SARATOGA
"Mrs. Worthington, daughter, and colored servant, Spring Bank,
Kentucky."
"Dr. John Richards and mother, New York City."
"Irving Stanley, Esq., Baltimore."
These were the last entries the flaxen-haired clerk at Union Hall had
made, feeling sure, as he made them, that each one had been first to
the United States, and failing to find accommodations there, had come
down to Union Hall.
The Union was so crowded that for the newcomers no rooms were found
except the small, uncomfortable ones far up in the fourth story of the
Ainsworth block, and thither, in not the most amiable mood, 'Lina
followed her trunks, and was followed in turn by her mother and Lulu,
the crowd whom they passed deciphering the name upon the trunks and
whispering to each other: "From Spring Bank, Kentucky. Haughty-looking
girl, wasn't she?"
From his little twelve by ten apartment, where the summer sun was
pouring in a perfect blaze of heat, Dr. Richards saw them pass, and
after wondering who they were, and hoping they would be comfortable in
their pen, gave them no further thought, but sat jamming his penknife
into the old worm-eaten table, and thinking savage thoughts against that
capricious lady, Fortune, who had compelled him to come to Saratoga,
where rich wives were supposed to be had for the asking. In Dr.
Richard's vest pocket there lay at this very moment a delicate little
note, the meaning of which was that Alice Johnson declined the honor of
becoming his wife. Now he was ready for the first chance that offered,
provided that chance possessed a certain style, and was tolerably
good-looking.
This, then, was Dr. Richards' errand to Saratoga, and one cause of his
disgust at being banished from the United States, where heiresses were
usually to be found in such abundance.
From his pleasanter, airier apartment, on the other side of the narrow
hall, Irving Stanley looked out through his golden glasses, pitying the
poor ladies condemned to that slow roast.
How hot, and dusty, and cross 'Lina was, and what a look of dismay she
cast around the room, with its two bedsteads, its bureau, its table, its
washstand, and its dozen pegs for her two dozen dresses, to say nothing
of her mother's.
How tired and faint poor Mrs. Worthington was, sinking down upon the
high-post bed! How she wished she had stayed at home, like a sensible
woman, instead of coming here to be made so uncomfortable in this hot
room. But it could not now be helped, 'Lina said; they must do the best
they could; and with a forlorn glance at the luxuriant patch of weeds,
the most prominent view from the window, 'Lina opened one of her trunks,
and spreading a part of its contents upon the bed, began to dress for
dinner. The dinner bell had long since ceased ringing, and the tread of
feet ceased in the halls below ere she descended to the deserted parlor,
followed by her mother, nervous and frightened at the prospect of this,
her first appearance at Saratoga.
"Pray, rouse yourself," 'Lina whispered, "and not let them guess you
were never at a watering place before," and 'Lina thoughtfully smoothed
her mother's cap by way of reassuring her.
But even 'Lina herself quailed when she reached the door and caught a
glimpse of the busy life within, the terrible ordeal she must pass.
"Oh, for a pair of pantaloons to walk beside one, even if Hugh were in
them," she thought, as her own and her mother's lonely condition arose
before her.
"Courage, mother," she whispered again, and then advanced into the room,
growing bolder at every step, for with one rapid glance she had swept
the hall, and felt that amid that bevy of beauty and fashion there were
few more showy than 'Lina Worthington in her rustling dress of green,
with Ellen Tiffton's bracelet on one arm and the one bought with Adah's
money on the other.
Not having been an heiress long enough to know just what was expected of
her, and fancying it quite in character to domineer over every colored
person just as she did over Lulu, 'Lina issued her commands with a
dignity worthy of the firm of Mrs. Worthington & Daughter. Bowing
deferentially, the polite attendant quickly drew back her chair, while
she spread out her flowing skirts to an extent which threatened to
envelop her mother, sinking meekly into her seat, not confused and
flurried. But alas for 'Lina. The servant did not calculate the distance
aright, and my lady, who had meant to do the thing so gracefully, who
had intended showing the people that she had been to Saratoga before,
suddenly found herself prostrate upon the floor, the chair some way
behind her, and the plate, which, in her descent, she had grasped
unconsciously, flying off diagonally past her mother's head, and
fortunately past the head of her mother's left-hand neighbor.
Poor 'Lina! How she wished she might never get up again.
At first, 'Lina thought nothing could keep her tears back, they gathered
so fast in her eyes, and her voice trembled so that she could not answer
the servant's question:
"Soup, madam, soup?"
But he of the white hand did it for her.
"Of course she'll take soup," then in an aside, he said to her gently:
"Never mind, you are not the first lady who has been served in that way.
It's quite a common occurrence."
There was something reassuring in his voice, and turning toward him for
the first time, 'Lina caught the gleam of the golden glasses, and knew
that her _vis-à-vis_ upstairs was also her right-hand neighbor. Who was
he, and whom did he so strikingly resemble? Suddenly it came to her.
Saving the glasses, he was very much like Hugh. No handsomer, not a
whit, but more accustomed to society, easier in his manners and more
gallant to ladies. Could it be Irving Stanley? she asked herself,
remembering now to have heard that he did resemble Hugh, and also that
he wore glasses. Yes, she was sure, and the red which the doctor had
pronounced "well put on," deepened on her cheeks, until her whole face
was crimson with mortification, that such should have been her first
introduction to the aristocratic Irving.
Kind and gentle as a woman, Irving Stanley was sometimes laughed at by
his own sex, as too gentle, too feminine in disposition; but those who
knew him best loved him most, and loved him, too, just because he was
not so stern, so harsh, so overbearing as lords of creation are wont to
be.
Such was Irving Stanley, and 'Lina might well be thankful that her lot
was cast so near him. He did not talk to her at the table further than a
few commonplace remarks, but when, after dinner was over, and his Havana
smoked, he found her sitting with her mother out in the grove, apart
from everybody, and knew instantly that they were there alone, he went
to them at once, and ere many minutes had elapsed discovered to his
surprise that they were his so-called cousins from Kentucky. Nothing
could exceed 'Lina's delight. He was there unfettered by mother or
sister or sweetheart, and of course would attach himself exclusively to
her. 'Lina was very happy, and more than once her loud laugh rang out so
loud that Irving, with all his charity, had a faint suspicion that
around his Kentucky cousin, brilliant though she was, there might linger
a species of coarseness, not altogether agreeable to one of his
refinement. Still he sat chatting with her until the knowing dowagers,
who year after year watch such things at Saratoga, whispered behind
their fans of a flirtation between the elegant Mr. Stanley and that
dark, haughty-looking girl from Kentucky.
"I never saw him so familiar with a stranger upon so short an
acquaintance," said fat Mrs. Buford.
"Is that Irving Stanley, whom Lottie Gardner talks so much about?" And
Mrs. Richards leveled her glass again, for Irving Stanley was not
unknown to her by reputation. "She must be somebody, John, or he would
not notice her," and she spoke in an aside, adding in a louder tone: "I
wonder who she is? There's their servant. I mean to question her," and
as Lulu came near, she said: "Girl, who do you belong to?"
"'Longs to them," answered Lulu, jerking her head toward 'Lina and Mrs.
Worthington.
"Where do you live?" was the next query, and Lulu replied:
"Spring Bank, Kentucky. Missus live in big house, 'most as big as this;"
then anxious to have the ordeal passed, and fearful that she might not
acquit herself satisfactorily to 'Lina, who, without seeming to notice
her, had drawn near enough to hear, she added: "Miss 'Lina is an airey,
a very large airey, and has a heap of--of--" Lulu hardly knew what, but
finally in desperation added: "a heap of a'rs," and then fled away ere
another question could be asked her.
"What did she say she was?" Mrs. Richards asked, and the doctor replied:
"She said an airey. She meant an heiress."
Money, or the reputation of possessing money, is an all-powerful charm,
and in few places does it show its power more plainly than at Saratoga,
where it was soon known that the lady from Spring Bank, with pearls in
her hair, and pearl bracelets on her arms, was heiress to immense wealth
in Kentucky, how immense nobody knew, and various were the estimates put
upon it. Among Mrs. Bufort's clique it was twenty thousand, farther away
in another hall it was fifty, while Mrs. Richards, ere the supper hour
arrived, had heard that it was at least a hundred thousand dollars. How
or where she heard it she hardly knew, but she indorsed the statement as
current, and at the tea table that night was exceedingly gracious to
'Lina and her mother, offering to divide a little private dish which she
had ordered for herself, and into which poor Mrs. Worthington
inadvertently dipped, never dreaming that it was not common property.
"It was not of the slightest consequence, Mrs. Richards was delighted to
share it with her," and that was the way the conversation commenced.
'Lina knew now that the proud man whose lip had curled so scornfully at
dinner was Ellen's Dr. Richards, and Dr. Richards knew that the girl who
sat on the floor was 'Lina Worthington, from Spring Bank, where Alice
Johnson was going.