they locked the house early one morning when even the dusty bricks had a smell of freshness to them before the hot sun baked them for another day. the closed blinds seemed sullen like a conquered tyrant, and the front door looked reproachfully at aunt crete as she turned the key carefully and tried it twice to be sure it was locked. the lonesome look of the house gave the poor old lady a pang as she turned the corner in her softly rustling silk coat and skirt. she felt it had hardly been right to put on a new black silk in the morning, and go off from all the cares of the world, just leave them, boldly ignore them, like any giddy girl, and take a vacation. she regarded herself with awe and a rising self-respect in every window she passed. somehow the look of dumpiness had passed away mysteriously. it was not her old self that was passing along the street to the station bearing a cut-steel hand-bag, while donald carried her new satchel, and her new trunk[62] bumped on a square ahead in the expressman’s wagon.
it was a hot morning, and the great city station seemed close and stuffy; but aunt crete mingled with the steaming crowd blissfully. to be one with the world, attired irreproachably; to be on her way to a great hotel by the sea, with new clothes, and escorted devotedly by some one that was her very own, this indeed was happiness. could any one desire more upon the earth?
donald put her into a cab at the station, and she beamed happily out at the frightful streets that always made her heart come into her mouth on the rare occasions when she had to cross them. the ride across the city seemed a brief and distinguished experience. it was as if everybody else was walking and they only had the grandeur of a carriage. then the ferry-boat was delightful to the new traveller, with its long, white-ceiled passages, and its smell of wet timbers and tarred ropes. they had a seat close to the front, where they could look out and watch their own progress and see the many puffing monsters laboriously plying back and forth, and the horizon-line of many masts, like fine brown lines against the sky. aunt crete felt that at last she was out in the[63] world. she could not have felt it more if she had been starting for europe.
the seashore train, with its bamboo seats and its excited groups of children bearing tin pails and shovels and tennis-rackets, filled her with a fine exhilaration. at last, at last, her soul had escaped the bounds of red brick walls that she had expected would surround her as long as she lived. she drew deep breaths, and beamed upon the whole trainful of people, yelling baby and all. she gazed and gazed at the fast-flying jersey scenery, grown so monotonous to some of the travellers, and admired every little white and green town at which they paused.
donald put her into a carriage when they reached the shore. half an hour off they had begun to smell the sea, and to catch glimpses of low-lying marshes and a misty blueness against the sky. now every friendly hackman at the station seemed a part of the great day to aunt crete. so pretty a carriage, with low steps and gray cushions and a fringe all around the canopy, and a white speckled horse, with long, gentle, white eyelashes. aunt crete leaned back self-consciously on the gray cushions, and enjoyed the creak of her silk jacket as she settled into place.[64] she felt as if this was a play that would soon be over; but she would enjoy it to the very end, and then go back to her dish-washing and cellar-cleaning, and being blamed, and bear them all in happy remembrance of what she had had for one blissful vacation.
she did not know that donald had telephoned ahead for the best apartments in the hotel. she was engaged in watching for the first blue line of the great mysterious ocean; and, when it came into sight, billowing suddenly above the line of board walk as they turned a corner, her heart stood still for one moment, and then bounded onward set to the time of wonder.
two obsequious porters jumped to assist aunt crete from the carriage. the hand-baggage drifted up the steps as if by magic, and awaited them in the apartments to which they arose in a luxurious elevator. aunt crete noticed several old ladies with pink and blue wool knitting, sitting in a row of large rocking-chairs, as she glided up to the second floor. it gave her rest on one point, for they all wore white dresses. she had been a little dubious about those white dresses that donald had insisted upon. but now she might enjoy them unashamed. o, what would luella say?
[65]
she glanced around the room, half-fearfully expecting to find luella waiting there. somehow, now she was here, she wanted to get used to it and enjoy it all before luella came. for luella was an uncertain quantity. luella might not like it, after all! dreadful thought! and after donald had taken so much trouble and spent so much money all to surprise them!
the smiling porter absorbed the goodly tip that donald handed him, and went his way. aunt crete and donald were left alone. they looked at each other and smiled.
“let’s look around and see where they’ve put us,” said donald, pushing the swaying curtains aside; and there before them rolled the blue tide of the ocean. aunt crete sank into a chair, and was silent for a while; and then she said: “it’s just as big as i thought it would be. i was so afraid it wouldn’t be. some folks next door went down to the shore last year, and they said it didn’t look big enough to what they’d expected; and i’ve been afraid ever since.”
donald’s eyes filled with a tender light that was beautiful to see. he was enjoying the spending of his money, and it was yielding him a rich reward already.
[66]
the apartments that had been assigned to them consisted of a parlor and two large bedrooms with private baths. donald discovered a few moments later, when he went down to the office to investigate, that luella and his aunt occupied a single room on the fourth floor back, overlooking the kitchen court. it was not where he would have placed them, had they chosen to await his coming and be taken down to the shore in style. but now that they had run away from him, and were too evidently ashamed of him, perhaps it was as well to let them remain where they were, he reflected.
“aunt carrie and luella have gone out with a party in a carriage for an all-day drive to pleasure bay,” announced donald when he came up. “aunt carrie’s ankle must be better.”
“well, that’s real nice!” exclaimed aunt crete with a smile, turning from her view of the sea, where she had been ever since he left her. “i’m glad luella is having a good time, and we sha’n’t miss her a mite. you and i’ll have the ocean all to ourselves to-day.”
donald smiled approvingly. he was not altogether sure he cared to meet that other aunt and cousin at all. he was not sure but he would like[67] to run away from them, and carry aunt crete with him.
“very well,” he said, “i’m glad you’re not disappointed. we’ll do just whatever we want to. would you like to go in bathing?”
“o, my! could i? i’ve always thought i’d like to see how it would feel, but i guess i’m too old. besides, there’s my figger. it wouldn’t look nice in a bathing-suit. luella wouldn’t like it a bit, and i don’t want to disgrace her, now i’m here. she always makes a lot of fun of old people going in and sitting right on the edge of the water. i guess it won’t do.”
“yes, it will do, if you want to. didn’t i tell you this was my party, and luella isn’t in it? that’s ridiculous. i’ll take you in myself, aunt crete, and we’ll have the best time out; and you sha’n’t be scared, either. i can swim like a fish. you shall go in every day. would you like to begin at once?”
“i should,” said aunt crete, rising with a look of resolution in her face. she felt that luella would condemn the amusement for her; so, if she was to dare it, it must be done before her niece appeared.
they went down to the beach, and for a few[68] minutes surveyed the bathers as they came out to the water. then with joy and daring in her face aunt crete went into the little bath-house with wildly beating heart, arrayed herself in the gay blue flannel garb provided for her use, and came timidly out to meet donald, tall and smiling in his blue jerseys.
they had a wonderful time. it was almost better than shopping. donald led her down to the water, and very gently accustomed her to it until he had led her out beyond the roughness, where his strong arms lifted her well above the swells until she felt as if she was a bird. it was marvellous that she was not afraid, but she was not. it was as if she had that morning been transferred back over forty years to her youth again, and was having the good times that she had longed for, such as other girls had—the swings, and the rides, and the skatings, and bicyclings. how many such things she had watched through the years, with her heart palpitating with daring to do it all herself! her petulant sister and the logy luella never dreamed that aunt crete desired such un-auntly indulgences. if they had, they would have taken it out of her, scorched it out with scorn.
[69]
the white hair with its natural waves fluffed out beautifully, like a canary’s feathers, after the bath, and aunt crete was smiling and charming at lunch in one of her fine new white dresses. she had hurried to put it on before luella appeared, lest they might all be spirited away from her if luella discovered them. she reflected with a sigh that they would likely fit luella beautifully, and that that would probably be their final destination, just as luella’s discarded garments came to her.
but there was nothing to mar the lunch-time and the beautiful afternoon, wherein, after a delicious nap to the accompaniment of the music of the waves, she was taken to drive in the fringed carriage again, while a bunch of handsome ladies, old and young, sat on the hotel piazza in more of those abundant rockers, and watched her approvingly. she felt that she was of some importance in their eyes. she had suddenly blossomed out of her insignificance, and was worth looking at. it warmed her heart with humble pleasure. she felt that she had won approval, not through any merit of her own, but through donald’s loving-kindness. it was wonderful what a charm clothes could work.
[70]
“put on your gray silk for dinner,” said donald with malice aforethought in his heart.
“o,” gasped aunt crete, “i think i ought to keep that for parties, don’t you?”
“if ever there was a party, it’s going to be to-night,” said donald. “it’s going to be a surprise-party. you want to see if aunt carrie and luella will know you, you know.”
so with trembling fingers aunt crete arrayed herself in her purple and fine linen, very materially assisted by a quiet maid, whom donald had ordered sent to the room, and who persuaded aunt crete to let her arrange the pretty white hair.
it was surprising to see, when the coiffure was complete, that she looked quite like the other old ladies, who were not old at all, only playing old.
“i don’t believe they will know me,” whispered aunt crete to herself as she stood before the full-length mirror and surveyed the effect. “and i didn’t think i could ever look like that!” she murmured after a more prolonged gaze, during which she made the acquaintance of her new self. then she added half wistfully: “i wish i had known it before. i think perhaps they’d have—liked me—more if i’d looked that way all the time.” she sighed half regretfully, as if she were bidding[71] good-by to this new vision, and went out to donald, who awaited her. she felt that the picnic part of her vacation was almost over now, for carrie and luella would be sure to manage to spoil it someway.
donald looked up from his paper with a welcome in his eyes. it was the first time she had seen him in evening dress, and she thought him handsome as a king.
“you’re a very beautiful woman, aunt crete; do you know it?” said donald with satisfaction. he had felt that the french maid would know how to put just the right touch to aunt crete’s pretty hair to take away her odd, “unused” appearance. now she was completely in the fashion, and she looked every inch a lady. she somehow seemed to have natural intuition for gentle manners. perhaps her kindly heart dictated them, for surely there can be no better manners than come wrapped up with the golden rule, and aunt crete had lived by that all her life.
they entered the great dining-hall, and made their way among the palms in a blaze of electric light, with the head waiter bowing obsequiously before them. they had a table to themselves, and aunt crete rejoiced in the tiny shaded candles and[72] the hothouse roses in the centre, and lifted the handsome napkins and silver forks with awe. sometimes it seemed as if she were still dreaming.
the party from pleasure bay had reached home rather late in the afternoon, after a tedious time in the hot sun at a place full of peanut-stands and merry-go-rounds and moving-picture shows. luella had not had a good time. she had been disappointed that none of the young men in the party had paid her special attention. in fact, the special young man for whose sake she had prodded her mother into going had not accompanied them at all. luella was thoroughly cross.
“mercy, how you’ve burned your nose, luella!” said her mother sharply. “it’s so unbecoming. the skin is all peeling off. i do wish you’d wear a veil. you can’t afford to lose your complexion, with such a figure as you have.”
“o, fiddlesticks! i wish you’d let up on that, ma,” snapped luella. “didn’t you get a letter from aunt crete? i wonder what she’s thinking about not to send that lavender organdie. i wanted to wear it to-night. there’s to be a hop in the ballroom, and that would be just the thing. she ought to have got it done; she’s had time enough since i telephoned. i suppose she’s gone[73] to reading again. i do wish i’d remembered to lock up the bookcase. she’s crazy for novels.”
all this time luella was being buttoned into a pink silk muslin heavily decorated with cheap lace. there were twenty-six tiny elusive buttons, and luella’s mother was tired.
“what on earth makes you so long, ma?” snarled luella, twisting her neck to try to see her back. “we’ll be so late we won’t get served, and i’m hungry as a bear.”
they hurried down, arriving at the door just as aunt crete and donald were being settled into their chairs by the smiling head waiter.
“for goodness’ sake! those must be swells,” said luella in a low tone. “did you see how that waiter bowed and smiled? he never does that to us. i expect he got a big tip. see, they’re sitting right next our table. goodness, ma, your hair is all slipped to one side. put it up quick. no, the other side. say, he’s an awfully handsome young man. i wonder if we can get introduced. i just know he dances gracefully. say, mother, i’d like to get him for a partner to-night. i guess those stuck-up grandons would open their eyes then.”
“hush, luella; he’ll hear you.”
they settled into their places unassisted by the[74] dilatory waiter, who came languidly up a moment later to take their order.
aunt crete’s back was happily toward her relatives, and so she ate her dinner in comfort. the palms were all about, and the gentle clink of silver and glass, and refined voices. the soft strains of an orchestra hidden in a balcony of ferns and palms drowned luella’s strident voice when it was raised in discontented strain, and so aunt crete failed to recognize the sound. but donald had been on the alert. in the first place, he had asked a question or two, and knew about where his relatives usually sat, and had purposely asked to be placed near them. he studied luella when she came in, and felt pretty sure she was the girl he had seen on the platform of the train the morning he arrived in midvale; and finally in a break in the music he distinctly caught the name “luella” from the lips of the sour woman in the purple satin with white question-marks all over it and plasters of white lace.
aunt carrie was tall and thin, with a discontented droop to her lips, and premature wrinkles. she wore an affected air of abnormal politeness and disapproval of everything. she was studying the silver-gray silk back in front of her and[75] wondering what there was about that elegant-looking woman with the lovely white waved pompadour and puffs, and that exquisite real lace collar, to remind her of poor sister lucretia. she always coupled the adjective “poor” with her sister’s name when she thought of all her shortcomings.
luella’s discontent was somewhat enlivened by the sight of the young man that had not gone on the drive to pleasure bay. he stood in the doorway, searching the room with keen, interested eyes. could it be that he was looking for her? luella’s heart leaped in a moment’s triumph. yes, he seemed to be looking that way as if he had found the object of his search, and he was surely coming down toward them with a real smile on his face. luella’s face broke into preparatory smiles. she would be very coy, and pretend not to see him; so she began a voluble and animated conversation with her mother about the charming time they had had that day, which might have surprised the worthy woman if she had not been accustomed to her daughter’s wiles. she knew it to be a warning of the proximity of some one that luella wished to charm.
the young man came on straight by the solicitous[76] waiters, who waved him frantically to various tables. luella cast a rapid side glance, and talked on gayly with drooping head and averted gaze. her mother looked up, wondering, to see what was the cause of luella’s animation. he was quite near now, and in a moment more he would speak. the girl felt excited thrills creeping up her back, and the color rushed into her cheeks, which were already red enough from the wind and sun of the day.
“well, well,” said the young man’s voice in a hearty eagerness luella had never hoped to hear addressed to herself, “this is too good to be true. don, old man, where did you drop from? i saw your name in the register, and rushed right into the dining-room——”
“clarence grandon, as true as i live!” said a pleasant voice behind luella. “i thought you were in europe, bless your heart. this is the best thing that could have happened. let me introduce my aunt——”
some seconds before this luella’s thrills had changed to chills. mortification stole over her face and up to the roots of her hair. even the back of her neck, where her bathing-suit was cut low and square, turned angry-looking. the pink[77] muslin had a round neck, and showed a half-circle of whiter neck below the bathing-suit square. but luella had the presence of mind to smile on to her mother in mild pretence that she had but just noticed the advent of the young man behind. an obsequious waiter was bringing an extra chair for mr. grandon, and he was to be seated so that he could look toward their table. perhaps he would recognize her yet, and there might be a chance of introduction to the handsome stranger. luella dallied with her dinner in fond hope, and her mother aided and abetted her.
the lovely old lady with the silver-gray silk and the real lace collar and beautiful hair had her back squarely toward the table where luella and her mother sat. they could not see her face. they could only notice how interested both the young men were in her, and how courteous they were to her; and they decided she must be some very great personage indeed. they watched her half enviously, and began to plan some way to scrape an acquaintance with her. one glimpse they had of her face as the head waiter rushed to draw back her chair when she had finished her dinner. it was a fine, handsome face, younger than they had expected to see, with beautiful sparkling eyes full[78] of mirth and contentment. what was there in the face that reminded them of something? had they ever met that old lady before?
luella and her mother brought their dallied dessert to a sudden ending, and followed hard upon the footsteps of the three down the length of the dining-hall; but the lady in gray and her two attendants had disappeared already, and disconsolately they lingered about, looking up and down the length of piazzas in vain hope to see them sitting in one of the great rows of rockers, watching the many-tinted waves in the dying evening light; but there was no sign of them anywhere.
as they stood thus leaning over the balcony, a large automobile, gray, with white cushions, like a great gliding dove, slipped silently up to the entrance below them in the well-bred silence that an expensive machine knows how to assume under dignified owners.
luella twitched her mother’s sleeve. “that’s grandon’s car,” she whispered. “p’raps i’ll get asked to go. let’s sit down here and wait.”
the mother obediently sat down.
