HEIRESS AND BEAUTY.
'Tis hard upon the dawn, and yet
She comes not from the ball.
The night is cold and bleak and wet,
And the snow lies over all.
I praised her with her diamonds on!
And as she went she smiled,
And yet I sighed when she was gone,
I sighed like any child.
--_Meredith_.
Meanwhile all Claudia Merlin's time was taken up with milliners, mantua
makers, and jewelers. She was to make her first appearance in society at
the President's first evening reception, which was to be held on Friday,
the sixth of January. It was now very near the New Year, and all her
intervening time was occupied in preparations for the festivities that
were to attend it.
On the twenty-third of December, two days before Christmas, Mr. and
Mrs. Middleton and all their family arrived. They came up by the
"Columbia," and reached Judge Merlin's house early in the morning.
Consequently they were not fatigued, and the day of their arrival was a
day of unalloyed pleasure and of family jubilee.
Ishmael took sympathetic part in all the rejoicings, and was caressed by
Mr. and Mrs. Middleton and all their younger children as a sort of
supplementary son and brother.
On Christmas Eve, also, Reuben Gray, Hannah, and her children came to
town in their wagon. Honest Reuben had brought a load of turkeys for the
Christmas market, and had "put up" at a plain, respectable inn, much
frequented by the farmers, near the market house; but in the course of
the day he and his wife, leaving the children in the care of their
faithful Sally, who had accompanied them in the character of nurse,
called on Ishmael and brought him his trunk of wearing apparel.
The judge, in his hearty, old-fashioned, thoughtless hospitality, would
have had Reuben and his family come and stop at his own house. But
Reuben Gray, with all his simplicity, had the good sense firmly to
decline this invitation and keep to his tavern.
"For you know, Hannah, my dear," he said to his wife, when they found
themselves again, at the Plow, "we would bother the family more'n the
judge reckoned on. What could they do with us? Where could they put us?
As to axing of us in the drawing room or sitting of us down in the
dining room, with all his fine, fashionable friends, that wasn't to be
thought on! And as to you being put into the kitchen, along of the
servants, that I wouldn't allow! Now the judge, he didn't think of all
these things: but I did; and I was right to decline the invitation,
don't you think so?"
"Of course you were, Reuben, and if you hadn't declined it, I would, and
that I tell you," answered Mrs. Gray.
"And so, Hannah, my dear, we will just keep our Christmas where we are!
We won't deprive Ishmael of his grand Christmas dinner with his grand
friends; but we will ax him to come over and go to the playhouse with us
and see the play, and then we'll all come back and have a nice supper
all on us together. We'll have a roast turkey and mince pie and egg-nog
and apple toddy, my dear, and make a night of it, once in a way! What do
you think?"
"I think that will be all very well, Reuben, so that you don't take too
much of that same egg-nog and apple toddy," replied Mrs. Gray.
"Now, Hannah, did you ever know me to do such a thing?" inquired Reuben,
with an injured air.
"No, Reuben, I never did. But I think that a man that even so much as
touches spiritable likkers is never safe until he is in his grave," said
Mrs. Gray solemnly.
"Where he can never get no more," sighed Reuben; and as he had to attend
the market to sell his turkeys that night, he left Hannah and went to
put his horses to the wagon.
So fine a trade did Reuben drive with his fat turkeys that he came home
at ten with an empty wagon and full pocketbook, and told Hannah that she
might have a new black silk "gownd," and Sally should have a red calico
"un," and as for the children, they should have an outfit from head to
foot.
Christmas morning dawned gloriously. All the little Middleton's were
made happy by the fruit of the Christmas tree. In the many kind
interchanges of gifts Ishmael was not entirely forgotten. Some loving
heart had remembered him. Some skillful hand had worked for him. When he
went up to his room after breakfast on Christmas morning, he saw upon
his dressing table a packet directed to himself. On opening it he found
a fine pocket-handkerchief neatly hemmed and marked, a pair of nice
gloves, a pair of home-knit socks, and a pair of embroidered slippers.
Here was no useless fancy trumpery; all were useful articles; and in the
old-fashioned, housewifely present Ishmael recognized the thoughtful
heart and careful hand of Bee, and grateful, affectionate tears filled
his eyes. He went below stairs to a back parlor, where he felt sure he
should find Bee presiding over the indoor amusements of her younger
brothers and sisters.
And, sure enough, there the pretty little motherly maiden was among the
children.
Ishmael went straight up to her, saying, in fervent tones:
"I thank you, Bee; I thank you for remembering me."
"Why, who should remember you if not I, Ishmael? Are you not like one of
ourselves? And should I forget you any sooner than I should forget
Walter, or James, or John?" said Bee, with a pleasant smile.
"Ah, Bee! I have neither mother nor sister to think of me at festive
times; but you, dear Bee, you make me forget the need of either."
"You have 'neither mother nor sister,' Ishmael? Now, do not think so,
while my dear mother and myself live; for I am sure she loves you as a
son, Ishmael, and I love you--as a brother," answered Bee, speaking
comfort to the lonely youth from the depths of her own pure, kind heart.
But ah! the intense blush that followed her words might have revealed to
an interested observer how much more than any brother she loved Ishmael
Worth.
Judge Merlin, Claudia, Mr. and Mrs. Middleton, and Ishmael went to
church.
Bee stayed home to see that the nurses took proper care of the children.
They had a family Christmas dinner.
And after that Ishmael excused himself, and went over to the Plow to
spend the evening with Reuben and Hannah. That evening the three friends
went to the theater, and saw their first play, "the Comedy of Errors,"
together. And it did many an old, satiated play-goer good to see the
hearty zest with which honest Reuben enjoyed the fun. Nor was Hannah or
Ishmael much behind him in their keen appreciation of the piece; only,
at those passages at which Hannah and Ishmael only smiled, Reuben rubbed
his knees, and laughed aloud, startling all the audience.
"It's a good thing I don't live in the city, Hannah, my dear, for I
would go to the play every night!" said Reuben, as they left the theater
at the close of the performance.
"And it is a good thing you don't, Reuben, for it would be the ruination
of you!" admitted Hannah.
They went back to the Plow, where the Christmas supper was served for
them in the plain little private sitting room. After partaking
moderately of its delicacies, Ishmael bade them good-night, and returned
home.
Reuben and Hannah stayed a week in the city. Reuben took her about to
see all the sights and to shop in all the stores. And on New Year's day,
when the President received the public, Reuben took Hannah to the White
House, to "pay their duty" to the chief magistrate of the nation. And
the day after New Year's day they took leave of Ishmael and of all their
friends, and returned home, delighted with the memory of their pleasant
visit to the city.
Ishmael, after all these interruptions, returned with new zest to his
duties, and, as before, worked diligently day and night.
Claudia went deeper into her preparations for her first appearance in
society at the President's first drawing room of the season.
The night of nights for the heiress came. After dinner Claudia indulged
herself in a long nap, so that she might be quite fresh in the evening.
When she woke up she took a cup of tea, and immediately retired to her
chamber to dress.
Mrs. Middleton superintended her toilet.
Claudia wore a rich point-lace dress over a white satin skirt. The
wreath that crowned her head, the necklace that reposed upon her bosom,
the bracelets that clasped her arms, the girdle that enclosed her waist,
and the bunches of flowers that festooned her upper lace dress, were all
of the same rich pattern--lilies of the valley, whose blossoms were
formed of pearl, whose leaves were of emeralds, and whose dew was of
diamonds. Snowy gloves and snowy shoes completed this toilet, the effect
of which was rich, chaste, and elegant beyond description. Mrs.
Middleton wore a superb dress of ruby-colored velvet.
When they were both quite ready, they went down into the drawing room,
where Judge Merlin, Mr. Middleton, and Ishmael were awaiting them, and
where Claudia's splendid presence suddenly dazzled them. Mr. Middleton
and Judge Merlin gazed upon the radiant beauty with undisguised
admiration. And Ishmael looked on with a deep, unuttered groan. How
dared he love this stately, resplendent queen? How dared he hope she
would ever deign to notice him? But the next instant he reproached
himself for the groan and the doubt--how could he have been so fooled
by a mere shimmer of satin and glitter of jewels?
Judge Merlin and Mr. Middleton were in the conventional evening dress of
gentlemen, and were quite ready to attend the ladies. They had nothing
to do, therefore, but to hand them to the carriage, which they
accordingly did. The party of four, Mr. and Mrs. Middleton, Judge
Merlin, and Claudia, drove off.
Ishmael and Beatrice remained at home. Ishmael to study his law books;
Beatrice to give the boys their supper and see that the nurses took
proper care of the children.