The Honorable Miss | Page 3

Butler and Miss Peters are coming to call in a few
minutes. I met them and they told me so. They saw her, too. You'll tell
me the news quickly, Lucy, for I'd like to be first, and it seems as if I
had a right to that much consideration, being an old friend."

"So you have, Jessie."
Mrs. Meadowsweet looked immensely flattered.
"I suppose you allude to Mrs. Bertram having favored me with a call,"
she continued, in a would-be-humble tone, which, in spite of all her
efforts, could not help swelling a little.
"Yes, dear, that's what I allude to; I saw her from behind the wire
screen blind. We were having steak and onions for dinner, and the
doctor didn't like me jumping up just when I had a hot bit on my plate.
But I said, it's Mrs. Bertram, Sam, and she's standing on Mrs.
Meadowsweet's steps! There wasn't a remonstrance out of him after
that, and the only other remark he made was, 'You'll call round
presently, Jessie, and inquire after Mrs. Meadowsweet's cold.' So here I
am, my dear. And how is your cold, by the way?"
"It's getting on nicely, Jessie. Wasn't that a ring I heard at the door
bell?"
"Well, I never!" Mrs. Morris suddenly found her voice. "If it isn't that
tiresome Mrs. Butler and Miss Peters. And now I won't be first with the
news after all!"
Mrs. Meadowsweet smiled again.
"There really isn't so much to tell, Jessie. Mrs. Bertram was just affable
like every one else. Ah, and how are you, Mrs. Butler? Now, I do call
this kind and neighborly. Miss Peters, I trust your cough is better?"
"I'm glad to see you, Mrs. Meadowsweet," said Mrs. Butler, in a
slightly out-of-breath tone.
"My cough is no better," snapped Miss Peters. "Although it's summer,
the wind is due east; east wind always catches me in the throat."
Miss Peters was very small and slim. She wore little iron-gray,
corkscrew curls, and had bright, beady black eyes. Miss Peters was Mrs.
Butler's sister. She was a snappy little body, but rather afraid of Mrs.
Butler, who was more snappy. This fear gave her an unpleasant habit of
rolling her eyes in the direction of Mrs. Butler whenever she spoke. She
rolled them now as she described the way the east wind had treated her
throat.
Mrs. Butler seated herself in an aggressive manner on the edge of the
sofa, and Miss Peters took a chair as close as possible to Mrs. Morris,
who pushed hers away from her.
Each lady was anxious to engross the whole attention of Mrs.

Meadowsweet, and it was scarcely possible for the good-natured
woman not to feel flattered.
"Now, you'll all have a cup of tea with me," she said. "I know Jane's
getting it, but I'll ring the bell to hasten her. Ah, thank you, Miss
Peters."
Miss Peters had sprung to her feet, seized the bell-rope before any one
could hinder her, and sounded a vigorous peal. Then she rolled her eyes
at Mrs. Butler and sat down.
Mrs. Morris said that when Miss Peters rolled her eyes she invariably
shivered. She shivered now in such a marked and open way that poor
Mrs. Meadowsweet feared her friend had taken cold.
"Dear, dear--I only wish I had a fire lighted," she said. "Your bronchitis
will be getting worse, if you aren't careful, Jessie. Miss Peters, a cup of
tea will do your throat good. It always does mine when I get nipped."
"Don't encourage Maria in her fancies," snapped Mrs. Butler. "There's
nothing ails her throat, only she will wrap herself in so much wool that
she makes herself quite delicate. I tell her she fancies she is a hothouse
plant."
"Oh, nothing of the kind," whispered Mrs. Morris.
"That's what I say," nodded back Mrs. Butler. "More of the nature of
the hardy broom. But now we haven't come to discuss Maria and her
fads. You have had a visitor to-day, Mrs. Meadowsweet."
"Ah, here comes the tea," exclaimed Mrs. Meadowsweet. "Bring the
table over here, Jane. Now this is what I call cozy. Jane, you might ask
cook to send up some buttered toast, and a little more cream. Yes, Mrs.
Butler, I beg your pardon."
"I was remarking that you had a visitor," repeated Mrs. Butler.
"Ah, so I had. Mrs. Bertram called on me."
"And why shouldn't she call on you, dear?" suddenly whispered Mrs.
Morris. "Aren't you quite as good as she is when all's said and done?
Yes, dear, I'll have some of your delicious tea. Such a treat! Some more
cream? Thank you, yes; I'll help myself. Why shouldn't Mrs. Bertram
call on Mrs. Meadowsweet? That's what I say, ladies," continued Mrs.
Morris, looking over