"But, confound it, Annette, we"ve been calling on those people all summer."
"THAT was in the country; this is not. Don"t you SEE, Phelps? Can"t you understand? Those Dotts have come here to live. I did all I could to prevent it, but--"
"WHAT?" Mr. Black interrupted with an amazed protest. "Did all you could to prevent it! Why, you used to preach Scarford to Serena Dott from morning till night. You were always telling her how much better it was than Trumet. I don"t believe she would ever have thought of coming here if it hadn"t been for you."
Annette stamped her foot impatiently. "Don"t you suppose I know it?" she demanded. "That was when I never imagined there was any chance of their really coming. But now they have come and we"ve got to be with them to some extent. We"ve GOT to; we can"t get out of it. That is why I want them to see how people of our cla.s.s dress. I can"t TELL her that her clothes are a sight, as country as a green pumpkin, but I can show her mine, and she"s clever enough to understand. And you can show her husband. Not that that will do much good, I"m afraid. HE is the real dreadful part of the thing. Goodness knows what he may say or do at any time!"
Phelps grinned. Nevertheless, he donned the dress suit.
Mrs. Black had another reason, one which she did not mention, for making this, their first, call upon the Dotts in their new home a ceremonial occasion. It was true that they would be obliged to a.s.sociate with these acquaintances from the country more or less; the commonest politeness required that, considering all that had gone before. But she meant there should be no misunderstanding of the relations between the families. In Trumet she had made Mrs. Dott her protegee because it was her nature to patronize, and Serena had not resented the patronage. Now circ.u.mstances were quite different; now the Dotts possessed quite as much worldly wealth as the Blacks, but Annette did not intend to let Serena presume upon that. No, indeed! She intended, not only by the grandeur of her raiment and that of her husband, but by her tone and manner, to make perfectly plain the fact that the acquaintanceship was still a great condescension on her part and did not imply equality in the least.
But this lofty att.i.tude was destined to be shaken before the evening was over. The first shock came at the very beginning, and Mr. Hapgood was responsible for it. Annette had referred, during the Trumet acquaintanceship, to her "staff of servants," and had spoken casually of her cook and second girl and laundress and "man," as if the quartette were permanent fixtures in the Black establishment. As a matter of fact, the only fixtures were the cook and second girl. The laundress came in on Mondays and Tuesdays to do the washing and ironing, and the "man"
acted as janitor"s helper at the factory three days of the week. The chauffeur was but a summer flourish; B. Phelps drove his own car eight months in the year.
So when the door of the Dott mansion was opened by a butler--and such a dignified, polite, imposing butler--Mrs. Black"s soul was shaken by a twinge of envy. The second shock was Serena"s appearance and the calm graciousness of her demeanor. The Boston gown was not as grand, as prodigal of lace and embroidery, as was the visitor"s, but it was in the latest fashion and Serena wore it as if she had been used to such creations all her life. Neither was she overawed or flurried when her callers entered. Serena had read a good deal, had observed as much as her limited opportunities would allow, and was naturally a clever woman in many ways.
"Why, how do you do, Mrs. Black?" she said. "It"s so good of you to come. And to bring Mr. Black, too. You must take off your things. Yes, you must. Hapgood, take the lady"s wraps. Daniel!"
The captain, who, not being used to butlers and lacking much of his wife"s presence of mind, had started forward to a.s.sist with the wraps, stopped short.
"Yes, Serena?" he faltered.
"Can"t you ask Mr. Black to sit down?"
"Hey? Why, course I can. I judged he was goin" to sit down anyway.
Wasn"t figgerin" to stand up all the evenin", was you, Bar--er--Phelps?"
"No," replied Mr. Black. To prove it he selected the most comfortable chair in the room.
"I had such a time to get Phelps to come," declared Annette, sinking, with a rustle, into the next best chair. "He wanted to see you both, of course, and to welcome you to Scarford, but he is SO busy and has so many engagements. If it isn"t a directors" meeting it is a house committee at the club, or--or something. You should be thankful that your husband is not a man of affairs and constantly in demand. It was a club meeting to-night, wasn"t it, Phelps, dear?"
""Twas a stag dinner," observed Mr. Black. "Say, Dan, I"ll have to take you to one of "em some time. It"s a good bunch of fellows and we have some of the cleverest vaudeville stunts afterward that you ever saw.
Last week there were a couple of c.o.o.ns that--"
"Phelps!" Annette interrupted tartly, "you needn"t go into details. I don"t imagine Captain and Mrs. Dott will be greatly interested. What a charming old room this is, isn"t it? SO quaint! Everything looks as if it had been here a hundred years."
Before Serena could frame a reply to this back-handed compliment the unconscious B. Phelps removed the greater part of its sting by observing:
"That butler of yours looks as if he had been here a thousand. I felt as if George the First was opening the door for me. He"s a star, all right.
Did he come with the place?"
Mrs. Dott explained that Hapgood was one of Aunt Lavinia"s old servants.
"She thought the world of him. Daniel and I feel perfectly safe in leaving everything to him. Auntie found him somewhere abroad--working for a lord or a count or something, I believe--and brought him over. He is pretty expensive, his wages, I mean, but he is worth it all. Don"t you think so?"
Yes, Mrs. Black found it much more difficult to patronize than she expected, and Serena was correspondingly happy. But the crowning triumph came later. The doorbell rang, and Hapgood entered the drawing-room bearing a tray upon which were several cards. He bent and whispered respectfully.
Mrs. Dott was evidently surprised and startled.
"Who?" she asked.
Hapgood whispered again.
Serena rose. "Yes, of course," she said nervously. "Yes, certainly. I declare, I--"
"What"s up?" asked her husband, his curiosity aroused. "Nothin" wrong, is there? What"s that he"s bringin" you on that thing?"
He referred to the cards and the tray. His wife, who had caught a glimpse of Mrs. Black"s face, fought down her nervousness and announced with dignified composure.
"Some more callers, that"s all, Daniel," she said. "Oh, you mustn"t go, Mrs. Black. You know them, I"m sure. I"ve heard you speak of "em--of them often. It"s"--referring to the cards--"the Honorable Oscar Fenholtz and Mrs. Fenholtz. Ask them right in, Hapgood. Daniel, get up!"
Daniel hurriedly obeyed orders. Mr. Black also rose.
"The Fenholtzes!" he observed in a tone of surprise. "Say, Dan, I didn"t know you knew them. Annette didn"t say anything about it."
Annette hadn"t known of it; her expression showed that. The Honorable and Mrs. Fenholtz were Scarford"s wealthiest citizens. Mr. Fenholtz was proprietor of a large brewery and was an ex-mayor. His wife was prominent socially; as prominent as Mrs. Black hoped to be some day.
Hapgood reappeared, ushering in the new arrivals. The Honorable Oscar was plump and florid and good-natured. He wore a business suit and his shoes were not patent leathers. Mrs. Fenholtz was likewise plump. Her gown, in comparison with Annette"s, or even Serena"s, was extremely plain and old-fashioned.
She hastened over to where Serena was standing and extended her hand.
"How do you do, Mrs. Dott?" she said pleasantly. "Welcome to Scarford.
You and I have never met, of course, but I used to know Mrs. Lavinia Dott very well indeed. And this is Mr. Dott, I suppose. How do you do?
And here is my husband. Oscar, these are our new neighbors."
Mr. Fenholtz and the captain shook hands. Captain Dan felt his embarra.s.sment disappearing under the influence of that hearty shake.
"I suppose you scarcely expected callers--or calls from strangers--so soon," went on Mrs. Fenholtz. "But, you see, I hope we shan"t be strangers after this. I couldn"t bear to think of you all alone here in this great house in a strange place, and so I told Oscar that he and I must run in. We live near here, only on the next corner."
"I said you would be having your after-dinner smoke, Mr. Dott,"
explained the Honorable, with a smile and a Teutonic accent. "I said you would wish we was ouid instead of in; but Olga would not have it so.
And, when the women say yes, we don"t say no. Eh; what is the use?" He chuckled.
Captain Dan grinned. "That"s right," he said. "No use for the fo"mast hand to contradict the skipper."
Mrs. Black stepped forward.
"How do you do, Mrs. Fenholtz?" she said with unction.
"Dear me!" exclaimed Serena. "I--I"m forgetting everything. But you know Mr. and Mrs. Black, don"t you, Mrs. Fenholtz?"
Mrs. Fenholtz turned.
"How do you do, Mrs. Black?" she said. Her tone lacked the enthusiasm of Annette"s.
"h.e.l.lo, Black," said her husband. "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the club, listening to the--what is it?--the cabaret.
Py George, my wife says I shall not go any more! She says it is no place for a settled man so old as I am. Ho! ho! Yet I tell her the stag dinner is good for the beer business."
Before B. Phelps could answer, Mrs. Black spoke.