"Don"t you? Well, perhaps.... Run along, Daddy, run along."
She closed the door of her room. Daniel, much perplexed, departed on his unpleasant errand.
His wife was eagerly awaiting him.
"Where"s Gertie?" she demanded. "Isn"t she coming?"
"She"ll come by and by, Serena. She isn"t quite dressed yet."
"What difference does that make? Why doesn"t she come, herself? Didn"t you tell her I was dying to hear about the election? She must know I am."
"She does; she knows that, Serena. But she thought--she thought I"d better tell you first, myself."
Serena leaned forward to look at him. His expression alarmed her.
"Why don"t you tell, then?" she asked. "Is it--oh, Daniel, it isn"t bad news, is it?"
"It ain"t very good, Serena."
"You don"t mean--why, you said that Annette was elected; you said so last night."
"Yes--yes, she was elected, Serena; but--"
"But--but _I_ wasn"t. Is that what you mean, Daniel?"
"Well now, Serena--"
"I wasn"t. Yes, it is true, I can see it in your face. I was defeated.
Oh--oh, Daniel!"
Captain Dan put his arm about her.
"There! there! Serena," he said chokingly, "don"t cry, don"t. Don"t feel too bad about it. Politics is politics, inside Chapters and out, I guess. I"m as much disappointed as you are, for your sake, but--but don"t care too much, will you? Don"t make yourself sick again. Don"t cry no more than you can help."
Serena raised her head from his shoulder.
"I"m not crying," she said. "Really I"m not, Daniel. It is a relief to me, in a way."
"A RELIEF?"
"Yes. If it had happened a month ago I should have felt it terribly. I was crazy for office then. But lately I have dreaded it so. If I were vice-president I should have so much care, so much responsibility. Now, I shan"t. The honor would have been great, I appreciate that. But, for the rest of it, I don"t really care."
"Don"t CARE! My soul and body!"
"No, I don"t. And now," bravely, "tell me all about it. I don"t quite see how Annette could win if I did not; but Miss Canby is popular, she has a great many friends. I hope," wistfully, "I hope I got a good vote.
Did I, Daniel?"
Daniel"s indignation burst forth.
"You didn"t get any votes, Serena," he cried angrily.
"What? What? No votes? Why--"
"Not a blessed one. They put up a low-down political trick on you, Serena. They left you out to save themselves. They took advantage of your bein" sick to--to--Here, I"ll tell you just what they did."
What they had done was this: Mrs. Lake and Mrs. Black, heads of the opposing factions, each realizing how close the vote was likely to be, had, with their lieutenants--Mrs. Dott excepted--gotten together five days before the election and arranged a compromise, a trade. By this arrangement, Annette was to receive the Lake party"s support for president; Miss Canby was to be given the Black support for vice-president; and the united support of both factions was to be behind Mrs. Lake in her struggle for office in the National body. This arrangement was carried through. Serena, not being on hand to protect her own interest, had been sacrificed, her name had not even been brought before the members to be voted upon.
Captain Dan told of this precious scheme, just as it had been told him by his daughter. At first his wife interrupted with exclamations and questions; then she listened in silence.
"That"s what they did," cried the captain angrily. "Chucked you into the sc.r.a.p heap to save themselves. And you sick abed! This was the gang you worked yourself pretty nigh to death for. These were the FRIENDS you thought you had. And Annette Black was the worst of all. "Twas her idea in the first place. Why, Serena--"
But Serena could hear no more. She threw her arms about her husband"s neck and the tears, which she had so bravely repressed at the tidings of her own disappointment, burst forth.
"Oh--oh, Daniel," she sobbed, "take me away from here. I hate this place; I hate Scarford and all the dreadful people in it! Take me to Trumet, Daniel. Take me home! Take me home!"
Half an hour later Captain Dan shouted his daughter"s name over the bal.u.s.ters.
"Gertie!" he called; "Gertie! come up here, will you?"
Gertrude came. She entered the room hastily. She had feared to find her mother prostrate, suffering from a new attack of "nerves." She was prepared to obey her father"s order to "phone for the doctor.
But Serena did not, apparently, need a doctor. She was not prostrate, and, although she was nervous, it was rather the nervousness of expectancy, coupled with determination.
"Gertie," said the captain, "I"ve got some news for you. Your mother and I have made up our minds to go back to Trumet, and we want you to go along with us."
The young lady did not answer at once. She looked first at Serena and then at Daniel. The troubled expression left her face and was succeeded by another, an odd one. When she spoke it was in a tone of great surprise.
"To Trumet?" she repeated. "Go back to Trumet? Not to live there?"
Captain Dan hesitated, but his wife did not.
"Yes," she said decidedly, "to live. For the present, anyhow. At least we shan"t live here any longer."
"Not live here? Not live in Scarford, Mother! Why, what do you mean?"
Her father answered. "She means what she says, I presume likely," he observed impatiently. "Think she"s talkin" for the fun of it? This ain"t April Fool Day."
"But she can"t mean it. She can"t! Give up the Chapter, and all our friends--"
"Friends! They"re a healthy lot of friends, they are!"
"Hush, Daddy; I"m not talking to you. Do you realize what you are saying, Mother? Give up the Chapter, and all your ambitions there? Give up Mrs. Black and Mrs. Lake and Miss Canby--"
"And that twist and squirm, antique Greece disgrace of a Dusante woman--don"t forget her. Gertie, you stop now. Your ma knows--"
"Daddy, be still. Be still, I say! Mother, are you willing to give them up? And all our society! You say yourself--I"ve heard you often--that there is no society in Trumet. Give up our bridge lessons, and our dancing, and our teas, and--"
"For the land sakes! What is this; a catalogue you"re givin" us? Stop it! Serena, you tell her to stop."