The lady smiled.
"The next morning a little after eight o"clock I came down to open the house, and there, standing by the porch, hat in hand, I saw Isadore.
He was a middle-aged man, large and solid, with very flat feet and a smoothly shaven face, twinkling eyes, and a benevolent smile. I was very glad to see him, especially before breakfast. I took him away from the house, so that Anita might not overhear our conversation, and then I laid the whole case before him. He was an Alsatian, but his English was perfectly easy to understand.
""I know precisely what it is that is wanted," said he, "and Mr. Baxter has made the arrangements with me. It is that madame shall not suppose anything, but that what she wishes to be done shall be done."
""That is the idea," said I. "Don"t interfere with her, but have everything done all right."
""And I am to be man of all work. I like that. You shall see that I am charmed. Now I will go and change my clothes." And this well-dressed man turned away toward Baldwin"s tent.
"When Anita came down the servant I had engaged was at the kitchen door waiting for orders. He was a plainly dressed man, his whole appearance neat but humble. "He looks like a foreigner," said Anita.
""You are right," I replied; "he is an Alsatian."
""And his name?"
"I was about to tell her Isadore, but I stopped myself. It was barely possible that she might have heard the name of the man who for two years had composed the peculiar and delicious ices of which she was so fond; she might even have seen him, and the name might call up some recollection. "Did you say your name was Isaac?" I called out to the man.
""Yes, sir," he answered; "it is that. I am Isaac."
""I am going to get breakfast," said Anita. "Do you suppose he can build a fire?"
""Oh, yes," I replied; "that is what he is engaged for--to be the man of all work."
"Prompted by curiosity, I shortly afterwards looked in at the kitchen door. "While you prepare the table, madame," the man of all work was saying, "shall I arrange the coffee for the hot water?"
""Do you know how to do it?" she asked.
""Oh, yes, madame," the good Isaac replied. "In a little hut in Alsace, where I was born, I was obliged to learn to do all things. My father and my mother had no daughter, and I had to be their daughter as well as their son. I learn to cook the simple food. I milk the cow, I rub the horse, I dig in the garden, I pick the berries in the woods." As he talked Isaac was not idle; he was busy with the coffee.
""That is very interesting," said Anita to me; "where there are no daughters among the poor the sons must learn a great deal."
"I remained at the kitchen door to see what would happen next. There was a piece of dough upon a floury board, and when Anita went to lay the table the Alsatian fairly flew upon the dough. It was astonishing to see with what rapidity he manipulated it. When Anita came back she took the dough and divided it into four portions. "There will be two rolls apiece for us," she said. "And now, Isaac, will you put them into the stove?
The back part is where we bake things. We are going to have some lamb chops and an omelet," she said to me as she approached the hamper.
""Ah, madame," cried the Alsatian, "allow me to lift the chops. The raw meat will make your fingers smell."
""That is true," said Anita; "you may take them out." And then she went back to the dining-room.
"Isaac knelt by the hamper. Then he lifted his eyes to the skies and involuntarily exclaimed: "_Oh, tonnerre!_ They were not put by the ice."
And he gave a melancholy sniff. "But they will be all right," he said, turning to me. "Have trust." The man of all work handled the chops, and offered to beat the omelet; but Anita would not let him do this: she made it herself, a book open beside her as she did so. Then she told Isaac to put it on the stove, and asked if I were ready for breakfast.
As she turned to leave the room I saw her a.s.sistant whip her omelet off the stove and slip on it another one. When or where he had made it I had no idea; it must have been while she was looking for the sugar.
""A most excellent breakfast," said I, when the meal was over; and I spoke the exact truth.
""Yes," said Anita; "but I think I shall do better after I have had more practice. I wonder if that man really can wash dishes." On being questioned, Isaac declared that in the humble cot in which he was born he had been obliged to wash dishes; there were no daughters, and his mother was infirm.
""That is good; and if any of the plates need a little rubbing up afterwards I can do them," said Anita. "Now we will take a walk over the place, which we have not done yet."
"When we returned Isaac was working in the garden. Anita went into the house, and then the man of all work approached me; he had in his hand a little piece of red earthenware, which he held up before me in one hand and touched his cap with the other. "Sir," said he, "is it all pots?
Gra.s.s, bushes, everything?"
""Oh, no," said I. "What is the matter?"
""Excuse me," said he, "but everywhere I work in the garden I strike pots, and I broke this one. But I will be more careful; I will not rub so deep."
"For two or three days Anita and I enjoyed ourselves greatly. We walked, we sat in the shade, we lay in hammocks, we read novels. "That man,"
said Anita, "is of the greatest possible a.s.sistance to me. The fact is that, having been taught to do all sorts of things in his infancy, he does the hard work of the kitchen, and all that is necessary for me to do is to give the finishing touches."
"That afternoon, when I saw the well-known chef Isadore--for some years head cook to the Duke of Oxminster, and willing to accept a second place in the culinary department of my town house only on account of extraordinary privileges and emoluments--when I saw this man of genius coming down the hill carrying a heavy basket which probably contained meats packed in ice, I began to wonder about two things: in the first place, I wondered what exceptional remuneration in addition to his regular salary Baxter had offered Monsieur Isadore in return for his exceptional services in our cot; and in the second place, I wondered if it were exactly fair to practise such a variety of deceptions upon Anita. But I quieted my conscience by a.s.suring it that I was doing everything for her benefit and happiness, particularly in regard to this man of all work, who was probably saving us from chronic dyspepsia.
Besides, it was perfectly fair play, for if she had told me she was going to do all my cooking I never would have come to this cot.
"It was that evening, when we were both in a good humor after a good dinner, that my wife somewhat disturbed my peace of mind. "Everything is going on so smoothly and in such a pastoral and delightful way," said she, "that I want some of our friends to visit us. I want them to see for themselves how enjoyable such a life as this is. I do not believe any of them know anything about it."
""Friends!" I exclaimed. "We do not want people here. We cannot entertain them. Such a thing was never contemplated by either of us, I am sure."
""That is true," said Anita; "but things are different from what I expected. They are ever and ever so much better. And we can entertain people. We have a guest-room which is fitted up and furnished as well as ours is. If we are satisfied, I am sure anybody ought to be. I tell you who will be a good person to invite for the first one--Mr. Rounders."
""Rounders!" I exclaimed. "He is the last man in the world for a guest in this cot."
""No, he is not," answered Anita. "He would like it very much indeed. He would be perfectly willing and glad to do anything you do, and to live in any way you live. Besides, he told me, not very long ago, that he often thought of the joys of an humble life, without care, without anxiety, enough, no more, and a peaceful mind."
""Very well," said I; "this is your picnic, and we will have Rounders and his wife."
""No, indeed," said Anita, very emphatically. "She cannot come anyway, because she is in Europe. But I would not have her if she were here. If he comes, he is to come alone. Shall I write him a note, or will you?
There is no time to waste."
"She wrote the note, and when it was finished Isaac carried it to Baldwin and told him to have it mailed.
"The more I thought about this invitation the more interested I became in it. No one could be more unsuited to a cotter"s life than G.o.dfrey Rounders. He was a rich man of middle age, but he was different from any other rich man with whom I was acquainted. It was impossible to talk to him or even to be with him for five minutes without perceiving that he was completely controlled by the money habit. He knew this, but he could not help it. In business resorts, in society, and in the clubs he met great capitalists, millionaires, and men of wealth of all degrees, who were gentlemen, scholars, kind and deferential in manner, and un.o.btrusive in dress, and not to be distinguished, so far as conversation or appearance could serve as guides, from those high types of gentlemen which are recognized all over the world. Rounders longed to be like one of these, but he found it to be impossible. He was too old to reform, and the money habit had such a hold over him that I believe even when he slept he was conscious of his wealth. He was not a coa.r.s.e, vulgar Dives: he had the instincts of a gentleman; but these were powerless. The consciousness of money showed itself on him like a perspiration; wipe his brows as he might, it always reappeared.
"He had not been poor in his early life; his father was a man of moderate means, and Rounders had never known privations and hardships; but, in his intense desire to make people think that his character had not been affected by his money, he sometimes alluded to straits and difficulties he had known in early days, of which he was not now in the least ashamed. But he was so careful to keep these incidents free from any suspicion of real hardships or poverty that he always failed to make the impression he desired. I have seen him quite downcast after an interview with strangers, and I was well aware what was the matter with him. He knew that, in spite of his attempts to conceal the domination of his enslaving habit, these people had discovered it. Considering all this, I came to believe it would please Rounders very much to come to stay a few days with us. Life in a cot, without any people to wait upon him, would be a great thing for him to talk about; it might help to make some people believe that he was getting the better of his money habit.
"In the middle of the night I happened to wake, then I happened to think of Rounders, then I happened to think of a story Baxter had told me, and then I burst out into a loud laugh. Fortunately Anita did not awake; she merely talked in her sleep, and turned over. The story Baxter had told me was this: In the past winter I had given a grand dinner, and Rounders was one of the guests. Isadore"s specialty was ices, pastry, salads, and all sorts of delicate preparations, and he had excelled himself on this occasion, especially in the matter of sweets. At an unhappy moment Rounders had said to his neighbor that if she could taste the sort of thing she was eating as his cook made it she would know what it really ought to be. An obliging butler carried this remark to Monsieur Isadore as he was sipping his wine in his dressing-gown and slippers. The interesting part of this anecdote was Baxter"s description of Isadore"s rage. The furious cook took a cab and drove directly to Baxter"s hotel. The wording of Monsieur Isadore"s volcanic remarks I cannot state, but he butchered, cut up, roasted, carved, peppered, and salted Rounders"s moral and social character in such a masterly way that Baxter laughed himself hoa.r.s.e. The fiery cook would have left my service then and there if Baxter had not a.s.sured him that if the gilded reptile ever dined with him again Isadore should be informed beforehand, that he might have nothing to do with anything that went on the table. In consequence of this promise, Monsieur Isadore, having withdrawn a deposit of several thousand dollars from one of the trust companies with which Rounders was connected, consented to remain in my household.
""Now, then," I asked myself, "how are we going to get along with Rounders and my man of all work Isaac?" But the invitation had gone, and there was no help for it. I concluded, and I think wisely, that it would be unkind to trouble Anita by telling her anything about this complication, but I would prepare the mind of the good Isaac.
"I went into the garden the next morning, where our man of all work was gathering vegetables, and when I told him that Mr. G.o.dfrey Rounders was coming to spend a few days with us the face of Isadore--for it was impossible at that moment to think of him as Isaac--was a wonderful sight to see: his brows contracted, his countenance darkened, and his eyes flashed as though they were about to shoot out lightning. Then all color, even his natural ruddiness, departed from his face. He bowed gravely.
""I have heard it said you have taken some sort of dislike to Mr. Rounders," said I; "and while I have nothing to do with it, and do not want to know anything about it, I do not wish to force you into an unpleasant position, and if you would rather go away while Mr. Rounders is here, I will have some one sent to take your place until he leaves.
Then we shall want you back again. In this unusual position you have acquitted yourself most admirably."
"While I was speaking Isadore had been thinking hard and fast; it was easy to see this by the varied expressions which swept over his face.
When I had finished he spoke quite blandly:
""It is that it would be beneath me, sir, to allow any of the dislike of mine to interfere with the comfort or the pleasure of yourself and madame. I beg that you will not believe that I will permit myself even to think of such a thing. I remain so long as it is that you wish me. Is it that you intend that your visitor shall know my position in your town house?"
""Oh, no," said I; "as I have not told my wife, of course I shall not tell him. I am much obliged to you for your willingness to stay. It would be very awkward if you should go."