The Flower Brides (2 page)

She turned abruptly toward the window, a quick flush mounting over her fair skin to her forehead.

“My dear! I didn’t mean to hurt you! But doesn’t it seem too bad to spend almost everything you have in a lump sum this way? The dress is wonderful, but I’m quite sure we could have copied it and made it just as lovely. I even know how to put fringe like that on the sash. I’ve often done it. I’m afraid you’ll be sorry afterward that the money is all gone.”

“No, Mother, you don’t understand. I had to have something that was as good as anybody’s; that is, if I’m to go to this party at all. I have to have it for sort of ‘moral support,’ you know, this first time among Laurie’s friends. It isn’t as if they were my friends whom I have always known. Those people on the north side of the city are total strangers to me and rather inclined to be snobbish. Laurie isn’t, of course, or he wouldn’t be going with me. But his mother has never called or recognized me in the slightest way till now, and I feel as if I want to show her that I know what is fitting for such an occasion as well as she does. I don’t want to let Laurie down. His mother is not like him. She’s very aristocratic and exclusive, and I don’t want Laurie to be ashamed of me. I don’t want his family pitying me and saying what a shabby girl he goes with. I want his mother to see that I know how to dress just as well as she does.”

“Oh, my dear! That’s not a very good motive to admit to, is it? She with her millions and you with your two hundred dollars! If Laurie’s mother’s admiration is worth winning, I’m quite sure she would think far more of you for dressing within your means than for aping millionaires, especially since you can’t keep up this style of dressing.”

Marigold was silent and troubled for a moment.

“But, Mother, I shan’t need to,” she said with a quick-drawn breath. “It isn’t in the least likely there will be more invitations like this. Besides, I can put away a little money now and then for another occasion that might come up. And, too, Mother, I’m not going beyond my means getting this one dress. Aunt Carolyn told me to spend it on something I really wanted—some luxury, something frivolous if I liked—and this is the thing I wanted with all my heart. This was only a hundred and fifty dollars, and there’ll be enough left for gloves and shoes and maybe an evening wrap. Oh, Mother, you’re spoiling it all! You don’t understand! It’s sort of an if-I-perish-I-perish state of mind I’m in. I’ve got to go dressed so that Laurie’s mother can’t criticize me, or I won’t go at all. If I don’t pass inspection, well, she’ll never be bothered with me again, that’s all; but I’m going right or not at all.”

The mother sighed and studied her daughter’s flushed, lovely face a moment, a compassionate look in her own eyes. “Dear! Don’t look that way! In a way I do understand how you feel, of course, but I’m afraid it’s not right. I’m only sorry for you that you seem to be tangled up in a situation that makes you feel you must step out of your natural way of living. You know your fortune in life has not been set by God in the environment of a millionaire’s daughter. Your father was a plain minister of the Gospel, and when he was called away from earth suddenly, he had no millions, nor even thousands to leave behind. All this grandeur just doesn’t seem to be consistent with your sensible life so far. But there! Don’t look so sorrowful! One dress isn’t going to wreck your fortune, even though it does take all you have, and perhaps the experience will be worth a good deal to you. Come, since the dress is bought we might as well enjoy it. Forget what I said and be happy.”

But Marigold stood staring out the window at the bare brown trees, unseeing, her eyes filling with sudden tears.

“Oh, child!” said her mother in dismay. “You mustn’t cry! You’ll ruin that dress. Here! Wait, I have a handkerchief. Let me mop you up, and then for pity’s sake take off the dress. We can’t have it ruined before it’s ever worn. That would be disastrous. I never meant to make you feel that way, dearest. Forgive me!”

As she talked, Mrs. Brooke was dabbing Marigold’s eyes softly with her own handkerchief. “There! Take it off quickly before I start you off again! Wait! I’ll help you!”

Marigold began to giggle hysterically as she emerged from the enveloping silk.

When the dress was hung on the softest hanger the house afforded, swinging from the rod in the open closet, and Marigold had donned her plain little knit dress again, they stood back and looked at it.

“I so wanted to have you like it!” sighed the girl as she looked at it wistfully. “It seemed to me the prettiest evening dress I had ever seen.”

“But I do like it, dear. It’s a gorgeous garment, the grandest I have ever laid eyes on. It wasn’t a question of like; it was a question of wisdom and suitability.”

“I know,” said the girl, her lips quivering just a tiny bit again, “but, Mother, I thought it
was
wise and suitable. There’s no question about its suitability for the occasion, Mother. I’ve read a number of times in the society columns the kind of clothes they wear at Mrs. Trescott’s parties.”

“I didn’t mean suitable for Mrs. Trescott, Marigold; I meant suitable for you, a plain little girl who has to earn her living. Won’t even Mrs. Trescott question the suitability of such a dress for you?”

“Well, but Mother, if I’m going there at all, oughtn’t I to go right? And if I’m going with Laurie to things, I’ve
got
to be dressed the way he would want to see me.”

The mother’s brows drew together with a trouble frown again. “
Why
, Marigold? Does he mean so much to you? Dear, are you planning to marry Laurie?”

“Mother!” said Marigold, her cheeks flaming suddenly into brilliant color. “Why,
Mother
! He hasn’t even asked me to—yet!”

“
Yet?
Then you’re expecting him to? Dear, I hate to force your confidence, but a good deal depends on your attitude toward the question. If he does ask you, are you wanting to say yes?”

“Oh, Mother!” said the girl, with quick panic in her eyes. “I haven’t got as far as that yet. I’m only having a good time.”

“Well, that’s what I was afraid of.”

“Why, Mother, you don’t think a girl should go ahead and plan things like that, do you, not till she’s been asked?”

“A girl ought to know whether she
could
love a man before she lets him go too far in falling in love with her. She has no right to lead him on if she knows she cannot care for him. You know, dear, you have been going pretty steadily with Laurie for several months now and people are beginning to couple your names and to question and to take things for granted. I only want you to know yourself. When it comes to spending a hundred and fifty dollars for one dress, it seems to me you must be pretty sure of yourself.”

The dear eyes were clouded again, and this time the tears really came.

“You don’t like Laurie, do you, Mother?” she charged unexpectedly, whirling around and facing her mother with beseeching eyes. “He’s so merry and—
dear
, I don’t see how you can help liking him!” And the tears poured down with unexpected swiftness.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like him, dear child!” said the mother, distressed. “Oh, I never meant to make you feel badly. I just wanted to warn you. Of course Laurie is likable. He certainly is merry—yes, and dear in his ways—I understand how you feel. But I scarcely know him well enough to judge whether he is suitable for my precious girl. He drops in here, has a pleasant word, flashes his handsome eyes, smiles charmingly, smoothes his beautiful dark hair; and he’s courteous and delightful in every way for the five minutes while he is waiting for you. Then you flit off together, and hours later I hear him linger at the door a minute when he brings you back. How can I know?”

“Oh, Mother! I didn’t realize! Of course you don’t really know him, do you? Couldn’t we ask him here to dinner some night?”

“We
could
,” said the mother thoughtfully. “Are you sure he would want to come? Of course, now since his mother has invited you, it will be easier for us to invite him—
perhaps
. But, dear, I want you to face the future, be sure of every step you take, and not rush into something that will bring you sorrow after the glamour has departed.”

“Mother! Isn’t there any real love in the world that lasts? All glamour doesn’t depart, does it?”

“There certainly is a true love that lasts, and that’s what I want you to have, dear. That’s why I’m daring to invade the privacy of your heart and warn you.”

Marigold pondered this, perplexed. “But why are you especially worried about Laurie, Mother? When Eastman Hunter and Earle Browning used to come here a good deal, you never said anything, nor when John Potter came. You seemed to take it all perfectly naturally and counted them my good friends. You didn’t probe me to see if I was going to get married right away. I wasn’t so much younger than I am now. It was only a little over a year ago. Did you like any of them better than Laurie?”

“No, not as well,” said the mother frankly, “but, dear, Laurie is of another class. It is always a serious question when young people of different classes try to come together. Once in a great while such a marriage is a happy one, but too often it is not. I want you to be really happy, darling!”

“Mother, I didn’t think you believed in classes and aristocracy!” charged Marigold unhappily. “I thought you thought we were just as good as anybody else.”

“I’m not talking about one being better than another, child. I’m thinking of the different ways of upbringing.”

“Laurie has been beautifully brought up,” said the girl proudly. “He has more real courtesy and culture than anybody I know.”

“Yes,” said the mother thoughtfully, “as far as courtesy goes, he is charming! But it isn’t just courtesy and culture I mean. There are other things, things of the world. Marigold, you know yourself he has been brought up by the standards of the world, and he considers worldly things first.”

“Oh, but Mother, that wouldn’t make any difference with us. He always wants to do what I want. That is,
almost
always,” cried the girl.

The mother smiled sadly.

“That’s very nice now, dear,” she said, “but would it last? And have you realized, my girl, that you yourself have let down some of your own standards since you began to go with Laurie?”

Marigold dropped her glance and flushed uneasily.

“Oh, well, not in things that really matter,” she said. “I don’t think it’s right to be too straight-laced. I found Laurie didn’t understand my attitude at all, and I didn’t see that a few trifles were important. He doesn’t insist on much. And anyway, what’s that got to do with my new dress?”

The mother studied her a little sadly and then with a sigh said, “Well, dear, let’s put it all away and just enjoy your dress. I’ve been looking at it while we talked, and the richness of it is growing on me. It is really distinguished-looking. The silk is a beautiful texture. It must have been especially woven for the company that made the dress. We don’t get silk like that in the stores today. It’s more like the quality of my grandmother’s wedding dress. And I like that way the sash is tied around the waist and the line of crimson fringe falling on the heavy white. It’s most unusual.”

Suddenly Marigold came up behind her mother and flung her arms around her neck.

“Oh, you dear, precious mother!” she cried. “You’re rare! You always did cheer me up just at the last minute when I’m ready to hate myself for something I’ve done. You’re a good sport if there ever was one. I know you don’t like that dress, not as much as you’d like to like it. You think it’s all out of place for me, and perhaps you’re right. At least if I had only myself to consider, I’m sure you are. But I just felt I must have it. You see, Mother, the woman who sold it to me showed me the dresses Laurie’s mother and sister have ordered, and I know what I’m up against. She said this one came in after theirs were ordered, or she was sure Gwendolyn would have taken it instead of the one she got, for she had asked for white with a touch of this new red on it and was disappointed that they didn’t have it. However, her own is lovely! It’s pale apricot silk mesh, frilled till it looks like foam. She’ll be a dream in it. She has dark hair and eyes, like Laurie’s.”

Mrs. Brooke watched her daughter’s changing vivid expression with troubled eyes. How thoroughly intrigued her dear child was with all that belonged to Lawrence Trescott! Was her warning too late? Should she have done something about it sooner? Or was she perhaps mistaken? Could it be that this was the way her child’s life was planned? Could Laurie bring Marigold the best happiness? Was he worthy of her? She could not bear that there should be heartbreak in store for her wonderful little girl.

“You’re not listening to me, Mother!” charged the daughter reproachfully. “Your eyes are quite far away!”

“Oh yes, I’m listening. Apricot-colored silk mesh would be lovely on anybody. Will she wear pearls with it, I wonder?”

“No,” said Marigold eagerly, “the saleswoman said she was wearing rose quartz—a long rope of rose quartz beads, with a buckle and bracelet to match. She had the buckle there. She showed it to me. It’s most unusual. Strange for her, isn’t it, to choose semiprecious stones when she might have real pearls! Or diamonds! But things like that are worn now instead of the real precious gems. And I can see that there’s something about the depths of rose quartz that gives just the right light and sparkle to the silk mesh.”

Her mother smiled whimsically. “Fortunate, isn’t it, that diamonds are not necessary, or where would you be? We have only a small diamond pin and my engagement ring.”

“Oh, Mother, you would suggest that I would demand diamonds! Well, if I wanted them I might get them at the five-and-ten!” She giggled suddenly.

“Dear child!” The mother stooped and touched her lips to the fair, young forehead and tried to drive the shadows away from her own eyes. If her girl was making a mistake, at least she herself would try to act gallantly through the experience.

Oh, heavenly Father, keep my child! Guide her! Save her from sorrow!
her heart prayed, even while she entered into the merry talk as they prepared the evening meal.