HOUSEKEEPING
"IT is certainly a question which is hard to settle," said Mrs. Corner
one morning to her sister-in-law. "I've just been talking to Madame,
and she thinks she must go."
"Go where? What's a hard question?" asked Nan looking up from a page of
translating.
"I am afraid we shall have to make a change," her mother told her.
"Madame Lemercier has decided that she must close her house for the
remainder of the summer and go to her sister who has taken a villa in
Switzerland, filled it with demoiselles and has now fallen ill."
"There are loads and loads of _pensions_," returned Nan.
"Yes, but we want just the right one. This suits us in so many
particulars that I am afraid we shall never chance upon its like again.
Here we have pleasant, airy rooms, an adequate table, and good service.
We are near the Bois, and the trams, yet we escape the noise of the
city. To be sure it would be more convenient to be nearer the shops and
some other things, but, take it all in all, I am afraid we are going
to find it hard to select. I do so hate to go the rounds; it is so very
exhausting."
"Aunt Helen and I will do it. Mother must not think of wearing herself
out in that way, must she, Aunt Helen?"
"Of course not," replied Miss Helen. "There is one thing you must
consider, Mary, and that is your health before anything else, and we
shall all raise a protest against your doing any tiring thing like
hunting up _pensions_."
"You make me feel that I am a very worthless, doless creature,"
returned Mrs. Corner.
"We want to keep you right along with us wherever we are," Nan
remarked. "I, for one, have no idea of having you rush off to Lausanne
or some such place and leave us to our own devices here in Paris, and
that is what it will amount to if you don't take care of yourself."
"Hear the child," exclaimed Mrs. Corner. "You would think she was the
mother and I the daughter. I dare say you are right, Nan, and I meekly
accept the situation, in spite of your superior manner."
"Nan's had so much responsibility with the younger children," put in
Miss Helen, "that it comes quite natural to her to bring any one to
task."
"Was I superior?" asked Nan, going over to her mother and caressing
her. "I didn't mean to be. You are so precious, you see, that I have to
think about what you ought and what you oughtn't to do."
"I quite understand, dear child, though it does make me feel ashamed of
myself to have to give up my duties."
"Your duty is to coddle yourself all that is necessary," Miss Helen
told her, "and this matter of changing our _pension_ is to be left to
Nan and me."
"Bravo!" cried Nan. "When you use that authoritative manner, Aunt
Helen, we all of us have to give in, don't we, mother?"
"I know I do," laughed Mrs. Corner.
"How should you like to take a furnished apartment?" asked Miss Helen
after a moment's thought. "I shouldn't be at all surprised but that my
friend, Miss Selby, could tell us of one. You could have a maid who
would relieve you of all care, and Paris is full of French teachers,
so the children could go on with their lessons. We have not much more
shopping to do, so you could sit back and rest."
"I believe I should like that plan," answered Mrs. Corner. "It has
been so long since we had anything like a home that it would be a very
pleasant change."
"I think it would be perfectly lovely," declared Nan. "I've always
longed for an apartment in Paris, since I heard Miss Dolores tell about
the way her cousins used to live here. By the way, we ought to be
hearing from Mr. St. Nick. And what about England, Aunt Helen?"
"We'll get this other matter settled first, and then we'll see what
is to be done next. Your mother declares she wants no more of England
after her last rainy, chilly experience there, and I am not sure it
would be best for her to venture. She is tired, and I think a rest is
desirable for her." Mrs. Corner had left the room to speak again to
Madame Lemercier.
"Shall we go at once to see Miss Selby?" asked Nan. "She has such a
dear little studio, and has been in Paris so long that I am sure she
can help us out, Aunt Helen."
"We may as well start at once," agreed Miss Helen. "Go get on your
things, and I will be ready in a few minutes."
"I was thinking," said Nan when she returned, a little later, "that
Miss Joyce might like to come and help to overlook the children, when
we older ones are not on hand. She will be adrift after Madame goes,
and she is not well off, you know. She speaks French like a native, and
she might relieve mother of some care. She is fond of the kiddies and
if we should happen to take that trip to England, we would feel more
comfortable about leaving mother here."
"That isn't a bad idea," returned Miss Helen, "and we may be able to
follow it up if the apartment becomes a fixed fact."
The two started off, and were gone all morning, not even appearing at
the midday meal. Early in the afternoon they came back looking rather
tired, but triumphant. "We've found it," cried Nan; "the dearest place."
"What have you found?" asked Mary Lee, who, with Jo and Mrs. Corner,
was in the sitting-room.
"Haven't you told her, mother?" said Nan. "Good! then I'll have all the
fun of breaking the news. We're going from here. Madame Lemercier's
going. We are all going."
"Are you trying to conjugate is going?" asked Mary Lee.
"No. Wait a minute and I'll tell you. Madame Lemercier has to close
this house because her sister is ill in Switzerland. Result, the
Corners are thrown out upon the wide wide world. Aunt Helen and I have
been to see Miss Selby--you know Miss Selby, Mary Lee, the one who has
that pretty studio, and is so entertaining--well, my child, listen;
she knew of exactly what we want in the apartment-house where she is.
Another artist has an apartment there, a big one, and he is very eager
to rent it because he wants to go to Brittany. We looked at it and it
will be all right, I think, though it has one bedroom short. However,
we can eat in the living-room, and put up a cot in the dining-room
for me or somebody. There is a _femme de menage_ who goes with the
apartment, and we can rent everything, even the table linen, the
Huttons say. It's awfully cheap, too."
"Where is it?" asked Mrs. Corner.
"Over in the Luxembourg quarter, mother mine, convenient to everything.
Do let's go."
"It sounds all right," said Mrs. Corner. "What did you think of it,
Helen?"
"It seemed just the thing to me, and we were most lucky to find it, I
think. The Huttons go out on Monday, and we can move right in, bag and
baggage, as soon after as we choose. Of course it is very artistic with
sketches and studies on the walls, but it looked comfortable, and Mrs.
Hutton seems to be a good housekeeper."
"It would be better if we could remain this side the river," said Mrs.
Corner doubtfully. "I am afraid it will be rather hot over there."
"It is quite near the Luxembourg Gardens, and I noticed the rooms
appeared airy and well ventilated. We are hardly likely to have warmer
weather than that of the past week."
"True. July is the hottest month. I'll go to-morrow and look at the
place, if you can go with me, Helen. We may as well settle it at once
if it is satisfactory."
"I shall be delighted to go with you, my dear," returned Miss Helen.
Jo, listening, looked rather subdued and thoughtful.
"Won't it be fun?" said Nan in an aside.
"For you, yes."
"And why not for Miss Josephine Keyes, pray?"
"I shall have to rejoin Miss Barnes and her girls. You know it was
just because we rearranged the schedule so I'd have the chance to stay
longer and give more time to French and German, that I was allowed to
slip out of the party while they were doing Holland and Belgium."
"But it will be some time before they come to snatch you, and you
surely will not desert us."
Jo brightened visibly. "Oh, would you really take me in, too? I thought
maybe I would have to do something else; go into a school or something.
I'm here for study, you see."
"You don't mean to say that you thought we would leave a single lamb
to the ravening wolves of Paris?" said Nan. "I thought better of you,
Jo."
[Illustration: NAN VOLUNTEERED TO GO FOR SUPPLIES.]
"But I would be perfectly safe in a convent or somewhere."
"_Naturellement_, but you don't go there unless you have a distinct
yearning to do it. You are in mother's charge and she means to keep you
under her eye."
"Then I must be the one to sleep in the dining-room."
"I've staked out that claim myself. You are to room with Mary Lee; we
have settled it all."
The visit to the apartment was made by Mrs. Corner the next day, and
resulted as Nan hoped it would, so the following Monday saw them move
in with their belongings. Miss Joyce, upon being interviewed, was
delighted to accept the proposition made her, but as there was not room
in the apartment for her, Miss Selby, across the hall, offered her
spare room for the time being, and so Miss Joyce became one of them,
going on with her own studies and assisting the others in theirs.
"It is the greatest help in the world to me," she confided to the
always sympathetic Miss Helen, "for I have to pinch and screw to make
both ends meet. Madame Lemercier let me have my little room with her
in consideration of my helping her with beginners, and with the
prospect of being deprived of that source of supply, I was feeling
rather blue, and pictured myself subsisting upon crusts in a garret.
You dear people are so intuitive and have come to my rescue in such a
sweet way, as if the favor were all on your side."
The _femme de menage_ failed to appear at the appointed hour, not
quite understanding when she was expected, and Nan, who delighted in
rising to occasions, volunteered to go forth for supplies. "There is a
fascinating market not far off," she said. "We passed it the other day
when we were coming here. And as for _crêmeres_ and _boulângeries_, and
all those, there is no end to them. I'll interview Miss Selby and get
her to tell me the best places to order regularly. Who'll go to market
with me?"
"I will, I will," came the chorus.
"Jack spoke first," said Nan, "so come on, sinner. Don't tell me what
to get, mother. If I forget anything I'll go again, or the maid can
when she comes. I am just longing for some of the things we can't get
at a _pension_ table. I am going to carry a net, just as the working
people do. I don't care a snap who sees; it is only for once, anyhow.
There is a nice smiling _concierge_ lady down-stairs, very different
from that vinegar jug at Madame Lemercier's. You might give a list of
groceries, mother. I am not so well up on those, and I can order them
from Potin's."
She and Jack started out gleefully, returning with their supplies after
some time. Then the three older girls set to work to cook the second
breakfast on the gas-range. The kitchen was a tiny one and the three
quite filled it, but they managed very well and their efforts were
received with great applause.
"Of all things," cried Mrs. Corner; "fried eggplant; my favorite dish."
"And sliced tomatoes with mayonnaise," said Miss Helen. "How delicious."
"Strawberries and cream! Strawberries and cream!" sang out Jean
delightedly.
"And actually liver and bacon, a real home dish," said Miss Joyce.
"Nan, you are a jewel."
"It's the best little market," said Nan. "There is everything under the
shining sun to be found there. I never saw so many kinds of fruits and
vegetables, and they are really very cheap. Some of the things, the
eggplants, for instance, look different from ours; they are a different
shape and much smaller, but I saw most of the vegetables we are used
to having at home, except green corn and sweet potatoes. As for the
fruits, there are not only the home varieties but others, such as figs
and some other queer things I don't know the name of. I bought the
most delicious sort of canteloupe for to-morrow's breakfast, but it was
more expensive than those we have at home."
"I almost wish we were to have no maid," said Mrs. Corner.
Nan laughed. "If you could see the array of pots and pans there are to
wash you wouldn't wish. I hope Marie or Hortense or whatever her name
may be, will soon appear, for I am tired." She fanned her hot face with
a newspaper.
"You poor child; you have worked too hard," said her mother
sympathetically. "We will have the _concierge_ lady, as you call her,
come in and do the dishes. That is one of the advantages of being here;
there is never any trouble in getting a person in to do whatever you
may wish to have done. This is delicious bread, Nan, better than we had
at Passy."
"Miss Selby told me where to get it. They call these lovely yard long
two-inch-diametered sticks, _baguettes_. Aren't they nice and crusty?"
Mrs. Corner ate her meal with more relish than she had shown for some
time and Nan was satisfied that the move was a good one.
The maid did not appear till the next morning, so the whole party dined
at a queer little restaurant near by, staying to listen to the music
and to watch the people come and go. Nan prepared the morning coffee
which was pronounced the best since the home days, and as the baker had
not failed to leave an adequate number of _baguettes_, and the milk and
cream were promptly served, there was no need to go forth for the early
meal.
Jack sighed over leaving her friend, the _cocher_, and the two little
playmates, Clemence and Pauline, but she soon became interested in a
beautiful cat, called Mousse, which lived in the drug store below, and
who played a number of clever tricks, these being displayed by his
master with great pride. Jack discovered, too, that the _concierge_
had a parrot, so the child found her entertainment here as easily as
she had done elsewhere. Jean was satisfied with dolls and books in
any place, and moreover, being very fond of good things, thought the
change from Madame Lemercier's rather frugal table one to be approved.
Mary Lee and Jo found plenty to do in watching the life which went on
in the streets, while Nan liked to go further afield to the market
which she declared was as amusing as a farce. "I wish you could see
the bartering for a piece of meat," she told the family. "There is one
butcher I could watch all day. I never saw such expressive contortions,
such gesturings, such rollings of eyes and puffings out of cheeks, and
then to see a scrap of a Frenchwoman wriggle her fingers contemptuously
under his very nose, while he looks fierce enough to bite them off,
is as funny a performance as I ever beheld. Then after they have
squabbled, and shrieked and abused each other long enough they end up
with such smiles and polite airs as you never saw. You should hear
Hortense answer the market people. She always has just the smartest
and sauciest things to say, and how they do enjoy that sort of thing.
Besides the market itself is really a sight to see. Even a stall with
nothing but artichokes on it will be made attractive by a fringe of
ferns, and as to the hand-carts piled with flowers, they ought to be a
joy to any artist. I counted twenty different varieties of vegetables
to-day, and as many kinds of fruit. We can scarcely do better than that
in America at the same time of year. Oh, no, I wouldn't miss going
to market for anything. I feel so important with Hortense walking
respectfully behind me, ready with advice and polite attentions."
Tall, slight, dark-haired Nan was nearly sixteen. "My girl is growing
up," sighed her mother. "She has the nest-building instinct, Helen. We
shall not have her as a little girl much longer."
"She has still some years left," returned Miss Helen. "She has many
childish ways at times, in spite of her being the eldest, and of having
had more responsibility than the others. When she enters college it
will be time enough to think that womanhood is not far off."
Nan, Mary Lee and Jo had just set to work at their French history. Nan
was discoursing fluently, flourishing her book as she talked. "And here
in these very streets it went on," she said. "Can you realize, girls?
Fancy the Louvre seeing so many wonderful historical events. It was
from there that the order went forth for the massacre of the Huguenots
on that dreadful night of St. Bartholomew, and----"
"I don't want to fancy," Jo interrupted. "It is bad enough if you don't
try to. It's too grewsome, Nan, to talk about."
"But it impresses it on one so vividly to talk about it, and we shall
remember it so much better; besides I like to imagine."
"I don't see the good of it when it is all over and gone," said Mary
Lee. "There is no use shedding tears over people who have been dead and
in their graves a hundred years. That is just like you, Nan, to get all
worked up over things that are past and forgotten."
"They never will be forgotten," maintained Nan, "unless you forget
them, which you are very liable to do, if you take no more interest.
Well, then, if you must be slicked up and smoothed down by something
sweet and agreeable, pick it out for yourself; I am going to study to
learn and not because I want to feel comfortable."
"There's the _facteur_," interrupted Jo. "Let's see who has letters."
She rushed to the door to be the first to receive the postman's sheaf
of mail. "One for you, Nan," she sang out; "another for Mrs. Corner;
one for me,--that's good,--and actually one for Jack. Two for you, Nan,
for here's another."
Nan had already torn open the envelope of her first letter and was
eagerly scanning the contents. "Just wait a minute," she said. "This is
exciting. Please put the other letter somewhere, Jo, till I get through
with this. Oh, I do wonder----"
"What is it, Nan?" asked Mary Lee, seeing Nan's excitement.
"Wait one minute. It's----"
"You're so exasperating," said Mary Lee. "You just jerk out a word and
then stop without giving a body an inkling of what you mean."
"I'll tell you in one minute. I must finish reading."
Seeing there was no getting at facts till Nan had come to the end
of her letter, Mary Lee gave up in despair and went off to deliver
the other mail. But before she returned Nan had rushed wildly to her
mother, and Mary Lee found the two in lively conversation. "Oh, but
can't we?" she heard as she opened the door of her mother's room.
"Can't we? What we?" she asked.
"You and I, anyhow," returned Nan. "It is a letter from Mr. St. Nick.
He and Miss Dolores are at San Sebastian. Tell her, mother. Oh, do say
we can go."
"There, Nan, dear, don't be so impatient," returned Mrs. Corner. "Just
wait till we can talk it over. It cannot be decided all in one minute,
besides, I have not had time to read my own letter yet. I see it is
from Mr. Pinckney, and I have no doubt but that it is upon the same
subject."
"I wish you would tell me what it is all about," said Mary Lee
despairingly.
Nan thrust her letter into her sister's hand. "There," she said, "read
it for yourself."
This Mary Lee proceeded to do while Nan hovered near, trying to gather
from her mother's expression what she thought of the proposition which
Mr. Pinckney had made.
"It is out of the question for us all to go," said Mrs. Corner as she
laid down her letter. "We have taken this apartment and have made all
our arrangements, and to allow even you and Mary Lee to take that long
journey alone is something I could not think of."
"Oh, mother!" Nan's voice expressed bitter disappointment.
"If there is any one country above another that I do want to see, it
is Spain," said Mary Lee sighing as she handed back the letter she had
been reading.
"I am sorry, but I don't see how it can be managed," returned Mrs.
Corner. "However, I will talk to your Aunt Helen about it and----"
"If there can be a way managed you'll let us go, won't you?" Nan put
in impatiently. "If we should happen to find any one going that way
who would chaperon us it would be all right, wouldn't it? Mr. St. Nick
said he would meet us anywhere the other side of Bordeaux. He suggested
Biarritz and there must be thousands of people going there."
"There may be thousands, and doubtless are, but if we don't know any
one of them it would not do any good."
"We surely must know one," replied Nan still hopeful.
"Let's go and watch for Aunt Helen," said Mary Lee, as eager as Nan for
once. She adored Miss Dolores and had looked forward to meeting her
with her grandfather, so now to have the opportunity thrown at them,
as Nan said, and not to be able to take advantage of it seemed a cruel
thing. They went back to the living-room to pour out their enthusiasm
to Jo, who looked a little wistful though she was greatly interested.
"I should miss you awfully," she said, "though Miss Barnes and the
other girls will be coming along soon, and I should have to go anyhow,
I suppose."
"It won't be so very long even if we do go," Nan assured her; "not more
than a month."
"Oh, I shall keep busy improving each shining hour," said Jo
cheerfully, "and it will be so good to have you back again."
"That's one way of looking at it," laughed Nan. "Oh, I do hope we can
go."
"Go where?" asked Jack who had just come in.
"To Spain," Nan told her. "Mr. St. Nick has written to say that he will
not take no for an answer. He wanted the whole Corner family to come,
but mother says it is out of the question, so it has dwindled down to
Mary Lee and I, if any one goes at all. Who's your letter from?"
"Carter."
"Carter? Well, he is nice not to forget us. What does he say?"
"Read it." Jack handed over her letter which Nan must have found not
only interesting but amusing, as she laughed many times before she had
finished reading. "Cart is a nice boy," she said as she folded up the
sheet. "I shall be glad to see him again."
"It will be many a long day before you do," remarked Mary Lee.
"Not so long as you think, maybe," returned Nan. "He may come abroad in
the spring, and says perhaps we can meet in Italy if we are there then."
"We're pretty sure to be, for we shall not leave Munich before March,
Aunt Helen says."
"There's Aunt Helen now," exclaimed Jack who was watching from the
window. And the appearance of Miss Corner put an end to all thoughts of
Carter Barnwell for the time being.
Nan projected herself so suddenly upon the little figure that it
staggered under the onslaught. "Oh, Aunt Helen," she cried, "blessed
and always helpful godmother, the fairest of fairy godmothers, we do
so want to go to Spain and you must use your fairy wand to create a
chaperon for us. Make her out of anything, old rags, toads, anything,
anything, so we get her. Please do."
"What are you talking about, you catapult. You have nearly knocked
the breath out of me, you great big Newfoundland dog trying to be
a terrier pup. You forget I am not your superior in size if I am in
years. Let me get off my hat and give me breathing space, then tell me
what the excitement is."
Nan released her aunt and allowed her to collect her senses before she
told her tale which was listened to attentively. "I'd love to have you
go," said Miss Helen.
"Of course you would. You are always that sort of dear thing."
"But just at present I don't see how it is to be managed. However, I
will put on my thinking-cap and perhaps the next twenty-four hours will
bring me an idea."
"When Aunt Helen puts on her thinking-cap a thing is as good as done,"
declared Nan to Mary Lee, and both felt quite sure that the journey to
Spain would be undertaken.
[Illustration: CHAPTER IV
A GLIMPSE OF SPAIN]