Part 17 (1/2)
”And that I am not knowing, Miss. Sure and there is nothing in the house.”
”Oh, Katy, and I have been dawdling up here for hours! I forgot about keeping house, I was so taken up with the baby.”
”Yes, and no doubt your man will be sour about it, too.”
Molly, still in her kimono, flew to the regions below and began frantically to search for something to concoct into luncheon. A forlorn piece of roast veal was excavated and half a loaf of stale baker's bread. A can of asparagus, a leftover from the housekeeping of the spring, was unearthed. Olive oil was in the refrigerator, also, b.u.t.ter, milk and eggs. The veal looked very hopeless, evidently having reposed for hours in a half cold oven before it had furnished forth a miserable dinner for the poor professor.
”Now I'll 'form a miracle on the vituals,' as dear Aunt Mary would say,”
declared Molly to herself. ”Katy, get the dining room straight. Don't scrub anything but just clear off the table and then set it again as well as you can. Put on a fresh lunch cloth and clean napkins; then see that the fire in the library is all right.”
The veal, run through the meat chopper, came out better than was to be expected, and croquettes were formed and frying in deep fat before the dazed Katy had cleared off the breakfast table.
”Katy, you must hurry or we won't have the master's luncheon ready when he gets in.”
”Faith, and, Mrs. Green, you do be flying round so schwift like, that I can't get me breath. I feel like the wind from your schkirts was sinding me back. All I can do is schtand schtill and breast the wind.”
”Well, I tell you what you do then,” laughed Molly: ”You come fly with the wind,” and she caught the Irish girl by the hand and ran her around the dining room table just to show her how fast she could go if necessary. Katy, having got wound up, kept on going at a rate of speed that was astonis.h.i.+ng. To be sure, she broke a cup and a plate, but what was a little chaney to the master's luncheon being served on time?
The faithful can of asparagus was opened and heated; toast was made from the half loaf of stale bread, and a cream sauce prepared to pour over the asparagus on toast. Popovers were stirred up and in the oven before Katy got the table set, although she was going with the wind instead of trying to breast it. A few rosy apples from the orchard at Chatsworth, unearthed from the depths of the unpacked trunk, formed a salad with a mayonnaise made in such a hurry that Molly trembled for its quality; but luck being with her that day, it turned out beautifully.
”No lettuce, so we'll put the salad on those green majolica plates and maybe he won't notice,” she called to Katy, just as the professor opened the front door.
”Mol--ly!” he called.
”Here I am.”
The mistress of the house emerged from the kitchen in a state of mussiness but looking very pretty withal, her red-gold hair curling up in little ringlets from the steam and her cheeks as rosy as though she had joost come over wid Katy. Her blue kimono was very becoming but hardly what she would have chosen to appear in at luncheon.
”I am so sorry not to be dressed, but I had to hustle so as to get lunch ready in time. The clock struck twelve when I thought it was about ten.”
”Did you have to get luncheon? Where was Katy?”
”She helped, but I wanted to have a finger in it. If you will wait a minute, I will get into a dress.”
”Why, you look beautiful in that loose blue thing; besides, I have to eat and run. A faculty meeting is calling me.”
The luncheon was delicious, and Edwin gave it all praise by devouring large quant.i.ties of it. Molly could not eat much as she was too hot, and hurrying is not conducive to appet.i.te. Mildred, who was sleeping on the porch, awoke when the meal was half over and Molly could not trust Katy to take her up.
”She might hold her upside down. I will bring her to the table and she can talk to you while you are finis.h.i.+ng!”
So Molly flew to the porch and picked up her darling. She had intended to take her to the dining room but she remembered it was time for Mildred to have her food and so the patient Edwin had to finish his meal alone.
He found his wife and baby on the upper back porch. The color had left Molly's cheeks and she was quite pale, and there was a little wan, wistful look in her countenance that Edwin did not like.
”Molly, honey, you are all tired out. You did not eat your luncheon and you got no sleep last night. What are we going to do about it?”
”Oh, I'm all right! Please don't bother about me! Did you like the apple salad? They were apples from Kentucky.”
”Fine! Everything was delicious. But I don't want you to wear yourself out cooking. If Katy can't cook, we must get some one who can. If she can't cook and you won't let her nurse, why what is the use of her?”
Molly, worn out with the sleepless night and the record breaking getting of a meal out of nothing, felt as though she would disgrace herself in a minute and burst into tears. She could not discuss the matter with Edwin for fear of breaking down. Edwin kissed her good-by and tactfully withdrew.