Read Online The Blythes Are Quoted by L. M. Montgomery - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: L. M. Montgomery
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they danced ... my puppets! Black Lucia and condescending Alec ... and that lovesick boy there! All but the Blythes. I knew they had suspicions but they couldn’t prove them ... they didn’t even dare voice them.”
“Yes, it must have been fun,” agreed Henry. “But why, Alice, my dear?”
“I was sick of being patronized and snubbed and condescended to,” said Alice bitterly. “That is what my youth was. You know that well enough, Henry Kildare.”
“Yes, I had a good idea of it,” agreed Henry.
“I was just the poor relation,” said Alice. “Why, when they had company I often had to wait and eat afterwards.”
“Only when the table wasn’t big enough,” said Henry.
“No! It was because I wasn’t thought good enough to talk to their company! I was only good enough to lay the table and cook the food. I hated every one of them ... but Lucia most of all.”
“Come, come, now, I used to think Lucia was uncommon nice to you.”
“Like a man! She was the petted darling. Her father wouldn’t let the winds of heaven visit her too roughly. I slept in a dark, stuffy back room. She had the sunny look-out. She was four years younger than I was ... but she thought she was my superior in everything.”
“Come, come, now, didn’t you imagine a good deal of that?” asked Henry mildly.
“No, I did not! When she was invited to Ingleside, was I ever asked, too?”
“But people all thought you hated them.”
“I did, too. And Lucia was sent away to school. No one ever thought of educating me. Yet I was far cleverer than she was.”
“Clever, yes,” agreed Henry, with a curious emphasis. “But the teachers always said you wouldn’t try to learn.”
Curtis felt that he should not let Alice say such things of Lucia but a temporary paralysis seemed to have descended upon him. It was a dream ... a nightmare ... one couldn’t ...
“Uncle Winthrop was always saying sarcastic things to me. I remember them ... every one. Do you remember them, Henry?”
“Yes. The old chap had a habit that way. He was the same with everybody. He didn’t mean much by it. But I did think the old chap wasn’t as nice to you as he might have been. But your aunt was good to you.”
“She slapped me one day before company.”
“Yes ... but you had sassed her.”
“I hated her after that,” said Alice, ignoring his words. “I never spoke a word to her for ten weeks. And she never noticed it . One day, when I was nineteen, she said, ‘I was married at your age.’”
“I heard her say the same thing to Nan Blythe.”
“Whose fault was it that I was not married?” said Alice, who seemed determined not to hear anything Henry said.
“You seemed to hate going about with other young people,” he protested.
“I wasn’t as well dressed as they were. I knew they looked down on me for it.”
“Nonsense! That was just your imagination.”
“Laura Gregor taunted me once with living on charity,” retorted Alice, her voice shaking with passion. “If I had been dressed like Lucia Roy Major would have noticed me.”
“I remember the Carman girls had old gingham dresses on that night,” reflected Henry.
“I was shabby ... dowdy ... he didn’t want to be seen with me. I ... I loved him ... I would have done anything to win him.”
“I remember how jealous I was of him,” said Henry reflectively. “And there wasn’t any real need. He was crazy mad about Amy Carr ... and a dozen other girls afterwards. What fools young people can be!”
Alice swept on as if she had not heard him.
“When Marian Lister told me that she and Roy were going to be married and asked me to be her bridesmaid I could have killed her. She did it on purpose to hurt me.”
“Nonsense again. She had no other girl friends. And if you felt like that why did you consent?”
“Because I was determined she should not suspect and triumph over me. I thought my heart would break the day of the wedding. I prayed that God would give me the
“Yes, it must have been fun,” agreed Henry. “But why, Alice, my dear?”
“I was sick of being patronized and snubbed and condescended to,” said Alice bitterly. “That is what my youth was. You know that well enough, Henry Kildare.”
“Yes, I had a good idea of it,” agreed Henry.
“I was just the poor relation,” said Alice. “Why, when they had company I often had to wait and eat afterwards.”
“Only when the table wasn’t big enough,” said Henry.
“No! It was because I wasn’t thought good enough to talk to their company! I was only good enough to lay the table and cook the food. I hated every one of them ... but Lucia most of all.”
“Come, come, now, I used to think Lucia was uncommon nice to you.”
“Like a man! She was the petted darling. Her father wouldn’t let the winds of heaven visit her too roughly. I slept in a dark, stuffy back room. She had the sunny look-out. She was four years younger than I was ... but she thought she was my superior in everything.”
“Come, come, now, didn’t you imagine a good deal of that?” asked Henry mildly.
“No, I did not! When she was invited to Ingleside, was I ever asked, too?”
“But people all thought you hated them.”
“I did, too. And Lucia was sent away to school. No one ever thought of educating me. Yet I was far cleverer than she was.”
“Clever, yes,” agreed Henry, with a curious emphasis. “But the teachers always said you wouldn’t try to learn.”
Curtis felt that he should not let Alice say such things of Lucia but a temporary paralysis seemed to have descended upon him. It was a dream ... a nightmare ... one couldn’t ...
“Uncle Winthrop was always saying sarcastic things to me. I remember them ... every one. Do you remember them, Henry?”
“Yes. The old chap had a habit that way. He was the same with everybody. He didn’t mean much by it. But I did think the old chap wasn’t as nice to you as he might have been. But your aunt was good to you.”
“She slapped me one day before company.”
“Yes ... but you had sassed her.”
“I hated her after that,” said Alice, ignoring his words. “I never spoke a word to her for ten weeks. And she never noticed it . One day, when I was nineteen, she said, ‘I was married at your age.’”
“I heard her say the same thing to Nan Blythe.”
“Whose fault was it that I was not married?” said Alice, who seemed determined not to hear anything Henry said.
“You seemed to hate going about with other young people,” he protested.
“I wasn’t as well dressed as they were. I knew they looked down on me for it.”
“Nonsense! That was just your imagination.”
“Laura Gregor taunted me once with living on charity,” retorted Alice, her voice shaking with passion. “If I had been dressed like Lucia Roy Major would have noticed me.”
“I remember the Carman girls had old gingham dresses on that night,” reflected Henry.
“I was shabby ... dowdy ... he didn’t want to be seen with me. I ... I loved him ... I would have done anything to win him.”
“I remember how jealous I was of him,” said Henry reflectively. “And there wasn’t any real need. He was crazy mad about Amy Carr ... and a dozen other girls afterwards. What fools young people can be!”
Alice swept on as if she had not heard him.
“When Marian Lister told me that she and Roy were going to be married and asked me to be her bridesmaid I could have killed her. She did it on purpose to hurt me.”
“Nonsense again. She had no other girl friends. And if you felt like that why did you consent?”
“Because I was determined she should not suspect and triumph over me. I thought my heart would break the day of the wedding. I prayed that God would give me the
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