TONING DOWN.
_Bell's Diary Continued_.
Such fun as it was to see mother and Juno training Katy, showing her how
to enter the parlor, how to arrange her dress, how to carry her hands
and feet, and how to sit in a chair--Juno going through with the
performance first, and then requesting Katy to imitate her, which I must
say she did to perfection, even excelling her teacher, inasmuch as she
is naturally very easy and graceful. Had I been Katy I should have
rebelled, but she is far too sweet-tempered and anxious to please, while
I half suspect that fear of my lord Wilford had something to do with it,
for when the drill was over, she asked so earnestly if we thought he
would be ashamed of her, and there were tears in her great blue eyes as
she said it. Hang Wilford! Hang the whole of them! I am not sure but I
shall espouse her cause myself, or else tell father, who will do it so
much better.
Dec.--th.--Another drill, with Juno commanding officer, while the
poor little private seemed completely worried out. This time there were
open doors, but so absorbed were mother and Juno as not to hear the
bell, and just as Juno was saying, "Now, imagine me Mrs. General
Reynolds, to whom you are being presented," while Katy was bowing almost
to the floor, who should appear but Mark Ray, stumbling square upon that
ludicrous rehearsal, and of course bringing it to an end. No explanation
was made, nor was any needed, for Mark's face showed that he understood
it, and it was as much as he could do to keep from roaring with
merriment; I am sure he pitied Katy, for his manner toward her was very
affectionate and kind, and when once she left the room he complimented
her highly, repeating many things he had heard in her praise from those
who had seen her both in the street and here at home. Juno's face was
like a thundercloud, for she was as much in love with Mark Ray as she
was once with Dr. Grant, and is even jealous of his praise of Katy. Glad
am I that I never yet saw the man who could make me jealous, or for whom
I cared a pin. There's Bob Reynolds up at West Point. I suppose I do
think his epaulettes very becoming to him, but his hair is too light and
he cannot raise whiskers big enough to cast a shadow on the wall, while
I know he looks with contempt upon females who write, even though their
writings never see the light of day; thinks them strong-minded,
self-willed, and all that. He is expected to be present at the party,
but I shall not be. I had rather stay at home and finish that article
entitled "Women of the Present Century," and suggested to my mind by my
Sister Katy, who stands for the picture I am drawing of a pretty woman,
with more heart than brains, contrasting her with such a one as Juno,
her opposite extreme.
January 10.--The last time I wrote in my journal was just before the
party, which is over now, the long-talked-of affair at which Katy was
the reigning belle. I don't know how it happened, but happen it did, and
Juno's glory faded before that of her rival, whose merry, ringing laugh
frequently penetrated to every room, and made more than one look up in
some surprise. But when Mrs. Humphreys said: "It's that charming little
Mrs. Cameron, the prettiest creature I ever saw, her laugh is so
refreshing and genuine," the point was settled, and Katy was free to
laugh as loudly as she pleased.
She did look beautiful, in lace and pearls, with her short hair curling
on her neck. She would not allow us to put so much as a bud in her hair,
showing in this respect a willfulness we never expected; but as she was
perfectly irresistible, we suffered her to have her way, and when she
was dressed, sent her in to father, who had asked to see her. And now
comes the strangest thing in the world.
"You are very beautiful, little daughter," father said. "I almost wish
I was going with you to see the sensation you are sure to create."
Then straight into his lap climbed Katy--father's lap--where none of us
ever sat, I am sure, and began to coax him to go, telling him she should
appear better if he were there, and that she should need him when
Wilford left her, as of course he must a part of the time. And father
actually dressed himself and went. But Katy did not need him after the
people began to understand that Mrs. Wilford Cameron was the rage. Even
Sybil Grey, in her palmiest days, never received such homage as was paid
to the little Silverton girl, whose great charm was her perfect
enjoyment of everything, and her perfect faith in what people said to
her. Juno was nothing, and I worse than nothing, for I did go, wearing
a plain black silk, with high neck and long sleeves, looking, as Juno
said, like a Sister of Charity. But Bell Cameron can afford to dress
plainly if she chooses, and I am glad, as it saves a deal of trouble,
and somehow people seem to like me quite as well in my Quakerish dress
as they do the fashionable Juno in diamonds and flowers, with uncovered
neck and shoulders.
Lieutenant Bob was there; his light hair lighter than ever, and his
chin as smooth as my hand. He likes to dance, and I do not, but somehow
he persisted in staying where I was, notwithstanding that I said my
sharpest things in hopes to get rid of him. He left me at last to
dance with Katy, who makes up in grace and airiness what she lacks in
knowledge. Once upon the floor, she did not lack for partners, but, I
verily believe, danced every set, growing prettier and fairer as she
danced, for hers is a complexion which does not get red and blowsy with
exercise.
Mark Ray was there, too, and I saw him smile comically when Katy met the
people with that bow she was making at the time he came so suddenly upon
us. Mark is a good fellow, and I really think we have him to thank in a
measure for Katy's successful _début_. He was the first to take her from
Wilford, walking with her up and down the hall by way of reassuring her,
and once as they passed me I heard her say:
"I feel so timid here--so much afraid of doing something
wrong--something countrified."
"Never mind," he answered. "Act yourself just as you would were you
at home in Silverton, where you are known. That is far better than
affecting a manner not natural to you."
After that Katy brightened wonderfully. The stiffness which at first
was perceptible passed off, and she was Katy Lennox, queening it over
all the city belles, who, because she was married, would not be
jealous--drawing after her a host of gentlemen, and between the sets
holding a miniature court at one end of the room, where the more
desirable of the guests crowded around; flattering her until her little
head ought to have been turned if it was not. To do her justice, she
bore her honors well, and when we were in the carriage, and father
complimented her upon her success, she only said:
"If I pleased you all I am glad."
So many calls as we had the next day, and so many invitations as there
are now on our table for Mrs. Wilford Cameron, while our opera box
between the scenes is packed with beaus, until one would suppose Wilford
might be jealous; but Katy takes it all so quietly and modestly, seeming
only gratified for his sake, that I really believe he enjoys it more
than she does. At all events, he persists in her going, even when she
would rather stay at home, so if she is spoiled, the fault will rest
with him.
February--th.--Poor Katy. Dissipation is beginning to wear upon her,
for she is not accustomed to our late hours, and sometimes falls asleep
while Esther is dressing her. But go she must, for Wilford wills it so,
and she is but an automaton to do his bidding.
Why can't mother let her alone, when everybody seems so satisfied with
her? Somehow, she does not believe that people are as delighted as they
pretend, and so she keeps training and tormenting her until I do not
wonder that Katy sometimes hates to go out, lest she shall unconsciously
be guilty of an impropriety. I pitied her last night, when, after she
was ready for the opera, she came into my room, where I was indulging in
the luxury of a loose dressing gown, with my feet on the sofa. Latterly
she has taken to me, and now sitting down before the fire into which her
blue eyes looked with a steady stare, she said:
"I wish I might stay here with you to-night. I have heard this opera
before, and it will be so tiresome. I get so sleepy while they are
singing, for I never care to watch the acting. I did at first, when it
was new, but now it seems insipid to see them make-believe, while the
theatre is worse yet," and she gave a weary yawn.
In less than three months she has exhausted fashionable life, and I
looked at her in astonishment, asking what would please her if the opera
did not. What would she like?
Turning her eyes full upon me, she exclaimed:
"I do like it some, I suppose, only I get so tired. I like to ride, I
like to skate, I like to shop, and all that; but, oh, you don't know how
I want to go home to mother and Helen. I have not seen them for so long,
but I am going in the spring--going in May. How many days are there in
March and April? Sixty-one," she continued; "then I may safely say that
in eighty days I shall see mother, and all the dear old places. It is
not a grand home like this. You, Bell, might laugh at it. Juno would, I
am sure, but you do not know how dear it is to me, or how I long for a
sight of the huckleberry hills and the rocks where Helen and I used to
play, Helen is a darling sister, and I know you will like her."
Just then Will called to say the carriage was waiting, and Katy was
driven away, while I sat thinking of her and the devoted love with which
she clings to her home and friends, wondering if it were the kindest
thing which could have been done, transplanting her to our atmosphere,
so different from her own.
March 1st.--As it was in the winter, so it is now; Mrs. Wilford Cameron
is the rage--the bright star of society--which quotes and pets and
flatters, and even laughs at her by turns; and Wilford, though still
watchful, lest she should do something _outré_, is very proud of her,
insisting upon her accepting invitations, sometimes two for one evening,
until the child is absolutely worn out, and said to me once, when I told
her how well she was looking and how pretty her dress was: "Yes, pretty
enough, but I am so tired. If I could lie down on mother's bed, in a
shilling calico, just as I used to do!"
Mother's bed seems at present to be the height of her ambition--the
thing she most desires; and as Juno fancied it must be the feathers she
is sighing for, she wickedly suggests that Wilford either buy a feather
bed for his wife, or else send to that Aunt Betsy for the one which was
to be Katy's setting out! They go to housekeeping in May, and on Madison
Square, too, I think Wilford would quite as soon remain with us, for he
does not fancy change; but Katy wants a home of her own, and I never saw
anything more absolutely beautiful than her face when father said to
Wilford that No. ---- Madison Square was for sale, advising him to
secure it. But when mother intimated that there was no necessity for the
two families to separate at present--that Katy was too young to have
charge of a house--there came into her eyes a look of such distress that
it went straight to father's heart, and calling her to him, he said:
"Tell me, sunbeam, what is your choice--to stay with us, or have a home
of your own?"
Katy was very white, and her voice trembled as she replied:
"You have been kind to me here, and it is very pleasant; but I guess--I
think--I'm sure--I should like the housekeeping best. I am not so young,
either. Nineteen in July, and when I go home next month I can learn so
much of Aunt Betsy and Aunt Hannah."
Mother looked at Wilford then; but he was looking into the fire, with an
expression anything but favorable to that visit home, fixed now for
April instead of May. But Katy has no discernment, and believes she is
actually going home to learn how to make apple dumplings and pumpkin
pies. In spite of mother, the house is bought, and now she is gone all
day, deciding how it shall be furnished, always leaving Katy out of the
question, as if she were a cipher, and only consulting Wilford's choice.
They will be happier alone, I know. Mrs. General Reynolds says that it
is the way for young people to live; that her son's wife shall never
come home to her, for of course their habits could not be alike; and
then she looked queerly at me, as if she knew I was thinking of
Lieutenant Bob and who his wife might be.
Sybil Grandon is coming home in April or May, and Mrs. Reynolds wonders
will she flirt as she used to do. Just as if Bob would care for a widow.
There is more danger from Will, who thinks Mrs. Grandon a perfect
paragon, and who is very anxious that Katy may appear well before her,
saying nothing and doing nothing which shall in any way approximate to
Silverton and the shoes which Katy told Esther she used to bind when a
girl. Will need not be disturbed, for Sybil Grandon was never half as
pretty as Katy, or half as much admired. Neither need Mrs. General
Reynolds fret about Bob, as if he would care for her. Sybil Grandon,
indeed!