it was on a cool, cloudy day in early september that mr. and mrs. burke denby arrived at dalton from their wedding trip.
with characteristic inclination to avoid anything unpleasant, the young husband had neglected to tell his wife that they were not to live in the denby mansion. he had argued with himself that she would find it out soon enough, anyway, and that there was no reason why he should spoil their wedding trip with disagreeable topics of conversation. burke always liked to put off disagreeable things till the last.
helen was aware, it is true, that burke's father was much displeased at the marriage; but that this displeasure had gone so far as to result in banishment from the home, she did not know. she had been planning, indeed, just how she would win her father-in-law over—just how sweet and lovely and daughterly she would be, as a member of the denby household; and so sure was she of victory that already she counted the battle half won.
in the old days of her happy girlhood, helen barnet had taken as a matter of course the succumbing of everything and everybody to her charm and beauty. and although this feeling had, perforce, been in abeyance for some eighteen months, it had been very[pg 34] rapidly coming back to her during the past two weeks, under the devoted homage of her young husband and the admiring eyes of numberless strangers along their honeymoon way.
it was a complete and disagreeable surprise to her now, therefore, when burke said to her, a trifle nervously, as they were nearing dalton:—
"we'll have to go to a hotel, of course, helen, for a few days, till we get the apartment ready. but 'twon't be for long, dear."
"hotel! apartment! why, burke, aren't we going home—to your home?"
"oh, no, dear. we're going to have a home of our own, you know—our home."
"no, i didn't know." helen's lips showed a decided pout.
"but you'll like it, dear. you just wait and see." the man spoke with determined cheeriness.
"but i can't like it better than your old home, burke. i know what that is, and i'd much rather go there."
"yes, yes, but—" young denby paused to wet his dry lips. "er—you know, dear, dad wasn't exactly—er—pleased with the marriage, anyway, and—"
"that's just it," broke in the bride eagerly. "that's one reason i wanted to go there—to show him, you know. why, burke, i'd got it all planned out lovely, how nice i was going to be to him—get his paper and slippers, and kiss him good-morning, and—"[pg 35]
"holy smoke! kiss—" just in time the fastidious son of a still more fastidious father pulled himself up; but to a more discerning bride, his face would already have finished his sentence. "er—but—well, anyhow, dear," he stammered, "that's very kind of you, of course; but you see it's useless even to think of it. he—he has forbidden us to go there."
"why, the mean old thing!"
"helen!"
helen's face showed a frown as well as a pout.
"i don't care. he is mean, if he is your father, not to let—"
"helen!"
at the angry sharpness of the man's voice helen stopped abruptly. for a moment she gazed at her husband with reproachful eyes. then her chin began to quiver, her breath to come in choking little gasps, and the big tears to roll down her face.
"why, burke, i—"
"oh, great scott! helen, dearest, don't, please!" begged the dismayed and distracted young husband, promptly capitulating at the awful sight of tears of which he was the despicable cause. "darling, don't!"
"but you never sp-poke like that to me b-before," choked the wife of a fortnight.
"i know. i was a brute—so i was! but, sweetheart, please stop," he pleaded desperately. "see, we're just pulling into dalton. you don't want them to see you crying—a bride!"
mrs. burke denby drew in her breath convulsively,[pg 36] and lifted a hurried hand to brush the tears from her eyes. the next moment she smiled, tremulously, but adorably. she looked very lovely as she stepped from the car a little later; and burke denby's heart swelled with love and pride as he watched her. if underneath the love and pride there was a vague something not so pleasant, the man told himself it was only a natural regret at having said anything to cast the slightest shadow on the home-coming of this dear girl whom he had asked to share his life. whatever this vague something was, anyway, burke resolutely put it behind him, and devoted himself all the more ardently to the comfort of his young wife.
in spite of himself, burke could not help looking for his father's face at the station. never before had he come home (when not with his father), and not been welcomed by that father's eager smile and outstretched hand. he missed them both now. otherwise he was relieved to see few people he knew, as he stepped to the platform, though he fully realized, from the sly winks and covert glances, that every one knew who he was, and who also was the lady at his side.
with only an occasional perfunctory greeting, and no introductions, therefore, the somewhat embarrassed and irritated bridegroom hurried his bride into a public carriage, and gave the order to drive to the hancock hotel.
all the way there he talked very fast and very tenderly of the new home that was soon to be theirs.[pg 37]
"'twill be only for a little—the hotel, dear," he plunged in at once. "and you won't mind it, for a little, while we're planning, will you, darling? i'm going to rent one of the reddington apartments. you remember them—on reddington avenue; white stone with dandy little balconies between the big bay windows. they were just being finished when you were here. they're brand-new, you see. and we'll be so happy, there, dearie,—just us two!"
"us two! but, burke, there'll be three. there'll have to be the hired girl, too, you know," fluttered the new wife, in quick panic. "surely you aren't going to make me do without a hired girl!"
"oh, no—no, indeed," asserted the man, all the more hurriedly, because he never had thought of a "hired girl," and because he was rather fearfully wondering how much his father paid for the maids, anyway. there would have to be one, of course; but he wondered if his allowance would cover it, with all the rest. still, he could smoke a cigar or two less a day, he supposed, if it came to a pinch, and—but helen was speaking.
"dear, dear, but you did give me a turn, burke! you see, there'll just have to be a hired girl—that is, if you want anything to eat, sir," she laughed, showing all her dimples. (and burke loved her dimples!) "i can't cook a little bit. i never did at home, you know, and i should hate it, i'm sure. it's so messy—sticky dough and dishes, and all that!" again she laughed and showed all her dimples,[pg 38] looking so altogether bewitching that burke almost—but not quite—stole a kiss. he decided, too, on the spot, that he would rather never smoke another cigar than to subject this adorable little thing at his side to any task that had to do with the hated "messy dough and sticky dishes." indeed he would!
something of this must have shown in his face, for the little bride beamed anew, and the remainder of the drive was a blissfully happy duet of fascinating plans regarding this new little nest of a home.
all this was at four o'clock. at eight o'clock burke denby came into their room at the hotel with a white face and tense lips.
"well, helen, we're in for it," he flung out, dropping himself into the nearest chair.
"what do you mean?"
"father has cut off my allowance."
"but you—you've gone to work. there's your wages!"
"oh, yes, there are my—wages."
something in his tone sent a swift suspicion to her eyes.
"do you mean—they aren't so big as your allowance?"
"i certainly do."
"how perfectly horrid! just as if it wasn't mean enough for him not to let us live there, without—"
"helen!" burke denby pulled himself up in his chair. "see here, dear, i shan't let even you say things like that about dad. now, for heaven's sake,[pg 39] don't let us quarrel about it," he pleaded impatiently, as he saw the dreaded quivering coming to the pouting lips opposite.
"but i—i—"
"helen, dearest, don't cry, please don't! crying won't help; and i tell you it's serious business—this is."
"but are you sure—do you know it's true?" faltered the young wife, too thoroughly frightened now to be angry. "did you see—your father?"
"no; i saw brett."
"who's he? maybe he doesn't know."
"oh, yes, he does," returned burke, with grim emphasis. "he knows everything. they say at the works that he knows what father's going to have for breakfast before the cook does."
"but who is he?"
"he's the head manager of the denby iron works and father's right-hand man. he came here to-night to see me—by dad's orders, i suspect."
"is your father so awfully angry, then?" her eyes had grown a bit wistful.
"i'm afraid he is. he says i've made my bed and now i must lie in it. he's cut off my allowance entirely. he's raised my wages—a little, and he says it's up to me now to make good—with my wages."
there was a minute's silence. the man's eyes were gloomily fixed on the opposite wall. his whole attitude spelled disillusion and despair. the woman's eyes, questioning, fearful, were fixed on the man.[pg 40]
plainly some new, hidden force was at work within helen denby's heart. scorn and anger had left her countenance. grief and dismay had come in their place.
"burke, why has your father objected so to—to me?" she asked at last, timidly.
abstractedly, as if scarcely conscious of what he was saying, the man shrugged:—
"oh, the usual thing. he said you weren't suited to me; you wouldn't make me happy."
the wife recoiled visibly. she gave a piteous little cry. it was too low, apparently, to reach her husband's ears. at all events, he did not turn. for fully half a minute she watched him, and in her shrinking eyes was mirrored each eloquent detail of his appearance, the lassitude, the gloom, the hopelessness. then, suddenly, to her whole self there came an electric change. as if throwing off bonds that held her she flung out her arms and sprang toward him.
"burke, it isn't true, it isn't true," she flamed. "i'm going to make you happy! you just wait and see. and we'll show him. we'll show him we can do it! he told you to make good; and you must, burke! i won't have him and everybody else saying i dragged you down. i won't! i won't! i won't!"
burke denby's first response was to wince involuntarily at the shrill crescendo of his wife's voice. his next was to shrug his shoulders irritably as the meaning of her words came to him.
"nonsense, helen, don't be a goose!" he scowled.[pg 41]
"i'm not a goose. i'm your wife," choked helen, still swayed by the exaltation that had mastered her. "and i'm going to help you win—win, i say! do you hear me, burke?"
"of course i hear you, helen; and—so'll everybody else, if you don't look out. please speak lower, helen!"
she was too intent and absorbed to be hurt or vexed. obediently she dropped her voice almost to a whisper.
"yes, yes, i know, burke; and i will, i will, dear." she fell on her knees at his side. "but it seems as if i must shout it to the world. i want to go out on the street here and scream it at the top of my voice, till your father in his great big useless house on the hill just has to hear me."
"helen, helen!" shivered her husband.
but she hurried on feverishly.
"burke, listen! you're going to make good. do you hear? we'll show them. we'll never let them say they—beat us!"
"but—but—"
"we aren't going to say 'but' and hang back. we're going to do!"
"but, helen, how? what?" demanded the man, stirred into a show of interest at last. "how can we?"
"i don't know, but we're going to do it."
"there won't be—hardly any money."
"i'll get along—somehow."[pg 42]
"and we'll have to live in a cheap little hole somewhere—we can't have one of the reddingtons."
"i don't want it—now."
"and you'll have to—to work."
"yes, i know." her chin was still bravely lifted.
"there can't be any—maid now."
"then you'll have to eat—what i cook!" she drew in her breath with a hysterical little laugh that was half a sob.
"you darling! i shall love it!" he caught her to himself in a revulsion of feeling that was as ardent as it was sudden. "only i'll so hate to have you do it, sweetheart—it's so messy and doughy!"
"nonsense!"
"you told me it was."
"but i didn't know then—what they were saying about me. burke, they just shan't say i'm dragging you down."
"indeed they shan't, darling."
"then you will make good?" she regarded him with tearful, luminous eyes.
"of course i will—with you to help me."
her face flamed into radiant joy.
"yes, with me to help! that's it, that's it—i'm going to help you," she breathed fervently, flinging her arms about his neck.
and to each, from the dear stronghold of the other's arms, at the moment, the world looked, indeed, to be a puny thing, scarcely worth the conquering.[pg 43]
