BLOSSOM GIRL
Such a clever and resourceful housekeeper as Adele Kenerley found no
trouble in arranging a second dinner for half-past seven, although one
had been served at six. Patty safely out of the way, Adele presided at
the board with a light-hearted gaiety that surprised even her husband.
Farnsworth, too, was in good spirits, though both the Kenerleys
detected a roving eye and an alert ear that made them think he
suspected, or at least hoped, that Patty was there. But he said
nothing that indicated his thoughts except to ask on arrival if there
were other guests.
"As you see," said Adele. "But I'm flattering myself that you came
this time just to visit the Kenerleys."
"What more could one desire?" returned Farnsworth. And the
conversation continued in a light and impersonal tone. Patty's name
was mentioned, and innocently enough. Adele asked how she was.
"Well, I trust," said Farnsworth. "I was at her house at a Sale
affair, last night, and she was all right then. Very much all right.
But today, I called up the house, and they said she had gone away. I
don't know where."
"And you thought she was up here! Oh, Big Bill, and I thought you came
to see us!" Adele looked deeply chagrined.
"I'm jolly glad to see you, Adele, but to be honest, that little Patty
person has turned my head."
"Truly, Bill?"
"Very truly, Adele. It's one thing or the other with me now. I must
find her and if she says me nay, I go back to Arizona for good and all.
No more East for me."
Jim Kenerley, catching the earnest note in Farnsworth's voice, had all
he could do to keep from telling him then and there of Patty's presence
under that same roof, but a decided head-shake from Adele restrained
him.
For Adele felt in honour bound to keep Patty's secret, unless the girl
herself released her from her promise.
As soon as she could, Adele excused herself and left the two men to
smoke and chat together. She went to Patty's room, determined to find
out the true state of affairs. But Patty was asleep, and so profoundly
did she slumber that it seemed a shame to waken her.
So the game went on. Adele went back downstairs, and the three friends
spent a pleasant evening together. At bedtime Farnsworth declared his
intention of leaving in the morning, and sure that he would do so,
Adele hospitably urged him to remain till after dinner. To her
surprise, he acquiesced, and said he would go down to New York on a
late afternoon train.
"Now, you have done it!" said Kenerley to his wife, after their guest
had gone to his room.
"I know it, Jim. It was all my fault! But I never dreamed he'd stay
over so easily! Oh, if I'd only let him go on the morning train!"
"We'll have to keep up the hide and seek."
"Yes, and we can do it. Only it would have been so much easier the
other way."
"Perhaps Patty will relent."
"Not she! If you had seen her eyes flash, when she spoke of him.
She's desperately angry with him, for some reason. But tomorrow
morning will be all right. And I'll plan the day. There'll be no
trouble."
Adele's clever managing made her words good. Patty had breakfast in
her room, of course, and at nine o'clock, Farnsworth and the Kenerleys
had their own morning meal. A pleasant affair it was in the sunny
dining-room, and, without seeming to do so, Adele tactfully gave her
guest an opportunity to depart, by saying that Jim had to go for a long
trip in the motor.
But Farnsworth said, "Good! I'll go along. Unless I'm in the way, old
chap?"
"Not at all," returned Kenerley, cordially, and that matter was settled.
The two men left about eleven, and Adele went to Patty's room.
"I'm all over my tired-outness," declared a very fresh-looking, rosy
young person. "I've had my tub, and now I'm going to dress up and
behave like a good citizen. You're a duck, Adele, to put up with a
worn-out wreck, as I was yesterday, but now I'm myself again. I want
to go for a motor ride, and for a walk, and eat a big luncheon, and
come back to life, generally."
"Good for you! And have you settled all the troublesome affairs that
were bothering you?"
"How did you know I had any?"
"Now, don't confide in me unless you want to." Wily Adele knew the
touch of perversity in Patty's make-up.
"Oh, there's nothing much to confide. I got fearfully mad at Bill
Farnsworth, and I ran up here to get away from him. That's the story
of my life."
"What was the bone of contention?"
"Well, I suppose I was. Also, he was very rude and unmannerly.
Also,--and this is why I hate him so,--he's suddenly grown rich, Adele,
and he's terribly ostentatious about it----"
"Bill Farnsworth ostentatious! I don't believe it!"
"Yes, he is. He showed off big rolls of money at the Sale----"
"But, Patty, he was buying things, wasn't he?"
"I don't care if he was. And, besides, Adele, he--well, he implied, if
he didn't say it straight out, that now he was rich, maybe I'd marry
him! As if I was a fortune-hunter!"
"Oh, Patty, you little goose! Bill has always been poor, or at least,
he had only a moderate income. I can see how he would be glad if he
had good fortune, to offer it to you. Poor Bill! You mistook his
meaning, I'm sure."
"No, I didn't, and I hate him, and I never want to hear his name
mentioned again!"
"Nor see him?"
"Mercy, no! And now, drop the subject. I tell you I came up here to
get away from him! He's in love with Daisy Dow, anyway."
"What makes you think so?"
"Oh, he's always with her. And he gave her some lovely books that he
had bought on purpose for me! And, Daisy says things all the time that
prove it. I don't want anything to do with another girl's rustic
swain. That I don't!"
"Just a minute, Patty. Do you really consider Bill a
rustic,--uncultured, and all that, I mean?"
Patty looked serious. "No, Adele, I don't. He hasn't a certain
polish, that some men have, but he is a thorough gentleman and a
splendid man. I must say that, in all honesty. But he is a
domineering, head-strong nature, and he couldn't make any girl happy!"
"Oh, couldn't he!" said Adele, but she said it to herself, not aloud.
The subject was really dropped then, and Patty began to dress for
luncheon.
"I'm going to put on this white crepe de chine," she said. "I found it
hanging in the wardrobe, left from last summer. I'd almost forgotten I
had it. It's a pretty frock, isn't it?"
"Yes. But, I grieve to state, Pattibelle, we'll be alone at lunch, you
and I. Jim has gone miles off in the country, and won't be back before
six or so."
"Whatever for?"
"Oh,--on some business."
"Business! On Sunday?"
"He's looking at a car he's thinking of buying. The man could only see
him today."
"Oh, well, all right. But I'll dress up anyway, for my own
self-respect. I like myself better in a pretty gown, and I'm not going
to take naps all day today, I can tell you."
Patty flew around, making her toilette, and humming little snatches of
song. Adele thought she had never seen her look so pretty. The white
frock was soft and filmy; the round neck a trifle low, the frilled
sleeves showing her dimpled arms, and a soft sash made of a breadth of
palest pink silk, round the waist.
"You're a dream!" declared Adele. "It's a shame to waste such a vision
of beauty on me. I believe I'll telephone for Bob Peyton to come over
to lunch."
"No, don't. I'd rather not have him. I like to be alone with you much
better. Ask him over for dinner, if you like."
So the two lunched alone, and then came the difficult crisis.
Patty flatly rebelled against Adele's suggestion that she take an
afternoon nap to be fresh for the evening.
"What's the matter with you, Adele?" she laughed. "Do you think I'm a
dormouse? Or a bear who wants to hibernate? I'm as wide-awake as you
are!"
"It isn't that, Patty," and poor Adele was at her wits' end, "but
you're really run down--er--nerve exhaustion, you know----"
"Well, _your_ nerve isn't exhausted! To make me go to bed by day,--all
the whole time!"
"Now, Patsy, don't be stubborn. Give me my way, this once. If you'll
go to your room, and stay there and rest quietly till five o'clock, I
won't say another word about your resting, while you're here. But
you're--really,--you're so improved since you came, that I want to
complete the cure. Scoot off, now, and then at five o'clock Jim will
be back, and we'll have lots of fun."
"It's nearly half-past two, now. Well, I don't see much else to do, so
I'll go. But remember, it's the last of this foolishness."
"I'll remember. Run along now, and don't show your face below stairs
till five. Cross your heart?"
"Yep. Cross my heart and hope to never! By-by."
Patty ran upstairs and closed her room door behind her. Never really
at a loss to entertain herself, she read some magazines, wrote two or
three letters that had been long owing, and then mooned around looking
out of her windows at the distant hills, bright with winter sunshine.
She opened the long French window to the balcony and stepped out. It
was snappily cold, so she went back long enough to catch up a wrap.
The apple blossom kimono was the first thing she saw, so she slipped
into it, and went out on the balcony. The bracing air was delightful,
and she walked up and down, drawing long deep breaths of ozone. There
was a low railing round the little balcony and Patty sat down on it.
The ground was only about eight feet below her, for the house was built
on a side hill, and the slope was abrupt.
"I could almost lean down and pick violets," she mused, "if there were
any to pick. But it's nowhere near spring, yet."
She drew her wrap more closely about her and rose to go in the house
again.
"Well!" came in an explosive voice, just below her. Patty looked down
and saw Farnsworth standing there, his face radiant with glad surprise.
"Little Billee!" she exclaimed, impulsively leaning over the rail.
"What are you here for?"
"_You_! And I can't wait another minute! _Jump_!"
Not pausing to think, impelled by his quick command, Patty stepped over
the rail and jumped.
Farnsworth caught her deftly in his arms just as her feet touched the
ground, and held her there.
"Look at me," he said, and his always musical voice had a ring in it
Patty had never heard before.
The golden head, bowed against his broad chest, lifted a little, and
Patty's blue eyes shone into his own. Steadily he looked for a moment,
and then said, quietly, but exultantly, "You love me! Oh, my Patty
Blossom!"
Patty stood very still. It seemed to her that the end of the world had
come--or the beginning,--she wasn't sure which.
"Come," said Farnsworth, still with that glad, exultant note of triumph
in his voice. He led her to the house, walking quickly and with
springing step.
Adele was in the hall as they entered.
"Good heavens!" she said, helplessly, as she stared at them.
"Adele," Farnsworth's words fairly rang out, "don't stop us. We're
just getting engaged, and we want a few minutes alone."
"I should say so!" and half dazed at the suddenness of the news, Adele
opened the door of a little reception room, and let them in. Then she
closed it, and ran hot haste to find Jim.
A wood fire was blazing and Patty threw off the silk wrap.
"Apple Blossom," said Farnsworth, as he took it from her, and tossed it
over a sofa, "my Blossom girl!"
He took the soft, trembling little figure in his arms, the pretty white
frock sadly crushed in his strong embrace.
"My Love, my Patty Blossom!" he murmured, and then, with his first kiss
on her quivering, scarlet lips, Patty knew that she "cared for" this
big, tender giant, with her whole heart, and she began to realise how
he loved her.
"Patty! darling! I have loved you so long, but I had no idea what it
would mean to know you love me!"
"What does it mean?" she said, softly.
"It means heaven! Great, blue, sunshiny, cloudless heaven! Oh, my
little girl, I can't tell you all it means, there aren't any words big
enough. You do love me, don't you? How do you know you do?"
"Because I jumped," and the blue eyes smiled at him. "I jumped because
I couldn't help it."
"You jumped because you loved me! I oughtn't to have let you do it;
good gracious, Patty, you might have broken yourself to bits! I spoke
from impulse."
"And I jumped from impulse. And,--I'm glad I did!"
"You little Love! Are you? Patty, how can you love a great, uncouth
man like me?"
"You're not uncouth, Little Billee, and you only said that to be
contradicted! But I do contradict it. You're not big and uncouth at
all. Well, I s'pose you _are_ big,--but it's a nice, cunning little
bigness----"
"There, there, that'll be about all of that! Now, tell me why you ran
away from me."
"I didn't know at the time. But I know now."
"You do? Why, then?
"Because I was in love with you, and I was afraid you'd find it out."
"But you didn't know it yourself?"
"N--no; that is, I wouldn't own up to it to myself, and I was awfully
afraid myself would find it out."
"You little goose----"
"Blossom goose?"
"Yes. Blossom goose,--Blossom girl,--Oh, Patty Blossom, how _can_ I
make you have a glimmer of a gleam of an idea how I love you!"
"Little Billee! if you give me all your kisses now, what shall we do
all the rest of our lives?"
"Poor little Apple Blossom! Am I a big bear? Well, sit beside me here
on this cosy sofa place, and I'll tell you what we'll do all the rest
of our lives."
And so enchanted was Patty with the plans unfolded for her, that it was
more than an hour later that she remembered to ask, "Why did you give
Daisy the books you bought for me?"
"Shall I tell you, dear? I told you at the time I had a reason.
Because, just then, something in your eyes gave me hope, gave me a tiny
hint of hope that you would take _my_ set of Riley books and me along
with it!"
"Oh, Little Billee! Did I really throw myself at your head?"
"No, Patty; no, my child, never think for a minute you did that! But
you gave me a look that made me feel emboldened to throw myself at your
feet. Then you ran away before I could do so."
"Yes, I was afraid you would. How did you know I was here?"
"Didn't know it; but I thought it the most likely place. How the
Kenerleys fooled me! I owe Jim one for that!"
"No, you don't! They only did what I made them do. I vowed I wouldn't
see you, and they must not let you know I was here."
"Did you think you could elude me long, Sweetheart?"
"I don't know what I thought----"
"You were afraid to look in your own heart, weren't you?"
"Yes, I was. But I'm not now."
"No, you don't seem to be! For a newly engaged young person you take
to it like a duck to water."
"Only because it's _you_. I wouldn't with anybody else."
"I should hope not! And you're not afraid of me any more?"
"'Perfect love casteth out fear.'"
"Oh, Blossom, you do say the sweetest things! And do you forgive me my
horrid ostentation?"
"You must forgive _me_ for that, Little Billee. I had no business to
act so."
"You were all right, dear. I'm not to the money born, you know. And
when I was successful, financially, I had _no_ thought but of pleasure
it might give you. But I expressed myself unfortunately. I'm not a
'society man,' Patty."
"You're the dearest man in all the world. My big, beautiful Sir
Galahad. My own Little Billee."
"Haven't you two got engaged yet?" called Adele, plaintively, through
the keyhole. "You've been two hours at it! Come on out, and let us
help."
"Run away and play," called back Farnsworth, but Patty released herself
from his clasping arms, and said, "It hasn't been two hours, any such
thing, Adele; but we will come out now. We've been engaged a long
time."
Big Bill rose, towering above his little fiancee.
"You little scrap of loveliness!" he exclaimed, "what have you done to
me, to bewitch me so? You were always beautiful, but now
you're--you're----"
"Well, what?" and Patty's radiant face looked up lovingly into his own.
"There are no words dear enough," and Farnsworth's voice thrilled with
love and reverence, "no terms sweet enough, but just,--my Patty
Blossom."