第6章

Well，I’lltellyou。JustnowIwantitforTommyDunn，andtheGreggorysifIcangetthem，andmaybeoneortwoothers。There’llalwaysbesomebody。Yousee，IhadthoughtI’dhavethemattheStrata。’

TommyDunn——attheStrata!’

Billylaughedagainruefully。

Odear!YousoundjustlikeBertram，’shepouted。Hedidn’twantTommy，either，noranyoftherestofthem。’

Therestofthem!’

Well，Icouldhavehadalotmore，youknow，theStrataissobig，especiallynowthatCyrilhasgone，andleftallthoseemptyrooms。_I_gotrealenthusiastic，butBertramdidn’t。Hejustlaughedandsaid`nonsense!’untilhefoundI

wasreallyinearnest；thenhe——well，hesaid`nonsense，’then，too——onlyhedidn’tlaugh，’

finishedBilly，withasigh。

AuntHannahregardedherwithfond，thoughslightlyexasperatedeyes。

Billy，youare，indeed，amostextraordinaryyoungwoman——attimes。Surely，withyou，abodyneverknowswhattoexpect——excepttheunexpected。’

Why，AuntHannah!——andfromyou，too!’

reproachedBilly，mischievously；butAuntHannahhadyetmoretosay。

OfcourseBertramthoughtitwasnonsense。

Theideaofyou，abride，fillingupyourhousewith——withpeoplelikethat!TommyDunn，indeed!’

Oh，BertramsaidhelikedTommyallright，’

sighedBilly；buthesaidthatthatdidn’tmeanhewantedhimforthreemealsaday。OnewouldthinkpoorTommywasabreakfastfood!SothatiswhenIthoughtofkeepingupthishouse，yousee，andthat’swhyIwantyouhere——totakechargeofit。Andyou’lldothat——forme，won’tyou？’

AuntHannahfellbackinherchair。

Why，y-yes，Billy，ofcourse，if——ifyouwantit。Butwhatanextraordinaryidea，child!’

Billyshookherhead。Adeepercolorcametohercheeks，andasofterglowtohereyes。

Idon’tthinkso，AuntHannah。It’sonlythatI’msohappythatsomeofithasjustgottooverflowsomewhere，andthisisgoingtobetheoverflowhouse——asortofsafetyvalveforme，yousee。I’mgoingtocallittheAnnex——itwillbeanannextoourhome。AndIwanttokeepitfull，always，ofpeoplewho——whocanmakethebestuseofallthatextrahappinessthatIcan’tpossiblyusemyself，’shefinishedalittletremulously。Don’tyousee？’

Oh，yes，I_see_，’repliedAuntHannah，withafondshakeofthehead。

But，really，listen——it’ssensible，’urgedBilly。First，there’sTommy。Hismotherdiedlastmonth。He’sataneighbor’snow，butthey’regoingtosendhimtoaHomeforCrippledChildren；

andhe’sgrievinghisheartoutoverit。

I’mgoingtobringhimheretoarealhome——

thekindthatdoesn’tbeginwithacapitalletter。

Headoresmusic，andhe’sgotrealtalent，Ithink。

Thenthere’stheGreggorys。’

AuntHannahlookeddubious。

Youcan’tgettheGreggorysto——touseanyofthathappiness，Billy。They’retooproud。’

Billysmiledradiantly。

IknowIcan’tgetthemto_use_it，AuntHannah，butIbelieveIcangetthemto_give_it，’

shedeclaredtriumphantly。IshallaskAliceGreggorytoteachTommymusic，andIshallaskMrs。Greggorytoteachhimbooks；andI

shalltellthemboththatIpositivelyneedthemtokeepyoucompany。’

Oh，butBilly，’bridledAuntHannah，withpromptobjection。

Tut，tut!——Iknowyou’llbewillingtobethrownasalittlebitofasoptotheGreggorys’

pride，’coaxedBilly。YoujustwaittillIgettheOverflowAnnexinrunningorder。Why，AuntHannah，youdon’tknowhowbusyyou’regoingtobehandingoutallthatextrahappinessthatIcan’tuse!’

Youdearchild!’AuntHannahsmiledmistily。Theblackshawlhadfallenunheededtothefloornow。Asifanybodyeverhadanymorehappinessthanone’sselfcoulduse!’

Ihave，’avowedBilly，promptly，andit’sgoingtokeepgrowingandgrowing，Iknow。’

Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy，don’t!’

exclaimedAuntHannah，liftingshockedhandsofremonstrance。Raponwood——do!Howcanyouboastlikethat？’

Billydimpledroguishlyandsprangtoherfeet{。？？}

Why，AuntHannah，I’mashamedofyou!

Tobesuperstitiouslikethat——you，agoodPresbyterian!’

AuntHannahsubsidedshamefacedly。

Yes，Iknow，Billy，itissilly；butIjustcan’thelpit。’

Oh，butit’sworsethansilly，AuntHannah，’

teasedBilly，witharemorselesschuckle。It’sreally_heathen!_Bertramtoldmeoncethatitdates’waybacktothetimeoftheDruids——

appealingtothegodoftrees，orsomethinglikethat——whenyouraponwood，youknow。’

Ugh!’shudderedAuntHannah。AsifIwould，Billy!HowisBertram，bytheby？’

AswiftshadowcrossedBilly’sbrightface。

He’slovely——onlyhisarm。’

Hisarm!ButIthoughtthatwasbetter。’

Oh，itis，’droopedBilly，butitgetsalongsoslowly，anditfretshimdreadfully。Youknowhenevercandoanythingwithhislefthand，hesays，andhejusthatestohavethingsdoneforhim——thoughPeteandDongLingarequarrelingwitheachotherallthetimetodothingsforhim，andI’mquarrelingwithbothofthemtodothemforhimmyself!Bytheway，DongLingisgoingtoleaveusnextweek。Didyouknowit？’

DongLing——leave!’

Yes。Oh，hetoldBertramlongagoheshouldgowhenweweremarried；thathehadplentymuchmoney，andwasgoingbacktoChina，andnotbeMelicanmananylonger。ButIdon’tthinkBertramthoughthe’ddoit。WilliamsaysDongLingwenttoPete，however，afterweleft，andtoldhimhewantedtogo；thathelikedthelittleMisseeplentywell，butthatthere’dbetoomuchhen-talkwhenshegotback，and——’

Why，theimpudentcreature!’

Billylaughedmerrily。

Yes；Petewasfurious，Williamsays，butDongLingdidn’tmeananydisrespect，I’msure。

Hejustwasn’tusedtohavingpetticoatsaround，anddidn’twanttotakeordersfromthem；that’sall。’

But，Billy，whatwillyoudo？’

Oh，Pete’sfixedallthatlovely，’returnedBilly，nonchalantly。YouknowhisniecelivesoverinSouthBoston，anditseemsshe’sgotadaughterwho’safinecookandwillbegladtocome。Mercy!Lookatthetime，’shebrokeoff，glancingattheclock。Ishallbelatetodinner，andDongLingloathesanybodywho’slatetohismeals——asIfoundouttomysorrowthenightwegothome。Good-by，dear。I’llbeoutsoonagainandfixitallup——abouttheAnnex，youknow。’Andwithabrightsmileshewasgone。

Dearme，’sighedAuntHannah，stoopingtopickuptheblackshawl；dearme!Ofcourseeverythingwillbeallright——there’sagirlcoming，evenifDongLingisgoing。But——but——

Oh，mygriefandconscience，whatanextraordinarychildBillyis，tobesure——butwhatadearone!’sheadded，wipingaquicktearfromhereye。AnOverflowAnnex，indeed，forher`extrahappiness’!Nowisn’tthatjustlikeBilly？’

SeptemberpassedandOctobercame，bringingwithitcooldaysandclear，crispeveningsroyallyruledoverbyagorgeousharvestmoon。AccordingtoBillyeverythingwasjustperfect——except，ofcourse，poorBertram’sarm；andeventhefactthatthatgainedsoslowlywasnotwithoutitsadvantage(againaccordingtoBilly)，foritgaveBertrammoretimetobewithher。

Yousee，dear，aslongasyou_can’t_paint，’shetoldhimearnestly，oneday，why，I’mnotreallyhinderingyoubykeepingyouwithmesomuch。’

Youcertainlyarenot，’heretorted，withasmile。

ThenImaybejustashappyasIlikeoverit，’settledBilly，comfortably。

Asifyouevercouldhinderme，’heridiculed。

Oh，yes，Icould，’noddedBilly，emphatically。

Youforget，sir。Thatwaswhatworriedmeso。Everybody，eventhenewspapersandmagazines，saidI_would_doit，too。TheysaidI’dslayyourArt，stifleyourAmbition，destroyyourInspiration，andbeanuisancegenerally。AndKatesaid——’

Yes。Well，nevermindwhatKatesaid，’

interruptedtheman，savagely。

Billylaughed，andgavehisearaplayfultweak。

Allright；butI’mnotgoingtodoit，youknow——spoilyourcareer，sir。Youjustwait，’

shecontinueddramatically。Theminuteyourarmgetssoyoucanpaint，Imyselfshallconductyoutoyourstudio，thrustthebrushesintoyourhand，fillyourpalettewithallthecolorsoftherainbow，andorderyoutopaint，mylord，paint!

But——untilthenI’mgoingtohaveyouallI

like，’shefinished，withacompletechangeofmanner，nestlingintothereadycurveofhisgoodleftarm。

Youwitch!’laughedtheman，fondly。

Why，Billy，youcouldn’thinderme。You’ll_be_

myinspiration，dear，insteadofslayingit。You’llsee。_This_timeMargueriteWinthrop’sportraitisgoingtobeasuccess。’

Billyturnedquickly。

Thenyouare——thatis，youhaven’t——I

mean，you’regoingto——paintit？’

Ijustam，’avowedtheartist。Andthistimeit’llbeasuccess，too，withyoutohelp。’

Billydrewinherbreathtremulously。

Ididn’tknowbutyou’dalreadystartedit，’

shefaltered。

Heshookhishead。

No。Aftertheotheronefailed，andMr。

Winthropaskedmetotryagain，Icouldn’t_then_。

Iwassotroubledoveryou。That’sthetimeyoudidhinderme，’hesmiled。Thencameyournotebreakingtheengagement。OfcourseIknewtoomuchtoattemptathinglikethatportraitthen。Butnow——_now_——!’Thepauseandtheemphasiswereeloquent。

Ofcourse，_now_，’noddedBilly，brightly，butalittlefeverishly。Andwhendoyoubegin？’

NottillJanuary。MissWinthropwon’tbebacktillthen。IsawJ。G。lastweek，andItoldhimI’daccepthisoffertotryagain。’

Whatdidhesay？’

Hegavemylefthandabiggripandsaid：

`Good!——andyou’llwinoutthistime。’’

Ofcourseyouwill，’noddedBilly，again，thoughstillalittlefeverishly。AndthistimeIsha’n’tmindabitifyoudostaytoluncheon，andbreakengagementswithme，sir，’shewenton，tiltingherchinarchly，forIshallknowit’stheportraitandnotthesitterthat’sreallykeepingyou。Oh，you’llseewhatafineartist’swifeI’llmake!’

Theverybest，’declaredBertramsoardentlythatBillyblushed，andshookherheadinreproof。

Nonsense!Iwasn’tfishing。Ididn’tmeanitthatway，’sheprotested。Then，ashetriedtocatchher，shelaughedanddancedteasinglyoutofhisreach。

BecauseBertramcouldnotpaint，therefore，BillyhadhimquitetoherselftheseOctoberdays；

nordidshehesitatetoappropriatehim。Neither，onhispart，wasBertramloathtobeappropriated。