"I wouldn't be such a gumph as that!" muttered Alexander, as he fell back into position. "Who am I, to begin with?"
"A highly respectable old Puritan. The lady was surprised at him and he came to his senses, but that is not in the picture. Now Daisy take that chair a little nearer you are to have your hand on your spinning wheel, you know; I have got a dear little old spinning wheel at home for you, that was used by my grandmother. You must look at Alexander a little severely, for he is doing what you did not expect of him, and you think he ought to know better. That attitude is very good. But you must look at him, Daisy! Don't let your eyes go down."
There was a decided disposition to laugh among the company looking on, which might have been fatal to the Puritan picture had not Preston and Mrs. Sandford energetically crushed it. Happily Daisy was too much occupied with the difficulty of her own immediate situation to discover how the bystanders were affected; she did not know what was the effect of her pink little cheeks and very demure downcast eyes. In fact Daisy had gone to take her place in the picture with something scarcely less than horror; only induced to do it, by her greater horror of making a fuss and so showing the feeling which she knew would be laughed at if shown. She showed it now, poor child; how could she help it? she showed it by her unusually tinged cheeks and by her persistent down-looking eyes. It was very difficult indeed to help it; for if she ventured to look at Alexander she caught impertinent little winks, most unlike John Alden or any Puritan, which he could execute with impunity because his face was mostly turned from the audience; but which Daisy took in full.
"Lift your eyes, Daisy! your eyes! Priscilla was too much astonished not to look at her lover. You may be even a little indignant, if you choose. I am certain she was."
Poor Daisy it was a piece of the fortitude that belonged to her thus urged, did raise her eyes and bent upon her winking coadjutor a look so severe in its childish distaste and disapproval that there was a unanimous shout of applause. "Capital, Daisy! capital!" cried Preston. "If you only look it like that, we shall do admirably. It will be a tableau indeed. There, get up you shall not practise any more just now."
"It will be very fine," said Mrs. Sandford.
"Daisy, I did not think you were such an actress," said Theresa. "It would have overset me, if I had been John Alden " remarked Hamilton Rush.
Daisy withdrew into the background as fast as possible, and as far as possible from Alexander.
"Do you like to do it, Daisy?" whispered Nora.
"No."