Francesca had leaned forward and was speaking to Colonel Kent in a low tone. "I think that somewhere, in the House not Made with Hands, there is a young and lovely mother who is very proud of her boy to-night."
The Colonel"s fine face took on an unwonted tenderness. "I hope so. She left me a sacred trust."
Francesca crossed the room, drew the young man"s tall head down, and kissed him. "Well done, dear foster-child. Your adopted mother, once removed, is fully satisfied with you, and very much pleased with herself, being, vicariously, the parent of a great artist."
"I hope you don"t consider me "raised,"" replied Allison. "You"re not going to stop "mothering" me, are you?"
"I couldn"t," was her smiling a.s.surance. "I"ve got the habit."
He seemed very young as he looked down at her. Woman-like she loved him, through the man that he was, for the child that he had been.
"Come, lad," the Colonel suggested, "it"s getting late and we want to be invited again."
Allison closed his violin case with a snap, said good-night to Aunt Francesca, then went over to Rose. "I don"t feel like calling you "Miss Bernard," he said. "Mayn"t I say "Cousin Rose," as we rejoice in the possession of the same Aunt?"
"Surely," she answered, colouring faintly.
"Then good-night, Cousin Rose. I"ll see you soon again, and we"ll begin work. Your days of leisure are over now."
Isabel offered him a small, cool hand. Her eyes were brilliant, brought out by the sparkling silver of her gown. She glittered even in the low light of the room. "Good-night, Silver Girl," he said. "You haven"t really grown up after all."
When the door closed, Rose gathered up the music he had forgotten, and put it away. Isabel came to her contritely. "Cousin Rose, I"m so sorry I said that! I didn"t think!"
"Don"t bother about it," Rose replied, kindly. "It was nothing at all, and, besides, it"s true."
""Tell the truth and shame the--family,"" misquoted Madame Bernard. "Age and false hair are not things to be flaunted, Isabel, remember that."
Isabel flushed at the rebuke, and her cheeks were still burning when she went to her room.
"I don"t care," she said to herself, with a swift change of mood. "I"m glad I told him. They"d never have done it, and it"s just as well for him to know."
Madame Bernard and Rose soon followed her example, but Rose could not sleep. Through the night the voice of the violin sounded through her consciousness, calling, calling, calling--heedless of the answer that thrilled her to the depths of her soul.
IV
THE CROSBY TWINS
The Crosby twins were making a formal call upon Isabel. They had been skating and still carried their skates, but Juliet wore white gloves and had pinned her unruly hair into some semblance of order while they waited at the door. She wore a red tam-o"-shanter on her brown curls and a white sweater under her dark green skating costume, which was short enough to show the heavy little boots, just now filling the room with the unpleasant odour of damp leather.
"Won"t you take off your coat?" asked Isabel. "You"ll catch cold when you go out, if you don"t take it off."
"Thanks," responded Juliet, somewhat stiffly. Then she stretched out both hands to her hostess, laughing as she did so. "Look!" The sweater sleeves had crept up to her elbows, displaying several inches of bare, red arm between the sleeves and the short white gloves.
"That"s just like us," remarked Romeo. "If we try to be elegant, something always happens."
The twins looked very much alike. They were quite tall and still retained the dear awkwardness of youth, in spite of the near approach of their twenty-first birthday. They had light brown curly hair, frank blue eyes that met the world with interest and delight, well-shaped mouths, not too small, and stubborn little chins. A high colour bloomed on their cheeks and they fairly radiated the joy of living.
"Can you skate?" inquired Romeo.
"No," smiled Isabel.
"Juliet can. She can skate as far as I can, and almost as fast."
"Romie taught me," observed Juliet, with becoming modesty.
"Do you play hockey? No, of course you don"t, if you don"t skate," he went on, answering his own question. "Can you swim?"
"No," responded Isabel, sweetly.
"Jule"s a fine swimmer. She saved a man"s life once, two Summers ago."
"Romie taught me," said Juliet, beaming at her brother.
"Can you row?" he asked, politely.
"No," replied Isabel, shortly. "I"m afraid of the water."
"Juliet can row. She won the women"s canoe race in the regatta last Summer. The prize was twenty-five dollars in gold."
"Romie taught me," put in Juliet.
"We"ll teach you this Summer," said Romeo, with a frank, boyish smile that showed his white teeth.
"Thank you," responded Isabel, inwardly vowing that they wouldn"t.
"Juliet can do most everything I can," went on Romeo, with the teacher"s pardonable pride in his pupil. "She can climb a tree in her knickers, and fish and skate and row and swim and fence, and play golf and tennis, and shoot, and dive from a spring board, and she can ride anything that has four legs."
"Romeo taught me," chanted Juliet, in a voice surprisingly like his own.
There was an awkward pause, then Romeo turned to his hostess. "What can you do?" he asked, meaning to be deferential. Isabel thought she detected a faint trace of sarcasm, so her answer was rather tart.
"I don"t do many of the things that men do," she said, "but I speak French and German, I can sing and play a little, sew and embroider, and trim hats if I want to, and paint on china, and do two fancy dances. And when I go back home, I"m going to learn to run an automobile."
The twins looked at each other. "We never thought of it," said Juliet, much crestfallen.
"Wonder how much they cost," remarked Romeo, thoughtfully.
"Where can you buy "em?" Juliet inquired. "Anywhere in town?"
"I suppose so," Isabel a.s.sented. "Why?"
"Why?" they repeated together. "We"re going to buy one and learn to run it!"
"You must have lots of money," said Isabel, enviously.