第11章

Bertram’sarmwasasgoodasever’now，accordingtoitsowner；andthesittingsforthenewportraitbeganatonce。ThisleftBillyevenmoretoherowndevices，forBertramenteredintohisnewworkwithanenthusiasmbornofagladrelieffromforcedidleness，andaconsumingeagernesstoprovethateventhoughhehadfailedthefirsttime，hecouldpaintaportraitofMargueriteWinthropthatwouldbeacredittohimself，aconclusiveretorttohiscritics，andasourceofpridetohisoncemortifiedfriends。Withhiswholeheart，therefore，hethrewhimselfintotheworkbeforehim，stayingsometimeswellintotheafternoononthedaysMissWinthropcouldfindtimebetweenhersocialengagementstogivehimasitting。

Itwasonsuchaday，towardthemiddleofthemonth，thatBillywascalledtothetelephoneathalf-pasttwelveo’clocktospeaktoherhusband。

Billy，dear，’beganBertramatonce，ifyoudon’tmindI’mstayingtoluncheonatMissWinthrop’skindrequest。We’vechangedthepose——

neitherofuswassatisfied，youknow——butwehaven’tquitesettledonthenewone。MissWinthrophastwowholehoursthisafternoonthatshecangivemeifI’llstay；and，ofcourse，underthecircumstances，Iwanttodoit。’

Ofcourse，’echoedBilly。Billy’svoicewasindomitablycheerful。

Thankyou，dear。Iknewyou’dunderstand，’

sighedBertram，contentedly。Yousee，really，twowholehours，so——it’sachanceIcan’taffordtolose。’

Ofcourseyoucan’t，’echoedBilly，again。

Allrightthen。Good-bytillto-night，’calledtheman。

Good-by，’answeredBilly，stillcheerfully。

Assheturnedaway，however，shetossedherhead。

Anewpose，indeed!’shemuttered，withsomeasperity。Justasiftherecouldbea_new_poseafterallthoseshetriedlastyear!’

ImmediatelyafterluncheonPeteandElizastartedforSouthBostontopayavisittoEliza’smother，anditwassoonaftertheyleftthehousethatBertramcalledhiswifeupagain。

Say，dearie，Iforgottotellyou，’hebegan，butImetanoldfriendinthesubwaythismorning，andI——well，Irememberedwhatyousaidaboutbringing’emhometodinnernexttime，soIaskedhimforto-night。Doyoumind？

It’s——’

Mind？Ofcoursenot!I’mgladyoudid，’

plungedinBilly，withfeverisheagerness。(Evennow，justthebarementionofanythingconnectedwiththatawfultest’nightwasenoughtosetBilly’snervestotingling。)Iwantyoutoalwaysbringthemhome，Bertram。’

Allright，dear。We’llbethereatsixo’clockthen。It’s——it’sCalderwell，thistime。YourememberCalderwell，ofcourse。’

Not——_Hugh_Calderwell？’Billy’squestionwasalittlefaint。

Sure!’Bertramlaughedoddly，andloweredhisvoice。Isuspect_once_Iwouldn’thavebroughthimhometoyou。Iwastoojealous。

Butnow——well，nowmaybeIwanthimtoseewhathe’slost。’

_Bertram!_’

ButBertramonlylaughedmischievously，andcalledagayGood-bytillto-night，then!’

Billy，atherendofthewires，hungupthereceiverandbackedagainstthewallalittlepalpitatingly。

Calderwell!Todinner——Calderwell!DidsherememberCalderwell？Didshe，indeed!Asifonecouldeasilyforgetthemanthat，forayearortwo，hadproposedmarriageasregularly(andalmostaslightly!)ashehadtornamonthlyleaffromhiscalendar!Besides，wasitnothe，too，whohadsaidthatBertramwouldneverloveanygirl，_really_；thatitwouldbeonlythetiltofherchinortheturnofherheadthatheloved——topaint？Andnowhewascomingtodinner——andwithBertram。

Verywell，heshouldsee!HeshouldseethatBertram_did_loveher；_her_——notthetiltofherchinnortheturnofherhead。Heshouldseehowhappytheywere，whatagoodwifeshemade，andhowdevotedand_satisfied_Bertramwasinhishome。Heshouldsee!AndforthwithBillypickedupherskirtsandtrippedup-stairstoselectherveryprettiesthouse-gowntodohonortotheoccasion。Up-stairs，however，onethingandanotherdelayedher，sothatitwasfouro’clockwhensheturnedherattentiontohertoilet；anditwaswhileshewashesitatingwhethertobestatelyandimpressiveinroyallysumptuousbluevelvetandermine，orcozyandtantalizinglyhomy{sic}inbronze-goldcrpedeChineandswan’s-down，thatthetelephonebellrangagain。

ElizaandPetehadnotyetreturned；so，asbefore，Billyansweredit。ThistimeEliza’sshakingvoicecametoher。

Isthatyou，ma’am？’

Why，yes，Eliza？’

Yes’m，it’sme，ma’am。It’saboutUnclePete。He’sgiveusaturnthat’s’mostscaredusoutofourwits。’

Pete!Youmeanhe’ssick？’

Yes，ma’am，hewas。Thatis，heis，too——

onlyhe’sbetter，now，thankgoodness，’pantedEliza。Butheain’thisselfyet。He’sthatwhiteandshaky!Wouldyou——couldyou——thatis，wouldyoumindifwedidn’tcomebacktillintotheevenin’，maybe？’

Why，ofcoursenot，’criedPete’smistress，quickly。Don’tcomeaminutebeforehe’sable，Eliza。Don’tcomeuntilto-morrow。’

Elizagaveatremblinglittlelaugh。

Thankyou，ma’am；buttherewouldn’tbenokeepin’ofUnclePeteheretillthen。Ifhecouldtakefivestepsalonehe’dstartnow。Buthecan’t。Hesayshe’llbeallrightprettyquick，though。He’shad’embefore——thesespells——

butneverquitesobadasthis，Iguess；an’he’sworryin’somethin’turrible’causehecan’tstartforhomerightaway。’

Nonsense!’cutinMrs。BertramHenshaw。

Yes’m。Iknewyou’dfeelthatway，’

stammeredEliza，gratefully。Yousee，Icouldn’tleavehimtocomealone，andbesides，anyhow，I’dhavetostay，formotherain’tnomoreusethanawetdish-ragatsuchtimes，she’sthatscaredherself。Andsheain’tverywell，too。Soif——ifyou_could_getalong——’

Ofcoursewecan!AndtellPetenottoworryonebit。I’msosorryhe’ssick!’

Thankyou，ma’am。Thenwe’llbetheresometimethisevenin’，’sighedEliza。

FromthetelephoneBillyturnedawaywithatroubledface。

Pete_is_ill，’shewassayingtoherself。I

don’tlikethelooksofit；andhe’ssofaithfulhe’dcomeif——’WithalittlecryBillystoppedshort。Then，tremblingly，shesankintothenearestchair。Calderwell——andhe’scomingto_dinner!_’shemoaned。

FortwobenumbedminutesBillysatstaringatnothing。ThensherantothetelephoneandcalledtheAnnex。

AuntHannahanswered。

AuntHannah，forheaven’ssake，ifyouloveme，’pleadedBilly，sendRosadowninstanter!

PeteissickovertoSouthBoston，andElizaiswithhim；andBertramisbringingHughCalderwellhometodinner。_Can_youspareRosa？’

Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy!OfcourseIcan——ImeanIcould——butRosaisn’there，dearchild!It’sherdayout，youknow。’

Odear，ofcourseitis!Imighthaveknown，ifI’dthought；butPeteandElizahavespoiledme。Theynevertakedaysoutatmealtime——

bothtogether，Imean——untilto-night。’

But，mydearchild，whatwillyoudo？’

Idon’tknow。I’vegottothink。I_must_dosomething!’

Ofcourseyoumust!I’dcomeovermyselfifitwasn’tformycold。’

AsifI’dletyou!’

Thereisn’tanybodyhere，onlyTommy。

EvenAliceisgone。Oh，Billy，Billy，thisonlygoestoprovewhatI’vealwayssaid，that_no_

woman_ought_tobeawifeuntilshe’sanefficienthousekeeper；and——’

Yes，yes，AuntHannah，Iknow，’moanedBilly，frenziedly。ButIamawife，andI’mnotanefficienthousekeeper；andHughCalderwellwon’twaitformetolearn。He’scomingto-night。

_To-night!_AndI’vegottodosomething。Nevermind。I’llfixitsomeway。Good-by!’

But，Billy，Billy!Oh，mygriefandconscience，’

flutteredAuntHannah’svoiceacrossthewiresasBillysnappedthereceiverintoplace。

ForthesecondtimethatdayBillybackedpalpitatinglyagainstthewall。Hereyessoughttheclockfearfully。

Fifteenminutespastfour。Shehadanhourandthreequarters。Shecould，ofcourse，telephoneBertramtodineCalderwellatacluborsomehotel。Buttodothisnow，theveryfirsttime，whenithadbeenherownsuggestionthathebringthemhome’——no，no，shecouldnotdothat!Anythingbutthat!Besides，verylikelyshecouldnotreachBertram，anyway。DoubtlesshehadlefttheWinthrops’bythistime。

TherewasMarie。ShecouldtelephoneMarie。

ButMariecouldnotverywellcomejustnow，sheknew；andthen，too，therewasCyriltobetakenintoconsideration。HowCyrilwouldgibeatthewifewhohadtocallinalltheneighborsjustbecauseherhusbandwasbringinghomeafriendtodinner!Howhewould——Well，heshouldn’t!

Heshouldnothavethechance。So，there!

WithajerkMrs。BertramHenshawpulledherselfawayfromthewallandstooderect。Hereyessnapped，andtheverypoiseofherchinspelleddetermination。

Verywell，shewouldshowthem。WasnotBertrambringingthismanhomebecausehewasproudofher？MightyproudhewouldbeifshehadtocallinhalfofBostontogethisdinnerforhim!Nonsense!Shewouldgetitherself。Wasnotthisthetime，ifever，tobeanoak？Avine，doubtless，wouldleanandclingandtelephone，andwhineIcan’t!’Butnotanoak。AnoakwouldholdupitsheadandsayIcan!’Anoakwouldgoaheadandgetthatdinner。Shewouldbeanoak。Shewouldgetthatdinner。

Whatifshedidn’tknowhowtocookbreadandcakeandpiesandthings？Onedidnothavetocookbreadandcakeandpiesjusttogetadinner——meatandpotatoesandvegetables!Besides，she_could_makepeachfritters。Sheknewshecould。Shewouldshowthem!

Andwithactuallyabitofsongonherlips，Billyskippedup-stairsforherruffledapronanddust-

cap——twonecessaryaccompanimentstothisdinner-getting，inheropinion。

Billyfoundtheapronanddust-capwithnodifficulty；butittookfullytenofherpreciousminutestounearthfromitsobscurehiding-placetheblue-and-goldBride’sHelper’cookbook，oneofAuntHannah’sweddinggifts。

Onthewaytothekitchen，Billyplannedherdinner。Aswasnatural，perhaps，shechosethethingssheherselfwouldliketoeat。

Iwon’tattemptanythingveryelaborate，’

shesaidtoherself。Itwouldbewisertohavesomethingsimple，likechickenpie，perhaps。I

lovechickenpie!AndI’llhaveoysterstewfirst——thatis，afterthegrapefruit。Justoystersboiledinmilkmustbeeasierthansouptomake。

I’llbeginwithgrapefruitwithacherryinit，likePetefixesit。Thosedon’thavetobecooked，anyhow。I’llhavefish——Bertramlovesthefishcourse。Letmesee，halibut，Iguess，witheggsauce。Iwon’thaveanyroast；nothingbutthechickenpie。AndI’llhavesquashandonions。

Icanhaveasalad，easy——justlettuceandstuff。

Thatdoesn’thavetobecooked。Oh，andthepeachfritters，ifIgettimetomakethem。Fordessert——well，maybeIcanfindanewpieorpuddinginthecookbook。Iwanttousethatcookbookforsomething，afterhuntingallthistimeforit!’

InthekitchenBillyfoundexquisiteneatness，andsilence。Thefirstbroughtanapprovinglighttohereyes；butthesecond，forsomeunapparentreason，filledherheartwithvaguemisgiving。

Thisfeeling，however，Billyresolutelycastfromherasshecrossedtheroom，droppedherbookontothetable，andturnedtowardtheshiningblackstove。

Therewasanexcellentfire。Glowingpointsoflightshowedthatonlyagooddraftwasneededtomakethewholemassofcoalred-hot。Billy，however，didnotknowthis。Herexperienceoffireswasconfinedtoburningwoodinopengrates——andwoodinopengrateshadtobepokedtomakeitredandglowing。Withconfidentalacritynow，therefore，Billycaughtupthepoker，thrustitintothemassofcoalsandgavethemafinestirringup。Thenshesetbackthelidofthestoveandwenttohuntuptheingredientsforherdinner。

BythetimeBillyhadsearchedfiveminutesandfoundnochicken，nooysters，andnohalibut，itoccurredtoherthatherlarderwasnot，afterall，anopenmarket，andthatone’sprovisionsmustbeespeciallyorderedtofitone’sneeds。

Astoorderingthemnow——Billyglancedattheclockandshookherhead。

It’salmostfive，already，andthey’dnevergethereintime，’shesighedregretfully。I’llhavetohavesomethingelse。’