"What"s the matter, Carrie?" said Hurstwood after a time, noticing her quiet, almost moody state.
"Nothing," said Carrie. "I don"t feel very well to-night."
"Not sick, are you?" he asked, approaching very close.
"Oh, no," she said, almost pettishly, "I just don"t feel very good."
"That"s too bad," he said, stepping away and adjusting his vest after his slight bending over. "I was thinking we might go to a show to-night."
"I don"t want to go," said Carrie, annoyed that her fine visions should have thus been broken into and driven out of her mind. "I"ve been to the matinee this afternoon."
"Oh, you have?" said Hurstwood. "What was it?"
"A Gold Mine."
"How was it?"
"Pretty good," said Carrie.
"And you don"t want to go again to-night?"
"I don"t think I do," she said.
Nevertheless, wakened out of her melancholia and called to the dinner table, she changed her mind. A little food in the stomach does wonders.
She went again, and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.
The great awakening blow had, however, been delivered. As often as she might recover from these discontented thoughts now, they would occur again. Time and repet.i.tion--ah, the wonder of it! The dropping water and the solid stone--how utterly it yields at last!
Not long after this matinee experience--perhaps a month--Mrs. Vance invited Carrie to an evening at the theatre with them. She heard Carrie say that Hurstwood was not coming home to dinner.
"Why don"t you come with us? Don"t get dinner for yourself. We"re going down to Sherry"s for dinner and then over to the Lyceum. Come along with us."
"I think I will," answered Carrie.
She began to dress at three o"clock for her departure at half-past five for the noted dining-room which was then crowding Delmonico"s for position in society. In this dressing Carrie showed the influence of her a.s.sociation with the dashing Mrs. Vance. She had constantly had her attention called by the latter to novelties in everything which pertains to a woman"s apparel.
"Are you going to get such and such a hat?" or, "Have you seen the new gloves with the oval pearl b.u.t.tons?" were but sample phrases out of a large selection.
"The next time you get a pair of shoes, dearie," said Mrs. Vance, "get b.u.t.ton, with thick soles and patent-leather tips. They"re all the rage this fall."
"I will," said Carrie.
"Oh, dear, have you seen the new shirtwaists at Altman"s? They have some of the loveliest patterns. I saw one there that I know would look stunning on you. I said so when I saw it."
Carrie listened to these things with considerable interest, for they were suggested with more of friendliness than is usually common between pretty women. Mrs. Vance liked Carrie"s stable good-nature so well that she really took pleasure in suggesting to her the latest things.
"Why don"t you get yourself one of those nice serge skirts they"re selling at Lord & Taylor"s?" she said one day. "They"re the circular style, and they"re going to be worn from now on. A dark blue one would look so nice on you."
Carrie listened with eager ears. These things never came up between her and Hurstwood. Nevertheless, she began to suggest one thing and another, which Hurstwood agreed to without any expression of opinion. He noticed the new tendency on Carrie"s part, and finally, hearing much of Mrs.
Vance and her delightful ways, suspected whence the change came. He was not inclined to offer the slightest objection so soon, but he felt that Carrie"s wants were expanding. This did not appeal to him exactly, but he cared for her in his own way, and so the thing stood. Still, there was something in the details of the transactions which caused Carrie to feel that her requests were not a delight to him. He did not enthuse over the purchases. This led her to believe that neglect was creeping in, and so another small wedge was entered.
Nevertheless, one of the results of Mrs. Vance"s suggestions was the fact that on this occasion Carrie was dressed somewhat to her own satisfaction. She had on her best, but there was comfort in the thought that if she must confine herself to a _best_, it was neat and fitting.
She looked the well-groomed woman of twenty-one, and Mrs. Vance praised her, which brought colour to her plump cheeks and a noticeable brightness into her large eyes. It was threatening rain, and Mr. Vance, at his wife"s request, had called a coach.
"Your husband isn"t coming?" suggested Mr. Vance, as he met Carrie in his little parlour.
"No; he said he wouldn"t be home for dinner."
"Better leave a little note for him, telling him where we are. He might turn up."
"I will," said Carrie, who had not thought of it before.
"Tell him we"ll be at Sherry"s until eight o"clock. He knows, though, I guess."
Carrie crossed the hall with rustling skirts, and scrawled the note, gloves on. When she returned a newcomer was in the Vance flat.
"Mrs. Wheeler, let me introduce Mr. Ames, a cousin of mine," said Mrs.
Vance. "He"s going along with us, aren"t you, Bob?"
"I"m very glad to meet you," said Ames, bowing politely to Carrie.
The latter caught in a glance the dimensions of a very stalwart figure.
She also noticed that he was smooth-shaven, good looking, and young, but nothing more.
"Mr. Ames is just down in New York for a few days," put in Vance, "and we"re trying to show him around a little."
"Oh, are you?" said Carrie, taking another glance at the newcomer.
"Yes; I am just on here from Indianapolis for a week or so," said young Ames, seating himself on the edge of a chair to wait while Mrs. Vance completed the last touches of her toilet.
"I guess you find New York quite a thing to see, don"t you?" said Carrie, venturing something to avoid a possible deadly silence.
"It is rather large to get around in a week," answered Ames, pleasantly.
He was an exceedingly genial soul, this young man, and wholly free of affectation. It seemed to Carrie he was as yet only overcoming the last traces of the bashfulness of youth. He did not seem apt at conversation, but he had the merit of being well dressed and wholly courageous. Carrie felt as if it were not going to be hard to talk to him.
"Well, I guess we"re ready now. The coach is outside."
"Come on, people," said Mrs. Vance, coming in smiling. "Bob, you"ll have to look after Mrs. Wheeler."
"I"ll try to," said Bob smiling, and edging closer to Carrie. "You won"t need much watching, will you?" he volunteered, in a sort of ingratiating and help-me-out kind of way.
"Not very, I hope," said Carrie.
They descended the stairs, Mrs. Vance offering suggestions, and climbed into the open coach.
"All right," said Vance, slamming the coach door, and the conveyance rolled away.
"What is it we"re going to see?" asked Ames.