Lady Peggy

“ My Lady Peggy unable to restrain, from time to time, however, the keen relishful overflow of her spirits. When one’s young and not ailing, a new day whips the blood and brain to such a pinnacle of unquestioning gladness as breaks bonds, be they never so weighty, and, 38pro tem., sweet few-years comrades him with the happiness of earth and air and sky. ”

“ An I know not how to play at being Sir Robin, Lady Peggy’s chosen sweetheart, boldly and with a loud voice; know not how to swear and prance and pick a pretty quarrel, crying ‘Match me your Lady Diana with my Lady Peggy!’ then never did I dozen times for sport don my twin’s breeches and coat and masquerade at being that sweet creature,—a man! ”

“ She pushes Chockey out on the landing with an impetus that sends her well on her errand, and then, shutting and buttoning the door, Lady Peggy gets herself out of her furbelows and petticoats, her stays, her bodice, her collar, brooch, kerchief, pocket, hoop and hair pins, and into her brother’s suit of grays, the new waistcoat and cravat she’s brought him for a gift; she tips the coffee-pot and washes her face and pretty throat and hands in the brown liquid; she plaits her long hair and winds it close and tight about her head ”

“ Lady Peggy has laid aside the yellow wig; Chockey weeping, praying that they may get away in safety, is spreading out the Levantine fit for her mistress to jump into it, when, for the second time within the twelve hours, Her Ladyship’s heart stands still to the patter and thump of footsteps climbing the last flight.
“Hold, Chock!” cries she, clapping on the wig. “Bundle up my duds, tie ’em tight; so! give me it; pick up the box, put on your cloak and bonnet and a bold face; follow and ape me. An you love me, Chock, an’ I thrust, thrust too! ”

“ Her Ladyship had muscles of steel, no nerves, as the fine ladies of her day comprehended them; as brave and loyal a heart as ever beat in any breast; good faith in God, for all her frowardness; and that species of love burning within her for Sir Percy de Bohun, which has, not a few times in the world’s history, made frailest woman into man’s equal for courage.
To Lady Peggy there seemed a divine compensation in the fact that it had come to her, to save 156the very one whom, by her lies and wilfulness, she alone had been the means of endangering. ”

“ Then spoke Lady Peggy, rising and plucking 42up her spirits,—“Chock,” said she, “beckon me a boy from yonder group; inquire the path to the corner of Holywell Road and Lark Lane; order him shoulder the box and lead the way. Speak with a swagger, Chock; knock the drops out of your lashes with a laugh, girl! Let ’em think we’re old hands at the town and used to bein’ waited upon!” Lady Peggy straightened herself in her grimy shoes, and gave the Levantine a twitch which she hoped was quite the mode. ”

“ The reflections of Peggy’s adorer were various and most tormenting; his brain, as he tossed in his bed, was a labyrinth wherein he wandered, vainly endeavoring to solve such riddles as—
“Where was Lady Peggy? Was she indeed the bride of either of the Sir Robins? Who was the 287comely young gentlemanly rogue who had for weeks bewitched the fair and charmed the brave? Where had he disappeared? To whom, in reality, was he indebted for the saving of his own life at the Dove Pier; and whose were the St. Giles’s hirelings who had near made an end of him there?” ”

“ How is’t you dare shine when there’s no fine gentleman a-comin’ from the east; no gallant with disheveled locks, powdered shoulders, disordered mien, distracted looks, spurs a-digging into his beast, lips apart, heart beating like spent rabbit’s, and ‘Peggy, lovely Peggy,’ the clapper to his eager tongue at every jolt of his saddle, every rut of his way? Go cloud yourself, I say! since Sir Percy tarries. ”

“ A girl! swaddled in petticoats and fallals; tethered to an apron, and a besom, and a harpsichord, and a needle,—yet can I snap a rapier, fire a pistol, jump a ditch, land a 22fish, for my brother taught me. Still it’s girl! girl! sit by the fire and spin! dawdle! dally!” The cream now spots up as far as Peggy’s chin and flecks its dimple.
“Stop-at-home, nor stir-abroad! Smile, ogle!” each word emphasized with heel and toe.
“And—” Lady Peggy now flops back into her chair, breathless, “wait on man’s will and whims,—that, Chock, ’s what ’tis to be a woman.”
“Aye, ’tis,” assents the waiting woman. ”

“ In the morning Peggy ran downstairs eagerly before she was dressed.
“Has she come, mother?” she asked.
“Has who come?” said her mother, whose mind was on starting the kitchen fire.
“Lady Jane.”
“No, she hasn’t come.”
“And it is so wet,” said Peggy, as she looked at the falling rain; “she’ll get drenched without any rubbers or raincoat.”
“You can be sure she is under shelter somewhere. A cat can always look out for herself.”
“But, mother, I’m worried about her.”
“I think,” said Mrs. Owen, as she put the oatmeal into the double-boiler, “that she has gone back to her old home.” ”

“ She that has had the hemp about her neck to be strung up for a highwayman must not fear to encounter one of her own ilk,” and Her Ladyship essays to laugh as she plunges into the wood.
It proves a harmless, peaceful, if somewhat devious neighborhood, where an occasional rabbit scurries over the dry leaves of last autumn’s falling, and where a large company of rooks are holding a caucus, but ’tis interminable; and Peggy’s legs are not of steel, it seems, but of that lusty flesh and blood and bone which, when made to do duty fasting, now these twenty hours, begin to give out. ”

“ A stout lady and two slim daughters, looking more like fashion-plates than Peggy could have believed it possible for any human creatures to do, stood discussing a knotty point together in the centre of the floor, their voluminous skirts shutting out the view beyond. ”

“ Give me the trinket Sir Percy sent me last night.” Peggy takes a fan of most beautiful feathers from a mother-of-pearl box and waves it back and forth. “’Tis so, Chock, the London fine ladies flutter the fan, as ’tis called, and every wriggle hath a different meaning!”
“Oh!” Chockey is well-nigh speechless as she watches her mistress sidling, bridling, agitating the fan back, forth, hither, and yon. “Madam, ’tis amazin’ grand! ”

“ It is! Her own little self! A hundwed welcomes, Peggy! I’ve just returned to town, and was coming to see you to-morrow, the vewy first thing. Lady Norton—evewybody—please excuse me for running away, but Miss Saville is my vewy deawest fwiend, and I have not seen her for four whole years, so I really must take possession of her at once.” Rosalind flashed a glance round the group of deserted admirers, and swept along by Peggy’s side, smiling down from her superior altitude, and indulging in a string of demonstrative welcomes, at which Rob scowled with heavy eyebrows. ”

“ Not much attention is bestowed on them. A couple of unpretending appearing women, evidently 41not persons of quality, as the meek little calf-skin box is their sole belonging; coming up to London too without even one man-servant,—bespeak but little consideration in the throng of ladies of fashion, gallants over their coffee, courtiers popping in for the news, sparks intent on ogling a pretty face or noting a trim ankle, that much o’er crowded the yard, ordinary and parlor of the King’s Arms.
Just here once, for an instant, Lady Peggy’s brave heart failed her ”

“ The Charity Bazaar at Selwyn’s to-morrow; dinner at Holland House; Almacks’s, and my own little plan for next Thursday which is an outing to my seat in Surrey a-horseback; dinner, bowls, a look over the stables, and home by the light o’ the moon. ‘Back to Kent,’ forsooth! No, Sir, not yet.”
A few hours later, as Lady Peggy got into her magnificent suit of crimson satin, gold embroidered; as she beheld her image in the glass and caught the hilt of her sword in her hand, the blood 110that surged over her face and throat was ruby-red ”

“ I can’t live a quiet life lacking your smiles.”
In two minutes more Chockey, from the upper window, saw the long roan flying away from Kennaston faster than she ever galloped to it; and went down to find her young mistress a-lying prone in a fine wrinkled heap of silken gown, lace frills and furbelows, on the threadbare carpet of the big drawing-room.
To rush across the wide hall to the dining-room, seize a game-knife, back again; cut her mistress’s stays; pour a glass of cider down Lady Peggy’s throat, willy-nilly; clap her palms; pound her back; set her on her feet ”

“ Peggy is waiting for her soup."
He gazed at her with admiration. "How do you do it?"
[90] "Do what?"
"Dictate a heaven-born plot to me in one breath, and speak of Peggy's soup in the next. You are like Werther's Charlotte."
"I am like myself. And we mustn't stay here talking. It is time we were both in bed. I am going to wake Beulah when I have fed Peggy."
He made a motion of salute. "The princess serves," he said, laughing.
But as she passed on, calm and cool and collected, carrying the tray before her like the famous Chocolate lady on the backs of magazines, the laugh died on his lips. ”

“ The lights of New York....
64
“‘Why did you come in so quietly? You’re as furtive as a lady burglar tonight. What’s wrong?’”
The line was totally unexpected. Of course, Peggy knew the words would be spoken, but they still came as a surprise. She turned in genuine astonishment. “‘Oh!’” she exclaimed. “‘I didn’t know anybody was here.’”
“‘I’ll go if you like.’”
Peggy moved down to the wing chair, trying to envision an old man sitting there. A kind old man with a strong, salty sense of humor, whom she didn’t know too well.
“‘Oh, no! Please don’t,’” Peggy read. ”

“ Peter said. “When we get that settled, we’ll start to think about the people.”
“Oh, I wasn’t complaining,” Peggy said hastily. “I’m sure everything will be all right.”
81
“I’m glad you think so,” Peter said dryly. “I wish everyone was as easy to please.”
“Why? Whom do you mean?”
“None other than that great lady of the theater, Katherine Nelson.”
Peggy felt a funny sinking sensation in her stomach. “Is she in the cast?”
Peter nodded grimly. “Oh, yes. She’s the mother.”
“The romantic lead!”
“Yep.” Peter grinned at her. “Don’t look so surprised. What did you expect her to play? The grandmother?” ”

“ But still they came, from north, east, and west. Many of them were in motor-cars, others were packed into wooden carts, the babies were being wheeled in prams, and many were walking. Some way off Peggy saw a troop of lead soldiers riding down to the shore on black horses, and they looked very fine with the sun shining on their helmets and breastplates.
Lady Grace shaded her eyes and looked at them, too, and Wooden said to her, “Lady Grace, I believe that is Colonel Jim’s regiment.”
Teddy turned round and grinned at them, and said, “What ho, girls!” ”

“ I’ve always liked her, really. What is she trying to do?”
“Make you give a dreadful performance!” Rita insisted strongly. “I know Alison Lord like a book. She’s a fine, nice girl as long as she’s in the limelight, but her career comes first, and she’ll walk roughshod over anyone who interferes with it!”
“But this is only a summer stock company—” Peggy protested.
“Yes, and people go back to New York saying, ‘Gosh, have you seen Peggy Lane in Guest in the House? She was great!’ These things do get around, Peggy. Alison came up here to be the big cheese, and she wants it to stay that way. ”

“ And she went flitting about through the long grass, hither and thither like a will-o'-the-wisp, her long hair floating around her, her arms waving in gestures sometimes fantastic, but always graceful. Peggy could think of nothing but her cousin Rita, as she used to dance in the old days at Fernley. What a pair she and Grace would make! What a mercy they had never come together. Moreover, her heart, the heart of a farmer's daughter, smote her at the treading down of the grass. ”

“ Forest’s very table, and sat, sweet and erect, with the soft candle light over her gold-glinting hair, in her radiant black eyes, and deepening the wonderful, sweeping color of her face. Her slender neck was delicate and proud as a princess’. The other girls’ fingers rested motionlessly on their soup spoons for an instant, during which they looked at their Peggy, spellbound. There was an air of graciousness, of regal beauty about her. There was no trace of the poor little Peggy who had once tried so hard to be a belle and had failed so miserably. ”

“ Mrs. Owen went on. “Suppose, while I am making cookies and biscuit for the flesh-and-blood members of the family, you make small ones for the dolls? I am sure that will delight the little mothers. To tell the truth, Peggy, I didn’t like dolls a bit better than you do when I was a little girl. I liked playing around with my brother William and your father a great deal better.”
Peggy felt a little happier when Diana said, in a disappointed tone, “Isn’t Peggy going to sleep with us?”133
“No,” said Alice; “the dolls are going to sleep with us. Peggy doesn’t care about dolls. ”

“ Laughing at themselves, each girl whirled around and showed herself to the other. Peggy’s turn made a wide sweep of her black taffeta dress with its black satin cummerbund smartly making the most of her trim figure. For this special occasion, her first real date in New York, she had put her hair up and skillfully used a little eye make-up. Her long, slender neck was accentuated by a single string of pearls, which were echoed by her tiny pearl earrings. ”

“ You don’t love a person for their looks, but just because you can’t help loving them. And Peggy was quite right to love the wooden doll more than Rose, as afterwards turned out.
[Pg 9]
Fortunately, Peggy’s mother understood these things better than the nurse. The end of it was that Peggy was allowed to give Rose to Mabel, with all her clothes except the hat, which had come on the same birthday as she had, but had not belonged especially to her. And Mabel gave Peggy the wooden doll, but without its red flannel dress, which Peggy’s mother thought might contain germs. ”