Mr. Sherwood went at once to his wife"s room to explain the cause of the disturbance.
"How inconsiderate of Dexie to cause so much annoyance!" was her fretful comment. "I am quite sure I shall have the headache, for the way she slammed that door was enough to upset the strongest nerves. I thought of going to the concert myself if I finished my book in time, but it seems my fate to be robbed of all pleasure. Why don"t you use your authority, Clarence, and make her behave herself?"
"You must make some allowance for her, wife, for she feels much hurt over that announcement. But the trouble is, what"s to be done if she persists in her determination not to appear? I might insist on her going to the hall, but I doubt if I could make her whistle after she got there."
"Well, if you do not use your authority you need not ask me to interfere.
She has quite upset me as it is."
"It is not very often that she gets worked up like this. I believe she controls her temper about as well as any of us. She seldom lets her tongue loose as she used to do when things went wrong, but flies to her room and fights it out alone. I expect those Gurneys have a good influence over our wilful Dexie."
"Well, I suppose she does not see those mild, quiet girls fly into a pa.s.sion very often, and this tiresome concert is to blame for this disturbance. I fear if she has made up her mind not to go, you may as well leave her alone; so let the matter rest, it disturbs me," and Mrs. Sherwood closed her eyes as if the subject had pa.s.sed completely from her mind.
But Mr. Sherwood could not let the matter rest so easily, and his wife"s indifference annoyed him exceedingly.
"Confound their stupidity!" he exclaimed at last, beginning to see it with Dexie"s eyes. "They might have known that she would object to such an announcement, but it will be an awkward thing if she does not appear after all. I hope Aunt Jennie will bring her to reason."
"I hope so too, I"m sure," answered the wife with a sigh; "but Lancy Gurney is as much interested in the matter as herself, and I believe he would make her change her mind if anyone could."
"Well, I think I will run in and see if he is at home, but I"m afraid it will make a bad matter worse."
A few minutes later Mr. Sherwood was standing in the parlor next door, shaking hands with Mrs. Gurney.
"We don"t seem to meet very often, do we, though we are such near neighbors," she said, with a smile, when the usual greetings had been exchanged, "but you look worried. Are all well at home this morning?"
"We are all well disturbed, certainly," he answered, with a short laugh. "I have just come in to see if I could get someone to help me about Dexie."
"Why? what has happened her? She is not hurt, I hope!"
"Well, her feelings are, tremendously, I can tell you;" and pulling out the objectionable handbill from his pocket, added, "she came upon this down in some store, and has come home as mad as a hatter, declaring she has been insulted, and she vows she won"t whistle or go near the concert at all to-night."
"Well, that _would_ be rather serious, wouldn"t it?" was the mild reply.
"Poor girlie, so she don"t like to be called the "American warbler." It is the publicity of it, I expect, that has hurt her. Where is she now?"
"Up in her room, crying her eyes out. The more we try to reason with her, the worse she is; even Aunt Jennie has failed to quiet her."
"Now if you will let me advise--you know I have more experience with rebellious children than most women," and she smiled up into the anxious face above her, "let her have her cry out, and say no more to her about it just now, and, if you care to turn her over to us, I think I can promise you she will be all right by and by."
"Do you mean that you are willing to take her off our hands for the day?"
and he looked eagerly into her face.
"Yes, if we may. I will send one of the children in to ask her to dinner, and we will not let her suspect that we know anything about it until she speaks of the matter herself. We will find something pleasant to take up her attention until Lancy comes home, and by that time she will have had time to think of the matter in a different light."
"But do you think she will consent to whistle after all, Mrs. Gurney? That is the main thing."
"Certainly; I have no fear. If the matter is put before her in a serious light, she will be sure to do what is honorable. Of course, I quite understand that until her temper cools off she will be immovable; those determined natures always are. I have brought up one hot-headed person, and I think I know the weak spot; and Hugh McNeil was never _quite_ unmanageable. Do not fret about Dexie, I feel sure she will fulfil her part to-night, and do us all credit."
"Thanks, Mrs. Gurney. You cannot think what a relief it is to hear you speak so confidently about it. I should feel very much aggrieved if she persisted in her refusal, for I urged her to whistle, much against her will, and I feel responsible for her appearance. I think, myself, that it was not just the fair thing to send those handbills broadcast without making her acquainted with the contents beforehand."
"Yes, they might have consulted her; but, of course, it never occurred to them that she would feel offended, and really I wonder that she is myself.
Still, I can quite understand it when I consider how uncertain she must feel about her reception as a whistler."
"Yes, that is the trouble, but she went out on purpose to buy some little things to wear to-night, and I would like to know if she has everything ready. But I daresay it will not be wise to refer to the matter while she is of the same mind. Yet I want her to look as well as the rest of them,"
said Mr. Sherwood, in an anxious tone.
"To be sure. Well, her dress must be prepared for her. It would be a great disappointment to Lancy if anything should happen to prevent her going; so we must unite our efforts and carry the day, in spite of this little freak of Dexie"s. Now, I expect my girls know what Dexie"s plans were for to-night; and as my dressmaker is here finishing Cora"s dress, I will have her attend to Dexie"s also; so let Gussie bring in what materials she purchased while out this morning, and we will hold a consultation on the matter. Now, do not be alarmed, Mr. Sherwood," she added, seeing his look of concern. "I will promise to send her to the concert in good trim, and in good temper too," and she smiled pleasantly as she bade him "Good morning,"
as if it were an everyday affair to bring refractory girls to terms.
CHAPTER XV.
Mr. Sherwood returned home feeling much relieved, and meeting Aunt Jennie on the stairs, asked after Dexie"s present condition.
"She is crying still, though not so violently. I fear she has fully determined not to take part in the concert to-night. I have done my best, but I cannot shake her determination, so I have left her to herself to think it over."
"That"s right. I have just been in to Mrs. Gurney"s, and she has offered to settle the difficulty and be responsible for her appearance to-night."
"That is good news, indeed. I have perfect trust in Mrs. Gurney"s ability to succeed where the rest of us all fail; but the next trouble is, I haven"t the least idea what Dexie intended to do with the yards of lace she brought home this morning, unless she intends to drape it over her dress in some way."
"Mrs. Gurney has promised to relieve us of that trouble also. She is quite as anxious as we are that Dexie shall make a good appearance, and if you will collect the fixings and take them in, Mrs. Gurney says her dressmaker will do what is necessary."
"Then the trouble may be considered over," said she, with a relieved sigh.
"I will run into Mrs. Gurney"s myself, and see what I can do for the general good. How nice it is to have _real_ friends so near!" she added, as she followed Mr. Sherwood into the sitting-room.
In about half an hour, Elsie Gurney came running into the house, and as she came through the hall called, "Dexie, Dexie, where are you?"
Aunt Jennie opened the door, saying: "She is up in her room, Elsie; run right up."
Dexie heard the call, and, hastily rising, poured some cold water into the basin, and began to bathe her face. Her head was bent over the basin when Elsie entered the room.
"Oh, here you are! What on earth are you poking up here for at this time of day?" was the matter-of-fact greeting. "You are to hurry up and come into our house and stay to dinner. Mother said you are allowed, so you needn"t stop to ask permission; and, just think, the box that grandma sent from England has arrived, and it is full of all kinds of finery. You know we always have a box sent us at Christmas time, but this one was delayed somehow," and she looked curiously at the flushed face that was buried in the br.i.m.m.i.n.g hands. "There is always something for everyone of us in the box; but do hurry, Dexie, your face isn"t so dirty that it needs soaking, I hope."
"Well, hardly," was the reply, thankful enough to be given so much time to recover her composure; "but I may as well tell you before you find it out yourself that I have had a bad attack of the pouts, and the effect is not so easy to get rid of. Now, you needn"t ask what"s up, for I don"t intend to tell you."
"Pshaw! who cares about your pouts? Not I, anyway," was the reply, in a high and mighty tone. "Come along, if you"re coming, and if you"re not, then stay home. I can"t wait, for I want to see what is in the box for me."
This unceremonious manner of treatment made Dexie come down somewhat from the pedestal of injured greatness, and she forced herself to talk to Elsie to keep her waiting, while she made a fresh toilet.
"Now, do I look a fright?" Dexie asked, as she prepared to follow Elsie downstairs.
"Well, I can"t say that you look much worse than usual, but you certainly don"t look any better. Your nose looks swelled. Shouldn"t wonder if you had it tweaked; but, then, what odds how it looks? Hurry up, and come along. We have apple dumplings for dinner to-day. Do you like milk or sauce on them best?"
Dexie did not answer; something of more consequence than dumplings was troubling her just then, and as she followed Elsie into the front hall, she was tenderly feeling her nose and mentally comparing it with its usual proportions, inwardly calling herself all sorts of hard names for being so silly.
"But I won"t whistle to-night, so there!" she kept saying to herself, as if she needed to keep her determination constantly before herself in order to back it up.