V
HALF an hour later Caleb Trench was helping his two guests into the doctor’s old-fashioned, high-topped buggy.
“That’ll do, Caleb; I’ve got her safely tucked in,� Dr. Cheyney said, as he gathered the reins up and disentangled them from old Henk’s tail. “I reckon Henk and I can carry her all right; she isn’t any more delicate than a basket of eggs.�
Diana smiled in her corner of the carriage. “Thank you again, Mr. Trench,� she said gently; “it’s nice to have some one considerate. Dr. Cheyney has always scolded me, and I suppose he always will.�
“Think likely,� the doctor twinkled; “you mostly deserve it, Miss Royall.�
“He’s worse when he calls me names,� Diana lamented, and bowed her head again to Caleb as old Henk started deliberately upon his way.
The hood of the vehicle shut off her view, and she did not know that Trench stood bareheaded in the rain to watch the receding carriage, until the drenched green boughs locking over the road closed his last glimpse of it in a mist-wreathed perspective, beautiful with wind-beaten showers of dogwood bloom.
The two inside the buggy were rather silent for awhile. Diana was watching the light rainfall. The sun was breaking through the clouds, and the atmosphere became wonderfully translucent. Great branches were strewn by the way, and a tall pine, cleft from tip to root, showed the course of a thunderbolt. The stream was so swollen that old Henk forded with cautious feet, and the water lapped above the carriage step.
“Drowned out most of the young crops,� Dr. Cheyney remarked laconically.
“What sort of a man is Caleb Trench?� Diana asked irrelevantly.
Dr. Cheyney looked around at her with quizzical eyes. “A shopkeeper,� he replied. “I reckon that’s about as far as you got before to-day, wasn’t it?�
She colored. “I suppose it was,� she admitted, and then added, “Not quite, doctor; I saw that he was odd.�
The old man smiled. “Di,� he said, “when you were no higher than my knee you’d have been more truthful. You know, as well as I do, that the man is above the average; he’s keeping shop and reading law down at Judge Hollis’ office, and he’s trying to teach the backwoodsmen honest politics. Taken out a pretty large contract, eh?�
Diana looked down at her fine strong hands lying crossed in her lap; her face was deeply thoughtful. “I suppose he’s bent on rising in politics,� she said, with a touch of scorn in her voice; “the typical self-made man.�
“You didn’t happen to know that he was a gentleman,� Dr. Cheyney remarked dryly.
She met his eye and smiled unwillingly. “I did,� she said; “I saw it—to-night.�
“Oh, you did, did you?� The old man slapped Henk with the reins. “Well, what else did you see?�
“Very little, I imagine,� she replied. “I suppose I thought he had ‘a story’; that’s the common thing, isn’t it?�
“Maybe,� admitted the doctor, “but it isn’t so, as far as I know. Caleb Trench comes of good old stock in Pennsylvania. His father lost a fortune just before Caleb left college; the old man’s dead, and his wife, too. Trench has had to work and work hard. He couldn’t take his law course, and he’s never complained. He got together a little money and had to pay it all out for his sister; she was dying of some spinal trouble, and had to be nursed through a long illness and buried. Trench gave every cent; now he’s making a new start. Hollis likes him, so does Miss Sarah.�
Diana smiled. “It’s something to please Miss Sarah.�
“I never did,� said William Cheyney calmly; “she declares I tried to poison her last time she was laid up with sciatica. She’s taking patent medicines now, and when she’s at the last gasp she’ll send for me and lay the blame on my shoulders.�
“It’s hard to be a doctor after all, isn’t it?� laughed Diana; then she leaned forward and caughtthe blossoming end of a vagrant dogwood and broke off the flowers as they passed. “Dr. Cheyney,� she went on, after a long moment, “I’ve wanted you to see father again; I don’t believe he’s well.�
“Why not?� asked the doctor, his eyes on the mist of rain that seemed to move before them like the pillar of cloud before the Israelites.
“He’s moody,� she said, “he’s almost sad at times and—and he spent an hour in the Shut Room—� She paused and looked questioningly at the old man beside her, but he made no comment.
In the pause they heard the slush of Henk’s hoofs in the muddy road.
“I wish he wouldn’t,� Diana continued; “it’s beautiful—his devotion to my mother’s memory, but I—I’m jealous of that Shut Room, it makes him so unhappy. Couldn’t I break it up by taking him away?�
The doctor shook his head. “Better not, Diana,� he cautioned her, “better not. You can’t uproot an old tree. Let him fight his battle out alone.�
“I can’t bear that he should be alone,� she protested tenderly. “I can’t bear to be shut out even from his griefs. Pa and I are all in all to each other. Why does he never speak of mother? Is it his sorrow?�
Dr. Cheyney nodded, pursing his lips. Henk jogged on.
“It’s a long time,� said Diana, “I was only three years old.�
“Let it be, my girl,� the old man counseled; “we can’t enter the upper chamber of the soul, you know. David’s got to fight it out. Sometimes�—the doctor let the reins go so slack that old Henk walked—“sometimes grief is like a raw cut, Diana, and we can’t put in a few stitches either; got to leave that to Providence.�
“He isn’t well,� Diana insisted.
“He’d be no better for my meddling,� Dr. Cheyney retorted, unmoved.
“I wanted him to go East with me,� she continued, “to go to New York.�
Dr. Cheyney glanced up quickly. “And he wouldn’t?�
Diana shook her head.
“Don’t you ask it,� cautioned the old man. “It’s the time of year when your father’s full of notions; let him be.�
“The time of year�—Diana met the doctor’s kindly eyes—“when mother died?�
William Cheyney turned red. The girl, looking at him, saw the dull red stealing up to the old man’s white hair and wondered.
“Yes,� he said.
“Do I look like her?� Diana asked, after a moment of perplexed thought.
“No!� said Dr. Cheyney shortly.
Old Henk had climbed the last hill,—the one that always seems to meet the sky until you have climbed it,—and there, below it, unfolded the wide valleywith the brown of new-plowed fields and the long strips of lovely foliage. The mist of the rain was molten gold now, and a rainbow spanned the sky.
“I wish I did!� Diana sighed regretfully.
“You’re the handsomest woman in the State,� the old doctor retorted tartly. “What more do you want?�
“The kingdoms of earth,� replied Diana, and laughed softly.
Dr. Cheyney disentangled the rein again from old Henk’s tail, and they turned the corner.
“Diana,� he said abruptly, “did you happen to ask Caleb Trench to call?�
“I?� Diana flushed crimson. “No,� she said reluctantly, “I didn’t.�
Dr. Cheyney shook with silent laughter. “That’s the way you treat the good Samaritan,� he said. “I’d rather be the Levite, Di.�
She leaned back in her corner of the carriage, blushing but resentful, a line between her brows. “It wouldn’t be any use,� she said. “I—I couldn’t make him feel welcome there.�
“You mean that Cousin Jacob would insult him,� Dr. Cheyney said bluntly.
She stiffened. “I should protect my own guests,� she retorted hotly.
“Could you?� asked the doctor dryly.
Diana met his eyes indignantly; then a throb of pain in her ankle made her wince.
“I reckon it does hurt, Di.� The old man smiledcompassionately. “I’ll bandage it when we get you home. Don’t be capering off your horse again in thunder-storms.�
“I’d be sure to break my neck next time, I suppose,� she said ruefully.
“Let it be a leg, Di,� advised the doctor, “that would give me a job; the other would all go to the undertaker. He told me once,� he added, with a twinkle, “that we worked so much together we ought to have a common interest. I believe he wanted to found a trust—‘doctors’ and undertakers’ amalgamated protected’—or something of that sort. I begged off on the ground of injury to my profession. I told him it wouldn’t do for a poor man like me to go into a trust with a rich planter.�
“Dr. Cheyney,� Diana interrupted, “I don’t want you to think that Jacob Eaton rules our house; he has more influence with father than I wish he had, but he can’t rule father.�
“I suppose you’ll marry him in the end,� William Cheyney remarked reflectively.
Diana, leaning back in her corner, looked thoughtful. “No,� she said slowly, “I don’t believe I will.�
The doctor slapped Henk again with his loose rein. “Why not?� he asked dispassionately.
She thought a moment, a gleam of mischief deepening in her glance. “For one thing, his eyes are too near together,� she said at last.
“There’s no telling but what you could get themspaced better,� he replied, twinkling; “science is advancing, and so is wireless telegraphy.�
Diana laughed. “Some one will like them as they are,� she said, “and Jacob thinks them handsome.�
“Sleek young cub!� said the doctor, turning in at the gate that led to the old white house with its two wings and its belvedere. “I’d like you to marry a real man, Di.�
Diana leaned her head back in the corner and closed her eyes, as the throbbing pain held her breathless again. Then she smiled. “Dr. Cheyney,� she said, “do you remember the time I cried because you wouldn’t give me the pink capsules?�
“You were seven,� replied the doctor placidly. “I remember. They would have killed you, but you screamed for them; you raised Cain about them.�
“I wanted my own way,� said Diana, “and I want it still. I think I’d better be an old maid.�
Old Henk was jogging up the path, and before the doctor could reply a negro stableman came running breathless, and stopped at the sight of Diana.
“Fo’ de Lawd, Miss Di!� he said, “I’se glad ter see you. Jerry done come home drenched, an’ we ’se been out searchin’—scared ter tell de col’nel.�
“You old rogue!� said the doctor, “he was the first one to tell. Miss Diana has sprained her ankle.�
“He was right,� said Diana promptly; “father would have been out in the storm and never found me. Texas, go on up and tell the colonel that I’vehurt my ankle; I won’t have him worried, and I can’t walk well enough to deceive him.�
The doctor looked at her quizzically. “That’s right, Di,� he said, driving on; “you’ve spoilt him, but I reckon he can stand it if I can.�
“He began it,� she laughed softly; “he spoilt me first.�
Dr. Cheyney laughed too. “Perhaps he did,� he admitted gently,—“perhaps he did, but I’m not sure; you’ve got to have your trial, Diana.�
They were at the door now, and she laid her hand suddenly over the old man’s. “Dr. Cheyney,� she said, “won’t you thank Caleb Trench and tell him I’d be glad to have him come up here? I want to thank him again properly.�
“No,� said Dr. Cheyney promptly, “I won’t.�
Diana’s eyes opened. “Why?� she demanded, flushing hotly, half indignant.
The doctor looked over the top of his spectacles. “He wouldn’t come, Diana,� he said; “you wouldn’t either, in his place.�
She did not answer, but turned away abruptly and reached out both hands to Texas, who helped her down. “Good-bye, doctor,� she said coolly, standing with one hand on the negro’s shoulder.
The doctor climbed out. “Go to!� he said, smiling grimly; “I’m coming in to bandage your ankle. Don’t cry for the pink capsules again, Di.�
And Diana turned crimson with anger.