THE WIDOW'S FLIRTATION.
Mrs. Harrington plunged into her natural element at once; Mr. Rhodes was
a rich widower, vulgar and pompous as could well be imagined; but that
made no difference, the lady spread her flimsy net in that direction and
put on all her fascinations at once, leaving the younger men to their
fate. This was splendid sport to Elsie, for Miss Jemima, the daughter, a
gaunt, peaked-nosed female, had been Miss Jemima a good many more years
than she found agreeable, and when any woman ventured even to look at
her stout parent, she was up in arms at once and ready to do battle
against the threatened danger, resolved that one man at least should own
her undivided dominion, even if that man was her pompous old father. Mr.
Rhodes was at once captivated by the widow's flattery, and Elsie
mischievously increased Jemima's growing irritation by whispers full of
honied malice, that almost drove that single lady distracted.
"Quite a flirtation, I declare," said she; "really, Miss Jemima, widows
are very dangerous, and she is so fascinating."
"It's ridiculous for a woman to go on so," returned the spinster,
shaking her head in vehement agitation; "you may just tell her it's no
use, my pa isn't likely to be caught with chaff like that."
"Oh, but Mrs. Harrington is considered irresistible."
"Well, I can't see it for my part," retorted Jemima; "She's a tolerable
specimen of antique painting; but my pa isn't given to the fine arts."
"Oh! Mrs. Harrington," called Elsie, "I wish you could induce Mr. Rhodes
to give us a picnic in his woods before the weather gets too cold--they
are delightful. I daren't ask him, but you might venture, I'm sure."
Miss Jemima looked as if she had three minds to strangle the pretty
torment on the spot.
"Excuse me, dear," said Mrs. Harrington, "I am sure I could have no
influence."
"Oh, you painted humbug!" muttered Jemima.
"I should be delighted--charmed!" exclaimed Mr. Rhodes. "Madam, it would
be a day never to be forgotten that honored my poor house with your
presence," he broke off, puffing till the brass buttons on his coat
shook like hailstones.
"Oh, you are a dreadful flatterer, I see!" answered the widow, quite
aware of Jemima's rage, and delighted to increase it.
"Madam," said the stout man, "on the honor of a gentleman, I never
flatter. Miss Elsie, defend me."
"Not unless you promise to get up the picnic," said the little witch.
"Miss Jemima is anxious to have it----"
"Me," broke in the acid damsel, unable to endure anything more, "I am
sure I never thought of such a thing, don't speak for me, if you
please."
"But you will be delighted, you know you will."
"Pa's got to go to Philadelphia," said Jemima, sharply.
"But I could defer the trip, Mimy," said her parent, appealingly.
"Business is business, you always say," retorted the damsel.
Elsie gave a little scream.
"Why, how odd," said she. "Mrs. Harrington goes to Philadelphia next
week you can escort her, Mr. Rhodes, she is a sad coward about
travelling alone."
"I shall be delighted," said the widower, "delighted."
Jemima fairly groaned; she made a strangling effort to turn her agony
into a cough, but it began as a groan; both Elsie and Mrs. Harrington
were convinced of that, and it delighted them beyond measure.
"It would be very, very kind of Mr. Rhodes," said the widow, "but Elsie,
you are inconsiderate, to think of him taking so much trouble only for
us, and I a stranger."
"It would be an honor and delight to me," insisted Rhodes.
Jemima resolutely arose from her chair, and planted herself in a seat
directly in front of her parent--he could not avoid her eye then--the
wrath burning there made him hesitate and stammer.
"Miss Jemima," said Elsie, "come and look at my geraniums; I think they
are finer even than yours."
But nothing short of a torpedo exploding under her chair would have made
the heroic damsel quit her post, not for one instant would she leave her
parent exposed to the wiles of that abominable widow.
"My dear, I am so tired," said she, "you must excuse me."
"Perhaps you'd like to go and lie down," persisted Elsie.
"You look fatigued," said Mrs. Harrington.
"Do I, ma'am; you're kind, I'm sure," snapped the spinster, trying to
smile. "I never lie down in the daytime; I'm very comfortable where I
am, thank you."
She might be very perfectly at ease herself, but she made her father
very uncomfortable, while Elsie and the widow never gave over teasing
for a single instant, till Elizabeth returned to the room.
Luckily dinner was announced, and the asperity of Miss Jemima's feelings
softened a little by that, especially as she reflected that her father
would be obliged to lead Mrs. Mellen into the dining-room. But that
dreadful Elsie destroyed even that forlorn hope.
"Bessie," said she, "we must ask Mr. Rhodes to play host and sit at the
foot of the table, so he shall lead Mrs. Harrington in."
Even Elizabeth could not repress a smile at the little elf's malicious
craft, and there was nothing to be said. The wretched Jemima grew fairly
white with rage, but she was obliged to control herself, and the dinner
passed off in the most social, neighborly fashion.
At a very early hour Miss Jemima insisted upon returning home, but Elsie
had a parting shaft ready for her.
"I have persuaded Mrs. Harrington and these gentlemen to stay over
to-morrow," said she. "May I promise them that we'll all drive to your
house and take luncheon, Miss Jemima, by way of returning your visit."
The spinster was compelled to express her gratification. She could do no
less, after having invited herself and her father to dinner at Piney
Cove, but her face was a perfect study while the pleasant words fell
from her compressed lips, like bullets from a mould.
"We shall be in ecstasy," said Mr. Rhodes.
"You will be in New York," retorted Jemima; "you have to go early in the
morning."
"My dear, the day after will do as well."
"Now, pa, you know you said----"
"Oh, Miss Jemima," broke in Elsie, "I shall think you don't want us to
come!"
"And I," said the widow, "shall be mortally offended if Mr. Rhodes runs
away the very first time I have the pleasure of visiting his house."
"Of course, of course!" said the stout man. "My daughter, Mimy, is a
great business woman--girl, I mean--but on an occasion like this even
business must wait. Ladies, I go home to dream of the honor to-morrow
will bring."
"Well, pa, if we're going at all, I think we'd better start," cried the
spinster; "we are keeping the horses in the cold."
She made her farewells very brief and carried off her parent in triumph,
darting a last defiant look at the widow as she passed.
The moment they were gone Elsie went into convulsions of laughter, and
clapping her pretty white hands like a child, cried out:
"She'll poison you, Mary Harrington, I know she will."
"My dear, I'll eat luncheon before I go."
Even Elizabeth was forced to laugh at the absurd scene. Elsie mimicked
the spinster, and turned the affair in so many ridiculous ways that it
afforded general amusement for the rest of the evening.
The whole party did drive over to Mr. Rhodes's house the next day, and
Miss Jemima was tormented out of her very senses; while Mr. Rhodes was
made to appear ridiculous as only a pompous old widower, with a keen
appetite for flattery, can be made look.
The question of the picnic came up again, but Elizabeth settled that
matter by refusing to have any share in it. She was in no spirits for
such amusement, and had decided to refuse all invitations during Mr.
Mellen's absence.
From that day Miss Jemima always felt a liking for Mrs. Mellen, who had
so quietly come to her rescue, and she was the only one of the party to
whom the claret would not have proved a fatal dose if the spinster's
sharp glances or secret wishes could have had their due effect.
From some caprice Mrs. Harrington prolonged her stay at Piney Cove for
an entire week, and all this time she protested against either of the
gentlemen who had accompanied her there returning without her. Elsie, in
her careless, childish way, seconded the widow, so these two men dropped
into such easy relations with the family that it seemed difficult to
assign any period to their visit. Nothing could be quieter than Mr.
North's mode of life during his sojourn at the house. If he joined in
the light conversation so prevalent at all times, it was with a quiet
grace that modified it without offering rebuke. He seemed to give no
preference to the society of any one of the three ladies, but most
frequently attended Mrs. Harrington in her walks and rides. To Elsie he
was reserved, almost paternal, and in his society the young girl would
become grave, sometimes thoughtful, as if his presence depressed her
childish flow of spirits.
If North ever had more than ordinary intercourse with his hostess no one
witnessed it, yet a close observer might have seen that he watched her
with a quiet vigilance that bespoke some deep interest in her movements.
Those who have seen this very man creep into the mansion house at night
and wander cautiously from room to room, as if to fix a plan of the
dwelling in his mind, will understand that his visit, which seemed so
purely accidental, had its object; but no one could have discovered, by
look or movement, what that object was.
At last the party broke up and returned to the city. Elsie went with
them. At first Mrs. Mellen opposed her going, but the pretty creature
was resolute enough when her own wishes were concerned, and would listen
to no opposition.
"I am not going to live in this stupid place, like a nun in a convent,
just because my brother desires to amuse himself in California," she
said, when Elizabeth would have dissuaded her from leaving home. "I tell
you, Grant would not wish it. I am not married and obliged to shut
myself up and play proper like you. It's downright cruel of you wanting
me to stay here. I'm half dead with grieving already. The house isn't
like home without Grant. At any rate, I'm going; you are not my mother!"
She carried her point; Elizabeth had no absolute authority which could
enforce obedience on a creature at once so stubborn and so volatile. So
she made no further opposition, fearing that anything like violent
measures might prove distasteful to her husband.