"The Ladies of Honor? Sure! it is a place where the women go who think their husbands don"t appreciate them. If I was one of those husbands I should appreciate their having that place. They might stay at home if they didn"t. That would be a galamity."
The ladies of the Scarford Chapter made it a point to be always abreast of the times. Theirs was not a suffrage organization because, as many of them said, the belief in suffrage was so common nowadays. Their motto was "Advancement." Just what sort of advancement seemed to make little difference.
The next meeting--that is, the meeting to which Serena had been invited--was one of the few at which men were permitted to be present.
The Blacks called at the Dott mansion with the car, Mr. Black not acting as driver this time, and the journey to the hall was made in that vehicle. It was not a lively journey, so Captain Dan thought. He and B.
Phelps occupied the folding seats facing the two ladies and Mr. Black maintained a gloomy silence all the way. As for Annette and Serena, they talked and talked upon subjects miles above the head of the captain.
Mrs. Black did most of the talking; Serena was content to listen and pretend to understand.
"This is to be an open meeting, Mrs. Dott," said Annette graciously.
"You see, we have open meetings, just as you do in Trumet, although I doubt if you find much resemblance between the two. You"d scarcely expect that, would you? Ha! ha! It is a good thing," she added, addressing the occupants of the carriage in general, "for these husbands of ours to be shown occasionally what their wives are capable of. Here is our Chapter building. Phelps, give Mrs. Dott your arm."
The Chapter building proved to be not quite up to Serena"s expectation.
It was a building, of course, but the Chapter occupied only two or three rooms on the third floor, the other floors being occupied by offices of various sorts. The largest room, that which Mrs. Black dignified by the t.i.tle of "a.s.sembly Hall," was partially filled when they entered.
Some sixty women of various ages, with a sprinkling of men among them, occupied the chairs on the floor. Upon the speakers" platform half a dozen ladies in radiant attire were chatting volubly with another, an imposing creature in crimson silk, who surveyed the audience through a gold lorgnette, and whose general appearance reminded Daniel of one of the stuffed armchairs in the parlor of their new home.
"That is Mrs. Cornish, the speaker of the evening," whispered Annette.
"She is one of our most brilliant members."
"Yes," replied Dan"l, to whom the information had been imparted, and upon whom the crimson silk had made an impression; "yes, she--she does look sort of--sort of brilliant."
"But I thought the Chapter was larger than this," said the puzzled Mrs.
Dott. "I thought Scarford had one of the largest Chapters."
"Oh, no, not the largest, merely one of the best. Our motto always has been quality not quant.i.ty. And now will you excuse me? They are waiting for me on the platform. I will see you when the open meeting is over.
Phelps, find good seats for Mr. and Mrs. Dott."
She bustled away to the platform. The gloomy B. Phelps found seats for the guests and himself and sank heavily down beside them. Daniel, who had been gazing about him with curiosity, whispered a question.
"What do they do at these things, Barney--Phelps, I mean?" he asked.
"Are they like lodge meetings at home? This is my first trip here, you know."
"Humph!" grunted his companion. "You"re in luck."
"Talk, don"t they?"
"Talk! Good Lord! Say, Dan, if I get to sleep and you notice Annette looking this way, nudge me, that"s a good fellow."
He settled himself in his chair and closed his eyes. Daniel turned to his wife.
"Serena," he murmured. "Say, Serena, don"t you think it is a queer-lookin" crowd? Seems to me I never saw such clothes or so many different kinds of hair. Look at that woman"s skirt. It"s tore all up one side."
"Sshh! Don"t speak so loud. That"s the latest style."
"What! THAT? Well, I--"
"Sshh! It"s the latest style, I tell you. Haven"t you seen the fashion magazines? All the new dresses are made that way."
"Yours ain"t."
"Well, I--I"m not as young as that woman is."
"You wouldn"t wear a thing like that if you were as young as Gertie; and she wouldn"t either, not if I saw it first. I never saw such folks as these at Trumet."
"Of course you didn"t. Trumet isn"t Scarford. We are in society now, Daniel. We mustn"t show our ignorance."
"Humph! I"d rather show my ignorance than--h.e.l.lo, the doin"s are goin"
to commence."
The Chapter president, a Mrs. Lake, advanced to the desk, smote it fiercely with a gavel and demanded order. The hall, which had been buzzing like a colony of June bugs, gradually grew still. Then Mrs. Lake opened the meeting. She delivered a short speech. Mrs. Black, in lieu of the secretary, who was absent, read the minutes. Then there were motions and amendments and excited calls for recognition from "Madam President."
It was livelier than Daniel had expected.
But soon the woman in crimson silk was introduced. Mrs. Cornish bowed in recognition of the gloved applause, and proceeded to talk... and talk...
and talk....
At first Captain Dan endeavored to pay strict attention to the address.
Its t.i.tle was "The Modern Tendency," and the tendency in this case seemed to be to say as much as possible about nothing in particular.
Daniel found his attention wandering and his eyes closing. They opened at intervals as the applause burst forth, but they closed between bursts. The tremendous enthusiasm at the end, however, awoke him for good, and he remained awake until the close of the "open meeting," a marked contrast to Mr. Black, who slumbered to the finish.
When it was over Annette descended from the platform and came hurrying to them.
"How did you enjoy it, Captain Dott?" she purred.
Daniel rather dubiously admitted that he guessed "twas first rate, far"s he could make it out. His wife was enthusiastic; she affirmed that it was splendid.
"I"m sure we couldn"t help enjoying it, Mrs. Black," she said. "Everyone of us. Didn"t you enjoy it, Mr. Black?"
"Sure!" replied Phelps promptly. "Great stuff!"
His wife swooped upon him like a swallow on a fly.
"You?" she snorted contemptuously. "You didn"t hear a word of it. I only hope Mrs. Cornish wasn"t watching you, as I was. And now," she added, turning to Serena, "comes the other part, the important part. Captain Dott, there is to be a short business meeting in a few minutes, and men are, of course, excluded. Phelps, will you have James drive Captain Dott home? You had better go with him, and then come back again and wait for us. Captain Dott, I am going to borrow your wife for a short time."
Daniel, not knowing exactly what to say, said nothing. Phelps seized his arm and led him down to the carriage. The driver received his instructions and the homeward ride began.
"I say, Barney," observed Daniel, after waiting for his escort to volunteer a word or two, "are all their meetings like that?"
Mr. Black snorted. "No," he declared; "some are a d----d sight worse."
It was after eleven when Serena returned. Her face was flushed and shining with excitement. She did not wait to remove her hat, but rushed into the parlor where her husband sat in lonely magnificence. The solicitous Hapgood, who had happened in every few minutes to see if his employer "wished anything," had been ordered to "go aloft and turn in."
The tone in which the order was given made an impression and Hapgood had obeyed.
"Oh, Daniel!" she cried. "What do you think? I"ve been made a member of the Chapter!"
Captain Dan should perhaps have been enthusiastic. If he was, he suppressed his feelings wonderfully.
"Have you, Serena?" he observed. "I want to know!"