Letty

“ The slightest noise and the spell that held her prisoner would, Letty felt sure, be broken. But the same unbroken silence prevailed. A sudden rustling made Letty glance fearfully at the bed; and she perceived, to her terror, the valance swaying violently, to and fro. Sick with fear, she was now constrained [35] to stare in abject helplessness. Presently there was a slight, very slight movement on the mattress, the white dust cover rose, and, under it, Letty saw the outlines of what she took to be a human figure, gradually take shape. ”

“ Letty was taken notice of by no less a person than a clever, managing housekeeper in the family of a wealthy cotton lord; nay, Letty was engaged in marriage to a young man with education enough to be a clerk in the factory where she worked, and not only with such chance advantages in book-keeping, but with that intense love of the beautiful in all its shapes which belongs to some of the tenderest and most dependent of our race. Yet Letty was only the orphan daughter of a mechanic, who had been rather remarkable for his incapacity than for anything else. ”

“ She smiled at him faintly. "And you know, Letty," he went on, still with his hand upon her head. "I think we've been very happy together, and shall be very happy together, always. There is so much that binds us to one another. You love me, dear, don't you? and you could never doubt that I love you, could you?"
Letty shook her head. He cast down his eyes, patting the tresses softly.
"And I think you know that well enough and are certain enough of that not to misjudge me," he resumed quietly. "If I have made a mistake, Letty, it is not you who will be hardest on me, I am sure. It is I myself. ”

“ Letty colored to the eyes—her deep, damask flush. The insult was worse than anything offered by Mrs. Courage; for Mrs. Courage after all was only a servant, and this a young lady of distinction. Letty had never seen anyone dressed with so much taste, not even the stars as they came on the studio lot in their everyday costumes. ”

“ Inch by inch it moved, until first of all Letty saw a few wisps of dark hair, then a few more, then a thick cluster; then something white and shining—a protruding forehead; then dark, very dark brows; then two eyelids, yellow, swollen, and fortunately tightly closed; then—a purple conglomeration of Letty knew not what—of anything but what was [36] human. The sight was so monstrous it appalled her; and she was overcome with a species of awe and repulsion, for which the language of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression. ”

“ When within a few feet of her it halted; and again Letty felt it was listening—listening to the breathing on the bed, which was heavy and bestial. Then it twisted round, and Letty watched it crawl into the wardrobe. After this there was a long and anxious wait. Then Letty saw the wardrobe [38] door slyly open, and the eyes of the cellar—inexpressibly baleful, and glittering like burnished steel in the strong phosphorescent glow of the moon, peep out,—not at her but through her,—at the object lying on the bed. ”

“ Letty’s cheeks were very red and her voice trembled, half with eagerness in pleading Perk’s cause, and half with fear at her own daring.
“Such a thing never entered my mind, Letty,” replied grandmother earnestly. “Of course we should do nothing so severe. But Jo must be made to realize how serious his wrong-doing of yesterday was. For it is very wrong indeed to neglect or betray a trust, you know, however slight the consequences may prove. And Letty, dear, remember that it is the little things, after all, that count in life. ”

“ In a few weeks Letty was about again. A pale, thin, serious, but energetic-looking woman. Could that be the once laughing, [Pg 246] blithe, singing Letty? It was the same bright, pure spirit, saddened but ennobled by the ordeal of trial and distress, and by a life’s aim the noblest and most sacred that ever lifted a womanly soul into the regions of a wisdom beyond her years. She soon returned her attention to business. Closely veiled, she walked silently through the quietest streets from her house to the warehouse ”

“ How does it feel to be somebody’s little girl after you haven’t belonged to anybody for so long?”
Instead of answering Letty suddenly began to cry. She only now saw how very lonely she had been these past three dreary years.
“There now, you rude boy, you’ve hurt her feelings. I hope you’re satisfied,” exclaimed Jane indignantly. “How would you like to be told you didn’t belong to any one?”
“But I do belong to some one, and I always have. But Letty didn’t, until Mrs. Hartwell-Jones took her, and I don’t see why she has to cry just because I spoke the truth,” argued Christopher. ”

“ It is warm, isn’t it? Oh dear, Miss Letty, you do look so sweet! Were you always as good as you are now?”
Miss Letty laid down her embroidery and smiled at this question.
“Good? My dear child, I’m not good! I am just as I always was—a woman—getting to be a very old one now—full of faults and failings. What makes you ask me such a funny question?”
“I don’t know!” and Violet bit the ribbon of her hat spasmodically—“My own Miss Letty! Were you ever in love?” ”

“ Letty laughed. "Father doesn't want me to get much taller. He doesn't want me to be tall when I'm grown up—but I can't help it, if it keeps up. Do you think I've grown any since the last time I measured, Mammy Riah?"
"Naw, honey, dat you ain't. You ain' growed a winch."
"She means an inch," said Letty. "Some people can't understand her. Even father can't sometimes, but I always can." Then drawing Caroline down on the bed, she began stroking her arm with a soft caressing touch. "Do you suppose mother will come back now that you have?" ”

“ And, as he reflected, the notes of the piano changed, and Letty shot into a gay chansonnette, trilling softly over the sharp little runs. The careless leisure of the air took off his thoughts with it. It would be a bad world in which they might not be happy. The story would hurt her, he was sure; indeed, he could conjure before him the start of pain in her eyes. ”

“ Something in Letty impressed her otherwise. “That’s the way,” she continued to nod to herself. “It’s no use trusting to Rash. I’ll get her; and she’ll get him; and so we shall work it.”
Arrived in East Sixty-seventh Street she went in with Letty and had tea. But it was she who sat in dear Mrs. Allerton’s corner of the sofa, and when William brought in the tray she said, “Put it here, William,” as one who speaks with authority. Of this usurpation of the right to dispense hospitality Letty did not see the significance, being glad to have it taken off her hands. ”

“ Wearing a simple white linen and a plain shady hat, Letty might be the daughter of a curate, or a clerk, instead of the wife of a fabulously wealthy man; but her companion understood; she wished to leave Blagdon as she had gone to him—empty handed. With a lover’s memory, he recognised her little turquoise brooch, and a certain thin, old-fashioned locket.
In a few minutes the pair were in a hansom threading their way to the Cosmopolitan. Letty, sitting very far back in her corner, with a rigid profile and tightly clasped hands. ”

“ Letty had exclaimed when she came into the sitting-room that morning with the breakfast tray, which she insisted upon preparing always herself. “How pretty you look! Your cheeks are as rosy as Jane’s!”
Mrs. Hartwell-Jones had laughed and kissed Letty, but she said nothing of what was on her mind, until the afternoon. It was a warm, sunshiny day with a sort of hush over the earth. The air was still and full of sweet, clean country smells. Mrs. Hartwell-Jones and Letty sat alone together in the large, up-stairs sitting-room. ”

“ But Sir Archy’s manner toward Letty was cordiality itself. He asked after the Colonel.
“And such a royal snubbing as I got from him that time so long ago,” he said, fervently. [38] “I hope he has no intention of repeating it.”
“I can’t say,” replied Letty, slyly, and examining her cousin with much approval. He had the delicious, fresh, manly beauty of the Briton, and he had quite lost that uncanny likeness to a dead man which had been so remarkable ten years ago. He had, however, the British simplicity which takes all of an American girl’s subtilities in perfect candor and good faith. ”

“ Usually on the days when the twins and their grandmother were not present, Mrs. Hartwell-Jones did most of the talking, entertaining her little guests with descriptions of her travels across the seas or telling them bits of stories that she had read or written herself. But to-day it was Letty who talked. Talked! She became a perfect chatterbox. Indeed, she seemed like a different person altogether, with her sparkling eyes, red cheeks and prattling tongue.
Presently Anna Parsons asked some question about the ponies, Punch and Judy, and that set Letty off on her recollections of the circus. ”

“ Letty leaves the circus and finds a new mother, and her sunny nature wins for her many friends. Something more about her will be found in “Letty’s New Home,” “Letty’s Sister,” “Letty’s Treasure,” “Letty’s Good Luck,” “Letty at the Conservatory,” “Letty’s Springtime” and “Letty and Miss Grey.”
LETTY AND THE TWINS
CHAPTER I—ARRIVING AT THE FARM
“Oh, Kit, isn’t it just fun!” cried Jane, her rosy, chubby face beaming. “How fast we are going!”
“Ho,” exclaimed Christopher, “it’s not so fast. Not so awfully fast, is it, grandfather? I’d like to go about sixty miles an hour. ”

“ And Miss Letty took him again in her arms and kissed him—“God bless you, dear! Try and grow up a good man! You will have a great many troubles and difficulties, I daresay—we all have; but go on trying—try always to be a good brave man!” ”

“ Grandfather said green paint was very poisonous. I’d have used brown paint if I could have found any; it would have been lots more lifelike. Anyhow it didn’t seem to hurt the pig any, although it did lick a lot off.”
“I know what it is they’re talking about,” replied Jane with an air of importance. “It’s not the pigs and it’s not the pups. It’s about Letty.”
“Letty! What has she been doing?” demanded Christopher in astonishment. He had looked upon Letty as so far above naughtiness as to be considered almost a goody-goody. ”

“ Then she turned to Letty. “Run off now and play, child. Jane is hopping her toes through her shoes with impatience.”
Letty ran off and the two ladies discussed every detail of Christopher’s mishap, and how seriously it might have turned out.
“Children can be the greatest sort of cares,” Mrs. Hartwell-Jones said at length, half laughing but wholly in earnest, “almost nuisances sometimes; but they are a blessing for all that!” She paused a moment and then added: “Have you noticed what a fine nature Letty has, Mrs. Baker? What a splendid chance for the development of a noble character?” ”

“ Letty said; and at that some one jeered,—"How about yourself?"
There was a laugh, and when it quieted down, Letty answered in her clear voice,—
"If you were brave men, I should n't be frightened. But I don't know what cowards may do." ”

“ Death was better than disgrace—and yet—Miss Letty was so good a woman{308}—she had loved him so much—she would be sure to forgive him—if——!
With the daylight he rose and sat at his writing-table, vaguely turning over bits of paper and scribbling figures on them without any apparent intention,—then after a hurried breakfast he went out. At about half-past ten he made his way to Miss Letty’s bank and drawing her cheque out of his pocket, passed it across the counter. The cashier glanced at it with a little uplifting of his eyebrows. ”

“ I couldn't read it all to mother this afternoon," replied Winny.
"And I shall want you to get the tea, and do a bit more sewing at the sacks when you come home from school, Letty," said her mother.
"It hurts my fingers. I don't think I can do any more," replied Letty with a pout.
"It hurts mine too, but I am too glad to get the work to grumble about it, and you will have to learn to do the same, my girl."
Letty sighed. "Don't you wish we had a lot of money, Winny?" she said. "If father was a foreman, now."
"No! No! I don't want father to be a foreman," hastily interrupted her sister. ”

“ Christopher stared. Here was a curiosity indeed; a girl who liked housework and study better than traveling around with a circus!
“Mrs. Hartwell-Jones is staying at our house while her ankle gets well,” put in Jane. “She will be awfully good to Punch and Judy.”
“Is she the lady that wants to buy them?” asked Letty.
“Yes,” answered Jane, “and she was on the train when we were coming to Sunnycrest, and saw you. And oh, Letty, she writes books, lots and lots of them.”
“But she’s awfully nice,” added Christopher reassuringly. “Not a bit prosy or stuck up.”
Two red spots came into Letty’s cheeks. ”

“ New and tasty furniture adorned the best “sitting-room,” and Letty’s brilliant performance on by far the best piano in the village, caused many a hasty step to loiter on its way, as it passed the tailor’s door. Nor were the listeners confined to the outside of the house, for within were frequently found all the “most desirable” young men, who showed a decided preference for Letty’s fine music and lively conversation, to the more dignified, but less agreeable assemblages of the exclusives of the place. ”

“ And Miss Letty, with her always swift perception, saw his anxiety, and considered him very tenderly,—for he, though he did not seem to recognize it, was also suffering from the inevitable aches and pains of age, yet he held himself as bravely as ever. He wasn’t going to stoop and crawl about with a stick,—no, not he! And he bravely demonstrated his force of will by walking from his club in Piccadilly to Hans Place whenever his gouty foot was causing him the most acute suffering. Other men in his plight would have taken a cab, or at least availed{324} themselves of a crutch—but he did neither. ”