The Honorable Miss | Page 6

taken unawares by the first visitors, and they absolutely had
the privilege of sitting on her sofas, and responding to a few icy
remarks which dropped from her lips.
But the next day she was armed for the combat. The little parlor-maid,
in her neat black dress, clean muslin apron, large frilled, picturesque
collar, and high mob-cap, was instructed to say "Not at home" to all

comers. She was a country girl, not from Northbury, but from some
still more rusticated spot, and she thought she was telling a frightful lie,
and blushed and trembled while she uttered it. So apparent was her
confusion that Miss Peters, when she and her sister, Mrs. Butler,
appeared on the scene, rolled her eyes at the taller lady and asked her in
a pronounced manner if it would not be well to drop a tract on the
heinousness of lying in the avenue.
This speech was repeated by Clara to the cook, who told it again to the
young ladies' maid, who told it to the young ladies, who narrated it to
their mother.
Mrs. Bertram smiled grimly.
"Don't repeat gossip, my dears," she said, Then after a pause she
remarked aloud: "The difficulty will be about returning the calls."
Mabel, the youngest and most subservient of the girls, ventured to ask
her mother what she intended to do, but Mrs. Bertram was too wise to
disclose her plans, that is, if she had made any.
The Rector of Northbury was one of the first to visit the new
inhabitants of the Manor. To him Mrs. Bertram opened her doors
gladly. He was old, unmarried, and of good family. She was glad there
was at least one gentleman in the place with whom she might
occasionally exchange a word.
About a fortnight after his visit the Rector inclosed some tickets for a
bazaar to Mrs. Bertram. The tickets were accompanied by a note, in
which he said that it would gratify the good Northbury folk very much
if Mrs. Bertram and the young ladies would honor the bazaar with their
presence.
"Every soul in the place will be there," said Mr. Ingram. "This bazaar is
a great event to us, and its object is, I think, a worthy one. We badly
want a new organ for our church."
"Eureka!" exclaimed Mrs. Bertram when she had read this note.
"What is the matter, mother?" exclaimed Mabel.
"Only that I have found a way out of my grand difficulty," responded
their mother, tossing Mr. Ingram's note and the tickets for the bazaar
into Catherine's lap.
"Are you so delighted to go to this country bazaar, mother?" asked the
eldest daughter.
"Delighted! No, it will be a bore."

"Then why did you say Eureka! and look so pleased?"
"Because on that day I shall leave cards on the Northbury folk--not one
of them will be at home."
"Shabby," muttered Catherine. Her dark cheek flushed, she turned
away.
Mabel put out her little foot and pressed it against her sister's. The
pressure signified warning.
"Then you are not going to the bazaar, mother?" she questioned.
"I don't know. I may drop in for a moment or two, quite at the close. It
would not do to offend Mr. Ingram."
"No," replied Mabel. "He is a dear, gentlemanly old man."
"Don't use that expression, my love. It is my object in life that all your
acquaintances in the world of men should be gentlemen. It is
unnecessary therefore to specify any one by a term which must apply to
all."
Mrs. Bertram then asked Mabel to reply to Mr. Ingram's note. The
reply was a warm acceptance, and Mr. Ingram cheered those of his
parishioners who pined for the acquaintance of the great lady, with the
information that they would certainly meet her at the bazaar.
Accordingly when the fateful day arrived the town was empty, and the
Fisherman's Hall (Northbury was a seaport), in which the bazaar was
held was packed to overflowing. Accordingly Mrs. Bertram in a neat
little brougham, which she had hired for the occasion, dropped her
cards from house to house in peace; accordingly, too, she caught the
maids-of-all-work in their undress toilets, and the humble homes
looking their least pretentious.
The bazaar was nearly at an end, when at last, accompanied by her two
plainly-dressed, but dainty looking girls, she appeared on the scene.
The Northbury folk had all been watching for her. Those who had been
fortunate enough to enter the sacred precincts of the Manor watched
with interest, mingled with approval. (Her icy style was quite
_comme-il-faut_, they said.) Those who had been met by the frightened
handmaid's "not at home" watched with interest, mixed with
disapproval, but all, all waited for Mrs. Bertram with interest.
"How late these fashionable people are,"