He told her of his intention of making a journey to Australia, to visit the last resting-place of his father; and after an extended journey, he hoped to come back and find all the unpleasantness in the past forgiven and forgotten.
For some time after the letter was received, Dexie fancied that her father regarded her with more attention than was necessary; but it soon pa.s.sed from her mind without giving her the slightest suspicion that Hugh had placed in her father"s hands a substantial and unmistakable proof of the genuineness of his regard.
This was to be unknown to her until such a time as circ.u.mstances rendered it necessary to communicate the facts. But if he survived the dangers of the pa.s.sage, and returned safely and found her still free, he would again endeavor to gain her consent to a closer relationship.
Fortunately for Dexie"s peace of mind, Mr. Sherwood kept the matter to himself; but the fact that both Hugh and Lancy intended to put the ocean between them and herself, even for a short time, gave her a sense of relief and security which she would have found it difficult to explain.
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
One day, a few weeks later, as Mr. Sherwood was returning from his office, he was much surprised to meet Mr. Plaisted on the street, and he stopped and spoke to him cordially.
"Why, Sherwood! is it you? I never expected to meet you here," and Mr.
Plaisted shook hands with his former partner.
"I am settled here now," replied Mr. Sherwood. "What are you doing in this part of the country?"
"I am travelling for a New York firm; just arrived in town this morning.
Did I understand you to say you were living here?"
"Yes; we removed from Halifax some time ago. Here is the address; drop in and see us before you leave town, if you are not pressed for time," and he handed him a card.
"Thanks! I shall be pleased to call this evening, my kind regards to the family," and raising their hats the men separated, with but a pa.s.sing thought of their former differences.
The presence of Plaisted in the town was a great surprise to the Sherwood family, and Dexie heard of his intended visit with a frown.
"I am astonished, papa, that you could ask him to call after all that has happened; but it is like his impudence to accept the invitation, which he might know was more an act of courtesy than a desire to renew his acquaintance."
"Let bygones be forgotten, Dexie; it is poor policy to remember old scores too long. It is enough that there will never be any more business relations between us. His stay in town is likely to be short, so there is no fear that he will trouble any of us long."
"Well, I hope you will be careful, and not say anything that he can misconstrue into an invitation to remain with us overnight. But it will be just like him to stay, and stay, and stay, till it is too late to go back to the hotel," said Dexie. "But if he manages, after all, to foist himself upon us, I"ll take a cook"s privilege and leave the house--until he is out of it in the morning, anyway. So remember, papa, I have "given warning,""
and she shook her finger at him as she turned to leave the room.
But there was no frown on Gussie"s face when she heard of Plaisted"s expected visit. She was only anxious to appear at her best, so she retired to her chamber and spent the intervening time over a toilet that was meant to impress Mr. Plaisted afresh. She was ready as ever to turn a listening ear to his flattery, though she had ample opportunity to realize how empty and meaningless were his words.
The family were a.s.sembled in the parlor when Mr. Plaisted was announced, and he found no cause to complain of his reception, for even Dexie"s cool bow and formal greeting were so much like her former treatment of him that when she ignored his offered hand he did not resent it openly. But in his heart he vowed to "get even" with her. The frigid stare with which she regarded him when he attempted to draw her into conversation reminded him of past discomfitures, and, forgetting that he seldom came off victor when crossing swords with Dexie, he determined to pay off old scores with interest. As his business kept him in town for several days, his calls were quite frequent, but he found no chance of annoying Dexie, save by the one small and spiteful way of addressing her as "Miss Dexter," and the quick, angry glance that was flashed at him as he said it told that she resented it.
One afternoon, when he was in the parlor chatting with Gussie, Dexie came into the room on some errand, and her slight bow of recognition gave him an opportunity to ask, in his sneering manner, if she was "keeping her smiles for the disconsolate lovers she had left behind her in Halifax?"
A sharp retort rose to her lips, but she repressed it, and her lip curled with scorn as she answered his sallies in the coolest terms that common civility allowed. He might as well have tried his cutting speeches on an iceberg for all the satisfaction he received, so he dropped back to the only source of annoyance at his command.
"Can I trouble you for a drink of water, Miss _Dexter_?" he said, with a malicious grin.
Dexie took no notice of this request, knowing it was made only for the purpose of using her detested name.
He repeated his request a second time, and even Gussie flushed at his offensive tone, though she called Dexie"s attention to the request.
"Dexie, Mr. Plaisted asks for a drink. Where are your manners?"
"I have sent them away for repairs, Gussie dear," Dexie replied, in her sweetest tone, "and I fear they will not be returned to me until after Mr.
Plaisted has taken his departure. Very sorry, but they have experienced such a strain these few days past that they were about worn out."
"Dexie, I am ashamed of you! Bring a drink of water for Mr. Plaisted directly!"
"My dearest Gussie, if Mr. Plaisted wants a drink, pray get it for him yourself," was the soft and sweet reply, "for he will surely die of thirst before Dexter brings him a drop. Allow me to suggest that, as an alternative, you can ring for the servant to wait on him, or lead him to the pump like any other--beast," and unmoved by the looks cast upon her she pa.s.sed into the next room.
"You brought that upon yourself, Mr. Plaisted, but I am very, very sorry,"
said Gussie, who felt all the insolence of the words that were spoken with such suavity. "Why will you call her _Dexter_ when you know that it makes her throw aside all civility?"
"Well, it _is_ too bad, I will allow," replied Plaisted, "but I own that I have only myself to blame when I provoke her into making such stinging retorts; but the temptation to tease her is irresistible, and I owe her for a good many tricks she has played on me."
"Well, were I in your place, I would not call her "Dexter" any more; though if your experience of her is not warning enough, I need say nothing more."
"Well, I must admit that she has always had the best of it so far; but I will take good care she has no chance to repeat any of her former tactics--though, if I am not mistaken, I have good cause to remember every visit I ever made to your house, thanks to her. However, I ought to take the old proverb to heart, "Those that live in gla.s.s houses should not throw stones," for I should feel vexed enough if my second name were thrown at me in the same manner. It is quite as odious to me as "Dexter" is to her."
"What is your second name? "D.S." are your initials, are they not?"
"Yes; but you would never guess what the "S." stands for. When I was a little shaver my father was particularly interested in the history of the Prophet Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and I believe he fully intended to name me after the four of them; but at my christening mother drew the line at Shadrach. I am just as close regarding my second name as Dexie is about her own--so close, in fact, that not one of my schoolmates ever found it out."
"But did they never ask what the "S." stood for?" Gussie asked.
"Of course! but Dan_u_el gave it as Samuel, and had to answer to the name of "Dan_u_el Sam_u_el"; but that was better than the changes they would have rung on my right name."
Dexie was an unintentional listener to this explanation, and it did not raise Mr. Plaisted in her estimation. It was so like him to treat another in a way he would object to himself; but after awhile the name came back to her, "Shadrach." Where had she seen or heard that name before? "Shadrach; Shadrach," she mused. "I have it!" she said at last; "the "Widow Bedott"!"
and with the thought she flew up the stairs like a whirlwind.
Dexie was soon in the attic kneeling beside an old box filled with books and papers. All housekeepers are apt to know by experience the state and condition of this box, and to possess its counterpart in some out of-the-way corner of the house. After a diligent search Dexie was rewarded by finding a package of loose leaves which once formed a much-loved volume.
The very leaf she wanted seemed lost; but to her great joy a leaf, crumpled and torn, proved to be the object of her search. She smoothed it out carefully, glanced over it, and then laughed softly to herself.
"Now it is my turn, "dear Shadrach, my Shad." With the help of "Widow Bedott," I fancy I can impress this visit upon your mind quite as indelibly as your unwelcome visits in Halifax," and she slipped the loose leaves into her pocket.
Still, as yet she had no definite plan in her mind as to how she would play her game of retaliation; but during the evening she heard her father inquire how long Mr. Plaisted intended to remain in the town.
"I leave the day after to-morrow," Plaisted replied. "I have an appointment in H---- on the fifteenth."
"Oh, to-morrow is St. Valentine"s day!" cried Gussie. "I really had forgotten it. You must send me a valentine to remember you by"--this to Plaisted, who had seated himself beside her on the sofa.
"Am I likely to be forgotten without some reminder?" was the low-spoken reply. "I was hoping something quite different."
The mention of valentines gave Dexie an idea, and during the evening she visited several stores where these tokens of sentiment were kept for sale, but found nothing in the shape of a picture that would suit the verses of tender sentiment so touchingly expressed for her beloved Shadrach by the fair widow.
As she was returning home she pa.s.sed a little shop, the windows of which were decorated with valentines of the one and two cent variety, and one of these caught her attention. It was one of the most common sort, and showed in variegated colors a large fish with two tails for legs, two elongated fins for arms, on one of which was a basket containing some smaller specimens of its own species, while the other held to its mouth the melodious fish-horn that delights our ears every morning.
Purchasing this caricature of a shad, she pasted below it a version of the affectionate lines of Widow Bedott; then enclosing it in an elaborate envelope, she addressed it with many flourishes to: