THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.
Eva wondered if she ought to tell her father of Patty Groves’ presence
in the city, and her veiled threats to betray to Reggie the secrets
of his sweetheart’s shadowed past. She finally decided not to do so,
saying to herself:
“Why vex poor papa by bringing up these old things that wound him so?
There is no need of it, for all is safe since Reggie has promised never
to speak to Patty again. She cannot tell her malicious stories to deaf
ears.”
So she maintained a mistaken silence.
As Mr. Somerville had been absent from the city when the cousins made
their raid on the family residence, and were incontinently routed by
his indignant daughter, he was quite in ignorance of their visit to New
York.
Had he known of it he would not have lost an hour in seeking their
presence and commanding their silence by the power he held to enforce
it. He had never even told his daughter of the mortgage he had held on
Grandfather Groves’ property so many years, generously deciding to let
the impecunious descendants have the benefit of the increased value of
the land.
So it was only by his generosity that they were enabled to live in
luxury and cut such a dash in the world that, were the uncertain oil
wells to fail to-morrow they would be relegated to utter poverty, owing
to their constant extravagance.
With the knowledge of the mortgage and the threat of foreclosing it,
Patty would have been glad enough to hold her tongue.
But Eva, ignorant of her father’s power, and underrating her cousin’s
malignity, held her peace, and the sword of fate remained suspended
over her head, ready to fall at the opportune moment.
For Patty, infuriated by Eva’s scorn and Hamilton’s snubbing, had made
up her malicious mind to do her worst.
“Cousin Tabby, I don’t think it would be right to let that young man
marry Eva in ignorance of her real character,” she observed tentatively
to the spinster, who replied:
“Sho’, now, I wouldn’t be so spiteful if I was you, Pat. We done the
girl harm enough long ago, and we oughtn’t to cheep, even if she did
run us off when we wanted to make it up with her for our own benefit.
We deserved all we got, that’s a fact, though I do wish we had got an
invite to the grand wedding, so that we could o’ bragged on’t when we
got back home. I got a great mind now to go and ask her pappy for an
invite anyhow. And as to her character, Pat, you know we never b’lieved
anything agin’ her in our hearts, though we ranted and raved as we did
jist to influence your gran’ther agin’ her so’s to git red o’ her fer
good. My idee is to lay low an’ keep a close mouth, an’ maybe she’ll
come ’round an’ take us up inter high sassiety arter a while, fer she
allays was a good-hearted little creeter when her temper fits wore off.”
Patty snapped acidly:
“Eva’s prosperity seems to have elevated her very much in your respect.”
“’Tain’t adzackly that, Pat. I allays did have respeck for her, if it
comes to that. I helped to parsecute her because she was too pritty and
too clust in gran’ther’s affections, so’t I was feered he would leave
her all his prop’ty an’ turn us all out in the cold. But now we got
what we mistreated her for, I cain’t see no sense in keepin’ up the
racket. If she kin marry well, let her do it, sez I, and I only wish
you an’ me had sech a chance.”
Patty laughed with hateful sarcasm, answering:
“No one will ever marry you, Cousin Tabby.”
“While there’s life there’s hope! I hain’t but fifty-three years old
yit, and folks has married older’n that. You needn’t laff so scornful,
Pat; I hate that sniggerin’ way you have! Is it any wonder I want to
marry an’ git settled in a home of my own when gran’ther only left me a
pitiful five hundred dollars, that’s spent long ago, an’ me a-hangin’
onto you an’ Lyd for a livin’? I kin see already, with half an eye,
that you want to git red a’ me, an’ air ’shamed o’ me, the woman that
raised you and chappyroned you all your life,” declared Miss Tabby
grumblingly.
“For Heaven’s sake, quit lecturing me! It’s hard to have to support
you, and be laughed at for having such a countrified relation, without
taking your jaw, I can tell you. That’s more than I will bear!” Patty
retorted coarsely, in a passion.
Miss Ruttencutter sniffed and hid her long red nose in her embroidered
handkerchief without daring to reply, lest Patty turn her adrift
without ceremony, as she had helped to turn Eva adrift on the cold,
hard world.
This was not the first quarrel they had had, and the spinster began to
read with startled eyes the handwriting on the wall.
Patty did not need her any longer, was tired of her, ashamed of her,
and never took her out with her any more since that scornful Mrs.
Putnam had become her chaperone. She had even hinted that Cousin Tabby
had better go to Charleston and make Lydia a visit now. The legislature
was in session now, and she could see all “the big men.”
But Cousin Tabby had rebelled, declaring:
“I seen the guv’nor an’ the other big men two years ago, an’ they wan’t
no great shakes, none o’ them, sech as I expected. Why, some o’ them
men in the legislatour looked as jakey as any other mountain hoosier
I ever seen! There was ole Uncle Silas Higgins, they sent him to the
legislatour from our county, an’ he never did know beans; an’ there was
‘Pop’ Longanacre, how did he ever git there, I wonder? Not by brains,
I reckon; only some hocus-pocus polyticks! No, I seen enough o’ them
polytickers to last me all my life. Not a bit different from other
folkses, they wa’n’t! New York suits me better’n any place else. If
I could only git inter sassiety an’ git acquainted with some o’ the
pritty men I see at the opery, I’d ask no more.”
So she knew better than to aggravate Patty now, when she saw her own
fate hanging so clearly in the balance.
But her rugged sense of justice, clear enough when nothing was to
be gained by treachery, would not permit her to join in a useless
persecution of Eva. She continued to advocate pacification if possible.
Pondering deeply over the matter, she concluded that Patty’s aggravated
ill temper was induced by the slight in not receiving cards to her
cousin’s wedding.
“She blames me fer not getting Eva reconciled to us. She thought at
first I was clever enough to do it, an’ so did I till we got there. But
I was completely flabbergasted by their high an’ mighty ways, an’ crept
out like a whipped dog.”
She sighed heavily to herself, and added:
“There ain’t but one way on this yearth I kin git inter Patty’s good
graces ag’in, an’ that’s by gittin’ her an invite to Eva’s wedding.
Well, I’ll try to do it. I’ll go to that house to-morrow and git that
invite if I have to beg for it on my very knees! I’ll ask Eva’s pappy,
an’ he may let me have it. Men hain’t never so spiteful as wimen! Maybe
I could ketch him, too! He’s a likely old widower.”