"Now, Mis" Carrington, lay that other piece of flannel on the bed, and we"ll put the baby in it. I think he"s boiled most of his cold out. So--that"s right, roll him out--and we"ll rub him with the grease. You do it, Mis" Carrington; your hands is younger and not so stiff as mine. Put lots on his chest and around his throat. And turn him over on his back, Mr. Carrington. Put a lot on his back. So-- that"s right. Rub it in well. And now we"ll put him in the bed.
There, poor little mite, he breathes better now, don"t he?" They stood around the bed, looking down at the child, whose regular breathing showed that he had stopped fighting for his breath and the battle was won. Soon his eyes, which had been staring so pitifully closed, and with a little sigh the baby slept.
Drusilla turned to say something, to speak a few words of thanks for their help; but she stopped at the sight of the two people standing on opposite sides of the little bed. The man with his coat off, his white waistcoat and shirt gleaming in the light, the woman opposite him clothed in her decolette" gown, with jewels glistening in her hair and on her neck. But she did not notice the dress, when she saw the light in the woman"s eyes as they rested on the man. They looked into each other"s faces for a full moment; then the woman reached over her hand, and in a low, broken voice said, "Robert, is it too late? Shall we try again?" The man"s quivering lips could say nothing, but the hand that clasped the one that came to him so timidly was answer enough.
The doctor entered at that moment and the baby was turned over to him, while Drusilla"s guests put on their wraps and followed her downstairs. At the door of her sitting-room Drusilla turned to them.
"Won"t you come in? You wished to see me about--"
Mr. Carrington said hastily:
"No; we will let the matter wait. We are on our way to the opera--"
"No, Miss Doane," the wife interrupted; "we _were_ on our way to the opera, but now--we"re going home, Robert." Turning to the man beside her she repeated: "We"re going _home,_ Robert. Do you understand, we"re going _home!"_
Drusilla stood in the hall until the motor started.
"The Bible says a lot of things that"s true," she murmured to herself, "and one of "em is, "A little child shall lead "em.""
CHAPTER XIV
The next morning Drusilla was at breakfast when she heard the chug-chug of a motor. Mrs. Carrington"s card was brought in; but before she could say to William that she would see her visitor, the happy laughing face of Mrs. Carrington looked in at the door.
"May I come in? I am sure you will see me."
Drusilla rose with a smile on her sweet old face, and extended her hand.
"Yes, do. You"re just in time to have a cup of good coffee with me."
"Am I so early? I motored down with Robert this morning and felt that I must stop and see you on the way home."
"No, you"re not early at all; but I"m gettin" lazy in my old age. I git up early in the mornin" and have some coffee and then go and see all my babies. I like to see "em git their bath, and then I help dress "em. Then I come back and have my real breakfast. Now, you set right there, so"s the sun"ll shine on you, and William"ll git another cup and plate."
"But I have had my breakfast."
"Pshaw, one can always drink coffee in the mornin". And you"ve been clear down town."
Mrs. Carrington settled herself comfortably in her chair, threw back her coat, and smiled across at Drusilla.
"Yes, I"ve taken Robert down town the first time for more than a year. Oh, it seemed just like old times to take him to his office again."
Drusilla looked at her smilingly.
"Well, it seems to have made you pert-lookin" this mornin". Your face is a-shinin". Do you take one lump or two? Cream? Is that the right color? I"m particular about the color of my coffee."
"Yes, that"s just right. It smells delicious," said Mrs. Carrington, taking the cup. "No, I won"t have anything to eat. Well--I don"t know whether I can resist those hot rolls. Just a half of one, then. Is that honey? I ought not to eat sweets--I know my fate if I do; but I can"t resist hot rolls and honey."
She was quiet for a few moments. Then she looked up at Drusilla and said, half hesitatingly, "I presume you are wondering why I have come to make this early morning visit, Miss Doane?"
"No; I ain"t wonderin" at all. I"m just glad you come."
"Well," and Mrs. Carrington laughed happily, "I"m so happy I just had to talk to some one. You know I have not been to see you before, because I expected to go to France next month for--for a--for rather an extended trip. And I thought there was no use in calling when I was going away so soon."
"Yes; I heard you was goin" away," Drusilla said.
Mrs. Carrington looked up quickly.
"Oh, did you? I didn"t know that people knew it. Who told you?"
"The circulatin" family story-paper," laughed Drusilla, "Miss Lee."
Mrs. Carrington frowned for a moment; then she laughed.
"Oh, well, if Sarah knows it, it is no secret in Brookvale. But I am _not_ going away, so her story will have to be revised. What else did she say, Miss Doane?"
"Well--I jest can"t remember all she said--but--you said jest now you was happy. Miss Lee"ll lose all interest in you now. There"s nothin" so uninteresting to old maids as their married friends when they"re happy."
"I might just as well tell you myself, and it"s all past now and I can talk without breaking my heart. Did Sarah tell you that we lost our little boy about a year ago?"
"Yes; she told me, and I"m sorry for you. It must be a sad thing to lose a baby."
"It nearly killed me, and--and--I began to think about myself too much--I can see that now. I began to feel that Robert did not understand me, that he did not miss our boy nor care as much as I did --that he was hard and occupied himself too much with business and neglected me--and--and--"
"I understand," said Drusilla. "You didn"t know that to a man work is the whole dinner, and love the pie that he has to finish it off and make the dinner perfect for him. Perhaps you didn"t understand him no more than he did you?"
"Perhaps that"s so, but he didn"t seem to share my trouble--"
"Now, my dear," said Drusilla, reaching over and softly touching the pretty hand that was lying on the arm of the chair, "it ain"t so much the troubles and sorrows they share, but the bridge parties and dances that they don"t share that makes most of the troubles between husbands and wives."
"Yes; perhaps that"s so. I did get to caring too much for dancing and society, and went out too much without Robert. I was bored--"
"That"s the kind of tired feelin" women git who ain"t got nothin" to do."
"Oh, but I have had a great deal to do. I belong to a great many clubs and take an active interest in charities, and go to so many committee meetings--they can"t say that I have had nothing to do."
"But that ain"t the right kind of doin". Let people like Sarah Lee sew shirts for the heathen and go to the clubs; and as for charity, I seen a lot of charity done by women who go to church and then turn their hired girls out of doors if they git in trouble. That ain"t what you want, women with husbands and babies--"
"But I have no baby--"
"But you got a husband. _Have_ babies, just swathes of "em. You can afford "em. It"s women like you that ought to have big families.
Don"t your husband like babies?"
"Yes, he adores them, but--"
"Of course he does! Ain"t he a man? Men just love babies when they"re their own. It feeds their vanity to show the world how they"re improvin" the human race. Now look here, Mis" Carrington, let an old woman talk. I"m old and I got wrinkles in my face but there ain"t none in my heart, and the only way to keep "em out of your heart is just to fill it to bustin" with love. Keep the skin tight; don"t let it git slack. Why, you"ll find you been goin" without love and it"s like eatin" without an appet.i.te. It"s fillin" your life with somethin" that don"t satisfy. Even if you feel you ain"t got the best man in the world, make the best of the one you got, and, just "cause he"s yourn, you"ll believe after a while you drew the only sweet orange in the grove and all the rest was sour. We all know that marriage is like the weather, mighty uncertain, but that ain"t no reason for you to live in the cyclone cellar expecting the tornado to come. Set in the sun parlor and you"ll git more enjoyment."