With the closing in of the autumn and the coming of the first winter
cold, the denizens of Kennedy Square gave themselves over to the
season's entertainments. Mrs. Cheston, as was her usual custom, issued
invitations for a ball--this one in honor of the officers who had
distinguished themselves in the Mexican War. Major Clayton, Bowdoin,
the Murdochs, Stirlings, and Howards--all persons of the highest
quality--inaugurated a series of chess tournaments, the several players
and those who came to look on to be thereafter comforted with such
toothsome solids as wild turkey, terrapin, and olio, and such delectable
liquids as were stored in the cellars of their hosts. Old Judge
Pancoast, yielding to the general demand, gave an oyster roast--his
enormous kitchen being the place of all others for such a function. On
this occasion two long wooden tables were scoured to an unprecedented
whiteness--the young girls in white aprons and the young men in white
jackets serving as waiters--and laid with wooden plates, and two big
wooden bowls--one for the hot, sizzling shells just off their bed of
hickory coals banked on the kitchen hearth, and the other for the empty
ones--the fun continuing until the wee sma' hours of the morning.
The Honorable Prim and his charming daughter, not to be outdone by
their neighbors, cleared the front drawing-room of its heavy furniture,
covered every inch of the tufted carpet with linen crash, and with old
black Jones as fiddler and M. Robinette--a French exile--as instructor
in the cutting of pigeon wings and the proper turning out of ankles and
toes, opened the first of a series of morning soirees for the young folk
of the neighborhood, to which were invited not only their mothers, but
their black mammies as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Horn, not having any blithesome daughter, nor any
full-grown son--Oliver being but a child of six--and Richard and his
charming wife having long since given up their dancing-slippers--were
good enough to announce--(and it was astonishing what an excitement it
raised)--that “On the Monday night following Mr. Horn would read aloud,
to such of his friends as would do him the honor of being present, the
latest Christmas story by Mr. Charles Dickens, entitled 'The Cricket on
the Hearth.'” For this occasion Mr. Kennedy had loaned him his own
copy, one of the earliest bound volumes, bearing on its fly-leaf an
inscription in the great master's own handwriting in which he thanked
the distinguished author of “Swallow Barn” for the many kindnesses he
had shown him during his visit to America, and begged his indulgence for
his third attempt to express between covers the sentiment and feeling of
the Christmas season.
Not that this was an unusual form of entertainment, nor one that excited
special comment. Almost every neighborhood had its morning (and often
its evening) “Readings,” presided over by some one who read well and
without fatigue--some sweet old maid, perhaps, who knew how to grow old
gracefully. At these times a table would be rolled into the library by
the deferential servant of the house, on which he would place the dear
lady's spectacles and a book, its ivory marker showing where the last
reading had ended--it might be Prescott's “Ferdinand and Isabella,” or
Irving's “Granada,” or Thackeray's “Vanity Fair,” or perhaps, Dickens's
“Martin Chuzzlewit.”
At eleven o'clock the girls would begin to arrive, each one bringing her
needle-work of some kind--worsted, or embroidery, or knitting--something
she could manage without discomfort to herself or anybody about her, and
when the last young lady was in her seat, the same noiseless darky would
tiptoe in and take his place behind the old maid's chair. Then he would
slip a stool under her absurdly small slippers and tiptoe out again,
shutting the door behind him as quietly as if he found the dear lady
asleep--and so the reading would begin.
A reading by Richard, however, was always an event of unusual
importance, and an invitation to be present was never declined whether
received by letter or by word of mouth.
St. George had been looking forward eagerly to the night, and when the
shadows began to fall in his now almost bare bedroom, he sent for Todd
to help him dress.
“Have you got a shirt for me, Todd?”
“Got seben oh 'em. Dey wants a li'l' trimmin' roun' de aidges, but I
reckon we kin make 'em do--Aunt Jemima sont 'em home dis mawnin'. She's
been a-workin' on 'em, she says. Looks ter me like a goat had a moufful
outer dis yere sleeve, but I dassent tell er so. Lot o' dem butters
wanderin' roun' dat Marsh market lookin' fer sumpin' to eat; lemme gib
dem boots anudder tech.”
Todd skipped downstairs with the boots and St. George continued
dressing; selecting his best and most becoming scarf; pinning down the
lapels of his buff waistcoat; scissoring the points of his high collar,
and with Todd's assistance working his arms between the slits in the
silk lining of the sleeves of his blue cloth, brass-buttoned coat, which
he finally pulled into place across his chest.
And a well-dressed man he was in spite of the frayed edges of his collar
and shirt ruffles and the shiny spots in his trousers and coat where
the nap was worn smooth, nor was there any man of his age who wore his
clothes as well, no matter what their condition, or one who made so
debonair an appearance.
Pawson was of that opinion to-night when St. George, his toilet
complete, joined him at the bottom of the stairs. Indeed he thought he
had never seen his client look better--a discovery which sent a spasm of
satisfaction through his long body, for he had a piece of important news
to tell him, and had been trying all day to make up his mind how best to
break it.
“You look younger, Mr. Temple,” he began, “and, if you will allow me to
say so, handsomer, every day. Your trip to the Eastern Shore last spring
did you no end of good,” and the young attorney crooked his long neck
and elevated his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth in the effort to
give to his sinuous body a semblance of mirth.
“Thank you, Pawson,” bowed St. George, graciously. “You are really
most kind, but that is because you are stone blind. My shirt is full of
holes, and it is quite likely I shall have to stand all the evening
for fear of splitting the knees of my breeches. Come--out with it”--he
laughed--“there is something you have to tell me or you would not be
waiting for me here at this hour in the cold hall.”
Pawson smiled faintly, then his eyebrows lost their identity in some
well-defined wrinkles in his forehead.
“I have, sir, a most unpleasant thing to tell you--a very unpleasant
thing. When I tried this morning for a few days' grace on that last
overdue payment, the agent informed me, to my great surprise, that Mr.
John Gorsuch had bought the mortgage and would thereafter collect the
interest in person. I am not sure, of course, but I am afraid Colonel
Rutter is behind the purchase. If he is we must be prepared to face the
worst should he still feel toward you as he did when you and he”--and he
jerked his thumb meaningly in the direction of the dining-room--“had it
out--in there.”
St. George compressed his lips. “And so Rutter holds the big end of the
whip after all, does he?” he exclaimed with some heat. “He will find the
skin on my back not a very valuable asset, but he is welcome to it. He
has about everything else.”
“But I'd rather pay it somehow if we could,” rejoined Pawson in a
furtive way--as if he had something up his sleeve he dare not spring
upon him.
“Yes--of course you would,” retorted St. George with a cynical laugh,
slipping on his gloves. “Pay it?--of course pay it. Pay everything and
everybody! What do you think I'd bring at auction, Pawson? I'm white,
you know, and so I can't be sold on the block--but the doctors might
offer you a trifle for cutting-up purposes. Bah! Hand me my coat, Todd.”
A deprecatory smile flitted across the long, thin face of the attorney.
He saw that St. George was in no mood for serious things, and yet
something must be done; certainly before the arrival of Gorsuch himself,
who was known to be an exact man of business and who would have his
rights, no matter who suffered.
“I had a little plan, sir--but you might not fall in with it. It would,
perhaps, be only temporary, but it is all I can think of. I had an
applicant this morning--in fact it came within an hour after I had heard
the news. It seemed almost providential, sir.”
St. George was facing the door, ready to leave the house, his shoulders
still bent forward so that Todd could adjust his heavy cloak the better,
when for the first time the anxious tone in Pawson's voice caught his
attention. As the words fell from the attorney's lips he straightened,
and Todd stepped back, the garment still in the darky's hands.
“An applicant for what?” he inquired in a graver tone. He was not
surprised--nothing surprised him in these days--he was only curious.
“For the rooms you occupy. I can get enough for them, sir, not only to
clear up the back interest, but to keep the mortgage alive and--”
St. George's face paled as the full meaning of Pawson's proposal dawned
in his mind. That was the last thing he had expected.
“Turn me into the street, eh?” There was a note of pained surprise in
his voice.
“I don't want you to put it that way, sir.” His heart really bled for
him--it was all he could do to control himself.
“How the devil else can I put it?”
“Well, I thought you might want to do a little shooting, sir.”
“Shooting! What with? One of Gadgem's guns? Hire it of him, eh, and
steal the powder and shot!” he cried savagely.
“Yes--if you saw fit, sir. Gadgem, I am sure, would be most willing, and
you can always get plenty of ammunition. Anyway, you might pass a few
months with your kinsfolk on the Eastern Shore, whether you hunted or
not; it did you so much good before. The winter here is always wearing,
sloppy and wet. I've heard you say so repeatedly.” He had not taken his
eyes from his face; he knew this was St. George's final stage, and he
knew too that he would never again enter the home he loved; but this
last he could not tell him outright. He would rather have cut his right
hand off than tell him at all. Being even the humblest instrument in the
exiling of a man like St. George Wilmot Temple was in itself a torture.
“And when do you want me to quit?” he said calmly. “I suppose I can
evacuate like an officer and a gentleman and carry my side-arms with
me--my father's cane, for instance, that I can neither sell nor pawn,
and a case of razors which are past sharpening?” and his smile broadened
as the humor of the thing stole over him.
“Well, sir, it ought to be done,” continued Pawson in his most serious
tone, ignoring the sacrifice--(there was nothing funny in the situation
to the attorney)--“well--I should say--right away. To-morrow, perhaps.
This news of Gorsuch has come very sudden, you know. If I can show him
that the new tenant has moved in already he might wait until his first
month's rent was paid. You see that--”
“Oh, yes, Pawson, I see--see it all clear as day,” interrupted St.
George--“have been seeing it for some months past, although neither
you nor Gadgem seem to have been aware of that fact.” This came with so
grave a tone that Pawson raised his eyes inquiringly. “And who is this
man,” Temple went on, “who wants to step into my shoes? Be sure you
tell him they are half-soled,” and he held up one boot. He might want
to dance or hunt in them--and his toes would be out the first thing he
knew.”
“He is Mr. Gorsuch's attorney, sir, a Mr. Fogbin,” Pawson answered,
omitting any reference to the boots and still concerned over the gravity
of the situation. “He did some work once for Colonel Rutter, and that's
how Gorsuch got hold of him. That's why I suspect the colonel. This
would make the interest sure, you see--rather a sly game, is it not,
sir? One I did not expect.”
St. George pondered for a moment, and his eye fell on his servant.
“And what will I do with Todd?”
The darky's eyes had been rolling round in his head as the talk
continued, Pawson, knowing how leaky he was, having told him nothing of
the impending calamity for fear he would break it to his master in the
wrong way.
“I should say take him with you,” came the positive answer.
“Take him with me! You didn't think I would be separated from him, did
you?” cried St. George, indignantly, the first note of positive anger he
had yet shown.
“I didn't think anything about it, sir,” and he looked at Todd
apologetically.
“Well, after this please remember, Mr. Pawson, that where I go Todd
goes.”
The darky leaned forward as if to seize St. George's hand; his eyes
filled and his lips began to tremble. He would rather have died than
have left his master.
St. George walked to the door, threw it open, and stood for an instant,
his eyes fixed on the bare trees in the park. He turned and faced the
two again:
“Todd!”
“Yes, Marse George--” Two hot ragged tears still lingered on the darky's
eyelids.
“To-day is Monday, is it not?--and to-morrow is boat day?”
“Yes, Marse George,” came the trembling answer.
“All right, Pawson, I'll go. Let Talbot Rutter have the rest--he's
welcome to it. Now for my cloak, Todd--so--and my neckerchief and cane.
Thank you very much, Pawson. You have been very kind about it all, and
I know quite well what it has cost you to tell me this. You can't
help--neither can I--neither, for that matter, can Gorsuch--nor is
it his fault. It is Rutter's, and he will one day get his reckoning.
Good-night--don't sit up too late. I am going to Mr. Horn's to spend
the evening. Walk along with me through the Park, Todd, so I can talk
to you. And, Todd,” he continued when they had entered the path and were
bending their steps to the Horn house, “I want you to gather together
to-morrow what are left of my clothes and pack them in one of those
hair trunks upstairs--and your own things in another. Never mind about
waiting for the wash. I'm going down to Aunt Jemima's myself in the
morning and will fix it so she can send the rest to me later on. I owe
her a small balance and must see her once more before I leave. Now go
home and get to bed; you have been losing too much sleep of late.”
And yet he was not cast down, nor did his courage fail him. Long before
the darky's obedient figure had disappeared his natural buoyancy had
again asserted itself--or perhaps the philosophy which always sustains a
true gentleman in his hour of need had come to his assistance. He fully
realized what this last cowardly blow meant. One after another his
several belongings had vanished: his priceless family heirlooms; his
dogs; and now the home of his ancestors. He was even denied further
shelter within its walls. But there were no regrets; his conscience
still sustained him; he would live it all over again. In his
determination to keep to his standards he had tried to stop a freshet
with a shovelful of clay; that was all. It was a foolhardy attempt, no
doubt, but he would have been heartily ashamed of himself if he had not
made the effort. Wesley, of course, was not a very exciting place
in which to spend the winter, but it was better than being under
obligations to Talbot Rutter; and then he could doubtless earn enough at
the law to pay his board--at least he would try.
He had reached the end of the walk and had already caught the glow of
the overhead lantern in the hall of the Horn mansion lighting up the
varied costumes of the guests as Malachi swung back the front door,
revealing the girls in their pink and white nubias, the gallants in long
cloaks with scarlet linings, the older men in mufflers, and the mothers
and grandmothers in silk hoods. There was no question of Richard's
popularity.
“Clar to goodness, Marse George, you is a sight for sore eyes,” cried
Malachi, unhooking the clasp of the velvet collar and helping him off
with his cloak. “I ain't never seen ye looking spryer! Yes, sah, Marse
Richard's inside and he'll be mighty glad ye come. Yes--jedge--jes's
soon as I--Dat's it, mistis--I'll take dat shawl--No, sah, Marse Richard
ain't begun yit. Dis way, ladies,” and so it had gone on since the
opening rat-a-tat-tat on the old brass knocker had announced the arrival
of the first guest.
Nor was there any question that everybody who could by any possibility
have availed themselves of Richard's invitation had put in an
appearance. Most of the men from the club known to these pages were
present, together with their wives and children--those who were old
enough to sit up late; and Nathan Gill, without his flute this time, but
with ears wide open--he was beginning to get gray, was Nathan, although
he wouldn't admit it; and Miss Virginia Clendenning in high waist and
voluminous skirts, fluffy side curls, and a new gold chain for her
eyeglasses--gold rims, too, of course--not to mention the Murdochs,
Stirlings, Gatchells, Captain Warfield and his daughter, Bowdoin, and
Purviance. They were all there; everybody, in fact, who could squeeze
inside the drawing-room; while those who couldn't filled the hall and
even the stairs--wherever Richard's voice could be heard.
St. George edged into the packed room, swept his glance over the throng,
and made his way through the laughing groups, greeting every one right
and left, old and young, as he moved--a kiss here on the upturned cheek
of some pretty girl whom he had carried in his arms when a baby; a
caressing pat of approbation on some young gallant's shoulder; a bend
of the head in respectful homage to those he knew but slightly--the
Baroness de Trobiand, Mrs. Cheston's friend, being one of them; a hearty
hand held out to the men who had been away for the summer--interrupted
now and then by some such sally from a young bride as--“Oh, you mean
Uncle George! No--I'm not going to love you any more! You promised you
would come to my party and you didn't, and my cotillon was all spoiled!”
or a--“Why, Temple, you dear man!-I'm so glad to see you! Don't forget
my dinner on Thursday. The Secretary is coming and I want you to
sit between him and Lord Atherton”--a sort of triumphal procession,
really--until he reached the end of the room and stood at Kate's side.
“Well, sweetheart!” he cried gayly, caressing her soft hand before his
fingers closed over it. Then his face hardened. “Ah, Mr. Willits! So
you, too, must come under the spell of Mr. Horn's voice,” and without
waiting for a reply continued as if nothing had interrupted the joy of
his greeting. “You should sit down somewhere, my dear Kate--get as near
to Richard as you can, so you can watch his face--that's the best part
of it. And I should advise you, too, Mr. Willits, to miss none of his
words--it will be something you will remember all your life.”
Kate looked up in his face with a satisfied smile. She was more than
glad that her Uncle George was so gracious to her escort, especially
to-night when he was to meet a good many people for the first time.
“I'll take the stool, then, dear Uncle George,” she answered with a
merry laugh. “Go get it, please, Mr. Willits--the one under the sofa.”
Then, with a toss of her head and a coquettish smile at St. George:
“What a gadabout you are; do you know I've been three times to see
you, and not a soul in your house and the front door wide open, and
everything done up in curl papers as if you were going to move away for
good and all and never coming back? And do you know that you haven't
been near me for a whole week? What do you mean by breaking my heart?
Thank you, Mr. Willits; put the stool right here, so I can look up
into Mr. Horn's eyes as Uncle George wants me to. I've known the
time, sir”--and she arched her brows at St. George--“when you would
be delighted to have me look my prettiest at you, but now before I am
halfway across the park you slip out of the basement door to avoid me
and--No!--no--no apologies--you are just tired of me!”
St. George laughed gayly in return, his palms flattened against each
other and held out in supplication; but he made no defence. He was
studying the couple, his mind on the bearing and manner of the young
man toward the woman he was pursuing so relentlessly. He saw that he had
completely regained his health, his clear eyes and ruddy skin and the
spring with which he moved denoting a man in perfect physical condition.
He discovered, too, that he was extremely well dressed and his costume
all that it should be--especially the plum-colored coat, which fitted
his shoulders to perfection; his linen of the whitest and finest, each
ruffle in flutes; the waist-coat embroidered in silk; the pumps of
the proper shape and the stockings all that could be desired--except
perhaps--and a grim smile crossed his face--that the silk scarf was a
shade out of key with the prevailing color of his make-up, particularly
his hair; but, then, that was to be expected of a man who had a slight
flaw in his ancestry. He wondered if she had noticed it and studied her
face for an answer. No! She had not noticed it. In fact there were very
many things she was overlooking in these last days of his wooing, he
thought to himself.
Suddenly he became occupied with Kate's beauty. He thought he had never
seen her so bewitching or in such good spirits. From his six feet and
an inch of vantage his eyes followed her sloping shoulders and tapering
arms and rested on her laughing, happy face--rose-colored in the soft
light of the candles--a film of lace looped at her elbows, her wonderful
hair caught in a coil at the back: not the prevailing fashion but one
most becoming to her. What had not this admixture of Scotch and Virginia
blood--this intermingling of robust independence with the gentle,
yielding feminine qualities of the Southern-born woman--done for this
girl?
Richard clapped his hands to attract attention, and advancing a step in
front of the big easy-chair which Malachi had just pulled out for him,
raised his fingers to command silence.
All eyes were instantly turned his way. Alert and magnetic, dignified
and charming, he stood in the full glow of the overhead chandelier,
its light falling upon his snuff-brown coat with its brass buttons,
pale-yellow waistcoat, and the fluff of white silk about his throat--his
grave, thoughtful face turned toward Kate as his nearest guest, his
glance sweeping the crowded room as if to be sure that everybody was
at ease; Malachi close behind awaiting his master's orders to further
adjust the chair and reading-lamp.
In the interim of the hush Kate had settled herself at Richard's feet
on the low stool that Willits had brought, the young man standing behind
her, the two making a picture that attracted general attention; some
wondering at her choice, while others were outspoken in their admiration
of the pair who seemed so wonderfully suited to each other.
“I have a rare story,” Richard began “to read to you to-night, my good
friends, one you will never forget; one, indeed, which I am sure the
world at large will never forget. I shall read it as best I can, begging
your indulgence especially in rendering the dialect parts, which, if
badly done, often mar both the pathos and humor of the text.” Here he
settled himself in his chair and picked up the small volume, Malachi,
now that his service was over, tiptoeing out to his place in the hall so
as to be ready for belated arrivals.
The room grew silent. Even Mrs. Cheston, who rarely ceased talking
when she had anything to say--and she generally did have something to
say--folded her hands in her lap and settled herself in her arm-chair,
her whole attention fastened on the reader. St. George, who had been
talking to her, moved up a chair so he could watch Kate's face the
better.
Again Richard raised his voice:
“The time is of the present, and the scene is laid in one of those small
towns outside London. I shall read the whole story, omitting no word of
the text, for only then will you fully grasp the beauty of the author's
style.”
He began in low, clear tones reciting the contest between the hum of
the kettle and the chirp of the cricket; the music of his voice
lending added charm to the dual song. Then there followed in constantly
increasing intensity the happy home life of bewitching Dot Perrybingle
and her matter-of-fact husband, John the Carrier, with sleepy Tilly
Slowboy and the Baby to fill out the picture; the gradual unfolding of
the events that led up to the cruel marriage about to take place between
old Tackleton, the mean toy merchant, and sweet May Fielding, in love
with the sailor boy, Edward, lost at sea; the finding of the mysterious
deaf old man by John the Carrier, and the bringing him home in his cart
to Dot, who kept him all night because his friends had not called for
him; the rapid growth of a love affair between Dot and this old man, who
turned out to be a handsome young fellow; the heart-rending discovery by
John, through the spying of Tackleton, that Dot was untrue to him,
she meeting the man clandestinely and adjusting the disguise for him,
laughing all the while at the ruse she was helping him to play; the
grief of John when he realized the truth, he sitting all night alone by
the fire trying to make up his mind whether he would creep upstairs
and murder the villain who had stolen the heart of his little Dot, or
forgive her because he was so much older than she and it was, therefore,
natural for her to love a younger man; and finally the preparations at
the church, where Tackleton was to wed the beautiful May Fielding, who,
broken-hearted over the death of her sailor boy, had at last succumbed
to her mother's wishes and consented to join Tackleton at the altar.
For an hour Richard's well-modulated, full-toned voice rolled on, the
circle drawing closer and closer with their ears and hearts, as the
characters, one after another, became real and alive under the
reader's magical rendering. Dot Perrybingle's cheery, laughing
accents; Tackleton's sharp, rasping tones; John the Carrier's simple,
straightforward utterances and the soft, timid cadence of old Caleb, the
toy maker--(drowned Edward's father)--and his blind daughter Bertha were
recognized as soon as the reader voiced their speech. So thrilling was
the story of their several joys and sorrows that Kate, unconscious of
her surroundings, had slipped from her low stool, and with the weight of
her body resting on her knees, sat searching Richard's face, the better
to catch every word that fell from his lips.
To heighten the effect of what was the most dramatic part of the
story--the return of the wedding party to the Carrier's house, where
Dot, Caleb, and his blind daughter awaited them--Richard paused for a
moment as if to rest his voice--the room the while deathly still, the
loosening of a pent-up breath now and then showing how tense was the
emotion. Then he went on:
“Are those wheels upon the road, Bertha?”, cried Dot. “You've a quick
ear, Bertha--And now you hear them stopping at the garden gate! And now
you hear a step outside the door--the same step, Bertha, is it not--And
now--”
Dot uttered a wild cry of uncontrollable delight, and running up to
Caleb put her hand upon his eyes, as a young man rushed into the room,
and, flinging away his hat into the air, came sweeping down upon them.
“Is it over?” cried Dot.
“Yes!”
“Happily over?”
“Yes!”
“Do you recollect the voice, dear Caleb? Did you ever hear the like of
it before?” cried Dot.
“If my boy Edward in the Golden South Americas was alive--” cried Caleb,
trembling.
“He is alive!” shrieked Dot, removing her hands from his eyes and
clapping them in ecstasy; “look at him! See where he stands before you,
healthy and strong! Your own dear son! Your own dear, living, loving
brother, Bertha!”
All honor to the little creature for her transports! All honor to her
tears and laughter, when the three were locked in one another's
arms! All honor to the heartiness with which she met the sunburnt,
sailor-fellow, with his dark, streaming hair, halfway, and never turned
her rosy little mouth aside, but suffered him to kiss it freely, and to
press her to his bounding heart!
“Now tell him (John) all, Edward,” sobbed Dot, “and don't spare me, for
nothing shall make me spare myself in his eyes ever again.”
“I was the man,” said Edward.
“And you could steal disguised into the home of your old friend,”
rejoined the carrier...
“But I had a passion for her.”
“You!”
“I had,” rejoined the other, “and she returned it--I heard twenty miles
away that she was false to me--I had no mind to reproach her but to see
for myself.”
Once more Richard's voice faltered, and again it rang clear, this time
in Dot's tones:
“But when she knew that Edward was alive, John, and had come back--and
when she--that's me, John--told him all--and how his sweetheart had
believed him to be dead, and how she had been over-persuaded by her
mother into a marriage--and when she--that's me again, John--told him
they were not married, though close upon it--and when he went nearly
mad for joy to hear it--then she--that's me again--said she would go
and sound his sweetheart--and she did--and they were married an hour
ago!--John, an hour ago! And here's the bride! And Gruff and Tackleton
may die a bachelor! And I'm a happy little woman, May, God bless you!”
Little woman, how she sobbed! John Perrybingle would have caught her in
his arms. But no; she wouldn't let him.
“Don't love me yet, please, John! Not for a long time yet! No--keep
there, please, John! When I laugh at you, as I sometimes do, John, and
call you clumsy, and a dear old goose, and names of that sort, it's
because I love you, John, so well. And when I speak of people being
middle-aged and steady, John, and pretend that we are a humdrum couple,
going on in a jog-trot sort of way, it's only because I'm such a silly
little thing, John, that I like, sometimes, to act a kind of play with
Baby, and all that, and make believe.”
She saw that he was coming, and stopped him again. But she was very
nearly too late.
“No, don't love me for another minute or two, if you please, John! When
I first came home here I was half afraid I mighn't learn to love you
every bit as well as I hoped and prayed I might--being so very young,
John. But, dear John, every day and hour I love you more and more. And
if I could have loved you better than I do, the noble words I heard you
say this morning would have made me. But I can't. All the affection that
I had (it was a great deal, John) I gave you, as you well deserve, long,
long ago, and I have no more left to give. Now, my dear husband, take
me to your heart again! That's my home, John; and never, never think of
sending me to any other.”
Richard Stopped and picking up a glass from the table moistened his
lips. The silence continued. Down more than one face the tears were
trickling, as they have trickled down millions of faces since. Kate had
crept imperceptibly nearer until her hands could have touched Richard's
knees. When Willits bent over her with a whispered comment a slight
shiver ran through her, but she neither answered nor turned her head. It
was only when Richard's voice finally ceased with the loud chirp of the
cricket at the close of the beloved story, and St. George had helped her
to her feet, that she seemed to awake to a sense of where she was. Even
then she looked about her in a dazed way, as if she feared some one had
been probing her heart--hanging back till the others had showered their
congratulations on the reader. Then leaning forward she placed her hands
in Richard's as if to steady herself, and with a sigh that seemed to
come from the depths of her nature bent her head and kissed him softly
on the cheek.
When the eggnog was being served and the guests were broken up into
knots and groups, all discussing the beauty of the reading, she suddenly
left Willits, who had followed her every move as if he had a prior right
to her person, and going up to St. George, led him out of the room to
one of the sofas in Richard's study, her lips quivering, the undried
tears still trembling on her eyelids. She did not release his hand as
they took their seats. Her fingers closed only the tighter, as if she
feared he would slip from her grasp.
“It was all so beautiful and so terrible, Uncle George,” she moaned at
last--“and all so true. Such awful mistakes are made and then it is too
late. And nobody understands--nobody--nobody!” She paused, as if the
mere utterance pained her, and then to St. George's amazement asked
abruptly “Is there nothing yet from Harry?”
St. George looked at her keenly, wondering whether he had caught the
words aright. It had been months since Harry's name had crossed her
lips.
“No, nothing,” he answered simply, trying to fathom her purpose and
completely at sea as to her real motive--“not for some months. Not since
he left the ship.”
“And do you think he is in any danger?” She had released his hand, and
with her fingers resting on the sleeve of his coat sat looking into his
eyes as if to read their meaning.
“I don't know,” he replied in a non-committal tone, still trying to
understand her purpose. “He meant then to go to the mountains, so he
wrote his mother. This may account for our not hearing. Why do you ask?
Have you had any news of him yourself?” he added, studying her face for
some solution of her strange attitude.
She sank back on the cushions. “No, he never writes to me.” Then, as
if some new train of thought had forced its way into her mind, she
exclaimed suddenly: “What mountains?”
“Some range back of Rio, if I remember rightly. He said he--”
“Rio! But there is yellow fever at Rio!” she cried, with a start as she
sat erect in her seat, the pupils of her eyes grown to twice their size.
“Father lost half of one of his crews at Rio. He heard so to-day. It
would be dreadful for--for--his mother--if anything should happen to
him.”
Again St. George scrutinized her face, trying to probe deep down in her
heart. Had she, after all, some affection left for this boy lover--and
her future husband within hearing distance! No! This was not his
Kate--he understood it all now. It was the spell of the story that still
held her. Richard's voice had upset her, as it had done half the room.
“Yes, it is dreadful for everybody,” he added. And then, in a
perfunctory manner, as being perhaps the best way to lead the
conversation into other channels, added: “And the suspense will be worse
now--for me at any rate--for I, too, am going away where letters reach
me but seldom.”
Her hand closed convulsively over his.
“You going away! YOU!” she cried in a half-frightened tone. “Oh, please
don't, Uncle George! Oh!--I don't want you away from me! Why must you
go? Oh, no! Not now--not now!”
Her distress was so marked and her voice so pleading that he was about
to tell her the whole story, even to that of the shifts he had been put
to to get food for himself and Todd, when he caught sight of Willits
making his way through the throng to where they sat. His lips closed
tight. This man would always be a barrier between him and the girl he
had loved ever since her babyhood.
“Well, my dear Kate,” he replied calmly, his eyes still on Willits, who
in approaching from the other room had been detained by a guest, “you
see I must go. Mr. Pawson wants me out of the way while he fixes up some
of my accounts, and so he suggested that I go back to Wesley for a few
months.” He paused for an instant and, still keeping his eye on Willets,
added: “And now one thing more, my dear Kate, before your escort claims
you”--here his voice sank to a whisper--“promise me that if Harry writes
to you you will send him a kind, friendly letter in return. It can do
you no harm now, nor would Harry misunderstand it--your wedding is so
near. A letter would greatly cheer him in his loneliness.”
“But he won't write!” she exclaimed with some bitterness--she had
not yet noticed Willits's approach--“he'll never write or speak to me
again.”
“But you will if he does?” pleaded St. George, the thought of his boy's
loneliness overmastering every other feeling.
“But he won't, I tell you--never--NEVER!”
“But if he should, my child? If--”
He stopped and raised his head. Willits stood gazing down at them,
searching St. George's face, as if to learn the meaning of the
conference: he knew that he did not favor his suit.
Kate looked up and her face flushed.
“Yes--in one minute, Mr. Willits,” and without a word of any kind to
St. George she rose from the sofa and with her arm in Willits's left the
room.