Show 0 0 th the bobbs merrill company I 1 service CHAPTER XI k 12 iler elder sisters had given up open opposition to emif s plan of bury ing herself at Love lylea among themselves ies they had agreed that her purchase of the plantation was anim since if she made the sort of n they meant she should she would be in a position to andul indulge ge her sentiment for the old home of her family and have other more suitable establishments elsewhere elseA here as well As usual emif understood them per factly but it suited her to be freel free I 1 from nagging arguments while she brought her plans to completion doc doe tor blanton s ready acquiescence in her arrangements came as a complete surprise however until of a sudden udden she suspected that he was about to propose another occupation for her in a panic she hurried her eions and left for the south without the formal ty of good bys once she was settled she would write to every body meanwhile ehe she wis annoyer that she heird nothing from bill lee he ile must realize her eagerness to hive the preliminaries definitely over she did not know exactly when stone 4 tenancy terminated but had e plans that might enable her to assume possession of her property almost at once 8 S was sure that stone at least would understand and chize with her desire to own the home of her fathers however d sap pointing it was to him person personally illy B bit it what could B 11 lee be doing to prevent bis his acknowledging tier her letter so fir she had told stone nothing albl ough her plans were more or less elaborate include ng first his re recon concill cili i tion with his neighbors and next it find ind ing him a desirable on near enough to Lo velvie to permit of his continued use of the trad tract and other improvements he had installed on its acres before she siw him she pro posed to clear up the entire situation as regards the II horton oxton hunt club with th s in mind she went directly to calthorpe Cul thorpe the home of her cousin christopher culpeper both he and his wife were ere del gated that mit had elected to stay with them out of the large number of relations she had to choose from who was it told us emif was not in the least good looking cousin kit lit asked his wife as they stood side by eide side at a window and watched her shepherding along the drive toward the house their son jeff jeffs s twins fugl tives with their grandparent grand paren s from whooping cough among their brothers and s cally peters oldest girl the one who came from new york with ith her cheeks painted white and her mouth painted purple and vowed that make up was all the rage in the north cousin mab mali replied I 1 never believed her all the lovelys were handsome stair s a picture her husband roared so loudly that she heard her name looked up and waved her hand to them why some man chasn t snapped her up before this beats me in my day she shed d not haap have been single this long self soon decided that she was sufficiently established in the favor of her fain fam ly to ad advance ance the cause sl e had at heart she came in and sank into a chair laughing madame and sir she said with a final chuckle your grandchildren are adorable but exhausting I 1 have re turned them to mammy undamaged a al though it was touch and go they al at most conNIn convinced ced me that the two colts in the near pasture were their prop erty and ought to be exert sed the little devils said their grand father pridefully have you 1001 ed through the cards of the people who called yesterday yester dil while we were vere at your aunt fanny matisons MadI sons cousin mab asked emif accepted this as her chance I 1 yes she said and that rem ads me don dont t you think it strange that stone nesbit chasn t called after all he be Is occupying Love LoNe lylea and I 1 want ant to see the old place again she had looked for an explosion from 1 cousin kit hit none came instead he scratched his forehead contemplatively corry sn if he muttered a trifle shamefacedly I 1 in mighty sorry to d s appoint you all I 1 ra in afraid thit cant can t be managed you see mr nesbit ions iong ao ua made up his mind thit he would have nothing to do with any of us now wl at do vou mean by that demanded instantly on the alert tt vit this placing of the blame on stone s shoulders well lnell cousin mab cut in briskly it bolls down to th s the young man came here from god knows where and brought a pack of hounds so the members of the hoxton hunt got sore cousin kit interrupt ed and ever since then their wives ives and daub daughters have been throwing it up to thel them that they made mide a mess of a very simple business and so you d d cousin mab declared without animus I 1 grant you it was a case calling for a little tact a thing of which men know only the name any lad of spirit wo lid ild I 1 av acted exactly as young nesb t did t d have hane been ashamed of a son of my wn who had done otherwise well we sent him an invitation to join the hunt didn t we and the young cub returned it unopened I 1 cousin kit growled defensively what exclaimed stair sharply you invited stone to joint the hunt hit culpeper might not have noticed this slip but cousin mab mali raised her delicate eyebrows and pounced on it at once stone she repeated with an inter rogat lve inflection you know mr nesbit honey yes acknowledged I 1 know him he is my cousia bousi his grand mother great grandmother I 1 mean was lorraine Lorr alne lovely well be d dl d I 1 cousin kit ex plodded now said emif let me tell you his side of the affair and perhaps it will all be clearer she told the story well and they listened with at least a partial under stand ng of stone s loneliness and bit berness and now what can we do about it cousin kit inquired looking from one to the other of his companions had taken thought to herself and had decided that it would be bet ter if she did not appear too openly in the matter the affair needs careful considers con sidera tion she confessed gle ghe us time and cousin mab and I 1 will find a way out of the tangle certainly ve me will cousin slab mab nodded her head already full of match mal ing schemes wasn gasn t stone nesbit reputed to be very wealthy he a suitable age he be an on of ballf s sudden return to the neighborhood cousin kit rambled out and emif at once proceeded to dispel cousin mab mali s rosy dream lou see she confided to her gravely I 1 in not ready yet for anyone else to know it not even een cousin kit hit who I 1 don dont t believe could keep a secret to save his life lye I 1 ve bought love I 1 lylea from bill lee and I 1 in beginning to be afraid stone Is going to feel terribly about it especially e as ive never toll him that I 1 hid bid made the arrangements with vi fill bill lee this cousin mab was forced to acknowledge to herself d d not look 1 like a love affair she d d her best to keep her face from falling but noticed the change in her expression don t you approve of me as a neighbor cousin mab at once recaptured her poise my dear I 1 im in delighted she said I 1 was only wondering it if you knew how the activities of the plantation have expanded under mr it seems a tremendous undertaking for a young woman chuckled joyously at the anglet pation that s why it will be such fun to tackle it she explained I 1 love ione to pull off something successfully where every one expects me to fall she was thinking of tie tl e case of madame salton incorporated instinctively sl e was sure that that was not an affair which her dear cousin mab co could uld ever be brouet u to understand so it remained unmentioned betheen bet beaw veen een vern tl em now about mr nesbit cousin mab began what do you think of the tw ns emif inquired the twins their grandmother was bewildered As messengers I 1 mean Peace mak ers in fact I 1 in certain stone would not refuse to receive a child and not expect ng one his orders would only have concerned themselves with grown men listen what do you say to this and unfolded her plan which in due course the twins tm im proved on after a bittern of their own that afternoon stone led by excited barks from beaucaire alre and c tory mutterings from voltaire went through the hall to the front door to ascertain the cause of the warning no one wis vis ble and to his ee there was noth ng amiss beaucaire hid bid d sipp sapp eared down the steps with a yelp of jov joy and he ind voltaire fol lowed to the edge of the below him flit on their bicks hicks on one of the brood steps lay 1 two small fig ures baying unwind angly upward abe dog was vas runn ng from one to the other be bestow ing lavish kisses ind scrim binately alello slid said stone who are you and where did you drop from I 1 at his words both the chil iren sat up with a ty of act on that was I 1 ke a median cal toy you ve got a mighty nice dog the young gentleman remarked casually casualty I 1 s spose pose you wouldn t sell him or him his sister frowned at him darkly and also directed an admonitory kick in its 1 Is direction that s not the way to begin ohp said in a surprisingly deep and low pitched voice suppose you begin by telling me your names stone suggested at a loss to explain such arrivals on hia his doorstep haven t you a butler the gar ala baided her voice childish we ve come to t kae v et qt L their call had not been officially begun they had not been introduced and stone entered into the game with becoming gravity going ins de the house without further words and baits balk to his study to await their ring at the bell and his summons by the butler this was a visit of ceremony and must be treated as such the front door doorbell bell will ring in a moment or two daly he said to his butler alere tl ere are two youngsters there treat them as if they were en grown up understand take their cardi cards show them into the par lor tl TI ere they are now bring the cards to me I 1 la in anxious to know who they ther are I 1 the butler returned consumed with laughter lell ie 11 learn little from them cards sir he said holding out a salver on which reposed two imposing looking pasteboards I 1 can tell you who the little divlus are let them tell me in their own onn way stone picked the cards up one was engra engraved Ned MRS RUTHEn rutherford rORD MADISON MADISON THE MADISON middleburgh dvir virginia inia the other MRS CONNISTON tar plantation and once again stone asked himself it he was being made the butt ot of a joke however he went to greet his visitors their cards in his hand I 1 im in delighted to see you he slid sald D d you like our tickets the boy asked 11 we e picked the very nicest biggest ones in the card bichet the girl in ter posed toddy a a stupid little boy 11 1 I 1 why some man chasn t snapped her up beats me tl ey arent aren t tickets tickets are what you hive when the circus comes these are cards for visits you know you have to have em when you make real visits we never did before what am I 1 to call you stone asked flicking the pasteboards with a finger the names on these are so torn forn il I 1 im in patsy culpeper the little girl said d what stone cried explosively AN who ho sent shut you here I 1 gran said patsy and she gave me a message and I 1 ve forgotten it so have I 1 said her brother suddenly Us its sister began to paw all over his inadequate attire there was inas a letter she declared what did you do with it Tod bunter culpeper I 1 bad it when we laid down on the steps to think because we were ere so 90 ery austed toddy wrinkled his bron brov I 1 know they both cried together the puppy has it ile took it to give his n ister naster retrieved from the steps where beaucaire alre had dropped it on stones s appearance the note wis vias re aimed it proved to be a few lines from airs culpeper dear mr nir nesbit will vou take a d sh of tea with me tomorrow afternoon I 1 sh shall shill ill be all alone save for the twins cordially Cordial lv bour malel matel culpeper who Is mabel culpeper he ailed ed the two my ily sister patsy told him she s a horrid little girl she ashes s got chool ing cough stone essayed another tick who wrote th s note let me see it old man tod 1 h suggested holding it upside down and examining it with interest as if he be ha I 1 never laid eyes on it before from that blob he put a finger on the seal I 1 id d say gran only she us ally puts a stamp on when she writes to my mother the angular handwriting also point ed to old mrs culpeper stone wrote hr a short note of ac cep tance but was disinclined to trust it to the twins tender mercies how did you con corn here he askel aske I 1 deft our carr carrage age a at th the ga ed fresh patsy ass assa so ft ored coachman who was drowsing on the box of the culpeper vic victoria torla stone was amazed and somewhat distrustful on receipt of mrs cul paper s message yet to his mind he had no alternative he ile must accept an invitation coming from an elderly lady tl TI e more he dwelt on the thought the more distasteful it be came to him but go he must he need have had no apprehension of stiffness or social strain strata mabel culpeper was born a Tod bunter of charleston and the graceful manage ment of men was part of her heritage she met him as if he were an old friend and shortly they felt entirely at home together tea was brought and with it came the twins hand in hand on their best be hallor at least until the cakes were consumed this Is a party 1 patsy announced I 1 always know it is a party when I 1 see those little black cakes certainly it its s a party her grand mother agreed its your cousin stone q coming out party stone started and made no attempt to conceal it looking to her for an explanation lon ion ahat Is the only complaint I 1 have to mal e of you stone she said easily down here blood is still thicker than water lou must have known that lorraine Lorr alne lovely and my mothers mother s mother were cousins but but I 1 stone stain stam beail bewildered dered I 1 had no idea of such a thing then I 1 forgive you mrs cul cut peper was benignity itself as she fired her next shot of course you will have to make your peace with your cousin kit hit when you see him he ile had set his heart on your joining the hex ton hunt when tl ey invited you invited mel met stone cried that S the N ery first firt I 1 e eer er heard of it I 1 well dear boy mabel culpeper had a d earming smile you will own that thit letters cant can t be expected to talk and if you send them back unopened she looked nt at him and saw that it was unnecessary to say more so that was the letter I 1 returned wl at a little fool I 1 must have seemed not a fool r only a spirited boy I 1 assure you that I 1 was proud to clile you when recently I 1 learned that you were my cousin in my dear mrs culpeper told staff later I 1 really liked our new cousin it if I 1 were younger I 1 would d his possession with that tat fat miss mer cedes who has given every one in the neighborhood to understand that she has him in her pocket emif replied of course misa miss mer cedes means to marry him and frank ly I 1 think he d be happier married he ile badly needs companionship not the companionship of that county fair exhibit cousin mab stated with a firmness that defied con tralle ilic tin don she is shrewd but totally te resting and I 1 suspect comes of gar people of the middle west there s a burr in her speech that cant other wise be accounted tor for it is the most persistent of our provincial accents and although she seems to fancy so calling you honey every other minute doesn doean t make one a southerner does it honey frankly I 1 don dont t ike the young woman although she gives most delicious dinners in the state so I 1 ve heard 11 ell sooner or later she shell 11 be back among us ten years loinger yo inger and many times more beautiful then well we 11 see if S one can resist I 1 er do you approve of the mitch m itch cousin mab was watching matching her keenly and stair bent for a light for her cigarette I 1 do and I 1 don t she owned with |