“My goodness, I’d like to see a demonstration some time.”
“I wonder. . . .”
“Oh you mustn’t move, you mustn’t! You’ll tear the sutures.”
“I’ve got to move sometime, Miss Harriet. It may be a month before this leg heals. I can’t stay on my back that long. If I only had a crutch or cane or something. . . .”
“We’ll find some kind of support for you, as soon as it’s safe to move your injured leg at all. Meanwhile I’ll make a confession to you. The wine cellar lock can be opened without a key. I have done it once or twice myself . . . with a scissors blade . . . when my wrist was paining me and my sister wasn’t here.”
“You don’t say. Well of course she’s here now though, isn’t she. But occupied, eh?”
“Yes, and I would not want to interrupt her class. Moreover she has another class—history of England, I believe—which follows in the library immediately after this one. Is your leg paining you now, John?”
“Like the devil himself was sticking darning needles in it. And your wrist?”
“It twinges now and again. I’ll get the Madeira for you, John. However there is something I should tell you. My sister is rather opposed to my taking wine as a sedative. She feels that the pain is all in my imagination. Therefore I won’t have any wine with you today . . . unless you insist. . . .”
“Oh but I do insist. I can’t drink good Madeira by myself.”
“Very well then. I shall have a small glass with you. One more thing. If you think you should tell my sister about this, feel free to do so.”
“I see no need to mention it.”
“As you wish. However, if she asks you, you must tell her the truth, John.”
“I always try to be truthful, Miss Harriet.”
“I’m sure that you do.”
I went upstairs then for my sewing scissors and, making no attempt to be surreptitious about it, descended to the wine cellar and obtained a bottle of Madeira. I returned to the living room with this and two glasses and while Corporal McBurney watched, I poured the glasses exactly full.
We toasted each other and sipped the wine. He asked to hear more poetry and I read several more selections from the volume of Keats. It seemed obvious that the wine was easing the discomfort of his leg.
Before he had finished his second glass, and while I was still reading, he fell asleep. I arose and felt his forehead and once again concluded that he had no fever. Then I took the bottle and the glasses—in this time of shortage I am not ashamed to state I finished his myself—and went upstairs to my room.
I had no further conversation with Corporal McBurney on that day. Since I had developed a slight headache, I sent word down with Mattie that my classes would be cancelled—English literature and English grammar—and that I would remain in my room until dinner.
Alicia Simms
“Where’ve you been?” he said.
I explained to him that there just hadn’t been any chance for me to come in and see him earlier. Miss Martha had watched me like a hawk for the entire day, making sure I was kept busy all morning and afternoon.
To make matters worse Miss Harriet decided she was sick halfway through the morning and therefore Miss Martha had to take over all of her classes. Well it sometimes isn’t too difficult to slip out from under Miss Harriet’s gaze for a few moments, but no one—with the possible exception of Amelia Dabney—can ever accomplish it with Miss Martha.
“Excuses, excuses,” said Johnny. “Come here to me now, you bold girl, and stop wastin my time.” He pushed over to make a space for me and I joined him on the settee. There wasn’t too much room because that settee isn’t as large as some and I wanted to be careful not to jostle his wounded leg, although that possibility didn’t seem to be worrying Johnny.
“Here, we’ll get rid of some of this to make us more comfy,” he said, tossing some books on to the floor, one of which was our large volume of Shakespeare which had been under his pillow.
“What in Heaven’s name are you doing with that?” I asked him.
“Just polishin off a few rough edges,” he said, “just addin a touch of culture.”
“You don’t mean to say you’ve been reading it?”
“A drop or two of it, my dear. Don’t look so shocked. It ain’t half bad.”
He seized me then and kissed me. I must say I never expected that to happen. That suddenly anyway.
“How do you feel now?” I asked him after a while.
“Marvelous, now that you’re here. How did you manage to slip by the old lady then, if she’s that beady-eyed?”
“Classes are over now. It’s almost time for dinner. I can only stay for a moment while the others are upstairs.”
“Is it that late? Have I slept all day?”
“I guess you have. Mattie told Miss Martha that you were asleep at lunchtime and Miss Martha said not to disturb you.”
“That was good of the old girl, wasn’t it, but it’s left me terrible hungry now.”
“Hungry for what?” I asked him.
“Oh all sorts of lovely things.”
Well there wasn’t much talk between us for a while after that. I believe the next thing that was said was said by me. It seems to me that was some trivial remark like, “My goodness, will you let me get my breath?” and then I added, “I don’t believe we have been formally introduced. My name is Alicia Simms.”
“Oh I’ve known you for years,” he said. “I used to dream about you when I was a boy.”
“Did you really?”
“Every night. For a while I even took to goin to bed before sundown to get an early start with you.”
“You devil.”
“It’s the truth. I went to bed early and got up late for a long time there, until my mother beat me with a broom for it, for she said all that dreamin would hamper my growth.”
“It didn’t seem to do that. You seem pretty well developed.”
“Thank you. The same to you.”
“Oh that’s not the same. I meant your shoulders and arms. You seem to be all bone and muscle. There don’t seem to be any soft places on you.”
“Sorry I can’t return the compliment.”
“Now stop that! Stop that pinching and poking! Supposing someone should look in here.”
“I’d say you were teaching me anatomy.”
“I don’t think anyone could teach you anything, Mister McBurney, especially any young lady.”
“Are you a lady, Alice?”
“Alicia. Certainly I’m a lady. Or at least I hope I am. What kind of a question is that?”
“It’s a joke is all. I was teasing you.”
“Well I don’t think it’s a very nice subject to joke about. One time my mother told me that if anybody ever suggested that I wasn’t a lady or that I wasn’t as good as everybody else, I should not hesitate but should slap that person right across the face just as hard as I could. And if that person persisted in his insults, I should scratch him and kick him and do just anything at all to silence him.”
“By golly, I believe I’d hate to be put in a ring and asked to go the distance with your mother.”
“Oh she’s not vicious. She’s very kind and gentle most of times. She just feels that all girls should learn to protect themselves.”
“Mum must’ve been in some tight corners, eh? Anyway she’s produced a very handsome daughter. That’s one thing to her credit.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. And if anybody says you’re not a lady in my hearing, I’ll give them a good kick myself—once my leg is better. Who do you get your yellow hair from, Mum or Dad?”
“My father, I believe. My mother’s hair is red.”
“Why do you only believe? Don’t you know what color hair your father has?”
“Oh of co
urse, his hair is fair. He’s been gone for such a long time, that’s all—he’s in the army—and when you haven’t seen a person for a long spell like that, you begin to forget what they look like.”
“That’s true enough. And sometimes you don’t have to be away from them for very long either. As for instance, I was very friendly with some of the best looking girls on Broadway when I left New York, but after spending these few minutes with you, I know I wouldn’t even recognize them now if I went back there and passed them on the street.”
“You’re quite a soft talker, Johnny McBurney.”
“Ah now I’ve never been accused of that before. If there’s one thing I’ve always prided myself on, it’s the way I’ve always been able to keep a latch on my tongue. I’ve always been a firm believer in the old saw, actions speak louder than words . . . as so. . . .”
And with that he demonstrated some actions which really made me rather annoyed.
“Stop that, I told you! They’ll be coming downstairs any minute now!”
“You don’t care what you do as long as you’re not caught at it, is that it, Alice—excuse me, Alicia. Come down tonight then after the others are asleep.”
“I will not.”
“Where’s your room? I’ll come up and visit you.”
“You will not! Do you want to have me sent away from here?”
“That’s the last thing I want, darlin. What would life be for me here at old Farnsworth without you.”
“Well I know you’re only joking anyway, because how could you walk upstairs with the way your leg is. And I’m certainly glad you feel that way about our school, and about me too, of course. We must make your stay here as pleasant as ever possible. We must be nice to you . . . and gentle with you . . . and bring you back to health . . . and fatten you . . . because you are so pale . . . and bony . . . and thin. . . .”
“Now you stop that, you forward girl! What would Miss Martha say if she caught you feeling my ribs like that?”
“I was only looking to see how thin you were.”
“Well you can’t do that without a doctor’s ticket. Only Miss Martha and Miss Harriet are permitted to examine me without a ticket . . . in daylight. Of course any pretty girl is free to have a look at my ribs after sundown—that’s by appointment o’ course.”
“It’s after sundown now.”
“Ah so it is. Well I’ll have a look in my engagement book then. I’m havin a terrible time here lately without my private secretary. Where is your room anyway, pretty bird, just in case when my leg is better I’m strollin around some night and want to pay a social call.”
“On the top floor—in the garret.”
“Way up there? Are you alone?”
“Yes, now I am. When more girls were here, some of them had their beds up there too.”
“What about the black-haired one? Does she have a room to herself?”
“Why do you want to know about her?”
“Just curious, that’s all—I just wondered how big the house was, and how many bedrooms you had.”
“This house is very large. There are six bedrooms—some of them with sitting rooms—on the second floor, and each bedroom has space enough for several beds. At one time there were at least twenty girls enrolled at this school.”
“By golly, I should have come earlier!”
“Well, of course, some of the girls weren’t terribly attractive.”
“I’m sure none of them could beat you—or the black haired one.”
“Why must you keep talking about her?”
“Now you’ve got to admit she is good looking.”
“I don’t think she is at all. She looks like an Indian or a Mexican or something.”
“What something?”
“Never mind. Do you think she’s prettier than I am?”
“It’s hard to compare you, you’re such different types.”
“I should hope so.”
“Does she sleep alone though?”
“Yes, now are you satisfied? She used to share a room with Emily, but since she has never been able to get along with a single person in this house, she asked Miss Martha to give her a room to herself. Edwina is so afraid someone is going to spy on her, and examine her precious belongings, and find out how much money she has.”
“Does she have money?”
“She must have. No one ever sends her any and she always pays her school charges on time. Miss Martha always makes a big point of letting me know that. Now will you stop talking about her? I’ll make you stop!”
Then I covered up his mouth—with mine—so he couldn’t speak . . . for a long while.
“Please, darlin . . . I’m a sick man.”
“You’re not that sick.”
“All right then. If I die, ’twill be on your conscience.”
He was grinning when he said that, of course. Then neither one of us said anything—or at least nothing worth mentioning—for another long while. I don’t know how long we would have gone on like that, or what would have happened eventually, had I not looked up and seen Marie Deveraux standing in the doorway, watching us.
“I have a short announcement to make,” she said, “if you two have time to listen. Dinner is prepared in the dining room, Alice, if you would like to join us. Corporal McBurney’s dinner will be brought in here shortly, if he is not too ill to partake of it. I have been instructed to deliver those messages to both of you, although I am quite sure that the person who gave me my orders never dreamed that I would find the two of you together. Well, c’est la vie. Get on with what you were doing . . . whatever in the world it is.”
Then she smiled unpleasantly and, humming a little song went out. Of course I had to follow her just as soon as I had made myself half way presentable.
Marie Deveraux
I was not surprised to find Alice in the parlor since I had observed her slipping down the stairs. I was a bit astounded at how quickly she had become engaged in amour with Corporal McBurney, but I suppose that is a result of her early training. As a matter of fact when I entered the parlor, Corporal McBurney was in the act of removing her dress and it looked very much as though Alice was helping him.
Well as you can imagine, they were both rather flustered at my appearance. Corporal McBurney did manage a small wink at me, but his heart was not in it. In fact his cheeks took on quite a bit of color—much more, I noticed, than the slight flush which arose on Miss Alice’s face. Of course he was still a stranger here, whereas Alice is used to my popping in and out of rooms unexpectedly.
If you want to know, this occurrence didn’t make me feel any less sympathetic toward McBurney, because in all honesty I didn’t give him credit for having very many brains anyway, right from the start. Why anyone in their right mind would want to undress an uninteresting person like Alice Simms is completely beyond me. What in the world could they expect to find—some great hidden treasure? However, everyone to their own choice. All men are strange creatures, I guess, and Corporal McBurney was probably no worse than many others.
I went back to the dining room then and after a few moments Alice joined us. She took her seat at the table quietly and since no mention was made of her tardiness by either Miss Martha or Miss Harriet, I had no excuse to bring the subject up myself.
It’s funny how sometimes those things go. Sometimes if you are one minute late to table Miss Martha will devote the whole mealtime to a lecture on punctuality. Then other times she doesn’t seem to care a copper cent. That happens most often, of course, when she is concerned with other things such as money matters or holes in the roof or something of that sort. Since she was smiling too pleasantly this evening to be worried about business problems, I could only decide that the presence of Corporal McBurney was humanizing her.
Another indication of the mellowing of her temper was the fact that she had apparently n
ot noticed how brooding and sullen Miss Harriet was this evening and how resentfully she was spooning her soup. These little bravados on Miss Harriet’s part are always a sure sign that she has been at the wine but Miss Martha did not seem to be aware of it.
“It has occurred to me,” Miss Martha said, “that we might all profit by Corporal McBurney’s being in this house—until his leg heals, of course. What does each of you think of that?”
She was looking at Alice as she asked this question and that unfortunate girl really did blush this time, all the way down her front which she had forgotten to refasten.
“Well, Miss Alice?”
“Yes, ma’am . . . I’m sure we can.”
“In what way would you say, Miss, his presence here may benefit us?”
“Well,” said Alice—hoping desperately, I imagine, that it wasn’t some kind of trap—“maybe the sight of Corporal McBurney here will help us to remember that there is something else in the world besides lessons.”
“It seems to me that is all there should be for any young lady your age. If we learn our lessons properly when we are young, we can expect a calm and happy life later when we are faced with the distractions of the world. Is that not so, sister?”
“I cannot answer that,” replied Miss Harriet sourly, “since I have encountered very few such distractions.”
“It seems to me you have met up with one this very day,” Miss Martha said, apparently taking a good look at her sister for the first time. It is a mystery to Miss Martha how her sister gets into the wine cellar since the door is always kept securely locked. She doesn’t know that Miss Harriet can force the lock with her sewing scissors and since it would be of no obvious benefit to me, I am not about to tell her. Of course Miss Harriet doesn’t visit the wine cellar too often nowadays, because she knows that would set off a full scale investigation. Also when she does remove a bottle, she always rearranges those remaining, sometimes replacing those on the upper shelves with bottles which I think are filled with water and then as an additional precaution, she always sweeps away her footprints in the dust, if she has made any.
The Beguiled Page 17
