"You"re not quite yourself when you talk that way, Hallie. Professor Kelton was one of Aunt Sally"s oldest friends; old people have a habit of going back to the friends of their youth; there"s nothing strange in it. And this being true, nothing could have been more natural than for Aunt Sally to help the girl in her trouble, even to the extent of seeing her graduated. It was just like Aunt Sally," he continued, warming to his subject, "who"s one of the stanchest friends anybody could have.
Aunt Sally"s devoted to you and your children; it"s ungenerous to her to a.s.sume that a young woman she hardly knows is supplanting you or Marian.
This newspaper notoriety I"m getting has troubled you and I"m sorry for it; but I can"t let you entertain this delusion that your aunt"s kindness to the granddaughter of one of her old friends means that Aunt Sally has ceased to care for you, or lost her regard for Marian and Blackford. If you think of it seriously for a moment you"ll see how foolish it is to harbor any jealousy of Miss Garrison. Come! Cheer up and forget it. If Aunt Sally got an inkling of this you may be sure that _would_ displease her. You say the girl is here in the house?"
"She"s not only here, but she"s here to stay! She"s going to intrench herself here!"
She sent him to the chiffonier to find a fresh handkerchief. He watched her helplessly for a moment as she dried her eyes. Then he took her hands and bent over her.
"Won"t you try to see things a little brighter? It"s all just because you got too tired yesterday. You oughtn"t to have gone to the convention; and I didn"t know you were going or I should have forbidden it."
"Well, Marian wanted to go; and we were coming to town anyhow. And besides, Aunt Sally had taken it into her head to go, too. She wanted this Garrison girl to see a political convention; I suppose that was the real reason."
He laughed, gazing down into her tearful face, in which resentment lingered waveringly, as in the faces of children persuaded against their will and parting reluctantly with the solace of tears.
"You must get up for dinner, Hallie. Your doctors have always insisted that you needed variety and change; and to-morrow we"ll take you up to the lake out of this heat. We have a good deal to be grateful for, after all, Hallie. You haven"t any right to feel disappointed in Marian: she"s the nicest girl in the state, and the prettiest girl you"ll find anywhere. We ought to be glad she"s so high-spirited and handsome and clever. College never was for her; she certainly was never for college!
I talked that over with Miss Waring a number of times. And I don"t believe Aunt Sally thinks less of Marian because she isn"t a better scholar. Only a small per cent of women go to college, and I"m not sure it"s a good thing. I"m even a little doubtful about sending Blackford to college; this education business is overdone, and the sooner a boy gets into harness the better."
Her deep sigh implied that he might do as he liked with his son, now that she had so completely failed with her daughter.
"Aunt Sally is very much interested in Mr. Harwood. She has put Sylvia"s affairs in his hands. Could it be possible--"
He groped for her unexpressed meaning, and seeing that he had not grasped it she clarified it to his masculine intelligence.
"If there are two persons she is interested in, and they understand each other, it"s all so much more formidable." And then, seeing that this also was too subtle, she put it flatly: "What if Harwood should marry Sylvia!"
"Well, that _is_ borrowing trouble!" he cried impatiently. "Aunt Sally is interested in a great many young people. She is very fond of Allen Thatcher. And Allen seems to find Marian"s society agreeable, more so, I fancy, than Harwood does;--why not speculate along that line? It"s as plausible as the other."
"Oh, that boy! That"s something we must guard against, Morton; that is quite impossible."
"I dare say it is," he replied. "But not more unlikely than that Harwood will marry this Sylvia who worries you so unnecessarily."
"Marian is going to marry somebody, some day, and that"s on my mind a great deal. You have got to give more thought to family matters. It"s right for Marian to marry, and I think a girl of her tastes should settle early, but we must guard her from mistakes. I"ve had that on my conscience several years."
"Of course, Hallie; and I"ve not been unmindful of it."
"And if Aunt Sally is interested in young Harwood and you think well of him yourself--but of course I don"t favor him for Marian. I should like Marian to marry into a family of some standing."
"Well, we"ll see to it that she does; we want our daughter to be happy--we must do the best we can for our children," he concluded largely.
She promised to appear at the dinner table, and he went down with some idea of seeing Mrs. Owen at once, to a.s.sure her of his honorable intentions toward her in the "Courier" matter; he wanted to relieve his own fears as well as his wife"s as to the mischief that had been wrought by Thatcher"s suit.
In the hall below he met Sylvia, just back from her first day at the normal school. The maid had admitted her, and she was slipping her parasol into the rack as he came downstairs. She heard his step and turned toward him, a slender, dark young woman in black. In the dim hall she did not at once recognize him, and he spoke first.
"Good-afternoon, Miss Garrison! I am Mr. Ba.s.sett; I believe I introduced myself to you at Waupegan--and that seems a long time ago."
"I remember very well, Mr. Ba.s.sett," Sylvia replied, and they shook hands. "You found me in my dream corner by the lake and walked to Mrs.
Owen"s with me. I remember our meeting perfectly."
He stood with his hand on the newel regarding her intently. She was entirely at ease, a young woman without awkwardness or embarra.s.sment.
She had disposed of their previous meeting lightly, as though such fortuitous incidents had not been lacking in her life. Her mourning hat cast a shadow upon her face, but he had been conscious of the friendliness of her smile. Her dark eyes had inspected him swiftly; he was vaguely aware of a feeling that he wanted to impress her favorably.
"The maid said Mrs. Owen and Marian are still out. I hope Mrs. Ba.s.sett is better. I wonder if I can do anything for her."
"No, thank you; she"s quite comfortable and will be down for dinner."
"I"m glad to hear that; suppose we find seats here."
She walked before him into the parlor and threw back the curtains the better to admit the air. He watched her attentively, noting the ease and grace of her movements, and took the chair she indicated.
"It"s very nice to see Mrs. Ba.s.sett and Marian again; they were so good to me that summer at Waupegan; I have carried the pleasantest memories of that visit ever since. It seems a long time ago and it is nearly four years, isn"t it."
"Four this summer, I think. I remember, because I had been to Colorado, and that whole year was pretty full for me. But all these years have been busy ones for you, too, I hear. Your grandfather"s death must have been a great shock to you. I knew him only by reputation, but it was a reputation to be proud of."
"Yes; Grandfather Kelton had been everything to me."
"It was too bad he couldn"t have lived to see you through college; he must have taken a great interest in your work there, through his own training and scholarship."
"It was what he wanted me to do, and I wish he could have known how I value it. He was the best of men, the kindest and n.o.blest; and he was a wonderful scholar. He had the habit of thoroughness."
"That, I suppose, was partly due to the discipline of the Navy. I fancy that a man trained in habits of exactness gets into the way of keeping his mind ship-shape--no loose ends around anywhere."
She smiled at this, and regarded him with rather more attention, as though his remark had given her a new impression of him which her eyes wished to verify.
"They tell me you expect to teach in the city schools; that has always seemed to me the hardest kind of work. I should think you would prefer a college position;--there would be less drudgery, and better social opportunities."
"Every one warns me that it"s hard work, but I don"t believe it can be so terrible. Somebody has to do it. Of course college positions are more dignified and likely to be better paid."
He started to speak and hesitated.
"Well," she laughed. "You were going to add your warning, weren"t you!
I"m used to them."
"No; nothing of the sort; I was going to take the liberty of saying that if you cared to have me I should be glad to see whether our state university might not have something for you. I have friends and acquaintances who could help there."
"Oh, you are very kind! It is very good of you to offer to do that; but--"
A slight embarra.s.sment was manifest in the quick opening and closing of her eyes, a slight turning of the head, but she smiled pleasantly, happily. He liked her way of smiling, and smiled himself. He found it agreeable to be talking to this young woman with the fine, candid eyes, whose manner was so a.s.sured--without a.s.surance! She smoothed the black gloves in her lap quietly; they were capable hands; her whole appearance and manner somehow betokened competence.
"The fact is, Mr. Ba.s.sett, that I have declined one or two college positions. My own college offered to take me in; and I believe there were one or two other chances. But it is kind of you to offer to help me."
She had minimized the importance of the offers she had declined so that he might not feel the meagreness of his proffered help; and he liked her way of doing it; but it was incredible that a young woman should decline an advantageous and promising position to accept a minor one. In the world he knew there were many hands on all the rounds of all the available ladders.
"Of course," he hastened to say, "I knew you were efficient; that"s why I thought the public schools were not quite--not quite--worthy of your talents!"
Some explanation seemed necessary, and Sylvia hesitated for a moment.
"Do I really have to be serious, Mr. Ba.s.sett? So many people--the girls at college and some of my instructors and Mrs. Owen even--have a.s.sured me that I am not quite right in my mind; but I will make short work of my reasons. Please believe that I really don"t mean to take myself too seriously. I want to teach in the public schools merely to continue my education; there are things to learn there that I want to know. So, you see, after all, it"s neither important nor interesting; it"s only--only my woman"s insatiable curiosity!"
He smiled, but he frowned too; it annoyed him not to comprehend her.