Uncle Billy's Diplomacy
The hall bedroom at Buck Hill was not such a small room, except in
comparison with the other rooms, which were enormous. There was plenty
of space in it for Miss Ann and a reasonable amount of luggage, but
not for Miss Ann and three trunks and the numerous bags and bundles
and boxes, which Billy stowed away, endeavoring to make the place as
comfortable as possible for his beloved mistress.
"I'll unstrop yo' trunks an' we kin git unpacked an' then I'll tote
the empties up in the attic 'ginst the time we 'cides ter move on," he
said, looking sadly at Miss Ann as she sank listlessly in a chair.
Miss Ann allowed herself to be listless in the presence of Billy, and
Billy alone. At the sound of a step on the stairs she stiffened
involuntarily. Nobody must find Ann Peyton slouching or down-hearted.
It was only Mildred going up for a last look at the guest chamber, to
make sure everything was in readiness for her company. She did not
come to her old cousin's room so Miss Ann felt at liberty to relax
once more.
"Billy, I am not going to unpack yet," she faltered. "I--I--perhaps we
may have to start off again in a hurry."
"Don't say it, Miss Ann! We won't never be called on ter depart from
Buck Hill 'til we's good an' ready--not whilst Marse Bob Bucknor's
prodigy is livin', an' Mr. Jeff the spitin' image of his gran'dad. I's
sho Miss Milly done put you in this pretty lil' room kase she thought
you'd like it, bein' so handy to the stairs an' all, an' the windy
right over the baid so's you kin lay an 'look out at the trees an'
flowers--an' if there ain't a wishteria vine a comin' in the casement
an' twinin' aroun' jes' like a pixture. I tell you Miss Ann, this here
room becomes you powerful much. I wonder they ain't never give it ter
you befo'. It's a heap mo' homey like than the gues' chamber an' I'm
thinkin' it's agonter be quieter an' cooler an' much mo'
habitationable."
"Yes, Billy, I'm sure it will be." There was a plaintive suggestion of
tears in her voice.
"Now, Miss Ann, you git in yo' wropper an' lay down a spell an' I'm
gonter fotch you a cup er tea. You's plum tuckered out what with sech
a early start an' mo'n likely no sleep las' night. You ain't called
on ter be a botherin' yo' little haid 'bout nothin'. Jes' you res'
yo'se'f an' after you rests you kin come down on the po'ch an' git the
air."
If he had been a mammy coaxing a child Billy's tone could not have
been more gentle or loving. He busied himself unstrapping the trunks
and valises and then hurried off for the cup of tea, declaring he
would be back in a moment although he well knew that a trial of will
with Aunt Em'ly lay before him. Tea and toast he determined to have
for his mistress--if over the cook's dead body. Aunt Em'ly was queen
of the kitchen and nothing irritated her more than having extra food
to prepare.
"Let 'em eat they victuals when they's served, three times a day
without no stint or savin' an' not be peckin' in between times," she
hurled at poor old Billy when he meekly demanded a tray for the hall
bedroom.
"I'll fix it myself, Sis Em'ly, an' I won't make a mite er dirt. Miss
Ann air plum flabbergasted what with sech a long trip an' no
breakfas'."
"I thought you done boas' you et at a hotel," sniffed the old woman.
"How come she air hongry fer tea an' toas' if she done et at a
hotel."
"Sho--sho--but you see it done got jolted down an' Miss Ann--Please,
Sis Em'ly. I ain't a arskin' nothin' fer myse'f, but jes' for my Miss
Ann. You done won out consarnin' gues' chambers an' hall bedrooms so
you mought be willin' ter give a po' tired lady a cup er tea."
Aunt Em'ly was really a very kind person, but there was something
about old Billy's long beard tied up in innumerable plaits, his bow
legs and general air of superiority, that had always irritated her.
For years she had been held in the subjection of politeness by this
unwelcome guest by the attitude of her white people to his mistress,
but now the barriers were down and Mrs. Bucknor had openly expressed
her impatience at this too-frequent visitor and had been persuaded by
her daughters to give Miss Ann the hall room, no longer need she
assume cordiality to the old servant. Of course she intended to make
the tea for Miss Ann but she also intended to be as disagreeable as
possible while the kettle boiled.
The old man sat meekly in the corner of the kitchen, watching Aunt
Em'ly while she scalded the small Rebecca pot and measured out the
tea. He was glad to see that she put in an extra spoonful as that
meant that he too might find some much-needed refreshment. She made
quite a stack of toast and buttered it generously, although all the
time she grumbled and frowned.
"Here, take it, an' git out'n my kitchen. I don't much mo'n git the
breakfus dishes washed befo' I haster begin gittin' dinner an' if I's
gonter have ter be a stoppin' every five minutes ter fix trays I like
ter know when I will git through."
"Thank you, Sis Em'ly, thank you!" cried old Billy, seizing the
coveted tray and making a hasty exit. "Her bark air wus'n her bite,"
he chuckled, "an' I do hope Miss Ann ain't gonter take away her
appletite for dinner by eatin' all this toas' an' drinkin' this whole
pot er tea, kase I tell you now ol' Billy's stomic air done stuck to
his back with emptiness."
The tea and toast did put heart in the weary travelers. Miss Ann left
half the simple feast for Billy, commanding him to go sit in the
corner of the room and devour his share.
"Now I'm gonter rub down my hosses an' wash the ca'ige, and if you's
got any little odd jobs fer me ter do I'll mosey back this way arter
dinner. Praise Gawd, the Buck Hill folks has dinner in the middle of
the day, an' plenty of it. These here pick-up, mid-day canned salmon
lunches air bad enough for the white folks but by the time they gits
ter the niggers th'ain't nothin' lef but the can. I hear tell the
young ladies air 'spectin' of comp'ny so I reckon you'll be a needin'
yo' sprigged muslin ter take the shine out'n all the gatherin'. I'm a
gonter press it fer you, even if a hot iron air arskin' a big favor
with some er these free niggers."
"Oh, Billy, you needn't bother to press my gown. It makes very little
difference what I wear. I don't believe I can appear this evening."
"Miss Ann, air you sick? Ain't yo' tea picked you up none?"
"No, Billy, I'm not sick. I'm just so miserable. I'm beginning to see
that we are no longer wanted--even here at Buck Hill." The old woman's
voice quavered piteously. "They used to want us--everywhere. At least,
if they didn't they pretended they did. I don't know when it
started--this drawing back--this feeling we are a burden. When did it
begin, Billy?"
"'Tain't never begun. You's jes' so blue-blooded you is sensitive
like, Miss Ann. You is wanted mo'n ever. You-all's kin is proud ter
own you. You air still the beauty of the fambly, Miss Ann. I knows,
kase I done seed every shemale mimber of the race er Peytons an'
Bucknors an' all. Th'ain't never a one what kin hol' a can'le ter
you. Don't you go ter throwin' off on my Miss Ann or you'll be havin'
ol' Billy ter fight. I ain't seed nothin' in this county ter put long
side er you, less'n it wa' that pretty red-headed gal what went
whizzin' by us up yonder on the pike in a blue ortermobubble. I ain't
knowin' who she air but one thing that made her so pretty wa' that I
member the time when you wa' jes' like her. She turned her head aroun'
ter look at us an' she give me sech a start I pretty nigh fell off'n
my box.
"I ain't meanin' no disrespec' ter Marse Bob an' Miss Milly's
daughters, but they ain't nothin' by the side er that there young gal
what dusted us this mornin'. The bes'-lookin' one er their daughters
is Mr. Jeff. He air sho growed ter a likely young man. He air
certainly kind an' politeful too. Didn't he say pintedly he wa' glad
ter see you? Didn't he ketch a holt an' help me tote ev'y las' one er
these here trunks up here? When the young marster air so hospitle I
don't see whe'fo' you gits notions in yo' haid."
"Perhaps you are right, Billy," and Miss Ann again held up her head.
She must not let herself slump. The will that had carried her through
all the long years of visiting must carry her still. She had demanded
and hence received homage and respect from her kinsmen for two
generations and she must continue to do it. It would be fatal at this
point to show weakness or truculence. She had been and intended to be
always the honored guest at the various homes that she visited. The
unfortunate occurrence at Cousin Betty Throckmorton's was to be
ignored--forgotten. Billy was right; she must dress with care. The
matter of the hall bedroom must be treated lightly and accepted as a
compliment. It wasn't as though she had been put out of the guest
chamber. She knew in her heart that in times that were past any
youthful visitors expected at Buck Hill must have made way for her,
but she did not acknowledge it to herself or to Billy.
She shook out the sprigged muslin and gave it to the old man to press.
Then, with meticulous care, she began the business of unpacking. It
was with some irritation that she found only the top drawer of the
bureau empty. In the other drawers Mrs. Bucknor had put away sundry
articles which she had forgotten about--remnants of cloth, old ribbons
and laces and photographs. The hall room was used only when there was
an overflow of guests and only transient visitors put there. For
transients one drawer was sufficient. In the wardrobe there hung an
old hunting suit of Jeff's and several dancing frocks belonging to
Mildred and Nan, that had been temporarily discarded to await future
going over by the seamstress.
"They might have spared me this," Miss Ann muttered, as she endeavored
to make hanging room for her voluminous skirts.
She snatched the offending garments from the hooks and put them in a
pile on the floor. Then she pulled out the lower bureau drawers and
dumped the contents on top of the old hunting suit and dancing
frocks.
"There! I shall give them to understand I am not to be treated with
ignominy. I am Ann Peyton. I have always been treated with
consideration and I always intend to be."
The old eyes flashed and the faded cheeks flushed. She gave the pile
of debris a vicious little kick. The blow dislodged from the mass a
small, old-fashioned daguerreotype. There was something about the
little picture that was familiar. She stooped and picked it up. It was
her own likeness, taken at seventeen, a slender, charming girl whose
expression gave one to understand that she could not be still much
longer. She would have been a better subject for a motion-picture
camera than the invention of Daguerre. Youth looked into the eyes of
age and Miss Ann put her hands over her own poor face as though to
hide from youth the ravages of time. It seemed to her that the young
Ann looked out on the old Ann and said, "What have you done with me?
Where am I? You needn't tell me that you and I are one and the same."
Slowly she walked to the bureau and slowly she raised her eyes to the
mirror and then gazed long and sadly at her face.
"Ann Peyton, you are a fool. You have always been a fool. It is too
late to be anything else now and you will go on being a fool until the
end of time. This child had more sense than you have."
Reverently she placed the little daguerreotype in her handkerchief
box. It was the picture she had given Bob Bucknor, the father of the
present owner of Buck Hill and the grandfather of Jeff. He had prized
it once but now it was thrown aside and forgotten by all. She then
stooped over and gathered up the articles on the floor and carefully
put them back in drawers and wardrobe. She washed her face and hands,
straightened her auburn wig, changed her traveling dress to a more
suitable one and then sailed majestically down the stairs.