Cupids Understudy.docx

Cupids Understudy.docx

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CupidsUnderstudy

Cupid'sUnderstudy

byEdwardSalisburyField

ChapterOne

IfDadhadbeenacoalbaron,likeMr.TudorCarstairs,orastock-

wateringcaptainofindustry,likeMrs.Sanderson-Spear'shusband,

ordescendedfromalonglineofwhiskydistillers,likeMrs.

CarmichaelPorter,why,thenhislittleElizabethwouldhavebeen

allowedthetositinseatofthescornfulwiththerestoftheFour

Hundred,andthisstorywouldneverhavebeenwritten.ButDad

wasn'tanyofthesethings;hewasjustanoldlovewhohadmade

sevenmilliondollarsbytheluckiestflukeintheworld.

EverybodyinsouthernCaliforniaknewitwasafluke,too,sothe

sevenmillionscameinforalltherespectthatwouldotherwisehave

fallentoDad.Ofcoursewewerecelebrities,inaway,butina

veryhorridway.DadwasOldTomMiddleton,whousedtokeepa

livery-stableinSanBernardino,andIwasOldTomMiddleton'sgirl,

"whoactuallyusedtoliveoveralivery-stable,mydear!

"Itsounds

fearfullysordid,doesn'tit?

Butitwasn'tsordid,really,forIneveractuallylivedovera

stable.Indeed,wehadthesweetestcottageinallSanBernardino.I

rememberitsowell:

thelong,coolporch,thewonderfulgold-of-

Ophirroses,thehoneysucklewherethelinnetsnested,themocking

birdsthatsangallnightlong;theperfumeofthejasmine,ofthe

orange-blossoms,thepinkflameofthepeachtreesinApril,the

ever-changingcolorofthemountains.AndIrememberNinette,my

littleCreolemother,gayasabutterfly,carefreeasameadow-lark.

'Twasshewhoplantedthejasmine.

MylittlemotherdiedwhenIwassevenyearsold.DadandIandmy

oldblackmammy,Rachel,stayedoninthecottage.Themocking-birds

stillsang,andthelinnetsstillnestedinthehoneysuckle,but

nothingwaseverquitethesameagain.Itwaslikeadifferent

world;itwasadifferentworld.Thereweregold-of-Ophirroses,

and,peachblossomsinApril,buttherewasnomorejasmine;Dadhad

italldugup.Tothisdayheturnspaleatthesightofit--poor

Dad!

WhenIwastwelveyearsold,Dadsoldouthishardwarebusiness,

intendingtoputhismoneyinanorangegroveatRiverside,butthe

nicestlivery-stableinSanBernardinohappenedtobeforsalejust

then,soheboughtthatinstead,forhewasalwayscrazyabout

horses.

ToseemetrottingaboutinPaquingownsandDoucetmodels,you'd

neverthinkIowedthemtothreeowlishlittleburros,wouldyou?

Butit'safact.WhenDadtookoverthelivery-stable,hefoundhe

wastheproudpossessorofthreedonkeys,aswellassometwenty-odd

horses,andadozenorsobuggies,buckboardsandsurries.The

burrosatetheirsolemnheadsoffallwinter,butinMayithadbeen

thecustomtosendthemtoStrawberryValleyinchargeofaMexican

whohiredthemouttotheboardersatthesummerhotelthere.

Luckilyforus,whenFortunecamestalkingdownthemainstreetof

SanBernardinotoknockatthedooroftheGoldenEagleStables,

bothdadandtheburroswereathome.Ifeitherhadbeenout,we

mightbepoorthisveryminute.

ItisgenerallyunderstoodthatwhenFortunegoesa-visiting,she

goesdisguised,soit'ssmallwonderDaddidn'trecognizeherat

first.Shewasn'tevena"her";shewasahe,agreat,awkwardSwede

withmouse-coloredhairandaYonYonsenaccent--youknowthekind--

slowtoanger;slowtoeverything,without"j"inhisalphabet--by

thenameofOlafKnutsen.

NowOlafwasadreamer.Nottheconventionalsortofadreamer,who

seesbeautyineverythingbutanhonestday'swork,butabrawny,

pick-swingingdreamerwhohaddugholesinthegroundattheendof

manyrainbows.Thathehadneveryetuncoveredtheelusivepotof

golddidn'tseemtobotherhimintheleast;forhim,thattender

plantcalledHopefloweredperennially.Andnowhewasbenton

followinganotherrainbow;arainbowwhich;archingoverthe

mountains,endedinthatarid,pitilesswasteknowninthesouth

countryasDeathValley.

Hewouldn'tfailthistime.No,byYimminy!

WithDad'sthreeburros,

andplentyofbaconandbeansandwater--itwastobeagrub-stake,

ofcourse--hewouldmakeboththeirfortunes.Andthebeautifulpart

aboutitwas,hedid.

NodoubtyouhaveheardofthefamousGoldenEaglemine.Well,

that'swhatOlafandthethreeburrosfoundinDeathValley.Good

oldOlaf!

HenamedthemineafterDad'slivery-stableinSan

Bernardino,andheinsistedonkeepingonlyahalfinterest,even

thoughDadfoughthimaboutit.Yousee,Daddidn'thavethe

reputationofbeingthesquarestmaninSanBernardinofornothing.

ChapterTwo

Mymother'sfamilyhadneverapprovedofhermarriagewithDad,but

Dad,poorandrunningahardwareshoporalivery-stable,andDad

withafortuneinhishandsweretwoverydifferentpeople--from

theirstandpoint,atleast;soassoonasOlafandthethreeburros

struckitrich,Dadsoldhislivery-stable,andmammyRachelandI

werebundledofftoNinette'srelationsinNewOrleans.Ididn't

likeitabitatfirst,butonecangetusedtoanythingintime.

Ninette'smaidensister,MissMarieMadelineAntoinetteHortense

Prevost,wasawfullynicetome;sowasgrandmerePrevost.Ilived

withthemtillIwassixteen,whenIwassenttoFrance.

IfIwantedto（andyouwouldletme）Icouldpersonallyconductyou

toParis,whereifyouweretenfeettallandnotaversetostaring,

youcouldlookoveracertaingraystonewallontheBoulevarddes

Invalides,andseemepacingsedatelyupanddownthegravelwalks

inthegardenoftheConventoftheSacredHeart.Thatis,youcould

haveseenmethreeyearsago.I'mnottherenow,thankgoodness!

I'm

inCalifornia.

Andjustonewordbeforewegoanyfurtheranyfurther.Idon'twant

youtothinkforaminutethatIcamebackfromParisalittle

Frenchifiedmiss.No,indeed!

I'masAmericanastheymakethem.

WhenIboastedtotheothergirls,whetherinParisorNewOrleans,

Ialwaysboastedabouttwothings:

DadandCalifornia.AndI'vean

ideaI'llgoonboastingaboutthemtillmydyingday.

Ofcourse,whenIreturnedfromParis,DadmetmeinNewYork.It

wasagoodthinghewasrich,forittookalotofmoneytogetme

andmyseventrunksthroughthecustom-house.Itmighthavetaken

more,though,ifithadn'tbeenforayoungmanwhocameoveronthe

sameboat.

Hewassuchagood-lookingyoungman;tallandbroad-shoulderedand

fair,withlight-brownhair,andthenicesteyesyoueversaw.It

wasn'ttheircolorsomuch（hiseyeswereblue）asthewaythey

lookedatyouthatmadethemsoattractive.Hewasawfullywell

bred,too!

Henoticedmealotontheboat（Ihadaperfectloveof

aRedferncoattowearondeck）,buthedidn'ttrytoscrape

acquaintancewithme.Heworshippedfromafar（awomancanalways

tellwhenaman'sthinkingabouther）,andwhileIwouldn'thavehad

himactotherwisefortheworld,Iwascrazytohavehimspeakto

me.

OurboatdockedatHoboken,andbytippingrightandleftImanaged

tobetheveryfirstpassengerdownthegangway.Ihalfran,half

slid,butIlandedinDad'sarms.

Myboxesandbagspassedthroughthecustom-housewithflying

colors.Butmytrunks--Icouldn'tevenfindthemall.Fiveofthem

werestackedinthe"M"division,buttheothertwo....Then

therewasmymaid'strunktolookforunderthe"V's"（hernameis

Valentine）.DadandIwerecommencingat"A,"preparedtogot

throughthewholealphabet,ifnecessary,whentheniceyoungman

steppedupand,raisinghishat,askedifhemightbeofany

service.HeaskedDad,buthelookedatme.

"Oh,Ifyouplease!

"Isaid"I'velosttwotrunks.Mybrandisa

white,'M'inaredcircle."

"Inoticedtheminthe'R'pile"hereplied."I'llhavethemmoved

tothe'M's'rightaway."

"Nowthat'swhatIcallbeingdecent,"saidDad,assoonasthe

youngmanhadleftus."Didyounotice,hedidn'twearauniform?

Probablyaninspector,orsomethingofthesort,eh,Elizabeth?

"

"Well--er--notexactly,"Imanagedtosay."Thefactis,Dad,he

cameoverontheboatwithme,and--"

Dadlookedthoughtful.

"Heneverspoketomeoncethewholetrip,"Iaddedhastily.

Dadlookedlessthoughtful.

"ItwasniceofhimtowaittillIhadyouwithme,wasn'tit?

"

Dadsmiled."Ifyouthinkitwas,itprobablywas,mydear,"he

said.

ChapterThree

Theniceyoungmandidmorethanfindmymissingtrunks;hefounda

custom-houseofficer,and,afteraskingmeprivatelywhichtrunks

containedmymostvaluablepossessionsandhowmuchIhadthoughtof

declaring,hesucceededinhavingthempassedthroughonmyown

valuationwithoutanyundueexposureoftheircontents.

BythistimeDadhadgrownveryrespectful.Toseehislittle

Elizabethtreatedlikeaqueen,whileonallsidesangrywomenwere

havingtheirbestgownspawedoverandmussed;wasamostwholesome

lesson.Hepaidthethousandandodddollarsdutylikealittleman.

We'dbeensavedalotofbother,andnobodyhatesalotofbother

morethanDad.Sowhenthetrunkswerelockedandstrappedandready

tobesenttoourhotel,Dadwentuptotheniceyoungmanandsaid:

"I'mTomMiddleton,fromCalifornia,andthisismydaughter

Elizabeth.We'rebothverygratefultoyou,andifyoushouldever

happentocometoCalifornia,Ihopeyou'lllookusup."

That'sDadallover!

Ineversawanybodylooksopleasedastheyoungman:

"Myname's

Porter,"hesaid,"BlakelyPorter.IfmymotherwereinNewYorkI

wouldaskifshemightcallonMissMiddleton,but,asithappens,

she'sinCalifornia,whereIintendtojoinher,soIshalllook

forwardtoseeingyouthere."

ThenDaddidjusttherightthing."What'stheuseofwaitingtill

wegettoCalifornia?

"hesaid."Whynotdinewithusto-night!

"

Thereare