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diff --git a/21101.txt b/21101.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bfdd8c --- /dev/null +++ b/21101.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8859 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Pixie O'Shaughnessy, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pixie O'Shaughnessy + +Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +Illustrator: W.H.C. Groome + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21101] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PIXIE O'SHAUGHNESSY *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +Pixie O'Shaughnessy + +by Mrs George de Horne Vaizey +________________________________________________________________ +This is an absolutely delightful book. Pixie is a totally unique +character! Her mother had died and had left what money she had for +Pixie's education. The family live in a tumble-down old castle in +Ireland, and are all and each totally eccentric, in an Irish kind of +way. Pixies and her father travel to London, for she is to go to a +school for girls in the London suburbs. Suddenly her father realises +what a shabby little thing she is. Furthermore she has a very strong +Irish brogue. So how does she get on with the other girls. Famously, +in the end, but there were a few set-backs. + +There is a very strongly written episode in the second half of the book, +where Pixie takes the blame for the loss of a perfume-bottle that had +been given to one of the mistresses by an old and beloved friend. +Everything points to Pixie being the culprit. She actually knows who +did it, but somehow had given her word that she wouldn't give the other +girl away. Pixie is punished severely, not only for having done the +deed, as generally assumed, but also for refusing to talk about it. +Could any of us show such strength of character? There are several +sequels to this book, but though good, they are mere sequels. The +inspiration that went into this book is unsurpassable. N.H. +________________________________________________________________ +PIXIE O'SHAUGHNESSY + +BY MRS GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE UGLY DUCKLING. + +Pixie O'Shaughnessy was at once the joy and terror of the school. It +had been a quiet, well-conducted seminary before her time, or it seemed +so, at least, looking back after the arrival of the wild Irish tornado, +before whose pranks the mild mischief of the Englishers was as water +unto wine. Pixie was entered in the school-lists as "Patricia Monica de +Vere O'Shaughnessy," but no one ever addressed her by such a title, not +even her home-people, by whom the name was considered at once as a +tragedy and a joke of the purest water. + +Mrs O'Shaughnessy had held stern ideas about fanciful names for her +children, on which subject she had often waxed eloquent to her friends. + +"What," she would ask, "could be more trying to a large and bouncing +young woman than to find herself saddled for life with the title of +`Ivy,' or for a poor anaemic creature to pose as `Ruby' before a +derisive world?" She christened her own first daughter Bridget, and the +second Joan, and the three boys respectively Jack, Miles, and Patrick, +resolutely waving aside suggestions of more poetic names even when they +touched her fancy, or appealed to her imagination. Better err on the +safe side, and safeguard oneself from the risk of having a brood of +plain, awkward children masquerading through life under names which made +them a laughing-stock to their companions. + +So she argued; but as the years passed by, it became apparent that her +children had too much respect for the traditions of the race to appear +an any such unattractive guise. "The O'Shaughnessys were always +beautiful," quoth the Major, tossing his own handsome head with the air +of supreme self-satisfaction which was his leading characteristic, "and +it's not my children that are going to break the rule," and certain it +is that one might have travelled far and wide before finding another +family to equal the one at Knock Castle in point of appearance. The +boys were fine upstanding fellows with dark eyes and aquiline features; +Bridgie was a dainty, fair-haired little lady; while Joan, (Esmeralda +for short, as her brothers had it), had reached such a climax of beauty +that strangers gasped with delight, and the hardest heart softened +before her baby smile. Well might Mrs O'Shaughnessy waver in her +decision; well might she suppose that she was safe in relaxing her +principles sufficiently to bestow upon baby number six a name more +appropriate to prospective beauty and charm. The most sensible people +have the most serious relapses, and once having given rein to her +imagination nothing less than three names would satisfy her--and those +three the high-sounding Patricia Monica de Vere. + +She was an ugly baby. Well, but babies often were ugly. That counted +for nothing. It was really a bad sign if an infant were conspicuously +pretty. She had no nose to speak of, and a mouth of enormous +proportions. What of that? Babies' noses always were small, and the +mouth would not grow in proportion to the rest of the features. In a +few months she would no doubt be as charming as her sisters had been +before her; but, alas! Pixie disappointed that expectation, as she was +fated to disappoint most expectations during her life. Her nose refused +to grow bigger, her mouth to grow smaller, her small twinkling eyes +disdained the lashes which were so marked a feature in the faces of her +sisters, and her hair was thin and straight, and refused to grow beyond +her neck, whereas Bridgie and Esmeralda had curling manes so long that, +as their nurse proudly pointed out to other nurses, they could sit on +them, the darlints! and that to spare. + +There was no disguising the fact that she was an extraordinarily plain +child, and as the years passed by she grew ever plainer and plainer, and +showed less possibility of improvement. The same contrariety of fate +which made Bridget look like Patricia, made Patricia look like Bridget, +and Mrs O'Shaughnessy often thought regretfully of her broken +principle. "Indeed it's a judgment on me!" she would cry; but always as +she said the words she hugged her baby to her breast, and showered +kisses on the dear, ugly little face, wondering in her heart if she had +ever loved a child so much before, or if any of Pixie's beautiful +sisters and brothers had had such strange, fascinating little ways. At +the age when most infants are content to blink, she smiled accurately +and with intent; when three months old she would look up from her pillow +with a twinkling glance, as who would say, "Such an adventure as I've +had with these cot curtains! You wait a few months until I can speak, +and I'll astonish you about it!" And when she could sit up she +virtually governed the nursery. The shrewdness of the glance which she +cast upon her sisters quite disturbed the enjoyment of those young +ladies in the pursuance of such innocent tricks as making lakes of ink +in the laps of their clean pinafores, or scratching their initials on +newly painted doors, and she waved her rattle at them with such an +imperious air that they meekly bowed their heads, and allowed her to tug +at their curls without reproach. + +The whole family vied with each other in adoring the ugly duckling, and +in happy Irish fashion regarded her shortcomings as a joke rather than a +misfortune. "Seen that youngster of mine?" the Major would cry genially +to his friends. "She's worth a visit, I tell you! Ugliest child in +Galway, though I say it that shouldn't." And Pixie's company tricks +were all based on the subject of personal shortcomings. + +"Show the lady where your nose ought to be, darling," her mother would +say fondly, and the baby fingers would point solemnly to the flat space +between the eyes. + +"And where's the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, sweetheart?" would be the +next question, when the whole of Pixie's fat fist would disappear bodily +inside the capacious mouth. + +"The Major takes more notice of her than he did of any of the others," +Mrs O'Shaughnessy would tell her visitor. "He is always buying her +presents!" + +And then she would sigh, for, alas! the Major was one of those careless, +extravagant creatures, who are never restrained from buying a luxury by +the uninteresting fact that the bread bill is owing, and the butcher +growing pressing in his demands. When his wife pleaded for money with +which to defray household bills, he grew irritable and impatient, as +though he himself were the injured party. "The impudence of the +fellows!" he would cry. "They are nothing but ignorant upstarts, while +the O'Shaughnessys have been living on this ground for the last three +centuries. They ought to be proud to serve me! This is what comes of +educating people beyond their station. Any upstart of a tradesman +thinks himself good enough to trouble an O'Shaughnessy about a trumpery +twenty or thirty pounds. I'll show them their mistake! You can tell +them that I'll not be bullied, and indeed they might as well save their +trouble, for, between you and me, there's not a five-pound note in my +pocket between now and the beginning of the year." After delivering +himself of which statement he would take the train to the nearest town, +order a new coat, buy an armful of toys for Pixie, and enjoy a good +dinner at the best hotel, leaving his poor wife to face the irate +tradesmen as best she might. + +Poor Mrs O'Shaughnessy! She hid an aching heart under a bright +exterior many times over, as the pressure for money grew ever tighter +and tighter, and she saw her children running wild over the countryside, +with little or no education to fit them for the battle of life. The +Major declared that he could not afford school fees, so a daily +governess was engaged to teach boys and girls alike--a staid, old- +fashioned maiden lady, who tried to teach the young O'Shaughnessys on +the principles of fifty years ago, to her own confusion and their +patronising disdain. The three boys were sharp as needles to discover +the weak points in her armour, and maliciously prepared questions by +which she could be put to confusion, while the girls tittered and idled, +finding endless excuses for neglecting their unwelcome tasks. Half a +dozen times over had Miss Minnitt threatened to resign her hopeless +task, and half a dozen times had she been persuaded by Mrs +O'Shaughnessy to withdraw her resignation. The poor mother knew full +well that it would be a difficulty to find anyone to take the place of +the hard-worked, ill-paid governess, and the governess loved her wild +charges, as indeed did everyone who knew them, and sorrowed over them in +her heart, because she saw what their blind young eyes never noticed-- +the coming shadow on the house, the gradual fading away of the weary, +overtaxed mother. Mrs O'Shaughnessy had fought for years against +chronic weariness and ill-health, but the time was coming when she could +fight no longer, and, almost before her family had recognised that she +was ill, the end drew near, and her husband and children were summoned +to bid the last farewell. + +The eyes of the dying woman roamed from one to the other of her six +children--twenty-two-year-old Jack, handsome and manly, so like--oh, so +like that other Jack who had come wooing her nearly thirty years ago! +Bridgie, slim and delicate--so unfit, poor child, to take the burden of +a mother's place; Miles, with his proud, overbearing look, a boy who had +had especial claims on her care and guidance; Joan, beautiful and +daring, ignorant of nothing so much as of her own ignorance; Pat, of the +pensive face and reckless spirit; and last but not least, Pixie, her +baby--dear, naughty, loyal little Pixie, whom she must leave to the +tender mercies of children little older than herself! The dim eyes +brightened, the thin hand stretched out and gripped her husband by the +arm. + +"Jack!" she cried shrilly--"Pixie! Give Pixie a chance! Take care of +her--she is so young--and I can't stay. For my sake, Jack, give Pixie a +chance!" + +The Major promised with sobs and tears. In his own selfish way he had +adored his wife, and her last words could not easily be put aside. As +the months passed by, he was the more inclined to follow her wishes, as +the few thousands which fell to him at her death enabled him to pay off +his more pressing debts and enjoy a temporary feeling of affluence. +Jack went back to his office in London, where he had betaken himself +three years before, to the disgust of the father, who considered it more +respectable for an O'Shaughnessy to be in debt than to work for his +living in the City among City men. Pat and Miles remained at home, +ostensibly to help on the estate, and in reality to shoot rabbits and +get into mischief with the farm hands. Miss Minnitt was discharged, +since Bridgie must now be occupied with household duties, and Joan was +satisfied that her education was finished. And the verdict went forth +that Pixie was to go to school. + +"Your mother was always grieving that she could not educate your sisters +like other girls, and it was her wish that you should have a chance. +I'll send you to London to the best school that can be found, if I have +to sell the coat off my back to do it," said the Major fervently; for +there was no sacrifice which he was not ready to make--in anticipation, +and he hoped to discover a school which did not demand payments in +advance. He patted the child on the shoulder in congratulation; but +Pixie was horrified, and, opening her mouth, burst into howls and yells +of indignation. + +"I won't! I shan't! I hate school! I won't go a step! I'll stay at +home and have Miss Minnitt to teach me! I won't! I won't! I won't!" + +The Major smiled and stroked his moustache. He was used to Pixie's +outbursts, and quite unperturbed thereby, although a stranger would have +quailed at the sound, and would certainly have imagined that some +horrible form of torture was being employed. Pixie checked herself +sufficiently to peep at his face, realised that violence was useless, +and promptly changed her tactics. She whimpered dismally, and essayed +cajolery. + +"It will break me heart to leave you. Father darlin', let me stay! +What will you do without your little girl at all?" + +"I'll miss you badly, but it's for your own good. That brogue of yours +is getting worse and worse. And such a fine school, too! Think of all +you will be able to learn!" + +"Me education's finished," said Pixie haughtily. "I know me tables and +can read me books, and write a letter when I want, and that's all that's +required of a young gentlewoman living at home with her parents. I've +heard you say so meself--a hundred times, if once." + +It was too true. The Major recognised the argument with which he had +been wont to answer his wife's pleas for higher education, and was +incensed, as we all are when our own words are brought up against us. + +"You are a very silly child," he said severely, "and don't understand +what you are talking about. I am giving you an opportunity which none +of your brothers and sisters have had, and you have not the decency to +say as much as `Thank you.' I am ashamed of you. I am bitterly +ashamed!" + +Such a statement would have been blighting indeed to an ordinary child, +but Pixie looked relieved rather than otherwise, for her quick wits had +recognised another form of appeal, and she was instantly transformed +into an image of penitence and humiliation. + +"I am a bad, ungrateful choild, and don't deserve your kindness. I +ought to be punished, and kept at home, and then when I grew older and +had more sense I'd regret it, and it would be a warning to me. +Esmeralda's cleverer than me. It would serve me right if she went +instead." + +It was of no avail. The Major only laughed and repeated his decision, +when Pixie realised that it was useless fighting against fate, and +resigned herself to the inevitable with characteristic philosophy. + +Her outbursts of rebellion, though violent for the time being, were of +remarkably short duration, for she was of too sunny a nature to remain +long depressed, and moreover it was more congenial to her pride to pose +as an object of envy than pity. On the present occasion she no sooner +realised that go to school she must, than she began to plume herself on +her importance, and prepare to queen it over her sisters. + +"You had better make the most of me, my dears," she announced in the +morning-room five minutes later, "for it's not long you'll be having me +with you. I'm off to a grand London school to correct me brogue and +learn accomplishments. It will cost a mint of money, and father can't +afford to send you too; but I'll tell you all about it when I come back, +and correct your accent and show you me fine new clothes!" + +"Thank you, darling!" said Bridgie meekly, while Esmeralda stifled a +laugh and turned her lovely eyes on the ugly duckling with a glance of +fondest admiration. Both sisters had overheard the shrieks of ten +minutes before and could still see tell-tale tear-marks, but nothing in +the world would have induced them to say as much or check their darling +in her newly found complacency. + +After all it was not until some months had elapsed that the dilatory +Major discovered a school to his liking, and even then he allowed his +own engagements to interfere with the date of her arrival, for he +insisted upon accompanying Pixie himself, and could not see that it made +the least difference whether she arrived at the beginning of the term or +a few weeks later on. Miss Minnitt protested faintly, but soon relapsed +into silence, and consoled herself by turning seamstress and helping +Bridgie and Joan with the school outfit. It was a case of making new +lamps out of old, for little money was forthcoming to buy fresh +material, and, with the best will in the world, the workers were still +unskilled in their efforts. + +Bridgie's tender heart was pierced with sorrow as she looked at the +dismal little outfit spread out on the bed preparatory to packing--so +poor it seemed, so shabby, oh, so black, black, black and sorrowful! +Poor little Pixie going forth alone into the unknown world--little, +wild, ignorant Irish girl, bound for a strange land among strange +people! Would those fine English girls laugh among themselves and jeer +at her untamed ways? Would they imitate her brogue in their thin +mincing voices, and if so, how, oh, how would Pixie conduct herself in +return? Bridgie was barely twenty years old, but since her mother's +death she had grown into a woman in thoughtfulness and love for others, +and now it weighed on her mind that it was her duty to speak seriously +to Pixie before she left home, and prepare her in some sort for the +trials which might lie before her. If she did not, no one would, and it +was cruel to let the child leave without a word of counsel. She lay +awake wondering what to say and how to say it. + +"It's no use telling Pixie not to get into mischief, for she can't help +it, the darling! It's the nature of her, but she has such a loving +little heart that she will never go far wrong." + +The next day she watched her opportunity, and took advantage of a quiet +moment to speak her words of counsel. + +"You won't be disappointed if school isn't all you expect, will you, +dear?" she began nervously. "I have heard girls say that they felt +dreadfully lonely and homesick at first, and when the pupils are all +strange to you, and chums with one another, you may think they are not +as friendly as you could wish. And the teachers may seem stern. Miss +Minnitt has spoiled us by being too mild and easy, and you will feel the +difference. Then you have run wild all your life, and it will seem +strange to be allowed out for walks only; but, Pixie, I want you to +remember that you are our pet and baby, and that our happiness depends +on you. If you get a good report and bring home prizes, the pride we +shall feel, the airs we shall be giving ourselves, going into Galway and +telling everyone we meet on the street; but if you are disobedient and +we hear complaints, it's covered with disgrace we shall be in the eyes +of the county. Now, there will be good girls in that school, and bad +girls, and lazy girls, and industrious ones, and girls who would tell +the truth if they were to be shot for it the next moment; and girls who +would trick and deceive to get a mean advantage over another. Patricia +O'Shaughnessy, which are you going to choose for your companions?" + +Pixie fairly jumped upon her seat with surprise, the use of that seldom- +heard name impressing her more than anything else could possibly have +done with the importance of the occasion. A murmur of protest did duty +as a reply, and Bridgie continued impressively-- + +"Yes, I am sure you will choose the right sort of friend, for the honour +of your name and the family to which you belong; but you must be +industrious with your work as well. Now that I have left off lessons I +wish I had worked twice as hard, for I feel so ignorant and stupid +beside other girls; and you are clever, Pixie, and can do well if you +choose. Don't be troublesome to the teachers, dearie; it must be +maddening to have to teach day after day, and they have to be cross now +and then--the creatures!--to relieve their feelings. And if you feel +tempted to be rude and naughty, just remember that you are mother's +little baby, and that the last thing she asked was that you should have +your chance! Perhaps she sees you still, Pixie! Perhaps God lets her +be a white angel to watch over her boys and girls. If you thought +mother was watching, you never could do anything to grieve her!" + +The ready tears poured down Pixie's face. She sobbed and moaned, and +with clasped hands repeated her vow to be good, good, good; never to be +naughty again so long as she lived! And Bridgie wept too, smiling +through her tears at the impracticability of the promise, the while she +clasped the dear little sister to her breast. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +FOND FAREWELLS. + +The morning rose clear and fair, and the sun shone as cheerfully as if +no tragedy were about to be enacted, and Pixie O'Shaughnessy would +presently run out of doors to sit swinging on a gate, clad in +Esmeralda's dyed skirt, Pat's shooting jacket, and the first cap that +came to hand, instead of starting on the journey to school in a new +dress, a hat with bows and two whole quills at the side, and her hair +tied back with a ribbon that had not once been washed! It was almost +too stylish to be believed! + +Pixie entered the breakfast-room with much the same stride as that with +which the big drum-major heads the Lord Mayor's procession, and spread +out her dress ostentatiously as she seated herself by the table. The +armholes stuck into her arms, the collar was an inch too high, and the +chest painfully contracted, but she was intensely proud of herself all +the same, and privately thought the London girls would have little +spirit left in them when confronted with so much elegance. Bridgie was +wiping her eyes behind the urn, Esmeralda was pressing the mustard upon +her, the Major was stroking his moustache and smiling as he murmured to +himself-- + +"Uglier than ever in that black frock! Eh--what! Bless the child, it +is the mischief to let her go! The house will be lost without her!" + +Pat and Miles were conversing together in tones of laboured mystery, a +device certain to arrest Pixie's vivid attention. + +"On Sundays--yes! Occasionally on Wednesdays also. It _does_ seem +rather mean, but I suppose puddings are not good for growing girls. Two +a week is ample if you think of it!" + +"Good wholesome puddings too!" said Pat, nodding assent. "Suet and +rice, and perhaps tapioca for a change! Very sensible, I call it. +Porridge for breakfast, I think they said, but no butter, of course?" + +"Certainly not! Too bad for the complexion, but cod-liver oil regularly +after every meal. Especially large doses to those suffering from change +of climate!" + +The Major was chuckling with amusement; Bridgie was shaking her head, +and murmuring, "Boys, don't! It's cruel!" Pixie was turning from one +to the other with eager eyes, and mouth agape with excitement. She knew +perfectly well that the conversation was planned for her benefit, and +more than guessed its imaginary nature, but it was impossible to resist +a thrill--a fear--a doubt! The bread-and-butter was arrested in her +hand in the keenness of listening. + +"Did I understand you to say _no_ talking allowed?" queried Pat +earnestly. "I had an impression that on holiday afternoons a little +more liberty might be given?" + +"My dear fellow, there are no holidays! They are abolished in modern +schools as being unsettling, and disturbing to study. `In work, in +work, in work always let my young days be spent!' Pass the marmalade, +please! The girls are occasionally allowed to speak to each other in +French, or, if they prefer it, in German, or any other Continental +language. The constant use of one language is supposed to be bad for +the throat. I hope, by the way, father, that you mentioned distinctly +that Pixie's throat requires care?" + +Pixie cast an agonised glance round the table, caught Bridgie's eye, and +sighed with relief, as a shake of the head and an encouraging smile +testified to the absurdity of the boys' statements. + +"There's not a word of truth in it, darling. Don't listen to them. +They are only trying to tease you." + +"I'd scorn to listen! Ignorant creatures, brought up at home by a lady +governess! What do they know about schooling?" cried Pixie cruelly; for +this was a sore point, on which it was not safe to jest on ordinary +occasions. Miles rolled his eyes at her in threatening fashion, and Pat +stamped on her foot; but she smiled on unabashed, knowing full well that +her coming departure would protect her from the ordinary retribution. + +After breakfast it seemed a natural thing to go a farewell round of the +house and grounds, escorted by the entire family circle, and a +melancholy review it would have been to anyone unblessed with Irish +spirits, and the Irish capability of shutting one's eyes to unpleasant +truths. Knock Castle sounded grandly enough, and a fine old place it +had been some centuries before; but for want of repairs it had now +fallen into a semi-ruinous condition pathetic to witness. Slates in +hundreds had fallen off the roof and been left unreplaced; a large +staircase window, blown in by a storm, was still boarded up, waiting to +be mended "some time," though more than a year had elapsed since the +accident had taken place; the walls in the great drawing-room were +mouldy with damp, for it had been deserted for many a day, because its +owner could not afford the two big fires necessary to keep it aired. +Pixie sniffed with delight when she entered the gloomy apartment, for +the room represented the family glory to her childish imagination, so +that the smell of mildew was irresistibly associated with luxury. The +dining-room carpet was worn into holes, and there was one especially big +one near the window, where Esmeralda, who was nothing if not artistic, +had painted so accurate a repetition of the pattern on the boards +beneath that one could scarcely see where one ended, and the other +began! + +The original intention had been to disguise the hole, but so proud was +the family of the success of the imitation, that it became one of the +show places of the establishment. When the hounds met at Bally William, +and the Major brought old Lord Atrim into the house for lunch, he called +the old gentleman's attention to it with a chuckle of enjoyment. "My +daughter's work! The second, Joan here--Esmeralda, we call her. She'll +be an artist yet! A real genius with the brush." And the old lord had +laughed till he cried, and stared at Esmeralda the whole time of lunch, +and when Christmas-time came round, did he not send her the most +beautiful box of the best possible paints, the very thing of all others +for which she had been longing, so that it seemed after all that it had +been a good thing when the terriers Tramp and Scamp had scratched the +thin web into a hole! The ceilings were black with the smoke of fire +and lamps, but the silver on the oak dresser would have delighted the +heart of a connoisseur, and the china in daily use would have been laid +out for view in glassed-in cabinets in most households, instead of being +given over to the care of an Irish biddy who tried to hang cups upon +hooks with her head turned in an opposite direction, and had a weakness +for sitting on the corner of the table to rest herself in the midst of +washing the plates. + +Outside the garden was an overgrown wilderness of vegetation, for the +one gardener, realising the impossibility of doing the work of the six +who would have been required to keep the place in order, resigned +himself to doing nothing at all, or as little as was compatible with the +weekly drawing of wages. The stables were empty, save for the two fine +hunters which were necessary for the Major's enjoyment of his favourite +sport, and the rough little pony which did duty for all the rest of the +family in turns. The row of glass-houses looked imposing enough from a +distance, but almost squalid at a nearer view, for, as the Major could +not afford to keep them in working order, broken panes greeted the eye +in every direction, and plants were replaced by broken pieces of +furniture and the hutches and cages of such live-stock as white mice, +guinea-pigs, and ferrets. Pixie had many farewells to bid in this +quarter, and elaborate instructions to give as to the care to be +lavished on her favourites during her absence. The ferret was boarded +out to Pat, who had no idea of doing anything for nothing, but was +willing to keep the creature supplied with the unsavoury morsels, in +which its soul delighted, for the fee of a halfpenny a week, to be paid +"some time," an happy O'Shaughnessy fashion. The white mice looked on +coldly with their little pink eyes, while their mistress's own grew red +with the misery of parting from them, and the rabbit seized the +opportunity to gnaw Bridgie's skirt with its sharp teeth; but for Pixie +the keenest pang of parting was over when she saw no more the floor with +its scattered cabbage-leaves, and the door closed behind her, shutting +out the dear mousy, rabbity smell associated with so many happy hours. + +Outside on the gravel path old Dennis was sitting on a wheelbarrow +enjoying a pipe in the sunshine. He made no attempt to rise as "the +family" approached, but took the pipe out of his mouth and shook his +head lugubriously. + +"This is the black day for us, for all the sun's shining in the skies. +Good luck to ye, Miss Pixie, and don't forget to spake a good word for +Ould Ireland when the opportunity is yours. The ould place won't seem +like itself with you and Mr Jack both going off within the same month; +but there's one comfort--one frettin' will do for the pair of you!" And +with this philosophic reflection he stuck the pipe back in the corner of +his mouth and resigned himself to the inevitable. + +"Pixie darling," said Bridgie nervously, "I think we must go back to the +house. It's time--very nearly time that you were getting ready. Father +is going to drive you over in the cart, and he won't like to be kept +waiting." + +"Aren't you coming too?" queried Pixie eagerly. There was a look on +Bridgie's face this morning which reminded her of the dear dead mother, +and she had a sudden feeling of dread and longing. "I want you, +Bridgie! Come too! Come too!" + +"I can't, my dearie. Your box must go, you know, and there's not room +for both. But you won't cry, Pixie. It's only babies who cry, not +girls like you--big girls, almost in their teens, going away to see the +world like any grand lady. You may see the queen some day! Think of +that, now! If you ever do, bow to her twice--once for yourself, and +once for me--and tell her Bridget O'Shaughnessy is hers to the death. +_I_ wouldn't cry, Pixie, if I were going to see the queen!" + +"Is it cry?" asked Pixie airily, with the tears pouring down her face +and splashing on to her collar, which had been manufactured out of the +strings of an old bonnet, with only three joins at the back to betray +the fact that it had not been cut out of "the piece." + +"It's not likely I'll cry, when I'm going on a real train and steamer, +and meals on the way right up to to-morrow night! _You_ never had lunch +on a train, Bridgie, and you are eight years older than me!" + +"'Deed I didn't, then. No such luck!" sighed Bridgie regretfully, +making the most of her own privation for the encouragement of the young +traveller. "That will be a treat for you, Pixie, and there are +sandwiches and cakes in the dining-room for you to eat before you go. +Come straight in, for I brought down your coat before going out. You +must write often, dear, and tell us every single thing. What Miss +Phipps is like, and the other teachers, and the girls in your class, and +who sleeps in your bedroom, and every single thing that happens to you." + +"And remember to write every second letter to your brothers, for if you +don't, they won't write to you. Girls get all the letters, and it isn't +fair. Tell us if you play any games, and what sort of food they give +you, and what you think of the English," said Miles, helping himself to +sandwiches, and turning over the cakes to select the most tempting for +his own refreshment, despite the young housekeeper's frowns of +disapproval. "Stick up for your country, and stand no cheek. You +understand, of course, that you are to be the Champion of Ireland in the +school." + +"I do!" said little Pixie, and her back straightened, and her head +reared itself in proud determination. + +"And if any English upstarts dare to try bullying you, just let them +know that your name is O'Shaughnessy, and that your ancestors were Kings +of Ireland when theirs were begging bread on the streets! Talk to them +straight, and let them know who they are dealing with!" + +"I will so!" said Pixie. She chuckled gleefully at the anticipation; +but, alas! her joy was short-lived, for at that moment the shabby +dogcart passed the window, and the Major's voice was heard calling +impatiently from the hall. + +"Ten minutes late already. We shall need all our time. Tumble in, now, +tumble in! You have had the whole morning for saying good-bye. Surely +you have finished by now!" + +The children thought they had hardly begun; but perhaps it was just as +well to be spared the last trying moments. Bridgie and Esmeralda +wrapped their arms round the little sister and almost carried her to the +door; Pat and Miles followed with their hands in their pockets, putting +on a great affectation of jollity in their anxiety to disguise a natural +regret; the two women-servants wailed loudly from the staircase. Pixie +scrambled to her seat and looked down at them, her poor little chin +quivering with emotion. + +"Bridgie, write! Esmeralda, write!" she cried brokenly. "Oh, write +often! Write every day. Pat, Pat, be kind to my ferret. Don't starve +it. Don't let it die. Take care of it for me till I come back." + +"I'll be a mother to it," said Pat solemnly. + +And so Pixie O'Shaughnessy went off to school. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +THE NEW SCHOLAR. + +Major O'Shaughnessy and his little daughter reached London on the +following afternoon, after a comfortable and unadventurous journey. +Pixie had howled dismally all the way to the station, but had dried her +eyes at the sight of the train, and even brightened into hilarious +spirits on boarding the steamer. She ate an enormous dinner of the +richest and most indigestible dishes on the menu, slept peacefully +through a stormy passage, and was up on deck conversing affably with the +men who were washing down, long before her father had nerved himself to +think of dressing. The journey to London was a more or less +disappointing experience, for, if she had not known to the contrary, she +was not at all sure that she would have recognised that she was in a +strange land. What she had expected, it was impossible to say; but that +England should bear so close a resemblance to her beloved land seemed +another "insult to Ireland," as Pat would have had it, and that it +should in some respects look better, more prosperous and orderly, this +was indeed a bitter pill to swallow. + +As the train neared London, and other passengers came in and out of the +carriage, Major O'Shaughnessy became conscious for the first time what a +dusty, dishevelled little mortal he was about to introduce to an English +school. He was not noticing where his children were concerned, and +moreover, his eye had grown accustomed to the home surroundings, but the +contrast between these trim strangers and his own daughter was too +striking to be overlooked. Pixie had wriggled about until her frock was +a mass of creases, her hat was grey with dust, and she had apparently +forgotten to brush her hair before leaving her cabin. The Major was too +easy-going to feel any distress at this reflection. He merely remarked +to himself whimsically that, "the piccaninny would astonish them!" +meaning the companions to whom she was about to be introduced, and +decided then and there to take her straight to her destination. This +had been the only point upon which he and his young daughter had been at +variance; for from the start Pixie had laid down, as her idea of what +was right and proper, that her father should take her for the night to a +grand hotel, introduce her next morning to the Tower, the Zoological +Gardens, and Madame Tussaud's, and deposit her at Surbiton in the +afternoon. The Major's ideas on the subject were, however, that an +exacting little daughter was a drawback to a man's enjoyment of a visit +to London, and that there were other forms of amusement which he would +prefer to a visit to the before-mentioned historic resorts. With +accustomed fluency, he found a dozen reasons for carrying out his own +wishes, and propitiated Pixie by promising that Jack should take her +sight-seeing before many weeks were over. + +"I'll tell Miss Phipps that I wish you to go out with your brother on +Saturday afternoons, and you'll have a fine time together seeing all +that is to be seen. Far greater fun than if we tried to hurry about +with not a minute to spare." + +"I like to do things _now_," sighed Pixie pensively; but as usual she +resigned herself to the inevitable, and a box of chocolates, bought at +Waterloo, sufficed to bring back the smiles to her face and restore her +equanimity. + +The arrival at Surbiton Station was a breathless experience, though it +was a distinct blow to her vanity to find that no deputation from Holly +House was in waiting to receive Patricia O'Shaughnessy with the honours +she deserved. No one took any notice of her at all. When the cabman, +when directed to drive to Holly House, preserved an unmoved stolidity of +feature, and had no remark whatever to offer on the subject. How +different from dear, friendly, outspoken Bally William, where each man +was keenly interested in the affairs of his neighbour, and the poorest +peasant upon the road felt himself competent to offer advice on the most +intimate family matters! Pixie felt a chill of foreboding as she drove +through the trim Surbiton streets and noticed girls like herself walking +demurely beside mother or governess, with laced-in boots, gloved bands, +and silky manes flowing down their backs in straight, uninterrupted +flow. She looked down at her own new, stout, little boots. Sixteen +buttons in all, and only one missing! Such a pitch of propriety made +her feel quite in keeping with her surroundings, and she had kid gloves +too--dyed ones--which looked every bit as good as new, and left no mark +at all except round the fastenings, and the lobes of the fingers. She +gave a wriggle of contentment, and at that moment the cab turned in at +the gate of Holly House. + +The name of the house seemed to have more appropriateness than is +usually the case, for the garden was surrounded by a thick holly hedge, +and the beds were planted with holly trees so dark that they appeared to +be almost black in hue. To the eyes of the new pupil there was +something awe-inspiring in the sight of the grim flowerless beds and the +foliage which looked so stern and prickly, almost as bad as the pieces +of broken glass which are laid on the top of high walls to prevent +escape or intrusion. The house itself was big and square, with a door +in the centre, and at the top two quaint dormer windows, standing out +from the roof like big surprised-looking eyes. "Dear, dear!" they +seemed to say. "If this isn't Pixie O'Shaughnessy driving up to the +door! Wonders will never cease!" + +The hall was wide and cold, and, oh, so clean--"fearful clean," thought +the new pupil with a sigh, as she stepped gingerly over the polished +oilcloth and gazed awesomely at spotless wood and burnished brass. The +drawing-room had none of the splendour of that disused apartment at +Knock Castle, but it was bright and home-like, with an abundance of +pretty cushions and tablecloths, a scent of spring flowers in the air, +and a fire dancing cheerily in the grate. Pixie's prejudices received a +shock at the sight of so much frivolity in a drawing-room, and she could +not echo her father's admiration. She seated herself on the edge of the +sofa and began to paint imaginary pictures of the mistress of this fine +house. "She will be tall, with yellow hair. She will have cold fingers +and a nose that looks thin and has a hump in the middle. No, I don't +believe she will, after all. I believe she'll be fussy, and then they +are small and dark--dark, with eyeglasses, and those funny red cheeks +that are made up of little lines, and never get lighter or darker. And +she'll have a chain hanging from her waist with a lot of things that +jingle, like the lady in the train. Oh, me dear, suppose she was old! +I never thought of that. Suppose she was old, in a cap and a black +satin dress, and chilblains on her hands!" And when the door opened--it +was really a most exciting occasion!--and Miss Phipps came into the +room. + +She was not in the least like any of the three pictures which Pixie had +imagined, she was far, far nicer and prettier. She was tall, and so +graceful and elegantly dressed as to be quite dazzling to the eyes of +the country-bred stranger. She had waving brown hair, which formed a +sort of halo round her face, a pale complexion, and grey eyes which +looked at you with a straight long glance, and then lightened as if they +liked what they saw. She was quite young, too, not a bit old and +proper; the only thing that looked old were the little lines about the +eyes, and even those disappeared when her face was in repose. She came +forward to where the major was standing, and held out her hand with a +smile of welcome. + +"Major O'Shaughnessy! I am very pleased to see you. I hope you have +had a good journey and a comfortable crossing." Then she turned and +looked at the crumpled little figure on the sofa, and her eyes softened +tenderly. "Is this my new pupil? How do you do, dear? I hope we shall +be very good friends!" + +"Oi trust we may!" returned Pixie fervently, and with a broadening of +the already broad brogue which arose from the emotion of the moment and +made her father frown with embarrassment. + +"Ha--hum--ha--I am afraid I have brought you rather a rough specimen," +he said apologetically. "Pixie is the baby of the family, and has been +allowed to run wild, and play with all the children about the place. I +hope you will not find her very backward in her lessons. She has had a +governess at home, but--" + +"But she wasn't much good, either!" interrupted Pixie, entering into the +conversation with the ease and geniality of one whose remarks are in the +habit of being received with applause. "I didn't pay much attention to +her. I expect there's a good deal I don't know yet, but I'm very quick +and clever, and can be even with anyone if I choose to try." + +"Then please try, Pixie! I shall be disappointed if you don't!" said +Miss Phipps promptly. Her cheeks had grown quite red with surprise, and +she pulled in her upper lip, and bit at it hard as she looked down at +her new pupil, and noted the flat nose, the wide mouth, and the elf-like +thinness of the shabby figure. "Pixie! that's a very charming little +name, but a fancy one, surely. What is your Christian name?" + +Father and daughter gazed at each other appealingly. It was a moment +which they had both dreaded, and the Major had fondly hoped that he +might escape before the question was asked. He remained obstinately +silent, and Pixie nerved herself to reply. + +"Me name's not suited to me appearance," she said sadly. "I'd rather, +if you please, that ye didn't tell it to the girls. I am always called +Pixie at home. Me name's Patricia!" + +Miss Phipps bit her lip harder than ever, but did managed to control her +features, and Pixie was relieved to see that she did not even smile at +the mention of the fatal name. + +"It's rather a long name for such a small person, isn't it?" she said +seriously. "I think we will keep to Pixie. It will make school more +home-like for you, than if we changed to one to which you are not +accustomed." Then turning to the Major, "I am sorry my head mistress, +Miss Bruce, is not at home to-day, as I should have liked you to see +her. She is very bright and original, and has a happy knack of bringing +out the best that is in her pupils. She directs the teaching, and I am +the housekeeper and sick-nurse of the establishment. Would you like to +come upstairs, and see the room in which Pixie will sleep, or shall we +wait perhaps until after tea?" + +The Major declared that he could not wait for tea. He had kept the cab +waiting at the door, and was all anxiety to get the parting over as +quickly as possible and return to the fascinations of town, so he +discussed a few business matters with Miss Phipps, and then took Pixie's +hand and accompanied her up the staircase to the third-floor bedroom +which she was to share with three other pupils. + +Two windows looked out on to the garden in front of the house, and an +arrangement of curtains hung on rods made each little cubicle private +from the rest. Pixie's handbag had already been laid by her bed, and +she felt quite a swelling of importance as she surveyed her new domain, +wherein everything was to be her very own, and not shared with someone +else, as had always been the case at home. The Major gushed over all he +saw, and professed himself as more than satisfied, but he was plainly +ill at ease, and after walking twice round the room was all eagerness to +make his escape. + +"I'll say good-bye to you now, Pixie," he said, "for your bag is there, +I see, and you would be much the better for a wash and brush. It's no +use coming downstairs again. Be a good girl, now, and Jack shall come +often to see you! I'm happy to leave you in such good hands, and it's a +lucky child you are to have such a school to come to! It will be your +own fault if you are not happy." + +"I've no doubt I'll be very comfortable, thank you," Pixie said +pleasantly, lifting her cheek to receive her father's kiss, with little +sign of the emotion dreaded by the two onlookers, for her mind was too +full of the new excitements to allow her to realise his departure. He +hurried out of the room, followed by Miss Phipps, and Pixie withdrew +into her cubicle, pulled the curtains closely around her, and felt +monarch of all she surveyed. A dear little white bed, so narrow that if +you turned, you turned at your peril and in instant dread of landing on +the floor; a wonderful piece of furniture which did duty as dressing- +table, washstand, and chest of drawers combined; a single chair and a +hanging cupboard. Everything fresh, spotlessly clean, and in perfect +order; absolutely, if you can believe it, not a single broken thing to +be seen! Pixie drew a quick breath of admiration, and wondered how long +it could possibly be before she succeeded in cracking that lovely blue +and white china, and exactly what would happen if she spilt the water +over the floor! She was so much occupied in building castles in the air +that ten minutes passed by and she had not moved from her seat, when +suddenly there came the sound of footsteps running up the stairs, the +door was pushed open, and tramp, tramp, in came her future companions, +hidden from sight, but talking volubly to each other as they took off +hats and jackets after the afternoon walk. + +"The new girl has arrived!" cried number one, in a tone of breathless +excitement. "I saw her box as I came through the hall. I peeped at the +label, but hadn't time to read it properly." + +"I did, though!" cried another. "A funny name--O something or other. +`Shog-nessie,' or something like that. Such a shabby old trunk! Looked +as if it came out of the Ark." + +"It will be rather fun having an Irish girl, don't you think?" number +two suggested. "They are untidy and quarrelsome, of course, but it is +funny to hear them talk, and they make such droll mistakes. I shouldn't +like to be Irish myself, but it will be a pleasant change to have a +Paddy among us!" + +"Well, I hope she isn't quarrelsome in this room, that's all!" said a +third speaker, who had hitherto been silent, "because if she is, I shall +feel it my duty to give her a taste of Home Rule that she may not +appreciate. And if she snores I shall squeeze my sponge over her, so +you may tell her what she has to expect. There's nothing like training +these youngsters properly from the beginning!" + +"Twelve years old! I call it mean to put a child like that in this +room! You are fourteen, I'm fourteen, Ethel is fifteen; we ought to +have one of the older ones with us. We will make her fag for her +living. She shall get the hot water, and fold up our nightgowns, and +pick up the pins. All the same, I shall be kind to her, for the credit +of the country, for Irish people are always imagining themselves ill- +used by England. If I had thought of it I would have drawn a picture +for her cubicle, as a delicate little mark of attention. An Irishman +with his--what do you call it?--shi-lee-lah!" + +The speaker stopped suddenly as she pronounced this difficult word, for +a curious muffled sound reached her ears. "What's that?" she asked +quickly; but her companions had heard nothing, so she retired into the +cubicle next Pixie's own to brush her hair, slightly raising her voice, +so as to be heard more easily by her companions. + +"She lives in a castle! I heard Miss Phipps telling Miss Bruce when she +was sending the labels. `Knock-kneed Castle,' or something like that. +Every second house in Ireland is called a castle, my father says. It's +no more than a villa in England, and all the people are as poor as Job, +and have hens in their parlours and pigs on the lawn. They don't know +what it is to keep order. What are you grunting for, Ethel? It's quite +true, I tell you!" + +"Dear me, I'm not grunting, I'm only washing my hands," cried Ethel, +aggrieved. "What's the matter with your ears this afternoon? I don't +care where she lives, so long as she behaves herself, and knows how to +respect her elders. I wonder what she is like!" + +"Irish girls are mostly pretty." + +"Who told you that?" + +"Never mind, I know it. It's always raining over there, and that is +supposed to be good for the hair, or the complexion, or something. And +they are so bright and vivacious. If an author wants to make a +specially lively heroine in a book, the father is Irish, and the mother +is French. Perhaps she'll be the beauty of the school, and then won't +someone we could mention tear her hair with rage?" + +"Well, I don't know about being pretty," said Pixie's neighbour +reflectively. "We have had lots of Irish servants, and they were plain +enough. But the name sounds interesting--`Miss Shog-nessie--the +Castle--Ireland.' It certainly sounds interesting. I'd give something +to know what she is like." + +"If ye'll step inside the curtain, ye may judge for yerself," said a +deep rich voice suddenly from behind the curtain which was farthest from +the door. + +There was silence in the bedroom--a silence which might be felt! + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS. + +Pixie's first week at school was a period of delirious excitement. +Above all things in the world she loved to be of importance, and occupy +a foremost place with those around her, and she was proudly conscious +that her name was on every lip, her doings the subject of universal +attention. New girls were wont to be subdued and bashful in their +demeanour, and poor unfortunates who arrived after the beginning of the +term to find other pupils settled down into regular work, were apt to +feel doubly alone. By this time those arrangements are determined which +are of such amazing importance to the schoolgirl's heart--Clara has +sworn deathless friendship with Ethel; Mary, Winifred, and Elsie have +formed a "triple alliance," each solemnly vowing to tell the other her +inmost secrets, and consult her in all matters of difficulty. Rosalind +and Bertha have agreed to form a pair in the daily crocodile, and Grace +has sent Florence to Coventry because she has dared to sharpen pencils +for Lottie, the school pet, when she knew perfectly well that it was +Grace's special privilege, and she is a nasty, interfering thing, +anyhow, and ought to be snubbed! What chance has a poor late-comer +against such syndicates as these? There is nothing for her but to take +a back place, and wait patiently for a chance at the beginning of +another term. + +Pixie O'Shaughnessy, however, has never taken a back place in her life, +and has no intention of beginning now. On her very first evening the +two head girls entered the school parlour to find a small, ugly girl +seated in the middle of the hearth rug on the most comfortable chair +which the room afforded, and were invited in the most genial manner to, +"Shtep forward and take a seat!" + +"It's rhemarkably cold for the time of year!" remarked the small person, +making no sign of giving up her seat, but waving blandly towards the +cane chairs by the wall. "I'm the new girl, I come from Ireland. Me +father brought me. I'm the youngest of six, and I've come to school to +correct me brogue, and be polished up. As soon as I've finished I shall +go back to me home!" + +The head girl came over to the fireplace, and stared downwards with wide +grey eyes. She looked almost grown-up, for her hair was twisted round +and round like a lady's, and her dress reached to her ankles. + +"That's very interesting!" she said slowly. "I am glad you have made +yourself comfortable, for from what you say I expect we shall have you +with us for quite a long time. Can't you tell us some more family +details while you are about it?" + +"I can so!" said Pixie with emphasis, and sitting erect in her seat she +folded her hands in her lap, and began to talk. The room was filling by +this time, for the quarter of an hour before tea was a cosy holiday- +time, when the girls could talk without restraint, and compare notes on +the work of the day. One by one they approached the fireside, until +Pixie's chair was surrounded by a compact wall of laughing young faces, +and thirty pairs of eyes stared at her from head to foot, back again +from foot to head. Her black skirt was so short that it was like a +flounce, and nothing more; from chest to back there was no more width +than could be covered by the scraggy little arm, the feet dangled half- +way to the floor, and the hands waved about, emphasising every sentence +with impassioned gestures. + +At the end of ten minutes what the pupils of Holly House did not know +about the O'Shaughnessy family may be safely described as not worth +knowing! They had been treated to graphic descriptions of all its +members, with illustrative anecdotes setting them forth in their best +and worst lights; they had heard of the ancient splendours of the +Castle, and the past glories of the family, and--for Pixie was gifted +with a most engaging honesty--they had also heard of the present +straitness of means, the ingenious contrivances by which the family +needs were supplied, and even of one tragic episode when the butcher +refused to supply any more meat, just when one of the county magnates +was expected to dinner! It had been a ghastly occasion, but Bridgie +went and "spoke soft to him," and he was a decent man, and he said it +wasn't for "all the mutton in the world," he said, that he would see her +shamed before the quality, so all ended as happily as could be desired! + +"I wouldn't tell stories like that if I were you, Pixie," said the head +girl gravely, at the end of this recital. She had not laughed as the +others had done, but looked at the little chatterbox with a grave, +steady glance. Margaret had gained for herself the title of "School- +Mother", by thinking of something better than the amusement of the +moment, and being brave enough to speak a word of warning when she saw a +girl setting out on a path which was likely to bring her into trouble. +"I wouldn't tell stories like that!" she repeated, and when the swift +"Why not?" came back, she was ready with her reply. "Because I am sure +your people would not like it. It is all right for you to tell us about +your brothers and sisters, and it was very interesting. I wish Bridgie +and Esmeralda had come to school with you; but we don't tell stories of +our home doings of which we are,"--she was about to say "ashamed," but +the child's innocent eyes restrained her--"about which we are sorry! We +keep those to ourselves." + +"But--but we got the mutton! He gave us the mutton!" cried Pixie, agape +with wonder. It seemed to her an interesting and highly creditable +history, seeing that Bridgie had had the better of the butcher, and +maintained the family credit in the eyes of the neighbourhood. She +could not understand Margaret's gravity, and the half-amused, half- +pitiful glances of the older pupils. + +The girl standing nearest to her put an arm round her neck, and said, +"Poor little girlie!" in such a soft, tender voice that her tears +overflowed at the moment, and she returned the embrace with startling +fervour. Pixie's emotions were all on the surface, and she could cry at +one moment and laugh at the next, with more ease than an ordinary person +could smile or sigh. When the gong sounded for tea, she went downstairs +with her arms twined fondly round the waists of two new friends, and +there was quite a quarrel among the girls, as to who should sit beside +her. + +Miss Phipps was at one end of the table, and Mademoiselle, the resident +French teacher, at the other, and between them stretched a long white +space flanked by plates of bread-and-butter, and in the centre some +currant scones, and dishes of jam. These latter dainties were intended +to supply a second course when appetite had been appeased by plainer +fare, but the moment that grace was said the new-comer helped herself to +the largest scone she could find, half covered her plate with jam, and +fell to work with unrestrained relish, while thirty pairs of eyes +watched with fascinated horror. She thought that everyone seemed +uncommonly quiet and solemn, and was casting about in her mind for a +pleasant means of opening the conversation, when a sound broke on her +ears which recalled one of Pat's prophecies with unpleasant +distinctness. Mademoiselle was talking in her native tongue, and it was +not in the least like the French which she had been accustomed to hear +in the schoolroom at Bally William. The agonising presentiment that her +ignorance was about to be discovered before her schoolmates reduced +Pixie at one blow to a condition of abject despair. She hung her head +over her plate, and strove to avoid attention by keeping as quiet as +possible. + +"They speak too quick. It's rude to gabble!" she told herself +resentfully. "And I know some French meself. `_J'ai, tu as, il a, nous +sommes, vous etes, ils sont_.' Listen at that, now!" She felt a +momentary thrill of triumph in her achievement, but it quickly faded +away, as further efforts showed how scanty was the knowledge upon which +she could draw. "_Je suis faim_" was the only phrase which occurred at +the moment, and appropriately enough too! She stretched out her hand to +take a second scone, but was immediately called to order by Miss +Phipps's soft voice. + +"Bread-and-butter this time, Pixie! You are not supposed to take scones +until you have had at least three pieces of bread. You must do as the +other girls do, you know, dear!" + +"Oi like a relish to my tay!" sighed Pixie sadly, and five separate +girls who happened to have their cups to their mouths at the moment, +choked immediately, and had to be patted on the backs by their +companions. All the girls were laughing; even the victims smiled amidst +their struggles, and Mademoiselle's brown eyes were sparkling with +amusement. There was not one of them half so beautiful as Esmeralda, +nor so sweet as Bridgie, but they were good to look at all the same, +reflected the new pupil critically. Right opposite sat her three room- +mates--Flora, plump and beaming; Kate, sallow and spectacled; Ethel, the +curious, with a mane of reddish brown hair, which she kept tossing from +side to side with a self-conscious, consequential air. Margaret sat by +Miss Phipps's side, and helped her by putting sugar and milk into the +cups. Glance where she would, she met bright, kindly smiles, and her +friend on either side looked after her wants in the kindest of manners. +Pixie did not know their names, so she addressed them indiscriminately +as "darlin'," and was prepared to vow eternal friendship without waiting +to be introduced. + +"Do you always speak French at meals?" she asked under cover of the +general conversation a few minutes later, and the reply was even worse +than her fears. + +"We are supposed to speak it always, except in the quarter of an hour +before tea, and on Sundays, and holidays. But of course, if you do not +know a word you can ask Mademoiselle, or look it up in a dictionary, and +the new girls get into it gradually. Miss Phipps is a darling; she +can't bear to see a girl unhappy, and of course it is difficult to get +into school ways when you have been taught at home. I have been here +for two years, and am as happy as possible, though I cried myself sick +the first week. If you do what you are told and work hard, you will +have a very good time at Holly House." + +Pixie looked dubious. + +"But aren't you ever naughty?" she asked anxiously. "Not really bad, +you know, but just mischeevious! Don't you ever play tricks, or have +pillow fights, or secret suppers up in your room, or dress up as bogeys +to frighten the others?" + +"Certainly not!" Eleanor Hopton was a proper and dignified young lady, +and the straightness of her back was quite alarming as she frowned +dissent at the new-comer. "Frighten people, indeed! Do you not call +that naughty? It's a wicked and dangerous thing to do, and you would be +punished severely if you attempted it. I have read of people who died +of fright. How would you feel if you played bogey, as you call it, to +startle one of the girls, and she had a weak heart and died before your +eyes? You would feel pretty miserable then, I should say." + +"I would so! I'd get the fright myself that time. But suppers, now,-- +suppers don't hurt anyone!" urged Pixie, pushing aside one objectionable +proposition and bringing forward the next with unconscious generalship. +"Don't you ever smuggle things upstairs--sausages and cakes, and +sardines and cream--and wake up early in the morning--early--early, +before it is light--and eat them together, and pretend you are ladies +and gentlemen, or shipwrecked mariners on desert islands, or wild +Indians, or anything like that, and talk like they talk, and dance about +the room?" + +"Cer-tain-ly not! The very idea!" cried Eleanor once more. "I never +heard of anything so silly. Why on earth should one sit up shivering to +eat things in the middle of the night, when one can have them +comfortably downstairs at the right hour? I should not think of doing +anything so foolish." + +Pixie sighed heavily. This was England indeed! For the first time +since entering the house she realised that she was a stranger in a +strange land. Eleanor's calm commonsense was so entirely foreign to her +nature that she felt a distinct chilling of the new affection. The +companion on her right looked more sympathetic, and she addressed her +next remark in that direction. + +"We were for ever playing tricks on one another at home. Bridgie and +Esmeralda sleep in the same bed, and one day Pat--that's the second +boy--the next but one to me--he went to Bridgie and he says, `I've +played a fine joke on Esmeralda! Ask no questions, but just wait up +until she gets into bed to-night, and you'll have the best laugh you've +had this side Christmas.' Then off he goes to Esmeralda, and `Keep a +secret!' says he. `Let Bridget be the first to get into bed to-night. +Make an excuse and sit up yourself to see the fun, for she'll have a +fine surprise when she lies down.' The girls guessed that they had been +taking the laths off the bed, as they had done once or twice before, to +let a visitor fall through on to the floor, and it was a very cold +night, and they were tired, for they had been working hard mending the +staircase carpet; and says Bridgie to Esmeralda, `Just hurry up, can't +you! I never did see such a girl for dawdling. Get into bed,' she +says, `and don't sit up all night.' `Oh,' says Esmeralda, smiling, +`I've a fancy to brush out me hair. Take no notice of me, but just lie +down and turn your face to the wall, and I'll be as quiet as a mouse.' +`I never can sleep with a light in the room,' says Bridgie, quite +testy... I was in my own bed in the dressing-room, so I heard what they +said, and was stuffing the bedclothes into my mouth not to laugh out, +and spoil the fun. `If you are going to make a night of it, I'll sit +down and read, and you can let me know when you are ready.' `You will +catch cold sitting in that draught!' Esmeralda says, her own teeth +chattering, for it was mortal cold, and there was a hole in the window +above her head, where Pat had thrown up a stone when he wanted to wake +her one morning, and couldn't spare time to walk upstairs. `And you +know, Bridget, you are always delicate on the chest.' `It'll be on your +head, then,' says Bridgie, `if I _am_ made ill, keeping me up when I'm +longing for my bed! Come, dear,' wheedling her to see if she could get +round that way, `leave it alone now, and I'll brush it for you in the +morning. It is beautiful hair, and Mrs Gallagher the laundress was +saying to me this morning there wasn't its match in the country.' And +Esmeralda said afterwards that she was too cold for compliments, so she +up and said it was her own hair, and she'd brush it when she liked, and +how she liked, without interference from anyone; and at that they grew +mad, and began quarrelling with each other, and throwing up everything +that ever they did since they were short-coated, and meself lying +trembling on me bed, to think what would happen next. Joan--that's +Esmeralda--she would have sat up all night, she's that obstinate, but +Bridgie grew tired, and says she, `I'm not going to catch me death +shivering here for all the jokes on earth, so here goes, and I don't +care what happens!' and with that she throws herself down on the bed; +and--would ye believe it?--nothing happened at all. The bed was as +right as it had been all its life, and the boys had had their joke +without any trouble." + +Pixie finished in the midst of a dead silence, for one by one the +speakers round the table had paused to listen to the soft Irish voice, +and the story once begun had riveted attention. Some of the girls +laughed outright, some held down their heads to conceal their smiles, +some nudged their companions and looked demurely at Miss Phipps to take +their cue from her face. She was undoubtedly smiling, but she looked +worried all the same, and gave the signal for rising in a hurried +manner, as if anxious to allow no time for comment. The girls rose and +filed slowly past, Pixie skipping complacently in front, with her arm +round another new friend, whom she was prepared to adore even more +fondly than the last. Only Margaret remained behind to assist in +putting the room in order, and when the door shut Miss Phipps looked at +her under raised appealing brows. + +"I am afraid we have rather a difficult subject there, Margaret! Poor +little thing! Her father says she has been allowed to run wild, and it +will be difficult for her to get into school ways. She doesn't mean to +be forward, but of course we can't allow her to go on like this. She +must be taught wholesome respect and reticence, but I don't want to be +too hard upon her at first. She's a lovable little creature, and I've +no doubt will be a favourite with the girls. They like to be amused, +and I fear they may encourage her for the sake of their own amusement. +You must help me, dear, by setting a good example and checking her +gently when she gets excited." + +"I'll try!" said Margaret, but she looked by no means hopeful of +success. "I did try before tea. She was telling the most extraordinary +tales about home, and I said it was not right to repeat such things, but +she seemed quite puzzled. She doesn't seem to have the same ideas that +we have, or the same feelings about things." + +Miss Phipps sighed, and shook her head. + +"She is a difficult subject," she repeated anxiously; then her face +lighted up suddenly and she began to laugh. "But you can't help liking +her!" she cried. "Funny little mite! I am growing quite fond of her +already." + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE ALICE PRIZE. + +To the surprise of all concerned, Pixie took a very fair place in the +school. The sorely tried Miss Minnitt was by no means an accomplished +woman, but what she did know she taught well, and she felt rewarded for +her efforts when she heard that Miss Bruce, the English teacher, had +remarked that Pixie had been well grounded, and knew more than many +girls of her age. The mixture of knowledge and ignorance which the +child displayed was indeed incomprehensible to those who did not +understand the conditions under which she had lived. She was quite a +botanist in a small way, could discourse like any farmer on crops and +tillages, was most sporting in her descriptions of shooting and hunting, +and had an exhaustive understanding of, and sympathy with, the animal +world, which seemed quite uncanny to town-bred girls. Here, however, +her knowledge stopped, and of the ways of the world, the hundred and one +restrictions and obligations of society which come as second nature to +most girls, she knew no more than a South Sea Islander dancing gaily +upon the sands, and stringing shells in her dusky locks. "I wish I was +born a savage!" was indeed her daily reflection, as she buttoned her +tight little frock, and wriggled to and fro in a vain search for +comfort. + +"Now listen to me!" said Miss Bruce, at the end of the examination which +was conducted after breakfast the day following Pixie's arrival. "I am +undecided which of two classes you shall join, so I am going to give you +the choice. The under-fourth would be comparatively easy, the upper- +fourth would mean real hard work. I think you could manage it, if you +worked hard and determined to do your very, very best; but I tell you +frankly it will not be easy. If you would rather have a term in the +lower class and work up gradually, I am willing to let it be so; but you +must realise that it will be less good for yourself. You seem to have a +good memory and to learn quickly; but we don't like to force girls +beyond their strength. You would be the youngest girl in the upper- +fourth." + +That decided the matter! Pixie's heart had sunk at the mention of work; +but the ecstatic prospect of being the baby of a class, of writing home +to boast of her position, and of reminding her elders at frequent +intervals of her own precocious cleverness, was too tempting to be +resisted. She pleaded eagerly for the upper-fourth, and came through +the first morning's ordeal with gratifying success. But, alas! +afternoon brought a change of scene, for the girls retired to the +schoolroom for "prep," and the new class-member stared in dismay at the +work before her. + +"Is it for next week we are to learn it?" she asked, and when the answer +came, "For to-morrow," she shrieked aloud in dismay. "What! The lot of +it? Grammar, and arithmetic, and geography? All those pages, an' +pages, and pages! I couldn't finish to-day if I sat up all night! +You're joking with me! It isn't really and truly for to-morrow +morning?" + +"It is indeed, my dear, worse luck! Miss Bruce gives a terrible amount +of prep, and you are bound to get through somehow. Sometimes it is +worse than this, and you feel simply frantic. You are not allowed to go +on after seven o'clock either, so there is no hope for you if you are +not finished by that time." + +"Don't frighten her, Dora," said Kate kindly. She looked through her +spectacles at Pixie's woe-begone face, and smiled encouragement. "It +seems hopeless at first, but you will get accustomed to it in time. I +used to be in despair, but you get into the way of learning quickly, and +picking out the things that are most important. There's no time for +talking, though. Open your grammar and begin at once." + +"Hate grammar!" grumbled Pixie crossly. "What's the use of it? I can +talk as well as I want to without bothering about grammar, and I don't +understand it either! Silly gibberish!" + +She wished with all her heart at that moment that she had been content +with the seclusion of the lower-fourth; but she was not allowed to talk +any more, for Clara called out an impatient "Hush!" and Florence stuck +her fingers in her ears and looked so savage that it was impossible to +disregard the warning. Pixie read over the tiresome grammar, and then +lay back in her seat studying the furniture of the room, and deciding on +the improvements which she would make if Miss Phipps asked her advice on +the subject of redecoration. It was an engrossing subject, and would +have kept her happily occupied for quite a long time, had not Kate +jerked her elbow as a reminder, and pointed significantly to the +history. She had mentally constituted herself as friend-in-need to the +new classmate, and was determined to do her duty by her, however little +thanks she might receive; so she nudged, and nudged again, until Pixie +resentfully opened the history book in its turn. + +History was interesting--it was just like a story! When the prescribed +portion had been read, she was anxious to learn what happened next, and +read on and on until the watchful Kate suspected something wrong, and +forcibly confiscated the book. + +"What are you reading the next chapter for? A minute ago you were +groaning because you had too much to do. Finish the work that is given +you before trying to do more!" + +"But there was an execution coming on. I love executions!" sighed Pixie +miserably. "This is the best bit of the whole history, for there's no +more fun when you get to the Georges. They never have any murders, nor +plots, nor blowings up." + +"You will get blown up if you interrupt like this! How do you suppose I +can learn with you chattering away all the time?" cried Clara, the +irascible. She glared at Pixie, and Pixie glared at her, and went on +glaring long after the other had settled to work, with an intentness +which seemed mysteriously connected with the movement of a stubbly lead +pencil. Presently she touched Kate softly, and there on the margin of +the clean new book was exhibited the drawing of a dismembered head, +glaring horribly over rule-of-three problems, and labelled "Clara" in +largest round hand. It was a very juvenile effort, but drawing was a +family talent among the O'Shaughnessys, and the artist had been sharp to +note the weak points of her subject, as well as to exaggerate them with +cruel honesty. The high forehead was doubled in height, the long upper +lip stretched to abnormal length, the blots which did duty for eyes were +really marvellously, astonishingly like Clara's in expression! Kate +pressed her handkerchief against her mouth, but the sound of her +splutters was distinctly audible, and her companions looked up in +amazement. Kate laughing during prep was a sight which had never been +witnessed before, and they stared at her in mingled surprise and envy. + +"What's the joke?" asked Marjorie wistfully. "You might share it, I +think, for I feel as if I should never smile again until the holidays. +If there is anything amusing in these lessons to-night, I should like to +have it pointed out, that's all!" + +"It's n-n-thing!" returned Kate, spluttering still. Pixie had flipped +over a page with a deft movement, and sat with hands folded on her lap, +a picture of lamblike innocence. + +For the rest of the time allowed for preparation she worked really well, +inspired by the remembrance that she had made Kate laugh, and drawn a +caricature which even Esmeralda herself must have approved. + +About half-past seven came supper, and after supper prayers, and after +prayers bed, and an interesting conversation with the three room-mates. + +"Which is the nicest girl in the school?" Pixie asked, going at once to +the most important point, and fondly hoping that she might listen to her +own name by way of answer. She was doomed to disappointment, however, +for though there was a difference of opinion, her name was not even +mentioned. + +"Margaret!" said Kate. + +"Lottie!" cried Flora. + +"Clara!" cried Ethel; and they proceeded to argue the question between +themselves. + +"Margaret is an angel. She is sweet to everyone. She never says an +unkind word." + +"Lottie is so bright and clever. She is first in almost every single +class." + +"Clara is so sensible. She doesn't make a fuss, and gush over +everything, as Lottie does; but if she says she will be your friend, she +keeps her word, and always tries to do you a good turn." + +"That's the way with meself," said Pixie modestly. "I'm the soft- +heartedest creature! You three girls are me best friends because ye +share me room, and I'll stick to you, whatever trouble ye're in. Ye +need never be afraid to come to me, for the worse ye are, the better +I'll like ye!" + +"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed Kate shrilly. Flora chuckled to herself in fat, +good-natured fashion, and Ethel tossed her mane and said-- + +"I can quite believe it, but if you will excuse my saying so, I think +the trouble is more likely to come to you than to us! If you go on +behaving as you have done the last two days, you will be in need of +friends yourself, my dear, so don't say I haven't warned you." + +"Behaving as I have done! Get into trouble meself!" echoed Pixie +blankly. "And what for, please? What have I done? I promised Bridgie +before I left that I would behave meself, and not disgrace the family, +and I've kept me word. I've not been naughty once the whole time +through." + +"Don't say `naughty,' child, as if you were a baby two years old! You +may not have done anything wrong from your point of view, but you have +broken half a dozen rules all the same. You planted yourself in front +of the fire when the fifth-form girls were in the room, and never +offered to give up your place even when Margaret herself came in. Not +one of the old girls would think of doing such a thing. And you +answered back when Miss Phipps spoke to you at tea--and told a story so +loud that everyone could hear!" + +"And small blame to me if I did! It _was_ the dullest meal I ever sat +through, and I thought I would do you a kindness by waking you up!" +returned Pixie defiantly. She did not at all approve of Clara's +attitude of fault-finding, and was up in arms at once in her own +defence. "I have been brought up to make meself agreeable, and when +Miss Phipps spoke to me, wasn't I obliged to give a civil answer? And I +was cold when I sat before the fire. Are fifth-form girls colder than +anyone else, that they must have all the heat?" + +"You know perfectly well what I mean, or if you don't, you are a stupid +child, and you needn't fly into a temper when I tell you your mistakes. +You want to get on, I suppose, and take a good place in the school, so +you ought to be grateful to anyone who tries to keep you out of +trouble." + +In the seclusion of her cubicle Pixie made a grimace, the reverse of +appreciative, but she stifled her feelings in her desire for +information, and asked the next question on her list. + +"How often in the year do you get prizes?" + +"Once. At the end of the summer term. There's a chance for you now! +Work hard for six months, and win the class prize!" + +Flora chuckled with amusement at the idea, but Pixie considered the +subject seriously for a good two minutes, and found it altogether +agreeable. She saw a vision of herself walking forward to receive her +honours while the elder girls sat in a row, subdued and envious, and +tasted in advance the ecstasy of the moment. + +"What sort of prizes do they give you--books?" + +"Books, of course. Improving books. Poets, with nice soft backs, and +Dutch Republics in calf, and things like that. The sort of book you are +awfully proud of, but hardly ever read. You put it carefully in a +bookcase, and admire the binding. You can always tell a prize a yard +off, it looks so smart and gilt, and unopened. I've seen rows of them +in some houses, all ranged together with their little silk markers +hanging out at the bottom, as smooth and uncrumpled as if they had never +been moved; and the owners take them down and show you the inscription +on the first page, to prove how good and clever they were when they were +at school!" + +"Ah!" Pixie drew a rapturous sigh, seeing herself be-capped and +shawled, in the act of exhibiting her own spoils to a bevy of admiring +grandchildren. The great point seemed to be to have the inscription as +striking as possible, so she inquired anxiously if the class prize was +the highest that could be obtained. + +"She's ambitious, girls, isn't she? The class prize isn't enough for +her, you notice!" cried Ethel, splashing her face with cold water, and +interposing her remarks with audible shudderings. "Yes, there's one +thing higher--the `Alice Prize,' we call it, because it is given by the +father of a certain Alice who used to be at school here, and who died at +the end of her last term. She was Lottie's sister; but Lottie is not in +the least like her, for she was very shy and nervous, and the girls +teased her a great deal, and she took it to heart and made herself +miserable. After her death it was found that she had kept a diary, and +written down all her troubles; and her parents read it, and tried to +think what they could do to prevent any other girl suffering as she had +done. At last they thought of offering this prize--it is given every +year--five pounds' worth of books, which you can choose for yourself. +You can get a lot of books for five pounds, and it is given to the girl +who is kindest and most considerate to others. She has to be nice to +new girls, and answer their questions, and be patient with them, as I am +being with you, my dear, at the present moment, and dry their little +eyes when they weep, and cheer them up when they are low in their minds. +And she has to be careful not to hurt other people's feelings, and to +use her influence to stop a joke when it is going too far. Oh, and a +dozen other things which you can imagine for yourself! The girls know +best who deserves the prize, and they vote at the end of the year, and +whoever gets most votes gets the prize." + +"Who got it last year?" + +"Margaret, of course. So she would every time, but the same person is +not allowed to have it two years running. A good thing, too, for we +should all feel that it was no use competing with her, and so give up +trying." + +"And who do you think will get it this year?" + +"Oh dear me! How many more questions? Myself, of course, for answering +you so kindly. If you don't vote for me, young woman, there'll be a +coldness between us, and so I tell you. Flora thinks she will get it, +but it won't be fair if she does, for she is so fat that she couldn't be +anything else than good-natured if she tried. Now I have really a +violent temper, but I keep it in check. I can't answer any more +questions, though. Time's up. I give you all two minutes more, and +then I must put out the light." + +"Let me do it! I'll put it out! You get into your bed and keep warm, +and I'll wait upon you!" cried Pixie eagerly; and, to her dismay, there +came a simultaneous burst of laughter from all three listeners. + +"She's Alicing," they cried--"she's Alicing! Nothing like beginning in +time, and making the most of your opportunities. So you want that prize +too, do you, as well as the class one? It's a bad lookout for the rest +of the girls. There won't be anything left for us to try for." + +Pixie stood transfixed within her cubicle, staring before her with +bewildered eyes. As it had been her delight to wait upon her beloved +sisters, it had come naturally to wish to help these girls who, for the +time, had taken their place in her life. She had made her offer in all +good faith, and her heart swelled with bitterness at the injustice of +the accusation. A rush of honest Irish pride forbade an answer; but the +tears came to her eyes as she lay down in bed, and the loneliness of +exile fell upon her. Bally William, oh, dear Bally William, how are you +looking to-night? Is everything going on as usual, though Pixie +O'Shaughnessy is far away in a cold, cruel land where no one knows her, +and her best motives are misjudged and derided? Beautiful old castle, +standing among your luxuriant green, are the lamps lit in your rooms, +and twinkling like so many stars into the night? And there, where the +red curtains are drawn so snugly, are the boys and girls gathered round +the fire, the flames lighting up Bridgie's sweet face and Esmeralda's +stormy beauty? Oh, boys and girls, are you thinking of Pixie--your own +little Pixie? + +"How that child does snort!" muttered Ethel impatiently. "It seems to +be our luck to have all the snorers in this room." + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A NOVEL AMUSEMENT. + +During the weeks which followed, "Pixie's Prep" became a by-word among +her companions, for no amount of goading seemed sufficient to keep her +attention from roaming from her books during the hours when it was most +necessary that she should give them her undivided attention. However +sturdily she might begin, in ten minutes' time her eyes were wandering +about the room, she was scribbling on the margin of her book, or +twisting her handkerchief into a new variety of rag doll. The well- +meaning Kate, finding frowns and nudges losing their effect, resorted to +more drastic measures, such as the prick of a pin, or a tug of the elf- +like locks; but the victim's howls and protestations not only disturbed +her companions, but took so long to pacify that the experiment had to be +abandoned. + +How Pixie managed to sustain even her very low place in the class was a +wonder to her companions; but in truth she had an unusually quick brain, +so that when she chose to apply herself she learnt as much as slower +girls would do in twice the time, while her Irish wit enabled her to +place her scraps of knowledge in the most advantageous light, and +rescued her from awkward questionings. Nowhere was this faculty more +marked than in French, of which she knew least, yet in which subject she +made the most rapid progress. It was clear to a pair of uncommonly +sharp eyes that Miss Phipps's leniency would some day come to an end, +and that she would then find herself in the position of being obliged +either to speak French or not to speak at all. To a born chatterbox the +latter alternative seemed the acme of misery, so it behoved her to +prepare for speech before the dread verdict was given, which she did in +a manner astonishing to her companions. Of French grammar she had the +poorest opinion, but she was sharp as a magpie to pick up the phrases of +others and store them for her own use. The morning after Mademoiselle +had suffered from a headache, Pixie's handkerchief was soaked with +offerings of eau-de-Cologne, from the various girls to whom she had +repeated ejaculations of distress; she discoursed exhaustively upon the +weather to every one who could be induced to listen, and recited +exercise phrases to the school cat until her tongue grew quite nimble +over the words. + +Mademoiselle was an object of intense interest and curiosity to her new +pupil. She was the first foreigner whom Pixie had known, and there was +something in her dark, eager face which arrested the child's attention. +Mademoiselle was quick and nervous, subject to fits of unreasonable +irritation; but at other times there was a sad, far-away look in her +eyes, and then her voice would take a softer cadence, so that when she +said "Cherie," one pupil at least forgot all the scoldings which had +gone before. Pixie felt irresistibly drawn to Mademoiselle in her hours +of depression. She could not have explained the attraction, but in her +heart she felt that they were both exiles, and that Mademoiselle pined +for her own sunny land, even as she pined for the dear green isle which +seemed so far away. She longed for Mademoiselle to notice her, to show +her some special mark of favour, but longed in vain, until at last a day +dawned which brought her into notice in a manner which was scarcely to +her liking. + +It was a wet Saturday afternoon, and wet Saturday afternoons are +abominations to every boarding-school girl, and the cause of endless +grumblings and repinings. Ethel and Kate had gone out to tea with an +old maiden lady who lived in the neighbourhood, and had still further +deepened their friend's depression before departing by drawing a most +roseate picture of the joys before them. + +"She is awfully kind," they had explained of their hostess; "she gives +you the most galumptious teas, and the best part of it is, she has an e- +normous appetite herself, so you can eat as much as you like, without +fear of looking greedy!" + +No wonder the poor stay-at-homes looked glum after this; no wonder they +sighed with envy as they thought of the thick bread-and-butter in store +for themselves. The elder girls provided themselves with books, and sat +in rows before the fire, while artistic spirits set themselves copies, +and filled up page after page of their sketching-books. Flora stitched +on a table-centre destined to be a birthday present for her mother, and +the younger girls clustered round Pixie, and besought her to think of +some new means of amusement. + +"Think of something, Pixie-doo! It's so dull, and we are sick of the +stupid old games. What did you do at home when it rained and you +couldn't go out?" + +"I've never seen it rain hard enough to keep me indoors if I wanted to +be out," returned Pixie, with a toss of the head; "but I've had fine fun +indoors sometimes when I didn't feel disposed for exertion. Ratting in +the barn is good sport, or grooming the pony, or feeding the animals, +and pretending it is the Zoo; but you can't do those things here. It's +hard to think of anything amusing when you are shut up in one room." + +"We can go out on the landing, if we like; I vote we do, and be by +ourselves. The fifth forms are sure to tell us not to, the moment we +have thought of something nice. Come along now, before they notice us!" + +No sooner said than done. The little band of conspirators slipped from +the room, and stood without on the square landing, five short-frocked +girls all gazing eagerly, confidently, into the face of their leader. + +"Pixie, what shall we do?" + +Pixie racked her brains in despair, for not a single idea would come to +her aid, and yet to acknowledge such a want of invention would have been +to forfeit her position, and therefore not to be thought of for a +second. Her eyes roamed from side to side, and lit upon a table on +which some working materials happened to be lying. A basket, a folded +length of cloth, and a roll of wide green binding such as was used to +edge old-fashioned window-curtains. Pixie looked at it thoughtfully, +fingered it to ascertain its weight, shook it out to discover its +length, and cried eagerly-- + +"Just the thing! Might have been made for it. Would you like to see me +lasso the next person who comes upstairs?" + +"Lasso!" The girls were not quite sure of the meaning of the word, but +Pixie explained it, suiting the action to the word. + +A lasso was a rope with a noose at one end--so! and it was used to catch +wild horses, or anything else you happened to chase. You stood with the +rope gathered up in your hand--so! and then took aim and sent it flying +out suddenly--so! Pat could do it beautifully, and he had taught her +too, but she could not always manage very well. If you caught a girl +from above, she would be startled out of her wits, and squeal like +anything. It would be splendid fun. The next one, then, who came +upstairs! + +The girls were divided between horror and delight. Dared she? Really! +Would it hurt? What would Miss Phipps say? Did she really think she +ought? But their agitation acted as fuel to Pixie's determination, and +she would only laugh and lean over the banisters, experimenting with the +long green rope, and altering the length until it met with her approval. + +Five minutes passed, and nobody appeared; ten minutes, and the +conspirators were beginning to grow impatient, when from below came the +unmistakable sound of an ascending footstep. The orders of the chief +had been that when this happened her attendants were to withdraw to a +safe distance, so that no movement nor sound of muffled laughter should +warn the victim of her peril; so the girls retreated obediently, leaving +Pixie to crouch on the floor until the eventful moment when a head +appeared on the landing six steps below. It came--the top of a smooth, +brown head, and on the moment out flew the rope, whirled into space with +a skilful jerk which sent the noose flying wide, and with an accuracy of +aim which brought it right round the neck of the new-comer. She +squealed indeed, but horror of horrors! she squealed in French, with +such staccato "Oh's" and "Ah's" of astonishment as could only have come +from one person in the house. It was Mademoiselle herself! and lifting +her glance she beheld six horrified faces peering at her over the +banisters, six pairs of startled eyes, six mouths agape with dismay. +She looked, and then, as it seemed with one stride, was in their midst, +with her hands gripping Pixie by the shoulders. + +Now it happened that Mademoiselle was in her most irritable mood this +afternoon, for all day long she had been struggling against what, for +convenience' sake, she called a headache, but which might more honestly +have been described as a heartache instead. A teacher cannot explain to +thirty pupils that she has received a letter from home which has seemed +to drop a veil before the sky, but such letters come all the same, and +make it difficult to bear the hundred and one little annoyances and +trials of temper which fall to her lot. Mademoiselle's letter had told +of the illness of a beloved father, and as she dared not sit down and +have a good cry to relieve her feelings, she was an a pent-up state of +nerves which made her the worst possible subject for a practical joke. +The rope in Pixie's hand marked her out as the principal offender, and +she was called to order in a breathless stream of French which left her +dumb and bewildered. + +"I--I can't understand!" she stammered, and Mademoiselle struggled to +express herself in sufficiently expressive English. "You bad girl! You +rude, bad girl! What 'ave you done? What you mean playing your treecks +on me? I will not 'ave it. I will complain to Miss Phipps. How dare +you throw your strings about to catch me as I come upstairs! +Impertinent! Disobedient!" + +"P-please, Mademoiselle, it was a lasso! I didn't know it was you. I +said I would do it to the first person who came, and I didn't see your +face. It was only a joke." + +"A joke! You catch me by the throat, you 'ang me by the neck, and you +call it a joke! You wicked, impertinent girl, you shall be punished for +this!" + +Pixie heaved a sigh so sepulchral that it might almost have been called +a groan instead. + +"It's just my luck!" she said dismally. "When I tried to show off +before Pat and the girls, I couldn't do it one time in a hundred, and +just now, when I'd have no credit, but only get into trouble, I caught +you the very first try!" + +Did she mean to be impertinent? Mademoiselle looked down with sharp +suspicion, but even in her excited condition she could not mistake that +downcast look, and troubled, disconsolate frown. Her voice grew a +trifle less sharp, but she was very angry still. + +"You ought to be ashamed playing such treecks! It is always the same +thing--there is no peace since you 'ave come. These girls were quite +good and mild, but you make them as wild as yourself. I will teach you +to be'ave better. You will come with me to the schoolroom and write out +a verrrb!" + +"I will, Mademoiselle," said Pixie meekly, so meekly that her companions +fondly hoped that such exemplary submission would win forgiveness; but +no, Mademoiselle flounced downstairs, and Pixie followed at her heels, +to seat herself in solitary state at one end of the deserted schoolroom, +while Mademoiselle took possession of the desk and began to correct a +pile of exercise books. + +To write out a verb is not, as a rule, a very lengthy matter, but +Mademoiselle's punishment verbs had invariably a phrase attached which +gave to them an added appropriateness, but very much lengthened the +task. "I am sorry that I was rude to Mademoiselle" was the verb which +poor Pixie was to-day condemned to conjugate, and the big straggling +sentences amplified the statement until it seemed impossible to express +it in any other way. "I am sorry that I was rude to Mademoiselle--I was +sorry that I was rude to Mademoiselle--I shall or will be sorry that I +was rude to Mademoiselle." + +At intervals of every two or three minutes Mademoiselle glanced from her +work to the little figure at the other end of the room, but each time +Pixie's head was bent over her task, and the wandering eyes were glued +to their task. Such industry seemed so unnatural that the onlooker +became first puzzled and then uneasy, and at last resorted to coughing +and moving about in her chair in order to satisfy curiosity. In vain! +Pixie's head went down lower than ever, and the pen scratched away +without a moment's cessation, for she was enduring that unreasoning +panic of fear which sensitive children suffer when they are in disgrace +with their elders. She had been brought up in an atmosphere of tender +indulgence, had been the adored baby of the household, who had never +heard the sound of an angry voice, so that now, to sit alone in a room +with a person whom she had displeased, reduced her to a condition of +trembling fear. Her eyelids felt weighed down, a lump rose in her +throat, and she trembled as with cold, and then presently the dreaded +voice spoke again, and Mademoiselle said-- + +"Pixie, come here. Bring your verrrb!" + +The wretched scribe had not yet finished her conjugation, being about +imperatively to command herself to be sorry that she had been rude to +Mademoiselle, but she was too nervous to explain, and stood twisting her +hands together and staring at the carpet, while Mademoiselle turned over +the pages. She bit her lips once or twice as she read, and her eyes +twinkled, but Pixie did not see that, and the voice which spoke sounded +alarmingly stern. + +"It is ver' badly written. You make your letters too big; and such +blots! I cannot 'ave such blots. What 'ave you been doing to make such +blots as these?" + +"They are not blots, please, Mademoiselle; they are only--" + +"Only what then?" + +"Spots!" + +"Spots!" echoed Mademoiselle blankly. "Spots--blots! Blots--spots! I +do not understand. What is then the difference between blots and +spots?" + +"Blots is made with ink,"--when Pixie was agitated, as at the present +moment, grammar was by no means her strong point--"and spots is made +with--with--" + +"_Eh bien_! And with what, then?" + +"T-tears!" came the answer in the softest echo of a voice, and +Mademoiselle looked down at the woe-begone face with startled eyes. + +"Tears! Your tears! But why should you cry? It is not so dreadful to +write a verrrb. I might have given you worse punishment than that. +Perhaps it was because you had missed the afternoon with your friends. +I cannot think a girl of your age should cry over a simple verrrb." + +"I thought it was a very elaborate verb!" said Pixie faintly. "But it +wasn't that that made me cry; it was hurting your feelings, +Mademoiselle!" + +Mademoiselle leant back in her seat and looked intently at the shrinking +figure. + +"Look up, _cherie_!" she said softly, and Pixie's fear fell from her +like a mantle. She saw a hand outstretched, and clasped it eagerly. + +"I never meant to hang you, Mademoiselle! It was only a joke. The +girls asked me to amuse them, and we think it fine sport to lasso one +another at home. How was I to know it would be you, when I gave my word +I would catch the first one that came upstairs? I didn't mean to be +impertinent." + +"But, _ma petite_, you should not play such treecks at all!" +Mademoiselle shook her head, but she was smiling as she spoke, for she +was beginning to realise that no disrespect had been meant to herself, +and that she had been unduly stern in her denunciations. "It is not the +thing for a young lady at school; it is only for wild--how do you call +them--`cowboys,' out on the prairie. If you do it at 'ome, it is not my +affair, but if your father should see you some day, he must be shocked +like me!" + +"I'm the youngest of six, and me father won't have me thwarted!" sighed +Pixie, lapsing into her brogue, as she usually did when agitated. +"Nobody's ever angry with me at Bally William; I get into mischief the +day long, and it's all quite happy and comfortable. If I'm quiet and +well-behaved, Bridgie is after giving me a mixture, for, says she, `The +choild's ill; there's not been a sound out of her this day!' I wish I +was back in me own country, Mademoiselle, and then I shouldn't trouble +you any more!" + +"I vish I was back in my countree, too," sighed the other softly, and +two big tears started in the brown eyes, and trickled slowly down the +cheeks. "My father is ill, and needs me, and I cannot be with him. I +feel as if I could have wings and fly, I long so much to go; but I must +stay here and work. My 'eart is very sad, and sometimes I get cross-- +too cross, perhaps, because I cannot bear any more. Then you girls talk +among yourselves and say, `How she is bad-tempered, that Mademoiselle! +How she is cross and strict!' That is what you say very often, _n'est- +ce pas_?" + +"We do!" replied Pixie frankly. It was one of the Irishisms which +amused her companions that she never by any chance gave a simple "Yes" +or "No" in reply to a question. It was always "I am!" "I will!" "I +do!" as the case might be. + +"We do!" she replied now, and then hastened to soften the admission by a +coaxing, "But I wouldn't be troubling meself about that, if I were you, +for they don't mind it a bit. I drew a picture of you the other day +with a bubble coming out of your mouth, and `Bow-wow-wow' written on it +like a dog, because you are always barking; but there isn't a bite in +ye, and all the girls say you aren't half as bad as the Mademoiselle who +was here before!" + +Well! There are some conditions of mind when we are thankful for the +smallest grain of comfort, and Mademoiselle smiled and flicked the tears +from her eyes. + +"They are too kind! I am much obliged; but another time, when I `bark' +as you call it, you will perhaps remember that your teachers are like +yourselves, and 'ave the same feelings. When you come first to school +you have to be comforted because you are 'ome-sick, but we are 'ome-sick +too; and when you get bad news you cry, and are excused your work, but +we must go on the same as before; and if it is difficult to learn your +lessons, it is also difficult to teach! Well, now you may go! You will +remember not to be rude to Mademoiselle again, eh?" + +She held out her hand, smiling more brightly this time, and Pixie seized +it eagerly. + +"I will! And I hope your father will get well soon. You will see him +at Christmas, and that isn't very long now; only forty-eight days to- +morrow. I mark them off on my calendar." + +"No, that is so sad, I shall not see him until summer! He is going to +my brother in Italy, where it is warm and sunny, and it is too far for +me to go there with him. It costs too much money, and the little house +in Paris will be shut up till he returns, so I must stay in England all +through the dark, long winter, when the sun never shines, and I shiver, +shiver, shiver all day and all night! I shall forget what it is like to +be warm before the spring arrives!" + +Pixie rubbed the cold hands with a sympathetic touch, but she made no +remark, and presently went from the schoolroom to rejoin her companions +and make the most of the hours which still remained, while Mademoiselle +went wearily on with the task of correction. She forgot all about her +own complaints of cold, but when she retired to bed that night a +delightful surprise was in store, for the sheets were warm instead of +cold, and her chilled feet came in contact with something soft and hot, +which proved upon examination to be an indiarubber water-bottle encased +in a flannel bag. Mademoiselle drew a long gasp of rapture, and nestled +down again with a feeling of comfort to which she had long been a +stranger. A day or two earlier, Miss Phipps had spoken of the necessity +of putting more coverings on the beds, as the frost had set in unusually +early, and Mademoiselle sleepily attributed this new comfort as another +instance of the Principal's consideration for her assistants. She felt +certain that it must be so, as night after night the welcome warmth was +in waiting, and more than once determined to express her appreciation; +but life was busy, and there was such an accumulation of work as the +period of examination approached, that there seemed no time to speak of +anything but school affairs. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +TERM-HOLIDAY. + +Flora and Kate and Ethel were sitting with their classmates discussing +the day's work, and Pixie O'Shaughnessy had drawn her stool beside them, +and was putting in a remark at every possible opportunity. It made her +feel grown-up and important to join in the conferences of the older +girls, and though in words they might say, "Run away, Pixie!" it +generally happened that someone moved to the side of her chair to make +an extra place, or that an arm stretched out to encircle the tiny waist. +Even sixth-form girls like to be amused occasionally as if they were +ordinary mortals, and Pixie was welcomed because she made them laugh and +forget their trials and troubles, in the shape of Latin and Euclid and +German idioms which refused to be unravelled. Two or three of the older +pupils were going in for the Cambridge Examination at Christmas, and all +were looking forward to the school exams at the end of the term, so that +anxiety was heavy upon them. + +"My brain feels like jelly! It _won't_ work. I shall be getting +softening of the brain at this rate!" sighed Flora, rubbing her cheeks +up and down between her bands until she looked like a fat indiarubber +doll. "I keep mixing things up until I don't seem to have a clear idea +left, and my mother has set her heart on my taking a good place. She +will look sad if I come out bottom, and I do hate and detest people +looking sad! I would far rather they scolded, and had done with it!" + +"My people don't worry their heads about lessons. They sent me to +school because they think it polishes a girl, and rubs off the angles, +don't you know!" said Lottie, with an air. She was the richest girl in +the school, who took all the extras, and put her name down for every +concert and entertainment, without thinking of the expense. Her parents +had a house in town to which they came regularly every spring, during +which season Lottie's friends received many delightful invitations. She +had unlimited pocket-money also, and was lavish in gifts to those who +happened to be in her favour, a fact which a certain number of girls +found it impossible to banish from their minds; and thus Lottie held a +little court over which she reigned as queen, while the more earnest- +minded of the pupils adored Margaret, and would hear no one compared to +the sweet "school-mother." Clara was a Margaret-worshipper, so she felt +in duty bound to snub Lottie on this as on every possible occasion. + +"I don't see much polish about _you_!" she retorted brutally. "And it's +ridiculous to come to school at all, if you don't mean to work. If it's +only `pruins and prism' you want, why didn't you go to board with a +dancing-mistress, and practise how to come in and out of a room, and bow +to your friends, and cut your old schoolfellows when you meet them in +the road? You'd find it useful, my dear!" + +The last sentence was a deliberate hit, for a former pupil had reported +that, during a visit to a well-known watering-place, when she herself +was returning unkempt and sandy from a cockling expedition, she had +encountered Lottie walking on the parade with a number of fashionable +visitors, and that, after one hasty glance in her direction, Miss Lottie +had become so wonderfully interested in what was going on at the other +side of the road that she altogether forgot to return her bow. Needless +to say, Lottie had been reminded more than once of this incident, so +that even Pixie, the newest comer, was familiar with its incidents, +though she could not bring herself to believe in such deliberate +snobbery. To-day, as Lottie flushed, and Margaret looked a pained +reproach, it was Pixie who rushed to the rescue, wriggling about in her +seat, and clasping and unclasping her hands in the earnestness of her +defence. + +"Clara Montagu, you've no business accusing Lottie! You weren't there, +so you can't tell! Perhaps the sun was in her eyes. You can't see a +man from a woman when it's shining full in your face, though they may +see you clear enough, and believe you're shamming. Or perhaps the dust +was blowing. I've been blind meself with dust before now, and come into +the house looking as though I'd been crying for weeks. Why should she +pretend not to know a friend--least of all when she'd been cockling? +'Deed, I'd have been more affectionate than ever, in the hope she'd say, +`Help yourself, me dear! Lend me your handkerchief, and I'll give ye a +nice little bundle to take home for your tea!'" + +The Margaret-girls gave a simultaneous shriek of laughter at the idea of +Miss Lottie carrying a handkerchief full of cockles, and even the +Lottie-girls smiled approvingly at the little speaker, for was she not +advocating the position of their chief? Flora nodded encouragingly +across the hearth and cried, "Good for you, Pixie! Never listen to +second-hand stories against your friends!" And Kate added meaningly, +"Go on believing in human nature as long as you can, my dear. You're +young yet. When you are as old as I am it will be time to open your +eyes. But to go back to the last subject but one, don't you give way to +nerves, girls, and begin worrying about the exams already. I've noticed +that just about the middle of the term there always comes a +`discouragement stage' to anyone who is anxious to do well. The first +energy with which one begins work has worn off, and as it is too soon +for the final spurt, there comes a dull, flat time, when one worries and +frets and gets down in the lowest depths of dumps. I spoke about it at +home, and my father says every worker feels the same--artists when they +are painting pictures, and authors when they are writing books. They +have an idea, and set to work, all delight and excitement, believing +that they are going to do the best thing they have ever done. For a +little time all goes well, and then they begin to grow discouraged and +worried, and think they might as well give it up at once, for it is +going to be a dismal failure. They know _something_ is wrong, but they +can't see what it is, and they mope about, and don't know what to try +next. Father told me a story about Millais, the man who painted +`Bubbles,' you know, and heaps of other beautiful things. He was so +miserable about a picture once that he grew quite ill worrying about it. +His wife tried to persuade him to leave it alone for a few days, and +then take a rest; but no, he would not hear of it, so one fine day, when +he was out, she just took the law into her own hands and had it carried +down and hidden in the cellar. When he came home he went straight to +the studio, and--my dears! I am glad I didn't happen to be in the +house, that's all. I know what my father is like when he can't find a +clothes-brush, or someone has moved the matches out of the dressing- +room. Millais raged about like a wild animal, but his wife was quite +firm and determined, and wouldn't tell him where it was for several +days. He was obliged to go out and interest himself in other ways, and +when he was quite well again she had the picture brought up, and he +simply looked at it and laughed. He knew at once what was wrong, and +how to put it right." + +"I say," cried Flora eagerly, "do tell that story to Miss Phipps! She +might give us a week's holiday and send us to see the sights of London! +Do, Kate! Get it up in French and tell it to-night at tea. You don't +know how much good it might do!" + +"It's a very good story, but I fail to see where the moral comes in. It +hardly applies to us, I think," said Clara, in her superior manner, and +Kate breathlessly vindicated her position. + +"Yes, it does--of course it does. It shows that this anxious stage is a +natural thing which all workers have to live through, and even if we +can't leave off lessons altogether, we can help ourselves by not giving +way to nerves, but going steadily on, knowing that we shall feel all +right again in a few days. Besides, there's the Exeat coming,--that +will make a nice break." + +"I never worry about lessons, do I?" cried Pixie, pluming herself +complacently. The part of Kate's lecture which had dealt with over- +anxiety about work had appealed with special force to one listener at +least, and Pixie was delighted to find that she was free from failing in +one direction at least. "I never did. Miss Minnitt--that's the one who +used to teach us--she said I never paid any attention at all. There was +one day she was questioning me about grammar. `Pixie O'Shaughnessy,' +she says, `you've been over this one page until it's worn transparent. +For pity's sake,' she says, `be done with it, and get on to something +fresh. Let me see if you can remember to-day what I taught you +yesterday afternoon. How many kinds of verbs are there?' `There are +two,' I said, and with that she was all smiles and noddings. `So there +are, now. You're quite right. And what will be their names?' `Verb +and adverb,' says I, quite haughty; and the howl that went out of her +you might have heard from Cork to Galway! That was all the grammar +she'd managed to teach _me_!" + +"You don't know very much more now, do you, chicken?" said Margaret, +bending her head so that her cheek rested upon the rough, dark head. +"Just bring your books to me any time you get puzzled, and I'll try to +make it clear. Talking of the term-holiday, girls, it is time we began +to make our plans. How many of you are going out? Lottie, are you? +Clara? Kate? Pixie? We had better find out first how many will be +here." + +Clara had had hopes that the maiden lady with the appetite would rise to +the occasion, but, alas! she had betaken herself to stay with a +relative, Pixie was sure that Jack could not spare time to have her for +a whole day, and besides, she was going to have tea with him the +Saturday before. All the girls seemed fated to spend the holiday at +school save only the two sisters, Mabel and Violet, who were to be +entertained by a kind aunt, and to choose their own entertainment for +the afternoon, and Lottie, who was fortunate as usual. + +"I am doubly engaged for the evening!" she announced with a flourish. +"I wrote home to my people about the holiday, and mother asked some +friends to have me for part of the day. They live in a regular +mansion--as big as two or three houses like this rolled into one, and +they know all sorts of grand people! I am going to dinner, and it's +most exciting, for I don't know whom I may meet!" + +"The Prince and Princess of Wales are at Sandringham! What a pity!" +sighed Kate, the sarcastic. "It's so awfully trying to come down to +Lords and Ladies, don't you know! You will hardly trouble to put on +your best dress, I should think. The pea-green satin with the pink +flounces will be good enough for them!" + +The Margaret-girls laughed hysterically at this exhibition of wit, but +Lottie's followers shot indignant glances across the room, and Pixie +asked innocently--"Have you got a pea-green satin, Lottie? And pink +flounces to it? You _will_ be fine! I have a little pink fan out of a +cracker last year, when there was company at the Chase. I'll lend it to +you if you like, and then you'll be all complete!" + +"Thank you, Pixie O'Shaughnessy; you are a kind little girl. I shan't +want it this time, but I'll be sure to remind you when I do," replied +Lottie, with unusual warmth of manner, for the child's sincerity had +touched a soft spot in her vain heart, and she had an increasing desire +to include her in the number of her admirers. Later on, when they were +left alone together at the end of the schoolroom, she put her arm round +the tiny waist, and said caressingly-- + +"Talking of party dresses, what are you going to wear yourself on +Tuesday evening? You have to put on your best things, you know, just as +if you were going out?" + +"_Will_ I?" Pixie looked surprised, but absolutely unperturbed. "But I +haven't a rag to my back but the black you see every night! Bridgie +said, `It's not likely you'll be visiting at Court until ye're +education's finished, so this old grenadine will see you through until +the ship comes home from its next voyage. It's gone a long way this +time,' says she, `and between you and me, I expect the storms will swamp +it, but I've taken the best pieces out of my old dress and Esmeralda's, +and, barring the darn on the back seam, I defy ye to tell it from new!' +So that's all I've got, as I told you before, and, party or no party, it +will have to do." + +Lottie looked at her in horrified sympathy, but not a sigh of regret +clouded the beaming face; the head was tilting to and fro in its usual +complacent fashion, the shabby little flounce of a skirt was whisking to +and fro. Such a depth of poverty seemed incomprehensible to the child +of wealthy parents, and she was moved to an unusual desire to help. +Never before had she been known to lend one of her possessions to +another girl, but now she said quite eagerly-- + +"I have a lace collar, Pixie--a very pretty collar--I'll lend it to you, +and a white ribbon for your hair! It would lighten your dress +wonderfully; and there is a brooch too, and a little gold bangle." + +She paused, looking inquiringly to see the result of her offer, for one +could never tell how it would be received. Some girls might be pleased, +others might consider it almost an insult, and she would be sorry to +offend the funny little thing. But Pixie was not offended. She had too +much of the O'Shaughnessy blood in her veins to object to have things +made easy for her at the expense of another, and she felt no +embarrassment in taking the good things that came in her way. + +"Oh, ye darlin'!" she cried rapturously. "Will ye lend them to me, +really? Think of me now with a bracelet on me arm, and a brooch at me +neck! They wouldn't be knowing me at home. I wish to-day was Tuesday; +and what shall we do with ourselves all the hours before it's time to +dress up?" + +Lottie referred the question to Margaret, who, as head girl, had been +busy thinking out plans for the enjoyment of her friends. + +"I thought of asking if we might go to see the Cinematograph at the +Polytechnic," she replied. "Miss Phipps promised to take us some day, +and if we could do some shopping first, and have tea afterwards, it +would be a delightful way of spending the afternoon. There is one thing +that we must buy while we have the chance, and that's a present for +Fraulein. Her birthday is next week, and she is such a kind old dear +that she deserves something nice. I want at least a shilling from +everyone, and as much more as they can afford. I wonder what we had +better get?" + +"I know what she would love! A scent-bottle for her dressing-table like +the one Mademoiselle has. We could not afford one quite so good, but we +could get a very nice size for about two pounds. One day when I was in +Mademoiselle's room, Fraulein came in and took up the bottle, and began +admiring it, and saying how nice it was to get presents which were good +to look at, as well as to use. She has not many pretty things--poor +Fraulein!--and I think she would really enjoy a taste of luxury. +Mademoiselle has her initials engraven on the glass, but that would be +too expensive for us. We can have them on the stopper instead." + +"And who gave Mademoiselle her bottle? Was it someone here?" asked +Pixie curiously, whereupon Kate tossed her head with an air of +exaggerated dismay. + +"My dear, how can you? Don't say that to Mademoiselle, I implore you! +She would have a fit. _We_ are all commoners, and English commoners at +that, and the lady who gave her that precious bottle was Madame la +Marquise de Something or Other, the mother of her beloved pupil Isoult +Andree Adele Marie Therese--the most perfect, and beautiful, and clever, +and amiable _jeune fille_ that was ever created!" Kate paused, hitched +one shoulder to her ear, spread out her hands, and elevated her eyebrows +in ridiculous mimicry of Mademoiselle's mannerisms. "Did she evare +neglect her work? _Jamais_, nevare! Did she evare forget that she was +a _jeune fille_, and be'ave like a vild, rough boy? _Jamais_, _jamais_! +Was she evare like these Engleesh--rude, impairtinent, disobedient? +_Mais non_! Always the same--_cette ange_, the most wise, the most +amiable! And when she has finished her education and made her _debut_, +to be the most beautiful and admired wherever she has gone, she has +vept--_vept_, I tell you, to say _adieu_ to her beloved Mademoiselle! +And she has given her a chain for her neck, and Madame la Marquise that +beautiful 'ansome botelle. Really, Pixie, you are behind the times if +you don't know about Isoult. Just turn Mademoiselle on to her next time +you are with her on the walk, and you won't have to exert yourself any +more. She will sing her praises until you come in." + +"I will," said Pixie sturdily. "And I'll see that bottle, too. I must +see that bottle. I'll go into Mademoiselle's room next time I have a +chance, and have a good look at it all to myself!" + +The girls smiled, but took little note of a determination which seemed +natural enough under the circumstances. A week afterwards they +remembered it with very different feelings, and Pixie's own words were +brought up in judgment against her. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +PIXIE IN TROUBLE. + +It was already dark when the crocodile passed in at the gates of Holly +House on its return from the expedition to town, and Miss Phipps gave +instructions that the girls were to go straight to their rooms to dress +for the evening. Full dress was the rule for the evenings of term- +holiday, for even if nothing particular was going on, and no extra +guests expected, it gave one a gala feeling to don a light frock, and +gaze down upon one's very best shoes and stockings. Before leaving for +town in the morning, visits had been paid to the box-room to take the +rarely-used splendours from their wrappings, and now they lay stretched +out in all their glory on the narrow beds, white, blue, and pink, a very +wealth of colour and luxury. + +Pixie O'Shaughnessy, having no adornment to do for herself, acted as +lady's-maid to her bedroom, with much satisfaction to her mistresses, +and credit to herself. She brushed Kate's hair until it was so smooth +and flat as to be almost invisible from a front view; she tied Ethel's +sash, and the ribbon to match which confined the ends of her curls; and +she fastened Flora's dress, which was a matter of difficulty and time, +for though it was let out regularly each holiday-time, it invariably +grew too tight before it was needed again. + +"I can't help it," the poor thing protested miserably. "I don't eat +half as much as Ethel, and she's as thin as a stick. It's my fate! I +was born fat, and I go on growing fatter and fatter all the time. I +shall be a fat woman in a show, before I am done with it. It's hard +lines, for I should so love to be slim and willowy. That's what the +heroines are in books, and it makes me quite ill every time I read it. +Nothing exciting ever happens to fat people! The thin ones get all the +fun and excitement, and marry the nice man, while the poor fatty stays +at home, and waits upon her hand and foot. Then she grows into an aunt, +and takes charge of the nephews and nieces when they have fever or +measles, or when the parents go abroad for a holiday. Everyone imposes +upon her, just because she is fat!" + +"No, indeed, then, it is because she's good-natured. Look at yourself +now; you are always laughing!" declared Pixie soothingly. "Hold yer +breath a single moment while I get the better of this hook. Ye'll not +need to curtsey too low, I'm thinking, or you'll go off like a cracker! +And the elegant dress that it is, too! I remember the night Bridgie +went to her first ball, the Hunt Ball it was, over at Roskillie. It was +me mother's wedding-dress that she wore, and she looked like a picture +in it, the darlin'! Me mother was for having it altered to be in the +fashion, but me father says, `Leave it alone; you'll spoil it if ye +alter a stitch! It's better than fashionable,' he says, `it's artistic, +and fits the child like her own skin.' So away it was put in Bridgie's +cupboard, and Esmeralda comes peeping at it, and, thinks she, `What +yellow lace! It would be a disgrace to us all to have the girl dancing +about with that dirty stuff round her neck,' so not a word did she +speak, but off with the lace and washed it herself, with a good hard +rub, and plenty of blue bag. Then she ironed it, with a morsel of +starch to make it stand out and show itself off, and stitched it on +again as proud as could be. It was to be a surprise for Bridgie, and, +me dears, it _was_ a surprise! Mother and Bridgie screeching at the top +of their voices, and looking as if the plague was upon us. Would ye +believe it, it was just what they liked, to have the lace that colour, +and it was the bad turn Esmeralda had done them, starching it up like +new! Off it all came, and mother found an old lace scarf, yellower than +the first, and pinned it round Bridgie's shoulders, and she had pearls +round her neck, and a star in her hair, and Lord Atrim danced the first +dance with her, and told me mother she was the prettiest thing he had +seen for a twelvemonth. But Esmeralda sulked all the evening, and it +was very lively for me alone at home with her tantrums!" + +Flora chuckled softly, and Ethel give a shrill "He! he!" from her +cubicle at the other end of the room. + +"I do think you must be the funniest family! You seem always to be +doing the most extraordinary things. We never have such experiences at +home. We used to go along quietly and steadily, and there is never any +hubbub nor excitement. You seem to have a constant succession of alarms +and adventures." + +"We do so!" said Pixie with relish. "Scarcely the day that we're not +all rushing about in distraction about something. Either it's the boys +tumbling out of the barn and cutting themselves open, or father bringing +home accidents from the meet, or the ferret getting loose in the +drawing-room when there's visitors present, or not a pound of fresh meat +in the house, and the Bishop taking it into his head to drive over ten +miles to lunch! And Bridgie was for going out and killing a chicken, +and engaging him in conversation while it was cooked, but mother says, +`No, the man's hungry! Bring lunch in the same as if we were alone, and +leave the rest to me.' And when he had asked the blessing she says, +smiling, `It's nothing but ham and eggs I've got to offer ye, Bishop, +but there's enough welcome for ten courses,' and the smile of him would +have done you good to behold. Three eggs he ate, and half a pig +besides, and `It's the best lunch I've had since I said good-bye to +short jackets,' he said when he was finished." + +"Now, now, Pixie, not so much talking! Get on with your own dressing, +you little chatterbox!" cried Kate, putting her head round the corner of +the curtain and giving a tug to the end of the short black skirt. +"Flora can manage now, and you have not too much time, if you are to +catch Lottie before she goes out. Hurry up! Hurry up!" + +Pixie retired obediently, for Kate was head girl of the dormitory, and +must needs be obeyed; so one black frock came off and another went on, +the stout boots were exchanged for slippers, and then--the others having +already departed--she turned down the gas, and skipped along to the room +where Lottie stood waiting for her, a vision of spotless white. + +"That's right! I was just wondering what had become of you. Sit down +here, and I'll put on the collar, and just call out if I stick a pin in +you by mistake. I'm going to fasten it with this little brooch. There! +Isn't it sweet? I think I will give it to you to keep. I never wear +it, and you might just as well have it. Yes, I will! You shall have it +for a term-holiday present, because you were a kind little girl and +didn't join the other girls when they were nasty to me last week. Are +you pleased with it now?" + +"Oh-h, Lottie! You darlin'! Is it really me very own?" Pixie was +fairly breathless with pleasure and excitement, and could only exclaim +rapturously and gaze at the reflection of the new treasure, while Lottie +smiled, well pleased to have given so much pleasure. Yes! she told +herself she was really devoted to Pixie O'Shaughnessy! There was +something so sweet and taking about the child that it made one feel nice +to give her pleasure, and she pinned, and arranged, and tied ribbons +with as much zest as if she were arranging her own toilette. + +"There! Now you are done. I think you look very nice. The collar goes +so well with that black dress." + +"My worrd! Aren't I stylish! I just look beautiful!" cried Pixie, +poking her ugly little face close to the glass, and twisting round and +round to examine herself in all aspects. She kissed Lottie effusively, +expressed a hundred thanks, and danced downstairs into the schoolroom, +where the girls were standing about in twos and threes, looking so grand +that it was quite difficult to recognise them. They all stared at her +as the latest arrival, and Pixie, being conscious of their scrutiny, +held out her arms stiffly on either side, and revolved slowly round and +round on one heel. The girls laughed uproariously at first, then +suddenly the laughs subsided into titters, and Pixie, stopping to see +what was wrong, espied Miss Phipps and the three governesses standing +just inside the doorway, watching with the rest, and applauding with +their hands. It was an embarrassing moment, and the performer made a +quick dash behind a sofa to screen herself from publicity, but she had +not been there five minutes before she was called upon to answer a +question. + +"Pixie, Kate tells me you were in Lottie's room before you came down. +Was she nearly ready?" + +"She was, Miss Phipps, quite ready! Only waiting for me. She's on a +white dress, and--" + +"Never mind that. I want you to run upstairs, please, and tell her that +the cab is here. She must put on her wraps and come down at once." + +"I will, Miss Phipps." There was a whisk of short black skirts and off +she went, running lightly upstairs, and raising her voice in rich, +musical cry, "Lottie! Lottie!" + +"The real Irish voice! She ought to be able to sing charmingly when she +is older," said Miss Phipps to Mademoiselle, and Mademoiselle nodded her +head in assent. + +"I 'ope so! It is a great charm for a young girl to sing well, and she +is not pretty. _La pauvre petite_!" + +"No; yet the father is fine-looking, and my friends tell me that the two +sisters are quite beauties, and all the family wonderfully handsome with +this one exception. But Pixie is better than pretty, she is charming. +Would you be kind enough to go to the dining-room to see if everything +is ready, Mademoiselle? It is time we began tea." + +Mademoiselle departed, and came back to give the required signal, when +the girls filed slowly across the hall, casting curious glances at +Lottie as she came downstairs. She was wrapped up in a long white +cloak, and had a fleecy shawl thrown over her head, almost covering her +face from view. She looked very dainty, and when the door opened and +they beheld her step into the cab, they felt a rising of envy which +could not be entirely removed, even by the sight of the luxurious tea +spread out on the dining-room table. + +"Lottie is a lucky creature!" sighed Clara discontentedly. "She is +always going out. I wish my people lived near, instead of at the other +end of England. I am glad I am North Country, though; I don't like +Southerners! I agree with Tennyson-- + + "`True, and firm, and tender is the North; + False, and fair, and smiling is the South.'" + +"It isn't false; it's sweet!" + +"It _is_ false, I tell you! False, and fair, and--" + +"Sweet, and fair, and--" + +"Ask Miss Phipps, then, if you won't believe me. Oh, I say, look at the +icing on the cake! We didn't have icing last time. Doesn't the table +look nice? I do think it is sweet of Miss Phipps to take so much +trouble. Sit by me, and we will get hold of Pixie, and make her tell us +stories. It makes me laugh just to hear that child talk. Her brogue +doesn't get a bit better." + +"I hope it never may. Pixie, here! Sit by us. We've kept a place!" + +But Pixie shook her head, for she had been engaged to Flora ever since +breakfast, and was already seating herself at the other end of the +table. She did not speak much, however, during the meal, for experience +had taught what it had been difficult to express in words--that it was +not respectful to her teachers to chatter in their presence, as she +would do with her companions. She applied herself instead to the good +things that had been provided, and ate away steadily until she had +sampled the contents of every plate upon the table, and could +superintend the choice of her companions with the wisdom of experience. + +Miss Phipps had drawn out a programme of games for the evening's +amusement, and later on the older pupils took it in turns to play +waltzes and polkas, while the others danced. The teachers joined in +with the rest, and it was a proud girl who had Miss Phipps for a +partner, while Mademoiselle was so light and agile that it was like +dancing with a feather, and Fraulein felt like a heavy log lying against +one's arm. Then everyone sat down and puffed and panted, while Jeanie, +the Scotch girl, danced a Highland Fling, and when Pixie called out an +appropriate "Hoch! Hoch!" the teachers laughed as heartily as the +girls; for be it well understood there are things which are allowed on +term-holiday which the rashest spirit dare not attempt on working days! +Then two pretty sisters went through the stately figures of a minuet, +and Margaret sang a song in her sweet voice, pronouncing the words so +distinctly that you really knew what she was singing about, which +nowadays is a very rare and wonderful accomplishment. Altogether it was +a most festive evening, and Flora was in the act of remarking +complacently, "We really are a most accomplished school!" when suddenly +the scene changed, and an expression of horrified anxiety appeared on +every face, for Mademoiselle came rushing into the room, which she had +left but a few minutes before, and the tears stood in her eyes, and her +face was scarlet with mingled grief and anger. She held in one hand the +gold stopper of her precious scent-bottle, and in the other a number of +pieces of broken glass, at sight of which a groan of dismay sounded on +every hand. + +"_Voila! Regardez_ See what I 'ave found! I go to my room, and the air +is full of scent, and I turn up the gas, and there it is--on the +dressing-table before my eyes--in pieces! My bottle--that I have kept +all these years--that was given to me by my friend--my dear, good +friend!" + +Her voice broke off in a sob, and Miss Phipps came forward to examine +the pieces with an expression of real distress. + +"But, Mademoiselle, how has it happened? You found it on the table, you +say,--not on the floor. If it had been on the floor, you might perhaps +have swept it off in leaving the room, and not heard the sound against +the mat. But on the table! How could it be broken on the table?" + +"Someone has been touching it and let it drop." + +"I be so careless as to break my bottle? It is impossible to think of! +I never come away without a look to see that it is safe. I dust my +dressing-table myself every morning, so that no one shall interfere with +my things. The servants know that it is so. When I came downstairs +this evening it was all right. I have not been upstairs since." + +"I think very few of us have. We have been too busy. Ellen would go +in, of course, to prepare the bed. Did she--" + +"Yes! It was Ellen who told me. I was in the hall, and she came out of +the kitchen and said, `Oh, Mademoiselle, do you know? Your beautiful +bottle is broken!'" Mademoiselle's voice broke; she held out the pieces +and exclaimed in broken tones, "And I ran--and I saw--this!" + +"I am sorry! I am grieved! But we must get to the bottom of this +mystery. Things do not fall over and break by themselves. Girls, do +any of you know anything about this? If so, please speak out at once, +and don't be afraid to tell the truth. If by any chance one of you has +unintentionally broken Mademoiselle's bottle, I know you will be as +deeply grieved as she can be herself; but the only thing you can do now +is to explain, and beg her forgiveness. Carelessness it must have been, +and you cannot hope to escape altogether without punishment, but +remember deception is fifty times worse. I have no mercy on a girl who +knows she is guilty, and lets her companions rest under the shadow of +suspicion. Now, I ask you again, do you know anything at all of the +cause of this accident?" + +There was a unanimous burst of denial from all parts of the room; but +different girls took the question in different ways, as was natural to +the different characters. Some looked grieved, some indignant, a few +showed suspicions of tears, and Pixie looked so thoroughly scared and +miserable that more than one eye rested curiously upon her. + +Miss Phipps glanced around with her keen, scrutinising glance, then +pressed her lips together, and said sharply-- + +"This becomes serious! You all deny it? Very well, I must find out the +truth for myself. Call Ellen, please, Mademoiselle. I am sorry to have +such a painful ending to our happy holiday, but we cannot go to bed with +this cloud hanging over us. Ellen, Mademoiselle tells me that you found +the scent-bottle broken when you went into her room just now to turn +down the bed!" + +Ellen straightened herself and fumbled miserably with the corner of her +apron. She loved all the girls, and had known many of them for years; +for though other maids might come and go, Ellen, like the brook, went on +for ever. She had been a servant in the Phipps family, and had +accompanied "her young lady" when Holly House was bought and the school +first founded. Matron, nurse, general factotum, and refuge in time of +trouble, it would have been as easy to suspect her of duplicity as Miss +Phipps herself. She was wretched now because she feared that her +"children" might be in trouble, and her "children" knew it, and loved +her for her fear. + +"I did, Miss Emily. It was lying just where it usually stands, with the +glass piled up in a little heap." + +"It looked, then, as if someone had arranged it so? Not as if it had +been, say, blown over by any chance?" + +"It couldn't have blown over, Miss Emily! It was too heavy. And it +wasn't near the window, either." + +"And the pieces, you say, were gathered together, as if someone had +placed them so? Very well, I understand! Now, Ellen, have any of the +other maids been upstairs to your knowledge since Mademoiselle left her +room at seven o'clock?" + +"They say they have not, miss, for I asked them, and I've been in the +kitchen all the time. We were busy clearing away after tea, and getting +the refreshments ready for supper, and then we came and watched the +young ladies dance." + +"You would have noticed if anyone had gone upstairs?" + +"I think I should, being together all the time. They have no work +upstairs at this hour--" + +"I know that, but I must speak to them myself later on. There is one +thing more, Ellen. Your work upstairs takes you a good time. In +passing to and fro, you didn't happen to see anyone in or near +Mademoiselle's room, I suppose? Speak up, please! Remember I rely upon +you to do all in your power to help me to get to the bottom of this +mystery!" + +The last words were added in a warning voice, for Ellen's start of +dismay and drawn, miserable brows too plainly betrayed the truth of her +mistress's surmise. + +"I saw--when I went up first in the middle of the dancing, I was at the +end of the passage, and I saw little Miss O'Shaughnessy coming out of a +room. I couldn't be sure, but I _thought_ it was Mademoiselle's!" + +She had said it, and in an instant every eye in the room was riveted +upon Pixie, and every heart sank woefully at the sight of her crimson, +agitated face. It said much for the hold which she had gained on her +companions' affections that at this moment the feeling in every girl's +breast was that she would prefer to find the culprit in almost any other +girl in the school than in dear, loving, kind-hearted Irish Pixie. +Perhaps Miss Phipps felt the same, but it did not become her to show +favouritism, and her voice was very stern and cold. + +"Come here, Pixie, please! Stand before me! You have heard what Ellen +says! Was it Mademoiselle's room out of which you were coming?" + +"It--was, Miss Phipps!" said Pixie, with a gulp; and a groan of dismay +sounded through the room, at which Miss Phipps's eyes sent out a +flashing glance. + +"Silence, please! Leave this to me! Was it you who let the bottle fall +and broke it, then, though you would not acknowledge it when I asked +just now?" + +Pixie's lips moved, but she seemed so paralysed with fear that she had +to repeat her words twice over before they could be heard. + +"No, I--I didn't break it, Miss Phipps! I didn't break it!" + +"Do you mean to say you know nothing about it? Did you not notice it +when you were in the room? May I ask what you were doing in that room +at all? You had no business in there." + +"I--I--please, Miss Phipps, the gas was down; I didn't see anything!" + +"I asked you, Pixie, what you were doing in that room?" + +To the dismay of her companions, Pixie hung her head and refused to +answer, and, when the question was repeated, had no reason to offer but +a stammering, "It was nothing! I was doing nothing!" + +"That is nonsense, Pixie; you would not go upstairs and into a strange +room, to-night of all nights, without a very definite reason. I insist +upon your telling me what you were doing. If it is nothing of which you +are ashamed, you need surely not hesitate to speak." + +"I wasn't doing anything! I never touched it!" said Pixie once more, +and an expression came over her face which was well known to the +inhabitants of Bally William, though so far it was unfamiliar to her +companions--a dumb, obstinate look which promised little satisfaction to +the questioner. + +"If you refuse to answer me, Pixie, it is your own fault if I suspect +you. You have been with us only a short time, but I have always +believed you to be truthful and straightforward. I should be sorry to +change my opinion, but you will have yourself to blame!" She paused and +looked down at the little black figure, and her face softened +regretfully. "You need not look so terrified, child. Mademoiselle is +naturally very grieved and distressed, but you know her well enough to +be sure that she would forgive you if you have unintentionally broken +her pretty bottle. She would be sorry to drive you into telling a +falsehood--wouldn't you, Mademoiselle?" + +"I shall say nothing to her. My bottle is gone, and it can do no good +now. But she had no right to touch my things. My room is my own, and +she had no business there at all. I thought you were a good girl, +Pixie, and remembered what I had said to you. I did not think you would +grieve me like this. I have not so many treasures!" + +Mademoiselle's tears trickled down afresh, and the girls began to look +askance at Pixie, and to feel the first incredulity give place to a +horrible doubt. Why wouldn't she speak? Why did she look so guilty? +Why need she have been so alarmed at the first mention of the accident +if she had no part in bringing it about? Margaret held out her hand +with an involuntary gesture of appeal, and Pixie, seeing it, shut her +lips more tightly than ever. + +"You may go to your room, Pixie," said Miss Phipps coldly. "I am very +much disappointed in you!" + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +DARK DAYS. + +The three girls who shared Pixie's room were not forbidden to speak to +her when they went upstairs to bed, and their first impulse was to pull +aside the curtains of her cubicle, where she was discovered lying on the +top of the bed, still fully dressed, with features swollen and +disfigured with crying. She was shivering, too, and the hand which Kate +touched was so icy cold that she exclaimed in horrified reproach-- + +"Pixie, you are freezing! What do you mean by not getting into bed? +You will catch a chill, and then goodness knows what may happen! You +may go into consumption and die." + +Pixie gave a dismal little sniff, and her teeth chattered together. + +"That's what I thought. A girl at Bally William died of a chill, and +consumption's in our family. Me mother's cousin suffered from it every +winter. I want to die!" + +"Here, sit up! I am going to unhook you. Dear me, what a mess you have +made of your fine collar! I don't know what Lottie will say when she +sees it. Lucky girl to be out to-night and escape all this fuss! She +always gets the best of things. I never wish to spend such an evening +again, I know that!" + +"Pixie, why wouldn't you tell? Why wouldn't you answer Miss Phipps?" +cried Flora, unable to contain herself a moment longer; and Pixie drew +herself up, and tried to look dignified, a difficult achievement when +one is being forcibly undressed, and can hardly see out of red, swollen +eyelids. + +"I told her I had not broken the bottle. I gave her a straight answer, +and that ought to be enough for any lady!" + +"Don't talk such rubbish! This house is not yours, and if you go +wandering about into strange rooms, it is only right that you should be +made to explain. And it looks so bad when you refuse to answer. You +don't realise how bad it looks. After you left the room, Miss Phipps +asked if we had heard you say anything which would explain your going +into that room, and we all remembered--we didn't want to tell, but we +were obliged--we remembered that you said you intended to have a good +look at the scent-bottle." + +"So I did, and I don't mind who you tell. I looked at it the very next +day, but I never lifted it once. I was too afraid I'd be hurting it, +and it was all right long after that--Mademoiselle said so herself!" + +The three girls looked at each other quickly, and as quickly averted +their eyes. Ethel gave a toss to her curls, and walked off to her +cubicle. Kate went on unhooking with relentless haste, and Flora sat +down heavily on the edge of the bed, and melted into tears. + +"I wish scent-bottles had never been invented! I wish that old marquise +had had more sense than to spend her money on a thing that would break +if you looked at it! I know how easy it would be. I've broken lots of +things myself. Mother always said to us when we were children, `Don't +be afraid to tell me if you've had an accident. I will never scold you +if you tell the truth, but if I find out that you have hidden anything +from me I shall be extremely angry.' Lots of girls tell stories just +because they are frightened, especially little ones, and when they are +strange, too, and don't know people well. But we all love you, Pixie, +really and truly we do! We won't turn against you. Oh, do tell! Do +tell! Tell Kate and me now before we go to bed, and we will help you +to-morrow." + +"Will Miss Phipps talk to me again to-morrow? Will she be cross again? +Will Mademoiselle be cross?" cried Pixie fearfully. "Oh, what will I +do? What will I do? No one was ever cross with me at home. I'll run +away in the night and swim over to Ireland. They'd welcome me there if +I'd smashed all the scent-bottles in the world. I never meant to do any +harm. I didn't know it was wrong to go into Mademoiselle's room. No +one ever said I mustn't. Molly, our maid, broke something every day of +her life at Bally William, and no one disturbed themselves about it. +What's a scent-bottle? Suppose I _had_ broken it, why should they make +such a storm, I should like to know?" + +Her sentences were broken by sobs and tears, and her companions had +learnt by now that Pixie's outbursts of grief were not to be trifled +with, for while other girls shed tears in a quiet and ladylike manner, +Pixie grew hysterical on the slightest pretext, and sobbed, and wailed, +and shivered, and shook, and drowned herself in tears until she was in a +condition of real physical collapse. To-night Kate signalled +imperiously to Flora to depart to her own cubicle, and herself bundled +the shaking, quivering little creature into bed, where she left her with +a "good-night" sufficiently sympathetic, but--oh, agonies to a sensitive +heart!--without attempting the kiss which had become a nightly +institution! + +Next morning Pixie's face was still swollen and puffy, but her elastic +spirits had sufficiently recovered to enable her to make repeated +attempts to converse with her taciturn companions, and to run in and out +of their cubicles to play lady's-maid as usual, in such useful, +unostentatious ways as carrying water, folding nightgowns, and tying +hair ribbons. This morning she was even more assiduous than usual in +her attentions, for there was an edge of coldness and reserve in the +manner even of Flora herself which cut deeply into the sensitive heart. +Then when she had fully dressed, she gathered together Lottie's fineries +and betook herself to the room which that luxurious young lady occupied +in solitary splendour. + +Early as she had been in leaving her cubicle, breakfast had already +begun when Pixie made her appearance downstairs, and the furtive manner +in which she entered the room, was not calculated to dispel the +suspicions, with which she was regarded. Her "good-morning" to the +teachers was a mere mumble, and oh, how formidable they looked! Miss +Phipps with tight lips and a back like a poker; Mademoiselle, a vision +of misery, and Fraulein and Miss Bruce staring at the tablecloth as if +afraid to raise their eyes. As for the girls, they munched away in +silence, no one daring to make a remark, and it was significant of the +solemnity of the occasion that not a single girl helped herself to +marmalade or jam. By the unwritten laws of the school it would have +been considered unfeeling to indulge in such luxuries while the +reputation of a companion was at stake. It was a ghastly occasion, and +Pixie seemed literally to shrink in stature as she cowered in her chair, +glancing to right and left with quick, terrified glances. The +hopefulness of the earlier morning had departed, and among all the +dejected faces round the table hers was conspicuously the worst. + +There seemed a special meaning in the Bible reading that morning, and +when Miss Phipps laid aside the book she added a few words of her own +before kneeling in prayer. The sternness had left her face, but it was +very grave and sad. + +"Before we kneel down together this morning, girls, there are some +thoughts which I would like to impress upon you all. We are in trouble, +and it behoves each one of us to ask in all earnestness that the cloud +may be lifted, and that courage and truthfulness may be given where it +is most needed. An accident, however regrettable, is not a serious +offence, but in this instance it has been turned into one by the refusal +of the culprit to acknowledge her offence. I have made every inquiry, +and it seems morally certain that one of you must know how it happened, +and be able to give a satisfactory explanation; and until she does so, +the shadow of her deceit must fall on all. I ask those of you who know +that they are blameless to pray for her who is guilty, that she may +acknowledge her fault, and for yourselves that you be preserved from +temptation; and I ask the guilty one to remember that God reads all +hearts, and although she may deceive her companions, she can hide +nothing from His eyes. And now we will kneel and pray, and let the +words which you say be no vain repetition, but the earnest cry of your +hearts that God will help us!" + +Many of the girls had tears in their eyes as they rose from their knees, +and no one was surprised when, as they filed slowly towards the door, +Miss Phipps spoke again, to request Pixie O'Shaughnessy to follow her to +her private sanctum. Flora thrust her hand through Lottie's arm as they +went upstairs and heaved a sigh of funereal proportions. + +"Poor little Pixie! Don't you pity her? Oh, Lottie, you are lucky to +have been out last night and escape all this bother! I wish I had had +an invitation too, and then, even if Pixie doesn't confess, no one could +possibly think that I had done it. Poor little thing! She is so scared +that she hardly knows what she is doing. Did you notice her face at +breakfast? Did you hear about the accident when you came in last night, +or who told you first?" + +"I only saw the teachers last night, but Mademoiselle was crying, and I +knew something was wrong. Then Pixie came to my room this morning to +bring me back my collar, and she told me. It seems that she is +suspected because she won't tell why she was in Mademoiselle's room. +It's very stupid of her! There can't be any great mystery about it, one +would think, though she wouldn't tell even me; but if she says she +didn't break the bottle, I think she ought to be believed. She has +always been truthful, so far as we know." + +"Yes, but then we haven't known her long, and she has never been in a +corner before. It is easy to tell the truth when all is going smoothly, +but it's rather dreadful when you know quite well you are going to be +punished; and if you let the first moment pass it's fifty times worse, +because then you have been deceitful as well. What I'm afraid of is +that she was too frightened to own up last night--you know what a scarey +little thing she is--and that now she is determined to be obstinate and +brave it out!" + +Lottie hitched her shoulder with an impatient movement which drew her +arm free from her companion. + +"Well, I'm fond of Pixie O'Shaughnessy, and I am going to stick to her, +whatever happens! It's mean of Mademoiselle to make such a fuss about +an accident which nobody could help. I'll buy her another scent-bottle +myself, if that will satisfy her. I have lots of money, and can get as +much more as I want. It's absurd making thirty people miserable for the +sake of a few pounds. I'll ask Miss Phipps if I may go into town and +buy one this very day." + +"She wouldn't let you spend so much without your mother's consent, and +it's my belief Mademoiselle wouldn't take it if she did. It was the +association she liked, and you could not give her that. I'm fond of +Pixie too, but I shan't like her a bit if she gets us all into trouble, +and that's what it will mean if she is obstinate. We shall have all our +treats and holidays knocked off until the truth comes out. It is bound +to be discovered sooner or later, don't you think?" + +"No, I don't! Lots of things are never discovered, and the holidays +will be here in a month, thank goodness! It will have to drop after +that, for it wouldn't be fair to drag the troubles of one term into the +next. I don't know what Margaret is going to do, but I shall be kind to +Pixie and try to help her!" + +The girls had reached the schoolroom by this time and joined the group +by the fire, so that Margaret herself was able to reply. + +"I shall certainly help her if I can," she said gently; but her +followers noticed that she avoided giving any opinion as to guilt or +innocence, and the reticence depressed them still further, for it was +unlike Margaret to refrain from speaking a good word if it was possible +to do so. + +She was soon to have an opportunity of trying to help, however, for half +an hour later Miss Phipps called her out of class, and said sadly-- + +"I can make nothing of Pixie, Margaret. Will you try what you can do? +She seems afraid of me, though I have tried to be as forbearing as +possible, and perhaps she may speak more freely to a girl like herself. +So long as she refuses to say what she was doing in Mademoiselle's room +we cannot help believing her to be guilty. I am dreadfully upset about +it all, and should be so thankful to get at the truth. I have heard of +this kind of thing going on in other schools, but this is my first +experience, and I earnestly hope it will be the last. She is in my +snuggery. Go to her there, and see what your influence will do!" + +Margaret went, and, at the first opening of the door, Pixie rushed into +her arms with a cry of joyous welcome. + +"Oh, Margaret, I hoped you would come! I wanted you to come. I'm so +dreadfully miserable." + +"So are we all, Pixie, but you can end the misery if you will only tell +us truthfully all you know about this accident. You do know something, +I feel certain, or why should you be so afraid to speak? It's no use +being afraid, dear. We all have to do difficult things sometimes, +whether we like them or not, and it will only get worse as time goes on. +The truth is bound to come out, and then how ashamed you will feel, if +you have not taken the opportunity while it was yours!" + +"Do you think it will be found out, really?" Pixie shivered, and +twisted her fingers together in nervous fashion. "But how can it if I +don't tell, and if--if there is no one else?" + +"I don't know, Pixie, but I believe it will, sooner or later. It may be +later, for God is very patient, and waits to give us our chance before +He takes things into His own hands. In the days when Jesus was on earth +He used to work miracles, but He doesn't do that any longer. I used to +be sorry for that, but I am not now, for it is so wonderful that He lets +us help Him by putting it into our hearts to do His will. He won't show +us in any miraculous way who is deceiving us now, but if she will listen +He will speak to her, and make it seem impossible to go on doing wrong." + +"That's what Bridgie said!" agreed Pixie eagerly. "It was the night +before I came to school, and she was speaking to me for my good. +`You'll be far away from home,' she said, `but you never need be far +from Him, and He is your best friend. When you are happy and everything +is bright, thank Him for it, for it's a shame to be always asking, +asking, and never saying a "Thank you" for what you receive. And when +you are undecided between two ways, take the one that's hardest, for +that was what He meant by bearing the cross; and when you are in +trouble, keep still,' she says, `keep still, and you'll hear His voice +in your heart.' And I was thinking of that last night, and I could hear +Bridgie saying it all over again, as plain as if she were by my side!" + +"And the other voice, Pixie--did you hear that too?" + +"I tried to, but,"--the small troubled face was pitiful to behold--"it +seemed always to say the things I wanted, and I was afraid I was +imagining. Then I remembered about doing the hardest thing, and every +time I awoke I thought of it again, and this morning I decided that I +would!" + +"Pixie!" cried Margaret, in a tone of almost incredulous relief. "Oh, +Pixie, you will really! I am so glad, so glad! You will come with me +to Miss Phipps now, and tell all you know!" + +But Pixie shook her head firmly, and her lips closed in determined +lines. + +"I will never tell," she said. "I'll be silent for ever!" + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +AN ARMISTICE. + +A week passed by, and the mystery was no nearer being unravelled than on +the first evening, though every possible means had been taken to +discover the offender. At the beginning of the time the general feeling +had been in favour of Pixie, but girls are very human creatures, and as +the days passed by and they suffered for her silence, a feeling of +resentment began to grow against her. Why should all the school be +suspected because one girl refused to tell what she knew? What was the +use of pretending to be so kind and helpful, if you would not sacrifice +your pride for your friends' comfort? If Pixie were innocent, why +should she be afraid to answer questions? But, really--and then the +heads would draw close together, and the voices drop to a whisper-- +really she looked so wretched and ashamed, that one began to wonder if +she could be innocent after all! A whole week, and she had not once +been in mischief. Didn't that look as if something was on her mind? +While as for funny stories, she was as dull as Clara herself; and it was +impossible to say anything more scathing than that! + +After Margaret's failure no more personal efforts had been made to +induce Pixie to confess; but at the end of a week the anticipated blow +fell, for Miss Phipps addressed the assembled school and announced her +intention of confiscating holidays until the end of the term. + +"I am sorry to punish the innocent with the guilty," she said, "but I +hope that the consciousness that she is depriving her companions of +their enjoyment may have more influence with the culprit, whoever she +may be, than any words of mine. I don't think it is right to deprive +your teachers of their much-needed rest, so on Wednesdays and Saturdays +you will have extra preparation during the hours which would otherwise +have been your own. Of course no invitations can be accepted. I have +written to your brother, Pixie, to say that you will not be able to go +out with him on Saturday, as arranged." + +Pixie's cry of dismay was drowned by the general groan, which swelled +ever louder and louder as Miss Phipps left the room. The younger girls +looked inclined to cry, one or two stamped on the floor with +irrepressible anger, and there was a very babel of indignation. + +"I told you so! What did I say? As if we hadn't enough to do without +slaving six hours more! I know what it will be now--I shall get so worn +out that I shall fail in my examination." + +"Preparation! More prep! I call that adding insult to injury. If it +had been a class, I wouldn't have minded half so much. I'm sick and +tired of school. I'll ask my mother if I may leave the day I am +seventeen." + +"And I was going out on Wednesday! I had an invitation this morning, +and was going to tell Miss Phipps after tea. I may as well write and +say I can't go, and it would have been so nice too. I should have had +such fun!" + +"Jack was going to take me to the s-s-circus! I've never seen a clown +in all me days! I was c-counting the hours!" stammered Pixie tearfully; +and at the sound of her voice, as at a signal, all the girls stopped +talking and fixed their eyes upon her. She looked pitiful enough with +the tears streaming down her cheeks, but there was not much sympathy in +the watching faces, and for the first time the growing resentment forced +itself into words. + +"You have only yourself to blame," Kate said coldly. "If you had spoken +up and told all you knew about that horrible night, it would have been +forgotten by this time. I believe Mademoiselle is sorry already that +she made such a fuss, but Miss Phipps won't rest until she has found out +what she wants. If you _will_ be obstinate, you must expect to be +punished, but it's hard lines on the rest of us who have done nothing +wrong." + +"And we were all so kind to you, Pixie O'Shaughnessy, and made a regular +pet of you--you know we did! We helped you like angels when you +couldn't do your lessons. I've been in this school five years, and I've +never seen a new girl made such a fuss of before. I call you an +ungrateful serpent to turn and rend us like this." + +"Clowns indeed! I should think you have something else to think of than +clowns! Do you realise that thirty girls are losing their fun for three +whole weeks because you won't speak? If you had any nice feeling, you +would be too miserable for clowns." + +"Oh, Pixie, I've such a smashing headache! You might tell! I was so +looking forward to a rest this afternoon. It makes the week so +dreadfully, dreadfully long when there are no holidays!" + +Flora's voice was full of tears, and Pixie's miserable glance, roving +from one speaker to another, grew suddenly eager as it rested upon her, +for she was skilled in the treatment of headaches, and was never more +happy than when officiating as nurse. + +"I'll lend ye my smelling-bottle. It's awful strong! Ye said yourself +the last time you smelt it ye forgot all about the pain. Will I run up +this minute, and bring it for you?" + +"No, thank you!" Flora's tone was almost as cold as Kate's. "I don't +want your loans. Smelling-bottles are no good to me if I have to rack +my brains all the afternoon. You needn't pretend to be sorry, for if +you were you could soon cure me. Come along, girls, let's go upstairs! +It is no use talking to her any longer." + +The girls linked arms and filed to the door, only Lottie lingering +behind to thrust her hand encouragingly through Pixie's arm. Kate, +standing near, caught the whispered words of consolation. "You shall go +to the circus in the holidays. I'll ask you to stay with me, and we +will go somewhere nice every afternoon!"--and told herself reproachfully +that Lottie was more forgiving than herself. + +"I don't feel in the least inclined to offer her treats, though I'm +sorry for her all the same. She does look such a woe-begone little +wretch! It's my belief she thought it was a good opportunity to examine +the scent-bottle when we were all upstairs, and that she put it down too +roughly or let it slip from her hands and hadn't the nerve to own up at +once. I don't wonder she is afraid to confess now; I should be myself. +You don't know what might happen--you might even be expelled! I don't +believe Miss Phipps would keep a girl who was so mean as to make all the +school suffer rather than face a scolding. There's one thing certain, +I'm not going to have Pixie O'Shaughnessy fagging for me until this +business is cleared up! I have tied my own hair bows before and can do +them again, and I shall tell Flora and Ethel not to allow her in their +cubicles either. If she is untruthful, how are we to know that she +might not be dishonest next!" + +There is no truer proverb than that which says, "Give a dog a bad name +and hang him!" for it is certain that when once we begin to harbour +suspicion, a dozen little actions and coincidences arise to strengthen +us in our convictions. + +It is also true that no judges are so unflinching as very young people, +who set a hard line between right and wrong, and are unwilling to +acknowledge the existence of extenuating circumstances. During the next +few weeks Pixie was sent to Coventry by her companions, to her own +unutterable grief and confusion. No one offered to help her with +difficult lessons; no one invited her to be a companion in the daily +crocodile; no one made room for her when she entered a room; on the +contrary, she was avoided as if her very presence were infectious, and +when she spoke a silence fell over the room, and several moments elapsed +before a cold, stern voice would vouchsafe a monosyllabic answer. She +was at the bottom of her classes too, being unable to learn in this +atmosphere of displeasure, and the governess's strictures had in them a +touch of unusual severity. + +Curiously enough, it was Mademoiselle herself who showed most sympathy +with Pixie during those dark days. Like most people of impulsive +temperament, she had quick reactions of feeling, and after having +stormed and bewailed for a couple of days, she began to regret the gloom +into which she had plunged the school. She had been fond of the droll +little Irish girl, and, though convinced of her guilt, feared lest her +own unbridled anger had frightened a sensitive child into a denial +difficult to retract. + +It happened one day that governess and pupil were alike suffering from +cold and unable to go out for the usual walk, and the impressionable +French heart went out in a wave of pity, as its owner entered the +deserted schoolroom and found Pixie seated alone by the fire, her hands +folded listlessly on her lap, a very Cinderella of misery and dejection. +When the door opened she looked up with that shrinking expression of +dread which is so pitiful to see on a young face, for to be left _tete- +a-tete_ with Mademoiselle seemed under the circumstances the most +terrible thing that could happen. Her head drooped forward over her +chest, and she stared fixedly at the floor while Mademoiselle seated +herself on a chair close by and stared at her with curious eyes. + +Surely the ugly little face was smaller, the figure more absurdly minute +than of yore! The black dress with its folds of rusty crape added to +the pathos of the picture, and awoke remembrances of the dead mother who +would never comfort her baby again, nor point out the right way with +wise, tender words. Mademoiselle's thoughts went back to her own past, +when, if the truth must be told, she had been an exceedingly naughty +child; and she realised that it was not coldness and severity which had +wrought the most good, but the tender patience and affection of the +kindest of parents. What if they had been trying the wrong course with +Pixie O'Shaughnessy? What if suspicion and avoidance were but hardening +the child's heart and hastening her path downwards? Mademoiselle +cleared her throat and said in the softest tone which she could +command-- + +"_Eh bien_, Pixie! What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" + +"I'm thinking, Mademoiselle." + +"And what are you thinking about then? Tell me your thoughts for a +penny, as you girls say to each other!" + +"I'm thinking of Foxe's martyrs!" was Pixie's somewhat startling reply. +Her face had lightened with immeasurable relief at the sound of the +friendly voice, and the talkative tongue once loosened could not resist +the temptation to enlarge on the reply. "We have the book at home. Did +ye ever see it, Mademoiselle? It's got lovely pictures! There's one +man lying down and they are pinching him with hot tongs, and another +being stoned, and another being boiled in oil. They were so brave that +they never screeched out, but only sang hymns, and prayed beautiful +prayers. I used to long to be a martyr too, but I don't any more now, +for I know I couldn't bear it, but it cheers me up to think about them. +Bridgie says there's nothing so bad but it might be worse, and I was +thinking that they were worse off than me. I'd rather even that the +girls wouldn't speak to me than boiling oil--wouldn't you, +Mademoiselle?" + +"I would indeed!" replied Mademoiselle fervently. "But what a subject +to think about on a dull grey day! No wonder you look miserable! You +need not think about boiling oil just now at all events, for I have to +stay in too, and I have come to sit here and talk to you. Will that +make you feel a little bit less miserable?" + +"Now that depends upon what ye talk about, Mademoiselle," said Pixie, +with that air of quaint candour which her companions had been wont to +find so amusing; and Mademoiselle first smiled, and then looked grave +enough. + +"I am not going to question you about your trouble, if you mean that, +Pixie. It is Miss Phipps's affair now, not mine. I wish you had been +more outspoken, but I am not going to scold you again. You are being +punished already, and I feel sorry to see you so grave and to hear no +more laughs and jokes. Shall we 'ave what they call an armistice, and +talk together as we used to do when we were very good friends?" + +She held out her hand as she spoke, and Pixie's thin fingers grasped +hers with a force that was almost painful. She looked overcome with +gratitude, nevertheless, now that it had been agreed to talk, both felt +a decided difficulty in deciding what to talk about, for even a +temporary coldness between friends heaps up many barriers, and in this +particular case it was difficult to feel once more at ease and +unconstrained. It was Pixie who spoke first, and her voice was full of +shy eagerness. + +"How's your father, Mademoiselle? Is he having his health any better +than it was?" + +"A little--yes, a little better. He is in the South with my brother +until the cold winds are over in Paris. He is like me--he hates to be +cold, so he is very happy down there in the sunshine. I told you about +him then, did I? I had forgotten that." + +"Yes, you told me that day when I--when I lassoed you on the stairs, and +I wrote the verb not to be rude to you any more. You said I would +remember that, and I do; but perhaps you think I have done something +worse than being rude, Mademoiselle! I want to know--please tell me!-- +can your bottle be stuck together so that you can use it again?" + +Mademoiselle's face clouded over. She had recovered from her first +violent anger about the accident, but it was still too sore a subject to +be lightly touched. + +"No," she said shortly, "it cannot mend. I tried. I thought I might +use it still as an ornament, but the pieces will not _fit_. There is +perhaps something missing. I have just to make up my mind that it is +gone for ever. It seems as if I should never know what happened to it." + +An expression of undoubted relief and satisfaction passed over Pixie's +face as she heard these last words, but Mademoiselle was gazing +disconsolately in the fire, and it had passed before she looked up. +Perhaps she had hoped that her words would draw forth some sort of +confession, but, if so, she was fated to be disappointed, for when Pixie +spoke again it was to broach another subject. + +"Mademoiselle, I've a favour to ask you! I've been afraid to do it +before, but you are so kind to-day that I'm not frightened any longer. +It's about the party at the end of the term. The girls say they always +have one, and they will be broken-hearted if they miss that as well as +all the holidays. It is no use my asking, because it's me that's in +trouble, but, Mademoiselle, it was your bottle that was broken. If you +asked Miss Phipps, she couldn't find the heart in her to say no! +Please, Mademoiselle, will you ask if the girls can have their party the +same as ever?" + +Mademoiselle looked, as she felt, completely taken aback by this +unexpected request. It sounded strange indeed coming from Pixie's lips, +and it was difficult to explain to the girl that she herself would be +the greatest hindrance to the granting of such a request. She looked +down, fingered her dress in embarrassment, and said slowly-- + +"For my part I should be glad for the girls to have their party. It is +hard that they should all suffer, and it _is_ dull for them. I have +been here three years, but it was never so dull as this. Yes, I would +ask, but what would Miss Phipps say? That is a different thing! It +seems odd to stop the holidays and give the party all the same, and--do +you not see?--the bad girl--the girl who will not say what she has +done--she would have her pleasure with the rest, and that would not be +right. It is to punish her we have to punish many." + +"But if I stayed upstairs--" cried Pixie eagerly, and then stopped +short, with crimson cheeks, as if startled by the sound of her own +words. "I mean I am the one they are vexed with; they want to punish me +most. If I stayed upstairs in my own room, or was sent to bed, why +shouldn't the others have their party? It would be an extra punishment +to me to hear them dancing, wouldn't it now?" + +Mademoiselle threw up her bands in an expressive silence. In all her +experience of school life never before had she met a girl who pleaded in +such coaxing terms for her own humiliation, and she was at sea as to +what it might mean. Either Pixie was guilty, in which case she was one +of the most arrant little hypocrites that could be imagined, or she was +innocent, and a marvel of sweetness and charity. Which could it be? A +moment before she had felt sure that the former was the case, now she +was equally convinced of the latter. In any case she was gratified by +the idea that she herself should plead for the breaking-up party, and +was ready to promise that she would interview Miss Phipps without delay. + +"And ye'll not say that ever I mentioned it," urged Pixie anxiously, +"for maybe that would put her off altogether. Just ask as if it was a +favour to yourself, and if she asks, `What about Pixie?' `Oh, Pixie,' +says you, `never trouble about her! Send her to bed! It will be good +for her health. She can lie still and listen to the music, and amuse +herself thinking of all she has lost.'" + +The beaming smile with which this suggestion was offered was too much +for Mademoiselle's composure, and, do what she would, she could not +restrain a peal of laughter. + +"You are a ridiculous child, but I will do as you say, and hope for +success. I like parties too, but it will not be half so nice if you are +not there, _petite_! See, I was angry at first, and when I am angry I +say many sharp things, but I am not angry any more. If it had happened +to anyone to break my bottle by mistake, she need no more be frightened +to tell me. I would not be angry now!" + +"Wouldn't you?" queried Pixie eagerly, but instantly her face fell, and +she shivered as with dread. "But, oh, Miss Phipps would! She would be +angrier than ever! The girls say so, and it is only a fortnight longer +before the holidays, and then we shall all go home. If it is not found +out before the holidays, it will be all over then, won't it? No one +will say anything about it next term." + +"I do not know, Pixie. I can't tell what Miss Phipps will do," returned +Mademoiselle sadly. She felt no doubt at this moment that Pixie was +guilty; but that only strengthened her in her decision to plead for the +party, for it did indeed seem hard that twenty-nine girls should be +deprived of their pleasure for the sake of one obstinate wrong-doer. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +DIVIDED OPINIONS. + +"Girls," announced Miss Phipps after tea, two evenings later, "I have +something to tell you which I am sure you will be delighted, and also +much touched to hear. You have, I suppose, taken for granted that no +breaking-up party would be held this term, as I have unfortunately had +to deprive you of all holidays and excursions. For myself, I had put +the matter entirely aside, as out of keeping with our present position, +but you have had an advocate whom I have found it impossible to refuse. +Someone has pleaded your cause so eloquently that she has gained the +day, and I have now to announce that your party will be held as usual on +Wednesday next, a few days before we break up. Don't thank me, please! +It is someone else who deserves your thanks. Can you guess who it is?" + +The girls were jumping about in their seats, all excitement and delight. +Ethel was tossing her curls, Flora beaming from ear to ear, Kate's eyes +were dancing behind her spectacles, Margaret was looking across the +table at Pixie with an anxious, scrutinising glance. Who could it be-- +this unknown champion? There were whispering and consulting on every +side, but the first suggestions fell wide of the mark. + +"Mrs Vane!" said one, mentioning the name of the giver of the "Alice +Prize," which was held in such importance in the school. But no, it was +not Mrs Vane. "Miss Ewing!" cried another, naming a friend of Miss +Phipps, who on one memorable occasion had begged a holiday for the +entire school; but it was not Miss Ewing. "Nearer home, nearer home! +She is in this room now!" cried Miss Phipps, laughing; and then it was +impossible to look at Mademoiselle's red cheeks and remain in doubt any +longer. + +The gasp of surprise, of gratitude, of admiration that went round the +room was the most eloquent acknowledgment of the generosity which had +prompted the request, and Mademoiselle grew redder than ever, as she +reflected that she would not have deserved any thanks had it not been +for the suggestion of another. She looked instinctively at Pixie, and +met a smile which reached from ear to ear, and was fairly beaming over +with exultation. No one in the room looked so beamingly happy, but the +next moment the smile gave way to a startled expression, as Miss Phipps +continued slowly-- + +"There is one girl whom I am unfortunately obliged to except in giving +my invitation, and that is Pixie O'Shaughnessy. Whether she is guilty +of really breaking Mademoiselle's scent-bottle or not, it is impossible +for me to say, but a suspicion has rested upon her which she has +persistently refused to remove. I cannot allow a girl who defies my +authority to be among us on such an occasion, and though the fact that +she is in disgrace will cast a shadow over our evening, I consider that +I have no choice in the matter. On Wednesday night, then, Pixie, you +will have tea by yourself in the schoolroom, and go up to bed at seven +o'clock." + +"I will, Miss Phipps," said Pixie faintly. She had blushed until her +face was crimson from the roots of her hair to the tip of her chin, and +her face stood out like a vivid peony among those of her companions. +Everyone looked at her, and the glances were more kindly than they had +been for many a day; for it is easy to be sympathetic when we get our +own way, and have shifted the burden off our own shoulders on to those +of another. When the Principal left the room, attention was almost +equally divided between Mademoiselle and Pixie, who were each surrounded +by a group of excited talkers. + +"Oh, Maddie, I do call you an angel! It was simply sweet of you to +plead for us when you have been the one to suffer. I'll love you for +ever for this!" + +"So shall I, Maddie, and you'll see how well I'll do my verbs! I'll +never worry you any more, but be so good and industrious. Dance with +me, do, the first waltz, and I'll be gentleman, and not let you bump +into anybody!" + +"Pixie dear, I'm so sorry, but you would rather the girls had their +party even if you couldn't go, wouldn't you, dear?"--this from Margaret, +while Lottie tossed her head and said-- + +"She needn't distress herself! There is nothing to make a fuss about. +Party, indeed! A fine sort of party! No one comes, and it is just like +any other night, except that you dance and wear your best things!" + +"And have programmes, and trifles, and jellies, and crackers, and all +sorts of good things, and sit up until ten o'clock! But I'm awfully +sorry you can't come, Pixie. If I get a chance I'll bring you something +upstairs from the supper-table. You can't put lumps of jelly in your +pocket, but if there is anything dry, I'll bring it to you when I go to +bed!" + +"So will I, Pixie. My party frock has a baggy front, so I can carry a +lot. I could get a whole cheese-cake in when no one was looking. Or +would you rather have a mince pie?" + +"I think I'd rather have--both," said Pixie sadly. "I shall be so +hungry, lying alone repining! I have never been to a party except once, +at Bally William, and that wasn't a party either, for there was only me +and two other boys, and the girls of the house, but we had crackers all +the same, and I got an elegant little fan. The same I offered to you, +Lottie, when you went out last time!" + +"I remember, but it didn't go with my dress. That's another thing, +Pixie--you haven't a dress to wear, so it's just as well you aren't +asked, after all! I managed to make you presentable for a half-term +evening, but that old frock of yours would never do for a breaking-up +party." + +Well, Lottie evidently intended to be comforting, but she had an +extraordinary tactless way of going about it, Kate reflected angrily. +She herself had a much happier inspiration, when she said with an +elaborate affectation of relief-- + +"And it's an ill wind that blows nobody good! What we should have done +without you to help us to dress, I really don't know! Mind you come to +me first now. Ethel doesn't need you half so much, for her hair curls +naturally, and mine always takes an unruly turn when it sees my best +dress, and refuses to lie as I want it." + +The listeners opened their eyes significantly, for no one had ever seen +Kate's hair untidy, and it was impossible to imagine the lank locks +exhibiting roving propensities; but Pixie smiled, and that was all that +had been desired. Pixie flicked the tears away and cried eagerly-- + +"I'll plait it in four, like I used to do Bridgie's when she went +visiting. You wouldn't believe the style there is to ut. Esmeralda +said no one would believe that it was really her own. It was for all +the world as if she had bought a plait and stuck it on. I'll make yours +look like that too, if you'll give me time!" + +"Oh, I'll give you time!" laughed Kate pleasantly. Her conscience +misgave her when she thought of her behaviour during the last days, and +saw how ready the child was to forgive the cold contempt, with which she +had been treated. It was pleasant, too, to hear again of Bridgie and +Esmeralda, who had been so long unmentioned, and who must really be the +funniest creatures! And now that the poor little scrap was to be +punished in such drastic fashion, one might venture to show pity without +being accused of encouraging wickedness. After all, she had so far been +convicted of no worse crime than obstinacy. + +Unfortunately for Pixie, some of her companions took a different view of +Miss Phipps's decision, seeing in it a proof that the Principal at least +was convinced of her guilt, and so felt themselves bound to follow her +example by ostracising the offender. Some of Lottie's followers were +among the number, and that young lady found herself in the difficult +position of being drawn two ways at once, for she had vowed to befriend +Pixie, yet was loth to risk her popularity by acting in opposition to +the general feeling. She took refuge in an easy neutrality, remaining +silent when gibing words were passed from mouth to mouth, and avoiding +every opportunity of coming into contact with Pixie herself. With so +many girls about and the rush of examination work on hand, this was easy +enough to accomplish, for Lottie was ambitious, and made special effort +to come out in a good position on the list. Every evening she pored +over books to "stew" up the subject of the next day's exam, and every +morning seated herself before her desk, and became immediately immersed +in the paper before her. Oh, those papers, what agony and confusion of +spirit they brought to one poor scholar at least! Pixie had been +informed that the secret of examination work was to carefully read over +the list of questions, and then set to work at once on the one she could +answer best, be it number one or six; but what was a poor girl to do +when she was convinced that she could not answer one at all? No one had +even imagined such a position, and yet it was the one in which she found +herself over and over again during those last miserable days. She was +so unused to examination work that the formal wording of the questions +frequently disguised their meaning, and made her imagine ignorance when +in reality she could have answered correctly enough; and oh, what misery +to look around the room and see every other girl scribbling for her +life, and looking as if the only difficulty was lack of time to write +all she knew! + +Pixie's mode of proceeding was to print an elaborate heading to her +paper, and while away a quarter of an hour in adding ornamental +flourishes to the double lines, and in elaborately darkening the down- +strokes of her capitals. Then she would scribble on her blotting-paper, +dropping intentional blots upon a clean page, and weaving them into a +connected picture with no little skill and ingenuity. At this point a +sharp reminder from teacher or scholar would bring her back to another +melancholy perusal of the paper, and she would read and read the +questions, in the melancholy hope of finding them grown more easy for +the time of waiting. + +Sometimes a query was put in so straightforward a form that it was +possible to answer it in a single word, and then with glee Pixie would +print "Question two" in ornamental characters, and write "Yes!" +underneath it with a glow of exhilaration. At other times, as in the +grammar paper, a question would make no calls on the memory, but would, +so to speak, supply its own material, when she attacked it with more +haste than discretion in her delight at finding something which she +could really accomplish. + +To give an example--Miss Bruce, the English teacher, quoted the +sentence, "How sharper than a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful child!" +and asked to have it paraphrased so as to show the two predicates which +made it into a complex sentence. Pixie licked her lips over this +opportunity, and squeak, squeak, squeak, went her pen along the paper, +making the other girls look up and raise their eyebrows at one another +in surprised comment. Writing at last, and so eagerly too! Pixie must +surely have an inspiration at last; and so she had, for the big straggly +writing set forth an extraordinary sentence: "How sharper it is to have +an ungrateful child, than it is to have a serpent's tooth!" + +"Humph!" mused Pixie, gnawing her pen, "there's a queer sound to it too. +If I didn't know for sure it was right, I'd be just as certain it was +wrong!" and so the paraphrase remained, to astonish the eyes of Miss +Bruce, and give her a hearty laugh in the midst of the dreary work of +reading examination papers that evening. + +"Well, who comes out first in the exams it is impossible to say, but +there is no doubt who will be last! I don't think Pixie O'Shaughnessy +will get more than a dozen marks for a single paper she has written," +was the remark of a certain Evelyn, one of the leaders of the anti-Pixie +faction, on the day before the breaking-up party. "We used to think her +clever, but it was only a bubble, which has collapsed utterly the last +few weeks. A guilty conscience--that's my explanation! I call her a +hardened little wretch, for she doesn't seem to mind a bit not being +allowed to come down to-morrow. You might have thought that she would +be perfectly miserable, but instead of that she really seems in better +spirits than before." + +"She does, and she likes to hear about the party, too! Just watch her +when we are talking about it, and she is all eyes and ears. We saw some +of the refreshments coming in to-day, and she positively beamed! I +said, `Those are for supper to-morrow!' and she said, `Are they as nice +as usual? Do you think it will be as grand as last year? Will you have +every single thing just the same as if Miss Phipps hadn't been angry?' +I said that if Miss Phipps did a thing at all, she would do it properly, +and that I was quite sure it would be quite as `grand,' and she chuckled +with delight, just as if she were going herself. I can't make her out." + +"Perhaps she thinks that Miss Phipps will relax at the last moment, but +if she does, she is very much mistaken. There will be no pardon for her +until she speaks the truth. As I said before, I believe she is just a +hardened little wretch who doesn't care what happens to her, and that is +why she doesn't show any sign of feeling." + +"She has looked miserable enough until now. Why not give her the +benefit of the doubt, and believe that, whether she is guilty or not, +she is generous enough to be glad that the whole school is not to be +punished?" asked Margaret gently. "Whatever Pixie has done, she is too +warm-hearted to be called `hardened,' and I think some of you girls make +a great mistake in treating her as you do. You will never do any good +by bullying, for she is so terrified at anything like unkindness that it +makes it still more difficult to speak. You would have more influence +if you were kinder to her." + +"Oh, Margaret, you are so absurdly good-natured! It's always the same +cry with you. You would forgive everybody, if you had your way!" cried +Evelyn impatiently, and promptly flounced across the room, leaving +Margaret and Lottie alone by the fire. They looked at each other in +silence, and then Margaret summoned up courage to make an appeal which +she had been meditating for some days past. + +"They won't listen to me, Lottie, but they would if you asked them. It +is really cruel to be always gibing and jeering as they are, and the +older girls ought to set a better example. You are fond of Pixie too, +and want to do the best for her. Can't you persuade your friends to +treat her better for the rest of the term?" + +Lottie shrugged her shoulders impatiently, and frowned in worried, +discontented fashion. + +"It is only three days longer. What is the use of making a fuss? It is +idiotic of Pixie not to tell what she was doing in Mademoiselle's room, +and I can't go about lecturing the whole school because she chooses to +be obstinate! I am going to invite her to stay with me in the holidays, +and will give her a good time to make up for all this. What's the good +of worrying? The girls will be too busy packing and preparing for the +party to think of her any more now." + +This was true enough, so true that Margaret could say no more, though +she could not suppress the reflection that Lottie might have given the +clue weeks before, if she had been so disposed. "But, as she says, the +worst is over. Nothing much can happen in three days," she told herself +consolingly; wherein she was for something very exciting indeed was +fated to happen before half that time had elapsed! + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE DISCOVERY. + +The next afternoon all was bustle and confusion in Holly House, servants +setting the tables in the dining-room, and clearing the large classroom, +in preparation for the party, and governesses and pupils dressing +themselves with as much care as though they expected to meet a hundred +strangers, instead of the everyday school set, without a single +addition. Dresses which had not seen the light since the half-term- +holiday were brought forth once more, with such additions in the shape +of sashes, flowers, and gloves as befitted the greater importance of the +occasion, and in her own bedroom Pixie O'Shaughnessy was whisking to and +fro, attending to the wants of three exacting mistresses, who all seemed +to require her at one and the same moment. + +"Hi, Pixie, come here! This place is getting knee-deep in clothes. +Just put them away." + +"Now then, Pixie. I'm waiting for this hair-dressing! You make it look +like an artificial plait, or there'll be trouble in this camp." + +"Oh-h, bother! The more hurry the less speed. Now I've broken this +tape. Has anyone got a bodkin? No, of course not! There never is a +bodkin when I want one. You'll have to manage with a hairpin, Pixie, +and be sharp about it. I shall be late for tea at this rate!" So on, +and so on, and at each summons in rushed an eager little worker, so +deft, so willing, so incredibly quick in her movements, that her +mistresses were overcome with admiration. + +"Your hands do you more credit than your brains, young woman!" +pronounced Kate judicially. "You will never be a mistress of a High +School; but you are a born lady's-maid, and you can come to me for a +reference when you need it." + +"That's what Esmeralda says. I am going to be her maid when she marries +the duke. He comes down to hunt near Bally William, but he really lives +in England, in the most beautiful palace, with peacocks on the lawn. +Esmeralda's going to have the drawing-room papered in yellow, to suit +her complexion, and to set the fashion of having little sisters to wait +upon you, like pages in old story-books," returned Pixie, with her mouth +full of hairpins, and there was a rustle of excitement in the different +cubicles. + +"Esmeralda engaged! You never told us! To a duke. Which duke? How +lovely for her! When are they going to get married?" + +"Now indeed I can't tell you!" returned Pixie regretfully. She was +proudly conscious of having made a sensation, and it did seem hard to be +obliged to dispel it as soon as it was made! "There's nothing settled, +for, to tell you the truth, he has never so much as seen her yet, but +she was visiting old Biddy Gallagher when he drove past to the meet, and +at lunch says she, `He's the elegant creature, that duke! I'm thinking +of marrying him myself!' and took Bridgie's advice on the trousseau that +very afternoon. She says she won't be engaged until she is twenty-one, +and that it's a pity to unsettle him about it yet awhile, as there's +over two years to wait. He wouldn't want to wait if he saw her, for +she's more beautiful than anyone you ever saw out of a picture, though +it's himself I pity when the tantrums is on her. We often talk about +it, and plan how we will spend his money, and if you want to put her in +a good temper you've nothing to do but call her `Your Grace!'" + +"I never heard anything so silly!" cried Ethel scornfully. Kate gave a +mild "He, he!" as she watched the process of hair-dressing in the +mirror, and reflected pensively that spectacles seemed strangely out of +keeping with evening dress. There was no doubt about it, she was +astonishingly plain, and oh, how nice it must be to be beautiful like +Esmeralda--so beautiful that even your own brothers and sisters admired +you! It was a natural longing, for every girl wishes to be attractive +to others, and feels a pang if obliged to realise that the tribute of +admiration can never be hers; but Kate was too sensible to grieve long +over impossibilities. "I shall have to be extra amiable to make up for +it, that's all!" she told herself philosophically, as she lifted the +hand-glass, and wriggled about before the glass to view the effect of +the new coiffure. It was most elaborate and hairdresser-windowish in +effect, and if it were not exactly becoming, that was perhaps more her +own misfortune than the fault of the operator, who had bestowed such +pains upon the erection. So she declared truthfully enough that she had +never felt so fine in her life, and threatened to sit at the piano the +whole of the evening, so that all beholders might have an opportunity of +admiring her "back hair." + +Her toilet was now finished, but Ethel's bows were waiting to be tied +and smoothed out, and Flora had to be laced into her dress, and to be +consoled when again visited with the dread of finishing her career as +the fat woman in a show. Finally, the first bell for tea was heard +pealing downstairs, and away ran the three girls, leaving poor +Cinderella to tidy the cubicles, and almost forgetting to thank her for +her services; for in truth they had been so cheerfully rendered as to +appear a favour given, rather than received. + +Left to herself, Pixie stole into the corridor and flattened herself +into a doorway to watch the gay figures descending the staircase. The +tidying away could wait for a few moments, but it was not often that one +had the opportunity of watching so festive a scene. Doors opened on +every side, and out they came, one girl after another, so smart and fine +that one could hardly recognise them for the blue-serged damsels of +ordinary school life. Down the stairs they tripped, with rustlings of +silk and crinklings of muslin, dainty white shoes, looking daintier than +ever against the well-worn carpet. Such a crowd of girls, and each one +looking brighter and happier than the one before. Lottie in white, +Margaret in blue, with her brown hair coiled round her head in a shining +chestnut coronet, one after another, until at last there was no one +left, and silence reigned in the corridor, broken only by a little sniff +and sigh from the shadow of a doorway. "And one little p-ig stayed at +h-ome," sighed Pixie, trying hard to laugh, and assiduously licking the +tears from her cheeks, as she hung school skirts in the cupboards, and +folded everyday garments on bedroom chairs, in readiness for use on the +following day. + +"Now they are all sitting down and beginning to eat! There'll be +nothing but jam and cakes and elegant bread-and-butter--so thin you +might eat a plateful, and starve upon it! I wonder what they'll be +sending me upstairs. I couldn't look at a bit of plain food, but plum +cake would be medicine to me. Me digestion was always delicate. +Bridgie said so. `The child needs tempting!' I've heard her say, over +and over again, when the milk pudding came in at the door, and my +appetite went out. I must go to the schoolroom now, I suppose, for Miss +Phipps said I must be in my bed by seven. Ellen has the soft heart--I +wouldn't wonder if she brought me something nice to cheer me spirits!" + +Buoyed up by this hope, she ran off to the classroom, and there was +Ellen herself at the door, looking at her with such kind, sorry-looking +eyes, as if there was nothing she would like better than to carry her +bodily downstairs. + +"Your tea is ready, Miss Pixie. Miss Emily's orders were that I was not +to bring you any cake, but I have brought something else that you will +like better." + +What could that be? Pixie rushed to the table, and oh, joy of joys, +there lay a big fat letter with the Bally William postmark in the +corner, and Bridgie's dear, well-known writing straggling over its +surface. No one in the world wrote such sweet letters as Bridgie, and +how dear of her to time this one to arrive at the moment of all others +when it was most desired! Pixie gloated over it with sparkling eyes, +kissed it, hugged it, poked at it with her fingers to discover exactly +how many sheets it might contain, and finally devoured it and the bread- +and-butter together in one long beam of delight. + +"Littlest and dearest, do you want to see us all, and know what we are +doing? It is eight o'clock, and we have had three dinners in +succession, each lordly male waiting until the other had finished his +meal before he could resign himself to come indoors, and at the third +coming Molly sent for me to the kitchen to give warning for this day +month, which same I took smiling, for it's never a bribe she would take +to leave Knock Castle while an O'Shaughnessy was within its walls. It's +Pat that's sitting at the table now, eating apples and cracking nuts as +languid as if the day was his own, and Esmeralda frowning thunder at him +because she wants the table to draw a sketch for the newest picture, +which is to make all our fortunes yet. The Major is reading the +newspaper, and groaning aloud at every comma, because the Government has +no sense at all, and the only man who could put things straight is tied +by the heel by half a dozen children. The dogs are sitting in a circle +round Pat, watching every bite with such big, longing eyes, and myself +writing on my knee by the fire, with the ink on the fender,--looking +threatening at the rug! Says Esmeralda, `Five days more, and we shall +see her again,' meaning yourself, to whom I write. `Will she be grown, +I'm wondering! She's too small altogether, and yet we don't want our +Pixie changed. And the mimic she is! Wait till we hear the fine +English talk, and have her correcting us all, on account of our brogue!' +Then Pat must up and say there was no room for him and an English +accent in the Castle at the same time, and the Major rebuked him, and +asked was it for pleasure he paid as much for schooling as could be +spent sensibly on as fine a hunter as a man could wish, and besought us +all to put ourselves at your feet, and learn what you could teach us. +Then Esmeralda sighed and clasped her hands, and says she, `It's tired +to death I am of my own family, and longing to meet somebody who has +seen more of the world than Bally William. Couldn't we tell the Pixie +to bring home one of her friends with her, to divert us during the +Christmas holidays?' and at that we all called out together, for we have +been dull without you, little one, and looking forward to a frolic on +Christmas. Last year we were all too sad thinking of the dear mother, +but this year she will want to see us happy. I am sure she sees us, and +often and often when I sit alone sewing as she used to do, I think about +her, and feel she is near still, and it's only because my eyes are dim +that I can't see her. Well then, dearie, think over your friends, and +decide which it shall be! There's room at Castle Knock for anyone who +has been kind to its baby, and it won't be our fault if she hasn't a +happy memory of Old Ireland." + +The letter went on for another sheet, but Pixie's mind was so full of +this new idea that she was hardly able to take in the words, on which +her eye rested. To take home a friend to Bally William! To give an +invitation on her own account, and be able to show the glories of the +dear old Castle! This was indeed a dazzling prospect, and the problem +of deciding which friend it should be kept her occupied even when tea +was over, and she was undergoing the humiliation of putting herself to +bed in the chilly little cubicle. Should it be Margaret? No; for +Margaret, with all her sweetness, had little sense of humour, and though +Pixie could not reason out the matter for herself, she yet realised +instinctively that she would be uncomfortable and out of place in the +haphazard atmosphere of the Irish household. Should it be Kate? No, +that would not do either, for at first sight Kate was not prepossessing, +and the Major and the boys would certainly take a dislike to her +straightway. Should it be Flora--dear, fat, good-tempered Flora? But +what fun Esmeralda would make of her, to be sure, and how helpless she +would be when attacked by the boys' badinage! Pixie grew quite tired +and sleepy puzzling out the question; her eyelids drooped down and down +until the lashes rested upon her cheeks, and her thoughts passed +unconsciously into dreams. + +Meantime, in the large classroom downstairs the other thirty pupils were +enjoying themselves with a zest all the greater for the dullness of the +weeks which had gone before. The floor had been sponged with milk until +it was quite smooth and slippery, a table supplied with such +refreshments as lemonade, ginger-beer, and sweet biscuits, was placed +outside the door, and the violin pupils took it in turns to accompany +the piano, so that nothing was lacking to enhance the grandeur of the +occasion. Pretty little programmes were distributed around the room; +blue for the ladies, pink for the "gentlemen," and after each dance the +couples marched round and round the room, conversing together as if they +were at "a real party," and tabooing the affairs of ordinary school +life. Then the gentlemen deposited their partners on chairs, and +inquired, "May I bring you a little refreshment?" until the last drop of +lemonade was drained, and only crumbs remained in the cake-baskets. +They were all flushed and panting with the vigour with which they had +joined in the dance, and at last Miss Phipps thought it wise to call a +halt. + +"Now, ladies and gentlemen, you must really sit down for ten minutes!" +she cried laughingly. "If you get so overheated, you will be catching +chills next, and I am sure you don't want to be invalided just before +the holidays. Come and take your places round the room, and we will ask +Lottie to dance her pretty scarf-dance for us, as she looks the only +cool member of the party. There's your scarf, dear, in that drawer, and +Miss Bruce will play for you. You dance so nicely that it is a pleasure +to see it." + +Lottie blushed with pleasure at such words of praise, and took her place +in the centre of the room with smiling alacrity, and the watchers +whispered admiringly to each other as they looked at the dainty, satin- +clad figure. Lottie was not really pretty, but she was always so +charmingly dressed that she gave the effect of beauty, and to-night in +her gala frock she certainly looked her best. She danced gracefully and +modestly, waving her chiffon scarf in the air, and moving it to and fro +in a manner which looked easy enough, but which was in reality extremely +difficult, and required no little effort of strength, so that by the +time the dance was finished she was as flushed as her friends, and her +breath came in quick, short pants. Poof--how hot she felt, and how +tired! It was a relief to give the scarf into Mademoiselle's +outstretched hands, and be free to feel for a handkerchief with which to +wipe the moisture from her brow. There was a little difficulty in +finding her pocket, and the girls watched her fumbles with amused +attention. It was a little pause in the evening's entertainment, and +for want of something better to do all eyes were fixed upon the figure +which stood so prominently in the middle of the room. "Try again!" they +cried encouragingly, and Lottie made yet another dive downwards. This +time she was successful, for her hand disappeared into her pocket, and +presently jerked upwards, bringing with it a small lace handkerchief +rolled up into a ball, as if it had lain forgotten since the last time +that the dress was worn. She flicked it in the air, and at that +something flew out and clattered on the floor near her feet. +Mademoiselle stooped to pick it up, and threw up her hands with a cry of +dismay. It was a piece of glass, about half an inch in size, and in one +corner was clearly discernible the end of an engraved letter--the letter +"T!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +EXPLANATIONS. + +"Pixie, awake! awake! Oh, Pixie, open your eyes! Get up, dear, get up! +We want you downstairs!" + +Margaret bent over Pixie's bedside, tears shining in her eyes, and +lifting the slight figure in her arms, shook it to and fro, until the +grey eyes opened in astonishment, and a sleepy voice murmured-- + +"Is't morning? Time get up?" + +"Morning, no! It is not nine o'clock, and Miss Phipps thought you would +certainly be awake, with so much music going on; but it's no use, I must +wake you, whatever happens! Here's your dressing-gown. Here are your +bedroom slippers. You have to come downstairs with me this minute!" + +"Am I the queen?" asked Pixie, waking up all in a moment, and peering +mischievously into Margaret's face. "When you are wakened up in the +middle of the night, and taken downstairs in your dressing-gown and +slippers, it's either a fire, or you are the queen, and the courtiers +are waiting to kiss your hand. You know it is, Margaret! You have seen +it in the pictures!" + +"Yes, I've seen it? and perhaps there may be courtiers waiting for you, +Pixie; and kisses too, and a dear little crown to put on that shaggy +head! Great excitements have happened since you went to bed, and we +know now that it was not you who broke Mademoiselle's scent-bottle. We +are almost certain that it was Lottie herself, and Miss Phipps has sent +for you to help us!" + +Pixie gave a start of dismay, and the laughter died out of her face, +leaving it scared and white. Her fingers tightened round Margaret's +arm, and she hung back trembling as they neared the schoolroom door. +Another moment and they stood within the threshold, looking round on +what seemed suddenly to have taken upon itself the aspect of a court of +justice. The girls were as before ranged round the walls, and at the +end of the room stood a row of teachers; Fraulein and Miss Bruce flushed +and excited, Mademoiselle with tears in her eyes, Miss Phipps with an +awful sternness of expression, which gave place to a momentary softness +as she looked at the new-comers. Pixie glanced at them all, one after +the other, and from them to the figure standing in the centre of the +room, like a prisoner at the bar, her face white as her dress, her eyes +full of terror and despair. She gave a sharp cry of distress, and +rushed forward with outstretched arms. + +"Lottie, Lottie, I didn't tell! I never told--Lottie, Lottie, I kept my +word!" + +A deep murmur sounded through the room as each hearer drew her breath in +a sob of mingled conviction and regret, and of all the number Lottie +seemed the most affected. She burst into a paroxysm of tears, clasped +Pixie in an hysterical embrace, then, thrusting her aside, turned +eagerly towards Miss Phipps. + +"Oh, I will tell--I will! It was all my fault--Pixie had nothing to do +with it--I will tell you all about it." + +"It is more than time, Lottie. Begin at once, and pray calm yourself +until you have finished!" returned Miss Phipps coldly; and Lottie wiped +away her tears, and struggled to keep back the rising sobs. + +"It was the night of the term-holiday--I was going out--I was dressed +and going along the passage, and Mademoiselle's door stood open, and I +saw the light shining upon the gold of the scent-bottle. I had no scent +of my own, and I thought I would go in and take a little of +Mademoiselle's. I knew she would give it to me if I asked, and if I +told her next day there wouldn't be any harm. But I was in a hurry, and +I heard Pixie calling, and I put the bottle down too quickly, and the +glass struck the corner of the table and fell into pieces in my hand. I +was so frightened--and there was no time to think, for Pixie was running +along the passage, so I just mopped up the scent with my handkerchief, +and flew to the door. I suppose the piece of glass must have got in +then, for the handkerchief has never been out of my pocket until to- +night. Pixie said, `Oh, what a smell of scent!' and I said something--I +forget what--about its being rude to make remarks, and ran downstairs as +quickly as I could go. I was so wretched all the evening I didn't know +what to do. I thought when it was found out Pixie would be sure to +tell; but when I came home the girls all said how lucky I was to have +been out, for no one could suspect me, and I said nothing. And I saw +Mademoiselle crying, and I said nothing, and then I was afraid to speak, +for it was too late! Pixie came to me next morning and said, `Lottie, +they think I broke the bottle because I was the only girl in +Mademoiselle's room last night; but I know that you were there too, and +that you had been taking some scent!' and I begged and prayed her not to +tell anyone else. I was so confused that I let her see I had broken it, +but I said if she told I should get into trouble with my father, and she +promised at once. She was so willing, that I didn't feel as +uncomfortable as I expected, but I was miserable when everyone blamed +her, and she was punished. I comforted myself by thinking that I would +ask her to stay with me in the holidays, and make it up to her then. +She never told me what she was doing in Mademoiselle's room--I tried to +believe that she was really to blame. She might have cracked the +bottle, and that was why it broke so easily!" + +"And so the best reward you could give to the friend who shielded you at +her own expense was to suspect her of deceit! That will do, Lottie! +You can go to your own room now. I will deal with you to-morrow. Now +we will hear what Pixie has to say!" + +Miss Phipps paused impressively for a moment, and then spoke again in +tones so sweet and gentle that it was difficult to recognise them as +coming from the same voice which had spoken but a moment before. + +"Pixie, you have heard Lottie's explanation. I will speak about that +later on, but now I have a favour to ask you. For my sake, dear--for +all our sakes--to help us to get at the whole truth of this unhappy +affair, I ask you to tell me frankly what you were doing in +Mademoiselle's room when Ellen saw you there?" + +Pixie hung her head, and her cheeks grew am scarlet as the scarlet +dressing-gown itself. She lifted one little slippered foot and stood +perched on the other like a funny little ruffled stork in the midst of +the shining floor, and the watching faces of the girls were pretty to +see with their expressions of tender amusement and sympathy. + +"Please, Miss Phipps," said Pixie hoarsely, "I was doing nothing. I was +only after putting in the hot bottle!" + +Miss Phipps stared, Mademoiselle gave a sharp exclamation of surprise, +and turned impetuously to her Principal. + +"The 'ot bottle! It is true. I 'ave one every night, but I thought +that Ellen--that one of the maids--" + +"We have put no hot bottle in your bed, Mademoiselle. It is Miss +Emily's rule that any of the young ladies may have bottles of their own, +if they take the trouble to fill them in the bathroom as they go to bed, +and to put them back there in the morning. We never put one in a bed +unless in the case of illness," said Ellen, who stood in a corner of the +room, one of the most anxious and interested of the spectators; and at +that Miss Phipps turned once more to Pixie. + +"Then are we to understand that it was your own bottle of which you are +talking? And what made you think of lending it to Mademoiselle?" + +"She told me that she was always cold," said Pixie faintly. "I didn't +like to think of her lying there shivering. Bridgie gave me the bottle +when I came away in a little red flannel cover. `You're such a frog!' +says she, `maybe this will warm you,' but I just roll my feet in my +nightgown and hug them in my hands until they are warm. I thought +perhaps Mademoiselle couldn't do that. Ye can't bend so easy when +you're old, so she needed the bottle most." + +"_Ma petite_!" cried Mademoiselle. "_Ma cherie_!"--and she would have +rushed forward and taken Pixie into her arms straight away, had not Miss +Phipps held her back with a restraining touch. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +PIXIE INTERCEDES. + +"One more question, Pixie, and remember I place absolute reliance on +what you say, for you have given proof that you are to be trusted. You +heard Lottie's insinuation that you might have had some share in the +accident! Had you touched the scent-bottle at all that night?" + +"I had not, Miss Phipps!" The grey eyes looked into the face of the +questioner with a steady light. "I never noticed it at all until the +girls began talking about it, and then said I, `I must have a look at +that bottle before I'm much older,' and so I did that very same evening, +but never a finger did I lay upon it. I put me hands behind me back and +just doubled meself over the table--like this!--looking at it all I +knew, but not daring as much as to breathe upon it, and from that hour I +was never within yards of its presence." + +"I understand! But why, dear, have you refused to give us this simple +explanation all these weeks? It was surely only to your credit that you +had thought of Mademoiselle's comfort before your own, so there was no +reason for being so secret about it. Did you not see that it would have +helped your cause to have given this explanation?" + +"I--didn't--like!" said Pixie, twisting her finger in and out in +embarrassed fashion. "It was this way--that first night you were all so +cross and so certain that it was me, because I had been in the room, +that I was shy about telling. You see Mademoiselle would have been +obliged to be pleased with me, and she wasn't feeling disposed to be +pleased just then, and it would seem as if I were trying to get off +blame, by boasting of what I'd done. I can't explain my feelings, but I +couldn't tell! The next day it would have been different, but Lottie +begged me not to say what I knew, and we never told tales of each other +at home. The boys would have been cut in pieces before they had rounded +on each other, so of course I had to give my word. It was very +miserable, because no one loved me, and in my home we have very +affectionate ways, the one with the other; but Lottie said it was only a +little time to the holidays, and after that all would be forgotten. She +did say she would ask me to visit her, and I wouldn't hurt her feelings +by saying No, so I just wrote and told Bridgie to say I couldn't be +spared, for I can't go anywhere but my own home. And she said her +father would be so angry with her if he knew, that never another happy +moment would she have, and I knew my people wouldn't mind!" + +"And did you tell your people how unhappy you were? Did you tell them +what trouble you were in?" queried Miss Phipps softly, and at that Pixie +shook her head with great emphasis. + +"I did not, Miss Phipps--I wouldn't dare! They would be so terribly +angry!" + +"But you said a moment ago that they `wouldn't mind'! Then how could +they be angry with you, dear?" asked Miss Phipps, smiling, and Pixie +bent her head with a quick propitiatory bow. + +"'Deed, it was yourself they would be angry with,--not me! If the two +Houses of Parliament were walking up to Knock Castle and telling them +that Pixie had told a lie and stuck to it for a month on end, they would +only be calling shame upon them, to have nothing better to do than take +away a lady's character, and the Major would say, `Twelve years have I +known her, and never the day that she wasn't up to her neck in mischief, +but no child of mine ever looked in my face and gave me the lie, and +Pixie's not the one to begin.' So never a word did I say, but just that +the examinations were coming on, and we were not allowed to go out." + +"Pixie, come here!" cried Miss Phipps; and when the girl approached she +received her with outstretched arms and framed the thin little face with +her hands. "Little Pixie," she said softly, "never say again that no +one loves you in this house. I have loved you from the first, and have +felt it a real trouble to be obliged to doubt you, and now I love you a +hundred times more for your loyalty and unselfish consideration for your +friend. You would have been wiser to be more candid about your own +doings, but I appreciate your scruples, and the school code of honour +has so many good points that I cannot bring myself to say that it should +have been broken. As for the conduct of a girl who would let another +suffer as you have done rather than bear the consequences of her own +misdoing, I have no words to express my horror and indignation, +especially when she is a senior and you one of the youngest in the +school. It shows a want of principle which makes me despair of her +future. A sudden slip or disobedience I could pardon, but not +deliberate deceit, and I am too fond of my girls, and too anxious about +their welfare, to allow such an influence to remain in their midst." + +Like the shiver of wind among the trees, the word "Expelled!" came from +a dozen quivering lips, and Pixie O'Shaughnessy clasped her hands in +horrified appeal. + +"Oh, ye wouldn't--ye wouldn't send her away! Ye wouldn't give her over +to her father, and him so stern and cruel with her! If she's been bad +now, she was good before. The girls were fond of her, and she was kind +to meself, lending me her lace collar and all the fixings for the party. +If it's for making me miserable you are after punishing her, I'll be +more miserable than ever, and the girls will be miserable too--ask them +if they won't! Lots of them think there isn't another to touch her in +the school, and they couldn't do that if she was all bad. Punish her +some other way, but oh, don't, don't send her away! What's the use of +me taking all the trouble if it's to be no good after all?" + +A smile came to Miss Phipps's lips at the innocent directness of the +question, but she grew grave enough the next moment, and her voice +sounded both sad and troubled as she replied-- + +"You certainly give us a lesson in the way to forgive our enemies, +Pixie, and I should be sorry to do anything that would make you +`miserable'; but I must think of Lottie's good before our own +preferences. Mr Vane is too good and just a man to treat her unkindly, +and is only stern because he has realised the weakness of her character. +He is too anxious about her welfare to make it right for me to conceal +anything from him, especially so flagrant a breach of honour; but +perhaps--I don't know--if the feeling of the girls themselves is in her +favour, I may consent to give her another chance. I am glad to hear +that she has been kind--" + +"Lottie is very good-natured, Miss Phipps. She is a favourite with the +girls. They would be sorry to lose her. I think it would be a +punishment to her to feel that she had fallen so much in their opinion, +and we would all like to give her another chance," said Margaret +timidly, and Miss Phipps nodded kindly in reply. + +"Ah, well, we can decide nothing to-night. It will need careful +thinking over, and meanwhile we will banish the subject and make the +most of the time that is left. I am very sorry for the interruption, +although in one sense we are glad of it too, for it has brought Pixie +back amongst us. She must go upstairs and dress quickly, and then we +will have supper and put away unpleasant thoughts, and Mademoiselle must +really dry her eyes, for I cannot have any more crying to-night." + +"If Peexie will forgeeve me!" cried Mademoiselle, stretching out her +arms and clasping Pixie in so tight an embrace that when her little snub +nose came again in sight, it bore the pattern of a steel button plainly +stamped upon it. "I won't forgeeve myself that I was so 'arsh and +cross. It was a poor thanks, _cherie_, for your kindness to me all +these weeks when I have been so warm and comfortable. I am ashamed to +remember what I have done." + +"Small blame to you if you were mad when you believed I was telling a +lie to your face! But ye weren't half so nasty as ye think ye were," +said Pixie, beaming upon her in sweetest condescension. "Sometimes ye +were quite agreeable. There was one day I was in with a cold, and ye +came and cheered up me spirits until I hardly knew meself for the same +creature." + +Mademoiselle lifted her hands with an eloquent gesture, as a sudden +remembrance darted into her mind. + +"Ah, yes! It is true. And now I have something else to tell you, you +girls! It is Pixie whom you have to thank for this party, not me. It +was she who begged me to supplicate Miss Phipps for you. She said, `She +will say Yes if it is you who ask, but not to me, therefore you must not +say my name at all; but if she will not give the party because I am to +be punished, tell her to send me to bed and let the rest be 'appy.' The +dear child has thought of you when you were all so cross with her!" + +There was an outburst of cheering from all corners of the room, in the +midst of which Evelyn fell back in her chair and tugged with both hands +at her long dark locks. + +"And I called her a hardened little sinner! I abused her like a +pickpocket, and called her an ungrateful serpent! Bring some sackcloth +and ashes, somebody, quickly! I shall go in mourning for the rest of my +life!" + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION. + +"That child Pixie is more wonderful than ever. What do you think she +asks me next?" said Mademoiselle to Miss Phipps early the next morning. +"The dear Breedgie has told her to invite a friend to return 'ome with +her for the holidays, and she gives me the letter to read, and asks that +it shall be me! I have laughed, but it is no use; she is still in +earnest. I have said, `I am not a schoolgirl, and too old for you, my +dear.' She stares in my face, and asks, `'Ow old are you then? Not +more than forty, are you?' Ah, dear! If someone else had said that, I +had been furious, for one does not like to be made ten years too old, +but one cannot be angry with that child. Then I said, `Your sister will +expect a girl like yourself, and will be disappointed to see me, and +that would be uncomfortable for both.' But she would not listen to that +either, but declared it would be still better for them, for they had +wished for someone who had seen the world. Nothing that I can say will +convince her, but you know it is impossible that I should go!" + +"Well, really, Therese, I wish you would!" returned Miss Phipps, +laughing. "It has been a weight on my mind to think of your remaining +here alone during the holidays; and I cannot stay with you, for I am +bound to go to my old aunt. As for Pixie taking one of the girls home +with her, that is out of the question at this hour of the day. If Miss +O'Shaughnessy had sent an invitation even a fortnight ago, it might have +been arranged, but now there is no time to write, and get permission, +and make the necessary plans. It is only in a case like yours, when +there is no one else to consult, that such a very Irish invitation could +be accepted; so either you go with Pixie, or she returns alone. And +that reminds me of another thing. It would be a comfort to me if you +could look after the child on the journey, for I have had a letter from +the brother to say that he cannot decide definitely on what day he will +cross. How would it be if you accepted the invitation for one week, +took the child safely home, and just left it to circumstances to decide +what to do after that?" + +"You think I might venture--really?" asked Mademoiselle eagerly. Her +eyes brightened, and a flush of colour came into her cheek. "If it +would not be too absurd, I should like it ver' much! We have heard so +much of those dear sisters that we seem to know them already, and I +should be glad of the change. If, for example, you would write and say +you would be more comfortable if I accompanied the child, and that I +would stay a few days--that would perhaps make it easier!" + +"Certainly, with pleasure; and I shall be so glad if it ends in a nice +holiday for you, dear! The last part of the term has been so trying +that we all need cheering up; and, from all we hear, I should think the +household at Knock Castle must be a delightful study. Young Mr +O'Shaughnessy has promised to call this afternoon, so you had better +come down and talk to him yourself. I am sure you will find that he is +as cordial as Pixie herself." + +This, indeed, proved to be the case, and greatly charmed was +Mademoiselle with the handsome youth, who beamed upon her with Pixie's +own smile, and who was so much warmer and more enthusiastic in his +manner than his English brothers. Jack, indeed, was an apt disciple of +the Blarney Stone, and could pay compliments with any man in Ireland. +He gazed at Mademoiselle with an expression in his eyes which seemed to +say that never, no, never, had he met so charming a woman; his voice +gurgled with emotion as he seconded his sister's invitation, and he bade +her welcome to Knock Castle with the graciousness of a prince of the +blood. So handsome he looked, too, that Pixie's heart swelled with +pride, as she beheld him seated on the sofa, in his frock coat and +freshly creased trousers, looking, as she mentally expressed it, as if +he never "gave a thought to money," which in good truth was the case, +though in another sense to that in which she meant it. The West End +tailor would have a weary time to wait before Mr Jack troubled himself +to pay for all his fine new clothes! + +Jack declared that it would be of all things the most helpful if +Mademoiselle would escort Pixie home, for he himself would have to leave +his journey until the very last moment before Christmas, when travelling +would be both difficult and unpleasant. He offered to telegraph to his +sisters, prophesied that Mademoiselle would receive an immediate +response, so that before he left the house the matter was virtually +settled, and the extraordinary news spread through the school that +Mademoiselle was going home with Pixie O'Shaughnessy to pay a visit to +her relatives. Surprise was the first feeling, envy the next, and the +elder pupils were urgent in their demands for letters. + +"Write to us, Maddie, do! Promise you will! We are all dying to hear +what they are like. Tell us if Esmeralda is really as beautiful as +Pixie says, and what Bridgie is like, and the boys, and `the Major,' and +the Castle itself. And tell us all you do, and exactly what happens +when you arrive. Write one really long, detaily letter, and we will +send it the round of the class, so that we will all get the benefit. +You will, Maddie, won't you? We do want so badly to know about Pixie's +home!" + +Mademoiselle laughed merrily. It was astonishing how bright and young +she looked in the prospect of the unexpected holiday. She was in such a +good temper that it seemed really impossible for her to say No. + +"I will tell you what I can, but you know it is not _comme il faut_ to +criticise the house, in which you stay. I will write all the pleasant +things, but for the jokes--the _contretemps_, no! Pixie shall do that +if she will, I must keep them to myself. If they are all as nice as the +son whom I have seen, they must be charming. I have never met a more +pleasant youth." + +The girls wagged their heads in meaning fashion. + +"We saw him!" they said meaningly--"we saw him! Pixie said he was +coming about four, so we kept a lookout, and were obliged to go to the +window to read some small print, just as he happened to walk up the +steps. Ethel heard the bell, and stopped practising five minutes before +the time, and strolled casually downstairs to meet him. He stood aside +to let her pass, and she says he smiles with his eyes, just like Pixie! +Oh, of course, we don't expect you to tell tales, but just to ease our +curiosity. We do take such an extraordinary interest in that family!" + +"There is another family in which I take an even greater interest just +now, and that's the Vanes!" remarked Kate meaningly. "Miss Phipps wrote +to Mr Vane, and I met poor Lottie just now with eyes all magenta with +crying over a letter she had just received from him. She saw I was +sorry for her, and I think she was thankful to have someone to talk to, +for she asked me to read it." She threw up her hands with a gesture of +dismay. "Well, I don't know what I should do if my father wrote me a +letter like that!" + +"Ow-w-ow!" Ethel shivered dramatically. "How horrible! What did he +say? Was it terribly furious?" + +"It wasn't furious at all, not even angry; but oh, so sad and solemn +that it made you turn cold to read it! `It had tears in it,' as +Fraulein said of Margaret's singing, and you could tell he was so +bitterly, bitterly disappointed! Lottie felt that more than if he had +been cross, for she does so love to be loved and fussed over; and if +ever there was a poor thing scared out of her wits at the thought of to- +morrow, it is herself at this moment. He comes to take her away, you +know, and instead of the holidays being a relief, as she expected, she +is longing for them to be over. She says now that she would rather not +come back here, but go to some fresh school where no one knows about +this trouble; but her father thinks it would be good for her to suffer +the humiliation of losing her position among us, and says if Miss Phipps +will have her, she must try to regain our esteem. Ah, well, I was as +disgusted with her as anyone could be, and felt inclined never to speak +to her again when I thought how she had treated the Pixie; but I am +dreadfully sorry for her now, when I compare her home-going with my own. +I do have such a time! The family is one beam of delight when I +arrive; the children quarrel who shall sit by me at table, and I have +all my favourite puddings. My room looks so sweet with flowers on the +dressing-table, and I sit up till ten o'clock, and mother comes to see +me in bed and gives me a lovely hug. Fifty-two more hours! I'm so +happy I couldn't be angry with my deadliest enemy!" + +"I saw Mr Vane once, and he looks a regular grey man," said Ethel in +reply. "Clothes, and hair, and eyes, and skin--all the same washed-out +grey. I don't wonder Lottie is in awe of him, and I'm thankful I am not +mixed up in the business, so that he can't ask to interview me. I +believe he will want to see Pixie, though. It would seem only natural. +I wouldn't say so to her for the world, but don't you think Miss Phipps +will send for her when he comes?" + +Some of the girls thought no, others thought yes, and events proved that +the latter were in the right; for the next afternoon Pixie was summoned +to the drawing-room in the middle of her packing, and entered to find +Miss Phipps in earnest conversation with a tall, grave-looking man, +while Lottie stood miserably by the window. She looked tall and womanly +in her travelling-cloak, and the pained glance which Mr Vane turned +from her to the new-comer showed that he felt all an Englishman's horror +at the idea of cruelty to the weak. + +"Is this--this surely can't be _Pixie_?" he asked anxiously. "I did not +expect to see anyone so--small. She is surely very young!" + +He was really speaking to Miss Phipps, but as he held Pixie's hand in +his, she felt it her duty to answer for herself. + +"No--I'm really quite old, but I'm stunted. I'm twelve!" she said, +smiling up at him, with the confiding look which was her best +introduction to a stranger. She was about to enlighten him still +further as to the respective heights of the different members of her +family, but a curious quiver passed over the grey face, and scared her +into silence. + +"Twelve, are you, and Lottie is sixteen! I sent for you, Pixie, to tell +you how bitterly grieved Mrs Vane and I are to think of all you have +suffered through our daughter's cowardice. I wish it were in our power +to do something for you in return, but I hope at least that Lottie has +expressed her regret before leaving, and begged your forgiveness!" + +"No, she didn't beg anything. She just cried, and hugged me, and I +cried, and hugged her back. I knew she was sorry from the beginning; +and it was worse for her, because she knew all the time that she was +wrong, and I was quite comfortable inside. And she was very kind to me +before that. I liked her very much. She gave me an elegant little +brooch that she didn't want any longer." + +Mr Vane turned aside, and looked into Miss Phipps's face, and Miss +Phipps looked back at him with a glance half smiling, half tearful, and +withal wholly proud, as though justified in something about which she +had previously been inclined to boast. + +"Pixie finds no difficulty in forgiving, Mr Vane, and I think the best +thanks you could give her would be an opportunity of befriending Lottie +still further, and helping her to regain her position in the school. I +think it is an encouraging omen for the future that it is the girls +themselves who have persuaded me to take her back." + +"They are very good! You are all very good," he said sadly. "I need +hardly say how much I appreciate your kindness. Good-bye, then, little +Pixie O'Shaughnessy, and I hope we may meet again under happier +circumstances. May you have happy holidays!" + +"I'm going home," said Pixie eloquently. Her radiant face made such a +striking contrast to that other bleached, frightened-looking visage that +the father's heart softened as he looked from one to the other. He took +Lottie's hand and drew it tenderly through his arm. + +"And so is Lottie, and if her parents seem stern with her, it is only +because they are anxious for her good. She perhaps hardly realises the +bitter pain it gives them to see her unhappy." + +"Father!" cried Lottie eagerly, and now for the first time she clung to +him instead of shrinking out of sight, and seemed to find comfort in the +touch of his hand. The fifth-form girls, peeping cautiously out of the +window a few minutes later, were amazed to see her descend the steps +holding tightly to his arm, but they were too much engrossed with their +own exciting preparations to have time to ponder over the phenomenon. +Only Miss Phipps and Pixie knew that the "grey man" had a tender heart +despite his sternness, and that Lottie had fallen into wise and loving +care. + +The next morning all was excitement and bustle, cabs and omnibuses +driving up to the door of Holly House to convey parties of pupils to the +station, gushing farewells and promises to write taking place on the +staircase, mysterious bundles, "not to be opened until Christmas +morning," slipped into trunks at the last moment, and such racings up +and down stairs in search of things forgotten as can be better imagined +than described when thirty girls half-mad with excitement are on the +point of starting for home. + +Mademoiselle and Pixie were among the first to leave, and, despite the +very early hour of their departure, came in for such a magnificent "send +off" that they felt quite like royal personages as they drove away from +the door. Meals would be supplied on train and boat, but they were +laden with other comforts for the long journey in the shape of sweets, +scent, books to read, and, alas! specifics against sea-sickness. +Mademoiselle looked pensive whenever she thought of the hours on board +the boat, but for the rest she was as gay as one of the girls +themselves, and much interested in the country through which they flew. +One great town after another appeared, and was left behind as they +roared through the stations, seeing nothing but a blur of white faces +and undecipherable letters upon a board. Hour after hour and never a +stop, morning changing into afternoon, and still no slackening of that +wonderful onward rush. Two o'clock, and then, just as Pixie was +beginning to nod after her lunch, a sudden cry of admiration came from +Mademoiselle by her side, and there, close at hand, so near that but a +step would have taken them upon the beach, lay the beautiful, mysterious +sea, its waters shining in the winter sunshine, the breakers making a +ridge of white along the yellow shore. The bathing vans were drawn up +on the shingle, and there were no active little figures running to and +fro digging castles on the sands, no nigger minstrels and gingerbread +stalls and swarms of donkey-boys. All was still and bare and lifeless, +and as the short day closed in there was an eeriness about the scene +which made the travellers glad to draw the curtains over the windows, +and which gave an added cheeriness to the prospect of tea. When +Holyhead was reached, Mademoiselle lifted her bag and walked on board +the steamer with the air of a martyr marching to the stake, and, to +Pixie's dismay, laid herself down at once with an utter disregard of the +tables spread out in the saloon. She waited in what patience she could +command until they were well on their way and the preparations for the +evening meal grew more advanced, and then it was impossible to remain +silent any longer. + +"Would ye not be taking something to warm ye, Mademoiselle?" she +inquired anxiously. "There's a lovely smell of cooking--two smells. +One of them is cabbage, and the other smells like gravy spilt in the +oven. Doesn't it make you hungry, that nice greasy smell?" + +But Mademoiselle only groaned and bade her eat a biscuit and be silent; +so for mere occupation's sake the wisest thing seemed to be to go to +sleep, which she proceeded to do with extraordinary quickness. Such an +amount of groanings and clanking of chains mingled with her dreams that +they naturally took the shape of confinement within prison walls, where +she suffered many and wonderful adventures, and from which she was on +the point of escaping under the most romantic circumstances when she was +seized in the grasp of the jailer, as she at first supposed, but it +turned out to be Mademoiselle herself--such a haggard, dishevelled +Mademoiselle!--who bade her get up and put on her hat, for the sea was +crossed at last, and they were anchored at the quay at Dublin. Pixie +felt as if roused in the middle of the night, and altogether it was a +most dejected-looking couple who went shivering across the gangway in +the pouring rain and made their way to the train for the third and last +stage of the journey. Neither spoke, but just lay prone against the +cushions of the railway carriage, so much asleep as to be uncomfortably +aware that they were awake, so much awake as to long hopelessly for +sleep. Mademoiselle determined drearily to send for her aged father, +and spend the rest of her life in enforced exile on this grey, rain- +swept island, since never, never again could she summon up courage to +cross that dreadful sea, and the night seemed half over when Bally +William was reached at last. + +The station clock was pointing to eleven, and a broken-down fly was +waiting to convey the travellers to their destination. In the dim light +the surroundings looked both poor and squalid, but porter and flyman +vied with one another in a welcome so warm that it went far to dissipate +the cheerlessness of the scene. + +Pixie discoursed with them in animated fashion the while the trunks were +being hoisted to their places. + +"Has anyone been here from the Castle to-day, Dennis? They are all +quite well, I suppose?" + +"They are so, Miss Pixie, and Miss Joan down upon us this morning, +hinting of what would happen if Jock was forgetting the fly. You mind +the night the lady was arriving, and having to find her way in the dark +while he was snoring in his bed? It's a fine flow of language Miss Joan +has of her own. It's as good as a sermon to listen to her when she's +roused, and Jock was getting the benefit of it this day!" + +"There's a fine tale he's spinning!" exclaimed the defaulting Jock, +grinning in unabashed complacency. "Don't you be after believing a word +of it, Miss Pixie dear. It would be a cold bed that would keep Jock +Magee from driving ye home this night. And the size of ye too. You've +grown out of knowledge! It's a fine strapping lass you will be one of +these days." And Jock gazed with simulated amazement at the elf-like +figure as it stepped forward into the lamplight. "My Molly was biddin' +me give you her duty, and say her eyes are longing for the sight of you +again." + +"I'll come to-morrow, as soon as I can get away. Give Molly my love, +Jock, and say I was often thinking of her. He is a decent fellow, Jock +Magee!" she explained to her companion, as the ramshackle vehicle +trundled away in the darkness. "A decent fellow, but he has been +terrible unlucky with his wives. They fall ill on him as soon as +they're married, and cost him pounds in doctors and funerals. This one +has asthma, and he expects she will die too before very long. He says +it doesn't give a man a chance; but he's the wonderful knack for keeping +up his spirits!" + +He had indeed. Mademoiselle found it difficult to think of the jovial, +round-faced Jehu as the victim of domestic afflictions, and for the +hundredth time she reflected that this Ireland to which she had come was +a most extraordinary place. Nothing could be seen from the windows of +the fly save an occasional tree against the sky, but ever up and up they +climbed, while the wind blew round them in furious blasts. Then +suddenly came a bend in the road, and a vision of twinkling windows, row +upon row, stretching from one wing to the other of a fine old building, +and each window glowing with its own cheery welcome. + +"It's illumined!" cried Pixie wildly, pinching Mademoiselle's arm in her +excitement. "It's illumined! Oh, Bridgie, Bridgie, did I ever see! +Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle, did ye ever have a castle illumined for you +before? Did they ever give you such a welcome in your own country?" + +"Never, never!" cried Mademoiselle. She was almost as excited as Pixie +herself, craning forward to peer out of the windows, counting +breathlessly the long line of lights, and reflecting that she had not +sufficiently realised the grandeur of the household, to which she was +coming. Another moment and a still brighter light shone through an +opened doorway, and a chorus of voices sang out welcome. Then the fly +stopped, someone helped her to alight, a hand clasped hers +affectionately, and a rich, soft voice spoke in her ears. + +"Are you destroyed? The journey you've been having, poor creatures, in +the wind and the rain! Are you destroyed altogether?" + +This was Castle Knock indeed, and Bridgie O'Shaughnessy's fair face +beamed a welcome upon her. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +KNOCK CASTLE ONCE MORE. + +Mademoiselle was so exhausted that she begged to retire at once, and was +forthwith escorted to a huge cavern of a room, which boasted tapestried +walls, an oaken ceiling, and a four-poster bed large enough to have +accommodated the whole fifth-form at a pinch. It looked cheery enough, +however, in the light of a great peat fire, and the visitor was feeling +so unwell after her stormy crossing that her one overpowering desire was +to lay her head upon the pillows, and revel in the consciousness that +her journeyings were at an end. Her tact suggested also that this +affectionate family would be glad to have their baby to themselves for +the first meeting; but when she woke up refreshed and vigorous the +following morning, she was full of eagerness to get downstairs, and make +the acquaintance of the O'Shaughnessys in their own home. The night +before she had been so faint and dazed that she had gone automatically +through the various introductions, and as the lights inside the rooms +were by no means as bright as those at the windows, even the very faces +seemed seen through a mist. But Bridget had mentioned eight o'clock as +the breakfast-hour, so Mademoiselle leaped out of bed, and, wondering a +little why no one appeared to bring tea, hot water, or a bath, made the +best work of her toilet which was possible under the circumstances. + +Truth to tell, the room did not appear so attractive in the light of a +dark December morning, aided by one flickering candle upon the dressing- +table. The tapestry was worn into holes, the carpet was threadbare, and +the silk curtains had faded to a dull grey hue. The general aspect was +so grim and dull, both within the room and outside in the wind-swept +park, that the sun-loving Mademoiselle made all speed she could to get +downstairs to the cheering influences of breakfast and fire. The sound +of voices guided her when she reached the ground floor, and she entered +a room on the right of the hall, hoping to see the family already +assembled to meet her. + +What a disappointment! Not one welcoming face did she see, not a sign +of breakfast upon the table, and but a flicker of light on the huge +grate, before which knelt one untidy maid, while another stopped short +in her dusting operations to stare at the new-comer with unconcealed +amazement. + +"Was this perhaps not the room where breakfast was held?" Mademoiselle +inquired politely, but it appeared that this was the room. And she had +understood Miss O'Shaughnessy to say that the hour was eight o'clock. +Had she been mistaken in her impression? + +Molly laughed, and shook her duster in the air, so that the atoms which +she had swept together were instantly dispersed afresh. + +"'Deed, you were right enough. The hour is eight, but you'll be in fine +time if you're down by nine," she replied encouragingly; and poor +Mademoiselle felt her heart sink at the thought of the weary hour which +stretched between her and the longed-for meal. Nothing solid to eat +since one o'clock yesterday, and now to have to sit shivering and +watching the provisions slowly taking their place on the table, deterred +by politeness from helping herself to as much as a slice of bread. She +felt intensely sorry for herself, but, after all, the prospect was the +worst part of the business, for the kindness of the Irish heart came to +her rescue, and while Molly blew at the fire with a pair of huge leather +bellows, her companion scuttled upstairs into the room where Bridgie lay +sweetly sleeping, to bring her out of bed with a bound with the +information that the "foreign lady was in her clothes, and after +inquiring for her breakfast." + +In an incredibly short space of time Bridgie appeared downstairs, and as +she broke into vehement apologies, Mademoiselle had an opportunity of +studying her face, and came to the conclusion that the little sister +had, if anything, understated its charms. Surely never did sweeter grey +eyes shelter behind curling black lashes, and look out of a broader, +fairer brow. The waving hair was of purest flaxen, and the careless +coiffure was as becoming as if arranged by the most skilful of +hairdressers. What if the mouth were large, and the nose of no +classical outline, no one who looked into Bridget O'Shaughnessy's eyes +had either time or inclination to look further. + +"I'm ashamed to think of you sitting here all by yourself!" she cried, +holding both Mademoiselle's hands in hers, and smiling into her face +with a beguiling sweetness. "We always call the breakfast-hour eight; +because, if we said nine, it would be ten, and ye must be punctual in +arranging for a family. But it's all for the best, for I've told Molly +to bring something in at once, and you and I will have a cosy meal +before the rest appear. And you are looking quite fresh and bright this +morning--that's good! My heart was broken for you last night, when you +came in all perished with cold. And it was so good of you to take the +long journey to give us this pleasure. You don't know the excitement +there was in this house when Jack's telegram arrived! If we were +pleased to think of having a child for the holidays, imagine our delight +when it was a girl like ourselves--a companion for Esmeralda and me!" + +"A girl like ourselves!" Oh, Bridgie, Bridgie, you must have had a +taste of the Blarney Stone too, to have ignored so completely the ten +years which separated you from your visitor; but, needless to say, +Mademoiselle bore you no grudge for your short-sightedness, and was only +too happy to be classed as a girl once more. + +They sat down to breakfast together, and presently one member after +another of the family strolled in, and took their share in entertaining +the stranger. The Major put on his most fascinating air, and revived +recollections of an old visit to "Paree," and Pat and Miles stared +unblinkingly at every morsel she put between her lips. They were both +handsome lads, but Pat in especial had such languishing eyes, such an +air of pensive melancholy, that he seemed almost too good for this +wicked world, and as far as possible removed from the ordinary +mischievous schoolboy. Mademoiselle wondered what beautiful poetic +fancies were passing through his brain as he lay back in his chair and +pushed the curls from his forehead. Then his eyes met hers, and he +smiled angelic questioning. + +"Do you have frogs for breakfast in your home in France, Mademoiselle?" + +"Pat, be quiet! That's very rude." + +"It is not, Bridgie; it's thirst for information. Or snails, +Mademoiselle? Have you often eaten snails?" + +"Never once, nor frogs neither. We have a breakfast much as you have +here. Rolls of bread, and honey, and butter, and coffee--ver' good +coffee!" and there was a regretful tone in Mademoiselle's voice, as she +struggled womanfully to swallow the grounds of chicory which seemed to +constitute the leading feature of coffee as served at Knock Castle. She +did not intend to show her distaste, but the Major exclaimed in eager +agreement with the unspoken criticism. + +"And this stuff is not fit to drink! If you will teach my girls to make +coffee as you have it in France, Mademoiselle, you will be doing me a +lifelong favour. I suppose you can cook by instinct, like most of your +countrywomen?" + +"I think I can--pretty well, but I do not often get the chance. If Miss +Breegie will let me teach her some of our favourite dishes, it will be a +pleasure to me too! I used to be very happy cooking tempting things for +my father to eat!" + +"Hark to that now, Bridgie! There's no better ambition for a young girl +than to wait upon her father and see to his comfort!" cried the Major +solemnly; and a merry laugh rang out from the doorway as Esmeralda came +forward, and standing behind his chair, clasped her arms round his neck, +the while she sent her bright, inquiring glances round the table. + +"The whole duty of woman is to wait upon man! and a good long time she +has to wait too, if the man is anything like yourself, me dear! We will +make him an omelette for his lunch this very day, Mademoiselle, if he'll +promise to eat it when he returns an hour past the proper time! I hope +you're well, and had a good sleep after your travels." + +Mademoiselle murmured something in reply, but what, she scarcely knew, +so absorbed was she in studying the charming picture made by father and +daughter, the Major with his hair scarcely touched with grey, his +charming smile and stalwart figure, and above him Esmeralda, in all her +wonderful, gipsy-like beauty. Her hair was as dark as Bridgie's was +fair, and stood out from her head in a mass of curls and waves, her +features were perfect in their haughty, aquiline curves, and the bloom +of youth was on her cheeks. With such hair and colouring it would have +been natural to expect brown eyes, but what gave to her face its note of +distinction was the fact that they were grey, and not brown--wonderful +clear grey eyes, which gave the beholder a thrill of mingled surprise +and admiration every time she lifted her curled black lashes and turned +them upon him. Mademoiselle stared in speechless admiration, and +Esmeralda's brothers and sisters stared at her in their turn, well +pleased at the effect produced; for what was the use of groaning beneath +the whims and tyrannies of "the beautiful Miss O'Shaughnessy," if one +could not also enjoy a little honour and glory once in a while? + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +ESMERALDA'S WILES. + +It was easy to see that if Pixie were the pet, Esmeralda was the pride +of her father's heart, and exercised a unique influence over him. She +seated herself by his side at the table, and they teased and joked +together more like a couple of mischievous children than a staid, grown- +up father and his daughter. The girl was quick and apt in her replies, +and Mademoiselle was conscious that the Major kept turning surreptitious +glances towards herself, to see if she were duly impressed by the +exhibition. He evidently delighted in showing off Esmeralda's beauty +and cleverness, and that in a wider circle than home, for presently he +said meaningly-- + +"The hounds meet at Balligarry on Monday, Joan. It will be the best run +we have had yet, and the whole county will be there. You'll arrange to +come with me, of course." + +"I'd love to, but--" Esmeralda raised her brows, and looked across the +table with a glance half appealing, half apologetic--"it's Bridgie's +turn! I went with you the last time." + +"And the time before that!" muttered Miles into his cup; but the Major +waved aside the suggestion with his accustomed carelessness. "Oh, +Bridgie would rather stay at home. She'll be too much taken up with +Mademoiselle to have any time to spare." + +Mademoiselle looked, as she felt, decidedly uncomfortable, but the first +glance at Bridgie's face sufficed to restore her complacency, for the +smile was without a shadow of offence, and the voice in which she +replied was cheerfulness itself. + +"Indeed that's true! We can get hunting for half of the year, but it's +not every day we have a visitor in the house. You go with father, +Esmeralda, and don't think of me! We will have a fine little spree on +our own account, Mademoiselle and I! Maybe we'll drive into Roskillie +and have a look at the shops!" + +Mademoiselle remembered the Rue de la Paix, and smiled to herself at the +thought of the shops in the Irish village, but she said honestly enough +that she would enjoy the expedition; for would not Bridgie O'Shaughnessy +be her companion, and did she not appear sweeter and more attractive +with every moment that passed? Nearly an hour had elapsed since +breakfast began, and still she sat behind the urn, smiling brilliantly +at each fresh laggard, and looking as unruffled as if she had nothing to +do but attend to his demands! It was the quaintest meal Mademoiselle +had ever known, and seemed as if it would never come to an end, for just +as she was expecting a general rise the Major would cry, "What about a +fresh brew of tea? I could drink another cup if I were pressed," and +presto! it took on a new lease of life. Last of all Pixie made her +appearance, to be invited to a seat on each knee, and embraced with a +fervour which made Mademoiselle realise more fully than ever what the +child must have suffered during those weeks of suspicion and coldness. + +"How's my ferret?" she inquired, with her mouth full of toast, selected +from her father's plate; and Pat seized the occasion to deliver his +outstanding account. + +"Grown out of knowledge! Eightpence halfpenny you owe me now. I had to +put on another farthing a week because his appetite grew so big. I knew +you would rather pay more than see him suffer. And the guinea-pig died. +There's twopence extra for funeral expenses. We put him in the orchard +beside the dogs, and made a headstone out of your old slate. It's a +rattling good idea, because, don't you see, you can write your own +inscription!" + +"If it was my own slate, and I am to make up the inscription, I don't +see why I should pay!" reasoned Pixie, with a business sharpness which +sent her father into fits of delighted laughter, though it left Pat +obstinately firm. + +"Man's time!" he said stolidly. "That's what costs nowadays. You look +at any bill, and you'll find the labour comes to ten times as much as +the material. You needn't grudge the poor thing its last resting-place. +He was a good guinea-pig to you." + +"I don't care how much I owe, for I have no money to pay with," returned +Pixie, unconsciously echoing her father's financial principles. "Give +Pat a shilling, please, Major, for taking care of my animals while I was +away." And that gentleman promptly threw a coin across the table. + +"I wish my animals were as cheap to keep! Well, who is coming out with +me this morning? I have an appointment in Roskillie at 10:30, but I +can't be there now until 11, so there's no use hurrying. Put on your +cap, piccaninny, and come to the stables with me. The girls will look +after you, Mademoiselle, and find some means of amusing you for the +day." + +"Oh yes, we'll take care of her!" said Esmeralda lightly; then, as the +boys withdrew after their father, she planted her elbows on the table +and looked across under questioning eyebrows. "Please, have we to call +you `Mademoiselle' all the time? Haven't you a nice, pretty French name +that we could call you instead?" + +"Therese! Yes, please do! I should feel so much more happy!" cried +Mademoiselle eagerly, and Bridgie nodded in approval. + +"Therese is charming, and it's so much more friendly to use Christian +names at Christmas-time. I shall begin at once. We want you to help us +with the decoration of the rooms, Therese! We shall be just a family +party, but Jack will be at home, and we will have games and charades to +make it lively. We might rehearse something this morning, mightn't we, +Joan dear?" + +"_I_ mightn't!" replied "Joan dear" promptly, "because why?--I've got +something better to do. There is plenty of time still, and you will +agree with me later that my business is important. If you put on a +cloak, Therese, I will come back for you in ten minutes, and take you to +the stables to join father and Pixie. It will amuse you, I'm sure." + +She left the room without waiting for a reply, and Bridgie heaved a sigh +of disappointment. + +"She's just mad after horses, that girl. Now she will be off with +father, and not a sight of her shall we have until afternoon. It's easy +to say there is time to spare, but to-morrow we must decorate, and look +after all the arrangements for Jack's return, and I do hate a scramble. +However, when Esmeralda says she won't, she won't, and there's an end of +it. You had better go with her, dear, while I interview the servants." + +"I suppose I had," said Mademoiselle slowly. She thought Esmeralda +selfish and autocratic, but she was fascinated, despite herself, by her +beauty and brightness, and anxious to know her better; so she obediently +went up to her room to heap on the wraps, for the morning was cold, +though by this time the sun was struggling from behind the clouds. On +the way down she was joined by Esmeralda in riding costume--a most +peculiar riding costume, and, extraordinary to relate, most unbecoming +into the bargain. Mademoiselle's critical glance roamed from head to +foot, back again from foot to head, while Esmeralda stood watching her +with tightened lips and curious twinkling eyes. Then Bridgie appeared +upon the scene, and stopped short, uttering shrill cries of +astonishment, as she looked at the slovenly tie, the twisted skirt, the +general air of dishevelment and shabbiness. + +"Esmeralda, you're an _Object_! Look at the dust on your skirt. You've +not half brushed it, and everything is hanging the wrong way. It's a +perfect disgrace you look, to ride out with any man!" + +"I'm delighted to hear it! That's just my intention," replied the young +lady, tugging the disreputable skirt still further awry, and nodding her +beautiful head, with an air of mysterious amusement. The blue serge had +a smudge of white all down one side, which looked suspiciously as if the +powder-box had been spilt over it. A seam gaped open and showed little +fragments of thread still sticking to the cloth. + +If Esmeralda's intention was to look disreputable, she had certainly +accomplished her object; and when the stables were reached she took care +to place herself conspicuously, so that her father's eyes must of +necessity rest upon her. + +"I'm going to ride to Roskillie with you, dad! It's a fine morning, and +I thought you would be the better of my company." + +"That's a good girl!" cried the Major cheerily; then his brow puckered, +and he stared uneasily at the untidy figure. He was so unnoticing about +clothes that it required a good deal to attract his attention, but +surely there was something wrong about the girl's get-up to-day? He +kept throwing uneasy glances towards her while the horses were brought +out, and Esmeralda strolled about in a patch of sunshine, and picked her +steps gingerly over the muddles, like a model of fastidious care. She +sprang to the saddle, light as thistledown, and curved her graceful +throat with a complacent toss, as the groom smoothed her skirt, bringing +the white stain into full prominence. + +"You want dusting!" said the Major curtly, and a brush was brought from +the stable, and scrubbed vigorously up and down, with the result that +the surface of the cloth was frayed and roughened, though there was no +appreciable removal of the stain. + +"It doesn't seem as if it would come out, does it? but there are plenty +more further on," said Esmeralda innocently. "Have a try at another, +Dennis!"--but the Major motioned the man away with a hasty gesture. + +"Leave the rag alone--it's past dusting! Is that the best habit you +have to your back?" he cried testily, and the dark eyes looked into his +with angelic resignation. + +"It was a very good habit--six years ago! That's as good as twelve, for +we've worn it in turns ever since. The bodice is the least thing in the +world crinkly, for I'm broader than Bridgie, and stretch it out, and +then it goes into creases on her figure. We might try washing the skirt +to take out the stains, and then it would be clean, if the colour _did_ +run a bit! Ride round by the back roads, dear, and I'll keep behind, +and not disgrace you!" + +"Humph," said the Major again, and led the way out of the yard without +another word, Esmeralda following, looking over her shoulder at the +little group of watchers with a smile of such triumphant enjoyment as +took away Mademoiselle's breath to behold. She looked inquiringly at +Pixie, but Pixie and Dennis were in silent convulsions of enjoyment, and +only waited until the riders were out of hearing before exploding into +peals of laughter. + +"That bates all for the cleverness of her! Miss Bridgie has been +fretting over that old habit for a couple of years, and trying to +wheedle a new one out of the Major, but it's Miss Joan that can twist +him round her little finger when she takes the work in hand! That was a +funny stain, that got the worse the more you brushed it! She never got +that on the hunting-field. Go back to the house, Miss Pixie, dearie, +and tell the mistress the new habit is as good as paid for. The Major's +not the man I take him for, if he passes the tailor's door this morning +without stepping inside!" + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS. + +Esmeralda strolled into the house in time for afternoon tea, and smiled +complacently around as she warmed herself at the fire. + +"Blue cloth!" she announced triumphantly. "No more serge, thank you, +but good, solid cloth with a fine surface to it, and a smart little coat +instead of a bodice, which was pure unselfishness on my part, for I +should have been fitted well enough, and the man pressed it on me, but I +thought of you, me darling, and the agony it would be to you to have +your waist misjudged by a couple of inches, so I stuck to the coat, and +I hope you are grateful!" + +"I am," said Bridgie frankly; but there was a pained expression mingling +with her satisfaction, and presently she added slowly, "So Dennis was +right, and you got your way again. I have been trying for ages to +persuade father that we needed a new habit, but he paid no attention to +me." + +"You didn't go about it the right way, me dear. You are fifty times +cleverer than I, but there is one thing you don't understand, and that +is how to manage men! They hate and detest being told what to do, and +the secret of getting round them is to make them believe that what you +want is their own suggestion. You have to be very cunning, and that's +just what you can never manage to be!" + +"Yes, she can!" came a shrill cry from the doorway, as Pixie burst into +the room and made a bee-line for the tea-table. "Indeed she can now, +Esmeralda, so it's no use denying it. She can, perfectly well!" + +The three listeners looked at each other with questioning glances, for +such vehemence was somewhat bewildering on the part of one who could not +possibly have heard the first part of the conversation. + +"What can she do?" queried Esmeralda sternly. + +"Whatever you say she can't," replied the champion, unabashed; and at +that the cloud rolled off Bridgie's brow, like mist before the sun. + +"Oh, you precious goose! Bridgie can do everything, can't she? She +always could in your eyes. It's very silly of you, dear, but it's very +nice. I'm not at all vexed with you about it." + +"You would be, though, if you were her true friend, but you always spoil +one another, you two!" cried Esmeralda lightly. Then she stared round +the room with a surprised expression, and added disapprovingly, "You +seem to have been fairly lazy while I've been out. I thought you would +have been getting on with the decorations. Whatever have you been +doing?" + +"Roaming about, and actually daring to enjoy ourselves like other +people," retorted Bridgie, with what Mademoiselle was glad to recognise +as a decided nip of severity; "but from this minute there must be no +more playing until the work is finished. Dennis has cut the evergreens, +and we must begin making wreaths at once, so as to be in order when Jack +arrives to-morrow evening. We could have two hours' work before +dinner." + +"I loathe making wreaths; they are so dirty and prickly, and I take a +pride in me hands; they are the only ones I have, and what's the use of +sleeping in white kid gloves, the same as if I were dressed for a party, +if they are to be scratched all over with that hateful holly?" +Esmeralda stretched out two well-shaped, if somewhat large, hands, and +gazed at them with pensive admiration; but Bridgie was firm, and, +scratches or no scratches, insisted that she should take her own share +of the work. As soon as tea was over, then, the family descended to the +servants' hall, a whitewashed apartment about as cheerful as a vault, +and but little warmer despite the big peat fire, where they set to work +to reduce a stack of evergreens into wreaths and borderings for cotton +wool "Merrie Christmases" and "Happy Newe Yeares" reserved from former +occasions. + +Pat and Miles cut the branches into smaller and more workable +proportions. Pixie unravelled string and wire, and the three elders +worked steadily at their separate wreaths. At the end of an hour they +had progressed so well that it was suggested that the three fragments +should be tied together, and the wreath hung in the hall, to clear the +room for further operations. + +The suggestion being universally approved, a stormy half-hour followed, +when each of the five O'Shaughnessys harangued the others concerning the +superiority of his or her own plan of decoration, and precious lives +were imperilled on the oldest and shakiest of step-ladders. The boys +could naturally mount to the highest step without a fear, but, when +mounted, were so clumsy and inartistic in their arrangements that they +were called down with derisive cries, and retired to sulk in a corner. +Then Bridgie lifted her skirt and gallantly ascended five steps, felt +the boards sway beneath her, and scuttled down to make way for her +sister. The daring rider across country possessed stronger nerves, but +also a heavier body, and the ladder creaked so ominously beneath her +that she insisted upon the whole company acting as props, in one breath +sending them running for hammer and rope, and in the next shrieking to +them to return to their posts. + +By the time that the wreath was really hung, the friction had reached +such a pitch that Mademoiselle expected a state of civil war for the +rest of the evening, and even wondered if the atmosphere would have time +to clear before Christmas itself. She could hardly believe the evidence +of her senses when the boys affably volunteered to clear away the +rubbish, and Bridgie and Esmeralda went upstairs with wreathed arms, +calling one another "Darling" and "Love," with the echo of sharp taunt +and sharper reply still ringing in the air! Certainly, if the Irish +tongue were quick, the heart seemed even quicker to forgive an enemy, or +pardon an offence. + +By the time that Mademoiselle retired to bed that night the last remnant +of strangeness had vanished, and she felt like a lifelong friend and +confidante. She had seen the menu for the Christmas dinner, and had +helped to manufacture jellies and creams, while Pixie perched upon the +dresser, industriously scraping basins of their sweet, lemony, creamy +leavings, with the aid of a teaspoon and an occasional surreptitious +finger when her sisters were looking in an opposite direction. She +suggested and achieved such marvels in the way of garnishing that Molly +was greatly impressed, being a very plain cook in more ways than one, +and solemnly asked for advice upon the killing of turkeys, when +Mademoiselle had to acknowledge ignorance, and lost caste forthwith. +Then Esmeralda invited her to a display of evening dresses in her +bedroom, and wished to know which she should wear--the black silk with +the net top, or the net top over a white skirt, or the black silk with +no top at all, and Bridgie plaintively appealed to her for the casting +vote on the great question of crackers or no crackers! + +It was certainly a curious mingling of grandeur and poverty, this life +in the half-ruined Castle, with its magnificent tapestries and carvings, +its evidences of bygone splendour, and, alas! present-day parsimony. +The little house at Passy could have been put down inside the great +entrance hall, but it was a trim little habitation, where on a minute +scale all the refinements and niceties of life were observed, and income +and expenditure were so well balanced that there was always a margin to +the good; but the Misses O'Shaughnessy, who bore themselves as queens in +the neighbourhood, and were treated with truly loyal deference, owned +hardly a decent gown between them, and were seriously exercised about +spending an extra half-crown on a Christmas dinner! + +"It's the trifles that mount up! I am a miser about pennies, but I can +spend pounds with the best!" Bridgie explained; and Mademoiselle smiled +meaningly, for had not the order just gone forth that the Castle was to +be "illumined" once more for the arrival of the son and heir? + +On Christmas Eve the rain fell in torrents, and, after a morning spent +in preparations of one sort and another, the workers felt the need of a +little amusing recreation. This did not seem easy to achieve, in this +lonely habitation set in the midst of a rain-swept plain, but Bridgie's +fertile brain came to the rescue, and proposed a scheme which kept the +young people busy for the rest of the afternoon. + +"I vote we have a fancy-dress dinner to-night!" she cried, at the +conclusion of lunch. "Not an ordinary affair, but like the one the +Pegrams enjoyed so much when they were spending the winter in +Grindelwald. `A sheet and pillow-case party,' they called it, for that +is all you have out of which to make your dress. I will open the linen- +box and give you each a pair of sheets, and a pillow-case for head-gear, +and you must arrange them in your own rooms, and not let anyone see you +until the gong rings. It really will be quite pretty--all the white +figures against the flags and holly, and we shall feel more festive than +in our ordinary clothes. I think it will be great fun, don't you?" + +Great fun indeed! The O'Shaughnessy family was always ready for any +excitement, and particularly so at Christmas-time, a season when we all +feel that we _ought_ to be festive, and are injured in our minds if +there is nothing to make us so. + +Esmeralda fell at once to pleating her table-napkin into one shape after +another, Mademoiselle smiled over a happy inspiration, whereupon wily +Pat put on his most angelic look and asked-- + +"Will you dress me, Mademoiselle? A man's no good at this sort of +thing. You can't fasten sheets with screws, and I'm no hand at fancy +stitching. I've an idea I'd look rather well as--" He whispered a few +words in her ear, and Mademoiselle threw up her hands, and laughed, and +nodded in emphatic assent. + +Pixie and Miles fell to Bridgie's share, while the Major declared that +he would have nothing to do with such foolishness, but with a ruminating +expression on his face which belied the words. + +Bridgie went upstairs immediately after lunch, and, opening her linen- +chest, apportioned its contents among the different members of the +family. Some wanted large sheets, some wanted small; some begged for +frills to their pillow-cases, some preferred plain; but at last all were +satisfied, and were further supplied with tape from the various work- +baskets, while Pixie was sent a round of the bedrooms to pick up the +pins, with which the floors were liberally scattered, as the demand in +this direction was so large as to be practically unlimited. + +Esmeralda flew off at once, with the boys in her train; but Mademoiselle +lingered to help Bridgie to fold away the linen that was not needed, and +to enjoy the luxury of a quiet chat, which was not an easy thing to +accomplish in this noisy household. Bridgie in company was always +laughing and gay, but the visitor had already noticed that Bridgie alone +was apt to grow grave and to wear a wistful pucker on her brow. It was +there now as she locked the chest and sat down on the lid, stretching +out her arms with a sigh of weariness. The wintry light left the +gallery full of shadows, and the only bright thing to be seen was the +girl's own golden head outlined against the oak walls. Mademoiselle +thought that if she had been an artist she could have wished for no +fairer picture than this old-world corridor, with the fair face of the +young mistress shining out like a lily in the darkness; but the lily +toiled more than she liked to see, and she could not restrain a protest +against the custom which gave one sister all the work, and another all +the play. + +"You are tired already before the day is half over, and now you have +those children's dresses to look after as well as your own! Why do you +not make Esmeralda help, instead of doing everything yourself?" + +"Esmeralda, is it?" Bridgie's face lit up with a smile as she repeated +the name. "Indeed now, Mademoiselle, I'm never worked so hard in my +life as when Esmeralda has been trying to help, and I have to tidy away +after her! She has the best will in the world, poor thing; but work +doesn't come naturally to her. You mustn't be hard on her. She shows +her worst side to a stranger, for, though her first impulse may be +selfish, when she takes time to think, she is all generosity and +kindness. That habit, now! She was longing to have a fitted bodice, +but she chose a coat, out of consideration for me. She is a darling, +and so young yet that I don't like to worry her. Let her have a good +time as long as she may. It will be hard enough soon." + +Mademoiselle started and looked alarmed questionings, and Bridgie smiled +in response, saying in cool, conversational tones-- + +"We are ruined, you know! We can't go on living here much longer. +Father has spent all his money, and we should have had to leave before +now, but that he came into a little more at mother's death. It was not +much, and it is going very fast. It can't be more than a year or two at +most before the crash comes, so you can't wonder I let the boys and +girls enjoy themselves, can you?" + +"_Mais oui_! I wonder very much!" cried Mademoiselle, dismayed at what +seemed to her prudent mind such a fatal way of preparing for a +difficulty. "The kind thing surely would be to prepare them for what +will come. It will make it more hard if they have never known work. In +three years one can do much to prepare for a struggle. Why do you not +speak to your sister, and say it is time to stop play? Why do you not +send her away to work, and then perhaps the bad day need never come +after all?" + +Bridgie looked surprised, almost shocked at the suggestion. The easy- +going Irish nature saw things in a different light from that taken by +the thrifty Frenchwoman; moreover, the idea of girls working for +themselves was still viewed as decidedly _infra dig_ by the old- +fashioned inhabitants of Bally William. She gasped at the thought of +her father's wrath at such a suggestion, then laughed at the idea of +Esmeralda's earnings being large enough to stave off the coming ruin. + +"I'm afraid it would be taking more than that to prevent it, Therese! +You don't know the state our landlords are in over here. There's no +money to be got at all, and things go from bad to worse. Until mother +died I didn't know how poor we were, and at first I wore myself to +pieces saving pennies here and halfpennies there; but there's not much +fun in saving twopence when nothing less than thousands of pounds would +do any good. I grew tired of it, and says I to myself, `A short life, +and a merry one!' If I can't help, I'll just put the thought from my +mind, and give the young ones a good time to remember. No use troubling +the creatures before it's necessary!" + +Mademoiselle grunted in eloquent disapproval, and wished to know whether +the master of the house had been equally philosophical. + +"Is it the Major?" cried Bridgie, laughing. "He never troubles himself +about anything, and he has it all fitted up like a puzzle. Esmeralda is +to marry a duke, Jack a countess in her own right, and meself a +millionaire manufacturer, who will be so flattered at marrying an +O'Shaughnessy that he will be proud to house Pixie into the bargain. +Pat and Miles are to go to London to seek their fortunes, and the Castle +is to be let--to Jack and his wife by preference, but, failing them, to +anyone who offers, when the Major can keep himself and his hunters on +the rental without a `Thank you' to anyone. It works out so beautifully +when you hear him talk, that it seems folly to trouble oneself +beforehand." + +"And suppose you don't marry? Your country is full of old maids. And +suppose the Castle does not let? It is very far from--anywhere!" said +Mademoiselle, who had lived in the gayest city in the world, and felt +the solitude of Bally William only a degree less absolute than that of +the backwoods themselves. "Suppose none of these things of which you +speak were to 'appen, what then?" + +"Indeed, I can't tell you!" returned Bridgie, truthfully enough. "And-- +excuse me, me love, it's not a very diverting suggestion for the time of +year! Let me keep my millionaire, if it's only for the day, for by the +same token I'm quite attached to him in prospect! Will you come and +visit me, Therese, when I'm comfortably established in my soap bubble?" + +She was laughing again, full of mischief and wilful impracticability, +and Mademoiselle was tactful enough to realise that the time was not apt +for pressing her lesson further. Later on she would return to the +charge, but to-day at least might be safely given over to enjoyment. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +PAT'S TAUNT. + +When the gong sounded that night two white-robed figures stole out of +Mademoiselle's room, and crept quietly along the gallery. Pat was +arrayed as a knight of old, wearing a pair of Esmeralda's old white +stockings, surmounted by loose linen trunks, the rest of the sheet being +ingeniously swathed round his body, and kept in place by such an +elaborate cris-crossing of tape as gave the effect of a slashed doublet. +A thickly pleated cloak, (made out of sheet number two), hung over his +shoulders, and the pillow-case was drawn into a cap, which was placed +jauntily on the side of his head. As handsome a young knight as one +could wish to see was Mr Patrick O'Shaughnessy, and the manner in which +he held Mademoiselle's hand, and led her down the great staircase, +evoked thunders of applause from the watchers beneath. + +Mademoiselle herself looked worthy of her squire, for her dark, animated +face stood the test of the unrelieved whiteness so successfully, that +she was all ablush with delight at the discovery that she was not an old +woman after all, but on occasion could still look as girlish as she +felt. She was attired as a Normandy peasant, with turned-back skirt and +loose white bodice; but the feature of the costume was undoubtedly the +cap, which looked so extraordinarily like the real article that the +sceptical refused to believe in its pillow-case origin, until the +buttonholes were exhibited in evidence. + +"It is wonderful--wonderful! But how have you made it so stiff and +crinkly?" the Major inquired curiously; and Mademoiselle laughed in +gleeful triumph. + +"I 'ave curled it with the curling tongs--not perhaps curl, but what the +washerwoman would say--`goffer,' and for the rest, can you not see the +wire? It is a piece I have taken upstairs after the decorations, and it +is stitched in to keep the folds in place; but I must keep my 'ead +still, for it is not too strong. You are very fine too, sir. You are, +I suppose, some old patrician?" + +"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" declaimed the Major, +throwing his arms about with impassioned gestures. His white toga fell +in graceful folds round his tall figure; his arms were bared to the +elbows; he wore a twisted turban, which was impressive, if not exactly +appropriate; and it was really an imposing spectacle to behold him +strutting up and down the hall, with a great display of sandalled feet, +of which he was evidently immensely proud. + +Bridgie sat demurely on a high-backed chair, a sweet-faced nun, with her +golden hair hidden from sight, and her dark-lashed eyes looking lovelier +than ever when contrasted with the white bands across her forehead. She +had been so busy dressing others that she had had no time to plan +anything more elaborate for herself; but if she had worked for days she +could not have hit on a costume more becoming to her style of beauty. +It was scarcely in character, however, to shriek aloud with laughter, as +she did a moment later, as Mark Antony was suddenly arrested on his +march by an apparition which leapt forward from behind a screen, and +advanced upon him to an accompaniment of unearthly groanings. + +Miles as a ghost was certainly an eerie figure; for by means of a stick +strapped to his back the sheet was raised to an abnormal altitude, while +a couple of tennis rackets held in either hand, made extended wings, +with which to swoop about, and raise warning signals to the onlookers. +He chased Mark Antony until that classic gentleman threatened fight with +a poker; when he amused himself by groaning vigorously at Pixie, who had +been attired as a "Lady in Waiting"--not, it must be confessed, with any +striking success; and who was somewhat ruffled in her temper through +constant trippings over her train. + +"Ye stupid thing!" she cried crossly. "Be over hooting at me! If you +are a bogie, you can go and haunt by yourself, and not molest your +betters! It's the worst dress of the lot. Nothing but three sticks and +the sheets in knots. You had better rest yourself a bit, and groan +while we are at dinner, for your head is covered up that tight that +you'll never be able to eat!" + +"Trust me!" cried Miles, and somewhere about the middle of the ghost the +white folds parted, and out peered a crimson face with twinkling eyes, +and a mat of damp curls falling over the forehead. "You don't catch me +taking any part which interfered with eating! Contrariwise--I'm best +off of you all, for I have just to drop my sticks, and--there I am! The +sheet falls down, and I eat my dinner in comfort, instead of being +stewed alive, as you will be before it's half over." + +"That's true for you! I feel as if I had mumps already!" sighed the nun +sadly; but the next moment she gave a cry of delight, and pointed +eagerly across the hall. + +"Esmeralda! Oh, look! look!" + +There had been so much to see and admire that the absence of the second +daughter of the house had not been noticed; but even as Bridgie spoke +each one realised that her late arrival was just what might have been +expected. The beautiful Miss O'Shaughnessy had preferred to be sure of +her audience before appearing upon the stage; for, to judge by the +continuous rumble of the sewing-machine which had sounded from her room, +she had bestowed no little pains upon her costume. + +Great expectations are apt to be disappointed; but in this instance it +is safe to say that the reality exceeded the wildest dreams, for it was +almost impossible to believe that this charming figure owed her attire +to no more promising materials than ordinary bed-linen! Esmeralda had +aimed at nothing less ambitious than a Watteau costume, and the rumbling +of the machine was accounted for by one glance at the elaborately +quilted petticoat. She had folded a blanket between the double sheet, +so as to give the effect of wadding, and an ancient crinoline held out +the folds with old-world effect. For the rest she wore the orthodox +panniers on the hips, and a bodice swathed as artistically as might be, +round the beautiful bare neck and arms. Her hair was dressed high and +powdered, and the pillow-case was drawn into the shape of a hood which +dangled lightly over her arm. Half-way down the staircase she came to a +stand, and stood sunning herself in the applause of the beholders, then +came slowly forward, and, standing in the middle of the floor, revolved +slowly round and round, so as to display every feature of her costume. +It was certainly a marvel of ingenuity, and amidst the general chorus of +praise, Mademoiselle could not refrain from improving the occasion by +remarking that such a good needlewoman should have no difficulty in +turning dressmaker for her own and her sisters' benefit. The reply to +this insinuation was a threatening grimace, and Esmeralda made haste to +draw her father's attention to another topic. + +"Aren't you proud of me now, father dear, and cut to the heart to think +that no one will see me but yourself? Sure it's a crime to waste all +this splendour on the desert air!"--and she rolled her eyes at him with +a languishing glance, and smiled so bewitchingly, that the Major rubbed +his hands in delight, and fell unhesitatingly into the snare. + +"Faith, and you're right! It's a perfect crime. We should have asked +some of the neighbours to see you. Bridgie, why did you not think of +that, now? We might have had a pleasant little party to amuse your +friend, instead of taking all this trouble for nothing!" + +"Not on two days' invitation, father, and besides, Jack is not here yet. +While he is at home, perhaps--" + +"Yes, father, on New Year's Eve! Give us leave to ask some people on +New Year's Eve, and we will plan such a wonderful programme as will be +the talk for miles around. I'm brimful of ideas, and we have not had +any sort of entertainment for two years now. Say we may ask them, won't +you, dear?" + +But at this the Major began to look uneasy, for it was one thing to find +fault with Bridgie for not having given an invitation in the past, and +quite another to be asked to sanction a fresh one in the future. + +"Who will you be wanting to ask?" he queried anxiously. "Never did I +meet such an exacting child! My mouth's no sooner opened than you are +ready to jump inside! `A wonderful programme,' says she. And who's to +pay for it, may I ask? You would ruin me between you, you children, if +I hadn't saved you the trouble long ago. How much will this +entertainment be costing me now?" + +"Oh, twopence halfpenny! Not more than that. We will kill the old +turkey, that is so tough that he is fairly pleading to be killed, and +use up the dessert from Christmas, and Mademoiselle shall make us some +of her fine French dishes, and there will be so much going on that there +will be very little time to eat. Make your mind easy, and trust to me." + +"I'll see you through!" cried Esmeralda grandly; whereupon the Major +shrugged his shoulders, and reflected cheerfully that a few pounds more +or less made little difference. Let the girl have her way! she had been +kept too long in seclusion as it was, and what was the use of possessing +the most beautiful daughter in the county if you could not show her off +to your friends once in a while? + +Silence was rightly interpreted as consent, and having gained her point, +Esmeralda was wreathed in smiles and amiability for the rest of the +evening. + +The Major dispensed with his toga at an early hour, and Nun and Ghost +alike shed their wrappings and appeared in ordinary evening dress; but +Esmeralda was too complacently conscious of looking her best to make any +change in her attire. Dinner passed hilariously enough, and then, the +rain having ceased, the Major put on his coat and went out for a walk in +the grounds, while the ladies retired to their snuggery upstairs and +made themselves comfortable round the fire. To them entered presently +Master Pat, white knight no longer, but an ordinary shabby stripling +with pensive eyes and an innocent expression. He sat himself down in +leisurely fashion, and gazed at his second sister with melancholy +interest, as one far removed from youthful follies and grieved to behold +them in those he held dear. + +"You are the only one who has kept on her dress! I suppose you don't +mind what you suffer, so long as you make an appearance! It's a pity, +as you said, that there is no one to admire you, but if you would like +to meet a stranger, why don't you go for a walk down the left wing and +back by the hall? The moonlight is shining in at the windows, and you +know the old saying that if you walk by yourself in the moonlight to- +night you will see the spirit of your future husband waiting for you! +You might have a peep at him now, and come back and tell us what he is +like!" + +Esmeralda turned her head on the cushion, and looked at him with a lazy +smile. + +"What nonsense are you talking? You are thinking of Hallowe'en, stupid! +That has nothing to do with to-day!" + +"It has, then! It's just as good as Christmas Eve. We been told so by +those that know, but you want to get out of it because you haven't the +pluck. All girls are afraid of the dark." + +"You said yourself it was moonlight! I shouldn't be afraid to walk the +whole round of the Castle if it came to that, but I don't see why I +should. I'm snug and comfortable here, and it's not worth disturbing +myself to convince a boy like you!" + +"So you say." Pat wagged his head in undisguised scepticism. "It's +easy to talk, my dear, but I should prefer actions to words. You made a +poor show on that ladder yesterday, and I don't like to own a coward for +my sister. Look here now, you were worrying me to give you that racket, +and I said I would do nothing of the kind, but I'll change my mind and +hand it over to you to-night, if you will walk that round and come back +here without letting a single howl out of you the whole time!" + +Bridgie drew her brows together and looked suspicious at this unwonted +generosity, but Esmeralda sprang to her feet, all eagerness and +excitement. + +"You will now? Honour bright? If I walk down the left wing, go down +the circular staircase, and round by the hall, you will hand the racket +over when I come back?" + +"I will so!" + +"You hear that, you girls? You are witnesses, remember! I'm off this +minute, and if I meet my spouse I'll bring him back for a warm by the +fire, so stoke up and get a good blaze. I hope he will think I am +becomingly arrayed." + +He was sure to do that, was Mademoiselle's reflection as she smiled back +into the sparkling face, and watched the tall figure flit down the +corridor. Quite ghost-like it looked in the cold blue rays which came +in through the windows, the dead white of the dress standing out sharply +against the darkness of the background. It was almost as if the spirit +of one of those old ancestors whose portraits lined the walls had come +back to revisit her old home, and Bridgie shivered as she looked, and +turned on Pat with unusual sharpness. + +"What nonsense are you up to now? She'll not catch anything but her +death of cold, wandering about those galleries with her bare arms and +neck. Spirits indeed! You ought to know better than to believe in such +nonsense; but there's some mischief afoot, or you wouldn't be so +generous all of a sudden. What's the meaning of it now? Tell me this +minute!" + +Pat's grin of delight extended from ear to ear; he stood in obstinate +silence until the last flicker of whiteness disappeared in the distance, +then shut the door, and deliberately barred it with his back. + +"Sit down, then, and I'll give the history; but don't attempt to get +out, for you'll not pass this door except over my dead body. You say +she won't meet anybody, do you? That's where you are wrong, for he's +waiting for her at this very minute. He came ringing at the door five +minutes ago, the young Englishman that's with the Trelawneys, and that +father was after offering a mount to the other day. `Is Mr +O'Shaughnessy at home?' says he. `He is, sir,' says Molly, knowing no +better, for she never had a sight of the Major after dinner. `Can I see +him for a moment? I'll not come farther than the hall, for the cart's +waiting, and I am not fit to enter a room.' So with that he comes in, +six foot two, if he's an inch, and covered from head to foot in a shiny +white mackintosh, with his head peeping out on top, and I've seen uglier +men than him before this. I was coming down the stairs after shedding +me sheets, and Molly was asking me where the Major might be, so I told +her to send Dennis in search, and I was all smiles and apologies for the +darkness of the place, with only the one lamp and the fire dying out on +the hearth. `I'll fetch more light,' says I, and, `Pray do nothing of +the kind. It's charming to see this fine old place lit up by the +moonlight; I could study it for an hour on end. A perfect setting for a +ghost story, isn't it?' says he, smiling, and with that he crosses over +to the window, and by the same token it was a regular ghost he looked +himself, all tall, and straight, and shiny white. Then it walked into +my head what a jest it would be to send Esmeralda to meet him, and the +two of them each thinking the other was a ghost, and frightened out of +their seven senses. So I excused myself, polite like, saying I would +speak to my sister, and the rest of the tale you know for yourselves. I +taunted her with cowardice to make her rise to the occasion, but that +wouldn't work, and time was passing, so I turned to bribery, but by good +fortune I'll keep my racket yet. At this very moment she will be +feeling her way cautiously down that stair, and he'll be hearing the +creak, and coming forward to see the cause. All bluey white they'll be, +and each one so scared by the sight of the other that they'll hardly +dare to breathe. Listen now while I open the door, and you may hear her +squeal." + +"Patrick O'Shaughnessy, ye graceless boy, how dare you take such a +liberty with your sister! A strange man,--an Englishman,--and Esmeralda +knowing nothing about him, and believing there is no one near! Let me +pass now! Stand aside this moment! Patrick O'Shaughnessy, will you let +me pass, or will you not?" + +"I will not!" returned Pat sturdily. "It's my joke, and I'm not going +to have it spoiled. You leave them to fight it out between themselves, +and if they come out alive you'll hear the tale first hand. `What do my +eyes behold?' says he. `What fairy form is this I see before me?' +`Pity me!' says she. `What's that white pillar over there by the +window? It's a dust sheet that Molly has been hanging over the +curtains, and maybe the draught is making it move. Oh, oh, oh, there's +a head to it! It's alive! It comes towards me! What will I do? What +will I do?'" + +Pat clasped his hands in affected terror, and shrieked in clever +imitation of his sister's manner. The door was still ajar, and as he +stopped a sound from below rose faintly to the ears of his companions, a +second shriek so alike in tone and expression that it might have been +the echo of his own. "Pixie," cried Bridgie wildly, "at him, Pixie! At +him!" And like a flash of lightning Pixie lay prone on the floor with +her arms wound tightly round Pat's legs. He swayed and staggered, +clutched at the wall, and felt Mademoiselle's arms nip him from behind, +as the door flew open, and Bridgie sped like a lapwing along the +gallery. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +THE WHITE LADY. + +Esmeralda set out on her expedition in the highest spirits, for a girl +who is brought up on a regime of outdoor sport is not troubled with +nerves, and she laughed at the suggestion of ghosts with the scorn which +it deserved. What she did not laugh at, however, was the promise of +Pat's racket, a gift to him from an absent godfather, and coveted by all +his brothers and sisters, but by none so much as Esmeralda, who played a +very pretty game of her own, and felt a conviction that she could +distinguish herself still more if she possessed a good racket instead of +the old one which had done duty for years, and was now badly sprung. + +Pat had promised in the presence of witnesses to hand over his treasure +if she returned to the schoolroom without--oh, elegant +expression!--"letting a howl out of her," and Esmeralda smiled to +herself at the unlikeliness of such a proceeding. Why, except for the +cold air, it was really a treat to walk along the disused old gallery +which traversed the left wing of the Castle, where the moonbeams shone +in through the long row of windows with such picturesque effect. She +sauntered along, enjoying the scene with artistic appreciation, even +feeling a sense of satisfaction in her own appropriate attire. Powdered +hair and hooped skirt seemed more in keeping with the surroundings than +the bicycling dress of everyday life, and it was an agreeable variety to +pose as one's own great-grandmother once in a way. + +Esmeralda reached the end of the gallery, and stretched a hand on either +side, to feel her way down the circular stone staircase which would lead +her into the entrance hall below. This means of descent was rarely +used, and was now in a semi-ruinous condition, the stone steps being so +much worn with the action of time that it required some little care to +descend safely in the darkness. She stood poised on each step, +extending a pretty foot to find a secure resting-place on the one below; +round the curve where the darkness was almost complete, then coming into +sight of the hall, with the moonlight making long streaks of light +across the floor, and in the distance a yellow gleam from the solitary +lamp. + +Only three more steps remained to be descended, when suddenly she +stopped short, drawing her breath sharply, for there by the second +window stood a man's tall form, all straight and still, and of a curious +shining whiteness. The face was turned aside, but at the sound of that +gasping sob it turned slowly round, and a pair of keen, steel-like eyes +stared into hers. + +Geoffrey Hilliard had been thoroughly enjoying this opportunity of +studying the features of the fine old hall, and making a note of them +for future use. "What a magnificent old place!" he said to himself. +"Trelawney says the man is at his last gasp, and will positively have to +turn out before long. Poor beggar! I pity him. It must be +heartbreaking to leave an old place like this, where one's ancestors +have lived for generations, where every stone has its history, and the +spirits of the departed seem still hovering in the air. Halloa, what's +that?" + +He turned his head, and peering round the corner of that quaintest of +stone staircases beheld a vision at sight of which he stood transfixed +and astounded. Spirits of ancestors, indeed! Here was one before his +very eyes, a picture out of its frame, a dream of grace and beauty such +as is not vouchsafed to mortal eyes in this commonplace, matter-of-fact +twentieth century! The first glance was admiration alone, the second +brought a thrill of something uncomfortably like fear, for to the most +unsuperstitious of minds there was still something unpleasantly eerie in +this unexpected apparition. Motionless as a figure of stone stood the +White Lady, her body craned forward, one hand resting against the wall, +the other drawing aside the quilted skirt; the moonlight fell full on +the face, and showed it stiff and rigid as a sculptor's block. + +For one moment Geoffrey felt incapable of movement, but the next +commonsense returned, and a dozen matter-of-fact explanations darted +into his head. What he saw was no figure, but simply a statue, a +reflection, a curious effect of light. He must examine the phenomenon +at close quarters, and find a solution with which to confound the +superstitious in the future. No sooner said than done, and he stepped +forward, momentarily averting his eyes, to make his sight the more +searching. When he opened them again the figure still confronted him; +but now the position seemed slightly altered, for instead of bending +forward she had drawn back, as if to avoid his approach. + +A dread seized him lest the phenomenon might vanish altogether before he +had had time to discover its character; he gave a sudden leap forward, +and to his dismay beheld the figure stagger forward, and collapse in a +heap on the lowest stair. In an instant his arms were round her, and +two warm living hands came together with a shock of surprise. Masculine +ghost lifted, and feminine ghost struggled and pinched in a manner +unmistakably human. But if Geoffrey Hilliard's matter-of-fact mind +leapt to a quick understanding of the real situation, Esmeralda was much +more sensational in her explanation. He remembered that it was +Christmas Eve, a time when some family festivity, of which fancy-dress +was a feature, might well be in progress; she leapt to the dramatic +conclusion that this was a thief masquerading in ghost's attire, the +better to make his escape in the event of discovery. + +Cowardly ruffian! He should not find it so easy as he expected! If it +was only a girl whom he had encountered, he should find that she was not +so easily shaken off as he expected. To Hilliard's intense amazement he +felt the hands fasten suddenly round his arm, the white fingers grip his +flesh with no uncertain grasp. The premeditated apologies died upon his +lips, as the White Lady became rosy red, and her lips parted to show +teeth set in threatening anger. He stepped back, or tried to do so, but +she clung only the closer; he laughingly tried to move her hand from his +arm, at which she shrieked aloud, and struggled valiantly. + +"No, no, you shall not go! You shall stay here until my father comes!" + +"That is just what I want to do! Pardon me, there is really no +necessity to hold me so fast. I am not going to run away!" returned the +young fellow, laughing, but in a somewhat impatient fashion. He had no +ambition to be discovered in this melodramatic attitude, and once more +made an effort to escape. The grasp on her wrist was gentle, but withal +wonderfully strong, and to Esmeralda's horror she found it impossible to +struggle against it. The thought that the thief was escaping after all +was too humiliating to be borne, and as one hand after the other was +forced back she grew desperate, and raised her voice in a shrill cry for +help. + +"Help! Help! Murder! Thieves! He-l-p!" + +"My dear, good girl!" exclaimed the Murderer blankly, overcome with +amazement, and allowing himself to be once more seized in a detaining +grasp, while Esmeralda poured the vials of her wrath upon him. + +"How dare you call me names! It's a horsewhip you'll be feeling on your +back for this, once my father is here. I'll hold you tight till he +comes!" + +The stranger looked at her, tried to speak, choked hopelessly, and was +just attempting a stammering, "You are really most--complimentary!" when +the sound of flying footsteps came from above, and Bridgie rushed +headlong down the staircase. Poor Bridgie, what a sight was that which +met her eye! In the middle of the hall stood the figure of the tall +Englishman, his face all sparkling with fun, his arms hanging slack by +his sides, while Esmeralda clasped him in close embrace, reiterating +shrilly-- + +"I'll hold you tight! I'll hold you tight!" + +"For pity's sake, Esmeralda, let go of him this minute!" she cried, +rushing to the rescue, and laying soothing hands upon her sister's +shoulder. "There's nothing to be frightened at, dear; it's just that +wicked Pat, who ought to be destroyed for his pains. It's no ghost, +darling. See, now, he's laughing at you. Ghosts don't laugh! He's +nothing but a man after all!" + +"He's a thief! He was trying to get the things out of the cabinet. I +am holding him until father comes, so that he may give him in charge!" +gasped Esmeralda wildly; and Hilliard looked from one sister to the +other with eyes dancing with amusement. + +"I'm neither ghost nor thief, as Major O'Shaughnessy will testify when +he arrives. I'm really exceedingly sorry to have made such an +unfortunate impression, but I came on the most innocent errand. I am +staying with Mr Trelawney, and your father was kind enough to offer to +lend me a mount for to-morrow. We thought of going for a long ride in +the morning, so--" + +Esmeralda's hands fell to her sides. The commonplace explanation did +more than a hundred protestations, and a remembrance of the Major's +rhapsodies over the handsome young Englishman whom he had met but a week +before was still fresh in her mind. She stepped back, but the light in +her eyes gleamed more threateningly than before, as with tragic attitude +she turned towards the staircase. On the lowest step crouched Pixie, +all eyes and gaping mouth; on the third Mademoiselle clasped her hands, +and wagged her head from side to side, as if calling someone to witness +that she at least was innocent of offence; from between the banisters +peered a red, questioning face, audacious, yet vaguely alarmed. + +"Patrick O'Shaughnessy," said Esmeralda in an awful voice, "you shall +pay for this evening's work!" and at that, audacity triumphed, and Pat +retorted sharply-- + +"But not with the racket, me dear, for ye did howl after all. We heard +you right up in the schoolroom. You're not the hero you thought +yourself, to mistake an innocent gentleman for a midnight assassin." + +"Pat, be quiet!" interrupted Bridgie sharply, then turned to the +stranger with that winsome smile which was her greatest charm. "You've +been a schoolboy yourself, and know the ways of them. My brother never +rests out of mischief, and he dared my sister Joan to walk the round of +the Castle in the dark. She was dressed up as you see, and he had seen +you down here in your white coat, and thought maybe you would each be +startled by the sight of the other." + +"And at first she wouldn't go at all, and was only laughing at him for +his pains, but Pat said Christmas Eve and Hallowe'en were all the same, +and that if a girl went alone by herself in the moonlight she would see +the spirit of her future h---" cried Pixie in one breathless sentence. +In her opinion Bridgie's explanation had been singularly inadequate, and +she was filled with indignation at the babel of sounds which drowned her +conclusion. Bridgie was seized with a paroxysm of coughing, +Mademoiselle with admirable promptitude knocked an old metal cup from a +bracket, and sent it clanging to the floor, and Pat cried shrilly-- + +"See a spook! She was dressed all in white, and you said yourself it +was a good setting for a ghost story! It was yourself that put it in my +head!" + +"I believe you are right. I certainly did make that remark," said the +stranger obligingly. For some reason or other his colour had decidedly +heightened during the last few moments, and he looked at Esmeralda with +a quick, embarrassed glance, as if afraid to meet her eyes. She was +flushed like himself, a beautiful young fury, with eyes ablaze, and lips +set in a hard, straight line. Propitiation was plainly hopeless at the +moment, and he was not so foolish as to attempt the impossible. This +was evidently "Beauty O'Shaughnessy," of whom he had heard so much, and, +to judge by his own experience, his friends' accounts of the +eccentricities of the family were no whit exaggerated. The dear little +girl with the sweet eyes was plainly the eldest sister, since she took +upon herself to perform the honours of the house, and he was thankful to +follow her towards the fireplace, leaving the belligerents at the end of +the hall. + +"I'm exceedingly sorry to have caused such an alarm! Please make my +peace with your sister. I am afraid, if she was not prepared to see me, +my actions must have seemed sadly suspicious," he began apologetically; +but Bridgie stopped him with uplifted hand, and a queenliness of manner +which sat charmingly upon her slight figure. + +"Indeed you were not to blame at all, and there is no need to give it +another thought. You have had bad weather for your visit, but I hope +there is a change to-night. The Major will be delighted that you took +him at his word, and Dandy will carry you like a feather. Here he is at +last, to welcome you himself." + +The Major came forward as she spoke, calling out welcomes from afar, and +holding out his hand in hospitable Irish greeting. He was all smiles +and superlatives, charmed that Mr Hilliard had called, overjoyed to +give him a mount, delighted that he had already made the acquaintance of +"me children," beamingly unconscious that there was trouble in the air, +and persistent in summoning Esmeralda to his side. + +"What do you think of that for an impromptu costume? All made out of a +couple of sheets, me dear fellow, and at a moment's notice. Quite a +display we had this night, with the whole lot of them got up to match; +but this child is the only one that kept it on. Me daughter Joan! +Esmeralda, for short. Mr Geoffrey Hilliard!" + +Hilliard bowed deeply. Esmeralda drooped her eyelids, and the Major +chuckled afresh at "the spirit of the girl!" + +"A shame to waste such sweetness on the desert air, isn't it, Hilliard? +That's what she says herself, and there's nothing for it but to give my +consent to a party on New Year's Eve. A man's not master of himself +when he has three daughters, but you must give us the pleasure of +welcoming you with the rest of our guests. The Trelawneys will be here +to a man, and you must come over with them. Esmeralda says she is +fatigued with meeting the same people over and over again, so she'll be +delighted to see you. Won't you now, Esmeralda? Give your own +invitation to Mr Hilliard." + +"Indeed, father, we have scarcely got the length of invitations. It was +just an idea we were thinking over, and at the best it will be a poor +country affair. If Mr Hilliard is accustomed to London, 'twould be but +a bore to him to join us." + +It was evident that Esmeralda was by no means anxious to count the +stranger among her guests. Having shown herself to him in a ridiculous +and unbecoming light, she had no wish to pursue the acquaintance, and +the glance which accompanied the words was even more eloquent than +themselves. + +"Don't dare to come here again!" said the haughty eyes. "Don't imagine +you will get the laugh over me," said the haughty head, and Geoffrey +Hilliard read the signals, and smiled unperturbed--a happy, self- +confident smile. + +"I assure Miss O'Shaughnessy that I should be honoured by an +invitation," he said blandly, "if I may accept in advance. Nothing will +give me greater pleasure than to join your gathering." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +BRIDGIE'S CONFESSION. + +After Mr Hilliard's departure, Mademoiselle was treated to an +exhibition of what was known in the family as "Esmeralda's tantrums." +Hardly had her father turned from the door than she had rushed towards +him, and begun pouring out the story of her wrongs. Eyes flashed, head +tossed, arms waving about in emphatic declamation, little foot tapped +the floor all a-quiver with excitement, while Pixie stood in the +background faithfully imitating each gesture, and Pat gazed at the +ceiling with an expression of heart-broken innocence. Esmeralda called +upon all present to witness that she was despised and ridiculed by the +members of her own family; that by this evening's work she had been made +the laughing-stock of the county; and announced her intention of leaving +home by the first train that steamed out of the station. She would earn +her own living, and if necessary, wander barefoot through the world, +rather than submit any longer to insults from her own kith and kin, and +when she died a beggar's death, and lay stretched in a pauper's grave, +they might remember her words, and forgive themselves if they could! + +The invective was originally directed against Pat alone, but as she +warmed to her work it grew ever more comprehensive, until at last it +seemed as though the whole household were in conspiracy against her. +Then suddenly the climax was touched and passed; the last stage of all +was announced by a tempest of tears, and the Major tugged miserably at +his moustache, nerving himself to the task most difficult in the world +to his easy-going nature,--that of finding fault! + +"Pat, ye rascal, what's this I hear about you? Mark my words, now. +I'll not have your sisters made the subject for practical jokes! If you +can't keep yourself out of mischief, I'll find a way to occupy you with +something you'd like worse. Can I have no peace in me own home for the +complaints of you and your doings? If ye can't carry yourself as a +gentleman, I'll apprentice ye to a trade, and wash me hands of you once +for all. Mind what I'm telling ye, for there's truth in it! Will I be +giving him a punishment now, Esmeralda? Is it your wish I should punish +him?" + +"It is so! And the harder the better!" sobbed Esmeralda; and the Major +heaved a sigh of ponderous dimensions. + +"Ye hear that, Patrick? Listen to that, now, and see your sister in +tears, and think shame to yourself on a good Christmas Eve. And now +I've the trouble of punishing you into the bargain. What will I do with +him, Esmeralda? Will I send him off to his bed before Jack comes home?" + +And then a pretty thing happened, for among the chorus of groans which +greeted this suggestion, Esmeralda's "No, no!" sounded shrillest of all, +and off she rushed to Pat's side in a whirlwind of repentance. + +"No, no! Not that! He would be so disappointed. He must see Jack. I +won't have him punished after all, father. It's Christmas-time, and +he's sorry already. Tell the Major you are sorry, Pat, and I'll shake +hands and say no more." + +"I'm sorry, sir, there's been such a stupid row," said Pat truthfully +enough; but when his father turned away with a sigh of relief, he put +his arm round his sister and gave her a bear-like hug. + +"What did you howl about, silly?" he asked affectionately. "When you've +had time to cool down you will think it the finest joke of the year. +And you so well plucked, too, holding on like grim death, for all his +struggles. You ought to be proud instead of sorry. Look here, now, you +shall have the racket after all! I won't have you the loser for your +dealings with me. I'll give it to you at once, if you'll be troubled to +come to my room!" + +Then Esmeralda cried, "Oh, Pat, me darlin'!" and Pat hung on to her +arms, crying, "Hold me tight! Hold me tight!" at which she blushed and +tugged his curly locks, and off they went together, laughing, +squabbling, protesting; sworn enemies, dearest of friends! + +Jack arrived in due course, and a happier Christmas party than that +assembled round the breakfast-table at Knock Castle next morning it +would have been hard to find. Each one had provided presents for the +others, and if they were of infinitesimal value, they were apparently +none the less valued by the recipients. Mademoiselle thought she had +never seen anything more charming, than the manner in which Pixie +presented, and the Major received, a solitary bone stud for his collar, +amidst the acclamations of an admiring family. + +"A happy Christmas to ye, father darlin', and many happy returns!" said +Pixie in deep sweet accents, as she pressed the tiny packet into his +hand, and blinked at it with an air of elaborate indifference. "It's +just a little present I was buying you, thinking maybe you would like to +wear something I'd chosen meself." + +"And now what can this be next?" soliloquised the Major, untwisting the +paper with tenderest fingers and an air of absorption seldom seen on his +merry features. When wrapping number two was undone, and the stud was +disclosed in all its glory, he appeared almost dizzy with rapture, +holding it out on an outstretched palm, and gazing at it with +incredulous joy. "Did ever anything fall out so lucky as that? The +very thing I was breaking my heart over not an hour ago. Somebody eats +my studs--I'm sure they do--and what are left Esmeralda steals for her +cuffs. But I'll be even with anybody who dares to take this one from my +drawer. Thank you, my piccaninny. It's a broth of a stud, and you +could not have given me anything I liked better." + +"I hope it may never break on you when you are in a hurry," said Pixie +politely, and with sundry memories of past occasions when the Major had +dressed for a function, while the sounds of his groans and lamentations +had been heard without the portals of his dressing-room. + +Esmeralda presented Bridgie with a card of hat-pins; Bridgie had knitted +woollen gloves for the boys, and the most exciting presentations were +those which Mademoiselle had thoughtfully brought with her--dainty lace +ties for the sisters, which were received with a rapture almost too +great for words, and the grey Suede gloves which were Jack's happy +inspiration. Dark and threatening as the day appeared, on went gloves +and tie, when it was time to start for church, and Esmeralda at least +was proudly conscious of her stylish appearance, when half-way along the +muddy lane the Trelawneys' carriage bowled past, and the laughing eyes +of the stranger met hers once more. The mud flew from the carriage- +wheels, and she held up her skirts with a great display of grey-gloved +hands, and backed up against the hedge, frowning and petulant--my Lady +Disdain in every gesture and expression. + +Mademoiselle had never before attended a Christmas service in an English +church, and though it was impossible to resist some pangs of +homesickness, she was still interested and impressed. The little +building was tastefully decorated, and the beautiful hymns were sung +with delightful heartiness and feeling. The O'Shaughnessys themselves +would have constituted a creditable choir, for Pat's still unbroken +voice was a joy to hear as he joined in the air with Bridgie and Pixie, +the Major rolled out a sonorous bass, Jack sang tenor, while Esmeralda's +alto was rich and full as an organ stop. They sang with heart as well +as voice, as indeed who can help singing those wonderful words? First, +the heralds' call to Christendom to greet the great festival of the +year, the birthday of its Lord: "Christians, awake! Salute the happy +morn."--It must be a cold heart indeed which does not thrill a response +to that summons; then the description of the angelic joy at His coming, +"Hark, the herald angels sing"; and last, and perhaps most beautiful of +all, the summons to the saints on earth to join in that praise, "Oh, +come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!" + +The service passed in a glow of exaltation, and the softening influence +continued throughout the long walk home, when the younger members of the +family walked on ahead, and the two older girls followed sedately in the +rear. Bridgie's eyes glowed as she looked after her "children", Pat and +Miles, tall and graceful even in this their hobbledehoy stage, Esmeralda +queening it in their midst, and Pixie dancing blissfully through every +puddle that came in her way. + +"Doesn't it make you rejoice to see them all so well and happy?" she +cried fervently. "Last Christmas we were so sad that it seemed as if +the sun would never shine again; but mother said she wanted us to be +happy, and it would do her heart good to see them to-day. I was +thinking about her in church, and asked myself if I had done all I could +to keep my charge. She left them in my care, you know, for I had to +take her place, and on days like this I feel as if I had to answer to +her for all that is wrong. Pixie is happy at school, and it's lovely to +know you, and feel that you will be good to the darling; Jack is getting +on with his work, and the boys and Esmeralda quarrel less than they used +to do. She's the one I am most anxious about, for she is not satisfied +with this quiet life, and her head will be turned with flattery before +many years are over. Did you notice that young Englishman last night, +and the way he fixed his eyes upon her? If he comes over here flirting +with her, what will I do, Therese? He is here for a week or two only, +and after he has gone she will feel duller than ever, poor creature. I +wonder what I had better do?" + +"Mees Esmeralda seems to me exceedingly able to take care of herself," +remarked Mademoiselle quietly. "I don't think you need distress +yourself about her in this instance. Monsieur 'Illiard has had the +misfortune to make a bad impression, by placing her in an uncomfortable +position, and have you not observed the air with which she has bowed to +him to-day as he passed? It was not, to say the least of it, +encouraging." + +Bridgie laughed,--a little, tender, indulgent laugh. + +"But it was very pretty all the same, and sort of encouraging +discouraging, don't you think? If I were in his place I don't think I +should be exactly depressed. It was like a challenge thrown down before +him, and from his look I believe he means to accept it too! Ah dear, +it's a great responsibility to have a beauty for a sister! I am in +terror every time a young man comes to the house, in case he should fall +in love with her." + +"There is more than one girl in the house, however, and I know vich of +the two would be my choice, if I were, as you say, a young man myself," +returned Mademoiselle sturdily. Bridgie's utter unconsciousness of her +own claims to attention filled her at once with admiration and +impatience, and she could not resist putting her feelings into words. +"Does it never give you any fear in case one should fall in love with +you instead?" + +"No, never; how could they when she was near?" cried Bridgie fervently, +and then suddenly flushed all over her delicate face and began a +stammering explanation. "At least, that's not quite true. There was +one man--I never told anyone about it before, and indeed there's not +much to tell. Joan and I went to stay ten days with some friends at the +other side of the county, nearly a year ago last autumn, and he was +staying there too. He was not like other men I had met, or I thought he +was different. He was graver than most young men, though he liked fun +all the same, and when we talked it seemed as if we shared the same +thoughts. It was not long after mother's death, and I was feeling very +lonely, but I didn't feel lonely when I was with him. On the third day +we went a picnic, and I drove in a wagonette with the ladies, and he +walked with the men. Just as we overtook them the horses took fright, +and began to gallop down a hill. We thought for a few minutes that we +should certainly be thrown out at the bottom, but the driver managed to +pull up in time, and we were none the worse except for the fright. The +men came racing along to see what had happened, and his face was as +white as death. When he came up he looked straight at me, and at no one +else, though his sister was there and several old friends, and he said, +`_Thank God_!' Only that, but his voice shook as he said it, and he +turned away, as if he could not bear any more. And I felt so strange +and glad, so happy and proud; all that day I felt as if I were walking +on air, but when I went to bed at night I could not sleep, for I +realised suddenly what it meant. He was growing fond of me, and I of +him; if we were together another week, perhaps he would ask me to marry +him and go away to the other end of the world, for he was a soldier--did +I tell you that? And I had promised mother to look after the children +until they were old enough to manage for themselves. I couldn't break +my word, and yet if I stayed on and was nice to him, he might think it +was wrong of me to say No. And I was afraid I couldn't help being +nice." + +The sweet voice broke off suddenly, and Mademoiselle looked into the +grey eyes, and thought that the young soldier was to be congratulated +both on his own good taste, and on the feelings which he had been +fortunate enough to awaken in this best and sweetest of girls. + +"_Eh bien_, and what have you done then?" she inquired eagerly. "It was +a difficult position. What have you done?" + +"Oh, I did nothing. I came away!" said Bridgie, as simply as if that +were not just the most difficult thing she could have done under the +circumstances. "The next morning he went out shooting, and the post +came in at ten o'clock with a letter from father saying that Pat had +fallen from the barn and twisted his ankle. It was very few weeks he +did not fall from the barn, as a matter of fact, but it was an excuse, +so I said I must go home and nurse him, and they drove me to the station +that very afternoon before the men came home." + +Mademoiselle drew in her breath, in a gasp of amazement. She looked at +Bridgie, and her eyes flashed with eloquent comment. It was so +wonderful to think of the courage with which this young thing, with the +bright, pleasure-loving nature which had come to her as an inheritance, +had yet had the courage to deliberately put from her the greatest +happiness which she could have known, in order to devote herself to the +care of others. The simple, unpretentious manner in which the tale was +told, made so light of the incident that it might have involved little +or no suffering; but Mademoiselle knew better, and her voice trembled +with sympathy as she put the low-toned question-- + +"And afterwards--did it hurt--did it hurt very much, _cherie_?" + +"I think it did. I cried a great deal for several nights when I thought +of the good times they were all having together; but I knew it would +have been worse later on, and I comforted myself with that. Besides, +what is the use of giving up a thing at all if one can't do it +cheerfully? It would have been better for me to have married and left +home, than to stay, and make them all miserable by moping and looking +sad. And they are all such darlings, and so loving and kind. I don't +think any other girl ever had such a family as mine!" + +"The Major ignores you; the boys worry you to death; my lady Joan orders +you about as if she were a queen, and you her servant; only the little +Pixie worships you as you deserve to be worshipped," reflected +Mademoiselle mentally; but she kept her reflections to herself, and +asked another question, the answer to which she was longing to hear with +truly feminine curiosity. "And was that all,--the end of everything? +What happened next? Have you not heard or seen him since that time?" + +The red flew over Bridgie's face, and she smiled--a soft, contented +smile. + +"I have never seen him--no! Only a month after that he was ordered to +India, and sailed almost at once, but he wrote to me before he left. A +letter arrived one day in a strange handwriting, but I guessed almost at +once that it was from him. He said he had intended to come to Ireland +in the spring, and to call at Knock Castle, but that now it would be +impossible for some years to come. He said he had enjoyed so much +meeting me for those few days, and he hoped I should not altogether +forget him while he was away. Would I allow him to write to me now and +again, and would I send a photograph for a poor exile to take away to +comfort his loneliness? I had a very nice photograph that a friend of +father had taken the summer before, and I thought there was no harm in +sending him that, and writing a polite little note. It was very short, +and I tried not to make it too nice, and I said nothing at all about +writing, only just remarked that it would be interesting to receive +letters from India," said Bridgie, with a naivete which made +Mademoiselle throw up her hands in delight. "He has written to me four +times since then, and,"--her eyes began to dance, and a dimple danced +mischievously in her cheek--"I enjoy writing to him so much that I +answer them the very next day; but it would not be proper to send them +so soon, you know, so I put no date, but just lock them away in my desk, +and wait for six weeks, or two months before I send them off. Once I +waited for three, and then he sent a newspaper. There was nothing in it +that could interest me in the least, but it was just a gentle hurry up. +I did laugh over that newspaper!" + +"Bridgie, Bridgie! this is more serious than I thought. No wonder you +look upon new-comers with indifference. I hope they are very +interesting, those letters. They must be, I suppose, since you are so +eager to reply." But at this Bridgie shook her head, and shrugged her +shoulders deprecatingly. + +"You are a teacher; perhaps you would call them interesting. For me +they are just a trifle instructive! I want to hear about himself, and +he describes the country, and the expeditions they make. Don't please +think they are love-letters, Therese. They are very, very proper, not +in the least affectionate, and my replies are terribly dull. You see +I'm in an awkward position, for everything that would be interesting it +would not be proper to say, and everything I can say must be +uninteresting, for he knows almost nothing of us or of our people." + +"And yet you are compelled to answer these `instructive epistles' the +moment they arrive, and he cannot wait patiently to receive your so dull +replies. That has only one meaning, my dear, and it will come when he +returns home in a few years, and your children are grown up and able to +be left. It will come. I am sure it will come!" + +"If it is the right thing for me--if it is God's will--yes! it will +come, and meanwhile I am very happy. It is good of Him to have given me +such a hope in my life," said Bridgie simply; and Mademoiselle's eyes +dimmed with sudden tears. Her own nervous, restless spirit was for ever +kicking against the pricks, but she was at least honest enough to +acknowledge her shortcomings, and the example of this young girl filled +her with shame and a humble desire to follow in her footsteps. + +"And I am thankful that He has let me know you. You do me good, +_cherie_. I wish to be more like you," she said humbly; and Bridgie +opened her great eyes in bewilderment. + +"Like me!" she echoed incredulously. "My dear!" The dimple dipped +again, and she slipped her hand through Mademoiselle's arm and shook her +in playful remonstrance. "Don't you make fun of your hostess, or she'll +starve you for your pains. The very idea of clever, accomplished You +wanting to be like blundering Irish Me!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +"TO SEE THE RUINS!" + +"This begins to grow exciting. The plot develops!" said Mademoiselle +gaily to herself, when the fifth day of the last week in the year was +reached, and Mr Geoffrey Hilliard made his fifth appearance on the +scene in transparently accidental-on-purpose manner. On the first day +he had been discovered assiduously pumping up the tyres of a bicycle +immediately outside the Castle gates; on the second, he was lounging +about the village street with an air of boredom which showed that he had +exhausted all the objects of interest long before the O'Shaughnessy +party passed by on their morning walk; on the third, he paid a formal +call in the afternoon and stayed a good two hours by the clock, for +which breach of etiquette he was so much concerned that he was compelled +to come again the next day to apologise, and hope the ladies were not +fatigued. Bridgie smiled polite reassurements, but Esmeralda lay back +in her seat and naughtily yawned, as though in protest against her +sister's words. She affected to conceal her weariness, but it was a +transparent pretence, and the young fellow's eyes twinkled with +amusement. Since the moment of their first meeting there had been this +pretence of antagonism, this playing at fighting on the girl's part; +but, as Bridgie had foretold, the man seemed to find it rather an +encouragement than otherwise, and his smile was never more bright and +self-confident than after an exhibition like the present. + +"Miss Joan seems to have suffered," he said boldly. "I feel truly +guilty; but won't you allow me to remedy the mischief? If I might make +a suggestion, it's a perfect winter afternoon, and you promised to show +me the remains of that old ruin in your grounds. Don't you think that +half an hour's walk before tea would freshen you up?" + +"I detest ruins; they are so dull," said Esmeralda ungraciously; but Mr +Hilliard still continued to smile and to look at her in expectant +fashion, and presently, almost against her will, as it seemed, she rose +from her chair and moved across the room. "Of course, if you really +want to see them! It will only take a few minutes. Come then, Pixie! +You were asking me to come out. It will do you good to come too." + +Bridgie and Mademoiselle exchanged a quick glance of amusement at the +look of disgust which passed over the visitor's face, and which all his +politeness was not able to conceal; but Pixie pranced after her sister +with willing step, for it had never entered into her heart to believe it +possible that there could exist a living creature unto whom her society +could be otherwise than rapturously welcome. In the cloak-room off the +hall she put on two odd shoes, the two which came first to hand, and a +piebald sealskin jacket, which, according to tradition, had descended +from a great-aunt, and which was known in the household as "The jacket," +and worn indiscriminately by whosoever might happen to need a warm wrap. + +The effect of this costume, finished off by an old bowler hat, was so +weird and grotesque that at the first moment of beholding it Hilliard +thought it must surely be a joke designed for his benefit; but the air +of unconsciousness worn by both girls saved him from making a false +move, and he speedily forgot all about Pixie in admiration of her +sister. Whatever Esmeralda wore, it seemed as if this were the dress of +all others to show off her beauty to the best advantage; and the grey +golf-cape and knitted cap, set carelessly over her smoke-like locks, +appeared at once the ideal garments for a winter promenade. Pixie +slipped her arm underneath the cloak to hang on to her sister's arm, and +the three set off together across the snow-bound park. + +"I suppose you know a great deal about ruins, since you are so much +interested in ours," said Esmeralda, as an opening to the conversation. +"People are always interested in things they understand. That's the +only reason why I should like to be clever and learned--it would make +life so much more satisfying. It doesn't amuse me in the least to see +old walls, and bits of pillars sticking out of the earth. I'd pull them +all down and build something new in their place if I had the chance, but +people who understand are quite different. Some people came here once +on a picnic from Dublin, and father gave them permission to see over the +grounds. Of course it rained, but they all stood round on the damp, +soaking grass while an old gentleman gave a lecture about that miserable +little ruin. He said something about the shape of the windows, and they +all took notes and sketches and snapshots, as if they had never seen +anything so wonderful in their lives. There is a bit of a pillar two +yards high. He prosed away about that until I had to yawn, but they +seemed to like it. Some of them were quite young too. There was a girl +rather like Bridgie, with such a pretty hat!" Esmeralda heaved a sigh +of melancholy recollection. "She stood there and let the rain soak +through the ribbons while she sketched the stupid old things. I envied +her so! I thought, `Why can't I be interested in ruins too, and then I +should have something to think about, and to amuse myself with when the +time feels so long?'" + +"Does the time seem long to you, then? Do you find it dull over here?" +asked Hilliard, in a tone that was almost tender in its anxious +solicitude; and Esmeralda heaved a sigh of funereal proportions, +delighted to find herself supplied with a listener ready to sympathise +with her woes. A home audience is proverbially stoical, and after the +jeers and smiles of brothers and sisters, it was a refreshing change to +wake a note of distress at the very beginning of a conversation. She +became suddenly conscious of a feeling of acute enjoyment, but +endeavoured to look pensive, as befitted the occasion, and rolled her +grey eyes upward with eloquent sadness. + +"Oh, dull! Dull does not express my feelings! We are so shut in here, +and so little happens, and I know nothing. I have had no chance of +learning and finding interests in that way." + +"Why didn't ye study, then, when ye had the chance? Ye drove Miss +Minnitt crazy with your idleness!" interposed Pixie brutally; and +Esmeralda flushed and hesitated, momentarily discomfited, then, +recovering herself, cast a melancholy glance in Hilliard's face. + +"Our old governess," she explained resignedly, in the tone of one who +might speak volumes, but is restrained from feelings of loyalty and +decorum. "A kind old creature, so good to us! She has lived in this +village all her life." + +"I understand," said the model listener. It seemed to him quite natural +that this beautiful creature possessed an intellect to match her person, +and felt her eagle wings pinioned in the atmosphere of an Irish village. +He wished he were only more intellectual himself, so that he might be a +fitter companion, and devoutly hoped that he might make no bad slip to +betray his ignorance, and so alienate her sweet confidence. "As you +say, the more one knows, the less possible it should be to be dull or +idle. Amusement can never make up for good solid occupation." + +"Oh, never, never!" cried Miss Esmeralda, with a fervour which brought +Pixie's eyes upon her in a flash of righteous indignation. Esmeralda to +talk like this! Esmeralda, who sat at ease while others worked, who +groaned aloud if asked to sew on a button, and was at once so dilatory +and so inefficient that Bridgie declared it was easier to do a task at +once than to unravel it after her vain attempts. Pixie gasped and +pranced on ahead, her back towards the direction in which she was going, +her face turned upon the culprit in kindling reproach. + +"Joan O'Shaughnessy, what's happened to you to talk in such a fashion +this day? You, that doesn't know the meaning of work, to be sighing and +groaning that you haven't enough to do! You, to be saying that it would +cheer you to be busy, when ye sigh like a furnace and grumble the day +long if you have to work for an hour on end! I've heard ye say with my +own ears that if you had your own way, you would never do another hand's +turn, and of all the lazy, idle girls--" + +"Wouldn't it perhaps be wise if you looked which way you were going? +The ground is rough, and I'm afraid you will have a fall," interposed +Hilliard mildly; not that he was in truth the least bit anxious about +this strange child's safety, or could not have witnessed her downfall +with equanimity, but in pity for Esmeralda's embarrassment she could not +be allowed to continue her tirade indefinitely. He was rewarded by a +melting glance, as the beauty sighed once more, and said, in a tone of +sweet forbearance-- + +"She does not understand! She has been away, and that's not the sort of +work I meant; and besides--" + +She stopped short, for she could not think how to finish the sentence, +and the fear of Pixie was ever before her eyes. It was in a different +and much more natural voice that she again took up her explanation. +"Perhaps I was mistaken in saying it was work I wanted, but it is +certainly interest. I have never been farther away than Dublin, and I +get so tired and weary of it all, and have such a longing for something +fresh. The others don't feel it, for they are so fond of the place; but +I'm restless. I feel pent in, knowing the world is moving on and on, +all the time, and I am shut up here, and sometimes the longing comes +over me so strongly that it's more than I can bear, and I fall into--" + +"A rage!" said Pixie calmly. Esmeralda had paused just long enough to +draw that short eloquent breath which adds so largely to the eloquence +of a peroration, and was preparing to roll out a tragic "despair," when +that tiresome child must needs interfere and spoil everything by her +suggestion. Esmeralda's anger was quickly roused, but fortunately even +quicker still was her sense of humour. For a moment clouds and sunshine +struggled together upon her face, then the sunshine prevailed, she +looked at Hilliard, beheld him biting his lips in a vain effort to +preserve composure, and went off into peal after peal of rich, melodious +laughter. + +"Next time I wish to talk at my ease, it's not bringing you out with me +I'll be, Pixie O'Shaughnessy!" she cried between her gasps; and +Hilliard's merry "Ho! ho! ho!" rang out in echo. + +"She is indeed a most painfully honest accompanist. I am thankful that +I have no small brothers to give me away in return. You give your +sister a very bad character, Miss Pixie; but you seem very little in awe +of her, I notice. She must possess some redeeming qualities to make up +for the bad ones you have quoted." + +Pixie bent her head in benignant assent, as one bound by honesty to see +both sides of a question and to deal out praise with blame. + +"She's idle," she said judicially, "and she's hasty, but she's sorry +afterwards. The more awful her temper, the quicker she's sorry. The +night after you left--" + +"Thank you, Pixie, you can spare us further domestic revelations!" cried +Esmeralda, flushing in lovely confusion, and keeping her face turned +away from the merry blue eyes so persistently bent upon her. "There's +one comfort, Mr Hilliard. You know the worst of me now, and there is +nothing more to dread. Pixie has spoiled my chance of posing as a +blighted genius, and shown me as just a bad-tempered, discontented girl +who has not the sense to be satisfied with her position. I'm sorry, for +it would have been interesting to hear you talk like the clever, +intellectual people in books, and perhaps, if I had kept very quiet and +agreed with all you said, you wouldn't have discovered my ignorance for +quite a long time to come." + +"But, dear me, you would have discovered mine! I couldn't have kept it +up for an hour. You surely don't expect me to lecture on improving +topics!" cried Hilliard, in such transparent amaze that Esmeralda could +not but be convinced of his sincerity. + +"Then you are not clever either!" she exclaimed. "What a relief! Now +we can just talk comfortably, and not pretend any more. But at any rate +you have seen more than we have. Have you travelled much? What have +you seen? What countries have you been in?" + +"I can hardly say straight off. Let me count. France, Belgium, +Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey--" + +The "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" of astonishment had been steadily gaining in +volume, but at the sound of this last name they reached a perfect shriek +of delight. There was something so very strange and mysterious about +Turkey that even to see a man who had visited its borders gave one a +thrill of excitement. Pixie's premeditated boast that she had been in +Surbiton died upon her lips, and Esmeralda's eyes grew soft with wonder. + +"Turkey! Oh, you are a traveller! What on earth made you go to +Turkey?" + +"It was part of a tour on which my uncle took me after leaving the +University, and I went even farther afield than that,--to Palestine and +Egypt. You would like Egypt even better than Turkey, Miss Joan, for +there, thanks to our rule, you have picturesqueness without squalor, +whereas Turkey does not stand a close inspection. We were thankful to +leave Constantinople after a very few days, but were sad indeed to turn +our backs on fascinating Cairo. If I had the seven-leagued boots, I +should be a frequent visitor over there." + +The two sisters linked arms, and gazed at him with awe-stricken eyes. + +"And you have seen veiled women," sighed Esmeralda softly, "and Mont +Blanc, and the Pyramids, and the desert, and the Red Sea, and Saint +Peter's at Rome, and all the things I have dreamt about ever since I was +a child! Oh, you are lucky! I think I should die with joy if anyone +offered to take me a trip like that. Did you have any adventures? What +did you like best? Begin at the beginning, and tell us all about it!" + +Well, as our American cousins would say, this was rather a large order; +but Hilliard could refuse nothing to such an audience, and, if the truth +must be told, had his full share of the traveller's love of relating his +experiences. He passed lightly over days spent in countries near home, +but grew even more and more animated as he went farther afield, and +reached the Eastern surroundings in which he delighted. + +"Shall I tell you about Palestine? I never knew anything stranger than +arriving at that railway station and seeing `Jerusalem' written up on +the hoardings. It seemed extraordinary to have a station there at all, +and such a station! It was in autumn, and everything was white with +dust. Outside in the road were a number of the most extraordinary- +looking vehicles you can possibly imagine, white as if they had been +kept in a flour mill, and as decrepit as if a hundred years had passed +since they were last used. How they kept together at all was a marvel +to me, and as for the harness, there was more string than leather to be +seen. The drive from the station to the hotel was one of the most +exciting things I ever experienced. I am not nervous, and have had as +much driving as most fellows, but that was a bit too much even for me. +The road is very hilly, turns sharply at many corners, and is, of +course, badly made to the last degree, so that it would have seemed +difficult enough to manage suck crazy vehicles even at a foot-pace; but +our fellow drove as if the Furies were at his back, as if it were a +question of life and death to get to the hotel before any of his +companions. He stood up on the box and shouted to his horses; he lashed +at them with his whip; he yelled imprecations to the rivals who were +galloping in pursuit. When an especially dangerous corner came in view, +two drivers made for it in a reckless stampede, which made it seem +certain that one or other must be hurled to the bottom of the hill. A +lady inside our carriage burst into a flood of tears, and I believe her +companions were all clinging to one another in terror. As for me, I was +on the box, and I never passed a more exciting ten minutes. We were +told afterwards that we had had the best driver in Jerusalem, but I +never engaged his services again. + +"That same night in the hotel I was introduced to a dragoman, whom we +engaged to take us about. I am sure you will like to hear about Salim, +for, apart from himself, he had a great claim to attention, for he had +been Gordon's dragoman years ago when he was in Egypt. Yes! I knew +that would interest you, and you would have loved Salim for his own sake +too. He had a gentle, sad face, with the beautiful dark eyes of the +Eastern, and he spoke English remarkably well. He was unmarried, and +lived with his mother and a married brother. Sixteen years he and his +sister-in-law had lived in the same house, but he had never seen her +face. He had been unlucky in money matters, but accepted his poverty +with the placid acquiescence of the Oriental. I remember one day when +he told me of a piece of good fortune which had befallen a fellow- +dragoman, and I said that I hoped he might be similarly fortunate. He +bowed his head with quiet dignity, and waved a brown hand in the air. +`That is with God, sahib--that is with God!' I used to question him +about Gordon, and he loved to talk of him. `He was a good man, sahib, +better than any bishop. When we were camping in the desert he was up +every morning before it was light, kneeling to pray before his tent, and +his heart was so great that he could not bear to see anyone in trouble. +I must always keep with me a bag with small moneys, and he would not +wait to be asked. Everyone who needed must be helped. When he went +away he gave me his two best horses, but my heart was sore. He was a +great chief--a great chief; but I heard afterwards that when he came to +die he was quite poor--the same as Christ!'" + +Hilliard told a story well, and now, as he repeated the words, his voice +softened into the deep cadence of the Eastern tones, in which they had +first been said; his hand waved and his eye kindled with emotion. + +Esmeralda looked at him, and her heart gave a throb of admiration. The +manner in which he had spoken was unmistakably reverent, and if young +men only knew it, there is nothing which a girl loves more than a +mingling of manliness and reverence in the man who singles her out for +attention. + +"He is a good man; I like him," was the mental comment. Aloud she said +dreamily, "Gordon is my hero. I love to hear about him. He was too +generous to others to heap up money for himself. I suppose he didn't +care about it. I wish I didn't, but I do. It's so very distressing to +be always short of money. All the good people in books are poor, but +for myself I think it's bad for the temper. They talk about the peril +of riches, but I should like to try it for myself, wouldn't you, Mr +Hilliard?" + +Hilliard smiled--a quiet, amused smile. + +"Well, I don't know. Everything is comparative. If some people would +think us poor, others would most certainly consider us very rich indeed. +We have all that we need, and for myself I'm quite content. I manage +to have a very good time." + +"And you get away for holidays like this. That must make it easier. +Have you to work very hard? What is your work? In what way do you make +your living?" + +Once more Hilliard smiled in amusement, and in truth there was a +directness about Esmeralda's questionings which was as unusual as it was +unconscious. He put up his hand and stroked one end of his curly +moustache. + +"Glue!" + +"Glue!" echoed Esmeralda shrilly. + +"Glue!" shrieked Pixie in even shriller echo. + +The two pairs of eyes were fixed upon him in horrified incredulity. The +pity, the commiseration of their expressions was touching to behold. + +"Oh, poor fellow!" sighed Esmeralda softly. "You _must_ be poor! How +can anyone manage to make a living out of--glue?" + +"But you know, Esmeralda darling, it is useful! We break such heaps of +things ourselves. We often use it," urged Pixie anxiously; and at this +her sister brightened visibly. + +"We do. That's true for you, Pixie. Perhaps it's your glue we use, Mr +Hilliard. Dear me, it will be quite cheering when we break anything +after this! We shall feel we are helping a friend by our misfortune." + +"That's very kind of you. I'll remember that you said that, and it will +cheer me too," replied Hilliard gallantly, and at that very moment a +sound came to the ears of all. "The gong! It must be tea-time. They +are sounding it to let us hear. I hope I have not kept you out too +long." + +Ten minutes later they were all seated in the hall enjoying tea and +scones, while Bridgie smiled sweetly on their flushed, animated faces. + +"You look well after your walk," she said. "And what did Mr Hilliard +think of our tame ruins?" + +Pixie looked at Esmeralda; Esmeralda looked at Mr Hilliard; Mr +Hilliard looked at his boots. One and all they had forgotten all about +the ruins! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE UNWRITTEN PAGE. + +The New Year gathering was a great success, and justified Esmeralda's +boast that she would organise an entertainment which should be both +original and striking. Mademoiselle was not admitted to the secret +conferences, for she was to be surprised with the other guests; but she +could not shut her ears, and would not have done so if she could, for +the sound of the music which rose to her ears was too melodious to lose. +One and all the O'Shaughnessys possessed beautiful singing voices, and +though the carols which they rehearsed were simple in themselves, they +were practised with a care which made them a joy to hear. Over and over +again the Major made his choir repeat a certain phrase, until the +_diminuendo_ or _crescendo_ was rendered to his satisfaction, until +opening and closing notes sounded together to the instant, and due +expression was given to every mark. Music he loved, and over music +would spend time and trouble which he would have grudged in almost every +other way; but he rubbed his hands with satisfaction when the last +rehearsal was over, and boasted gleefully that for carol-singing not +many choirs could be found to beat his own. + +By eight o'clock the girls were dressed and strutting up and down the +hall to exhibit themselves to the gaze of their companions. Bridgie +wore her coming-out dress--not so white as it had once been, but +carefully chalked at the worst places, and swathed in lovely old lace +round the shoulders. Esmeralda sported a pink moire dress which had +once belonged to her mother, with a voluminous sash of white muslin, +since nothing more elaborate was to hand, a wreath of roses out of last +summer's hat pinned over one shoulder, with all the crunched-up leaves +ironed out smooth and flat, and white gloves cleaned with benzoline +until you could hardly tell them from new. She was a vision of +elegance, or looked so at least to the ordinary observer; for when a +girl is eighteen, and a beauty at that, she is bound to look charming, +whatever be her clothes. + +At nine o'clock the guests were asked, and the hour had barely struck +before they began to arrive. The sound of horses' feet was heard from +without, wheels drew up before the door, and in they came, one party +after another, having driven across country in the cold and the dark for +five, for six, and in one instance for ten long miles, but arriving +fresh and radiant for all that, and brimming over with good humour. +Mademoiselle thought that she had not seen such a merry assembly since +leaving her own dear land, or heard such a babel of tongues. Everyone +seemed to know everyone else, and to be on terms of closest intimacy and +affection; everyone talked at once and exclaimed with rapture and +admiration at the preparations for the entertainment. It was easy to +amuse such a company, and dancing and games were carried on with gusto +in the long drawing-room, which had been prepared for the occasion, and +looked comparatively festive with great fires burning in the fireplaces +at either end. + +Soon after eleven o'clock the different members of the O'Shaughnessy +family began to slip out of the room, but almost before their absence +was noted, the Major was ringing a bell to attract attention and +marshalling the company to the far end of the room. At the same signal +two servants entered the room, turned out the lamps, and drew aside the +curtains from the mullioned windows, through which the grounds could be +seen, lying white and still in the moonlight. There was a rustle of +expectation among the guests, for evidently something was about to +happen, something appropriate to the day and the hour, yet what it could +be no one had the ghost of an idea. That was the best of those dear +O'Shaughnessys, a smiling lady confided to Geoffrey Hilliard--no one +could tell what they would be up to next! They were different from +everybody else, and their ways were so much more amusing and charming +than the ordinary stereotyped usages of society. + +Hilliard agreed with fervour, and found an additional proof of the +assertion as, one by one, a picturesque band of carollers entered the +room by the farthest door and took up their position in a semicircle +facing the audience. They were uniformly robed in black, with cowl-like +hoods hanging loosely round the face, and each bore a stick, on the end +of which waved a brilliant Japanese lantern. The lights lit up the +features of the singers, and seldom indeed had "the beautiful +O'Shaughnessys" appeared to greater advantage than at this moment. +Jack's handsome features and commanding stature made him appear a type +of young manhood, Miles for once forgot to grimace, and Pat's misleading +air of innocence was even more guileless and touching than usual. As +for the girls, Esmeralda looked like a picture by Rossetti, and +Bridgie's halo of golden hair was more bewitching than ever in its +sombre setting. No one looked at Pixie until the signal was given and +the choristers burst into song, when she came in for even more than her +own share of admiration, for the treble solos were without exception +given to her to sing, and the piercing sweetness of the young voice +moved some of the more emotional of the audience to surreptitious tears. + +Several carols were sung, interspersed with part-songs suitable to the +occasion, and then the singers formed up in rank two and two, and at the +Major's request the guests followed their example, making a long +procession in the rear. Another song was started, something slow and +plaintive in tone, its subject being the dying year, with regret for all +that it had brought of joy and gladness, and to its strains the +procession started on a strange and charming expedition. Down one long +corridor, unlit save by the cold light from without and the warm flicker +of lantern ahead along a deserted wing, where dust lay thick on the +walls and the faces of departed ancestors looked down sadly from their +tarnished frames, finally down the circular staircase, from which +Esmeralda had had her first glimpse of Geoffrey Hilliard, and so into +the great hall beneath. At the end farthest from the door the Major +halted, raised one hand, and called aloud in slow, solemn tones. + +"Prithee, silence!" he said. That was all--"Prithee, silence!" and at +the sound there was another flutter of excitement among the guests. The +hands of the clock pointed to four minutes to twelve, and it was evident +that the last item in the charming programme was about to take place. +Ladies moved about on tiptoe, mounting the first steps of the staircase, +or standing on stools to ensure a better view. Men moved politely to +the rear. There was a minute's preoccupation, and when the general gaze +was once more turned to the doorway, it was seen that a significant +change had taken place in the scene. + +Against a background of screens stood the figure of an old man--a very +old man, it would appear, since his back was bowed and his head and +beard white as the snow on the ground outside. His brown cloak hung in +tatters, and he leant heavily upon his staff. A deep-toned "Ah-h!" +sounded through the assembly, and showed that the onlookers were at no +loss to understand the character which he was intended to represent. +"The Old Year," murmured one voice after another. + +Then a solemn hush fell over all as the clock ticked out the last +minutes, and through the opened door came a blast of icy air and a few +flakes of snow, blown inwards by the wind. Only another minute, and +then there it came--the slow, solemn chiming of the clock on the tower. +One, two, three. Good-bye, Old Year! What if you have brought troubles +in your wake, you have brought blessings too, and sunny summer hours! +Four, five, six--Dear old friend, we are sorrier to part with thee than +we knew! We have not appreciated thee enough, made enough of thy +opportunities. If we have ever reproached thee, thou hast cause to +reproach us now. Seven, eight, nine. Going so soon? We were used to +thee, and had been long companions, and of the new and untried there is +always a dread. Good-bye, Old Year! Take with thee our blessings and +our thanks, our sorrowful regrets for all wherein we have been amiss. +Ten, eleven, _twelve_. + +It is here! The New Year has come, and to greet its arrival such a +clashing of bells, such an outburst of strange and jangling sounds as +fairly deafened the listening ears. Molly, grinning from ear to ear, +was running the broom-handle up and down the row of bells outside the +servants' hall. Mike was belabouring the gong as if his life depended +on his exertions. The stable-boy was blowing shrilly through a tin +whistle, and the fat old cook was dashing trays of empty mustard-tins on +the stone floor, and going off into peals of laughter between each +movement. + +Perhaps it was owing to the stunning effect of this sudden noise that +what had happened at the doorway seemed to have something of the +quickness of magic to the astonished onlookers, but a good deal of the +credit was still due to the castors, on which the screens had been +mounted, to an ingenious arrangement of strings, and to many and careful +rehearsals. Certain it is that, whereas at one moment the figure of the +Old Year was visible to all, at the next he had disappeared, and the +sound of that last long chime had hardly died away before another figure +stood in his place. No need to ask the name of the visitor. It was +once more patent to the most obtuse beholder. A small, girlish figure +with dark locks falling loosely over the shoulders, with a straight +white gown reaching midway between the knees and the ankles, and showing +little bare feet encased in sandals. A few white blossoms were held +loosely in one hand, and in the other a long white scroll--the page on +which was to be inscribed the history of an untried path. + +Pixie's face was white and awed, for the solemnity of the occasion and +the poetry of the impersonation alike appealed to her emotional nature, +and there was an expression upon the plain little face which was more +impressive than any mere pink and white prettiness, as more than one of +the onlookers remarked with astonishment. + +"Who could have believed that that child could look like that?" cried +Geoffrey Hilliard to Mademoiselle, and that young lady tossed her head +with an impatient movement. + +"Why not, pray? If Pixie is not pretty, she is something better--she is +_spirituelle_!" for it had come to this, that Mademoiselle could not +endure to hear Pixie adversely criticised, and resented a depreciating +remark as hotly as if it had had reference to herself. + +At this point the formal programme came to an end, and the guests +hurried forward to shake hands with their hosts and thank them over and +over again for the entertainment which they had provided, while the +choristers shed their monk-like robes, (nothing after all but mackintosh +cloaks with hoods cut out of black calico!) and appeared once more in +evening dress. The way was led to the dining-room, where refreshments +were spread out on the long table, and there was much drinking of +healths and exchanging of good wishes for the New Year. Everyone was +hungry and happy, and Mademoiselle's cakes and jellies were much +appreciated; but Esmeralda sighed as she looked around, and ate +sandwiches with such a pensive air that Hilliard demanded the reason of +her depression. + +"This!" she sighed, holding out the half-eaten fragment, on which was +plainly circled the mark of small white teeth. "It hurts my sense of +fitness. We should have had boar's head and venison, and a sheep +roasted whole. We have some lovely old silver dishes which would have +held them, but--" the "but" was significant, and she raised her +beautiful shoulders with a shrug--"those days have departed. We have to +be content with sandwiches now." + +"There's no limit to one, surely," Hilliard replied gravely. "We will +keep this plate to ourselves, for I am prepared to eat a very good half, +and you must be hungry after your exertions. I can't tell how much I +have enjoyed this evening. It will stand out in my memory as unlike any +other I have ever spent. I shall often recall it when I am back in +town." + +"When--when are you going back?" asked Esmeralda, with an anxiety which +she made no effort to conceal. "Not very soon, I hope. Jack goes to- +morrow, and that is quite enough at one time. Oh, I do hate the end of +the Christmas season! Everyone seems to go away. In a fortnight or so +Pixie will be off, and Mademoiselle with her. It has been so delightful +having a visitor in the house, and she has been so kind and useful. She +made most of the things on the table to-night,--all those pretty iced +cakes." + +"Ah, yes! Very clever, I'm sure," said Hilliard absently. It was easy +to see that he had no attention to spare for Mademoiselle or her +confectionery, and presently he added in a lower tone, "There is no +immediate hurry for my return. I can just as well stay another three or +four days, but I must be back in town before this day week. I fear +there is no getting out of that." + +"Glue?" queried Esmeralda saucily. They were sitting together at a +little table behind most of the other guests, and she lay back in her +chair looking up at him with a roguish smile. "Glue?" + +"Glue principally. It is a very--er--engrossing occupation," returned +Hilliard, nobly resisting the inclination to pun; "but I think it could +manage without me for a few days longer, and perhaps we could have +another ride together. There is a meet somewhere near the day after to- +morrow. Shall you be there?" + +Esmeralda hesitated, seized with a sudden mysterious disinclination to +say "No," a desperate longing to say "Yes," and yet--and yet,--how could +it decently be done? + +"I--don't know! It's Bridgie's turn. We have only one horse between +us, and I have been the last three times. I don't like to ask her +again. It seems so mean." + +"But if you did ask, she would let you go. She would not mind taking +her turn later on?" + +"Oh no, or not at all, for the matter of that. There's nothing Bridgie +wouldn't give away if anyone else wanted it. She's an angel. It's just +because she's so sweet that I'm ashamed to be selfish." + +"I can understand that, but--just for once! If you were to ask her very +nicely to change places with you this time, because--because--er--"-- +Hilliard hesitated and pulled his moustache in embarrassment--"because +you--" + +"Yes, that's just it. What can I say? Because what?" laughed Esmeralda +gaily, then suddenly met the gaze of a pair of deep blue eyes, twinkling +no longer, but fixed upon her in intent, earnest scrutiny, and flushed +in mysterious embarrassment. + +"Because it was my last chance, and I had asked you especially to be +there. Because I had stayed on purpose to have another ride with you! +That's the true reason, so far as I am concerned. I am sure, if you +told Miss Bridgie the truth, she wouldn't have the heart to say No." + +Esmeralda looked down at the table and crumbled bread thoughtfully. She +was by no means so sure. Bridgie was enough of a mother to take fright +at such an open declaration of interest. She would not be so rash as to +repeat the conversation _verbatim_, but go to that meet she would, let +Bridgie refuse ten times over, let every horse disappear from the +stable. Go she would, if she had to borrow the pedlar's pony and ride +barebacked all the way. Such was the mental decision; aloud she said +languidly-- + +"Don't know, I'm sure! Perhaps I may be too tired. I'll see when the +time comes," and stretched out her hand to beckon Pixie to her side. + +Hilliard smiled quietly. He had an extraordinary way of seeing through +Esmeralda's pretences, and he welcomed Pixie as genially as if the +_tete-a-tete_ were of no consequence in his eyes. + +"Well, little white New Year, are you coming to sit down beside us? +Have you had no supper yet? I am sure you must be hungry after all your +exertions. Let me wait upon you now, in return for all the pleasure you +have given me by your charming singing." + +But no, Pixie refused to sit down or to eat any of the good things +pressed upon her. For once in her life jellies and creams, even +meringues themselves, failed to tempt her appetite, for she was feasting +on an even sweeter diet--that of unlimited flattery and praise. As she +strolled to and fro among the guests she was greeted on every side with +words of commendation for her singing, her charming impersonation of the +character assigned to her, and by the more facetious members of the +party implored to smile kindly upon them, to promise them her favour, +and to remember their especial desires. It was not likely that she was +going to sit down in a corner of the room with no one but her sister and +that stupid Mr Hilliard, who did nothing but stare at Esmeralda, as if +he had never seen a girl before. She shook her head as he pointed to a +chair, but lingered a moment to allow him to examine her costume and pay +the proper tribute of praise. + +"It's charming--quite charming--so simple, and yet so effective. Those +few loose flowers are much better than a formal bouquet, and the +scroll--who made the scroll? It is most professional, and I see you +have a pencil hanging by the side,--white,--to match the rest." He +lifted it as he spoke, and made as though about to write, but at that +Pixie drew back in dismay. + +"No, you mustn't! Be careful,--you must be careful. It won't rub out." + +She walked hastily away, and the two who were left looked at each other, +half sad, half smiling, for the words went home with a meaning deeper +than any which the speaker had intended to convey. + +"Be careful. It won't rub out," repeated Hilliard slowly. "That's a +good motto for the New Year. I don't know that one could have a better. +I shall remember that, and the scroll all white and unmarked. I wonder +what will be written there before the year is done?" + +"A great deal, I hope--a great many happenings. I am tired of jogging +along in the same old way. I would like a sensational headline in big +print, and that as soon as possible!" cried Esmeralda recklessly. + +Poor Esmeralda! The day was near at hand when she recalled her words, +and winced at the remembrance in sorrow and misery. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +THE LAST RUN. + +"Me dear," said Bridgie to Mademoiselle, the next morning, showing all +her dimples at once in the most mischievous of smiles, "what do you +think Mr Hilliard said to me last night before he left? He has made +arrangements to stay a few days later to have another ride with the +hounds. He believed it would be a very good meet on Thursday, and how +wonderfully my sister did ride, to be sure. It's my belief he started +with the intention of asking me to let Esmeralda go in my place, but I +looked so innocent at him that he hadn't the heart. `Indeed,' I said, +`she did so, and I feared he would think I made but a poor show in +comparison.' Wasn't it cruel of me now, and the poor thing looking at +me speechless, with those lovely, humbugging eyes! I had to turn away +and laugh in a corner, but I wouldn't relent, for, says I to myself, if +I have to give up my run, I'll get some fun another way--and it is +amusing, isn't it now, when a man shows you so plainly that he doesn't +want you?" + +"Indeed that is a form of humour I do not understand!" returned +Mademoiselle, with her nose in the air. "But you will give way, of +course--that goes without saying--and let Esmeralda go once again. You +will not stand out to the end!" + +"How could I? Suppose it was myself, and--someone I told you about. +How should I feel if I had the chance of seeing him, and she would not +allow me? I believe they are really beginning to care for each other, +and he is a nice man. I should like him well enough." + +"A week ago you were alarmed at the thought! I confess he makes on me a +pleasant impression, but surely you know very little about him, and it +is rather rash to accept him at once as a possible suitor. What do you +know beyond that he is handsome, and appears amiable and kind?" + +"His uncle was one of the Hilliards of Nanabeg. My father knew him +well, and he was a fine, old-fashioned gentleman. That was what made +this Mr Geoffrey come here for the hunting. He had heard his uncle +speak of Bally William, and the Trelawneys take paying guests for the +hunting season, so he arranged to come to them. He is not very well +off, I'm afraid, for Joan tells me that he has to make his money out of +glue, poor creature! But he must be nice, if he is the old squire's +nephew." + +Mademoiselle's eyes rolled upward with an eloquent glance. It was a new +article of faith that a nephew must needs be exemplary because his uncle +had been a popular country squire, but she held her peace and amused +herself by watching the play which went on between the two sisters +during the next twenty-four hours. Esmeralda was plainly anxious and +ill at ease, and made tentative allusions to the coming meet, which +Bridgie received with bland obtuseness. She had not the courage to make +her request in so many words, but instead brought forward a succession +of gloomy prophecies calculated to dampen expectation in the mind of any +but the most enthusiastic rider. + +"It will be a heavy run to-morrow," she said, shaking her head dismally +as she glanced out of the window on the quickly melting snow. "I +wouldn't wonder if it poured with rain! It's a fine draggled set the +women will look before they get home." + +"I prefer the ground soft, and as for sunshine, it's a thing I detest,-- +dazzling your eyes, and the poor mare's into the bargain. Dull weather +and a cloudy sky is what I hope to see, and for once it looks as if I +should get my wish." + +"Well, it's good weather you need, to get safely over that country. Mr +O'Brien was saying only last season that it was the worst we had. There +are some nasty bits of water this side of Roskillie, and they will be +swollen with all this snow. Now next week over at Aughrin it really +will be pleasant and comfortable." + +"I'm so glad, darling! I hope you will enjoy it!" Bridgie put her head +on one side, with a smile of angelic sweetness. Then, as Esmeralda +flounced from the room in disgust, turned back to Mademoiselle, +laughingly penitent. + +"Isn't it wicked of me now, but I do enjoy it! She must care very much +to be so shy about asking, for in an ordinary way she would have blurted +it out long ago. Well, I shall just wait until to-morrow, and then I'll +say I am--" she paused to laugh over the word--"indisposed!" + +There is many a true word spoken in jest, and Bridgie was reminded of +the proverb when the next morning arrived, and her inclination for +hunting or any other amusement died a sudden death through an incident +which happened at the breakfast-table. The Major was the only one of +the party who received a letter, and when he had perused it he gave an +exclamation of dismay, and leant back in his chair with an expression of +bewilderment. "It can't be! It isn't possible!" he muttered to +himself, and when Bridgie inquired the reason of his distress, he threw +the letter across the table with an impatient movement. + +"That wretched bank! They say I have overdrawn. It's impossible,-- +there was a decent balance only a few months back! They have made some +mistake. I am positive it is a mistake." + +He left the room as he spoke, for breakfast had come to an end at last, +after the usual long-drawn-out proceedings, and he had waited until he +had finished his meal before opening the uninteresting looking envelope, +and only Bridgie was left, sitting patiently behind the urn, with +Mademoiselle to keep her company. She also rose as if to go, feeling +that she might be _de trop_ under the circumstances, but Bridgie raised +a pale face, and said flatly-- + +"Don't run away, Therese, I'd rather you stayed! I knew it must come +some day. It's only a little sooner than I expected." + +"But, _ma cherie_--don't look like that, Bridgie dear! Your father says +there is a mistake. He seemed surprised like yourself. If, as he says, +the bank is mistaken--" + +But at this Bridgie shook her head with doleful conviction. + +"The bank is never wrong! Oh, I've been through this before, and every +time father declares it's a mistake, but it never is! I've been +disappointed so often that I can't hope any more. Poor dear father +seems to have no idea how quickly money goes, and he is so extravagant +with his horses. He bought a new hunter this autumn, and made +alterations in the stables. I have tried to be careful, but, as I said +before, it is so little I can do! Well, this is the last stage but one. +There are a few more shares that can be sold to keep us going for a +little longer, and then out we go. Poor father, he won't be able to +carry out his programme at this rate. Esmeralda's duke has not come +forward, and neither has my millionaire. When we leave the Castle we +shall have to squeeze into a cottage, and live on potatoes and +buttermilk. I am glad I am not going to the meet. I should have been +wretched all the time, but Joan need not know until she comes back." + +Bridgie's pale cheeks seemed sufficient explanation of her determination +to stay at home, and Esmeralda was sweetly sympathetic and concerned, +but quite decided that exertion must at all costs be avoided. + +"Me dear, you must not think of going! It would be madness. I'll keep +father company, so don't you worry a bit, but just lie down and take it +easy the whole day long," she cried gushingly; and Bridgie smiled, +despite her heartache, and felt comforted by the reflection that two +people would owe their happiness to her absence. + +The Major looked very handsome in his "pink" coat, but his brow was +clouded, and he sighed profoundly as he came into the dining-room to +light his cigar, and saw his eldest daughter standing disconsolately by +the window. + +"So you are not coming after all, Bride? Letting Joan take your place? +Well, everyone to his taste. I feel as if it would do me good to have a +hard run and let off steam that way. I'll show them some riding to-day, +if they have never seen it before. There won't be much that will stand +in my way, but you prefer to stay at home and eat your heart out in +quiet. Your mother was the same; she couldn't throw it off. It's a +pity for your own sake you don't take after me instead." Then suddenly, +as he looked at her, his face altered, and he put his arms round her +with a rare tenderness. "Poor little woman! Poor little anxious +Martha, this is rough on you! I've brought about this ill day by my +thoughtlessness. If I'd been as careful as you, we might have lasted +out until the children were grown up, but I was like Micawber--always +expecting something to `turn up.' You must try to forgive me, Bride. +You must not be hard on your old father!" + +Ah, and it was a lovely sight to see Bridget O'Shaughnessy's face at +that moment--the sweetness of it, and the pity and tenderness, and the +deep, unselfish love! Her father was touched by the sight, and lingered +by her side, stroking her soft hair and murmuring fond, regretful words. + +"I haven't treated you well. That minx Joan has twisted me round her +finger, and you have suffered for it. You have had a hard time these +last two years. Never mind, we'll make a fresh start. I'll turn over a +new leaf from this day, and you shall take me in hand. Who knows but we +may pull through yet?" + +He went off waving his hand in adieu, and Bridgie stood watching the two +riders until they disappeared from sight, and repeating his loving words +with fond appreciation. Hard time! Who had had a hard time? She was a +fortunate girl to have had so much love and kindness, to possess such a +dear, gallant, handsome father. What if they had to leave the Castle? +Happiness did not depend upon the walls by which they were surrounded. +So long as they were all together, they might laugh at poverty! + +Meanwhile Esmeralda and her father were gently trotting along towards +the park at Roskillie, from whence, in hunting parlance, they were to +proceed to "draw Long Gorse," and on their way were enjoying the +picturesque surroundings of a meet in the country. Along every high +road, footpath, and byroad came horses and riders of various sorts and +sizes, walking or jogging along towards the central point. Schoolboys +were coming on ponies to see the start, farmers on clever nags; neatly +dressed grooms riding, or leading horses conspicuous for shape and +beauty. Down the cross-road approached the hounds themselves, headed by +their whipper-in and surrounding the picturesque figure of the huntsman. +They took up their position in the park, and presently from every point +of the compass the scarlet coats came trotting forward, followed by a +string of drags, dogcarts, and gigs. The Major and his daughter came in +for greetings on every side, for they were among old friends, and the +girl's beauty and daring had made her popular with all. There were +other ladies present, but they looked colourless and insignificant +beside the glowing young Amazon, and she was quite conscious of the +fact, and of the becoming correctness of the new habit. While yet +twenty yards distant her quick eye had distinguished Geoffrey Hilliard, +but she affected not to see him until he rode up to her side, his face +aglow with pleasure. + +"You managed it, then? You managed to get here?" + +"My sister is not feeling very well. She begged to be excused," replied +Esmeralda demurely, and Hilliard laughed and muttered something about +"blessed Saint Bridget," which on the whole she thought it wiser not to +hear. When the signal was given to move on, he kept beside her as the +horsemen proceeded to cross several grassy fields; and, contrary to his +usual custom, her father lagged behind, as though relieved to leave her +to the care of another. Esmeralda turned lightly in her saddle, saw him +riding at the farther end of the long line, and looked wonderingly at +her companion. + +"Something's wrong with the Major. He was so glum all the way here, and +look at him now with his head hanging forward! It's not like him to be +down-hearted at a meet." + +"Perhaps he is tired. He'll waken up presently when we get to business. +It would only worry him if we took any notice." + +"That's true. Perhaps the mare fidgets him. It's the one he bought a +short time since, and she has an awkward temper. Sometimes she is a +paragon and does everything that she ought, but at others she is fidgety +and uncertain. Father thinks she has been badly ridden at the start, +but that she is good enough to take trouble with still." + +"She looks a beauty, and she has not had any time to annoy him to-day. +I think it can hardly be that. Did not your brother return to town +yesterday? I stayed away on purpose, because I feared that on his last +day you would not care to be disturbed; but isn't it very likely that +Major O'Shaughnessy is depressed at being without him?" + +Esmeralda looked up with a brightening glance. "Why, of course, I never +thought of that! Father hates saying good-bye to Jack, hates him being +in town at all, for he is the first O'Shaughnessy who has ever gone into +business. There was a great scene when Jack was twenty, because he +insisted on doing something for himself. `Have you no pride?' cries my +father. `Faith I have!' cries Jack. `Too much of it to spend all my +life starving in a ruin.' `You will be the first of your race to soil +your hands with trade.' `Honest work,' says Jack, `will soil no man's +hands, and please God, I'll touch nothing that isn't honest.' `You'll +be falling into English ways and selling the old place as not fit for +you to live in. I know the ways of your purse-proud English.' Then +Jack went white all over his face, and he says, `It's never a stone of +Knock I'd sell if I could keep it with my own heart's blood, but it's +time it had a master who could spend money on it instead of seeing it +fall to pieces before his eyes.' Then it was the Major's turn to go +white, and mother said softly, `Jack dear--Jack!' You never knew my +mother. Bridgie is like her, she always made peace--and after that +father made no more objections. I think, in a curious sort of way, he +was proud of Jack because he would have his will, and he is doing well. +He will retrieve our fortunes some fine day. There! there go the +hounds! They are over into the covert, and see! see! there's that old +shepherd holding up his hat. The fox is off! Now for it!" + +Now for it indeed! From that time forth there was little chance of +connected conversation, but all his life long Geoffrey Hilliard looked +back upon that morning with the fond, yearning tenderness with which we +recall the sunshine which precedes a storm. It was so delightful to be +mounted upon a fine horse galloping lightly across country with that +beautiful figure by his side, the dark eyes meeting his with a flash of +understanding at every fresh incident of the run. As time wore on and +the ground became more difficult, the other ladies dropped behind one by +one, but Esmeralda never wearied, never flinched before any obstacle. +It was the prettiest thing in the world to see her trot slowly but +straightly towards gate or fence, loosen the reins, and soar like a bird +over the apparently formidable obstacle, and Hilliard privately admitted +that it took him all his time to keep level with her. The Major still +rode apart, and seemed to take pleasure in choosing the most difficult +jumps that came in his way; but his mare behaved well, and no one felt +any anxiety about the safety of one of the cleverest riders present. +Danger was close at hand, however, in one of those nasty "bits of water" +of which Esmeralda had spoken to her sister. The hounds doubled +suddenly, and the huntsmen, wheeling their horses to follow, saw before +them at a distance of some quarter of a mile a line of those well-known +willows which to the practised eye so plainly bespeak the presence of a +brook. Esmeralda pointed towards them and spoke a few warning words. + +"A bad bit, swollen, I expect, after the snow. A fence this side. +There's the Master taking a view. He will tell us if it's safe, if not, +we must try the meadow. Ride over here towards him." + +She swerved to the side as she spoke, and a moment later was within +short enough distance to hear the warning cry. The Master pointed with +his whip in the direction of the meadow, of which Esmeralda had spoken, +and the next moment the whole hunt was galloping after him. The whole +hunt, we have said, but there was one exception, for one rider refused +to take warning or to turn aside from the direct line across country. +The sudden change of course had left him in the rear, and so it happened +that his absence was not noted by his companions, and it was only when +several moments had passed that Esmeralda, looking from side to side, +began to draw her delicate brows into a frown as she asked Hilliard-- + +"Where's father? I can't see him. He is not here." + +"I don't see him either, but he was with us five minutes ago before we +turned back. I saw him in the last field." + +"So did I, but where is he now? He can't--" Esmeralda reined in +suddenly and turned startled eyes upon her companion--"he can't have +tried that brook?" + +"No, no! Certainly not." But even as he spoke Hilliard had a prevision +of the truth. Although he would not admit as much as Esmeralda, there +had been something in the Major's bearing which had struck him +unpleasantly since the moment of meeting, and his reckless riding had +deepened the impression. "You go on," he said earnestly, "and I will +ride back and see. Perhaps he took a look at the brook and then had to +come round after all, which would make him late. Please go on, Miss +Joan." + +But Esmeralda looked him full in the eyes and turned her horse back +towards the brook. + +"I am going back myself. If there has been an accident, it is I who +should be there. Don't hinder me, Mr Hilliard. I must go to my +father." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +TROUBLE AT KNOCK. + +The Major was lying on the bank of the stream, white and motionless, +while Black Bess was pawing the air in agony a few yards away. +Esmeralda slipped from her saddle and ran to his side, and he opened his +eyes and smiled at her feebly. + +"Joan, my girl! That's right. My--own--fault! I had no business to +try it, but I was--mad, I think. That poor beast!" and he turned away +his head, unable to look upon the animal's struggles. "I can't move. +Get a cart--O'Brien's farm." + +"I'll go! I can see the chimneys. I'll bring help at once. I'll bring +back men with me, and we'll lift him with less pain." + +Hilliard dashed off in the direction of the farm, and Joan knelt down +and lifted her father's head on to her knee. He tried to smile +encouragement into the ashen face. + +"It might have been worse, dear! She threw me clear of the water, and +I've no pain. I shall be all right when I get home, and have a rest." + +"Yes, darling, yes. Of course you will," answered Esmeralda bravely. +Accidents in the hunting-field were unfortunately no new thing to her, +and her heart died within her as she looked at the helpless limbs, and +heard her father's words. Over and over again had she heard old +huntsmen marvel at the unconsciousness of those who were most mortally +injured. Absence of pain, combined with loss of power in the limbs, +meant serious injury to the spine, yet it seemed as if, with the +comparative comfort of the body, there must be a dulling of the mental +powers, since the victim frequently congratulated himself on his escape, +and seemed to forget the experiences of others! + +As Esmeralda sat holding her father's head on her knee, the future +stretched before her, transformed by the accident of a moment. The +Major would never again ride by her side, never again mount his horse +and gallop over the wide green land; while he lived he must lie even as +he lay now, still and straight, a child in the hands of his nurses! +Poor father! oh, poor, poor father! what a death in life, to one of his +restless nature! what grief, what agony to see his sufferings! The +spring would come, and the summer, and the autumn, but there would be no +sunshine at Knock Castle, nothing but clouds and darkness, and dull, +settled gloom. Esmeralda had been her father's darling, and had +returned his love with all the fervour of a passionate Irish heart, so +that the sight of him in his helplessness hurt like a physical pain, and +the moments seemed endless until Hilliard returned accompanied by the +farmer and three of his men. + +An hour later the Major was carried upstairs to his own room in the +Castle, and laid gently upon the old four-poster bed. Hilliard had +ridden on in advance to prepare the young mistress, and there she stood +at the doorway, white to the lips, but smiling still, a smile of almost +motherly tenderness as she bent over the prostrate form. + +"More trouble to ye, Bridgie!" murmured the Major faintly. "A little +rest--that's all I need; but that poor beast! Tell Dennis to go and put +her out of her misery." He shut his eyes and remained silent until the +doctor arrived, galloping up to the door on Hilliard's horse, which he +had lent to save time, and tearing up the staircase to the sick-room +with the unprofessional speed of an old and devoted friend. + +The examination was soon over, and fortunately the patient asked no +questions; he was tired and inclined for sleep, unperturbed on his own +account, but greatly distressed for the noble animal for whose agony he +held himself responsible. He was soothed by the assurance that +everything possible should be done to cure, or, if that were impossible, +to end its sufferings, and was then left to rest, while the doctor +returned to the morning-room, to face the sisters with what courage he +might. Bridgie lay back in a deep, old-fashioned chair, a slight, +almost childlike figure, her hands clasped in her lap, her shoulders +bowed as by too heavy a burden--the burden of all those five +motherless,--it might soon be fatherless?--children. Esmeralda, +straight and defiant by the fireplace, her stormy eyes challenging his +face. + +"I--I--there is very little to say!" The doctor passed his hands +helplessly through his grey locks and wished himself at the other end of +the county. "I didn't want to fatigue him to-day, but to-morrow we can +have a better examination. Perhaps Trevor would come over in +consultation. He seems quite easy--quite easy and comfortable. I think +he will sleep. You must keep up your hearts, and not let him think you +are anxious. A great thing to keep up the spirits!" + +"Why do you talk like that? Why do you try to deceive us? My father +will never get better. You know perfectly well that it is hopeless!" +Esmeralda's voice sounded clear and cold as falling water; her lips did +not tremble, she looked the doctor full in the face with hard, defiant +eyes. "I have seen other accidents before this, and know what it means. +It is useless to pretend. He has no pain because his spine is too much +injured. If he suffered, there might be some hope; as it is, there is +none. He will lie there days, weeks, months, whichever it may be, but +he will never move out of that room. He is dead already, my father, the +father I love, and it will be cruel and wicked of you if you try to keep +him alive!" + +"Joan, Joan! Oh, darling, don't! Think what you are saying!" + +Tender-hearted Bridgie burst into tears, but Esmeralda would not be +restrained. She turned to her sister ablaze with righteous anger. + +"What! You too? Would you keep him here, existing--merely existing-- +not able to do anything--he who has been so active all his life! It's +cruel, I tell you--cruel and selfish! You ought not even to wish such a +thing!" + +"My child, the issues of life and death are not in our hands!" The +voice of the old man sounded solemn and deep after the girl's heated +accents, and she caught her breath as she listened. "It is not for you +to decide what is best. If your father lingers in helplessness, it will +be for some wise purpose, and you will see that it will be less trying +than you expect. Nature herself will work in his favour, for, when +paralysis comes, on the brain is mercifully deadened against the worst. +He will not suffer, and in all probability he will be patient and +resigned. Is not that something for which to be thankful?" + +Bridgie covered her face with a low, heart-broken cry, for the doctor's +silent assent to Esmeralda's verdict--the undisguised conviction that +the case was hopeless--came to her with a shock of surprise before which +her courage wavered. + +"Mother dead--father dead! All those children alone in the world, and +no money for them, and only me--only me--" Her heart swelled with a +great wave of protecting love; she held out her arms and cried brokenly, +"Esmeralda, come--come to me. Darling, if we are to be alone, we must +help each other, we must love each other more! Oh, Esmeralda, be brave, +for I am frightened--I can't do everything alone!" And at that +Esmeralda gave a great cry and rushed across the room, and the old +doctor groped his way downstairs, leaving the sisters sobbing in each +other's arms. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +THE SENTENCE. + +That afternoon and the next day passed away like a nightmare, and still +the Major lay in the same helpless calm. Mr Hilliard had gone over to +Dublin on his own responsibility, and had come back late at night, +bringing with him a trained nurse, at the sight of whom Bridgie shed +tears of thankfulness; but during the daytime the sisters took it in +turns to watch by the bedside, while Mademoiselle seemed to act the part +of guardian angel to the whole household in turns. She soothed the +excited servants and roused them to a sense of their duty. She cooked +dainty little dishes for the nurses, and ministered to them when they +were off duty. She interviewed callers, and, last and best of all, took +Pixie in hand, and kept her interested and content. It was the strong +wish of her brothers and sisters that Pixie should not suspect the +dangerous nature of her father's illness, for they knew her excitable +nature, and trembled for the effect on the invalid of one of her +passionate bursts of lamentation. + +"Besides, what's the use? Let her be happy as long as she can! I want +her to be happy!" cried Bridgie pathetically; and Mademoiselle assented, +knowing full well that the very effort of keeping up before the child +would be good for the rest of the household. There was no preventing +one interview, however, for the Major was as much set on seeing his +piccaninny as she was determined to see him; so on the evening of the +second day Bridgie led her cautiously into the room, and the sick man +moved his eyes--the only part of him that seemed able to move--and +looked wistfully into the eager face. + +"Well, my Pixie, I've been getting into trouble, you see!" + +"Does it hurt ye, father? Have you got a pain?" + +"Never a bit, Pixie. I'm just numb. I feel as if I can't move!" + +"I've felt the same meself. Many times! I feel it every morning at +school when the gong rings and I'm made to get up. It's the same as +being lazy." + +The Major smiled for the first time since his return home. He never +could resist Pixie's quaint speeches, and Bridgie watched with delight +his brightening glance. + +"Is it, piccaninny? That doesn't sound very serious. You'll have to +tell the doctor to be stern with me. What have you been doing with +yourself all day?" + +"Fretting for you, but Mademoiselle's going to play games with me, and +I'll enjoy them now that you're comfortable. You've got on the very +best pillow-cases, father. You do look smart! Are you tired now? Do +you want to go to sleep? Will I sing to you awhile, the hymn you liked +so much at church last Sunday?" + +Bridgie looked dismayed at the suggestion, but it appeared that Pixie +knew best what would please her father, for once more his face +brightened, and the eyes flashed an assent. On Sunday evenings in +winter, when the long dark walk made it difficult to get to church, the +O'Shaughnessys had been accustomed to sing hymns together, not in the +drawling, slipshod method in which such singing is too often done, but +with at least as much care and finish as they would have bestowed on +secular music, the different parts being accurately represented, and due +attention given to time and expression. In this way delightful hours +had been spent, and many beautiful hymns imprinted on the memory, so +that in this instance Pixie had no need to consult a book. She merely +leant against the bed-post, clasped her hands together, and, opening her +lips, began at once to sing, with clear, full-throated sweetness-- + + "`Come unto Me, ye weary, + And I will give you rest!'" + +The beautiful old words seemed to take upon themselves an added +significance in the shaded room, with the motionless figure lying upon +the bed. The Major shut his eyes, and Bridgie turned aside with +quivering face, but the flute-like voice went on without a tremor-- + + "`Come unto Me, ye fainting, + And I will give you life!' + O cheering voice of Jesus, + Which comes to end our strife. + The foe is stern and eager, + The fight is fierce and long, + But He has made us mighty, + And stronger than the strong." + +There was a slight quickening of time in the last two lines, a clearer, +stronger tone, as the singer's emotional nature caught the triumph in +the words, but the last verse was soft as an echo. + + "`And whosoever cometh + I will not cast him out.' + O welcome voice of Jesus, + Which drives away our doubt; + Which calls us very sinners, + Unworthy though we be + Of love so free and boundless, + To come, dear Lord, to Thee!" + +The Major's face was in shadow, but Bridgie saw the big tears rolling +down his cheeks, and hurried the little sister from the room. + +"You sang beautifully, darling. It was sweet of you to think of it, but +now we must let him be quiet. I think perhaps he will go to sleep." + +"Yes, he says he feels lazy! The Major was always fond of his bed!" +cried Pixie, skipping blithely down the staircase; but when Bridgie went +back to the sick-room her father's eyes were fixed eagerly on the +doorway, and he said in urgent tones-- + +"Bride, I'm wanting to see O'Brien! Send down for him at once, and when +he arrives, let him come up alone. I want to have a talk!" + +Bridgie obeyed, in fear and trembling. Had something in the sweet +though solemn words of the hymn arrested the sick man's attention and +given him a conviction of his own danger? She sent the faithful Dennis +in search of the doctor, and in less than an hour's time the two old +friends were once more face to face. + +"O'Brien," said the Major clearly, "I want you to answer me a question +before I sleep. Shall I ever hunt again?" And at this the doctor +heaved a sigh of relief, for he had feared a more direct inquiry, and +consequently one more difficult to answer. + +"Not this season, my boy; you must make up your mind to that. A spill +like yours takes a little time to recover. You must be easy, and make +yourself happy at home." + +"O'Brien, shall I ever hunt again?" + +The doctor put his hand to his head in miserable embarrassment. He had +known handsome Jack O'Shaughnessy since he was a boy in knickerbockers. +It was more than he could stand to look him in the face and give him his +death-warrant. + +"Now--now--now," he cried impatiently, "it isn't like you, Major, to be +worrying your head about what is going to happen next year! Keep still, +and be thankful you've a comfortable bed to lie on and two of the +prettiest daughters in Ireland to wait upon you! When next season comes +it will answer for itself, but I'm not a prophet--I can't foretell the +future." + +The Major looked in his face with bright, steady eyes. + +"You foolish fellow!" he cried. "You foolish fellow! You were always a +bad hand at deception, and you are no cleverer than usual this evening. +What are you afraid of, man? I'm not a coward! If my time's come, I +can face it calmly. Back injured, eh? That's why I felt no pain, but +it's difficult to realise that an injury is hopeless, when one is so +comparatively comfortable. How long will it be?" + +He was perfectly calm, but the doctor was trembling with emotion, and +his voice was rough with tears. + +"I can't say. You are very ill, old man--I won't deceive you--but while +there is life there is hope. We are going to have a man from Dublin; we +will try every means, and you must help us by keeping up your heart. +One never knows what changes may take place." But the Major only looked +at him the more steadily and repeated his question. + +"How long will it be? I ought to know, so that I may do what I can for +the children. I haven't been the best of fathers to them, and the +estate is in a rare muddle. And Jack! What about Jack? I'd like to +see him again, but if it's not imminent, I won't bring him back just +yet. The boy is doing well, but he is not his own master, and has just +had a holiday. I must be unselfish in my last days, but you must +promise, doctor, not to let me go without seeing Jack!" + +"My dear fellow, it's not a question of days! At the worst it will be +weeks, possibly months. My own opinion is two or three months, but we +shall know better after Barrett has been down. I wish you had not asked +me. It's the hardest work I've ever had to do, to tell you this; but +for the children's sake--If there is anything to be done, you ought not +to waste time!" + +"I understand!" said the Major quietly, then suddenly a light flashed +across his face, and his eyes sparkled as with joy. "I shall die at +Knock!" he cried. "I shall not have to turn out after all! It was that +that drove me mad, O'Brien--the thought of leaving the old place where I +was born, and all my people before me! I had bad news from the bank, +and it seemed as if the end had come at last, and all the time I was +riding I was feeling desperate--driven into a corner. The poor beast +tried to save me, she knew the jump was too much for her, but I was too +reckless to care. I felt that I could face death sooner than leave the +old place, and now it has come to that after all. I shall die at Knock! +Thank God for that! Go downstairs, O'Brien, and tell the girls that I +know the truth, and am quite happy. You needn't mind leaving me. I +shall sleep now!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +ESMERALDA'S SOLACE. + +The Dublin specialist came down in due course, and entirely agreed with +Dr O'Brien's diagnosis. There was no chance of the Major's recovery, +and though there was no immediate danger, it was not likely that life +would be prolonged for more than two or three months at most. He would +not suffer physically nor mentally, for the brain power would become +more and more dulled, so that he would hardly realise his condition. + +The thought of watching him die by inches, as it were, was an even +harder trial to Esmeralda's impetuous nature than the shock of a sudden +death, but Bridgie was thankful for every day as it came, for every +opportunity of ministering to his needs. And he was so sweet, so +gentle; all his former indifference and selfishness had fallen from him +like a cloak, and his one thought was for his children, his one anxiety +on their behalf. When Bridgie saw how devoted he was to his piccaninny, +and how she could always succeed in raising a smile, she proposed that +the child should not return to school for the next term at least; but +the Major would not listen to the suggestion. + +"No, no! I promised Molly that she should have her chance, and I won't +have her distressed. If she stayed on she would find out--and she would +cry, and I never could endure to see her cry. It would be delightful to +have her, but it will count for one real unselfish thing I've done in my +life if I do without her for these last weeks." + +So it was arranged that Pixie should return at the proper date, and +Mademoiselle sat in the morning-room stitching away at the pile of +shabby little garments, mending, and darning, putting in "elegant" +little patches at the elbows, and turning and pressing the frayed silk +cuffs. Neither of the sisters had time to help, and indeed seemed to +think It unnecessary to spend so much trouble on a child's outfit, but +Mademoiselle set her lips and went steadily on with her task. She knew, +if they did not, that it is not too pleasant for a girl to be noticeably +shabby at a fashionable school, and many a dainty piece of ribbon and +lace found its way from her box to refresh hat or dress, and give an +appearance of freshness to the well-worn background. When the last +night came, and Bridgie tried to thank her for her help, she shook her +head and refused to listen. + +"I was a stranger to you, and you welcomed me among you as if I had been +your own. You were more than kind, you seemed to love me, and never let +me feel for one moment that I was one apart. That means a great deal to +a woman who is alone in a strange land, and I could not be more happy +than to find something to do for you in return. What is a little +sewing? Bah! I tell you, my friend, it is much more than that I intend +to do for your Pixie. You say that you will not long be able to send +her to school, but I can do better for her than school. At the end of +this year I must go 'ome, for my sister is _fiancee_, and when she is +married I must be there to look after the old father. Lend Pixie to me, +and she shall learn to speak French, the proper French, not that +dreadful language of Holly House, and I will take her myself to the +Conservatoire--there is no better place in the world to learn music than +the Conservatoire in Paris--and she shall learn to sing and make use of +that lovely voice. _Voila, ma chere_, at the end of a few years she +comes back to you, and you will not know her! A young woman, with +grace, with charm, with--what shall I say?--an air such as your English +girls do not know how to possess, and everyone shall say, `How she is +accomplished, that Pixie! How she is clever and _chic_!'" + +The tears had risen in Bridgie's eyes, but now she was obliged to laugh +at the same time, for it was so droll to think of Pixie as a young lady +"with an air!" She laid her hand on Mademoiselle's arm, with one of her +pretty caressing gestures. + +"You are a dear, kind Therese, and it all sounds too charming, but I am +afraid it cannot be done. We shall be very poor, dear father's pension +will die with him, and if we cannot afford school, we could not pay you +properly for all your trouble. You are a darling for thinking of it, +but--" + +She stopped short in dismay, for Mademoiselle had straightened her back +until it was as stiff as a poker, and was glaring at her with the air of +an offended Fury. + +"Did you ask me for money when I came here? Did you expect me to pay +when you asked me to your house? Am I a pauper, then, that you insult +me with such an idea? It is the first time, I must say, that I have +invited a guest, and been offered a payment." + +"Oh! oh! oh! What will I do? Don't glare at me like that, Therese, or +I'll expire with fright! I never offered you a payment, my dear; I said +I couldn't pay. I don't know what I said, but I never meant to make you +angry! If you don't forgive me this instant, I'll cry, and if I once +start crying, I shall go on till to-morrow, and so I warn you! +_Please_, Therese!" + +She held out her hand appealingly, but Mademoiselle still tilted her +head, and kept up an air of offence. + +"My feelings are 'urt," she said with dignity, "and they can only be +appeased if you withdraw your remarks, and promise that Pixie shall +come. You can pay for the lessons she takes, and the Paris +Conservatoire will not ruin you, my dear, I can tell you that; but for +the rest, do you suppose Pixie will do nothing for me in return for her +board? It is not too lively, a house with an invalid and an old maid, +and they may perhaps be glad to have a young thing about; to be made to +laugh sometimes and have some interest in life beyond rheumatism and +asthma! Do not disturb yourself; if you are too proud to accept help +from me, be assured that I shall make the child useful. She shall work +for her living!" + +"You are pretending to be cross, to make me say `Yes,' but you needn't +keep it up any longer, dear. I'll say it with thankfulness this minute, +if it is indeed a pleasure to you too. I don't feel at all too proud to +accept a favour from you, and besides, it seems as if Providence meant +it to be so, and just the most wonderful and beautiful reason for your +coming here, which seemed at first so extraordinary. If you will really +let us pay for her lessons and make her as useful as if she were your +own little sister, why, then, thank you a thousand times, and a thousand +times more for lifting a weight off my mind. I was worrying myself +about her future, and now I shall worry no more, and father will be so +relieved, so happy! Are you sufficiently appeased to let me kiss you, +you haughty Mademoiselle?" + +"With pleasure; yes! but my feelings are still sensitive. With the +slightest irritation I should have a relapse!" said Mademoiselle +stiffly; for it would not do to indulge in sentiment to-day, and +Bridgie's tears were dangerously near the surface. + +The time for parting came at last, and the Major nerved himself to bid +adieu to his piccaninny with a composure which should leave her +unsuspicious of its final nature. He was very white, but Pixie had +grown accustomed to his pallor, and mingling with her grief at leaving +home was a keen pleasure at the thought of returning to her school +companions, of seeing Margaret and Ethel, of hearing Flora's fat, +contented chuckle, and seeing poor Lottie, and hearing how she had fared +at home. It was all very interesting and exciting, and somehow or other +home had been unusually dull during the last fortnight. Even Esmeralda +had turned quiet and mild, and Pat abandoned practical joking, and for +once been as good as he looked. The longing for some of the old +mischievous days made Pixie listen to her father's precepts with a +decided lack of enthusiasm. + +"You will be a good child now, piccaninny, and work hard at your tasks. +Remember what I say to you, that you couldn't please me more than by +being good and industrious, and obedient to your teachers. I let you +run wild too long, and that's made you behind other girls of your age, +but you'll promise me that you will settle down, and make the most of +your opportunities?" + +"I don't feel as if I wanted to `settle down.' It sounds so dull! Ye +can work without being so awfully proper, can't you, father? I can be a +little mischievous sometimes, can't I--especially on half-holidays? +I'll work all the better for it afterwards. And the girls would be so +disappointed if I were proper. You wouldn't believe how I liven them +up. Ye wouldn't like it yourself, now, Major, if ye never saw any more +of my pranks!" + +He winced at that, but smiled bravely, his eye resting longingly upon +the thin little figure wriggling to and fro in the earnestness of its +appeal. With the remembrance of all that her brightness had been to +him, he could not bring himself to forbid it to others. + +"Be as happy as you can, darling, and make other people happy too. So +long as you consider their feelings, and are careful not to go too far, +you will do no harm. Good-bye, my piccaninny! God bless you! Never +mind if you are not clever. Go on loving and making sunshine, and you +will do a great work in the world. Remember your old father when you +get back among your new friends!" + +"I'll think of you for ever!" said Pixie solemnly. "Haste and get well, +Major, and come and take me out. You must be getting tired of your bed, +poor creature, but I'm glad you have no pain! You won't be here long +now." + +"No, not long," said the Major quietly. Then he held up his lips to be +kissed, murmuring the last, the very last words of farewell, "Good-bye, +dearest. Thank you for being such a good, loving little daughter!" + +"Thank you, me dear, for the father you have been to me!" returned +Pixie, in a tone of gracious condescension which made the listener smile +through his tears. That was a sweet characteristic little speech to +cherish as the last! He shut his eyes in token of dismissal, and Pixie +stole away, somewhat sobered and impressed, for the Major had not been +given to improving an occasion, but free from the vaguest suspicion that +she had bidden him her last farewell. + +Downstairs Esmeralda was waiting to drive the cart to the station, and +at the station itself Mr Hilliard was standing ready to receive the +travellers and make every preparation for their comfort. No one seemed +in the least surprised to see him, for in Jack's absence he had quietly +taken upon himself the part of an elder son, and in every emergency had +stepped forward and filled the gap so efficiently and with such tact +that he seemed more like a friend of years' standing than an +acquaintance of a few weeks. His business in London had apparently been +accomplished in a flying visit of forty-eight hours, during which time +he had seen Jack, and eased anxiety by a personal report of the invalid, +and here he was back again, declaring that there was no reason to keep +him in town, and that if he could be of the slightest use at Bally +William, there was no place in the world where he would sooner remain. +Bridgie smiled to herself with quiet understanding, and Esmeralda grew +thoughtful, and her white cheeks hung out a flag of welcome every time +he made his appearance. + +To-day she made no objections to his proposal that they should walk back +from the station, leaving a boy to drive the cart home during the +afternoon, and they struck across the fields together, disregarding damp +and mud with the callousness of true lovers of the country. The girl's +face was worn and downcast, for the Castle would seem sadder and emptier +than ever, now that the little sister had gone and that dear, helpful +Mademoiselle; and at nineteen it is hard to look forward and know for a +certainty that the shadows must deepen. There were still sadder times +ahead, and a loneliness such as she dared not even imagine; for +Esmeralda had not Bridgie's sweet faith and trust, and hers was a +stormy, rebellious nature, which made trouble harder to bear by useless +fightings against the inevitable. Bridgie found a dozen reasons for +thankfulness among all her distresses--the kindness of friends, the +ceaseless attentions of the good old doctor, her father's freedom from +pain, and the fact that he would be spared the dread of his lifetime--a +separation from the old home. Joan saw nothing but clouds and darkness, +and tortured herself with useless questionings. Why--why--why--why +should all this trouble fall upon her? Why should other girls have +father and mother and money and opportunity, and she be deprived of all? +Why should the accident have been allowed to happen when her father's +life was of such value--such inestimable value to his young family? Why +should her life be darkened just at the time when she was most able to +appreciate joy and gladness? + +Hilliard watched the clouds flit over the beautiful face, and was at no +loss to understand their meaning. During the last fortnight he had more +than once been a witness to a storm of misery and rebellion, and apart +from that fact he had an instinctive understanding of the girl's moods, +which seemed all the more curious, as his own nature of happy optimism +was as great a contrast to hers as could possibly be imagined. + +A smile flickered over his face as he reflected on the strangeness of +his present position. A month ago, if anyone had described to him the +O'Shaughnessy sisters, he would have declared without a moment's +hesitation that Bridgie would be his favourite--that in every way her +character would be more attractive to him than that of Esmeralda. Even +now--even now, yes!--if the question were put plainly before him, he +must still confess that "Saint Bridget" was sweeter, simpler, less +wayward, more unselfish; yet in spite of all there remained the +extraordinary fact that he liked Bridgie and loved Esmeralda with the +whole strength of a warm and loving heart! He saw her faults clearly +enough with those keen, quizzical eyes; but what the sight roused in him +was not so much disapproval as pity, and an immense longing to help and +comfort. He loved her; he understood her; he honestly believed he could +help her to rise above the weaknesses of girlhood, and become the fine +large-hearted woman which Providence had intended her to be; and the +time had come when he intended to speak his mind and ask her to be his +wife. The silence had lasted so long that at last Joan herself became +conscious of it, and roused herself to apologise for her rudeness. + +"But I'm miserable," she said simply. "I can't remember to be polite. +I was miserable last time when the Pixie left us, but now it is a +hundred times worse. I can't bear to think of going back to that big +empty place, with that dreadful shadow coming nearer and nearer every +day. I am a coward, and can't face it!" + +"You are a very brave girl--one of the bravest I have known. If anyone +but yourself dared to call you cowardly, you would never forgive him!" + +"I know. It's quite true. I am brave physically, but I've never been +tried in this way before, so I didn't know how weak I was. It arises +from selfishness, I suppose. It's so hard to suffer like this." + +"No one can be selfish who loves another person more than himself. I +have never seen two sisters so devoted to each other as you and Miss +Bridgie. You will think of her before yourself, and try to help her, +simply because you will not be able to help it!" + +"Darling Bridgie--yes, I do love her. Who could help it? She takes +this trouble like the saint she is, and believes that it is God's will, +and must be for the best. I can't feel that--I can't! It's against +reason. It's no use pretending that I do, for I should only be a +hypocrite." + +"You have a different nature from your sister's. It is more difficult +for you to be resigned, and therefore all the more praiseworthy if you +fight against your rebellious thoughts, and learn submission." + +The tears rose slowly to Joan's eyes, and she looked at him with a +flickering smile. + +"It's no use talking to you. You won't believe how wicked I am. You +make excuses for me all the time." + +"Because I love you, Joan, that's why! Have you found that out for +yourself? I began to love you the first night I saw you, and I've been +progressing rapidly ever since. We have not known each other for long, +as time goes, but so much has happened, and we have been thrown so much +together, that we know each other as well as many acquaintances of +years' standing. My mind is made up, at any rate; there is no other +girl in the world for me! Do you think if you tried very hard, and I +waited very patiently, you could possibly bring yourself to love me in +return?" + +Esmeralda gazed at him with her wonderful grey eyes, not shyly, not +self-consciously, but with slow, solemn deliberation. + +"I don't know," she said simply. "I can't tell. I like you very much; +you have been very kind to us, and it does me good to talk to you, but +that isn't enough, is it? I don't know if I love you, but I love you to +love me! It comforts my heart, and makes me feel braver and less +lonely. Sometimes this last week--just once or twice when we have been +alone--I have thought perhaps you did, and I hoped I was right. I hoped +I was not mistaken." + +"You darling! Oh, you darling!" cried Hilliard rapturously. "You do +make me happy by telling me that. That's all I want--the very best +proof you could give me that you care for me too. Don't you see, my +beauty, that you must care, or you would not want my love? Don't you +see that you have been drawn to me, just as I have been drawn to you, +and have felt the need of me, just as I have longed and wearied for you +ever since we met?" + +He tried to take hold of her hand as he spoke, but Esmeralda drew back, +refusing to be caressed. She was trembling now, and her cheeks were +flushed with the loveliest rosy blush, but there was an almost piteous +appeal in her voice. + +"No, no! I don't see, and I don't want to see. My father is dying--he +has only a little time to live, and I don't want to think of anything +but him. If it is as you say, there will be all my life after that, but +I can't think of love-making and being happy just the very last weeks we +shall have him with us. You mustn't be vexed; you mustn't think me +ungrateful. Indeed, indeed I can't help it!" + +"Vexed!" echoed Hilliard. "Ungrateful!" His glance was eloquent enough +to show how far such words were from expressing his real feelings; and +indeed, if it had been possible to love Esmeralda more dearly than he +did, he would have done so at this moment, when she had shown him the +reality of the generous nature which lay beneath her girlish +extravagances, "You are absolutely and perfectly right, dearest," he +said warmly, "and I promise you faithfully that I will not try in any +way to absorb your attention so long as your father lives. But after +that, Esmeralda, (I may call you Esmeralda, mayn't I? Dear, charming, +ridiculous name--I love it, it is so deliciously characteristic!) after +that you must let me take my right place as your chief helper and +comforter. I won't be put off any longer, and I think I shall be able +to do more for you than anyone else." + +"I believe you would, but--" Esmeralda looked at him beneath a troubled, +puckered brow--"please understand exactly what you are doing! We are +dreadfully poor--we shall be poorer than ever after father's death. If +I marry I shall not have a penny; for what little there is will be +needed, and more than needed, for Bridgie and the children. It would be +rather hard on you, for, as you are not rich yourself, you ought to +marry a rich wife." + +"The same argument would apply to you, wouldn't it? Are you quite sure +that you would not mind marrying a poor man, and that you would be +willing to give up luxuries for my sake?" + +"If I cared enough in other ways, it would not be money that would +prevent me, but I should not like to be _very_ poor!" returned Esmeralda +honestly. "I've had a taste of it, you see, and it is so dull to be +always worried about butchers' bills, and not be able to have nice +puddings because of the eggs, and to have to turn your dresses over and +over again. I've never once in my life bought a thing because I liked +it best. I've always had to think that it was cheaper than the others, +and I must make it do. I suppose men can't realise how hard that is, +for they need so much less, and their things are so much alike; but it's +hard to know for certain that you could look just twice as nice, and +have to put up with the frumpy things, because you have no money to pay +for the pretty ones!" + +"Could you look twice as nice as you do now--really?" Hilliard laughed +with happy incredulity. "Esmeralda, I don't believe it; but if you +marry me you shall try! I am not so poor that I cannot afford to be a +little extravagant for my wife, and I promise you faithfully that you +shall never be worried about the bills. I'll protect you from that, and +every other trouble, I hope, my darling!" + +"It--it seems to me we are getting on very fast. I thought I said that +nothing was decided. Oh, please talk of something else!" cried +Esmeralda urgently; and Hilliard laughed once more, and obediently +discussed the weather until the Castle gates were reached. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +A TELEGRAM. + +It was six weeks later that the girls in Holly House heard a sharp, +wailing cry from within the portals of Miss Phipps's private room, and +looked at each other with eyes of sympathetic understanding. The +knowledge that Pixie's father was seriously ill had leaked out among the +elder pupils, and this afternoon, as they returned from their walk, a +telegraph boy had met them in the drive, and Mademoiselle had turned +pale and muttered below her breath. Miss Phipps called her aside on +entering, and at tea-time there were unmistakable tear-marks round her +eyes, and she was even more affectionate than usual in her manner to +Pixie,--poor, unconscious Pixie, who was in radiant spirits, and quite +puffed up with pride because she had suddenly remembered a favourite +exploit as practised at Knock Castle, and had issued invitations to the +fifth-form to come to the classroom before tea and play the part of +spectators, while she made a circuit of the room without touching the +ground. + +"Without--touching--the--ground! Pixie O'Shaughnessy, are you +demented?" demanded Flora incredulously. "You can't fly, I suppose? +Then how on earth could you get round a room without touching the +floor?" + +"Come with me, me dear, and you shall see," returned Pixie graciously, +and forthwith led the way into the big, bare room. There was no class +being held at the time, so that the performer and her friends were the +only persons present; the chairs were neatly ranged beside the desks, +the matches and vases of spills which usually graced the mantelpiece +were placed together on a corner bracket, otherwise no article had been +moved from its place. Pixie sprang lightly on to a chair near the door, +kissed her hand after the manner of the lady riders at the circus, and +started off on her mad career. + +From one chair to another, from chair number two to the shelf of the old +bookcase which filled the middle space of the wall; from the bookcase, +with a leap and a bound, on to the oak chest in which were stored +drawing-books and copies; from the chest to another chair, and thence +with a whoop and wildly waving hands to the end of an ordinary wooden +form. Why that form did not collapse at once, and land the invader on +the floor, no one of the spectators could understand! Flora gave a +hollow groan and leant against the wall in palpitating nervousness; Kate +shut her eyes, and Ethel pinched Margaret's arm with unconscious +severity; but, after all, nothing happened! With instantaneous +quickness Pixie had fallen forward on her knees, and so restored the +bench to its normal position; and now she was off again with another +kiss, another flourish, another whisk of those absurd short petticoats. +Providentially there was a table close at hand which she could mount +without difficulty, and so bring herself to the completion of the first +half of her task, but the harder part was still to come. + +It was easy enough to run along the blackboard, but what about that +space between it and the shelves at the other side of the fireplace? +"She can't do it!" cried Ethel confidently; but Pixie had not made her +boast without counting the cost. What if there was no article of +furniture within reach, there was a shelf overhead to which one could +cling and work slowly along hand over hand until the coal-box offered a +friendly footing! Then, when one had been accustomed to climb trees all +one's life, what could be easier than to rest the elbows on the +mantelpiece, and with the aid of one foot pressed lightly on that fat, +substantial bell, (horrors! suppose it rang!) to wriggle upward until +knees joined elbows, and a perpendicular position was once more +possible! The gasps and groans from the doorway were even more +encouraging than applause, and under their influence it was impossible +to resist indulging in a few extravagances, such as standing poised on +one leg, blowing more kisses, and bowing from side to side after the +manner of that fascinating circus lady. Another bound sent her lightly +on to the one substantial chair which the room possessed--Miss Phipps's +seat when she came to take a class. It rocked, of course, but to +balance it was child's play, compared with the really difficult feat +with the form, and for the rest of the course the way was easy. Anyone +could have run along the substantial dumb waiter, stepped down to the +chair by its side, and so, with a leap, to the one from which the start +had been made. Pixie stopped, panting, gasping, and smirking at her +companions, expectant of adulation, but there was more reproach than +praise in store. + +"You are mad!" cried Ethel shortly. "Stark, staring mad! No thanks to +you that every bone in your body isn't broken. I wonder what Miss +Phipps would have said if she had come in, while you were pirouetting on +the mantelpiece! It would have been your turn to be surprised then, my +young friend." + +"I n-n-never did see such a sight in all my born days," stuttered Flora +blankly. "You've made me feel quite ill. My heart is pumping like an +engine. I thought every moment you would be killed. I call it mean and +unkind to ask us to look on, while you play such tricks, for you know +very well we should be blamed if anything went wrong! I'll never come +again, so you needn't trouble to ask me!" + +"Pixie dear, it really is most dangerous! You might have sprained your +ankle a dozen times over. Promise me, promise me faithfully, that you +will never do it again!" pleaded Margaret gently; but Pixie shook her +head in obstinate fashion. + +"Me dear, don't ask me! I'll tell you no stories. I've done it a dozen +times at home, and so have Bridgie and Esmeralda. It was a fine +handicap we had one night, boys against girls, and Bridgie the winner, +being so light on her feet. You wouldn't wish to forbid what my own +family approves." She drew herself up with an air of dignity as she +pronounced the last words, and skipped out of the room, as the quickest +way of closing the argument; but when tea-time arrived she was still +abeam with complacency, and pleasantly conscious of being the object of +an unusual amount of attention. The girls all looked at her and smiled +so kindly when they met her eye; jam and scones were pressed upon her +from half a dozen different quarters; Mademoiselle called her +"_cherie_," and even Miss Phipps said "dear." "Are you having a good +tea, dear?" "Won't you have another cup of tea, dear?" It was all very +pleasant and gratifying, and she felt convinced that the fame of her +exploit had spread over the school, and that even the teachers had been +unable to resist it. + +She was strutting out of the dining-room at the conclusion of the meal, +when Miss Phipps laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Come into my +room, Pixie," and a moment later she stood within the boudoir, staring +around with wide, astonished eyes. Mademoiselle had followed, and was +twisting her hands together, trying vainly not to cry. Miss Phipps +looked at her and made a little signal, but Mademoiselle only shook her +head, and held out her hands with a helpless gesture, and then Miss +Phipps began to speak herself, in such a gentle voice--a voice quite +different from her usual brisk, decided accents. + +"Pixie dear, I have something to tell you. God has been very kind to +the dear father whom you love so much. He saw that he could never be +well again--never able to move about, nor walk, nor ride, as he had done +before, and instead of leaving him to lie helpless upon his bed for long +weary years, as so many poor sufferers have had to do, He took him home +at once, and made him well and strong again. You must not think of your +father as dead, Pixie. He is alive and happy in heaven!" + +But it was too early for the dead man's child to realise that beautiful +truth, and Pixie burst into a passion of grief, and the girls without +heard the long pitiful wails and nestled close to each other and sobbed +in sympathy. + +Miss Phipps talked on and on, saying comforting words in that new sweet +voice, and Mademoiselle put her arms fondly round the little figure and +said-- + +"You will be brave, _cherie_. You are always brave! All the +O'Shaughnessys are brave--your Bridgie told me so, and said it was the +pride of the family! You will not be the first to act like a coward. +No!" But the shock was too sudden to be borne with resignation. + +"We haven't got any family now! How can you have a family without a +father? He wouldn't have died if I had been at home. He was always +cheerful when I was with him, and he said himself I was better than a +doctor. Oh, Major, Major! Oh, Bridgie, Bridgie! Me heart's broken! +Me heart's broken!" + +Pixie wept and wailed, and presently Miss Phipps stopped trying to +console, and let her weep her fill, knowing well that the noisy grief is +never the most lasting, and that when the first passion was exhausted +she would be more ready for comfort. She had purposely delayed telling +the sad news until tea was over, and presently it would be time for bed, +when the sleep of childhood would drop its soothing curtain over grief. +Pixie lay on the sofa, and cried until her face was swollen and she was +too exhausted to cry any longer, and Miss Phipps was just about to +propose a move to bed when, to her amazement, the child suddenly put her +feet to the ground, sat up, and said faintly-- + +"I want to see the girls!" + +Well, after all, it was a natural request, for the bent of a lifetime +does not change in moments of grief, and Pixie was a sociable little +creature, who must needs have someone in whom to confide on every +occasion. Miss Phipps realised as much, and also that companions of her +own age would be better comforters than the teachers, between whom and +the pupils there was naturally a great gulf fixed; so she assented at +once, saying only-- + +"I will come for you in ten minutes. You must not stay downstairs +longer than that," and Pixie feebly tottered across the hall to the room +where the elder girls were sitting. She chose to join them rather than +the pupils of her own age, for, as she had previously explained, she had +been accustomed to "grown-ups" at home, and felt more interest in their +society. The girls raised their heads with starts of surprise as she +entered, and came slowly forward to seat herself in a chair. They +stared at her with melancholy eyes, but there was a dead silence, for no +one knew what to say or how to say it, so they sat in a row facing her, +and Pixie blinked and trembled, and screwed her fingers together in a +tight little knot. + +"I'm an orphan!" she said faintly, and five separate sobs of sympathy +sounded as replies. + +"Poor little kid!" said Kate gruffly. + +"D-arling!" sobbed Flora. + +"But we all love you, Pixie! Everyone loves you! You can't be lonely, +dear, when you have so many friends," said Margaret's soft voice; and a +hand stretched out and clutched hers in convulsive energy. It was +Lottie's hand, and Lottie's face was trembling as if she were going to +cry, and a pulse on her temple was beating up and down, Pixie looked at +her curiously, and realised that, sorry as the others were, she was +somehow sorriest of all, and most anxious to comfort. Lottie had been +much subdued and silent since the beginning of the term, and had seemed, +if anything, to avoid the society of the girl whom she had treated so +badly, but with her fine intuition Pixie had understood quite well that +the avoidance arose from no lack of affection. She held Lottie's hand +in a tight pressure while she continued her broken sentences. + +"And I didn't know he was going to die. They never told me. Miss +Phipps says they didn't want me to be unhappy, but I'd rather have +known. He wasn't like other people's fathers. They are old, with grey +hair; he was young--like a boy, and so handsome and gay. He always +laughed, even if things went wrong, and I was the youngest, and he +wouldn't have me thwarted. No one ever appreciated me like the Major. +The very last words he spoke were praising me and saying what a daughter +I'd been!" + +"When you said `Good-bye,' you mean. That's good to think of, isn't it, +Pixie? He knew he would never see you again, and that afterwards you +would remember all he said, and treasure it in your heart, and the +sweetest thing of all is to know that you were a joy and pleasure to +him. It is a comfort to think that he is well again, isn't it? Quite +well and happy in heaven!" + +"I want him on earth!" said Pixie, and the tears flowed down her cheeks. +"We all want him. What is to become of us without our father? I feel +as if I could never be happy again, but he said I must be. `Be as happy +as you can,' he said, `and make other people happy too. Never trouble a +bit about your lessons, but go on loving and making sunshine, and you'll +do a great work in the world.' Those were the very last words I heard +him speak." + +It was a somewhat free translation, so far as lessons were concerned, +and the girls realised as much, being accustomed to Pixie and her ways, +but they allowed that part of the story to pass without comment, and +referred only to what was obviously a literal repetition. + +"Well, then, of course, you must obey his last words! It would not be +like a good daughter if you didn't. You must go on loving us, and +making us happy, and we shall all be wretched if we see you fretting. +You do make us happy, you know, Pixie! We have been ever so much +livelier since you came. I think it ought to cheer anyone to know that +she can make thirty-three people happy, don't you, now?" + +"Can I--can I really?" Pixie inquired wistfully. "I'm glad of that, +and I will try, but I can't help fretting a little first! I don't think +the Major would like it if I didn't fret for him." And at this moment +Miss Phipps came into the room and put an end to the conference. + +"I can't let you sit up a moment longer, you weary little girl! Say +`Good-night' at once, and one of the girls shall go upstairs with you, +and help you to undress. Which will you have?" + +Pixie looked from one to the other of her companions with uncertain +gaze. Where everyone was so kind it was hard to choose. Ethel had not +tossed her head once since she entered the room; Kate kept taking off +her spectacles, and polishing them on her handkerchief; Flora looked so +kind and comfortable; the "Bridgie's expression" was stronger than ever +in Margaret's eyes; but there was a something in Lottie's face--a +humble, wistful longing which was to be found nowhere else. + +"Lottie, please!" she cried quickly; and the other girls realised at +once that the cure had begun, for Pixie was already forgetting herself, +and considering how she could make other people happy! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +THE SISTERS' VISIT. + +Pixie did not go home for the Easter holidays, for everything at the +Castle was so sad and unsettled that Bridgie felt it advisable that she +should stay away a little longer, and an invitation from Mr and Mrs +Vane came as a happy alternative. + +On the whole she spent a happy three weeks, thoroughly enjoying the +luxury of her surroundings and the attention lavished upon her by every +member of the household. Mr Vane still remained grey and serious, but +he was unfailingly kind; while his wife belonged to the type designated +by schoolgirls as "simple darlings," and seemed to find no greater +pleasure in life than in making young people happy. It was evident that +they were both devoted to their only remaining child, though there was a +reserve in their manner which seemed to Irish Pixie perilously allied to +coldness. She was all unconscious that her own fearless intimacy of +manner made a precedent for little demonstrations of affection which had +hitherto been unknown in the household; but so it was, and her host and +hostess felt that they owed her a second debt of gratitude, whenever +Lottie volunteered a caress, or added a second kiss to the morning +greeting. Perhaps, in their determination to overcome their daughter's +faults, they had erred on the side of firmness, and so brought about +another temptation in the girl's terror of discovery; and if this were +so, what better instrument could have been found to draw them together +than fearless, loving, audacious Pixie? + +When the time came to return to school, she received many pressing +invitations to return to a home where she would always be welcome, and +was able truthfully to assure the girls at Holly House that Lottie had +been "an angel" to her throughout the holidays. + +After that the ordinary routine went on for a few weeks, broken by +nothing more exciting than the weekly letters from home; then came an +episode of thrilling interest, when Geoffrey Hilliard was shown into the +drawing-room, and Miss O'Shaughnessy summoned from her class and sent +upstairs to brush her hair, before going to interview him. He was +leaning against the mantelpiece as she entered, looking very tall and +handsome in his long frock coat, and he was smiling to himself with a +curious shiny look in his eyes, which at once arrested Pixie's +attention. + +"How are you, Pixie? How are you, dear little girl?" he cried +gushingly. + +Pixie remarked that she was in excellent health, privately not a little +taken aback by his fervour. "He seems mighty fond of me, all of a +sudden. Over at Bally William he didn't care half so much. I suppose +he missed me, after I'd gone!" She smiled at him encouragingly. "And +you are looking very well yourself. I'm pleased to see you!" + +"I am very well, Pixie. Happiness agrees with me. I'm very happy--the +happiest man in the world! Do you know why? I am going to be married. +I came on purpose to tell you. Can you guess who `She' is?" + +"How could I guess? I don't know your friends. There's no one at all +that it could be, unless, perhaps--" + +Pixie stopped short suddenly, as certain memories darted into her mind. +The extraordinary manner in which Mr Hilliard was always appearing at +Knock Castle during the Christmas holidays; his interest in everything +Esmeralda did and said; the fixity of his gaze upon the beautiful face. +She gasped and blinked with surprise. "Not--_not_ Esmeralda?" + +"Yes, yes, yes! Esmeralda, of course! Clever girl to guess so well! +It was settled only last Wednesday, and she sent me across to tell you +first thing, and ask your consent, as she couldn't be properly engaged +without it. You see this is an important matter for me, so you really +must be kind, for I can't give up Esmeralda, after waiting for her so +long. Will you have me for another brother, and let me do all I can to +make you happy?" + +"I'm glad it isn't Bridgie," sighed Pixie irrelevantly; then, fearing +that she had failed in politeness, "But Esmeralda is nice too," she +added quickly. "She can't help having a temper, but she won't show it +to you, like she did to her brothers and sisters. And she _is_ +beautiful! I've seen photographs of people they call beautiful here, +and they are frights compared with her. I suppose I can have her room +after she's married! It's got one of the turret windows, and I always +wanted it because of the view. I hope you will be happy, Mr Hilliard. +It was very kind of you to come and tell me. I'll write and ask +Esmeralda if I may be a bridesmaid." + +Hilliard laughed, and muttered something about "sisterly candour." He +did not seem in the least alarmed at the thought of Esmeralda's temper, +and settled the bridesmaid question there and then with the utmost +confidence. + +"Of course you shall be bridesmaid. The wedding will be in the summer +holidays, but you will see your sisters before then. You knew, of +course, that they were trying to let the Castle for a few years, until +Jack makes his fortune, and goes back to live there himself. Well, I am +glad to say a tenant has been found through a lawyer, and that +everything is satisfactorily arranged. He takes possession on the first +of September, and Bridgie is coming to live in London with Jack and the +boys, in a nice little flat, where you can spend your holidays. She +said I was to tell you that, and to say that you were not to fret for +the Castle, for you would see much more of each other than if she had +remained over there. She is coming to town in summer to look for the +flat, and Esmeralda is coming too, to buy fineries for the wedding, and +then we will all return to Ireland and have a quiet little wedding, and +you shall keep Bridgie company when I carry Esmeralda away. That's the +summer programme. I hope you approve!" + +"I hate the man who's coming to Knock," said Pixie sadly; "but I am glad +Bridgie will be near, and it will be lovely on holidays. It must feel +strange to live in a flat; like being in a cage. I am sorry for the +people beneath, when the boys get romping round. If I were Bridgie, I'd +take a house, and then we could make as much noise as we liked. It's no +use pretending that we are a quiet family, because we're not. You might +think it was an army, to hear us tramp downstairs!" + +"I--I think myself that a house would be more suitable!" said Hilliard, +smiling his humorous twisted smile; then he asked to see Mademoiselle, +and when he said to her in her turn that he had a piece of news to +impart, she nodded her head gaily, and cried, "So, so! I 'ope you will +be very 'appy!" and could not be induced to say that she was in the +least surprised. Pixie hoped that none of the girls would ask about the +new brother's business; for, after boasting of possible dukes, it was +really rather humiliating to come down to glue! What a comfort that +Lottie had turned over a new leaf, and abandoned her snobbish, +inquisitive questionings! + +After that it was a case of counting the days until the arrival of the +sisters, and Pixie's companions were almost as excited as herself at the +prospect of seeing the much-talked-of Bridgie and Esmeralda in the +flesh. Miss Joan announced her intention of taking advantage of the +July sales to buy her trousseau--a delightful arrangement, for by the +time that dressmakers had done their work the holidays would begin, so +that the girls could be present at the great breaking-up festival, and +afterwards act as companions on the journey home. Pixie's elastic +spirits went up with a bound, and every week they grew higher and +higher, until at last it became a question of days, and Bridgie's letter +must needs be addressed to Jack's lodgings instead of Knock Castle, for +by the time it was delivered the dear visitors would have arrived in +town. + +"Please come to see me soon," ran the letter, "and be sure to look your +nicest, because of the girls! They all want to see you, and I've told +them such lots about you. Please ask Miss Phipps to let me come out +often. Wednesday is the best day, because it's half-holiday, only I +should like other days better, because I should get off prep. Please +wear your best clothes!" + +The two sisters laughed heartily over this missive, but Pixie's word was +law, and as usual they obeyed her instructions to the letter. A +telegram was sent off next morning to announce the hour in the afternoon +at which they hoped to call, and the morning was spent to such good +purpose that two most elegant and fashionable-looking young ladies drove +up to Holly House shortly before four o'clock. The third-form girls +were, to a man, peeping through the curtains of their classroom; Ethel +had left her music in the drawing-room, and rushed downstairs to reclaim +it the moment the door-bell rang; Kate suddenly felt it impossible to +live without a clean handkerchief, and on her way upstairs waited round +the corner of the hall until she could meet the visitors face to face; +Flora peeped through the banisters, and snored so loudly in her +excitement that she was in instant danger of discovery; and Pixie rushed +like a whirlwind from the top of the house, and flung herself into +Bridgie's arms. + +They hugged and kissed, and kissed and hugged again, and fell apart to +gaze with eyes that suddenly brimmed with tears. No need to ask the +cause! The remembrance of the Major was in each heart, but Bridgie +dried her eyes, and said, as if answering the unspoken lament-- + +"But we have so much to be thankful for! Such a splendid let for the +Castle, and Jack so good, trying to find work for the boys, and Geoffrey +like another brother, and Esmeralda so happy." + +No question about that! Esmeralda was radiant, more beautiful than +ever, and astonishingly grand. So was Bridgie! The little sister gazed +from one to the other with kindling eyes. Black dresses with tails to +them; fluffy gauze boas with ends floating to the knees; hats that were +not hats, but crinkled, brimless things like the Surbiton ladies wore in +the afternoons, and so light and gauzy that they might have been blown +away with a breath. + +"You _are_ fine!" she gasped, and the girls laughed and cried merrily. + +"We had our instructions, you see! We dared not come down until we had +bought new hats and gloves; and we put on our very best clothes for the +girls' benefit." + +"And jewellery!" added Esmeralda; and Pixie looked at her with an even +more critical scrutiny. There was a little diamond brooch sparkling +among the laces at her throat. "Geoffrey gave me that!" There was a +gold bangle round her wrist, with a heart-shaped locket dangling from +the clasp. "Geoffrey gave me that!" There was a dainty little watch +pinned on to her dress. "Geoffrey gave me that!" + +"Deary me," quoth Pixie at last, "it must be rather nice being engaged." + +"It is, my dear. Quite nice! And he gave us these boas too,--insisted +upon buying them when he came shopping with us this morning. He said +boas were the fashionable thing, and he really dared not allow us to +face `the girls' without them. He is very extravagant, but he says he +will only be engaged once, and after we are married he will be as +careful as I like. It was through his lawyer that we found our tenant. +Geoffrey told him about the place, and it seemed that it was just +exactly what a client had been wanting. We have not seen him yet, but +he is tremendously interested in old places, and is going to spend a lot +of money putting things into repair, which, of course, is a very good +thing for us. He has taken it for ten years, and by the end of the +lease Jack hopes he may be able to go back himself, for part of the +year, at any rate. It is hard to leave Knock, but not so hard as we +expected, for I am to be married, and the rest of you will be together, +and able to enjoy seeing the sights, and all the fun and bustle of town +life." + +"And it will be so good for the boys! They were idling away their time, +but now they will have to set to work in earnest to make their way in +the world. It will be the making of them, so even if we do feel +homesick at times it will be a light price to pay for their good," said +Bridgie hastily, for the tears were beginning to rise again in Pixie's +eyes at the thought of leaving the dear old home. "Dear me, I am +longing to see `the girls'! Aren't we going to see `the girls'? What +is the use of our dressing up like this if we are not to see `the +girls'?" + +"Come along! Come along! Miss Phipps said I was to take you round +before she came in to give you tea. Come along, and see them now," +cried Pixie, prancing to the door with eager steps, and forgetting +everything else in the excitement of the coming introduction, as it had +been intended that she should do. Bridgie and Joan followed close +behind, smiling in anticipation; but it was rather an embarrassing +occasion, when the door of the big classroom was thrown open, and +fifteen girls rose to their feet and stood staring with unblinking eyes, +while Fraulein smiled and bowed from the end of the long table. Bridgie +wanted to say something graceful and appropriate, but could only blush, +and smile, and stammer feebly. "Oh-h! How do you do? Is there anyone +here that I know by name? Flora--Margaret--Kate? Are any of your +special friends here, Pixie? Please introduce me." + +"That's Flora!" said Pixie, pointing barefacedly across the room. "The +fat one. Kate is next to Fraulein--with specs. Margaret is having her +music lesson. That's Ethel in the middle, with the frizzy hair. This +is my sister Bridgie that I've told you about." + +The faces of the girls thus singled out for special notice were wooden +in stolidity. Not a flicker of animation lit up their features; they +stood like pokers staring blankly before them, as if they had heard no +word of what was passing, and poor Bridgie murmured more disconnected +nothings, while Esmeralda looked from one to the other with her haughty, +patronising smile. It was quite a relief when the door was shut, and +the presence of Mademoiselle in classroom number two insured one +listener at least who would speak in reply. The greeting was a warm one +on both sides, but conversation was deferred until tea-time, when +Mademoiselle had been asked to join the party in the drawing-room, and +after just a minute's wait a move was made upstairs to the room where +Pixie slept. Here there were photographs to exhibit, and a number of +tiny ornaments which had been gifts from other girls. + +"Ethel gave me that the day that I was ill.--Fanny bought me that when +she went out for the day. It cost threepence. Wasn't it dear? Dora +Ellis and Vera Knowles clubbed together and bought me that at the +bazaar. It's supposed to be for matches. I am going to give it to Jack +at Christmas. That's Ethel's mother! She is really awfully nice, +though you wouldn't think so. That's Flora's little brother. Isn't he +like Mellin's Food? Ethel has silver brushes. I wish I might have +silver things. She is awfully proud of her dressing-table. If I stand +on my pillow I can just see over the curtain between our beds. I +painted eyes on my forehead one night, and tied my hair round it. It +looked lovely,--just like a monkey! and then I crept up quietly, and put +it over for Ethel to see. She did howl! Shall we go downstairs now? +You'll have a scrumptious tea. Visitors always do. That's one reason +why it's so nice having them coming to see you." + +Miss Phipps and Mademoiselle were waiting in the drawing-room, and, to +the amusement of her sisters, Pixie became a model of decorum the moment +she entered their presence, and handed about cake and tea in the most +staid and deliberate fashion. To see her stand with her heels drawn +neatly together in the first position; to hear her demure, "Yes, Miss +Phipps!" "No, Miss Phipps!" was almost too much for Esmeralda's +composure, and she was glad to leave the house with the promise of +having Pixie to spend a long day in town at the beginning of the +following week, while that young lady herself was so eager to return to +her companions and hear their criticisms on her visitors that she bore +the parting with wonderful resignation. + +Fortunately for all, approval was unanimous, and the girls declared in a +breath that never, no never, had they seen anyone so "simply sweet" as +Bridgie, so "frightfully pretty" as Esmeralda. Bridgie was a darling; +her eyes were so kind and loving and sorry for you, and didn't she look +an angel when she smiled? Esmeralda was like a queen; they could quite +imagine that she had a temper, but when she laughed she had the sweetest +dimples! Did her hair curl naturally? Fancy! She was really and truly +like a picture, and not a bit like a person who was alive. Didn't they +look ducks together--one so fair, and one so dark? So on, and so on, +until Pixie was one big beam of joy and contentment. + +During the next fortnight Pixie spent no less than three days with her +sisters, and had the felicity of helping to choose the little house, in +which they were to begin the new life. After an inspection of various +flats Bridgie was quite of one mind with her youngest sister in +believing that either they themselves or every other tenant in the +building would have to give notice within a week of their arrival. It +was so preposterous to think of creeping on tiptoe in consideration for +your neighbours below, and speaking in hushed tones because of your +neighbours above, while, in spite of high rents, the passages seemed so +cramped, oh, so painfully cramped and narrow! Even a little house was a +castle, comparatively speaking; and in due time one was found which +promised to be healthy and convenient, and was put in the hands of +painters and paper-hangers to be ready for the removal in autumn. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +THE PRIZE IS WON. + +When the breaking-up gathering was held, Pixie was proud indeed, for if +other girls had fathers and mothers present, she had two sisters and +Jack and Geoffrey Hilliard into the bargain, and there was no doubt that +they were the handsomest and most attractive of all the guests. There +was only one drawback to her happiness, and that was that there was no +chance of being called forward to receive a prize, and so cover herself +with glory. She devoutly hoped that the class lists might not be read +aloud, to betray how very, very near the bottom she was to be found, and +heaved a deep sigh of relief when little Beatrice Ferrars marched up to +receive her certificate, and so end the list of honours. But it +appeared that it was not quite finished, for Miss Phipps rose to her +feet and began to speak amid a general murmur of excitement. + +"We now come to perhaps the most interesting item on our programme--the +bestowal of a prize by the girls themselves, instead of by the teachers. +For the benefit of those who have not been present at one of these +gatherings before, I must briefly explain that this prize consists of +five pounds to be expended in books, and is the gift of the father of +one of the pupils. Its object is to encourage among the girls a spirit +of kindliness and consideration, a readiness to hold out a helping hand, +to assist another to overcome a weakness, and, in short, to _befriend_, +in the best sense of the word. The prize is given once a year at the +end of the summer term, and, as I have said, is awarded by the vote of +the girls themselves. As they have the best opportunity of judging, it +is only right that the decision should come from them, and it is +pleasant to know that this year at least there is absolute unanimity +among them. I have gone over your voting papers, girls, and have +pleasure in telling you that, with the natural exception of the winner +herself, the same name was given by all. There is one girl who, +whatever may be her faults and shortcomings, has never failed to show +the most generous and unselfish friendship, one girl who has put her own +interests aside and been content to suffer for the sake of others, one +girl who has ever been on the watch to do a kindly act or speak a loving +word, a girl whom everyone loves, who counts every member of the +household among her admirers, and that girl's name is--" + +She paused and looked smilingly at her pupils, and on the instant came +the loud answering cry. The girls waved their hands in the air, they +drummed on the ground with their feet. "Pixie!" they cried, "Pixie +O'Shaughnessy!" and "Pixie!" once again, "Bravo, Pixie!" "Three cheers +for Pixie!" until they were hoarse with shouting, and Miss Phipps held +up her hand for silence. + +It was really a most exciting scene. Every eye was riveted on Pixie +herself, who had applauded as violently as her companions when Miss +Phipps first asked her question, and whose shrill cry of "Margaret! +Margaret!" had been frozen on her lips by the sound of her own name. +There she sat with her mouth agape, too much overcome by surprise to +have any thought for appearances, and there sat Bridgie looking on and +crying copiously with happiness, and Esmeralda blinking the tears away +and laughing furtively at Jack, who was grunting to himself, "Silly +fuss! Silly fuss!" and putting on a great appearance of boredom to +distract attention from the tears on his eyelashes. There sat Mr and +Mrs Vane, too, beaming with pleasure that their prize should have gone +to Pixie of all people, and Lottie rubbing her hands and growing +hysterical in delight. Then Pixie was marched up to the desk to be +presented with the envelope containing the crisp new note, and when she +had taken it she must needs turn round and face the audience, instead of +scuttling back to her seat in abashed, self-conscious fashion like other +girls, and even address a word of acknowledgment for the applause +bestowed upon her. "I'm very much obliged to ye!" she said in the +broadest of Irish accents, and all the fathers and mothers lay back in +their chairs and laughed until they were tired, and clapped so +enthusiastically that it was a marvel that their beautiful light kid +gloves did not split an halves. + +In the drawing-room afterwards Pixie was quite the heroine of the +occasion, and was greeted on all sides, and warmly congratulated on her +success. Mr and Mrs Vane asked especially to be introduced to Bridgie +and her party, and eventually sat down an the same corner to partake of +tea. Pixie could not hear all that they said, but they looked at her as +they spoke, and their faces were very kindly, so that she was pleasantly +conscious of being the subject of conversation. Then Mrs Vane began to +speak of the contemplated removal to town, and made many kind offers of +help and hospitality, while her husband put in a word about the dear old +Castle. + +"Your sister showed me some photographs when she was with us, and I was +much impressed by them. It is a fine old place, and I can understand +your attachment to it. You are fortunate to have secured such a good +tenant. Curiously enough, I was mentioning your name to my lawyer, who +was dining with me the other night, and he told me he had negotiated the +lease for your new tenant. The young fellow is able to pay for his +hobbies, and is evidently keen on putting the place in repair. It is +not every day that a millionaire comes to the rescue just when he is +wanted, but this Mr Hilliard certainly seems the right man in the right +place. Wonderful what glue can accomplish, isn't it, Miss +O'Shaughnessy? it makes one almost wish to be in trade oneself!" + +Jack was wont to say in later years that he had never admired Bridgie +more than at this moment of surprise and shock. She turned white, it +was true, but her voice was as calm as usual, and the manner in which +she replied so full of quiet dignity, that neither then nor at any other +time had Mr Vane the slightest idea of the sensation which he had +created. + +As for Esmeralda, she did not know the meaning of control; what she felt +she was obliged to show, and that forthwith, so within two minutes of +Mr Vane's disclosure she became suddenly overcome with heat, and +demanded Geoffrey's escort to the ball without. There they stood and +faced each other, he all downcast and abashed, as who should say, +"Please forgive me for not being poor!" she, flashing with indignation, +which said as plainly, "How dare you be a millionaire!" There was +silence for a minute, then she asked imperiously, "Is this true?" and he +made a gesture of impatience. + +"I wish that chattering old fellow was at the bottom of the sea. Yes, +it's true, darling. I'm your tenant. I have more money than I know +what to do with, and we are going to live at Knock half the year, you +and I, and amuse ourselves by putting it in repair, and have Bridgie and +the rest over to stay with us whenever you like. Don't be angry with +me, please. I meant it all so well!" + +Esmeralda drew a quick breath, and pressed her hands tightly together. +Oh, dear old home! oh, dear old Castle! was it possible that it need not +be left after all? need never pass into the hands of strangers? Was it +really, really possible that she herself was to reign as Lady Bountiful, +and see order replace disorder, beauty restored where ruin had walked +barefaced? It was an effort to preserve an appearance of severity, but +she would not give in so soon, so held her head erect, and demanded +haughtily-- + +"Why was this kept from me? Why was I never told?" + +"Jack knew," said Hilliard humbly. "Your father knew. I told him +before his death. But, Esmeralda darling, I have been run after for my +money all my life, and it was so sweet to me to think that you believed +me poor, and would still marry me for my own sake, that I could not bear +to put an end to the delusion. Then I thought I would wait until we +were married, and give you the lease of the Castle as a wedding-present. +I meant it to be such a happy surprise, and that grey man has spoiled +it all! What a comfort it would be if people would mind their own +business! Do you remember pitying me for being dependent on glue, and +taking for granted I must be poor? How I did enjoy that walk, and our +talk together! But you see, darling, it is a more valuable commodity +than you thought. My old uncle made a fortune by it, and I make a fresh +fortune every year. You said once that you would like to be rich, but I +haven't found it altogether a bed of roses. I need your help at least +as much as if I were a poor man, and we will try together to use our +money so as to make other people happier and better. First of all come +your own brothers. I can help them on, and Bridgie and Pixie will be +like my own sisters. You are pleased, Esmeralda; I can see it in your +face. You are not angry with me any more? What are you thinking of, +darling, with that far-away gaze?" + +"I am thinking of father," said Esmeralda softly. "How happy he would +be! There will still be an O'Shaughnessy at dear Knock Castle." + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Pixie O'Shaughnessy, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PIXIE O'SHAUGHNESSY *** + +***** This file should be named 21101.txt or 21101.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/0/21101/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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