"I know how you feel," said the housekeeper. "Here, let me fix that
tray, Miss Celia; you've done enough. I suppose we've got to feed 'em
and give 'em a room. Ain't it too bad to put them in that nice spare
room? No, I don't believe the doctor'll be powerful pleased to see 'em,
though I don't suppose he'll let on he ain't. Trouble is, she's a
stayer--one of the visiting kind, you know. Mis' Churchill, doctor's
mother, used to have her there by the month. _There_ was what you may
call a genuine lady, Miss Celia. She'd never let a guest feel he wasn't
welcome, and I guess Andy--I guess the doctor's pretty much like her.
Well, well!"
Mrs. Fields sighed, and Celia echoed the sigh. Nevertheless, the little
hint about Doctor Churchill's mother took hold.
Celia knew what Southern hospitality meant. If Mrs. Peyton had been
accustomed to that, it must be a matter of pride not to let her feel
that Northern homes were cold and comfortless places by comparison. By
the time she had shown the visitors to Charlotte's guest-room, and had
made up a bed for the boy on a wide couch there, Celia had worked off a
little of her regret. Nevertheless, when Jeff and Just heard the news,
their disgust roused her to fresh rebellion.
"I call that pretty nervy," Jeff declared, indignantly, "to walk in on
people like this, without a word of warning! Nobody but an idiot would
expect people just coming home from their honeymoon to want to find
their house filled up with cousins."
"Oh, Andy's relatives'll turn up now," said Just, cynically. "People he
never heard of. I'll bet he won't know this woman till he's introduced."
"Yes, he will. I've found her name on the list we sent announcements
to," Celia said, dismally. "I didn't notice at the time, because there
were ever so many friends of his, people in all parts of the world.
'Mrs. Randolph Peyton,' that's it."
"Hope Mr. Randolph Peyton'll get anxious to see her, and send for her to
come home at once!" growled Jeff.
"She's in mourning. I presume she's a widow," was all the comfort Celia
could give him.
"Then she'll stay all winter!" cried Just with such hopeless inflection
that his sister laughed.
When she went over at half past six o'clock, to light the fire, she
found the three visitors gathered in the living-room. She had hoped they
might stay up-stairs at least until the first welcome had been given to
Charlotte and Andrew. But it turned out that Mrs. Peyton had inquired of
Mrs. Fields the exact hour of the expected arrival, and presumably had
considered that since the Peytons represented Doctor Churchill's side of
the house, their part in his welcome home was not to be gainsaid.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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