TOXTETH SEEKS AN ALLY.
Mrs. Sanford was so round, so plump, so rosy, that, as she sat
enthroned among the carriage-cushions, she might easily have been
mistaken for an unusually fine specimen of Dutch cabbage, by the
wand of some new Rübezahl endowed with life. The poor lady was much
frightened, not at any thing in particular, but in a general way. She
had a vague idea that something astounding and destructive might take
place at any moment: she had a misty notion that lions and tigers came
out of forests to devour people; and she distinctly recalled the fact
that her grandfather had once shot a wolf in the neighborhood, perhaps
in these very woods which rustled and murmured so ominously behind her.
An unusual situation, even the most trivial, which delivers shallow
minds to reflection, is for them full of uneasiness. To be given up to
self is the most frightful of catastrophes to him who finds self an
utter stranger. If Mrs. Sanford had no great power of reasoning, she
was not without a fancy which fear stirred into activity; and, by the
time she had been alone five minutes, her terror had become ludicrously
great. A squirrel scampering across the road called from her a scream,
which was quickly stifled by the thought that an outcry would be likely
to attract beasts of prey. A crow flew overhead; and that presager of
evil filled her with terror unutterable. The fact that she was alone
on a road much travelled, and but three or four miles from her own
home, seems an insufficient cause for such fear; but Mrs. Sanford could
hardly have suffered more mental anguish if deposited with Daniel in
the den of lions.
Suddenly she heard the sound of approaching wheels, and this sign of
human proximity revived her drooping courage. As the moments had seemed
hours to her, she thought her son had already returned; but a glimpse
of the tossing manes of a span of grays told her that it was the
Toxteth equipage which approached. Her mind yielded to an entirely new
sensation, as a fluff of thistledown is lightly blown about.
"Mrs. Toxteth shall never see me in such a position as this," she said
to herself. "I wouldn't demean myself by letting her know who it is."
So the foolish woman, who had, in common with the ostrich, the feeling,
that, if her head was concealed, her entire person must be invisible,
spread the corner of her shawl over her face, and sat motionless. The
carriage drew nearer, and stopped, a man's voice asking who was there.
As the veiled figure returned no answer, Clarence Toxteth, for he it
was, jumped out, and approached the lady.
"Who is it?" he asked. "Do you want help?"
"No," she answered. "Go away!"
"Why, Mrs. Sanford!" he said, recognizing the voice. "What has
happened? Are you hurt?"
Being recognized, the lady uncovered her face, and said with acerbity,--
"If I'm not killed, I'm sure it isn't my fault. I am so shaken, I doubt
I shall ever get over it."
The young man, being fortunately alone, took the lady into his own
carriage and drove on, leaving the wreck of the buggy to Will's care.
"I doubt but it's a forerunner of a bad sign," Mrs. Sanford said as
they drove along. "I always heard it was unlucky to break down."
"It was lucky for me, at least," young Toxteth answered gallantly. "I
am glad you were not hurt."
"But the shock to my mind, I being as fleshy as I am," she returned
rather illogically, "was dreadful."
They drove smoothly along, Clarence secretly considering how he might
best broach a subject of which his mind was full.
"I've wanted to see you for a long time," he began.
"Those that want to see me," Mrs. Sanford retorted, in a tone which
showed that her temper had been a little shaken by her mishap, "usually
come where I am."
"Oh, yes!" he said, somewhat confused. "But I wanted to see you without
its being known."
"You don't mean to leave me anywhere on the road, do you?" she demanded
in alarm. "I don't know as it'll hurt your reputation if folks do know
you've seen me."
"Oh, dear, no! You misunderstand me entirely."
"Then, I wish you'd speak plainer."
"Why," he said, driven abruptly to the point, "it was about Patty I
wanted to speak."
"Oh!"
Merely writing the interjection indicates but feebly the emotions
filling the breast of Mrs. Sanford when she gave it utterance. Like
Lady Geraldine's answer,--
"It lies there on the paper,
A mere word without her accent."
Surprise, gratification, triumph, were commingled in her voice. She
laid her plump hands together complacently. The doctor's wife loved her
son best, as such women necessarily do; but she was proud of Patty,
and particularly anxious that she should marry advantageously. Here,
was a bridegroom who could deck her daughter in purple and scarlet,
and fine-twined linen. Already in fancy the ladybug mother saw herself
riding behind this handsome span of dappled grays, not as a stranger,
but with all the rights of a mother-in-law. Hers was one of those
vulgar natures which instinctively regarded marriage as a contract
wherein a woman brought her charms to market to be disposed of to the
highest bidder. She unconsciously rustled and plumed herself like a
pigeon in the sun.
"I am well enough able to marry," Clarence said; "and my wife would
have all her heart would wish."
Nature endows weak and sensuous minds with a species of protective
instinct, which sometimes serves them as well as the acutest reason.
Young Toxteth used the argument which was best calculated to touch the
fancy of Mrs. Sanford; and it was so good a choice as to be almost
shrewdness, that he had selected that lady as his confidante. In her
he found an eager listener, whereas no other member of Dr. Sanford's
family would have heard him through his first purseproud remark.
"I have been fond of her for a long time," Toxteth continued. "I didn't
pay her particular attentions until I was sure of myself, of course."
"Very honorable, I'm sure," chirruped Mrs. Sanford,--"very honorable,
indeed."
"I think she likes me," the suitor continued, the admiring attitude of
his listener betraying him into more and more frankness. "She's never
said so; but I'm sure I don't see why she shouldn't like me, and she
naturally wouldn't speak until I did."
"Oh, dear me, no!" acquiesced the gratified mother. "Naturally not."
"But girls are so queer," he said, hesitating a little, now that the
real purpose of the interview was reached. "She doesn't consider how
she hurts my feelings, and she might say she didn't care for me when
she really did, you know. And if you would--why, if you would speak to
her, and--and prepare her a little, you know, so that it shall not be
so unexpected to her."
"I trust I know my duty," replied his companion, nodding her head with
great complacency; "and you may certainly count on me. Patty can't help
seeing the great advantages of being your wife, and it's very good of
you to ask her. Though, to be sure, she may pick and choose of the best
in Montfield, and doesn't have to go begging for a husband, as some
girls do. It isn't every man I'd say yes to, by any manner of means."
And at this moment the carriage stopped at the gate of the Sanford
cottage.
* * * * *
A rehearsal was held that evening at Dessie Farnum's. Will's headache
prevented his attendance; but his part was read, and things went as
smoothly as is usual on such occasions. Flossy showed a desire to
recite the whole of the scenes in which she took part; but as they
chanced to be principally between herself and Burleigh Blood, who knew
few of his lines, this was rather a help.
"If you were only a ventriloquist, Flossy," Patty said, "Burleigh need
do nothing but act bashful, and you could do all the talking."
"I wonder if I couldn't learn," Flossy returned, beginning to repeat
Burleigh's part in a deep voice, which made them all laugh.
"I'm afraid I shall have to learn myself," Blood said, "unless you can
do better than that."
"Better than that! What base ingratitude!"
"Are these plates old-fashioned enough?" Dessie asked. "They were my
grandmother's."
"Do!" exclaimed Flossy. "They are rapturous! Oh the things we shall
have to eat off them!"
"What will you have? Brown-bread and beans, I suppose."
"Oh, dear, no! Chicken-salad and Charlotte-Russes. I am glad I'm going
to be Waitstill Eastman. I couldn't have stood it to see anybody else
eating, and I left out. It must certainly be salad and Charlottes."
"Salads and Charlotte-Russes for an old-fashioned supper!" retorted
Patty. "Indeed, miss, you'll have nothing of the kind. Pumpkin-pies and
nut-cakes are the best you'll get."
"It is no matter," Flossy answered. "It is a great deal better to talk
about things than it is to eat them, after all."
"Flossy never really eats much of any thing but pop-corn," her cousin
explained. "You'd think, to hear her talk, that her life was one long
feast."
"Oh, yes, I do! I eat enormously; but I don't think it is so good as
reading about nice things. Now, I like to read Dickens's books, because
they're always having something to eat or to drink in them. Think of
the cold punch now, the lovely cold punch!"
"Flossy, I'm ashamed of you!" exclaimed Patty. "I do believe you are
tipsy, just thinking about it; and you make me too thirsty for any
thing."
"Your reproof convicts yourself," put in Frank Breck. "I am sorry you
can't hear punch mentioned without being thirsty."
"I am glad if you can," she retorted.
The hit was a palpable one, for the young man had the reputation of
walking in ways far removed from the paths of sobriety.
When the rehearsal was concluded, the rain fell in torrents. Burleigh,
who had his buggy, offered to take Patty and Flossy home. The former
declined the invitation, although insisting that her cousin should
ride. For herself, Patty delighted in the rain. The excitement of the
storm exhilarated her, filling her with a delightful animal joy in
living. She was fond of taking long walks in rainy weather, greatly to
the disturbance of her mother, who had neither sympathy nor patience
with this side of her daughter's nature. Even grandmother, who usually
found whatever Patty did perfect, felt called upon to remonstrate
against these escapades. But to the girl the struggle with the storm
was delightful: it was a keen pleasure to feel the rain beat upon her
face, and her young blood tingled under the cold touch. So to-night
she chose to walk home, and meant to escape alone. She was prevented
by Hazard Breck, who forestalled young Toxteth in seeking the honor of
escorting her. As they left the house, Patty's quick ear caught a word
or two between Ease Apthorpe and Frank Breck.
"Thank you," she heard Ease say. "I will not trouble you."
"Your aunt charged me to see you safe home," he answered. "I shouldn't
want to disobey her."
And as usual Ease yielded.