Carolyn Wells

“ At this Ladybird flew back to Miss Priscilla, and was clasped in her arms. But Miss Dorinda, holding Lavinia Lovell by the hand, said:
“Sister, you love Ladybird, and so do I; but this child is Lavinia Lovell, the daughter of our sister Lavinia; and while we can love Ladybird as a friend, and as an outside interest, yet here is our niece, here is our inheritance, and to her is due our affection.” ”

“ Humphreys will marry Stella. Will you?”
Impressed by the futility of further argument of any sort, Chester Humphreys sat looking at Ladybird in a helpless sort of way.
“You see,” Ladybird went on, and now her voice was soft and gentle, and the expression on her elfish face very sweet and tender—“you see she is so good and lovely you couldn’t find anybody better or more beautiful; and she loves to have fun; and she can make gorgeous cake; and she’s awful fond of me and Cloppy: and altogether she’s the best one in the world for you to marry. Will you?” ”

“ Miss Dorinda fluttered about, brought a piazza chair and cushions to make their guest comfortable, while Ladybird seated herself on a cricket, took her chin in her hands, and sat gazing at the young man.
“Do you know,” Humphreys observed, “that, notwithstanding my interview with your small niece here, and my subsequent introduction to you, I don’t even yet know the name of my hostesses?”
“Flint,” said Miss Priscilla. “We are the daughters of Josiah Flint.”
“Then,” said young Humphreys, “I have always known of you; for I have heard of the Flints all my life.” ”

“ Ladybird had gone to her aunt’s side, and she perched on the arm of her chair, and caressed the withered old face as she talked.
“You see, aunty,” she went on, “both aunties,”—for she felt instinctively that Miss Dorinda would show more sentiment in this matter than her sister,—“Charley Hayes is not half, nor quarter, nor not even the least little mite good enough for my beautiful, lovely, sweet Stella. She’s so pretty, and so wise, that she ought to marry an earl, or a duke, or a king, at least.” ”

“ You are a naughty girl!”
“Am I a naughty girl?” called back Ladybird; “then I’ll stay up here and be naughty. It will make you less trouble than if I’m naughty down there.”
“Tell her, sister,” urged Miss Dorinda.
“Tell her yourself,” said Miss Priscilla, shortly.
Dorinda needed no second bidding.
“Ladybird,” she cried gladly, “come down, dearie. You are going to stay with us. So come down and be a good girl.”
“Of course I’m going to stay with you;
I told you, and I told you true,”
chanted Ladybird, in her crooning, musical voice. ”

“ And it makes no difference what kind of a child she is: she is our sister’s daughter, and we are bound by every law of humanity and decency to give her a home. If father were alive, do you suppose he would turn his orphan grandchild from his door? No; he would do his duty by his own: he would be just, if he could not be generous; and he would accept a responsibility that was rightly thrust upon him.”
Miss Priscilla looked at her sister in utter amazement. Dorinda had never spoken like this before, and it seemed as if the spirit of old Josiah Flint was manifesting itself in his daughter. ”

“ Why, Aunt Priscilla, I don’t like that many children in the whole school!”
“I’m ashamed of you, Lavinia; you should feel more kindly toward all your fellow-creatures.”
“Oh, I feel kindly enough about them, and I like them well enough, but I just don’t want to make a party of them. A party ought to be a few people that you can really enjoy.”
“That’s a very selfish way to look at it,” said Miss Flint; “a party is intended to give your guests pleasure.”
“And it ought to give you pleasure,” put in Aunt Dorinda, in her gentle way, “to know that your guests are enjoying themselves. ”

“ That same afternoon Ladybird collected some apples and cookies, and with a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand, and Cloppy hanging over her arm, she remarked that she was going down to the orchard, and went.
“You see, Cloppy,” she said as they walked along, “we’ve just got to help Stella,—my pretty Stella; she has no one to help her but you and me. She’s a damsel in distress, and we’re a brave knight. Of course we can’t fight for her with spears and lancets; but we can do better than that. The pen is mightier than the sword, and, Cloppy, I’ve got the very elegantest scheme. ”

“ I know all about shopping, and calling, and all those things. I did it in India, but I didn’t like it one bit; and I think it’s a thousand times nicer to be at Primrose Hall, with orchards and brooks and trees and birds and sunshine, and my aunts.”
“Oh, do you?” said Lavinia. “Well, I’d rather have one year of London life than a thousand years of Primrose Hall.”
“Well, then, you’re all right,” said Ladybird, “for probably you can get one year of London life again before you die.” ”

“ You mean that you’d like to marry Stella, but it isn’t polite to hurry her so, and, anyway, you’re not quite sure about it.”
“Well,” said Humphreys, “that states the situation pretty fairly, though without mentioning its more subtle details.”
“Well, I’m satisfied,” said Ladybird; “it’s all right, and I think we understand each other. Don’t hurry any faster than you choose; and, anyhow, now that Stella has seen you, I know she’ll never look at Charley Hayes again. And as to your not being quite sure of yourself, I know very well that you’ll only get surer every time you see her.” ”

“ The next morning all of the Flint household, except Ladybird, were busily engaged in preparations for the party, and that light-hearted damsel started out in high spirits to deliver her invitations.
“It seems to me,” she said to herself as she went along, “that my aunts are very good people. I know it’s a trouble to them to have this party, and yet they do it just out of kindness to me, and kindness to these other children that I’m going to invite. I wish I had a kinder heart. Somehow I never think of doing good to people until somebody puts me up to it. ”

“ I’ll drown her!”
“There, there,” said Chester Humphreys, soothingly; “there, there, baby, what’s the use of talking nonsense? Those threats don’t mean anything and you know it. Now if Miss Lovell is your aunt’s niece and heiress, it is she who is the legal inheritor of Primrose Hall, and you—are nothing; that is, nothing to the Flint ladies.”
“Indeed I am,” said Ladybird; “I just guess you’ll find that my aunts, or whatever they are, love me for myself alone, and not because I’m the daughter of anybody.” ”

“ Now that Ladybird’s quick and tempestuous anger had spent itself, she felt sorry to see her Aunt Priscilla arrayed in her second-best black silk, for she knew how it must have hurt that good lady to appear before her guests in anything less than the resplendent glory of her best and cherished black silk gown. ”

“ There was a wide dimity ruffle all around the top, and a dimity valance below, and long dimity curtains all around. These were looped back at one side with huge rosettes, and with Martha’s assistance the little girl stepped on a chair, and so up on the high feather bed. As she sank down into it, and it nearly closed over her, she laughed merrily.
“It is like drowning in the sea,” she said; “the billows are high on both sides of me. Where’s Cloppy, Martha?” ”

“ Sister Dorinda and I understand it all. You are not our niece; you are in no way related to us.” Here Miss Priscilla’s grasp tightened. “You are in no way related to us. Lavinia Lovell, who has just come, is our niece; but, Ladybird, I love you.”
[253]
“That’s all right, aunty,” said Ladybird, cheerfully; “I understand the whole business. Lavinia Lovell, the new girl, who has just arrived, is the daughter of Lavinia Flint, your sister, and I am not. But, Aunt Priscilla,—oh, no, you are not even my aunt. Well, then, Miss Priscilla Flint of Primrose Hall, do you love me?” ”

“ I’m only wondering where we can go, for whithersoever Cloppy goest, I’m going, and there will I be buried.”
“Very well, you may go if you choose; but that dog shall not remain in this house another day.”
“You don’t like him, do you aunty?” said Ladybird, leaning her chin on her hand and gazing thoughtfully at her aunt. “Now I wonder why.”
“He’s always under foot,” said Miss Priscilla, “and he’s such a moppy, untidy-looking affair!”
“He’s a smart dog,” said Ladybird, meditatively.
“That’s just it,” said Miss Flint, “he’s too smart: he looks at you just like a human. ”

“ Why, there’s only one thing for you to do! The greatest, beautifulest thing any man can have a chance to do is to rescue a fair lady from distress; and there’s plenty of distress; and here you are, and there’s the fair lady.”
“Where?” asked Humphreys, looking around.
“Never you mind,” said Ladybird, significantly. “But I’ll just tell you this while I think of it: there’s one thing you didn’t do that you ought to have done.”
“What’s that?” asked Humphreys, lazily. He was absently twisting a stem of timothy-grass around his finger and thinking about Stella.
“You didn’t bring me any candy. ”

“ Stella took the precious bonnet from Mrs. Taylor’s hands, promising to put it safely away, and by that time Ladybird was presenting the elder Mr. Harris.
Though the old soldier was disabled and poor, he was a courtly gentleman of the old school and greeted the ladies with a quiet comprehension of his own dignity and theirs. Moreover, Richard Harris had been a friend of the Flint ladies in their youth, and though circumstances had pushed them far apart, a few slender threads of memory still held. ”

“ I think Miss Priscilla ought to deed the place to Ladybird. That child loves every nook and corner of it. In the short time she has been here she has made herself a part of it, and I can no more think of Primrose Hall without Ladybird, than without Miss Priscilla and Miss Dorinda. ”

“ She doesn’t understand. Ladybird,” Aunt Dorinda went on gently, “these institutions you speak of, and which Martha had no right to mention to you—”
“I’ll attend to Martha,” said Miss Priscilla, with a competent snap of her eyes.
“Are not nice,” went on Miss Dorinda, “and are not even spoken of by nice people. If you love Stella, the most dreadful thing you could do would be to think of her in connection with such a place as you spoke of.”
“Is that so, Aunt Priscilla?” said Ladybird, who, though she loved Aunt Dorinda, always referred her opinions to Miss Flint for sanction. ”

“ For nobody but me could ever have got Stella for you.”
“Quite so,” said Chester.
“And now,” said Ladybird, “since you have decided to do this, why can’t it be done at once?”
[276]
“It can,” said Miss Priscilla.
“Certainly,” said Chester; “the deeds can be drawn up at once.”
“And can I go to London?” said Lavinia, with more amiability than she had shown at any time since her arrival.
“You can go,” said Miss Priscilla, “as soon as we can find any one to take you. You’re enough to drive any one distracted, the way you worry and fret about going back home.” ”

“ You aren’t married to anybody else, are you?”
“No, of course not,” said the young man.
“Then that’s all right; and Stella is so sweet and beautiful you won’t mind it a bit.”
“You said she was beautiful, before,” observed Humphreys. “And now I think, if you please, we will go up to the house and see your aunts. I would like to pay my respects to them. You have a nice dog there.”
“Cloppy?” said Ladybird. “Yes; he is the beautifulest dog in the world.” She was kneading him like a mass of dough as she spoke. “He’s such a comfort! He never minds what I do to him.” ”

“ Then Ladybird laughed again—such a gay, merry, mirthsome laugh.
“Why, aunty,” she said, “I’m not company; I’m one of the family. And I’m not visiting you; I’ve come to live here forever and ever. This is my home, and I haven’t any other. And you’ll learn to love Cloppy, too, he’s so soft and cuddly. Just hold him once.”
She put the blinking Skye terrier into Miss Priscilla’s arms, which promptly unfolded and let the dog drop to the floor.
Then Ladybird laughed again.
“Oh, you funny aunty,” she cried, and turning to Miss Dorinda said brightly, “Don’t you like dogs, either?” ”

“ She fluttered about the room, looked out of the window, tried the door-knob, and at last sat down in a big rocking-chair and began to rock violently.
Suddenly the door burst open and Ladybird came flying in.
“Aunties,” she cried, “the house is on fire! What do you want to save most?”
“Mercy on us!” cried Miss Priscilla, rushing from the room, “let me get my Lady Washington geranium. The buds are just ready to open.”
“Where is it? I’ll get it,” said Ladybird, dancing around in great excitement.
“Up-stairs, on a stand by the south-room window; but you can’t go up—you’ll be burned to death.” ”

“ I want you to look as neat as any of your guests.”
“Yes, ’m,” said Ladybird, with a growing conviction that her aunts would not care to practise what they preached, so radically as she had arranged.
“Aunt Priscilla,” she said at luncheon, “perhaps you won’t like some of the people I have invited; but you know you told me to invite those who would enjoy it most.”
“For the land’s sake, Ladybird, what have you been doing now? If you’ve done anything ridiculous, you may as well out with it first as last.” ”

“ She flung her hat one way and her cape the other, and dropped into a chair.
“My, aunties,” she exclaimed, “what do you think! Stella Russell thinks maybe—perhaps—she’s going to be engaged to be married!”
“Goodness gracious me, child!” exclaimed Miss Priscilla, “what are you talking about?”
“I told you so,” said Miss Dorinda.
“And she doesn’t want to a bit,” Ladybird went on; “it’s perfectly awful. They’re making her do it—her cruel, cruel grandparents and that silly Charley Hayes; and there isn’t anybody else. ”

“ Do your aunts know you wrote that letter to Governor Hyde?”
“No,” said Ladybird, seriously, “they don’t. If they had they wouldn’t have let me write it. You see, everything I’ve tried to do to help Stella they scolded me about it, and told me I mustn’t do it, and that it was none of my affair. Now it is my affair, for Stella is my friend; and what can be more your affair than your friend?” ”

“ Governor:
It is a traggedy! Stella is a lovly girl, and that silly Charley Hayes is not good enough; but I don’t know of any other men in Plainville, except married ones, and the ragman, so what can I do? But you are noble, brave, and powerful, so please send by return mail a nice, handsum, good, young man. I mean send a letter about him, with blue eyes if possible, and anyway, an earl. Don’t tell Stella right off. Send the earl to me, and I will see if he will do. Please write to
Ladybird Lovell, Primrose Hall, Plainville. ”

“ Together they sang many of the popular airs of the day; and then, at the request of the older ladies, they sang old-time songs, catches, and glees. Ladybird could sing these too, and though her voice was shrill and light, it rang clear and true.
Stella, in her white gown, looked very fair and sweet as she sat in a veranda rocker swaying to and fro to the time of her banjo; and when, promptly at ten o’clock, Miss Flint announced that she must send her home, Chester Humphreys half hoped that he might be allowed to escort her. ”

“ She didn’t look much like us, Priscilla.”
“No,” admitted the older sister; “but beauty is a doubtful good. I’d rather be plain and do my duty, than to be handsome and break the hearts of those who love me.”
[24]
“Well,” said Miss Dorinda, placidly, “we’d better not talk any more about it, or we’ll get so excited we won’t be able to sleep. Let’s go to bed, sister, and to-morrow morning, after breakfast, we’ll read the letter again and decide what we can do.”
So, taking their bedroom candles, the two old ladies went up-stairs. ”

“ And so year after year the trunks of Lavinia’s clothing had been looked over and put in order, with no reference to their future disposition, until now Miss Priscilla concluded the time had come.
But when they shook out the old-fashioned gowns, the lovely taffetas and organdies and embroidered muslins did seem inappropriate to send to people who were suffering for plain, substantial clothing.
[16]
“Oh, my!” said Mrs. Dolan’s granddaughter, her eyes as big as saucers, as she looked at the beautiful show, “ain’t them just elegant! I wisht I was a fire-sufferer, or a freshet victim.” ”