Molly Brown's Orchard Home

by Nell Speed

  CHAPTER XIX.

  FONTAINEBLEAU AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

  Molly's promise to wait to see the Forest of Fontainebleau with him hadkept up Edwin Green's spirits through the long winter, and now heeagerly planned the excursion to that historic spot. They were to takethe early morning train; spend the forenoon seeing the palace; havelunch at a restaurant that Edwin remembered of old; then walk or ridethrough the Forest as the ladies should decide; and spend the night atBarbizon.

  Everything was coming up to his dreams. Even the day was perfect. He wasallowed to sit by Molly on the train and later on to be by her sidewhile the guide showed them through the palace and over the beautifulgrounds. Mrs. Brown and Judy and Kent were inseparable.

  "The poor old boy has been sick and my opinion is he needs a littleMolly-coddling; so let's give him all the chance in the world,"whispered Kent to Judy; and Judy fell in with the suggestion and hookedher arm in Mrs. Brown's with a "Whither thou goest, I will go" look.

  They had luncheon at a restaurant, The Sign of the Swan, kept by an oldEnglish couple, who made a specialty of roast beef and English mustard.

  "None of the ready mixed French stuff that is so mild you can eat it byitself, but the good English brand that will really burn," said thebuxom madame, as she smilingly served great slabs of rare beef withgenerous helpings of freshly mixed mustard.

  "It burns all right, all right," exclaimed Kent between gulps of water."It would be invaluable for outside application, but I advise all of youto go easy on how you place it in the interior. The English have stoppedwearing visible armor but my opinion is they have swallowed it toprotect their insides from the onslaught of their own mustard."

  "I think it is delicious," said Molly.

  "So do I," echoed Edwin. "I never tasted better."

  Kent gave the professor a quizzical glance and then flicked his eyelidat Judy. The young man was very far gone, he thought, if he couldswallow that mustard and make out he enjoyed it, since he, Kent,happened to know that Edwin Green abhorred all highly seasoned food. Butforsooth, if Molly liked mustard he would like mustard, too.

  Molly and Judy had expressed their desire to walk through the Forest toBarbizon but Mrs. Brown was to take the diligence, as it was rather toolong a walk for her to attempt. Judy suddenly decided that she was tiredand would ride with Mrs. Brown, and Kent declared that he neededassistance to carry the quantity of roast beef he had consumed at TheSign of the Swan, and was delighted to be spared the walk of severalmiles.

  "I tell you, I almost sang my 'Swan Song' when I got that first mouthfulof mustard, and it would have been to the tune of 'It's a hot time inthe old town to-night.' If you and the professor are going to walk,Molly, you had better start now and not wait for the diligence to beoff."

  So Molly and Edwin did start on the walk that the young man had beenlooking forward to for so many months. The Forest of Fontainebleau is awonderful spot and a fitting place for a young man to use as the settingfor his day dreams. Here he was actually doing the thing he had beendreaming of, only it was more delightful than he had let himself thinkit could be. Molly was all loveliness and sweetness. He blessed themiles that made it necessary for Mrs. Brown to ride; he blessed theunusual fatigue that had overtaken Judy; and above all, he blessed theslabs of rare roast beef that had put Kent out of the running. So blindwas he to everything but Molly, the color of her eyes and hair, thecurve of her cheek and sweetness of her mouth, that he had not seen thatKent and Judy had deliberately given up the walk for his sake. JuliaKean did not know what "tired" meant, and as for Kent, he was a youngman of unlimited capacity.

  They soon left the broad avenue and struck into one of the by-pathsgoing in the direction of Barbizon. Edwin had a map of the Forest onwhich every path was indicated, and with the help of the manyfinger-posts, they were able to locate themselves from time to time.

  "Is it as beautiful as you thought it would be, Miss Molly?"

  "Oh, more beautiful! I never have seen such trees. It is so wonderful,too, to think that there are no snakes. They say they have not seen asnake in these parts for over fifty years. When I am in the woods, I amalways a little bit uneasy about snakes."

  "Since there are no snakes, we might sit down on this moss-covered rockand rest."

  There was more to Edwin's dream than simply walking through the woodswith Molly; and he felt that no more suitable place could be found thanthis sylvan spot where she could be seated like a queen on a thronewhile he poured out assurances of his life-long allegiance, if she wouldbut admit him as a subject.

  "Oh, Miss Molly! Molly, my darling, I am dumb with love of you. I wantto tell you how much I love you; how long I have loved you. Can you loveme just a little?"

  And Molly raised her frank blue eyes to his appealing brown ones andanswered: "No, I can't love you just a little, but I have to love you awhole lot."

  His day dream was indeed coming true: alone with Molly Brown in thegreat, deep, silent forest, his love spoken at last and Molly actuallyconfessing that she cared for him. That eminent instructor of English atWellington College found when the time came to express himself that allhis knowledge of words was as naught, and the only English he had at hiscommand was: "I love you, do you love me?" and "I have loved you sincethe day in your Freshman year when you got locked in the corridor. Howlong have you loved me, if you do really love me?"

  They finally resumed their walk, but now they went hand in hand. Howmuch there was to talk about, how many things to explain!

  "And will you be willing to spend the summers in your orchard home withme? I have always called it 'Molly's Orchard Home' in my mind."

  "I can think of no place in the world where I'd rather spend thesummers. Would I not be near all of my people? I am so glad you asked myadvice about the bungalow! Now the doors open the way I want them to;and the cellar has an outside entrance; and the guest chamber has thoseextra inches on it, besides the nice big closet; and the attic steps arebig enough to get a trunk up. Did you really and truly think it wasgoing to be my home when you were planning it?"

  "I could only hope and hope and plan and dream. For almost six years Ihave known that it was you or nobody for me. Ever since you came toWellington, a slip of a girl, it has been all I could do to keep fromclaiming you. You were too young. I knew it would not be fair to try totie you to an old dry-as-dust like me until you had seen the world alittle. But oh, how hard it has been not to speak out all that was in myheart! And when I thought I had lost you, first to Jimmy Lufton, then toyour cousin, Philippe d'Ochte, life was very bitter, and I lookedforward to years of misery and longing."

  "'Way down in my heart of hearts," confessed Molly, "I knew that youcared, and the knowledge of it kept me from thinking seriously of anyother man. It was awfully conceited of me to feel that way when you havenever given me any real reason for it. At least, you had never writtenor spoken your love; but the language that is neither written nor spokenis understood by the heart, and my heart told me you loved me when myintelligence would have me understand that you did not."

  "Bless your sweet heart for understanding me and speaking a good wordfor me! I wish my heart could have done as much for me. I could not seehow you could care for me, and still I hoped and prayed. And now what isto prevent our being married right now and spending our honeymoonabroad?"

  "Well, it seems to me that a young man who could possess his soul inpatience for six years to find out his fate, might wait a while longernow that he knows his answer," teased Molly.

  "But all my patience is gone, used up, worn out! I want you all the timeto make up for this terrible nightmare of a winter that I have passedthrough. What is to prevent our getting married, if you really and trulycare for me? Oh, Molly, be good to me! I could not stand it if the oceanseparated us again!"

  And Molly was good to this extent; she said: "Let's see what mother saysabout it."

  When the pair of happy lovers reached Barbizon, they broke the news oftheir engagement to their friends, who had the tact t
o pretend to beastonished. Mrs. Brown was in a measure relieved that Molly returned theaffections of the young professor. She liked him very much and fullyapproved of him as a son-in-law. She felt sure that he would take thebest possible care of her darling daughter. There had been times whenshe had felt a little afraid that her advice to Edwin Green not to speakto Molly of his love until the girl had matured somewhat, was perhaps amistake. But now, convinced that all was well, Mrs. Brown, as impulsiveas ever, agreed that there was no reason to delay their marriage.

  The next few days were filled with unmixed charm and delight. Barbizonwas intensely interesting, having been the home of Jean Francois Millet.Here he lived, painted and died, the great peasant painter. The fieldsaround the village were the scenes for the Gleaners, the Angelus, theMan with the Hoe.

  The Forest, which touched the outskirts of the village, had furnishedmotifs for Diaz, Rousseau and Daubigny, and Judy was in a state of thegreatest enthusiasm and excitement trying to spy out the exact spotswhere those masters of landscape had painted their pictures. Kent wasdelighted to follow in her footsteps and, as he expressed it, "sit atthe feet of learning." He had seen but few good pictures, but he had anunerring taste in the matter of art and was able to understand Judy'sravings.

  Molly and Edwin seemed to be floating above the earth. They touchedground occasionally to eat the very good food that the madame at _MaisonChevillon_ served them or to pass the time of day with the other membersof the party.

  "Look at those two infatuated lovers, Mother," said Kent. "They look asthough they had left this mundane sphere for good and all. I believethey talk in blank verse with occasional lapses into rhyme.

  "'What kind er slippers do the angels wear? Chillun, chillun, chillun, won't yer foller me? Don' wear none fer they tred on air, Hally, Hally, Hally, Hallyloodja!'"

  "Nonsense, Kent, don't tease them," implored Mrs. Brown.

  But strange to say, Molly did not mind the teasing she was forced totake from her brother, although Judy called him "Mr. Brown" in the mostformal manner whenever he yielded to the temptation to tease her belovedMolly.

  "I don't mind your calling me 'Mr. Brown' now that none of my brothersare here to answer to your endearments," laughed Kent. "I rather likeit, in fact. It adds a kind of dignity to me."

  They could not play around the Forest of Fontainebleau forever, much asthey would have liked to. They went back to Paris a very contented,happy party: Mrs. Brown happy that her judgment had been correct inregard to her daughter's affairs; Kent and Judy happy to be in eachother's society and knowing they were to have much of their chosen workahead of them; Kent feeling almost certain that when his work wasaccomplished the reward awaited him, that Judy cared for him and if hecould make good, would marry him; Professor Green and Molly in a seventhheaven of bliss.

  Cousin Sally was immediately taken into their confidence. The news ofthe engagement was broken to her by Molly herself.

  "Oh, what a sly-boots you were!" exclaimed the marchioness. "Philippewas right about your knowing too much about how persons ought to lovenot to be in love yourself. Well, my dear, I know you will be happy, andas for that Green--I hardly know how to say how happy he should be. Heis not one-half so good looking as my boy, but never mind, child, I knowjust how clever and good and intelligent he is. He is much more suitablefor you. He has the imagination that Philippe lacks. Tut--tut, I knowperfectly well where my dear son falls short. There is no poetry in hismake up. His father and I have often wondered at it. He looks sopoetical and is all prose."

  The marchioness took arrangements for the wedding into her own hands.Getting married in Paris if you happen to be foreigners, is no easymatter. There is enough red tape connected with it to reach all the wayacross the Atlantic; but Sally Bolling d'Ochte was quite equal to copewith it. It took several weeks and much signing and countersigning.Birth certificates had to be obtained from Kentucky as well as baptismalcertificates for Molly. The law did not seem to be so strict concerningthe man.

  "It does not seem fair," declared Kent. "These Frenchies will let a_man_ get married without any proof of his being born; but a woman,forsooth, must first prove she is born and that she has been christenedbefore she is allowed to enter into the holy state of matrimony."

  All the papers were finally obtained, however, and Molly and herprofessor were married very quietly at the Protestant Episcopal Church,with no one present but the near friends and relatives. It all went asmerry as a marriage bell should, but does not always go. No one wept butPolly Perkins; but Jo declared he always was a "slobber baby."

  Molly naturally was married in blue, her own blue. The dressmaker almostcried when she was told that it was a wedding dress she was making,because it was not to be of white.

  "Ah, the blonde bride is so wonderful and so rare! I could create forMademoiselle a dress that would be the talk of Paris. With that hair andsuch fairness of complexion--well, never mind, I will still make her asbeautiful as the dawn." And so she did.

  After the ceremony, a wedding breakfast followed at the home of the goodCousin Sally, who felt like weeping but refrained for fear of casting acloud on Molly's day; but it was noticed that she was especiallyattentive and kind to poor emotional Polly, showing that she appreciatedhis feelings and longed to show hers.

  Molly and Edwin went on their wedding trip to--But is it kind to followthem? Let them have their solitude _a deux_. They are well able to takecare of each other without our assistance.

  They joined Mrs. Brown in a month and went back to Kentucky with her,leaving Judy and Kent to continue their art studies in Paris.

  Judy was terribly afraid that she would have to go back under Mrs.Pace's wing when the Browns left her, but the all-capable Marchionessd'Ochte got her a room at the American Girls' Club where she could be asfree as she wished with the appearance of being well chaperoned. As forKent he struck up quite a friendship with Pierce Kinsella, whom he hadonce so feared as a rival, and the two young men decided to share astudio, lessening the expense for both and heightening their pleasure.