She was "all the rage" that winter at the provincial capital. The men called her a "deuced fine little woman." The ladies said she was "just the sweetest wildflower." Whereas she was really but an ordinary, pale, dark girl who spoke slowly and with a strong accent, who danced fairly well, sang acceptably, and never stirred outside the door without her husband.
Charlie was proud of her; he was proud that she had "taken" so well among his friend, proud that she bore herself so complacently in the drawing-rooms of the wives of pompous Government officials, but doubly proud of her almost abject devotion to him. If ever human being was worshipped that being was Charlie McDonald; it could scarcely have been otherwise, for the almost G.o.dlike strength of his pa.s.sion for that little wife of his would have mastered and melted a far more invincible citadel than an already affectionate woman"s heart.
Favorites socially, McDonald and his wife went everywhere. In fashionable circles she was "new"--a potent charm to acquire popularity, and the little velvet-clad figure was always the centre of interest among all the women in the room. She always dressed in velvet. No woman in Canada, has she but the faintest dash of native blood in her veins, but loves velvets and silks. As beef to the Englishman, wine to the Frenchman, fads to the Yankee, so are velvet and silk to the Indian girl, be she wild as prairie gra.s.s, be she on the borders of civilization, or, having stepped within its boundary, mounted the steps of culture even under its superficial heights.
"Such a dolling little appil blossom," said the wife of a local M.P., who brushed up her etiquette and English once a year at Ottawa. "Does she always laugh so sweetly, and gobble you up with those great big gray eyes of her, when you are togetheah at home, Mr. McDonald? If so, I should think youah pooah brothah would feel himself terrible _de trop_."
He laughed lightly. "Yes, Mrs. Stuart, there are not two of Christie; she is the same at home and abroad, and as for Joe, he doesn"t mind us a bit; he"s no end fond of her."
"I"m very glad he is. I always fancied he did not care for her, d"you know."
If ever a blunt woman existed it was Mrs. Stuart. She really meant nothing, but her remark bothered Charlie. He was fond of his brother, and jealous for Christie"s popularity. So that night when he and Joe were having a pipe, he said:
"I"ve never asked you yet what you thought of her, Joe." A brief pause, then Joe spoke. "I"m glad she loves you."
"Why?"
"Because that girl has but two possibilities regarding humanity--love or hate."
"Humph! Does she love or hate _you_?"
"Ask her."
"You talk bosh. If she hated you, you"d get out. If she loved you I"d _make_ you get out."
Joe McDonald whistled a little, then laughed.
"Now that we are on the subject, I might as well ask--honestly, old man, wouldn"t you and Christie prefer keeping house alone to having me always around?"
"Nonsense, sheer nonsense. Why, thunder, man, Christie"s no end fond of you, and as for me--you surely don"t want a.s.surances from me?"
"No, but I often think a young couple--"
"Young couple be blowed! After a while when they want you and your old surveying chains, and spindle-legged tripod telescope kickshaws, farther west, I venture to say the little woman will cry her eyes out--won"t you, Christie?" This last in a higher tone, as through clouds of tobacco smoke he caught sight of his wife pa.s.sing the doorway.
She entered. "Oh, no, I would not cry; I never do cry, but I would be heart-sore to lose you Joe, and apart from that"--a little wickedly--"you may come in handy for an exchange some day, as Charlie does always say when he h.o.a.rds up duplicate relics."
"Are Charlie and I duplicates?"
"Well--not exactly"--her head a little to one side, and eyeing them both merrily, while she slipped softly on to the arm of her husband"s chair--"but, in the event of Charlie"s failing me"--everyone laughed then. The "some day" that she spoke of was nearer than they thought. It came about in this wise.
There was a dance at the Lieutenant-Governor"s, and the world and his wife were there. The n.o.bs were in great feather that night, particularly the women, who flaunted about in new gowns and much splendor. Christie McDonald had a new gown also, but wore it with the utmost unconcern, and if she heard any of the flattering remarks made about her she at least appeared to disregard them.
"I never dreamed you could wear blue so splendidly," said Captain Logan, as they sat out a dance together.
"Indeed she can, though," interposed Mrs. Stuart, halting in one of her gracious sweeps down the room with her husband"s private secretary.
"Don"t shout so, captain. I can hear every sentence you uttah--of course Mrs. McDonald can wear blue--she has a morning gown of cadet blue that she is a picture in."
"You are both very kind," said Christie. "I like blue; it is the color of all the Hudson"s Bay posts, and the factor"s residence is always decorated in blue."
"Is it really? How interesting--do tell us some more of your old home, Mrs. McDonald; you so seldom speak of your life at the post, and we fellows so often wish to hear of it all," said Logan eagerly.
"Why do you not ask me of it, then?"
"Well--er, I"m sure I don"t know; I"m fully interested in the Ind--in your people--your mother"s people, I mean, but it always seems so personal, I suppose; and--a--a--"
"Perhaps you are, like all other white people, afraid to mention my nationality to me."
The captain winced and Mrs. Stuart laughed uneasily. Joe McDonald was not far off, and he was listening, and chuckling, and saying to himself, "That"s you, Christie, lay "em out; it won"t hurt "em to know how they appear once in a while."
"Well, Captain Logan," she was saying, "what is it you would like to hear--of my people, or my parents, or myself?"
"All, all, my dear," cried Mrs. Stuart clamorously. "I"ll speak for him--tell us of yourself and your mother--your father is delightful, I am sure--but then he is only an ordinary Englishman, not half as interesting as a foreigner, or--or, perhaps I should say, a native."
Christie laughed. "Yes," she said, "my father often teases my mother now about how _very_ native she was when he married her; then, how could she have been otherwise? She did not know a word of English, and there was not another English-speaking person besides my father and his two companions within sixty miles."
"Two companions, eh? one a Catholic priest and the other a wine merchant, I suppose, and with your father in the Hudson Bay, they were good representatives of the pioneers in the New World,"
remarked Logan, waggishly.
"Oh, no, they were all Hudson Bay men. There were no rumsellers and no missionaries in that part of the country then."
Mrs. Stuart looked puzzled. "No _missionaries_?" she repeated with an odd intonation.
Christie"s insight was quick. There was a peculiar expression of interrogation in the eyes of her listeners, and the girl"s blood leapt angrily up into her temples as she said hurriedly, "I know what you mean; I know what you are thinking. You were wondering how my parents were married--"
"Well--er, my dear, it seems peculiar--if there was no priest, and no magistrate, why--a--" Mrs. Stuart paused awkwardly.
"The marriage was performed by Indian rites," said Christie.
"Oh, do tell me about it; is the ceremony very interesting and quaint--are your chieftains anything like Buddhist priests?" It was Logan who spoke.
"Why, no," said the girl in amazement at that gentleman"s ignorance.
"There is no ceremony at all, save a feast. The two people just agree to live only with and for each other, and the man takes his wife to his home, just as you do. There is no ritual to bind them; they need none; an Indian"s word was his law in those days, you know."
Mrs. Stuart stepped backwards. "Ah!" was all she said. Logan removed his eye-gla.s.s and stared blankly at Christie. "And did McDonald marry you in this singular fashion?" He questioned.
"Oh, no, we were married by Father O"Leary. Why do you ask?"
"Because if he had, I"d have blown his brain out to-morrow."
Mrs. Stuart"s partner, who had hitherto been silent, coughed and began to twirl his cuff stud nervously, but n.o.body took any notice of him. Christie had risen, slowly, ominously--risen, with the dignity and pride of an empress.
"Captain Logan," she said, "what do you dare to say to me? What do you dare to mean? Do you presume to think it would not have been lawful for Charlie to marry me according to my people"s rites? Do you for one instant dare to question that my parents were not as legally--"
"Don"t, dear, don"t," interrupted Mrs. Stuart hurriedly; "it is bad enough now, goodness knows; don"t make--" Then she broke off blindly.
Christie"s eyes glared at the mumbling woman, at her uneasy partner, at the horrified captain. Then they rested on the McDonald brothers, who stood within earshot, Joe"s face scarlet, her husband"s white as ashes, with something in his eyes she had never seen before. It was Joe who saved the situation. Stepping quickly across towards his sister-in-law, he offered her his arm, saying, "The next dance is ours, I think, Christie."