How New Moon had changed! It took Juliet several days to realize the extent of the change that had come over that dear old place. But after her first flush of welcoming and the excitement of being back, she was free to wander her old haunts and exclaim in wonder--and sometimes sorrow--at the ways they had altered.
For instance, the Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday Roads had switched places. The Tomorrow Road had become lovely--it was now the Today Road. Douglas had cut back the trees on the old Today Road--it was now the new Yesterday Road. And the old Yesterday Road had been planted--Juliet did get a thrill thinking about how lovely it would be Tomorrow.
"All this talk of Yesterdays and Tomorrows--it makes my head spin!" laughed Maggie when Juliet tried to explain to her--yes, laughed!
Maggie did a lot of laughing at New Moon. She laughed at Uncle Perry's jokes and at the silly paintings Father had done for little Embeth's bedroom. She laughed at Mother's funny stories and Bea's gossip--she laughed while helping out in the kitchen and pouring over needlepoint with Aunt Ilse. Sometimes she laughed over nothing--the best kind of laugh.
"I love your New Moon, and all its inhabitants," she told Juliet fiercely.
And they loved her! Mother, who was working on a new novel, changed her heroine from a feisty, spirited girl to one with a sweet, strong temperment like Maggie's--with one dear curl that dropped down over her eyes, like that maiden's. Father reflected that he really must paint her--the girl had a face like one not from this world. Douglas found her an interesting conversant about the woods and trees, and quiet Bella found an easy ear for talking about child-rearing. Bea was grateful that Maggie never made her feel bad about gossiping--and Aunt Ilse told everyone that would listen that Maggie had an impeccable sense of style--it was inborn. She could look like a queen even in an old shirtwaist, her only adornment a circle of mums in her hair.
Juliet--who had been known to be jealous--didn't mind being eclipsed by Maggie. Having her around made things so much easier. When old, catty Mrs. Drew asked when Juliet and Allan were planning on having children--a curious gleam in her eyes the whole time--Maggie squeezed Juliet's hand and changed the topic and that little gesture helped her to bear it. She made a fuss over Little Juliet--but not too big. And sometimes, despite her best intentions, Bea said tactless things.
"Linda! Stop dragging little Perry by his arms! He's your brother, not a toy! I swear, Juliet," Bea's honey curls danced as she tossed her head. "Children are such a hassle. Sometimes I feel like I could just kill them!"
Juliet's eyes grew very large and blackly-blue and Bea stammered, "Oh. I mean--I--"
But Maggie took charge. "It's quite alright Bea, don't make it worse by talking of it more. Girls! Do you know what I fancy? A sleigh ride. Let's call over to Ingleside and see if Jake Blythe will bring his sleigh and take us out!"
Yes, Maggie was fond of sleigh rides! She was also fond of long afternoon rambles in Lofty John's bush, and climbing up and sliding down the frozen sand dunes on the shore. Juliet had never seen Maggie outside so much--not in all the time they had known each other!
But sleigh rides and the wide outdoors were not the only things Maggie was fond of, Juliet reflected. In fact, Juliet thought, as her keen eyes watched Jake tuck Maggie into the front of the sleigh next to him--though all three girls could easily have fit in the back--it seemed that Maggie like the driver of the sleigh more than sleighing itself. She slitted her eyes toward Bea, and saw her own suspicions mirrored there.
"She could do far worse than Jake," Bea whispered. "Oh! A love affair! How exciting! Juliet, what if they get married?"
Juliet stared at Bea. Had she forgotten what she--knew--of Maggie?
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The dance that no one had suspected ended up being a success. The Ladies Aid wondered why they had never had a dance in November before. It was such a long, cold month. This gave them something to look forward to.
True to her word, Bella had had an array of dresses to lend to Maggie. With Aunt Ilse's help, they decided on a mossy green silk. "You can keep it," Bella said, admiring the pretty Maggie. "After all these babies, my waist is to thick for it anyway."
"It's not--but it will be, soon," said Aunt Ilse as she pinned. "Have they told you, Juliet, that they're having another in the spring?"
"Another?" Juliet laughed. "But little Juliet's only five months old!"
"The winters are very--long--here," said Bella, flushing crimson.
They all knew what she meant and laughed.
"I didn't want to say anything to you, dearest," whispered Bella to Juliet when Maggie and Aunt Ilse had gone to the mirror to do their hair. "I'd rather--die--than upset you in any way. Do say you're happy for us? I couldn't bear to have you feeling sore or bitter toward me."
"I am happy for you," said Juliet, and found she meant it. New Moon had had a healing effect on her soul. It gave her hope, and made her able to dream again. "Only," she added with a grin, "It's so hard to think of Doug--my little brother!--being a father to three."
"If it's a boy it will be Dean after Father," confided Bella. "If it's a girl we're naming her Nancy after Great-great aunt Nancy Priest--I never met her myself but I always felt like I knew her, from Father's stories."
With a happy heart Juliet collected Maggie and Bea and left for the dance.
Juliet had expected to be a wallflower the whole night, but many of her old school chums were there--they asked her to dance. Blair and Trudy King were home until the New Year and Juliet and Blair danced together many times. It was funny, the way time altered things-- she and Blythe had a good laugh together over their old love affair.
"When all the time Allan was there under my nose!" Juliet giggled. "What a goose I was!"
"I thought I'd always remain a bachelor after you pitched me over," Blair groaned in mock consternation.
"You pitched me over, Blair King!"
"Ah, but only because I knew you were destined for greater things as Allan Miller's wife. Does he tell you how pretty you are at least once a day, Juliet? If he doesn't he's a fool."
"He tells me twice a day," Juliet laughed. "Sometimes more."
"You are looking very dear," Blair conceded. "You never wore much pink in our running around days--mostly blues and greens, they suit your smoky eyes. But pink makes you look like a flower--and in it your cheeks look like poppies. Yes, you look very well, Juliet, but you aren't half as dear as my Tru over there. I'm going to abandon you and dance with her."
"Do!" Juliet insisted. She wasn't at a loss for partners--as soon as Blair had whirled away, Teddy Wright stepped up to take his place--then Walter Blythe--then one of the Drew boys--then she lost count.
In fact, there was only one of her old chums who did not dance with her once. Jake Blythe spent the whole night at the shoulder of a small, lithe girl in green. Everyone wondered who she was--surely they would have noticed a face like that before! But no one dared to pull her away from Jake--for she was meeting his eyes with a soulful glance as if he, too, were the only one in the room.
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"I've had such a wonderful time," Maggie sighed from her featherbed later. "My feet are blistered and sore--I wore a hole in one of my silver slippers--someone spilled a glass of punch on Bella's dress--and I lost one of my mother's earrings. But I'd gladly sacrifice all of those things to do it again. I haven't had such a good time in ages!"
"I'm so glad, Maggie!" Juliet blew out her candle--somehow the old New Moon tradition of using candles had persisted even after the war--and snuggled down into bed next to Maggie.
"I noticed," Juliet couldn't help saying once she was cloaked in the velvety darkness of the room, "That Jake Blythe seemed to have a marvelous time as well."
"He did," said Maggie evenly. "He told me so."
"Did he!" said Juliet archly. "Bea and I were right, then! He does like you."
"Oh he doesn't like me," came Maggie's voice again. "He loves me. He told me that, too."
For a moment it had been like the old days with Bea, where they slept over at each other's houses and talked of the nights events--dresses that had been worn and boys that had courted them. But the atmosphere had changed somewhat.
"He--did?" said poor befuddled Juliet. "Oh, Maggie! What did you tell him?"
"When I was little, there was an etiquette book in Mother's drawing room with a whole chapter on how to respond to a man who said he loved you. I used to think it was so silly--if you loved a man, you should say it back! But of course I couldn't say that to him. So I said, 'Why, thank you, Jake. That's awfully kind.' Just like the book said."
"Poor Jake!" Juliet gasped, with a giggle of horror. The situation was--so ridiculous. She thought back over what Maggie had said and asked, cautiously, "Maggie--you--don't love him, do you?"
"I don't know," said Maggie, shocking Juliet into silence. "It's nothing like it was with Dennis--and we've only known each other for a week! But--I think I could love him--if I were given the chance. He said if I moved back here he would marry me, and build me a big house on that sandy cove near the Blair Water. We're going to visit it tomorrow--I'd like to see if even if I'll never live there."
Maggie's voice trailed off, and poor, stunned Juliet lay in bed, her heart beating wildly. Why, it wasn't fair! Maggie was young--so very young--and she should have the chance to find a lifetime of happiness wherever she looked. Perhaps it had been wrong to bring her to New Moon and to let everyone believe that she was fine, and not sick at all. It just set her up for such disappointments! People were dangling dreams and hopes in front of her like carrots before a rabbit and then snatching them away.
But in the moonlight, Maggie's sleeping face looked peaceful and untroubled and there was a hint of a smile.
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Through the trees Juliet could see a light was on at Evensong. Without thinking, she got up from bed, pulled on her coat and slippers and flew off toward the kitchen of that house, where she knew Mother was waiting up.
Mother was indeed waiting up. She was seated at the kitchen table she and Dean Priest had picked out for this house so long ago, doing a crossword puzzle and drinking tea. When she saw Juliet she did not look at all surprised--it was as if she knew that she would be coming. She simply got up and poured Juliet a cup of tea of her own.
"It's cambric," Mother said with a funny little smile. "I find it funny that as I get older, I prefer cambric tea to the 'grown-up' stuff. When I fought against my Aunt Elizabeth to not have to drink it anymore! Wherever she is, Aunt Elizabeth's having a good laugh about this now." She had a small laugh at the memory, but Juliet did not laugh.
"I have to--tell--you something," Juliet began haltingly. "About Maggie."
Mother's soft eyes urged her to go on.
"She's--" Juliet gasped. It was so hard to say it. "She's--"
"Dying," Mother finished when she saw Juliet could not get the words out.
"How did you know?" Juliet whispered.
"I--overheard you talking," Mother said.
"We haven't talked about it, Mother," said Juliet. "Tell me really--how did you know."
Mother looked at Juliet a moment and decided to tell her.
"When I first took her hand," Mother said, "It was so very cold--and I looked into her eyes and I saw it there. And I knew."
"Oh, but how?" Juliet cried. "How could you know?"
Mother shrugged. "The same way I knew where Ilse's mother was--in the old well. The same way I knew that the little boy was in the house on the Malvern Road--the same way I knew Teddy should not sail on the Flavian. The same way you knew Allan was safe during the war."
Juliet shivered and did not speak.
"And now," Mother smoothed back Juliet's hair. "I can see that my girl is wondering if what she did was cruel--bringing Maggie here where there is so much life. You think that it was wrong to have us treat her like she was going to live. Juliet," Mother smiled, "Do you remember when you broke the gazing ball that hung for so long on the chandelier?"
"Yes," said Juliet. "I picked it up because I wanted to take it into the garden and look at it there--and dropped it on the walkway--and it shivered into fragments. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"I remember how carefully you picked up all the pieces and stared at them before we put them into the dustbin," recalled Mother fondly. "You knew we couldn't put it back together--but you wanted to look into that fairy mirror once more before it was gone from you forever. It is the same with Maggie. Her life will never be whole and her possibilities are limited, but you have given her a chance to live as a normal girl again. To have fun, and make friends, and to have someone's arms around her and soft words whispered into her ear. You have," Mother finished, "Given her the most precious of gifts. Laughter and life and love. She will never forget it--and neither will you."
"Maggie is so much braver than me. She's not afraid of dying--she faces it with courage. But I--I'm so sad, though, Mother," said Juliet, and her face made Emily Kent's heart turn over because she looked for all the world like a little girl.
"I know, darling," said Mother to her child. "You have had such a happy, carefree life--not as happy and carefree as mine, because of the war, and of losing Uncle Dean and your own little baby. But you have had beautiful moments when you were young enough to enjoy them, and sorrow is life's tax on those beautiful moments. Would you trade any of those moments to relieve this sorrow you feel now?"
Juliet thought back over her days at New Moon. "No," she said. "I wouldn't."
"Now," said Mother, "It's late, and you are tired. It's started to snow--look at that smattering of flakes. You can't walk back in those slippers--come and lay with me on the sofa and we'll watch them fall. I've missed you, missed my girl."
Juliet reflected, as she dozed off to the muffled sounds of snow falling, that nothing really seemed so bad when Mother was near. And Mother reflected that she would gladly give any of her own happy moments to save her little girl one moment's pain.
