"Yes, yes, he said, 'run up and ask your cousin if she'll take that ride this morning that we talked about at Rutledge, and I'll go into the parlor and ask your mamma and Miss Josephine;' and now let me run for Félicie to get me ready;" and the child was off again, but came back obediently when I called her. I held her tight by the hand, as, with a beating heart, I leaned over the balusters, and heard the merry voices in the hall below. I could not distinguish what Mr. Rutledge said, but I heard Josephine's laughing rejoinder:
"I assure you, I didn't mean to hint, last night, when I said I longed for a sleigh-ride again; but it was just like you, to remember it. It's a charming day. How we shall enjoy it!"
I led Essie to the stairs, and leaning down, said:
"Go down and tell Mr. Rutledge, that he's very kind, but I beg he will excuse me to-day."
The child looked bewildered, and exclaimed: "But, aren't you going?"
"No; go down and say just what I have told you, remember; and then come back, and I'll help you get ready."
Esther wonderingly obeyed, and slid down the stairs like a spirit. I scorned to listen any longer, though I would have given anything and everything I possessed to have unravelled the tangled maze of voices in the hall, and known how my refusal was received. Pride to the rescue! however, and I was bending over my German, when my aunt looked in a moment at the door, to inquire if I didn't care to go.
I said, "No, thank you; I have my translation to finish, and, if you are willing, I will stay at home."
Just then, Josephine and Grace came up, and Essie burst into the room, exclaiming:
"Mamma, mamma, what shall I wear? What frock had I better put on?"