Chapter 13 Uncle Benjamin found he had,
Reckoned without his host,
When he promised so early to take Valancy to a doctor.
Valancy would not go.
Valancy laughed in his face.
Why on earth should I go to Dr.
Marth?
There's nothing the matter with my mind.
Though,
You all think I've suddenly gone crazy.
Well,
I haven't.
I have simply grown tired of living to please other people and have decided to please myself.
It will give you something to talk about besides my stealing the raspberry jam,
So that's that.
Dos,
Said Uncle Benjamin solemnly and helplessly,
You are not like yourself.
Who am I like then,
Asked Valancy.
Uncle Benjamin was rather posed.
Your grandfather wants Barra,
He answered desperately.
Thanks,
Valancy looked pleased.
That's a real compliment.
I remember Grandfather once Barra.
He was one of the few human beings I have known.
Almost the only one.
Now,
It is of no use to scold or intrigue or command Uncle Benjamin or exchange anguished glances with mother and cousin Stickles.
I'm not going to any doctor.
And if you bring any doctor here,
I won't see him.
So what are you going to do about that?
But indeed,
It was not seemingly or even possible to hail Valancy doctorates by physical force.
And in no other way could it be done,
Seemingly.
Her mother's tears and imploring entreaties availed not.
Don't worry,
Mother,
Said Valancy,
Lightly but quite respectfully.
It isn't likely I'll do anything very terrible,
But I mean to have a little fun.
Fun,
Miss Frederick uttered the words,
As if Valancy had said she was going to have a little tuberculosis.
Olive,
Sent by her mother to see if she had any influence over Valancy,
Came away with flushed cheeks and angry eyes.
She told her mother that nothing could be done with Valancy after she,
Olive,
Had talked to her just like a sister,
Tenderly and wisely.
All Valancy had said,
Narrowing her funny eyes to mere slips,
Was,
I don't show my gums when I laugh.
More as if she were talking to herself than to me.
Indeed,
Mother,
All the time I was talking to her,
She gave me the impression of not really listening.
And that wasn't all.
When I finally decided that what I was saying had no influence over her,
I begged her,
When anything queer before him,
At least.
Mother,
What do you think she said?
I'm sure I can't imagine,
Groaned Aunt Wellington,
Prepared for anything.
She said,
I'd rather like to shock Cecil.
His mouth is too red for a man's.
Mother,
I can never feel the same to Valancy again.
Her mind is affected,
Olive,
Said Aunt Wellington solemnly.
You must not hold her responsible for what she says.
When Aunt Wellington told Miss Frederick,
What Valancy had said to Olive,
Miss Frederick wanted Valancy to apologize.
You made me apologize to Olive fifteen years ago for something I didn't do,
Said Valancy.
That old apology will do for now.
Another solemn family conclave was hold.
They were all there except Cousin Gladys,
Who had been suffering such tortures of neuritis in her head ever since Bordeaux's went queer,
That she couldn't undertake any responsibility.
They decided,
That is,
They accepted a fact that was thrust into their faces,
That the wisest thing was to leave Valancy alone for a while.
Give her her lead,
As Uncle Benjamin expressed it.
Keep a careful eye on her,
But let her pretty much alone.
The term of watchful waiting had not been invented then,
But that was practically the policy Valancy's distracted relatives decided to follow.
We must be guided by developments,
Said Uncle Benjamin.
It is solemnly easier to scramble eggs than unscramble them,
Of course,
If she becomes violent.
Uncle James consulted Dr.
Ambrose Marsh.
Dr.
Ambrose Marsh approved their decision.
He pointed out to irate Uncle James,
Who would have liked to lock Valancy up somewhere out of hand,
That Valancy had not as yet really done or said anything that could be construed as proof of lunacy,
And without proof you cannot lock people up in this denigrate age.
Nothing that Uncle James had reported seemed very alarming to Dr.
Marsh,
Who put up his hand to conceal a smile several times.
But then he himself was not a sterling,
And he knew very little about the old Valancy.
Uncle James stalked out and drove back to Deerwood,
Thinking that Ambrose Marsh wasn't much of a doctor after all,
And that Adelaide Sterling might have done better for herself.
