Part 3 (1/2)
_Henrietta._ Nothing at all! Why Miss Caldwell, I did not expect this of you! I always supposed you to be very generous.
_Isabella._ I wish to be generous whenever it is in my power.
_Henrietta._ Well, dear Isabella, if you have no money, we will not press you. We shall be happy to have you at our little feast, even if you do not contribute a cent towards it.
_All._ O, yes! We must not lose Isabella Caldwell.
_Isabella._ I am much obliged to you, my dear girls. But it is not the want of money that prevents me from joining you. I _have_ money. But I wish not, on any terms, to belong to your party; and I shall retire to my own room. In short, I do not think it right to be planning a feast without the knowledge of Mrs. Middleton, who is so good and so indulgent that it is a shame to deceive her.
_Henrietta._ Then I suppose. Miss Caldwell, you intend to betray us; to disclose the whole plan to Mrs. Middleton?
_Isabella._ You insult me by such a suspicion. I appeal to all the young ladies if they ever knew me guilty of telling tales, or repeating any thing which might be a disadvantage to another.
_All._ O, no, no! Isabella is to be trusted. She will never betray us.
_Henrietta._ Then in plain terms, Miss Caldwell, I really think, if you have money, you might spare a little for our feast.
_Isabella._ I want the whole of it for another purpose. And I shall get no more before next week.
_Henrietta._ Well, this is very strange. I know you do not care for finery, and that you never lay out your pocket-money in little articles of dress. And as for books of amus.e.m.e.nt, it was but yesterday that your father sent you a whole box full. I _must_ say, that though you are called generous--I cannot help thinking you a little--a very little--
_Isabella._ Mean, I suppose you would say.
_Henrietta._ Why, I must not exactly call you _mean_--But I cannot help thinking you rather--_meanish_.
_Isabella._ I will not be called mean. My refusal proceeds from other motives than you suppose.
_Henrietta._ Young ladies, I will be judged by you all. Is it natural for a girl of fifteen, who likes cakes, and pastry, and every sort of sweet thing, to be so very conscientious as to refuse to join in a little bit of pleasure that can injure no one, that will never be discovered, and that all her companions have a.s.sented to with few or no scruples. No, no, Isabella, I believe that your only object in declining to be one of our party, is to save your money.
_Isabella._ O, what injustice you do me!
_Henrietta._ Prove it to be injustice by joining us without further objection.
_Miss Watkins._ Henrietta, we do not care for Isabella's money. Let her keep it if she wishes. We can afford to entertain her as our guest. I am sorry so much should have been said about it.
_Isabella_ (_taking her purse out of her bag._) There then; here are two half-dollars. I will prove to you that I am neither mean nor selfish.
_All._ We will not take your money.
_Isabella._ Yes, take it.--Any thing rather than suspect me of what I do not deserve. And now let me entreat, that in _my_ presence nothing more may be said of this feast. Change the subject, and talk of something else. Or, rather, I will retire to bed, and leave you to make your arrangements for to-morrow night.
The real reason why Isabella Caldwell was so unwilling to be a contributor to the expense of the feast, was, that she had intended appropriating her pocket-money to a much better purpose. Her allowance was a dollar a week; and she knew that a coloured woman, named Diana, (who had formerly been a servant in her father's family before they removed to the country) was now struggling with severe poverty. Diana was the widow of a negro sailor who had perished at sea, and she was the mother of three children, all too small to put out, and whom she supported by taking in was.h.i.+ng. But during a long illness brought on by overworking herself, she lost several of her customers who had given their was.h.i.+ng to others. Isabella had solicited Mrs. Middleton to allow her to employ Diana, rather than the woman who then washed for the school. Mrs. Middleton readily consented.
The weather had become very cold, and Isabella saw with regret that Diana came to fetch and carry the clothes-bag without either coat or cloak; nothing in fact to cover her shoulders but an old yellow cotton shawl. Isabella pitied her extremely, and resolved in her own mind not to lay out a cent of her money till she had saved enough to buy Diana a cloak. Her father, who was a man of large fortune, had placed, at the beginning of the year, a sum of money in Mrs. Middleton's hands to defray Isabella's expenses, exclusive of her tuition; with directions to give her every week a dollar to dispose of as she pleased.
Isabella had now been saving her money for four weeks, and had that morning received her weekly allowance, which completed the sum necessary to buy a good plaid cloak, and she had determined to go the following morning and make the purchase, and to give it to Diana when she came to take the clothes. Isabella had now the exact money; and that was the reason she was so unwilling to devote any part of it to the expenses of the feast. Beside which, she could not, in her heart, approve of any species of pleasure that was to be enjoyed in secret, and kept from the knowledge of her excellent governess. She felt the usual repugnance of modest and benevolent people with regard to speaking of her own acts of charity. This reluctance she, however, carried too far, when rather than acknowledge that she was keeping her money to buy a cloak for her poor washerwoman, she suffered herself to be prevailed on to give up part of the sum, as an addition to the fund that was raising for the banquet.
She went to bed sadly out of spirits, and much displeased with herself.
She had seen at a store, just such a cloak as she wished to get for Diana; and she had antic.i.p.ated the delight and grat.i.tude of the poor woman on receiving it, and the comfort it would afford her during the inclement season, and for many succeeding winters. ”And now,” thought she, ”poor Diana must go without a cloak, and the money will be wasted in cakes and tarts; which, however nice they may be, will cause us no further pleasure after we have once swallowed them. However, perhaps the weather will be less severe to-morrow; and next week I shall have another dollar, and I then will again be able to buy Diana the cloak. I am sorry that I promised it to her when she was here last. I cannot bear the idea of seeing her, and telling her that she must wait for the cloak a week longer. I hope the weather will be mild and fine to-morrow.”
But Isabella's hope was not realized; and when she rose in the morning, she found it snowing very fast. The cold was intense. The ground had been for several days already covered with a deep snow which had frozen very hard. There was a piercing north-east wind; and, altogether, it was the most inclement morning of the whole winter. Isabella hoped that Diana would not come for the clothes that day, as the weather would be a sufficient excuse; though the poor woman had never before been otherwise than punctual. But in a short time, she saw Diana coming round the corner, walking very fast, her arms wrapped in her shawl, and holding down her head to avoid, as much as possible, the snow that was driving in her face. ”Ah!” thought Isabella, ”she hopes to get the cloak this dreadful morning, and to wear it home. How sadly she will be disappointed! But I cannot see or speak to her.” She then tied up her clothes-bag, and desired the chambermaid to take it down and give it to Diana, and tell her that she could not see her that morning.
Isabella could not forbear going again to the window; and she saw Diana come up the area steps into the street, carrying the clothes-bag, and looking disappointed. Isabella, with a heavy heart, watched her till she turned the corner, shrinking from the storm, and s.h.i.+vering along in her old thin shawl. ”Oh!” thought Isabella, ”how very badly the confectionary will taste to me this evening, when I think that my contribution towards it, has obliged me to break my promise to this poor woman; and that it will cause her, for at least another week, to endure all the sufferings of exposure to cold without sufficient covering.”