"She ought to have her satchel and her hat," Jack said, and Howard
replied, "Oh, Amy sent Sarah off with a hat half an hour ago. She would
send all her wardrobe if she thought the girl wanted it, and, by George!
why didn't she send a pair of boots? She has dozens of them, I dare
say," he continued, as he recalled the bits of leather they had cut from
Eloise's foot, and left on Mrs. Biggs's floor.
Jack had spoken of her boots, and he readily acceded to Howard's
proposition to ask Amy if she had any cast-offs she thought would fit
Miss Smith. "They must wear about the same size, the girl is so slight,"
Howard said as he went to Amy's room, where he found her still standing
by the window drumming upon the pane as if fingering a piano and humming
softly to herself. She never touched the grand instrument in the
drawing-room, and when asked to do so and sing, she answered, "I can't;
I can't. It would bring it all back and shake up the bottle. I hate the
memory of it when I sang to the crowd and they applauded. I hear them
now; it is baby's death knell. I can never sing again as I did then."
And yet she did sing often to herself, but so low that one could
scarcely understand her words, except to know they were some negro
melody sung evidently as a lullaby to a child. As Howard came up to her
he caught the words, "Mother's lil baby," and knew it was what she
sometimes sang with the red cloak hugged to her bosom.
"Miss Amy," he said, "I wonder if you haven't a pair of half-worn boots
for the young lady at Mrs. Biggs's? We had to cut one of hers off, her
foot was so swollen."
Amy was interested at once, and ordered Sarah, who had returned from
Mrs. Biggs's, to bring out all her boots and slippers, insisting that
several pairs be sent for the girl to choose from. Sarah suggested that
slippers would be better than boots, as the young lady could not wear
the latter in her present condition.
"Yes," Amy said, selecting a pair of white satin slippers, with high
French heels and fanciful rosettes. "I wore them the night he told me
baby was dead. I've never had them on since. I don't want them. Give
them to her. They are hateful to me."
Amy was in a peculiar mood this morning, such as sometimes came upon her
and made Peter say she was a chip of the old block, meaning the Colonel,
who he never for a moment doubted was her father. Sarah's suggestion
that white satin slippers would be out of place made no difference. They
must go. She was more stubborn than usual, and Sarah accounted for it by
saying in a low tone to Howard, "Certain spells of weather always affect
her and send her back to a night when something dreadful must have
happened. Probably the baby she talks about died. She's thinking about
it now. Better take the slippers. I've heard her talk of them before and
threaten to burn them."
"All right," Howard said. "Miss Smith can send them back if she does not
want them."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account