He began to be absent-minded at home, and Kate quickly noticed it, and asked him what was the matter, and when he replied, "Nothing," he did it in a tone that whatever was the matter was the reverse of nothing, so she set herself to discovering what it could be. She at once assumed that it was trouble of some sort between him and Fenie, and she determined6 to rectify7 it, no matter what it might be. They were mere8 children, Harry and Fenie, in Kate's estimation, and would need her sisterly care and supervision9 until they were safely married.
With the best of intentions she called upon Fenie to find out all about it, and she found the girl in a state of high excitement, for she had been helping10 Trif to search every place in the house where those awful sketches11 could possibly have been put, for Phil, like many another man, was an adept12 at dropping the contents of his pockets in unexpected places. Kate was thinking of nothing but the business on which she had come, so she proceeded promptly13 to business.
"Harry seems quite unhappy," she began bluntly. "He is entirely unlike his usual merry self."
"Indeed?" replied Fenie vacantly.
"Pshaw!" exclaimed Fenie with a slight frown.
Kate was somewhat provoked at this, but she controlled herself and continued:
"I asked him what was troubling him, but he wouldn't tell me, although he has always made me his confidant."
Fenie looked uncomfortable, but she showed no sign of becoming communicative, so Kate went on:
"Don't you suppose I would be of any service to you or him in the matter?"
"Not in the slightest degree," said Fenie, with a start. She was thinking only of the ridiculousness of Kate assisting at the work of rummaging15 the pockets of the various garments which Phil had worn since he missed the sketches, but Kate naturally failed to imagine that, so she misconstrued the gesture.
"I do hope, dear," she said, as sympathetically as she could, "that it isn't anything serious!"
"But it is," said Fenie, looking as if she would like the subject dropped. For that very reason Kate clung to it determinedly16.
"Serious?—for two people who ought to love each other very dearly?"
"Yes," replied Fenie bluntly. She was afraid to say much, for, if she gave Kate any clue to the matter, she did not know how much further she might be persuaded to go. She knew that her tongue sometimes ran away with her, and she was not going to let Kate know anything about the missing letter and its double contents.
Suddenly Trif, who did not know that there was a visitor in the parlor17, called Fenie, and the girl, glad of an excuse, hurried away with the promise that she would return in a moment. When, however, she explained to her sister, Trif told her she was very silly not to see that Kate was misunderstanding matters, and supposing there was trouble between Fenie and Harry.
"But," said Fenie, "as she already knows that it concerns a couple who ought to love each other very dearly—those were her own words—she will think there is something wrong between her and Jermyn, or between you and Phil." Trif was perplexed18 by this view of the matter, so she and her sister set themselves to devise some way of throwing Kate off the scent19, and, as neither of them had any experience in deceit, they evolved and discarded several plans in rapid succession.
Kate was becoming restive20. She had a woman's sense of the courtesy that was due her, and she began to feel hurt by what seemed to be neglect. Just then Trixy meandered21 into the parlor, from nowhere in particular, and Kate had no scruples22 about questioning her.
"Trixy, dear," she said, "I'm very glad to see you."
Trixy indulged in a long stare before she replied:
"That's funny! You don't look as if you was."
"Don't I? I'm very sorry for it. The truth is, I'm greatly troubled about several things. I'm afraid, for one thing, that Harry and Fenie aren't as happy as they have been."
"I guess you're right," was the reply, "though I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't said so. They talked awful solemn to each other last night. I don't know what they was talkin' about, but once Harry put his hands all over his face and said: 'Oh, 'twill be awful—awful!'"
"Dear me! And what did your Aunt Fee say?"
"She didn't say nothin' for a long time, and then she said she thought he was makin' altogether too much fuss about it."
"About what?"
"I don't know, except she said somethin' about Mr. Jermyn bein' a real fine fellow anyway, so she thought Harry ought to be quiet, and make the best of it."
Jermyn! Aha! Harry was jealous! How much cause had he? If any, then she, Kate, had quite as much. Oh, the ways of very young women! Was Fenie's head still turned by the attention which Jermyn had paid her at Old Point? Had she really lost her heart to him? Was she tiring of Harry, and wishing she might yet capture the officer? Jermyn had admitted to Kate that he had been greatly impressed by Fenie until she, Kate, herself appeared on the scene, but it couldn't be possible that he——
"Trixy?" said Kate suddenly, "does Lieutenant23 Jermyn come here often?" She was ashamed of herself as soon as she had spoken, for when could he call? Was he not at the proving-grounds all day, and at Kate's own home every evening until late? Still, the question had been asked, so she awaited the answer.
"Why, no. He came here this mornin', very early, and——"
"And your mamma saw him?"
"No, mamma was out."
"So you entertained him?"
"No, I didn't either. I wanted to, 'cause I like him lots, but he and Aunt Fee began talkin' about a letter, and then Aunt Fee told me to get all my new dolls to show him, now that they've all got new dresses, and it took me a lot of time to get them all together, and when I came back with 'em he was gone."
Kate was angry, but of one thing she informed herself at once—it was that she was not going to lose Bruce Jermyn because of any flirtation24 he might have had with that flighty girl, or of any letters that might have passed between them. Men would be flirts25, she supposed—that is, bachelors would—but she would marry Bruce Jermyn, even if he had flirted26 with half the women in creation. She had long cherished the fine belief that no man ever strays from a woman who appreciates him; when she became Mrs. Jermyn she would be everything to him that wife could be to husband, and then she would defy anyone, even a girl as pretty as Fenie, to get and keep a bit of his heart.
As to Fenie, it would break Harry's heart to lose her, and if temptation were out of her way she probably would love Harry sincerely after they were married. Jermyn would be out of the way in a day or two,—but, oh, how she did wish she knew what was in the letter which the two had talked about?
Fenie finally returned and Kate said to her:
"You expect Harry this evening, I suppose?"
"Oh, yes, I suppose so."
"I hope you will have a very pleasant evening with each other."
"Oh, so do I. I hope it will be pleasanter than last evening. If that dreadful let——"
Fenie stopped abruptly27, but it was too late. Kate was regarding her searchingly, and Fenie's face became scarlet28.
"What letter do you refer to?"
"Oh, don't ask, please." Fenie felt that she should scream.
"A letter which has made much unhappiness for you and Harry?"
"Yes; yes; oh, yes!" Fenie looked so miserable29 that Kate almost forgave her. After all, was she not a mere girl? Perhaps a womanly word, spoken in season, might do her good, beside providing peace for Kate's own mind in the future. So she began:
"I believe you're real sorry about it."
"Oh, indeed I am; sorrier than I can begin to tell you."
"Then, dear," said Kate, compelling a genuine pardoning spirit to take possession of herself, "try to think no more about it, no matter what the contents of the letter may be. Let bygones be bygones. Some things must be lived down, if we are to be all we should. Do your share toward it, and all may yet be well."
"But you—and Jermyn—"
So Jermyn really was implicated30! Nevertheless, Kate set her lips firmly and replied:
"Jermyn shall live it down; I shall never recall the matter to his attention, but shall do all in my power to make him forget the letter."
"But," said Fenie, with a wondering look, "how did you chance to know anything about it?"
"Never mind about that. You still love Harry, don't you?"
"Indeed, yes!"
"And you will show him that letter—after you are married?"
"Why, yes—if it is ever found."
Kate wanted one more proof of Fenie's repentance31; it was a hard one to exact, but she was determined to have it.
"You will show the letter to me too?"
"Yes—after you are married, and if you'll promise to forgive us."
"I do promise—now!" said Kate, and departed with the air of one who had done a noble deed, while Fenie hurried to Trif and told her that Kate already knew about that letter, despite all that had been done to keep any knowledge of it from her, and Trif wondered how she could have learned, and said that Harry must have told her, and Fenie retorted that Harry was no tell-tale child, and that it must have been Jermyn or the Admiral, and that whichever it was he was real mean, for hadn't Trif, while writing the letter, planned merely what had come to pass, to the manifest delight of the parties most nearly interested?
Kate improved her first opportunity to warn her brother against long engagements, and Harry asked whether she herself was willing to practice what she preached, and Kate bravely answered that she was.
"But let that subject rest, for the present," she said. "I've learned some things accidentally to-day, and I don't wonder that you have been so unhappy for a day or two. You needn't be afraid to call on Fenie this evening. There will be nothing unpleasant."
"My dear sister!" exclaimed Harry, "what are you talking about? What have you learned, and where, and how?"
"Entirely by accident. Trixy——"
"Trixy? Goodness! Will that child never cease to make trouble?"
Then Harry dashed out of the room.
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1
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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rectify
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| v.订正，矫正，改正 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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meandered
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| （指溪流、河流等）蜿蜒而流( meander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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flirtation
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| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
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flirts
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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flirted
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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