CHAPTER XXVIII
A TANNED HERCULES
In spite of the fact that the holiday was over it was good to get backto the old house on the Square, to hear Mrs. MacFayden's warm "It's agled day"; to smile at Thomas and Duncan and the maids; to hug dear Mrs.Brandt; and to receive a hearty welcome from the other friends, who weremostly still in town in the middle of June.
Then came eager summonses from Jeannette, who, with Aunt Olivia andRosalie, was staying at an uptown hotel for the finishing of thetrousseau. Georgiana found herself involved in a round of final shoppingand hurried luncheons, while Rosalie talked incessantly, Mrs. Croftonargued maternally, and the bride-elect herself turned to Georgiana asthe one person--with the exception of her father--who understood her.
"I can't convince mother and Rosy that I'm not really to spend thesummer in the country with Jimps, and most of the rest of the year athome doing the usual round," sighed Jeannette, unburdening herself toher cousin during a half-hour's needed relaxation between luncheon anda visit to a famous jeweller's.
"I know; you'll just have to be patient, let them equip you for whatthey expect of you, and then--live your own life as you and Jimps haveplanned it. After a while they will see that you really do mean to livein the country, not the city, and that decollete evening gowns don'tsuit the fireside, nor afternoon calling costumes the five-mile tramp.Meanwhile, don't let the poor boy ever guess at the size or quality ofyour outfit. I think he'd run away and hang himself!"
"He never shall know. And, Georgiana, I really have managed to have somequite simple little frocks made--by a young woman whom Madame Trennetrecommended when I whispered in her ear. And I've bought the jolliestdark green corduroy suit, with a short skirt and pockets, and a littlegreen corduroy soft hat to match, for the tramps. Oh, I'm going to be areal farmer's wife, I promise you!"
"Of course," mused Georgiana gently, lifting quizzical eyebrows, "I'venever happened to see any farmer's wife thus equipped, but there's noreason why you shouldn't set the fashion. I suppose you will wear greensilk stockings and bronze pumps with this picturesque tramping costume,with a bronze buckle in your hat to complete the ensemble. All you willthen need will be a beautiful painted drop of the Forest of Arden----"
"You unkind thing! If _you_ begin to scoff----"
"But I won't. I know there's heaps of sense in your pretty head, andyou'll make Jimps the most satisfying sort of a wife even though youdon't carry the eggs to market or milk the cows. There's no reason whyyou should, with your own private income. Jimps is too wise to forbidyour spending it to decorate both your lives, for he knows you couldn'tstand real wear and tear, while a reasonable amount of country life willmake you stronger. Go ahead, dear; hang English chintzes at thefarmhouse windows, set up your baby grand piano in that nice, oldliving-room, and hang jolly hunting prints in the dining-room. Wear thecorduroys--only, instead of bronze pumps, I should advise----"
"You needn't. I've got them. The heaviest kind of tanned buckskin boots.And you all may laugh, but you just wait!"
"I'm not laughing; you know I'm not. I wish I could help you byconvincing Aunt Olivia that you don't need some of the things sheinsists on including. But, since I can't, I'll comfort you by assuringyou that Jefferson says he's counting on your being one of the sort whowill prove the great contention--that beauty and poetry _can_ be broughtinto the farmhouse."
Thus spoke Georgiana, though in her heart of hearts, as she watchedJeannette in all her costly elegance, at counter after counter,selecting supplies of one sort or another, she couldn't help having herdoubts whether a lifelong training in luxury could be turned into afitness for living, in spite of many mitigations, the truly simple life.These doubts, however, she suppressed, only dropping a word of cautionhere and there, which Jeannette took kindly, being eager to proveherself practical, and undoubtedly sincere in her longing to bring toJames Stuart the helpmate he needed.
So came on the great day; and when it had arrived, and the Craigs wereguests of Aunt Olivia, making ready for the ceremony, Georgiana had herchance to return to Stuart the support he had given her in the hour ofher own marriage. She had just completed her dressing, and was about todescend with her husband to the waiting bridal party below, when Stuartcame to their door.
Craig admitted him, and he entered, the dreaded white gloves in hishands, visible agitation on his brow.
"You young Hercules!" Georgiana cried. "Aren't you splendid!"
"I feel anything but splendid," he returned nervously. "I look like aboiled lobster on a white platter!"
"Nonsense, man," denied Dr. Jefferson Craig, his hand on Stuart'sshoulder, "you're the picture of a healthy young bridegroom. I've seenplenty of tallow candles standing up to be married; you're a refreshingcontrast."
After a minute of heartening talk, Craig slipped out of the room,leaving the two old friends together.
"Cheer up, Jimps," Georgiana bade Stuart, as she gave a straighteninglittle touch to his white cravat, woman fashion. "This part won't lastlong. And don't be frightened when you catch sight of Jean in all herglory. She would much rather have been married as I was, you know, andshe's really precisely the same girl in spite of her veil. She worshipsyou, and everything's all right. Stop looking as if you wanted to runaway!"
"But I do--if I could just take her with me," he answered, in such amelancholy tone that Georgiana laughed in his ruddy face.
"You can't; this is the only way you can get her; so stand up straightand look everybody in the eye. You're perfectly stunning in thoseclothes, and lots nicer to look at than most men. And Chester will takeyou serenely through all the forms, so you've nothing to worry about.That's right--give me a ghost of a smile. One would think you were aboutto be hung!"
"I came to you to be braced up, so it's all right; but call off the dogsof war now. I did pretty well till I saw the total effect, and then Ithought maybe Jean would wish she had a man who could turn pale insteadof crimson. But I'm going through with it, and I don't intend to lookknockkneed, anyhow."
"Good for you. Just remember that Jean would swim through a flood ofwater to reach you, wedding gown and all, if the aisle should happen tobe inundated, so you certainly can stand at the altar while she walks upthat aisle."
"I sure can." And James McKenzie Stuart shook his broad shoulders,lifted his head, and held out both hands to Georgiana Craig. "Muchobliged for the tonic. And, George--just remember, will you, that I'mprecisely the same brother to you I've always been! Nothing can everchange that!"
"Of course you are," she agreed, with a rush of vivid recollectionswhich brought a curious little smile to her lips. "Now go, my dear boy,and heaven bless you!"
Half an hour later, standing beside her husband in the flower-fragrantchurch, Georgiana watched with a beating heart to see Stuart bearhimself like the man she knew him to be, in spite of all the pomp andceremony to which he was such a stranger. She had been half angry, allthe way through the preparations, that Aunt Olivia had insisted on everylast detail of formality and ostentation--or so it had seemed to her, asunaccustomed as Stuart himself to the great church wedding with itslong processional, its show of bridesmaids and flower girls, its ranksof ushers, its elaborate music, its pair of distinguished clergymen infull canonicals. But now, somehow, as the age-old words sounded upon herears, it seemed to matter less under what circumstances they werespoken, so that the answers to the solemn questions came from the heartsof those who spoke them. And of this she could have no possible doubt.
By and by, when in her turn, back in the festally decorated house, shecame to give the newly married pair her felicitations, she was wellpleased to see Stuart quite himself again, smiling at her with the proudlook of the bridegroom from whom no human being can wrest the prize hehas just secured. And as she noted Jeannette's equally evident happycontent with the man she had married, Georgiana took courage for theirfuture. Surely--surely--they could go from these scenes of luxury to theplainer life that awaited them, and miss nothing, so that they took withthem, as th
ey were doing, the one thing needful.
"It's all right, I'm sure it's all right, dears," she said to them, andshe said it again to her husband when they were rushing back to New Yorkby the first train after the bridal pair had gone.
"Yes, I think it is," he agreed. "It's an interesting experiment, butnot more hazardous than many another in the matrimonial line. If itsucceeds Jeannette will come out a finer woman than she could ever havebeen by any other process. It's amusing, though, to see her family.Evidently they regard her as one lost to the world quite as much as ifshe had gone into a convent to take the vows perpetual."
"All but Uncle Thomas. He knows; he understands, little as he says. Hegrew up on a farm himself; he told me once that he could never smotherthe longing to get back to one. Poor Uncle Thomas, chained to a mahoganydesk, with a Persian rug under his feet! That one little trip across thewater, when the family went last year, was the only vacation he hadtaken in five years. And he came back on the next ship!"
"Jean and Stuart will have him often with them, see if they don't."
"I hope so. Change is what he needs very badly. Change! Oh, if everybodycould have that when they need it! How it does make lives over! Iknow--how I do know! It's the deadly monotony that kills. Jean willbloom under the old farmhouse roof, away from all the fuss and frivolityshe's so tired of."
"You've done some blooming yourself," observed her husband, "though I'llventure to say you work harder than you ever did before, even at the oldloom."
She gave him a quick glance. "Oh, it wasn't play I needed--justwork--the sort of work I love. I have that now. I love the visits to thehospital, the looking after the patients you bring home, the takingnotes of your lectures, the teaching of my evening class ofItalians--every bit of it is a delight. And then, when we do run awayfor a few hours, like this----"
"We enjoy it all the more for the contrast. Yes, I think we do. It's apretty fine partnership, and it grows more satisfying all the time.Here's hoping the two we've just seen start follow in our contentedfootsteps. A year from now we'll know!"
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