“She asked me where the secretary in the parlor came from and when I told her it belonged to my mother’s side of the house—the Fairbankses—and came over on the third trip of the Mayflower she said no doubt she and I could claim relationship, as she, too, was a Fairbanks. And then she said to Miss Ann that people in the south paid so much more attention to relationship than they did in the north and no doubt she was as close to me as Miss Ann was to you.
“Then I got out that book your Grandmother Knight set such store by, with all of her family written down in it and a picture of the old original Fairbanks home, and Mrs. Throckmorton nearly fell over herself reading it and hunting out where she belonged in it and finally she found her line and then, sure enough, she and I are closer relations than you and Miss Ann. Then she called me Cousin Prudence and asked me to call her Cousin Betty. I’m afraid I can never get the courage to do that, but it does kind of tickle me for them to be claiming relationship with me too. We are the same folks we have always been.”
“So we are, Mumsy, but perhaps the other 254 fellow has had a change of heart. Does Cousin Ann like having so many callers?”
“Indeed she does, and she never stops telling them what a fine girl you are. Sometimes I can’t believe she is really talking about my little Judy, she makes you out so wonderful. Mrs. Throckmorton—Cousin Betty—said she had got a letter from Mrs. Robert Bucknor, written from Monte Carlo, telling all about the good times they are having. It seems that that Mildred has caught a real beau. Cousin Betty’s daughter said she hoped he’d be more faithful than Tom Harbison, and Cousin Betty hushed up. Evidently she didn’t want me to know about Tom Harbison—not that I want to know. This beau is a count and rich and middle aged. It looks as though it might be a match. All of the ladies, even Miss Ann, thought it would be a good thing if Mildred married rich and lived abroad. They didn’t want anything but good fortune for her, but I could tell they’d like to have her good fortune fall in foreign parts.
“At first Miss Ann was right stand-offish with Mrs. Throckmorton, but that lady went right up to her and kissed her and said, ‘See here, Cousin Ann, you might just as well be glad to see me, because I am very glad to see 255 you, and to see you looking so well and so comfortable and I’m also glad to see your pretty white hair and to know you’ve got some legs.’ And Miss Ann laughed and said, ‘Thank you, Cousin Betty,’ and then they began to visit as sweet as you please. Old Billy went out and made the colored chauffeur go back and see his house and of all the big talking you ever heard, that old man did the biggest. I came back to the pantry to get out a little wine and cake for the company and I could hear him just holding forth.”
“Poor old Uncle Billy! He is proud of having a house,” laughed Judith. “His turkey red curtains are up now and his geranium slips started. He has put on a fresh coat of whitewash, within and without, and his floor is scrubbed so clean you could really make up biscuit on it. It is gratifying, Mumsy, that we have been able to make two old people as happy as we have Cousin Ann and old Uncle Billy. I only hope Cousin Ann doesn’t bother you.”
“Lands sakes, child, she is a heap of company for me and she is a great help. I don’t see how such an old person can step around so lively. She stirred up a cake this morning. She says she has been clipping recipes out of 256 newspapers for years and years but they have always made company of her wherever she has visited before and she has never been able to try any of her recipes. Her cake has got a little sad streak in it, owing to the fire getting low while it was baking, but that wasn’t to say her fault altogether, as I told her I’d look after the fire while she picked out walnuts for the icing.
“We had a right good time though while the cake-making was going on and Mr. Big Josh Bucknor came to pass the time of day. He could not stop but a minute but he nearly split his sides laughing at Miss Ann in a big apron, turning her hand to cooking. She laughed, too, and made as if she was going to hit him with the rolling pin, like that woman in the newspaper named Mrs. Jiggs. Mr. Big Josh brought some fine fish as a present. He said he’d been fishing and had caught more than he could use.”
That evening, after the dishes were washed, Judith, instead of beginning on the photographic work as was her custom, sat silent with folded hands, her head resting against the back of the winged chair. Her eyes were closed and her face was tense.
“Child, you look so tired,” said Miss Ann. 257 “You do too much. I am afraid my being here puts more on you than you can stand.”