"You never thought a big, hulking fellow like me could appreciate anything exquisite and dainty, either in poetry or in people," he said.
"I don"t blame you, Miss Fairfield; I am uncouth, uncultured, and unmannered. But I am fond of books, and, perhaps by the law of contrast, I am especially fond of the Minor Poets."
"You shan"t call yourself those horrid names," said Patty, for his tones rang true, and she began to appreciate his honest nature; "no one can be uncouth or uncultured who loves such reading. Don"t you love the big poets, too?"
"Yes; but I suppose everybody does that. I say, won"t you come outside for a bit? That room is stuffy, and the air out here now is great.
Couldn"t you skip down with me for a whiff of the sea?"
"Why, I ought to be dressing for dinner."
"Oh, there"s lots of time yet. Come on. Don"t tell anybody, just fly out at this window, like Peter Pan, and we"ll elope for half an hour."
Acting impulsively, Patty swung herself through the low window, and had descended the picturesque outside stairway that led from the upper veranda to the lower one before she remembered Daisy"s prohibition.
"Oh, I think I won"t go down to the beach," she said, suddenly pausing at the foot of the stairs. "I must go right back."
"Nothing of the sort," and Farnsworth grasped her arm and fairly marched her along the path to the gate. "You"re not a quitter, I know, so what silly notion popped into your head just then?"
Patty laughed outright at his quick appreciation of her mood.
"Well," she parried, "you see, I don"t know you very well."
"All the more reason for s.n.a.t.c.hing this chance to get acquainted."
"Somebody might see us."
"Let them. It"s no crime to stroll down to the beach."
"Somebody might object to my monopolising you like this."
"Who, Mona?"
"No; not Mona."
"Who, then?"
"Is there no one who might justly do so?"
"No, indeed! Unless Mrs. Parsons thinks I"m neglecting her."
"Nonsense. I don"t mean her. But, what about Miss Dow?"
"Daisy Dow! Well, Miss Fairfield, I"m a blunt Westerner, and I don"t know how to say these things subtly, but when you imply that Daisy has any special interest in me, you do me undeserved honour. I"ve known her for years, and we"re good chums, but she"d have no right to comment if I walked down to the sea, or into it, or across it. NOW, will you be good?" They had reached the beach, and stood looking at the great rollers coming in, their white crests tinged by the last rays of the setting sun, which flashed a good-bye at them from the opposite horizon.
"It"s fortunate you Eastern people have a sea," Farnsworth said, as he gazed across the black distance, "or you wouldn"t know the meaning of the word s.p.a.ce. Your lives and living are so cramped."
"You Western people have a sea, too, I believe," said Patty.
"Yes, but we don"t really need it, as you do. We have seas of land, rolling all over the place. We can get our breath inland; you have to come to the ocean to get a full breath."
"That"s the popular superst.i.tion. I mean, that we are cramped and all that. But, really, I think we all have room enough. I think the Westerner"s idea of wanting several acres to breathe in is just a habit."
Farnsworth looked at her steadily. "Perhaps you"re right," he said; "at any rate, you seem to know all about it. Do you suppose I could learn to see it as you do?"
"Of course you could. But why should you? If you like the West, the big, breezy, long-distance West, there"s no reason why you should cultivate a taste for our little cramped up, stuffy East."
"That"s right! But I wish I could show you our country. Wouldn"t you love to go galloping across a great prairie,--tearing ahead for illimitable miles,--breathing the air that has come, fresh and clean, straight down from the blue sky?"
"You make it sound well, but after that mad gallop is over, what then?
A shack or ranch, or whatever you call it, with whitewashed walls, and rush mats and a smoky stove?"
"By George! You"re about right! It wouldn"t suit YOU, would it? You couldn"t fit into that picture!"
"I"m "fraid not. But if we"re going to fit into the picture soon to a.s.semble in Mona"s dining-room, we must make a start in that direction.
Mr. Farnsworth--"
"Call me Bill, oh, DO call me Bill!"
"Why should I?"
"Because I want you to; and because I think you might make that much concession to my Western primitiveness and unceremoniousness."
"But I don"t like the name of Bill. It"s so,--so--"
"So uncouth? Yes, it is. But I"m not the sort to be called William.
Well, DO call me something pleasant and amiable."
"I"ll call you Little Billee. That"s Thackeray"s, and therefore, it"s all right. Now, can you slip me back into my own apartments as quietly as you took me away?"
"Of course I can, as it"s nearly dark now. Here we go!"
He aided her up the stairs, and along the balcony to her own windows.
Patty sprang lightly over the low sill, and waved her hand gaily as she pulled down her blinds and flashed on the electric lights. Then she rang for Janet, and found that a hurried toilette was necessary if she would be prompt at dinner.
One of Patty"s prettiest evening frocks was a dainty French thing of white chiffon, decked with pale green ribbons and exquisite artificial apple blossoms made of satin. With a smile at the memory of Farnsworth"s allusion to apple blossoms, she put it on, and twisted a wreath of the same lovely flowers in her golden crown of curls.
Then she danced downstairs to find the Western man awaiting her. He looked very handsome in evening clothes, and the easy unconsciousness of his pose and manner made him seem to Patty the most attractive man she had ever seen.
"I"ve arranged it with Mona," he said, straightforwardly, "and I"m to take you in to dinner. I want to sit next to you."
But Patty had caught sight of Daisy Dow, and the angry gleam in that young woman"s eyes warned Patty that Farnsworth"s plan boded trouble.
Moreover, perverse Patty objected to being appropriated so calmly, and with a deliberate intent to pique Farnsworth, she replied, gaily:
"Nay, nay, fair sir; it suits me not, thus to be parcelled out. We Eastern girls are not to be had for the asking."
The smile she flashed at him brought an answering smile to Farnsworth"s face, but as he stepped forward to urge her to grant his wish, Patty slipped her hand in Roger"s arm, and joined the others who were already going to the dining-room.
She had quickly seen that this move on her part would leave Farnsworth no choice but to escort Daisy Dow, for Roger had been a.s.signed to that fair maiden.