Chapter XX

by Mary Jane Holmes

　　RONDEAU DIGS UP THE MISSING LETTER

　　The first three weeks of Julia's stay in New Orleans were, as we havelearned, spent at the house of Dr. Lacey. His mother was present, andalthough she readily acknowledged the uncommon beauty of her fair visitor,yet from the first she disliked her.

　　The servants, too, as if adopting the opinion of their mistress, felt andexpressed among themselves an aversion to the "evil-eyed lady," as theytermed Julia. Aunt Dilsey, in particular, soon had her own reason fordisliking her. The second day after Julia's arrival, as she was strollingthrough the yard, she encountered Jackson, a bright little fellow, threeyears of age, and Aunt Dilsey's only son. Jack, as he was usually called,was amusing himself by seeing how far he could spit! Unfortunately he spittoo far, and hit Miss Julia's pink muslin. In an instant her white,slender fingers were buried in his wool. His screams soon brought AuntDilsey to the rescue. Upon learning the dreadful crime of which Jack hadbeen guilty, she snatched him from Julia's grasp, and hurried him into thehouse without a word. From that time Dilsey was Julia's sworn enemy, andJack was taught to make up faces at her, whenever he could do so withoutbeing discovered.

　　The servants, however, were too well trained to manifest any opendisrespect, for they knew she was "marster's guest," and as such wasentitled to every possible attention.

　　When first she arrived Dr. Lacey felt exceedingly uncomfortable, for herpresence constantly reminded him of the past, and his reminiscences ofJulia were not particularly pleasant. Gradually this feeling wore away,for she appeared greatly changed. There was a softness, a gentleness, inher manner, which seemed to Dr. Lacey like Fanny, and then her voice, too,was so like her sister's that ere long she ceased to be disagreeable tohim, and instead of avoiding her society, as at first he had done, he nowsought it.

　　Julia saw her advantage, and determined to follow it up. Nothing couldexceed her extreme amiability, and apparent sweetness of disposition. EvenMrs. Lacey was partially deceived, and concluded she had been too hasty inher estimation of Miss Middleton. Still she watched her son's movementsnarrowly, and hoped he had no intentions of making Julia his wife.

　　She was in New Orleans three weeks before her uncle's house was inreadiness; but at the end of that time she, together with Dr. Lacey, MabelMortimer and Florence Woodburn were about to exchange the heat and dust ofthe city for a cooler residence near the lake. The day before they leftwas hot and sultry, and in the morning Julia sought the shade of a largevine-wreathed summer house, which stood in the garden, near by the treeunder which Rondeau had buried his master's letter.

　　One word now about our old friend Rondeau. The buried letter had cost hima world of trouble. He was constantly fearful lest he should be detected.Particularly was he afraid that the author of the letter, failing toreceive an answer, would write again, and thus he might be exposed. Twicehad he dug up the epistle upon occasions when he fancied some one of hismaster's letters bore a similar superscription. In this way he had becometolerably familiar with Mr. Miller's handwriting, which was ratherpeculiar, being a large, heavy, black hand.

　　On the morning when Julia was snugly esconced in the summer house, Rondeaureturned from the post office in great tribulation.

　　"What's up now?" asked Leffie, whom Rondeau drew aside, with a dolefullygrave face.

　　"Nothing's up," answered Rondeau, "but the letter has got to come up! Iain't going to feel like I was a whipped dog any longer. I'll confess allto Marster George, for see, here's another like the buried one." Sosaying, he held up Mrs. Carrington's letter, on the envelope of which wasMr. Miller's writing.

　　Leffie offered no remonstrance, and as Aunt Dilsey just then screamed forher, Rondeau went alone to the garden and proceeded to disinter the burieddocument. 'Twas but the work of a moment, and could Julia have beencooling herself in Greenland, as she ought to have been, all would haveended well. And now I suppose some indignant reader will say, "Why didn'tyou put her in Greenland, then, or some worse place?" But patience,patience, a little longer. You would have us tell things just as theywere, I suppose, so we must not only suffer Miss Julia to be in the summerhouse, but we must also allow her to be a spectator of Rondeau'sproceedings.

　　She was greatly surprised when she saw him take from the cigar box a muchsoiled, yellowish-looking letter, and she could not help feeling that insome way it concerned herself. Suddenly appearing, she startled Rondeau bysaying, "What are you doing? Whose is that? Give it to me."

　　Rondeau was anxious to conceal from her his long-buried treasure, and hepassed her the other. She took it and recognizing Mr. Miller's writing,knew also that Rondeau had given her the wrong one, so she said in acommanding tone, "What does all this mean? Give me the other oneimmediately."

　　The submissive African, ever obedient to his superiors, handed her theother letter, and then in a few words told his story, and announced hisintention of confessing all to his master, at the same time extending hishand to take the letters. But Julia did not mean he should have them, andshe said, coaxingly, "You have done very wrong, Rondeau, and your masterwill undoubtedly be very angry, but I will take them to him and intercedefor you, as you are on the whole a pretty fine fellow. He'll forgive youfor me. I know he will, but mind, don't you say anything to him about ituntil you've seen me again."

　　So saying, she returned to the house and, going to her room, bolted thedoor. After which, breaking the seal of the oldest letter, shedeliberately read it through, occasionally uttering a malediction againstMr. Miller, thanking the good luck which brought it to her hands insteadof Dr. Lacey's, and making remarks generally. Said she, "Mighty goodopinion Mr. Quilting-frames has of me (alluding to Mr. Miller's height),glad I know his mind. A heap of good the answer to this did him, and hisdoll wife, too. Hadn't I better answer it myself? I'd write after thisfashion: 'Mr. Miller--At first I thought I would treat your letter withsilent contempt, but recently I have concluded to write and thank you tomind your own business. By order of George Lacey, Esq.--Julia Middleton,Secretary.' Yes, that would serve the meddling old Yankee Dictionaryright," continued she, and then, as her eye fell upon the remainingletter, she added, "Yes, I'll read this one too, and see what new thingI'm guilty of!"

　　As soon as she broke it open and glanced at the handwriting, she knew itto be from Mrs. Carrington. "What now?" said she, "what has Mrs.Carrington got to say about me."

　　A rapid perusal of the letter showed her what Mrs. Carrington had to say,and she continued her remarks as follows: "She has described me quiteaccurately. I didn't suppose she knew me so well. I wonder who'll writenext! It seems everybody is in league against me, but I'm enough foranybody there is in Kentucky; and," she added, in a lower tone, "Iwouldn't hesitate to try my strength with Satan himself;" but even thenthe dark girl trembled as she thought there was a God, whom none couldwithstand, and who, one day, would inevitably overtake her.

　　Quickly as possible she drove such unpleasant thoughts from her mind, andthen tried to devise the best plan for managing Mrs. Carrington. "For Mr.Miller's letter," said she, "I care nothing. It was written so long agothat he has ceased expecting an answer, but I well know Mrs. Carrington'sdesigns, and she will continue to write until she receives some reply. Ihave once successfully counterfeited Dr. Lacey's handwriting, and can doit again. I'll send her something that will quiet her nerves better thanassafoetida!"

　　This settled, she went in quest of Rondeau, whom she told that, as she hadexpected, his master was very much displeased. "But," said she, "after Iinterceded awhile for you, he said he would forgive you on condition thatyou were never guilty of the like again, and never mention the subject tohim in any way, as it makes him angry to talk about it." To both theseconditions Rondeau readily agreed, and Julia left him, thinking she wassafe in that quarter.

　　Several days after, Mrs. Carrington received a letter which she supposedcame from Dr. Lacey. In it she was coolly requested not to interfere inother people's matters, and told that any efforts on her part to engraftherself into Dr. Lacey's good graces by maligning Julia, would be useless,and only serve to confirm him in his present low opinion of her, while atthe same time it would increase the high estimation in which he held MissMiddleton!

　　After that Mrs. Carrington troubled Dr. Lacey with no more letters, butbusied herself in anticipating the capture of a wealthy gentleman, whoAshton told her was, in the course of two or three months, coming on fromCharleston, South Carolina.

　　The scene now changes from Dr. Lacey's to the "Indian Nest," on the lakeshore. It was a charming spot, and looked as if intended only for theinhabitation of the pure and innocent. Yet even there was crafty ambitionand base deceit. Julia was there, eagerly seeking to wind her coilssecurely around her long watched-for prey. To all eyes but her own sheseemed not likely to succeed, for though Dr. Lacey admired her andpossibly treated her with more attention than he did either Mabel orFlorence, yet his heart still turned to Fanny, and for hours he would sit,talking to Julia of her sister, while she schooled herself to answer allhis questions without one sign of impatience.

　　Occasionally she would speak to Dr. Lacey of his cousin, young Stanton,and would tell how much pleasure Fanny seemed to take in his society. Butthis produced no effect, for Dr. Lacey had learned from Stanton himself ofhis approaching marriage with Miss Ashton. Then Julia pulled anotherstring and expatiated so largely upon Frank Cameron's sayings and doingsthat Dr. Lacey became really uneasy, for recently he had thought seriouslyof again writing to Fanny, and now he determined to do so.

　　Without knowing it, Julia was herself the means of causing thisdetermination to be carried into effect. One night she and Dr. Lacey hadbeen strolling for more than an hour through the many delightful walks inthe garden, which lay upon the lake shore. To her great satisfaction, theywere entirely alone, for Mr. Middleton and Florence were engaged in theirfavorite game of chess, while Mabel was eagerly listening to Ashton, whowas relating to her some of his India adventures. Mabel had good senseenough to know that her efforts to win Dr. Lacey would be useless, andrather reluctantly she had given him up. Now her eyes grew brighter andher heart beat faster whenever Ashton approached. But, fair Mabel, yourhopes are all in vain.

　　For Inez, the Spaniard,Is o'er the sea,And the heart thou wouldst winIs not destined for thee.