Mrs. Dinsmore

“ I know there was some trouble between you and Enna, and I want you to tell me all that occurred, and every word spoken by either of you, as well as all that passed between Mrs. Dinsmore, your grandfather, and yourself. I am very glad that I can trust my little girl to speak the truth. I am quite sure she would not tell a falsehood even to save herself from punishment," he added tenderly.
"Thank you, dear papa, for saying that," said Elsie, raising her head and almost smiling through her tears. ”

“ Dinsmore in the hall.
"Why are you skipping about in that mad fashion, Elsie?" she asked, severely; "I believe you will never learn to move and act like a lady."
"I will try, madam, indeed," Elsie answered, subsiding into a slow and steady gait which would not have disgraced a woman of any age; "but I was so glad that papa is coming home to-day, that I could not help skipping."
"Indeed!" and with a scornful toss of the head, Mrs. Dinsmore sailed past her and entered the drawing-room. ”

“ Well, to cut the story as short as possible, knowing that Dinsmore had passed in his checks, I conceived the daring scheme of passing myself off for him, marrying the girl, and inheriting the Dinsmore fortune, which I would lose no time in putting into cash. I knew that I would have little trouble in proving the identity, as I could get hold of the private papers he left behind him through the doctor who attended him, who was a sworn friend of mine. ”

“ It was not in human nature to see the woman whom he still loved so madly lying there weeping for love of him, without his heart being stirred to its utmost, and John Dinsmore was human enough to feel the warm blood dashing madly through his veins and his heart, beating violently with all the old love reawakening. ”

“ I'll not have her crying her eyes out that you may be humored in all your whims. There are plenty of handsomer ones to be had in the city, and if you are too mean to make her a present of it, I'll buy you another to-morrow."
"But that would not be my work, and this is," replied Elsie, still retaining the purse, loath to let it go.
"Nonsense! what difference will that make to Miss Rose?" said Mrs. Dinsmore; and snatching it out of her hand, she gave it to Enna, saying, "There, my pet, you shall have it. Elsie is a naughty, mean, stingy girl, but she shan't plague you while your mamma's about." ”

“ Dinsmore, from Roselands, and Miss Adelaide were announced.
Mrs. Dinsmore, as richly and gayly dressed as of yore, but looking still more faded and worn, especially in contrast to the fresh young beauty of her daughter, greeted Mildred with languid affection, nodded to the other occupants of the room, and sank into the depths of an easy-chair as if completely exhausted by the unusual exertion.
Mr. Dinsmore’s greeting was warm and hearty. “Glad, very glad to see you, Milly, my dear. Young and fresh still—​as why shouldn’t you be?—​but growing more like your mother ”

“ Horace Dinsmore's return, when she, of course, handed Elsie's to him.
It was very satisfactory, for Elsie was a most diligent scholar, carrying her religious principles into that as well as everything else; and disposed as Miss Day was to find fault with her, she could seldom see any excuse for so doing, in either her conduct or recitations.
Mr. Dinsmore glanced over the report and handed it back, saying, "It is all very good; very satisfactory indeed. I am glad to see that she is industrious and well behaved, for I wish her to grow up an intelligent and amiable woman." ”

“ She heard his verdict with a gleeful laugh, gave him another hug and kiss, then turned to Annis, and putting her arms about her, “O Annis dear!” she said in tremulous tones, the tears filling her eyes, “what shall I do without you?”
“Look forward to another happy time together at some future day,” suggested Mr. Dinsmore cheerily. “And now if you will don your riding-habits, we will have a gallop. I have ordered the ponies and a horse for myself, and they will be here very shortly.” ”

“ Dinsmore and the children having already retired, Mildred's first sight of them had been at the breakfast table this morning;—the meal being partaken of in the private parlor belonging to the suite of apartments the Dinsmores were occupying in one of the best hotels of the city.
"I am agreeably disappointed, I must confess," Mrs. Dinsmore replied to her husband's query. "She is decidedly pretty and extremely [49] ladylike in manner and appearance. Even her dress,—though not quite in the fashion—bespeaks her a person of taste and refinement. ”

“ Well, there is an old saying. 'A bird that can sing, and won't sing, must be made to sing.'"
Elsie was opening her lips to speak, but Mrs. Dinsmore bade her be silent, and then went on. "She pretends it is all on account of conscientious scruples. 'It isn't fit for the Sabbath,' she says. Now I say it is a great piece of impertinence for a child of her years to set up her opinion against yours and mine; and I know very well it is nothing but an excuse, because she doesn't choose to be obliging." ”

“ I must say you are the most selfish, disobliging child I ever saw."
"I offered to tell her a Bible story, or anything suitable for the Sabbath day," replied Elsie, meekly, "but I cannot tell the fairy tale, because it would be wrong."
"Nonsense! there's no harm at all in telling fairy tales to-day, any more than any other day; that is just an excuse, Elsie," said Mrs. Dinsmore, angrily.
"I don't want her old Bible stories. I won't have them. I want that pretty fairy tale," sobbed Enna passionately; "make her tell it, mamma." ”

“ Dinsmore—especially the former—of all that interested themselves, it was not long before they too had heard, with deep commiseration, the story of the unkind treatment to which Max, Lulu, and Gracie were subjected.
"We must find a way to be of service to them," Mr. Dinsmore said. "Perhaps by instituting inquiries among our friends and acquaintances we may hear of some kind and capable person able and willing to take charge of them, and to whom their father would be willing to commit them." ”

“ Dinsmore," remarked that lady languidly. "I wonder if she has much shopping to do? I hope not, for I really do not feel equal to the exertion of assisting her."
"Driving about in a carriage and sitting in the stores; I should not think it need be so very fatiguing," remarked her husband.
"Of course not, Mr. Dinsmore; men never do see why anything should fatigue their wives," she retorted with some petulance.
[50]
"Then Miss Worth and I will have to manage it between us. You expect her to-day, do you not?"
"She was to come to-day; but of course she won't. People never do as they promise. ”

“ It was Annis, just coming in at the door, who answered. “Milly says they will be down in five or ten minutes, Cousin Horace. Elsie, sha’n’t we go and put on our wraps?”
Mrs. Dinsmore was hurrying away. Her husband called after her. “My dear, wrap up well; for the night is cold. I have ordered the two close carriages, but wraps will not come amiss.” Then taking Elsie’s hand, he went with her and Annis to their rooms to see that they were warmly clad for the ride. ”

“ They made me marry him—my parents, I mean—because of his wealth.”
John Dinsmore’s lips twitch. He essays to speak, but the words he would utter refuse to come from his lips. He is like one suddenly stricken dumb. ”

“ Meanwhile, the girl for whom John Dinsmore had [28] risked his noble life a second time, was pacing up and down the floor of her elegant suite of rooms, with a very perturbed countenance, reading for the twentieth time the letter which her mother had but just received, read but half through, and had fainted outright; recovering only to go from one violent fit of hysterics into another. ”

“ Dinsmore and Sydney. "Whose are they? where did they come from?"
"They are Cousin Elsie's wedding dress and veil," replied Maud. "And she lends them to me to be married in. But it is to be a secret. Nobody is to know anything about it till I appear with them on—when I am to add the name of Percival to those I already bear," she concluded in a tone that seemed to indicate that she was jesting to hide an inclination to indulge in tears. [Pg 255]
"I highly approve," said Mrs. Dinsmore. "The things—dress and veil—are beautiful, and will make our bride look bewitchingly lovely ”

“ Poor little Elsie! No wonder you pine for your father's love, and grieve over the loss of the mother you never knew!"
"She is an odd child," said Adelaide; "I don't understand her; she is so meek and patient she will fairly let you trample upon her. It provokes papa. He says she is no Dinsmore, or she would know how to stand up for her own rights; and yet she has a temper, I know, for once in a great while it shows itself for an instant—only an instant, though, and at very long intervals—and then she grieves over it for days, as though she had committed some great crime ”

“ Dinsmore took the seat she had vacated, and, passing his arm round his little girl, said to her in an undertone, "My little daughter must not be so foolish as to believe that people mean all they say to her; for some persons talk in a very thoughtless way, and, without perhaps intending to be exactly untruthful, say a great deal that they really do not mean. ”

“ Dinsmore, was about to follow her, when he said, "I wish her to go alone, if you please, Miss Lucy;" and with a frown and a pout the little girl walked into the drawing-room and seated herself on the sofa beside her mamma.
Mr. Dinsmore walked out on to the portico, and stood there watching the moon which was just rising over the treetops.
"Horace," said Arthur, emerging from the shadow of a tree near by and approaching his brother, "Elsie thinks you're a tyrant. She says you never let her have anything, or go anywhere, and you're always punishing her. ”

“ He said that was a good idea, but he would leave it to the ladies to have that done, or to choose for him a book for each of his children, a doll for each girl, and writing-desks, fully furnished, for Max and Lulu.
"I think," he added with a smile, "whatever I may give will seem to them more valuable if sent from this distance than if bought near at hand."
"Yes," Mrs. Dinsmore said, "that is human nature."
The shoppers set out the next morning soon after breakfast, expecting to return about the usual dinner-hour. ”

“ Ah! how can I ever find it in my heart to be stern to her? Ah! if I were but half as good and pure as she is, I should be a better man than I am." And he heaved a deep sigh.
Half an hour had passed, and still Elsie bent over her book. The tea-bell rang, and Mr. Dinsmore started up, and crossing the room, bent down and stroked her hair.
"Do you know it, darling?" he asked.
"Almost, papa," and she looked up into his face with a bright, sweet smile, full of affection. ”

“ Dinsmore asked, as Elsie gently withdrew her hand from his on leaving the dining-room.
"To my room, papa," she replied.
"Come with me," he said; "I want you."
"What do you want me for, papa?" she asked, as he sat down and took her on his knee.
"What for? why to keep, to love, and to look at," he said laughing. "I have been away from my little girl so long, that now I want her close by my side, or on my knee, all the time. Do you not like to be with me?"
"Dearly well, my own darling papa," she answered, flinging her little arms around his neck, and laying her head on his breast. ”

“ At length it was her turn.
"Elsie, will you have some meat?" asked her grandfather.
"No," said her father, answering for her; "once a day is as often as a child of her age ought to eat meat; she may have it at dinner, but never for breakfast or tea."
The elder Mr. Dinsmore laughed, saying, "Really, Horace, I had no idea you were so notionate. I always allowed you to eat whatever you pleased, and I never saw that it hurt you. But, of course, you must manage your own child in your own way." ”

“ On one side stands the girl he loves, the girl he wooed and lost on that never-to-be-forgotten summer by the murmuring sea, and on the other side the girl who loves him, the girl to whom he is bound fast by marriage bonds, and to whom he owes loyalty and protection. From deathlike paleness his face flushed hotly.
He longed to seize his hat and rush from the house. In his dilemma fate favored him. There is a ring at the [203] bell, and the next instant callers are announced in the sonorous voice of the servant.
John Dinsmore seized this opportunity to make his adieus. ”

“ Oh, don’t you want to come and lie here beside me till I may? if you won’t catch cold coming. Please put on your slippers and dressing-gown first.”
“Catch cold just running across two rooms with such soft warm carpets on the floor?” laughed Annis, hastening to accept the invitation. “I’m not so delicate as all that comes to, Miss Dinsmore. Oh, isn’t it good to be here with you, you darling!” creeping close to Elsie, and hugging her tight. ”

“ Elsie thought it a very nice plan, and the two went away together to carry it out.
“Your prescription seems to have worked well, Dinsmore,” was Dr. Landreth’s smiling remark as the two young faces showed themselves in the parlor shortly before tea, rosy, bright, and beaming with health and happiness.
“Yes; I find there is no other restorer of wearied nature equal to restful sleep,” Mr. Dinsmore said, regarding his little girl with his wonted look of proud, fond, fatherly affection. “Are you quite rested, daughter?” he asked, drawing her to his side. ”