Agnes was very much annoyed. Not that she cared so much for Aunt Eunice's quaint, old-fashioned furniture, or her Indian-chintz bed and window curtains; but there were certain spoons and ladles of heavy, solid silver, and a teapot of the same metal, which, transformed into more fashionable shapes, would have been a great ornament to her tea-table. Agnes's spoons were only plated, and, as she pathetically expressed it, it did seem mysterious that Letty, who had a dozen of real silver spoons already, should get so many more. It was always the way in this world, she added, with a sigh, as though longing for a world where spoons should be more equally distributed.
Joe was very provoking, too. He did not care any thing about the spoons,—Letty was welcome to them and to all the rest; and he even said that he didn't wonder at it, for Letty did know how to take care of her things,—a great deal better than they did. He didn't wonder, either, that Aunt Eunice thought so, seeing what a mess Agnes was in the day she came to see them; and then he put on a grave expression, and reminded Agnes that some people never seemed to care for any but worldly things, and that she ought to be thinking of something better.
In a short time the furniture was brought into town and set up in Letty's parlour and front chamber,—the latter apartment never having been furnished before. Very snug and comfortable it looked, with its old, carved mahogany bedstead and bureau, its chintz hangings, and chairs covered with birds and flowers unknown to science, with little Chinamen in attitudes anatomically impossible, and landscapes utterly inconsistent with the laws of gravitation.
Agnes contrasted all this with Mrs. Van Horn's new green-and-gold chamber set, and declared the room was horrid,—enough to give one the nightmare but Catherine Trescott was in ecstasies, and declared that she should come and stay with Letty for the mere pleasure of sleeping under those curtains.
The tall clock also arrived safely. A wonderful clock it was, endowed with surprising powers, of which Gatty was half afraid; for it not only struck the hours and half-hours and the quarters, but it also showed the age of the moon, by means of a great face which looked through a kind of window; and—wonder of wonders!—it had a glass case at the top, under which was a ship in full sail, which actually rose and fell on a wave,—just like a real ship, said Gatty, whose knowledge of maritime affairs was quite limited. This precious clock was believed to have come from Holland in some unknown age before the Revolution.
The store of household linen was really very valuable; for Aunt Eunice had inherited, as I said, the spinnings and weavings of two or three generations of thrifty Dutch and New England women. A good deal of it was of very fine quality; and Letty certainly felt a considerable accession of respectability as she put away the carefully assorted piles in Aunt Eunice's bureaus and clothed the pillows on her own bed with linen. A closet opening out of the parlour held the old-fashioned Canton and Dutch china, as well as the queensware bowls and jars filled with various sweetmeats which had fallen to her share.
When all was arranged, Letty took a pot of preserved peaches and another of raspberry jam, and set out to carry them over to Agnes. As she reached the half-open door, she paused a moment to shake down her dress, which she had held up in crossing the street; and, as she did so, she heard Mrs. Van Horn's voice say, in a decided manner,—
"Oh, yes: you may depend upon it, it was her doing. She got round the old lady in some way or other. Very likely she told her stories about you. Those pious people are always up to such doings."
Letty heard no more. She opened the door, and confronted the speaker with the words on her lips. Both Mrs. Van Horn and Agnes looked confused, and the latter coloured deeply. She had a trick of blushing which made some people think she was very modest and sensitive.
"Dear me, Letty! How you do come in on one, like a spirit!" said Agnes, peevishly. "Why couldn't you knock?"