“she may request as much as she likes; i’m not going! i wouldn’t go if i were paid for it!” was miles’ ungallant comment upon receipt of mrs vanburgh’s invitation; but before he had time to pen his refusal, cynthia, in her new character of mentor, issued her regal decree that it should be turned into an acceptance. in vain he grumbled and protested; the silken chains never relaxed their hold.
“hate parties! senseless waste of time.”
“it would be kind of you to help to make it more profitable.”
“i’ve no parlour tricks—and don’t see the fun of making a performing bear of myself among a lot of strangers.”
“it would be bearish to refuse, and allow your sisters to go alone! i’ve always longed for a brother to take me about. a nice man is always considerate to girls.”
miles grunted.
“if i did go, they wouldn’t speak to me all the evening! i never know what to say to strangers. i should have to sit in a corner by myself. there’ll be a crowd of girls—you, and betty, and mrs vanburgh’s sisters, and who knows how many more?”
cynthia bowed her head in stately salute.
“you would not be ungallant enough to insinuate that there could be too many! it will be your proud privilege to introduce a masculine element into the assembly.”
“humph!”
“it likewise appears probable to me that mrs vanburgh may know a few nice men besides yourself.”
betty would have said “boys,” cynthia knew better, and reaped her reward in miles’ wavering air.
“couldn’t entertain a party for one minute, let alone ten.”
“we will go into partnership then, and do it together! ten minutes instead of five. we’ll be confederates, and show them tricks. i know a lovely one about telling the time from the position of a poker—no! how silly i am, i always give away the secret! you tell a card, not the hour. it’s quite easy. you have an imaginary clock face on the hearthrug; twelve o’clock is the fire, and you lay the poker on the rug with the point on the number you want—one, two, three and so on, up to queen. for king, you simply hold it in your hand, which puzzles them more than ever.”
“what about the suits?”
“oh, that’s quite easy. when the person outside comes in, he must notice first of all how his confederate is looking; to the left means hearts; to the right, diamonds; upwards, clubs; downward, spades. it’s really a lovely trick. we’ll rehearse it, and i’m sure you must know many more.”
“i know some balancing tips,—georgia magnet business. you might be the magnetic lady, and i’d be the showman.”
“oh, lovely, lovely! could you teach me really? could i lift up a table with two or three men sitting on it, like you see in the advertisements?” cried cynthia fervently, and though miles replied, “rather not!” he condescended to state one or two less strenuous feats which she might safely accomplish, and even to put her through a preliminary drilling on the spot.
the battle was won! for the next week mrs vanburgh’s party was the one subject of discussion with the trevor sisters. betty was agitated on the subject of her dress, and being denied a new sash, subsided into gloom for the space of ten minutes, when with a sudden turn of the wheel a mental picture was presented of a ship ploughing across the seas, bearing a lonely emigrant to his difficult task, when it became, all of a sudden, contemptible beyond words to fret oneself about—a ribbon! as she herself had said, having once come face to face with tragedy, her eyes were opened to the petty nature of her own trials. she ironed and pressed, and viewing the shabby bows and insufficient ends, said bravely: “who cares? it will be all the same in a hundred years!”
jill wished to know exactly how late the party would be kept up, and if there was to be a sit-down supper. “i loathe ‘light refreshments’ like we have at breaks up. bitter lemonade and sangwidges—who wants sangwidges? i like to sit down, and have courses, and stay as long as you like, and crackers, with things in them.” when asked how she proposed to amuse the company when her turn came round, she shrugged her shoulders, and replied, “haven’t the faintest idea! shall think of something, i suppose,” in true jill-like, happy-go-lucky fashion.
pam sat glued to the window, and kept an unerring record of everything which entered the vanburgh house for two days before the fray. baskets from the fruiterer’s, trays from the confectioner’s; mysterious paper boxes from the stores; flowers from the florist’s; they were all registered in her accurate little brain, and described at length to her sisters.
“couldn’t you bring me back somefing nice?” she pleaded wistfully. “sweets—or a cracker—or a very pretty cake with icing on it?”—and though betty proved adamant, jill succumbed.
“what are pouches for if you can’t carry things in them?” she demanded. “my party body has a huge pouch. i’ll bring you samples, pam, and if there are enough, we’ll share them together!”
when the great night arrived, miles was decidedly short as to temper, but he looked so tall and imposing in his dress suit, that cynthia’s designation of “man” seemed nothing but his due. like all male beings, he seemed to regard the behaviour of his tie and shirt front as the only things of importance in the universe, and so completely engrossed was he thereby that he had only an absent, “oh, all right!” to return to betty’s anxious inquiries as to her own appearance.
they crossed the road together, three ungainly-looking figures in ulsters and snow-shoes, and were admitted to the vanburgh hall, which was instinct with the air of festivity. flowers everywhere, plants banked up in the background, attentive servants to wave you forward; more servants to greet you at the head of the staircase, to help you to unwrap in the bedroom, and make you feel ashamed that your tweed coat was not an opera mantle, like the charming specimens displayed on the bed!
in the drawing-room quite a number of guests were assembled, and miles was relieved to discover that he was by no means the only member of his sex. betty’s first shyness died away as christabel smiled at her across the room, and patted the empty seat by her side with an inviting gesture. she looked very charming and imposing in her evening dress, but when betty ventured to admire it she was informed that it was “a rag, my dear—a prehistoric rag!” and warned that at any moment the worn-out fabric might be expected to fly asunder, when “as you love me, fling yourself upon me, and hurl me from the room! my entertainment comes on last of all. i arranged it so for a special reason,” christabel explained, with the grande dame air which was one of her chief characteristics. “we are to draw lots for the rest, so that there shall be no favouritism.”
presently the lots were drawn, and who should draw number one but jill, the casual and unprepared! betty blushed for her, and felt a wild longing to creep beneath the grand piano, but jill herself laughed, and went forward to seat herself on a chair facing the whole assembly with undisturbed composure.
everyone stared at her, and she stared back, dropping her head on one side, and screwing up her saucy nose with a transparent pretence of embarrassment, which aroused the first laugh of the evening. everybody was amused and interested, and ready to be pleased, so that the announcement, “i’m going to ask riddles!” instead of falling flat, as might have been expected, was received with quite a burst of applause. and there she sat asking riddles—venerable old chestnuts for the most part, and the marvel of it was that it was a most lively performance, for the orthodox answers were mischievously replaced by newer and more amusing editions, and one person after another would cry, “that reminds me—do you know what is the difference,” etcetera, etcetera, so that presently everyone was asking riddles and catches, and really good ones into the bargain, and it was only after fifteen minutes had elapsed that jill retired from her post beneath a hurricane of applause. happy jill, it was her birthright to charm! it seemed impossible that she should ever do the wrong thing.
when it came to betty’s turn she played conscientiously through the sonata pathetique, with which she had been wrestling for two hours a day for the last month. that very morning she had played it over without a single fault, and really and truly the runs had sounded quite professional; but when your head throbs, and your cheeks burn, and your heart pounds, and your feet grow cold, and your fingers are hot, and stick together, and refuse to do what they are told, it is wonderful how differently things sound! poor sonata! it really was rather pathetic, and it is to be feared that the audience was almost as much relieved as was betty herself, when it came to an end.
the magnetic lady performance was a great success, miles as showman being an agreeable surprise to his relations, for if he were not discursive, he was at least perfectly composed and business-like, and the poker trick and balancing feats were alike marvellous and perplexing.
agatha recounted a story of a haunted castle, and of a ghost which was not a ghost at all, but simply a gentleman’s bath-gown hung on a nail. the plot was decidedly thin, but the audience found amusement in the quaint and truly rendell-like phraseology in which it was presented, and in the lavish use of italics. poor crushed betty congratulated agatha on her success, and agatha rolled her eyes, and cried tragically—
“my dear—i nearly expired with embarrassment! i was purple with agitation. as a candid friend, tell me truly—has it spread to my nose?”
somebody recited; someone sang a song; somebody introduced a new game; somebody showed card tricks; a budding artist took lightning portraits of host and hostess and a few of the leading guests, and presently supper was announced before christabel had had time for her turn.
“never mind! it will be even better afterwards! i intended it to be afterwards,” she said, smiling mysteriously, as she was led down to supper by the oldest and most important man in the room. miles eagerly appropriated cynthia, and betty’s partner was one mr ned rendell, the only brother of the houseful of girls, a somewhat lofty and self-satisfied gentleman, who let her see that he considered her a mere child more plainly than was altogether polite. not being possessed of jill’s youthful love of good things to eat, she was thankful when it was time to return to the drawing-room, where christabel was already awaiting her turn, with an eagerness which had been lacking in any other performer.
“put your chairs against the wall, please—quite against the wall! i need all the room i can get,” she directed, waving her hands to right and left in masterful fashion. “that’s better! move that table, please. i don’t want to knock it down. i shall want someone to help me. mr ross, will you be so kind? we must have a musical accompaniment, too. a little slow music—agatha knows what i mean. begin at once, please!”
a meaning glance passed between the sisters as agatha obediently seated herself on the piano-stool and struck up—a waltz tune! when, presto! christabel and her partner were whirling round the room, while she laughed a merry defiance at nan, and nodded to the assembled guests to follow her example.
in a trice the floor was covered with dancers, and for the rest of the evening no other amusement had a chance. christabel had her way after all! it was safe to predict that christabel generally would get her own way.
it was in the middle of the final sir roger, just as she was curtseying in the centre of the two long lines, that jill’s pouch played her false, and a meringue, a sausage roll, and a couple of crackers fell on the ground in a sticky heap. betty wished that the ground would open and swallow her up, and even jill had the grace to blush, but mrs vanburgh came to the rescue with truly delightful understanding.
“oh—oh, what a pity! you were taking them home for the children—i always did!” she cried sympathetically. “bring a shovel, gervase, please, and take away the crumbs. you should have smuggled them into the bedroom, jill—that’s how i managed. now then, partner!” and off she went, dancing down the line, and setting everybody else going, so that it was impossible to dwell any longer on the tragic discovery.
never since the creation of the world, jill decided, had there lived anyone more deliciously suitable to play the part of hostess to an assembly of young people!
