"OH, SO MANY, MANY MAIDS!"
The only disagreeable thing about falling in love with Daisy was that
Roseleaf felt compelled to reveal the truth to Archie Weil. He believed
he was bound to do this by a solemn contract which he had no moral right
to ignore. Perhaps Weil might claim that he had no business to fall in
love with one sister when his "manager" had picked out the other for
this operation. Be that as it may, there was no use in evading the
question. It must be talked over, be the result what it might.
"Well, I know what love is now," was the abrupt way in which the young
man opened the subject on the following afternoon.
He had ridden to the city, as Weil was not expected at the residence of
Mr. Fern that day. The hope he had formed the previous evening of
getting another interview with Daisy had not materialized, she having
gone on some short journey before he could intercept her.
"You do!" was the equally abrupt reply, uttered in a tone that betrayed
undoubted astonishment. "What do you mean?"
Roseleaf reddened.
"It came to me all at once, last evening," he said, avoiding the gaze of
his companion. "We were down at the end of the lawn, you know--"
Archie interrupted him with a sudden shout.
"Not _Daisy_!"
"Yes."
"You are in love with _Daisy_!"
Roseleaf bowed.
"Upon my word!"
There was nothing in any of these expressions that conveyed the
information which the younger man craved, namely, whether his friend
approved what he had announced, but he stole a look at him and saw that
he appeared more astounded than angry.
"You dear boy," he said, "I don't know what to say to you. You blush
like a maiden over the acknowledgment. I am half inclined to believe you
are the girl in the case, and your partner in love some great, strapping
fellow on whose bosom you intend to pillow your coy head. So it is
Daisy, eh? And last night it came to you? Tell me how it happened."
Comforted in a measure by the good nature of his friend, Roseleaf
proceeded to give the outlines of what had occurred, suppressing the
more intimate facts with which the luckier reader is acquainted. He
admitted the touch of hands, but did not mention the pressure of lips to
lips. He told of the girl's swoon, but said nothing of the extraordinary
measures adopted to bring her to her senses. But, while he made no
insinuations, nor pretended to see through the meshes in this net, the
experience of Mr. Weil served him in good stead. He could fill in the
vacant places in the story with substantial correctness.
"I don't know what Miss Millicent will say to all this," he remarked,
when the recital came to a pause.
"I think she was just beginning to like you a little herself. Most of
our talk last evening was about you, and when I mentioned, as I took my
leave, that you were probably out walking with Daisy, I could see
distinct traces of jealousy. I want to be fair with my client. I told
her that you came there to learn love from her, not from her little
sister. If all this should result in breaking her heart, I don't see how
I could excuse myself. And the other one, she seems such a child, I
never thought of her in that connection. Why, how old is she--not over
eighteen, I think."
Roseleaf answered that Daisy would be nineteen on her next birthday, an
ingenious way of stating age that was not original with him.
"All right," said Archie, digesting this statement slowly. "And now,
what is your programme?"
Roseleaf looked surprised at the business-like nature of the question.
"I mean to secure her consent to marry me, as soon as possible," he
said.
"And then?"
"Why, see her father, I suppose. Isn't that the most important thing to
do?"
Mr. Weil shook his head decidedly.
"Not by any means. You must not act with undue haste. Mr. Fern would say
she was too young to think of matrimony, a proposition you could not
successfully dispute. Besides, should he happen to give his consent and
appoint a week from Wednesday for the happy occasion, see what a mess
it would put you in."
The suggestion caused the brightest of smiles to illumine the
countenance of the listener.
"It would make me the happiest of mortals!" he cried. "There is nothing
that could prevent my summoning the clergyman and securing the prize I
desire."
Mr. Weil grunted.
"H--m! And in the meanwhile what would become of your great novel?"
This question brought a sober pause to the young novelist.
"I could write it after my wedding," he answered, finally.
"Could you? You could write nothing at all then--nothing that any one
would pay a cent to read. I have told you from the start that what you
want is a _grande passion_, something to stir your soul to its depths.
You are on the verge of that experience. Already you have had a glimpse
of what it will be like. For the first time the touch of a woman's
fingers has driven sleep from your eyelids. No, you didn't tell me you
laid awake all night, but I saw it by looking at you. You can shut
yourself up in your room now, and rhapsodize over the dear face, the
lovely mouth, the soft voice of your beloved. In another week, if this
keeps on, you can write like a combination of George Eliot (after she
met Lewes) and Amelie Rives (before her marriage). A month later, Gouger
might rave over your productions, for you will be on the Matterhorn of
bliss unsatisfied."
A slight laugh, at his own excess of description, issued from the lips
of Mr. Weil, but the countenance of his companion was as firm as a rock.
"You are right," said Roseleaf, gravely. "Already I see the vast
difference between this sensation of love and the thing I imagined it to
be when I wrote those silly pages that Cutt & Slashem did so well to
reject. But I am torn between two desires. I want to write my
novel--until yesterday I thought no wish could be so great. And I also
want my wife." He breathed the word with a simple reverence that
affected even the flinty heart of his hearer. "I shall never rest easy
until I find her wholly mine, to love, honor and cherish while God gives
me breath!"
The hand of the elder man dropped heavily on the table by his side.
"_Good!_" he exclaimed. "_Very_ good! You could not have said it better.
There is an opportunity before you to accomplish both of these things. I
only wish to impress upon you the fact that they must come in the order
I have indicated, or one of them will never come at all. Write your
story while the fever of passion is on you. The dead calm of married
life would only bring the sort of novel that the shelves are already
piled with, nauseating to the public and a drug in the hands of the
publishers."
Roseleaf doubted the full correctness of these conclusions. He thought,
with that dear girl by his side, he could write with all the fervor of a
sweetheart, for his affection was to have no boundary, no limit, no end.
But he had a high opinion of the abilities of Mr. Weil, and he had no
idea of disputing the conclusions of that wise guide.
"Do you think she will accept me?" he asked, wistfully, returning to the
main question. "It came so sudden, and there was very little said, and
it was late; and then Hannibal came after her, and she went into the
house. Everything was left in a state of uncertainty."
"Did nothing show whether you were indifferent to her?" was the wily
interrogation that followed. "Usually I believe something conveys the
sweet word 'hope' to the waiting one. And what do you say about
Hannibal? That he came to call your charmer and took her away from you?"
Without reserve the young man repeated what had happened. Archie seemed
deeply interested, but whatever his thoughts he did not express them at
the time.
"And that reminds me of another thing," said Roseleaf. "Have you noticed
anything strange about Mr. Fern?"
"Yes," said Mr. Weil, "I have noticed. I wondered if you had done the
same. Have you discovered what the trouble is?"
"No, and Daisy doesn't know, either. Indeed, she is much distressed
about it. Remember, this is a secret between us, for perhaps I had no
right to talk of their affairs. He is in a state of great depression,
and as he is so regular in his habits I can't imagine what to lay it to.
You are so shrewd, couldn't you find out?"
Mr. Weil rose and took a few paces up and down the room.
"You are the fellow to do that, not I," he said, presently. "Yes, hear
me out. You are in a sense a member of his family, and would have a
natural right to allude to the state of his health. Then, if you were to
put in a word about Miss Daisy--why, you might kill several birds with
one stone."
Roseleaf looked much puzzled.
"I thought," he said, "that you wanted me to postpone the matter of my
marriage as long as possible."
"Your marriage, yes. But not the preliminaries. They may require a dozen
bouts with the old gentleman. The first time he will probably laugh you
out of the room as a silly young noodle; the second he will say that he
has nothing against you personally, but that his 'baby' is too infantile
to think of such things for ten years yet; the third he will begin to
see the situation in its right light, and after that it will be only a
matter of detail. All these things will be of the greatest value to you
in the novel you are going to write, and you must not on your life miss
a single one of them.
"Drop into the wool shop, catch his royal highness there, and for the
first thing express solicitude for his health. Unless he is on his guard
more than is likely you ought to catch some slight straw to show what
ails him. Then follow it up with a word or two about Miss Daisy, and you
will have spent a good afternoon, even if he doesn't smile on your suit
at first hand, and take you to his manly breast as his long-lost
son-in-law."
The reasonings set forth in these propositions were so evidently correct
that Roseleaf resolved to adopt them just as soon as he could bring
himself into the proper mood. In the meantime, however, he wanted to
have a little further talk with Daisy, for he could hardly ask her
father for her hand without the semblance of permission on her part. He
tried to remember all she had said to him at the foot of the lawn, and
was compelled to admit that it was very little indeed. The only things
he was certain of were the kisses, but his experiences were so slight
that he could not tell how much weight to give even these.
That evening he tried his best to get a word with her alone, but she
eluded him, and he was obliged to go to the boudoir of her sister and
read over that young lady's MSS. as it stood revised by his careful
hands.
"Well, another chapter will finish it," said Miss Fern, when he put down
the pages. "And then Mr. Gouger will decide whether Cult & Slashem
consider it worth printing."
"Yes," he answered, gravely. "They will print _your_ story now, without
doubt. But _I_ am as far as ever from satisfying their requirements."
Millicent thought how supremely selfish she must seem, talking always of
her own hopes and doing nothing to help the one who had made her success
possible. She saw that he wore a dejected look, and she began to
sincerely pity him. When our own ships are safely in sight of the
harbor we have more time to dwell on the derelicts in which the property
of our friends is embarked.
"Perhaps, when we get this disposed of, I can help you," she suggested.
It was nearly a week before Roseleaf could get another talk with Daisy,
a week that tried him to the utmost, for he could think of nothing but
her, and could not understand her reasons for treating him so strangely.
At last he wrote her a letter, giving it to Hannibal to deliver, in
which he said that he was about to return to his city lodging and wanted
to know if she meant him to leave without a kind word at parting. He
thought the negro looked peculiar as he took the note, half as if he did
not intend to accept the commission to deliver it; but he concluded that
this must be imagination. He wondered why Archie Weil took such a fancy
to Hannibal. If Roseleaf was lucky enough to claim Daisy as his wife, he
would never have that figure darken his door.
The letter must have been taken to its destination without delay, for an
answer was brought in the course of an hour, stating in the briefest
language that Miss Daisy would await him in the parlor, after lunch.
At the table Miss Fern was present, as usual, but not her father, his
business in the city keeping him away at that hour. At meals it was
Daisy's habit to say little, leaving the conversation to her sister and
whoever else happened to be there. At the end of this particular lunch
Millicent went up stairs to her chamber and Daisy betook herself to the
parlor, followed a few minutes later by the young man.
"Why have you treated me so coldly?" were his first words, when he found
himself alone with her.
"Oh, dear, that is a very bad beginning!" she said, smiling. "I shall
have to instruct you in some of the simplest things, I see already. When
you wish to make friends with a woman, don't begin by scolding her. I am
here because you wrote that you wished a kind word. Don't give me too
many cross ones, please."
He sighed impatiently.
"Daisy," he exclaimed. "I hope you are not going to make fun of me! I
have passed a most miserable week. After the glimpse of heaven you gave
me, that evening--"
She put on an air of mock surprise.
"Did I do that! It was much more than I intended, then. I fear you are
inclined to use extravagant metaphors, Mr. Roseleaf. But, never mind.
You are going away, and I am very, very sorry. However, as you came here
on Millie's account, and not on mine, I suppose I have no right to say
so."
The fair brow of the young man was a mass of wrinkles.
"I can't understand why you speak so lightly," he answered. "You know--I
told you--that I love you--that there is nothing in all the world so
dear to me--that I want your promise to be my wife. I can't go from here
without that consolation. Daisy, I ask you, in all sincerity, to say
that as soon as your father's consent is obtained, you will name a day
when you will marry me."
The smile faded from the girl's lips. Something brought to her mind a
very sad reflection.
"You ask a great deal," she said. "Much more, I think, than you realize.
Until a week ago I was nothing to you. We lived under the same roof, we
took our evening strolls together, we talked like the commonest
acquaintances, and that was all. Then, in a moment, you discovered that
your heart was on fire. I have not ascertained what made the marvellous
change. I am sure you cannot tell yet if it be a genuine and lasting
one. Were I inclined to believe I ever should be willing to go to the
lengths of which you speak, I should assuredly want time for the
maturest reflection. In the first place, I know almost nothing about
you. One would not engage a--a coachman--without more inquiry. How can a
girl promise to trust her entire future to a man with whom she has but a
casual acquaintance? Such things need consideration. I know my father
would say so. And if he heard only the nicest things about you, I doubt
if he would like to have you take me from him--especially now, when his
heart is heavy and he leans so much on my love and care. No, you are in
too great haste."
His impatience grew to boiling heat as he listened. How could she find
so many reasons, and (he was obliged to confess) such sensible ones, to
bring against him?
"There is one thing you _can_ do," he said, with an attitude of deep
dejection. "You can tell me if you love me."
She tossed her head with a feminine movement that was wholly charming.
"Yes, I could tell you that, but it would be a very improper thing,
under the circumstances, provided I was able to give you the answer you
seem to wish. If I did care for you, would I like to say so in definite
words when anything further might turn out to be impossible? A girl
would not wish to have a man that she was never to marry going about
with the recollection that she said, 'I love you.'"
"Then you can say nothing at all?" he asked sadly. "Shall I be uncertain
whether at the end of my term in purgatory I am to be raised to a state
of bliss or dashed into the Inferno?"
She laughed; a delicious little laugh.
"You are getting hyperbolical," she answered. "There are ten thousand
better women than I."
"But I don't want them," pleaded the young man. "Did you ever read the
lines of Jean Ingelow:
"'Oh so many, many, many
Maids and yet my heart undone.
What to me are all or any?
I have lost--my--one.'"
Daisy replied that the sentiment was very sweet, and added that when a
lover could quote such admirable poetry with accuracy, there was hope
for him. Do what he would, Roseleaf could not make her see that
everything in his future life depended on "one little word" from her.
She persisted that he was misled by the violence of his first
affection, and that if he would only let a month or two pass he would
discover that his pulse would fall off a number of beats to the minute.
"And is that what you want?" he asked, reproachfully. "Would you like to
have me come back two months later, and tell you my love had ceased?"
"Yes, if it was the truth. How much better than to learn it after my
vows had been pledged and I was bound to you for the rest of my days!"
He rose and went with quick steps to her side, catching up her hand and
covering it with kisses. She did her best to stop him, whispering, with
a glance toward the door, that they might be interrupted at any minute.
"By whom!" he retorted, stung at her coldness. "Your sister has gone up
stairs, and there is no one else in the house."
"Hannibal might come in," she said, in a low tone. "He has no way of
knowing that I do not wish to be interrupted."
He grew angry at the mention of that name. But the warning had its
effect and he sat down, nearer to her than before, his heart beating
rapidly.
"I hate the fellow!" he exclaimed bitterly. "It is a good thing I am
going away, or I should strike him some day for his insolence!"
Daisy paled at the vehemence of her companion.
"Has he been insolent to you?" she murmured.
"To me? He would not dare! What angers me is the way he speaks to the
rest of you. He came with your cloak that night, acting as if he was
your master, instead of your servant. I have heard him speak to Mr.
Fern in a way that made me want to kick him! Why does your father bear
it? Why do you? Has Hannibal some mysterious hold on his situation?"
The girl heard him patiently, though the roses did not come at once to
her white cheek.
"I am afraid," she said, when he had finished his tirade, "that you
despise him for his color. It is a prejudice that seems to me--and to my
father--unchristian and uncharitable. Perhaps, in the anxiety to make
Hannibal forget that God gave him a darker skin than ours, we may have
gone to the other extreme, and treated him with too great consideration.
But I think you overstate the case."
Her gentle words smote upon the ears that heard them, and in a moment
Roseleaf was affected by the most lively contrition. Without attempting
to excuse himself he begged her pardon, which she readily granted.
"When do you leave us?" she asked.
"To-morrow morning."
"But you will call--occasionally?"
"If I may."
His tone was so sad that Daisy assured him he ought to have no doubt of
that.
"I understand," she added, "that you have probably helped Millie to a
reputation that she craves above everything, and she ought not to prove
entirely ungrateful. We have enjoyed your stay here, and shall be most
sorry to have you go. I should be glad to think you would honor us with
your company to dinner not less often than once each week."
For the first time a ray of light came into his face.
"Oh, may I?" he cried. "Then I shall not be shut off entirely from
seeing you?"
"No, indeed," she answered. "Father likes you and Mr. Weil too well--you
will bring him, of course. Once a week, at least--if it were twice it
wouldn't do any harm; and if it were three times--"
His face was now one bright beam of light.
"Daisy," he cried. "I believe you do not hate me after all!"
"I hope you never thought I did," she responded. "Why is it that a man
can see no middle ground between positive dislike and marriage? I expect
to like a good many men in the course of my life, but I can only marry a
very few of them."
He was obliged to laugh at this, and to say that she would only marry
_one_, if he had _his_ way. Before they had finished with this subject
Roseleaf was in a state of high good nature, though he had little
apparently upon which to base the rise in his spirits.
"Can't I say something--just a hint, if no more, to your father?" he
asked, getting down again to business.
"Pretty risky!" she answered, sententiously. "He wouldn't give you much
encouragement I fear."
The young man caught eagerly at the word.
"You _fear_!" he echoed. "God bless you, Daisy!"
Bearing in mind what she had previously said about the unlocked doors,
he did not attempt to suit the action to the phrase. But his happy face
spoke volumes.
"You had best say very little to father at present," said Daisy,
soberly. "He is most unhappy."
"I wish I knew what troubled him!" he exclaimed.
"I wish so, too, if you could aid him," she answered, earnestly.
"Who knows but I may?" he asked, with a smile that she hoped would prove
prophetic.