When Helena went back to the house, her face was red, and her whole body tingling; every now and then her breath came in a gasp of rage.
At that moment she believed that she hated everybody in the world--the cruel, foolish, arrogant world!--even the thought of David brought no softening. And indeed, when that first fury had subsided, she still did not want to see the little boy; that destroying wind of anger had beaten her complacency to the dust, and she could not with dignity meet the child"s candid eyes. It was not until the next day that she could find any pleasure in him, or even in the prospect of Lloyd"s visit; and when these interests began to revive, sudden gusts of rage would tear her, and she would fall into abrupt reveries, declaring to herself that she would tell Lloyd how she had been insulted! But she reminded herself that she must choose just the right moment to enlist his sympathy for the affront; she must decide with just what caress she would tell him that she meant to leave Old Chester, and come, with David, to live in Philadelphia. (Oh, would Frederick _ever_ die?)...
But, little by little, she put the miserable matter behind her, and filled the days before Lloyd"s arrival with plans for the few golden hours that they were to be together, when he was to have her "all to himself." But, alas, the plans were all disarranged by David.
Now Sat.u.r.day, when you come to think of it, is always a day of joy-- even if there must be a visitor. To begin with, there is no school, so you have plenty of time to attend to many important affairs connected with playthings. Then, the gravel paths must be raked and the garden made tidy for Sunday, and so there is brush and refuse to be burned; and that means baking potatoes in the ashes, and (as you will remember), unless you stand, coughing, in the smoke to watch them, the potatoes are so apt to burn. Also, the phaeton is washed with peculiar care to make it fine for church; the wheels must be jacked up, one after the other, and spun round and round; then, if you go about it the right way, you can induce George to let you take the big, gritty sponge out of the black water of the stable bucket, and after squeezing it hard in your two hands, you may wipe down the spokes of one wheel. Besides these things, there are always the rabbits. Right after breakfast, David had run joyously out to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but while he poked lettuce leaves between the bars of their hutch, the thought struck him that this was the moment to demonstrate that interesting fact in natural history, so well known to those of your friends who happen to be stablemen, but doubted by Dr. Lavendar, namely, that a hair from the pony"s tail will, if soaked in water, turn into a snake. David shuddered at the word, but ran to the stable and carefully pulled two hairs from the pony"s silvery-gray tail. The operation was borne with most obliging patience, but when he stooped to pick up another beautiful long hair from the straw--for when you are making snakes you might as well make plenty, alas! the pony was so absent-minded as to step back--and down came the iron-shod hoof on the small, eager hand!
David"s shriek and George"s outcry brought the feminine household running and exclaiming, and at the sight of the bruised hand, with one hanging, helpless finger, Helena gathered the quivering little body into her arms, and forgot everything but the child"s pain. George was rushed off for William King, and Mrs. Richie and the two women hung over the boy with tears and tender words and entreaties "not to cry"!
David, in point of fact, stopped crying long before they did; but, of course, he cried again, poor little monkey! during the setting of the tiny bone, though William King was as gentle and determined as was necessary, and David, sitting in Helena"s lap, responded to the demand for courage in quite a remarkable way. Indeed, the doctor noticed that Mrs. Richie quivered more than the child did. It was nearly eleven before it was all over, and William went off, smiling at Helena"s anxiety, for she accompanied him to the gate, begging for directions for impossible emergencies. When he had driven away, she flew back to the house; but at the door of David"s room looked at her watch, and exclaimed. Lloyd was due in half an hour! What should she do?
"Dear-precious," she said, kneeling down beside the little boy, "Sarah shall come and sit with you while Mr. Pryor is here; you won"t mind if I am not with you?"
David, who had begun to whimper again, was too interested in himself to mind in the least. Even when she said, distractedly, "Oh, there"s the stage!" his unhappiness was not perceptibly increased. Helena, calling Sarah to come and sit with the invalid, ran down-stairs to meet her guest. There had been no time to make herself charming; her face was marked by tears, and her dress tumbled by David"s little wincing body. Before she could reach the gate, Lloyd Pryor had opened it, and, unwelcomed, was coming up the path. His surprised glance brought her tumultuous and apologetic explanation.
"Oh, I"m sorry!" he said kindly; "I must console him with a new dollar; don"t you think a dollar will be healing?"
She laughed and possessed herself of his hand.
"You run a sort of hospital, Nelly, don"t you? I must be a Jonah; it was your cook the last time. How is she? I trust we are to have enough food to sustain life?"
"I meant to have such a fine dinner," she said, "but we"ve all been so distracted about David, I"m afraid things won"t be as extraordinary as I planned. However, it will "sustain life"!--Though you could go to Dr. King"s again," she ended gayly.
The instant irritation in his face sobered her. She began, carefully, to talk of this or that: his journey, the Mercer business, his health--anything to make him smile again. Plainly, it was not the moment to speak of Mr. Benjamin Wright and her purpose of leaving Old Chester.
"Now I must run up-stairs just one minute, and see David," she said in the middle of a sentence. Her minute lengthened to ten, but when she came back, explaining that she had stopped to wash David"s face--"it was all stained by tears"--he did not seem impatient.
"Your own would be improved by soap and water, my dear," he said with an amused look. "No! no--don"t go now; I want to talk to you, and I haven"t much time."
She knew him too well to insist; instead, she burst into what gayety she could summon, for that was how he liked her. But back in her mind there was a growing tremor of apprehension:--there was something wrong; she could not tell what it was, but she felt it. She said to herself that she would not speak of Mr. Benjamin Wright until after dinner.
Little by little, however, her uneasiness subsided. It became evident that the excitement of the morning had not been too much for Maggie; things were very good, and Lloyd Pryor was very appreciative, and Helena"s charm more than once touched him to a caressing glance and a soft word. But as they got up from the table he glanced at his watch, and she winced; then smiled, quickly. She brought him his cigar and struck a light; and he, looking at her with handsome, lazy eyes, caught the hand which held the flaming match, and lit his cigar in slow puffs.
"Now I must go and give a look at David," she said.
"Look here, Nelly," he protested, "aren"t you rather overdoing this adopted-mother business?"
She found the child rather flushed and in an uneasy doze. Instantly she was anxious. "Don"t leave him, Sarah," she said. "I"ll have Maggie bring your dinner up to you. Oh, I _wish_ I didn"t have to go downstairs!"
"I"m afraid he is worse," she told Lloyd Pryor with a worried frown.
"Well, don"t look as if it were an affair of nations," he said carelessly, and drew her down on the sofa beside him. He was so gracious to her, that she forgot David; but she quivered for fear the graciousness should cease. She was like a thirsty creature, drinking with eager haste, lest some terror should drive her back into the desert. But Lloyd Pryor continued to be gracious; he talked gayly of this or that; he told her one or two stories that had been told him in a directors" meeting or on a journey, and he roared with appreciation of their peculiar humor. She flushed; but she made herself laugh. Then she began tentatively to say something of Old Chester; and--and what did he think? "That old man, who lives up on the hill, called, and--"
But he interrupted her. "You are very beguiling, Nelly, but I am afraid I must be thinking of the stage--it is after three. Before I go I just want to say--" then he broke off. "Come in! Well? What is it?"
he demanded impatiently.
"Please, ma"am," said Sarah, standing in the doorway, her face puckered almost to tears, "David"s woke up, and he"s crying, and I can"t do nothing with him. He wants you, ma"am."
"Oh, poor darling! Tell him I"ll come right up," Mrs. Richie said, rising in quick distress.
"Nonsense!" said Lloyd Pryor, sharply. "Sarah, tell the boy to behave himself. Mrs. Richie can"t come now."
Sarah hurried up-stairs, but Helena stood in painful indecision. "Oh, Lloyd, I _must_ go! I"ll just sit with him a minute!"
"You"ll just sit with me a minute," he said calmly. "Be sensible, Helena. I want to speak to you about something."
But she did not hear him; she was listening for David"s voice. A little whimpering cry reached her, and the tears sprung to her eyes.
"Lloyd! I must. He is crying."
"Let him cry."
"He"s takin" on so, please come up, ma"am," came Sarah"s entreating voice from over the banisters in the upper hall.
"Oh, Lloyd, I must!" She turned; but he, springing up, caught her wrist and pulled her to him.
"Don"t be a fool."
"Let me go! Oh, how cruel you are!" She tried to wrench her wrist from his grasp. "I hate you!"
"Hate me, do you?" He laughed, and catching her in his arms, kissed her again and again. Then he put his hands in his pockets and stepped back, leaving her free. "Will you go?"
She stood, vibrating between surprised affection and anguished longing for the child. "Lloyd!" she said faintly; she put her hands over her face, and came towards him slowly, shivering a little, and murmuring "_Lloyd!_" Then, with a sudden gasp, she turned and fled up-stairs.
"David--I am coming--"
Lloyd Pryor stood dumfounded; in his astonishment he almost laughed.
But at that instant he heard the crunch of wheels drawing up at the gate. "The stage!" he said to himself, and called out, angrily, "Helena!"
But it was not the stage; it was William King"s shabby old buggy standing in the shadow of the big locust by the roadside; and there was the doctor himself coming up the path.
Lloyd Pryor swore under his breath.
The front door was open to the hot June afternoon, and unannounced the doctor walked into the hall. As he took off his hat, he glanced into the parlor, and for a second of consternation stood staring with angry eyes. Then he nodded stiffly. "I will be obliged if you will let Mrs.
Richie know I am here."
"She is with that boy," said Lloyd Pryor. He made no motion of civility; he stood where Helena had left him, his hands still in his pockets. "Will you be so good as to tell her to come down here to me?
The stage is due, and I must see her before I go."
William King, red and stolid, nodded again, and went up-stairs without another look into the parlor.
While he waited Lloyd Pryor"s anger slowly rose. The presence of the doctor froze the tenderness that, for an idle moment, her face and voice and touch had awakened. The annoyance, the embarra.s.sment, the danger of that call, returned in a gust of remembrance. When she came down-stairs, full of eager excuses, the touch of his rage seared her like a flame.
"If you will kindly take five minutes from that squalling brat--"
"Lloyd, he was in pain. I had to go to him. The instant the doctor came, I left him. I--"
"Listen to me, please. I have only a minute. Helena, this friend of yours, this Dr. King, saw fit to pry into my affairs. He came to Philadelphia to look me up--" "_What!_"
"He came to my house"--he looked at her keenly through his curling eyelashes--"to my house! Do you understand what that means?"
In her dismay she sat down with a sort of gasp; and looking up at him, stammered, "But why? Why?"