CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
Rob stayed behind after Peggy left the room, and had a long talk withhis brother. He refused to stay to dinner, it is true, but showed nosigns of ill-temper, and was more gentle than usual in his manner withHector, towards whom he usually adopted an air of superiority. He cameover the following day to inquire about the progress of the sprainedankle, and seemed so anxious to soothe Peggy's embarrassment, solaboriously pleasant and affectionate, that he succeeded in plunging herinto confusion worse confounded. If only he would scold, storm, rage,express disgust, or demand apology, how easy it would be to wipe awaythe misunderstanding! but it was impossible to offer an explanation ofwhat was never questioned. The very thought of referring to the subjectof her own accord made Peggy's cheeks burn. The most she could do wasto give Rob an opportunity of speaking, which she did without delay,walking with him to the gate, and keeping purposely silent the while;but it was of no use, for he seemed resolved to avoid personal subjects,would not mention Hector's name, and discoursed on vegetable life to anaudience inclined to wish that such a thing as plant or flower had neverexisted!
Why was not he angry? Peggy asked herself drearily, as she returned tothe house. Another girl might have realised that Rob had not the rightto be angry, seeing that she was in no wise pledged to himself; but atheart Peggy considered herself pledged, and felt sore and wounded thatRob did not realise her position.
Care for another man while Rob was near? Impossible! Share her lifewith another, and leave Rob lonely and uncared for? The very thoughtsent a pang to her heart. Rob and she had held together since they werechildren, they had always belonged to each other; he should haverealised as much, and not have insulted her by believing for a momentthat she could be false to her trust. Peggy's little head tilted backto a defiant angle, and her lips closed in determined line. Very well,then; if Rob were not angry, she was! If he chose to take things forgranted, he could do as he pleased. Let him go on being magnanimous andcomplacent. Two could play at that game. Never should it be said thatPeggy Saville ran after a man who seemed pleased at the prospect ofgetting rid of her. And then, as the drive took a turn which brought itin sight of the road, Miss Peggy waved her hand towards the librarywindow, and quickened her pace into a run. There was nobody in thewindow, it is true, but then there might have been, and if people choseto build up theories of their own, it was really a kindness to providethem with materials!
So far as Hector himself was concerned, the episode of Rob's unexpectedappearance put an effectual stop to those _tete-a-tetes_ which he hadanticipated. Peggy was as slippery as an eel, and as his ankle kept himconfined to one room, he was obliged to put up with her caprices, andresign himself to solitude during those hours when host and hostess wereengaged. She would talk to him, read to him, play games with him, amusehim by a dozen quaint representations and monologues, providing alwaysthat a third person was in the room, but directly they were left alonetogether, sudden business summoned her to another part of the house, andshe whisked away before he had time to protest. He longed for his ankleto be well enough to allow pursuit; but when that time came Arthur andEunice were due, and he must needs return to The Larches to make way fortheir arrival. It was disappointing, but he reminded himself that hehad at least made one step in advance. Peggy knew what he wished; shewould have time to get accustomed to the idea, and within the next monthhe would certainly find his opportunity.
To Peggy, jarred and wounded with the strain of acting a double part,what a relief it was to see Arthur's beloved face again, and to discoverat the first glimpse that Rosalind's engagement had had no power toshadow the radiance of his smile. Whatever he had suffered he had bornein secret, as his manner was, keeping a brave front to the world, andseeming to lift the burden of others by the very magnetism of his cheerypresence. Peggy had driven to the station in the lowest possible stageof dejection, but she felt life worth living again, as Arthur pinchedher arm in acknowledgment of a new coat, gave a dexterous little jerk toher elbow, which sent her parasol flying along the platform, andmurmured plaintively:
"Still scattering possessions broadcast! How do you think I can affordto buy you fineries, if you throw them about in that slipshod fashion?"
"You may pick it up yourself--I won't!" cried Peggy haughtily; butbefore Arthur had a chance of disputing the point, Eunice had steppedinto the breach, and was presenting at once the parasol and her ownsmiling face for Peggy's greeting. The shy glance of the grey eyesaffected Peggy with all the old pleasure, for they were so eloquent oftheir owner's enjoyment, so charmingly diffident as to the feelings ofothers.
"You dear little Eunice, how are you again? Welcome to Yew Hedge. Sucha pleasah to see you!" cried Peggy, falling into quite a society drawlin her amiable condescension, and smiling at her friend with agraciousness unaffected by the fact that her own head came barely up toEunice's ear. It was delightful to have a girl visitor! The worst ofArthur's visits was that he was always running away on some unsociablemasculine pursuit, fishing, shooting, and the like, instead of stayingat home like a sensible fellow and amusing his sister. But Eunice wouldbe different, for she was the most womanly of womanly women. Noshooting-boots for her, no divided skirts, nor hard felt hats! She wasa remnant of that good old type of which our mothers and grand motherswere made, timid and nervous in everyday affairs, yet with an unexpectedstore of courage which showed itself when danger menaced the welfare ofthose she loved. Peggy felt that she had much to learn from this sweetnew friend, and fulfilled her intention of consulting her on householdtopics on the first possible occasion. She gave a dramatic recital ofher misadventures, and once more Eunice proved herself a delightfulhearer, for she sighed and groaned at exactly the right points, kept hereyes fixed attentively on the speaker's face, and while confessing theutmost horror at the _contretemps_ described, was convinced that sheherself would have fared even worse.
"For by your own account, Peggy, you managed extremely well when you didremember. Even cook praised you! Now, I should not forget, because Ihappen to have a good memory, but I should provide hopelessly badly fromfirst to last. I should have no idea what to order, or how to choose,or make a variety. I have never had anything of the sort to do, yousee. We have a housekeeper who looks after all such things, and I am inutter ignorance about them!"
Here was a delightful confession! When you have abased yourself beforea friend, have confessed your own shortcomings, and braced yourself tobear reproaches, what can be more delightful than to hear that her ownignorance is greater than yours? Peggy was overjoyed to find herselfrestored to a position of superiority, and as usual made the most of theopportunity.
"My love," she croaked, "my love!" and up went both hands in elderlygestures. "But what a lamentable confession! The sphere of a truewoman is Home, and it should be her first duty to master those artswhich are necessary for its comfort. What hired hands can ever ministerto our dear ones so deftly, so efficiently, as those which love hastrained and dutiful affection called to service?"
Eunice gasped and blinked her eyes, overwhelmed by the flood of Peggy'seloquence, but when she had abstracted the meaning from the high-flownphrase, her expression altered into one of dubious protest.
"I am not so sure! I am afraid a dinner cooked by my loving hands wouldnot please father nearly so well as the ones he gets from his hireddomestics. I don't think it can always follow--"
But Peggy was launched on the flood of eloquence, and could not be thuslightly checked.
"You must learn!" she cried. "You must educate yourself until you areso efficient that you could fill every domestic position. Even if younever do the work yourself, you cannot be a good mistress unless youunderstand enough of each maid's work to give instructions, and pointout the remedy for defects. A man, my dear, expects to come home to acomfortable meal, and it is right that he should get it! We women areabove such considerations, but trifling discomforts are more trying to aman's temper than more serious offences, and
they are apt to becomeimpatient and irritable."
"They are! They are! You should just hear father when--" interruptedEunice eagerly, but Peggy silenced her with a wave of the hand. Whenshe herself had smarted beneath her mother's words of reproach, she hadnever imagined that she could have the satisfaction of hurling thosesame words at the head of another, and she was enjoying herself sointensely that she was anxious to prolong the experience.
"Exactly so; and it should be our mission in life to prevent suchfriction. There are girls in the present day who sneer at Home Life,and profess to consider domestic duties as a slavery demeaning to awoman's dignity, but for my own part I ask no higher sphere. To beQueen of a Home, Guardian of its happiness, its Architect, Ruler, andController, the Reins of Government grasped within my hands, what morecould I desire?" She gave a toss to her sleek little head, then wheeledround at the sound of a stifled chuckle, met the grey eyes swimming intears, and demanded sternly, "You seem amused! May I ask at what youare laughing?"
"He--he--he!" sniggered Eunice softly. "You--you looked so fierce, andyou gave such a tug to the reins! I couldn't help thinking what a harddriver you would be! You say it is impossible to be a good mistressunless you are first a good servant, but you don't seem to be veryexpert yourself, and yet you can order people about better than any oneI know. I noticed that from the first. People always seem to do whatyou want. How do you reconcile that with your argument?" She smiled asshe spoke, not without a spice of triumph at having cornered theredoubtable Peggy; but she had yet to learn the extraordinary manner inwhich that young woman could twist and turn, arguing first in onedirection and then in the other, as suited the convenience of themoment. On the present occasion she beamed acknowledgment of thecompliment, and cried airily:
"Some are born to command, and some to serve! It would be idle to denythat I belong to the former species. If I cannot do the work myself, Ican at least help others to do it, and point out their faults in aconvincing manner. I should like to have a large household of servants,and make them pass before me in turns, while I sat in an easy-chair andissued orders, and I should consider that my share of the labourexceeded theirs, for brain toil is more exhausting than manual. Ittakes a great deal of study to manage a household, and as a rule girlsin our position give no thought to the matter. They are engrossed withthe pleasures of society, but a butterfly life would never satisfy me.My leanings are Domestic. I have an ever-growing desire to becomeDomestic!"
"Oh, so have I!" cried Eunice eagerly. "So have I! Let us be domestictogether, Peggy, do! Let us begin now, while I am here. It would be somuch nicer than trying alone. Do--do let us begin at once!"
She was quite excited. The grey eyes were shining, and there was apretty pink flush on the pale cheeks. Peggy smiled at her, and pattedher knee, with the kindly amusement with which one receives thepetitions of an eager child.
"Well," she said graciously, "suppose we do! It would be quite amusing.I am willing, dear, if you will suggest in what way you would like tobegin."
"We might ask your cook to give us lessons in cooking!"
"No, my dear, we might not. I couldn't consent to it. Most injudiciousto display your ignorance before a person whom you have to command. Youmust think of something else."
"We might go marketing, and learn what everything costs, and how muchone ought to buy, and--"
"No use, my dear! We get nothing but meat and fish from the village.Fruit and vegetables come from the garden, and all the groceries fromtown."
"We might sew."
"Ha! I have it!" cried Peggy dramatically. "We'll dress-make! What ajoke! We'll each make a blouse, and wear them at dinner one evening.It will be delightful. Every girl ought to be able to make her ownclothes, and it's so simple, so easy."
"Is it?" Eunice arched her brows in surprise. "Have you ever tried?"
"Not exactly, but they were always doing it at the vicarage, and I usedto help. I always drew the designs, and criticised the things when theywere done. It's quite easy. You get a pattern, pin it to the stuff,cut it out, run it up, and there you are."
"And you really think I could manage?"
"Of course you could. We will work together, and I'll help you. That'sto say, if you would like to try."
"Oh, I should indeed. Fancy wearing something I had made myself! I'dbe so proud. I'll have mine very, very simple, as plain as possible."
"I sha'n't! Mine shall be elaborate and fussy and mysterious--one ofthose things in which you cannot see any fastenings, or imagine how onearth the owner gets in or out. There's a model in this week's _Queen_which will be just the thing, and I have a piece of flowered pink silkupstairs which will do for you as well as for me. It is a remnant whichI bought in Paris. I have a mania for remnants. I always think theywill come in usefully, but somehow they don't. This will be theexception, however, and it will be nice to be alike!"
"Thank you so much; but you won't tell any one what we are going to do,will you? We had better not say anything yet, in case we don'tsucceed."
"Don't succeed, indeed! Don't let me hear such words, my dear, I beg!To imagine failure is to invite defeat!" Peggy shook her head with hermost copy-book air. "We shall succeed, and therefore it would beselfish to keep our plans to ourselves. It will be quite an excitementin prospect. Let me see: to-day is Tuesday. How would it be if we saidSaturday night?"
"Too soon! Too soon! I should say a week at the very soonest. Wecan't manage in less."
"Oh yes, we can if we try. We will give up our mornings to work, andthe afternoons to pleasure. There is very little making in a blouse--three seams, and the sleeves, that's all! Four days are quite enough;besides, it is really five, for we will begin this morning."
"Now? At once? But I haven't thought, I haven't planned, nothing isready! Surely it would be wise to wait, and think it over first?"
But impetuous Peggy could not be brought to acknowledge thatprocrastination could ever be wise. If she had had her way, she wouldhave been hard at work hacking out her blouse within ten minutes of itsfirst suggestion; but fortunately for all concerned Arthur appeared uponthe scene at this minute, and put down his foot at the mention ofsewing.
"Not if I know it, on a beautiful summer afternoon! Leave that until itrains, or I don't need your society. Now I do. I want you to come overto the vicarage with me, while I pay my congratulations to the bride.I've got an offering for her too. Something I brought from town, and Iwant you to carry it for me."
"So likely, isn't it?" sniffed Peggy scornfully. "It shall never besaid of me that I trained my brother so badly that I carried even anumbrella in his company! What is it, Arthur? Do tell us? What haveyou got?"
But Arthur refused to tell. He slung the box on the crook of his stick,and led the way across the fields, smiling enigmatically at the girls'inquiries, but vouchsafing no clue to satisfy their curiosity. Therewas evidently some mystery afoot, and the expectation of its unravelmentgave a spice of excitement to the coming visit. The box containedsomething nice; Peggy felt sure of that, for when Arthur gave a presenthe gave something worth having. How pleased Esther would be, and howembarrassed! What fun it would be to witness the presentation, and helpout her acknowledgments by appropriate cheers and interjections!