CHAPTER XXIX
HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO
To say that Cicely Drane had not thought of Ralph Haverley as anexceedingly agreeable young man would be an injustice to her youngwomanly nature, but it would be quite correct to state that she had notthought him a whit more agreeable than Miriam. She was charmed with themboth; they had taken her into their home circle as if they had adoptedher as a sister. It was not until her mother began to put a gentlepressure upon her in order to prevent her gathering too many apples, andjoining in too many other rural recreations with Mr. Haverley, that shethought of him as one who was not to be considered in the light of abrother. There could be no doubt that she would have come to the sameconclusion if left to herself, but she would not have reached it so soon.
But the effect that her mother's precautionary disposition had had uponher was nothing compared to that produced by the words of La Fleur. Forthe first time she looked upon Ralph as one on whom other persons lookedas her lover, and to sit by the side of the said young man, immediatelyafter being informed of said fact, was not conducive to a free andtranquil flow of remark.
Her own sentiments on the subject, so far as she had put them intoshape,--and it was quite natural that she should immediately begin todo this,--were neither embarrassing nor disagreeable. She liked himvery much, and there was no reason why she should object to his likingher very much, and if they should ever do more than this, she shouldnot be ashamed of it, and perhaps should be glad of it. But she wassorry that before either of them had thought of this, some one elseshould have done so.
This might prove to be embarrassing, and the only comfort she could giveherself was that La Fleur was such an affectionate old body, alwaystalking of some bit of good fortune for her, that if she had seen her incompany with a king or an emperor, she would immediately set herself tofind some sort of throne-covering which would suit her hair andcomplexion.
The definite result of her reflections, made between desultory questionsand answers, was that she regarded the young gentleman by her side in alight very different from that in which she had viewed him before she hadmet La Fleur in the doctor's hall. It was not that she looked upon him asa possible lover--she had sense enough to know that almost any man mightbe that--he was a hypothetic lover, and in view of the assumption itbehooved her to give careful observation to everything in him, herself,or others, which might bear upon the ensuing argument.
As for Ralph, it angered him to look at the young lady by his side, whowas as handsome, as well educated and cultured, as tastefully dressed, asintelligent and witty, of as gentle, kind, and winning a disposition,and, judging from what the doctor had told him when he first spoke of theDranes, of as good blood, family, and position, as any one within thecircle of his acquaintance, and then to remember that she had been calleda working-girl, and spoken of in a manner that was almost contemptuous.
Ralph always took the side of the man who was down, and, consequently,very often put himself on the wrong side; and although he did notconsider that Miss Drane was down, he saw that Miss Panney had tried toput her down, and therefore he became her champion.
"There could not be any one," he said to himself, "better fitted to bethe friend and companion of Miriam than Cicely Drane is, and the nexttime I see that old lady, I shall tell her so. I have nothing to sayagainst Miss Bannister, but I shall stand up for this one."
And now, feeling that it was not polite to treat a young lady withseeming inattention, because he happened to be earnestly thinking abouther, he began to talk to Cicely in his liveliest and gayest manner, andshe, not wishing him to think that she thought that there was anythingout of the way in this, or in his previous preoccupation, respondedjust as gayly.
Ralph delivered Miss Panney's message to his sister, and Miriam, givingmuch more weight to the advice and opinion of the old lady, whom she knewvery slightly and cared for very little, than to that of her brother,whom she loved dearly, said she would go to see Miss Bannister the nextafternoon if it happened to be clear.
It was clear, and she went, and Ralph drove her there in the gig, andDora was overwhelmed with joy to see her, and scolded Ralph in the mostcharming way for not bringing her before; Miriam was taken to see Congo,because Dora wanted her to begin to love him, and they were shown intothe library, because Dora said that she knew they both loved books, andher father had gathered together so many. In ten minutes, Miriam was inthe window seat, dipping, which ended in her swimming, far beyond herdepth in Don Quixote, which she had so often read of and never seen, andDora and Ralph sat, heads together, over a portfolio of photographs offoreign places where the Bannisters had been.
There were very few books at Cobhurst, and Miriam had read all of themshe cared for, and consequently it was an absorbing delight to follow theadventures of the Knight of La Mancha.
Ralph had not travelled in Europe, and there were very few pictures atCobhurst, and he was greatly interested in the photographs, but thisinterest soon waned in the increasing delight of having Dora seated soclose to him, of seeing her fair fingers point out the things he shouldlook at, and listening to her sweet voice, as she talked to him about thescenes and buildings. There was an element of gentle and sympatheticinterest in Dora's manner, which reminded him of her visit to Cobhurst,and the good-night on the stairs, and this had a very charming effectupon Ralph, and made him wish that the portfolio were at least double itsactual size.
The Haverleys stayed so long that Mrs. Bannister, upstairs, began tobe nervous, and wondered if Dora had asked those young people toremain to tea.
On the way home Ralph was in unusually good spirits, and talked muchabout Dora. She must have seen a great deal of the world, he said, forone so young, and she talked in such an interesting and appreciative wayabout what she had seen, that he felt almost as if he had been to theplaces himself.
With this for a text, he dilated upon the subject of Dora and foreigntravel, but Miriam was not a responsive hearer.
"I wish you knew Mr. Bannister better," she said in a pause in herbrother's remarks. "He must have been everywhere that his sister hasbeen, and probably saw a great deal more."
"No doubt," said Ralph, carelessly, "and probably has forgotten most ofit; men generally do that. A girl's mind is not crammed with business andall that sort of stuff, and she can keep it free for things that areworth remembering."
Miriam did not immediately answer, but presently she said, speaking witha certain air of severity:--
"If my soul ached for the company of anybody as Miss Panney told you DoraBannister's soul ached for my company, I think I should have a littlemore to say to her when she came to see me, than Dora Bannister had tosay to me to-day."
"My dear child!" exclaimed Ralph, "that was because you were so busy withyour book. She saw you were completely wrapped up in it, and so let youtake your own pleasure in your own way. I think that is one of her goodpoints. She tries to find out what pleases people."
"Bother her good points!" snapped Miriam. "You will make a regularporcupine of her if you keep on. I wish Mr. Bannister had givenyou the dog."
Ralph was very much disturbed; it was seldom that his sister snapped athim. He could see, now that he considered the matter, that Miriam hadbeen somewhat neglected. She was young and a little touchy, and thisought to be considered. He thought it might be well, the next time he sawMiss Bannister by herself, to explain this to her. He believed he coulddo it without making it appear a matter of any great importance. It wasimportant, however, for he should very much dislike to see ill will growup between Miriam and Miss Bannister. What Miss Panney had said aboutthis young lady was very, very true, although, of course, it did notfollow that any one else need be disparaged.
Early in the forenoon of the next day, Miss Panney drove to Cobhurst. Shehad come, she informed Miriam, not only to see her, dear girl, but tomake a formal call upon the Dranes.
The call was very formal; Miss Drane left her work to meet the visitor,but having been loftily set aside by that lady duri
ng a stiffconversation with her mother about old residents in the neighborhood inwhich they had lived, she excused herself, after a time, and went back toher table and her manuscripts.
Then Miss Panney changed the conversational scene, and began to talkabout Thorbury.
"I do not know, madam," she said, "that you are aware that I was thecause of your coming to this neighborhood."
Mrs. Drane was a quiet lady, and the previous remarks of her visitor hadbeen calculated to render her more quiet, but this roused her.
"I certainly did not," she said. "We came on the invitation and throughthe kindness of Dr. Tolbridge, my old friend."
"Yes, yes, yes," said Miss Panney, "that is all true enough, but I toldhim to send for you. In fact, I insisted upon it. I did it, of course,for his sake; for I knew that the arrangement would be of advantage tohim in various ways, but I was also glad to be of service to yourdaughter, of whom I had heard a good report. Furthermore, I interestedmyself very much in getting you lodgings, and found you a home at Mrs.Brinkly's that I hoped you would like. If I had not done so, I think youwould have been obliged to go to the hotel, which is not pleasant andmuch more expensive than a private house. I do not mention these things,madam, because I wish to be thanked, or anything of that sort; far fromit. I did what I did because I thought it was right; but I must admit, ifyou will excuse my mentioning it, that I was surprised, to say the least,that I was not consulted, in the slightest degree, on the occasion ofyour leaving the home I had secured for you."
"I am very sorry," said Mrs. Drane, "that I should appear to have beendiscourteous to one who had done us a service, for which, I assure you,we are both very much obliged, but Dr. and Mrs. Tolbridge managed thewhole affair of our removal from Mrs. Brinkly's house, and I did notsuppose there was any one, besides them and ourselves, who would take theslightest interest in the matter."
"Oh, I find no fault," said Miss Panney. "It is not an affair ofimportance, but I think you will agree, madam, that after the interest Ihad shown in procuring you suitable accommodation, I might have beenspared what some people might consider the mortification of being told,when I stated to Mrs. Tolbridge that I intended to call upon you, thatyou were not then living with the lady whose consent to receive you intoher family I had obtained, after a great deal of personal solicitationand several visits."
Upon this presentation of the matter, Mrs. Drane could not help thinkingthat the old lady had been treated somewhat uncivilly, and expressed herregret in the most suitable terms she could think of, adding that shewas sure that Miss Panney would agree that the change had been anexcellent one.
"Of course, of course," said Miss Panney. "For a temporary countryresidence, I suppose you could not have found a better spot, though itmust be a long walk for your daughter when she goes to submit her work toDr. Tolbridge."
"That has not yet been necessary," said Mrs. Drane; "Mr. Haverley isvery kind--"
At this point Miss Panney rose. She had said all she wanted to say, andto decline to hear anything about Ralph Haverley's having been seendriving about with a young woman who had been engaged as Dr. Tolbridge'ssecretary, was much better than speaking of it, and she took her leavewith a prim politeness.
Mrs. Drane was left in an uncomfortable state of mind. It was notpleasant to be reminded that this delightful country house was only atemporary home, for that implied a return to Thorbury, a town shedisliked; and although she had, of course, expected to go back there, shehad not allowed the matter to dwell in her mind at all, putting it intothe future, without consideration, as she liked to do with things thatwere unpleasant.
Moreover, there was something, she could not tell exactly what, aboutMiss Panney's words and manner, which put an unsatisfactory aspect uponthe obvious methods of Cicely's communications with her employer.
Mrs. Drane's mind had already been slightly disturbed on this subject,but Miss Panney had revived and greatly increased the disturbance.
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