United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
"You're a very puzzling person," said she And when a woman says that to
a man, deep has begun to call to deep. (The Bonnie Lassie, who knows
everything, is my authority for the statement.)
To her went the patroness of Art, on leaving Julien's "grenier" that
day.
"Cecily," she said, in the most casual manner she could contrive, "who
_is_ Julien Tenney?"
"Nobody."
"You know what I mean," pleaded the girl. "_What_ is he?"
"A brand snatched from the pot-boiling," returned the Bonnie Lassie,
quite pleased with her next turn, which was more than her companion was.
"Please don't be clever. Be nice and tell me--"
"'Be nice, sweet maid, and let who will be clever,'" declaimed the
Bonnie Lassie, who was feeling perverse that day. "You want me to define
his social status for you and tell you whether you'd better invite him
to dinner. You'd better not. He might swallow his knife."
"You know he wouldn't!" denied the girl in resentful tones. "I've never
known any one with more instinctive good manners. He seems to go right
naturally."
"All due to my influence and training," bragged the Bonnie Lassie. "I
helped bring him up."
"Then you must know something of his antecedents."
"Ask the Dominie. He says that Julien crawled out of a gutter with the
manners of a _preux chevalier_. Anyway, he never swallowed any of _my_
knives. Though he's had plenty of opportunity."
"It's very puzzling," lamented Bobbie.
"Why let it prey like a worm i' the bud of your mind? You're not going
to adopt him, perhaps?"
For the moment Bobbie Holland's eyes were dreamy and her tongue
unguarded. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him," said she with a
gesture as of one who despairingly gives over an insoluble problem.
"Umph!" said the Bonnie Lassie.
And continued sculpting.
III
As Julien had prophesied, it was only a question of time when he would
be surprised by his patroness in his true garb and estate. The event
occurred as he was stepping from his touring-car to get his golf-clubs
from the hallway of his Gramercy Park apartment at the very moment when
Bobbie Holland emerged from the house next door. Both her hands flew
involuntarily to her cheeks, as she took in and wholly misinterpreted
his costume, which is not to be wondered at when one considers the
similarity of a golfing outfit to a chauffeur's livery.
"Oh!" she cried out, as if something had hurt her.
Julien, for once startled out of his accustomed poise, uncovered and
looked at her apprehensively.
Her voice quivered a little as she asked, very low, "Do you _have_ to do
that?"
"Why--er--no," began the puzzled Julien, who failed for the moment to
perceive what of tragic portent inhered in a prospective afternoon of
golf. Her next words enlightened him.
"I should think you might have let me help before taking a--servant's
position."
"It's an honest occupation," he averred.
"Do you do this--regularly?" she pursued with an effort.
"Off and on. There's good money in it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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