CHAPTER XX
THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE
When Dora Bannister had gone away in Miss Panney's phaeton, Miriam walkedgravely into the house, followed by her brother.
"Now," said she, "I must go to work in earnest."
"Work!" exclaimed Ralph. "I think you have been working a good dealharder than you ought to work, and certainly a good deal harder than Iintend you to work. As soon as he has had his dinner, Mike shall take thewagon, and go after the woman Miss Panney told us of."
"Of course I have been working," said Miriam, "but while Dora Bannisterwas here, what we did was not like straightforward work; it all seemed tomean something that was not just plain housekeeping. For one thing, thedough I intended to bake into bread was nearly all used up in makingthose rolls that Dora worked up into such pretty shapes; and now, if thenew woman comes, I shall not have another chance to try my hand atmaking bread until she leaves us, for I am not going to do anything ofthe sort with a servant watching me. And there are all those raspberrieswe picked this morning. I am sure I do not know what to do with them, forthere are ever so many more than we shall want to eat with cream. Whatwas it, Ralph, that you said you liked, made of raspberries?"
Ralph looked a little puzzled.
"I think," he said, "it must have been something of the tart order. Whatdid I tell you?"
"You did not tell me anything," said Miriam, "and I do not believe thattarts are ever made of raspberries. Dora Bannister said she wanted tocook something for you that you told her you liked, but as you haveforgotten what it was, I suppose it does not make much difference now."
Ralph had said so many things to Dora that he could not remember whatremark he had made about cooked raspberries; but it delighted him tothink that, whatever it was, Dora had wished to make it for him.
After dinner Miriam went up to her room, where upon the bed lay JudithPacewalk's teaberry gown. She took off her own school-girl dress, and puton the pink gown. It was the first time she had ever worn the clothes ofa woman. When she had attired herself in the silken robe which had beenso fatal to the fortunes and life of Judith Pacewalk, it had been slippedon in masquerade fashion, debased from its high position to a mereprotection from spilt milk. Miriam had thought of the purple silk whenMiss Panney was telling her story, and had said to herself that if thestall in the cow-stable had been ever so much darker and dirtier, and ifthe milk stains had been more and bigger, the career of that robe wouldhave ended all the more justly.
The teaberry gown was too long for Miriam, and too large in every way.She knew that for herself; but hearing Ralph's footsteps outside, she hada longing to know what he would say on the subject, so, holding up herskirt to keep herself from tripping, she ran downstairs and called himinto the big hall.
"How do you like me in the teaberry gown?" she asked.
Without a thought of any figurative significance connected with thedress, Ralph only saw that it was as unsuitable to his sister as it hadbeen well suited to Dora.
"You will have to grow a good deal bigger and older before you are ableto fill that gown, my little one," he said.
"That is not the way I do things," said Miriam, severely. "I shall makethe gown fit me."
Ralph was about to say that it would be a pity to cut down and alter thatpicturesque piece of old-fashioned attire into an ordinary garment, andthat it would be well to keep it as a family relic, or to give it away tosome one who could wear it as it was, but Miriam's manner assured himthat she was extremely sensitive on the subject of this gown, and heconsidered it wise to offer no further opinion about it. So he went abouthis affairs, and Miriam, having resumed her ordinary dress, went out withher cook-book to a bench under a tree on the lawn. She never stayed inthe house when it was possible to be out of doors.
"I wish I could find out," she said to herself, "what Dora Bannisterintended to make for Ralph out of raspberries. Whatever it is, I know Ican make it just as well, and I want to do it all myself before the newcook comes. It could not have been jam," she said, as she turned overthe leaves; "for Ralph does not care much for jam, and he would not havetold her he liked that. And then there is jelly; but it must take a longtime to make jelly, and I do not believe she would undertake to give himthat for dinner, made from raspberries picked this morning. Besides, Icannot imagine Ralph saying he wanted jelly for his dinner. Well, well!"she exclaimed aloud, as she stopped to read a recipe, "they do maketarts out of raspberries! That must have been it, for Ralph isdesperately fond of every kind of pastry. I will go into the house thisminute, and make him some raspberry tarts. We shall have them forsupper, even if they give him the nightmare. I am not going to have himsay again that he wished the new cook, as he kept calling DoraBannister, had stayed a little longer."
Alas! at dinner time Ralph had been guilty of that indiscretion. Withoutexactly knowing it, he had missed in the meal a certain very pleasantelement, which had been put into the supper and breakfast by Dora'sdesire to gratify his especial tastes. While he missed their visitor inmany other ways, he alluded to her premature departure only in connectionwith their domestic affairs.
But so far as Miriam was concerned, he could have done nothing worsethan this. To have heard her brother say that Dora Bannister was the mostlovely girl he had ever seen, and that he was filled with grief at losingthe delights of her society, might have been disagreeable to her, or itmight not. But to have him even in the lightest way intimate that herhousekeeping was preferable to that of his own sister nettled herself-esteem.
"I will show him," she said, "that he is mistaken."
In the pleasant coolness of the great barn, Ralph stretched himself on apile of new-made hay to think. He was a farmer, and he intended to tryto be a good farmer, and he knew that good farmers, during workinghours, do not lie down on piles of hay to think. But notwithstandingthat, in this hay-scented solitude, looking out of the great door uponthe quiet landscape with the white clouds floating over it, he thoughtof Dora. He had been thinking of her in all sorts of irregular anddisjointed ways ever since he had risen in the morning; but now hewished to think definitely, and lay down here for that purpose. Onecannot think definitely and single-mindedly when engaged in farm work,especially if he sometimes finds himself a little awkward at said workand is bothered by it.
Whenever he could do it, Ralph Haverley liked to get things clear andstraightforward in his mind. He had applied this rule to all matters ofhis former business, and he now applied it to the affairs of his presentestate. But how much more important was it to apply the rules to DoraBannister! Nothing had ever put his mind into a condition less clear andstraightforward than the visit of that young lady. The main point to bedecided upon was: what should he do about seeing her again? He was filledby an all-pervading desire to do that; but how should he set about it?The simplest plan would be to go and see her; but if he did so, he knewhe ought to take his sister with him, and he had no reason to believethat Miriam would be in any hurry to return Miss Bannister's visit. If hehad been acquainted with the brother, the case would have been different,but that gentleman had not yet called upon him.
Having thought some time on this subject, Ralph sat upright, andrearranged his reflections.
"Why is it," he said to himself, "that I am so anxious to see her again,and to see her as soon as possible?"
To the solution of this question, Ralph applied the full force of hisintellectual powers. The conclusion that came to him after about sixseconds of deliberation was not well defined, but it indicated that ifalmost any young man had had in his house--actually living with him andtaking part in his household affairs--an unusually handsome young woman,who, not only by her appearance, but by her gentle and thoughtful desireto adapt herself to the tastes and circumstances of himself and hissister, seemed to belong in the place into which she had so suddenlydropped, that young man would naturally want to see that young woman justas soon as he could. This would be so in any similar case, and there wasno use in trying to find out why it was so in this
case.
He rose to his feet, and at that moment he heard Miriam calling to him.
"Ralph," she said, running into the barn, "I have been looking all overfor you. The new woman cannot come to-day."
"I do not see why you should appear so delighted about it," said Ralph;"I am very sorry to hear it."
"And I am not," replied Miriam. "There are some things I want to dobefore she comes, and I am very glad to have the chance. Mike broughtback word from her that if you send the wagon in the cool of the morning,she will come over with her trunk."
"You are a funny girl," said Ralph, "to be actually pleased at theprospect of cooking and doing housework a little longer." And as he saidthat, he congratulated himself that his sister had not had the chance ofthinking him a funny fellow for lying stretched on the hay when he oughtto have been at work.
Miriam was now in good spirits again. She walked to the great openwindow, and, leaning on the bar, looked out.
"What a lovely air," she said, and then she turned to her brother. "It isnice to have visitors, and to have plenty of people to do your work, butit is a hundred times jollier for just us two to be here by ourselves.Don't you think so, Ralph?" And, without waiting for her brother'sanswer, she went on. "You see, we can do whatever we please. We can beas free as anything--as free as cats. Here, puss, puss," she called tothe gray barn cat in the yard below. "No, she will not even look at me.Cats are the freest creatures in the world; they will not come to you ifthey do not want to. If you call your dog, he feels that he has to cometo you. Ralph, do you know I think it is the most absurd thing in theworld that in a place like this we should have no dog."
"I have been waiting for somebody to give me one," said Ralph, taking upa pitchfork and preparing to throw some hay into the stable below.
"That will be the nicest way of getting one," said Miriam, as she cameand stood by him, and watched him thrust the hay into the yawning hole."We do not want a dog that people are willing to sell. We want one thatis the friend of the family, and which the owners are obliged to partwith because they are going to Europe, or something of that sort. Such adog we should prize. Don't you think so, Ralph?"
"Yes," said he, and went on taking up forkloads of hay and thrusting theminto the hole. He was wondering if this were a good time to tell Miriamthat that very morning Dora Bannister had been talking about there beingno dog at Cobhurst, and had asked him if he would like to have one; forif he would, she had a very handsome black setter, which had been givento her when it was a little puppy, and of which she was very fond, butwhich had now grown too big and lively to be cooped up in the yard oftheir house. He had said that he would be charmed to have the dog, andhad intended to tell Miriam about it, but now a most excellentopportunity had come to do so, he hesitated. Miriam's soul did not seemto incline toward their late visitor, and perhaps she might not care fora gift from her. It might be better to wait awhile. Then there came ahappy thought to Ralph; here was a good reason for going to see Dora. Itwould be no more than polite to take an interest in the animal which hadbeen offered him, and even if he did not immediately bring it toCobhurst, he could go and look at it. Miriam now returned to the house,leaving her brother pondering over the question whether or not the nextmorning would be too soon to go and look at the dog.
The sun had set, and Ralph, having finished his day's work, and havinghelped his sister as much as she and Mike would let him, sat on thepiazza, gazing between the tall pillars upon the evening landscape, andstill trying to decide whether or not it would be out of the way to gothe next morning to Dora Bannister. The evening light grew less and less,and Ralph's healthy instincts drew his mind from thoughts of Dora tothoughts of supper. It certainly was very late for the evening meal, buthe would not worry Miriam with any signs of impatience. That would beunkind indeed, when she was slaving away in the kitchen, while he sathere enjoying the evening coolness.
In a few minutes he heard his sister's step in the hall, and then a sob.He had scarcely time to turn, when Miriam ran out, and threw herself downon the wide seat beside him. Her face, as he could see it in the dimlight, was one of despair, and as sob after sob broke from her, tears randown her cheeks. Tenderly he put his arm around her and urged her to tellhim what had happened.
"Oh, Ralph," she sobbed, "it is very hard, but I know it is true. I havebeen just filled with vanity and pride, and after all I am nothing likeas good as she is, nor as good as anybody, and the best I can do is to goback to school."
"What is the matter?" exclaimed Ralph. "You poor little thing, how cameyou to be so troubled?"
Miriam gave a long sigh and dropped her head on her brother's shoulder.
"Oh, Ralph," she said, "they are six inches high."
"What are?" cried Ralph, in great amazement.
"The tarts," she said; "the raspberry tarts I was making for you, becauseyou like them, and because Dora Bannister was going to make them for you,and I determined that I could do it just as well as she could, and that Iwould do it and that you would not have to miss her for anything. But itis of no use; I cannot do things as well as she can, and those tarts arenot like tarts at all; they are like chimneys."
"I expect they are very good indeed. Now do not drop another tear, andlet us go in and eat them."
"No," said Miriam, "they are not good. I know what is the matter withthem. I have found out that I have no more idea of making pie crust thanI have about the nebulous part of astronomy, and that I never couldcomprehend. I wanted to make the lightest, puffiest pastry that waspossible, and I used some self-raising flour, the kind that has the yeastground up with it, and when I put those tarts in the oven to bake, theyjust rose up, and rose up, until I thought they would reach up thechimney. They are perfectly horrid."
Ralph sprang to his feet, and lifted his sister from her seat. "Comealong, little one," he cried, "and I shall judge for myself what sort ofa pastry-cook you are."
"The pigs shall judge that," said Miriam, who had now dried her eyes,"but fortunately there are other things to eat."
The tarts, indeed, were wonderful things to look at, resembling, asMiriam had said, a plateful of little chimneys, with a sort of swallow'snest of jam at the top, but Ralph did not laugh at them.
"Wait until their turn comes," said Ralph, "and I will give my opinionabout them."
When he had finished the substantial part of the meal, he drew the plateof tarts toward him.
"I will show you how to eat the Cobhurst tart. You cut it down from topto bottom: then you lay the two sections on their rounded sides: then youget a lot more of jam, which I see you have on the side table, and youspread the cut surfaces with it: then you put it together as it wasbefore, and slice it along its shorter diameter. Good?" said he; "theyare delicious."
Miriam took a piece. "It is good enough," she said, "but it is not atart. If Dora Bannister had made them, they would have been real tarts."
"It is very well I said nothing about the dog," thought Ralph; and thenhe said aloud, "It is not Dora Bannister that we have to consider; it isMolly Tooney. She is to save you from the tears and perplexities of flourand yeast, and to make you the happy little lady of the house that youwere before the wicked Phoebe went away. But one thing I insist upon: Iwant the rest of those tarts for my breakfast."
Miriam looked at her brother with a smile that showed her storm was over.
"You are eating those things, dear Ralph," she said, "because I madethem, and that is the only good thing about them."
The Girl at Cobhurst Page 20