THROUGH A DORMER WINDOW
Betty watched Fortescue as he galloped along the road that lay through
the open fields to Rosehill. The vision of the Christmas hunt grew
bright. She would see Sally Carteret that night at the dance at
Marrowbone, and Sally was no more likely to deny an invitation to
four captivating young officers than Betty herself. Betty brought her
mind back with a jerk from this new and brilliant element which had
suddenly burst into her placid life, to the preparations for Christmas.
They were such as would be made in the small household of a bankrupt
Virginia colonel and his granddaughter, his "boy" of sixty-five and the
"boy's" wife of sixty, but they were illuminated by the true Christmas
spirit, that sweet inspiration and good will, the radiance of the Star
of Bethlehem. By much scheming and saving, Betty had acquired enough
money to buy for the Colonel a military history in several volumes,
for which he had expressed a wish. Equally, with infinite pains and
secrecy, the Colonel had contrived out of his scanty purse to buy for
Betty a little locket and chain; and there were simple presents for
Uncle Cesar and Aunt Tulip, useful things that would make them more
comfortable. And from the two old faithful servants were humble gifts
that were highly rated by Betty and the Colonel. Then there were the
preparations for the Christmas dinner the next day. Although there was
not much money in the little brown house of Holly Lodge, there were
oysters a-plenty upon the river shore, and a green turtle had been
lying on his back for a week in the cellar, to be made into turtle soup
for the Christmas dinner, and Aunt Tulip had a dozen bronze turkeys
which kept her busy, of which the patriarch, a noble gobbler, had
gobbled his last _morituri salutamus_. A dish of terrapin, and a half
dozen partridges, knocked over by Uncle Cesar, who had a rusty old gun,
and a monumental plum pudding, were mere adjuncts to the feast.
It had been the Colonel's practice, at the old mansion at Rosehill,
to invite half the county to his Christmas dinner. In the little
sitting-room at Holly Lodge, there was not much room for anybody or
anything except the big furniture and the Colonel's fiddle-case and
Betty's harp; besides, the Colonel, after his misfortune, had, as yet,
not much heart for company. He and Betty had had dozens of invitations
from all over the county and beyond, for Christmas, but, as Betty said:
"Granddaddy and I have always been together at Christmas ever since I
can remember, and he has nobody but me and I have nobody but him, and
so we must stay together on Christmas Day, Granddaddy and I."
The dusk came before Betty had finished her preparations for the next
day, and then it was time to dress for the party at Marrowbone, the
Lindsay place, where there were young students home from the University
of Virginia, and a great jollification was to be had. The clutch of
cold upon the world had tightened as the red sun disappeared and the
stars came out in the dark blue heavens. In Betty's little white
bedroom, however, a glorious wood fire was roaring, and the scent of
the odoriferous wood and the geraniums in the window made a delicious
atmosphere. Betty stood before the fire, warming her little feet, and
saying to herself:
"How I wish we could afford to have a boy to bring up wood and pick
up chips and do so many things that Uncle Cesar has to do, and really
isn't able, poor old soul!"
Then Betty's mind reverted to former Christmases, at Rosehill, when
there were plenty of servants and plenty of everything except money,
and Betty in her ignorance knew nothing of debts and duns and mortgages
and such unpleasant things. She looked about her with a little air
of discontent, and thought of her beautiful big corner bedroom at
Rosehill, with its marble mantel and the ornamental plaster frieze
around the ceiling, and the bell to ring, by which a maid always
appeared. But, being a courageous person, Betty took herself in hand,
and put an immediate stop to painful reflections. She went up to the
little dressing table, lighted by a candle on each side of the mirror,
and, shaking her small fist wrathfully at her reflection in the glass,
proceeded to lecture herself severely.
"Now, Betty Beverley," she said sternly, puckering her forehead, "this
sort of useless repining is perfectly disgraceful, and has got to stop.
Do you understand, Betty? _It has got to stop._ You have got your
grandfather and a great many comforts and blessings, and you don't owe
any money, and you are young and very, very pretty----"
At this point, Betty's brow smoothed out, her eyes assumed a beatific
expression, and her rosy lips came wide open, showing a lovely, elusive
dimple in her left cheek.
"It is no use denying it, it is a fact and a very agreeable one, but,
as Aunt Tulip says, 'Beauty ain't nothin'; behavior's all.' Your good
looks won't amount to anything if you are a coward and a poltroon; and
you, a soldier's daughter and granddaughter, with no more pluck than a
chicken! Betty, I am ashamed of you. Now, make up your mind to act like
a soldier's daughter and granddaughter----"
And at this moment, Fortescue, whose image had been lingering in
Betty's memory, suddenly came to the front. She saw him in her mind's
eye, galloping past the window, his military cloak around him, his cap
set firmly on his handsome head, his look, his attitude, everything
about him, proclaiming the soldier. Betty's smile changed from mirth to
one of dreamy anticipation. There is much flavor in the wine of life at
twenty.
She went to the window, and, putting her hands on each side of her
eyes, so that she could look out into the gathering gloom of the winter
night, saw afar off the windows of Rosehill shining with light. On the
day after Christmas she would see that young soldier again. Betty made
a rapid calculation--it would be just twenty-six hours. At the thought
a smile began in Betty's soft eyes and ended on her rosy lips.