Captain Lancaster and his friend, having brought letters of
introduction from England, were having rather a nice time in the
cultured and æsthetic circles of Boston. They had made the grand
tour of the States, lingering at the last in the beautiful city
where they had made some very pleasant acquaintances, and where, as
eligibles of the first water, they were fêted and courted in the most
flattering manner by the fashionable people of the place. It is true
that Lieutenant De Vere sometimes declared that he found New York more
charming, but still he lingered, loath to go, and it was two weeks
after the reception of Lady Lancaster's letter before they turned their
faces toward the city that held the child that was to go to England
with them--the baby, as they had quite decided in their own minds it
must be.
There are a few people who, when they have a disagreeable task to
perform, go bravely forward and get it over. There are a great many
more who shirk such things and put them off till the last moment.
Captain Lancaster belonged to the latter class. He was intensely afraid
of disagreeables. He revolted exceedingly from the idea of "that
squalling baby" he had to carry to England. He thought that Mrs. West
should come after it herself. Yet Captain Lancaster was not a bad and
selfish man, as one might have supposed from his reluctance to do this
kindness. The whole gist of the matter lay in the fact that his aunt
had so cavalierly ordered him to do it. He chafed beneath the plainly
visible fact that she meant to lead him by the nose as long as she
lived, in virtue of the money she was going to leave him when she died.
So our hero mentally kicked against taking home the orphan child,
and all unconsciously to himself directed a part of his vexation at
his aunt against the little one. The mention of it was exceedingly
distasteful to him, and when Lieutenant De Vere once or twice
represented to him that he "ought to go and see about Leonora West
before the last day," he invariably replied: "My dear friend, it is
one of my rules never to do anything to-day that I can put off until
to-morrow."
So it was actually the day before they sailed when Lancaster hunted up
the address and went to look after his charge, his "small commission,"
as Lady Lancaster had blandly termed it. He went alone, for when De
Vere offered to accompany him he shook his head and replied, decidedly,
"No, I will not trouble you, for I can get over disagreeable things
best alone."
So he went alone, and the address took him to a quiet, genteel
boarding-house, in a quiet but highly respectable street. He rang the
bell impatiently, and a smart female servant opened the door, smiling
and bridling at the sight of the big, handsome young aristocrat.
"I have called to see about little Miss West. Is she here?" he inquired.
"Oh, Lor', yes sir!" she replied. "Please to walk into the parlor, and
I'll take your card."
He handed her the small bit of pasteboard with his military title,
"Captain Lancaster," simply engraved upon it, and said, abruptly:
"Send Miss West's nurse to me as soon as possible, please. I am in a
hurry. We must sail for England to-morrow."
She gazed at him a little stupidly. "The nurse!" she echoed.
"Yes, the baby's nurse. Of course I must see her and make arrangements
for our voyage," he replied; and the girl hastily retreated, and he
caught the echo of a suppressed titter outside the door.
"American rudeness and freedom," he said to himself, disgustedly, as
he walked up and down the limits of the pretty little parlor with its
Brussels carpet, lace curtains, and open piano. "What did she see to
giggle at, I wonder?"
And he glanced carelessly at his own elegant reflection in the
long, swinging mirror, and felt complacently that there was nothing
mirth-provoking there. From the top of his fair, handsome head to the
toe of his shining boot all was elegant and irreproachable.
"Now, how long is that nurse going to make me wait? I hope, upon
my soul, she won't bring that horrid young one in to display its
perfections. I can well dispense with the pleasure," he said to
himself, grimly, and he then turned hurriedly around at a sudden sound.
The door had opened softly, and a young girl, clad in deep, lusterless
mourning apparel, had entered the parlor.