Part 34 (1/2)

It would be entirely impossible for a stranger to form an idea what an emotion the very name of wine caused among them. They were fairly longing for it. We were in the good graces of all the household at once.

I pleaded headache not to drink. Lovetree took his gla.s.s with them. I fixed upon one that I thought perhaps might be Athalia, but soon found that she was called Nannette.

Another was Belle, and the third was Adelaide. The latter was one of the most perfectly beautiful girls in face and form I ever saw, and she had really pretty red hair. I have often met or pa.s.sed her since that in the street and never without admiring her beauty and thinking of her mother, and how she must mourn ”a girl lost.”

I was now satisfied that Athalia was not in the room, and I said carelessly. ”Where is that other girl I saw here, with brown hair and blue eyes, not very tall?”

”What was her name?”

”Oh, confound names, I never can think of names.”

”Oh, I know who he means,” said Adelaide, ”it is Lucy, Lucy Smith.”

”Yes, yes, that is it. It is Lucy at any rate.”

”She is in her room. She has got the dumps--the blues--I should not wonder if she was all melted by this time, she has been crying these three days.”

”Crying, why what has she to cry about? I should not think anybody need to cry in this house, you never cry, do you?”

The very question almost brought a tear, but she drove it back.

”Well, Lucy must come down and have some wine. Get her down, and we will have another bottle.”

”She won't come. We are all tired of trying. She has got the pouts, because Mrs. Laylor took her trunk away from her to keep for her board.

She don't make any thing. All she ever did make was out of Frank Barkley, and that she gave to redeem her watch and a good-for-nothing old Bible I don't see what she wants of that.”

”Well, I am going to have her down--I have no opinion of having any girl in the dumps. Where is her room?”

”Third floor back room. That is right, go and bring her out whether or no. She has hardly been out for a week till to-day Mrs. Laylor took her out riding with her, to try to put a little life in her, for fear she would die on her hands, and she would have to bury her for charity.”

”Well, well, I will bring her down, see if I don't. Come, Treewell, if she will not come without we will bring her.”

So away we went upstairs, now satisfied that we were on the right trail, and that we had completely lulled all suspicion that we wanted anything of Lucy Smith, except to compel the poor heart-sick woman to join in a Baccha.n.a.lian revel, at which her soul revolted. Up, up we went, pa.s.sed three ”private rooms,” in which we will not seek to look, for they are occupied by those who come veiled and in the dark. Here is the room we want. We knocked but received no welcome ”come in.”

How quick she would open the door if she knew who was waiting for admission. Tired of knocking, we enter unbidden, and find the room empty. The prisoner has escaped.

The truth flashed upon my mind in a moment. She has gone off with Mrs.

May. Mr. Lovetree thought not, for Stella said they would not let her go out except some one in the house went with her to watch her.

”No matter. I am almost sure that woman has got her away. These women are great at contrivance. Very likely she came prepared for it, as Stella told her of course, all that Mrs. Morgan had told her.”

We made a light and the first thing that Lovetree saw was the Bible, and Athalia's name--her age and birth-place and the age and names of her father and mother and grandfather and grandmother, a complete family record. I thought the man would go crazy. It would have made him nearly crazy if he had found her an inmate here, as much lost to shame as those we had just been carousing with, and now to find that she was not here put him into a perfect agony. He thought he could not live till morning without seeing her. At first we thought of going directly to Mrs. May's but then we recollected we did not know where she lived and could not find out, for I had lost her card that Stella gave me.

Finally we concluded to go down and talk a minute in the same kind of sang froid manner, to keep up our a.s.sumed characters and then go home and await coming events.

We were rallied as we entered the room with a jeering laugh at not being able to bring one woman between us both.

Then I pretended to get angry at being sent upon a fool's errand, to a room where n.o.body was at home. At that Mrs. Laylor started.

”Was she not in the room?”