The Jest That Failed

"The Jest That Failed" is a poignant short story by Lucy Maud Montgomery, exploring themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. The narrative centers around a young woman who reflects on her past and the choices that led to her current state of solitude and regret. Through a heartfelt examination of the interplay between humor and sorrow, Montgomery delves into the impact of decisions made in moments of jest and the profound consequences they can bear on one's life. The story captures the essence of nostalgia, revealing how laughter can sometimes mask deeper emotional truths.

• Short story

								
"I think it is simply a disgrace to have a person like that in our
class," said Edna Hayden in an injured tone.

"And she doesn't seem a bit ashamed of it, either," said Agnes
Walters.

"Rather proud of it, I should say," returned her roommate, spitefully.
"It seems to me that if I were so poor that I had to 'room' myself and
dress as dowdily as she does that I really couldn't look anybody in
the face. What must the boys think of her? And if it wasn't for her
being in it, our class would be the smartest and dressiest in the
college--even those top-lofty senior girls admit that."

"It's a shame," said Agnes, conclusively. "But she needn't expect to
associate with our set. I, for one, won't have anything to do with
her."

"Nor I. I think it is time she should be taught her place. If we could
only manage to inflict some decided snub on her, she might take the
hint and give up trying to poke herself in where she doesn't belong.
The idea of her consenting to be elected on the freshmen executive!
But she seems impervious to snubs."

"Edna, let's play a joke on her. It will serve her right. Let us send
an invitation in somebody's name to the senior 'prom.'"

"The very thing! And sign Sidney Hill's name to it. He's the
handsomest and richest fellows at Payzant, and belongs to one of the
best families in town, and he's awfully fastidious besides. No doubt
she will feel immensely flattered and, of course, she'll accept. Just
think how silly she'll feel when she finds out he never sent it. Let's
write it now, and send it at once. There is no time to lose, for the
'prom' is on Thursday night."

The freshmen co-eds at Payzant College did not like Grace Seeley--that
is to say, the majority of them. They were a decidedly snobbish class
that year. No one could deny that Grace was clever, but she was poor,
dressed very plainly--"dowdily," the girls said--and "roomed" herself,
that phrase meaning that she rented a little unfurnished room and
cooked her own meals over an oil stove.

The "senior prom," as it was called, was the annual reception which
the senior class gave in the middle of every autumn term. It was the
smartest and gayest of all the college functions, and a Payzant co-ed
who received an invitation to it counted herself fortunate. The senior
girls were included as a matter of course, but a junior, soph, or
freshie could not go unless one of the senior boys invited her.

Grace Seeley was studying Greek in her tiny room that afternoon when
the invitation was brought to her. It was scrupulously orthodox in
appearance and form, and Grace never doubted that it was genuine,
although she felt much surprised that Sidney Hill, the leader of his
class and the foremost figure in all college sports and societies,
should have asked her to go with him to the senior prom.

But she was girlishly pleased at the prospect. She was as fond of a
good time as any other girl, and she had secretly wished very much
that she could go to the brilliant and much talked about senior prom.

Grace was quite unaware of her own unpopularity among her class
co-eds, although she thought it was very hard to get acquainted with
them. Without any false pride herself, and of a frank, independent
nature, it never occurred to her that the other Payzant freshies could
look down on her because she was poor, or resent her presence among
them because she dressed plainly.

She straightway wrote a note of acceptance to Sidney Hill, and that
young man naturally felt much mystified when he opened and read it in
the college library next morning.

"Grace Seeley," he pondered. "That's the jolly girl with the brown
eyes that I met at the philomathic the other night. She thanks me for
my invitation to the senior prom, and accepts with pleasure. Why, I
certainly never invited her or anyone else to go with me to the senior
prom. There must be some mistake."

Grace passed him at this moment on her way to the Latin classroom. She
bowed and smiled in a friendly fashion and Sidney Hill felt decidedly
uncomfortable. What was he to do? He did not like to think of putting
Miss Seeley in a false position because somebody had sent her an
invitation in his name.

"I suppose it is some cad who has a spite at me that has done it," he
reflected, "but if so I'll spoil his game. I'll take Miss Seeley to
the prom as if I had never intended doing anything else. She shan't be
humiliated just because there is someone at Payzant who would stoop to
that sort of thing."

So he walked up the hall with Grace and expressed his pleasure at her
acceptance, and on the evening of the prom he sent her a bouquet of
white carnations, whose spicy fragrance reminded her of her own little
garden at home. Grace thought it extremely nice of him, and dressed in
a flutter of pleasant anticipation.

Her gown was a very simple one of sheer white organdie, and was the
only evening dress she had. She knew there would be many smarter
dresses at the reception, but the knowledge did not disturb her
sensible head in the least.

She fingered the dainty white frills lovingly as she remembered the
sunny summer days at home in the little sewing-room, where cherry
boughs poked their blossoms in at the window, when her mother and
sisters had helped her to make it, with laughing prophesies and
speculations as to its first appearance. Into seam and puff and frill
many girlish hopes and dreams had been sewn, and they all came back to
Grace as she put it on, and helped to surround her with an atmosphere
of happiness.

When she was ready she picked up her bouquet and looked herself over
in the mirror, from the top of her curly head to the tips of her
white shoes, with a little nod of satisfaction. Grace was not exactly
pretty, but she had such a bright, happy face and such merry brown
eyes and such a friendly smile that she was very pleasant to look
upon, and a great many people thought so that night.

Grace had never in all her life before had so good a time as she had
at that senior prom. The seniors were quick to discover her unaffected
originality and charm, and everywhere she went she was the centre of a
merry group. In short, Grace, as much to her own surprise as anyone's,
found herself a social success.

Presently Sidney brought his brother up to be introduced, and the
latter said:

"Miss Seeley, will you excuse my asking if you have a brother or any
relative named Max Seeley?"

Grace nodded. "Oh, yes, my brother Max. He is a doctor out west."

"I was sure of it," said Murray Hill triumphantly. "You resemble him
so strongly. Please don't consider me as a stranger a minute longer,
for Max and I are like brothers. Indeed, I owe my life to him. Last
summer I was out there on a surveying expedition, and I took typhoid
in a little out-of-the-way place where good nursing was not to be had
for love or money. Your brother attended me and he managed to pull me

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