The Secret of the Mansion (15 page)

“Let’s surprise Jim by leading Jupe up to him tomorrow morning,” Honey broke in. “We can ride through the bridle trails on the other side of Glen Road.

Dad says it’s a lovely ride, and if there are any gates we can open them for you, or you can ride around them.”

“That would be wonderful,” Trixie cried enthusiastically. “And sometime before Jim goes, let’s go) for a moonlight ride. The moon’s almost full now, so

it would

172 154 be as light as day. Do you think Regan would let us?” “I’m pretty sure he would,” Honey said. “I have a feeling he must have seen Jim and me out

riding yesterday afternoon. That’s why he’s so sure Jim can handle Jupiter. Regan went off in the Ford, you know, and he might have been driving along

the back roads and seen us galloping through the fields beyond our property.”

“Anyway,” Trixie interrupted, “let’s bring our lunches tomorrow and have a picnic in the woods. Dad said I deserved a day off, and the garden’s practically

free of weeds now, so I think Moms would let me go.”

As Trixie waved good-by to Honey, she suddenly remembered that Mr. Lytell had said he was riding his old nag through the woods on the opposite side of the

road when he saw smoke up at the Mansion. “Oh heck,” she told herself. “That was early in the morning. By the time we start out, he’ll be safely behind

his counter in the store.” She hurried along the path, because it was time to feed the chickens and she could see her father’s car

turning into the driveway. “And even if he should see Jim,” she decided, “he won’t know who he is. He couldn’t possibly know everything!”

173 155

A Night at the Manor House

Trixie scattered a handful of grain around the chicken-yard and was relieved to notice that the water can did not need refilling. Her father joined her

as she gathered eggs.

“How many?” he asked. “Only seven,” she said.

“That’s not too bad,” he said. “The hens will start molting soon, and then we’ll have to buy eggs until the pullets begin to lay.” He pointed to a fat young

cockerel that was greedily pecking the scratch. “He and his brother will make nice broilers for the weekend.”

Trixie grinned. “Yummy-yum, but it doesn’t seem possible that those baby chicks we bought in March are ready to eat. It seems like yesterday that they were

nothing but balls of yellow fluff and Bobby and I made up our minds that we’d never, never eat anything so cute.”

They strolled down the path to the terrace and Trixie asked, “How is Mr. Frayne, Dad? Did you stop at the hospital today?”

Mr. Belden shook his head. “No, but I telephoned

174 156 just before I left the bank. His condition is unchanged. I’m afraid the old gentleman hasn’t a chance, Trixie. He was too undernourished, to begin

with.”

“I just don’t understand it,” Trixie said. “With all that money, you’d think he would have eaten a square meal occasionally.”

“Nobody’s sure that he did have any money,” her father reminded her. “He may well have lost his entire fortune in bad investments, you know.”

“How about the property?” Trixie asked. “It’s worth a thousand dollars an acre, isn’t it?”

“It may be heavily mortgaged,” Mr. Belden said. “I’ll inquire at the bank about that tomorrow. But even if it isn’t mortgaged, Mr. Frayne may well have

preferred starving to the risk of losing his land. A lot of people feel that way about their land, you know. They would rather die than sacrifice it.”

Trixie thought of the closets on the top floor of the Mansion that were filled with expensive clothes which had been allowed to rot into shreds. The moth-eaten

rugs, alone, could have been sold at one time for enough money to have kept the old man supplied with plenty of food for many months. If he wouldn’t sell

anything in the house, she reflected, it stands to reason that he wouldn’t part with a foot of his land. I’ll bet Jim can count on a

175 157 sure ten thousand dollars, anyway, when his uncle dies. “Tell me more about Mr. Frayne, Dad,” she said, as

they stretched out in two beach chairs on the terrace. “You know, what he was like before he got so queer.” “He and his wife were a charming old couple,”

her father told her. “They were so kind to us when we first moved up here that I can never forget it, no matter how unneighborly he became later. Your

mother and I have always thought that if only he’d had children, he wouldn’t have become such a complete recluse when his wife died. He was very fond of

children-they both were especially fond of little boys. Every time they went to the city they brought back presents for Brian and Mart. A big red express

wagon one time, I remember. And when the boys had the chicken pox, both the Frayne’s spent many hours every day reading stories to them, so your mother

could get some rest.”

“Why, they were nice, weren’t they?” Trixie said in surprise. Suddenly she hoped that Mr. Frayne wouldn’t die. If he lived, she felt sure that he would

adopt Jim. How wonderful that would be, she thought excitedly. And if Honey’s parents would stay up here this winter, then we could all go to the same

school and skate and ski together and ever thing!

The whole prospect was so thrilling Trixie felt she

176 158 had to share her hopes with Honey. Right after supper she raced up the hill to the Manor House. Honey was still at the dinner table. She and Miss

Trask were being served baked Alaska in the big formal dining-room. A maid brought another crystal dish for Trixie, but she was so awed by the gleaming

silver and glass and the tall candles that she could hardly eat the delicious dessert.

“Maybe you’d like Honey to show you around the house,” Miss Trask said when the maid brought in fingerbowls. “It’s really a beautiful place; more of a showplace,

right now, instead of a home. But we hope, with you and your brothers coming up here often, it’ll get that lived-in feeling it needs.”

“This is the library,” Honey said, leading the way to a long room the walls of which were lined from floor to ceiling with richly bound books. “Daddy’s

quite a collector, you know. There was never enough space in our New York apartment for him to display all his books, so this is just about his favorite

room.”

“I never saw so many books in all my life,” Trixie gasped. “He’s got many more than there are in the village public library. You’re lucky. You can do all

your research work for school right here at home.” And that reminded her of why she had come up to see Honey.

178 159 “Say,” she went on, “do you think there’s a chance of your staying up here all the year round? Did you speak to Miss Trask about it?”

Honey nodded. “Yes, and she said she’d do everything she could to persuade Mother to keep the house open. Even if Daddy and Mother spend most of the winter

in town, Miss Trask hopes she and I can stay here, so I can go to school with you and your brothers.”

“And Jim,” Trixie interrupted. “Oh, I do hope Mr. Frayne lives and adopts him. We could all have such grand times together.”

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Honey said as they passed through the library into the enormous living-room. “It looks like a museum, doesn’t it?” she

asked as Trixie stared about her at the luxurious furniture and priceless paintings. “And that’s just what it is. Nobody ever comes in here except to look.

I wish Daddy had bought a country place like yours.” Tears welled up suddenly in her wide hazel eyes. “They moved up here just for my sake, but they never

asked me where I wanted to live.”

“Well, why didn’t you come right out and tell them?” Trixie demanded impulsively. “Are you afraid of your parents, or something?”

Honey rubbed her eyes with clenched fists. “Not

179 160 exactly,” she gulped. “Not of Daddy, anyway. He can be awfully sweet and sympathetic at times. But he’s always so busy he’s hardly ever at home,

and when he is, Mother’s always giving a party or dragging him out to one.” She rubbed the toe of her shoe viciously into the thick pile of the heavy carpet.

“I think Daddy would like living here if it weren’t for Mother. She has to have people around her all the time. Not children, grownups. Mother doesn’t

like children, I guess.”

“But she must like you,” Trixie gasped. “Love you, I mean.”

“I’m not so sure of that.” Honey stared out of the window at the huge blue spruce tree which stood in front of the house. “She was awfully worried when

I was so sick. She came right up to the infirmary herself when the school telephoned her. And she never left me until I was well enough to be taken home.

But-But-” Honey suddenly crumpled into a little heap on the carpet and burst into tears. “But-I-still-don’t think she loves me.”

Trixie’s own blue eyes filled with sympathy as she knelt beside Honey and tried to comfort her. “Of course she loves you,” she kept saying over and over

again, not knowing what else to say.

“No, she doesn’t,” Honey sobbed uncontrollably. “If

180 161 she did, why does she always send me away to schools and camps and have nurses and governesses take care of me instead of taking care of me herself

the way other mothers do?”

“I don’t know,” Trixie admitted and then straightened as a sudden thought struck her. “You know what, Honey? Maybe she’s afraid of you. Maybe she feels

just as shy with you as you do with her. I think you ought to try talking more with her. What I mean is, you should tell her how you feel about things,

instead of always going to Miss Trask. I’ll bet my own mother would be awfully hurt if I told somebody else I wanted a bike or anything.”

As though by magic, Honey’s tears instantly stopped. She sat up and stared at Trixie. “Do you really think so?” she asked, flushing with excitement. “Do

you think she’d listen when I told her-well, about my nightmares, for instance?”

“Of course, she’d listen,” Trixie said firmly. “She’s probably always wanted to be close to you but never knew how to begin.”

Honey sprang to her feet. “I think you’ve got the answer, Trixie,” she cried. “I remember now Daddy telling me a long time ago that Mother was very delicate

when I was a baby. She still isn’t terribly husky, and I

181 162 guess I get my nervousness from her. I’ll bet in the beginning she just wasn’t strong enough to take care of me, and that’s when the trouble began.”

Trixie laughed with relief now that Honey was no longer in the dumps. “I’ll bet your mother is exactly like you, Honey,” she said. “You two will get on

together like twin sisters once you get to know each other.”

“I am supposed to look just like her,” Honey admitted, pointing to a large portrait which hung on the far wall.

Trixie crossed over to look at it more closely. “Why, it’s you twenty years from now,” she giggled up at the lovely, slender-faced woman whose wide hazel

eyes might have been Honey’s. “What does your father look like?”

“I’ve got a big photograph of him in my room,” Honey said. “Come on, let’s go up there and get out of this morgue. This room always makes me weepy.”

A maid was turning back the covers on Honey’s bed as the girls came in. She unfolded a dainty, lace trimmed nightgown and brought Honey’s silk negligee

and matching slippers from the closet. “Will you be wanting anything else tonight, Miss Honey?” she asked.

“No, thanks.” Honey smiled and turned to Trixie. “Oh, I wish you could spend the night with me. We could

163 have a long talk about everything and Celia would bring us breakfast in bed the next morning. Wouldn’t you, Celia?”

The maid nodded. “Popovers and strawberry jam and one of cook’s famous bacon omelets.”

“Oh, please, Trixie,” Honey begged. “If you do, we’ll have an early start for our morning ride.”

Trixie hesitated. The pale blue handkerchief-linen sheets and pillow cases on Honey’s bed looked very inviting. And the idea of having breakfast in bed

when she was perfectly well was such a novel one that she couldn’t resist it. “I’ll telephone Dad,” she said. “If he’ll let me off from feeding the chickens

in the morning, I guess I can stay.”

Mrs. Belden answered the phone when Trixie called and gave her permission to spend the night with Honey. “May I have the whole day off, Moms?” Trixie

asked. “We want to ride through the woods on the other side of the road and have a picnic lunch.”

Her mother consulted Mr. Belden and came back with the word that Trixie deserved a day off. “Have a good time, dear,” she said.

“Thanks, Moms, and good night.” Trixie placed the phone back in its cradle and hurried down the long hall to Honey’s room. “It’s okay,” she grinned. “I’ll

have to

183 164 borrow something to sleep in. Haven’t you anything else except those lacy nightgowns? I’ve slept in pajamas ever since I can remember.”

“I’ve got pajamas.” Honey pulled a long mirror away from the wall and revealed several rows of shelves. “These are my camp clothes,” she said. “Take your

pick. They’re all too small for me now, but they ought to fit you even though you probably weigh more than I do.”

The girls played Honey’s radio while they showered and changed, and then Miss Trask came in to say it was time for them to turn out the lights.