CHAPTER XXXIII
LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD
According to his promise, Dr. Tolbridge came to Cobhurst on the morningof his intended departure for Barport, bringing with him more of hismanuscript and some other copying which he wished Cicely to do. He hadnever known until now how much he needed a secretary. He saw only theladies, Ralph having gone off to try to shoot some woodcock. The youngman was not in a good humor, for he had no dog, and his discontent wasincreased by the reflection that a fine setter had been presented to him,and he had not yet come into possession of it. He wanted the dog, Congo,because he thought it was a good dog, and also because Dora Bannister hadgiven it to him, and he was impatient to carry out the plan which Dorahad proposed to get the animal to Cobhurst.
But this plan, which included a visit from Dora, in order that the dogmight come to his new home without compulsion, and which, as modified byRalph, included a drive or a walk through the woods with the donor inorder that the dog might learn to follow him, needed Miriam'scooeperation. And this cooeperation he could not induce her to give. Sheseemed to have all sorts of reasons for putting off the invitation forwhich Miss Bannister was evidently waiting. Of course there was no reasonfor waiting, but girls are queer. A word from Miriam would bring her, butMiriam was very unresponsive to suggestions concerning said word.
"It is not only ourselves," said the doctor, in reply to some questionsfrom Mrs. Drane in regard to the intended journey, "who are going thisafternoon. We take with us Mrs. Bannister and Dora. This is quite asudden plan, only determined upon last night. They both want a littleBarport life before the season closes, and thought it would be pleasantto go with us."
Mrs. Drane and Cicely were not very much interested in the Bannisters,and received this news tranquilly, but Miriam felt a little touch ofremorse, and wished she had asked Dora to come out some afternoon andbring her dog, which poor Ralph seemed so anxious to have. She asked thedoctor how long he thought the Bannisters would stay away.
"Oh, we shall pick them up as we come back," he said "and that will be inabout two weeks." And with this the busy man departed.
Since the beginning of his practice, Dr. Tolbridge had never gone awayfrom Thorbury for an absence of any considerable duration without firstcalling on Miss Panney to see if she needed any attention from him beforehe left, and on this occasion he determined not to depart from thiscustom. It is true, she was very angry with him, but so far as he couldhelp it, he would not allow her anger to interfere with the preservationof a life which he considered valuable.
When the old lady was told that the doctor had called and had asked forher, she stamped her foot and vowed she would not see him. Then hercuriosity to know what brought him there triumphed over her resentment,and she went down. Her reception of him was cold and severe, and sheanswered his questions regarding her health as if he were a census-taker,exhibiting not the slightest gratitude for his concern regarding herphysical well-being, nor the slightest hesitation in giving himinformation which might enable him to further said well-being.
The doctor was as cool as was his patient; and, when he had finished hisprofessional remarks, informed her that the Bannisters were to go withhim to Barport. When Miss Panney heard this she sprang from her chairwith the air of an Indian of the Wild West bounding with upliftedtomahawk upon a defenceless foe. The doctor involuntarily pushed back hischair, but before he could make up his mind whether he ought to befrightened or amused, Miss Panney sat down as promptly as she had risen,and a grim smile appeared upon her face.
"How you do make me jump with your sudden announcements," she said. "Iam sure I am very glad that Dora is going away. She needed a change, andsea air is better than anything else for her. How long will they stay?"
The slight trace of her old cordiality which showed itself in MissPanney's demeanor through the few remaining minutes of the interviewgreatly pleased Dr. Tolbridge.
"She is a good old woman at heart," he said to himself, "and when shegets into one of her bad tempers, the best way to bring her around isto interest her in people she loves, and Dora Bannister is surely oneof those."
When the doctor had gone, Miss Panney gave herself up to a half minute ofunrestrained laughter, which greatly surprised old Mr. Witton, whohappened to be passing the parlor door. Then she sat down to write aletter to Dora Bannister, which she intended that young lady to receivesoon after her arrival at Barport.
That afternoon the good La Fleur came to Cobhurst, her soul enlivened bythe determination to show what admirable meals could be prepared from themost simple materials, and with the prospect of spending a fortnight withMrs. Drane and Cicely, and with that noble gentleman, the master of theestate, and to pass these weeks in the country. She was a great lover ofthings rural: she liked to see, pecking and scratching, the fowls withwhich she prepared such dainty dishes. In her earlier days, the sight ofan old hen wandering near a bed of celery, with a bed of beets in themiddle distance, had suggested the salad for which she afterwards becamesomewhat famous.
She knew a great deal about garden vegetables, and had been heard toremark that brains were as necessary in the culling of fruits and rootsand leaves and stems as for their culinary transformation intoattractions for the connoisseur's palate. She was glad, too, to have theopportunity of an occasional chat with that intelligent negro Mike, andso far as she could judge, there were no objections to the presence ofMiriam in the house.
Ralph did not come back until after La Fleur had arrived, and he returnedhungry, and a little more out of humor than when he started away.
"I had hoped," he said to Miriam, "to get enough birds to give the newcook a chance of showing her skill in preparing a dish of game fordinner; but these two, which I may say I accidentally shot, are all Ibrought. It is impossible to shoot without a dog, and I think I shall goto-morrow morning to see Miss Bannister and ask her to let me take Congohome with me. He will soon learn to know me, and the woodcock season doesnot last forever."
"But Dora will not be at home," said Miriam; "she goes to Barport to-daywith the Tolbridges."
Ralph opened his mouth to speak, and then he shut it again. It was of nouse to say anything, and he contented himself with a sigh as he went tothe rack to put up his gun. Miriam sighed, too, and as she did so, shehoped that it was the dog and not Dora that Ralph was sighing about.
The next morning there came to Cobhurst a man, bringing a black setterand a verbal message from Miss Bannister to the effect that if Mr.Haverley would tie up the dog and feed him himself for two or threedays and be kind to him, she had no doubt Congo would soon know him ashis master.
"Now that is the kind of a girl I like," said Ralph to his sister. "Shepromises to do a thing and she does it, even if the other party is notprompt in stepping forward to attend to his share of the affair."
There was nothing to say against this, and Miriam said nothing, butcontented herself with admiring the dog, which was worthy of all thepraise she could give him. Congo was tied up, and Mike and Mrs. Drane andCicely, and finally La Fleur, came to look at him and to speak well ofhim. When all had gone away but the colored man and the cook, the latterasked why Miss Bannister had been mentioned in connection with this dog.
"'Cause he was her dog," said Mike. "She got him when he was a littlepuppy no bigger nor a cat, an' you'd a thought, to see her carry himabout an' put him in a little bed an' kiver him up o' night an' talk tohim like a human bein', that she loved him as much as if he'd been alittle baby brother; an' she's thought all the world of him, straight'long until now, an' she's gone an' give him to Mr. Hav'ley."
La Fleur reflected for a moment.
"Are you sure, Mike," she asked, "that they are not engaged?"
"I'm dead sartain sure of it," he said. "His sister told me so with herown lips. Givin' dogs don't mean nothin', Mrs. Flower. If people marriedall the people they give dogs to, there'd be an awful mix in this world.Bless my soul, I'd have about eight wives my own self."
La Fleur smiled at Mike's philosop
hy, and applied his information to thecomfort of her mind.
"If his sister says they are not engaged," she thought, "it's like theyare not, but it looks to me as if it were time to take the Bannister potoff the fire."
La Fleur now retired to a seat under a tree near the kitchen door, andapplied her intellect to the consideration of the dinner, and the futureof the Drane family and herself. The present state of affairs suited heradmirably. She could desire no change in it, except that Mr. Haverleyshould marry Miss Cicely in order to give security to the situation. Forherself, this was the place above all others at which she would like tolive, and a mistress such as Miss Cicely, who knew little of domesticaffairs, but appreciated everything that was well done, was the mistressshe would like to serve. She would be sorry to leave the good doctor, forwhom, as a man of intellect, she had an earnest sympathy, but he did notlive in the country, and the Dranes were nearer and dearer to her than hewas. He should not be deserted nor neglected. If she came to spend therest of her life on this fine old estate, she would engage for him a goodyoung cook, who would be carefully instructed by her in regard to thepeculiarities of his diet, and who should always be under hersupervision. She would get him one from England; she knew of severalthere who had been her kitchen maids, and she would guarantee that theone she selected would give satisfaction.
Having settled this part of her plan, she now began to ponder upon thatimportant feature of it which concerned the marriage of Miss Cicely withRalph Haverley. Why, under the circumstances, this should not take placeas a mere matter of course and as the most natural thing in the world,she could not imagine. But in all countries young people are very odd,and must be managed. She had not yet had any good opportunity of judgingof the relations between these two; she had noticed that they were onvery easy and friendly terms with each other, but this was not enough. Itmight be a long time before people who were jolly good friends came tolook upon each other from a marrying point of view. Things ought to behurried up; that Miss Bannister would be away for two weeks; she, LaFleur, would be here for two weeks. She must try what she could do; thefire must be brightened,--the draught turned on, ashes raked out,kindling-wood thrust in if necessary, to make things hotter. At allevents the dinner-bell must ring at the appointed time, in a fortnight,less one day.
Ralph came striding across the lawn, and noticing La Fleur,approached her.
"I am glad to see you," he said, "for I want to tell you how much Ienjoyed your beefsteak this morning. One could not get anythingbetter cooked than that at Delmonico's. The dinner last night wasvery good, too."
"Oh, don't mention that, sir," said La Fleur, who had risen the momentshe saw him, and now stood with her head on one side, her eyes castdown, and a long smile on her face. "That dinner was nothing to what Ishall give you when Miss Miriam has sent for some things from the townwhich I want. And as for the steak, I beg you will not judge me until Ihave got for myself the cuts I want from the butcher. Then you shall see,sir, what I can do for you. In a beautiful home like this, Mr. Haverley,the cooking should be of the noblest and best."
Ralph laughed.
"So long as you stay with us, La Fleur," he said, "I am sure Cobhurstwill have all it deserves in that respect."
"Thank you very much, sir," she said, dropping a little courtesy. Then,raising her eyes, she cast them over the landscape and bent them againwith a little sigh.
"You are a gentleman of feeling, Mr. Haverley," she said, "and canunderstand the feelings of another, even if she be an old woman and acook, and I know you can comprehend my sentiments when I find myselfagain serving my most gracious former mistress Mrs. Drane, and her lovelydaughter, whose beautiful qualities of mind and soul it does not becomeme to speak of to you, sir. They were most kind to me when I first cameto this country, she and her daughter, two angels, sir, whom I wouldserve forever. Do not think, sir, that I would not gladly serve you andyour lady sister, but they are above all. It was last night, sir, as Isat looking out of my window at the beautiful trees in the moonlight, andI have not seen such trees in the moonlight since I lived in the Isle ofWight at Lord Monkley's country house there; La Fleur was his chef, and Iwas only there on a visit, because at that time I was attending to theeducation of my boy, who died a year afterward; and I thought then, sir,looking out at the moonlight, that I would go with the Dranes whereverthey might go, and I would live with them wherever they might live; thatI would serve them always with the best I could do, and that none coulddo better. But I beg your pardon, sir, for standing here, and talking inthis way, sir," and with a little courtesy and with her head more on oneside and more bowed down, she shuffled away.
"Now then," said she to herself, as she entered the kitchen, "if I havegiven him a notion of a wife with a first-class cook attached, it is agood bit of work to begin with."