The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan Part 12

"Why, Kit Patten! You think you didn't do anything! In the first place you kept the boat baled out as well as anyone could. If you hadn't, we'd have been swamped."

"That wasn't anything, Bet."

"If it hadn't been for you we would both have been drowned. If you had been paddling, you couldn't have caught the rope and tied the loops.

And I wouldn't have known how to tie a loop so it would hold. You saved our lives! Dad and I will never forget it."

"Bet, you're silly! You know Bob and Phil came."

"They couldn't have done anything. If they had come any nearer, the canoe would have capsized."

"Did I really do my part? I've been worried about it."

"And then some!" laughed Bet. "You're the heroine of the occasion.

Now let's forget it!"

It seemed as if Kit had only been waiting to get the burden off her mind before recovering completely. Within a few days she was sitting up, receiving her friends and was planning on going back to Mrs.

Stacey's.

Colonel Baxter wanted to keep her with them for a while, promising her all sorts of good times to make up for the unhappiness she had had, but Mrs. Stacey thought it wiser to take her home.

"Never mind, Kit, we'll have that good time before long. We'll have a big party and ask all our friends," comforted Bet.

"That sounds splendid," exclaimed the Colonel. "We'll do it as soon as you get acquainted and find out what young people you like."

"But I don't want you to go home tomorrow," pleaded Bet. "Coax Mrs.

Stacey to leave you another day."

Kit laughed: "Well you know we've coaxed for one more day and then one more day and got them. No, I think we'd better not say a word. Anyway I do rather want to get back there."

"I know how you feel, of course. Home is home."

"I tell you what I'd like to do this last afternoon, Bet. I'd like to go down in the big hall so I can see Lady Betty Merriweather. Let's spend my last afternoon with her."

Helped by Bet, Kit descended the winding stairway and lay on the couch where she could see the portrait that she loved. The sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly now and shafts of colored lights, from the stained gla.s.s, made beautiful patterns on the rug. It seemed to give the room just the romantic setting that belonged to Lady Betty.

The girls liked to imagine sometimes that they had really known the lady.

"She used to be so gay and happy that everyone loved her," Bet's voice was dreamy and seemed to come from far away. "And in these very rooms she held parties that were the talk of the Colonies, for all the great people here knew her and felt proud to be her guest."

"I should think she must have been the most popular woman in America at that time."

"I'm sure of it. And she was hardly more than a girl. Only twenty-two when Lord Cecil brought her here as a bride, to be mistress of the Manor."

"He must have been terribly proud of her!"

"I read a story about her once, how when the Revolution started, she felt that it was something that did not concern her at all. She wouldn't consent to have Lord Cecil mix into the trouble at all, for they had so many friends on both sides."

"I know just how she felt, don't you, Bet?"

"Of course! Lady Betty didn't want to think about wars and fighting.

She wanted to have parties and make people happy. But of course the estate and everything they had, was from the English Crown, for his services here."

"I should think she would rather have given it up than get into the quarrel."

"And that's exactly how she felt about it," exclaimed Bet. "And while they made up their minds not to take sides, it wasn't easy to do. All their friends had made a decision, some on the English side and some on the American. And after a while, Lord Cecil and Lady Betty got into it, too."

"And I know which side they chose," cried Kit excitedly. "They decided to fight for America."

"Yes, think of it!" cried Bet. "At that time Was.h.i.+ngton's forces were being defeated all around here, and it must have seemed to them that they were giving up their lovely home."

"And did Lord Cecil go to the war and fight?" asked Kit.

"Yes. And Lady Betty smiled as he rode away. That is until he was out of sight."

"She must have been very unhappy without her husband," whispered Kit.

"Then after Lord Cecil had been fighting for about two months, Lady Betty received a message from him, telling her to get to the American lines, down near King's Bridge, just as soon as possible. The English were advancing and if they found her at the Manor they would make her answer all kinds of questions and perhaps keep her a prisoner, hoping to get information." Bet paused for a moment and gazed up at the portrait.

"Go on Bet! What did she do?"

"She left an old servant in charge at the Manor and started out on horseback with just a small colored boy to carry her portmanteau. And just imagine, Lady Betty had never before been out after nightfall without an escort. She must have been terribly frightened."

"But that wouldn't stop her, I know!"

"No. She galloped along the Post Road.--And Kit, doesn't it give you a little thrill to know it's the very same road that runs past the house now?--And pretty soon she saw some riders coming toward her in the distance. So she turned off on another road that was not used much.

It would lead her to King's Bridge but was a longer way there. But they hadn't gone far when she again saw a rider, this time ahead of them. The man looked as if he couldn't sit straight in his saddle. He seemed to sway.

"Then Lady Betty recognized the horse. It was Monarch, Lord Cecil's own mount. 'Hurry Sam!' she cried fearfully, 'It's Monarch!'"

"And was it Lord Cecil?"

"Yes, he had been wounded but had escaped from his enemies. And it is a good thing he did, for he was carrying a message to his own army.

But when he saw Lady Betty, he almost fell from his horse, and would have, if she had not supported him."

"Oh the poor man!" murmured Kit.

"But just in a minute Lord Cecil recovered himself. 'I've got to get through,' he whispered. 'They are depending on me!' But he had lost so much blood from the wound in his leg that he was too weak. And then a wonderful thing happened. Lady Betty supported him until they came to an old hut where Martha Sikes lived. She was an aged servant of the Manor and was pensioned by Lord Cecil.

"And here Lady Betty, after a.s.suring herself that the wound was not dangerous, left her husband in the care of Sam and the old woman and rode away with the message. Lord Cecil was too weak and tired to object."

"My! That was a brave thing to do! I don't believe I would have had the courage to do it."

"Not many of us would, but Lady Betty Merriweather never hesitated.

She started out all alone, when every shadow of the night terrified her. And she rode furiously with no thought of the accidents that might occur on the rough road. She kept right on and delivered the message into the hands of the General in charge. And the paper she carried was a warning that the enemy would attack that night."

"Think of it!" mused Kit. "Wasn't that wonderful. She saved the army, I'm sure."

"Yes. The General wanted to send an escort back with her but Lady Betty refused, saying that he would need all his men for the battle that would be sure to come.