CHAPTER VI
MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS
The next day was a very fine one, and as the roads were now good, and theair mild, Miss Panney thought it was quite time that she should begin togo about and see her friends without depending on the vehicles of otherpeople, so she ordered her little phaeton and her old roan mare, anddrove herself to Thorbury to see Mrs. Tolbridge.
"The doctor tells me," said that good lady, "that you take great interestin those young people at Cobhurst."
"Indeed I do," said Miss Panney, sitting up as straight in her easy chairas if it had been a wooden bench with no back; "I have been thinkingabout him all the morning. He ought to be married."
Mrs. Tolbridge laughed.
"Dear me, Miss Panney," said she, "it is too soon to begin thinking of awife for the poor fellow. He has not had time to feel himself at home."
"My motto is that it is never too soon to begin, but we won't talk aboutthat. Kitty, you are the worst matchmaker I ever saw."
"I think I made a pretty good match for myself," said the other.
"No, you didn't. The doctor made that, and I helped. You had nothing todo with the preliminary work, which is really the most important."
Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I am sure I am very much obliged," she said.
"You ought to be. And now while we are on the subject, let me ask you:Have you a new cook?"
"I have," replied the other, "but she is worse than the last one."
Miss Panney rose to her feet, and walked across the room.
"Kitty Tolbridge!" she exclaimed, "this is too bad. You're triflingwith the greatest treasure a woman can have on this earth--the life of agood husband."
"But what am I to do?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. "I have tried everywhere,and I can get no one better."
"Everywhere," repeated Miss Panney. "You mean everywhere in Thorbury. Yououghtn't to expect to get a decent cook in this little town. You shouldgo to the city and get one. What you want is to keep the doctor well, nomatter what it costs. He doesn't look well, and I don't see how he can bewell, on the kind of cooking you can get in Thorbury."
Mrs. Tolbridge flushed a little.
"I am sure," she said, "that Thorbury people, for generations andgenerations, have lived on Thorbury cooking, and they have been just ashealthy as any other people."
"Ah, Kitty, Kitty!" exclaimed the old lady, "you forget how things havechanged. In times gone by the ladies of the household superintended allthe cooking, and did a good deal of it besides; and they broughtsomething into the kitchen that seldom gets into it now, and that isbrains. A cook with a complete set of brains might be pretty hard to get,and would cost a good deal of money. But it is your duty, Kitty, to getas good a one as you can. If she has only a tea-cup full of brains, itwill be better than none at all. Don't mind the cost. If you have to doit, spend more on cooking, and less on raw material."
This was all Miss Panney had to say on the subject, and shortlyshe departed.
After brief stops at the post-office and one or two shops, she drove tothe abode of the Bannisters. Miss Panney tied her roan to thehitching-post by the sidewalk, and went up the smooth gravel path to thehandsome old house, which she had so often visited, to confer on her ownaffairs and those of the world at large with the father and thegrandfather of the present Bannister, attorney-at-law.
She and the house were all that were left of those old days. Even thewidow was the second wife, who had come into the family while Miss Panneywas away from Thorbury.
Mrs. Bannister was not at home, but Miss Dora was, and that entirelysatisfied the visitor. When the blooming daughter of the house camehurrying into the parlor, Miss Panney, who had previously raised two ofthe window shades, gazed at her earnestly as she saluted her, and noddedher head approvingly. Then the two sat down to talk.
They talked of several things, and very soon of the Cobhurst people.
"Oh, have you seen them?" exclaimed Dora. "I have, but only for a minuteat the station, and then I didn't know who they were, though I was toldafterward. They seemed to be very nice."
"They are," said Miss Panney. "The girl is bright, and young Mr. Haverleyis an exceedingly agreeable gentleman, just the sort of man who should bethe owner of Cobhurst. He is handsome, well educated, and spirited. I sawa good deal of him, for I spent the best part of yesterday there. Ishould say that your brother would find him a most congenial neighbor.There are so few young men hereabout who are worth anything."
"That is true," replied Dora, with a degree of earnestness, "and I knowHerbert will be delighted. I am sure he would call if he were here, buthe is away, and doesn't expect to be back for a week."
It crossed Miss Panney's mind that a week's delay in a matter ofthis sort would not be considered a breach of courtesy, but she didnot say so.
"It would be friendly if Mrs. Bannister and you were to call on thesister, before long," she remarked.
"Of course we will do it," said Dora, with animation. "I should think ayoung lady would be dreadfully lonely in that great house, at least atfirst, and perhaps we can do something for her."
Although Miss Panney had seen Miriam only in bed, she had a strongconviction that she was not yet a young lady, but this, like the otherreflection, was not put into words.
It was not noon when Miss Panney left the Bannister house, and the mindof Miss Dora, which had been renewing itself within her with all thevigor and freshness which Dr. Tolbridge had predicted, was at a loss howto occupy itself until dinner-time, which, with the Bannisters and mostof the gentlefolk of Thorbury, was at two o'clock.
Dora put on her prettiest hat and her wrap and went out. She wanted tocall on somebody and to talk, and suddenly it struck her that she wouldgo and inquire about the kitten she had given Dr. Tolbridge, and carryit a fresh ribbon. She bought the ribbon, and found Mrs. Tolbridge andthe kitten at home.
When the ornament had been properly adjusted, Miss Dora put the kittenupon the floor and remarked: "Now there is some comfort in doing a thinglike that for Dr. Tolbridge, because he will be sure to notice it. Thereare some gentlemen who hardly ever notice things you do for them. Herbertis often that way."
"Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Tolbridge, who had turned toward a desk atwhich she had been writing. "The doctor is a man I can recommend, and Ihope you may get a husband as good as he is. And by the way, if you everdo get such a one, I also hope you will be able to find some one who willcook his meals properly. I find that I cannot do that in Thorbury, and Iam going to try to get one in the city. I am now writing an advertisementwhich I shall put into several of the papers, and day after to-morrow Ishall go down to see the people who answer."
"Oh, that will be fun," cried Dora; "I wish I could go with you."
"And why not?"
"Why not, indeed?" replied the young lady, and the matter wasimmediately arranged.
"And while we are talking about servants," said Dora, whose ebullientmind now found a chance to bring in the subject which was most prominentwithin it, "I should think that the new people at Cobhurst would find ittroublesome to get the right sort of service."
"Perhaps so," replied Mrs. Tolbridge, "although I have a fancy they aregoing to have a very independent household, at least for a time. It is agreat pity that the young girl was taken sick just as she entered intoher new home."
"Sick!" exclaimed Dora; "I never heard of that."
"Oh, it wasn't anything serious," said the other, her thoughts turningto the advertisement, which she wished to get into the post-officebefore dinner, "and I have no doubt she is quite well now, but still itwas a pity."
"Indeed it was!" exclaimed Dora, in tones of the most earnest sympathyand commiseration. "It was the greatest kind of a pity, and I think Ireally ought to call on her very soon." And in this mood she went hometo dinner.
The Girl at Cobhurst Page 6