I went quietly out of the room, tired of the scene.
A little while after this, Lottie came to me with one of her keen smiles, and, opening her hands, which were folded palm to palm, gave me one glimpse of a little note, primrose-tinted, and sealed with a drop of green wax, in which an antique head was stamped.
"What is it? whom is it for?" I inquired, thinking that it must be intended for Jessie.
"You"ll see to-night, or to-morrow morning," she answered. "Mrs. Babylon writes on handsome paper; I won"t use white any more. I"ll say this for her: when it comes to dress and pretty things, she can"t be beat easy.
Don"t quite come up to Mrs. Lee: who can?--but putting her aside, I don"t know Mrs. Babylon"s match."
"And is that Mrs. Dennison"s note?"
"Ask me no questions, and I"ll tell you no lies."
"But how came it in your possession?"
She eyed me a moment sideways, then broke forth as if some grand thought had just seized upon her.
"Now, I"ll make a bargain with you, Miss Hyde. If you"ll just persuade my mistress, or Miss Jessie, to buy me half a dozen sheets of that straw-colored paper, I"ll tell you all about it."
"But what can you want of primrose paper, Lottie,--you that never write letters?"
"No; but I may take to writing poetry; who knows?"
She said this with a twinkle of the eye that provoked me. How on earth had that creature got hold of my secret weakness?
"It isn"t at all likely that you"ll want paper for that purpose, Miss Lottie."
"Miss Lottie--Miss! Well now, I have always said that if there was a genuine lady, and no nonsense in this house, it was you, ma"am. Even my mistress hasn"t got up to that mark--Miss Lottie! Wouldn"t that look beautiful on a yellow note like this? Miss Lottie--"
She plumed herself, like a bird, in the ecstasy of my random speech, and both her hands and her heart opened at once.
"Now, I"ll tell you all about it! There"s no secret, and if there is, I didn"t promise not to tell; that is, down in my heart. Cora came to me just now, and says she, "Lottie, you know all the men about the premises, I suppose?"
""Well, pretty much," says I.
""I thought so," she said. "Now, here is a little note that my mistress wants to have sent right off. If you can coax one of the men to take a horse from the stable, and just gallop over to Mr. Bosworth"s with it, and bring an answer back, she"ll give you that dress you took such a fancy to."
""Well," says I, "hand over the note; I"ll get it done." She had been holding the note seal up all the time, and says she, "Lottie"--not Miss Lottie, mind--but, "Lottie, can you read writing?"
""Can you?" says I.
""No," says she; "colored people seldom do."
""Well, then I don"t."
""Well, this note is for a lady that is staying at Mr. Bosworth"s; she"s an old friend of Mrs. Dennison"s, and we want to hear from her."
""All right," says I. "If you hadn"t told this, it would be Greek and Latin to me."
"She handed over the note, and told me to put it in my bosom for fear of its being seen. So I did; and came here, but not till I had read Mr.
Lawrence"s name on the outside. Now, Miss Hyde, just tell me what to do."
"There is one thing you must not do, Lottie, and that is, tempt any of the men from their duty."
"But then that dress! Light green foulard, with bunches of roses--sweet roses!"
"Wait a moment, Lottie; we must not do anything without Mr. Lee"s sanction: that will never answer."
I went up to Mr. Lee, who was sitting in the window recess, apparently reading, and asked if he could spare a horse and man long enough to ride over to Mr. Bosworth"s.
"Who wishes to send?" he inquired, indifferently.
"Mrs. Dennison," I answered, not unwilling to give him the information.
He held the paper a little tighter in his hand, repeating:
"Mrs. Dennison! What correspondent has she at Mrs. Bosworth"s?"
There was an effort at indifference in his voice, but it did not conceal that he was touched.
I did not feel at liberty to answer his question, and said nothing.
After a moment"s silence, he said,--
"Certainly, Miss Hyde. Our guests always command here."
I went back to Lottie, and told her to carry Mr. Lee"s orders to the stable, and, if she wished it, claim her reward. She seized my hand in an ecstasy of delight.
"Oh! Miss Hyde, I never will talk about poetry again, never so long as I live; but I"ll tell everybody that you don"t know a thing about it, no more than I do; and I believe it."
With this outburst she went away. Directly after, I saw one of the grooms riding down the road. Two hours after, he came back, and gave Lottie, who was waiting near the pine woods, with great appearance of secrecy, a note, with which she went at once to Mrs. Dennison, evidently resolved to keep up appearances, and leave her employers in the belief that the whole thing had been managed privately.
I had thrown the subject of the note quite off my thoughts, when the groom, who had been to Mr. Bosworth"s, came to me in the garden with distressing news.
Poor young Bosworth was ill--so ill, that he had not been out of his room for some days; and his mother desired very much that I should come over and see him. He had spoken of it several times, and, now that he was growing worse, she could refuse him nothing. It was asking a great deal, but would I come at the earliest time possible?
This was indeed sad news. I liked the young man. He was honorable, generous, and in all respects a person to fix one"s affections upon--that is, such affections as a lady just dropping the bloom of her youth may bestow on the man who looks upon her as a sort of relative.
Of course I would go to see Bosworth in his sickness. "G.o.d bless and help the young man," I whispered; "if she could only think of him as I do!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE OLD PENNSYLVANIA MANSION.
The Bosworths lived behind the spur of the mountain which shut out a portion of the valley from our house by its crown of forest-trees. I had taken little exercise in the open air of late, for Mrs. Dennison monopolized the horse I had been in the habit of riding, with my usual seat in the carriage. Perhaps I felt a little hurt at this, and would not ask favors that had until now been mine without solicitation. In my love of out-door exercise I am half an English woman. So, mentioning to Mrs. Lee and Jessie that I was going out for a long walk across the fields, I started for Mrs. Bosworth"s house.