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Excerpt: ...lifted her chin high and felt like a princess in disguise. "Ben huntin hens eggs down in the grass," she said, taking the first excuse that came into her head. "Is it time to get supper?" "Hens eggs This time o night an dark as pitch. Miranda Griscom, you ken go up to your room an not come down tell I call you " It was a dire punishment, or would have been if Miranda had not had her head full of other things, for the neighbor had been asked to tea and there would have been much to hear at the table. Besides, it was apparent that her disgrace was to be made public. However, Miranda did not care. She hastened to her little attic window, which looked down, as good fortune would have it, upon the dining-room windows of the Spafford house. With joy Miranda observed that no pg 183 one had thought to draw down the shades and she might sit and watch the supper served over the way, -the supper she had prepared, -and might think how delectable the doughnuts were, and let her mouth water over the currant jelly and the quince preserves and pretend she was a guest, and forget the supper downstairs she was missing. pg 184 CHAPTER XVI David made what apology he could for his absence on the arrival of his guests, and pondered in his heart who it could have been that they referred to as "the maid," until he suddenly remembered Miranda, and inwardly blessed her for her kindliness. It was more than he would have expected from any member of the Heath household. Mirandas honest face among the currant bushes when she had said, "You neednt be afraid of me, Ill keep still," came to mind. Miranda had evidently scented out the true state of the case and filled in the breach, taking care not to divulge a word. He blest her kindly heart and resolved to show his gratitude to her in some way. Could poor Miranda, sitting supperless in the dark, have but known his thought, her lonely heart would have fluttered happily. But she did...… (more)
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A friend introduced me to books by Grace Livingston Hill when we were in college. I later found a list with all the titles GLH had published and set out to read all of them. (I accomplished that.) So I have read this
I liked this better than the last GLH book I re-read, but it is easy to tell that it was written at a different time in publishing history. There are about 3 stories that could be written from this book and fleshed out. GLH does have a habit of throwing narrative telling into the book rather than showing the reader and drawing him/her into the story.
Marcia is a good, responsible girl who's a bit overshadowed by her older sister Kate. Part of the overshadowing is because Kate is engaged and her wedding is to be soon but it also seems that Kate has overshadowed Marcia much of her life. Kate is more of a "give me what I want, when I want it" kind of character. She does what makes her feel good at the time and apparently has never been made to reap the consequences of her decisions in the past, and she doesn't often think of how her actions affect others.
Kate decides to elope with a former boyfriend whom her father never liked. She's convinced her family and her former fiance will forgive her--that they'll send her her trousseau and that she'll still be able to string David (the former fiance) along by his feelings even though she's married to someone else.
Instead, Dad gives the trousseau to Marcia, who agrees to marry David to help both him and her family through the tough spot. In a way, it was God watching out for both of them since Marcia and David seem much better suited to each other than Kate and David were. Marcia and David are both "good"--they try to do the right thing. Marcia and David are also both interested in politics and in engineering/railroads. Marcia is able to speak knowledgeably about these topics because she and her father discussed them. Kate meanwhile wants a fancy house and fancy clothes and the hustle and bustle of New York--telling when GLH says Kate feels she'll be happy only in New York--if you're not happy with yourself, a change of venue is less likely to make you happy long-term.
There were times I wanted to shake David and Marcia both since they didn't communicate with each other. David is too caught up in his lost plans for a life with Kate and his love for Kate and Marcia doesn't want to "bother" him or upset him. David doesn't see that two of his aunts make Marcia miserable--instead he sends her to stay with them while he's out of town--yes, apparently back then, a woman couldn't stay in her own home alone for protracted periods while her husband was out of town for work. How times have changed. Many of their issues could have been shortened or avoided if only they'd talked to one another.
I did admire that David when to Marcia and told her what happened with Kate in New York instead of just trying to hide it. That meant Marcia was not blindsided when it came up later.
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