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Show t \ j/GlaffMafk j GlaffMafk / . ; . Tf LeHOre Glenn MInwIllNrt . . . . - CUATTES ClIAPTEB CnAPTER vn VII VIITHE vnmK mK rRE THE 8TOBT sTOny STOUT TIIC9 TUUS THUS TAB FAR aetumlDr Eeturnlop aetumlDrrom Eeturnloponce ctur re reucl : /rom rom / a wl.lt wllt . .lth lth . D ) ko leKIDDoD hlo hloUloiD UloiD once ucl * Toddtbictilnoonk Toddtbictilnoonkreorgine Todd McKluol IIIe1UDDoD McKluolfitin Ceorr:1no Ceorr1no reorgine Ceorr:1noW ( -fi-tin fi tin - - : * WpetIi WpetIisod W WK"1ud WK1ud ) .tb tb . .tbOld " Old sod .mtll mtll omoll Imai . diuihtcr daurhter daughter : Darby narby l rt > y topped otopped t to totlslt . tlslt ( , Iolt ( It . with .lth lth Mra Sirs Mr . re.b.dy reb.dy rebdy Probody Peabody . . Sirs ) Mr Ira . ' fc.b.dy fcb.dy fcbdy I'eobody Ieobody Peabody . . CHAPTER VIIIt VII VIIIt It was not so simple to get back backto backto backto to sleep Georgine Georgme lay for a whlle while whlleIookJng whilelooking whilelooking IookJng looking into mto the quiet darkness darknessand darknessInd darknessuid and Ind giving glvmg herself herseU a stern fighttalk fight fighttalk fighttalk talk . . What after all was the SItU SItUltlOn situition situttion7 ltlOn ition " ? An old woman had dIed dIedpeacefully diedpeacefully diedpeacefully peacefully enough four years ago agoIn agoIn In In agoIn Inthis this tlus hou"e houe house hou < " e Everyone seemed to toreelfor tofeelfor togel reel-for reel for feel-for feel ( - for reasons that had not yet yetlully yetfully yetuUy lully fully ( appeared-that appeared that appeared - that her death deathbad deathhad deathhad bad had been hastened Well what wh.at . of ofIt ofIt ofIt7 It " ? Everything Everythmg had been serene sereneenough serenetnough serenenough enough tnough ( ever since smce It was serenesow serene 0.0\\ 0.0 sow . \ \ And 'et- 'et et 'etUnder ' pl plunder et- et etUnder - under that serenity seremty there was waslomethmg wasiomethingunfathomed wastomettung lomethmg iomethingunfathomed unfathomed Nella Pea Peabody Peabody Peabodys body s rervousness VerYousness nervousness for mstance instance instancewhich instancenhich which " , luch luchent \ went \\ent ent \ deeper than the nor normal normar norcaal mal mar night mght fears of a timid tlImd woman womanInthout womanwithout womanwithout Inthout without seeing it you felt her herdrIven herdriven heririven drIven and haunted by some kmd kind kmdDf kindof kindDf Df of furies fumes She had talked for a aphlle awhile anhile phlle while , with her guests after they theyreturned theyreturned theyreturned returned from the doctors doctor s Horace Horaceand Horaceand Horaceind and Mary Helen would never have havebeen havebeen havebeen been living lIvmg in m her home she con conveyed conyeyed veJ'ed veJed veyed ' if old Judge Tillsit TIllslt hadn twished t vished Mshed wished it so strongly-commanded strongly commanded stronglycommandedIt strongly - - commandedIt It was a better phraseWas phraseWas phrase phraseWas Was it all a question of money moneyor behind belund It it7Nella " ? or was Something tomethmg queer Nella Vella s mouth had curved in a very veryodd veryodd veryodd odd smile when she said " ' "TheJudge TheJudge The TheJudge TheJudge Judge ; Is-more Is more is - more than kind land to meTodd meTodd me meTodd Todd hadn t been able to resIst resistit It A .lIe lIe h Ii ! . Ie le less than tan lan kin and more morethan morethan morethan than kind land he murmuredN murmuredNellas murmured murmuredNellas N Nellas ellas reserve of manner had haddeepened haddeepened haddeepened deepened He d see to it of course coursethat coursethat coursethat that I wasn t in actual want You Youhave Youhave Youhave have seen all the food he sends in infrom Infrom infrom from the farm butter and cream creamand creamand creamand and bacon and chlckens-anytlung chlckens anytlung chickens-anything chickens anything chlckensanytlungelse chickensanythingelse chickens - anythingelse else I must have is Just ] ust about cov coy covered coyered covtred ered by the children cluldren s boa b boardmoney o a l r ' d dmoney dmoney money of course I can t take much muchfrom muchfrom muchfrom from them Oh they wouldn t iet let ietme letme letme me starve It wouldn t look well wellBut wellBut wellBut But if Gilbert and I couldn t scrape scrapeup scrapeup scrapeup up the money to pay the taxes-l taxes l taxes-I I taxesldon taxesIdon taxes taxes1don - 1don don t know Imow 3ust Just what would hap hap- happen happen happen - - pen to the house ' , All its contents were willed to tolum tohum tohim lum hum you said Georgine Georglne had men menUoned mentioned menUoned menUonedYes Uoned tioned UonedYes tionedYes Yes I could sell something somethmg per perhaps perbaps perhaps haps baps if I had permission from rum him rumI himI himI I wrote 'Tote Tote ' " weeks and weeks ago to toask toask toask ask him rum what heanted he \ wanted \\anted anted done butthere butthere but -there there - there hasn hasnt t been a letter for forsome forsome forsome some time I wouldn t move I Iwouldn Iwouldn Iwouldn wouldn t touch a thing trung WIthout WIthoutmy withoutmy withoutmy my husband s perIWSSlOnBarby permissionBarby permission perIWSSlOn permissionBarby Barby started talking talkJng of the at attic attic attic tic almost as soon as she got up upin upin upin in tones of keen anticipation ' 'She She 'ShesaId ' She Shesaid Shesaid saId I could look in all the old oldtrunks oldtrunks oldtrunks trunks she reported'Mrs reported'Mrs reported reported'Mrs 'Mrs Mrs ' Peabody said Georgine Georgtne Georginecorrected Georgtnecorrected Georginecorrected corrected patiently ' , Uh huh Well anyway she saId saIdthere saidthere saidthere there were lots of old things tlungs up upthere there and I could dress up Mam Main MamIna Mainma Mamma Ina ma can I do ittoday it today today7 " ? Oh no VIr Vrr VIrdett Vrrdett Virdett dett s comm comma to play Well it if she shedoesn shedoesu shedoesn doesn doesu t come you know Imow what 1m 1mgom I m mgom mgom gom to do Mamma Mamma'Imgom MammaImgom ' " ? 1m I m gom goin up thelittle upthere upthereI there-I there I - - I promise proIWSe not to go on the little porch honest I doThat do doThat Jefferson That morning mormng Mary Helen Jef ferson Crane came home She came cameup cameup cameup up the walk with an extraordmary extraordinary extraordmarygaIt extraordinarygait extraordinarygait gaIt halfway between truclang trucking truclangand truckingand truckingand , , and a short stepped walk and she sheseemed seemed to be humming a songGeorgine song songGeorgine backfrom Georgine Georglne standing well back from the window wmdow of her room and andobservmg andobserving andobserving I observmg observing this arrival knew Imew at atonce atonce atonce once that she had seen this glrl girl girlbefore glrlbefore before It was something somethmg about the thewalkthat thewallsthat thewalk walk-that walk that walls-that walls - that " , was as it this trus thus was the theyoung theyoung theyoung young \ woman oman who had been talk ing talkIng to the Jcweler jeweler ] eweler yesterday noonBarby noon noonBarby Barby followed her gaze and andrushed andrushed andrushed rushed to the WlndoShe window Wlndo\\ Wlndo \ She stood stoodg3ZJ.ng stoodgazing stoodgazing g3ZJ.ng g3ZJng gazing . for a moment Then her hervoice hervoice hervoice voice almost breaking brea1ang she de demanded demanded demanded manded Is that Cousin Dyke s a agirl girl sgirl " ? hearyou ' "Hush Hush 'Hush " ' Barby she might hear you Shelooks ' Yes I think tlunk thmk it must be She looks fundon as if 11 she might Inlght be lots of fun funldont fun.don fundon ldont , . don t you see that that7 that7Come ? Come on darling we U 11 ll have to toIgO toigo togo ' IgO go down the she said gently You YouIwant Youwant want to meet her , . , you knowThey know Imow knowThey They heard her voice coming up from upfrom the foot of the stairs Hullo INcll ( HulloiNell HulloNell Nell I brought some things home homefrom from Marge s to be washed see to it toIt will you you7 ? And I don t believe beheve I Ill 11 111be 11be Illbe be home tor for dinn-oh dinn oh dine-Oh dine dinn - - Oh ' ' There were sounds of introduc Introductlon introduction MaryHelen tion 'Oh Oh ' Oh not reallyl really I ( , ' said Mary Helen with emphasis Oh why dIdn whydidnt whydIdn t I know that that7 " ' Dyke talked talkedso so much about you Mr McKinnon McKinnonland McKinnonand McKinnonand land and I was Just ] ust crazy to meet you yew youand yew'and 'and and ' wastethe asteIthe wasteithe and here I ha\e ha e hate \ to go and waste " , aste Ithe whole week end what luch luck for forme Ime forIme canttell ttell you stayed staycd over ' I just can cant t tell you how thrilled I am to meet meetiYou meeti I I iYou you Her eyes swept upward andmet and andmet andmet met Barbywho those of Georgine and Barby who were halfway down the staIr staIrcase staircase staircase case ' 'Oh Oh ' Oh that must be your fi fl fiancee flancee flancee ancee isn Isnt t It and 'and hnd ' that darhng darling darlinglittle darhnghtUe htUe little laddie kIddie he told me about " ? You about7You just can cant t Imagine what asurprISe asurprise a aurprise urprise surprISe this Is ' ' I could simply eirnplyluck simplykIck kIck myself for missing nussmg so much muchof muchof muchof of your visit vlslt . . . How do you do doMrs Mrs Wyeth And-what And what And - what a 8 s your yourIMIDe name yourname tweetle7 sweetie ? ' Barby7 Barby " ? What 0 a . aperfect aperfect IMIDe ( perfect musthav musthave darling darlmg you are ( ' I must have a 1I & bug hug ' She wooped swooped told tkCT tbOcI them . aboot about * b o tbo the tli * de.th deth deoth death . .t t of . t AdellDo Adetlne AdellDoTilloit AdetlneTillolt * < ' " " Gilbert GilbertIDlerUed Gilbertel trom from whom ber her huoband husband Tilloit Tillolt IDlerUed el erited tho the houl house . Tley TI ey dedded decided t to . otoy stay otoyower stayover anddTodd morrled dTodd Todd "nDted nDted " t . oDd and get l invettigtthe linvettigtthe Ior.aUgoto IoraUgoto t ower over r . > tTnf ando o tho th * deatb dethofAdelioe 4 tk of ( Aariln Adelloo . Till.lt Tilllt Tilloit Tilslt . toward the bottom step and andBarby andBarby ndBarby Barby disappeared disappcared among flymg flying flymgloose flyingloose flyingloose loose coatsleeves'Why coatsleeves 'Why Why ' Why what whats s the matter matterT matterTMary matter7Mary " ? " Mary Helen demanded roguishly roguishlysitting , slttmg sitting back on her heels Now Nowdon , don t tell me you don t hire 1I1.e 1I1e like . to be bepetted bepetted bepetted petted pettedI I ' , I Thank you not very mucn mucnsaId mucsaid saId Barby with visible vlSlble relIefGeorgine reliefGeorgtne relief reliefGeorgine Georgine Georgtne said Barby dear run runget runget runget get your hat and coat You re remember remember remember member we we were l ' ego going i n g to tochurch tochurch tochurch church 7 " ' She made proper excuses excusesto excusesto excusesto to Mary Helen for departing departmg so soabruptly soabruptly soabruptly abruptly But you U 11 ll be here when whenwe whenwe whenwe we come back won wont t you Mrs MrsCrane MrsCrane MrsCrane7 Crane ? ' Do you know I m sure we wemIght wemight wemight mIght have met earlier it if we wed wedonly wedonly d donly only known Imown who you were Didn Dldn t twe twe .e e we . see Mrs Crane in Fairfield yes yesterday yesterday yesterday terday Todd Todd7 Todd7'I " ? 'I I ' I think we tte \ \ e did Odd comc1 coincl comc1dence coincldense coincidence dence dense said Todd smoothlyDId smoothlyDid smoothly smoothlyDid Did you you7 " ? Well it isn Isnt t so aw awfully awfully awfully fully funny because I cork w \ ork there thereand thereand thereand and people do seem rather to re remember remember remember member me if they theyve ve ye seen me meonce meonce meonce , once Mary Helen gave ga\e ga e gate \ Georgme Georgtne Georgmethe Georgtnethe Georginethesweetestofsmiles ; the sweetest of smiles Whereas Where wasit \as as was \ wasit , asit it in the hotel at lunch lunch7 " ? Because BecauseI I know you weren t in the officeI office I ' ' , 'At At ' At Bertrams Bertram s isn Isnt t that the thejeweler thejeweler thejewelers jeweler s name name7 name7Oh " ? Oh . . Oh yes But how funny I Ididn Ididn Ididnt didn t-well t well - well of course I dIdn didnt t see seeyou seeyou seeyou you because I was just in m there for forhalf forhalf forhalf half a minute getting my watch watchrIbbon watchribbon watchribbon rIbbon fixed and I had to hurry hurryback hurryback hurryback back to the office I suppose you youw youwere w \ \ ere just going gomg out as I came m in mThat inThat inThat That was it said Todd ToddHe ToddHe ToddHe He and Mrs Crane exchanged e'Cchanged eCchanged ' a apleasant apleasant apleasant pleasant smile No one could have havetold havetold havetold told which wruch of the two was the bet bettel better betterllar betterllarIhey tel ter ' liar liart liarI liarr t r _ I I II I " r rF rl F l / 1 Ihey They hey started homeward walk walkmg walking walking mg ing slowly under the arched treesThe trees treesThe The house was full of Mary MaryHelen MaryHelen MaryHelen Helen You would not have be- be beI belIeved believed be believed - - lieved that one young v \ woman , oman could couldhave couldhave couldhave have made herself so ommpresent omnipresent omnipresentso ommpresentso so constantly heard without bemg being bemgnOls beingnoisy beingnoisy noisy nOls ; that anyone any one person could couldhave couldhave couldhave have changed the tempo of the thehousehold thehousehold thehousehold household from cool placidity to tosometrung tosomething tosomething sometrung something , almost feverIsh'Ah feverish feverish"Ah ' "Ah Ah 'Ah " ' Ah said Todd benignly bemgnly meet meeting meeting meeting ing Georgine Georgme Georgtne in m the hall before beforelunch beforelunch beforelunch lunch what it is to have a bit but of ofhfe oflife oflife hfe life in the house Ah youth ' She regarded him rum coldly 'Go Go 'Going ' Go Going Going ing into mto your grandfather act are areyou areyou areyou7 areyou7Practicing you youPracticing " Practicing Practlcmg up Mary Helen has hassuggested hassuggested hassuggested suggested a private prtvate interview III IIIconfess I ll llconfess Uconfess confess said Todd looking 100kJng more moreWbooden morewooden morewooden Wbooden wooden than she shd ! ; had thought pos posSl possmle possible Sl smle Ie that I Im m terrified And I Icount Icount Icount count on you to come round after aftera a decent interval mterval and rescue me from mefrom that infernal li lile Ule Ie prancmg prancing prancmgnymph prancingnymph prancingnymph nymph glanceover He cast a cautious glance thekitchen thekJtchen over his shoulder , to make sure the kJtchen kitchen disappointed dlsappomted dlsappointed door was shut I m dlsap pomted pointed in my nephew he re remarked remarked remarked marked sadly I , Dyke s sail all right I1ght said Georg Georgi forright forrightnce ineDMaybe ine knwhimbetter i himbetter " Maybe for owe once nce I ! Imow knwhim ow him better than you doMary dotook do doMary befittedthe thetserU tookthetserU Mary us usto Helen took hhim hhimeir him as befitted befittedhall the the intothe serIOUS tone to of their eir talk tallbefitted tallbefittedk tallbefittedInto k into seldom Used parlor across the hall ball from the sitting slttmg rqom rgom rgomdoves room.A roomA dows windows doves backthe backthe . She rqomShe in flung " the he hebaOpen bay baOpen open ? y 611 and one pushed of otthe the they back back winI win wintion the outer shutters to let the sun pour sunpour in Todd looked at Mary Helen Crane With sudden atten attention tion Was it because he d seen her only heronly In comparative dimness be bethe fore before and the clear light charged chargedthe the angles of her face or wag was it itthat that her expression e'CpreSSlOn eCpreSSlOn ' was diff " ? The tone of her - ; very volc voice was I |