IS HE A GENTLEMAN?
The days and weeks that followed were to Dennis such as only come once
in a lifetime, and not in every lifetime either. A true, pure love was
growing up within his heart--growing as the little child develops in
strength and pleasurable life, and yet unconsciously to itself. It
seemed as if some strong magician's wand had touched the world or him.
Everything was transfigured, and no wonderland was more full of interest
than that in which he existed. His life was a waking dream, in which
nothing was distinct or definite, but all things abounded in hope and
happy suggestion. He compared it afterward to a tropical island of the
Pacific, a blissful fragment of life by itself, utterly distinct from
the hard, struggling years that preceded, and the painful awakening
that followed.
Even the place of his daily toil was pervaded by a beautiful presence.
For many days he and Christine worked together, and at last her eyes
had rested on, or her fingers had touched, nearly everything in the
store, and therefore all was associated with her. Throughout their
labors his quick sympathy and appreciation made him almost hands and
feet to her, and she regarded him as a miracle of helpfulness--one
of those humble, useful creatures who are born to wait upon and
interpret the wishes of the rich and great. His admiring glances
disturbed her not and raised no suspicion in her mind. She had been
accustomed to such for years, and took them as a matter of course.
She treated the young men whom she met in society with a courtly ease
and freedom, but her smiles and repartee ever seemed like brilliant
moonlight that had no warmth; and, while no restraint appeared, she
still kept all at a distance. There was a marked difference in her
intercourse with Dennis. Regarding him as too humble ever to presume
upon her frankness, she daily spoke more freely, and more truly acted
out herself before him. She was happy and in her element among the
beautiful works of art they were arranging, and in this atmosphere her
womanly nature, chilled and dwarfed though it was, would often manifest
itself in ways sweet and unexpected. Under no other circumstances could
she have appeared so well. She as often spoke to herself in racy comment
on what was before her as to Dennis, and ever and anon would make some
pleasant remark to him, as she might throw a dainty morsel to her
greyhound Wolf, looking wistfully at her while she dined. At the same
time it must be confessed that she had a growing respect for him, as
she daily saw some new proof of his intelligence and taste; but both
education and disposition inclined her instinctively to the old feudal
idea that even genius, if poor, must wait a humble servitor on wealth
and rank, and where a New England girl would have been saying to
herself, "This gifted, educated man is my equal, and, whether I want
to or not, I ought to treat him as such," she was not troubled at all.
To her, he was her father's clerk and man-of-all-work, a most useful,
trusted, and agreeable servant, and she was kind to him as such. Indeed
the little autocrat was kind to every one that pleased her. She was
a benign queen to obedient subjects, but woe to those who were
otherwise.
To Dennis, however, though he realized it not, she was becoming as the
very apple of his eye. He was learning to regard her with a deeper
interest because of the very defects that he plainly recognized. While
on the one hand he had the enthusiastic love caused by his admiration
for her, on the other he felt the tenderer and greater love which was
the result of pity. He tried to account for his feelings toward her
by the usual sophistries of unconscious lovers. It was friendship; it
was artistic interest in her beauty; it was the absorbing, unselfish
regard of a Christian for one providentially commended to him to be
led out of darkness into light. How could he help thinking of one for
whom he prayed night and morning and every hour in the day? It was all
this, but he was soon to learn that it was a great deal more. And so
the days of occupation and companionship passed; the spell worked on
with increasing and bewildering power, and the crisis could not be
delayed much longer.
One morning in the latter part of April she seemed more gracious than
usual. Their labors were drawing to a close, and, as he had proved so
tasteful and efficient in the store, she concluded that he might be
equally useful in other ways and places. She could command him at the
store, but not in respect to a task that she had in view; so she adopted
a little feminine artifice as old as the time when Eve handed Adam the
apple, and she looked at him in such a way that he could not refuse.
Blind, honest Dennis, it is needless to say, saw nothing of this little
strategy of which he was destined to be the happy, willing victim,
and his love expanded and bloomed under the genial light of her presence
and kindness, like the flowers of the convolvulus in a bright dawn of
June. She brought her general graciousness to a definite and blissful
climax by saying, when about to go home, "Well, Mr. Fleet, you have
done better than usual to-day, and I certainly must give you credit
for possessing more taste than any young man of my acquaintance."
Dennis's heart gave as great a bound as if the laurel crown of all the
Olympic games had been placed upon his brow.
"I am now going to ask a favor," she continued.
"You may command me, Miss Ludolph," interrupted Dennis.
"No, not in this case," she replied. "Whatever you do will be regarded
as a personal favor to me. At the same time it will afford you scope
for such display of your taste as will secure many compliments."
"If I am able to satisfy _you_ I shall be more than compensated," said
Dennis with a bow.
She smiled and thought to herself, "That isn't bad for a porter and
man-of-all-work," and explained as follows:
"Some young ladies and gentlemen have decided upon giving an
entertainment, consisting of music, tableaux, and statuary. Now, in
regard to the two latter parts, we need above all things some person
of taste like yourself, whose critical eye and dexterous hand will
insure everything to be just right. You will be a sort of general stage
manager and superintendent, you know. I feel sure you will be all the
more willing to enter upon this work when you know that the proceeds
are to go toward the Church of the Holy Virgin. This is going to be
a very select affair, and the tickets are five dollars each."
"Is it a Protestant church?" asked Dennis, in some trepidation.
"Oh, certainly," she answered, with a peculiar smile, "an Episcopal
church."
"It seems a strange name for a Protestant church," said Dennis. "It
is enough for me that you wish it; at the same time it certainly is
a pleasure to contribute what little I can to aid any Christian
organization."
"Come, Mr. Fleet, you are narrow," she said, with a controversial
twinkle in her eye. "Why not toward a Catholic church?"
"I fear that all people with decided religious opinions are sometimes
regarded as narrow," he answered, with a smile.
"That is an inadequate answer to my question," she said; "but I will
not find fault since you have so good-naturedly acceded to my request.
Come to No. -- Wabash Avenue at three this afternoon. Papa gives you
leave of absence."
She vanished, and figuratively the sun went down to Dennis, and he was
in twilight till he should see her again. He looked forward to the
afternoon with almost feverish eagerness, for several reasons. It would
be his first introduction to "good society," for as such the
unsophisticated youth regarded the prospect. He had the natural longing
of a young, healthful nature for the companionship of those of his own
age and culture, and his life in the great city had often been very
lonely. He expected, as a matter of course, to be treated as an equal
at the artistic entertainment in which he was to participate. In his
business relations at the store he had taken a subordinate position
and made up his mind to the logical consequences. But now that he was
invited to a private house, and would appear there possessing all the
qualities of a gentleman, he surely would be treated as one. "Is not
this Chicago, whose citizens were nearly all poor a few years ago?"
he thought; "and surely, if what Miss Ludolph says is true, I have
advantages in my taste over most poor young men." Moreover, it was his
ideal of an entertainment, where art and music should take the place
of the coarser pleasures of eating, drinking, and dancing. Chief of
all, Christine would be there, and even he in his blindness became a
little uneasy and self-conscious as he realized how this thought towered
above the others.
She had given him a list of the things he was to bring with him in the
afternoon, and he occupied every spare moment in getting them ready.
At a quarter past two he summoned the carman of the store, and they
loaded up the miscellaneous cargo needed for the coming mysteries, and
by three all were before the large elegant mansion to which he had
been directed. Dennis rang the bell and was shown by a servant into
the front parlor, where he found Miss Ludolph, Miss Brown, a tall,
haughty brunette, and the young lady of the house, Miss Winthrop, a
bright, sunny-faced blonde, and two or three other young ladies of no
special coloring or character, being indebted mainly to their toilets
for their attractions. Dennis bowed to Miss Ludolph, and then turned
toward the other ladies, expecting as a matter of course to be
introduced. No introduction came, but his expectant manner was so
obvious that Miss Ludolph colored and looked annoyed, and the other
young ladies tittered outright.
Advancing a step or two she said, coldly, "Mr. Fleet, you may help
Mapes carry the things into the back parlor, and then we will direct
you as to the arrangement."
Dennis crimsoned painfully. At first he was too confused to think, and
merely obeyed mechanically. Then came the impulse to say boldly that
this kind of thing might answer at the store, but not here, and he
nearly carried it out; but soon followed the sober second thought,
that such action would bring a blight over all his prospects, and
involve the loss of his position at the store. Such giving way to
passion would injure only himself. They would laugh, and merely suffer
a momentary annoyance; to him and his the result would be most
disastrous. Why should he let those who cared not a jot for him cause
such sad injury?
By the time he had carried his first armful into the back parlor, he
had resolved for his mother and sisters' sakes that he would go through
the following scenes as well as he could, and then turn his back on
society till he could enter it a recognized gentleman; and with
compressed lips and flashing eye he mentally vowed that that day should
soon come.
As he was unpacking his materials he could not help hearing the
conversation in the front parlor.
"Did you ever see such presumption?" exclaimed Miss Brown. "He evidently
expected to be introduced, and that we should rise and courtesy
all around."
"He must have seen better days, for he certainly appeared like a
gentleman," said Miss Winthrop.
"I should hardly give that title to a man who swept a store out every
morning" replied Miss Brown.
"No, indeed!" chorused the three colorless young ladies.
"I know nothing about this young man," said Miss Winthrop, ruffling
her plumage somewhat for an argument, of which she was fond; "but, as
a case in hand, suppose a highly educated and refined man for some
reason swept a store out every morning, what would you call him?" and
she looked around as if she had given a poser.
The colorless young ladies looked blank--their natural expression.
"Nonsense!" said the positive Miss Brown; "such men don't sweep stores.
He may have passed current in some country village, but that is not
our set."
"But the case is certainly supposable," retorted Miss Winthrop, more
intent upon her argument than upon Dennis. "Come, what does the Countess
say?" she asked, turning to Christine; for that was the familiar name
by which she went among her young companions.
"The case is not supposable, but actual," she answered, so distinctly
that it seemed that she meant Dennis to hear. "As far as I have any
means of judging, he is a refined, educated man, and I have learned
from papa that his motive in sweeping the store is the support of his
mother and sisters--certainly a very worthy one. To your question,
Susie, I answer unhesitatingly that in accordance with your American
principles and professions he is a gentleman, and you ought to treat
him as such. But you Americans are sometimes wonderfully inconsistent,
and there is often a marvellously wide margin between your boasted
equality and the reality. Now in Europe these questions have been
settled for ages, and birth and rank define a person's position
accurately."
"I do not believe in equality," said Miss Brown, with a toss of her
head. (Her father was a mighty brewer, but he and hers were in character
and antecedents something like the froth on their own beer.)
Miss Winthrop was a little embarrassed at finding her supposed case
a real one, for it might involve some practical action on her part.
Many an ardent advocate of the people in theory gives them practically
the cold shoulder, and is content to stay on the summit of Mt. Olympus.
She was a girl of good impulses and strong convictions of abstract
right, but rarely had either the courage or the opportunity to carry
them out. She was of the old Boston family of Winthrops, and therefore
could meet Miss Ludolph on her own ground in the way of pedigree.
But, however Dennis fared, she felt that she must look after her
argument, and, having conquered theoretically as far as America was
concerned, determined to carry war into Europe, so she said: "Are you
not mistaken in saying that birth and rank only settle position abroad?
Some of the most honored names there are or were untitled."
"Oh, certainly, but they were persons of great genius, and _genius_ is
the highest patent of nobility. But I leave you republicans to settle
this question to suit yourselves. I am going to look after the
preparations for this evening, as I have set my heart on a success
that shall ring through the city."
But they all flocked after her into the back parlor, now doubly
interesting as it contained an object of curiosity in Dennis Fleet--a
veritable gentleman who swept a store.