CHAPTER FOUR.
A DOUBLE PICNIC.
Only four days before Aunt Maria arrived to make her great decision!The Garnetts were living in what Darsie graphically described as "thehush before the storm," adored, condoned, and indulged by parents whosaw before them the pangs of separation, and by brothers shrewdlyexpectant of parting spoils.
Clemence, Darsie, and Lavender were acutely conscious of the rarifiedatmosphere by which they were surrounded, and only regretted itsnecessarily limited duration.
"Let's take advantage of it!" cried Darsie, the diplomat. "It's ourchance; we should be noodles if we let it slip. Anything we ask nowthey'll let us have. It's like prisoners who can order what they likefor supper the night before they're hanged. Let's think what we'd like,and go in a body and petition mother. She won't have the heart torefuse!"
The sisters agreed enthusiastically, but were not rich in suggestions.It is one of the curious things in life that whereas every day one isbrought up sharply against a dozen longings and ambitions, without thefulfilment of which it seems impossible to live, yet if the suddenquestion be put, "_What would you have_?" instantly the brain becomes ablank, and not a single suggestion is forthcoming. The Garnetts staredat one another in labouring silence. It was too late for parties; tooearly for pantomimes, a definite gift, failed to meet the case, sinceeach girl thought with a pang, "What's the use? I might not be here toenjoy it!" Extra indulgences, such as sitting up at night, or being"let off" early morning practising, did not appear sufficientlyimportant, since, with a little scheming, these might be gained inaddition. It was Lavender who at last succeeded in hitting the populartaste.
"A picnic! A real whole-day one this time. Lunch in the woods atEarley, tea in our old woman's cottage, walk over the fields to theamphitheatre, and home by train from Oxholm. Whoever goes with AuntMaria will be cheated of her holiday, for the well-behaved countrydoesn't count. If you have to wear gloves and walk properly, you mightas well be in town at once. For the victim's sake we ought to have onemore day in the woods!"
Clemence and Darsie sparkled, for the programme was an opulent one,combining as it did the two ordinary picnics into one. The yearlyprogramme was that--"if you are good"--the Garnett family should betaken for two half-day excursions into the country on two summerSaturday afternoons, but though the woods and the amphitheatre were onlyseparated by three short miles, never yet had the two places beenvisited together. An all-day picnic seemed a regal entertainment,worthy of the unique occasion.
"Ourselves and the Vernons! Mrs Vernon to talk to mother, then theywon't have as much time to look after us. When they begin on carpetsand curtains they forget everything else, and we can do as we like. Doyou suppose Dan would come?"
"Sure he wouldn't."
"Why?"
"My dear!"
Clemence held out eloquent hands. "Does he ever come? He's a man, soongoing to college, and you are only `kids.' I'm older than he is really;a woman is always older than a man, but he doesn't like me. We are not_en rapport_." Clemence tried hard to suppress a smirk of self-consciousness at the use of the French term, while the two youngersisters jeered and booed with the callous brutality of their kind.
"Ha, ha! aren't we fine? Roll your r's a little more next time, mydear. It will sound miles better. Your accent leaves much to bedesired. Aren't we grown-up to-day? Aunt Maria _would_ be impressed!A little stay in Paris just to put on the accent, and it's wonderful tothink of what you might do! _En rapport_! Bet you daren't say that toDan! Dare you to tell him that you are not _en rapport_!"
Clemence was seized with agitation, discerning through the innocentwords a thinly veiled threat. If she didn't, Darsie _would_!
"Darsie!" she cried loudly. "You mustn't tell; you must _not_! It'smean. Only sneaky children repeat what is said in private. Promisethis minute that you won't say a word!"
But Darsie, like her brothers, was keenly alive to the privilege ofholding a rod in pickle over an elder member of the family. So long asClemence lived in fear of humiliating disclosure, so long might sheherself walk in safety, free from rebuffs. She laid her head on oneside and smiled sweetly into her sister's face.
"I shouldn't like exactly, positively, to _promise_, don't you know, forI _am_ such a creature of impulse. If it rushed over me suddenly, itmight pop out, don't you know, bang! before I knew what I was about! Ofcourse, on the other hand, I _might_ not--"
"Very well," snapped Clemence sharply, "then I stay at home! It wouldbe no fun for _me_ to go for a picnic with that sort of thing hangingover my head all the time. I know very well how you'd behave--rollingyour eyes across the table, and beginning half-sentences, andintroducing `_en rapport_' every other moment. If I'm going to be mademiserable, I'll be miserable at home. You can go to our last picnic asan undivided family without me, the eldest of the family, and I onlyhope you'll enjoy it; that's all!"
"Oh, Darsie!" pleaded Lavender tragically, moved almost to tears by thepathos of those last words, and Darsie shrugged her shoulders,philosophically accepting her defeat.
"All right, I promise! I'll hug the remembrance secretly in my ownbreast. It will cheer me through the dullest hours!"
Clemence bridled, but made no further protest. To think of Darsiechuckling in secret was not agreeable, but it was as nothing comparedwith the humiliation of meeting Dan's grave stare, and seeing the curlof his lip at the repetition of her high-sounding phrase. As thequickest way of changing the conversation she suggested an adjournmentto the morning-room, where mother sat busy over the eternal mending-basket, to broach the picnic project without delay.
Mother agreed instantly, eagerly, indeed, so that there was somethingalmost uncanny in the unusualness of the situation. To every demand,every suggestion came the unfailing, "Yes, darlings! Certainly,darlings!" Even the audacity of the double programme aroused no morenotice than the remark that it was an admirable idea. Darsie, strikingwhile the iron was hot, went a step farther and attacked the subject oflunch.
"Could we--for once--have something substantialler than sandwiches?Chickens?" She gasped at the audacity of the request, for chickens werea state dish, reserved for occasions, and in summer for some inscrutablereasons just because they were smaller cost more than ever. "Chickenscut up are so easy to eat. We needn't have knives and forks. Andlittle cobby dinner-rolls from the confectioner's, with crisp, brownycrust, cut open and stuffed with butter and potted meat, and littlegreen pieces of lettuce. They had them that way at supper at theMasons' party, and they were superb! And cakes and fruit! Do, mother,let us have a real swagger lunch just for once!"
And mother said, "Yes, darling!" like a lamb, swallowing as it werespring chickens and cobby rolls at a gulp. It was impossible in givingthe invitation to the Vernons to refrain from a hint at the magnificenceof the preparations, though good manners would, of course, have promptedsilence on such a point.
The Vernons accepted with acclamation, all except Dan, who rudelydeclared that he "refused with pleasure," when Darsie bearded him in hisden and proffered the invitation. He was seated at his desk, for themoment the only occupant of the workroom, and his manner was notexpressive of welcome to the new-comer. He was a big, heavily builtyouth, with a face which was oddly attractive despite irregular featuresand a dull complexion. Dark eyes looked at you straight and squarebeneath bushy eyebrows; thin lips curved into the oddest, mostexpressive of lines, the square chin had a fashion of projecting untilit seemed to become one of the most eloquent features in his face.
Close observation showed that there was a shadow of his upper lip, andrumour had it that he shaved, actually _shaved_ every morning of hislife. His huge hands had a grip of steel, but it was wonderful how deftand gentle they could be on occasion. Every album and collection in thehouse was labelled by Dan, indexed by Dan, embellished with ornamentalflourishes and headlines, which Dan's big fingers alone had the power toproduce. Now he leaned an elbow on the desk, turned round on his chai
r,and tilted that eloquent chin in scorn.
"Picnic? Not much. Hate 'em like poison! You don't want me!"
"We _do_ want you! We shouldn't have asked you if we didn't. Don't beunsociable, Dan. It's an extra special occasion, and it would be somuch jollier to be complete. The boys will behave better if you'rethere."
Dan's chin tilted still an inch higher. That was of course, but--
"I hate a family crowd!" he pronounced tersely. "If there were only oneor two, it wouldn't be so bad. Usual programme, I suppose--pick flowersand eat biscuits? Not much in my line--thank you all the same. Hopeyou'll have a good time!"
"We're going to have a _real_ lunch--chickens and all sorts of goodthings, and walk to Oxholm across the fields. It will be much moreexciting than the old picnics have been."
"It might easily be that! No, thank you, I'm off. Some other day--"
"But we want you, Dan! _I_ want you to come."
"But _I_ don't, you see. There's the difference. Sorry to disoblige."
Darsie regarded him silently, considered the point whether wrath orpathos would be the most powerful weapon, decided rapidly in favour ofpathos, and sank with a sigh on to an opposite chair.
"Very well. I _quite_ understand. We wanted you especially becausethis may be the last, the very last time that one of us girls has anyfun this summer, so of course it feels important. But you are so mucholder--it's natural that you shouldn't care. I think you've been verynice to be as much with us as you have been... Dan!"
"Yes!"
"Hannah says it will be _me_! That Aunt Maria is sure to choose me whenshe comes. Do you think she will?"
"Ten to one, I should say."
"Oh, but why? _Why_? How can you be so sure?"
Dan's dark eyes surveyed the alert little head, poised on the stem ofthe graceful throat, his thin lips lengthened in the long, straight linewhich showed that he was trying not to smile.
"Because--er, you appear to me the sort of girl that an erratic oldfossil would naturally prefer!"
"Ah-h!"--Darsie's dejection was deep--"Daniel, how cruel!" It was acomforting retaliation to address her tormentor by the name he socordially disliked, but she remembered her role, and looked dejectedrather than irate. "I suppose that's true. I _need_ discipline, andshe would naturally choose the worst of the three. No one wants to bedisciplined instead of having a good time, but it may be good for me inthe end. All the time you are at sea, happy and free, I shall be beingdisciplined for my good... Wednesday may be my last, my very last, gladday..."
"Bah! Rubbish!" snapped Dan, but he looked at the curly head, and felta pang of distaste. The idea of Darsie Garnett sobered and disciplinedout of recognition was distinctly unpleasant. He wriggled in his chair,and said tentatively: "It will take more than one old lady to tame_you_, young woman! You'll have lots of fun yet--perhaps more than ifyou'd stayed at home."
Darsie smiled with angelic resignation.
"Perhaps so, but it won't be the same _kind_ of fun. New friends cannever be like old. If she chooses me, I must go, because of my duty tofather and the rest, but it's going to _hurt_! I feel,"--she waved herarms dramatically in the air--"like a flower that is being torn out bythe roots! I shall not live long in a strange soil... Well, goodbye,Dan; I won't bother you any more! Thank you very much for all you'vedone for me in the past."
Done! Dan searched his memory, found therein inscribed a number ofsnubs, rebuffs, and teasings, but nothing worthy of the thanks sosweetly offered.
He felt a stirring of reproach. Darsie was a decent kid--an amusingkid; if she went away she would leave behind her a decided blank.Looking back over the years, Darsie seemed to have played the leadingpart in the historic exploits of the family. She was growing into quitea big kid now. He glanced at her again quickly, furtively, and drummedwith his fingers on the desk--hardly a kid at all, almost grown up!
"Oh, that's all right; don't worry about that," he mumbled vaguely."What a grandiloquent kid you are! I hope you'll have a better timethan you think, if you do go to visit your aunt."
"Thanks so much; I hope I may; and if at any time--_any_ time--I can doanything to help you, or give you the least--the _very_ least--pleasure,please let me know, Dan! I can understand now how one feels when oneleaves home and faces the world!" said Darsie poignantly. "G-goodbye!"
"Bye," said Dan coolly. He leaned back in his chair, still thuddingwith his fingers on the desk. Darsie had reached the door and held itopen in her hands before he spoke again. "What time did you say thatblessed old picnic is to start?"
"Wednesday. Ten o'clock," said Darsie, and, like a true daughter ofEve, spoke not one more word, but shut the door and left him to histhoughts.
"Dan's coming! You're not to say a word till the time, but he _is_!"she announced to her sisters that evening; but when they questioned andcross-questioned concerning the means whereby the miracle had beenwrought, she steadfastly refused to satisfy their curiosity. That wasnot their concern. An inherent loyalty to Dan forbade that she shouldmake public the wiles by which he had been beguiled.