Sue

“ There radiates from the personality of a pure young girl like Sue something strangely akin to sunshine, something indefinable, luminous, and warm, which no one yet has been quite able to describe—any more than one can define “charm”—that which touches the heart, neither can we place our finger upon that thin, wavering border line between friendship and love—a pressure of the hand, a glance of the eyes, a smile, a sudden gaze of sympathy and understanding, and we stumble headlong across the frontier into the land of adoration. ”

“ Since then the great pianist had been to Sister Sue the living embodiment of her own dreams. Hidden away in Sister Sue's desk was a little drawer containing pictures, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, anything and everything—that showed her fame or mentioned her name—that could be found. Over them Sister Sue had pored many times till she knew them all by heart. And to have before her now that wondrous being in the flesh, talk to her, hear her talk—! Even now Sister Sue could not believe but what she had fallen asleep over her desk of treasures at home, and was dreaming. ”

“ A kiss to Mary, a word to the boys, and all will be forgotten. Go back now, before it is too late!"
But two other voices spoke louder in Sue's ear, drowning the voice of her heart. One was pride. "Go back?" it said. "Confess that you have been wicked and silly? Let the boys and Lily see you humbling yourself—you, who have always been the proud one? Never!" The other was loyalty, or rather a kind of chivalry that was a part of Sue. "You cannot desert Clarice," said this voice. "She is a stranger here, and she depends upon you. ”

“ A changed Sue was speaking now, not playfully or facetiously, or even patiently: her face was grave, her eyes were angry. "Mrs. Balcome, kindly take your place in the Close, to the left of the big door. Mr. Balcome, you will follow the choir." She waved them out, and they went, both unaccountably meek. Those who knew Sue Milo seldom saw this phase of her personality. Sue, the yielding, the loving, the childlike, could, on occasions, shed all her softer qualities and become, of a sudden, justly vengeful, full of wrath, and unbending. ”

“ Shall I be Sue, my Granny?"
"Yes. Now that's an excellent idea," she said, with much satisfaction, and glancing at me with a look of pride in her darling's noble repentance. "I consider that an excellent idea, indeed; and I am very pleased that you should have proposed it." [Pg 194]
Chris's face fell. "Don't you think that it is silly for a big boy like me to be Sue?" he asked, with evident disappointment that his offer had been accepted.
"Not at all," Granny said. "It's only in a book, you see, my pet."
"I don't like being a girl," he murmured. "I don't want to be Sue." ”

“ You can't be jealous of a walking fiddle! I don't believe that Donald Kendall knows this minute whether Sister Sue is the distractingly pretty girl she is, or whether she is squint-eyed and freckled with a wart on her nose. ”

“ A slender girl, with very light hair and eyebrows, a pale skin, and a thin, set mouth—not pretty, Mary thought, but with an "air," as Sue would say, and very showily dressed. The blouse of bright changeable silk, with numberless lace ruffles, the vast hat, like a flower-garden and bird-shop in one, the gold chain and lace parasol, shone strangely in the peaceful village street. ”

“ Sue protested, but was overruled. Clarice was determined, she said, to see how her little friend would look if she were properly dressed for once. In a few moments she was fastened into the blue muslin, and Clarice was telling her that she looked too perfectly sweet for anything.
"Now that is the way for you to dress, Sue Penrose. If I were you I should insist upon my mother's getting me a pair of stays to-morrow. Why, you look like a different girl. Why, you have an alegant figure—perfectly alegant!" ”

“ Sue Penrose went home that day feeling, as she had said to Mary, that something serious had happened. The advent of a stranger, and that stranger a girl not very far from her own and Mary's age, was indeed a wonderful thing. Hilton was a quiet village, and it happened that she and Mary had few friends of their own age. They had never felt the need of any, being always together from babyhood. Mary would never, it might be, feel the need; but Sue was always a dreamer of dreams, and always longed for something new, something different from every-day pleasures and cares. ”

“ The attitude of Sue is at this moment imposing, as he stands, pen in hand,—this his only weapon against an innumerable host of foes,—the champion of poverty, innocence, and humanity, against superstition, selfishness, and prejudice. When his works are forgotten,—and for all their strong points and brilliant decorations, they may ere long be forgotten,—still the writer's name shall be held in imperishable honor as the teacher of the ignorant, the guardian of the weak, a true tribune for the people of his own time. ”

“ It wouldn't seem like home at all if Sue should go away;
But when she went, a-leavin' us all sorrer and all tears,
Poor father whistled lonesome-like—and went to feed the steers.
When crops were bad, and other ills befell our homely lot,
He'd set of nights and try to act as if he minded not;
And when came death and bore away the one he worshipped so,
How vainly did his lips belie the heart benumbed with woe!
You see the telltale whistle told a mood he'd not admit,—
He'd always stopped his whistlin' when he thought we noticed it. ”

“ He knocked.
"Oh, come in!" called Clare.
Sue shut the door behind him; then she took her mother with her to the bay-window, halted her there as if she were standing one of the naughty orphans in a corner, and looked at her in sorrowful reproval.
Mrs. Milo drew away from the touch of her daughter's hand irritably. "Now, don't glare at me like that!" she ordered. "The Rectory is not a reformatory."
"Oh, let's not take that old ruined-girl attitude!" replied Sue, impatiently. "Laura Farvel doesn't need reforming. She needs kindness and love." ”

“ All the while she was talking she was quietly stripping Clarice of her trinkets. Clarice was too frightened to speak or move; she could only moan and whimper. But after the first moment of stupefaction, Sue came forward with flashing eyes and crimson cheeks. "How dare you?" she cried. "How dare you steal her things? Her father or Mr. Hart—Mr. George Hart of Hilton—will send you the money to-morrow, everything we owe. You shall not steal our things, you wicked woman!" ”

“ For a long moment, Sue looked at her mother without speaking. "Oh, I know why you laugh," she said, finally. "I'm—I'm forty-five. But—after today, I'm going to do some laughing! I'm going to do what I please, and go where I please! I'm free! I'm free at last!" She cried it up to the chandelier. "From today, I'm free! This is the Emancipation Proclamation! This is the Declaration of Independence!"
Mrs. Milo moved away, smiling. At the door she turned. "What can you do?" she asked, teasingly; "—at your age!"
Sue buttoned her coat over the bridesmaid's dress. "What can I do?" ”

“ Puppa thought I was too delicate to study much."
Sue looked blank for a moment. Not to know "Midsummer-Night's Dream"—that did seem very strange!
But Clarice opened her eyes at her and smiled and sighed. "My eyes have never been strong!" she murmured plaintively.
Sue's arms were round her in an instant. "You poor darling!" she cried. "Isn't that hard, Mary? isn't it cruel? To think of not having strong eyes! Clarice, I will come and read to you every day; I should just love to do it. We'll begin to-morrow morning. Oh, how splendid that will be! What shall we read first? ”

“ It was what May wanted, or Gordon wanted, or Father wanted, or even what Katy and Mary in the kitchen wanted! Her time, her thoughts, her wishes—they had been as nothing compared to the time, thoughts, and wishes of everybody else in the house. Why, it had got so that they all thought nobody could do anything for them but Sister Sue. They had just got into the habit of thinking that Sister Sue must do everything. Even outside, among their friends, she was known as "Sister Sue," and was often called so.
And it was not right. It was a shame. Was she never to have a chance to live her own life? ”

“ Sue looked up at him gravely, but did not speak.
“‘‘Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.’’
“‘That is, the upright man,’ said Sue.
“‘‘A good man showeth favour and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.’ You remember who says, ‘I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.’’
“‘That is Zion, father, isn’t it?’ said Sue. ”

“ Hart made. Well, and Sue would go up and look at her. Oh! if she herself were only a fairy prince in green and gold, or could change into one just for a little while! But, anyhow, she would look at the lovely maiden and say:
"Love, if thy tresses be so dark,—
But these tresses were fair! ”

“ In December, when Sister Sue and her father were again alone in the old house, came the unexpected from Gordon. Sister Sue had to read the letter twice before she got its full meaning. Then from the incoherent, rhapsodic tangle of blue eyes, golden hair, moonlight, darlings, and sweethearts, she unraveled this information:
He was going to leave college. He had fallen in love. The dearest girl in all the world had promised to be his wife. ”

“ She summoned Mary for Sue’s dry things from the kitchen, and when finally she opened the sitting-room door leading out to the gloomy hallway, Sue lingered for an instant on its threshold. Then impulsively she flung her arms about the little woman’s neck, kissed her withered cheek, and flew down the stairs. ”

“ Susan said, satisfied that he should think so. "That doesn't give YOU any right to interfere with my affairs!"
"You're just like Georgie and Mary Lou," he told her, "always bluffing yourself. But you've got more brains than they have, Sue, and it'd give the whole crowd of them a hand up if you made a marriage like that. Don't think I'm trying to butt in," he gave her his winning, apologetic smile, "you know I'm as interested as your own brother could be, Sue! If you like him, don't keep the matter hanging fire. There's no question that he's crazy about you--everybody knows that!" ”

“ Sue Penrose, there is some one following us!"
Sue listened. Yes, there were footsteps, some way behind. "But, my dear," she said, "this is the highroad! Why should they be following us? People have a right to walk on the road—as good a right as we have."
They stopped a moment, instinctively, and listened; and the footsteps behind them stopped too. They went on, and the steps were heard again, light yet distinct, keeping the distance between them, neither more nor less.
Clarice grasped Sue's arm. "They are tramps or robbers, Sue! We are going to be murdered. ”

“ Sister Sue was ashamed and dismayed. She admitted it to herself now. She was in love with a man who not only was supremely indifferent to herself,—of that she was very sure,—but very evidently was in love with another woman—a Beth who sang or a Helen who painted.
Sister Sue wondered sometimes just how long she really had been caring for Donald Kendall. She had suspected it first at the time when he had gone away so suddenly that week in May and she had found how empty were those three last days of the week which she had expected would be so full. ”

“ And so on and so on, till Sue could have fallen asleep for sheer weariness, save for those merry voices in her ear and the pain at her heart.
But when Clarice was gone, Sue unlocked her journal and wrote: 128
"I am very unhappy, and no one cares. I am alone in the world, and I feel that I have not long to live. My cheek is hollow, and my eyes gleam with an unnatural light; but I shall rest in the grave and no one will morn for me. I hear the voices of my former friends, but they think no more of the lonely outcast. ”

“ But I cannot tell her— I cannot."
"You won't have to," smiled the woman who had told Sister Sue that the greatest blessing in all the world was to be needed by some one. "You won't have to; I'm sure you won't. She will write to you, and she will tell you that she has changed her mind. She does not want to be the great pianist." ”

“ Sue nodded. She understood. Her mother had announced her ultimatum to Farvel, and he had accepted it. Mrs. Milo could not return to the Rectory. But if Sue continued her work there, it meant that she would enjoy a happy companionship with the clergyman—a companionship unhindered by the presence of the elder woman. Such a state of affairs might even end in marriage. And now Sue knew it was marriage that her mother feared.
"Very well, mother."
"Ah, you like the separation plan!"
"We're as wide apart in our ideas as the poles." ”

“ Her sister May clasped her hands to her breast and drew an ecstatic sigh with her gaze on the ceiling as she cried: "Oh, Sister Sue, how perfectly lovely! And you'll have a church wedding, of course, and I'll be maid of honor! What shall I wear? Oh, you lucky girl! I think Martin Kent is positively the handsomest man I ever saw, and so do all the girls. They're simply crazy over him! Sue, Sister Sue, what shall I wear?" But Sister Sue was already halfway down the stairway: Gordon's clear whistle of the latest bit of ragtime had sounded from the hall below. ”