The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan Part 6

"Never. He has too many of them already. It must be something very special, for Dad's so excited. Has it jewels and everything?" laughed Bet.

"Guess!"

"Jewelled slippers?" said Kit.

"That's old stuff. He has three pair of those already. I know Dad wouldn't enthuse over slippers."

"What can it be? I'll guess that it's a necklace."

"No, Kit, it's still more interesting than a necklace," answered the Colonel.

"Oh, I know," suddenly cried s.h.i.+rley. "A musical snuff box!"

"He had several of those once, I know he wouldn't make a fuss over them, they're not so valuable."

"Then what is it? Tell us quickly," pleaded Joy who never did like to play the game of guessing.

"Do you give up?"

"No, no, not yet!" pleaded Bet. "One more try."

"All right, but only one more, remember," laughed the Colonel.

"I'll guess that it's one of those crystal flasks for smelling salts."

"What were smelling salts for?" asked Kit.

"Well, you see in those days it was the fas.h.i.+on for young ladies to be frail and delicate and the least noise was apt to startle them and make them faint."

"Oh ho, I see," shouted Kit, "so they carried their restoratives around with them. Some idea!"

"Think of it," said Bet contemptuously. "Wanting to faint in order to look interesting."

"And is it a crystal flask?" asked Kit.

"No. Come on upstairs and I'll show you what it is."

They followed, laughing and chatting as they went. Kit had some difficulty in handling her long skirts. Bet watched her with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Those gowns may be beautiful to look at, but for comfort, give me my short dress with no flounces or trains."

"That's what I say, too, Bet, but what can you expect from ladies who liked to faint?" laughed Kit.

"Did you ever think about it, Kit, how lucky we are to be born in this age? Girls have such a good time."

Their conversation was interrupted by Colonel Baxter calling, "Come along, girls!"

As they entered the room he sat at his desk holding a small package in his hand.

"This is something I bought a few months ago, and I took it out of the vault to have a photograph made of it. I am not quite _sure_ that it is worth a lot of money, but I think it is. Here we are."

The Colonel unfolded a piece of silk and placed the treasure on it.

"A fan!" exclaimed Bet. "Oh, Daddy, what a beauty!" She held out her hand as if to take it, then hesitated. It seemed too pretty to touch.

The sticks and guards of the fan were of ivory, elaborately carved and pierced. The raised figures and designs were gilded. The mount of the fan was of parchment, painted with a scene of the Luxembourg gardens in which a fete was taking place. Young lovers in the dim sunlight under the trees, paid court to their ladies. There was flirting and teasing and romping play. Though gaiety and frivolity were expressed yet there was a certain wistfulness as well, a little heart-throb of haunting regret.

"It seems as if the artist had told a whole story in that tiny picture," said Kit quietly.

"That's it, exactly," exclaimed Colonel Baxter, bestowing a smile on Kit. This young girl had caught the idea of the painting at a glance.

"How can you tell whether it is valuable or not?" asked s.h.i.+rley.

"We know it is worth a lot of money, for Watteau, a famous painter of the 18th Century did this work. But there is another detail to be decided before we can say how valuable it is."

The four girls, sensing a romance, looked on with interest and pleasure. Colonel Baxter fingered the fan with the touch of one who loved beautiful things. His hand caressed the carved ivory.

"Whose was it, Dad?" begged Bet. "It couldn't have been an ordinary person's fan."

"Of course it wasn't!" said Kit emphatically.

"Did it belong to Martha Was.h.i.+ngton?" asked Bet suddenly.

"We seem to be doing a lot of guessing today."

"No, it did not belong to Martha Was.h.i.+ngton. A lot more interesting than that!"

"Lady Betty Merriweather! I'm sure it was hers," exclaimed Kit.

"Wrong again! No, the fan once belonged to a queen, a beautiful, light-hearted queen of France, who came to a tragic end."

"Marie Antoinette!" gasped Bet. "Oh, Daddy, think of it!"

"Yes. When she first came to France as the bride of the Dauphin, Louis XV admired her for her great beauty and showered her with gifts. And we believe this fan was given to her by the king. As soon as I hear from an expert who is working on the case, I will know for sure."

"A queen's fan!" exclaimed Kit. "Doesn't it sound romantic?"

"And she would use it like this!" And Bet took the fan from her father, flourished it back and forth coquettishly with a flippant smile, half hidden by the fan.

A chorus of laughter greeted Bet's imitation of a flirt.

"Where did my daughter learn all those arts?" asked her father.

"She didn't have to learn them. They came natural," sang Joy, as she danced out of the room.

"Ladies used their fans to send messages to the lovers they preferred and to tease them with arch glances at other suitors," explained Bet.

"It was a gay life at Court!"