GUESTS ARRIVE
"I refuse to go a step further! This porch of wistaria is the most
wonderful thing I ever saw in all my life! When I heard the name of the
place, I thought it was crazy,--but of course I see now it's the only
possible name! I don't care what's inside the house,--here I am,--and
here I stay!"
Elise Farrington threw off her motor coat, and settling herself on the
side seat of the porch, under the drooping bunches of purple bloom,
looked quite as if she meant what she said.
Patty stepped out from the doorway and smiled at her visitor.
"All right, Elise," she said, "you may. I'll send out your dinner, and
you can sleep here, too, if you like."
"No, I'll come in for my board and lodging, but all the rest of the time
look for me here! I'm going to have some lavender frocks made,--dimities
and organdies, and then I'll be part of the picture."
"Oh, do! I can't wear lavender or purple," Patty sighed.
"Nonsense! Of course you can. You only mean you've never tried. That
bisque doll complexion of yours will stand any color. Let's both get
wisteria-coloured frocks, and--"
Elise's plans were interrupted by the appearance of Farnsworth and two
men who had arrived for the house party. These were our old friends,
Philip Van Reypen and Chickering Channing.
Still a devoted admirer of pretty Patty, Van Reypen had become reconciled
to his fate, and moreover had discovered his ability to take pleasure in
the society of other charming young women.
Channing was the same old merry Chick, and he was exuberant in his praise
of the beautiful home of the Farnsworths which he now saw for the first
time.
"Great little old place!" he exclaimed, enthusiastically. "But why such
an enormousness? Are you going to keep boarders?"
"Yes, if you'll stay," laughed Patty. "But, you see it was a bargain,--so
we snapped it up."
"The old story," put in Bill. "Man built it,--went bankrupt,--had to sell
at sacrifice. Along came we,--bought it,--everybody happy!"
"I am," declared Elise; "this is the sort of place I've dreamed of.
Beautiful nearby effects, and a long distance view beside. This
porch for mine,--all the time I'm here."
"But you haven't seen the other places yet," Patty demurred. "There's a
tea-porch--"
"Wistaria, too?"
"Yes, of course."
"Lead me to it!" and Elise jumped up, and made for the house.
Then they all strolled through the wide hall and out at the back door on
to the tea-porch. This was furnished with white wicker tables and chairs,
and indeed, was prepared for immediate use, for a maid was just bringing
the cakes and crumpets as the party arrived.
"Goody!" cried Elise, "can we have tea now, Patty? I'm famished."
"Yes, indeed," and Patty took her place at the tea table with a matronly
air, and began to pour for her guests.
"It's just as pretty as the other porch," Elise decided, looking
critically at the festoons of wistaria, which was on three sides of the
house. "But I'll adopt the first one. Anybody looking for me will find me
there--'most always."
"We're always looking for you," said Channing, gallantly, as he took up
his teacup, "and it is a comfort to know where to find you. Of late
you've been inaccessible."
"Not to you," and Elise glanced coquettishly from under her eyelashes.
"To me, then," put in Van Reypen. "I've not seen you, Elise, since I came
back from Over There. You've grown a lot, haven't you?"
"Taller?"
"Mercy no! I mean mentally. You seem more--more grown up like."
"Everybody is, since the war work. Yes, Phil, I have grown,--I hope."
"There, there," warned Patty; "no serious talk just now, please,--and no
war talk. For the moment, I claim your attention to my new house and its
surroundings."
"Some claim you've staked out," and Chick grinned. "I want to see it all.
And,--moreover,--I want to see the rest of the family!"
Patty beamed. "You dear!" she cried; "do you really want to see my
daughter?"
"_My_ daughter," Farnsworth added; "but I didn't know you chaps would
be interested in our infant prodigy. I never cared about seeing other
people's babies."
"I do," stoutly insisted Channing. "I'm a connoisseur on kiddies. Let me
see him."
"He isn't him," laughed Patty, "he's a she."
"So much the better," Chick avowed. "I love girl babies. Where is she?"
"You can't see her now, she's probably asleep. To-morrow she'll be on
exhibition. I hear a car! It must be Mona!"
"I'll go and fetch her," said Farnsworth, springing up, and after a short
time he returned with two newcomers, Mona Farrington and her husband,
Roger.
Then there was more greeting and exclamation and laughter, as the latest
guests admired the new home, and accepted Patty in her becoming role of
hostess.
"To think of little Patty as the chatelaine of this palatial ménage!"
said Roger, "and actually acting as if it belonged to her!"
"It isn't palatial," corrected Patty, "but it _does_ belong to me,--that
is, to me and my friend William. He vows I claim the baby for all my own
property,--but I'll accord him a share in the place."
"It _all_ belongs to me," said Farnsworth, with a careless sweep of a big
arm. "The wistaria, Patty, the baby, and all!"
"That's right," agreed Roger, "keep up your air of authority as long as
you can! I tried it,--but Mona soon usurped the position!"
"Nonsense!" and Mona smiled at her husband. "Don't you believe him,
Patty. We go fifty-fifty on everything,--as to decisions, I mean. He
gives in to my superior judgment half the time, and I let him have his
own foolish way the other half. Follow my plan and you'll live happily,
my dear."
"Are we your first company?" asked Elise.
"Yes,--except Father and Nan,--and a few calls from the neighbours. This
is my first house-party. And I do want it to be a success, so I'm going
to depend on you all to help me. If I do what I ought not to do,--or
leave undone the things which I should ought to do,--check me up,--won't
you, please?"
"We sure will," agreed Channing, "but something tells me you're going to
prove an ideal hostess."
"She will," nodded Farnsworth, "she takes to hostessing like a duck to
water. She even asked me what sort of smokes you chaps prefer."
"I hope you remembered," said Roger. "And when are they to be passed
around?"
"Right now," said Patty, smiling and nodding to the maid who hovered
near.
In truth, Patty was a born hostess, and without fuss or ostentation
always had the comfort of her guests in mind. While not overburdened
with a retinue of servants, she had enough to attend to everything
she required of them; and her own knowledge and efficiency combined
with her tact and real kindliness brought about a state of harmony
in her household that might well have been envied by an older and more
experienced matron.
Mrs. Chase, who had the nominal position of housekeeper, found herself
strictly accountable to Patty for all she did, and as she was sensible
enough to appreciate Patty's attitude, she successfully fulfilled the
requirements of a butler or steward, and had general charge and oversight
of all the housekeeping details.
"The way to keep house," said Patty to Mona and Elise, as she took them
away with her, leaving the men to their "smokes," "is not so much to work
yourself as to be able to make others work in the way you want them to."
"That's just it," agreed Mona, "and that's just what I can't do! Why, my
servants rode over me so, and were so impudent and lazy, I just gave up
housekeeping and went to a hotel to live. We had to,--there was no other
way out."
"And how Roger hates it!" said Elise, who, as Roger's sister, thought
herself privileged to comment.
A cloud passed over Mona's face. "He does," she admitted, "but what can I
do? He hated worse the scenes we had when we were housekeeping."
"Perhaps conditions will get better now," said Patty, hopefully, "and you
can try again, Mona, with better results."
"Maybe; and perhaps you can teach me. You used to teach me lots of
things, Patty."
"All right,--I'll willingly do anything I can. Now, who wants to see my
angel child? Or would you rather go to your rooms first?"
"No, indeed," cried Elise, "let me see her right now. If she's as pretty
as the wistaria vine--oh, Patty, why don't you name her Wistaria?"
"Gracious, what a name! No, she's Fleurette,--or so Little Billee says.
Anyway, here she is."
Patty led them to the nursery, and from the lacy draperies of the
bassinette a smiling baby face looked up at them.
"What a heavenly kiddy!" Elise exclaimed, "Oh, Patty, what a daffodil
head! Just a blur of yellow fuzz! And such blue eyes! She looks exactly
like you! And exactly like Bill, too. Oh, I never saw such a darling
baby. Let me take her,--mayn't I?"
"Yes, indeed. She's no glass-case baby."
Elise picked up the dear little bundle, and cooed and crooned in most
approved fashion.
Apparently Fleurette understood, for she smiled and gurgled, and seemed
to look upon Elise as an old friend.
Mona admired the baby but was more interested in the house.
"Show me everything," she begged Patty. "I want to see it all. Where's
your linen closet?"
"My linen closet is a room," and Patty led them thither. "You see, we
have such a lot of rooms and,--such a lot of linen,--that I took this
little bedroom for a linen press. I had a carpenter put in the shelves
and cupboards just as I wanted them,--and here's the result."
With justifiable pride, Patty showed her linen collection. Sheets,
towels, tablecloths,--each sort in its place, each dozen held by blue
ribbon bands, that fastened with little pearl buckles.
Other shelves held lace pieces, luncheon sets, boudoir pillow-cases,
table scarfs, and all the exquisite embroidered bits that are the delight
of the home lover.
"Perfectly wonderful!" Elise declared; "looks just like a shop in Venice
or Nice. How do you keep them so tidy? and where did you ever get so
many?"
"Oh, I've done quite some shopping to get our Lares and Penates together,
and Bill let me get whatever I wanted in the house furnishing line. Yes,
this linen room is my joy and my pride. See, _this_ cupboard is all
curtains. I do love to have fresh curtains as often as I want them."
"Well, it's all like Fairyland," Mona said. "I have beautiful things,
too, but they don't look like this. They're all in a jumble on the
shelves, and everything is hodge-podge."
"Oh, well, you're just as happy," laughed Patty. "I chance to be
naturally tidy, and I just love to potter over my things, and keep them
in place. Some time I'll show you Baby's wardrobe. Her little things are
too dear for anything. But now I'll take you to your rooms. This is
yours, Elise. I picked out this one for you, because it's lavender,--and
I know that's your favorite colour."
"And the wistaria vine is looking in at the windows!" Elise noted, with
joy. "Oh, Patty, I won't live on the porch, either, I'll live up here."
It _was_ a beautiful room. A deep seated bay-window, with latticed panes,
opened into a profusion of wistaria blooms, and the fragrance filled the
whole place. The furniture was of ivory enamel and the appointments were
of various harmonious shades of lavender. A _chaise-longue_ was well
supplied with lace pillows and a nearby stand and reading-lamp hinted at
the comfortable enjoyment of a tempting array of new books.
Pansies and violets were in small bowls, and on a table stood an enormous
vase full of trailing branches of wistaria.
"What a picture!" and Elise stood in the middle of the floor, looking
about her. "Patty, you're a wonder! I don't care if you have shoals of
servants, you fixed up this room,--I know you did."
"Of course I did,--with Mrs. Chase to help me. She's a treasure,--she
catches on to my ways so quickly. Glad you like it, Elise, honey. Now
settle yourself here,--your bags will be up in a minute,--and I'll put
Mona in her niche."
"I'm coming too," and Elise went with the others to the rooms designed
for Mona and Roger.
"This is my Royal Suite," laughed Patty, as she ushered them into a
charming apartment done up in handsome English chintz.
"It suits me," and Mona nodded approval. "You had this done by a
professional, Patty."
"It was here when we bought the house. You see, some rooms were already
furnished, when the man decided to sell it. And of these, such as we
liked we kept as they were. This is especially fine chintz and also good
workmanship, so as it is so imposing in effect, we call it the Royal
Suite. Father and Nan adored it, and you and Roger are the next Royal
guests."
"It's great," said Elise, "not half as pretty as mine, but more dignified
and gorgeous."
The chintz was patterned with tropical birds and foliage and as the
hangings were many and elaborate the effect _was_ gorgeous. The bathroom
was spacious and fully equipped, and as Mona's things had arrived she
turned to instruct the maid who was already unpacking them.
"Come back with me to my room," said Elise, as she and Patty went down
the hall.
"Just for a minute, then, for I must go and sort out the rest of my
visitors. I am putting Philip and Chick over in the west wing, far
removed from the nursery, for I don't want them imagining they are kept
awake by the night thoughts of my child. And, I must confess, Fleurette
has a way of tuning up in the wee, small hours! However, we had the
nursery walls muffled, so I don't think you'll be disturbed. Isn't this
outlook fine, Elise?"
"Beautiful," and Elise joined Patty at the bay-window. "This is the most
effective room I ever saw, and so comfy."
"And here's your bath," Patty opened the door to a bathroom of
white-tiled and silver daintiness. "Now you've time for a tub and a rest
before dinner. So I'm going to leave you. Come down at eight,--or sooner,
if you like."
Housewifely Patty ran away, happy in her new role of hostess to a house
party.
The men still sat on the tea-porch, smoking, and talking over the
political situation.
"Here you are again," Chick greeted her; "but where's the che-ild? I must
see that youngster to-night. I've--I've brought her a present."
"Oh, well, come along, then," said Patty; "if you're really so anxious to
meet the young lady,--why wait?"
The two went up to the nursery, and though a little surprised at the
unexpected call, Nurse Winnie made no objection.
"Here's your new friend," and Patty lifted Fleurette out of her pillows
and presented her to Chick.
"What a beauty!" he cried, as he saw the golden curls and the big blue
eyes. "And so intelligent!"
"Of course! Did you think she'd look vacant?"
"They often do," said Chick, sagely. "Why, my cousin's baby looks
positively idiotic at times,--but this mite,--she knows it all!"
And Fleurette did look wise. Being in benign mood, she smiled at the big
man who held her so gently, and put out a tentative fist toward his face.
"Born flirt," he declared, "just like her mother! Well, Patty, she's
a wonder-child,--oh, I know 'em!--and I hereby constitute myself her
godfather, without waiting to be asked."
"Good! We accept the honour. Make a bow, Fleurette."
"No, the honour is mine. She doesn't quite take it all in, yet,--but in
days to come, she may feel real need of a godfather and I'll be there!"
"What do godfathers do? I never had any."
"I'm not quite sure, myself. I'm going to get a field-book,--or First
Lessons in Godfathering, or something like that. But, anyway, I'm hers!
Oh, Patty, she's going to grow up a beauty! Did you ever see such eyes!"
Patty laughed at Chick's enthusiasm, which was too patently genuine to be
mere polite flattery, and entirely agreed in his opinion as to the good
looks of the small Fleurette.
"What did you bring her?" she asked, and Chick drew from his pocket a set
of small gold pins.
"For her bibs and tuckers," he explained. "At least that's what they told
me at the shop. I don't know much about such things."
"They're just right," Patty said, "and they're her very first
present,--outside the family. Thank you a thousand times,--you're
very thoughtful, Chick."
"I hoped you'd like 'em," and the big, warm-hearted chap smiled with
gratification. "Dress her up in them to-morrow, will you?"
And Patty promised she would.