I _really_ would. She can keep up with her lessons and
engagements just the same then. You know, Im always so happy when I can
have a young girl in the house; and as for Mr. Leverich, nothing pleases
him better. Go and pack your trunk at once, my dear, and well take it
on the carriage as we go back.
Dosia looked hesitatingly at Lois.
WhyI do not know, said Lois, surprised, yet considering.
But _I_ do. Mrs. Leverich spoke with a cordial authority that, after a
little more conversation, settled the matter.
Dosia packed up her belongings, with the sweet, wise little help of
Zaidee, who brought shoes and slippers from the closet and toilet
articles from the dressing-table, and in her efforts dropped the red
ribbon from her hair into the trunk, to her own great glee, amid fond,
swift huggings from Dosia. The latter arranged herself for this
transmigration with quick, excited fingers, yet there was something on
her mind. As she heard Lois on the floor below, she ran down to speak to
her, half dressed: Lois, I hate to leave you here alone; I dont mind
being kept from things, really and truly. Let me stay and help you with
dear little Redge. For once her sympathy made her natural.
No, you had better go, said Lois. She had but one desireto be left
at liberty at last with her own. She added, to avoid further pleading:
I would rather be alone.
Oh! exclaimed Dosia, shrinking. But conscience had unexpectedly
claimed her, and she went on, hesitantly, with a painful timidity, her
color coming and going:
I wanted to askdo you think I ought to go to Mrs. Leverichs, after
what you said? Wont Mr. Barr be there?
In the whole realm of the mothers mind there was no room for anything
at present but her measles-smitten household. She looked at Dosia as if
making an effort to understand. Why, yes, I suppose he will be there.
Just dont have anything to do with him if you dont want to. You will
not need to; he is out of the house most of the time, anyway.
Oh, very well, assented Dosia, chilled and yet relieved. The blood of
youth was already running riot at the delightful prospect of another
change. But she slipped into the nursery to kiss poor little feverish
Redge good-by, and leaned out of the carriage that was driving her away
to wave her hand again and again to Zaidee, whose red cheeks and little
snub-nose were pressed close to the window-pane.
Mrs. Leverich was a woman who was somewhat below par in birth and
education, devoid of certain finer instincts, and used to an overflow of
luxury in her daily living that amounted sometimes to vulgar display. To
balance this, she was still handsome, if somewhat too stout, and
hospitable to a superlative degree. Staying company was a necessity to
her happiness. She had an absolute passion for making other people
comfortable, and surrounded her guests with a kindness and forethought
so enveloping that it almost spoiled them for contact afterwards with a
rude world. She really possessed in this regard an unselfish
good-heartedness, mingled with a sort of vanity that was pleased with
applause at its manipulations; her own comfort was indifferent to her
beside the subtler and warmer pleasure of being the source of good to
others. It is no figure of speech to say that she was willing to do
anything to promote the welfare of her guests; it was no hardship to
give up her own way in their interests, or to do any act, however tiring
and distasteful, that gave pleasure to anyone. She hated cards, yet she
would play long, tedious games with beaming incompetence, to make up a
hand; she disliked the smell of tobacco, but was never satisfied until
every man around her was happily supplied with cigars or pipes. Music
was a jangle to her, and any book above the caliber of the fiction which
displays a low-necked authoress upon the cover a weariness indeed; but
she would labor unceasingly to place both music and literature within
the reach of her guests. She had windows opened when she herself was
chilly, and fires lighted when she was suffering with the heat; she took
long drives in the hot sun when she would have much preferred a nap; she
chaperoned girls uncomplainingly until five oclock in the morning. The
least wish of a guest, spoken or divined, was gratified if within her
power. It is true that she had a retinue of servants at her command,
but, if necessary, she would have served her guests with her own hands,
and had been known to do so. There was only one drawback to her
hospitalityshe welcomed, but did not speed the parting guest. It was
difficult indeed to leave without a pitched battle, and the effort of
temporary disunion was so great as sometimes to result in a permanent
rupture of friendship. Her I seeyou dont want to stay with us any
longer voiced that injured feeling which blasts whatever it comes in
contact with, and which disclaimers serve only to heighten. Once away
from her, her interest in the former guest ceased almost entirely, no
matter how close the association had been under her roof; outside of it
everyone was lost in a haze which called for a distinct and wearying
effort, seldom undertaken, to penetrate.
In appearance she was on the Oriental type of her half-brother, Lawson
Barr, but with a softness, both of expression and contour, which he did
not possess. She was ten years older than he. Her motions and the tone
of her voice were languid. Her husbandwho enjoyed the benefits of
being the chief and permanent guest in this householdwas extremely
fond of her, and proud of her beauty and popularity. Leverich was one of
those coarse-seeming and coarse-acting men who, nevertheless, come of a
race of gentlefolk, and who have innately, and no matter how much they
may choose to overlay the fact, certain traditions. He had been known to
say, in rebuttal of some criticism on his wifes breeding, what was
quite truethat she was good enough for _him_; but he had, underneath,
a little contempt for her because she was. It was one of the traditions
that a man should find a quality in his wife to revere.
Leverich liked to surround his wife with luxuries, to give her
everything that money could buy and that her gently sensuous temperament
craved. Her attachment was riveted to him by gifts of clothing and
jewelry and bric-à-brac as well as moneysuch things being to her the
only tangible evidences of affection. Dosia had hitherto seen the house
only as a caller. She was impressed now by the richness of the
furnishings above, as she was led up to her room, a large, many-windowed
apartment on the second floor. It was all a gleam of polished mahogany,
and brass and mirrors and silver toilet articles, blended with rose-silk
draperies; the alcoved bed was spread with a flowered silk counterpane,
the floors covered with rich Eastern rugs; easy-chairs and low tables
spread with books dotted the room; a couch piled high with down cushions
stood at a seductive angle. A maid glided forward to take Dosias hat
and cloak, while another knelt at the hearth to light the logs upon the
brass andirons, and Mrs. Leverich came in and out in an overflow of
solicitude.
I really think you had better rest. You _must_ be tired. No, of
courseat Dosias laughing remonstrancethe drive was nothing, but
the shocka shock like that tells on you before you know it. Here comes
your trunk; have you the key? Elizabeth, unpack Miss Dosias trunk, and
get out a dressing-gown for her. Im going to insist on your lying down
on the lounge for a while. Now, dont do that, Elizabeth will take off
your shoes for you. And, Amelia,this to the maid at the
hearth,bring up some tea and biscuits. No, you dont care for tea?
Well, a glass of sherry, then, and some hothouse grapes. My dear
Dosia,youll let me call you Dosia, wont you?you may not feel the
need of it now, but it will do you good. Im not going to stay with you,
Ill just move this little table with the magazines on it near you, and
leave you to rest; but first I want to show you this. She opened the
door of a smaller, hexagonal apartment adjoining. Im going to turn it
into a music-room for you.
Oh, Mrs. Leverich! protested Dosia, in amazement.
Ive been thinking of it all the way home in the carriage. Of course,
you wont want to practice down-stairs, where people are coming in and
out all the time; it would be very annoying to you. This has been used
as an extra dressing-room. I shall have those thick hangings taken down
and the furniture moved out, and put in light chairs and a cottage
piano, and a few palms over by the window. Youll see!
But, Mrs. Leverich
Now, dont say a _word_; its all settled. Elizabeth will come to you
when its time to dress, so you need give yourself no anxiety about
that. Just let me draw this coverlet over you and tuck your feet in.
Now, how sweet you do look, to be sure!
Dosia did look sweet, and as comfortable and soft as a kitten. The
light-blue kimono of outing flannel,of which she had been half ashamed
when the maid unpacked it,though cheap, was becoming; her loosened
hair fell over the blended pillows and the rosy coverlet. The wood fire
at which she gazed crackled and sent out the pungent, aromatic smell of
Southern pine, which mingled with the perfume of a bunch of violets on
the table near the golden sherry in its crystal glass, and the plate of
white and reddish grapes. There was the unaccustomed stillness of a
large, well-appointed house, where the walls were deadened to sound, and
the floors had thick-piled rugs upon them, and the servants walked with
soft-shod feet. Such luxurious well-being had never been Dosias before.
This was like being in a fairy palace, where you had only to clap your
hands to get anything you wished for. And the most charming thing about
the fairy palace was that there you always met the prince.
This girl was so constituted that, except in the first flush of
excitement incident to her entrance into this new sphere, she must have
always some heart-warm thought, some little inner pleasure of her own,
to make the larger one serve. Dosia knew now that she was to meet the
true prince. This was the house he visited; all this outer circle of
comfort was but the prelude to lovethat mysterious and intangible love
that made you happy ever after. She was glad that she had kept hold of
that hand, and had not let herself be drawn away by lesser ties. Her
day-dream was to bewitch and dazzle him, to compel him to her
attraction; a dozen situations, based on that first idea of his
recognition of her in some noble deed, occupied her happy mind; in all
moments of extra exaltation she brought out the thought and played with
it and hugged it to her. She had yet to learn how few things happen as
we imagine them.
In the midst of her half-drowsy musings, the door behind her burst open;
suddenly a big collie-dog bounded in. He was licking her cheeks, when a
sharp whistle called him back, and the door was instantly closed again.
Dosia knew that the dog was Lawsons. She sprang up and locked the door,
but her dream had vanished. She had a tingling consciousness that she
was to meet Lawson at dinner. She made up her mind to be very dignified
and cool toward him; she rehearsed the manner in which her eyelashes
would fall, the politely bored expression of her forced attention, the
casual tips of her fingers as they touched his in the conventional
handshake of greetingall of which would emphasize the fact that he had
now no particular interest for her, if, indeed, he had ever had any.
But, after all, he was not at dinner, which was a relief, and yet a
disappointment: when you have sharpened your weapons, it is only natural
to want to use them. Lawson did not appear the next day, nor the next.
Once she heard him coming in very late at night, and in the morning he
had gone before she breakfasted. A couple of times in the late
afternoon, when the dog came trotting ahead through the hall, she had
slipped aside, breathless, as from some peril escaped. It was the third
day after her arrival that he suddenly made his appearance in the
drawing-room, where she was seated by the piano, looking over a pile of
music. Mrs. Leverich was out driving, but had thought the air too damp
for Dosia.
She tried to accomplish the indifferent handshake she had prefigured,
and could have flagellated herself for the color that she felt
enveloping her from brow to throat under his cool, appraising eyes, as
he bent over the piano as if to help her with her search.
What do you wish to find? he asked in a businesslike way. Perhaps I
can assist you.
Thank you, it isnt necessary.
She held her head at an unresponsive angle involuntarily, so that she
might not see his face, which had struck her as unexpectedly younger and
better-looking than hitherto.
I see that my sister has fitted up a little music-room for you. Have
you done much practicing there yet?
Some.
You are not homesick in your new quarters?
No.
Let me hold that portfolio for you. He interposed a dexterous hand.
Oh, dont thank meyou see, if you drop it, courtesy will oblige me to
pick up all the music. This is the first time weve met since you have
been in the house; Ive been so patient that I deserve more than to have
little cold, hard monosyllables thrown at me.
Patient!
Havent I seen you slip out of the way when you thought I was coming?
Im accustomed to the phenomenon. The lightness of his tone did not
hide the bitter strain under it. Really, Im not lacking in perception.
I wished to give you time to get inured to the sad fact that I live
here; and you need not have changed the time for your lessons last week,
for I have no regular time for my daily exodus at present. If you _will_
keep your head so persistently turned away, you might as well utilize
the position. Play me something.
No, you play for me, returned Dosia, glad of the chance to divert his
attention from her.
I might play Greeting, since Im not going to get any.
He seated himself on the piano-bench she vacated, and played a few
strains absently; there was that in the low, sweet chords among which
his fingers strayed that could not but enchain. She forgot her aloofness
to listen. Presently he said:
Who is my rival?
What do you mean? She started up, and stood with both arms resting on
the lower end of the grand piano, staring at him.
I could not think that blush was for methat beautiful color that
stole over you when I came in. It couldnt be for me, when you have
avoided me so pointedly. So I concluded, of course, that it was either
the reflection from that brick wall out there, or was called forth by
the thought of my rival.
I will not say that it was the brick wall, said Dosia, yielding to the
light, heady spirit he always roused in her, with, also, the little
under-knowledge of her secret dream.
Then I will not say it was the rival, said Lawson. He added in a lower
tone: And I wouldnt give it up to any rival; I saw itit was mine.
You claim a great deal, returned Dosia, wishing that she had the
strength of mind to go and leave him, yet loath to lose a moment of this
converse.
He shook his head as he answered gently: No, you are mistaken there; I
claim nothing. I have no rightsonly privileges. I hope its going to
be my privilege to have a little of your charming society in the next
few days. I shall be at home, perforce; Ive lost my position.
Oh, Im sorry! said Dosia, with her quick sympathy. He raised one hand
deprecatingly, while the other still weaved in and out in a pianissimo
accompaniment.
Sorry? For me? Oh, thats not the thing to say, at all. You should
condemn my inability to keep the place.
Why do you talk like this? asked Dosia, with a pained feeling.
Why do you run when you see me coming? He flashed a quizzical glance
at her.
I dont, she began to say, but her words trailed off into an
inarticulate murmur.
He had played a chord or two more to her silence before he stopped to
lean forward and say:
Why did you avoid me on the train? You need not trouble yourself to
answer. Some kind person had warned you against being too polite to
meand you took the warning like a good little girl. It has been borne
in upon me quite a number of times that I do not exactly command respect
in this community. I assure you that I know my place.
But, oh, why dont you _make_ people respect you? cried Dosia. Why
dont you make them? If you really tryoh, if I were a man, I wouldnt
sit quietly and say such things. You can do anything if you really try.
Can you? He smiled with indulgence at her copy-book wisdom. Well,
perhaps you can, if theres sufficient impetus to the effort. There
really isnt with me. When I was a boyyoull tire yourself if you
stand up any longer. Come and sit over here by the fire.
She followed half mechanically to the sofa on which he arranged the
cushions for her, seating himself in the other corner, where he leaned
forward, looking, not at her, but at the fire. His personality was so
strong that each inch that lessened the distance between her and that
lithe, sinewy figure and the dark Oriental face brought a corresponding
thrill of magnetism to Dosiaa subtle excitement which drew her into
its spell. The confusion which had clouded her at first was gone; she
felt luminously clear, in preparation for some great moment of
confidence, in which her mission would be to help and sustain. She broke
the silence presently to say, with a sweet and halting diffidence,
through which her earnestness showed:
I want you to tell me. You began to sayI want to know about when you
were a boy.
When I was a boy I made a wrong start. Heaven knows, it wasnt my
fault! I was good enough before thatreligiously inclined! He leaned
forward and struck a log with one of the fire-irons, sending a shower of
sparks flying upward. Where do you think I learned half the bad I know?
At a camp-meeting! But I wont go back to the pastits a mistake.
Only, I came here literally on suspicion.
Yes, said Dosia, with her clear spirit-voice; and you tried to work
up from under it.
Lawson dropped his chin into his hands, looking moodily ahead. Im
afraid not always. Sometimes the contrary.
Oh, oh, breathed Dosia, in a whisper.
If you want me to tell you the truth! Your relatives are quite right
in ordering you to avoid me. There has never been anybody, you see, to
really care whether I kept straight or not.
Your sister?
[Illustration: _He played a chord or two more to her silence_]
Lawson shrugged his shoulders. It would, of course, be pleasanter for
Myra if she hadnt me on her mind, and Leverich has done his best, I
suppose. Im not groaningjust telling you the bare facts. Living on
suspicion is demoralizing in the long run, thats all; one lives down
to an opinion as well as up to it, you know. Theres never been anyone,
since I was a child, to really believe in me, so theres nobody to be
disappointed.
_I_ will believe in you, said Dosia, with the vibrating tone of her
emotion. Her clear eyes looked at his as if to convey strength and
warmth and all that was uplifting straight to his heart.
You had better not.
I will believe in you! Her tone had even greater insistence. I know
what it ismyselfto be with those who do not care. You are not as
other people think you! You can be good and noble. You canher voice
sank to a whisperresist temptation. If one praysit helps; I know
that. Her voice rose steadily again, after a tremulous silence: You
can never say again that no one believes in you, for I believe in you.
And care? asked Lawson.
His eyes glittered and his face worked with some unusual emotion.
And care, assented Dosia, with the same unwavering eyes and serious,
childlike candor of tone.
He stooped and gently pressed his lips to her hand as it lay upon her
gown. You are the very sweetest child! I He stopped abruptly, and
walked away to the window. The next moment Mrs. Leverich was rustling
into the room.
If she suspected an interview too confidential, she showed nothing of it
in her manner. She had come back to take her guest out driving, after
allthe sun was shining. Dosia ran to get ready, tinglingwas it from
the exaltation or the excitement of this interview, with its unexpected
compact? She trembled with the pathos of it all. She passed each phase
of it rapidly before her mind, to convince herself that there was
nothing in words or feeling, no, nor in that reverential homage of
Lawsons, that could be interpreted as disloyalty to the unknown to whom
her future belonged.
Mrs. Leverich was waiting with a magnificent wrap of velvet and fur for
Dosia to put on in the carriage over her street costume.
I was sure you were not warm enough yesterday, she explained. She
leaned forward to call to the coachman: James, you may drive first to
Bennings. We are going to get some chocolates to take with us, dear; I
know girls always enjoy themselves more if there is a box of chocolates
handy.
Oh, Mrs. Leverich! said Dosia gratefully.
And we will stop at the greenhouse and get some flowers for you to wear
to-night at dinner; you know, George Sutton is coming. I want you to
look particularly well.
I dont care to look particularly well for _him_, objected Dosia,
stiffening.
No, of course, you dont _need_ to; but, still, a girl should always
look as pretty as she _can_; she can never tell who is going to see her.
James, ask at the express-office if there are any packages. I sent for
some of the new books. Yes, that is for me. Now, my dear, youll have
something nice to read.
You are too good, Mrs. Leverich; you are just spoiling me, said Dosia.
In these three days she had been the recipient of so many gifts and
favors that it was difficult to know how to vary her expression of
gratitude. She had already been presented with a white China silk
tea-gown, the scores of two of the latest light operas, and an amethyst
belt-pin. The little music-room had been fitted out appropriately from
floor to ceiling, and framed with palms; Mrs. Leverich had spent the
whole of one morning with a corps of servants, planning, directing, and
approving. Dosia had hardly time to frame a wish before it was
forestalled.
It is such a comfort to me to have you here, continued Mrs. Leverich,
sinking back among her cushions. You may take the Five-mile Drive,
James. If I had only had a daughter! I said this morning to Mr.
Leverich, I am going to pretend shes my daughter while shes here.
You dont mind, dear? You will let me have you for my very own?
Yes, indeed, answered Dosia, with the warmth of youth.
I have never wished for a son. Boys are a terrible responsibility.
There is Lawson.
Yes, said Dosia, as she paused.
He has always been such a trial. We have given him every advantageand
he _has_ every advantage naturally; but its no use. Mr. Leverich says
he will make one more effort for him, and if that is no use he must go.
We have simply done all we can. I would not speak so openly to you if
you had not been staying in the house, but you could not help hearing.
Hearing?
Yes, these nights when he has come home so late. George Sutton brought
him home Tuesday night from the trainhe couldnt walk alone. I was so
ashamed at the noise!
Oh! breathed Dosia in a horrified undertone. She added, Has he always
been like this?
More or less. At first it was only when he went away; but he couldnt
keep any position long, because he _would_ go away for days and days at
a stretch. And now it is getting to be_any_ time. Im sure we have
done everything in this world to keep it quiet. And Lawson has every
advantage naturally; it is only thisdrinking. Of course, no one can
have any confidence in him; I always felt that it was hopeless, from the
first.
No one had believed in him! Dosia caught at the confirmation as a ray of
light gilding this dark and slimy morass, the sight of which had
unexpectedly revolted her. In Balderville only the lower class of
inhabitants drank; no young man of respectability or position was to be
seen among them. But was not this the very kind of trial of her through
which she had promised to have faith? He had not posed as devoid of
offense; on the contrary, he had confessed to guilt, only she had not
quite understood. Sin as plain sin shows a glazed surface, quite
decently presentable; it is only when it is particularized that the
monstrosities below are hideously revealed.
It must be a great grief to you, she said now, with earnestness.
Yes, it is. Mr. Leverich says I shall not have so much on my mind after
this winter; he has put his foot down. The nights I have passed! Im
always fancying that he is run over, or has fallen from the ferry-boat;
its the most dreadful strain. James, we are to stop for the ice-cream
on the way backdont forget; and those cakes at Mrs. Springersthey
were ordered yesterday. Where was I? I forget. Oh, yesthe most
dreadful strain! and I felt that I ought to speak about him to you, as
you are staying under my care, and yet I hated to. But, of course, after
the disturbance, I knew that it was nonsense to try and keep up a
pretense any longer. You can see just what he is yourself.
Yes, indeed, said Dosia, grown big-eyed and silent.
Her hostess insisted on her drinking a large cup of hot bouillon on her
return, she looked so pale and chilly, relighted the logs in Dosias
room with her own fat, white, beringed hands, and enveloped the girl
enthusiastically several times in a large and perfumed embrace, in
confirmation of her new position as a daughter. Dosia was dainty about
the manifestations of affection; though she was intensely responsive in
spirit to the least show of it, material demonstrations were unnatural
to her; she was shy of being touched even by her own sex. It was only
with little children that the exuberance of her feeling poured forth in
caresses. That the hand-clasp the night of the disaster had appealed so
strongly to her imagination was partly because of the fact that the
comfort it conveyed transcended the strangeness of contact. To be
pressed now to a warm, semimaternal bosom covered with voluminous folds
of mauve velvet and lace gave her only an embarrassed gratitude, which
she felt, guiltily, as being far from adequate to the occasion. And she
was weary of trying to elude the vacillations of her mind. She would
keep her promise to Lawson,yes, yes, indeed! a hundred times more, the
more he needed it,but she would be very careful, too; she would be
_very_ careful. A hundred tiny defenses seemed to spring into being.
He was at the dinner as well as Mr. Sutton. The sixth person was Ada
Snow, with the well-bred composure which concealed her innate shyness,
and in the white dotted swiss she had worn for ten years past, ever
since she had graduated, in fact, and which still looked decently
presentable. Dosia was gay and conversational, as she was expected to
be, the party being hers; she had began to feel the daughter of luxury,
if not of Mrs. Leverich, and accepted the honors with the easily
accustomed grace that is born of admiration and security, conscious
every moment through it all of that bond between herself and Lawson. He
looked boyish and happy. Later, in a talk about skating, he offered to
teach her to skate the next day if the ice held, and Mrs. Leverich, to
whom Dosia looked, expecting her to invent some excuse, approved at
once, and planned to send for skates the first thing in the morning. His
quizzical eye seized unerringly on the signs of withdrawal in her, and
brought the blush of compunction to her cheek, while Mr. Leverich
jocosely deplored that he could not take the office of trainer instead.
Mr. Sutton, who had sat by her at dinner, and hovered amorously over her
in the way a girl detests in a man she does not care for, might have
been mysteriously rebuffed by the suggestion of Lawsons intimacy, for
he devoted himself for the rest of the short evening to Ada Snow, who
dropped into one of her statuesque angles on an ottoman, and talked to
him in her low, trained voice with modestly confidential deference,
until he left, quite early. His attention to Miss Snow had not kept him,
however, from picking up Dosias handkerchief twice when she happened to
drop it.
Billy Snow created a diversion by coming in at half-past ten for his
sister, and stating casually that he had seen the doctors carriage
stopping at the Alexander house as he passed.
As you passed _now_? cried Dosia, startled. Are the children worse?
An unacknowledged compunction, which she had felt through all her
pleasures, at leaving the sick household, sprang swiftly to the front.
Oh, Im so afraid Redge and Zaidee are worse! I wish I could go there
at once and see!
If they only had a telephone, began Mrs. Leverich, for the twentieth
time. I can send
Oh, if I could only go myself! interrupted Dosia, looking utterly
miserable in her sudden wild anxiety.
You could have the carriagebut James is asleep. Mrs. Leverich looked
almost as miserable as Dosia in her baffled hospitality. But if you
dont mind walking
Nooh, no!
Then Lawson can take you, of course. There are some wraps in the hall;
Ill pin your dress up, so that you wont need to take the time to
change it. _Must_ you go, Ada? Then you can all walk down together. Mr.
Leverich would have offered to go with you himself, I know,
Dosia,wouldnt you, Joseph?if it were not for his cold. But Lawson
can take you, of _course_!