Pained and distressed3, she put aside all the play finery and threw herself across the bed. Scarcely had she done so ere she heard her aunt's step approaching.
"I came to congratulate you, my dear," said Mrs. White warmly. "Most of the success of the entertainment was due to—— Why—what—you are almost crying," and she stopped in some confusion.
"Oh, aunty!" wailed4 Dorothy. "I seem to be so misunderstood lately. And Agnes Sinclair made such a queer—such a strange remark to me—just as I was leaving the last tableau5."
"Why, what could she say, child?"
"She said—she said," and Dorothy hesitated, while the warm blood coursed to her pale cheeks—"she said—everybody knew Tom Scott was in—in love with me!"
Mrs. White simply stared at her niece. Then she shook her head ruefully, but she hardly knew what to say, for fear of further embarrassing Dorothy.
"Why, you dear, precious baby!" she exclaimed at length, as she placed her hand caressingly6 on Dorothy's head. "Doesn't everybody know what Agnes thinks of Tom? She is old enough to have such thoughts, and her reason for inflicting7 them on you, my dear, is merely a consequence of you—of you doing the work that older girls usually do. I should not have allowed you to take so much responsibility, Dorothy. We know, however," continued Mrs. White very gently, "that the pretty Agnes admires Mr. Scott very much. So you must excuse her seeming indiscretion."
Dorothy's mind was instantly relieved. If Agnes did like Tom, of course she might have thought he was neglecting her for Dorothy. And he had only been trying to help Dorothy—there were so many things to do.
"You are too tired to think about such things now," said Mrs. White firmly. "You are over-sensitive. Why should you care about so trifling9 a thing as that?"
Dorothy did not answer. She was tired—very tired. Perhaps she was over-sensitive. But when she reflected that Ned had said almost the same thing——
To change the subject Mrs. White told her niece about Dr. Baker10, what he had said, and how interested he was in little Mary.
"Oh, I'm so glad of that," said Dorothy. "I hope——"
But at that moment Tavia poked11 her head in the door to see what was going on in Dorothy's room, that she had not come to her chum, or summoned her, to talk over the events of the evening.
"Ned is calling for you, Mrs. White," said Tavia.
"I'll go at once; but remember," she commanded playfully to the two girls, "no more chattering12 to-night. To-morrow is another day."
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Tavia, when the door had closed on Mrs. White and the two girls were alone in Dorothy's room, "I'm so frightened, Doro, dear. I should have gone home. What am I going to say to my father?"
"I will do all the saying that is necessary," bravely offered Dorothy. "It was I who kept you."
"Yes, and I know why."
"Why, then?"
"Simply to fix it up for me. You never could intrust me with such an important commission."
"Well, I am sure when I have a chance to speak to your father—but, dear me, there are so many things!"
"Oh, Doro, I just want to ask you if you saw the 'Babbling13 Brook14' in the audience? She was fairly eating up little Mary with those big optics of hers."
"Like her? I should, say she fairly loved her, but then, you see, a sister of hers had a baby girl once," and Tavia laughed to cover up the mistake she had made in mentioning the affairs of Miss Brooks. "There, Doro, dear, I'm going now. To-morrow is another day, as your aunt says," finished Tavia, kissing Dorothy fondly and leaving her chum to think over all the matters that now confused her tired, weary brain.
It was Roger who first tapped at his sister's door the next morning.
"Doro," he called, "when are we going out to see that ghost?"
"Yes; you know you promised," and by this time Roger was in the room and had his arms around her neck.
"Oh," she laughed, "we'll take a ride out to the castle just as soon as—as Ned is able to go."
"He's going out riding to-day—I heard him say so," persisted the boy.
"Well, we'll see," replied Dorothy. "But you must run out now. My! it's almost nine o'clock. I didn't think it was so late."
The entertainment had been so engrossing17 that all the thoughts of Tanglewood Park and the mystery concerning it had entirely18 escaped Dorothy's memory for the time being. But Roger had determined19 to know all about that "scream," and only yesterday he had had a long talk with old Abe down at the station; a long, serious talk. Abe told the little fellow that there "sure was a ghost up at the castle," and when Joe, who was with Roger, asked about the lady the old liveryman had driven up there, Abe rolled up his eyes in an unpleasant fashion, and declared that the lady was a "near-ghost" herself.
Roger told all this, and more, to Dorothy, so she was obliged to make a tentative promise, at least, that she would go with him to the castle the very first moment she could spare.
"I can't go to-day," said his sister. "You know I have many little things to attend to, Roger. It is almost Christmas, you remember, and——"
"Oh, here are your letters; I almost forgot!" cried the little fellow suddenly, drawing from his pocket several envelopes. "Nat went to the post-office while you were at breakfast."
The boy tossed the missives down and ran off. Dorothy glanced over her mail. There were several letters from her school friends, as she could tell by the writing, and some from acquaintances in Dalton. Then this one—who could it be from?—postmarked in a city from which she had never received any mail, and the address written in a strange hand.
She opened this one first, and this is what she read:
"My Dear Miss Dale—This letter will undoubtedly21 surprise you. It is a strange Christmas letter for me to have to write. You may have forgotten my name, but I am the woman detective whom you met in Boardman's. I hardly know how to pen the words, but—I put that ring into your bag!
"I am a very wretched woman, but to make this confession22 to you may, in a measure, at least, tend to soften23 the bitterness that rankles24 in my heart.
"It would be useless for me to try to explain why I did you such a wrong—perhaps if I could talk with you it would be different.
"Try to forgive me—try to know how wretched I am—sick, without work and without means.
"But even pity seems bitter to me now—life has all gone wrong, and only the thought of your innocent face, and the black guilt25 I tried to fasten on you, has given me the strength to write this letter.
"Ah, what a mockery Christmas is to the unfortunate!
"Yours, in sorrow,
"Louise Dearing."
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1
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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2
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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3
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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4
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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6
caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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7
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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8
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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9
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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10
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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11
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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12
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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13
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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14
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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16
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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17
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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18
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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22
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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23
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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24
rankles
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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