"Well, upon my word, Traverse! that is taking time by the forelock, sure enough. I must be even blinder than I thought, if there are enough signs for you to go that far already. She wears a ring now that has given rise to much gossip, but I cannot get at the truth of the matter. She will not tell me her secrets as she used to do; so take care, Traverse, the giver of that ring may be in your way, after all."
"I"ll risk it, Mr. Sherwood," he said, smiling. "But the young ladies have just turned the corner; I shall have to escape by the side-door. Good afternoon, Mr. Sherwood, you have made me very happy," and after a cordial hand-clasp Guy left the house.
"Strange that I never mistrusted that it was Dexie he was after all this time," thought Mr. Sherwood. "Yet I might have guessed, if I had given it a thought, for he never asks after Gussie when he calls, and it is always Dexie he brings home when the girls are out--when she will let him," and he laughed softly, as he remembered the playful account that Traverse had given him of the trouble he had in keeping Dexie in sight, and how she had escaped him sometimes by changing hats with one of her friends at the last moment, and so bewildering him by her changed appearance that it was hard to catch her until she was almost home.
"I must find out if she has anything against him; perhaps I can speed the wooing. She will need a protector soon, brave, independent little woman though she is."
The entrance of his daughters at this moment put an end to his thoughts, and led him to notice once more the difference between the twins. Gussie rushed to her rooms at once to view the purchases afresh, but Dexie quietly slipped to his chair to see if he was asleep.
"Have we been very long, papa? I hope you have not been lonesome or wanted anything. They kept us so long looking at the things in the store that I was getting anxious, fearing Jarvis would be too busy to see after you,"
and she smoothed back his hair and stooped to kiss his forehead. "What shall I do for you before I go to change my dress?"
"Nothing at all." But noticing that Dexie was regarding the daily papers on the table, added, "Oh, yes! just hand me those papers; I was wishing I could reach them. There, that is all! be off! be off with you and change your gown, if you want to!" playfully shoving her at arm"s-length, for he was afraid she was going to ask who had left the papers there.
"They were to-day"s papers," she said to herself, as she went to her room.
"Who could have left them? Surely _he_ was not here, for we met him down street. Papa would have mentioned it at once if he had called, yet those papers were left here by someone since we went out."
Thus reasoning to herself, Dexie put on her house-dress, intending to return to her father"s room and ask who had called during the afternoon, but second thoughts prevented her, and she turned to the kitchen to see what had been provided for her father"s supper, or to prepare, if need be, some little extra dainty to tempt his failing appet.i.te.
Mr. Sherwood unfolded the papers Dexie had laid before him, but they failed to claim his attention; the events of the afternoon still had possession of his thoughts.
"Traverse has told on himself by leaving these here, but perhaps she did not notice the date, and there are always papers lying around the room. I will not let her question me about them."
But Dexie acted as if the matter had pa.s.sed from her mind. She was as gay as a lark, giving him bits of news she had heard while she was out, telling him of the things she had seen during her walk that she thought might interest him, even trifles which seemed hardly worth speaking about; but when one is confined indoors, the veriest trifle of outside life is welcome, so Gussie need not have curled her lip so scornfully when Dexie was relating the sights of the afternoon.
"Just think, papa," Dexie added, taking no heed to these silent objections so plainly visible, "they have put new steps before the door of your old office, and a new "No admittance" card is tacked on the inside door, and the place is being all spruced up. The painters have got to work at the old Baptist church; it is to be repaired inside and out--quite time, too, for it looks as if it had been exposed to the weather ever since the Flood!
Mitch.e.l.l"s tailor shop has two new figures in the window, and, judging by the styles displayed, the latest style of coat is much cut away and would suit you exactly. But if you want to dress in the very latest style, you must also have a gorgeous plaid necktie. Shall I buy you one, papa?"
"Why, Dexie; how silly you talk," said her mother severely. "What does your father need with new neck-ties while he is lying there on his back?"
The tears sprang to Dexie"s eyes at once. Why could not her mother let him believe for one half-minute that he was _not_ "lying there on his back"
with no need of fashionable attire? It made Dexie"s heart ache to see the changed expression come over her father"s face at the thoughtless words, and she turned from the room to hide her tears.
But Dexie had many little devices to amuse her father, who was quick to catch the pa.s.sing moods of those around him. One little diversion in particular always brought a spice of frolic with it, while it caused Mrs.
Sherwood to frown in displeasure. Dexie would set her father"s table before him, but bring in his food covered over, and he must guess at the contents of the dishes by sundry whiffs which she would allow him from the corner of the raised napkin, and his many absurd guesses, in response to her efforts, often caused much merriment between them. He always found some little surprise on the table, if nothing more than a new cup to drink his tea from, or a pretty device on the little pat of b.u.t.ter; there was sure to be something to make remarks about. But this "foolishness," as Mrs. Sherwood called it, was kept up, and the harmless sport did much to induce the sick man to eat, and thus kept up his strength. Dexie was glad to find that her mother had left the room when she returned with a covered tray. Setting it on one side, she raised her father and settled his pillows, placed the invalid"s table across the couch, set the tray thereon, then whipped off the napkin that covered the dishes.
"Now, papa, what do you think of that for a cup and saucer?"
"Is that a cup and saucer, Dexie? Well, you might call it anything else and not be far astray, I fancy. I"ll have to ask, like the little n.i.g.g.e.r in "Dred," "Which be de handle, and which am de spout?"" and he looked at the cup with interest.
"Why, that is the beauty of it. You can"t make a mistake! If you take it this way, why, _this_ is the handle and _that_ the spout. If you prefer it end for end, why--there, you have it! I saw it down in the store, and thought it would be just the thing to drink out of. Try and see how nice it is. Not a drop spills out, you see, even when you are lying down. When you get tired of it as a cup, then I"ll call it a fancy vase, and set it on the mantel for flowers. Handy thing, isn"t it? useful or ornamental, just as you like."
Her father set the cup on the table and laughed pleasantly.
"Now, papa," she added, "you will need your Yankee guessing cap to-night, for I have something very nice. What is it?" holding up a dish.
"Well, sure enough, what can it be? It smells like chicken, but there is also a suggestion of oysters. There!--I give it up, Dexie."
"That"s right, for I do not know the name of it myself. I saw how to prepare it in a book, but the name is beyond me. There is no English word to express how nice this tastes, so you must eat in French to-night, papa,"
sitting beside him to a.s.sist. "The little book tells how to prepare some lovely little stews and dishes, and I am going to make some of them for you. But don"t be alarmed, papa! I"ll try all the new inventions on myself first--to see if they are safe, you know! But, between you and me, papa, the author of the little cook book is a fraud! Some of the dishes are quite plebeian. He goes on to say how to prepare some toast, so-and-so, some milk and b.u.t.ter, or cream, so-and-so, put this and that in it, then you dish it up and call it--oh! I can"t say _what_ he calls it; but, if you will believe me, it is just "cream toast," and nothing else, disguised under a high-sounding name to deceive innocent people, and make them believe they are eating something very high-toned. Just a little more tea, papa. But I am up to their tricks and I"ll not palm off any old-fashioned dishes on you, under a Frenchified name," and she chatted on, helping him and preparing what was before him, till she had beguiled him into making quite a hearty meal.
That evening Mr. Traverse made his appearance as usual, bringing with him a pretty basket of fruit, and his inquiries after Mr. Sherwood"s health were made so earnestly that Dexie felt sure he could not have been in during the afternoon; someone else must have left the papers.
As may be supposed, Traverse was in excellent humor. He seemed bubbling over with good-natured fun, and even Dexie thawed out sufficiently to answer his repartees less caustically than usual.
"Something very pleasant must have happened to you to-day," said Gussie, looking at him archly, "or else you have been studying a joke-book for our amus.e.m.e.nt."
"Well, I have good reason to be jolly to-night," he replied, changing his seat so as to watch Dexie"s face. "I am going to be married! That fact alone ought to make any reasonable man happy, don"t you think?"
This announcement was so unexpected by everyone, that even Mr. Sherwood looked up in surprise, and wondered "what next," and Dexie"s eyes flashed in indignation as she said to herself:
"Then he was only trying to get up a flirtation with me, after all, and his tender looks and gallant speeches were only intended to draw me out! How glad I am I never gave him the smallest encouragement! What should I have done if he had guessed my secret? Yet he looked so true--who would believe he was so deceitful? Oh, dear!"
She bent her head lower over her work, and said not a word. No one should ever know how her heart ached at that announcement.
Gussie had always feared that if ever Guy Traverse gave up his "city girl"
he would turn to Dexie for consolation, and she was glad to hear this announcement. Dexie was not going to get him, after all. She hoped Dexie would feel disappointed, but she smiled sweetly as she said:
"Ah! you sly thing! How you have deceived us? How long have you been engaged, and when is the event to come off? Do tell us about it."
"Well, I only received her father"s permission to-day--something I was afraid I would never get, so the time has not been set."
"Come, Dexie!" looking up to see how her sister took the news, "you have not congratulated Mr. Traverse yet on his approaching marriage."
"I have not heard your congratulations, either, Gussie; but I believe Mr.
Traverse will not doubt the sincerity of mine as I fear he may yours."
The retort struck home, as Dexie intended it should; she felt hurt, and was glad of the chance to say something sharp to relieve her feelings.
"Well, it is to be hoped that the future Mrs. Traverse is a little milder in her manner than you are; he has endured a good deal from your sharp tongue lately, and needs a change. Mr. Traverse seems to be waiting for your congratulations, Dexie," she added, as she noticed how intently Guy was regarding her.
"I hope it is not needful for me to a.s.sure Mr. Traverse how glad I am to hear of his approaching marriage," came the cool, stiff words from Dexie"s lips. "I hope that hereafter he will see fit to bestow his obnoxious attentions exclusively on the lady of his choice."
"Why, Dexie," said her mother in surprise, "you are forgetting yourself."
"I stand adjudged!" and Guy smiled serenely, as he exchanged looks with Mr.
Sherwood. "But I regret to say that the lady in question has not cared to monopolize my attentions so exclusively as I could wish, and they have overflowed, as it were, upon others occasionally. I beg to hope, Miss Dexie, that in the future you will have no cause to consider my attentions obnoxious."
"Well, give _me_ your attention just now, Mr. Traverse," said Gussie, lifting up a skein of silk for him to hold, and beginning to wind it off.
"Does the future Mrs. Traverse indulge in this work?"
"Well, now, I really don"t know, Miss Gussie; but if the knowledge of it is important I am sure she can do it, though I may never have seen her at it."
Dexie was suffering agonies of mind. Who could it be that had won his heart? It must be someone he had known before coming to Lennoxville, and his visits away from town were not always on business matters. She sat listening to every word with a beating heart, but those who were watching her closely could read no word from that quiet, immovable face.
"Do tell us something about this city girl of yours," Gussie said, teasingly. "We have been so intimate that it is only fair to tell us something about her. Is she tall or short, a blonde or brunette, and what kind of work is she usually at when you go to see her? or is she a society lady with nothing to do but dress up and look pretty? Perhaps she paints; that is fashionable now."
"Paints! No, never! "Her cheeks are like the rose, that in the garden blooms," and so on, but for all that, I am sure she does not paint!"