Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
Hetty's Garden-Party,
AND
WHAT CAME OF IT.
BY
EMMA LESLIE
_Author of "Harry Lawley," "Constancia's Household,"_
_Etc., Etc._
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LONDON: SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION
55 & 56, OLD BAILEY, E.C.
CONTENTS.
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CHAPTER I.
HETTY'S PROPOSAL
CHAPTER II.
THE COUSINS
CHAPTER III.
AN UGLY DILEMMA
CHAPTER IV.
COMPLICATIONS
CHAPTER V.
AN UNWELCOME VISITOR
CHAPTER VI.
CONCLUSION
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Hetty's Garden-Party,
AND
WHAT CAME OF IT.
——————
CHAPTER I.
HETTY'S PROPOSAL.
"MAMMA, dear! A letter for you, from Uncle John, I believe," said Hetty
Golding, as she paused at the breakfast table, where the letter was
lying near her mother's plate.
"Yes, it is from Uncle John. I wonder whether he will let Harry and
Lettice come to us for a week?" said the lady, as she opened her letter.
"Oh, mamma, did you ask him? I hope he has consented, for I have told
Ellen Ross and the other girls so much about Lettice that they are
quite wild to see her. Is she coming?" asked Hetty, impatiently.
"Wait a minute, my dear, and you shall have the letter to read
yourself. Yes, they are both coming," said the widow, as she handed the
letter to her daughter the next minute.
But Hetty did not want to read it now. "Oh I 'am' glad," she said,
clapping her hands. "Mamma, what shall we do when they come?" she added.
"Do, my dear? Make them as comfortable as we can, to be sure," said
Mrs. Golding, calmly.
"Yes, of course. But you know what I mean, mamma. They are used to
having everything so nice at home."
"Well, I hope we shall be able to have everything nice here. We always
do, Hetty."
"But, mamma, it will be so different; we only keep one servant. Don't
you think we had better have Mary Riley as housemaid? Uncle John keeps
two, besides a cook and kitchenmaid."
"Your Uncle John is a rich man, while I am only a poor
widow—comparatively poor, at least—for my income, as you know is only
sufficient for our wants, barely allowing me to lay aside a trifle for
a rainy day. But Lettice knows this, and will not expect a house full
of servants. No, I don't think I shall have Mary Riley; she has grown
such a pert, forward girl since she went to live in London."
A cloud gathered on Hetty's good-tempered face.
She did not like to be reminded of their narrow means, and already had
begun to lay plans for making a little display before their neighbours.
For Hetty had told one or two dubious stories about her mamma having
plenty of money, but preferring to live in strict retirement on account
of her health. And when it was remarked that the Goldings never gave
even a quiet party, Hetty had nodded, "Wait till my cousin Lettice
comes, we shall have a party then." And she had given her invitations
pretty freely among her schoolfellows and friends. Many a time she had
taken some congenial spirit into her confidence, and together they had
discussed the subject. And now, though she had left school, she was not
much wiser, and clung tenaciously to her pet project.
"Mamma, we must do something to amuse Lattice while she is here,"
said Hetty, after gazing abstractedly into her coffee cup for a few
minutes. "All the girls are wild to see her, so we must have a party,
or something of the kind."
"Well, we will have a little picnic in the woods if the weather is
fine. Ring the bell, please dear, I want to speak to Hannah about the
dinner."
Hetty shrugged her shoulders as she turned to the bell. "Picnics are so
old-fashioned, mamma. Let us have a garden-party," she said.
Mrs. Golding laughed. "A garden-party on our tiny lawn, Hetty? It would
be quite ridiculous."
"Yes, if we only had the lawn, mamma. But, you know, before Mrs. Mavor
went away, she begged us to use her garden whenever we liked, and
nothing could be better than that large, old-fashioned garden. And only
being separated from our own by that low wire fence, and having a gate
opening into ours, no one need know but what it is our own. It used to
belong to this house, you know, mamma."
"Yes, I know it did, my dear. But I should not like to use it for a
garden-party, it would be encroaching on Mrs. Mavor's consideration.
For I was glad to give up the garden when I took the house, on account
of the difference it made in the rent. And, besides, it would be
assuming a false position, to say nothing of the expense of such a
grand affair as a garden-party."
"But it need not be a grand affair, mamma. And as to the cost, we shall
eat no more in the garden than we should in the woods, only we can lay
a table tastefully on the lawn or under the trees, and have a cup of
tea in comfort, instead of sitting on the ground getting the cramp,
and perhaps a bad cold, and eating earwigs and ladybirds with the
sandwiches."
Mrs. Golding laughed. "I never heard of your dislike to ladybirds
before," she said.
"Well, I don't mind them so much, but I hate the creepy-crawly things
that get about you when you sit on the grass," rumbled Hetty, who was
determined to find fault with every detail of the proposed picnic.
"But what would you do to amuse yourselves in the garden?" said Mrs.
Golding, after listening to Hetty's numerous objections to her plan.
"Oh, we could play at croquet and hide-and-seek, and walk about, and we
might manage a dance on the lawn."
"Well, my dear, as you seem to have set your heart upon having it this
way, I suppose you must do so. But don't blame me, or Hannah either, if
things don't turn out as you expect, for I know nothing about garden
parties. If it were only a picnic now—"
"There, mamma, don't say another word. I'll manage everything now you
have given your consent. It won't make half the fuss a picnic would,
for there will be no packing baskets and breaking plates, and losing
knives and forks. I know how we had things at the Eastlakes, and can
manage it."
"But, my dear, we cannot pretend to have things as Mrs. Eastlake would.
She has plenty of money and a house full of servants, while we have
only—"
"If you please, ma'am, Mrs. Newton's servant has brought a message,
asking you to go over as soon as you can, for old madam has had a bad
fall, and seems very ill." The interruption came from Hannah, who had
been indulging in a little private gossip with Mrs. Newton's maid, and
had not heard the parlour bell ring some minutes before.
It was Hannah's one failing, this love of gossip. It seemed useless for
Mrs. Golding to try to check it, for scolding and reasoning had alike
proved ineffectual, and so she had given it up altogether.
Sending a message in reply, she merely told Hannah to come back at once
and receive her orders for dinner.
"Shall you go soon, mamma?" asked Hetty when Hannah had left the room.
"Yes, my dear, I must go at once. Old Mrs. Newton is such a dear
friend. She will expect me to be with her a great deal."
"Well, I hope she won't be ill long," said Hetty. "What shall I do
about this letter? Will you take it with you, mamma?"
"No, I think you can answer it. Tell Uncle John we will be at the
station to meet your cousins."
"And about the garden-party, mamma, we ought to have that the day after
Lattice comes, because it is to be a sort of introductory affair. And
some of them might like to give another when they once know Lettice."
"Very well, my dear, have it when you like. It is to be your party, not
mine, for I don't understand such things. I was always content with a
picnic and a ramble about the woods and hills, so you and Hannah must
manage things between you."
"Very well, mamma, I'll see to everything. You shan't have a bit of
trouble," said Hetty, kissing her mother as she spoke, for no one could
be more amiable and affectionate than Hetty when she could have her own
way, and, unfortunately, she had been allowed to have it rather too
much of late.
As soon as Mrs. Golding had gone out, Hetty flew downstairs to consult
Hannah about the garden-party, for she must be propitiated and coaxed
into putting forth her best culinary skill for the occasion.
"Hannah, my cousin Lettice is coming, and I have persuaded mamma to let
me have a garden-party," said Hetty, plunging at once into the matter.
Hannah looked up from her work of washing glasses. "A garden-party!"
she repeated. "Who is to get things ready for it, I should like to
know?"
"Oh, we can do it between us, Hannah. I came to tell you about it—to
ask you what we should want, for, you see, mamma knows nothing about
such things, and so she has left it all to me."
"And you know about as much as the mistress," said Hannah.
"Oh, but I know you could help me, and I have been to the Eastlakes and
one or two other places."
"And played croquet and ate custards," said Hannah contemptuously, but
in a mollified tone.
"Well, I don't suppose I could make them," said Hetty. "But you can,
and I could beat the eggs, and do little things to help."
"Well, well, we'll see what can be done," said Hannah, bustling about
her work, but smiling as she spoke, for she was gratified that Hetty
had come to consult her upon this all-important matter.
"What should we want besides—?"
"Besides custards and croquet? Oh, lots of things—cheese-cakes and
tartlets, and pound cake and whipped cream. Mary Riley told me they had
all those things at the Eastlakes, for she was there to help."
"I wish she could come and help us," sighed Hetty.
"Well, I shall have to get some help, if I am to do all this fine
cooking," said Hannah. "How many are you going to invite?"
"I don't know yet, I must talk to mamma when she comes home."
"Well, you ought to make up your mind soon, for there is scarcely a
week to get everything, and the young ladies will want a few days'
notice to get their dresses ready."
"Yes, I will talk to mamma as soon as she comes in," and Hetty ran off,
humming a lively air, to write her letter to Uncle John, and wish that
Mrs. Newton's accident had occurred at any time rather than the present.
She had deep and bitter cause to reiterate this wish again and again,
but it simply vexed her now that her mother should be away just when
she wanted her. For Mrs. Golding was out all day, and when she came
home in the evening she looked so tired and worried that Hetty hardly
liked to say a word about the party.
"Is she so very ill, mamma?" she ventured to ask.
"Yes, my dear. She will never leave her room, or even her bed again, I
fear. And there are other troubles as well in the family, so that I am
afraid I shall have to be away from home a good deal in the next few
days. Have you posted your uncle's letter?"
"Yes, mamma. I told him we would meet Lettice at the station, and that
we were going to have a little garden-party to introduce her to our
friends."
Mrs. Golding smiled. "I had almost forgotten this party," she said.
"But I suppose you may as well have it."
"Oh, yes, mamma, we settled that this morning. And I have been telling
Hannah about making us some tarts and custards," said Hetty, eagerly.
"Yes, you will want a few little things like that," remarked Mrs.
Golding, absently.
"Hannah was very good-tempered about it, and will do everything, only
she wants to know how many there are likely to be. How many shall I
invite, mamma?"
"My dear, I must leave that to you. I am sure you know whom to invite,
and I shall be so much away from home I think it will be best for me
to give you a sovereign, to meet the extra expenses. Only consult
Hannah in spending it. And remember, I cannot afford more than this for
extras. Tea, and sugar, and bread, and butter you need not count in,
but you must make this suffice for extras."
"Oh, thank you, mamma, I am sure it will do that," said Hetty, who
know very little of the practical value of money, and fancied that a
sovereign would purchase unheard-of luxuries.
Before she went to bed that night, she made out a list of friends
to be invited, and they numbered nearly forty. Remembering Hannah's
suggestion that these would want a few days' notice, she sat down
before breakfast, and began to write her notes of invitation. But she
did not show the list to her mother, for she knew that one or two names
would be struck out, even if her mother did not object to such a large
party. And so the writing was put away as Mrs. Golding came into the
room.
She did not notice her daughter's hurried movements, for her mind
was full of her friend's trouble. And as soon as she had eaten her
breakfast, she put on her bonnet to go out, saying she might not be
home again until the evening.
Hetty hurried over her breakfast too, and by twelve o'clock had written
and despatched all her notes of invitation.
"There now, I have done the worst part of the work, Hannah. I have
written all those notes," she said, as she came in after her walk to
the post office.
"How many have you sent?" asked Hannah.
"Thirty-six, and Lettice, Harry, and our two selves will make just
forty—a nice number."
Hannah held up her hands. "A nice number you call it—and you have just
one sovereign to feed all those people!"
"Well, isn't that enough?" asked Hetty, with rather a dismayed look.
"It's all nonsense about the feeding, you know; they're not like poor
people going to a tea-meeting. People don't come to a garden-party to
eat; I'm sure I never eat much."
"Well, you're not everybody, Miss Hetty, and I know enough about money
and parties to know that a sovereign is not half enough to feed all
those people."
"They don't want to be fed, I tell you. We only want a few things to
make the tables look nice; custards and cheese-cakes don't cost much,
and a few tarts and strawberries and currants, with plenty of tea and
coffee, and nice cake and bread-and-butter, are all we shall want."
"Well, Miss Hetty, I'll do the best I can. But you had better tell
your mamma how many you have invited, and I daresay she will give you
another sovereign, rather than people should come here to starve."
"You're dreadfully afraid of people starving," said Hetty, crossly,
as she walked away, swinging her hat and mentally denouncing Hannah's
vulgar notions about genteel people's appetites.
That afternoon, Hetty set out to make her purchases. She found her
sovereign considerably diminished before she came home, and then Hannah
provokingly declared she had not ordered more than half enough.
"Tell the boy when he brings them what more you want, then," said
Hetty, crossly. "I have seen Mary Riley," she added, "and she has
promised to come in and help us."
"Ah, she will tall us what we ought to have, for she has been living in
a fashionable family, only you must not forget to ask your mamma for
some more money, Miss Hetty."
But Hetty did forget, or rather felt afraid, to ask for any more, for
fear her mother should question her as to the number invited, and
insist upon the whole affair being given up. She did not feel quite so
happy when she went to bed that night, for there was a little fear, a
little anxiety as to what the end of this would be. But it was too late
to draw back now, she thought, the invitations had been issued, and she
"must" make her garden-party a brilliant success, for she had boasted
so much among her friends of what a grand affair they were going to
give when her cousin came to visit them.
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