CHAPTER XX
MISS NAN UNDERHILL
Just a few days later, Mrs. Odell came down for some advice and help,for Janey was to be married. Her betrothed was a well-to-do young farmerup in Sullivan County. He was coming down in August to go to the World'sFair; and he wanted to be married and make a general holiday of it.
"I am not much judge of such matters; but Stephen's wife will goshopping with you. I don't know what we should do without her," saidMrs. Underhill.
That very morning two silver-embossed envelopes came for Miss NanUnderhill. One schoolmate was to be married in church at noon, and go toNiagara on a wedding journey. The other was an evening ceremony with areception afterward. Mr. James Underhill had an invitation to this also.
Was all the world getting married, or being engaged! Standing on thethreshold, Hanny shrank back in dismay. It was looking out of a tranquilcloister into a great, unknown world; and it gave her a mysteriousshiver. She didn't feel safe and warm until she had dropped on herfather's knee, and had his strong, fond arms about her.
Dolly's party was a great success. The young people were invited to meetMiss Nan Underhill. And Miss Nan wore her graduation dress and blueribbons. Blue gave her a sort of ethereal look; pink added a kind ofblossomy sweetness.
Dolly knew so many young folks. True, there were some older ones. Benand Delia came up for an hour. Dolly said they were old-fashionedmarried people already. Hanny thought there didn't seem much difference,only Ben had a new strange sort of sweetness. She was very fond ofDelia; and it was a delight to feel free to go down to Beach Street.
Peter and Paulus Beekman came; and they were nice, fine, rather stoutyoung men. Peter was a lawyer; he and Jim were quite friends. Paulus wasin shipping business.
"Oh," said Peter to Nan, "you look just as you did when you were alittle girl and used to come to grandfather's. Do you remember thatbeautiful Angora cat? That was grandfather's sign. He always took topeople Katschina liked. And your hair hasn't grown any darker. I likelight hair. Aunt Dolly has such beautiful hair! And I'm glad you havenot grown up into a great, tall May-pole. I just adore little women.When I marry, I am going to choose a 'bonnie wee thing,' like the wifein the song."
Hanny flushed rosy red. Oh, why would people talk about being married,and all that? And if Peter wouldn't look at her in just that way! Itgave her a touch of embarrassment.
But oh, they had a splendid time! Modern young people would have beenbored, and voted it "no spread at all." They played Proverbs, and Whatis my thought like? and everybody tried to bring out their very best,and be as bright and witty and joyous as possible. They had plain cakeand fancy cake, and a new kind of dainty crisp crackers; candies, nuts,raisins, and mottoes, which were the greatest fun of all. Afterward,some dancing with the Cheat quadrille, and it was so amusing to "cutout," or run away and leave your partner with his open arms, and a blanklook of surprise on his face.
Doctor Joe came to take the little girl home; for he was quite sure Jimwould want to take some one else's sister.
"Aunt Dolly," said Peter, when he was going away without any girl atall, though he had hoped to walk home with Hanny, "isn't Nan Underhilljust the sweetest little thing in the world? I don't wonder grandfatherliked her so. With that soft, indescribable hair, and hereyes,--twilight eyes, some one put in a poem,--and that cunning dimplewhen she smiles, and so dainty altogether. What made you say she was notpretty?"
"Why, I said, she was not as handsome as Mrs. Hoffman."
"She suits me ten times better. She is like this,
"'A creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food.'"
Dolly repeated the talk and the verses to Stephen. "And Peter is such asolid, steady-going fellow. He was really smitten."
"The idea! And with that child!"
Dolly laughed gaily. "I suppose when our girls get to be eighteen, youwill still think them children. Why, I wasn't quite fifty when you fellin love with me!"
Fifty! How ridiculous it was to think of Dolly ever being fifty. Ah, itis love alone that holds the secret of eternal youth!
"Well, I hope there won't any one be foolish over Hanny, in a longwhile," said Stephen, decisively.
"Foolish!" repeated Dolly, in a tone of resentment. But then they bothlaughed.
The Odell girls came down to make a two days' visit. They went up to theDeans' to tea; and the two engaged girls strayed off by themselves, withtheir arms about each other, and had confidences in which the masculinepronoun played an important part. And poor Polly bewailed the prospectof being left alone. If she had a brother like Jim, she wouldn't mind.
Jim's girls were a kind of standing amusement to the family. This was acase where there was safety in numbers, Mrs. Underhill felt assured. Ifshe had known of the episode of Lily Ludlow, her confidence would havebeen a little shaken. Jim was a general lover of the sex, and agood-looking, entertaining young fellow is apt to be spoiled.
Just now he had a penchant for Daisy, who teased him, and was asuncertain as an April shower. She and Hanny were inseparables. Jim tookthem round to Dolly's, or down to Ben's, or to Mrs. Hoffman, who had anew grand piano, and had refurnished her parlor, quite changing thesimplicity of her first wedded life. Through the winter, she had givenfortnightly receptions, that had an air and grace of the highestrefinement. You always met some of the best and the most entertainingpeople. It was not a crush and a jam; but men and women really talked atthat period, and brought out their best. Knowledge was not at adiscount.
Young ladies came to call on Miss Underhill; and in the evenings, theybrought their brothers or admirers. When she knew of it beforehand, shealways had Daisy to help. Sometimes the whole party would go out for alittle walk, and have some cream or water ices. The city was still soairy and open, you did not have to fly out of it at the first pleasantday.
This summer, nearly everybody was staying at home, and waiting for thebig fair to open. Rooms at hotels and private houses were engaged; andthe plainer country people came in to visit. There would be crowds, ofcourse.
The Underhills had invited some of the elder relatives, since they hadplenty of room.
And on July 4th, this great event occurred. The President, Mr. FranklinPierce at that time, was the grand master of the occasion. Oh, what aFourth of July it was! The grounds were crowded. The military were outin force; and the fireworks would have done credit to the empire ofChina. Never had the city seen such a gala time; the Victory of Peace itwas called.
The men had it largely to themselves this day. It was more theceremonies, than the articles exhibited, that attracted attention. Thatcame later on.
There was a great influx of visitors in the city. The streets werethronged; the stages were crowded. One wonders what they did withoutelectric cars. But numbers of people still kept carriages, and temporarylodging-houses were erected in the vicinity of the Palace. It certainlywas a great thing for that day. And the interior, with its handsomedome, its galleries, its arched naves, and broad aisles, had a strikingand splendid effect.
And, oh, the riches of the world that had contributed some of itschoicest treasures! There were many people who never expected to go toEurope, and who were glad beyond measure to have it come to them. Herewas the largest collection of paintings and sculpture that had ever beengathered in New York. Then, for the first time, we saw Powers' matchlessGreek slave, and Kiss' Amazon, and many another famous marble. There wasthe row of the Apostles by the sculptor Thorwaldsen, about which therewas always a concourse of people; and some of the devout could almostsee them in the flesh.
We have had a Centennial since, and a famous White City, and almost anyday, in New York, you can see some famous pictures and statuary. Thenpeople run over to Europe, and study up the galleries, and write booksof exquisite descriptions; but it was not so at that time. There is thegrand Museum of Art near to where the old Palace stood; but all was newthen. We had not been surfeited with beauty; we had not had a flood ofart critics, praising or denouncing, and schools o
f this or that fad. Itis good for cities, as well as nations, that they should once be young,and revel in the enchanting sense of freshness and delight.
Presently, it became a sort of regular thing to go,--a kind ofsummer-day excursion. There were delightful walks and drives up above.Bloomingdale was still a garden of sweetness. Riverside was unknown,only as the beautiful bank of the Hudson. You went and carried yourlunch, or you found some simple cottage, where a country-woman dispensedtruly home-made bread, and delicious ham, and a glass of milk,buttermilk on some days.
The remembrance of it to Hanny Underhill, through all her after years,was as of a golden summer. The little knot of young people kepttogether. When Josie Dean recovered somewhat, from the first transportsof her engagement, she proved very companionable. Charles, in his longvacation, was quite at their service. Jim couldn't always be at liberty;but he did get off pretty often. Sometimes Joe, sometimes FatherUnderhill, chaperoned the party; but they were allowed to go bythemselves as well. Girl friends joined them; Peter Beekman, and evenPaulus, thought it a great thing to be counted in.
Oh, the wonderful articles! It was a liberal education. Sevres china,Worcestershire with its wonderful tint, Wedgwood, Doulton, Cloisonnee,some rare Italian; and the tragic stories of Palissy, of JosiahWedgwood, and Charles III. of Naples taking his secret to Spain; somequeer Chinese ware, and Delft and Dresden, until it seemed as if halfthe genius of the world must have been expended in the exquisiteproductions.
And then the laces, the gossamer fabrics, the silks and velvets, thejewels, the elegant things from barbaric Russia, the wonders of theOrient, the plainer exhibit of our own land rich in mechanical wonders,the natural products, the sewing-machine that now could do the finest ofwork, the miniature looms weaving, the queer South American and Mexicanfabrications, the gold from California,--well, it seemed as if one nevercould see it all.
Hanny wondered why Peter Beekman should want to stay close by her whenDaisy was so bright and entertaining, and when there were other girls.When he looked at her so earnestly her heart gave a great throb, hercheeks burned, and she wanted to run away.
He wished she wasn't so shy and so ready to shelter herself underCharlie's wing, or her father's, or Joe's. And when she felt really safeshe was so merry and enchanting!
It was a day in August, rather warm, to be sure; but Polly Odell hadcome down just on purpose to go, "for now that Janey was married andgone the house was too horrid lonesome!" They stopped for Josie. DoctorJoe brought Daisy up in the afternoon, and they were all in thepicture-gallery, where they were ever finding something new. PerhapsPolly had made big eyes at Peter; perhaps Peter liked her because shetalked so much about Hanny. Anyhow, they had rambled off way at one end.Daisy was resting, and telling the doctor about some pictures in theBerlin gallery. Hanny moved up and down slowly, not getting very faraway. She was fond of interiors, and the homely Dutch or French womencooking supper, or tending a baby, or spinning. And there were twokittens she had never seen before, scampering about an old kitchen wherea man in his shirt-sleeves had fallen asleep over his paper. It seemedto her she could see them move.
A man of six or seven and twenty, young for his years, yet with acertain stamp of the world and experience, went slowly along, glancingat the visitors in a casual manner. Of course he would know Miss Jasperand Dr. Underhill. It was like looking for a needle in a hay-stack; butMrs. Jasper had suggested the picture-gallery; and suddenly he saw asmall figure and fair face under a big leghorn hat full of wild rosesand green leaves. She was smiling at the playful kittens. Oh, it surelywas Miss Nan Underhill!
He came nearer; and she looked startled, as if she might fly. What adelicious colour drenched her face!
"Oh, you surely haven't forgotten me!" he cried. "I should remember youthousands of years, and I could pick you out of a world full of women."
"I--" Then she gave her soft little laugh, and the colour wentfluttering all over her face in a startled, happy manner. "But Ithought--"
"Did you think me a fixture in German wilds? Well, I am not. It's along, long story; but I have come over now for good, to be a trueAmerican citizen all the rest of my days. The steamer arrived lastnight; but I couldn't get off until nearly noon. Then I went to a hoteland had some dinner, and came up to see Mrs. Jasper. She sent me here.Where are the others?"
"Daisy is--" she glanced about--"oh, down there with my brother,--andMiss Odell"--how queer that sounded!
"Let us stop here and rest until I get my breath and summon enoughfortitude to encounter them. You are dreadfully surprised, I see by yourface, I don't wonder. I must seem to you dropped from the clouds."
She wasn't a bit afraid, and sat down beside him. And she wondered if hehad married the German cousin and brought her over; but it was strangenot to mention her. It must be, however, if he was going to live inAmerica.
"Oh, do you remember that night and the Spanish dance? I have shut myeyes and danced it ever so many times in memory. And you sent meaway,"--with a soft, untranslatable laugh.
"I--" She looked amazed. She seemed caught and held captive in the swirlof some strange power. The colour fluttered up and down her sweet face,and her eyelids drooped, their long, soft lashes making shadows.
"Yes, you said I ought to go; and I shall always be glad I went,"--in aconfident tone.
"Your cousin?" she said inquiringly, with no consciousness that a wordwould swerve either way.
"Yes. You know I told you my father's wishes. That sort of thing doesn'tseem queer to continental people. But it was not so much his as theaunt's,--the relation is farther back than that; but it serves the samepurpose. She had known about my father, and was desirous of beingfriends. So after I was home about a week, and had confessed to myfather that the prospect of the marriage was not agreeable to me, hestill begged me to go."
Hanny looked almost as if she was disappointed. He smiled and resumed:--
"It is a lonely spot on the Rhine, not far from Ebberfeld. We will lookit up some day. I don't know how people can spend their lives in suchdreary places. I do not wonder my grandmother ran away with her bravelover. The castle is fast going to ruins. There was a brother who wasteda great deal of the patrimony before he died. The Baroness is the lastof her race. There is a poor little village at the foot of the mountain,and some peasants who work the land; and then the cousin, who isexpected to rehabilitate the race by marrying a rich man."
"Yes." There was such a pretty, eager interest and pity in her eyes thathe smiled.
"She is six and twenty; tall, fair, with a sorrowful kind of face, thathas never been actually happy or pretty. Who could be happy in thatmusty old rookery! The father, I believe, did very little for theirpleasure, but spent most of his time in town, wasting their littlesubstance."
"Oh, poor girl!" cried Hanny, thinking of her own father, so loving andgenerous.
"She seemed to me almost as old as her mother. And then she told me hertroubles, poor thing, and I found her in heart and mind a sort ofinexperienced child. She has had a lover for two years; an enterprisingyoung man, who is superintendent of an iron mine some fifty milesdistant. It is the old story over again. I wish he had my grandfather'scourage and would run away with her. He has no title nor aristocraticblood, and the mother will not consent. But I had made up my mind beforeI went there, and even if I had been fancy free, I couldn't resignmyself to live in that old ruin."
"Oh, what will she do?"
"I advised her to run away." Herman Andersen laughed softly. "But Ithink I persuaded them both to come to the city and visit my father.They will find business isn't so shocking. They have lived in lonelinessuntil they know very little of the real world. The old castle is notworth saving. Then I went home, and after a good deal of talking havearranged my life in a way that is satisfactory to my father, and I hopewill be eminently so to myself. Some day I will tell you about that. Nowwhere shall we find the others?" and he rose.
"Daisy is down here." Hanny rose also; but she had a queer sort offeeling, as if the w
orld was turning round.
It seemed to Doctor Joe that he so rarely had a good talk with Daisynow, that he would make the most of this opportunity. Jim was alwayshovering about her. It was natural she should like the younger people.He was like a very much older brother. She was looking pale and tired.She could not stand continual dissipation. And while she often had abrilliant color and Hanny very little, the latter possessed by far themost endurance.
She liked to be alone with Doctor Joe. There was something restful andinspiriting, as if she absorbed his generous, superabundant strength.
So they almost forgot about Hanny, or thought her with the others. Andnow she came walking slowly down to them with a strange young man.
"Why, who can it be?" in a tone of surprised inquiry.
Daisy Jasper studied a moment. "Why, it looks like--no, it cannotbe--yes, it is Mr. Andersen."
"I thought he was in Germany."
Daisy looked puzzled. Then she sprang up with a quick colour and a smileof pleasure, stretching out both hands.
"Oh, Miss Jasper!" and Mr. Andersen took her hands in a fervent clasp."Do you know this is going to be a red-letter day in my life,--one ofthe happiest of days? Your mother sent me up here on a venture. First, Ifound Miss Underhill, and now you. And one might go all over the worldand miss one's best friends. Ah, Dr. Underhill!"
A curious shock went over Dr. Underhill. He had to compel himself totake the outstretched hand. For what had this young man "crossed theseas?" He was not going to marry the cousin.
"But when did you come?" inquired Daisy. It was odd, but he took theseat the other side of her, and Hanny was by Joe.
Then Mr. Andersen told his voyage all over again, and that he had comefor good. He was to take his father's money share in the house here, andhis father's was to be transferred to Paris, where one of the elderlypartners was in failing health and wished to retire.
"I am just delighted," exclaimed Daisy, enthusiastically. "If you wouldonly come and board at our house! There are some people going away.Wouldn't it be splendid, Hanny?"
Hanny assented with a smile.
"I will see if I can find the others," said the doctor, rising andlooking at his watch. "Father was to drive up with the Surrey athalf-past five. Don't go away from here."
He walked slowly, looking a few moments in every room. Yes--there wasCharles. He caught his eye and beckoned.
The estrays soon rejoined the others. Then they went out to thesouthern entrance, and so along to the gateway.
Yes, there was Mr. Underhill. He would take the four girls, and onemore, as he had a team. This was decided to be Mr. Andersen, as he wasto go to the Jaspers' to tea. The others would ride down in the stage.The doctor said he must make a few calls. Mr. Beekman expressed hisintention of coming up in the evening, as Miss Odell was going to stay;and Miss Odell's eyes shone with delight.
Daisy having a lover! Dr. Underhill had not felt alarmed about Jim'sattentions, he had so many fancies. But this young man--
Would it be best or wise for Daisy to marry? She appeared quite well,but she was not strong, and there was a remnant of the old spinaltrouble that came out now and then in excruciating nervous headaches.Somehow she had seemed his especial property since she had cried in hisarms with all the pain and suffering, and he had encouraged her to bearthe little more. He had meant always to stand her friend. It wasn'tlikely he would marry, for he had seen no one yet that he wanted. But ifthis child went out of his life! For, alas! the child had grown towomanhood.