CHAPTER I.

HETTY'S PROPOSAL.

"MAMMA, dear! A letter for you, from Uncle John, I believe," said Hetty Golding, as she paused at the breakfast table, where the letter was lying near her mother's plate.

"Yes, it is from Uncle John. I wonder whether he will let Harry and Lettice come to us for a week?" said the lady, as she opened her letter.

"Oh, mamma, did you ask him? I hope he has consented, for I have told Ellen Ross and the other girls so much about Lettice that they are quite wild to see her. Is she coming?" asked Hetty, impatiently.

"Wait a minute, my dear, and you shall have the letter to read yourself. Yes, they are both coming," said the widow, as she handed the letter to her daughter the next minute.

But Hetty did not want to read it now. "Oh I 'am' glad," she said, clapping her hands. "Mamma, what shall we do when they come?" she added.

"Do, my dear? Make them as comfortable as we can, to be sure," said Mrs. Golding, calmly.

"Yes, of course. But you know what I mean, mamma. They are used to having everything so nice at home."

"Well, I hope we shall be able to have everything nice here. We always do, Hetty."

"But, mamma, it will be so different; we only keep one servant. Don't you think we had better have Mary Riley as housemaid? Uncle John keeps two, besides a cook and kitchenmaid."

"Your Uncle John is a rich man, while I am only a poor widow—comparatively poor, at least—for my income, as you know is only sufficient for our wants, barely allowing me to lay aside a trifle for a rainy day. But Lettice knows this, and will not expect a house full of servants. No, I don't think I shall have Mary Riley; she has grown such a pert, forward girl since she went to live in London."

A cloud gathered on Hetty's good-tempered face.

She did not like to be reminded of their narrow means, and already had begun to lay plans for making a little display before their neighbours. For Hetty had told one or two dubious stories about her mamma having plenty of money, but preferring to live in strict retirement on account of her health. And when it was remarked that the Goldings never gave even a quiet party, Hetty had nodded, "Wait till my cousin Lettice comes, we shall have a party then." And she had given her invitations pretty freely among her schoolfellows and friends. Many a time she had taken some congenial spirit into her confidence, and together they had discussed the subject. And now, though she had left school, she was not much wiser, and clung tenaciously to her pet project.

"Mamma, we must do something to amuse Lattice while she is here," said Hetty, after gazing abstractedly into her coffee cup for a few minutes. "All the girls are wild to see her, so we must have a party, or something of the kind."

"Well, we will have a little picnic in the woods if the weather is fine. Ring the bell, please dear, I want to speak to Hannah about the dinner."

Hetty shrugged her shoulders as she turned to the bell. "Picnics are so old-fashioned, mamma. Let us have a garden-party," she said.

Mrs. Golding laughed. "A garden-party on our tiny lawn, Hetty? It would be quite ridiculous."

"Yes, if we only had the lawn, mamma. But, you know, before Mrs. Mavor went away, she begged us to use her garden whenever we liked, and nothing could be better than that large, old-fashioned garden. And only being separated from our own by that low wire fence, and having a gate opening into ours, no one need know but what it is our own. It used to belong to this house, you know, mamma."

"Yes, I know it did, my dear. But I should not like to use it for a garden-party, it would be encroaching on Mrs. Mavor's consideration. For I was glad to give up the garden when I took the house, on account of the difference it made in the rent. And, besides, it would be assuming a false position, to say nothing of the expense of such a grand affair as a garden-party."

"But it need not be a grand affair, mamma. And as to the cost, we shall eat no more in the garden than we should in the woods, only we can lay a table tastefully on the lawn or under the trees, and have a cup of tea in comfort, instead of sitting on the ground getting the cramp, and perhaps a bad cold, and eating earwigs and ladybirds with the sandwiches."

Mrs. Golding laughed. "I never heard of your dislike to ladybirds before," she said.

"Well, I don't mind them so much, but I hate the creepy-crawly things that get about you when you sit on the grass," rumbled Hetty, who was determined to find fault with every detail of the proposed picnic.

"But what would you do to amuse yourselves in the garden?" said Mrs. Golding, after listening to Hetty's numerous objections to her plan.

"Oh, we could play at croquet and hide-and-seek, and walk about, and we might manage a dance on the lawn."

"Well, my dear, as you seem to have set your heart upon having it this way, I suppose you must do so. But don't blame me, or Hannah either, if things don't turn out as you expect, for I know nothing about garden parties. If it were only a picnic now—"

"There, mamma, don't say another word. I'll manage everything now you have given your consent. It won't make half the fuss a picnic would, for there will be no packing baskets and breaking plates, and losing knives and forks. I know how we had things at the Eastlakes, and can manage it."

"But, my dear, we cannot pretend to have things as Mrs. Eastlake would. She has plenty of money and a house full of servants, while we have only—"

"If you please, ma'am, Mrs. Newton's servant has brought a message, asking you to go over as soon as you can, for old madam has had a bad fall, and seems very ill." The interruption came from Hannah, who had been indulging in a little private gossip with Mrs. Newton's maid, and had not heard the parlour bell ring some minutes before.

It was Hannah's one failing, this love of gossip. It seemed useless for Mrs. Golding to try to check it, for scolding and reasoning had alike proved ineffectual, and so she had given it up altogether.

Sending a message in reply, she merely told Hannah to come back at once and receive her orders for dinner.

"Shall you go soon, mamma?" asked Hetty when Hannah had left the room.

"Yes, my dear, I must go at once. Old Mrs. Newton is such a dear friend. She will expect me to be with her a great deal."

"Well, I hope she won't be ill long," said Hetty. "What shall I do about this letter? Will you take it with you, mamma?"

"No, I think you can answer it. Tell Uncle John we will be at the station to meet your cousins."

"And about the garden-party, mamma, we ought to have that the day after Lattice comes, because it is to be a sort of introductory affair. And some of them might like to give another when they once know Lettice."

"Very well, my dear, have it when you like. It is to be your party, not mine, for I don't understand such things. I was always content with a picnic and a ramble about the woods and hills, so you and Hannah must manage things between you."

"Very well, mamma, I'll see to everything. You shan't have a bit of trouble," said Hetty, kissing her mother as she spoke, for no one could be more amiable and affectionate than Hetty when she could have her own way, and, unfortunately, she had been allowed to have it rather too much of late.

As soon as Mrs. Golding had gone out, Hetty flew downstairs to consult Hannah about the garden-party, for she must be propitiated and coaxed into putting forth her best culinary skill for the occasion.

"Hannah, my cousin Lettice is coming, and I have persuaded mamma to let me have a garden-party," said Hetty, plunging at once into the matter.

Hannah looked up from her work of washing glasses. "A garden-party!" she repeated. "Who is to get things ready for it, I should like to know?"

"Oh, we can do it between us, Hannah. I came to tell you about it—to ask you what we should want, for, you see, mamma knows nothing about such things, and so she has left it all to me."

"And you know about as much as the mistress," said Hannah.

"Oh, but I know you could help me, and I have been to the Eastlakes and one or two other places."

"And played croquet and ate custards," said Hannah contemptuously, but in a mollified tone.

"Well, I don't suppose I could make them," said Hetty. "But you can, and I could beat the eggs, and do little things to help."

"Well, well, we'll see what can be done," said Hannah, bustling about her work, but smiling as she spoke, for she was gratified that Hetty had come to consult her upon this all-important matter.

"What should we want besides—?"

"Besides custards and croquet? Oh, lots of things—cheese-cakes and tartlets, and pound cake and whipped cream. Mary Riley told me they had all those things at the Eastlakes, for she was there to help."

"I wish she could come and help us," sighed Hetty.

"Well, I shall have to get some help, if I am to do all this fine cooking," said Hannah. "How many are you going to invite?"

"I don't know yet, I must talk to mamma when she comes home."

"Well, you ought to make up your mind soon, for there is scarcely a week to get everything, and the young ladies will want a few days' notice to get their dresses ready."

"Yes, I will talk to mamma as soon as she comes in," and Hetty ran off, humming a lively air, to write her letter to Uncle John, and wish that Mrs. Newton's accident had occurred at any time rather than the present.

She had deep and bitter cause to reiterate this wish again and again, but it simply vexed her now that her mother should be away just when she wanted her. For Mrs. Golding was out all day, and when she came home in the evening she looked so tired and worried that Hetty hardly liked to say a word about the party.

"Is she so very ill, mamma?" she ventured to ask.

"Yes, my dear. She will never leave her room, or even her bed again, I fear. And there are other troubles as well in the family, so that I am afraid I shall have to be away from home a good deal in the next few days. Have you posted your uncle's letter?"

"Yes, mamma. I told him we would meet Lettice at the station, and that we were going to have a little garden-party to introduce her to our friends."

Mrs. Golding smiled. "I had almost forgotten this party," she said. "But I suppose you may as well have it."

"Oh, yes, mamma, we settled that this morning. And I have been telling Hannah about making us some tarts and custards," said Hetty, eagerly.

"Yes, you will want a few little things like that," remarked Mrs. Golding, absently.

"Hannah was very good-tempered about it, and will do everything, only she wants to know how many there are likely to be. How many shall I invite, mamma?"

"My dear, I must leave that to you. I am sure you know whom to invite, and I shall be so much away from home I think it will be best for me to give you a sovereign, to meet the extra expenses. Only consult Hannah in spending it. And remember, I cannot afford more than this for extras. Tea, and sugar, and bread, and butter you need not count in, but you must make this suffice for extras."

"Oh, thank you, mamma, I am sure it will do that," said Hetty, who know very little of the practical value of money, and fancied that a sovereign would purchase unheard-of luxuries.

Before she went to bed that night, she made out a list of friends to be invited, and they numbered nearly forty. Remembering Hannah's suggestion that these would want a few days' notice, she sat down before breakfast, and began to write her notes of invitation. But she did not show the list to her mother, for she knew that one or two names would be struck out, even if her mother did not object to such a large party. And so the writing was put away as Mrs. Golding came into the room.

She did not notice her daughter's hurried movements, for her mind was full of her friend's trouble. And as soon as she had eaten her breakfast, she put on her bonnet to go out, saying she might not be home again until the evening.

Hetty hurried over her breakfast too, and by twelve o'clock had written and despatched all her notes of invitation.

"There now, I have done the worst part of the work, Hannah. I have written all those notes," she said, as she came in after her walk to the post office.

"How many have you sent?" asked Hannah.

"Thirty-six, and Lettice, Harry, and our two selves will make just forty—a nice number."

Hannah held up her hands. "A nice number you call it—and you have just one sovereign to feed all those people!"

"Well, isn't that enough?" asked Hetty, with rather a dismayed look. "It's all nonsense about the feeding, you know; they're not like poor people going to a tea-meeting. People don't come to a garden-party to eat; I'm sure I never eat much."

"Well, you're not everybody, Miss Hetty, and I know enough about money and parties to know that a sovereign is not half enough to feed all those people."

"They don't want to be fed, I tell you. We only want a few things to make the tables look nice; custards and cheese-cakes don't cost much, and a few tarts and strawberries and currants, with plenty of tea and coffee, and nice cake and bread-and-butter, are all we shall want."

"Well, Miss Hetty, I'll do the best I can. But you had better tell your mamma how many you have invited, and I daresay she will give you another sovereign, rather than people should come here to starve."

"You're dreadfully afraid of people starving," said Hetty, crossly, as she walked away, swinging her hat and mentally denouncing Hannah's vulgar notions about genteel people's appetites.

That afternoon, Hetty set out to make her purchases. She found her sovereign considerably diminished before she came home, and then Hannah provokingly declared she had not ordered more than half enough.

"Tell the boy when he brings them what more you want, then," said Hetty, crossly. "I have seen Mary Riley," she added, "and she has promised to come in and help us."

"Ah, she will tall us what we ought to have, for she has been living in a fashionable family, only you must not forget to ask your mamma for some more money, Miss Hetty."

But Hetty did forget, or rather felt afraid, to ask for any more, for fear her mother should question her as to the number invited, and insist upon the whole affair being given up. She did not feel quite so happy when she went to bed that night, for there was a little fear, a little anxiety as to what the end of this would be. But it was too late to draw back now, she thought, the invitations had been issued, and she "must" make her garden-party a brilliant success, for she had boasted so much among her friends of what a grand affair they were going to give when her cousin came to visit them.

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