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As we sat at meat I noted with apprehension the stern features of Standish, who occupied an adjoining table. He ate sparingly, as became an old man, and drank no wine. His granddaughter, a charming girl, with eyes that reminded me of Gloriana, chattered gaily to him, but he replied in monosyllables. Doubtless he was thinking of the parting on the morrow.
"Nothin'," she murmured, "kin come closer to ye than these pretty things, excep' the love I stitched into 'em. When you wear 'em you'll think o' me, Miss Standish." At the sound of her name the girl started, and looked askance at her grandfather, who turned his head aside. "Who is this woman!" she asked in a low voice. The answer came from Gloriana, slowly and distinctly.
The Standishes boarded at the Hotel Buena Vista, where we always stayed; Gloriana was set down at a modest two- bit house, some three-quarters of a mile distant. As the hour of meeting the Doctor approached, my courage oozed from every pore, distilling a malignant dew of mistrust that not even the optimism of Ajax could evaporate.
Wilt thou believe me, when I tell thee, that I have so many contrivances rising up and crowding upon me for preference, with regard to my Gloriana, that I hardly know which to choose? I could tell thee of no less than six princely ones, any of which must do.
We slept soundly, convinced that neither Gloriana nor Uncle Jake would leave our service, and at breakfast the next morning discoursed at length upon the subject of wedding presents. "What would you suggest, Gloriana," said Ajax, "as suitable for a middle-aged bridegroom?" She considered the question thoughtfully, a delightful smile upon her lips.
"Gloriana" pronounced as two words: "Glory Anna" being the work of her father, who also named it, was simply a cylindrical roll of canvas wagon-covering, girt so as to define a neck and waist, with a rudely inked face altogether a weak, pitiable, manlike invention; and "Johnny Dear," alleged to be the representative of John Doremus, a young storekeeper who occasionally supplied Mary with gratuitous sweets.
Well, now, if 'twas me, I'd make him a nice comfortable bed-spread, with the best an' prettiest o' stitchin." We both laughed. Uncle Jake under a gorgeous counterpane would make a graven image smile. Gloriana laughed with us.
That greatest Gloriana to him gave, That greatest glorious Queene of Faerie lond." The entire poem really typifies the aspirations of the human soul for something nobler and better than can be gained without effort.
I have seen Ajax, in Piccadilly, glorious in a frock-coat and varnished boots. I have seen him, as Gloriana saw him for the first time, in rags that might provoke the scorn of Lazarus. With the thermometer at a hundred in the shade, custom curtseys to convenience.
At supper Ajax said "It's more blessed to give than to receive eh, Gloriana?" She compressed her lips, but her eyes were sparkling. After supper Ajax commented upon her improved appearance in her presence. He confessed himself at a loss to account for this singular rejuvenescence. Expecting company, Gloriana?" "Mebbee-an' mebbee not." "You brought home a large parcel," said Ajax.
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