after the sad ivints of the disthressful day i wint to sleep wid a hevvy hart, but sorrer a bit of paceful sleep did i get. i drimt that minnie do be cuming to tak my place wid the wolley family. by desateful words and ackshons she have worked upon the feelings of miss claire and now its me the family do be blaming for the thrubbles. i do be weeping fit to make a hart of stone ake and telling miss claire its me thats been a true and loving girl, a foolish victim of the sinful minnie. but in me dream miss claire refoosed to look at me at all at all, and its wirrah, wirrah, i be crying in me sleep. thin i herd somewan whispering at me eer.
“delia! delia!”
i set up wildly in me bed, and there i seen miss claire in the moonlite.
“its i, claire—don’t be fritened, delia” ses she.
“my god! miss” ses i “ye do be after scaring a body. whats the thrubble darlint” for shes neeling by me bed crying fit to brake her hart.
after a bit she looked up and ses:
“theyve been watching me all avening. they’ll niver let me be alone wid you agin. you see papa ses your to blame, and james ses that if you hadn’t incoraged us to yuse your kitchen and——”
i set up and shuk me fist.
“ef mr. james” ses i “has anny crittersickem to be after making on a poor loan hardworking girl he’d better spake to me.”
“oh delia” ses she “plase don’t get excited. lissen. i’m not to be house-kaper anny longer. i don’t know how harry and i will see aich other, and oh delia,” ses she, saizing me by the shouwlder, “did you heer him say that he—he loved me?”
“that i did darlint” ses i, “so don’t you be after wurrying, for all the avil minded brothers in the warld, all the cross eyed, hard harted, black sowled, crool fathers and mothers cant coom betune a pare of swateharts whin troo love is after stipping in.”
“yes” ses she airnestly “but do you relly think he ment it?”
“ment it! its ashamed i am of you miss claire. is it misdouting the woord of mr. dudley, you be, and he as foine a yung chap as iver stepped alive?”
the teers dryed up like magick, and she smiled as swately as a aingel. “yes” ses she “he did mean it, and all will cum rite, for love” ses she “will shurely foind a way.”
“that it will” ses i.
well, thin she wint to bed, and i belave slipt sowndly, for her cheeks were pink as roses in the marning, and her eyes brite and luvly.
she ses “good marning everybody” in a brave gay toan whin she cam to the brikfust table, wid the intyre family setting there and waiting in agunny for her to apeer, all suffering wid the thort of her broken hart.
mr. john lifts oop his paper, and i seen him frowning like to brake his face behind it—hes that ankshiss to keep back a teer. auld mr. wolley blew his nose like it was a throompet. mr. james swollers his coffee red hot, and mrs. wolley tuk to crying to hersilf. miss claire guv a kiss to little willy and wan to her father. then she et her brikfust, beeming on everybody.
after brikfust mrs. wolley cam into the kitchen and guv me the orders for the day. i herd mr. wolley’s ortermobile and looking from me winder seen him go by wid miss claire setting by his side, and mr. john and james in the tonno. mr. billy wint out to his sand pile and mrs. wolley left me in peese.
it was baking day and i had jest set me bred into the pans for the fynal raysing and had opened the oven dure to see how me spunge cake was doing, whin i herd a bit of muvement at me back. i turned aboot, and let out a turrible yell, for there was me frind from the dudley’s. he do be standing in me kitchin bauld and brazen as if he belonged there, and theres a larf in his eye and on his bauld mouth too.
now if theres wan thing bad for spoonge cake it do be a sudden bang or noyse. its bownd to mak the finest cake fall down. silinse is the rool wid all good cooks whin the cakes in the ooven. i throo wan look at me sponge cake and shure enuff the preshus stuff had fallen flat. thin i rose and faced aboot on the impident yung spalpeen standing there.
“its plane to see” ses i me hands on me hips “whare you hale frum. its ashamed i am to acnolege you a coontryman of me own, and its lissons in foine manners ye mite be after taking” ses i “from the foine cortsheeis yung gintleman wid hoom ye have the dayly honour of assoshyating.”
“is it the frog ater ye’re maning, delia deer?” ses he.
“me name” ses i “is miss o’malley, and its no time i’m after having for the loike of you.” wid that i picked up me chopping bowl and wint to wark upon the hash, a sartin loonch dispised by mr. james whos after wanting stake wid every meel.
mr. mulvaney guv a larfing look at the dure lately intercated by me, then he walked over to it carelessly and shut it closed. wid that i almost chopped me thoomb off in me rage. he cum over to the table and set upon it wid his foot a swinging. then he leaned tord me and wispered.
“delia darlint” ses he “what wud ye be after giving me for a love letter.”
i sthopped me chopping, and guv him wan look of contimpt and scorn.
“larry mulvaney” ses i “if ye’re wanting to no the throo value of the artucle you minshun i’ll tell you. its a clout over the eer i’d be giving you for reword” ses i and i chopped feercely.
“but suppose” ses he, leening a bit neerer “that the litter was not for you.”
at that i stopped me chopping.
“if its minnie ye’re swate on——” but here he interrupted and took the paper from his coat and tossed it up in the air.
“its for miss wolley” ses he, “and its from mr. harry himself.”
i guv such a joomp me chopping boal wint over, wid all me prishus hash on the flure, and that the last morsil of meet in the house for loonch.
“my god, mr. mulvaney!” ses i, “do you mean it?”
he’s very lofty now, and rising oop ses hortily:
“i’d like to see miss wolley if you plaze, miss o’malley” ses he wid emfasis.
“shes out” ses i. he moved tord the dure, me aafter him, and i cort him by his slave.
“‘but suppose,’ ses he, leening a bit nearer, ‘that the litter was not for you?’”
“guv it to me larry!” i begged, “its niver a chance the family will guv you to hand it to the puir child and shure if ye’ll jest hand it to me i’ll slip it into her hand widout a sole in the house gessing the trooth.”
but mr. mulvaney put the letter into his brist pocket. then he crossed his arms, and stares at me.
“delia” ses he, “tell me the thruth. are you sweet on the frinchman?”
“thats me personal affare, mr. moolvaney” ses i.
“becorse if ye are” ses he “its only fare to let ye know hes meerly after ye-re hard airned savings. the frinch are slick, but its a true hart ye’re needing to leen upon.”
“larry mulvaney” ses i “will you or will you not be after handing me the letter for miss claire?”
“on wan condition” ses he.
“spake it” ses i.
“guv me a kiss, darlint” ses he.
“i’ll be dummed first” ses i wid indigation.
“be dummed then” ses he, “but lissen swatehart. mr. dudley do be sinding mr. harry aff to yurope to-morrow marning airly. its the long distunse cure the auld gintleman do be after expicting for the lad. now mr. harry has rote a litter of ixplanashuns to miss claire appoynting an intervew. so delia darlint its oop to you. shall miss claire have the litter or shall she not?”
“my god mr. mulvaney” ses i “do you mean to say ye’d be holding back the litter from the puir yung thing?”
“oonless” ses he, “you guv me a kiss.”
“tak it then” ses i “and be dummed to you.”
wid that he guv a joomp, saysed me about the waste and kissed me smack on the lips, and me riddy to sink into the airth for shame, for shure its the first time a lad do be giving me a kiss. he slipped the letter into me hand. wid that i cam to me sinses and struck out wid me free hand. but larry guv a larf at the smack i’m giving him and ses he:
“delia darlint thats nothing but a love smack. goodbye mavourneen, it’ll be manny a day befure ye’ll forgit the kissing i’ve given you.”
whin he was gone i looked about me kitchin, hardly knowing what i was seeing, wid the ixcipshun of the hash on the flure. prisintly i herd the family coming home and i sneeked upstares hoping to get the chance of seeing miss claire alone. the family was on the porch, and i herd mr. james reeding aloud from a litter in his hand:
“deer miss wolley” he red, “me sun sales for yurope per s. s. germanya to-morrow morning at 7, and is accumpanied by miss una robbins and her father.”
thin followed a few more wards in which the auld scallywag congrachulated the puir yung crachure upon her iscape from a young fellow whos intinshuns were not seerius since he was all the time ingaged to another girl and he begged to remane hers fathefully s. judd dudley.
i left the family looking at aich other in silince and wint oop thray stips at a time to the child’s room. i nocked saftly.
“miss claire!” i called.
i herd her sobbing inside and i called agin, “miss claire darlint!”
at that she called:
“go away delia! go away!”
“miss claire!” i called wid me mouth to the keyhole “for the love of god open the dure.” after a moment i herd the key turn and thin she opened it joost a crack or two. i throost in me hand and shuvved the letter in at the dure. i herd her guv a little moofled scrame and thin she was sylint. i stole away down stares and cryed in peece in me dish towel. shure i’d be giving the bauld lad a hoondred kisses more, ef he were to ask me again for thim joost now.
