Part 14 (1/2)
”Mistress Betty, I salute you,” said Geoffrey Yorke, bowing low, ”and may I also beg your acceptance of a bunch of clove pinks? They were grown by my Dutch landlady in a box kept carefully in her kitchen window, and I know not whether she or I have watched them the more carefully, as I wished to be so fortunate as to have them bloom for you to-night.”
”For me?” said Betty, in a delighted whisper, turning such glowing eyes upon him that the young man fell more madly in love with her than ever.
”How kind!--and at this season? Oh, they are sweet, and recall the garden walk at home. Indeed, sir, I thank you,” and scarcely thinking what she did, in her pleasure at his pretty attention, she thrust the bunch of pinks in her fichu, where they lay close to her white throat and gave her toilet the one touch of color for which she had longed.
Small wonder that Geoffrey's handsome face lit up with triumph, or that Clarissa said to herself as the pair approached her, Betty dimpling with smiles, ”What a charming couple they make! I wonder if my father would object?”
This was Clarissa's first appearance in society for many months, and the warmth with which she was greeted showed how large a place the New England girl had made in the regard of her husband's friends. The party was given chiefly for Betty, that she might have plenty of partners at the New Year ball; and although these were mostly young people, there was also a goodly sprinkling of dames and dowagers, who smiled approvingly when Betty was presented to them, before seating themselves at the all-absorbing card-tables. Cards were much the mode of the day, and an hour or more was given to them; then as the metheglin (a delicious beverage made of honey) and the mulled wine was pa.s.sed, the younger portion of the company began moving through the suite of three rooms, breaking up into small groups as they did so.
Peter, who had const.i.tuted himself master of ceremonies for the fun in low life which was going on in the kitchen, darted up to Betty as she stood talking with Philip Livingston.
”They're just going to begin to dance,” he said. ”Miranda is perked out in a wonderful pink gown, and Aunt Dinah has her best turban on her head. Do, Betty, persuade some of the company to come out and see the negroes dance. Don't you hear the music beginning?”
Surely enough the distant sc.r.a.ping of the violin could be heard, and Betty, seizing Kitty by the hand, tripped up to Clarissa and repeated Peter's request. Clarissa hesitated an instant.
”Oh, Gulian,” cried Betty, catching hold of her brother-in-law as he came forward, ”may we not visit the kitchen and see the servants dance?
Captain Yorke tells me that is what is done in England on Christmas Eve, and I am sure it would afford us all a new amus.e.m.e.nt.”
Artful Betty! She knew full well that any suggestion of England and English ways would appeal to Gulian, and Yorke, who followed closely at her side, threw the potent weight of his opinion in the scale by saying quietly:--
”I am told your slaves have the very poetry of motion, Verplanck; permit me to escort Mistress Betty to the servants' hall.”
”Servants' hall!” whispered Betty mischievously to Yorke as Gulian led the way with Clarissa; ”we have nothing so fine in our humble colonies, sir; our kitchens must serve for our dusky retainers.”
”You know I did not mean”--he began reproachfully. But seeing Betty's laughing eyes, he added, with a smile:--
”Nay, you shall not tease me into vexing you to-night if I can avoid it; I will strive to train my tongue to please you.”
The kitchen presented a quaint and most picturesque appearance. It was a low, wide room, and around the wall ran shelves and dressers, on which the pewter plates and copper covers shone with such fine polish that one could almost see in their surfaces as in a mirror. Between those hung bunches of herbs and strings of bright-hued peppers, and in and out on the walls, and above, from the rafters, were Christmas greens, all arranged by the servants themselves, with that unerring eye for grace and color which is an attribute of the colored race. Aunt Dinah, the presiding genius of the kitchen, stood at one end of the room. Her large and portly person was clothed in a gay cotton print of many colors; and upon her head was twisted a bright silk handkerchief, with a most rakish-looking bow which reposed over her left ear. The Verplanck slaves, some twelve of them, were augmented in numbers by those of the Ludlow, De Lancey, and De Peyster families, and half filled the s.p.a.cious kitchen us they stood back in rows, courtesying and bowing, showing their white teeth in smiles and low laughter, as they recognized some ”young ma.s.sa,” or ”ole madam” among the gentlemen and dames who smiled back upon their faithful, kindly faces.
The dance began with a special contra-dance, in which the performers copied with great exactness the profound bows and deep courtesies of the period, mimicking their masters and mistresses with curious grotesque grace. At the extreme end of the room, near Aunt Dinah, sat the fiddler, wielding his bow with an extra flourish befitting the occasion. Jan Steen was a well-known character, and his coming was looked upon as a special favor, only accorded to the servants because they belonged to the Verplancks, a family greatly honored and beloved among the Dutch settlers of Manhattan Island.
After the contra-dance was concluded, amid the applause and laughter of the spectators, four young slaves were singled out from the others, and took their places on the floor. Two of these were girls, pretty mulattoes, and two young, bright-colored negro men as their partners. To rather slow music they went through with a rhythmic dance, in which their figures swayed to and fro, chiefly from the waist, a gliding serpentine dance, evidently copied from the slaves of Martinique, and brought to New York by the French families. And then, to Peter's great delight, came the event of the evening, in his eyes,--the dance of Miranda with her new admirer from Broucklen Heights.
”Miranda is my maid,” explained Clarissa to Madam De Lancey and Mrs.
Morris, as they waited for the performers to take their places. ”I fetched her from Connecticut when I was married, and she is, as you see, very pretty and most graceful. The dance is a species of Spanish dance, I fancy, for it is done with two scarfs of red and yellow; I purchased the stuff a year ago from a Dutch peddler, and Miranda begged it of me last week.”
”Cousin Clarissa,” said Peter, rus.h.i.+ng up, ”we will want more light to enable you to see this; the candles are getting low. With your permission, may Pompey light the big lantern on the wall?”
About the middle of the kitchen hung a lantern which had once been used for illuminating purposes outside the mansion. It contained a piece of tin which acted as a reflector; and Peter, who had never yet had the pleasure of seeing it lit, had amused himself that very morning by putting in the candles for which it was prepared, and informed Aunt Dinah that he meant to light it by way of a climax to the festivities of Christmas Eve.
”The big lantern?” replied Clarissa; ”it has not been lit this three years.”
”I made it ready this morning; oh, do say yes.”
”Certainly,” said Clarissa, smiling; ”but tell Pompey to be careful, Peter.”
Off flew Peter, and up on a bench mounted Pompey, nothing loth to add dignity to the scene by illuminating it. Jan Steen drew his bow across his violin with a long, sweet note, and out on the floor glided Miranda, holding the hand of a tall, athletic-looking young negro, whose motions were grace itself. They began at the top of the room, holding the scarfs aloft, and slowly made their way down until they were in the centre, when the full light gleamed strongly upon their raised arms, their heads well up. Soft murmurs of applause began to steal around the room. Betty stood with Captain Yorke and Kitty directly under the lantern, beating time with her fan.