“Oh, mamma, I have had a lovely time at Mrs. Van Bibber’s! I would not have missed her reception for the world!”
The blonde beauty threw herself, with a silken frou-frou of rich attire1, back into a luxurious2 chair, clasped her white, jeweled hands, and rolled her large, bluebell3 eyes heavenward, practising the seraphic expression she found so effective with the men.
She repeated, rapturously:
“I would not have missed it for the world! Everything was on the grandest scale, and went off beautifully. I felt that it was worth all our scheming and planning for my lovely gown;” and she smiled, complacently5, at her rich blue silk robe loaded with fine lace trimmings that set off so well her blue eyes and fluffy6 flaxen hair.
“But, mamma,” she continued, “how sober you look. Is your rheumatism7 worse, poor dear?”
The faded, elderly woman, with the careworn8 face and fretful mouth, clasped her thin, white hands nervously9 over her knee and answered, wearily:
“My rheumatism is bad enough, but what worries me most is that I made such a mistake—pawning my diamonds for that splendid gown when you might have done better remaining at home without it!”
“Mamma, what can you mean?” and Jessie Stirling frowned, impatiently, tearing a white rose to pieces with excited fingers.
“I mean that, after all my sacrifices to get you ready for Mrs. Van Bibber’s reception, hoping you might meet Chester Olyphant there and make up your quarrel, he came here to call on you in your absence.”
“And I missed him like that! Oh, what a shame! But who could have dreamed he would miss the reception? Still, mamma, you should have kept him till I returned. Oh, why did you let him get away?” queried10 the girl, angrily.
“How could I help it, my dear? You know very well I would have been willing to chain him to his chair to keep him here till you came! I did my best—made talk, and tried to hold him, but after an hour he pleaded an engagement and hurried away.”
“But he will come again. Surely he will! Of course you asked—made him promise?” cried Jessie, wildly.
“Yes, oh yes, but he did not say he would. He only came, he said, to return some negatives you loaned him to make pictures from—the ones you took with your own camera in the mountains last summer.”
“Oh, yes, I remember—Uncle Hermann’s picturesque11 old stone mansion12, and some mountains and river views taken from the bridge at Alderson.”
“Yes, and some pictures, too, of that hoidenish girl, Leola. I wish you had left those out, Jessie.”
“Why, really, mamma, I forgot they were in the negative book, for I didn’t mean to show them to Chester. Not that I could be jealous of a wild thing like Leola Mead13, but because I promised her no one should see them. There was that one of her wading14 in the creek15, you know, and another in bloomers sitting astride her white pony16 Rex, and another in hunting costume, rifle on her shoulder. Really, she wasn’t pretty in any of the negatives, except her white evening gown with the lilies on her shoulder.”
“Yes, he said that was lovely, and the others, too, and he asked no end of questions about her, and where she lived. He pretended to be anxious to see the scenery, but I guess it was Leola more than anything else. Men are so sly!”
“And you, mamma, what did you tell him?” Jessie asked, anxiously.
“Oh, I told him we should be glad to have him visit Wheatlands some time when we were there with my half brother, but I made up my mind he should never go there till you were safely his wife.”
“Good, mamma, though, really, I cannot look upon Leola Mead seriously as a rival. Why, she is only a simple country girl, with no style or good clothes at all.”
“But dangerously pretty, Jessie, don’t[Pg 3] forget that!—and as for style, well, she is graceful17 and dashing as any girl I ever saw, and there’s no telling what might happen if they met. Anyhow, he just plied18 me with eager questions about the girl, and I could see he was almost fascinated by her pictures. Of course I did not encourage him any. I said she was my half brother’s ward4, and presumably of low origin, as he was reticent19 about her birth, and said she had not a friend in the world but himself. I enlarged on her rude manners and hoidenish ways, and said she was not nearly as pretty as the pictures.”
“When in reality she is ten times prettier,” laughed Jessie. “So you are right. He must never see Leola Mead until I am his wife. I shall write him a sweet little note pretending he has lost one of the negatives, and ask him to call again.”
“I do not believe he will, for he evaded20 the question when I urged him to do so. Indeed, I even hinted how sorry you were over the quarrel, and he said, quite amiably21, that it was all past now and he hoped you and he might be good friends again.”
“Friends, bah, he shall be my husband yet! I will win him back again; his millions shall not slip through my fingers this time, I promise you, mamma, and woe22 to any girl that dares try to rival me! But, really, I am not jealous of anybody, for I think I see his little game. He wants to make up, or he would not have come. It was easy enough to return the pictures by mail, now, wasn’t it? But he probably came because he wanted to see me, and that chat about Leola was only to make me uneasy and jealous, don’t you see?”
“I hope so, dear, but really I was quite frightened the way he talked of the lovely pictures he had made from the negatives.”
“Lovely nonsense!” Jessie cried, sharply, with an angry gleam of her blue eyes, and a vicious snap of her white teeth as she added: “I believe I would try to murder Leola if she came between us, for I cannot believe his love for me is dead so soon. If it is, I’ll soon warm over the old coals again. I’ll write him a note right away, saying how sorry I am that I was out this afternoon, and asking him to come this evening or to-morrow.”
“Pray do so,” cried the scheming mother, whose small means were dwindling23 away so fast in the effort to keep afloat in fashionable society till her daughter’s beauty won a rich husband.
Jessie wrote and dispatched her pleading note before she removed the dainty hat from her fluffy blonde hair, and when evening came she was waiting for him, gowned in dainty white, befitting the warm June weather.
To her amazement24 and anger there was no reply, and the next morning she read, in the society columns of her favorite daily, that Chester Olyphant had left New York the previous evening on a yachting trip with several other young men, and would be absent two weeks.
“Well, thank Heaven, there are only men in the party, so he will not be exposed to any other girl’s fascinations25 on the trip, and I’ll be waiting for him when he comes back,” cried Jessie, swallowing her chagrin26 the best she could.
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1
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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3
bluebell
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| n.风铃草 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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8
careworn
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| adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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10
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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11
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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12
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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13
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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14
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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15
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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16
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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17
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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18
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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19
reticent
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| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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20
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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21
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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22
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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23
dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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24
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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25
fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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26
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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