NEW NAMES FOR OLD ACQUAINTANCES
THERE was a shimmer of silver and blue on the stairs and then the man
with his eyes upturned saw his wife moving toward him in a kind of
cloud.
The next moment with a laugh of mingled embarrassment and pleasure Betty
Graham put up her hand, covering her husband's eyes.
"You must not look at me like that, Anthony, or you will make me
abominably vain," she whispered. "Wait until the girls and the receiving
party appear and then you will see what an ordinary person the new
'Governor's Lady' is and repent having raised humble Betty Ashton to
such an exalted position."
Arm in arm the husband and wife now moved toward the drawing room.
"How little we ever dreamed of this grandeur, dear, in the days when I
had to work so hard to persuade you to marry me."
"Perhaps if I had known I never should have dared," Betty went on, still
half in earnest. "But I mean to do the best I can to help in our new
position, although I must confess I am dreadfully frightened at having
to receive so many distinguished people tonight. However, nurse says
Tony is really better. And I shall have you to tell me what I ought to
say and do."
Now under the tall crystal chandelier the young Governor lifted his
wife's hand to his lips with a smile at her absurdity. In spite of his
ordinary origin Anthony Graham had a curious courtliness of manner. It
was amusing to hear Betty talking of being afraid of people. All her
life she had had unusual social charm, winning friends and admiration in
every circle of society almost from her babyhood. Naturally in the years
since her marriage, during her husband's struggle from the position of a
successful young lawyer in a small town to the highest office in the
state, both her charm and self-possession had increased. Indeed, it was
well known that she had been her husband's chief inspiration and aid,
and there were many persons who declared that it had been the wife's
beauty and money that were responsible for the husband's success.
However, this remark was made by the Governor's political enemies and
not his friends and was of course untrue.
Nevertheless Anthony did look somewhat boyish and insignificant tonight
for his distinguished position. He was of only medium height, and
although his shoulders were broad, he had never lost the thinness of his
boyhood due to hardships and too severe study. Yet there was nothing
weak or immature about his face with its deep-set hazel eyes, the high,
grave forehead with the dark hair pushed carelessly back, and the firm,
almost obstinate, set of his lips.
Indeed, the young Governor already had gained a reputation for
obstinacy, and once persuaded to a policy or an idea, was difficult to
change. This trait of character had been partly responsible for his
election to office. For there had been serious graft and dishonesty in
the politics of New Hampshire, and led by Anthony Graham the younger
men in the state had been able to defeat the old-time political ring.
Whether or not the good government party would be allowed to remain in
power depended largely on the new Governor. He had promised to stop the
graft and crime in the state and to give positions to no persons who
were not fitted for them. Of course this meant that he must have many
enemies who would do their best to destroy his reputation. Already they
were aware that the young Governor's one weakness was his devotion to
his beautiful wife.
But Betty used often to be amused at the outside world's opinion of her
husband's character. For never once in their married life so far had he
ever refused any request of hers. Therefore the real test was yet to
come.
Five minutes later and there was once more the sound of movement and
laughter on the stairway when the re-opening of the drawing room door
admitted six persons, who were to form the first members of the
receiving line.
First came Doctor and Mrs. Richard Ashton. Already Dick had made a
reputation for himself as a surgeon in Boston, while Esther was one of
the plain girls who so frequently grow handsomer as they grow older. Her
tallness and pallor with her abundant red hair and sweet yet reserved
manner formed tonight as striking a contrast to her sister's grace and
animation as it had in the days when they first learned to know of the
closeness of the tie between them.
Mr. and Mrs. William Webster had come all the way from Woodford to
Concord, leaving three babies at home, to assist their old friends at
the Inaugural Ball. You must have guessed that Mollie O'Neill, as Mrs.
William Webster, would have grown plumper and prettier during the busy,
happy years of married life with her husband and children on their large
farm. For Mollie now had a small daughter "Polly," named for her beloved
twin sister, and a pair of twin sons, Dan and Billy. She was more than
ever in love with her husband and, many people believed, entirely under
his thumb. Yet there were times when Mollie could and would assert
herself in a surprising fashion just as she had in former days with her
girl friends.
Tonight she was wearing a white silk which looked just the least bit
countrified and yet was singularly becoming to Mollie's milk-white skin,
pink cheeks and shining black hair. Yet in spite of never having changed
his occupation of farmer, there was little to suggest the countryside in
Billy Webster's appearance, except in his unusual strength and size. For
he had fulfilled the prediction made to Polly O'Neill over a Camp Fire
luncheon many years before. He had remained a farmer and a highly
successful one and yet had seen a good deal of the world and understood
many things besides farming.
Of the three Sunrise Hill Camp Fire girls who had within the last few
moments joined Betty and her husband, the third was the most changed.
For is it not difficult to imagine Meg Everett transformed into a
fashionable society woman, Meg, whose hair never would stay neatly
braided, whose waist and skirt so frequently failed to connect?
However, after a number of love affairs, to her friends' surprise Meg
had married a man as unlike her in taste and disposition as one could
well imagine. He was a worldly, fashionable man, supposed to be wealthy.
Anyhow, he and Meg lived in a handsome house, owned a motor car and
entertained a great deal. They had no children, and perhaps this was the
reason why Meg did not look altogether happy. Sometimes her old friends
had wondered if there could be other reasons, for Meg had always been a
warm-hearted, impetuous girl, careless of fashions and indifferent to
conventions, and now she was always dressed in clothes of the latest
design and at least appeared like a fashionable woman.
Nevertheless Meg had always been more easily influenced than any other
of the Camp Fire girls, hating to oppose the wishes of any one near to
her heart. Her husband, Jack Emmet, was an intimate friend of her adored
brother John. He and Meg made an attractive couple, for although Mr.
Emmet was not handsome, he was tall and had a slender, correct figure
and sharply cut features with light blue eyes and brown hair. Meg's
costume was quite as beautiful as Betty's, a soft rose silk and chiffon,
and her golden hair was fastened with a small rope of pearls.
"You are as lovely tonight as ever, Betty, and I know Anthony is proud
of you," Meg whispered, holding her friend's hand for an instant.
"Remember when you once believed that Anthony was falling in love with
me? Silly child, he never thought of any one except you! But then he and
I have always been special friends since he believed I helped him win
you. I want to tell him how proud I feel of you both tonight."
As Meg moved away, Mollie's plump arm, which was only partly concealed
by her glove, slipped inside her hostess's.
"It is nice we can have a few moments to ourselves before the ball
begins," she remarked shyly, glancing toward her husband, who was for
the moment talking with Jack Emmet. The two men did not like each other,
but had been forced into conversation by Meg's moving off with Anthony.
Betty kissed her friend, quite forgetting the dignity of her position on
the present occasion.
"Dear old Mollie, it is good of you to have come to help me tonight! I
know you don't like this society business. How I wish we had Polly here
with us! She promised to come if possible, but I had a telegram from her
only this afternoon saying that she is almost on the other side of the
continent. It was dated Denver, I believe."
The same look of affectionate incomprehension which she had often
directed toward Polly, again crossed Mollie Webster's pretty face.
"It is just as impossible as ever to keep up with Polly," she explained
half complainingly. "She has been acting through the West all summer,
but promised to come home for a visit this autumn. Now she writes she
won't be here for some time. Dear me, I do wish that Polly would marry
and settle down. Of course I know it is wonderful for her to have become
such a distinguished actress, but I never think she is very happy and I
am always worrying over her."
Betty laughed and then looked serious. "Polly never will settle down, as
you mean it, Mollie dear, even if she should marry," she argued,
forgetting for the moment the other friends close about her and the
evening's ordeal. For her thoughts had traveled away to Polly O'Neill,
who was to her surprise still Polly O'Neill. For at one time she had
certainly believed that Polly had intended marrying Richard Hunt, the
actor, and just why their engagement had been broken no one had ever
been told. Possibly it was because Polly had wished to devote herself
entirely to her work. She had always said as a girl that marriage should
never be allowed to interfere with her career, and certainly it had not.
For the Polly who had made her first success some ten years before in
the little Irish play was now one of the best known actresses in the
United States. Indeed, she had succeeded to the position once held by
Margaret Adams, since Margaret Adams had married and retired.
However, for the present there was no further opportunity for mutual
confidences, since in the interval Faith Barton had appeared and with
her the Governor's new secretary, besides a dozen other persons, most of
them political friends, who were to assist in opening the Inaugural
Ball.
As Anthony joined her, Betty felt her cheeks flush and her knees tremble
for an instant. Moving toward them, accompanied by his wife, was the man
whom Anthony had defeated in the election for Governor. To save her life
Betty could not help recalling at this instant all the hateful things
this man had previously said against her husband. Yet she must not be
childish, nor show ill feeling. Ex-Governor Peyton and his wife were
much older than she and Anthony, and besides they were their guests.
Betty's manner was perfectly gracious and collected by the time the
visitors reached them.