HOSTILITIES RESUMED
As Peggy left the piazza her aunt's eyes followed her with an expression
which held little promise for the girl's future happiness should it be
given into Mrs. Stewart's keeping. A more calculating, triumphant one,
or one more devoid of any vestige of affection for Peggy it would have
been hard to picture. As her niece disappeared Mrs. Stewart's lips
formed just two words, "little fool," but never had she so utterly
miscalculated. She was sadly lacking in a discrimination of values.
Peggy had chosen one of two evils; that of losing her temper and saying
something which would have outraged her conception of the obligations of
a hostess, or of getting away by herself without a moment's delay. She
felt as though she were strangling, or that some horrible calamity
threatened her. Hurrying to her own room she flung herself upon her
couch and did that which Peggy Stewart was rarely known to do: buried
her head in the cushions and sobbed. Not the sobs of a thwarted, peevish
girl, but the deeper grief of one who feels hopeless, lonely and
wretched. Never in her life had she felt like this. What was the meaning
of it?
Those who were older and more experienced, would have answered at once:
Here is a girl, not yet sixteen years of age, who has led a lonely life
upon a great estate, remote from companions of her own age, though
adored by the servants who have been upon it as long as she can
remember. She has been regarded as their mistress whose word must be law
because her mother's was. Her education has been conducted along those
lines by an old gentleman who believes that the southern gentlewoman
must be the absolute head of her home.
About this time there enters her little world a woman whose every
impulse stands for motherhood at its sweetest and best, and who has
helped all that is best and truest in the young girl to develop, guiding
her by the beautiful power of affection. All has been peace and harmony,
and Peggy is rapidly qualifying in ability to assume absolute control in
her father's home.
Then, with scarcely a moment's warning, there is dropped into her home
and daily life a person with whom she cannot have anything in common,
from whom she intuitively shrinks and cannot trust.
Under such circumstances the present climax is not surprising.
Peggy's whole life had in some respects been a contradiction and a cry
for a girl's natural heritage--a mother's all-comprehending love. The
love that does not wait to be told of the loved one's needs and
happiness, but which lives only to foresee what is best for her and to
bring it to pass, never mind at what sacrifice to self. Peggy had missed
_that_ love in her life and not all the other forms combined had
compensated.
Until the previous year she had never felt this; nor could she have put
it into words even at the present moment. She only knew that in Polly's
companionship she had been very, very happy and that she was terribly
lonely without her. That in Mrs. Harold she had found a friend whom she
had learned to love devotedly and trust implicitly, and that in the
brief time Mrs. Howland, Polly's mother, had been in Annapolis and at
New London, she had caught a glimpse of a little world before undreamed
of; a world peculiarly Polly's and her mother's and which no other human
being invaded. Mrs. Howland had just such a little world for each of her
daughters and for the son-in-law whom she loved so tenderly. It was a
world sacred to the individual who dwelt therein with her. There was a
common world in which all met in mutual interests, but she possessed the
peculiar power of holding for each of her children their own "inner
shrine" which was truly "The Holy of Holies."
Although Peggy had known and loved Mrs. Harold longest, there was
something in Mrs. Howland's gentle unobtrusive sweetness, in her hidden
strength, which drew Peggy as a magnet and for the first time in her
life she longed for the one thing denied her: such a love as Polly
claimed.
But it seemed an impossibility, and her nearest approach to it lay in
Mrs. Harold's affection for her.
Peggy was not ungrateful, but what had befallen the usual order of
things? Was this aunt, with whom, try as she would, she could not feel
anything in common, about to establish herself in the home, every turn
and corner of which was so dear to her, and utterly disrupt it? For this
Peggy felt pretty sure she would do if left a free hand. Already she had
most of the old servants in a state of ferment, if not open hostility.
They plainly regarded her as an interloper, resented her assumption of
rule and her interference in the innumerable little details of the
household economy. Her very evident lack of the qualities which,
according to their standards, stood for "de true an' endurin' quality
raisin'," made them distrust her.
Now the "time was certainly out of joint" and poor little Peggy began to
wonder if she had to complete the quotation.
All that has been written had passed like a whirlwind through Peggy's
harassed brain in much less time than it has taken to put it on paper.
It was all a jumble to poor Peggy; vague, yet very real; understood yet
baffling. The only real evidences of her unhappiness and doubt were the
tears and sobs, and these soon called, by some telepathic message of
love and a life's devotion, the faithful old nurse who had been the
comforter of her childish woes. For days Mammy had been "as res'less an'
onsettled as a yo'ng tuckey long 'bout Thanksgivin' time," as she
expressed it, and had found it difficult to settle down to her ordinary
routine of work during the preceding two weeks. She prowled about the
house and the premises "fer all de 'roun worl' like yo' huntin'
speerits," declared Aunt Cynthia, the cook.
"Huh!" retorted Mammy, "I on'y wisht I could feel dat dey was frien'ly
ones, but I has a percolation dat dey's comin' from _below_ stidder
_above_."
So perhaps this explains why she went up to Peggy's room at an hour
which she usually spent in her own quarters mending. Long before she
reached the room she became aware of sounds which acted upon her as a
spark to a powder magazine, for Mammy's loving old ears lay very close
to her heart.
With a pious "Ma Lawd-God-Amighty, what done happen?" she flew down the
broad hall and, being a privileged character, entered the room without
knocking. The next second she was holding Peggy in her arms and almost
sobbing herself as she besought her to tell "who done hurt ma baby? Tell
Mammy what brecken' yo' heart, honey-chile."
For a few moments Peggy could not reply, and Mammy was upon the point of
rushing off for Harrison when Peggy laid a detaining hand upon her and
commanded:
"Stop, Mammy! You must not call Harrison or anyone else. There is really
nothing the matter. I'm just a silly girl to act like this and I'm
thoroughly ashamed of myself." Then she wiped her eyes and strove to
check a rebellious sob.
"Quit triflin'! Kingdom-come, is yo' think I'se come ter ma dotage? When
is I see you a cryin' like dis befo'? Not sense yo' was kitin' roun' de
lot an' fall down an' crack yo' haid. Yo' ain' been de yellin',
squallin' kind, an' when yo' begins at dis hyar day an' age fer ter
shed tears dar's somethin' pintedly wrong, an' yo' needn' tell me dar
ain't. Now out wid it."
Mammy was usually fiercest when she felt most deeply and now she was
stirred to the very depth of her soul.
"Why, Mammy, I don't believe I could tell you what I'm crying for if I
tried," and Peggy smiled as she rested her head upon the shoulder which
had never failed her.
"Well, den, tell me what yo' _ain't_ cryin' fo', kase ef yo' ain't
cryin' fer somethin' yo' _want_ yo' shore mus' be a-crying fo' somethin'
yo' _don't_ want," was Mammy's bewildering argument. "An' I bait yo' I
ain't gotter go far fer ter ketch de thing yo' _don'_ want neither," and
the old woman looked ready to deal with that same cause once it came
within her grasp.
Peggy straightened up. This order of things would never do. If she acted
like a spoiled child simply because someone to whom she had taken an
instinctive dislike had come into her home, she would presently have the
whole household demoralized.
"Mammy, listen to me."
Instinctively the blood of generations of servitude responded to Peggy's
tone.
"I have been terribly rude to a guest. I lost my temper and I'm ashamed
of myself."
"What did you say to her, baby?"
"I didn't say anything, I just acted outrageously."
"An' what _she_ been a-sayin' ter yo'?"
Peggy only colored.
Mammy nodded her bead significantly. "Ain't I _know_ dat! Yo' cyant tell
_me_ nothin' 'bout de Stewart blood. No-siree! I know it from Alphy to
Omegy; backards an' forrards. Now we-all kin look out fer trouble ahead.
But I'se got dis fer ter say: Some fools jist nachelly go a-prancin' an'
a-cavortin' inter places whar de angils outen heaven dassent no mo'n
peek. If yo' tells me I must keep ma mouf shet, I'se gotter keep it
shet, but Massa Neil is allers a projectin' 'bout ma safety-valve, an'
don' yo' tie it down too tight, honey, er somethin' gwine bus' wide open
'fore long. Now come 'long an' wash yo' purty face. I ain' like fer ter
see no tears-stains on _yo'_ baby. No, I don'. Den yo' go git on Shashai
an' call yo' body-gyard and 'Z'ritza an' yo' ride ten good miles fo' yo'
come back hyer. By _dat_ time yo' git yo' min' settle down an' yo'
stummic ready fo' de lunch wha' Sis' Cynthia gwine fix fo' yo'. I seen
de perjections ob it an' it fair mak' ma mouf run water lak' a dawg's.
Run 'long, honey," and Mammy led the way down the side stairs, and
watched Peggy as she took a side path to the paddock.
As she was in and out of her saddle a dozen times a day she wore a
divided skirt more than half the time--another of Mrs. Stewart's
grievances--and upon reaching the paddock her whistle soon brought her
pets tearing across it to her. Their greeting was warm enough to banish
a legion of blue imps, and a joyous little laugh bubbled to her lips as
she opened the paddock gate and let the trio file through. Then in the
old way she sprang upon Shashai's back and with a gay laugh cried:
"Four bells for the harness house."
Away they swept, as Peggy's voice and knees directed Shashai, Tzaritza,
who had joined Peggy as she stepped from the side porch, bounding on
ahead with joyous barks.
Peggy called for a bridle, which Shelby himself brought, saying as he
slipped the light snaffle into Shashai's sensitive mouth and the
headstall over his ears:
"So you've bruck trainin', Miss Peggy, an' are a-going for a real
old-time warm-up? Well, I reckon it's about time, an' the best thing you
can do, for you look sort o' pinin' an' down-in-the-mouth. Light out,
little girl, an' come back lookin' like you uster; the purtiest sight
God ever created for a man, woman or child ter clap eyes on. Take good
care of her, Shashai, and you too, Tzaritza, cause you won't get
another like her very soon."
Shelby's eyes were quick to discern the traces of Peggy's little storm,
and he was by no means slow in drawing deductions. Peggy blushed, but
said:
"I guess Daddy was right when he said I'd better go to school this year.
You-all will spoil me if I stay here. Good-by, dear old Shelby, I love
everyone on the place even if they do spoil me," and away she swept, as
bonny a little bareback rider as ever sat a horse.
Meanwhile, up at the house events were shaping with the rapidity of a
moving picture show.
When Peggy left her so abruptly Madam Stewart sat still for a few
moments, pondering her next step. She had arrived at some very definite
conclusions and intended carrying them out without loss of time. Her
first move in that direction led her into the library where she wrote a
letter to her brother-in-law. It was while she was thus occupied that
Mammy had found Peggy and sent her for her ride. Then Mammy sought
Harrison. Ordinarily, Mammy would have died before consulting Harrison
about anything concerning Peggy, but here was a common issue, and if
Mammy did not know that a house divided against itself must fall, she
certainly felt the force of that argument. In Harrison she found a
sympathetic listener, for the old housekeeper had been made to feel
Mrs. Stewart's presence in the house in hundreds of irritating little
ways. Mammy told of finding Peggy in tears, though she could not, of
course, tell their cause. But Harrison needed no cause: the tears in
themselves were all the cause she required to know.
Their conversation took place in the pantry and at the height of
Harrison's protest against the new order of things a footfall was heard
in the dining-room beyond. Thinking it Jerome's and quite ready to add
one more to their league of defenders of Peggy's cause, Harrison pushed
open the swinging door and stepped into the dining-room with all of her
New England-woman's nervous activity. Mrs. Stewart stood in the room
surveying with a critical, calculating eye, every detail of its stately,
chaste appointments, for nothing had ever been changed.
Mrs. Stewart looked up as Harrison bounced in.
"O Harrison, you are exactly the person I wished to speak with," she
said. "There are to be a few changes made in Mr. Stewart's domestic
arrangements. In future I shall assume control of his home and relieve
Miss Peggy of all responsibility. You may come to me for all orders."
She paused, and for the moment Harrison was too dumbfounded to reply,
while Mammy in the pantry, having overheard every word, was noiselessly
clapping her old hands together and murmuring: "Ma Lawd! Ma Lawd! _Now_
I knows de sou'ce ob dat chile's tears." Before Harrison could recover
herself Mrs. Stewart continued:
"Dr. Llewellyn will be here tomorrow for the weekend, and as I am to be
mistress of the household it is more seemly that I preside at the head
of the table. Tell Jerome that I shall sit there in future. And now I
wish you to take me through the house that I may know more of its
appointments than I have thus far been able to learn."
Without a word Harrison led the way into the hall, and up the beautiful
old colonial stairway.
Peggy's sitting-room and bed-room were situated at the south-east corner
of the house overlooking the bay. Back of her bath and dressing-rooms
were two guest rooms. A broad hall ran the length of the second story
and upon the opposite side of it had been Mrs. Neil Stewart's pretty
sitting-room, which corresponded with Peggy's and her bed-room separated
from her husband's by the daintiest of dressing and bath-rooms. Neil
Stewart's "den" was at the rear. Beyond were lavatories, linen-room,
house-maid's room and every requirement of a well-ordered home.
Mrs. Peyton began by entering Peggy's sitting-room, a liberty she had
not hitherto taken, but she felt pretty sure Peggy was not in the house.
At any rate she had made her plunge and did not mean to be diverted from
her object now. Martha Harrison was simply boiling with wrath at the
intrusion.
"You are a wonderfully capable woman, Martha. I see I shall have very
light duties," was Mrs. Peyton's patronizing comment.
"_Harrison_, if you please, ma'am," emphasized that person.
"Oh, indeed? As you prefer. Now let me see the rooms on the opposite
side of the hall."
Perhaps had Mrs. Peyton asked Harrison to lead her into the little
mausoleum, built generations ago in the whispering white pine grove upon
the hill back of the house, it could not have been a greater liberty or
sacrilege. Not so great, possibly. In all the nine years nothing had
been changed. They were sacred to the entire household and especially
sacred to Harrison who had held it her especial privilege to keep them
immaculate. In the bed-room the toilet and dressing tables held the same
articles Mrs. Neil had used; her work-table stood in the same sunny
window. In the sitting-room the books she loved and had read again and
again were in the case, or lying upon the tables where she had left
them. It seemed as though she might have stepped from the room barely
ten minutes before. There was nothing depressing about it. On the
contrary, it impressed upon the observer the near presence of a sweet,
cultivated personality. The sitting-room was a shrine for both Peggy and
her father, and it was his wish that it be kept exactly as he had known
and loved it during the ideal hours he had spent in it with wife and
child. He and Peggy had spent many a precious one there since its
radiant, gracious mistress had slept in the pine grove. Harrison crossed
the hall and opened the door, still mute as an oyster. Mrs. Stewart
swept in, Toinette, who had followed her, tearing across the room ahead
of her and darting into every nook and corner. At that moment the
obnoxious poodle came nearer her doom than she had ever come in all her
useless life, for Harrison was a-quiver to hurl her through the open
window.
"What charming rooms," exclaimed Madam, trailing languidly from one to
the other, touching a book here, some exquisite curio there, the carved
ivory toilet articles on the dresser. The morning sunlight, tempered by
the green and white awnings at the great bowed-windows filled the
tastefully decorated rooms with a restful glow. They were beautiful
rooms in every sense of the word.
"Very charming indeed and very useless apparently. They seem not to have
been occupied in months. They are far more desirable than those assigned
to me at the North side of the house. The view of the bay is perfect. As
I am to be here indefinitely, instead of one month only, you may have my
things moved over to this suite, Harrison. I shall occupy it in future."
"Occupy _this_ suite?" Harrison almost gasped the words.
"Certainly. Why not? You need not look as though I had ordered you to
build a fire in the middle of the floor," and Mrs. Peyton laughed half
scornfully.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but when _Mr. Neil_ gives the order to move your
things into this suite, I'll move them here. These was his wife's rooms
and his orders to me was never to change 'em and I never shall 'till
_he_ tells me to. There's some things in this world that can't be
tampered with. Please call your dog, ma'am; she's scratchin' that couch
cover to ribbons."
The enemy's guns were silenced for the time being. She picked up her
poodle and swept from the room. Harrison paused only long enough to
close all the doors, lock them and place the keys in her little hand
bag. Then she departed to her own quarters to give vent to her pent-up
wrath.
Mrs. Stewart retired to her own room.
The next evening Dr. Llewellyn arrived and when he took his seat at the
table his gentle face was troubled: Mrs. Peyton had usurped Peggy's
place at the head. Peggy sat opposite to him. She had accepted the
situation gracefully, not one word of protest passing her lips and she
did her best to entertain her guests. But poor old Jerome's soul was so
outraged that for the first time in his life he was completely
demoralized. Only one person in the entire household seemed absolutely
and entirely satisfied and that was Harrison, and her self-satisfaction
so irritated Mammy that the good old creature sputtered out:
"Kingdom come, is yo' gittin' ter de pint when yo' kin see sich
gwines-on an' not r'ar right spang up an' _sass_ dat 'oman?"
"Just wait!" was Harrison's cryptic reply.