Barbara in Brittany Part 20

The chicken, which came next, was cooked very well, only it had been stuffed with sage and onions, and Monsieur said, with pride, that they had thought it would be nice to give Mademoiselle Britton and her niece _one_ English dish, in case they did not like the other things! It was during this course that Barbara's gravity was a little tried, not so much because of the idea of chicken with sage and onions, as because of the stolidity of her aunt's expression--the girl knowing that if there was one thing that lady was particular about, it was the correct cooking of poultry.

There were various other items on the menu, and it was so evident that their host and his eldest son had taken a great deal of trouble over the preparation of the meal, that the visitors were really touched, and did their best to show their appreciation of the attentions paid them.

In that they were successful, and when they left the house the widower and his sons were wreathed in smiles. But when they had got to a safe distance Aunt Anne exclaimed, "What a silly man not to keep a servant!"

"Oh, but aunt," Barbara explained, "he thinks he could not manage a servant, and he is really most devoted to his children."

"It's all nonsense about the servant," Miss Britton retorted. "How can a man keep house?"

Nevertheless, when Mademoiselle Loire began to question her rather curiously as to the dinner, she said they had been entertained very nicely, and that monsieur must be an extremely clever man to manage things so well.

One other visit Barbara made before leaving St. Servan, and that was to say good-bye to the bath-boy. It had needed some persuasion on her part to gain her aunt's permission for this visit.

"But, aunt, dear," Barbara said persuasively, "he helped me with Alice, and lost his place because of it. It would be so _very_ unkind to go away without seeing how they are getting on."

"Well, I suppose you must go, but if I had known what a capacity you had for getting entangled in such plots, Barbara, really I should have been afraid to trust you alone here. It was time I came out to put matters right."

"Yes, aunt," Barbara agreed sedately, but with a twinkle in her eyes, "I really think it was," and she went to get ready for her visit to the bath-boy.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE END OF THE STORY.

When the day for parting came Barbara found that it cost her many pangs to leave them all--Mademoiselle Vire first and foremost, and the others in less degree, for she had grown fond even of Mademoiselle Therese.

The latter lady declared she and her household were inconsolable and "unhappy enough to wear mourning," which remark Barbara took with a grain of salt, as she did most things that lady said.

But the two sisters and Marie all went to the station to say good-bye, and each of them kissed her on both cheeks, weeping the while. Barbara was not very fond of kisses from outsiders in any case, but "weeping kisses," as she called them, were certainly a trial! What finally dried Mademoiselle Therese's tears was to see the widower and his two sons entering the station, each carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"So pus.h.i.+ng of them," she murmured in Barbara's ear, and turned coldly upon them; but the girl and her aunt were touched by the kindness, and the former felt horribly ashamed when she remembered that more than once in private she had laughed at the quaint little man and his ways.

Barbara heard her aunt muttering something about a "dreadful humbug"

once or twice, but she was very gracious to every one, and smiled upon them all until the train left the station, when she sank back with an air of relief and exclaimed, "Thank goodness! That's over--though, of course, they meant it kindly."

"They are very kind," Barbara said, looking down at the three bouquets on the seat. "I really don't deserve that they should be so kind."

"Probably not," Miss Britton returned calmly. "We sometimes get more than our deserts, sometimes less, so perhaps things adjust themselves in the end. I was really rather astonished not to see the bath-boy at the station too--your acquaintance seems so varied."

"Yes, I have learned a great deal since I went there," Barbara said thoughtfully; "and just at the end I felt I didn't want to come away at all."

"I have no such feelings," her aunt remarked, though, perhaps, a little thoughtfully also. But when they arrived at Rouen, the remembrance of their pleasant time in Paris returned to them, and they both felt ready for the delights of seeing a new town.

Apart from the information given by the Mortons Barbara felt already familiar with the great churches and quaint streets, and for her Rouen never quite lost the halo of romance that Mademoiselle Vire had endowed it with.

It was to be connected with yet another story of the past, however, before they left it, one which, for romance, was fully equal to Mademoiselle Vire's, though its conclusion was so much happier.

It was the second day of their stay, and after a morning of wandering about the town, both Barbara and her aunt were resting, the former on the balcony in front of her room, the latter on the terrace in the garden. Although a book was in her lap, Barbara was not reading, but, with hands clasped behind her head, was idly watching the pa.s.sers-by, when suddenly laziness vanished from her att.i.tude, and her gaze became intent on the figure of some one who had just turned into the portico of the hotel. She rose from the low chair, her eyes s.h.i.+ning with excitement.

"It certainly was he!" she said. "Now, Barbara--it is time for you to eliminate yourself--you must lie on the couch and try to look pale."

She pulled down the window blind, ran into her room, and had hardly settled herself upon the couch when, as she had expected, a maid came up with a message asking her to go down to the terrace.

"Please tell Miss Britton I have a headache, and am lying down for a little," Barbara said, congratulating herself upon the possession of what had annoyed her considerably a short time before, though in an ordinary way she would have scoffed at the idea of lying down for a headache. A few minutes afterwards up came her aunt, looking very concerned, and fearing lest they had been doing too much. Barbara's heart smote her, but she told herself that she must be firm.

"I sent for you to come to see Mr. Morton, senior," Aunt Anne explained. "Strangely enough, he arrived this morning in Rouen, and has put up at another hotel."

"How nice. How very nice! I shall come down later, aunt. I expect I shall be _quite_ all right shortly."

She had a little difficulty in persuading her aunt that it was not necessary to stay beside her, but at last succeeded in doing so, and gave a chuckle of joy when the door closed.

She had intended to go down to the garden later on, but, strange to say, fell fast asleep, and did not awaken until the man tapped at her door, saying the tea had been ordered for four o'clock, but now, although it was half-past, madame had not returned, having gone along the river bank, he believed, with monsieur. So Barbara hastily descended and had tea--very much brewed--all by herself, and then returned to her room to read.

She had finished her book, and was thinking of getting ready for dinner, when Aunt Anne came in--quite a different Aunt Anne from the one she knew, with all her decision fled. She fidgeted about for some time, saying nothing of importance, then at last turned round and began hastily--

"I did a very silly thing once long ago, Barbara, and to-day I have done what I am afraid people may think still sillier--I have promised to marry Mr. Morton."

Whereupon Barbara seized her rapturously. "Oh, aunt," she cried, "I'm so glad, just gladder than of anything else I could have heard."

"It--it is a great relief, Barbara," she said unsteadily, "to have you take it so. I--was afraid you might laugh. You know, it needs some courage for a person of my age to do a thing like that. It is different for a girl like you, but I could not have done it, had I not felt that since he desired it so urgently, I ought to right the wrong I had done him long ago."

"You can't help being very happy, aunt," said Barbara, "I'm sure, with such a nice man as Mr. Morton. The only regret _I_ have is that you've lost so much of the time----"

Then, seeing her aunt's face, she felt inclined to strike herself for having spoken foolishly.

"Mr. Morton is in the garden," her aunt said after a moment. "It would be nice if you went down and saw him." And Barbara sped away.

That interview was apparently entirely satisfactory, for Miss Britton, enjoining them later, found Barbara had just issued an invitation in her mother's name and that it had been accepted. "And, of course, you will come too, aunt," the girl added.

There was one part in the arrangements that Barbara begged to be left to her, and that was the letter home telling the news.

"You see, Aunt Anne," she said, "I naturally feel as if I had rather a big share in the matter."

"I think surely it was Denys Morton's letter that brought me," Miss Britton corrected; "but write if you like, Barbara." And, indeed, she was rather glad to be relieved from the responsibility.

CHAPTER XX.

THE CODA.

If Barbara had been at home when her letter arrived, she would have been quite content with the excitement it caused. At first Frances and Donald were inclined to think it a huge joke, but having read to the end of Barbara's letter they felt rather differently. Aunt Anne had acted more wisely than she knew in allowing her niece to be the one to write and tell of her engagement.

"Of course," Donald said in his decided way, "we must do the proper thing by her and treat her nicely--for after all, Frances, she's been rather a brick about Barbara--and the last time she stayed she was much improved."

"It'll be interesting having a new uncle too," Frances remarked complacently. "We're rather badly off for uncles, Don, and from what Barbara says this Mr. Morton must be very--nice, though, of course, Barbara isn't quite to be trusted, seeing she's such a friend of Denys'. Let me see, now, what relation will _he_ be to us?"