"Yes," said Miss Deborah Woodhouse, as she stood in the doorway of Miss
Ruth's studio, "yes, we must give a dinner party, sister. It is certainly
the proper thing to do, now that the Forsythes are going back to the
city. It is to be expected of us, sister."
"Well, I don't know that it is expected of us," said Miss Ruth, who never
agreed too readily to any suggestion of Miss Deborah's; "but I think we
ought to do it. I meant to have spoken to you about it."
Miss Ruth was washing some brushes, a task her soul abhorred, for it
was almost impossible to avoid some stain upon her apron or her hands;
though, to guard against the latter, she wore gloves. The corners of Miss
Ruth's mouth were drawn down and her eyebrows lifted up, and her whole
face was a protest against her work. On her easel was a canvas, where she
had begun a sketch purporting to be apple-blossoms.
The studio was dark, for a mist of November rain blurred all the low gray
sky. The wide southwest window, which ran the length of the woodshed
(this part of which was devoted to art), was streaming with water, and
though the dotted muslin curtain was pushed as far back as it would go,
very little light struggled into the room. The dim engravings of nymphs
and satyrs, in tarnished frames, which had been hung here to make room
in the house for Miss Ruth's own productions, could scarcely be
distinguished in the gloom, and though the artist wore her glasses she
could not see to work.
So she had pushed back her easel, and began to make things tidy for
Sunday. Any sign of disorder would have greatly distressed Miss Ruth.
Even her paint-tubes were kept scrupulously bright and clean, and nothing
was ever out of place. Perhaps this made the room in the woodshed a
little dreary, certainly it looked so now to Miss Deborah, standing in
the doorway, and seeing the gaunt whitewashed walls, the bare rafters,
and the sweeping rain against the window.
"Do, sister," she entreated, "come into the house, and let us arrange
about the dinner."
"No," said Miss Ruth, sighing, "I must wash these brushes."
"Why not let Sarah do it?" asked the other, stepping over a little stream
of water which had forced itself under the threshold.
"Now, surely, sister," said Miss Ruth pettishly, "you know Sarah would
get the color on the handles. But there! I suppose you don't know how
artistic people feel about such things." She stopped long enough to take
off her gloves and tie the strings of her long white apron a little
tighter about her trim waist; then she went to work again.
"No, I suppose I don't understand," Miss Deborah acknowledged; "but never
mind, we can talk here, only it is a little damp. What do you think of
asking them for Thursday? It is a good day for a dinner party. You are
well over the washing and ironing, you know, and you have Wednesday for
the jellies and creams, besides a good two hours in the afternoon to get
out the best china and see to the silver. Friday is for cleaning up and
putting things away, because Saturday one is always busy getting ready
for Sunday."
Miss Ruth demurred. "I should rather have it on a Friday."
"Well, you don't know anything about the housekeeping part of it," said
Miss Deborah, promptly. "And I don't believe William Denner would want
to come then; you know he is quite superstitious about Friday. Beside, it
is not convenient for me," she added, settling the matter once for all.
"Oh, I've no objection to Thursday," said Miss Ruth. "I don't know but
that I prefer it. Yes, we will have it on Thursday." Having thus asserted
herself, Miss Ruth began to put away her paints and cover her canvas.
"It is a pity the whist was put off to-night," said Miss Deborah; "we
could have arranged it at the rectory. But if I see Adele Dale to-morrow,
I'll tell her."
"I beg," said Miss Ruth quickly, "that you'll do nothing of the sort."
"What!" exclaimed Miss Deborah.
"We will write the invitations, if you please," said Miss Ruth loftily.
"Fiddlesticks!" retorted the other. "We'll write the Forsythes, of
course, but the people at the rectory and Adele Dale?--nonsense!"
"It is not nonsense," Miss Ruth answered; "it is _proper_, and it must be
done. I understand these things, Deborah; you are so taken up with your
cooking, you cannot really be expected to know. When you invite city
people to a formal dinner, everything must be done decently and in order.
It is not like asking the rector and Adele to drop in to tea any time."
"Fudge!" responded Miss Deborah.
A faint color began to show in Miss Ruth's faded cheek, and she set her
lips firmly. "The invitations should be written," she said.
It was settled, as usual, by each sister doing exactly as she pleased.
Miss Deborah gave her invitations by word of mouth the next day, standing
in the rain, under a dripping umbrella, by the church porch, while on
Monday each of the desired guests received a formal note in Miss Ruth's
precise and delicate hand, containing the compliments of the Misses
Woodhouse, and a request for the honor of their company at dinner on
Thursday, November 12th, at half past six o'clock.
A compromise had been effected about the hour. Miss Ruth had insisted
that it should be at eight, while Miss Deborah contended that as they
dined, like all the rest of Ashurst, at noon, it was absurd to make it
later than six, and Miss Ruth's utmost persuasion had only brought it to
half past.
During these days of preparation Miss Ruth could only flutter upon the
outskirts of the kitchen, which just now was a solemn place, and her
suggestions were scarcely noticed, and never heeded. It was hard to have
no share in those long conversations between Sarah and her sister, and
not to know the result of the mysterious researches among the receipts
which had been written out on blue foolscap and bound in marbled
pasteboard before Miss Deborah was born.
Her time, however, came. Miss Deborah owned that no one could arrange a
table like Miss Ruth. The tall silver candlesticks with twisted arms, the
fruit in the open-work china baskets, the slender-stemmed glasses for the
wines, the decanters in the queer old coasters, and the great bunch of
chrysanthemums in the silver punch-bowl in the centre,--no one could
place them so perfectly as her sister.
"Ruth," she affirmed, "has a touch," and she contemplated the board with
great satisfaction.
"Pray," said Miss Ruth, as she quietly put back in its place a fruit dish
which Miss Deborah had "straightened," "pray where are Mr. Dale's
comfits? They must be on the tray to be taken into the parlor."
"Sarah will fetch them," answered Miss Deborah; and at that moment Sarah
entered with the candy and a stately and elaborate dish, which she placed
upon the sideboard.
"Poor, dear man," said Miss Ruth. "I suppose he never gets all the candy
he wishes at home. I trust there is plenty for to-night, sister? But what
is that Sarah just brought in?"
"Well," Miss Deborah replied, with anxious pride in her tone, "it is not
Easter, I know, but it does look so well I thought I'd make it, anyhow.
It is Sic itur ad astra."
This dish had been "composed" by Miss Deborah many years ago, and was
considered by all her friends her greatest triumph. Dr. Howe had
christened it, declaring that it was of a semi-religious nature, but in
Miss Deborah's pronunciation the Latin was no longer recognizable.
It consisted of an arrangement of strips of candied orange and lemon
peel, intended to represent a nest of straw. On it were placed jellied
creams in different colors, which had been run into egg-shells to
stiffen. The whole was intended to suggest a nest of new-laid eggs. The
housekeeper will at once recognize the trouble and expense of such a
dish, as the shells which served for moulds had first to be emptied of
their contents through a small hole in one end, hopelessly mixing the
whites and yolks, and leaving them useless for fine cookery.
No wonder, then, that Miss Deborah's face beamed with pride. But Miss
Ruth's showed nothing but contempt. "That--that--barn-door dish!" she
ejaculated.
"Barn-door?" faltered Miss Deborah.
"Barn-yard, I mean," said her sister sternly. "The idea of having such
a thing! Easter is the only excuse for it. It is undignified,--it is
absurd,--it is--it is preposterous!"
"It is good," Miss Deborah maintained stoutly.
"I don't deny that," said Miss Ruth, thinking they would have it for
dinner the next day, and perhaps the next also,--for it takes more
than one day for a family of two to eat up the remnants of a dinner
party,--"but you must see it is out of place at a formal dinner. It
must not appear."
Discussion was useless. Each was determined, for each felt her particular
province had been invaded. And each carried her point. The dish did not
appear on the table, yet every guest was asked if he or she would have
some "Sicituradastra"--for to the housemaid it was one word--which was on
the sideboard.
But the anxieties of the dinner were not over even when the table was as
beautiful and stately as could be desired, and Miss Deborah was conscious
that every dish was perfect. The two little ladies, tired, but satisfied,
had yet to dress. Sarah had put the best black silks on the bed in each
room, but for the lighter touches of the toilette the sisters were their
own judges. Miss Deborah must decide what laces she should wear, and long
did Miss Ruth stand at her dressing-table, wondering whether to pin the
pale lavender ribbon at her throat or the silver-gray one.
Miss Deborah was dressed first. She wore a miniature of her
great-grandfather as a pin, and her little fingers were covered with
rings, in strange old-fashioned settings. Her small figure had an unusual
dignity in the lustrous silk, which was turned away at the neck, and
filled with point-lace that looked like frosted cobwebs. The sleeves of
her gown were full, and gathered into a wristband over point-lace ruffles
which almost hid her little hands, folded primly in front of her. "Little
bishops" Miss Deborah called these sleeves, and she was apt to say that,
for her part, she thought a closely fitting sleeve was hardly modest. Her
full skirt rustled, as, holding herself very straight, she came into her
sister's room, that they might go down together.
Miss Ruth was still in her gray linsey-woolsey petticoat, short enough to
show her trim ankles in their black open-worked silk stockings. She stood
with one hand resting on the open drawer of her bureau, and in the other
the two soft bits of ribbon, that held the faint fragrance of rose leaves
which clung to all her possessions. Miss Ruth would never have confessed
it, but she was thinking that Mr. Forsythe was a very genteel young man,
and she wished she knew which ribbon would be more becoming.
"Ruth!" said Miss Deborah, in majestic disapproval.
The younger sister gave a little jump of fright, and dropped the ribbons
hastily, as though she feared Miss Deborah had detected her thoughts.
"I--I'll be ready directly, sister."
"I hope so, indeed," said Miss Deborah severely, and moved with
deliberate dignity from the room, while Miss Ruth, much fluttered, took
her dress from the high bedstead, which had four cherry-wood posts,
carved in alternate balloons and disks, and a striped dimity valance.
She still realized the importance of the right ribbon, and the
responsibility of choice oppressed her; but it was too late for any
further thought. She shut her eyes tight, and, with a trembling little
hand, picked up the first one she touched. Satisfied, since Fate so
decided it, that gray was the right color, she pinned it at her throat
with an old brooch of chased and twisted gold, and gave a last glance
at her swinging glass before joining her sister in the parlor. The
excitement had brought a faint flush into her soft cheek, and her eyes
were bright, and the gray ribbon had a pretty gleam in it. Miss Ruth gave
her hair a little pat over each ear, and felt a thrill of forgotten
vanity.
"It's high time you were down, Ruth," cried Miss Deborah, who stood on
the rug in front of the blazing fire, rubbing her hands nervously
together,--"high time!"
"Why, they won't be here for a quarter of an hour yet, sister," protested
Miss Ruth.
"Well, you should be here! I do hope they won't be late; the venison is
to be taken out of the tin kitchen precisely at five minutes of seven.
Do, pray, sister, step into the hall and see what o'clock it is. I really
am afraid they are late."
Miss Ruth went, but had scarcely crossed the threshold when Miss Deborah
cried, "Come back, come back, Ruth! You must be here when they come," and
then bustled away herself to fetch the housemaid to be ready to open the
door, though, as Miss Ruth had said, it was a good quarter of an hour
before the most impatient guest might be expected.
Miss Ruth went about, straightening a chair, or pulling an antimacassar
to one side or the other, or putting an ornament in a better light, and
then stopping to snuff the candles in the brass sconces on either side of
the old piano. This and her anxiety about the venison fretted Miss
Deborah so much, it was a great relief to hear the first carriage, and
catch a glimpse of Mrs. Dale hurrying across the hall and up the stairs,
her well-known brown satin tucked up to avoid a speck of mud or dust.
Miss Deborah plucked Miss Ruth's sleeve, and, settling the lace at her
own throat and wrists, bade her sister stand beside her on the rug. "And
do, dear Ruth, try and have more repose of manner," she said, breathing
quite quickly with excitement.
When Mrs. Dale entered, rustling in her shiny satin, with Mr. Dale
shambling along behind her, the sisters greeted her with that stately
affection which was part of the occasion.
"So glad to see you, dear Adele," said Miss Deborah and Miss Ruth in
turn; and Mrs. Dale responded with equal graciousness, and no apparent
recollection that they had almost quarreled that very morning at the
post-office, when Mrs. Dale said that the first cloth to be removed at
a dinner should be folded in fours, and Miss Deborah that it should be
folded in threes.
Mr. Denner was the next to arrive, and while he was still making his bow
the Forsythes came in; Dick looking over the heads of the little ladies,
as though in search of some one else, and his mother languidly
acknowledging that it was an effort to come out in the evening. Lois and
the rector came with Colonel Drayton, and Miss Deborah breathed a sigh of
relief that the venison would not be kept waiting.
Then Miss Deborah took Mrs. Forsythe's arm, while Miss Ruth and Dick
closed the little procession, and they marched into the dining-room, and
took their places about the table, glittering with silver and glass, and
lighted by gleaming wax tapers. It had not occurred to the little ladies
to place Dick near Lois. Mrs. Drayton was the lady upon his right, and
Lois was between such unimportant people as Mr. Denner and Mr. Dale.
Dick was the lion of the dinner, and all that he said was listened to
with deference and even awe. But it was a relief to Lois not to have
to talk to him. She sat now at Mr. Denner's side, listening to the
small stream of words bubbling along in a cheerful monotony, with
scarcely a period for her answers. She was glad it was so; for though
her apple-blossom face was drooped a little, and her gray eyes were not
often lifted, and she looked the embodiment of maiden innocence and
unworldliness, Lois was thinking the thoughts which occupied her much of
late; weighing, and judging, struggling to reach some knowledge of
herself, yet always in the same perplexity. Did she love Dick Forsythe?
There was no doubt in her mind that she loved the life he represented;
but further than this she could not go. Yet he was so kind, she thought,
and loved her so much. If, then and there, Dick could have whispered the
question which was trembling on his lips, Lois was near enough to love to
have said Yes.
Dinner was nearly over; that last desultory conversation had begun, which
was to be ended by a bow from Miss Deborah to Mrs. Forsythe, and the
ladies were dipping their nuts in their wine, half listening, and half
watching for the signal to rise.
"How much we miss Gifford on such an occasion!" said Mr. Dale to Miss
Ruth.
"Yes," replied the little lady, "dear Giff! How I wish he were here! He
would so enjoy meeting Mr. Forsythe."
Lois smiled involuntarily, and the current of her thoughts suddenly
turned. She saw again the fragrant dusk of the rectory garden, and heard
the wind in the silver poplar and the tremble in a strong voice at her
side.
She was as perplexed as ever when the ladies went back to the parlor.
Mrs. Forsythe came to her, as they passed through the hall, and took the
young girl's hand in hers.
"I shall miss you very much this winter, Lois," she said, in her mildly
complaining voice. "You have been very good to me; no daughter could have
been more thoughtful. And I could not have loved a daughter of my own
more." She gently patted the hand she held. "Dick is not very happy, my
dear."
"I'm sorry," faltered Lois.
They had reached the parlor door, and Mrs. Forsythe bent her head towards
the girl's ear. "I hope--I trust--he will be, before we leave Ashurst."
Lois turned away abruptly; how could she grieve this gentle invalid!
"She'll find out what Arabella Forsythe is, one of these days," Mrs. Dale
thought, "but it's just as well she should love her for the present." Nor
did she lose the opportunity of using her influence to bring about the
desired consummation.
Lois had gone, at Miss Deborah's request, to the piano, and begun to
sing, in her sweet girlish voice, some old-fashioned songs which the
sisters liked.
"Jamie's on the stormy sea!" sang Lois, but her voice trembled, and she
missed a note, for Mrs. Dale had left the group of ladies about the fire,
and bent over her shoulder.
"You know they go on Saturday, Lois," she said. "Do, now, I beg of you,
be a sensible girl. I never saw a man so much in love. You will be
perfectly happy, if you will only be sensible! I hope you will be at home
alone to-morrow."
When the gentlemen entered, Dick Forsythe was quick to make his way to
Lois, sitting in the glimmer of the wax-lights in the sconces, at the old
piano.
She stopped, and let her hands fall with a soft crash on the yellow keys.
"Do go on," he pleaded.
"No," she said, "it is too cold over here; let us come to the fire," and
she slipped away to her father's side. After that she was silent until it
was time to say good-night, for no one expected her to speak, although
Dick was the centre of the group, and did most of the talking. Later in
the evening they had some whist, and after that, just before the party
broke up, Mr. Denner was asked to sing.
He rose, coughed deprecatingly, and glanced sidewise at Mr. Forsythe;
he feared he was out of tune. But Miss Deborah insisted with great
politeness.
"If Miss Ruth would be so good as to accompany me," said Mr. Denner, "I
might at least make the attempt."
Miss Ruth was shy about playing in public, but Mr. Denner encouraged her.
"You must overcome your timidity, my dear Miss Ruth," he said. "I--I am
aware that it is quite painful; but one ought not to allow it to become
a habit, as it were. It should be conquered in early life."
So Miss Ruth allowed him to lead her to the piano. There was a little
stir about finding the music, before they were ready to begin; then Mr.
Denner ran his fingers through his brown wig, and, placing his small lean
hands on his hips, rocked back and forth on his little heels, while he
sang in a sweet but somewhat light and uncertain voice,--
"Lassie wi' the lint-white locks,
Bonnie lassie! artless lassie!
Will ye wi' me tent the flocks,
Will ye be my dearie, O?"
This was received with great applause; then every one said good-night,
assuring each sister that it had been a delightful evening; and finally
the last carriage rolled off into the darkness, and the Misses Woodhouse
were left, triumphantly exhausted, to discuss the dinner and the guests.
The rector walked home with Mr. Denner, who was still flushed with the
praise of his singing, so Lois had the carriage all to herself, and tried
to struggle against the fresh impulse of irresolution which Mrs.
Forsythe's whispered "Good-night, Lois; be good to my boy!" had given
her.
She went into the library at the rectory, and, throwing off her wrap, sat
down on the hearth-rug, and determined to make up her mind. But first she
had to put a fresh log on the andirons, and then work away with the
wheezy old bellows, until a leaping flame lighted the shadowy room. The
log was green, and, instead of deciding, she found herself listening to
the soft bubbling noise of the sap, and thinking that it was the little
singing ghosts of the summer birds. Max came and put his head on her
knee, to be petted, and Lois's thoughts wandered off to the dinner party,
and Mr. Denner's singing, and what good things Miss Deborah cooked, and
how much his aunts must miss Gifford; so that she did not even hear the
front door open, or know that Dick Forsythe had entered, until she heard
Max snarl, and some one said in a tone which lacked its usual assurance,
"I--I hope I'm not disturbing you, Miss Lois?"
She was on her feet before he had a chance to help her rise, and looked
at him with the frankest astonishment and dismay.
What would aunt Deely say, what would Miss Deborah think! A young woman
receiving a gentleman alone after ten at night! "Father is not home yet,"
she said hastily, so confused and startled she scarcely knew what she was
saying. "How dark it is in here! The fire has dazzled my eyes. I'll get
a light."
"Oh, don't," he said; "I like the firelight." But she had gone, and
came back again with Sally, who carried the lamps, and looked very much
surprised, for Sally knew Ashurst ways better than Mr. Forsythe did: her
young man always went home at nine.
"How pleasant it was at Miss Deborah's!" Lois began, when Sally had gone
out, and she was left alone to see the anxiety in Dick's face. "Nobody
has such nice dinners as Miss Deborah and Miss Ruth." Lois's voice was
not altogether firm, yet, to her own surprise, she began to feel quite
calm, and almost indifferent; she knew why Dick had come, but she did not
even then know what her answer would be.
"Yes--no--I don't know," he answered. "The fact is, I only seemed to
live, Miss Lois, until I could get here to see you to-night. I heard your
father say he was going home with Denner, and I thought you'd be alone.
So I came. I could not stand any more suspense!" he added, with something
like a sob in his voice.
Lois's heart gave one jump of fright, and then was quiet. She thought,
vaguely, that she was glad he had rushed into it at once, so that she
need not keep up that terrible fencing, but she did not speak. She had
been sitting in a corner of the leather-covered sofa, and his excitement,
as he stood looking at her, made her rise.
He grasped her hands in his, wringing them sharply as he spoke, not even
noticing her little cry of pain, or her efforts to release herself. "You
know I love you,--you know it! Why haven't you let me tell you so? Oh,
Lois, how lovely you are to-night,--how happy we shall be!"
He kissed one of her hands with a sudden savage passion that frightened
her. "Oh--don't," she said, shrinking back, and pulling her hands away
from him.
He looked at her blankly a moment, but when he spoke again it was gently.
"Did I frighten you? I didn't mean to; but you know I love you. That
hasn't startled you? Tell me you care for me, Lois."
"But--but"--said Lois, sorry and ashamed, "I--don't!"
The eager boyish face, so near her own, flushed with sudden anger. "You
don't? You must! Why--why, I love you. It cannot be that you really
don't--tell me?"
But there was no doubt in Lois's mind now. "Indeed, Mr. Forsythe," she
said, "indeed, I am so sorry, but I don't--I can't!"
A sullen look clouded his handsome face. "I cannot believe it," he said,
at length. "You have known that I loved you all summer; you cannot be so
cruel as to trifle with me now. You will not treat me so. Oh, I love
you!" There was almost a wail in his voice, and he threw himself down in
a chair and covered, his face with his hands.
Lois did not speak. Her lip curled a little, but it was partly with
contempt for herself and her past uncertainty. "I am so sorry, so
grieved," she began. But he scarcely heard her, or at least he did not
grasp the significance of her words.
He began to plead and protest. "We will be so happy if you will only
care for me. Just think how different your life will be; you shall have
everything in this world you want, Lois."
She could not check his torrent of words, and when at last he stopped he
had almost convinced himself that she loved him.
But she shook her head. "I cannot tell you how distressed I am, but I do
not love you."
He was silent, as though trying to understand.
"Won't you try and forget it? Won't you forgive me, and let us be
friends?" she said.
"You really mean it? You really mean to make me wretched? Forget it? I
wish to Heaven I could!"
Lois did not speak. There seemed to be nothing to say.
"You have let me think you cared," he went on, "and I have built on it;
I have staked all my happiness on it; I am a ruined man if you don't love
me. And you coolly tell me you do not care for me! Can't you try to? I'll
make you so happy, if you will only make me happy, Lois."
"Please--please," she protested, "do not say anything more; it never can
be,--indeed, it cannot!"
Dick's voice had been tender a moment before, but it was hard now.
"Well," he said, "you have amused yourself all summer, I suppose. You
made me think you loved me, and everybody else thought so, too."
The hint of blame kept Lois from feeling the sting of conscience. She
flung her head back, and looked at him with a flash of indignation in her
eyes. "Do you think it's manly to blame me? You had better blame yourself
that you couldn't win my love!"
"Do you expect a man to choose his words when you give him his
death-blow?" he said; and then, "Oh, Miss Lois, if I wait, can't you
learn to care for me? I'll wait,--a year, if you say there's any hope.
Or do you love anybody else? Is that the reason?"
"That has nothing to do with it," Lois cried, hotly, "but I don't."
"Then," said Dick eagerly, "you must love me, only you don't recognize
it, not having been in love before. Of course it's different with a girl
who doesn't know what love is. Oh, say you do!"
Lois, with quick compunction for her anger, was gentle enough now. "I
cannot say so. I wish you would forget me, and forgive me if you can. I'm
sorry to have grieved you,--truly I am."
There was silence for a few minutes, only broken by a yawn from Max and
the snapping of the fire.
"I tell you I cannot forget," the young man said, at last. "You have
ruined my life for me. Do you think I'll be apt to forget the woman
that's done that? I'll love you always, but life is practically over for
me. Remember that, the next time you amuse yourself, Miss Howe!" Then,
without another word, he turned on his heel and left her.
Lois drew a long breath as she heard him slam the front door behind him,
and then she sat down on the rug again. She was too angry to cry, though
her hands shook with nervousness. But under all her excitement was the
sting of mortification and remorse.
Max, with that strange understanding which animals sometimes show,
suddenly turned and licked her face, and then looked at her, all his love
speaking in his soft brown eyes.
"Oh, Max, dear," Lois cried, flinging her arms around him, and resting
her cheek on his shining head, "what a comfort you are! How much nicer
dogs are than men!"