CHAPTER XVI
AZALEA'S STORY
"Yes, I'll tell you the whole story," Azalea repeated, addressingherself to Farnsworth, but glancing now and then at the others.
"On my way East, I met Mr. and Mrs. Bixby on the train. They werepleasant people and Mrs. Bixby was very kind to me in many ways. Then, Ilearned that they were in the moving-picture business, and as I wantedto act myself, I cultivated their acquaintance all I could. And by thetime we reached New York Mr. Bixby had agreed to give me a trial at hisstudio. He said I had the right type of face for the screen and if Icould learn to act, my Western life had fitted me for some certain partsthey were just then in need of. So I went in for it,--and I got alongall right. Then they wanted a little baby in the picture and as I was sofond of Fleurette and loved her too much to let any harm come to her, Ithought it all right to take her over there once or twice to get thepictures of her. But one of the films went wrong, somehow, and Mr.Merritt was determined to take it over again. I wouldn't allow it,because I found out how Patty felt about Baby being in it,--so Irefused. Now, I don't suppose you know how insistent the picture peopleare about any scene they want. They go to any lengths to get them. I'veheard Mr. Bixby say, 'Get the picture if it kills the leading man!' Andthough he doesn't mean that literally I think he would do anything shortof murder to get his picture. Well, they thought that the whole reel wasspoiled because one scene with Fleurette in it wasn't right. And theywere bound to have her over there again."
"She shan't go,--so she shouldn't!" Patty crooned, as she held her childcloser in her sheltering arms.
"No; and that's what I told Mr. Merritt," went on Azalea. "But he istricky, and I felt pretty sure he'd try underhand means to get thebaby. I've kept watch night and day, and I've always been certain thatFleurette was either in Winnie's care or Patty's. Patty wouldn't trusther with _me_ any more."
Azalea spoke the last words wistfully, with a penitent look in herbrown eyes.
"Small wonder!" cried Elise, who was listening interestedly. "After youtook that blessed child to--"
"There, there, Elise," Farnsworth interrupted, "we _do_ trust Azalea.Let her finish her story."
Azalea gave him a grateful look and went on.
"When I went away from the house to-day, Patty was at home, so, though Iknew it was Winnie's day off, I felt all right about Baby. Then,--whilewe were out walking, I saw Winnie go by,--and soon after I felt a--asort of presentiment that I _must_ go home. I couldn't tell why,--onlyI felt I must come back to the house at once. So I did,--and everythingseemed to be all right. I decided I had been foolishly nervous aboutit,--and I took Fleurette down on the porch for a little while.
"Then that man came and demanded her! I was alone, except forJanet,--who is no good in an emergency,--and Mr. Merritt was verydetermined. If I hadn't thought of the phonograph I don't know what Ishould have done, for that man is quite capable of taking Baby away frommy arms by main force. But I happened to think I could fool him,--as Icouldn't combat him,--so I put on the crying record to make him think wewere still in the library,--and I scooted over to Gales' with the babyas fast as I could run. Then I came back--"
"Weren't you afraid of him?" asked Patty, shuddering at the thought ofAzalea at the mercy of the infuriated man.
"No; I know him, and he isn't a brute or a ruffian. He was justbent on getting Fleurette for that picture,--it would take onlya few minutes,--and I was just as bent that he shouldn't.
"So, when he found I had outwitted him, he accepted the situation,--why,he even wanted to take _my_ picture in my angry mood! He is a man whothinks of nothing but a good pose for his pictures."
"He seemed a decent chap," Farnsworth said, "but I was so angry, I justfired him, for I feared otherwise I'd lose control of my own temper andgive him his just deserts!"
"He'll never come again," observed Van Reypen, "I saw you, Bill, whenyou invited him to leave! I'm no craven, but I shouldn't care to returnto any one who had looked at me like that!"
"I _was_ a bit positive," laughed Farnsworth. "But, Azalea, I must admitI'm rather bowled over by this idea of you in the moving pictures! It--itisn't done much in our crowd, you know."
"I know it,--and I'm never going to do it again! I've had enough! Iwanted to make it my career,--but," she hesitated, "that was before Iknew you--you nice people. I--I never knew _really_ nice peoplebefore,--my Western friends are--are different. But I want to be likeyou," her troubled glance took in Patty and Bill and then drifted to theothers; and her face was wistful and only lighted up as she looked atVan Reypen. He smiled encouragingly at her, and she continued.
"I'm quite ready to give up all connection with the Bixby people andI'll promise never to go near them again,--even if they try to get meto."
"You bet you won't!" exclaimed Farnsworth. "I'm glad you've given itup of your own accord, Zaly, for if you hadn't I'd have to forbid it,anyway! I can't allow you to do such things."
"And I don't want to. It wasn't as nice as I thought it would be, andyet,--it _was_ fun!" She smiled as thoughts of her daredevil stuntspassed through her mind.
"Tell us all about it!" cried Ray Gale. "I'm awfully interested, and_I'm_ sorry you're going to quit! By George, Farnsworth! if you'd seenour Azalea in that picture of the cyclone!"
"Never mind!" Azalea interrupted him, "I'm all over that foolish idea."
"I should hope so!" exclaimed Elise, with a withering glance. "The ideaof anybody being in such company as you must have been--"
"Not at all," Azalea declared; "I wasn't mixed up with anybodyunpleasant at all. In fact, I talked to no one but the Bixbys and Mr.Merritt. Mrs. Bixby was most kind and looked after me as a mother mighthave done,--though I never knew a mother's care."
The pretty face grew sad, and the whole attitude of Azalea was sopenitent and full of resolve to be more like the people she admired thatall of Patty's lingering resentment fled away. She put the baby in herfather's arms, and she flew over to Azalea and gave her an embrace offull and free forgiveness and affection.
"It's all right, Zaly," she said, smiling at her, "you _did_ cut upjinks with my baby,--but when you came home to look after her,--evenwhen you thought I was here,--and when you put up such a great game torescue her from the enemy's clutches,--and succeeded,--well,--_I'm_ for_you_!"
Patty spoke so whole-heartedly there was no doubt of her sincerity, andAzalea looked grateful and pleased,--yet, she looked troubled too.
"Oh, Patty, you're too good to me," she said, "you don't know--I don'tdeserve your faith and loyalty."
"Oh, I 'spect you do," and Patty caressed the shining brown hair.
"No,--I'm all unworthy--"
"I suppose you mean about that sampler business," put in Elise, with anunkind look on her face. "I think you ought to confess that,--whileyou're confessing."
Farnsworth gave a reproving glance at Elise, but he said, "Out withit, Zaly,--let's clean off the slate while we're about it. What's thesampler business that sticks in Elise's throat?"
He sounded so sympathetic and helpful that Azalea spoke up bravely.
"I did do wrong, Bill, but I didn't realise _how_ wrong when I was doingit. I had an old sampler and it was dated 1836 and I picked out somestitches so it looked like 1636."
"You didn't deceive anybody!" exclaimed Elise.
"I'm glad of it," returned Azalea, simply. "I was too ignorant to knowthat there were no samplers made at that earlier date,--and to tell thetruth, I didn't think much about it,--I just did it hastily,--on asudden impulse,--because I wanted to give Elise something worth-whilefor her booth at the fair."
"And gave me something utterly worthless!" scoffed Elise.
"Oh, come now, Elise," said Farnsworth, "it didn't hurt your sales any,even if it didn't help them. Call it a joke and let it go at that."
"But it _was_ deceitful, Cousin William," said Azalea, "and I do confessit, and I'm sorry as I can be about it."
Her pretty face was troubled and she looked so disturbed that Phil tookup the cu
dgels for her.
"Oh, come off, all of you," he said, laughingly, "this isn't a court ofinquiry, and we're not sitting in judgment on Azalea. She has properlyadmitted all her escapades, and she's been forgiven by the ones mostinterested, now let's call it a day,--and talk about something else."
"All right,--let's talk about the 'Star of the West,'" cried theirrepressible Ray Gale. "Now the secret's out, there's no harm inmentioning it. You _must_ see that picture, Farnsworth, and then you'llbe begging Azalea to go back to screen work!"
"Never," said Azalea, her face shining with happiness that she wasforgiven and reinstated in general favour, "I've had my lesson. No morefilms for me! From now on, I'm going to be goody-girl,--and behave likenice ladies,--like Patty and Betty--and Elise."
The slight hesitation before the last name made Elise bite her lip inchagrin, for she had seen that her attack on Azalea was not approved ofby most of the audience.
Poor Elise was of an unfortunate disposition, and envy and jealousy wereher besetting sins. She had never liked Azalea for the reason that theWestern girl, with her frank, untutored ways, often usurped Elise'splace in the limelight, and Miss Farrington greatly objected to that.
It was with malicious purpose that Elise had brought up the subject ofthe sampler, and when she found it passed over as of little moment, shewas angry at herself for having raised the question at all.
"Don't try to be like me," she said, with an acid smile at Azalea; "ifyou do, _nobody_ will like you."
"Oh, come, now, Elise," said Farnsworth, laughing at this tempest in ateapot, "play fair. We all like you, and we all like Azalea, whether shemodels herself on you or not; so let's all love one another,--and let itgo at that!"
"Yes," said Patty, "and now, my fellow lovers and loveresses, I musttake my small daughter in and send her to sleepy-by, and the rest of youhave just about half an hour before it's time to dress for dinner. Thetwo Gales may consider themselves invited,--if they will honour us."
"Delighted," replied Betty, "though not overwhelmingly surprised at theinvitation. Howsumever, we must fly back home for some purple and finelinen, and then we'll return anon. I'm usually returning here, anon! Iwonder what I ever did, Patty, before you came here to live as ourhospitable neighbours!"
"There's half an hour, Azalea," said Van Reypen, "come for a toddle downto the brook, and let's talk things over."
The two started off, and for a few moments walked along in silence.
Azalea was in a quiet, chastened mood,--a side of her character thatPhil had never before seen, and he noted with pleasure the gentlesweetness of her face and the soft tones of her voice.
"It woke me up," she said, reminiscently, "when that man tried to takeFleurette from my arms. I would have fought him like a tiger if I hadn'tsuddenly realised that the way to fix _him_ was by strategy. I justhappened to think that by means of the record I could fool him intobelieving we were in the library, when really we were flying to refuge.I knew he wouldn't come in as long as he felt sure we were there, for hewas watching out for the Farnsworths' return. So, I tried the scheme,and it worked!"
"Then you went bravely back to face the music!"
"Oh, I wasn't afraid of him,--for myself. He's not at all a ruffiansort,--and he never would have hurt the baby. Only,--he was bound to gether!"
"Well, he didn't succeed,--thanks to you, and I don't think he'll evertry it again."
"Oh, I'm sure he won't! He's afraid of Bill, all right! Any one wouldbe who had seen the gleam in Cousin William's eyes when he fired Mr.Merritt!"
Azalea laughed a little at the recollection,--then she sighed.
"Why the sigh?" asked Van Reypen, looking at the expressive face of thegirl, as her smile faded and her sensitive mouth drooped at the corners.
"Oh,--nothing--and everything! Don't ask questions!" She shook hershoulders as if flinging off a troublesome thought. "I want to forgetthe whole subject,--let's talk of other things."
"All right,--let's. Let's talk of my unworthy self, for instance."
"Why do you say your 'unworthy self'? Because you so look on yourself?or for the sake of being contradicted? or just for nonsense?"
The brown eyes smiled into his, and Azalea looked very roguish andsaucy as she demanded an answer.
"Habit, I daresay. It's considered the thing for one to look uponhimself as unworthy. Of course, I'm not all to the bad!"
"No, I suppose not. I've noticed saving graces now and then."
"You have! What, for instance? You see, I love to talk about myself!"
"Well, for one thing, you've been very kind to me. I was in a sorryposition to-day, and you and Cousin William backed me up so beautifully,that I pulled through. If you hadn't I'd have collapsed and given up thegame, in sheer fright."
"What do you mean?"
"Yes; Patty was pretty hostile at first,--though she came round allright, later. Elise was,--oh, well, you know Elise's attitude towardme."
"Don't mind her,--she's always got a chip on her shoulder!"
"Betty was reserving decision, too; and but for the strong support ofyou and Cousin William,--yes, and Ray Gale,--I shouldn't have come offso well. But I deserved any fate. I _have_ been bad,--and though I amsorry,--that doesn't wipe it all out."
"It does, as far as I'm concerned. And I'm all that matters--atleast,--I wish I might be all that matters."
"My gracious! There are lots who matter more than you! Patty and Bill,and Fleurette and--"
"Stop there! That's all! I'll concede those,--but no others. Don't youdare say that Gale matters more than I do!"
"Ray Gale? Oh, I don't know. And what do you mean by 'matters'?"
"Counts. Makes a difference. Affects you. Means something to you."
"Oh, hold on! I'm floundering beyond my depth! Help! help!"
Azalea put her hands over her ears and shook her head, laughing at VanReypen's earnest face as he racked his brain for further explanatoryphrases.
"I won't stop! I'm in earnest. I _want_ to matter--to mean something toyou! I want to count with you--"
"Kipling says, 'let all men count with you, and none too much.'"
"Well, I'd rather count too much than not at all. Oh, Azalea,--you dounderstand me, don't you? Let me count, dear,--let me count foreverything in your life--"
Azalea Thorpe couldn't believe her ears. What Van Reypen was sayingseemed as if it could have but one meaning,--yet that was impossible!Philip Van Reypen, the high-born, aristocratic Philip, couldn't beseriously interested in a crude, ignorant Western girl!
"Thank you, Phil," she said, resolving to accept his words as a sign offriendship, "you're awfully good to me, and your friendship counts. Ibegin to think friendship is the one thing in life that does count. Andit is the friends I have made--lately,--here,--that have made mesee,--made me realise my own unworthiness,--and when I say that, I meanit."
"I won't let you mean it!" he cried, "I won't let you call yourselfunworthy. For you count with me,--Azalea, more than the whole world!More than anything or everything in the world. Can't I count that waywith you,--can't I, Azalea?"
The dark handsome face was very earnest, and as it drew nearer to herown, and she looked deep in the eloquent eyes, she could no longer failto understand.
"What,--what,--" she murmured, drawing back in confusion, "what do youmean?"
"Don't you know what I mean, Brownie? Listen, and I will tell you, then.I love you, dear,--I love you." He held her hands in his own and gazedinto her face. "I can't tell you when it came or how,--but suddenly--Iknew it! I knew I loved you, and should always love you. Tell me,--tellme, Azalea, that you can learn to love me."
"Oh, don't--I can't--"
"Not just at once, dear,--I can't hope for that. But, can't youlearn,--can't you try to learn--If I help you? Brownie,--that's all myown name for you,--isn't it, you nutbrown maid! Brownie, darling,--you_must_ love me. I can't bear it if you don't!"
Azalea looked mystified,--then amazed,--and then her face lighted upwith a sudden
radiant happiness,--she seemed glorified, exalted.
Van Reypen caught her in his arms.
"You do love me,--you witch! you beauty! Azalea, you look transfigured!You _do_ love me,--tell me so!"
Then her face changed. She repulsed him,--she sought to leave hisencircling clasp.
"Don't!" she cried, "don't! It is horrible!"
She burst into uncontrollable tears, and her whole frame shook with herturbulent sorrow.
"Have I been too abrupt?" asked Van Reypen, filled with dismay. "Give mea little hope, dear, just say you'll let me tell you this some othertime, and I'll not trouble you now."
"Oh, it isn't _that_," Azalea sobbed, "it's--oh, _no_! I _can't_ tellyou,--it's too _dreadful_! Let me go!" and she ran from him and hurriedback to the house and up to her own room.