house was without it. More and more sorrowfully during past years, his thoughts had gone back to the little white flannel bundle and to the dear hopes it had carried so long ago. If the boy had only lived, thought William, mournfully, there would not now have been that dreary silence in his home, and that sore ache in his heart.
Very soon after William had first seen Billy, he began to lay wonderful plans, and in every plan was Billy. She was not his child by flesh and blood, he acknowledged, but she was his by right of love and needed care. In fancy he looked straight down the years ahead, and everywhere he saw Billy, a loving, much-loved daughter, the joy of his life, the solace of his declining years.
To no one had William talked of this–and to no one did he show the bitterness of his grief when he saw his vision fade into nothingness through Billy’s unchanging refusal to live in his home. Only he himself knew the heartache, the loneliness, the almost unbearable longing of the past winter months while Billy had lived at Hillside; and only he himself knew now the almost overwhelming joy that was his because of what he thought he saw in Billy’s changed attitude toward himself.
Great as was William’s joy, however, his caution was greater. He said nothing to Billy of his new hopes, though he did try to pave the way by dropping an occasional word about the loneliness of the Beacon Street house since she went away. There was something else, too, that caused William to be silent–what he thought he saw between Billy and Bertram. That Bertram was in love with Billy, he guessed; but that Billy was not in love with Bertram he very much feared. He hesitated almost to speak or move lest something he should say or do should, just at the critical moment, turn matters the wrong way. To William this marriage of Bertram and Billy was an ideal method of solving the problem, as of course Billy would come there to the house to live, and he would have his “daughter” after all. But as the days passed, and he could see no progress on Bertram’s part, no change in Billy, he began to be seriously worried–and to show it.
CHAPTER XXXIV
CLASS DAY
Early in June Billy announced her intention of not going away at all that summer.
“I don’t need it,” she declared. “I have this cool, beautiful house, this air, this sunshine, this adorable view. Besides, I’ve got a scheme I mean to carry out.”
There was some consternation among Billy’s friends when they found out what this “scheme” was: sundry of Billy’s humbler acquaintances were to share the house, the air, the sunshine, and the adorable view with her.
“But, my dear Billy,” Bertram cried, aghast, “you don’t mean to say that you are going to turn your beautiful little house into a fresh-air place for Boston’s slum children!”
“Not a bit of it,” smiled the girl, “though I’d like to, really, if I could,” she added, perversely. “But this is quite another thing. It’s no slum work, no charity. In the first place my guests aren’t quite so poor as that, and they’re much too proud to be reached by the avowed charity worker. But they need it just the same.”
“But you haven’t much spare room; have you?” questioned Bertram.
“No, unfortunately; so I shall have to take only two or three at a time, and keep them maybe a week or ten days. It’s just a sugar plum, Bertram. Truly it is,” she added whimsically, but with a tender light in her eyes.
“But who are these people?” Bertram’s face had lost its look of shocked surprise, and his voice expressed genuine interest.
“Well, to begin with, there’s Marie. She’ll stay all summer and help me entertain my guests; at the same time her duties won’t be arduous, and she’ll get a little playtime herself. One week I’m going to have a little old maid who keeps a lodging house in the West End. For uncounted years she’s been practically tied to a doorbell, with never a whole day to breathe free. I’ve made arrangements there for a sister to keep house a whole week, and I’m going to show this little old maid things she hasn’t seen for years: the ocean, the green fields, and a summer play or two, perhaps.
“Then there’s a little couple that live in a third-story flat in South Boston. They’re young and like good times; but the man is on a small salary, and they have had lots of sickness. He’s been out so much he can’t take any vacation, and they wouldn’t have any money to go anywhere if he could. Well, I’m going to have them a week. She’ll be here all the time, and he’ll come out at night, of course.
“Another one is a widow with six children. The children are already provided for by a fresh-air society, but the woman I’m going to take, and–and give her a whole week of food that she didn’t have to cook herself. Another one is a woman who is not so very poor, but who has lost her baby, and is blue and discouraged. There are some children, too, one crippled, and a boy who says he’s ‘just lonesome.’ And there are–really, Bertram, there is no end to them.”
“I can well believe that,” declared Bertram, with emphasis, “so far as your generous heart is concerned.”
Billy colored and looked distressed.
“But it isn’t generosity or charity at all, Bertram,” she protested. “You are mistaken when you think it is–really! Why, I shall enjoy every bit of it just as well as they do–and better, perhaps.”
“But you stay here–in the city–all summer for their sakes.”
“What if I do? Besides, this isn’t the real city,” argued Billy, “with all these trees and lawns about one. And another thing,” she added, leaning forward confidentially, “I might as well confess, Bertram, you couldn’t hire me to leave the place this summer–not while all these things I planted are coming up!”
Bertram laughed; but for some reason he looked wonderfully happy as he turned away.
On the fifteenth of June Kate and her husband arrived from the West. A young brother of Mr. Hartwell’s was to be graduated from Harvard, and Kate said they had come on to represent the family, as the elder Mr. and Mrs. Hartwell were not strong enough to undertake the journey. Kate was looking well and happy. She greeted Billy with effusive cordiality, and openly expressed her admiration of Hillside. She looked very keenly into her brothers’ face, and seemed well pleased with the appearance of Cyril and Bertram, but not so much so with William’s countenance.
“William does NOT look well,” she declared one day when she and Billy were alone together.
“Sick? Uncle William sick? Oh, I hope not!” cried the girl.
“I don’t know whether it’s ‘sick’ or not,” returned Mrs. Hartwell. “But it’s something. He’s troubled. I’m going to speak to him. He’s worried over something; and he’s grown terribly thin.”
“But he’s always thin,” reasoned Billy.
“I know, but not like this–ever. You don’t notice it, perhaps, or realize it, seeing him every day as you do. But I know something troubles him.”
“Oh, I hope not,” murmured Billy, with anxious eyes. “We don’t want Uncle William troubled: we all love him too well.”
Mrs. Hartwell did not at once reply; but for a long minute she thoughtfully studied Billy’s face as it was bent above the sewing in Billy’s hand. When she did speak she had changed the subject.
Young Hartwell was to deliver the Ivy Oration in the Stadium on Class Day, and all the Henshaws were looking eagerly forward to the occasion.
“You have seen the Stadium, of course,” said Bertram to Billy, a few days before the anticipated Friday.
“Only from across the river.”
“Is that so? And you’ve never been here Class Day, either. Good! Then you’ve got a treat in store. Just wait and see!”
And Billy waited–and she saw. Billy began to see, in fact, before Class Day. Young Hartwell was a popular fellow, and he was eager to have his friends meet Billy and the Henshaws. He was a member of the Institute of 1770, D. K. E., Stylus, Signet, Round Table, and Hasty Pudding Clubs, and nearly every one of these had some sort of function planned for Class-Day week. By the time the day itself arrived Billy was almost as excited as was young Hartwell himself.
It rained Class-Day morning, but at nine o’clock the sun came out and drove the clouds away, much to every one’s delight. Billy’s day began at noon with the spread given by the Hasty Pudding Club. Billy wondered afterward how many times that day remarks like these were made to her:
“You’ve been here Class Day before, of course. You’ve seen the confetti-throwing! . . . No? Well, you just wait!”
At ten minutes of four Billy and Mrs. Hartwell, with Mr. Hartwell and Bertram as escorts, entered the cool, echoing shadows under the Stadium, and then out in the sunlight they began to climb the broad steps to their seats.
“I wanted them high up, you see,” explained Bertram, “because you can get the effect so much better. There, here we are!”
For the first time Billy turned and looked about her. She gave a low cry of delight.
“Oh, oh, how beautiful–how wonderfully beautiful!”
“You just wait!” crowed Bertram. “If you think this is beautiful, you just wait!”
Billy did not seem to hear him. Her eyes were sweeping the wonderful scene before her, and her face was aglow with delight.
First there was the great amphitheater itself. Only the wide curve of the horseshoe was roped off for to-day’s audience. Beyond lay the two sides with their tier above tier of empty seats, almost dazzling in the sunshine. Within the roped-off curve the scene was of kaleidoscopic beauty. Charmingly gowned young women and carefully groomed young men were everywhere, stirring, chatting, laughing. Gay-colored parasols and flower-garden hats made here and there brilliant splashes of rainbow tints. Above was an almost cloudless canopy of blue, and at the far horizon, earth and sky met and made a picture that was like a wondrous painted curtain hung from heaven itself.
At the first sound of the distant band that told of the graduates’ coming, Bertram said almost wistfully:
“Class Day is the only time when I feel ‘out of it.’ You see I’m the first male Henshaw for ages that hasn’t been through Harvard; and to-day, you know, is the time when the old grads come back and do stunts like the kids–if they can (and some of them can all right!). They march in by classes ahead of the seniors, and vie with each other in giving their yells. You’ll see Cyril and William, if your eyes are sharp enough–and you’ll see them as you never saw them before.”
Far down the green field Billy spied now the long black line of moving figures with a band in the lead. Nearer and nearer it came until, greeted by a mighty roar from thousands of throats, the leaders swept into the great bowl of the horseshoe curve.
And how they yelled and cheered–those men whose first Class Day lay five, ten, fifteen, even twenty or more years behind them, as told by the banners which they so proudly carried. How they got their heads together and gave the “Rah! Rah! Rah!” with unswerving eyes on their leader! How they beat the air with their hats in time to their lusty shouts! And how the throngs above cheered and clapped in answer, until they almost split their throats–and did split their gloves–especially when the black-gowned seniors swept into view.
And when the curving line of black had become one solid mass of humanity that filled the bowl from side to side, the vast throng seated themselves, and a great hush fell while the Glee Club sang.
Young Hartwell proved to be a good speaker, and his ringing voice reached even the topmost tier of seats. Billy was charmed and interested. Everything she saw and heard was but a new source of enjoyment, and she had quite forgotten the thing for which she was to “wait,” when she saw the ushers passing through the aisles with their baskets of many-hued packages of confetti and countless rolls of paper ribbon.
It began then, the merry war between the students below and the throng above. In a trice the air was filled with shimmering bits of red, blue, white, green, purple, pink, and yellow. From all directions fluttering streamers that showed every color of the rainbow, were flung to the breeze until, upheld by the supporting wires, they made a fairy lace work of marvelous beauty.
“Oh, oh, oh!” cried Billy, her eyes misty with emotion. “I think I never saw anything in my life so lovely!
“I thought you’d like it,” gloried Bertram. “You know I said to wait!”
But even with this, Class Day for Billy was not finished. There was still Hartwell’s own spread from six to eight, and after that there were the President’s reception, and dancing in the Memorial Hall and in the Gymnasium. There was the Fairyland of the yard, too, softly aglow with moving throngs of beautiful women and gallant men. But what Billy remembered best of all was the exquisite harmony that came to her through the hushed night air when the Glee Club sang Fair Harvard on the steps of Holworthy Hall.
CHAPTER XXXV
SISTER KATE AGAIN
It was on the Sunday following Class Day that Mrs. Hartwell carried out her determination to “speak to William.” The West had not taken from Kate her love of managing, and she thought she saw now a matter that sorely needed her guiding hand.
William’s thin face, anxious looks, and nervous manner had troubled her ever since she came. Then one day, very suddenly, had come enlightenment: William was in love–and with Billy.
Mrs. Hartwell watched William very closely after that. She saw his eyes follow Billy fondly, yet anxiously. She saw his open joy at being with her, and at any little attention, word, or look that the girl gave him. She remembered, too, something that Bertram had said about William’s grief because Billy would not live at the Strata. She thought she saw something else, also: that Billy was fond of William, but that William did not know it; hence his frequent troubled scrutiny of her face. Why these two should play at cross purposes Sister Kate could not understand. She smiled, however, confidently: they should not play at cross purposes much longer, she declared.
On Sunday afternoon Kate asked her eldest brother to take her driving.
“Not a motor car; I want a horse–that will let me talk,” she said.
“Certainly,” agreed William, with a smile; but Bertram, who chanced to hear her, put in the sly comment: “As if ANY horse could prevent–that!”
On the drive Kate began to talk at once, but she did not plunge into the subject nearest her heart until she had adroitly led William into a glowing enumeration of Billy’s many charming characteristics; then she said:
“William, why don’t you take Billy home with you?”
William stirred uneasily as he always did when anything annoyed him.
“My dear Kate, there is nothing I should like better to do,” he replied.
“Then why don’t you do it?”
“I–hope to, sometime.”
“But why not now?”
“I’m afraid Billy is not quite–ready.”
“Nonsense! A young girl like that does not know her own mind lots of times. Just press the matter a little. Love will work wonders– sometimes.”
William blushed like a girl. To him her words had but one meaning– Bertram’s love for Billy. William had never spoken of this suspected love affair to any one. He had even thought that he was the only one that had discovered it. To hear his sister refer thus lightly to it came therefore in the nature of a shock to him.
“Then you have–seen it–too?” he stammered
“‘Seen it, too,'” laughed Kate, with her confident eyes on William’s flushed face, “I should say I had seen it! Any one could see it.”
William blushed again. Love to him had always been something sacred; something that called for hushed voices and twilight. This merry discussion in the sunlight of even another’s love was disconcerting.
“Now come, William,” resumed Kate, after a moment; “speak to Billy, and have the matter settled once for all. It’s worrying you. I can see it is.”
Again William stirred uneasily.
“But, Kate, I can’t do anything. I told you before; I don’t believe Billy is–ready.”
“Nonsense! Ask her.”
“But Kate, a girl won’t marry against her will!”
“I don’t believe it is against her will.”
“Kate! Honestly?”
“Honestly! I’ve watched her.”
“Then I WILL speak,” cried the man, his face alight, “if–if you think anything I can say would–help. There is nothing–nothing in all this world that I so desire, Kate, as to have that little girl back home. And of course that would do it. She’d live there, you know.”
“Why, of–course,” murmured Kate, with a puzzled frown. There was something in this last remark of William’s that she did not quite understand. Surely he could not suppose that she had any idea that after he had married Billy they would go to live anywhere else;– she thought. For a moment she considered the matter vaguely; then she turned her attention to something else. She was the more ready to do this because she believed that she had said enough for the present: it was well to sow seeds, but it was also well to let them have a chance to grow, she told herself.
Mrs. Hartwell’s next move was to speak to Billy, and she was careful to do this at once, so that she might pave the way for William.
She began her conversation with an ingratiating smile and the words:
“Well, Billy, I’ve been doing a little detective work on my own account.”
“Detective work?”
“Yes; about William. You know I told you the other day how troubled and anxious he looked to me. Well, I’ve found out what’s the matter.”
“What is it?”
“Yourself.”
“Myself! Why, Mrs. Hartwell, what can you mean?”
The elder lady smiled significantly.
“Oh, it’s merely another case, my dear, of ‘faint heart never won fair lady.’ I’ve been helping on the faint heart; that’s all.”
“But I don’t understand.”
“No? I can’t believe you quite mean that, my dear. Surely you must know how earnestly my brother William is longing for you to go back and live with him.”
Like William, Billy flushed scarlet.
“Mrs. Hartwell, certainly no one could know better than YOURSELF why that is quite impossible,” she frowned.
The other colored confusedly.
“I understand, of course, what you mean. And, Billy, I’ll confess that I’ve been sorry lots of times, since, that I spoke as I did to you, particularly when I saw how it grieved my brother William to have you go away. If I blundered then, I’m sorry; and perhaps I did blunder. At all events, that is only the more reason now why I am so anxious to do what I can to rectify that old mistake, and plead William’s suit.”
To Mrs. Hartwell’s blank amazement, Billy laughed outright.
“‘William’s suit’!” she quoted merrily. “Why, Mrs. Hartwell, there isn’t any ‘suit’ to it. Uncle William doesn’t want me to marry him!”
“Indeed he does.”
Billy stopped laughing, and sat suddenly erect.
“MRS. HARTWELL!”
“Billy, is it possible that you did not know this?”
“Indeed I don’t know it, and–excuse me, but I don’t think you do, either.”
“But I do. I’ve talked with him, and he’s very much in earnest,” urged Mrs. Hartwell, speaking very rapidly. “He says there’s nothing in all the world that he so desires. And, Billy, you do care for him–I know you do!”
“Why, of course I care for him–but not–that way.”
“But, Billy, think!” Mrs. Hartwell was very earnest now, and a little frightened. She felt that she must bring Billy to terms in some way now that William had been encouraged to put his fate to the test. “Just remember how good William has always been to you, and think what you have been, and may BE–if you only will–in his lonely life. Think of his great sorrow years ago. Think of this dreary waste of years between. Think how now his heart has turned to you for love and comfort and rest. Billy, you can’t turn away!– you can’t find it in your heart to turn away from that dear, good man who loves you so!” Mrs. Hartwell’s voice shook effectively, and even her eyes looked through tears. Mentally she was congratulating herself: she had not supposed she could make so touching an appeal.
In the chair opposite the girl sat very still. She was pale, and her eyes showed a frightened questioning in their depths. For a long minute she said nothing, then she rose dazedly to her feet.
“Mrs. Hartwell, please do not speak of this to any one,” she begged in a low voice. “I–I am taken quite by surprise. I shall have to think it out–alone.”
Billy did not sleep well that night. Always before her eyes was the vision of William’s face; and always in her ears was the echo of Mrs. Hartwell’s words: “Remember how good William has always been to you. Think of his great sorrow years ago. Think of this dreary waste of years between. Think how now his heart has turned to you for love and comfort and rest.”
For a time Billy tossed about on her bed trying to close her eyes to the vision and her ears to the echo. Then, finding that neither was possible, she set herself earnestly to thinking the matter out.
William loved her. Extraordinary as it seemed, such was the fact; Mrs. Hartwell said so. And now–what must she do; what could she do? She loved no one–of that she was very sure. She was even beginning to think that she would never love any one. There were Calderwell, Cyril, Bertram, to say nothing of sundry others, who had loved her, apparently, but whom she could not love. Such being the case, if she were, indeed, incapable of love herself, why should she not make the sacrifice of giving up her career, her independence, and in that way bring this great joy to Uncle William’s heart? . . . Even as she said the “Uncle William” to herself, Billy bit her lip and realized that she must no longer say “Uncle” William–if she married him.
“If she married him.” The words startled her. “If she married him.” . . . Well, what of it? She would go to live at the Strata, of course; and there would be Cyril and Bertram. It might be awkward, and yet–she did not believe Cyril was in love with anything but his music; and as to Bertram–it was the same with Bertram and his painting, and he would soon forget that he had ever fancied he loved her. After that he would be simply a congenial friend and companion–a good comrade. As Billy thought of it, indeed, one of the pleasantest features of this marriage with William would be the delightful comradeship of her “brother,” Bertram.
Billy dwelt then at some length on William’s love for her, his longing for her presence, and his dreary years of loneliness. . . . And he was so good to her, she recollected; he had always been good to her. He was older, to be sure–much older than she; but, after all, it would not be so difficult, so very difficult, to learn to love him. At all events, whatever happened, she would have the supreme satisfaction of knowing that at least she had brought into dear Uncle–that is, into William’s life the great peace and joy that only she could give.
It was almost dawn when Billy arrived at this not uncheerful state of prospective martyrdom. She turned over then with a sigh, and settled herself to sleep. She was relieved that she had decided the question. She was glad that she knew just what to say when William should speak. He was a dear, dear man, and she would not make it hard for him, she promised herself. She would be William’s wife.
CHAPTER XXXVI
WILLIAM MEETS WITH A SURPRISE
In spite of his sister’s confident assurance that the time was ripe for him to speak to Billy, William delayed some days before broaching the matter to her. His courage was not so good as it had been when he was talking with Kate. It seemed now, as it always had, a fearsome thing to try to hasten on this love affair between Billy and Bertram. He could not see, in spite of Kate’s words, that Billy showed unmistakable evidence at all of being in love with his brother. The more he thought of it, in fact, the more he dreaded the carrying out of his promise to speak to his namesake.
What should he say, he asked himself. How could he word it? He could not very well accost her with: “Oh, Billy, I wish you’d please hurry up and marry Bertram, because then you’d come and live with me.” Neither could he plead Bertram’s cause directly. Quite probably Bertram would prefer to plead his own. Then, too, if Billy really was not in love with Bertram–what then? Might not his own untimely haste in the matter forever put an end to the chance of her caring for him?
It was, indeed, a delicate matter, and as William pondered it he wished himself well out of it, and that Kate had not spoken. But even as he formed the wish, William remembered with a thrill Kate’s positive assertion that a word from him would do wonders, and that now was the time to utter it. He decided then that he would speak; that he must speak; but that at the same time he would proceed with a caution that would permit a hasty retreat if he saw that his words were not having the desired effect. He would begin with a frank confession of his grief at her leaving him, and of his longing for her return; then very gradually, if wisdom counseled it, he would go on to speak of Bertram’s love for her, and of his own hope that she would make Bertram and all the Strata glad by loving him in return.
Mrs. Hartwell had returned to her Western home before William found just the opportunity for his talk with Billy. True to his belief that only hushed voices and twilight were fitting for such a subject, he waited until he found the girl early one evening alone on her vine-shaded veranda. He noticed that as he seated himself at her side she flushed a little and half started to rise, with a nervous fluttering of her hands, and a murmured “I’ll call Aunt Hannah.” It was then that with sudden courage, he resolved to speak.
“Billy, don’t go,” he said gently, with a touch of his hand on her arm. “There is something I want to say to you. I–I have wanted to say it for some time.”
“Why, of–of course,” stammered the girl, falling back in her seat. And again William noticed that odd fluttering of the slim little hands.
For a time no one spoke, then William began softly, his eyes on the distant sky-line still faintly aglow with the sunset’s reflection.
“Billy, I want to tell you a story. Long years ago there was a man who had a happy home with a young wife and a tiny baby boy in it. I could not begin to tell you all the plans that man made for that baby boy. Such a great and good and wonderful being that tiny baby was one day to become. But the baby–went away, after a time, and carried with him all the plans–and he never came back. Behind him he left empty hearts that ached, and great bare rooms that seemed always to be echoing sighs and sobs. And then, one day, such a few years after, the young wife went to find her baby, and left the man all alone with the heart that ached and the great bare rooms that echoed sighs and sobs.
“Perhaps it was this–the bareness of the rooms–that made the man turn to his boyish passion for collecting things. He wanted to fill those rooms full, full!–so that the sighs and sobs could not be heard; and he wanted to fill his heart, too, with something that would still the ache. And he tried. Already he had his boyish treasures, and these he lined up in brave array, but his rooms still echoed, and his heart still ached; so he built more shelves and bought more cabinets, and set himself to filling them, hoping at the same time that he might fill all that dreary waste of hours outside of business–hours which once had been all too short to devote to the young wife and the baby boy.
“One by one the years passed, and one by one the shelves and the cabinets were filled. The man fancied, sometimes, that he had succeeded; but in his heart of hearts he knew that the ache was merely dulled, and that darkness had only to come to set the rooms once more to echoing the sighs and sobs. And then–but perhaps you are tired of the story, Billy.” William turned with questioning eyes.
“No, oh, no,” faltered Billy. “It is beautiful, but so–sad!”
“But the saddest part is done–I hope,” said William, softly. “Let me tell you. A wonderful thing happened then. Suddenly, right out of a dull gray sky of hopelessness, dropped a little brown-eyed girl and a little gray cat. All over the house they frolicked, filling every nook and cranny with laughter and light and happiness. And then, like magic, the man lost the ache in his heart, and the rooms lost their echoing sighs and sobs. The man knew, then, that never again could he hope to fill his heart and life with senseless things of clay and metal. He knew that the one thing he wanted always near him was the little brown-eyed girl; and he hoped that he could keep her. But just as he was beginning to bask in this new light–it went out. As suddenly as they had come, the little brown-eyed girl and the gray cat went away. Why, the man did not know. He knew only that the ache had come back, doubly intense, and that the rooms were more gloomy than ever. And now, Billy,”–William’s voice shook a little–“it is for you to finish the story. It is for you to say whether that man’s heart shall ache on and on down to a lonely old age, and whether those rooms shall always echo the sighs and sobs of the past.”
“And I will finish it,” choked Billy, holding out both her hands. “It sha’n’t ache–they sha’n’t echo!”
The man leaned forward eagerly, unbelievingly, and caught the hands in his own.
“Billy, do you mean it? Then you will–come?”
“Yes, yes! I didn’t know–I didn’t think. I never supposed it was like that! Of course I’ll come!” And in a moment she was sobbing in his arms.
“Billy!” breathed William rapturously, as he touched his lips to her forehead. “My own little Billy!”
It was a few minutes later, when Billy was more calm, that William started to speak of Bertram. For a moment he had been tempted not to mention his brother, now that his own point had been won so surprisingly quick; but the new softness in Billy’s face had encouraged him, and he did not like to let the occasion pass when a word from him might do so much for Bertram. His lips parted, but no words came–Billy herself had begun to speak.
“I’m sure I don’t know why I’m crying,” she stammered, dabbing her eyes with her round moist ball of a handerchief. “I hope when I’m your wife I’ll learn to be more self-controlled. But you know I am young, and you’ll have to be patient.”
As once before at something Billy said, the world to William went suddenly mad. His head swam dizzily, and his throat tightened so that he could scarcely breathe. By sheer force of will he kept his arm about Billy’s shoulder, and he prayed that she might not know how numb and cold it had grown. Even then he thought he could not have heard aright.
“Er–you said–” he questioned faintly.
“I say when I’m your wife I hope I’ll learn to be more self- controlled,” laughed Billy, nervously. “You see I just thought I ought to remind you that I am young, and that you’ll have to be patient.”
William stammered something–a hurried something; he wondered afterward what it was. That it must have been satisfactory to Billy was evident, for she began laughingly to talk again. What she said, William scarcely knew, though he was conscious of making an occasional vague reply. He was still floundering in a hopeless sea of confusion and dismay. His own desire was to get up and say good night at once. He wanted to be alone to think. He realized, however, with sickening force, that men do not propose and run away–if they are accepted. And he was accepted; he realized that, too, overwhelmingly. Then he tried to think how it had happened, what he had said; how she could so have misunderstood his meaning. This line of thought he abandoned quickly, however; it could do no good. But what could do good, he asked himself. What could he do?
With blinding force came the answer: he could do nothing. Billy cared for him. Billy had said “yes.” Billy expected to be his wife. As if he could say to her now: “I beg your pardon, but ’twas all a mistake. _I_ did not ask you to marry me.”
Very valiantly then William summoned his wits and tried to act his part. He told himself, too, that it would not be a hard one; that he loved Billy dearly, and that he would try to make her happy. He winced a little at this thought, for he remembered suddenly how old he was–as if he, at his age, were a fit match for a girl of twenty-one!
And then he looked at Billy. The girl was plainly nervous. There was a deep flush on her cheeks and a brilliant sparkle in her eyes. She was talking rapidly–almost incoherently at times–and her voice was tremulous. Frequent little embarrassed laughs punctuated her sentences, and her fingers toyed with everything that came within reach. Some time before she had sprung to her feet and had turned on the electric lights; and when she came back she had not taken her old position at William’s side, but had seated herself in a chair near by. All of which, according to William’s eyes, meant the maidenly shyness of a girl who has just said “yes” to the man she loves.
William went home that night in a daze. To himself he said that he had gone out in search of a daughter, and had come back with a wife.
CHAPTER XXXVII
“WILLIAM’S BROTHER”
It was decided that for the present, the engagement should not be known outside the family. The wedding would not take place immediately, William said, and it was just as well to keep the matter to themselves until plans were a little more definite.
The members of the family were told at once. Aunt Hannah said “Oh, my grief and conscience!” three times, and made matters scarcely better by adding apologetically: “Oh, of course it’s all right, it’s all right, only–” She did not finish her sentence, and William, who had told her the news, did not know whether he would have been more or less pleased if she had finished it.
Cyril received the information moodily, and lapsed at once into a fit of abstraction from which he roused himself hardly enough to offer perfunctory congratulations and best wishes.
Billy was a little puzzled at Cyril’s behavior. She had been sure for some time that Cyril had ceased to care specially for her, even if he ever did fancy that he loved her. She had hoped to keep him for a friend, but of late she had been forced to question even his friendliness. He had, in fact, gone back almost to his old reserve and taciturn aloofness.
From the West, in response to William’s news of the engagement, came a cordially pleased note in Kate’s scrawling handwriting. Kate, indeed, seemed to be the only member of the family who was genuinely delighted with the coming marriage. As to Bertram– Bertram appeared to have aged years in a single night, so drawn and white was his face the morning after William had told him his plans.
William had dreaded most of all to tell Bertram. He was very sure that Bertram himself cared for Billy; and it was doubly hard because in William’s own mind was a strong conviction that the younger man was decidedly the one for her. Realizing, however, that Bertram must be told, William chose a time for the telling when Bertram was smoking in his den in the twilight, with his face half hidden from sight.
Bertram said little–very little, that night; but in the morning he went straight to Billy.
Billy was shocked. She had never seen the smiling, self-reliant, debonair Bertram like this.
“Billy, is this true?” he demanded. The dull misery in his voice told Billy that he knew the answer before he asked the question.
“Yes, yes; but, Bertram, please–please don’t take it like this!” she implored.
“How would you have me take it?”
“Why, just–just sensibly. You know I told you that–that the other never could be–never.”
“I know YOU said so; but I–believed otherwise.”
“But I told you–I did not love you–that way.”
Bertram winced. He rose to his feet abruptly.
“I know you did, Billy. I’m a fool, of course, to think that I could ever–change it. I shouldn’t have come here, either, this morning. But I–had to. Good-by!” His face, as he held out his hand, was tragic with renunciation.
“Why, Bertram, you aren’t going–now–like this!” cried the girl. “You’ve just come!”
The man turned almost impatiently.
“And do you think I can stay–like this? Billy, won’t you say good-by?” he asked in a softer voice, again with outstretched hand.
Billy shook her head. She ignored the hand, and resolutely backed away.
“No, not like that. You are angry with me,” she grieved. “Besides, you make it sound as if–if you were going away.”
“I am going away.”
“Bertram!” There was terror as well as dismay in Billy’s voice.
Again the man turned sharply.
“Billy, why are you making this thing so hard for me?” he asked in despair. “Can’t you see that I must go?”
“Indeed, I can’t. And you mustn’t go, either. There isn’t any reason why you should,” urged Billy, talking very fast, and working her fingers nervously. “Things are just the same as they were before–for you. I’m just going to marry William, but I wasn’t ever going to marry you, so that doesn’t change things any for you. Don’t you see? Why, Bertram, you mustn’t go away! There won’t be anybody left. Cyril’s going next week, you know; and if you go there won’t be anybody left but William and me. Bertram, you mustn’t go; don’t you see? I should feel lost without–you!” Billy was almost crying now.
Bertram looked up quickly. An odd change had come to his face. For a moment he gazed silently into Billy’s agitated countenance; then he asked in a low voice:
“Billy, did you think that after you and William were married I should still continue to live at–the Strata?”
“Why, of course you will!” cried the girl, indignantly. “Why, Bertram, you’ll be my brother then–my real brother; and one of the very chiefest things I’m anticipating when I go there to live is the good times you and I will have together when I’m William’s wife!”
Bertram drew in his breath audibly, and caught his lower lip between his teeth. With an abrupt movement he turned his back and walked to the window. For a full minute he stayed there, watched by the amazed, displeased eyes of the girl. When he came back he sat down quietly in the chair facing Billy. His countenance was grave and his eyes were a little troubled; but the haggard look of misery was quite gone.
“Billy,” he began gently, “you must forgive my saying this, but– are you quite sure you–love William?”
Billy flushed with anger.
“You have no right to ask such a question. Of course I love William.”
“Of course you do–we all love William. William is, in fact, a most lovable man. But William’s wife should, perhaps, love him a little differently from–all of us.”
“And she will, certainly,” retorted the girl, with a quick lifting of her chin. “Bertram, I don’t think you have any right to–to make such insinuations.”
“And I won’t make them any more,” replied Bertram, gravely. “I just wanted you to make sure that you–knew.”
“I shall make sure, and I shall know,” said Billy, firmly–so firmly that it sounded almost as if she were trying to convince herself as well as others.
There was a long pause, then the man asked diffidently:
“And so you are very sure that–that you want me to–stay?”
“Indeed I do! Besides,–don’t you remember?–there are all my people to be entertained. They must be taken to places, and given motor rides and picnics. You told me last week that you’d love to help me; but, of course, if you don’t want to–“
“But I do want to,” cried Bertram, heartily, a gleam of the old cheerfulness springing to his eyes. “I’m dying to!”
The girl looked up with quick distrust. For a moment she eyed him with bent brows. To her mind he had gone back to his old airy, hopeful light-heartedness. He was once more “only Bertram.” She hesitated, then said with stern decision:
“Bertram, you know I want you, and you must know that I’m delighted to have you drop this silly notion of going away. But if this quick change means that you are staying with any idea that–that _I_ shall change, then–then you must go. But if you will stay as WILLIAM’S BROTHER then–I’ll be more than glad to have you.”
“I’ll stay–as William’s brother,” agreed Bertram; and Billy did not notice the quick indrawing of his breath nor the close shutting of his lips after the words were spoken.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE ENGAGEMENT OF TWO
By the middle of July the routine of Billy’s days was well established. Marie had been for a week a welcome addition to the family, and she was proving to be of invaluable aid in entertaining Billy’s guests. The overworked widow and the little lodging-house keeper from the West End were enjoying Billy’s hospitality now; and just to look at their beaming countenances was an inspiration, Billy said.
Cyril had gone abroad. Aunt Hannah was spending a week at the North Shore with friends. Bertram, true to his promise, was playing the gallant to Billy’s guests; and so assiduous was he in his attentions that Billy at last remonstrated with him.
“But I didn’t mean them to take ALL your time,” she protested.
“Don’t they like it? Do they see too much of me?” he demanded.
“No, no! They love it, of course. You must know that. Nobody else could give such beautiful times as you’ve given us. But it’s yourself I’m thinking of. You’re giving up all your time. Besides, I didn’t mean to keep you here all summer, of course. You always go away some, you know, for a vacation.”
“But I’m having a vacation here, doing this,” laughed Bertram. “I’m sure I’m getting sea air down to the beaches and mountain air out to the Blue Hills. And as for excitement–if you can find anything more wildly exciting than it was yesterday when Miss Marie and I took the widow and the spinster lady on the Roller-coaster– just show it to me; that’s all!”
Billy laughed.
“They told me about it–Marie in particular. She said you were lovely to them, and let them do every single thing they wanted to; and that half an hour after they got there they were like two children let out of school. Dear me, I wish I’d gone. I never stay at home that I don’t miss something,” she finished regretfully.
Bertram shrugged his shoulders.
“If it’s Roller-coasters and Chute-the-chutes that you want, I fancy you’ll get enough before the week is out,” he sighed laughingly. “They said they’d like to go there to-morrow, please, when I asked them what we should do next. What surprises me is that they like such things–such hair-raising things. When I first saw them, black-gowned and stiff-backed, sitting in your little room here, I thought I should never dare offer them anything more wildly exciting than a church service or a lecture on psychology, with perhaps a band concert hinted at, provided the band could be properly instructed beforehand as to tempo and selections. But now–really, Billy, why do you suppose they have taken such a fancy to these kiddish stunts–those two staid women?”
Billy laughed, but her eyes softened.
“I don’t know unless it’s because all their lives they’ve been tied to such dead monotony that just the exhilaration of motion is bliss to them. But you won’t always have to risk your neck and your temper in this fashion, Bertram. Next week my little couple from South Boston comes. She adores pictures and stuffed animals. You’ll have to do the museums with her. Then there’s little crippled Tommy–he’ll be perfectly contented if you’ll put him down where he can hear the band play. And all you’ll have to do when that one stops is to pilot him to the next one. This IS good of you, Bertram, and I do thank you for it,” finished Billy, fervently, just as Marie, the widow, and the “spinster lady” entered the room.
Billy told herself these days that she was very happy–very happy indeed. Was she not engaged to a good man, and did she not also have it in her power to make the long summer days a pleasure to many people? The fact that she had to tell herself that she was happy in order to convince herself that she was so, did not occur to Billy–yet.
Not long after Marie arrived, Billy told her of the engagement. William was at the house very frequently, and owing to the intimacy of Marie’s relationship with the family Billy decided to tell her how matters stood. Marie’s reception of the news was somewhat surprising. First she looked frightened.
“To William?–you are engaged to William?”
“Why–yes.”
“But I thought–surely it was–don’t you mean–Mr. Cyril?”
“No, I don’t,” laughed Billy. “And certainly I ought to know.”
“And you don’t–care for him?”
“I hope not–if I’m going to marry William.”
So light was Billy’s voice and manner that Marie dared one more question.
“And he–doesn’t care–for you?”
“I hope not–if William is going to marry me,” laughed Billy again.
“Oh-h!” breathed Marie, with an odd intonation of relief. “Then I’m glad–so glad! And I hope you’ll be very, very happy, dear.”
Billy looked into Marie’s glowing face and was pleased: there seemed to be so few, so very few faces into which she had looked and found entire approbation of her engagement to William.
Billy saw a great deal of William now. He was always kind and considerate, and he tried to help her entertain her guests; but Billy, grateful as she was to him for his efforts, was relieved when he resigned his place to Bertram. Bertram did, indeed, know so much better how to do it. William tried to help her, too, about training her vines and rosebushes; but of course, even in this, he could not be expected to show quite the interest that Bertram manifested in every green shoot and opening bud, for he had not helped her plant them, as Bertram had.
Billy was a little troubled sometimes, that she did not feel more at ease with William. She thought it natural that she should feel a little diffident with him, in the face of his sudden change from an “uncle” to an accepted lover; but she did not see why she should be afraid of him–yet she was. She owned that to herself unhappily. And he was so good!–she owned that, too. He seemed not to have a thought in the world but for her comfort and happiness; and there was no end to the tactful little things he was always doing for her pleasure. He seemed, also, to have divined that she did not like to be kissed and caressed; and only occasionally did he kiss her, and then it was merely a sort of fatherly salute on her forehead–for which consideration Billy was grateful: Billy decided that she would not like to be kissed on the lips.
After some days of puzzling over the matter Billy concluded that it was self-consciousness that caused all the trouble. With William she was self-conscious. If she could only forget that she was some day to be William’s wife, the old delightful comradeship would return, and she would be at ease again with him. In time, after she had become accustomed to the idea of marriage, it would not so confuse her, of course. She loved him dearly, and she wanted to make him happy; but for the present–just while she was “getting used to things”–she would try to forget, sometimes, that she was going to be William’s wife.
Billy was happier now. She was always happier after she had thought things out to her own satisfaction. She turned with new zest to the entertainment of her guests; and with Bertram she planned many delightful trips for their pleasure. Bertram was a great comfort to her these days. Never, in word or look, could she see that he overstepped the role which he had promised to play– William’s brother.
Billy went back to her music, too. A new melody was running through her head, and she longed to put it on paper. Already her first little “Group of Songs” had found friends, and Billy, to a very modest extent, was beginning to taste the sweets of fame.
Thus, by all these interests, did Billy try “to get used to things.”
CHAPTER XXXIX
A LITTLE PIECE OF PAPER
Of all Billy’s guests, Marie was very plainly the happiest. She was a permanent guest, it is true, while the others came for only a week or two at a time; but it was not this, Billy decided, that had brought so brilliant a sparkle to Marie’s eyes, so joyous a laugh to her lips. The joyousness was all the more noticeable, because heretofore Marie, while very sweet, had been also sad. Her big blue eyes had always carried a haunting shadow, and her step had lacked the spring belonging to youth and happiness. Certainly, Billy had never seen her like this before.
“Verily, Marie,” she teased one day, “have you found an exhaustless supply of stockings to mend, or a never-done pudding to make– which?”
“Why? What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. I was only wondering just what had brought that new light to your eyes.”
“Is there a new light?”
“There certainly is.”
“It must be because I’m so happy, then,” sighed Marie; “because you’re so good to me.”
“Is that all?”
“Isn’t that enough?” Marie’s tone was evasive.
“No.” Billy shook her head mischievously. “Marie, what is it?”
“It’s nothing–really, it’s nothing,” protested Marie, hurrying out of the room with a nervous laugh.
Billy frowned. She was suspicious before; she was sure now. In less than twelve hours’ time came her opportunity. She was alone again with Marie.
“Marie, who is he?” she asked abruptly.
“He? Who?”
“The man who is to wear the stockings and eat the pudding.”
The little music teacher flushed very red, but she managed to display something that might pass for surprise.
“BILLY!”
“Come, dear,” coaxed Billy, winningly. “Tell me about it. I’m so interested!”
“But there isn’t anything to tell–really there isn’t.”
“Who is he?”
“He isn’t anybody–that is, he doesn’t know he’s anybody,” amended Marie.
Billy laughed softly.
“Oh, doesn’t he! Hasn’t he ever shown–that he cared?”
“No; that is–perhaps he has, only I thought then–that it was– another girl.”
“Another girl! So there’s another girl in the case?”
“Yes. I mean, no,” corrected Marie, suddenly beginning to realize what she was saying. “Really, it wasn’t anything–it isn’t anything!” she protested.
“Hm-m,” murmured Billy, archly. “Oh, I’m getting on some! He did show, once, that he cared; but you thought it was another girl, and you coldly looked the other way. Now, there ISN’T any other girl, you find, and–Marie, tell me the rest!”
Marie shook her head emphatically, and pulled herself gently away from Billy’s grasp.
“No, no, please!” she begged. “It really isn’t anything. I’m sure I’m imagining it all!” she cried, as she ran away.
During the days that followed, Billy speculated not a little on Marie’s half-told story, and wondered interestedly who the man might be. She questioned Marie once again, but the girl would tell nothing more; and, indeed, Billy was so occupied with her own perplexities that she had little time for those of other people.
To herself Billy was forced to own that she was not “getting used to things.” She was still self-conscious with William; she could not forget that she was one day to be his wife. She could not bring back the dear old freedom of comradeship with him.
Billy was alarmed now. She had begun to ask herself searching questions. What should she do if never, never should she get used to the idea of marrying William? How could she marry him if he was still “Uncle William,” and never her dear lover in her eyes? Why had she not been wise enough and brave enough to tell him in the first place that she was not at all sure that she loved him, but that she would try to do so? Then when she had tried–as she had now–and failed, she could have told him honestly the truth, and it would not have been so great a shock to him as it must be now, if she should tell him.
Billy had remorsefully come to the conclusion that she could never love any man well enough to marry him, when one day so small a thing as a piece of paper fluttered into her vision, and showed her the fallacy of that idea.
It was a half-sheet of note paper, and it blew from Marie’s balcony to the lawn below. Billy found it there later, and as she picked it up her eyes fell on a single name in Marie’s handwriting inscribed half a dozen times as if the writer had musingly accompanied her thoughts with her pen; and the name was, “Marie Henshaw.”
For a moment Billy stared at the name perplexedly–then in a flash came the remembrance of Marie’s words; and Billy breathed: “Henshaw!–the man–BERTRAM!”
Billy dropped the paper then and fled. In her own room, behind locked doors, she sat down to think.
Bertram! It was he for whom Marie cared–HER Bertram! And then it came to Billy with staggering force that he was not HER Bertram at all. He never could be her Bertram now. He was–Marie’s.
Billy was frightened then, so fierce was this strange new something that rose within her–this overpowering something that seemed to blot out all the world, and leave only–Bertram. She knew then, that it had always been Bertram to whom she had turned, though she had been blind to the cause of that turning. Always her plans had included him. Always she had been the happiest in his presence; never had she pictured him anywhere else but at her side. Certainly never had she pictured him as the devoted lover of another woman! . . . And she had not known what it all meant– poor blind child that she was!
Very resolutely now Billy set herself to looking matters squarely in the face. She understood it quite well. All summer Marie and Bertram had been thrown together. No wonder Marie had fallen in love with Bertram, and that he–Billy thought she comprehended now why Bertram had found it so easy for the last few weeks to be William’s brother. She, of course, had been the “other girl” whom Marie had once feared that the man loved. It was all so clear–so woefully clear!
With an aching heart Billy asked herself what now was to be done. For herself, turn whichever way she could, she could see nothing but unhappiness. She determined, therefore, with Spartan fortitude, that to no one else would she bring equal unhappiness. She would be silent. Bertram and Marie loved each other. That matter was settled. As to William–Billy thought of the story William had told her of his lonely life,–of the plea he had made to her; and her heart ached. Whatever happened, William must be made happy. William must not be told. Her promise to William must be kept.
CHAPTER XL
WILLIAM PAYS A VISIT
Before September passed all Billy’s friends said that her summer’s self-appointed task had been too hard for her. In no other way could they account for the sad change that had come to her.
Undeniably Billy looked really ill. Always slender, she was shadow-like now. Her eyes had found again the wistful appeal of her girlhood, only now they carried something that was almost fear, as well. The rose-flush had gone from her cheeks, and pathetic little hollows had appeared, making the round young chin below look almost pointed. Certainly Billy did seem to be ill.
Late in September William went West on business. Incidentally he called to see his sister, Kate.
“Well, and how is everybody?” asked Kate, cheerily, after the greetings were over.
William sighed.
“Well, ‘everybody,’ to me, Kate, is pretty badly off. We’re worried about Billy.”
“Billy! You don’t mean she’s sick? Why, she’s always been the picture of health!”
“I know she has; but she isn’t now.”
“What’s the trouble?”
“That’s what we don’t know.”
“You’ve had the doctor?”
“Of course; two or three of them–though much against Billy’s will. But–they didn’t help us.”
“What did they say?”
“They could find nothing except perhaps a little temporary stomach trouble, or something of that kind, which they all agreed was no just cause for her present condition.”
“But what did they say it was?”
“Why, they said it seemed like nervousness, or as if something was troubling her. They asked if she weren’t under some sort of strain.”
“Well, is she? Does anything trouble her?”
“Not that I know of. Anyhow, if there is anything, none of us can find out what it is.”
Kate frowned. She threw a quick look into her brother’s face.
“William,” she began hesitatingly, “forgive me, but–Billy is quite happy in–her engagement, I suppose.”
The man flushed painfully, and sighed.
“I’ve thought of that, of course. In fact, it was the first thing I did think of. I even began to watch her rather closely, and once I–questioned her a little.”
“What did she say?”
“She seemed so frightened and distressed that I didn’t say much myself. I couldn’t. I had but just begun when her eyes filled with tears, and she asked me in a frightened little voice if she had done anything to displease me, anything to make me unhappy; and she seemed so anxious and grieved and dismayed that I should even question her, that I had to stop.”
“What has she done this summer? Where has she been?”
“She hasn’t been anywhere. Didn’t I write you? She’s kept open house for a lot of her less fortunate friends–a sort of vacation home, you know; and–and I must say she’s given them a world of happiness, too.”
“But wasn’t that hard for her?”
“It didn’t seem to be. She appeared to enjoy it immensely, particularly at first. Of course she had plenty of help, and that wonderful little Miss Hawthorn has been a host in herself. They’re all gone now, anyway, except Miss Hawthorn.”
“But Billy must have had the care and the excitement.”
“Perhaps–to a certain extent. Though not much, after all. You see Bertram, too, has given up his summer to them, and has been playing the devoted escort to the whole bunch. Indeed, for the last few weeks of it, since Billy began to seem so ill, he and Miss Hawthorn have schemed to take all the care from Billy, and they have done the whole thing together.”
“But what HAS Billy done to make her like this?”
“I don’t know. She’s done lots for me, in all sorts of ways– cataloguing my curios, you know, and going with me to hunt up things. In fact, she seems the happiest when she IS doing something for me. It’s come to be a sort of mania with her, I’m afraid–to do something for me. Kate, I’m really worried. What do you suppose is the matter?”
Kate shook her head. The puzzled frown had come back to her face.
“I can’t imagine,” she began slowly. “Of course, when I told her you loved her and–“
“When you told her wha-at?” exploded the usually low-voiced William, with sudden sharpness.
“When I told her that you loved her, William. You see, I–“
William sprang to his feet.
“Told her that I loved her!” he cried, aghast. “Good heavens, Kate, do you mean to say that YOU told her THAT.”
“Why, y-yes.”
“And may I ask where you got your information?”
“Why, William Henshaw, what a question! I got it from yourself, of course,” defended Kate.
“From ME!” William’s face expressed sheer amazement.
“Certainly; on that drive when I was East in June,” returned Kate, with dignity. “YOU evidently have forgotten it, but I have not. You told me very frankly how much you thought of her, and how you longed to have her back there with you, but that she didn’t seem to be ready to come. I was sorry for you, and I wanted to do something to help, particularly as it might have been my fault, partly, that she went away, in the first place.”
William lifted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“Why, nothing, only that I–I told her a little of how–how upsetting her arrival had been to everything, and of how much you had done for her, and put yourself out. I said it so she’d appreciate things, of course, but she took it quite differently from what I had intended she should take it, and seemed quite cut up about it. Then she went away in that wily, impulsive fashion.”
William bit his lip, but he did not speak. Kate was plunging on feverishly, and in the face of the greater revelation he let the lesser one drop.
“And so that’s why I was particularly anxious to bring things around right again,” continued Kate. “And that’s why I spoke. I thought I’d seen how things were, and on the drive I said so. Then is when I advised you to speak to Billy; but you declared that Billy wasn’t ready, and that you couldn’t make a girl marry against her will. NOW don’t you recollect it?”
A great light of understanding broke over William’s face. He started to speak, but something evidently stayed the words on his lips. With controlled deliberation he turned and sat down. Then he said:
“Kate, will you kindly tell me just what you DID do?”
“Why, I didn’t do so very much. I just tried to help, that’s all. After I talked with you, and advised you to ask Billy right away to marry you, I went to her. I thought she cared for you already, anyway; but I just wanted to tell her how very much it was to you, and so sort of pave the way. And now comes the part that I started to tell you a little while ago when you caught me up so sharply. I was going to say that when I told Billy this, she appeared to be surprised, and almost frightened. You see, she hadn’t known you cared for her, after all, and so I had a chance to help and make it plain to her how you did love her, so that when you spoke everything would be all right. There, that’s all. You see I didn’t do so very much.”
“‘So very much’!” groaned William, starting to his feet. “Great Scott!”
“Why, William, what do you mean? Where are you going?”
“I’m going–to–Billy,” retorted William with slow distinctness. “And I’m going to try to get there–before–you–CAN!” And with this extraordinary shot–for William–he left the house.
William went to Billy as fast as steam could carry him. He found her in her little drawing-room listlessly watching with Aunt Hannah the game of chess that Bertram and Marie were playing.
“Billy, you poor, dear child, come here,” he said abruptly, as soon as the excitement of his unexpected arrival had passed. “I want to talk to you.” And he led the way to the veranda which he knew would be silent and deserted.
“To talk to–me?” murmured Billy, as she wonderingly came to his side, a startled questioning in her wide dark eyes.
CHAPTER XLI
THE CROOKED MADE STRAIGHT
William did not re-enter the house after his talk with Billy on the veranda.
“I will go down the steps and around by the rose garden to the street, dear,” he said. “I’d rather not go in now. Just make my adieus, please, and say that I couldn’t stay any longer. And now– good-by.” His eyes as they looked down at her, were moist and very tender. His lips trembled a little, but they smiled, and there was a look of new-born peace and joy on his face.
Billy, too, was smiling, though wistfully. The frightened questioning had gone from her eyes, leaving only infinite tenderness.
“You are sure it–it is all right–now?” she stammered.
“Very sure, little girl; and it’s the first time it has been right for weeks. Billy, that was very dear of you, and I love you for it; but think how near–how perilously near you came to lifelong misery!”
“But I thought–you wanted me–so much,” she smiled shyly.
“And I did, and I do–for a daughter. You don’t doubt that NOW?”
“No, oh, no,” laughed Billy, softly; and to her face came a happy look of relief as she finished: “And I’ll be so glad to be–the daughter!”
For some minutes after the man had gone, Billy stood by the steps where he had left her. She was still there when Bertram came to the veranda door and spoke to her.
“Billy, I saw William go by the window, so I knew you were alone. May I speak to you?”
The girl turned with a start.
“Why, of course! What is it?–but I thought you were playing. Where is Marie?”
“The game is finished; besides–Billy, why are you always asking me lately where Marie is, as if I were her keeper, or she mine?” he demanded, with a touch of nervous irritation.
“Why, nothing, Bertram,” smiled Billy, a little wearily; “only that you were playing together a few minutes ago, and I wondered where she had gone.”
“‘A few minutes ago’!” echoed Bertram with sudden bitterness. “Evidently the time passed swiftly with you, Billy. William was out here MORE than an hour.”
“Why–Bertram!”
“Yes, I know. I’ve no business to say that, of course,” sighed the man; “but, Billy, that’s why I came out–because I must speak to you this once. Won’t you come and sit down, please?” he implored despairingly.
“Why, Bertram,” murmured Billy again, faintly, as she turned toward the vine-shaded corner and sat down. Her eyes were startled. A swift color had come to her cheeks.
“Billy,” began the man, in a sternly controlled voice, “please let me speak this once, and don’t try to stop me. You may think, for a moment, that it’s disloyal to William if you listen; but it isn’t. There’s this much due to me–that you let me speak now. Billy, I can’t stand it. I’ve tried, but it’s no use. I’ve got to go away, and it’s right that I should. I’m not the only one that thinks so, either. Marie does, too.”
“MARIE!”
“Yes. I talked it all over with her. She’s known for a long time how it’s been with me; how I cared–for you.”
“Marie! You’ve told Marie that?” gasped Billy.
“Yes. Surely you don’t mind Marie’s knowing,” went on Bertram, dejectedly. “And she’s been so good to me, and tried to–help me.”
Bertram was not looking at Billy now. If he had been he would have seen the incredulous joy come into her face. His eyes were moodily fixed on the floor.
“And so, Billy, I’ve come to tell you. I’m going away,” he continued, after a moment. “I’ve got to go. I thought once, when I first talked with you of William, that you didn’t know your own heart; that you didn’t really care for him. I was even fool enough to think that–that it would be I to whom you’d turn–some day. And so I stayed. But I stayed honorably, Billy! YOU know that! You know that I haven’t once forgotten–not once, that I was only William’s brother. I promised you I’d be that–and I have been; haven’t I?”
Billy nodded silently. Her face was turned away.
“But, Billy, I can’t do it any longer. I’ve got to ask for my promise back, and then, of course, I can’t stay.”
“But you–you don’t have to go–away,” murmured the girl, faintly.
Bertram sprang to his feet. His face was white.
“Billy,” he cried, standing tall and straight before her, “Billy, I love every touch of your hand, every glance of your eye, every word that falls from your lips. Do you think I can stay–now? I want my promise back! When I’m no longer William’s brother–then I’ll go!”
“But you don’t have to have it back–that is, you don’t have to have it at all,” stammered Billy, flushing adorably. She, too, was on her feet now.
“Billy, what do you mean?”
“Don’t you see? I–I HAVE turned,” she faltered breathlessly, holding out both her hands.
Even then, in spite of the great light that leaped to his eyes, Bertram advanced only a single step.
“But–William?” he questioned, unbelievingly.
“It WAS a mistake, just as you thought. We know now–both of us. We don’t either of us care for the other–that way. And–Bertram, I think it HAS been you–all the time, only I didn’t know!”
“Billy, Billy!” choked Bertram in a voice shaken with emotion. He opened his arms then, wide–and Billy walked straight into them.
CHAPTER XLII
THE “END OF THE STORY”
It was two days after Billy’s new happiness had come to her that Cyril came home. He went very soon to see Billy.
The girl was surprised at the change in his appearance. He had grown thin and haggard looking, and his eyes were somber. He moved restlessly about the room for a time, finally seating himself at the piano and letting his fingers slip from one mournful little melody to another. Then, with a discordant crash, he turned.
“Billy, do you think any girl would marry–me?” he demanded.
“Why, Cyril!”
“There, now, please don’t begin that,” he begged fretfully. “I realize, of course, that I’m a very unlikely subject for matrimony. You made me understand that clearly enough last winter!”
“Last–winter?”
Cyril raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, I came to you for a little encouragement, and to make a confession,” he said. “I made the confession–but I didn’t get the encouragement.”
Billy changed color. She thought she knew what he meant, but at the same time she couldn’t understand why he should wish to refer to that conversation now.
“A–confession?” she repeated, hesitatingly.
“Yes. I told you that I’d begun to doubt my being such a woman- hater, after all. I intimated that YOU’D begun the softening process, and that then I’d found a certain other young woman who had–well, who had kept up the good work.”
“Oh!” cried Billy suddenly, with a peculiar intonation. “Oh-h!” Then she laughed softly.
“Well, that was the confession,” resumed Cyril. “Then I came out flat-footed and said that I wanted to marry her–but there is where I didn’t get the encouragement!”
“Indeed! I’m afraid I wasn’t very considerate,” stammered Billy.
“No, you weren’t,” agreed Cyril, moodily. “I didn’t know but now–” his voice softened a little–“with this new happiness of yours and Bertram’s that–you might find a little encouragement for me.”
“And I will,” cried Billy, promptly. “Tell me about her.”
“I did–last winter,” reproached the man, “and you were sure I was deceiving myself. You drew the gloomiest sort of picture of the misery I would take with a wife.”
“I did?” Billy was laughing very merrily now.
“Yes. You said she’d always be talking and laughing when I wanted to be quiet, and that she’d want to drag me out to parties and plays when I wanted to stay at home; and–oh, lots of things. I tried to make it clear to you that–that this little woman wasn’t that sort. But I couldn’t,” finished Cyril, gloomily.
“But of course she isn’t,” declared Billy, with quick sympathy. “I–I didn’t know–WHAT–I was–talking about,” she added with emphatic distinctness. Then she smiled to think how little Cyril knew how very true those words were. “Tell me about her,” she begged again. “I know she must be very lovely and brilliant, and of course a wonderful musician. YOU couldn’t choose any one else!”
To her surprise Cyril turned abruptly and began to play again. A nervous little staccato scherzo fell from his fingers, but it dropped almost at once into a quieter melody, and ended with something that sounded very much like the last strain of “Home, Sweet Home.” Then he wheeled about on the piano stool.
“Billy, that’s exactly where you’re wrong–I DON’T want that kind of wife. I don’t want a brilliant one, and–now, Billy, this sounds like horrible heresy, I know, but it’s true–I don’t care whether she can play, or not; but I should prefer that she shouldn’t play–much!”
“Why, Cyril Henshaw!–and you, with your music! As if you could be contented with a woman like that!”
“Oh, I want her to like music, of course,” modified Cyril; “but I don’t care to have her MAKE it. Billy, do you know? You’ll laugh, of course, but my picture of a wife is always one thing: a room with a table and a shaded lamp, and a little woman beside it with the light on her hair, and a great, basket of sewing beside her. You see I AM domestic!” he finished a little defiantly.
“I should say you were,” laughed Billy. “And have you found her?– this little woman who is to do nothing but sit and sew in the circle of the shaded lamp?”
“Yes, I’ve found her, but I’m not at all sure she’s found me. That’s where I want your help. Oh, I don’t mean, of course,” he added, “that she’s got to sit under that lamp all the time. It’s only that–that I hope she likes that sort of thing.”
“And–does she?”
“Yes; that is, I think she does,” smiled Cyril. “Anyhow, she told me once that–that the things she liked best to do in all the world were to mend stockings and to make puddings.”
Billy sprang to her feet with a little cry. Now, indeed, had Cyril kept his promise and made “many things clear” to her.
“Cyril, come here,” she cried tremulously, leading the way to the open veranda door. The next moment Cyril was looking across the lawn to the little summerhouse in the midst of Billy’s rose garden. In full view within the summerhouse sat Marie–sewing.
“Go, Cyril; she’s waiting for you,” smiled Billy, mistily. “The light’s only the sun, to be sure, and maybe there isn’t a whole basket of sewing there. But–SHE’S there!”
“You’ve–guessed, then!” breathed Cyril.
“I’ve not guessed–I know. And–it’s all right.”
“You mean–?” Only Cyril’s pleading eyes finished the question.
“Yes, I’m sure she does,” nodded Billy. And then she added under her breath as the man passed swiftly down the steps: “‘Marie Henshaw’ indeed! So ’twas Cyril all the time–and never Bertram– who was the inspiration of that bit of paper give-away!”
When she turned back into the room she came face to face with Bertram.
“I spoke, dear, but you didn’t hear,” he said, as he hurried forward with outstretched hands.
“Bertram,” greeted Billy, with surprising irrelevance, “‘and they all lived happily ever after’–they DID! Isn’t that always the ending to the story–a love story?”
“Of course,” said Bertram with emphasis;–“OUR love story!”
“And theirs,” supplemented Billy, softly; but Bertram did not hear that.