ENTERTAINING RELATIVES
Spring and summer followed one another in their usual succession, and
as the months went by, Boxley Hall became more beautiful and more
attractively homelike, both inside and out. Mr. Fairfield bought a
pair of fine carriage horses and a pony and cart for Patty's own use.
A man was engaged to take care of these and also to look after the
lawn and garden.
Patty, learning much from experience and also from Aunt Alice's
occasional visits, developed into a sensible and capable little
housekeeper. So determined was she to make the keeping of her father's
house a real success that she tried most diligently to correct all her
errors and improve her powers.
Patty had a natural aptitude for domestic matters, and after some rough
places were made smooth and some sharp corners rounded off, things went
quite as smoothly as in many houses where the presiding genius numbered
twice Patty's years.
With June came vacation, and Patty was more than glad, for she was
never fond of school, and now could have all her time to devote to her
beloved home.
And, too, she wanted very much to invite her cousins to visit her, which
was only possible in vacation time.
"I think, papa," she said, as they sat on the veranda one June evening
after dinner, "I think I shall have a house party. I shall invite all my
cousins from Elmbridge and Philadelphia and Boston and we'll have a grand
general reunion that will be most beautiful."
"You'll invite your aunts and uncles, too?" said Mr. Fairfield.
"Why, I don't see how we'd have room for so many," said Patty.
"And, of course," went on her father, "you'd invite the whole Elliott
family. It wouldn't be fair to leave them out of your house-party just
because they happen to live in Vernondale."
Then Patty saw that her father was laughing at her.
"I know you're teasing me now, papa," she said, "but I don't see why.
Just because I want to ask my cousins to come here and return the visits
I made to them last year."
"But you didn't visit them all at once, my child, and you certainly could
not expect to entertain them here all at once. Your list of cousins is a
very long one, and even if there were room for them in the house, the
care and responsibility of such a house party would be enough to land you
in a sanitarium when it was over, if not before."
"There are an awful lot of them," said Patty.
"And they're not altogether congenial," said her father. "Although I
haven't seen them as lately as you have, yet I can't help thinking, from
what you told me, that the Barlows and the St. Clairs would enjoy
themselves better if they visited here at different times, and I'm sure
the same is true of your Boston cousins."
"You're right," said Patty, "as you always are, and I don't believe I'd
have much fun with all that company at once, either. So I think we'll
have them in detachments, and first I'll just invite Ethelyn and Reginald
down for a week or two. I don't really care much about having them, but
Ethelyn has written so often that she wants to come that I don't see how
I can very well get out of it."
"If she wants to come, you certainly ought to ask her. You visited there
three months, you know."
"Yes, I know it, and they were very kind to me. Aunt Isabel had parties,
and did things for my pleasure all the time. Well, I'll invite them right
away. Perhaps I ought to ask Aunt Isabel, too."
"Yes, you might ask her," said Mr. Fairfield, "and she can bring the
children down, but she probably will not stay as long as they do."
So Patty wrote for her aunt and cousins, and the first day of July
they arrived.
Mrs. St. Clair, who was Patty's aunt only by marriage, was a very
fashionable woman of a pretty, but somewhat artificial, type. She liked
young people, and had spared no pains to make Patty's visit to her a
happy one. But it was quite evident that she expected Patty to return her
hospitality in kind, and she had been at Boxley Hall but a few hours
before she began to inquire what plans Patty had made for her
entertainment.
Now, though Patty had thought out several little pleasures for her
cousins, it hadn't occurred to her that Aunt Isabel would expect parties
made for her.
She evaded her aunt's questions, however, and waited for an opportunity
to speak alone with her father about it.
"Why, papa," she exclaimed that evening after their guests had gone to
their rooms, "Aunt Isabel expects me to have a tea or reception or
something for her."
"Nonsense, child, she can't think of such a thing."
"Yes, she does, papa, and what's more, I want to do it. She was very
kind to me and I'd rather please her than Ethelyn. I don't care much for
Ethelyn anyway."
"She isn't just your kind, is she, my girl?"
"No, she isn't like Marian nor any of the club girls. She has her head
full of fashions, and beaux, and grown-up things of all sorts. She is
just my age, but you'd think she was about twenty, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, she does look almost as old as that, and she acts quite as old.
Reginald is a nice boy."
"Yes, but he's pompous and stuck-up. He always did put on grand airs.
Aunt Isabel does, too, but she's so kind-hearted and generous nobody can
help liking her."
"Well, have a party for her if you want to, chicken. But don't take the
responsibility of it entirely on yourself. I should think you might make
it a pretty little afternoon tea. Get Aunt Alice to make out the
invitation list; she knows better than you what ladies to invite, and
then let Pacetti send up whatever you want for the feast. I've no doubt
Pansy will be willing to attend to the floral decoration of the house."
"I've no doubt she will," said Patty, laughing. "The trouble will be to
stop her before she turns the whole place into a horticultural exhibit."
"Well, go ahead with it, Patty. I think it will please your aunt very
much, but don't wear yourself out over it."
Next morning at breakfast Patty announced her plan for an afternoon tea,
and Aunt Isabel was delighted.
"You dear child," she exclaimed, "how sweet of you! I hate to have you go
to any trouble on my account, but I shall be so pleased to meet the
Vernondale ladies. I want to know what kind of people my niece is growing
up among."
"I'm sure you'll like them, Aunt Isabel. Aunt Alice's friends are lovely.
And then I'll ask the mothers of the Tea Club girls, and my neighbour,
Miss Daggett, but I don't believe she'll come."
"Is that the rich Miss Daggett?" asked Aunt Isabel curiously; "the
queer one?"
"I don't know whether she's rich or not," said Patty. "I dare say she
is, though, because she has lovely things; but she certainly can be
called queer. I'm very fond of her, though; she's awfully nice to me, and
I like her in spite of her queerness."
"But you'll ask some young ladies, too, won't you?" said Ethelyn. "I
don't care very much for queer old maids and middle-aged married ladies."
"Oh, this isn't for you, Ethel," said Patty. "I'll have a children's
party for you and Reginald some other day."
"Children's party, indeed," said Ethelyn, turning up her haughty little
nose. "You know very well, Patty, I haven't considered myself a child
for years."
"Nor I," said Reginald.
"Well, I consider myself one," said Patty. "I'm not in a bit of hurry to
be grown-up; but we're going to have a lovely sailing party, Ethelyn, on
Fourth of July, and I'm sure you'll enjoy that."
"Are any young men going?" said Ethelyn.
"There are a lot of boys going," said Patty. "But the only young men
will be my father and Uncle Charley and Mr. Hepworth."
"Who is Mr. Hepworth?"
"He's an artist friend of papa's, who comes out quite often, and who
always goes sailing with us when we have sailing parties."
Aunt Alice was more than willing to help Patty with her project, and the
result was a very pretty little afternoon tea at Boxley Hall.
"I'm so glad I brought my white crêpe-de-chine," said Aunt Isabel, as she
dressed for the occasion.
"I'm glad, too," said Patty; "for it's a lovely gown and you look
sweet in it."
"I've brought a lot of pretty dresses, too," said Ethelyn, "and I suppose
I may as well put on one of the prettiest to-day, as there's no use in
wasting them on those children's parties you're talking about."
"Do just as you like, Ethelyn," said Patty, knowing that her cousin was
always overdressed on all occasions, and therefore it made little
difference what she wore.
And, sure enough, Ethelyn arrayed herself in a most resplendent gown
which, though very beautiful, was made in a style more suited to a belle
of several seasons than a young miss of sixteen.
Patty wore one of her pretty little white house dresses; and Aunt Alice,
in a lovely gray gown, assisted her to receive the guests, and to
introduce Mrs. St. Clair and her children.
Among the late arrivals was Miss Daggett. Her coming created a sensation,
for, as was well known in Vernondale, she rarely attended social affairs
of any sort. But, for some unknown reason, she chose to accept Patty's
invitation, and, garbed in an old-fashioned brown velvet, she was
presented to Mrs. St. Clair.
"I'm so glad to see you," said the latter, shaking hands effusively.
"Humph!" said Miss Daggett. "Why should you be glad to see me, pray?"
"Why, because--because--" Mrs. St. Clair floundered a little, and
seemed really unable to give any reason.
"Because you've heard that I'm rich and old and queer?" said Miss
Daggett.
This was exactly true, but Mrs. St. Clair did not care to admit it, so
she said: "Why, no, not that; but I've heard my niece speak of you so
often that I felt anxious to meet you."
"Well, I'm not afraid of anything Patty Fairfield said about me; she's a
dear little girl; I'm very fond of her."
"Why do you call her little girl?" said Mrs. St. Clair. "Patty is in her
seventeenth year; surely that is not quite a child."
"But she is a child at heart," said Miss Daggett, "and I am glad of it. I
would far rather see her with her pretty, sunshiny childish ways than to
see her like that overdressed little minx standing over there beside her,
whoever she may be."
"That's my daughter," said Mrs. St. Clair, without, however, looking as
deeply offended as she might have done.
"Oh, is it?" said Miss Daggett, sniffing. "Well, I see no reason to
change my opinion of her, if she is."
"No," said Mrs. St. Clair, "of course we are each entitled to our own
opinion. Now, I think my daughter more appropriately dressed than my
niece. And I think your nephew will agree with me," she added, smiling.
"My nephew!" snapped Miss Daggett. "Do you know him?"
"Oh, yes, indeed; we met Mr. Harper at a reception in New York not long
ago, and he was very much charmed with my daughter Ethelyn."
"He may have seemed so," said Miss Daggett scornfully. "He is a very
polite young man. But let me tell you, he admires Patty Fairfield more
than any other girl he has ever seen. He told me so himself. And now, go
away, if you please, I'm tired of talking to you."
Mrs. St. Clair was not very much surprised at this speech, for Patty had
told her of Miss Daggett's summary method of dismissing people; and so,
with a sweet smile and a bow, the fashionable matron left the eccentric
and indignant spinster.