Carolyn Wells

“ Who wants her? Surely among all of you there is some woman-heart who could love this dear baby enough to give her a home. Look at her! Is she not charming? And as bright and affectionate as she is pretty. Kiss your hand to the people, Milly.”
Milly always obeyed the slightest wish of her beloved Patty, and with the most adorable smiles, and coy glances from her big, dark eyes, she blew kisses from her tiny fingertips.
“Now love Mr. Chick,” went on Patty, shaking in her shoes, lest this might try Channing’s endurance beyond its limit. ”

“ Adele had decreed no evening dress that first night, so Patty wore a little afternoon frock of flowered Dresden silk. It was simply made, with a full skirt and many little flounces, and yellowed lace ruffles fell away from her pretty throat and soft dimpled arms. Its pale colouring and crisp frilliness suited well her dainty type, and she looked a picture as she stood for a moment halfway down the stairs.
“Well, if you aren’t a sight for gods and little fishes!” exclaimed a deep voice, and Patty saw Chickering Channing gazing at her from the hall below. “Come on down,—let me eat you.” ”

“ She shall have half in her own right. If she will not, half is still Philip’s and the other half will go to a charity. I don’t want to give it all to Philip. He is already a rich man, and I don’t approve of too big fortunes for young men.”
“Never mind about the money part of it,” said Nan. “I am quite willing to espouse Mrs. Van Reypen’s cause, irrespective of her will. And, too, if Patty does marry Philip, it is quite right and proper that she should inherit this wealth. If not, there is no question of her having it. So the fortune element settles itself. ”

“ So Bill Farnsworth was the next to test the wizard’s powers.
“Big man,” said the hermit, solemnly, as he scanned the broad palm Bill offered for inspection. “Big man, every way; body, heart, soul,—all.”
“Thanks,” said Farnsworth, “for the expansive if ambiguous compliment. Be a little more definite, please. What am I going to have for dinner today? Answer me that, and I’ll believe in your wizardry.”
“Big man is pleased to be sarcastic. The hermit does not waste his occult powers on foolish questions. In a few hours you will know what you will have for dinner. Why learn now?” ”

“ I am going to die. I know it, and I am not afraid. I am seventy years old, I have had a happy life, and if my time has come, I am willing to die. Life is sweet, but we must all die, and it is only a coward who fears death. I am going to leave you a fortune, Patty. I have made my will and in it, I bequeath you a hundred thousand dollars.”
“Oh, Lady Van,” Patty gasped, “don’t, don’t leave me all that money! ”

“ Today he was allowed to see her, and as he entered the library, his face was radiant with sunny smiles.
Patty looked up, smiling too, and held out her hands in greeting. From the lace cap that crowned her hair, to the tips of her dainty slippers, she was all in white, and her pale face and waxen hands made her look so like an angel that big, strapping Bill held his breath as he looked at her.
“Are you really there?” he asked; “are you fastened to earth? I somehow feel afraid you’ll waft off into the ether, you look so ethereal.” ”

“ I don’t want any more fortune! That man’s a wizard!”
Daisy moved across the room, putting all the distance possible between her and the seer. With startled eyes, she gazed at him, as at a world wonder.
“Pooh! That was a chance shot, Daisy,” said Elise. “Let me try, I’ve no secrets that I’m afraid he’ll reveal.”
Nor was she afraid of the grimy old glove, but put her finger tips carelessly into the old fellow’s hand.
“Pretty lady heart-whole,” declared the hermit. “Some day pretty lady fall in love, but not today. Some ’nother day, too! Pretty lady marry twice, two times! ”

“ Once, when Kit Cameron was downstairs, they heard Patty shriek out about the fortune.
“Oh,” said Kit, awestruck; “can she mean that fortune-telling business we had? Don’t you remember I told her she’d inherit a fortune. Of course, I was only joking. Fortune-tellers always predict a legacy. I hope that hasn’t worried her.”
“No,” said Nan, shaking her head, “it isn’t that. She’s been worrying about that fortune ever since she’s been flighty. I know what she means. Never mind it.” ”

“ Farnsworth was not looking at Patty, he was staring into vacancy, and looked as if he were talking more to himself than to her.
“Rubbish!” said Patty, gaily, annoyed at herself for feeling the truth of his words. “You’re a splendid old Bill, and whoever says a word against you is no friend of mine! So be careful, sir, what you say against yourself.”
“You’re a loyal little friend, Patty, and I’m more glad than you can realise to know that it is so. Now, you’re going to do all you can to grow stronger, aren’t you? It hurts me to see you so white and wan-looking. ”

“ Milly eyed her. For a moment the two looked at each other intently. There was a breathless pause, and all who were near felt the dramatic intensity of the moment. Mrs. Colton smiled, and it may have been that Milly read in that smile all the pent-up mother-love and longing, for she dropped Patty’s hand and walked slowly toward the lady,—her little arms outstretched. ”

“ Philip kept the conversation in this light key, and when he went away, Patty retained the impression of a very charming afternoon with him.
“He is nice,” she said to Nan, after telling her all about it; “You feel so sort of sure of him all the time. He always does the right thing.”
“Yes,” said Nan.
Next day brought many visitors, but among the most welcome was Baby Milly, or Middy, as she called herself, and as Patty always called her.
“Such a booful Patty!” the child exclaimed, delighted at seeing her again after so long a time. “Middy loves you drefful! See, Middy b’inged lot o’ Naws!” ”

“ A red spot burned in either cheek, and her eyes blazed as she gesticulated from her pillows.
“And there’s another thing, Patty Fairfield, that you are to do for me. You are to marry my boy, Philip.”
“Well,” and Patty laughed lightly, “we won’t discuss that now.”
“But we will discuss it now. I want your promise. Do you suppose I got you over here just to tell you about my will? No. I want you to promise me that you will grant me this happiness before I die. Philip loves you deeply. He wants you for his wife and he has told you so. Where could you find a better man? ”

“ The other tables, and there were many of them, looked as if they might be occupied by the ghosts of the departed guests.
“It’s like being castaways on a beautiful and very comfortable desert island,” said Patty, as she looked appreciatively at a huge tray of hors d’œuvre offered her by a smiling waiter. “I do love these pickly-wickly things, and never before have I felt that I might take my time in choosing. ”

“ The Fairfields were down at “The Pebbles,” their summer home at the seashore, and Patty, who had spent much of the season in New England, had come down for a fortnight with her parents. Labour Day was early this year and the warm September sun was more like that of midsummer.
The place was looking lovely, and Patty herself made a pretty picture, as she lounged in a big couch hammock on the wide veranda. She had on a white summer frock and a silk sweater of an exquisite shade of salmon pink. Her silk stockings were of the same shade, and her white pumps were immaculate. ”

“ Will it, Nan?”
“It’s hard to advise you, Patty. I daren’t say the greater love will come to you,—for I don’t know. But don’t marry him unless you are sure he is the only man in the world you can love.” ”

“ Poor girl, it’s only natural that she should want her baby to grow up in a home having the advantages she herself enjoyed. If I were you, Patty-girl, I’d try to find a good home for the little waif; that is, unless you wish to keep her here.”
“No,” replied Patty, thoughtfully, “I don’t believe I do. You can’t take a baby as you would a lapdog. There is a responsibility and a care that you would have to assume, and I’m sure I don’t want to devote the better part of my existence to bringing up a child that doesn’t belong to me.”
“Of course you don’t,” agreed Nan. ”

“ Do you hate silly people?”
“Sometimes, not always. But look here, Patty, seriously, you don’t want to be intimate with Maude Kent. She may be a nice girl, all right, but she has been an actress, and that is not the sort of people for you to associate with.”
“I guess you don’t know her very well, Bill; she is a noble self-sacrificing spirit, and she devotes her life to earning a living for herself and her mother and sister. I never knew a more devoted daughter and sister, than she is, and I adore her.”
Farnsworth sighed. “I feared you’d fly off like that, Patty. ”

“ It’s a perfect shame!” and Nan gathered Patty into her arms.
“It is a shame,” agreed Mr. Fairfield, smiling at his daughter, “but it won’t be such an awfully hard promise to keep, will it, Little Girl? Of course you hated to have it put to you in that manner, but there are less desirable men in this world than Philip Van Reypen.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Patty, and she burst into tears on Nan’s shoulder.
“And you sha’n’t,” returned Nan, caressing her. “Go away, Fred. A man doesn’t know how to deal with a case like this. Patty isn’t strong enough yet to think of bothersome things. ”

“ The more they are together, the more they will care for one another. Though to be sure, Philip is deeply in love with Patty, now. He has, I am sure, asked her to marry him already.”
“Then if he has, and she has refused him,” said Nan, “what more can we do?”
“Refused him? Nothing of the sort! She hasn’t accepted him, of course, or we would know of it; but you know how girls, nowadays, play fast and loose with a man, if they are sure of his devotion. Indeed, if Philip could be persuaded to slight Patty a little, now and then, it would soon pique her into an acceptance. ”

“ This manager knows your limitations, he knows you have no stage lore or experience, and if he wants you, it is only because of your dainty and charming personality, and because there is a certain prestige in the fact of a society girl going on the stage. But, as soon as the novelty was over, he would fling you aside like a worn-out glove.”
“How do you know? You never were a manager?”
“Patty, men of experience in this world don’t have to adopt a profession to know many salient points regarding it. ”

“ Patty, it is a shame for you to be bothered if you don’t want to be. Now, I’ll help you out. I’ll tell Phil, myself, that you’re not well enough yet to be troubled about serious matters, and he must wait till you are. He won’t be angry, I can explain it to him.”
“I don’t care whether he’s angry or not. It isn’t that, Nan. It’s that just the little bit I said to him, he takes to mean—everything.”
“Of course he does, Patty. You can’t tell a man you’ll learn to love him unless you mean that you expect to succeed and that you’ll marry him. ”

“ Several, I dare say.”
“Lady Van, you have no right to talk to me like this? If you were not ill, I’d be very angry with you. But as you are, I ascribe your harsh speeches to the illness that is racking you. Now, let us drop the subject and talk of something pleasanter.”
“We’ll do nothing of the sort! I sent for you to get your promise, and I’m going to get it!” Mrs. Van Reypen sat upright in her bed, and shook her clenched hand at Patty. “You little fool!” she cried, “any girl in her senses would be only too glad to get such a man as my nephew! You are honoured by his wanting you. ”

“ He likes Maudie, and so do I. But she’s no fit companion for Patty.”
“Why? Is Patty Fairfield better than us common people? Is she made of finer clay? Wouldn’t you want me to meet the Maudie lady?”
“Oh, you. Why, that wouldn’t matter so much.”
“Bill Farnsworth! What a speech! I guess I’m every bit as good as Patty Fairfield.”
“Of course you are, Daisy. Don’t be silly. But you’re more—more experienced, you know, and a little less—less conventional. Patty has never had half the experience of the world that you have. ”