A Strange, Sad Comedy

by Molly Elliot Seawell

“I should think they would,” cried Letty, laughing, and realizing the woes of two London flunkies in a domestic staff made up of Virginia negroes.

“None of them can read a written order,” continued Miss Maywood, who usually avoided the bad form of talking about servants, but who found present circumstances too overpowering for her. “The cook seems an excellent old person, not devoid of intelligence, although wholly without education—and as Reggie liked her way of preparing an omelette, I sent for her to write down the recipe. She came in, laughing as if it were the greatest joke in the world, called me ‘honey’ and ‘child,’ and I never could get out of her—although she talked incessantly in her peculiar patois—what I really wished to know.”

This amused Sir Archy very much, who went on to relate his experiences with Tom Battercake.

But Mr. Romaine seemed to find Letty more than usually attractive, and soon established himself by her with an air of proprietorship that ran both Sir Archy and Farebrother out of the field altogether. He put on his sweetest manner for her; his fine black eyes grew more and more expressive, and he used upon her a great deal of adroit flattery which was not without its effect. He gave her to understand that he considered her quite a woman of the world. This never fails to please an ingénue, while it is always wise to tell a woman of the world that she is an ingénue. Letty really thought that her visit to Newport and her week or two in New York had made another girl of her. So it had, in one way. It had taught her a new manner of arranging her hair, and several schemes of personal adornment, and she had seen a few pictures and some artistic interiors. But Letty was a girl of robust and well-formed character before she ever saw anything of the outside world at all, and she was not easily swayed by any mere external influences; but she was acutely sensitive to personal influences, and she felt the individual magnetism of Mr. Romaine very strongly. Sometimes she positively disliked him, and thought he affected to be young, although nobody could say he was frivolous—and thought him hard and cynical and generally unlovely. But to-day she found him peculiarly agreeable—he artfully complimented her at every turn—he was unusually amusing in his conversation, and in fact laid himself out to please with a power that he possessed, but rarely exerted. He had seen in the beginning that Letty was prejudiced against regarding him as a youngish man, and this piqued him. He did not pretend, indeed, to be young, but he decidedly objected to be shelved along with the Colonel and other fossils—and as for Miss Jemima, who was a few months younger than himself, he treated her as if she had been his great-grandmother. This, however, did not disturb Miss Jemima’s placidity in the least.

The visit was a long one, and it was quite dark before the ramshackly carriage rattled out of the gate toward Corbin Hall. Mr. Romaine had made them all promise to come again soon, and when they were out of hearing, Letty expressed an admiration for him which filled Farebrother with a sudden and excessive disgust.

VII

SIR ARCHY and Farebrother remained three weeks at Corbin Hall, and in that time a great many things happened.

There was constant intercourse between the two places, Corbin Hall and Shrewsbury, which were only four miles apart. Neither of the young men made anything of walking over to Shrewsbury for a little turn, nor did the Chessinghams and Miss Maywood consider the walk to Corbin Hall anything but a stroll. Not so Letty, who was no great walker, but a famous rider. Nor did Mr. Romaine, who had a very stylish trap and a well set-up iron-gray riding nag that speedily learned his way to Corbin Hall. Mr. Romaine got to coming over with surprising frequency, much to Miss Maywood’s disgust. The Colonel took all of Mr. Romaine’s visits to himself, nor was Mr. Romaine ever able to convince him that Letty was his objective point. As for Letty, she was a little amused and a little annoyed and a little frightened at the attentions of her elderly admirer. She did not know in the least how to treat him—and he had so much acuteness and finesse, and subtlety of all sorts, that he had the distinct advantage of her in spite of her native mother wit. All her skill was in managing young men—a youngish old man was a type she had never come across before—as, indeed, Mr. Romaine was, strictly speaking, sui generis. He was never persistent—he paid short and very entertaining visits. He made no bones of letting Miss Jemima see that he regarded her as at least thirty years older than himself. Men hug the fond delusion that they never grow old—women live in dread of it—and men are the wiser.

Ethel Maywood, though, was cruelly disappointed. She thought Mr. Romaine was in love with Letty, and in spite of that vehement protest Letty had made at their very first meeting, she did not for one instant believe that Letty would refuse so much money. For Ethel’s part, she sincerely respected and admired Mr. Romaine; she had got used to his peculiarities, and had fully made up her mind to be a good wife to him if Fate should be so kind as to give her a chance. And now, it was too exasperating that Letty, whom she firmly believed could have either Farebrother or Sir Archy, should rob her of her one opportunity. It turned out though that Miss Maywood was mistaken, and Letty did not by any means enjoy the monopoly with which she was credited.