The Carter Girls' Mysterious Neighbors Page 3

  CHAPTER III

  THE COUNT

  "Isn't it fine not to have to bother about supper?" said Helen, as sheand Douglas were attempting to get some order out of the chaos of trunksthat had been brought from the station and systematically put in thewrong place by the good-natured, shambling, inefficient darky who servedas factotum to the Misses Grant.

  Helen and Douglas had decided to take one attic room in the old housefor their bedroom; Bobby was to have the other; the large chamber belowthem was to serve as family sitting-room; Nan and Lucy were to have theupstairs room in the new house; Mr. and Mrs. Carter the lower room; theshed room was to serve as guest chamber when needed; the dining-room wasin the basement. Over the outside kitchen was another extremely lowattic room that was to be the servant's bedroom, when they got her.This room was accessible from the kitchen by a flight of primitivechicken steps, that is, accessible to the young and agile.

  The two servants the Carters had had at the week-end camp had been eagerto come with them to the country, but Douglas and Helen had decided thatthey were expensive luxuries, and as much as they hated to part withthem, had determined to have a country girl, accustomed to less wagesthan Susan, and to do without a manservant in place of the faithful, ifhigh-priced, Oscar. Dr. Wright had insisted that some chores wereindispensable for Mr. Carter, such as chopping wood, carrying water,etc., and that gentleman was eager to assist wherever he could.

  "Surely you are not going to dress up to go out to supper this evening,"said Douglas, as Helen shook out a pretty little old-rose dinner gown, aleftover from the time when the Carters purchased clothes for everyoccasion and for every passing style and season.

  "I am going to dress suitably, but I don't call it dressing up," saidHelen, hunting for the stockings to match the gown. "I think Father iswell enough for me to wear silk stockings this evening," she said alittle wistfully. We all remember that in the first throes of agony overher father's nervous breakdown Helen had taken an oath not to wear silkstockings until he was well. "What do you think, Douglas?"

  "Of course, you goose, just so you don't have to buy the stockings,"laughed Douglas. "I am going to wear what I have on, I can tell youthat. There is a lot to do to get the beds made up and the house readyto sleep in, and I have no idea of unpacking my own trunk untiltomorrow," and Douglas unlocked the trunk that held the bed linen.

  "Oh, Douglas, please put on your grey crepe de chine! I'll get it outfor you and find your stockings and everything," begged Helen. "I don'tthink it is very respectful to our hostesses for you not to be suitablydressed."

  "Is it altogether our hostesses you are thinking about?" teased Douglas.

  "Whom else should I consider?"

  "How about the count?"

  "Well, naturally I can't help thinking some about a nobleman," declaredHelen frankly. "Do you fancy he is young or old, rich or poor, handsomeor ugly? I am wild to see him."

  "I can't imagine. They didn't even say what he was a count of. I hope heis not German. I must say I'd hate to put on my best dress for a Germancount," laughed Douglas.

  "Why, Douglas, I wouldn't be so biased as all that. As long as ourcountry is neutral, I don't think it is fair for us to take such astand. I'd rather dress up for a German count than--than--a Russiananarchist or maybe an Australian Bushman."

  "Well, I am not pining to dress up for anybody, but if I must, I must.How about Mumsy?"

  "She has already got out her black lace and is going to wear her pearls.She is trying to persuade Father into his tuxedo but I fancy he willrebel."

  "Mercy on us! I thought we would never have to dress in thisout-of-the-way spot," sighed Douglas.

  "Well, I for one am glad to have a chance to dress. It seems to me wehave been khakied to death all summer, and I believe people deterioratewhen they stay in the same old clothes year in and year out. I couldwish my old-rose had another width in it. Skirts are much broader thisfall. The sleeves are quite right, though,--sleeves haven't changedmuch."

  Poor Helen! It was a keen misery to her not to be in the latest style.She had a natural taste for dress and the tendency to overrate theimportance of clothes had been fostered in her by her frivolous mother.Douglas, on the other hand, had a tendency to underrate the value ofdress and her inclination was to be rather careless of her attire.

  After much scrabbling and stirring up of trunks the whole family wasdressed in what Mrs. Carter and Helen considered suitable garments, withthe exception of Mr. Carter, who could not be coerced into a dinnercoat.

  "I can't think that a quiet supper in the country with two old ladieswho are renting us the overseer's cottage could possibly call for formaldressing. Of course, you women know best what you want to wear, and veryhandsome all of you look I am sure, but you must excuse me."

  "That's what I say!" exclaimed Bobby, putting his hands in his pocketsand trying to balance himself with his feet very far apart. "Me'n Fathercertainly do nachelly hate clean clothes. When I gits to be growed up,I'm gonter be a barefoot tramp an' ain't never gonter wash nor nothin'."Bobby was still smarting and indignant from the polishing Helen hadseemed to think the occasion demanded, especially concentrating on hislong-suffering ears.

  "Sometimes I wisht I hadn't never had my curls cut off. Folks weren'tnear so 'ticular 'bout my yers when I had curls. They kinder hid 'em."

  "But, Bobby, when you are going to have supper with a count you must bevery carefully dressed," explained Lucy. "Counts are not just commonpersons like us."

  "I thank you I'm no common person," drawled Nan. "I'm a good Americanand fit to dine with any count living. That's the way Douglas and Ifeel. We wouldn't have changed our dresses if Mother and Helen hadn'tmade such a point of it."

  "Good for you, Nan!" and her father put his arm around her. "Of courseyou must dress as your mother sees fit, but don't, for goodness' sake,think a man, because he is a count or even a king, must be treateddifferently from any other gentleman of your acquaintance."

  They were on their way to Grantly, only about five minutes' walk fromthe farmhouse. The sun had set in a blaze of glory but already the greatOctober moon was doing her best to take his place. There was a hint offrost in the air and our Carters were bringing their appetites with themto grace the board of their hospitable landladies.

  "I do hope Miss Ella and Miss Louise won't quarrel all the time,"whispered Helen as they approached the imposing mansion.

  "They remind me of the blue and white seidlitz powders," said Douglas:"bound to sizzle when you mix 'em. They are so mild and gentle when theyare apart and the minute they get together--whiz!"

  Mrs. Carter cast a triumphant glance at her husband as they entered theparlor at Grantly. The Misses Grant were dressed in rustling black silkwith old lace berthas and cuffs, and the gentleman who sprang to hisfeet, bringing his heels together with a click as he bowed low, wasattired in a faultlessly fitting dress suit.

  Helen's questions were answered by one glance at this distinguishedstranger; certainly he was young and handsome; the chances were that hewas also not poor. That cut of dress suit did not go with poverty, nordid the exquisite fineness of his linen. Douglas's question of hisnationality remained to be solved. "Count de Lestis" did not give thegirls a clue to the country from which this interesting person hailed.

  "He does not look German," Douglas said to herself. "He is too dark andtoo graceful."

  She breathed a sigh of relief that her grey crepe de chine had not beendonned in honor of a German, count or no count. When she saw that theMisses Grant evidently considered their suppers worthy to be dressed upfor, she was glad she had listened to the dictates of Helen.

  That young lady was looking especially charming in the old-rose gown, inspite of the fact that the skirt did not flare quite enough. Helen had away of wearing her clothes and of arranging her hair that many a dame atPalm Beach or Newport would have given her fortune to possess.

  Mrs. Carter always was at her best in a parlor and now her beauty shoneresplendent, framed in black lace and pearls. Her gracious manner andbearing marked her as one whose natural place was in society. Her giftwas social and it did seem a great waste that such a talent shouldhave to be buried under the bushel of an overseer's cottage in anout-of-the-way spot in the country, with a once prosperous husband todo the chores and a maid-of-all-work, chosen because of her cheapnessand not her worth.

  The Misses Grant smiled their approval over the appearance of theirguests. The fact that they were two quarrelsome old sisters farming ona dwindling estate did not lessen their importance in their own eyes,and they always felt that the dignity of Grantly demanded ceremonialdressing for the evening meal.

  The sisters showed no marks of having toiled through the entireafternoon to prepare the feast that they were to set before theirguests. Disagreeing as they did on every subject, food was not exempt.If Miss Ella decided to make an angel's food cake, Miss Louise mustmake a devil's food cake; if one thought the whites of eggs left fromthe frozen custard would be well to use in a silver cake, the othersimultaneously determined to have apple float, requiring whites of eggs,and then the yolks must be converted into golden cake. The consequencewas that their supper table groaned with opposing dishes. Each onepressed upon the guests her own specialty, and if it so happened thatMiss Ella had to serve some dish of Miss Louise's concocting, she woulddo it with a deprecating air as though she were helping you to coldpoison; and if Miss Louise perforce must hand you one of Miss Ella'smuffins, she would shake her head mysteriously as though to warn youagainst them.

  One thing was apparent from the beginning and that was that the countwas a good mixer. His English was perfect, except for an occasionalsuggestion of an interchange of b and p, and also a too great stress onhis s. He was a brilliant conversationalist but had the wit not to be amono
logueist. He had done much traveling for a man under thirty and hadlived in so many places that it made him a real citizen of the world.Evidently he had the Misses Grant charmed. From the moment that hebought Weston, a fine old estate in the neighborhood, and came intotheir county to settle, the old ladies had taken him to their hearts.They seemed in danger of agreeing on the subject of this fascinatingyoung man's charms. However, they found something to quarrel about evenin this stranger: Miss Ella thought his mouth was his best feature,while Miss Louise insisted that his eyes were.

  Of course the Carters were one and all dying to know more about him: Whowas he? What was his nationality? Why had he settled in America? Wherewere his people? Did he have a family?

  He seemed to be equally curious about them. Why should city people ofsuch breeding and beauty come and live in a little tumbledown shack inthe country? He had merely been told by the Misses Grant that thetenants who had just moved into the little farmhouse were to have supperwith them, when these visions of loveliness burst upon him. He couldn'tdecide which one of the sisters was the most attractive. Douglas was themost beautiful with her titian hair and clear complexion, not ruined bythe summer out-of-doors as her mother had feared. But Helen--there wasa piquancy about Helen that was certainly very fetching; her brown hairwas so beautifully arranged at exactly the right and becoming angle; herlittle head was so gracefully set on her athletic shoulders; her bearingwas so gallant;--certainly Helen was very attractive. Then there was Nanwith her soft loveliness, her great eyes now shining with excitement andnow dreaming some entrancing dream. She was only sixteen but there wassomething about her countenance that gave promise of great cleverness.Lucy was growing more like Helen and much of Helen's charm was hers,although the child had strong characteristics all her own.

  While Count de Lestis was deciding which one of the sisters wasmost attractive, he did the extremely tactful and suitable thing ofaddressing his remarks to their mother, not forgetting to give thehostesses a full share of attention. Mr. Carter, who since his illnesshad been inclined to be very quiet, was drawn into the conversation andheld his own with his old time power. Little wonder that his daughterswere grateful to this interesting stranger who had this effect on theirbeloved father.

  The young man told them he was Hungarian and had bought the estate ofWeston with a view to entering into intensive farming.

  "Then you are not Prussian!" exclaimed Douglas. "Oh, I am so glad!"

  "Ah!" and his handsome eyes flashed for a moment. Then he looked amused."And why are you so glad?"

  "Why, of course anyone would be glad," and Douglas blushed. "Who wouldwant to have a Prussian for a neighbor?"

  "Do you dislike them so much then?"

  "I hate them!"

  "And you, too?" turning to Helen.

  "I am trying to remain neutral as our president has asked us to. I don'tfeel so terribly Anglo-Saxon as my sister."

  Of course this started the question of the war, which was in the mindsof everybody. Count de Lestis rather surprised Mr. Carter by his frankannouncement concerning his connection with Berlin.

  "I, no doubt, would be fighting with the Central Powers if I had notcommitted political suicide four years ago."

  "And how was that?"

  "I wrote a book in which I made a plea for a democratization ofAustria-Hungary. In it I intimated that the Hohenzollerns had no rightto dictate to the universe. I was requested to leave the country. I wasthen living in Vienna, making short trips to my estate, which liespartly in Austria and partly in Hungary. Now there is danger of myentire possessions being confiscated."

  "Oh, but when Germany is finally whipped you can come into your ownagain," asserted Douglas. "The outcome is merely a matter of time."

  "And so Germany is to be whipped?" his eyes flashing again.

  "Of course," said Douglas simply.

  "And why of course?"

  "'Because God's in his Heaven,'" whispered Nan, but the count heard her.

  "Yes, but whose God?"

  "The God of Justice and of Right."

  "How about the God of Might?"

  "There is no such God," and this time Douglas's eyes did some flashing.

  "I believe the United States will intervene before so very long," saidMr. Carter as he and the count strolled out on the veranda to enjoytheir cigars. The older man was enjoying his talk with this youngforeigner. He looked forward with pleasure to seeing much of him, sinceWeston was only about three miles from the farm. They made plans to dosome shooting together, as the open season was only a week off.

  When de Lestis learned that Mr. Carter was an architect he asked him tovisit him at his earliest convenience at Weston to advise with himconcerning the restoration of the old house to its original grandeur.

  "I'm not supposed to be doing any work for at least a year," sighed Mr.Carter, "but I might look it over and tell you what I think and thenrecommend a suitable architect to take it in hand."

  Douglas and Helen had a talk with Miss Louise on the subject of acountry girl to come to them as maid of all work.

  "They are all of them thoroughly trifling," declared that lady in hersoft round voice, "but this creature we have has a sister who could cometo you. I beg of you not to give her any more wages than ours receives,as in that case we should have to go up."

  "Certainly not," said Douglas. "Just tell us what that is." But onlearning that it was only seven dollars a month, the girls felt that itwas no wonder the creatures were thoroughly trifling.

  "Did she cook this wonderful supper?" asked Helen.

  "No, indeed! Ella and I always cook everything we eat and this Tempywashes the dishes and cleans."

  "But we want someone to cook. Do you think I might train the sister?"

  "Well, I have heard you can train monkeys but I have never seen itdone," laughed the fat old lady. "Come with me now and we can speak toTempy about her sister Chloe."

  They found Tempy in the pantry, peacefully sleeping in the midst of theunwashed dishes. Not in the least abashed at being caught napping, shewaked up and told Helen that no doubt Chloe would be pleased fur tercome. She promised to fetch her on the morrow.

  "I will pay her just what the Misses Grant pay you," said Helen.

  "Lawsamussy, missy, she ain't wuth what I is. She ain't nebber wuckedout ter say much. I done started at six and wucked up ter seben, an' ifChloe gits now what I gits, she'll be too proudified. You jis' start herat six same as Miss Ellanlouise done me."