THE BRIDE'S ARRIVAL
Next morning, when Nickey brought up the mail, Mrs. Burke looked
anxiously over her letters until she came to the one she was
expecting. She read it in silence.
The gist of the matter was that Maxwell had been married to the nicest
girl in the world, and was looking forward to having Mrs. Burke meet
her, and to have his wife know the woman who had been so supremely
good to him in the parish. He closed by informing her that they were
to return the next day at five P. M., and if it were not asking too
much, he hoped that she would take them in for a few days until they
could find quarters elsewhere. The letter was countersigned by a
pretty little plea for friendship from "Mrs. Betty."
Mrs. Burke replaced the letter and murmured to herself, smiling:
"Poor little dear! Of course they could come and stay as long as they
pleased; but as the rectory is in order, I think that I'll meet them
at the depot, and take them there direct. They'll be much happier
alone by themselves from the start. I'll have supper ready for 'em,
and cook the chickens while they're unpackin' their trunks."
As Mrs. Burke thought it best to maintain a discreet silence as to the
time of their arrival, there was no one but herself to meet them at
the station when the train pulled in. As Maxwell presented his wife to
Mrs. Burke, Hepsey took the girl's two hands in hers and kissed her
heartily, and then, looking at her keenly as the bride blushed under
her searching gaze, she remarked:
"You're a dreadful disappointment, Mrs. Maxwell. I'm afraid it'll take
me a long time to get over it."
"I am horribly sorry to disappoint you so, Mrs. Burke."
Maxwell laughed, while Mrs. Betty looked puzzled.
"Yes," Mrs. Burke continued, "you're a dreadful disappointment. Your
picture isn't half as sweet as you are." Then turning to Maxwell, she
said:
"Why didn't you tell me? Who taught you to pick out just the right
sort of wife, I'd like to know?"
"_She_ did!" Maxwell replied, pointing delightedly to the young woman,
who was still smiling and blushing under Hepsey's inspection.
"But Mrs. Burke," Mrs. Betty interposed, "can't you give me a little
credit for 'picking out' Donald, as you say?"
"Yes; Mr. Maxwell's pretty fine, though I wouldn't want to have you
tell him so, for anything. But I know, because Durford is calculated
to test a man's mettle, if any place ever was. Now Mrs. Betty, if
that's what I'm to call you, if you'll get into the wagon we'll drive
home and have some supper. You must be 'most famished by this time, if
you stop thinkin' about Mr. Maxwell long enough to have an appetite. I
suppose that we might have had a committee of the vestry down here to
bid you welcome to Durford; and Nickey suggested the village band and
some hot air balloons, and that the boys of the parish should pull
the carriage up to the house after they'd presented you with a
magnificent bouquet; but I thought you'd just like to slip in
unnoticed and get acquainted with your parishioners one at a time.
It'd be simply awful to have a whole bunch of 'em thrown at your head
at once; and as for the whole vestry--well, never mind."
They got into the "democrat" and started out at a smart trot, but when
they came to the road which turned toward Thunder Cliff, Mrs. Burke
drove straight across the green.
"Why, where are you going, Mrs. Burke?" Maxwell exclaimed.
"Well, I thought that maybe Mrs. Betty would like to get a sight of
the town before we went home."
When they came to the rectory and turned into the yard, the wonderful
transformation dawned on Maxwell.
"My gracious, what a change! It's perfectly marvelous," he exclaimed.
"Why Mrs. Burke, I believe you've brought us here to live!"
"Right you are, my friend. This is where you belong."
"Well, you certainly do beat the Dutch. Who is responsible for all
this, I'd like to know? But of course it's you."
"Well, I had a hand in it, but so did the whole parish. Now walk right
in and make yourselves at home."
Mrs. Burke enjoyed to the full Maxwell's surprise and delight, as he
and Mrs. Betty explored the house like a couple of very enthusiastic
children. When they got into the china closet and Mrs. Betty found a
silver tea-ball she exclaimed rapturously:
"Look here, Donald! Did you ever see the like of this? Here is a
regular tea-ball. We will have tea every afternoon at four, and Mrs.
Burke will be our guest. How perfectly delightful."
This remark seemed to please Hepsey mightily, as she exclaimed:
"Oh, my, no! Do you want to spoil my nervous system? We are not given
much to tea-balls in Durford. We consider ourselves lucky if we get a
plain old-fashioned pot. Now you get fixed up," she directed, "while I
get supper ready, and I'll stay just this time, if you'll let me, and
then if you can stand it, perhaps you'll ask me again."
Soon they sat down to a little table covered with spotless linen and a
pretty set of white china with gold bands. Maxwell did not say much;
he was still too surprised and delighted.
[Illustration: "OH WELL, I ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT TWO YOUNG MARRIED PEOPLE
SHOULD START OUT BY THEMSELVES, AND THEN IF THEY GET INTO
A FAMILY ROW IT WON'T SCANDALIZE THE PARISH"]
The broiled chickens and the browned potato balls were placed before
Maxwell, who faced Mrs. Betty--Hepsey sitting between them.
"Now this is what I call rich," Maxwell exclaimed as he carved. "I
hadn't the slightest suspicion that we were to come here and find all
these luxuries."
"However did the house get furnished?" chimed in Mrs. Betty.
"Oh well," Mrs. Burke replied, "I always believe that two young
married people should start out by themselves, you know; and then if
they get into a family row it won't scandalize the parish. The only
new thing about the furnishings is paint and varnish. I drove around
and held up the parish, and made them stand and deliver the goods, and
Jonathan Jackson and I touched it up a little; that's all."
"We ought to acknowledge each gift personally," Maxwell said. "You
must tell us who's given what."
"Oh, no you won't. When I took these things away from their owners by
force, I acknowledged them in the politest way possible, so as to save
you the trouble. You're not supposed to know where a thing came
from."
"But there must have been a lot of money spent on the rectory to get
it into shape," Maxwell asserted. "Where did it all come from?"
Mrs. Burke grinned with amusement.
"Why, can't you guess? Of course it was that merry-hearted, generous
old Senior Warden of yours. Who else could it be? If there is anything
you need, just let us know."
"But the house seems to be very completely furnished as it is."
"No, not yet. If you look around you'll see lots of things that aren't
here."
Mrs. Betty quite raved over the salad, made of lettuce, oranges,
walnuts and a mayonnaise dressing. Then there came ice cream and
chocolate sauce, followed by black coffee.
"This is quite too much, Mrs. Burke. You must be a superb cook. I am
horribly afraid you'll have spoiled Donald, so that my cooking will
seem very tame to him," Mrs. Betty remarked.
"Well, never mind, Mrs. Betty. If worst comes to worst there are seven
pans of soda biscuit secreted around the premises somewhere; so don't
be discouraged. There are lots of things you can do with a soda
biscuit, if you know how. Now we'll just clear the table, and wash the
dishes, and put things away."
When about nine o'clock she arose to go, Maxwell took both Hepsey's
hands in his and said quietly:
"Mrs. Burke, I'm more indebted to you than I can possibly say, for all
you have done for us. I wish I knew how to thank you properly, but I
don't."
"Oh, never mind that," Mrs. Burke replied, a mist gathering in her
eyes, "it's been lots of fun, and if you're satisfied I'm more than
pleased." Then, putting her arm around Mrs. Betty's waist, she
continued:
"Remember that we're not payin' this nice little wife of yours to do
parish work, and if people interfere with her you just tell em to go
to Thunder Cliff. Good-by."
She was turning away when suddenly she stopped, an expression of
horror on her face:
"My! think of that now! This was a bride's dinner-party, and I put
yellow flowers on the table, instead of white! What'd city folks say
to that!"
[Illustration]