Milliken's Bend

“ When Lady Knightsbridge went down, down went Kicklebury. Milliken and his wife stayed, and were ill together on deck. A palm of glory ought to be awarded to that man for his angelic patience, energy, and suffering. It was he who went for Mrs. Milliken's maid, who wouldn't come to her mistress; it was he, the shyest of men, who stormed the ladies' cabin—that maritime harem—in order to get her mother's bottle of salts; it was he who went for the brandy-and-water, and begged, and prayed, and besought his adored Lavinia to taste a leetle drop. ”

“ You ARE, Lady Kicklebury—you are. I say to my girl, Julia, Lady Kicklebury is Mr. Milliken's guardian angel, is YOUR guardian angel—for without you could she keep her place as governess to these darling children? It would tear her heart in two to leave them, and yet she would be forced to do so. You know that some one—shall I hesitate to say whom I MEAN—that Mr. Milliken's mother, excellent lady though she is, does not love my child because YOU love her. You DO love her, Lady Kicklebury, and oh! a mother's fond heart pays you back! ”

“ Oh, you honest young Hicks!
Everybody, indeed, was in high spirits. The fog cleared off, the sun shone, the ladies chatted and laughed, even Mrs. Milliken was in good humor ("My wife is all intellect," Milliken says, looking at her with admiration) , and talked with us freely and gayly. She was kind enough to say that it was a great pleasure to meet with a literary and well-informed person—that one often lived with people that did not comprehend one. She asked if my companion, that tall gentleman—Mr. Serjeant Lankin, was he?—was literary. ”

“ GEORGE MILLIKEN, a Child, his Son. CAPTAIN TOUCHIT, his Friend. CLARENCE KICKLEBURY, brother to Milliken's late Wife. JOHN HOWELL, M's Butler and confidential Servant. CHARLES PAGE, Foot-boy. BULKELEY, Lady Kicklebury's Servant. MR. BONNINGTON. Coachman, Cabman; a Bluecoat Boy, another Boy (Mrs. Prior's Sons) . LADY KICKLEBURY, Mother-in-law to Milliken. MRS. BONNINGTON, Milliken's Mother (married again) . MRS. PRIOR. MISS PRIOR, her Daughter, Governess to Milliken's Children. ARABELLA MILLIKEN, a Child. MARY BARLOW, School-room Maid. A grown-up Girl and Child of Mrs. ”

“ Matthew Milliken is one thing," thought Undine as she moved her chair out of sight of the young gardener, who was doing more gazing than weeding, "but what would they say at home in Greenford if I married a farmer in a one-horse village? I wonder if he'd be able to keep a hired girl for me. If I had to cook three meals a day and wash dishes the rest of the time, I might as well teach school, though goodness knows that's a dog's life!—I'd like to put these compositions in the stove and set a match to them! ”

“ Milliken sketches immensely too, and writes poetry: such dreary pictures, such dreary poems! but professional people are proverbially jealous; and I doubt whether our fellow-passenger, the German, would even allow that Milliken could play the violoncello.
Lady Kicklebury gives Miss Fanny a nudge when Lord Talboys appears, and orders her to exert all her fascinations. How the old lady coaxes, and she wheedles! She pours out the Talboys' pedigree upon him; and asks after his aunt, and his mother's family. Is he going to Noirbourg? How delightful! There is nothing like British spirits ”

“ Sidney, too familiar with Mrs. Milliken’s flowery phrases to be embarrassed by them, faced a little frightenedly the eyes that stared curiously at her from above the spotless collars.
“We will go right into the study,” Mrs. Milliken advised Miss Byers. “We can take the girls in in little groups. As poor Isolde is not here I will tell them some of the precious and personal anecdotes of the great poet. You know we, in Middletown—especially of the League—feel very privileged to have lived so close to him—”
Miss Byers briskly marshalled the first eight girls into the small study. ”

“ Millicent and Bella were in it, and Millicent gazed at the lonely man with fixed, anxious eyes. He was ragged and looked very weary; his face was worn and haggard.
“Where are the rest?” she asked in a strained voice. “Something has happened—what is it?”
“Three of them are some miles down the river.”
“Three!” cried Millicent, in dismay. “Haven’t you found Clarence yet?”
Nasmyth hesitated, regarding her compassionately, but she made a sign of protest.
“Go on! Don’t keep me in suspense!”
“Clarence,” said Nasmyth quietly, “is dead. Lisle is rather badly damaged.” ”

“ We see the calm old city, with its towers and gables, the bourse, and the vast town-hall; and I have the honor to give Lady Kicklebury my arm during these peregrinations, and to hear a hundred particulars regarding her ladyship's life and family. How Milliken has been recently building at Pigeoncot; how he will have two thousand a year more when his uncle dies; how she had peremptorily to put a stop to the assiduities of that unprincipled young man, Lord Roughhead, whom Lavinia always detested, and who married Miss Brent out of sheer pique. ”

“ Milliken has found some one to replace you. He will never find any one more honest than you, and good, kind little Mary. Thank you, Mary, for your goodness to the poor governess.
MARY.—Oh miss! oh mum! [Miss P. kisses Mary patronizingly] .
MISS P. [to JOHN] .—And after they have had some refreshment, get a cab for my brothers and sister, if you please, John. Don't you think that will be best, my—my dear?
MILLIKEN.—Of course, of course, dear Julia!
MISS P.—And, Captain Touchit, you will stay, I hope, and dine with Mr. Milliken? And, Mrs. ”

“ As winter gripped the town Mills was uneasy in the thought that he wasn’t getting enough out of life. Even with eight million dollars and the tastes of a cultivated gentleman, life was paying inadequate dividends. And there across the hedge lived Millicent. He would marry Millicent; but there were matters to be arranged first....
Millicent was the most beautiful young woman he knew, and she had brains and talents that added enormously to her desirability. Against this was the fact that the Hardens had risen out of nowhere, and Millicent’s possession of a father and mother could not be ignored. ”

“ Millicent hums the refrain to herself, and answers pleasantly to the noisy greeting with which one of the party hails them. A young girl, with the red-gold hair of her people, turns and looks long into Millicent's face. She wears over her broad shoulders a leopard-skin for warmth; while her head, with its glorious crown of hair, has no other protection than the doubtful one of a garland of roses. As she looks at Millicent, she takes the fragrant wreath from her brow, and, with a graceful salutation, tosses it into the gondola. ”

“ Bindle looked curiously at her. He was always discovering in his niece naïve little touches that betokened the dawn of womanhood.
"Ain't we becomin' a woman, Millikins!" he cried, whereat Millie blushed. ”

“ Her lower lip quivered a little.
"You ain't been frightened, Millikins, 'ave you?" enquired Bindle solicitously.
"A soldier's wife isn't afraid, Uncle Joe," she replied bravely. Millie's sweetheart, Charlie Dixon, was at the front.
"My! ain't we gettin' a woman, Millikins," cried Bindle, putting his arm affectionately round her shoulders and kissing her cheek loudly. "Everybody all right?" ”

“ Millicent’s faith in Clarence was weak, she was forcing herself to believe in him; it might be possible to make her see her lover in his true character, though Bella had not yet determined on the exact course she would adopt. Then Carew called from the camp and she went back, while Millicent sat still with grave doubts in her heart. Bella’s faith in her husband was warranted, and Millicent was enough of an optimist to believe that such men were not uncommon—there was Lisle, for example, and Nasmyth. ”

“ Millicent Moore had never seen Worth Gordon before, but Worth Gordon's face she had seen every day of her life, looking at her out of her own mirror!
They were total strangers, but when two girls look enough alike to be twins, it is not necessary to stand on ceremony. After the first blank stare of amazement, both laughed outright. Millicent held out her hand.
"We ought to know each other right away," she said frankly. "My name is Millicent Moore, and yours is—?" ”

“ Graham's heart leaped from its quiet beating into a very tumult of pulsations, as the bolt was gradually drawn and the heavy door swung slowly open. On the threshold of his lonely tower stood Millicent, with downcast eyes and pale face. For a moment he was silent, looking at her, doubting his own vision; fearing to move lest she should vanish from before his eager eyes as she did in his dreams. Could this beautiful, colorless creature, with marble cheeks and fallen lids, with sombre garments and nerveless, pallid hands crossed upon the breast, be Millicent Almsford? ”

“ No longer a half-yielding, shrinking maiden, but a woman, full of tears, before whom some great sorrow, long stifled, had risen up again. Was her nature then two-fold? While she was with other people, Millicent seemed a strong, self-reliant woman, pure and cold, with quick intellectual sympathies, and strong opinions and convictions. When in the society of the man she loved, his influence unfolded the closed petals of her heart as the sun kisses back the white leaves of the daisy, and uncovers its great golden centre to the eyes of all men. ”

“ Ben was running directly for the little stream which meandered through the prairie. Millicent thought him doomed. His rifle was not loaded. Would he turn upon the bank of the stream and meet the Indians? The pace at which they were going was tremendous. The Indians knew him well, and those in the rear redoubled their efforts to come up with him. A wild yell of triumph broke from every throat as they saw him approach the stream. He comprehended his desperate situation now and had made up his mind as to his course. In times like these men do things which in their calmer moments seem impossible. ”

“ The two women made a strange, contrast as they faced one another, Millicent with her youth, beauty and happiness, the other scowling, partly at the sudden sunlight, partly at the surprise of finding a stranger there.
"I beg your pardon," said Millie smiling. "Do you want any one?"
"Do I want any one?" said the other, in a voice half-snarl, half-irony; "that's good! In one's own house too!"
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" cried Millie again blushing. "I didn't know. I've only been here an hour. I'm Miss Platt's new secretary." ”

“ The train was slowing down for its first stop, for though it ignored Millicent's little town it was not a through express. The passengers were beginning to leave, shuffling down the aisle toward the back door. He watched them as they went. “How terrible most human beings are,” he thought. “Ugly; misshapen.” The new-comers began to enter by the front door. They were no better.
And suddenly, like a miracle performed before him in that dark shabby car, he saw Millicent walking down the aisle toward him, her small face showing like ivory and coral above her dark furs. ”

“ Bella had grown gentler since her marriage and less often indulged in bitterness.
“I think,” said Millicent, “I didn’t want any one to distract me; I’m going to make photographs and sketches for the book, you know.”
“But you let us come!”
“Yes,” assented Millicent; “you’re different.”
“That’s true. We won’t disturb you; and Nasmyth wouldn’t count. He’s an unobtrusive person, only to the front when he is wanted, which is a good deal to say for him; he doesn’t expect anything. No doubt, the same applies to Lisle.”
Millicent made no answer and Bella wondered whether she had gone too far. ”

“ Constance murmured in a tone that implied a lack of enthusiasm for grass and sunrises.
“Millicent has a poetic nature,” Mills remarked, finding himself self-conscious at the mention of Millicent. Millicent’s belief in a Supreme Power that controls the circling planets and guides the destinies of man was interesting because Millicent held it and talked of it charmingly.
[229] “Did you see that outlandish hat Mrs. Charlie Felton was sporting?” Leila demanded with cheerful irrelevance. “I’ll say it’s some hat! She ought to hire a blind woman to buy her clothes.” ”

“ For years they had grown up in the faith of her prudence, her large-mindedness, her liberality, and her cleverness; and it was not till long after they were fatherless that either Horace or Arthur became entirely convinced that Lady Millicent had shone with reflected lustre only, and that the good gifts for which the world had given her credit were not hers, but those of the husband who had borne his faculties through life with such a meek and unobtrusive grace. ”

“ Presently Lisle happened to mention the Marples, and Millicent glanced at him thoughtfully. She knew that he met Bella at their house.
“You have seen a good deal of these people, one way or another,” she remarked.
“These people? Aren’t you a little prejudiced against them?”
“I suppose I am,” Millicent confessed.
“Then won’t you give me the reason? Your point of view isn’t always clear to an outsider.”
“I’ll try to be lucid. I don’t so much object to Marple as I do to what he stands for; I mean to modern tendency.” ”

“ Egad, Sir, I envy him sometimes, that I do.”
“I’m glad you like him, Sir Gordon,” cried Millicent, one day.
“Are you, my dear, are you?” he said, half sadly. “Well, why shouldn’t I? The man’s sincere. He goes about his work without fuss or pretence. He does not consider it his duty to be always preaching at you and pulling a long face; but seems to me to be doing a wonderful deal of good in a quiet way. Do you know—”
He paused, and looked from the doctor to Mrs Luttrell, and then at Millicent, half laughingly. ”