"Ah me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth."
Shakespeare.
The callers departed to their own homes. Mr. Keith called the household
together, and, as usual, closed the day with prayer and praise and the
reading of the word of God.
The good-nights were exchanged, and presently Mildred sat alone in
her own room, slowly taking down her wealth of rich brown hair, while
thought, half troubled, half pleasurable, was busy in her brain.
A gentle tap on the door, then it was softly opened, and her mother
stood by her side.
Instantly the dreamy look left Mildred's eyes, and they were lustrous
with love and joy as she lifted them to the sweet face bending over her.
"Darling mother!" she cried, hastening to rise and bring forward the
easiest chair in the room, "I'm so glad you have come. I am longing so
for one of our old quiet talks."
"Ah! I knew it," Mrs Keith said, taking the chair; "I saw it in your
eyes, dear child, and am as anxious for it as yourself. Oh, it is nice
to have you at home again!"
"And so nice to be here. Mother dear, there have been times when I felt
in sore need of your wise, loving counsels."
Shaking out her abundant tresses, she seated herself on a cushion at
her mother's feet and laid her head in her lap, as she had been wont to
do in childhood's days.
"Then I trust you carried your perplexities to a wiser Friend, whose
love is even greater than that of the tenderest mother," Mrs. Keith
said, gently caressing the silken hair and the blooming cheek.
"Yes, mother. Ah! what could I have done without that Friend?"
Then, with blushes and tears, she poured out the story of her love, and
her refusal to engage herself, because the chosen of her heart was not
a Christian man.
Mrs. Keith was a little surprised, a trifle disappointed. "I had almost
set my heart on having Wallace for my future son-in-law," she remarked
in a playful tone, "and no such objection could be brought against him."
"No," said Mildred, half averting her blushing face; "he is good and
noble and true--a sincere Christian, I do believe, and I heartily
respect and like him; but, O mother! why is it that the course of true
love never will run smooth?"
"I think it does sometimes; at least often enough to prove the rule."
"I was in hopes it might have been out of sight out of mind with
Wallace," Mildred said presently.
"No; Cupid's arrow had gone too deep for that. But perhaps it may prove
so with the other, and you may yet learn to care for poor Wallace."
"No, mother; I am sure, quite sure, that I can never give him anything
but the sisterly affection that is already his. Mother, I know girls
who think it must be a delightful thing to have a number of lovers, but
I don't find it so, there is so much that is painful and perplexing
connected with it."
"Perplexing, my child!"
"Yes, mother. Do you--do you think it can ever be the duty of one
who cannot marry the man of her choice to become the wife of another
because it will open to her a wider sphere of usefulness?"
"Why that question, Mildred?" asked Mrs. Keith, in grave surprise.
"Because Mr.--Mr. Lord thinks I ought--that it is my duty to--to marry
him; and though he did not convince me, he--he made me afraid it might
be."
A very mirthful look had come into Mrs. Keith's eyes.
"My dear, silly little girl," she said, bending down to get a better
view of the blushing face, "why did you not tell him you are quite
unfit for the position he offered you?"
"I did, mother," Mildred answered, with sincere humility, "but
he--still insisted. He has somehow formed a very mistaken opinion of
me."
"That is a pity; but we will not let him sacrifice himself. I shall
utterly refuse consent, and so will your father."
"But don't you think him a good man?" Mildred asked, lifting her head
and gazing into her mother's eyes with a look of mingled relief and
perplexity.
"Very good, but very unsuitable in disposition and in years for a
husband for you, or a son-in-law for me. His absent-mindedness would
put a great deal of care on your young shoulders. But, my dear child,
leaving the question of his character and suitableness in other
respects entirely out of sight, the fact that you prefer another is
quite sufficient of itself to make your acceptance of his suit both
foolish and wrong. Nothing can make it right for man or woman to marry
one while his or her heart turns more strongly to another. As to his
argument that thus a wider sphere of usefulness would be opened to you,
all I have to say is, that it is not, cannot ever be right to do evil
that good may come."
Mildred drew a long sigh of relief. "O mother, I am so thankful that
you take that view of it! and I am sure it is the right one. You have
lifted half my load, but--"
"Can you not cast the other half on the Lord?"
"I do try to. But, mother, what do you think? would it be wrong for me
to--"
"Follow the dictates of your heart?" Mrs. Keith asked, as Mildred
paused, leaving the sentence unfinished. "My child, that is a question
for you to settle with your own conscience. You have God's holy word to
guide you, and in answer to prayer he will give you the guidance of the
Spirit also. I will only say that it cannot be other than a dangerous
experiment for a Christian to enter into the closest of earthly
relations with one who is living for this world alone."
"Especially one so weak and ready to wander out of the way as I,"
sighed the young girl.
"Well, darling, you are young enough to wait; and let us hope all will
come right at length. Ah! we may be sure of it, for 'we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God; to them who are
the called according to his purpose.' But it is growing late, and
you ought to be resting after your long journey." And with a tender
good-night they parted.
Mr. Lord filled his own pulpit the next day, both morning and evening,
preaching with acceptance to his flock.
Mildred attended both services, but carefully avoided meeting the
speaker's eye during the sermon, and slipped out of the church as
quickly as possible after the benediction was pronounced. Each time
she was delayed a little in her exit by the necessity of stopping for
a shaking of hands and the exchange of a few words with friends and
neighbors who stepped forward to greet and welcome her home; but others
were crowding about the minister with the same kindly intent, and thus
unconsciously assisted in her desired avoidance of him.
She was little less anxious to escape Wallace Ormsby, but in that was
not so successful: he walked by her side in the morning, as far as
their roads lay in the same direction; yet as Don held fast to one of
Mildred's hands and Fan to the other, his talk was only on topics of
general interest, the sermon, the Sunday-school, etc.
In the evening, as she stepped into the vestibule, she saw Wallace
waiting near the outer door, and read his purpose in his eyes. She
turned to Zillah, who was close beside her, seized her hand, and,
holding it fast, whispered in her ear, "We'll walk home together. Be
sure to keep close to me."
Zillah nodded with a roguish smile, and, to Wallace's no small
annoyance, did as requested. Offering one arm to Mildred, he could do
no less than ask Zillah to take the other, which she did with alacrity.
And all the way home she kept up a constant stream of talk, Mildred
listening with inward amusement, Wallace wondering whether it was with
a purpose, and wishing she was somewhere out of earshot of what he
wanted to say to her sister.
The Keiths neither paid nor received visits on the Sabbath: so he bade
the girls good evening at their father's door, and quietly wended
his way to his lonely bachelor quarters over the office; while the
girls, listening to his departing footsteps, exchanged a few words of
congratulation on the one side and thanks on the other, mingled with a
little girlish laughter at his expense.
"Mother," said Mildred, as they were about separating for the night,
"I will be up in good season to-morrow morning and get breakfast, as
Celestia Ann will of course be busy with her washing."
"Indeed you'll do no such thing," cried Zillah. "Ada and I will get
breakfast and dinner to-morrow, and you're not to so much as put your
nose into the kitchen. You're to play lady for a week at least, while
you look on and see how nicely we can manage without you."
"I've played lady long enough, and--"
"Mother, isn't it to be as I've said?" demanded Zillah, not giving
Mildred time to conclude her sentence.
"Yes, Milly, you and I can find enough to do out of the kitchen for the
present, and we will let these young cooks have a chance to show what
they can do," Mrs. Keith said, looking from one to the other with a
proud, fond, motherly smile.
"I like to cook," put in Ada. "Milly, I can make nice cakes and
desserts; they all say so. And Zillah and I made pickles and preserves
this fall, mother only overseeing and telling us how. Celestia Ann
wanted to turn us out of the kitchen and do it all herself, but mother
said no--we must learn how."
Monday morning found the Keith household like a hive of cheerful, busy
bees. Mrs. Keith and Mildred, busied together in the dining-room,
washing and putting away the breakfast china and silver, which were
never allowed to go into the kitchen, laid plans for the fall and
winter sewing.
"I have been learning to cut and fit, mother," Mildred said; "taking
lessons of one of Aunt Dinsmore's servants who is excellent at it; so
now, if you like, I shall fit all the dresses of the family, beginning
to-day with Ada's and Zillah's calicoes."
"I'm very glad, my dear," Mrs. Keith replied, "for really there is not
a competent dressmaker in town. But I see I shall have to take care
that you do not overwork yourself," she added, with an affectionate
smile.
"Mother," said Zillah, putting her head in at the door, "we're nearly
out of salt and sugar both. Who shall go for them?"
"Cyril and Don; it is a lovely day, and they will enjoy the walk.
Mildred, there will be some little articles wanted about our
dressmaking; suppose you go also and select them. The walk will be
good for you, and you will like to see how the town has grown in your
absence."
Fan and Annis put in an eager plea to be permitted to be of the party.
Mildred demurred. "I'm afraid, Annis, darling, you can't walk fast
enough. Sister Milly wants to come back quickly because of the sewing."
"Never mind that; we will not deprive the darling of so great a
pleasure merely to save a few minutes," the mother said, with a loving
smile at the little, disappointed face, which instantly grew bright
again. "Linger a little on the way, Mildred, and enjoy the sweet air
and the beauty of the woods. These things were given for our enjoyment."
"Dearest mother! always so kind and thoughtful for each one of us,"
Mildred whispered, bending over her mother's chair to kiss the still
fresh and blooming cheek.
Mildred had returned to her home entirely restored to health, and
full of the old energy, and with a desire to accomplish a great deal
in the way of relieving her mother's cares and burdens and promoting
the material interests of each member of the family of loved ones.
She had planned to do a certain amount of sewing that day, and was
eager to begin; but she was learning the difficult lesson of readiness
to cheerfully yield her own plans and wishes to those of others,
remembering that "even Christ pleased not himself."
With a face bright and sweet as the lovely October morning she made
herself ready and set out on her errand; Fan clinging to one hand,
Annis to the other, while the two little brothers now brought up the
rear, now hastened on in front, or trotted alongside, as inclination
dictated.
"Yonder comes the sheriff; we'll meet him in a minute," said Cyril
presently.
"Who is sheriff now?" asked Mildred.
"Gotobed Lightcap. He's learned to write with his left hand, and they
'lected him sheriff last week. Everybody voted for him because they
were so sorry for him. Wasn't it nice? Mother says the folks in this
town are the kindest people in the world, she thinks."
"Yes, it was nice and kind," Mildred responded, looking a little
curiously at the tall, broad-shouldered, masculine figure approaching
from the opposite direction. In dress, in gait, in the intelligence of
his countenance, he was an improvement upon the Gotobed of two years
ago.
In another moment they had met. He lifted his hat with his left hand
and bowed a little awkwardly, while a deep-red flush suffused his
swarthy face.
Mildred colored slightly too, but greeted him cordially and without any
other show of embarrassment, inquiring after his health and that of his
family.
"We're all as well as common, thank ye, Miss Keith," he said, devouring
her face with his eyes, "and I hope you're the same, and as glad to git
back as all your friends is to see ye."
"Thank you, I do find it nice to be at home again," she responded,
bowing and passing on.
Their way lay past her father's office. Ormsby, looking up from the
deed he was drawing and catching a glimpse of her graceful figure as it
hurried by, sprang up and stepped to the door just in time to see her
go into Chetwood & Mocker's.
He was on the watch for her as she came out again, and waylaid her with
an invitation to drive out with him that afternoon.
"Thank you," she said, with a winsome smile; "I fully appreciate your
kindness, but--don't you think, after my long vacation, I ought now
to stay at home and work? I had planned to do a good deal of sewing
to-day."
"But the weather is so fine, and we ought to take advantage of these
lovely days, which will so soon be gone," he said persuasively. "Let
the sewing wait; 'twill be just the thing for the stormy days that will
soon be upon us. I may come for you?"
"Yes," she answered, laughing and nodding good-by.
Zillah met her at the door, her eyes dancing with fun. "Mr. Lord's in
the parlor with mother, and you're wanted there too."
"Oh, dear!" sighed Mildred; but, throwing off her hat in the hall, she
went at once to meet the dreaded ordeal.
The gentleman rose on her entrance, and with beaming eyes and
outstretched hand came eagerly forward to greet her. "My dear Miss
Mildred, I have been telling your mother of my plans and wishes, and
asking her consent and approval of my--the proposal I made to you the
other day; and--"
"And she has declined to give them?" Mildred said, allowing him to take
her hand for an instant, then hastily withdrawing it, her eyes seeking
her mother's face, while her own flushed crimson.
"Yes, I have been trying for the last half hour to convince Mr. Lord
how entirely unsuitable you are for the place and position he offers
you," Mrs. Keith answered in a grave, quiet tone. "Come and sit down
here by me," making room for her on the sofa by her side, "and we will
try together to convince him."
"That will be no easy task," remarked the middle-aged lover, as Mildred
hastened to accept her mother's invitation; then, standing before them
and fixing his eyes admiringly upon the blushing, downcast face of the
maiden, he went on to plead his cause with all the force and eloquence
of which he was master.
He spoke very rapidly, as if fearful of interruption, and determined to
forestall all objections, Mildred listening in some embarrassment and
with much inward disgust and impatience.
These changed directly to almost overpowering mirthfulness, as the
man, perhaps finding his false teeth, to which he was yet not fully
accustomed, impeding his speech to some extent, in his intense
interest in his subject, hardly conscious of the act, jerked them out,
twirled them about in his fingers for an instant, then with a sudden
recollection thrust them in again, his face turning scarlet with
mortification and the last word faltering on his tongue.
Controlling her inclination to laugh, Mildred seized her opportunity.
"Mr. Lord," she said, with gentle firmness, "please do not waste any
more words on this subject, for I have no other answer to give you
to-day than that which I gave before. Nor shall I ever have any other.
I highly respect and esteem you, feel myself greatly honored by your
preference, but--it is utterly out of my power to feel toward you as a
woman should toward the man with whom she links her destiny for life."
With the last word she rose and would have left the room, but he
intercepted her. "Not now, I suppose. Ah, my foolish impatience, which
has a second time betrayed me! But I will wait--wait years, if--"
"It is useless, quite useless, I assure you," she interrupted, in some
impatience. "To convince you of that, I will acknowledge that--that my
heart has already been given to another."
Hiding her blushing face in her hands, she hurried from the room,
leaving to her mother the task of consoling the rejected suitor.
Mrs. Keith afterward reported that he stood for a moment as if struck
dumb with surprise and dismay; then muttering, "Wallace Ormsby--it must
be he," was rushing bare-headed from the house, when she called him
back and gave him his hat, with a consolatory word or two, which he
did not seem to hear, as he merely turned about without replying, and
walked rapidly away with the hat in his hand.
Mildred, hurrying to the privacy of her own room with cheeks aflame
and an indignant light in her brown eyes, found herself intercepted by
Zillah.
"Good girl not to say yes," cried the latter gayly, putting her arm
round Mildred's neck and kissing her.
"What do you mean, Zillah? You don't know anything about it," Mildred
said, repulsing her slightly and averting her face.
"Yes, I do. Mr. Lord's been asking you to marry him--I knew by his
looks that that was what he came for--and I'm glad you won't have him.
He's nice enough as a minister, but too old and ugly and awkward for a
husband for my pretty sister Milly. Wallace Ormsby would be far more
suitable, in my humble opinion," she added, with a merry twinkle in her
deep blue eyes.
Mildred looked at her and took a sudden resolution. "Come in here," she
said, pushing open her room door. "Zillah, can you keep a secret?"
"Suppose you try me," was the laughing rejoinder.
"I will. I am sure I may trust you."
So Zillah presently knew how matters stood between her sister and
Charlie Landreth, and Mildred felt that she had another hearty
sympathizer, and was safe from any more teasing about Wallace Ormsby
from that quarter.
As for the latter, he of course improved his chance as they drove
together that afternoon over the prairies and through the beautiful
autumn woods; and Mildred had the painful task of crushing his hopes as
she had already crushed those of her older admirer.