I have seen him every day since I came--seen my station help in time of
need--and I must say he bears bravely the dispensations of a female
person. He is not dejected, and he still seems to find life worth
living; and if he weeps in secret, he shows no sign in public of
regrets; neither does he hide himself from the gaze of others, but is
always to be seen when one goes down-town or to the homes of other
people. I don't know how we happen to meet so often, but I never go
out that he doesn't appear; and though he does not come in at Rose
Hill, he comes to the gate, and I am afraid we stand at it a little
longer than is necessary, especially if Elizabeth Hamilton Carter is
sitting on the porch.
I wonder why Satan walks right into me every time I see that piece of
pretty pink-and-whiteness! He has never taken possession of me in that
way before; but something about her just starts him off, and before I
know it I am doing what I wouldn't think of doing if she were not
around. She is perfectly furious with me, and I must say her manners,
if they are Southern, could be improved. At best she is not much of a
talker, I have been told; but since I arrived her little mouth has been
shut so tight that I wonder how she breathes; and if she has spoken a
dozen words to me since the night I came, they were too
between-the-teethy for me to hear. I didn't want her beau, and I
wouldn't have dreamed of noticing him if I had known how she felt about
him; but after she tried the freezing act on me I didn't tell Satan to
get behind me, as I suppose I should have done. I just went along and
took things as they came, and the first thing I knew I was in love
myself, and from the words of his mouth concerning the meditations of
his heart he seemingly has recovered from a former attack and is in for
a new one. Maybe we were not as considerate of the rejecter as we
might have been. Of course, I never knew for a long time why the
engagement was broken. He didn't tell me and no one else seemed to
know, and when I found out-- But that was a long time after--when I
found out.
His name is Whythe Rives Eppes. The only things I don't like about him
are his front teeth and his relations. He could get three new teeth,
but nothing in human power could rid him of his relatives. There are
four of them--Mother, Sister, Sister Edwina, and Miss Lily Lou, and may
God have mercy on the girl who marries the male member of the family
and goes into their home to live! He is a perfectly grand sort to be
in love with, and I am almost sure I am in love or I wouldn't feel so
thrilly when I see him coming. But being in love is one thing and
getting married is a very different other, and there isn't a man person
living I want to think of marrying yet. It's awfully interesting, too,
to learn the different ways in which love can be made. Twickenham Town
may be slow about many things, but in others it is so quick it takes
your breath away. Whythe became personal in conversation the fourth
time I was with him. It was at the Braxtons' party and conditions were
favorable, but, not expecting the turn that was taken, I was as excited
as if I had never heard remarks of a similar character before, and the
first thing I knew I had promised Whythe (he begged me to call him
Whythe) to go horseback-riding with him the next day. We went--I on
Skylark, who is the joy of my life, and he on a borrowed horse, and we
had a perfectly wonderful time. I don't think Whythe will ever be much
of a lawyer, but as a love-maker he hasn't an equal on earth--that is,
any I have ever heard.
As we rode down the main street of Twickenham everybody in the town
seemed on it. Princess Street is the only one called by a name, though
of course the others have names, and it is the place where everybody
meets everybody else and learns all the news; and if anybody went to
sleep that night without knowing that Whythe and I had started on a
ride at ten o'clock in the morning and didn't get back until three it
was because that person was too deaf to hear and couldn't understand
the movement of lips. I didn't know I was doing anything I oughtn't,
and if I did it I am not sorry. I had a grand time. It was a gorgeous
day and cool enough for me to wear my brown-linen riding-habit and high
boots, which, with a stock collar and small sailor hat, made me look
real nice, and the way the people stared at me you would have thought
they had never seen a divided skirt before, and--oh, my granny!--the
faces of the family (Whythe's family) as we passed their house! I
smiled the politest and properest I knew and they bowed back, but in a
way that made me laugh out loud when out of sight, and so did Whythe.
And then we forgot them, forgot everything except it was awfully good
to be alive.