When she awoke next morning she arose and dressed herself at once: in
bed the will loses its control over thought, and she wished to think as
little as possible. But her mind reverted to the day before, in spite
of her will, and she laughed suddenly and went to her desk and wrote on
a slip of paper,--
"Every woman writes with one eye on the page and one eye on some man,
except the Countess Hahn-Hahn, who has only one eye."--HEINE.
"Some day when I know him better I will give him this," she thought,
and put the slip into a drawer by itself.
The load of care had lifted itself and gone. She had done the right
thing, the momentous question was settled for the present, and Betty
Madison had merely to shake her shoulders and enjoy life again. She
threw open the window and let in the sun. There had been a rain-storm
in the night and then a severe frost. The ice glistened on the naked
trees, encasing and jewelling them. A park near by looked as if the
crystal age of the world had come. The bronze equestrian statue within
that little wood of radiant trees alone defied the ice-storm, as if the
dignity of the death it represented rebuked the lavish hand of Nature.
Betty felt happy and elated, and blew a kiss to the beauty about her.
She always had had a large fund of the purely animal joy in being
alive, but to-day she was fully conscious that the tremulous quality of
her gladness was due to the knowledge that she should see Senator North
within five more days and the light of approval in his eyes. Exactly
what her feeling for him was she made no attempt to define. She did not
care. It was enough that the prospect of seeing him made her happier
than she ever had felt before. That might go on indefinitely and she
would ask for nothing more. Her recent contact with the
serious-practical side of life--as distinct from the
serious-intellectual which she had cultivated more than once--had
terrified her; she wanted the pleasant, thrilling, unformulated part.
For the first time one of her ideals had come forth from the mists of
fancy and filled her vision as a man; and he was become the strongest
influence in her life. As yet he was unaware of this honour, and she
doubtless occupied a very small corner of his thought; but he was
interested at last, and he was coming to see her. And then he would
come again and again, and she would always feel this same glad quiver
in her soul. She felt no regret that she could not marry him; the
question of marriage but brushed her mind and was dismissed in haste.
That was a serious subject, glum indeed, and dark. She was glad that
circumstance limited her imagination to the happy present. She felt
sixteen, and as if the world were but as old. Love and the intellect
have little in common. They can jog along side by side and not exchange
a comment.
"Come down and take a walk," cried a staccato voice. Sally Carter was
standing on the sidewalk, her head thrown back. Betty nodded, put on
her things and ran downstairs. Miss Carter was wrapped in an old cape,
and her turban was on one side, but she looked rosier than usual.
"I've been half-way out to Chevy Chase," she said, "and I was just
thinking of paying poor old General Lathom a visit. He does look so
well in bronze, poor old dear, and all that ice round him will make him
seem like an ogre in fairy-land. He wasn't a bit of an ogre, he was
downright afraid of me."
"I suppose a man really feels as great a fool as he looks when he is
proposing to a woman he is not sure of. I wonder why they ever do.
After I gave up coquetting, came to the conclusion that it wasn't
honest, they proposed just the same."
"Some women unconsciously establish a habit of being proposed to. I've
had very few proposals, and I know several really beautiful women who
have had practically none. As I said, it's a habit, and you can't
account for it."
"I went yesterday to Virginia to call on a relative who has just lost
her last adopted parent," said Betty, abruptly, "and she looked so
forlorn that I asked her to visit us for a while. I hope you'll like
her."
"Ah? She must be some relation of mine, too. You and I are third
cousins."
"Don't ask me to straighten it out. The ramifications of Southern
kinships are beyond me. She is a beauty--very dark and tragic."
"That is kind of you--to run the risk of Senator Burleigh going off at
a tangent," said Miss Carter, sharply. "By the way, you cannot deny
that you have given him encouragement; you have neither eyes nor ears
for any one else when he is round."
"He is usually the most interesting person 'round;' and I have a
concentrative mind. But I never intend to marry, and Senator Burleigh
has never even looked as if he wanted to propose. By the way, Molly has
actually asked him to come to the Adirondacks for a few days. Can't you
and your father come for a month or two? Jack has promised to stay with
us the whole summer, and we'll be quite a family party."
"Yes, I will," said Miss Carter, promptly. "I haven't been in the
Adirondacks for six years and I should love it."
"Harriet Walker--that's our new cousin--will be with us too, most
likely. She looks delicate, and I shall try to persuade her that she
needs the pines."
"Ah! Look out for the Senator--in the dark pine forests on the
mountain."
"I don't know why you should be so concerned for me. I usually have
kept an admirer as long as I wanted him."
"Oh, no offence, dear. The dark and tragic lady merely filled my eye at
the moment. By the way, Mrs. North thinks of going to the Lake Hotel
this summer. Isn't that close by your place?"
"It is just across the lake. There is your old General. He does look
like an ogre, and he's got a patch of green mould on his nose. You
ought to take better care of him."
"He looks so much better than he did in life that I have no fault to
find. The doctor has told Mrs. North that the pine forests may do her
all the good in the world, prolong her life, and Mr. North has written
to see if he can get an entire wing for her. I hope he can go too, but
he always seems to have so much to do at home in summer. I do like him.
He's the only man I know who, I feel positive, never could make a fool
of himself."
"I am half starved. Come home and have your breakfast with me."
"I should like to. Senator North--"
"There is Mr. Burleigh on horseback--with Mr. Montgomery. He _will_
look well in bronze--but they only put Generals on horseback, don't
they? There--he sees me. I am going to ask them to come in to
breakfast."
"I believe you like him better than you think, my dear. Your eyes shine
like two suns, and I never saw you look so happy."
"The morning is so beautiful and I am so glad that I am alive. I know
exactly how much I like Mr. Burleigh."