"I was given a week"s furlough last Sat.u.r.day and went up to Paris with my friend, Paul Caillard. He had a friend in a hospital on the way there, headed by Dr. Braithwaite, the celebrated surgeon of Detroit."
I caught my breath. As well as if I had already read the words, I knew what was coming.
"At an unexpected turn in the corridor I almost knocked over a little nurse who was hurrying toward the office. She looked up at me startled, out of the prettiest brown eyes I ever saw, and then stopped, staring at me as if I had been a ghost. I stared back, frankly, for her face was familiar to me, although for the moment I could not tell where I had seen her before.
"Then, half-shyly, she spoke, and her voice matched her eyes.
""You are Mr. Bickett, are you not, Mrs. Graham"s cousin?"
"For a moment I did not realize that "Mrs. Graham" was Margaret. But that gave me no clue to the ident.i.ty of the girl. Then all at once it came to me.
""I know you now," I said. "You are Mark Earle"s little sister, Katherine.""
So they had met at last, Jack Bickett, my brother-cousin, and Katherine Sonnot, the little nurse who had taken care of my mother-in-law, and whom I had learned to love as a dear friend.
Was I glad or sorry, I wondered, as I picked up Jack"s letter again that I had crushed any feeling I might have had in the matter, and had spoken the word to Dr. Braithwaite that resulted in Katharine"s joining the eminent surgeon"s staff of nurses? It seemed a pity to have these two meet only to be torn apart so soon by death.
"I cannot begin to tell you how delighted I was when we recognized each other. You can imagine over here that to one American the meeting with another American, especially if both have the same friends, is an event. Luckily, Miss Sonnot was just about to have an afternoon off when we met, and if she had an engagement--which she denied--she was kind enough to break it for me. I need not tell you that I spent the most delightful afternoon I have had since coming over here.
"You can be sure that I at once exerted all the influence I had through my friend, Caillard, and his friend in the hospital to secure as much free time for Miss Sonnot as possible for the time I was to be on furlough. It is like getting home after being away so long to talk to this brave, sensible, beautiful young girl--for she deserves all of the adjectives."
In the two letters which were the last ones numbered by Mrs. Stewart, Jack spoke again and again of the little nurse. Almost the last line of his last letter, written after he returned to the front, spoke of her.
"Little Miss Sonnot and I correspond," he wrote, "and you can have no idea how much good her letters do me. They are like fresh, sweet breezes glowing through the miasma of life in the trenches."
I folded the letters, put them back into their envelopes, and arranged them as Mrs. Stewart had given them to me. When she came back into the room she found me still holding them and staring into the fire.
"Did you read them all?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Don"t you think those last ones sounded as if he were really getting interested in that little nurse?" she demanded.
There was a peculiar intonation in her voice which told me that in her own queer little way she was trying to punish me for my failure to come to see her oftener with inquiries about Jack. She evidently thought that my vanity would be piqued at the thought of Jack becoming interested in any other woman after his life-long devotion to me.
But I flatter myself that my voice was absolutely non-committal as I answered her.
"Yes, I do," I agreed, "and what a tragedy it seems that he should be s.n.a.t.c.hed away from the prospect of happiness."
The words were sincere. I was sure.
And yet--
x.x.xVII
A CHANGE IN LILLIAN UNDERWOOD
"Well, children, have you made any plans for d.i.c.ky"s birthday yet?"
I nearly fell off my chair in astonishment at the friendliness in my mother-in-law"s tones. She had been sulky ever since we had come home from our autumn outing in the Catskills, a sulkiness caused by her resentment of what she chose to consider the indiscreet interest taken in me by Robert Gordon, the mysterious millionaire whom I had discovered to be an old friend of my parents. I shrewdly suspected, however, that her continued resentment was more because d.i.c.ky chose to take my part in the matter against her, than because of any real feeling toward Mr. Gordon.
Nearly a year"s experience, however, had taught me how best to manage my mother-in-law. When she indulged herself in one of her frequent "tantrums" I adopted a carefully courteous, scrupulously formal att.i.tude toward her, and dismissed her from my mind. Thus I saved myself much worry and irritation, and deprived her of the pleasure of a quarrel, something which I knew she would be glad to bring on sometimes for the sheer pleasure of combat.
Her question was so sudden, her cordiality so surprising, that I could frame no answer. Instead I looked helplessly at d.i.c.ky. To tell the truth, I rather distrusted this sudden amiability. From past experiences, I knew that when Mother Graham made a sudden change from sulkiness to cheerfulness, she had some scheme under way.
d.i.c.ky"s answer was prompt.
"That"s entirely up to Madge, mother," he said, and smiled at me.
Although his mother tried hard she could not keep the acerbity out of her tones as she turned to me. She always resented any deference of d.i.c.ky to my opinion.
"Well, as Richard has no opinion of his own, what are your plans, Margaret?"
"Why, I have made none so far," I stammered, wishing with all my heart that I had made some definite plan for d.i.c.ky"s birthday. I could see from my mother-in-law"s manner that she had some cherished scheme in mind, and my prophetic soul told me that it would be something which I would not particularly like.
"Good," she returned. "Then I shall not be interfering with any plan of yours. I have already written to Elizabeth asking them to come out here for a week"s visit. This is an awful shack, of course, but it is the country, and the children will enjoy the woods and brooks and fields, even if it is cold."
d.i.c.ky turned to her abruptly, his brow stormy, his eyes flashing.
"Mother, do you mean to say that you have already written to Elizabeth without first consulting Madge as to whether it would be convenient?"
I trod heavily on his toes under the table in the vain hope that I would be able to stop him from saying the words which I knew would inflame his mother"s temper. Failing in that, I hastened to throw a sentence or two of my own into the breach in the desire to prevent further hostilities.
"d.i.c.ky, stop talking nonsense!" I said sharply. "I am sure Mother Graham," turning to my mother-in-law who sat regarding her son with the most traditional of "stony stares," "we shall be delighted to have your daughter and her family. You must tell me how many there are so we can arrange for beds and plenty of bedding. This is a rather draughty house, you know."
"I am better aware of that than you are," she returned, ungraciously making no response to my proffer of hospitality. Then she turned her attention to d.i.c.ky.
"Richard," she said sternly, "I have never been compelled to consult anybody yet, before inviting guests to my home, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one. I am too old to begin. I do not notice that you or Margaret take the trouble to consult me before inviting your friends here."
d.i.c.ky opened his mouth to reply, but I effectually stopped him, by a swift kick, which I think found a mark, for he jumped perceptibly and flashed me a wrathful look. I knew that he was thinking of the strenuous objection his mother had made to our entertaining the Underwoods, and to the proposed visit of Robert Gordon to our home.
But I knew also that it was no time to rake up old scores. I foresaw trouble enough in this proposed visit of my relatives-in-law whom I had never seen, without having things complicated by a row between d.i.c.ky and his mother.
There was trouble, too, in all the housecleaning, the re-arrangement of our rooms and in the laying in of a stock of provisions to meet the requirements of the menu for each meal that Mother Graham insisted upon deciding in advance to please her daughter and the children. And then, the day they were to arrive, she received a special delivery letter calmly announcing that they were not coming. But my annoyance was forgotten in Mother Graham"s very apparent and utter disappointment.
When I broke the news to d.i.c.ky he suggested that we have a party anyway, and Mother Graham sweetly acquiesced in our plans to invite the Underwoods.
Lillian"s voice over the telephone, however, made me forget all my contentment, and filled me with misgiving. It was tense, totally unlike her usual bluff, hearty tones, and with an undercurrent in it that spelled tragedy.
"What is the trouble, Lillian?" I asked, as soon as I had heard her greeting; "I know something is the matter by your voice."
"Yes, there is," she replied, "but nothing of which I can speak over the "phone. Tell me, are you going to have any strangers there tomorrow?"
How like Lillian the bluff, honest speech was! Almost any other woman would have hypocritically a.s.sured me that nothing was the matter. But not Lillian Underwood!
"n.o.body but the Durkees," I a.s.sured her. "They have already promised to be here. But, Lillian, you surely must get here as soon as you can.