Alright guys, again, I am short on time, so I'll just a big THANK YOU to all my reviwers! anyway, enjoy this action-y chappie!
~EquestrianIntrovert
Chapter 8
"Oh, Celia! You look positively beautiful in that dress! If Robert was ever in doubt of your looks, he sure won't be now!" declared Mandie, as Celia pruned in front of the mirror.
"Yes, the green trimmings bring out the green in your eyes beautifully," agreed Sallie.
Celia blushed. She had been the first to put on her dress, and was now combing her hair in a pompadour, tucking a comb with emerald gems on it, into the pompadour.
"If she don't look jus' like dem gibson girls in the catalog! Bettuh hurry, missy 'manda, or Aunt Lou is gonna want me back in da kitchen with huh," urged Liza.
Mandie sighed.
"Alright," said Mandie, sliding off the bed.
The girls were now in the process of getting ready for the ball. It was 5:00, and the ball started at 7:00. Liza had been asked to help Mandie and the other girls to get ready for the ball.
Liza helped Mandie into her dress.
Mandie came out and twirled.
Celia and Sallie sighed with satisfaction.
"You look absolutely beautiful!" Celia said.
"Beautiful," echoed Sallie.
Mandie blushed happily.
"Thank you, y'all will look absolutely beautiful too!" said Mandie, hugging them both.
"You ain't dun yet, we still got yo' hair!" urged Liza, eager to see the final results.
Mandie was pulled away by Liza.
Liza put her hair into a pompadour, but then thought for a moment.
"Missy 'Manda, if you don't mind me sayin' so, yo' hair looks bettuh loose," Liza said.
"I don't mind at all, Liza. Do what you see fit," said Mandie meekly, who liked to have Liza be outspoken, and act like a friend, instead of a servant.
Liza quickly took it down, and combed her hair loose, tying it back with her best baby blue ribbon. Then Liza chose her white gloves, and was about to pick up her locket with her father's picture in it.
"Wait," said Mandie, taking the locket from her.
Liza remained silent.
Mandie sighed sadly, and opened the locket, having a faint hope of finding her father's picture there again.
It was!
Mandie let out a surprised scream that made Liza jump.
Mandie began to hop around in a childish fashion.
"It's there! My father's picture is there, safe and unharmed!" she squealed.
Liza was a bit confused, as she hadn't learned of it's disappearance.
Celia and Sallie rushed towards her.
"How is that possible?" questioned Sallie.
"I don't know, and don't care, just as long as I have it back," said Mandie, blinking the joyous tears away.
They continued getting ready, until they all stood in front of the mirror.
Liza put her hands on her hips and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Thank you, Liza," Mandie smiled.
"No problem, now I gots to git back in da kitchen 'fore Aunt Lou comes up here and skins me alive," said Liza, walking out.
"Time for the ball," announced Mandie, as the clock struck 7:00 pm.
They walked out of the room, and found the boys waiting.
They were dressed in either black or brown suits, with white gloved hands. They look up at them, smiling pleasantly.
"Celia, you should have not bought that dress, it is so appealing, I am afraid some other man will take you away from me!" Robert scolded gently, taking her arm.
Celia laughed softly, and blushed.
"They won't, I will be too shy to talk to them," Celia said.
"Hey, you!" called a cheery voice.
Jonathan and Janice were arm in arm, strolling down the hallway.
Jonathan wore a tuxedo, with his stubborn curls plastered down with gel, except some especially stubborn ones refused to be put down.
Janice wore a dark aqua ball gown, her hair in a pompadour, with white flower accents.
"Hey yourselves," Joe replied, who had not spoken a word, but only stood by Mandie's side, watching her.
"Is everyone ready? Joe says he can't wait to get at the pastries," Dimar put in.
Everyone laughed.
"I'm eager to see those cakes, myself," said Johnathan.
"Well, let's go then. Tom escorted Polly to her house, while she got ready, and should be down there dancing by now," said Robert, as he led Celia down the stairs.
They went down the stairs, and heard the waltz music being played, and the buzzing of a lot of people.
They stopped at the door of the dining room, the noise at its full volume now. They entered the dining room, where the tables had been pushed aside conveniently, and various couples waltzed in the middle.
Mrs. Taft was rapidly talking with a large group of rich looking people, with Senator Morton by her side.
"Amanda! Amanda!" called Mrs. Taft, suddenly spotting Mandie and waving her over.
Mandie sighed.
"Looks like I'll have to go talk with Grandmother's rich friends," Mandie said.
"I'll go with you," said Joe, taking her arm and leading her over.
Mandie and Joe walked up to Mrs. Taft's group of friends.
"Everyone, this is my granddaughter, Amanda, and Joe Woodard. Amanda, Joe, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hempville, and Mr and Mrs. Vernice," Mrs. Taft droned on, naming all the people in the group, each who received a polite nod from Mandie and Joe.
"So, are you two engaged?" asked a woman with a shrill voice.
Mandie and Joe blushed.
"N-no, Mrs. Epshire," Mandie managed to choke out.
The woman clicked her tongue.
"Well, I suppose she could not be, since she must make a good match," said the woman, with an uppity sniff.
Mrs. Taft looked uncomfortable.
Mandie turned beet red.
Joe glared at his shoes, wishing he could let his mouth run loose on these 'stuck-up, uppity,' people.
"I-i have to go. It was nice to meet y'all," Mandie choked, in a desperate attempt to leave. Mandie turned away and rushed towards the punch bowl, with Joe immediately on her heels.
Mandie grabbed a cup, and dashed outside the door.
Joe followed.
Mandie stopped outside the door, and drank the whole cup.
"Mandie," said Joe, in a tone of voice that held mirth.
Mandie looked up to see him choking to hold back a fit of laughter as much as she was. they then broke down into laughter, and they both laughed together.
"Well, I suppose not, because she has to make a good match!" mocked Mandie, mimicking her shrill voice.
Joe slapped his knee, laughing helplessly.
They finally got a hold of themselves, and Joe put a hand on her shoulder.
"Mandie, those city slickers don't care who marries who, as long as someone gets profit from it, and those type of people aren't our favorite company, so let's just go out there, and avoid those city slickers." said Joe, fiercely determined that people should not talk that way about persons who are present.
"Alright. I bet that a rich young man will ask me to dance before you do!" laughed Mandie, walking towards the door.
Joe caught her hand.
"No, he won't, 'cause I'm asking you to dance with me first!" Joe said, with a grin.
"Alright then, let's go!" said Mandie, grinning bashfully back at him.
They entered the room, and danced for a long time. The slow waltz made Mandie and Joe feel uncomfortable, but then they played some country dances.
"Remember how to dance this one? I think I danced it with you at a barn dance," remarked Joe, smiling down at her.
Mandie blushed.
"I remember," she said.
They frolicked and laughed while dancing the up-beat country songs, caught their breath and talked during the slow waltzs, and the evening soon passed by. Mandie, tired of dancing, put on her coat, and escaped to the outdoors sitting on the back patio.
Joe saw her go out. 'This is my chance!', he thought.
Mandie sighed. The woman's words came back to her. Did she have to make a good match? Mandie shook her head. She wouldn't marry for money. And no one would force her to. Joe came into her head. Mandie bit her lip. She loved Joe, but did she love him in the way that marriages are formed, or as a friend? 'Best friend,' she corrected herself. She didn't love any of the other boys in the way she loved Joe, but then, Joe had been her life-long friend. It was so hard to decide!
'Pull yourself together, Mandie, it's not like you have to decide right now. Joe probably knows a girl from his college, or somewhere.' Mandie told herself. No! Joe just last week had told her he still loved her. Did he mean to propose? All these thoughts whirled through Mandie's head, as she worried and frowned.
Joe quietly opened the door, and entered the patio, and saw Mandie sitting there, her hair glowing gold in the moonlight. Yes, he was sure he wanted to do this.
"Joe!" Mandie jumped, and exclaimed.
Joe smiled weakly.
"Hi, Mandie, mind if I join you?" asked Joe.
Mandie smiled, and nodded, her heart beating fast. Did she know the reason he sought her out here, now?
Joe watched her face, her eyes looking innocently around the garden where they sat. In spite of himself he began to tremble.
"M-mandie?" asked Joe, taking her hand.
Mandie's heart was beating rapidly.
"Y-yes?" asked Mandie, trying to sound casual.
"H-here, take this," Joe said, bringing a modestly wrapped, brown paper package from his pocket.
Mandie looked at him curiously, and then unwrapped it, revealing Jim's picture, in a small frame, smiling. She gasped.
"Oh, Joe!" she exclaimed, gently touching the glass gently, as tears came to her eyes.
"I had to steal your picture. I'm awfully sorry you got upset," said Joe apologetically.
"Oh, Joe! It was worth it! Oh, this is the best gift I have ever gotten!" exclaimed Mandie, throwing an arm around him, and damping his shirt with a few tears.
Joe smiled, and hugged her. Mandie was too happy to notice. She blushed, and brushed away her tears, smiling down at the picture.
"Sorry for wetting your shirt," Mandie apologized.
"It's all right," said Joe, squeezing her hand.
Mandie sat there in a happy rapture, staring at the picture.
Joe again began trembling, and would not be side tracked.
"You remember that question I asked you, on your Mother's wedding day?" he asked suddenly, taking her hand again.
'How could I forget?' thought Mandie, as she felt his hand shaking.
"Y-yes," continued Mandie.
"W-well, We're all grown up now, and through with college. I've got a certificate to be a lawyer, and you're educated better 'n most," Joe's voice seemed shaky.
"Yes," Mandie probed.
"W-well, I just- I want your answer. I loved you before and I still love you. When I picture my future, I always see a nice house in the country, a barn with a couple of horses and cows or so, a small field, and-well-you. Well, will you be my wife?" Joe finished, shaking now more than ever, and was distressed by her face.
Mandie gasped for breath, and tears filled her eyes, as panic filled her mind. What if she really didn't love him in that way? It could ruin her life! But, what if she did? And if she didn't?
"O-oh Joe, I-i j-just don't know! I don't know!" cried Mandie fleeing the scene, clutching the picture to her chest.
Tears filled Joe's eyes, and threatened to pour out.
Just then the clock struck mid-night, and everyone cheered, and began hugging one another.
Mandie ran through the ballroom, and rushed up the stairs. She burst into her room, closed the door, and lay on the bed, sobbing.
"Oh, dear God, please help me, I don't know! I don't know!" she repeated, as she kept seeing Joe's pained look in her mind over and over again.
Joe was still on the back patio. Joe waited a minute or two, and then briskly walked through the ballroom, and to his room. He paused for a moment at the door, and heard Mandie's broken sobs. He took a deep shaky breath, and shut his door, took off his shoes and coat, and removed the tie he had so excitedly put on earlier. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, tears streaming down his cheeks. He turned around, buried his face in a pillow.
'Please, God, help me, and help Mandie. If it's your will for Mandie and I not to be engaged, help me okay with that.' he prayed.
Celia, who was still in the ballroom, had noticed Mandie's wild dash for the room. She politely excused herself, and went upstairs, not knocking on the door, and entered.
Mandie, who had not heard Celia enter, kept sobbing.
Tears came to Celia's eyes, as she never had seen Mandie so heart broken.
"Shh, Mandie, calm down, tell me what's wrong," Celia said shakily, stroking her hair.
"Oh, Celia!" Mandie sobbed, and hiccupped, attempting to stop sobbing. She settled down to an occasional tear, as Celia embraced her.
"Celia, I'm so confused! Joe proposed to me, and I just ran off. I don't know whether I love him or not! I just don't know!" said Mandie, burying her face in a pillow again, but she had ran out of tears.
Celia bit her lip. This might sound rough.
"Mandie, Pull yourself together. What if Joe died?" asked Celia.
Mandie gasped, and looked at her questiongly.
"Well, he could. What would you do? What would your future look like?" Celia persisted.
"I-i would be sad," said Mandie cautiously.
"Greatly grieved. This your life-long friend, who has loved you all his life, that we are talking about, Mandie. He even proposed to you," Celia continued.
Mandie sniffled.
"I would." Mandie admitted.
"Then what would your future look like? Now, that you turned him down, he will probably go away, or your relationship would be strained or awkward. Then what would you do, besides be an old maid at home? I know you said you might become a lady detective, but Mandie, it requires too much secrecy, isolation, and danger for you to readily have that job. Mysteries here might occupy you, but you would still feel something missing. I know it sounds strange, Mandie, but I know you. You would miss Joe, right?" Celia probed.
Mandie wondered how Celia seemed to know her thoughts.
"Y-yes," whispered Mandie. She already felt that hollow feeling, that happiness may not come easily.
"Mandie, I know this will sound like I am forcing something on you, but you need Joe in your life. You love Joe, Mandie, but your stubbornness is keeping you from admitting that! I don't know what makes you shy away from the prospect of marrying Joe, for pete's sake, you know he loves you! Mandie, you need to get it through your head that you love Joe, and Joe loves you, and it won't change!" Celia's voice quivered as tears filled her eyes as she scolded Mandie.
Mandie began to cry softly.
"Oh, Celia, I'm so hopelessly feather-brained!" cried Mandie softly, as she clung to Celia for comfort.
"Shh. Mandie, I confess, at times I wanted to yell at you, that Joe loved you, really and truly, you ought not to treat him so awfully. You know, I often saw Joe's face almost go green with envy, whenever another boy even looked at you. I pitied him so much, at those moments." Celia remarked, laughing softly.
Mandie gave a low chuckle.
"I remember when Joe and I got in a big fight when I went to visit Tommy in Charleston. It was my fault. I should have been more patient. I resolved to never fight with him again, but with my short temper, we did." said Mandie, chuckling.
"What was it about?" asked Celia.
"Oh, it was when we found my father's will, and my father's house caught on fire, and Irene had the measles. I rubbed it in too much that I didn't have to marry him anymore, for my father's house, and I suppose he was only human. He asked if I really actually loved him, and wouldn't just marry him for my father's house. I exploded back, and then Dr. Woodard interrupted. I was never so afraid of him except in that moment. Then we made up, and just continued living life." Mandie said, reliving the memories.
"See? He loved you from the beginning." Celia said softly.
Mandie laughed softly.
"I suppose."
Then a silence was heard, and the music was no longer heard. Then a great cheer sounded.
"What was that?" asked Mandie.
Celia smiled gently.
"Your Grandmother Taft and Senator Morton are engaged. Their wedding will be on the 25th of January." said Celia, anxiously watching her face. Would she be sad that she turned down the opportunity to announce her engagement?
Mandie smiled.
"I wonder how Mr. Guyer senior will take it," she mused.
"Oh, Jonathan told us his father is seeing a woman back in New York, and there ought to be an engagement soon." Celia replied.
Mandie laughed softly.
"Seems like almost everyone is getting engaged, or married now," she said, and then her face turned sad.
"Mandie, do you want me to stay with you? I'll just go downstairs to say goodnight to everybody, and Robert, and right back," Celia said.
Mandie sighed.
"Yes, if you won't mind my poor company," Mandie replied.
Celia smiled.
"I'll" be right back, then," she said.
Celia exited the door, and went downstairs.
Mandie sighed again.
'Will I get a chance to talk to Joe again? Will he let me?Or will he avoid me, after the terrible way I left him?' Mandie thought.
(~~~~)
Robert opened the door of the room, and entered. He heard a sob that was quickly choked back, and a sniffle.
Dimar was there also, and looked disappointed.
They looked towards the figure on the bed, face buried in a pillow.
Dimar went and put a compassionate hand on Joe's back.
Joe sat up, and blew his nose on a tissue.
"I-i guess you know what happened." Joe said, trying to hide his tears.
Robert clapped his back gently.
"I'm sorry, Joe. It must be for the best." he said, not seeing any way to offer hope.
"I'm sorry too, even if we weren't the best of friends all the time," Tommy said.
Joe gave them a weak smile, that had no real joy in it.
Joe told them what happened, and Mandie's parting words.
"Well, she said she didn't know, so maybe she will tell you yes, later?" suggested Dimar.
Joe shook his head dismally.
"No. She's just too kind to tell me flat out no." Joe said.
Dimar, Tommy, and Robert shared a glance. It took a lot to take the jokes out of Joe.
(~~~~)
Mandie sat at the breakfast table, poking her food with her fork, and putting an occasional forkful into her mouth, to keep her mother from scolding her. The Joe that had entered the dining room this morning was different. He wasn't cracking jokes. He didn't tease. He barely talked. He barely ate. He looked like he barely slept. Mandie was distressed by this.
Then, Tommy asked him a question.
"When are you leaving, and where will you be headed, Joe?" he asked.
Joe stopped his fork, and stared critically at the food.
"Today, on the 10 o'clock train. I will be visiting a retired lawyer for a month. I can learn a lot from him." Joe said.
Mandie was shocked. The 10 o'clock train? He would be leaving in an hour! She needed to act fast.
They finished breakfast. Joe excused himself quietly, and briskly walked to his room.
Mandie followed him quickly, and caught his sleeve.
"Joe, please don't be angry with me," Mandie pleaded, searching his face.
Joe barely turned his head, his expression unreadable.
"I'm sorry, Amanda, I don't recall being angry with you," he said.
Mandie shuddered. The voice was chillingly formal, and he never had called her by her actual name.
"Please, Joe, don't act like I'm a stranger!" Mandie begged, tears filling her eyes.
Joe hesitated, and turned.
"I never said you were a stranger. If you'll excuse me, I believe I have to pack." he said, never looking into her face, and then brushing past her.
"J-joe," Mandie whispered, as he fled up the stairs.
Tears filled Joe's eyes. He longed to rush back, and comfort Mandie.
'No. It's not true. It was only a dream. A foolish one.' He thought.
(~~~~)