CHAPTER XII.
A TALK OF WEDDINGS.
"You must decide and answer me, Jaqueline. You know I love you. Themarriage would be pleasing to both sides of the family. My holiday isover, and I must rejoin my chief. I want the matter settled. If youare not convinced that you can love me, I shall take it as a sign thatthere is very little hope for me--none at all, in fact--and go my way."
There was something rather stern in the tone, and the pretty girl'shumor protested. She liked the tender wooing, the graceful compliments,the sort of uncertainty when she could salve her conscience by sayingshe was not really engaged and feel compelled to hold herself alooffrom certain attentions. For whatever coquetries a Virginia girl mightindulge in, an engagement was sacred.
"I do wonder if you really love me?" She longed to temporize. Therewas always something happening, and now there was to be a week's partyat Annapolis and a ball and several sailing excursions. Business wouldinterfere with his going. If she could keep free until after that!
He looked at her steadily. "If you doubt it after my year of devotion,I hardly know how to convince you. Words will not do it. You _must_believe it."
"For it would be a sad thing for either of us to make a mistake," shereturned plaintively.
"You asked for three months to consider. And yet you admitted that youcared for me even then. If your love has not increased any in that timeit certainly argues ill for me. And now it must be a plain answer, yesor no. It is foolish to trifle this way. Which is it, Jaqueline?"
He took both her hands in his and impelled her to meet his eyes. Herface was scarlet, her eyes drooped, her expression was so beseechingthat it almost conquered him as it had times before. But he was goingaway with Mr. Monroe, and it would be a month before he saw her again.
"Yes or no!"
"You are cruel." Her eyes filled with tears. She felt his handstremble, strong as they were.
"Then it must be no, if you cannot say yes. Jaqueline, I am more thansorry. You are the first girl that ever roused in me the sweet desireto have her for my very own. I may never find another to whom I cangive the same regard. But I want no unwilling bride."
He dropped the hands reluctantly. He half turned, as if that was final.
"Roger----"
She so often evaded his name. What an entrancing sound it had! And itsoftened him.
"You are so masterful," and her voice had a little break in it. "I amafraid I could not be a meek, silly wife with no mind of her own, buta mocking-bird echo of her husband's. When I feel quite sure I loveyou----"
"Is there any such blessed moment?" He took her in his arms. "I havesometimes felt in my inmost soul there was, and this certainly paysfor hours of doubt. I do not care to have you meek; and silly women Iabhor. I only want this one point settled. After that you will find medevoted to your slightest whims."
"Then I suppose I must----" with a fascinating reluctance.
"There is no compulsion. You either give me your sweet, fresh girl'ssoul to bloom in the garden of manhood's unalterable love, freely andrejoicingly, or I go my solitary way."
"Do not go. I could not spare you. Are you quite sure you will notprove a tyrant?"
For answer he kissed her, then held her in a gentle yet strong embrace.
"And you love me?"
"Oh, how hard you are to satisfy!"
"Still, you will say it?"
"I love you. Will that satisfy your lordship? Now if I were a princessyou could not be so hard to satisfy. A nod would answer."
"You are _my_ princess. Now let us go and find your father. I am afraidhe has had a rather low opinion of my powers of persuasion."
They were under the great plane tree. Annis was taking a lesson inhemstitching at her mother's knee.
"We have come for your blessing," began the happy lover.
"Which I give gladly. I could not have chosen better for Jaqueline if Ihad gone half over the world, or at least a son-in-law more acceptableto myself. If I wish you as much happiness as I have had, your cup willbe full."
Mrs. Mason rose and kissed the girl with fervent affection. "We alllike him so," she whispered to Jaqueline. "Your father will be as happyas your lover."
"Come and give us joy, little Annis. I hope Charles won't protest atyour having a new brother."
"But he likes you so," answered the child simply. "And you never teasehim."
"Charles must learn not to be such a ninny," declared his father.
The supper was almost a betrothal feast. For a wonder, there were noguests. But before bedtime every slave on the plantation knew it, andgreat was the rejoicing. And the next morning numerous little giftswere brought for Jaqueline's acceptance. And now Roger hated to goaway. How could he be content with this one brief sup of happiness?
"We must go up to the Pineries," Mr. Mason said. "Your grandmotherwould feel hurt if she were not informed at once. And--are you goingnext week?"
"Oh, of course. I even asked Mr. Carrington. Was not that dutiful?"
Her father laughed. "Jaqueline, you need a strong hand. You have hadyour way too much."
"I don't know why everyone thinks I ought to be ruled like a baby," shepouted.
"Jack, you are going to have one of the best husbands. Remember that."
It was not until afternoon that they started, and were to remain allnight. As there was room for one more, Annis went with them. It hardlyseemed like the same place, Jaqueline thought, and she decided sheliked grandpapa much better than Uncle Brandon. He insisted upon therelationship having the right name, and was quite as great a sticklerfor attention as his father had been; but where Mr. Floyd's was reallya fine old-fashioned dignity, Brandon's seemed more pretentious.
His wife was one of the ordinary women of that day, whose duty underall circumstances was to her husband. Master Archie put on manyconsequential airs.
"I am glad you are going to do so well," said grandmother. "TheCarringtons are a good family, and their father left a nice property,which must be very valuable. I must look among my treasures and seewhat I can spare for you. Dolly had my rubies--they were her choice;and my pearls were for Marian. That was a sad and sore disappointmentto us all. There seems very little hope of amendment in the case."
Jaqueline and Marian walked up and down in the fragrant twilight.
"You don't mean that you still consider yourself engaged?" queried theyoung girl in surprise.
"But nothing has been said, and I don't know what can be said now. Yousee, papa made his will quite a long while ago, and when there was thetalk about Lieutenant Ralston he said if I encouraged him--if I marriedagainst his wishes--he would not leave me anything, and everybodyshould know it was because I had been a disobedient, ungrateful child.Think of having it read out before all the relatives! And you knowhe did not alter the will. He gave Jane less because he had given herpart of her portion on her wedding day. Jane had it very easy, I think,considering that Mr. Jettson had no fortune to speak of except thoseWashington marshes. But Jane's had a nice time and plenty of friends.Only, you see, now I feel bound by the will. Papa trusted me. He hada feeling that Mr. Greaves might recover--he was so strong, and hadalways been well. But we never talked it over, for no one really wasthinking of papa's death."
"Do you know, Marian, I consider you a very foolishgirl--superstitious, as well? No one can expect you to marry Mr.Greaves," said Jaqueline emphatically.
"Of course not now. But if he should have his mind a little while andgive me up, I should feel quite free, you know."
"And you mean to wait for that?" indignantly.
"I am not _waiting_. Papa has been dead such a little while that itwould be indecent to traverse his wishes at once. And Mr. Greavesloved me, he really did; you need not look so incredulous! Not like--ayounger man, perhaps," making a little halt. "He planned so many thingsfor my pleasure. We were to go to England. He and papa agreed so wellon politics."
"And you are an American girl! Please don't forget that grandmother'sfather was at the surre
nder of Cornwallis, and we are all proud ofit! He is your ancestor, too. And the Masons were all on the side ofliberty and a country for ourselves."
"I think women are not much concerned in politics," she repliedevasively. "But it _is_ pleasanter to have all your people of onebelief. It does seem as if the Church should have something to do withthe government. I don't understand it, but it appears Christian andproper."
"After all, it is the people who make the country, and the Church too.And it ought to be what the people want, the majority of them."
Jaqueline's tone carried a penetrating conviction, yet Mariansteeled her heart against it. The people certainly were an aggregateof individuals; and if everyone insisted upon having his own way,anarchy must ensue. But she could not reason on the subject, even inJaqueline's girlish fashion. Argument was reprehensible in women.
"Then you just mean to wait!" There was an accent of disappointment inJaqueline's tone.
"There is nothing else to do. I certainly must respect papa's wishes."
"You've changed so, Marian."
"Remember, Jaqueline, I am years older than you," she replied withdignity. "And now I have to be mother's companion. She misses fathervery much. I'm glad to have you happy, and everyone is pleased withyour engagement. It is a very excellent one."
"The excellence wouldn't go very far if it did not please me," returnedthe younger girl. "My happiness and pleasure are a personal affair, notsimply the satisfaction of others."
"I hope you will be very happy," reiterated Marian. "Dolly is. Motherthinks her letters are quite frivolous; they are all about dinners andvisits and parties. She doesn't go to the very gay ones, but she writesabout them. Charleston must be quite as fashionable as Washington,to judge from the gowns and entertainments. But Dolly is not keepinghouse, though she has her rooms and her maid."
Then the two girls lapsed into silence as they walked up and down.Jaqueline was thinking that next week Lieutenant Ralston would be hercavalier, and she had ardently wished to reawaken hope in his breast,in the place of the disesteem in which he held Marian--indeed, nearlyall women; though he occasionally said: "I can't imagine you or Mrs.Jettson doing such a thing!" That was really flattering. Of course sheshould tell him of _her_ engagement, and they would still be friends.
Louis was to be of the party, and they started off in high spirits.
"Jaqueline ought to sober down a little," said her father. "And thereis no need of a long engagement. The Carringtons will be anxious forthe marriage--well," laughingly, "more anxious than we. But I thinkmost men are pleased when their daughters marry well. And we havefour."
"We need not think of the younger ones for several years," Mrs. Masonsaid with a smile.
"Varina ought to go to school somewhere, or to Aunt Catharine. Pattyimproved wonderfully. And Charles----"
"I think Charles is doing very well. Louis admits that he studiesbeyond his years. And he seems to me not over-robust. I would certainlywait another year."
Jaqueline begged her brother to say nothing about the engagement. Itwas so recent, and she would not be married in some time.
"You'll be flirting with everybody."
"Oh, don't grudge me a week's pleasure! After that I will be as staidas any grandmother."
"Carrington isn't the fellow to stand much nonsense when the rights areall on his side. I advise you to be careful."
"Why, I am going to be, even now. Of course Mr. Ralston is differentfrom the others. We have been friends so long."
Ralston was safe enough, Louis thought. And one couldn't quite blameJaqueline. She did not flirt openly like Betty Fairfax; and now Bettywas devotion itself to her lover, and she was to be married in theearly autumn. In fact, Louis had not felt satisfied to be so entirelycrowded out when he had been one of Betty's favorites.
Girls were queer, he mused. Then he threw himself into the round ofpleasures, which in those days were really made for enjoyment. Noone thought of being bored. The world was fresh and young, and hadnot been traversed by theories and sciences and experiences of tiredgenerations. Everyone felt he or she had a right to at least onedraught of the nectar of youth.
Lieutenant Ralston had come with the hope that Jaqueline would bringhim some message to light the future. Of course if Marian had beenmarried that would have been the end of all things. He had too finea sense of honor to covet another man's wife. But it seemed as ifProvidence had intervened. Mr. Floyd was dead and Mr. Greaves out ofthe lists by a stroke of fate. And since Marian was free, he was atliberty to give his fancy unlimited play once more.
Jaqueline was indignant that Marian had not gladly grasped her liberty,but still hugged the chain of another's selecting. Perhaps her feelingscolored her words, although she strove to be fair and make allowancefor the superstitious reverence in which the girl seemed to hold herfather. Or was it really fear?
"I thought I had not hoped any, but circumstances coming out this wayseemed an interposition in my behalf," admitted Mr. Ralston. "And Ifound it very easy to go back to that delightful experience. Even nowthat you have a lover, Miss Jaqueline, I think you hardly understandhow a man loves and how willing he is to pick up the faintest shred ofhope and dream that it may blossom anew, or rather that the bud, havingbeen crushed by another's ruthlessness, has still in it strength enoughto unfold in fragrance when nursed carefully by the man who thinksno other bloom could ever be so sweet. Perhaps I was a fool for thissecond dream. I tried to shut it out, but it stole in unawares. Shehasn't been worth it all, nor any of it, I see that plainly now."
"Poor Marian!" The love moved the girl with infinite pity for the womanwho had lost it and was trying to feed on husks.
"No, don't pity her; she isn't worth it," and his tone was bitterlyresentful. "I could have overlooked the weakness that made her yield toher tyrannical father; but now when she could be free, when she knowsthere awaits her the sacred welcome of love, it is plain that she doesnot care. Perhaps she is still counting on a fortune coming to her asif by a miracle, for she has no great deal of her own."
"No, no; it is not that," protestingly.
"It looks mightily like it."
"Marian has a queer conscience. You don't know----" Did she really knowMarian herself?
"Well, we will dismiss her now. Perhaps she has a high order ofconstancy that will keep her faithful to someone who is helpless andcannot appreciate it. She may be a too superior person for me. That isthe end of it. I shall never mention her again. You have been very goodto find so many excuses for her, and to keep alive my regard. But Icannot afford to lose your friendship. Carrington won't grudge me that,I know."
Jaqueline smiled. She was rather proud that he asked her friendship.
There were belles who were eager to gain his attention. Jaquelineresolved to keep the best of her friend to herself, and smiled a littleat the curiously obedient manner in which he returned to her when shehad sent him to dance with someone. She liked the pretty ordering aboutof her admirers, the sense of power at once fascinating and dangerous.
"I shall try to get off for a few days and pay you a visit," Ralstonsaid. "Louis will be going back to college, and next year we shall havehim in Washington. And you will be up often this winter? Mrs. Jettsonseems deserted by both of her sisters. She is so fond of young people."
"Oh, yes; I shall be up a good deal."
"And the visit?" tentatively.
"We shall be delighted to see you. You will have an admiring audiencefrom father down."
"Thank you. You can never know what a comfort you have been to me. Andthese few days have quite restored me to myself. Have I been a veryfoolish, love-stricken swain?"
"Oh, I do not think you have been foolish at all! I was afraid youwould grow hard and cynical, and I don't like people who are classingeverybody in the same category and looking on the worst side."
She was very young, but she had a charm that touched his heart. Didhe half envy Roger Carrington? But, then, he would be madly jealousof anyone who lavished her smiles in
that fashion. One or two choicefriends might be admissible. He was safe, for he would never be soeasily caught again by any woman. Friendship was all he desired, andin the years to come she would resemble Mrs. Jettson, no doubt, whowas very proud of her husband, and fond of him too. He liked women whowere proud of their husbands. For wifely devotion had not gone out offashion.
There was a gay and busy autumn for Jaqueline. Betty Fairfax had agreat wedding that befitted the old mansion where she had reigneda queen for more years than usually fell to the lot of a handsomeVirginian girl. She had seen two younger sisters married and made muchmerriment over it, and now she was going to be the wife of the newlyelected Governor of one of the more southern States. Consequently therewas a grand time all through the county, and there were six bridesmaidsto wait upon my lady, one of them being Jaqueline.
So there was a week to be spent with Betty, Miss Elizabeth Fairfax, asshe was called now.
"And what a shame your cousin's affairs should have come to naught!"Betty declared. "To give up a fine young soldier, and then to have hersecond lover come to grief. It is a case of the two stools, and onecoming to the floor. If I had not heard of your engagement, Jaqueline,I should have asked him to stand with you. If I had known him better Ishould have invited him, anyhow. There are several guests coming fromWashington."
"If I had only known you cared!" cried Jaqueline.
"You see, I want to make as brave a show as possible," and Bettylaughed. "I desire to let my liege-lord see that I have been accustomedto the best, and a good deal of it, so he won't consider me anignoramus when he is inaugurated Governor later on."
"Then let us have Mr. Ralston!" Jaqueline's eyes were alight witheagerness and amusement. "I will write to Mr. Carrington, and you shallinclose an invitation. I'll send a few lines too, so that he can see itis really meant."
"That's quite delightful of you. Maybe he will find some balm to mendhis broken heart among the pretty girls."
"He is not heartbroken now, although he took it very hard at first.Grandpapa was bitterly opposed to it, you know. And Marian is inmourning and goes nowhere, because grandmamma thinks she ought not tobe left alone."
"But Mr. Greaves will never recover. Doctor Leets said so."
"Oh, no! No one expects it, I think."
"Well, I suppose the devotion to a lost cause looks very pretty andconstant. Only she will not be a widow, more's the pity, for widowssoon pick up husbands. Now about the invitation."
It was so prettily worded that Lieutenant Ralston accepted it at thefirst reading; and the two journeyed together to the grand festivity.Old people and young attended, in fashions of various kinds, fromthe Continental to more modern date. The Governor of Virginia honoredBetty's nuptials, and several of the Washington grandees. The _Gazette_had a brilliant account of it, and it was the boast of the county formany a year afterward.
The next morning the newly wedded pair started in a coach drawn by sixwhite horses, ornamented with wedding favors. And there was, as usual,much merry-making afterwards, as there was still one daughter to leadin the gayety.
"And when are you coming up to Georgetown?" Carrington asked of hissweetheart.
"Oh, there is another wedding on the carpet! And then a birthday ballat the Lees'. Then Patty is to have a birthday celebration. She thinksthus far all the festivities have been for me, and this time theinvitations are to go out in her name."
"And then Christmas, I suppose," in a rather disappointed tone. "To getmy share of you I shall have to marry you, Jaqueline. Come, think aboutthat. When is it to be?"
"In a year. That will give me time to fulfill my engagements and getready."
"A year!" in dismay.
"You ought not grudge me that when you think of the years and years weshall have to live together."
"Shall have to!" he re-echoed.
"That I believe is customary when one is married," she said withteasing archness. "Unless one happens to have the Emperor of the Frenchfor a brother."
"Wifehood is a woman's highest prerogative----"
"Not to be entered into hastily or unadvisedly," she interrupted witha mischievous smile.
She was a pretty, fascinating torment! His mother had said: "Onewedding follows another among the bridesmaids. I hope you will comehome with your day set."
"I am going to learn to cook and to keep house this winter," she begangravely. "And it takes a long time to make wedding clothes."
"Nonsense! There are cooks enough in the world. As for housekeeping,that is a woman's birthright. And at first you know we need not keephouse. You will be in Washington with me, and then we can go overhome--for I shall hardly let you out of my sight. Yes, let it be soonafter Christmas."
"I can't be hurried in that fashion," she returned petulantly. "And Ishould get tired of you if you were such a jailer as never to let meout of your sight."
"You do not love me as I love you!"
"But you know I told you I was not quite sure I loved you enough. Lovegrows with some people, and with some it comes in a moment of time.Would you not rather have it grow year after year, and get richer andtruer----"
Her voice fell to an exquisite softness, and touched him deeply.
"There can be only one truth to love," he said solemnly. Then he tookher in his arms and pressed a kiss upon her forehead in a reverentmanner.
"I must go away and leave you here," he said presently. "I am alwaysleaving you to some scene of gayety."
"But you take the two most tempting young men, the lieutenant and Dr.Collaston. Why, he will add quite a grace and interest to Washington.And the goodly company will be scattered, leaving behind the oldpeople, who are always talking of their young days. I promised BettyI would stay a whole week with her sister. There--I think they arecalling you."
"Carriage ready, sah. Jes' time to meet de stage," said the blackservant, who still wore his wedding favor proudly.
Were most girls reluctant to marry? Roger Carrington wondered. MissFairfax had gone away joyfully.