Part 9 (1/2)

Margaret had never thought of Mr. Smith sending her any flowers. She wished that Jenny had had the sense to take them into her own room; she would have liked to open them by herself; but it was of no use to object, and slowly and unwillingly she untied the cords, and lifted the lid. Silver paper, sheet upon sheet, cotton wool, layer upon layer; and then more silver paper came forth. An ineffable perfume was filling her senses and bringing up dim early memories. It grew stronger, and they grew weaker, as at last she took out a great bunch of white lilacs, the large sprays tied loosely and carelessly together with a wide, soft, thick white ribbon.

”Ah!” said Mrs. Swain, in a slightly disappointed tone; ”yes, very pretty; I suppose that is the style now; and they are raised in a hothouse, and must be a rarity at this season.”

”Where's his card?” asked Cousin Susan. But the card was tightly crushed up in Margaret's hand; she was not going to have ”Alcibiades” exclaimed over. She need not have been afraid, for it only bore the words, ”Mr. A.

Smith, Jr.” A pencil line was struck through ”14,000 Michigan Avenue, Chicago,” and ”Garden Street, Cambridge,” scribbled over it.

Margaret wondered how she should ever get her precious flowers safely upstairs and into the hall--the box was so big; but the moment the carriage stopped an obsequiously bowing servant helped her out, seized her load, ushered her up and into the cloak-room, and set down his burden with an impressiveness that seemed to strike even the chattering groups of girls. Mrs. Underwood was nowhere to be seen, and Margaret was glad to have time to adjust her dress carefully. She took out her flowers at last; but on turning to the gla.s.s for a last look, saw that one of the knots of ribbon on her bodice was half-unpinned, and stopped to lay her nosegay down, while she secured it more firmly.

”Oh, don't!” cried a voice beside her; ”don't, pray don't put them down”; and Margaret turned to meet the pretty girl, very pretty now, whose pa.s.sing word at the last dance had been the only sign of notice she had received from one of her own s.e.x. ”You'll spoil them,” she went on; ”do let me take them while you pin on your bow.”

Margaret, surprised and grateful, yielded up her flowers, which the other took gingerly with the tips of her fingers, tossing her own large lace-edged bouquet of red rosebuds on to a chair.

”You will spoil your own beautiful flowers,” said Margaret.

”Oh, mine are tough! And then--why, they are very nice, of course, but not anything to compare to yours”--handling them as if they were made of gla.s.s.

Margaret, astonished, took them back with thanks, and wished a moment later, that she had asked this good-natured young person to let her go into the ballroom with her party. But she had already been swept off by a crowd of friends, throwing back a parting smile and nod, and Margaret, left alone, and rather nervous at finding how late it was getting, walked across the room to the little side door that led into the dancing hall, and peeped through. There sat Mrs. Underwood at the further end, having evidently forgotten her very existence; and she drew back with a renewed sensation of awkward uncertainty.

”They must have cost fifty dollars at least,” said the clear, crisp tones of Miss Kitty Chester, so near her that she started, and then perceived, by a heap of pink flounces on the floor, that the sofa against the wall of the ballroom, close by the door, was occupied, though by whom she could not see without putting her head completely out, and being seen in her turn.

”One might really almost dance with little Smith for that,” went on the speaker.

”Ralph Underwood says he isn't anything so bad as he looks,” said the gentler voice of Margaret's new acquaintance.

”Good heavens! I should hope not; that would be a little too much,”

laughed Kitty.

”He is very clever, I hear, and has very good manners, considering--and she seems such a thoroughly nice girl.”

”Why, Gladys, you are quite in earnest about it. But now, do you think that you could ever make up your mind to be Mrs. Alcibiades?”

”Why, of course not! but things are so different. A girl may be just as nice a girl, and,”--she stopped as suddenly as if she were shot.

Margaret could discern the cause perfectly well; it was that Mr. Smith was approaching the door, looking out, she had no doubt, for her, and unconsciously returning the bows of the invisible pair. She had the consideration to wait a few moments before she appeared, and then she pa.s.sed the sofa without a look, taking in through the back of her head, as it were, Miss Kitty's raised eyebrows and round mouth of comic despair, and poor Gladys's scarlet cheeks. Her own affairs were becoming so engrossing, that it mattered little to her what other people thought or said of them; and she crossed the floor on her partner's arm as unconsciously as if they were alone together, and spoke to the matrons with the ease which comes of absolute indifference. She did not mind Mrs. Underwood's short answers, or Mrs. Thorndike Freeman's little ungracious nod, but the long stare with which the latter lady regarded her flowers troubled her a little. What was the matter with them?

Somehow, Mr. Smith had given her the impression of a man who counts his sixpences, and if he had really been sending her anything very expensive, it was flattering, though imprudent. Margaret was now beginning to feel a personal interest in his affairs, and its growth had been so gradual and so fostered by circ.u.mstances, that she was less shy with him than young girls usually are in such a position. She felt quite equal to administering a gentle scolding when she had the chance; and when they were seated, and the music made it safe to talk confidentially, she began with conciliation.

”Thank you so much for these beautiful flowers.”

”Do you like the way they are put up?”

”Oh, yes, they are perfect; but they are too handsome for me to carry.

You ought not to have sent me such splendid ones, nor spent so much upon them. I did not have any idea what they were till I came here and everybody--”

”I am very sorry,” said Mr. Smith, apologetically, ”to have made you so conspicuous; but really I never thought of their costing so much, or making such a show. I wanted to send you white lilacs, because somehow you always make me think of them; don't you remember telling me about the lilac bushes at Royalston? And when I saw the wretched little bits at the florist's I told them to cut some large sprays, and never thought of asking how much they would be.” Then, as Margaret's eyes grew larger with anxiety, he went on, with an air of amus.e.m.e.nt she had seldom seen in him, ”Never mind! I guess I can stand it for once, and I won't do so again. I'll tell you, Miss Parke, you shall choose the next flowers I give you, if you will. Will you be my partner at the next German, and give me a chance?”

”I wish I could,” said Margaret, ”but I shall not be here then. I am going home.”

”What--so soon?”

”Yes, my term at the Art School will be over, and I know Cousin Susan won't want to have me stay after that. She hates to have anyone round.

Mother thought that if I came down, Mrs. Underwood would ask me to visit her before I went home, but she hasn't, and,” with a little sigh, ”I must go. Never mind! I have had a very nice time.”