Courtesy and Contempt

Chapter 8

Chapter 8Mr. Mitchell was among the first to serve Mr. Woodland. He had always intended to visit him, although he had always assured his wife until the end that he should not leave; and until the evening after the visit, she had no knowledge of it. It was then revealed in the following way. When he watched his second daughter cutting a hat, he suddenly spoke to her,

"I hope Mr. Woodland will like it, Lizzy."

"We don't know in a way WHAT Mr. Woodland likes," her mother said angrily, "since we're not visiting."

"But you forget, Mom," Elizabeth said, "that we're going to meet him at the meetings and that Mrs. Long promised to introduce him."

"I don't think Mrs. Long will do anything like that. She has two nieces herself. She is a selfish, hypocritical woman, and I have no opinion of her.'

"I don't anymore," said Mr. Mitchell; " and I am glad that you are not dependent on her to serve you.'

Mrs. Mitchell was reluctant to give an answer, but could not hold back and began to scold one of her daughters.

"Don't cough like that, Kitty, for heaven's sake! Feel a little sorry for my nerves. You tear them to pieces."

'Kitty has no discretion in her cough,' her father said; 'she'll make her sick.'

"I don't cough for my own pleasure," Kitty replied restlessly. When is your next ball, Lizzy?"

"Tomorrow fourteen days."

"Yes, that's the way it is," her mother exclaimed, "and Mrs. Long doesn't come back until the day before; so it will be impossible for her to introduce him, for she will not know him herself.'

"Then, my dear, you can have your friend in the advantage and introduce YOUR Mr. Woodland."

"Impossible, Mr. Mitchell, impossible if I don't know him myself; how can you tease like that?'

"I honor your prudence. A fortnightly acquaintance is certainly very little. What a person really is, you can not know after two weeks. But if WE don't dare, someone else will; and finally, Mrs. Long and her daughters must have their chance; and therefore, since she will consider it an act of kindness, I will take it over myself if you reject the office."

The girls stared at their father. Mrs. Mitchell just said, "Nonsense, nonsense!"

"What can this emphatic exclamation mean?" he shouted. "Do you think the forms of imagination and the emphasis that is placed on them are nonsense? I can't quite agree with you. What do you say, Mary? Because you are a young lady of deep reflection, I know that, and you read great books and make excerpts.'

Mary wanted to say something reasonable, but didn't know how.

"As Mary corrects her ideas," he continued, "we return to Mr. Woodland."

"I'm tired of Mr. Woodland," his wife shouted.

'I'm sorry to hear that; but why didn't you tell me that before? If I had known so much this morning, I certainly wouldn't have visited him. It is very unfortunate; but since I actually paid the visit, we cannot escape the acquaintance now.'

The amazement of the ladies was exactly what he wanted; Mrs. Mitchell's may surpass the rest; When the first frenzy of joy was over, however, she began to explain that she had been expecting it all along.

"How good it was in you, my dear Mr. Mitchell! But I knew I should finally convince you. I was sure that you love your girls too much to neglect such an acquaintance. Well, how happy I am! and it's also such a good joke that you should have left this morning and never said a word about it until now."

"Well, Kitty, you can cough as much as you want," mr. Mitchell said; and as he spoke, he left the room, exhausted by his wife's enthusiasm.

'What an excellent father you have, girl!' she said when the door was closed. "I don't know how you will ever compensate him for his kindness; or neither do I. In our lifetime, it is not so pleasant, I can tell you, to make new acquaintances every day; but for you we would do anything. Linda, my dear, even though you are the youngest, dare I say that Mr. Woodland will dance with you at the next ball.'

'Oh!' Linda said firmly, "I'm not afraid; for even though I am the youngest, I am the greatest.'

The rest of the evening they spent guessing how soon he would return Mr. Mitchell's visit and determining when to invite him to dinner.