THE THORPEDYKE SISTERS
The new and grand addition to Mrs. Cliff's house, which had been so
planned that the little house to which it had been joined appeared to be
an architecturally harmonious adjunct to it, caused a far greater
sensation in Plainton than the erection of any of the public buildings
therein.
Its journey from the corner lot was watched by hundreds of spectators,
and now Mrs. Cliff, Willy, and Mr. Burke spent day and evening in
exhibiting and explaining this remarkable piece of building enterprise.
Mr. Burke was very jolly. He took no credit to himself for the planning
of the house, which, as he truthfully said, had been the work of an
architect who had suggested what was proper and had been allowed to do
it. But he did feel himself privileged to declare that if every crew
building a house were commanded by a person of marine experience, things
would move along a good deal more briskly than they generally did, and
to this assertion he found no one to object.
Mrs. Cliff was very happy in wandering over her new rooms, and in
assuring herself that no matter how grand they might be when they were
all furnished and fitted up, nothing had been done which would interfere
with the dear old home which she had loved so long. It is true that one
of the windows of the little dining-room was blocked up, but that window
was not needed.
Mr. Burke was not willing to give Mrs. Cliff more than a day or two for
the contemplation of her new possessions, and urged upon her that while
the chimneys were being erected and the heating apparatus was being put
into the house, she ought to attend to the selection and purchase of the
carpets, furniture, pictures, and everything which was needed in the new
establishment.
Mrs. Cliff thought this good advice, and proposed a trip to Boston; but
Burke did not think that would do at all, and declared that New York was
the only place where she could get everything she needed. Willy, who was
to accompany Mrs. Cliff, had been to Boston, but had never visited New
York, and she strongly urged the claims of the latter city, and an
immediate journey to the metropolis was agreed upon.
But when Mrs. Cliff considered the magnitude and difficulties of the
work she was about to undertake, she wished for the counsel and advice
of some one besides Willy. This good little woman was energetic and
enthusiastic, but she had had no experience in regard to the furnishing
of a really good house.
When, in her mind, she was running over the names of those who might be
able and willing to go with her and assist her, Mrs. Cliff suddenly
thought of the Thorpedyke ladies, and there her mental category stopped
as she announced to Willy that she was going to ask these ladies to go
with them to New York.
Willy thought well of this plan, but she had her doubts about Miss
Barbara, who was so quiet, domestic, and unused to travel that she might
be unwilling to cast herself into the din and whirl of the metropolis.
But when she and Mrs. Cliff went to make a call upon the Thorpedykes and
put the question before them, she was very much surprised to find that,
although the elder sister, after carefully considering the subject,
announced her willingness to oblige Mrs. Cliff, Miss Barbara agreed to
the plan with an alacrity which her visitors had never known her to
exhibit before.
As soon as the necessary preparations could be made, a party of five
left Plainton for New York, and a very well-assorted party it was! Mr.
Burke, who guided and commanded the expedition, supplied the impelling
energy; Mrs. Cliff had her check book with her; Willy was ready with any
amount of enthusiasm; and the past life of Miss Eleanor Thorpedyke and
her sister Barbara had made them most excellent judges of what was
appropriate for the worthy furnishing of a stately mansion.
Their youth and middle life had been spent near Boston, in a fine old
house which had been the home of their ancestors, and where they had
been familiar with wealth, distinguished society, and noble hospitality.
But when they had been left the sole representatives of their family,
and when misfortune after misfortune had come down upon them and swept
away their estates and nearly all of their income, they had retired to
the little town of Plainton where they happened to own a house.
There, with nothing saved from the wreck of their prosperity but their
family traditions, and some of the old furniture and pictures, they had
settled down to spend in quiet the rest of their lives.
For two weeks our party remained in New York, living at one of the best
hotels, but spending nearly all their time in shops and streets.
Mrs. Cliff was rapidly becoming a different woman from the old Mrs.
Cliff of Plainton. At the time she stepped inside of the addition to her
house the change had begun, and now it showed itself more and more each
day. She had seen more beautiful things in Paris, but there she looked
upon them with but little thought of purchasing. In New York whatever
she saw and desired she made her own.
The difference between a mere possessor of wealth and one who uses it
became very apparent to her. Not until now had she really known what it
was to be a rich woman. Not only did this consciousness of power swell
her veins with a proud delight, but it warmed and invigorated all her
better impulses. She had always been of a generous disposition, but now
she felt an intense good-will toward her fellow-beings, and wished that
other people could be as happy as she was.
She thought of Mrs. Ferguson and remembered what she had said about her
daughters. To be sure, Mrs. Ferguson was always trying to get people to
do things for her, and Mrs. Cliff did not fancy that class of women,
but now her wealth-warmed soul inclined her to overlook this prejudice,
and she said to herself that when she got home she would make
arrangements for those two girls to go to a good school; and, more than
that, she would see to it that Mr. Ferguson was moved. It seemed to her
just then that it would be a very cheerful thing to make other people
happy.
The taste and artistic judgment of the elder Miss Thorpedyke, which had
been dormant for years, simply because there was nothing upon which they
could exercise themselves, now awoke in their old vigor, and with Mrs.
Cliff's good sense, reinforced by her experience gained in wandering
among the treasures of Paris, the results of the shopping expedition
were eminently satisfactory. And, with the plan of the new building,
which Mr. Burke carried always with him, everything which was likely to
be needed in each room, hall, or stairway, was selected and purchased,
and as fast as this was done, the things were shipped to Plainton, where
people were ready to put them where they belonged.
Willy Croup was not always of service in the purchasing expeditions, for
she liked everything that she saw, and no sooner was an article produced
than she went into ecstasies over it; but as she had an intense desire
to see everything which New York contained, she did not at all confine
herself to the shops and bazaars. She went wherever she could and saw
all that it was possible for her to see; but in the midst of the sights
and attractions of the metropolis she was still Willy Croup.
One afternoon as she and Miss Barbara were passing along one of the side
streets on their return from an attempt to see how the poorer people
lived, Willy stopped in front of a blacksmith's shop where a man was
shoeing a horse.
"There!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with delight, "that's the
first thing I've seen that reminds me of home!"
"It is nice, isn't it!" said gentle Miss Barbara.