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diff --git a/21122.txt b/21122.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff8e6cc --- /dev/null +++ b/21122.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9374 @@ +Project Gutenberg's More about Pixie, 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: More about Pixie + +Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +Illustrator: W.H.C. Groome + +Release Date: April 17, 2007 [EBook #21122] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORE ABOUT PIXIE *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +More About Pixie, by Mrs G. de Horne Vaizey + +___________________________________________ + +This is another excellent book by Mrs de Horne Vaizey, +dating from the end of the nineteenth century. While of +course it is dated in its references to the world around +its actors, yet nevertheless their emotions are +well-described, and no doubt are timeless. + +In some ways the world around the people in the book is +recognisable today, in a way which a book written thirty or +forty years before would not have been. They have +electricity, telephones, trains, buses, and many other +things that we still use regularly today. Of course one +major difference is that few people today have servants, +while middle-class and upper-class families of the eighteen +nineties would certainly have had them. It was a passing +joke in the book that it was surprising that the butler, on +discovering a young couple kissing, did not say, "Allow me, +madam." + +Today we travel by aeroplane, while in those days, and +indeed for much of my own life, we travelled by ship and +train. It was normal when travelling back to England from +India to disembark at Marseilles, and come on to the +Channel Ports by train, perhaps even spending a week or two +in Italy, en route. I have done it myself. + +So it is not so very dated after all. But I do think there +is a real value in reading the book. Oddly enough, I think +that a boy would benefit from reading any of the +author's books, more than a girl would, because it would +give him an insight into the girlish mind which he could +not so easily otherwise obtain. N.H. +_________________________________________________________ + +MORE ABOUT PIXIE + +BY MRS. GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +A NEW NEIGHBOUR. + +The night nurse was dusting the room preparatory to going off duty for +the day, and Sylvia was lying on her water-bed watching her movements +with gloomy, disapproving eyes. For four long weeks--ever since the +crisis had passed and she had come back to consciousness of her +surroundings--she had watched the same proceeding morning after morning, +until its details had become almost unbearably wearisome to her weak +nerves. + +First of all came Mary to sweep the floor--she went down on her knees, +and swept up the dust with a small hand-brush, and however carefully she +might begin, it was quite, quite certain that she would end by knocking +up against the legs of the bed, and giving a jar and shock to the +quivering inmate. Then she would depart, and nurse would take the +ornaments off the mantelpiece, flick the duster over them, and put them +back in the wrong places. + +It did not seem of the least importance to her whether the blue vase +stood in the centre or at the side, but Sylvia had a dozen reasons for +wishing to have it in exactly one position and no other. She liked to +see its graceful shape and rich colouring reflected in the mirror which +hung immediately beneath the gas-bracket; if it were moved to the left +it spoiled her view of a tiny water-colour painting which was one of her +greatest treasures, while if it stood on the right it ousted the +greatest treasure of all--the silver-framed portrait of the dear, +darling, most beloved of fathers, who was afar off at the other side of +the world, tea-planting in Ceylon. + +Sylvia was too weak to protest, but she burrowed down among the clothes, +and moped to herself in good old typhoid fashion. "Wish she would leave +it alone! Wish people wouldn't bother about the room. Don't care if it +is dusty! Wish I could be left in peace. Don't believe I shall ever be +better. Don't believe my temperature ever _will_ go down. Don't care +if it doesn't! Wish father were home to come and talk, and cheer me up. +Boo-hoo-hoo!" + +The tears trickled down and splashed saltly against her lips, but she +kept her sobs under control, for crying was a luxury which was forbidden +by the authorities, and could only be indulged in by stealth. + +The night nurse thought that the patient had fallen asleep, but when she +went off duty, and her successor arrived, she cast a suspicious glance +at the humped-up bedclothes, and turned them down with a gentle but +determined hand. + +"Crying again?" she cried. "Oh, come now, I can't allow that! What are +you crying about on such a lovely, bright morning, when you have had +such a good night's rest?" + +"I had a horrid night. I couldn't sleep a bit. I feel so mum-mum- +miserable!" wailed the patient dolefully. "I'm so tired of being in +bed." + +"You won't have very much longer of it now. Your temperature is lower +than it has ever been this morning. You ought to be in good spirits +instead of crying in this silly way. Come now, cheer up! I am not +going to allow such a doleful face." + +"I'm very cheerful when I'm well. Ask Aunt Margaret if I'm not. I've a +most lively disposition. Everyone says so," whined Sylvia dismally. +"I'm tired of everything and everybody. So would you be if you'd been +in bed for two months." + +"Tired of me as well as the rest?" + +"Yes, I am. You are a nasty, horrid, strict, cross thing." But a smile +struggled through the tears, and a thin hand stole out from beneath the +clothes and pressed the white-sleeved arms in eloquent contradiction. +Whatever Sylvia was tired of, it was certainly not this gentle, sweet- +faced little woman who--humanly speaking--had brought her back from the +verge of the grave. She snoodled her head along the pillow so as to +lean it against the nurse's shoulder, and said in weak, disconnected +snatches, "I'm sorry--I'm so horrid. I feel so cross and low-spirited. +I want--a change. Can't you think--of something nice?" + +"You are going to have some beautiful chicken-soup for your lunch. It +is in a perfect jelly." + +"Hate chicken-soup! Hate the sight of soup! Want to have salmon and +cucumber, and ice creams, and nice rich puddings." + +Nurse laughed complacently. + +"So you shall--some day! Glad you feel well enough to want them now. +Would you like to be carried to the sofa by the window for an hour this +afternoon, while your bed is being aired and made comfortable? I think +it would do you good to lie in the sunshine, and the doctor could help +me to carry you. It would be quite exciting to see a glimpse of the +outer world, wouldn't it?" + +"Rather! I can't believe that everything is going on just the same. +Are all the neighbours alive still? Is the old man at the corner alive? +Has the little girl at Number Five grown-up and put on long frocks? I +feel as if I had been lying here for years and years. I believe I have +grown grey myself. Give me a hand-glass, Whitey, and let me see how I +look." + +Whitey walked obediently across the room, and brought back the silver- +backed glass from the dressing-table. She was accustomed to her +nickname by this time, and was indeed rather proud of it than otherwise. +She had been known successively as "Spirit of the Day," and "The White +Nurse," during the hours of delirium, and the abbreviation had a natural +girlish ring about it, which was a herald of returning health. + +"There, look at yourself, Miss Conceit!" she cried laughingly, and +Sylvia held the glass erect in both hands and stared curiously at her +own reflection. She saw a thin, clear-cut little face, with arched +eyebrows, large brown eyes, an aquiline nose, and full, pouting lips. +The cheeks showed delicate hollows beneath the cheek bones, and the eyes +looked tired and heavy, otherwise there was no startling change to +record. + +"I don't look as much older as I expected, but I've got a different +expression, Whitey--a sort of starved-wolf, haggard, tired-out look, +just exactly like I feel. Aren't I beautifully thin? It's always been +my ambition to be slim and willowy, like the people in fashion plates. +I shall be quite a vision of elegance, shan't I, Whitey?" + +"Um! Well," said Whitey vaguely, "you must expect to look very slight +after lying in bed for so long, but it doesn't matter about that. You +won't trouble about appearances, so long as you feel well and strong +again." + +"Yes, I shall!" said the invalid stubbornly. She turned her head on one +side and stared intently at the long plaits of hair which trailed over +the pillow--her "Kenwigs" as she had dubbed them, after Charles +Dickens's immortal "Miss Kenwigses," who are pictorially represented in +short frocks, pantaloons, and tight plaits of hair, secured at the ends +by bows of ribbon. + +"My Kenwigs look very thin," she said anxiously. "I used to have three +thick coils. People's hair doesn't come out after typhoid fever, does +it, Whitey? I shall be furious if mine does." + +"Oh, hair generally comes out a little in autumn," replied Whitey +easily. "Now you have looked at yourself quite long enough. I will put +back the glass and prepare some food while your aunt comes to see you, +but I shall tell her not to talk too much, for the doctor won't let you +be moved if you are looking tired and exhausted." + +Sylvia sighed to herself, for interviews with Aunt Margaret were a +decided trial in these days of convalescence, when every nerve seemed on +edge and ready to be jarred. She was nearly twenty-two, and for the +first year after leaving school the dear old dad had been in England, +and she had had the most delightful time travelling about with him. He +always declared that he was a poor man, that tea was doing so +disgracefully badly, that he expected to retire into the workhouse in +the course of the next year, but, all the same, he never appeared to be +short of money, and the travelling was done in the most comfortable and +luxurious of fashions. Sylvia was his only child, and in his eyes was +the most beautiful and accomplished creature in the world, so that it +was a trying experience to be domiciled with an elderly maiden aunt, +whose ideas were as early Victorian as her furniture, who had forgotten +what it felt like to be young, and was continually aggrieved because her +niece had not learned to be old. + +During the long year of idleness Sylvia had cherished the idea that her +father would take her back to Ceylon, when she would reign as Queen of +the Bungalow, charm the hearts of the coolies by her beauty and dignity, +pay frequent visits to Kandy, and become one of the favourites of +society; but when it came to the point it appeared that he had no +intention of the sort. In two or three years he hoped to be able to +settle in England, and meantime his ambition for his daughter demanded +that she should remain at home and devote her time to music, for which +she showed an unusual talent. If he had other reasons he kept them to +himself, but as a matter of fact he dreaded a possible marriage abroad, +which would condemn the girl to a life of separation from so much that +is good and pleasant, and if any qualms arose as to the cheerfulness of +the home in which he was leaving her, he consoled himself by the +reflection that he would be able to make up for temporary deprivations +in the years to come. + +Mr Trevor sailed off to the East, and Sylvia took up her abode at +Number 6 Rutland Road, in an unfashionable suburb in the north of +London, and settled down to being a "good industrious girl" with what +grace she might. She did not understand Aunt Margaret, and Aunt +Margaret felt it a decided trial to have her sleepy home invaded by a +restless young creature, who was never so happy as when she was singing +at the pitch of her voice, rushing up and down stairs, and playing silly +schoolboy tricks; but fate had ordained that they were to live together, +and they had jogged along more or less peacefully until that unlucky day +when the girl had sickened for her dangerous illness. Then, indeed, +Aunt Margaret realised that she had grown to love her wayward charge, +and all the manifold demands and inconveniences of illness were +swallowed up in anxiety during the first anxious weeks. She allowed not +only one, but two of "those dreadful nurses" to take possession of her +spare rooms, submitted meekly to their orders, and saw her domestic +rules and regulations put aside without a murmur of protest; but when +the crisis was safely passed, and recovery became only a matter of time, +the old fussy nature reasserted itself, and her eyes were open to behold +the dire results of a long illness. + +This bright October morning she came stooping into Sylvia's bedroom, a +slight woman with a narrow bent back, brown hair smoothed neatly down on +each side of a withered, dried-up face, with a patch of red on the cheek +bones, and sunken brown eyes roving restlessly to right and left. She +wore a black stuff dress, a satin apron with pockets and an edging of +jet, and knitted mittens over her wrists--a typical old lady of the +ancient type. Yet as she stood beside the bed there was a curious +likeness to be observed between her face and the one on the pillow; and +Sylvia recognised as much, and felt a thrill of dismay at the thought +that some day she, too, would be frail and bent, and wear a cap and +mittens, and have rheumatic joints, and attacks of bronchitis if by +chance she was so imprudent as to go out without putting on goloshes, a +woollen "crossover," and a big silk muffler beneath her mantle. To one- +and-twenty it seemed an appalling prospect, and one to be shunted into +the background with all possible speed. + +"Well, my love, and how are you this morning? Much better, I hear. A +good drop in temperature," said Aunt Margaret, pecking her niece's cheek +with her lips, and answering her own question without waiting for a +reply, as her custom was. "Nurse tells me that you will soon be up +again, and I'm sure it is time. This room needs a regular spring +cleaning, and as for the new drugget on the landing--three new spots of +milk this morning, to say nothing of what has gone before! If I had +known you were going to be ill I would have made the old one last +another year, for it is sheer waste of money buying new things to have +them ruined in six months. The last one was down thirteen years, and +looked very little worse than this does now!" + +"Father will buy you another. You must put it down as one of the +expenses. He won't mind so long as I get better," said the invalid +wearily; whereupon Aunt Margaret drew herself up with an air of wounded +pride. + +"Indeed, my dear, your poor father will have enough to do to pay all the +doctors and nurses without being called upon for extras. I am willing +to bear my own share, though I will say my stair-carpets have had as +much wear and tear in the last two months as in half a dozen years +before, and that Nurse Ellen is a most careless creature, she leaves +everything in a muddle! If you get up, my dear, you must wear my wadded +jacket. I had a young friend--she was the cousin of Sarah Wedderburn, +who lived in Stanhope Terrace, and married young Johnson of +Sunderland.--You have heard me speak of the Johnsons, who were at school +with your Aunt Emma?" + +Sylvia blinked her eyelids in a non-committal manner which might be +taken either for assent or denial. She was afraid to confess ignorance +of the Johnson family, lest Aunt Margaret's love of biography should +take a further flight in order to recall Sarah Wedderburn's cousin to +her remembrance. + +"And what did she do?" she queried weakly. "Don't tell me anything +gruesome, please, aunt, because I feel so low-spirited this morning that +I can't bear anything depressing!" + +"I should be very sorry to depress you, my dear. Nothing is farther +from my wishes, and if she had been careful nothing need have happened. +Her sister told me it was all her own fault for not being sufficiently +wrapped up. I'll tell you the whole story another day when there is +more time, for now I must go out to do my housekeeping. These meals +will be the death of me! The cloth is never off the table. I quite +expect Mary will give notice at the end of the month, and goodness knows +what we shall do then, for it seems impossible to get hold of +respectable girls. The milk-bill has just come in for the month. +Ruinous! Ruinous! Now, my love, you must really cheer up and try to +look more like yourself. Perhaps I shall find you on the sofa when I +come back. Tell nurse not to use my best cushions; your own pillows +will do perfectly well." + +She bustled out of the room, and Sylvia stared into space with a doleful +face. + +"It's all very well to ask me to be cheerful, when she tells me in the +same breath that I am ruining her, and her beloved furniture. I'm sure +I didn't want to be ill! If dad were at home he would never reproach +me." The tears were very near falling once more, but just at that +moment there came the sound of a manly footstep, and in walked the +doctor, large, stout, beaming, a very incarnation of health and good +spirits. + +"Well, and so nurse tells me you think of going to the seaside to-day! +You are getting tired of yourself, and want a change--eh? I don't +wonder at that. You think you would enjoy having a little peep at the +world again? Let me feel your pulse and see if I can allow it." + +The pulse was quite satisfactory, so nurse and doctor promptly set to +work to spread blankets on the couch, draw forward screens to prevent +possibility of draught, and bank up pillows to allow a glimpse of the +road beneath. Then Sylvia clasped her arms tightly round the nurse's +neck, the doctor raised her feet, there was a moment's dizzy confusion, +while her eyes swam and her ears hummed, and there she lay on the sofa, +as at the end of a long and arduous journey, while her attendants +wrapped her up in blankets and eiderdowns, and looked anxiously to see +how she had borne the exertion. The little face was very white, but +bright with pleasure and excitement, and the offer of smelling salts and +cordials was laughed aside with good-natured contempt. + +"No, no--I'm all right--just a little breathless after that whirl +through space. How funny the room looks! I've looked at it broadways +so long that I can't recognise it from this point of view. Is that the +water-bed? What a strange-looking thing! just like a lot of hot bottles +joined together. It _is_ comfortable over here! I'd like to stay all +day. Oh, oh, oh! here's the butcher's cart! How lovely it is to see +the world again!" + +The jovial-looking doctor shrugged his shoulders as he took his +departure. The poor child must have been in sad straits indeed if she +found the sight of a butcher's cart so exciting! He would have enjoyed +sitting beside her and listening to her rhapsodies, but was obliged to +hurry off to other patients, while Whitey seated herself beside the +couch, and began hemming strips of muslin to be made into those starched +cap-strings which were tied so jauntily beneath her chin. + +"Oh, Whitey," cried Sylvia, "I feel better already! It all looks so +bright, and cheerful, and alive! I'm simply dying to go out for a +drive, and to see the people walking about. I used to think this such a +dull little road, but now it seems quite gay and fashionable. I've seen +three perambulators already, to say nothing of the butcher's cart! I +wish the Number Seven lady would go out for a walk, and let me see her +autumn clothes. She wears all the colours of the rainbow, and looks +like a walking kaleidoscope... Whitey! Oh, Whitey!" + +The weak voice rose to a squeal of excitement, and the nurse bent +forward curiously to discover the reason of so much agitation. To the +ordinary eye, however, there was nothing to be seen, for Sylvia's +outstretched hand pointed to a semi-detached villa in no way +distinguished from the rest of the row. + +"It's taken!" she cried--"Number Three is taken! It has been empty for +a year, and I have simply longed for someone to come, for it is the most +convenient house to watch, and I take such interest in the neighbours. +It's pretty lonely for me here, for I haven't a single girl-friend. +Father kept me at school in Brussels for the sake of learning the +language, but almost all the girls were French or American, and none of +them live in London. Aunt Margaret introduced me to some `young +friends' when I first arrived, but I thought they were horrid prigs, and +I suppose they thought I was mad, so the friendship didn't progress. I +amuse myself with my music and in dreaming of the time when father comes +home, but every time a house changes hands I have a wild hope that there +will be a girl in the family, who would be lively and jolly like myself. +I'm very nice when I'm well, Whitey--I am really! You needn't laugh +like that. I daresay you would be fractious yourself if you had to lie +in bed for months and months, and had an old griffin to mount guard over +you, who made you eat against your will, and bullied you from morning +till night... What was I talking about last? Oh yes, I wanted to ask +if you had seen anything of these new people, and what they were like." + +"I haven't had much time for looking out of the window, but I have seen +a young lady and gentleman going out and in. I think they are a newly- +married couple, for they look very juvenile and affectionate. He is +dark and handsome, and she is fair, and I should say very pretty." + +Sylvia's face clouded with disappointment. + +"Bother the husband! She won't want me or anyone else to interrupt the +duet. I do wish it could have been a family with a daughter. The +curtains don't look newly-married, Whitey!" + +"No, they don't. I thought that myself. The house doesn't look as +smart and fresh as one expects under the circumstances, but perhaps they +are not well off, and had to be content with what they could get. You +should not leap to the conclusion that she won't want you. Brides often +feel very lonely through the day when their husbands are in the city, +and I should think she would be delighted to have a friend of her own +age so near at hand. We will watch and see if we can get a glimpse of +her. She is almost sure to have gone out for a walk this fine morning, +and if so she will come home in time for lunch." + +From that moment Sylvia's eyes were glued to the window, and every woman +between the ages of sixteen and sixty was in turn heralded as the bride, +and scornfully laughed aside by the nurse. + +"I told you that she was young and pretty!" she repeated laughingly. "I +didn't mean that she was a schoolgirl, or a middle-aged woman. If she +is coming at all she will be here within the next half-hour, so lie +still and rest, and I'll play Sister Anne for you." + +Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and Whitey was +beginning to hint at a return to bed, when at last the longed-for figure +hove in sight. Sylvia raised herself on her pillows and peered eagerly +forward, her scarlet dressing-jacket making a brilliant patch of colour +against the background of white. She saw a slight, graceful figure clad +in a tightly fitting black cloth costume, and a mass of flaxen hair +beneath a sailor hat, and even as she looked the girl raised her head +and stared upward with eager interest. She had a delicate, oval face +and grey-blue eyes beneath thoughtful brows, but at the sight of the +invalid the whole face flashed into sunshine, and the lips curled into a +smile of such irrepressible rejoicing which was more eloquent than +words. The next moment her head was lowered, and she walked demurely up +the path dividing the little gardens, while Sylvia lay back on her +pillows a-quiver with excitement. + +"Oh, oh, the d-arling! What a perfect duck of a darling! Did you see +her smile? Didn't she look glad to see me? Whitey, why did she look so +pleased? What can she know about me?" + +"My dear, she has seen the doctor's carriage drive up at all hours of +the day, and two nurses going in and out, to say nothing of the bark +which was laid down on the road. She must have known that someone was +seriously ill, and no doubt the servants have told her that it was a +young girl like herself. Yes, it was delightful to see her. You won't +have any better congratulation on your recovery than that smile!" + +"Whitey, she is in black! Brides don't wear black." + +"They are obliged to wear it sometimes, dear. You can't lay down a rule +about such things." + +"She looks too young to be married. She ought to play about with me for +a year or two first. I hate that man for taking her from me! That's +the girl I should marry myself if I had a chance. Do find out what her +name is, Whitey. Mary is sure to know, for she gossips with the other +servants while she is cleaning the steps. Yes, I'll go back to bed now. +I'm tired, and I don't care to see anyone else. I'll go to sleep and +dream about that smile!" + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. + +"Aunt Margaret, can you tell me anything about the people who have come +to Number Three? I saw the lady coming in just now while I was sitting +up, and I do so want to know her. Have you been to call while I was +ill?" + +Miss Munns crossed her hands on her lap, and looked the image of +dignified reproach. + +"My dear, do you suppose I have had leisure for social engagements? I +know nothing about the people, except that their blinds are invariably +crooked, and every one drawn up to a different length. Most untidy the +house looks! A dear friend of mine used to say--Mary Appleford, whose +father was the clergyman in my old home in Leicestershire--charming old +man who married Lady Evelyn Bruce--most aristocratic family!--Mary +always declared that she could judge a woman's character by the +appearance of her windows. Judged from that standpoint, I should not +feel disposed to call on the mistress of Number Three." + +"But you haven't seen her, aunt; if you did, you could not help loving +her. She looked so delighted to see me sitting up, and gave me such a +delicious smile!" + +"Smiled at you, do you say? A most unladylike thing to do! The first +advances should come from our side, as she would know if she had any +experience of society. I hope, my dear, that you were not so foolish as +to respond. One cannot be too careful about strangers in this big +wicked city. I shall never forget my poor dear cousin telling me how +she called on a most superior-looking lady who came to live in the same +terrace, and two months later the police raided the house, and it turned +out that the husband made false coins in the back kitchen, and the wife +circulated them among the tradesfolk. So awkward for Maria!" + +Sylvia brought her eyebrows together in a frown, and tossed about on her +pillow. She felt irritated and disappointed, and that made her head +ache, and the headache sent down her spirits again, and eclipsed the +brightness of the morning. If Aunt Margaret refused to call, she could +not make the acquaintance of the fair unknown, and it would be a +tantalising experience to see her every day, and, yet be as far removed +from friendship as if they lived a dozen miles apart! + +During the weeks which followed, nurse and patient kept a close watch on +the little house over the road, and were rewarded by witnessing several +interesting domestic scenes. + +On Saturday afternoon, for instance, Edwin came home early to show +himself in his turn. He was tall, dark, and handsome; dressed in the +height of the fashion, and bore himself with such an air of complacency +and benign patronage towards his fellows, that he looked far more like a +prince of the blood than an ordinary city man. He carried a little +bunch of flowers in his hand, and whistled as he drew near the gate in +orthodox, newly-married fashion, and the pretty girl flew to the door, +and nodded her head at him in happy welcome. He bent down to kiss her, +and she took the flowers and sniffed at them lovingly; then they walked +together down the little path to examine the growth of some sooty +chrysanthemums and three struggling creepers placed against the house. + +Edwin shook his head after the inspection, as though it had been far +from promising, and then, instead of looking disappointed, they both +laughed, turned round and round to look over their twelve-yard domain, +and laughed again as if it were the best joke in the world. Then +Angelina said something in a low aside, whereupon Edwin strolled to the +gate, and in the most casual manner looked up the road and down the +road, and then straight across at the window where the invalid lay! + +"She told him to look!" cried Sylvia breathlessly, and her pale cheeks +flushed until they were almost as red as the dressing-jacket itself. +"He is very handsome, Whitey. I don't dislike him as much as I +expected. Oh dear, they look disgustingly happy! I am sure they don't +want me a bit, and I want them dreadfully. He doesn't seem the sort of +man to coin false money, does he? Do please casually remark to Aunt +Margaret how very nice and distinguished they look! It's my one object +in life at present to make her call upon them." + +The next day the situation developed still further, for a form was seen +seated at a window, who must, of course, be Edwin; yet he looked +strangely younger and fairer in colouring. Nurse and patient debated +the point hotly, until presently the door opened and out came one, two, +three masculine creatures, all as like as peas in a pod, except for the +difference in years which divided Edwin from the handsome striplings on +either side. They stood together in the tiny garden, obviously waiting +for the mistress of the house, and when she did not appear, the youngest +of the three picked up pieces of gravel and threw them up at a bedroom +window, while the others whistled and beat upon the gate with their +sticks. + +Angelina strolled to the window in response to these demonstrations, and +stood smiling at them while she fastened on her hat, but she did not +appear to hurry herself in the least, nor did the brothers show any +signs of annoyance at their long waiting. When at long last she made +her appearance, there was great manoeuvring to get a place by her side, +and away they trotted, four abreast, pushing everyone else off the +pavement, but apparently blissfully unconscious of anything unusual in +the proceeding. + +Sylvia and Whitey watched until the last flutter of the black dress +disappeared from sight, then fell to work to settle the identity of the +new actors in the drama. + +"They are brothers--there is no doubt about that; but they can't live +there, Whitey! That wouldn't be at all newly-married. Do you suppose +they are here for the day? Perhaps they are in rooms in town, and +Angelina lets them come down over Sundays sometimes as a treat. They +seem very fond of her, and quite at home. I think that is the most +likely explanation, don't you?" + +"I really think it is. Or they might live in the country and have come +up to pay a visit and see the sights," said Whitey thoughtfully. + +She was thankful to find a subject of interest in these long days of +convalescence to keep her patient's mind from dwelling on depressing +topics. Truth to tell, Sylvia was not getting well so quickly as had +been expected, and besides more serious drawbacks there were minor +troubles, trying enough to the girlish mind. She had to learn to walk +again, like a baby, her back ached so badly that if she tried to stoop +she screamed aloud with pain, and, worse than all, the plaits of hair +grew small and beautifully less, until there was hardly anything left to +plait. Sylvia had been proud of her hair, so she grew alarmed, and +finally sent off in haste for her special barber to give advice and +consolation in the difficulty. Consolation was not forthcoming, +however, and the advice offered was by no means acceptable. + +"You can't do nothing--there's nothing will be a bit of good," the man +said dolefully. "Whatever you do, it's bound to come. The wisest thing +would be to be shaved at once, and give it a start." + +Sylvia fairly screamed with horror and consternation. + +"Shaved!" she cried. "I? I go about with a bald head--a horrible, +bare, shiny scalp! I'd rather die! I'd rather--I'd rather--I'd rather +anything in the world! It's no use talking to me, Whitey; I will--not-- +be shaved!" + +"Very well, dear," assented Whitey easily. "Then you shan't. We will +just have a few inches cut off, and get a lotion to rub in to help the +growth. I daresay the old hair will keep on until the new appears, and +then you need never have the horrible experience of seeing a bald head." + +"I never should see it in any case. I'd buy a wig and wear it night and +day. Nothing would induce me to look in the glass when it was off. I +should never respect myself again. And oh, Whitey, even at the best the +new hair will be ages growing, and it will be impossible to do anything +with it!" + +"Not at all. You can wear it short and curly. It would look very +pretty, and suit you so well." + +Whitey was aggressively cheerful, but Sylvia refused to be comforted. + +"It would be hateful. I don't know anything more dejected-looking than +to see the back of a shorn head under a pretty hat. I won't _allow_ my +hair to fall out, and that's the end of it!" + +"Well, p'r'aps it won't, after all, miss! We must 'ope for the best," +said the barber cheerfully. + +He and Whitey talked incessantly all the time the hair-cutting was +proceeding, with the fond hope of distracting the girl's attention; but +in naughty mood she refused to listen, insisted on sitting directly in +front of her glass, and was rewarded for her pains by catching a glimpse +of a bald spot on the crown of her head, which put the finishing touch +of depression. + +When the doctor arrived for his morning visit, he found a most +melancholy patient, and held a serious consultation with nurse on the +staircase before departing. + +"She seems very low and listless this morning. Can't you do something +to cheer her up? I am afraid we are going to have trouble with that +foot, and if she has to lie up again it will never do for her to get in +a melancholy condition. You do your best, I know, but she needs a +change. There is no reason why she should not see visitors. Has she no +young friends who could come to have tea with her, and make her laugh?" + +Whitey sighed, and leant against the banisters with a dejected air. It +is exhausting work being cheerful for two, and no one would have +welcomed a laughing stranger more heartily than herself. The question +was,--where was she to be found? + +"She was lamenting to me the other day that she had no girl-friends. +She went abroad to school, and has had little opportunity of making +acquaintances since she came home. Miss Munns is very--conservative. +She does not care to associate with her neighbours. There is a charming +girl who has come to live opposite. We watch her from the window, and +Sylvia has been trying to persuade her aunt to call for the last three +weeks; but it is useless. I'm sorry, for she looks just the very person +we want." + +"Won't call, won't she? We'll see about that. I'm not going to have my +patient thrown back, after all the trouble I've had with her, for fifty +old ladies and their prejudices. You leave it to me!" cried the jovial +doctor, and tramped downstairs into the parlour to give his orders +forthwith. + +A little diplomacy, a little coaxing, a few words of warning to revive +affectionate anxiety, a good big dose of flattery, and the thing was +done; and, what was better still, Aunt Margaret was left under the happy +delusion that the projected visit was the outcome of her own +inspiration. She said nothing to the invalid, but at half-past three +that afternoon she put on her woollen crossover, and a black silk +muffler, and her best silk dolman, and dear Aunt Sarah's sable pelerine, +and her Sunday bonnet, and new black kid gloves, two sizes too big, +carried her tortoiseshell card-case in one hand, and her umbrella in the +other, and sailed across the road to call at Number Three. + +Sylvia had gone back to bed after lunch by her own request. The hair- +cutting ordeal had tired her out, and there was, besides, a deep-seated +wearing pain in one foot and ankle which made her long to lie still and +rest. She tried to sleep, and after long waiting had just arrived at +that happy stage when thoughts grow misty, and a gentle prickling +feeling creeps up from the toes to the brain, when a patriotic barrel- +organ began to rattle out the strains of "Rule, Britannia" from the end +of the road, and the chance was gone. Then Whitey read aloud for an +hour, but the book had come to a dull, uneventful stage, and the +chapters dragged heavily. + +Sylvia longed for tea as an oasis in this desert of a day, and +despatched nurse to bid Mary bring it up half an hour before the usual +time. And then came a charming surprise! Back came Whitey all smiles +and dimples, the tired lines wiped out of her face as by a miracle. She +stood in the doorway, looking at her patient with dancing eyes. + +"I've brought you something better than tea!" she cried. "Just look +what I have brought you!" As she spoke she moved to the side, as if to +make room for another visitor, and--was it a dream, or could it really +be true?--there stood the bride of Number Three, the sweet-faced +Angelina, in her black dress, her grey eyes soft with welcome. + +"Oh!" cried Sylvia shrilly. "Oh--oh!" She sat up in bed and stretched +out two thin little hands, all a-tremble with excitement. "It's _you_! +Oh, how did you come? What made you come? How did you know I wanted +you so badly?" + +"I wanted you too!" said the girl quickly. She had a delightful voice; +soft, and deep, and musical in tone, and she was prettier than ever, +seen close at hand. Best of all, she was not a bit shy, but as frank +and outspoken as if they had been friends of years' standing. "Your +aunt called on me this afternoon," she went on, coming nearer the bed, +and sitting down on the chair which nurse placed for her. "She invited +me to come to see you some day, but I've a dislike to waiting, if +there's a good thing in prospect, so I asked if I might come at once, +and here I am! I'm so glad you wanted to see me. I have watched you +from my window, ever since you first sat up in your pretty red jacket." + +"And you looked up and smiled at me! I have watched you too, and wanted +to know you so badly. I've been ill for months, it seems like years, +and was so surprised to see that your house was taken. You can't think +how strange it is to creep back to life, and see how everything has gone +on while you have lain still. It's conceited, of course, to expect a +revolution of nature, just because you are out of things yourself, but I +didn't seem able to help it." + +"I'm like that myself!" said the pretty girl pleasantly. There was a +soft gurgle in her voice as of laughter barely repressed, and she +pronounced her i's with a faint broadening of accent, which was +altogether quaint and delightful. + +Sylvia mentally repeated the phrase as it sounded in her ears, "Oi'm +like that meself!" and came to an instant conclusion. "Irish! She's +Irish. I'm glad of that. I like Irish people." She smiled for pure +pleasure, and the visitor stretched out a hand impulsively, and grasped +the thin fingers lying on the counterpane. + +"You poor creature, I'm grieved for you! Tell me, is your name +Beatrice? I'm dying to know, for we had a discussion about it at home, +and I said I was sure it was Beatrice. I always imagine a Beatrice dark +like you, with brown eyes and arched eyebrows." + +"I don't! The only Beatrice I know is quite fair and fluffy. No, I am +not Beatrice!" + +"But you are not Helen! I do hope you are not Helen. The boys guessed +that, and they would be so triumphant if they were right." + +"No, I'm not Helen either. I'm Sylvia Trevor." + +"'Deed, you are, then! It's an elegant name. I never knew anyone +living by it before, and it suits you, too. I like it immensely. Did +you,"--the grey eyes twinkled merrily--"did you find a nickname for me?" + +Sylvia glanced at Whitey and smiled demurely. + +"We called you Angelina. Oh, we didn't think that was really your name, +but we called you by it because you looked so happy and er--er +affectionate, and pleased with everything. And we called your husband +Edwin, to match. Those are the proper names for newly-married couples, +you know." + +The girl stared back with wide grey eyes, her chin dropped, and she sat +suddenly bolt upright in her chair. + +"My _what_?" she gasped. "My h--" She put her hands against her cheeks, +which had grown quite pink, and gurgled into the merriest, most +infectious laughter. "But I'm not married at all! It's my brother. He +is not Edwin, he is Jack, and I'm Bridgie--Bridget O'Shaughnessy, just a +bit of a girl like yourself, and not even engaged." + +Sylvia sank back in the bed with a great sigh of thanksgiving. + +"What a relief! I was so jealous of that husband, for I wanted you for +myself, and if you had been married you would have been too settled-down +and domestic to care for me. I do hope we shall be friends. I'm an +only child, and my father is abroad, and I pine to know someone of my +own age." + +"I know; your aunt told me. We talked about you all the time, for I had +been so interested and sorry about your illness, that I had no end of +questions to ask. What a dear old lady she is! I envy you having her +to live with. I always think one misses so much if there is no old +person in the house to help with advice and example!" + +The invalid moved restlessly on her pillows, and cast a curious glance +at her companion. The grey eyes were clear and honest, the sweet lips +showed not the shadow of a smile; it was transparently apparent that she +was in earnest. + +Sylvia felt a pang of apprehension lest her new friend was about to turn +out "proper," that acme of undesirable qualities to the girlish mind. +If that were so, the future would be robbed of much of its charm; but +the discussion of Aunt Margaret and her qualities must be deferred until +a greater degree of intimacy had shown Bridgie the difficulties, as well +as the advantages, of the situation. In the meantime she was longing to +hear a little family history, and judiciously led the conversation in +the desired direction. + +"You are four young people living alone, then? for I suppose the two +younger boys are brothers also. How fond they seem of you!" + +"Why, of course. They dote upon me," said Miss O'Shaughnessy, with an +air of calm taking-for-granted which spoke volumes for the character of +the family. Then she began to smile, and the corners of her lips +twisted with humorous enjoyment. "I wouldn't be saying that we don't +have a breeze now and again, just to vary the monotony; but we admire +one another the more for the spirit in us. And it's pleasant having an +even number, for we can fight two against two, and no unfairness. Maybe +they are a bit more attentive than usual just now, for they have been +without me most of the winter, poor creatures! We have had a troublous +time of it these last two years. My dear father died the spring before +last, and we had to leave our home in Ireland. Then one sister was +married, and another went to Paris for her education, so there were two +_trousseaux_ to prepare, and when all the fuss and excitement was over I +was worn-out, and the doctor said I must do nothing but rest for some +months to come. The boys went into lodgings, while I junketed about +visiting friends, and they are so pleased to get into a place of their +own again, that they don't know how to knock about the furniture enough, +or make the most upset!" + +It seemed to Sylvia an extraordinary manner of appreciating the delights +of housekeeping, and she attempted to condole with the young mistress, +only to be interrupted with laughing complacency. + +"'Deed, I don't mind. Let them enjoy themselves, poor dears. It's +depressing to boy creatures to have to think about carpets and cushions, +and have no ease at their writing for fear of a spot of ink. I care far +more about seeing them happy, than having the furniture spick and span. +What was it made for, if it wasn't to be used?" + +Sylvia groaned heavily. + +"Wait until you have been in our drawing-room!" she said. "The chairs +were originally covered in cherry-coloured repp,--over that is a cover +of flowered chintz,--over that is a cover of brown holland,--over that +is a capacious antimacassar,--over that, each night of the week, is +carefully draped a linen dust sheet. The carpet is covered with a +drugget, the ornaments are covered with glass shades, the fire-screen is +covered with crackly oilskin. Even the footstools have little hoods to +draw on over the beadwork. I have lived here for two years, and on one +occasion we got down as far as the chintz stratum, when Cousin Mary +Robinson and dear Mrs MacDugal from Aberdeen came to stay for the +night, but my eyes have never yet been dazzled by the glory of the +cherry-coloured repp." + +Bridgie lengthened her chin, and shook her head from side to side, with +a comical air of humiliation. + +"Ah, well, tidiness is a gift. It runs in the family like wooden legs. +Some have got it, and others haven't, so they must just be resigned to +their fate. I'm going to see these repp covers, though! I'll wheedle +and wheedle until one cover comes off after another, and never feel that +I have done credit to Old Ireland until I get down to the foundation." +She rose from her chair, and held out a hand in farewell. "Nurse said I +was to stay only a few minutes, as you were tired already, but I may +come to tea another day if you would like to have me." + +"Oh, do, please! Come often! You can't think how I should love it. +Will you come for a drive with me some day, when it is bright and +sunny?" + +"I will. We could have a nice chat as we went along. I have not told +you about my sisters yet. I have the dearest sisters in the world!" +said Bridgie O'Shaughnessy. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +FAMILY PORTRAITS. + +Bright and sunny days are not common in November, but the invalid +managed to go out driving in such fine blinks as came along, and in each +instance "Angelina" was seated by her side. The friendship was +progressing with giant strides, and doctor and nurse looked upon Bridgie +O'Shaughnessy as their greatest assistant in a period of great anxiety. + +Sylvia was now able to sit up and work and read; head and eyes had come +back to their normal condition, but the treacherous disease had left its +poison in foot and ankle, and the pain on movement became more and more +acute. It required all the cheer that the new friend could give to +hearten the invalid when once more she was sent back to counterpane +land, with a big cage over the affected part to protect it from the +bedclothes, and all manner of painful and exhausting dressings to be +undergone. + +Sylvia fumed, and grumbled, and whined; she grew sulky and refused to +speak; she waxed angry and snapped at the nurse. Worst of all, she lost +hope, and shed slow, bitter tears, which scalded the thin cheeks. + +"I shall never get better, Whitey," she sobbed miserably. "I shan't +try; it's too much trouble. You might as well leave me alone to die in +peace." + +"It's not a question of dying, my dear. It's a question of healing your +foot. If I leave you in peace, you may be lame for life. How would you +like that?" said Whitey bluntly. She knew her patient by this time, and +understood that while the idea of fading away in her youth might appear +sufficiently romantic, Miss Sylvia would find nothing attractive in the +prospect of limping ungracefully through life. The dressings and +bandagings were endured meekly enough after that, but the girl's heart +was full of dread, and the long dark days were hard to bear. + +It became a rule that, instead of taking the meal alone, Bridgie +O'Shaughnessy should come across the road to tea, and sit an hour in the +sick-room while Whitey wrote letters or went out for a constitutional. +She came with hands full of photographs and letters and family trophies, +to give point to her conversation, and make her dear ones live in +Sylvia's imagination. + +One day there was a picture of the old home--such a venerable and +imposing building that Aunt Margaret, beholding it, felt her last +suspicions of counterfeit coining die a natural death, and gave +instructions to Mary that the second-best tea-things were to be taken +upstairs whenever Miss O'Shaughnessy was present. Sylvia was impressed +too, but thought it very sad that anyone who had lived in a castle +should come down to Number Three, Rutland Road. She delicately hinted +as much, and Bridgie said-- + +"Yes, it would be hard if we took it seriously, but we don't. It's just +like being in seaside lodgings, when the smallnesses and inconveniences +make part of the fun. We are going home some day, when Jack has made +his fortune, and until then my brother-in-law rents the Castle from us, +and we go over and stay with him once or twice in the year. Esmeralda +is mistress of Knock, and is having it put in such terrible order that +we can hardly recognise the dear old tumbledown place. There is not a +single broken pane in the glass-houses!" Bridgie spoke in a tone of +almost incredulous admiration, the while she drew a large promenade +photograph from its envelope. "There, that's Esmeralda! Taken in the +dress in which she was presented." + +Sylvia looked, and gasped with surprise. Such a vision of beauty and +elegance, such billows of satin, such lace, such jewels and nodding +plumes, were seldom seen in this modest suburban neighbourhood. She had +never before had any connection with a girl who had been presented at +Court, and the face which looked out of the photograph was as young as +her own--startlingly, dazzlingly young. + +"Your sister? Really! How per-fectly lovely and beautiful! Is she +really as pretty as that? How old is she? What is her husband like? +Is she very happy? She must be very rich to have all those beautiful +things." + +"She has more money than she can spend. Can you imagine that? I +can't!" said Bridgie solemnly. "I asked Esmeralda what it felt like to +be able to get whatever she liked without asking the price, and she said +it was very soothing to the feelings, but not nearly so exciting as when +she used to make up new hats out of nothing at all and a piece of dyed +ribbon. She is only twenty--younger than I, and as beautiful as a +picture. Geoffrey adores her. She has a dear little baby boy to play +with, and wherever she goes people turn round to look after her, so that +she walks about from morning till night in a kind of triumphal +procession." + +"How nice!" sighed Sylvia enviously. "Just what I should like. No one +turns round to look after me, and I feel a worm every time I walk down +Bond Street among all the horrible creatures who look nicer than I do +myself. People say--sensible old people, I mean--that it is bad for the +character to have everything that one wants. Do you think it is so in +your sister's case? Is she spoiled by prosperity?" + +Esmeralda's sister hesitated, loyally unwilling to breathe a word +against a member of her family. + +"She is just as loving and generous as she can be; thinks of every +single thing that father would have liked, and makes a perfect mistress +of the old place. The people adore her, and are in wholesome awe of +her, too--far more so than they ever were of me. The boys get cross +sometimes because she expects us to do exactly what she wishes, and that +immediately, if not sooner, but it doesn't worry me. I agree with all +she says, and then quietly go my own way, and the next time we meet she +has forgotten all about it. She is just the least in the world inclined +to be overbearing, but we all have our faults, and can't afford to judge +each other. She has been a dear sweet sister to me!" + +Bridgie smoothed the tissue paper carefully over the portrait and put it +back in its envelope. Then she picked up a smaller photograph from the +table, and her face glowed with tenderness and pride. "Now!" she cried, +and her voice was as a herald's trumpet announcing the advent of the +principal character upon the stage. "Now, here she comes! Here's +Pixie! Here's our Baby!" + +Sylvia sat up eagerly and held the photograph up to the light. She +looked at it, and blinked her eyes to be sure she had seen aright. She +cast a swift look at Bridgie's face to assure herself that she was not +the victim of a practical joke. She pressed her lips together to +repress an exclamation of dismay. She had expected to behold a vision +of loveliness--the superlative in the scale in which the two elder +sisters made positive and comparative, but what she saw was an elf-like +figure sitting huddled in the depths of an arm-chair, with tiny hands +clasped together, and large dilapidated boots occupying the place of +honour in the foreground. Lank tails of hair fell to the shoulders, and +while the nose was of the smallest possible dimensions, the mouth seemed +to stretch right across the face. It seemed impossible that this +comical little creature could belong to such a handsome and +distinguished-looking family, still more so that her belongings should +be proud of her rather than ashamed, yet there sat Bridgie all beams and +expectancy, her sweet lips a-tremble with tenderness. + +"That's little Pixie! Esmeralda gave her two shillings for unpicking +some old dresses, and she went into the village and got photographed for +my birthday present. There was a travelling photographer down for a +week, and it's wonderfully like her for eighteenpence. The other +sixpence she spent on a frame--green plush, with shells at the corners. +Esmeralda had remarks to make when I put it on the drawing-room +mantelpiece, and offered to give me a silver one instead." Bridgie +smiled and shook her head with an expression which showed that the price +of the green plush frame was above rubies. "No, indeed! It's not +likely I will give up Pixie's present." + +"She is not very like any of you!" Sylvia said lamely. She wanted to +be pleasant and appreciative, but could not think what on earth to say +next. "It must be--er--very nice to have a little sister. She is in +Paris, you say. Will she be away long?" + +"She is coming home for good in January. Geoffrey and Esmeralda are +going over to bring her back, and she will go on with finishing lessons +at home. We can't do without each other any longer. I feel quite sore +with wanting her sometimes, and she is home-sick too. I had a letter +from her this morning. Would you like me to read it to you to show you +what she is like?" + +"Please do!" said Sylvia politely, but in reality she was rather bored +by the prospect. + +It was one of Aunt Margaret's peculiarities that she insisted upon +reading aloud the letters which she received from old-lady friends, and +the incredible dulness of the epistles made them a trial to the patience +of her lively young niece. She stifled a yawn as Bridgie straightened +the sheets of foreign note-paper, and cleared her throat with +prospective enjoyment. + + "`Dearest, Darling People, especially Bridgie,--I was gladder than + ever to get your letters this week, because it's been raining and + dull, and the mud looked so home-like that it depressed my spirits. + Therese has gone out for the day, so Pere and I are alone. He wears + white socks and a velvet jacket, and sleeps all the time. He told me + one day that he used to be very active when he was young, and that was + why he liked to rest now. "All the week I do nozzing, and on Sundays + I repose me!" I teach him English, but he doesn't like to talk it + much, because it's so difficult to be clever in a foreign language. + + "`My dear, I never suffered more than when I first came here, and + Therese telling everyone how amusing I was, and myself sitting as dumb + as a mummy! I can talk quite beautifully now, and wriggle about like + a native. I'll teach you how to shrug your shoulders, and you hold up + your dress quite differently in France, and it's fashionable to be + fat. Last night Therese let me have two girls for _souper_. They are + called Marie and Julie, and wear plaid dresses, and combs in their + hair. I like them frightfully, but they are very rude sometimes, + saying France is better than England, and that we have big teeth and + ugly boots. Then they got angry because I laughed, and said England + always thought she was right, but that everyone else knew she was a + cheat and a bully, and that she was the most disliked nation on earth! + "And you are the politest," says I, quite composed, and at that they + got red in the face, for I was all alone, and there were two of them + in their own country. + + "`When they went away they kissed me, and said they were sorry, and + that my teeth weren't big a bit, and I said France was an elegant + country, but you couldn't wear high heels in Ireland, or you'd never + be free of the bog. It's a pity French people don't like us, and I + don't think they always mean exactly what they say, but they make + beautiful things to eat. + + "`Therese gives me cooking lessons out of school hours, and I've lost + my taste for coffee with grounds in it, like we had at Knock. + Everything is as clean as if it were quite new, and there is such a + different smell in the houses--a lonely smell! It makes me long for + home and you, and a peat fire, and all the people in the streets + speaking English, and never as much as thinking of the tenses of + verbs. + + "`You are quite sure I may come home in January, aren't you, Bridgie? + You are not saying it just to pacify me? I'll tell you a secret! + Once I thought of running away and coming back to you in London, + because I couldn't bear myself any longer. I said to Therese, just in + a careless kind of way, as if I had only thought of it that moment: + "Supposing now that a young girl was in Paris, and wanting to run away + to her friends in England, how would she set about getting there?" + + "`And she never suspected a bit, for she said:-- + + "`"Supposing that she lived in this suburb, it would be quite easy to + manage. She should rest tranquil until the family were in bed, and no + one in the streets but thieves and robbers, and then slip out of the + house and walk to the station. There would be no _voiture_, but + perhaps the thieves may not see her, and all of them do not care about + kidnapping children. When she reaches the station, she will take her + ticket for England--it costs but a few sovereigns--and she has only to + change twice, and get through the custom-house. If all went well, she + would be in London next morning, while the poor friends in Paris might + cry as much as they liked--they could not bring her back." + + "`She seemed to think it quite easy, but I was afraid of the thieves, + and had only three francs in my purse; and that afternoon they were + both awfully kind to me, and Pere called me _cherie_, and Therese took + me to the circus. The clown is called August, but the principal one + is English, because they are the best. He made English jokes, and I + laughed as loudly as I could, to show that I understood. The other + people smiled with their lips, don't you know--the way people do when + they don't understand, but think it is grand to pretend. I feel so + stylish being English in France. When I come home to London, I'll be + French! + + "`Esmeralda sent me a book and some money for Christmas presents. + Tell Jack to write me a funny letter with illustrations. How is the + poor girl with the bark on the road? We haven't a single animal in + the house, not even a cat. I miss them frightfully. Do you remember + when my ferret died, and I filled up to cry, and the Major bought me a + white rat for consolation? Health, and tons of love, darling, from + your own Pixie.'" + +Sylvia chuckled softly from the bed. + +"It's not a scrap like a letter," she said. "It is just like somebody +talking. What a jolly little soul! She seems very young, doesn't she? +Some girls of sixteen are quite young ladies." + +"Pixie will always be a child," said Pixie's sister fondly. "There is +something simple and trustful about her which will keep her young all +her life. She is so transparently honest, that it never occurs to her +that anyone else can be different; and she is the kindest, most loving +little creature that was ever created. Don't you think she looks a +darling in the photograph?" + +It had come at last, the dreaded question, and Sylvia tried her best to +combine truthfulness with politeness. + +"She has very sweet eyes. It is difficult to judge when you have never +seen a person. She--she isn't exactly pretty, is she?" + +"_Pretty_--Pixie pretty! I should think not, indeed!" cried Bridgie, +with a heat of denial which seemed singularly out of keeping with the +occasion. From the manner of her reply it was evident that she +considered Pixie's plainness a hundred times more _distingue_ than +Esmeralda's beauty. "She's the quaintest-looking little creature that +ever you set eyes on, with the dearest, funniest face! Father used to +call her the ugliest child in Galway. He was so proud of her, bless +him!" + +Bridgie sighed pensively, and Sylvia stared at her with curious eyes. +So far she had made the acquaintance of but one member of the +O'Shaughnessy family, but it seemed as though they took the various +trials and vicissitudes of life in a very different spirit from the +people with whom she herself had associated. Instead of moaning over +the inevitable, they discerned the humour of the situation, and in happy +fashion turned the trial into a joke. + +"I wonder," sighed Sylvia to herself, "I wonder where the joke comes in +in losing your hair. I suppose she would say it was so cool to be +bald!" Not even to herself would she put into words the deeper, +crueller dread which lay hauntingly in the background of her mind! + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +DREAD. + +The foot refused to heal, and one morning a well-known surgeon followed +Dr Horton into the sick-room. The very sound of his name was as a +death-knell to the girl in the bed, but she controlled herself by a +mighty effort, and strained every nerve to watch the faces of her +attendants during the examination which followed. She knew that they +would keep up appearances in her presence, and so long as possible hide +the worst from her knowledge; but if she appeared unsuspicious they +would perhaps be less careful, and a stray word, an interchange of +glances, might show the direction of their thoughts. She lay perfectly +still, not even flinching with pain when the diseased bone was touched, +for the tension of mind was so great as to eclipse bodily suffering; but +the cool, business-like manner of the great surgeon gave no hint of his +decision, while Dr Horton was as cheerful, Whitey as serenely composed, +as on ordinary occasions. + +The cage was replaced over the foot, the bedclothes put in order, a few +pleasant commonplaces exchanged, and the trio adjourned for +consultation. Trained to their work of self-repression, not one of them +had given the slightest hint of what was feared, but their precautions +were undone by the thoughtless haste of the watcher outside. + +Miss Munns was hovering about the landing awaiting the verdict, and +trembling at the thought of the news which she might have to send to her +brother, when the door opened and the surgeon came towards her. Dr +Horton and the nurse followed, and before the door was closed behind +them an eager whisper burst from her lips-- + +"Can you save it? Must you ampu--" + +Before the word was completed the surgeon's hand was over her lips, +Whitey brought to the door with a bang, and three pale faces stared at +each other in consternation. Had Sylvia heard? Could she have +overheard? That was the question which was agitating every mind. They +strained their ears for a cry from the sick-room, but no cry came. +Whitey looked at the doctor and made a movement towards the door, and he +bent his head in assent. + +"Yes! Go in as if you had forgotten something. She may have fainted. +Poor child, it was enough to make her!" + +Tears of remorse were standing in Aunt Margaret's eyes, but she waited +silently enough now while Whitey re-entered the room and strolled across +to the window to pick up the book in which she wrote the daily report. +She smiled at Sylvia as she passed, and Sylvia looked at her quietly, +quite quietly, and the dark eyes showed no signs of tears. Whitey went +back to the doctors with lightened face, and eased their minds by a +definite assurance. + +"She heard nothing. She is lying quite still and composed. She cannot +possibly have heard." + +They turned and went downstairs to the dining-room. Sylvia heard their +footsteps die away in the distance, the opening and shutting of the +door. The brown eyes shone with unnatural brilliancy, the hot hands +were clasped tightly together beneath the sheet. + +"God," she was crying deep down in her soul, "do You really mean it? +I've been very wicked often, I've forgotten You and taken my own way, +but I'm so young--only twenty-one--don't make me lame! I'll be good, +I'll think of other people, I'll be grateful all my life. Don't make me +lame! Think what it means to a girl like me to lose her foot! I have +no mother, nor brothers, nor sisters, and father is far-away. It would +be so dreadful to be shut up here and never, never run about any more. +Have pity on me. _Don't make me lame_!" + +It was a cry from the depths of her heart, very different from the +formal prayers which she was accustomed to offer morning and evening--a +plea for help such as she would have addressed to her dear earthly +father in any of the minor difficulties of life, but in this great +crisis of her fate she must needs go straight to the fountain of +comfort--the Great Physician who was able to save the soul as well as +the body. + +All the rest of the day, as she lay so quietly on her pillows, she was +talking to Him, pleading for deliverance, setting forth pathetic girlish +arguments why she should be spared the coming trial. When the thought +arose of many others younger than herself who were leading maimed lives, +she thrust the memory aside as something which could not be faced, and +her lips refused to utter the words which she had been taught to affix +to her petitions. "`Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.' I +can't say it, Lord. I can't mean it!" she cried tremblingly. "Not yet! +Forgive me, and be patient with me. I'm so frightened!" and even as +the prayer went up, the assurance came into her soul that the Heavenly +Father would understand, and show towards her the divinest of sympathy +and patience. + +For some reason which she would have found difficult to explain to +herself Sylvia felt an intense disinclination to let her attendants know +what she had overheard. She perceived that they were more than usually +tender towards herself, and they on their part were puzzled by the quiet +of the once restless patient. She grumbled no more about small +unpleasantnesses--oh, how small they seemed! She was content to lie +still and think her own thoughts, and seemed to have lost all interest +in the ordinary events of the day. + +Only once in the twenty-four hours did a smile light up the set face, +and that was when Bridgie O'Shaughnessy appeared for her afternoon +visit, and seated herself by the bedside. On one of these occasions, a +week after the surgeon's first visit, Whitey went out for, her daily +walk, and Sylvia watched her go and peered anxiously round the screen to +make sure that the door was really shut. Then she stretched out her +hand, and gripped Bridgie by the wrist. It was a very thin, feeble- +looking hand, but the grip had nothing feeble about it--it was almost +painful in its strength, and the brown eyes had a glazed misery of +expression which made Bridgie tremble at the thought of what was to +come. + +"Bridget O'Shaughnessy, you call yourself my friend. Will you tell me +the truth?" + +"I'll not promise that, me dear. I'll not deceive you about anything if +I can help it, but you are an invalid, and there are some questions +which you should not ask me. Only the doctor should answer them." + +But Sylvia went on with her story as if she had not heard the protest. + +"The other morning Sir Alfred Heap came to see my foot. He said very +little about it to me, and after examining it, went out of the room to +consult with Dr Horton. Aunt Margaret was waiting for them on the +landing, and they were not quick enough in shutting the door. I heard +what she said. To-morrow morning Sir Alfred is coming again. +Bridgie,--_is he going to cut off my foot_?" + +"He is not, darling. He is going to give you chloroform and do +something to the bone to try to make it sound and healthy again." + +"And if that fails, will he cut it off then?" + +"He will operate again, and go on trying as long as he dare." + +"And if everything else fails, then--" + +"Yes, Sylvia," said Bridgie gently. + +Downstairs in the dining-room Miss Munns had been consulting with Whitey +as to how the patient was to be prepared for the ordeal of to-morrow, +and by whom the news should be broken. Whitey had taken the task upon +herself with the unselfish heroism of her profession, but her pretty +face was worn with the strain of this long anxious case, and Bridgie's +heart had ached for her in her painful task. Now, in the midst of her +own agitation, she felt a thrill of unselfish joy that she had been able +to take one burden at least from those heavily-laden shoulders. + +Sylvia knew not only of the ordeal of the morrow, but also of that +nightmare dread of what might have to follow. She had known it for a +week past, and had lain quietly on her bed with all the horror and +misery of it locked up in her own heart. Such restraint seemed almost +incredible to the outspoken Irish nature, but Bridgie's words of +admiration brought an added shade over the invalid's face. + +"No, it was not bravery, it was cowardice! I was like an ostrich hiding +my head in the ground for fear of what I might see. I literally dare +not ask until it came to the last moment. Oh, Bridgie, what a week it +has been! Going to sleep with the weight on my heart; waking up and +thinking, `What is it? What is it?' and the shock of remembering +afresh! I lay and thought it all out; never to be able to run, nor +bicycle, nor skate, nor dance, nor even walk without crutches, to dread +going upstairs, to be cut off from girls of my own age because I could +not take part in their amusements, to hear people say `Poor thing!' and +look pitifully at me as I hobbled by. I've tried to be resigned and +take it like invalids in books, but--I can't! I feel desperate. +Bridgie, suppose it was you! How would you feel?" + +"I should cry myself ill for two or three days, and then brisk up and be +thankful that if it was one foot, it wasn't two!" said Bridgie quaintly. +"That is, if I were quite certain about it, but I never believe in +disagreeable things until they have really happened. Hope for the best +as long as you can. You have clever doctors and nurses, and you will +have a better chance if you keep up your spirits." + +Sylvia shook her head hopelessly. + +"It's easy to be philosophic for someone else. I could preach +beautifully to you, Bridgie, if you were lying here instead of me, but +the suspense is so hard to bear! I feel as if I could not live through +another week like the last. Have you ever known what it was to drag +through the days with a nightmare of dread growing bigger and bigger, +nearer and nearer, to look ahead and see your life robbed of the things +you care for most, to hope against hope, while all the time your heart +is sinking down--down--" + +"Down--until it is just one great big ache clouding out the whole world? +Yes, I know!" said Bridgie quietly. "I have never had a bad illness, +but my trouble came to me in a different way, Sylvia, and my time of +suspense was not days, but weeks and months, I might almost say years, +except that even my hopes died out before that time arrived!" + +The two girls looked at each other intently, and the blank depression on +the invalid's face gave place to one of anxious sympathy. + +"You mean, of course, that it was a mental trouble. Could you tell me +about it, Bridgie, do you think? I don't want to force your confidence, +but I am so interested in you, and it would do me good to be sorry for +someone beside myself. Was it a--love affair?" + +"I cared for him, but I am afraid he could not have liked me very much," +said Bridgie sadly. "I have never spoken of him except to Esmeralda and +one other person, but I don't mind telling you, dear, if it will be the +least bit of help to you now. We seem to know each other so well that +it seems absurd to think we had not met, two months ago. + +"It was just someone I met one time when I was visiting, and when he was +ordered abroad he asked if he might write while he was away. I was very +happy about it, for I had never seen anyone I liked so much, and we +wrote to each other regularly for over a year. They were not love- +letters; just quite ordinary, sensible, telling-the-news, but there was +always one little sentence in his which seemed to say more than the +words, and to tell me that he cared a great deal. If a stranger had +read it, he would not have understood, but I knew what he meant, and I +used to skim over the pages until I came to those few words, and they +were the whole letter to me. + +"Looking back now I can see how I lived in expectation of mail day, but +suddenly his letters stopped. When father was pronounced hopelessly +ill, I sent him a hurried note, saying that we should have to leave the +Castle, for all the money was gone, and from that day to this I have +heard no more. It was very hard coming just then, Sylvia! + +"For the first few months I was not really uneasy, though very +disappointed. I knew that a soldier's life is not always his own, and +that he might have been ordered to a part of the country where it was +impossible to send off letters, but then I read his name as taking part +in some function in Bombay, and I knew that could be the case no longer. +I would not tell Esmeralda to depress her in the midst of her +happiness, so I just sat tight and waited, and the time was very long. + +"When it came near mail day my hopes would go up, for it's my nature to +be cheerful. The postman would knock at the door, and my heart would go +head over heels with excitement, and it would be a circular, or a bill +wanting payment. Another time he would not come at all, and that was +worse, for one went on drearily hoping and hoping, and pretending that +the clock was fast. Now I forget mail days on purpose, for it is nearly +eighteen months since he wrote last, and I have given up all hope of +hearing." + +Sylvia drew a deep sigh, and knitted her forehead. + +"I can't believe that anyone could forget you when he had once cared. +You are so different from other girls. It is most strange and +mysterious. Do you think that perhaps--you won't mind my suggesting +it--the money had some influence with him? Perhaps he thought you were +an heiress--at any rate, that your people were rich and influential, and +when he heard that you were poor he may have changed." + +"No!" said Bridgie decisively. "No, I won't think it! I won't let +myself think so badly of anyone for whom I have cared so much. I don't +know what his reasons were, and perhaps I never shall, but I would +rather believe the best. Some people don't find it easy to remember +when they are far-away, and he might have a delicacy in writing to say +that he had forgotten! + +"If I had still been Miss O'Shaughnessy of Knock, I should have sent +just one more letter to ask if anything was wrong, but I had too much +pride to obtrude myself as Bridgie of nowhere. I have no reason to +believe that my letter went astray, and even if it had, he would have +written again if he had wished to hear. He is alive and well, I know so +much, and I'm well too, and very happy with my boys. I had a bad time +of it, and the suspense had more to do with making me ill than the hard +work of that summer; but now I have faced the worst, and have far too +much to do to be able to mope. Boys are such cheering creatures! They +give you so much work. The very darning of their socks is a +distraction!" + +"It would distract me in a very different way!" said Sylvia, with a +smile. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +AN INVITATION. + +The operation was successful and unsuccessful--that is to say, the fear +of amputation was removed; but it became abundantly evident that it +would be a very long time before Sylvia recovered the power of walking +about with ease. + +A few weeks earlier she would have been heartbroken at the prospect of a +spell of crippledom, but the greater troubles eclipse the less, and +compared with that other paralysing dread, it was a passing +inconvenience at which she could afford to smile. + +Poor child! her first impulse on recovering from the chloroform had been +to dive to the bottom of the bed to feel if the foot were still there, +and her elastic spirits went up with a bound as she listened to the +surgeon's reassuring report. She was perfectly willing to lie on the +sofa and give up all idea of Christmas festivities, willing, in fact, in +the relief and joy of the moment, to promise anything and everything if +only she might look forward to unimpaired strength in the future. + +As for Miss Munns, she rejoiced with grumbling, as her custom was, +mingling thankful speeches with plaints for her own deprivations, to the +mingled distress and amusement of her hearers. Christmas was drawing +near, and there had been no time to prepare for the proper keeping of +the festival, for cook had been too much occupied with jellies and beef- +teas to have any time to spare. There were no mince-pies in the larder, +no plum-puddings in their fat cloth wrappings, no jars of lemon cheese, +no cakes, no shortbread, not so much as a common bun-loaf, and Aunt +Margaret hung her head, and felt that a blot had fallen upon her +escutcheon. + +"I can't fancy Christmas with bought mince-pies!" she said sadly. "I've +kept house for forty years and never failed to make four plum-puddings-- +one for Christmas Day, one for New Year, one for company, and one for +Easter. Some people make them without eggs nowadays, but I keep to the +old recipe. My mother's plum-puddings were quite famous among her +friends. Of course, my dear, we have great cause for thankfulness, and +I should have had no appetite if you had lost your foot; but it really +upsets me to look at that larder! How many pounds of mincemeat have +_you_ made, Miss O'Shaughnessy, may I ask?" + +Sylvia was lying on the sofa in the drawing-room, to which she had been +carried in time for tea, and Bridgie was sitting beside her, looking +with wondering eyes at the muffled splendours which she now beheld for +the first time. She blushed as she heard the question, and adroitly +evaded an answer, for, to tell the truth, she bought her pies from the +pastry-cook, and congratulated herself on the saving of trouble. + +"Oh, indeed, we get through a great deal, for the boys think nothing of +three pies at a sitting. I'd be obliged to you, Miss Munns, if you +would lend me your recipe for the pudding, for my cook is not the +cleverest in the world, and, as Jack says, there is no monotony about +her results. If she does a thing well three times, there's all the more +chance that it will be wrong the fourth, when you are encouraged to ask +a friend to dinner." + +Aunt Margaret sawed the air with her mittened hands, and shook her cap +in solemn denunciation. + +"Method, my dear--method! They won't take the trouble to measure the +ingredients, but just trust to chance, so what can you expect? You +shall have the recipe with pleasure, but if you take my advice you will +look after the weighing yourself. Are you expecting any friends for the +day, or perhaps one of your sisters?" + +"No--we shall be quite alone. My married sister wanted us all to go to +Ireland, but the boys cannot spare the time, and I will not leave them." +Bridgie sighed, and a shadow passed over her face. "It won't seem like +Christmas to have no coming nor going, and Esmeralda and Pixie so far- +away. I have been trying to think of a diversion for the boys, but I +might spare myself the trouble, for I've no money to pay for it if I had +the idea." + +"Straitness of means is a great curtailer of pleasure," said Miss Munns, +gazing solemnly into space over the edge of her spectacles. "In my own +family we have had sad experiences of the kind. My great-uncle was in +most comfortable circumstances, and kept his own brougham and peach- +houses before the failure of the Glasgow Bank. They removed to Syringa +Villas after that, and did the washing at home. I shall never forget +calling upon Emma the first Tuesday that the clothes were hanging out to +dry in the back garden, and finding her in tears, with the blinds drawn +down. She had a great deal of family pride, had poor Emma, for her +mother belonged to the leading circles in Wolverhampton, and the steam +of clothes in the boiler is most depressing unless you have been brought +up to it from a child. George died soon after. He never held up his +head again, and Emmeline, the daughter, had a very good offer from a +corn-broker. She was a fine-looking girl, with black eyes and her poor +father's nose. She looked very well in the evening, when she was +dressed, and had a colour." + +"And did she marry the corn-broker?" queried Bridgie eagerly. + +Sylvia was flushed and frowning, more than half ashamed of the old +lady's disclosures, fearful lest they might affect her own importance in +the estimation of a friend who had lived in a Castle, and owned a sister +who went to Court, and profoundly uninterested in Emmeline and her +destiny; but Bridgie was all animation and curiosity, her grey eyes wide +with anxiety as to the success of the corn-broker and his suit. Here, +indeed, was a listener worth having, and Miss Munns warmed to her task +with even more than the usual enjoyment. + +"My dear, you would hardly believe the time poor Emma had with that +girl! She took a fancy to a bank clerk on two hundred a year, and +nothing would suit but she must be engaged to him. He gave her a +turquoise ring, I remember--a shabby thing that could not have cost more +than a sovereign, and Emma was quite mortified when people asked to see +it. They were engaged for five years, and she lost all her looks, and +he had a bicycling accident, and hurt his right arm so badly that he +could not write. + +"Emma insisted that the engagement should be broken off, but the stupid +girl would not listen to reason. She had a little legacy from her +godmother about that time, and his father allowed him something, so they +were married, and went abroad to try a cure for his arm. He is back at +work again, and they seem happy enough; but it was a poor match for her, +and they can only afford one servant. The corn-broker said he could +never look at a girl again, but he married one of the Miss Twemlows +within the year. Perhaps you know the Twemlows? They are a very well- +known family in their suburb." + +No, Bridgie did not know them, but her expression seemed to denote that +she was quite ready to listen to their family history, in addition to +those which she had already heard. But this was more than Sylvia could +bear, and she hastened to interrupt the flow of her aunt's +reminiscences. + +"You have not heard from Aunt Emma lately--at least, you have not told +me of her letters. I suppose you have not seen her while I have been +ill?" + +Miss Munns pursed up her lips in a manner which seemed to imply that she +was in possession of some weighty secret, but from motives of prudence +was resolved to conceal it from the world. + +"I have heard from her, my dear. I have not seen her. As I said in my +reply, everything must give way to illness, though I am very sorry +indeed to think of her alone in the house. Emmeline can't leave the +baby, so it is only natural that her mother should want some +companionship over Christmas. I would have had her here instead, but +the house is so upset that I am not prepared for visitors. It is very +pleasant meeting from time to time, being contemporaries as we are, and +having gone through so many troubles together. There is nothing I enjoy +more than talking them over with your Aunt Emma, and I am grieved to +disappoint her. Of course I made up my mind from the first to say +nothing about it to you." + +Now it was Bridgie's turn to look blank, and Sylvia's to question +anxiously. + +"Do you mean that she invited you for Christmas, and that you refused +because of me? Oh, Aunt Margaret, you must not do that! You need a +change, and it would be a relief to have all arrangements taken off your +hands. Whitey and I could manage quite well by ourselves. Do please +change your mind and write to say that you will go!" + +"My love, I assure you that I considered the matter very carefully +before I decided, and it is impossible for me to leave home. I have +promised nurse that she shall spend two days with her sister, coming +round each morning to attend to your foot, and I should not like to +disappoint her. It is only natural that she should wish to be with her +own friends. I sympathise with her, but I don't complain. It is not +your fault that your illness has upset my plans, and it is my duty to be +resigned and cheerful." + +Aunt Margaret testified to her sense of duty by heaving a sigh of +funereal proportions, the while Sylvia's brow became fretted with lines, +and she turned a glance of despair upon her friend. + +To be condemned to spend Christmas alone with Aunt Margaret in this mood +of melancholy resignation; to realise that she had deprived her of the +happiness of talking over past troubles with poor dear Emma; to listen +from morning to night to her transparently-veiled repinings--this was +indeed a cheerful prospect for an invalid, who might naturally have +expected to receive the sympathy herself. + +"Aren't you sorry for me?" the brown eyes asked Bridgie mutely. But, +lo! Bridgie was radiant, her face one sparkle of animation, her hands +uplifted to hail the advent of a happy thought. + +"The Diversion," she cried rapturously--"the Diversion! I see it all, +and it is perfectly charming! Sylvia shall be the diversion! She shall +stay over the New Year with us; Miss Munns shall go to her friend and +talk over old times; nurse shall visit her sister and have a rest after +her hard work; I will look after Sylvia, and Sylvia shall flirt with the +boys, and keep them happy. It's a perfectly charming arrangement all +round!" + +"My dear!" cried Aunt Margaret in horrified protest against the last +item on the programme. But Sylvia gave a chuckle of cheerful +complacency, and, so far from being overcome, looked so much revived by +the prospect that there could be no doubt as to the expediency of the +proposed visit, so far as health at least was concerned. + +Miss Munns went through the form of protesting, but her objections were +easily waved aside, for to tell the truth she was only too ready to be +persuaded, and her objections had no deeper root than the belief that it +was not polite to seize too eagerly on an invitation. + +"I could not think of it, my dear! Such an upset for you. You don't +know how much work an invalid makes in the house! She has to be carried +up and down stairs, and waited on hand and foot!" + +"I have three big strong boys, and you have only women in the house. +Pat could put her in his pocket, and not know there was anything there!" + +"My dear--how can you! It would take up your spare room, too, and make +so much ringing at the bell with nurse coming in the morning and the +doctor in the afternoon." + +"But what a lesson it would be to me to see them attending to her! So +useful for the next time the boys break their legs! I love Whitey, and +feel better for it every time I see her sweet, kind face." + +"If you had had to prepare meals at all hours of the night and day, you +would be sick of the sight of a nurse, however sweet she might look! I +don't see why you should be upset, my dear, for the sake of my friend." + +"Dear Miss Munns, I am thinking even more of my own friend. It is +selfishness which makes me want to have Sylvia with me. We would enjoy +being together and talking over our troubles just as you do. Please let +her come!" + +"Troubles, my dear--troubles? Has your cook given notice?" cried Miss +Munns, her mind flying at once to domestic matters, and dwelling thereon +with accustomed enjoyment. She had so many stories to tell of cooks who +had left their places immediately before Christmas, and of the tragic +consequences which followed, that the original subject of discussion +took a secondary position in her thoughts, and when Bridgie began +placidly to discuss arrangements, she fell into the trap with innocent +alacrity. Sylvia could hardly believe her ears. It seemed quite too +good to be true. The week's holiday held out glorious possibilities of +enjoyment, and she began at once to count the hours which must elapse +before her departure. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +BRIDGIE'S PUDDING. + +It was two days before Christmas, and Bridgie O'Shaughnessy enveloped +herself in a white apron, and pensively regarded the contents of the +larder. In a couple of hours Sylvia was expected to arrive, and +meanwhile Mary the cook had been seized with an irresistible craving to +visit an invalid mother, and had taken herself off for the afternoon, +leaving the arrangements for dinner in the care of the young mistress, +and a still younger parlourmaid. + +Mary's excuse for requesting leave of absence at so inconvenient a time +was somewhat contradictory and involved. Her mother was failing fast, +and as it was a custom in the family to die in December, it was a +daughter's duty to visit her as often as possible; the shops were all +dressed-up for Christmas, and it was hard that a body should not get a +bit of pleasure sometimes, and the steak was stewed, and could be +"hotted up" at a moment's notice. The invalid mother sat up for a +couple of hours in the afternoon only, so Mary must get to the house by +three o'clock at the latest, and would it matter if she were after +eleven in returning, as Christmas came but once a year? + +Sweet Bridgie assented warmly to each proposition as it was put before +her, urged a speedy departure, and was rather inclined to think it would +be wise to stay at home for the night. She could never find it in her +heart to deny a pleasure which it was in her power to grant, and was +gaily confident of managing "somehow" to prepare a palatable meal for +her guest, indeed, in the ardour of hospitality was rather pleased than +otherwise to have a hand in the preparations. + +On the principle of "first catch your hare, then cook it," she looked +critically over the contents of the cupboards to find some ingredients +which commended themselves to her limited knowledge of the culinary art. +Gelatine had endless possibilities, but time was against her, and she +had the dimmest notions as to the quantity required; pastry was always +attainable, but on the one occasion when she had experimented in this +direction, Jack had taken the nutcrackers to divide his tartlet amidst +the cheers of an admiring audience, so that there was plainly no fame to +be won in this direction. + +Milk puddings were too painfully ordinary, but a bag of macaroni seemed +to offer at once an easy and a tasty alternative. Bridgie felt herself +quite capable of boiling the sticks into tenderness, and scraping down +cheese to add to the milky concoction, and a further search discovered a +dark yellow lump stowed away in the corner of a cupboard evidently +destined for such an end. It was wonderfully hard; Bridgie's fingers +ached with the strain of cutting it, and she shook her pretty head +solemnly over the wastefulness of servants in not using up materials +before their freshness was lost. She had intended to use the whole of +the piece, but it took so long to prepare that she stopped half-way, and +to judge by the mellow brownness of the pudding when she peeped at it in +the oven, quality had more than made up for quantity. + +Sylvia sniffed delicately as she limped over the threshold, for the +pudding had a strangely powerful smell, not exactly savoury perhaps, but +distinctly fresh and wholesome. Bridgie bridled in proud consciousness +of success the while she tucked up her guest on the drawing-room sofa. + +"I've been making a pudding for you, dear. Mind you enjoy it! Mary is +out, so you are to excuse everything that goes wrong. There's a pretty +pink cushion to match your dress. I never saw that dress before! You +are wonderfully smart, Miss Sylvia Trevor!" + +"It's for the boys," said Sylvia, laughing. "I want to make a good +impression, for I am dreadfully afraid they mayn't like me. I know +nothing about young men. They never penetrate into Number Six, and Aunt +Margaret thinks it is proper to ignore their existence between the ages +of six and sixty. I thought if I put on the bright dress and my pet +chiffon fichu, they might not notice how thin my hair is at the top!" + +"I'll tell them not to notice," said Bridgie gravely. She crossed the +room and poked the fire with the best brass poker, a real, live coal +fire and no wretched asbestos imitation, and knelt on the rug holding +out her hands to the blaze and scorching her cheeks with undisturbed +complacency. + +The room was mathematically the same in size and shape as the one across +the road, but oh, how different in appearance! The one was a museum for +the preservation of household gods, the other a haven for rest and +amusement, where comfort was the first consideration and appearance the +last. Bridgie's mending-basket stood on the floor, Jack's pipe peered +from behind a chimney-piece ornament, and a bulky blotter and well- +filled ink-bottle showed that the writing-table was really and seriously +meant for use. + +There was a writing-table in Miss Munns's drawing-room also, on which +were set out, in formal order, a _papier-mache_ blotter embellished with +a view of York Minster by moonlight, a brass ink-stand, which would have +been insulted by the touch of ink, and a penholder with a cornelian +handle which had never known a nib. Not the most daring of visitors had +ever been known to desecrate that shrine. When the mistress of the +house wished to write a letter, she spread a newspaper over the dining- +room table, and a sheet of blotting-paper over that, and carefully +unlocked the desk which had been a present from Cousin Mary Evans on her +sixteenth birthday! + +It is extraordinary what a complete change of air may be obtained +sometimes by merely crossing a road, or going into the house at the +other side of a dividing wall! Sylvia felt that she might have +travelled a hundred miles, so entirely different were the conditions by +which she found herself surrounded. + +By and by the three brothers arrived in a body, letting themselves into +the house with a latch-key, and talking together in eager undertones in +the hall. Bridgie sat still with a mischievous smile on her lips, and +presently the drawing-room door was noiselessly opened for half a dozen +inches, and round the corner appeared a brown head, a white forehead, +and a pair of curious brown eyes. Sylvia's cheeks were as pink as her +dress by the time that those eyes met hers, but she was the only person +to show signs of embarrassment. + +"Pat" came forward to shake hands with swift cordiality, followed in +succession by Jack and Miles, and the three big brothers stood beside +the sofa, looking down on their guest with kindly scrutiny. Pat's +twinkling smile was an augury for future friendship; Miles's air of +angelic sympathy was as good as a tonic; while the rapt gaze of Jack's +fine eyes seemed to imply that never, no never, had he beheld a girl who +so absolutely fulfilled his ideal of womanhood! It was nothing that the +conversation was most ordinary and impersonal, concerning itself mostly +with such matters as the weather, the trains from the city, and the +Christmas traffic. + +The atmosphere was full of subtle flattery, and Sylvia purred with +satisfaction like a sleek little kitten that stretches up its neck to +meet an unaccustomed caress. Nothing is so inspiring as appreciation, +and she was quite startled by the aptness and brilliancy of her own +remarks during the meal which followed. + +Jack helped his guest in to dinner, and once again the pungent odour +from the kitchen attracted notice and remark, whereat Bridgie bridled +complacently, and when the macaroni was brought to table it did indeed +look a most attractive dish to be the work of an amateur. So brown was +it, so mellow of tint, with such promise of richness, that the general +choice settled on it in preference to its more modest neighbour. + +Sylvia was naturally helped in advance, and the moment of swallowing the +first spoonful was momentous, and never to be forgotten. What had +happened she could not tell; the room swam round her, the tears poured +from her eyes. She recovered from a paralysing shock of surprise just +in time to see Pat's mouth open wide to receive a heaped-up spoonful, to +hear him roar like a wounded bull, and make a dash from the room. + +"What is the matter?" cried Bridgie in amaze, and Jack smoothed out the +smoking macaroni on his plate and replied cheerfully-- + +"Scalded himself as usual! He is so impetuous with his food. Do him +good to have a lesson." Then he in his turn partook of the dainty, and +his eyes grew bigger and bigger, rounder and rounder, the Adam's apple +worked violently in his throat. For one moment it seemed as though he +too would fly from the room, but presently the struggle was over, and he +leaned back in his chair, pale and dejected, his glance meeting Sylvia's +with melancholy sympathy. + +"What _is_ the matter?" queried Bridgie once more, and this time there +was a touch of testiness in her voice, for it was trying to have her +efforts treated with such want of appreciation, and even if the dish +were not all that could be desired, consideration for her feelings might +have kept her brothers silent before a stranger. "Miles, _you_ taste +it!" she cried, and Miles smacked his lips for a thoughtful moment, and +pronounced sturdily-- + +"It's very good!" + +Sylvia groaned involuntarily; she could not help it, and Jack gasped +with incredulous dismay, staring at his brother as if he could not +believe his senses. + +"Well, I always did say that there was nothing in this wide world which +would quell your appetite, but this beats everything! Take another +spoonful--I _dare_ you to do it!" + +"All right, here goes! It's a very good mixture," said Miles +complacently, swallowing spoonful after spoonful, while his _vis-a-vis_ +looked on with distended eyes, and Pat stood transfixed upon the +threshold. As for Bridgie, her face brightened with relief, and she +smiled upon her younger brother with grateful affection. + +"That's right, Miles; never mind what they say! You are the greatest +comfort I have. Some people are so saucy there is no pleasing them. +You and I will enjoy it, if no one else will." + +So far she had prudently refrained from experimenting on her own +account, but now she took up her spoon, and there was a breathless +silence in the room while she lifted it to her lips. It fell back on +the plate with a rattle and clang, and an agonised glance roamed round +the table from one face to another. + +"Oh--oh--oh! How p-p-p-perfectly awful! What can have happened? It +was so nice when I left it! Has anyone"--the voice took a tone of +indignation--"have any of you boys been playing tricks on me?" + +"How could we, now, if you think of it? We have been upstairs or in the +drawing-room ever since we came back. It's not the will that's wanting, +but the opportunity!" cried the boys in chorus; but it was not a time +for joking, and Bridgie smote upon the table-gong with a determined +hand. + +"Then it must be Sarah's fault. She has done something to it. It is +too bad--I took such pains!" She looked pathetically at the red marks +which still lingered on her fingers from that painful cutting and +scraping, and there was a distinct air of resentment in the voice in +which she questioned her assistant a moment later. + +Sarah was a round-faced, vacant-looking damsel of sixteen summers, who +had come straight from an industrial home to serve in the O'Shaughnessy +family. She was scrupulously clean, admirably willing, and so blindly +obedient that in the bosom of the family she was known by the title of +"Casabianca." She understood to a nicety how to dust and sweep, make +beds and turn out a room, but the manners and customs of gentlefolk had +been an unknown science to her before entering her present situation, +and anything that Bridgie chose to do was, in her eyes, a demonstration +of what was right and proper. She adored her young mistress, and +trembled at the new tone of severity in which she was addressed. + +"Please, ma'am, I did nothing at it!" + +"But something has happened to it, Sarah--that's quite certain. Think +now--think carefully what you have done since I left the kitchen. I am +not angry, only anxious to find out what has gone wrong." + +It was really most embarrassing. The three young gentlemen were +watching her with laughing eyes, the pretty young lady in the pink dress +was staring at her plate and twisting her lips to keep from smiling, the +Missis sat up straight in her chair and looked so grave and masterful. +Like Topsy of old, Sarah tried hard to find something to confess, but +failed to recall any delinquencies. + +"I took it out of the oven when you said, and put it on a plate. I +brought it into the room--" + +"You are quite sure you didn't let anything fall into it by mistake?" + +"Please, ma'am, there was nothing to fall. I had tidied the things away +before I touched it. I put the macaroni sticks back in the bag and the +beeswax along of the turpentine for to-morrow's cleaning--all that you +didn't use for the pudding." + +"The--the--what?" gasped Bridgie breathlessly. + +But the next moment a great burst of laughter all round the table +greeted the solution of the mystery. Pat capered about the floor, Jack +put his elbows on the table and peered at Sylvia with dancing eyes, +Miles undauntedly helped himself to another spoonful, and wagged his +head as who should say that, beeswax or no beeswax, he stuck to his +favourable verdict on the "mixture." Bridgie's soft, gurgling laugh was +full of unaffected enjoyment. + +"Did ever I hear the like of that? It was a lump of beeswax, and I +mistook it for cheese! It looked just like it--so smooth, and yellow, +and hard--too hard, maybe--but I was blaming Mary for that, not the +cheese, and thinking myself so good and economical to use it up! +Beeswax and macaroni! Oh--oh--I'll never forget it while I live!" + +"It's a very pretty nose you've got, dear, but it's not much use to you, +I'm afraid," said Jack teasingly. "Did it never occur to you one moment +that it was rather highly scented, and the scent a little different from +the ordinary common or garden cheese?" and Bridgie shook her head in +solemn denial. + +"Never the ghost of a suspicion! It shows how easily our senses are +deceived when we get a fixed idea in our heads; but indeed you were not +much cleverer yourselves. Every man of you had something to say about +the smell, but not a hint of what it was!" + +"I thought it was rather spring-cleaningey," Sylvia said mischievously. +"Never mind, Bridgie dear--it has been a great success. I do feel so +much at home--more so than I should have done after a dozen formal +dinners where everything went right. I shall always remember it too, +and how Mr Miles declared it was nice!" + +"Don't call him `Mr,' please! He is only seventeen, though he _is_ the +champion eater of the world. I wonder what exactly is the effect of +beeswax taken internally! You must tell us all about it, Miles, if you +live to the morning!" + +"How pleased Pixie will be!" murmured Bridgie reflectively, leaving her +hearers to decide whether she referred to Miles's problematical disease +or the latest culinary disaster, and once again Sylvia admired the happy +faculty of seizing on the humorous side of a misfortune which seemed to +be possessed so universally by the O'Shaughnessy family. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A HAPPY INSPIRATION. + +Mrs Geoffrey Hilliard stood in the long gallery of Knock Castle and +drummed wearily on the window-pane with a white, heavily-ringed hand. +It had rained for a whole week without stopping, and for the happiest +girl in the world, as she proclaimed herself to be at least three times +a day, she came perilously near feeling shedding tears of depression. + +Geoffrey was out shooting, and the old Castle seemed full of ghosts-- +ghosts of the living, not of the dead--of those dear, gay, loving, +teasing, happy-go-lucky brothers and sisters who had filled the rooms +with echoes of song and laughter. Geoffrey was the dearest of husbands, +but he had one great, insuperable failing--he was not Irish, and one +phase of his wife's character was even yet an inexplicable riddle in his +eyes. Why should she consider it monotonous to have her meals served +regularly at a stated hour; why should she find infinite enjoyment in +arranging a festivity in a rush and scramble, instead of making her +plans with due leisure and decorum; why should she wear the latest Paris +fashions on a day when the thermometer pointed to rain, and walk about +in the sunshine in an ulster and deerstalker?--these, and many similar +questions, were as puzzling to him as the fact that she found it +absolutely impossible to do a thing twice over in the same way, or to +master the very rudiments of method. + +Geoffrey inherited the business instincts which had made his fathers +successful above their competitors, and when he had become temporary +owner of Knock, he had striven hard to introduce order and punctuality +into the establishment, with more success in the servants' hall than in +those regions where the mistress reigned supreme. + +Esmeralda was a devoted wife, who would have gone through fire and water +to ensure his happiness; she would have shared his poverty with a +smiling face, and have worked her fingers to the bone on his behalf, but +she seemed quite incapable of replacing the match-box on his dressing- +room mantelpiece when she had borrowed it for her own use, or of +refraining from taking his nail-scissors downstairs and then forgetting +where she had put them. + +Geoffrey on his part adored his beautiful wife, and would have fought a +dozen dragons on her behalf, but when he groped in the dark for his +matches, and knocked his pet ornaments off the chimney-piece, and barked +his knee against a chair, and tried vainly to get out of the room +through a blank wall--well, he was only a man after all, and he was not +precisely lamb-like in temper. + +Some such incident had happened this afternoon when the husband had made +a complaining remark, and the wife had poured oil on the troubled waters +by murmured allusions to people who were not really men, but "finnicky +old maids." Geoffrey had stalked majestically from the room, leaving +Esmeralda to reflect sadly how very unsatisfactory it was to quarrel +when your adversary was dignified and English. With either of her three +brothers such an introduction would have meant an enjoyable and lengthy +wrangle; even "Saint Bridget" could snap on occasion, while Pixie was +capable of screaming, "It is not--it is not!" until her breath failed, +for pure love of contradiction. + +Esmeralda yawned, and wondered what in the world she could do to while +away the long afternoon. As the wife of a millionaire, with a +professional cook in the kitchen who tolerated her mistress's incursions +at stated hours only; with a wardrobe full of new clothes, and a French +maid to sew up every hole almost before it made an appearance; with a +gardener who did not like interference, and a patriarchal butler who +said, "Allow me, madam!" if she dared to lift a hand for herself, life +was not really half so amusing as in the dear old days, when she could +make potato cakes for tea, re-trim old dresses, with Bridgie as model, +and sit perched on one of the empty stages in the conservatory, while +Dennis confided his latest love experiences and the gossip of the +countryside. + +Esmeralda had longed for riches all her life, and for the most part +found the experience to her taste, but there were occasions when she +felt fettered by the golden chains. When Bridgie wrote of her +experiences in that funny, cramped little house, of her various devices +for making sixpence do duty for a shilling, of excursions about London, +when she rode with the boys on the tops of omnibuses and dined +luxuriously at an ABC, it was not pity, but envy, which filled +Esmeralda's bosom as she drove in state behind coachman and footman to +pay dull, proper calls on the county magnates. + +It was cold and dark in the gallery this December afternoon, so she went +downstairs into the room which had been dedicated to lessons, when Miss +Minnitt the governess tried to instil knowledge into half a dozen +ignorant heads. It was now metamorphosed into a luxuriant little +boudoir, with pots of hothouse plants banked on the table, a couch piled +with silken cushions taking the place of the old horsehair sofa, a +charming grate, all glowing copper and soft green tiles, and beside it a +deep arm-chair and a pile of books to while away an idle hour. +Esmeralda yawned and flicked over the pages of the topmost of the pile, +looked at the beginning to see if it promised excitement, peeped at the +last sentence of all to make sure there was no heart-breaking +separation, finally sank down into the chair, and settled herself to +read. + +There was something wanting for perfect enjoyment, however, for in the +old days she and Bridgie had agreed that the charms of an interesting +book could only be thoroughly appreciated to an accompaniment of crisp +sweet apples. Esmeralda O'Shaughnessy had been wont to climb up into +the loft and bring down as many rosy baldwins as she could carry in the +crown of her cap; but Mrs Geoffrey Hilliard crept down her own passages +like a thief, listened breathlessly at the pantry door to make sure that +Montgomery was absent, then abstracted an apple from each of the two +pyramids of fruit already prepared for dinner, and flew back to her +room, aghast at her own temerity. + +The presence of the apples seemed to bring back other schoolgirl +impulses, for instead of seating herself in dignified, grown-up fashion, +she stretched herself on the rug before the fire, her back supported +against the chair, her head drooping ever nearer and nearer the +cushions, as warmth and quiet wrought their usual work. She slept and +dreamt, and awoke with a start to hear a voice observing, "Tea is +served, madam!" and to see Montgomery the immaculate standing over her +with an unmoved expression, as if, in the many noble families in which +he had served, it was an invariable custom to find his mistress fast +asleep on the floor, with a half-gnawed apple in her hand! + +Esmeralda crawled to her feet, trying vainly to look dignified, but she +had no appetite for muffins. She felt like a child who has been found +out, and blushed at the thoughts of her embarrassment that evening when +the fruit pyramid was handed for her selection. Tea did not taste half +so nice out of the Queen Anne silver as when it had been poured from the +old brown pot, which had to be refilled so many times to satisfy +clamorous appetites, and the longing for companionship made her hurry +through the meal, and run upstairs to a wide room overlooking the park. + +With the opening of the door came that sweet, flannely, soapy, violet- +powdery smell which is associated with a well-kept nursery, and there on +the rocking-chair sat Mistress Nurse with a bundle of embroidery on her +knee, which purported to be O'Shaughnessy Geoffrey, the heir of the +Hilliards. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you have come, ma'am! I did so want you to see him. +He has been so pert this afternoon. I don't know what to do with him, +he is so pert! I never saw such a forward child for his age!" + +Esmeralda's face softened to a beautiful tenderness as she turned down +the Shetland shawl and looked at her little son. The pert child had a +fat white face, with vacant eyes, a button of a nose, and an expression +of preternatural solemnity. His head waggled helplessly from side to +side as his nurse held him out at arm's length, and stared fixedly into +space, regardless of his mother's blandishments. + +"There now, _isn't_ he pert?" repeated the triumphant nurse. "You know +your mammie, my precious--yes, you do! The cleverest little sing that +was ever seen! He will begin to talk, ma'am, before he is many months +old, I'm sure he will! I was speaking to him just now, and he tried so +hard to copy me. I said `Goo-oo!' and he said `Coo-oo!' Oh, you would +have loved to hear him! He is a prince of babies, he is! A beautiful +darling pet!" + +Esmeralda beamed with maternal pride. + +"He _is_ clever!" she cried. "Fancy talking at three months old! I +must write and tell Bridgie. And he looks so intelligent, too--doesn't +he, nurse? So wise and serious! He stares at the fire as if he knew +all about it. I believe his hair has grown since yesterday! I do, +indeed!" + +"He has beautiful hair--so fine! It's going to curl, too," declared the +optimistic nurse, holding the child's head against the light, when the +faintest of downs could be dimly discerned across the line of the +horizon. "He will smile in a moment if you go on talking to him, ma'am. +Perhaps you would like to sit down and take him for a bit?" + +Yes, Esmeralda was only too willing, for it was only by act of grace and +when Mistress Nurse felt inclined for a gossip in the servants' hall +that she was allowed to nurse her own baby. She took the dear little +soft bundle in her arms and rocked gently to and fro, studying the +little face and dreaming mother dreams of the days to come. + +If God spared him, the tiny form would grow strong, the vacant face +would become bright and alert with life, the mite of a hand would be +bigger than her own--a man's hand with a man's work as its inheritance. +There was something awful in the thought, and in her own responsibility +towards his future. Esmeralda never felt so serious, so prayerful, so +little satisfied with herself, as when she sat alone with her baby in +her arms. She knew nothing about children--very little, poor girl, of +the wise training of father and mother, but the very consciousness of +her own defects added earnestness to the resolve to bring up this child +to be wise, and strong, and noble--a power for good in the world. + +That was her resolve, renewed afresh from day to day, and after the +resolve followed the relentless conviction that the change must be +wrought in herself before she would have power to teach another. It +would need a noble mother to train a noble son, a mother who was +mistress over her own tongue to teach the lessons of self-control; a +mother who had fought her own giants of vanity and self-seeking before +she could hand on the sword. Esmeralda trembled and shrank weakly from +the conflict, but the baby turned its wondering eyes upon her and +straightway she was strong again. + +"My son!" she murmured tenderly. "My little son! We shall love one +another. Oh, how we shall love one another--you and I!" + +The beautiful dark head bent low over the shapeless little bundle, and +the croon of a cradle song accompanied the regular rocking of the chair. +It was the most peaceful and charming of pictures, and the husband and +father stood noiselessly on the threshold, almost unwilling to speak and +destroy the effect. + +All the afternoon he had been regretting his hasty words, and +reproaching himself for want of forbearance towards his impetuous girl- +wife. It was unreasonable to expect the habit of a lifetime to be +outlived in a few short months, and at this season there were especial +reasons for judging her tenderly. Poor darling! She had suffered a +bitter disappointment! + +Bridgie and the boys had found it impossible to spend Christmas at +Knock, and although Joan had not confessed as much in words, the +slackness of her preparations showed that she had lost all zest in the +season. She had had a dull time of it since the birth of the boy, and +it was only natural that she should long for her own people, especially +those two dear sisters whose names were so constantly on her lips. If +it were only possible to indulge her--to hit upon some plan by which +Christmas could be made all she could desire! + +Geoffrey knitted his brows in thought, then suddenly came the +inspiration, and with it an exclamation of satisfaction which brought +Esmeralda's eyes upon him. She smiled softly, and held up her face to +receive his kiss--such a different face from the one which he had seen +two hours before, with its curling lips and flushed, contemptuous smile! +In its sweetness and subdued tenderness it was a type of the youthful +Madonna, and Geoffrey's own expression softened in sympathy. + +"Well, my dearie! Nursing your boy?" + +Esmeralda turned back the shawl once more and held up the child for his +father's inspection. + +"There! Isn't he splendid? Nurse is quite excited about him this +afternoon. She says it is wonderful how he gets on. He has been so +`pert,' as she calls it, that she hardly knew how to manage him." + +"H'm!" The young father regarded the little face with amused, +speculative eyes. "`Pert' does not commend itself to me as precisely +the best word which could be found. Solemn little beggar, I call him! +He seems quite oppressed by the wickedness of the world. I say, that's +rather a peculiar mouth, isn't it? Something funny about the upper +lip!" + +"It's exactly like yours--the image of it!" said Esmeralda firmly. "You +can't judge because naturally you can't see yourself. But it really is. +Look at that old picture when you were two years old." + +Geoffrey stroked his moustache to one side, and regarded himself +critically in the mirror. + +"Oh, well, there's hope for him yet!" he pronounced complacently. "I +suppose babies are all ugly in the beginning, but considering his +parentage he ought to come out all right by and by. How long do you +suppose it will be before he gets his hair, and begins to be +intelligible?" + +"He has hair now, and he is beginning to speak. He said `Coo-oo!' this +afternoon quite distinctly. It's horrid of you, Geoff, to call him +ugly! Everyone says he is a beautiful boy and the image of you!" + +"Much more chance of being beautiful if he were like you, darling! +Spoke, did he? Well, I take your word for it, but it's rather a stretch +of imagination. He is a jolly little chap, anyway, and I'm very proud +of him. Here is nurse coming to take possession. Hand him over and +come along with me. I have something to tell you." + +"Something nice, I hope! I want a distraction," said Esmeralda +wistfully. She slid her hand through her husband's arm as they walked +down the corridor and peered up in his face. "Somebody was rather +vicious this afternoon! I'm sorry you put me in a temper. It's stupid +to quarrel when we are so fond of one another. You'll never do it +again, will you?" + +"Never, never! It was all my fault, and I apologise abjectly to your +temper for taking liberties with it. I ought to know by this time that +it's in delicate health. Never mind, I've planned a delightful +programme for you! What would you like best for a Christmas present if +you had the choice?" + +He was all radiant with smiles, but Esmeralda sighed, and a far-away +expression came into her beautiful grey eyes. + +"I'd like--Oh, what's the use of speaking of it, Geoff? They can't +come, and that's all about it! I haven't thought of any present. I +don't seem to care about anything else." + +"Whisper!" cried Geoffrey triumphantly. "Whisper!" He bent his head, +and Esmeralda put her ear to his lips, her face alight with expectation. + +"Oh!" she cried rapturously, and again, "Oh!" and "_Oh_" in ever- +ascending tones of delight. "Do you mean it, Geoff--really--really? +It's like a fairy-tale--so perfectly lovely and charming! I shan't +sleep a wink--I know I shan't! Geoffrey, you darling, I do love you for +thinking of it!" and in an ecstasy of delight she threw her arms round +his neck and kissed him rapturously. + +"Any letters for the post, madam?" asked an even voice from the end of +the corridor, and the husband wrenched himself free, while the wife +stared after the departing figure with gloomy eyes. + +"He saw me kiss you! The only marvel is he didn't offer to do it for +me. The strain of behaving properly before that man will be the death +of me, Geoffrey Hilliard!" + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +A SURPRISE VISIT. + +The next two days Jack came home early from the city, where a remarkable +cessation of work had happened simultaneously with the arrival of Miss +Sylvia Trevor at Number Three, Rutland Road. Bridgie trotted about the +house preparing for the festival on Thursday, and Sylvia lay idly upon +the couch, with nothing better to do than to listen, sympathise, and +admire. + +It was easy to listen, for in truth Jack gave her no opportunity to do +anything else; it was impossible to resist admiring, for he made a +handsome figure, with his broad, muscular shoulders, graceful carriage, +and clean-shaven face; it had seemed at first sight as if sympathy were +not required, but Master Jack invented a fresh crop of imaginary woes +every time that he met a pretty girl, for the express purpose of +receiving consolation. Sylvia beheld in him an exile from home and +country, toiling at an uncongenial task, for the maintenance of his +orphaned brothers and sisters, and was vaguely given to understand that +since meeting her, his poverty had become an even more painful barrier +to his hopes. He confided in her details of business, which she +understood as well as a buried language, and asked her advice on knotty +points in such a flattering manner that she forgot to notice that he +never paused for a reply, and when at last he reluctantly rose to leave +the room he sighed profoundly, and in a voice touched with emotion +declared that she had helped him as he had never before been helped! + +"I cannot thank you enough for your sympathy and counsel, but I shall +never forget what you have said to me to-day. It will help me through +many a dark hour!" he declared, and Sylvia blushed and gasped, and lay +back on her cushions, all tremulous with excitement. It was her first +experience of the art of flirtation, and she was pleased and flattered +as it was natural for a girl to be, but she was a sensible little woman, +despite her hasty speeches, and her vanity was not big enough to cloud +either her judgment or a remarkably accurate memory. She carefully +recalled to mind the late conversation, and found that her own share +therein had been limited to monosyllabic assents and denials; an +occasional, "Really!" and three or four exclamations of, "How sad!" + +These, then, were the vaunted sympathy and counsel, these the eloquent +words which Mr Jack had vowed to treasure in deathless remembrance, and +which were to strengthen him in hours of trial! Sylvia blushed once +more, from mortification this time, and registered a vow to adopt a new +tone with this disciple of the Blarney stone, and put an end forthwith +to sentimental confidences. She was still looking hot and flurried when +Bridgie came into the room to prepare for tea, and to rest after the +day's labours. + +"You look tired, dear!" she said anxiously. "I hope Jack has not been +talking too much. He just dotes upon romancing when he can get a +listener, and I didn't like to interrupt when I knew he had come home +especially to see you. Jack falls in love with every fresh girl he +meets, and they mostly fall in love with him too. He has such lovely +humbugging eyes!" + +"Do they, indeed! He shan't humbug _me_, that's one thing certain!" was +Sylvia's mental comment. Aloud she assented cordially. "Most handsome +eyes! I call him unusually good-looking for a man, and he has amused me +very much, but I am more than ready for tea, and a little of your +society. There's the clatter of the cups. Welcome sound, it's music in +my ears! How I used to long for it when I was ill!" + +"I'll draw the curtains and make the room look cosy. That is one good +thing about a tiny house--you can keep it warm. We were frozen in the +great draughty barns of rooms at Knock, and Pixie used to look so quaint +with her feet in snow-boots, and her hands in a muff, and her little +nose as red as a cherry. It was so cold that it kept her awake at +nights, until the Major bought an elegant little egg-cosy at a bazaar in +Dublin, and she slept in it regularly through the frost. We used to go +to kiss her last thing every night, every man Jack of us, for the +pleasure of seeing her lying there, so peaceful, with the cosy perched +over her nose! Muffins, dear? I didn't make them, so you may eat them +with an easy mind." + +Jack came downstairs at the summons of the tea-bell, looking in +languishing fashion at his comforter as he entered the room, when, to +his surprise, back came an answering glance, as it were parodying his +own, the sentimental attitude belied by twinkling eyes and mischievous +lips. The blush and tremor of an hour ago were conspicuous by their +absence, and the change was by no means appreciated by the startled +onlooker. In vain he tried to return to the old footing, accompanying +the simplest remark with a hint of secret understanding, and waiting +upon her with a deference which seemed humbly to inquire the reason of +the change. + +Sylvia bluntly inquired, "What is it?" in reply to his appealing looks, +kept him trotting to and from the tea-table, and said, "How clumsy you +are!" when his fingers touched her own over the cake-basket. Even Jack +O'Shaughnessy found it impossible to continue flirting under these +conditions, and devoted himself to the consumption of muffins with a +crestfallen air, while Bridgie regarded him with fond commiseration from +behind the tea-tray. + +It was at this opportune moment that the clatter of wheels stopped at +the door and the peal of the bell rang through the house. Sarah went to +the door, and there was a movement and bustle in the hall, at the sound +of which Bridgie nodded complacently. + +"The Parcels Delivery van! I thought something must be coming. Have +you any change, Jack? I've nothing smaller than sixpence, and the man +will want a Christmas-box--a few coppers, perhaps." + +"Oh, give the poor beggar half a crown. Don't insult him with coppers," +said Jack in his lordly way, pulling a handful of silver from his pocket +and selecting the largest coin of the number. "I'll take it to him +myself. You might give him some tea if there is any left. It is +perishingly cold outside!" + +He stepped towards the door, but before he reached it, it was opened +from without, a tall figure precipitated itself into the room, and with +two separate cries of rapture the sisters flew to meet each other, and +stood with locked arms, kissing, laughing, and questioning, with +incredulous delight. + +"Esmeralda darling! Is it really you? You are not a dream, dear, are +you? I can't believe it's true!" + +"It was Geoff's doing! He saw I was fretting for you, and suggested +that we should come to town and stay over the New Year at an hotel. +There was not time to get the house ready. A whole week, Bridgie! +Won't we talk! There are such oceans of things to tell you. Baby is +beginning to speak!" + +"The precious mite!" Bridgie disentangled one hand and held it towards +her brother-in-law in beaming welcome. "I always did say you were a +broth of a boy, Geoffrey, but you have eclipsed yourself this time. I +am so happy I don't know how to bear it. Now Christmas will be +something like Christmas, and--" she smiled encouragingly into Sylvia's +embarrassed face,--"we have a visitor staying with us to make things +still more festive. My new friend, Miss Sylvia Trevor, who is +recovering from a long illness." + +Esmeralda wheeled round to face the sofa and stared at the stranger with +haughty scrutiny. Her flowing skirts seemed to fill the little room; +her cloak was thrown back, showing a glimpse of costly sable lining; her +imperious beauty made her appear older than the gentle Bridgie, a +hundred times more formidable. The formal bend of the head brought with +it an acute sense of discomfiture to the recipient. For the first time +since crossing that hospitable threshold she realised that she was a +solitary unit, a stranger set down in the midst of an affectionate +family party, and if it had not been for the crippling foot, she would +have rushed away to the haven of the room upstairs. As it was, however, +she was condemned to lie still and return Esmeralda's commonplaces with +what grace she might. + +"I am pleased to see you," said Esmeralda's tongue. "What a nuisance +you are!" said the flash of the cold grey eyes. "Such a pleasure for +Bridgie to have a friend." "But now that I have arrived, you are not +wanted any longer, and are terribly in my way!" One set of phrases were +as intelligible as the other to the sensitive invalid, and if +Esmeralda's anticipations were dashed by her presence, she herself +abandoned all prospect of enjoyment, and only longed to be able to +return home forthwith. + +Bridgie would not need her companionship any longer; she could be but a +restraint and kill-joy in the conferences of newly-united sisters. She +stared dismally at the floor, then looked up to see Jack carrying the +tea-table bodily across the room and setting it down by her couch. +Sarah had brought in fresh tea and cakes for the refreshment of the +travellers, and he motioned slightly towards his sisters, saying in an +undertone,--"Bridgie will be incoherent for an hour. Will you come to +the rescue? If we don't look after the tea, no one else will." + +He smiled at her as he spoke, not sentimentally this time, but with a +straightforward kindliness which showed that he had understood and +sympathised with her embarrassment. Occupation for hand and mind was +the most tactful comfort which he could have administered, and Bridgie's +eager, "Oh, thank you, dear! How good of you!" showed that she was +indeed thankful to be relieved of every duty but that of talking to her +sister and watching her with adoring eyes. + +Sylvia's post was no sinecure, for everyone started tea-drinking afresh +to encourage the travellers, and amidst the babble of voices Jack's +_sotto voce_ explanations made the conversation intelligible, and took +away the feeling of being left out in the cold. At a touch of real +sympathy the false sentiment had disappeared, and her heart warmed +towards the young fellow for his kindly concern for her comfort. It was +a bond of union also to remember that he himself was apt to resent the +incursions of this domineering young matron, and she noted with delight +that, while Bridgie was apparently delighted to be trampled underfoot, +he was ready and able to hold his own. + +"We came over in a rush, and arrived only two hours ago. I'm a +disreputable object!" said Esmeralda, glancing complacently over her +sweeping skirts, and arranging the immaculate frills at her throat. +"Geoffrey was in such a hurry to get off that he gave me no time to make +myself decent." + +"She had only an hour, poor thing, not a moment longer! She sent me +flying off to look for trains and whistle for a hansom, and then kept me +kicking my heels while she prinked before the glass, putting on her best +dress and the newest hat to impress you with her magnificence. She is +disappointed that you have not noticed them yet, that's why she pretends +to be humble!" explained Geoffrey in self-defence, whereat his wife +grimaced at him in a manner singularly undignified and eloquent. Then +she glanced hastily across the room at Sylvia, looking so girlish, so +abashed at having been discovered in her schemes, that Sylvia laughed +involuntarily, and forgot the old offence. + +"Husbands are such blighting creatures; they are always telling the +truth upon you!" sighed Esmeralda sadly. "I intend to bring up Bunting +to agree with all I say, and then there will be some chance of making an +impression. He is left at home, for he is too young to miss us, and it +was bad weather for moving a nursery. + +"Now about to-morrow! We have arranged for you to spend the day with +us, and have lunch and dinner in our private room. The servants can eat +up your turkey, or it can wait until the next day. You must come to us +directly after church. What train will you be able to catch?" + +Bridgie knitted her brows and looked embarrassed and distressed. The +invitation could not, of course, be accepted, and it was thoughtless of +Esmeralda to have given it under existing circumstances. Had not Sylvia +been introduced as a convalescent, and did not her position on the couch +prove that she was unable for a journey to town? It would make the poor +dear so uncomfortable if she were cited as the obstacle; yet what other +excuse could be made? + +Esmeralda had travelled all the way from Knock for the pleasure of +entertaining her brothers and sisters, and would not be lightly turned +from her plans. Bridgie looked across the room, and met Jack's eyes +turned upon her with a flash of indignation in their clear depths. + +"Well, Bridgie, you can do as you like, but I give you full notice that +I stay at home!" he said firmly. "I have never yet eaten my Christmas +dinner in an hotel, and I never shall so long as I have a roof of my own +to cover me. Choose between Esmeralda and me; I am the head of the +family, and it is my privilege to play host on such occasions, but if +the house is too small--if we are not grand enough for Mrs Hilliard--" + +"Jack!" cried Esmeralda sharply. She pushed her cup on one side, and, +springing across the room to her brother's side, laid her hands on his +shoulders and shook him vigorously to and fro. "Come down this minute +from that high horse! I won't be snubbed, when I've come all the way +over from Ireland to see you. I thought you would like it, dear, +because you enjoyed dining with us so much before, and we should have +been quite private in our own room; but I don't mind where we are, so +long as we are together. We will come and dine with you if you will ask +us. I would far rather have stayed here altogether if you could have +put us up!" + +"We could stow you away, but we can't manage the retinue. Miss Trevor +occupies the north-west Tudor corridor, and there is only Pixie's little +den at liberty," said Jack, laughing, and recovering his complacency +with wonderful quickness. "The servants' hall accommodation is also +limited, and your maid and valet might not appreciate our _menage_. We +had a very stylish pudding the other night. You might give Esmeralda +the recipe, Bridgie." + +Esmeralda listened to the history of the beeswax and macaroni with a joy +tempered by regret. + +"We never have anything so nice as that!" she sighed. "Never a bit of +excitement as to how things will turn out. D'you remember the day when +old Sukey mixed the lettuce with furniture cream instead of salad- +dressing, and Major Denny was so polite, with a crust of bread under one +end of his plate to let it drain down to the bottom, while he ate his +meat high and dry at the top! 'Twas bad luck that none of us fancied +lettuce that day, but kept pressing him to a second helping." + +"Well, we will come here to-morrow morning, then. Don't stay away from +church, for, truthfully, I would rather you were out when we arrived. I +have some rather--large--Christmas presents which must be smuggled in +unobserved. I have some--er--preparations to make to-night, so we can't +stay very long." + +Half an hour later husband and wife took their departure, and after +seeing them off, Jack came back into the drawing-room and stood by +Sylvia's couch. + +"Esmeralda invariably speaks before she thinks!" he said apologetically. +"There's a lot of pretence about her, but you will be astonished to +find out what a good sort she is when you know her better." + +Sylvia smiled with a whimsical twist of the lips. She thought that that +prediction might apply to more than one member of the O'Shaughnessy +family, and cherished a pleasant conviction that Jack's outburst of +indignation had been more on her account than his own. He was not the +type of man to stand on his dignity, and his quick glance into her face +as Esmeralda gave her invitation had been eloquent of understanding. +His protest had saved her from a most distasteful position, and once +again she felt a debt of gratitude towards him. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. + +Christmas morning was heralded by the luxury of a late breakfast, when +no one need hurry off to town, and even Miles could satisfy the demands +of appetite without casting a thought to the time-table. Porridge, +bacon, eggs and sausages laid the foundation of his meal, before he +tackled marmalade, strawberry jam, fresh oranges and honey, accompanied +by numerous draughts of tea and coffee, and finally by a cup filled with +the united drainings of both pots, which he drank with obvious relish. + +If it had been merry Pat who was so difficult to appease, there would +have been no cause for astonishment, but Miles's rapt eyes and ethereal +expression seemed to bespeak no stronger diet than moonbeams and +mountain dew, and to hear him accompany his last mouthful with an eager, +"When's lunch?" was a distinct shock to the visitor. Jack, too, had +sustained a relapse into sentiment, and was only awaiting opportunity to +wax melancholy and confidential. With a word of encouragement he would +have stayed away from church to bear her company, but Sylvia was +provokingly obtuse, and he went off looking unutterable reproaches with +his "humbugging eyes." + +Left to herself, Sylvia hobbled to the piano and sang Christmas hymns in +a weak little voice, which wavered suspiciously towards the close. +Christmas is the day of all others when families are united, and it +seemed hard that when she possessed just one beloved relation, he should +be away off at the other end of the world. The strange house, the +unusual silence, and her own inability to move about, added to the +feeling of depression, and her thoughts turned towards Aunt Margaret +with unusual yearning. The old lady was at times a sore trial to her +niece's patience, but at least they had a claim on each other's +affection; she was the dear father's sister, and her own legal guardian +during his absence! + +Sylvia wondered how the two ladies would pass their day--church in the +morning as a matter of course; early dinner and reminiscences of the +brougham and peach-houses; arrival of the postman with cards; renewed +reminiscences and family histories of the various senders; one arm-chair +at each side of the fire; two white caps nodding sleepily forward; two +pairs of cashmere boots reposing on footstools. Arrival of tea and +exchange of recipes and household experiences. Letters of thanks to +valued friends for seasonable gifts. Supper of cold turkey and cocoa, +with anecdotal references to Christmases of long ago. Mutual exchange +of compliments, bed, nightcaps, and sleeping-socks. + +Oh dear me! It all seemed very flat to one-and-twenty, and why should +one girl have health and beauty, and brothers and sisters, and an +adoring young husband into the bargain, and another be a solitary unit, +with no one to cosset her and help her to bear her manifold infirmities? + +Sylvia's tears were still rather near the surface, and she mopped her +eyes with her handkerchief, and mopped them again, and then carefully +dried them on a dry place, and craned forward to look in the glass and +see if they looked very red and tell-tale. The bleared reflection had a +wonderfully calming effect, and she limped to her couch and read +persistently to distract her thoughts, until the peal of the bell +announced the Hilliards' arrival. From her corner she could not see the +doorway, but judging from the sounds of coming and going, of dragging +heavy weights, of scurrying along the passage, of whispered colloquies, +and sudden explosions of laughter, it was evident that some great +mystery was in the air. + +Then the cab drove away, the dining-room door closed with a bang, she +heard the furniture being dragged to and fro, and wondered how long it +would be before the drawing-room was raided in its turn. For a quarter +of an hour the conspirators remained shut up together, then Esmeralda +came sailing into the room, all smiles and amiability. + +"A happy Christmas to you, Miss Trevor! Excuse me for not coming in +before, but I am so anxious to arrange my presents before the others +come home from church. I want the easel from that corner, and I want +you to promise faithfully that you won't come into the dining-room +before you are allowed!" + +"I can't walk so far without help. You are quite safe so far as I am +concerned," said Sylvia regretfully, and Esmeralda looked at her with +quick scrutiny. + +"So bad as that! I didn't know. Is that why you have been crying?" + +"No--oh no! I am used to that now. I felt a little lonely, that's all. +I wanted my father." + +The beautiful face changed suddenly, the lips tightened, the eyes grew +large and strained. There was a ring of pain in the clear voice. + +"Is he dead?" + +"No, no, only so far-away. At the other end of the world, in Ceylon!" + +"You will see him again!" said Esmeralda shortly. She looked at the +portrait of a handsome, reckless face which hung on the wall above the +sofa, and drew a fluttering sigh. "That was my father. It is nearly +two years since he had his accident, and I thought I could never be +happy again. If I could write to him, if I could get his letters, and +think that some day, it might be in twenty years to come, he would be +back among us again, I should feel as if there was nothing else to wish +for." + +She sat down suddenly by the couch with an air of having forgotten all +about the errand which had brought her into the room, clasped her hands +round her knee, and began a series of disconnected childish memories, +while Sylvia gazed spellbound at the beautiful, dreamy face, and +wondered how she could ever have thought it cold and unfeeling. + +"We were always such chums, from the time that I was a mite in +pinafores. I remember his first explaining to me what happened when +people died--how their bodies were put into the grave, while their souls +went straight to heaven; but I didn't understand what a soul was, and I +was frightened and cried out, `Well, I won't go one step without my +body!' I used to play tricks on him, and he would catch me up and carry +me into his room, and say, `Will you rather be poisoned, or buried +alive?' and I would prefer the poisoning because it was chocolates out +of the corner cupboard. + +"He used to wake me in the mornings coming battering at my door, and +singing, `Come awake thee, awake thee, my merry Swiss lass!' and when we +were learning French fables from Miss Minnitt, we used to take arms, +Bridgie and I, and walk up and down before him reciting, `Deux +compagnons presse d'argent!' It didn't make any difference whether he +had the money or not--he always gave it to us. + +"One day we were going for a picnic, and he walked on with the men, +leaving me to drive after them in the cart with the provisions. There +was only one thing he told me to remember, and that was just what I +forgot--his camera, to take a special view which he'd wanted for an age. +Four miles from home it jumped into my mind, and I sat in misery the +rest of the way. The Major laughed when I told him, and sympathised +with me for my upset. `You'll forget your own head next, and it will be +a pity,' he said, `for it's a very pretty one.' + +"I hated to vex him just because he was so sweet about it. No one ever +understood me as well as the Major, and when I was in a tantrum he would +say, `Think it over till to-morrow, my girl. If you are of the same +mind then, we will discuss it together,' and, of course, I never did +think the same two days running. + +"When he was ill he used to lie looking at me, and his face was quite +different from that in the picture--so sad and wistful. `I've not done +much in the way of training you, my girl,' he would say, `but I've loved +you a great deal. Maybe that will do as well. You are not one to stand +a bridle.' He loved to have me with him; to the last he would stretch +out his hand--" + +Her voice quivered and stopped, and Sylvia sat with lowered eyes, +murmuring incoherent condolences. Esmeralda's love for her dead father +was very sweet and touching, but to the more reserved nature it seemed +an extraordinary thing that she could speak so openly to a stranger, and +in the twinkling of an eye change her mood from gay to grave. + +The hands of the clock were approaching the hour when the rest of the +family might be expected to return from church, yet there she sat +dreaming over the past, and apparently absolutely forgetful of the +demands of the present. Sylvia dare not risk a reminder which would +seem in the last degree unfeeling, but presently the door opened, and +Geoffrey Hilliard appeared on the threshold, looking round with anxious +inquiry. + +"Good morning, Miss Trevor. The compliments of the season." Then he +looked at his wife, all incredulous and aghast. "My dear girl, what are +you about? Do you know that at any moment Bridgie may be here? I +thought you had come for the easel." + +Esmeralda leaped to her feet with a cry of dismay. "Hurry! hurry!" she +cried. "Oh, what are you waiting for? Carry it for me. Be quick! be +quick!" and off she rushed with a swirl of flounces, a rustle of silk, a +wild waving of arms, while her husband chuckled with amusement, and +confided in Sylvia-- + +"That's the usual programme! First keeps me waiting for hours, and then +upbraids me for being slow. Keep Bridgie occupied if she comes in too +soon, please, Miss Trevor. This little surprise needs a good deal of +preparation." + +What could it be? Sylvia grew quite excited as once more peals of +laughter echoed from the dining-room. Esmeralda was evidently sparing +no pains to display her presents to the best advantage, and, lucky girl, +no want of money had hampered her choice of what would be appropriate +and welcome. + +"I'm glad I gave Bridgie my minute offering this morning, so that it +won't be shamed by contrast. I shall be out of this distribution, so it +doesn't matter, but I do hope they will ask me to go in," said Sylvia to +herself. "I hated Esmeralda last night, but I rather love her this +morning. She is like the little girl in the rhyme--when she is nice she +is very, very nice; but when she is bad she is--horrid!" + +After all, the mysterious preparations were completed before the return +of the church party, for the service had been unusually lengthy, and +Esmeralda was champing with impatience before the latch-key clicked in +the lock. There was great kissing and hugging beneath the mistletoe, +and Bridgie was sent flying upstairs to take off her wraps, in +preparation for the great exhibition. + +"I have laid out our presents in the dining-room, and they take up all +the table, so there will be no dinner until they are distributed. I've +lighted the lamp, dear, to make it look more festive. Hope you don't +mind? It was just the least thought in the world gloomy in that back +room this morning." + +"Anything you like, dear! anything you like!" cried Bridgie the docile; +then she looked at Sylvia, and beamed with satisfaction as Geoffrey +offered his arm to support the invalid's halting footsteps. + +They led the way together, and she seated herself in state in an arm- +chair, while the brothers and sisters crowded in at the doorway, +exclaiming volubly at the sight which met their eyes. + +The table had been pushed lengthways against the window, the crimson +curtains making an effective background to its heaped-up treasures. The +lamp stood at the farther end of the room, casting a subdued rosy light +on the eager faces. It was not exactly a "cheery" illumination, but it +was certainly becoming, and lent an air of mystery to the everyday +surroundings. + +"A new lamp-shade! How lovely! Pink silk and roses. Wouldn't it make +a sweet garden hat?" exclaimed Bridgie rapturously. "Is that my +present, Joan? How did you know I wanted a shade?" + +"That's a present for the house; yours is over there in that round box; +Geoffrey will hand it to you. There's a present for everybody, and one +for you all together. You'll see that last!" + +At that every eye turned curiously at the curtained picture-frame which +stood artfully supported by boxes at the place of honour at the farther +end of the table. Evidently this was the grand climax of the +entertainment, but meantime there were half a dozen excitements in +store, all calling for rapturous acknowledgments. + +Bridgie's round box was found to contain a muff of real Russian sable, +on receiving which, to use her own expressive phrase, she "nearly +swooned with delight." She sat purring over it, and rubbing it fondly +against her cheeks, while dandy Jack was presented with a dressing-case, +fitted with silver and ivory, Pat with a handsome camera, and Miles with +a bicycle deftly wheeled from behind the curtains. + +Even the servants had been remembered, for there was a bulky parcel +addressed to each name, and Sylvia grew red with mingled pleasure and +embarrassment as a casket of French bon-bons was deposited on her knee. +It was a delightful scene, and not the least delightful part of it was +the enjoyment of the young couple themselves, and their whole-hearted +participation in the pleasure of the recipients. + +It is the custom of most donors to depreciate their gifts, but that was +not Esmeralda's way. Not a bit of it! She was a capital show-woman, +and if by chance any detail of perfection passed unnoticed, she pointed +it out forthwith, and dilated at length upon its virtues. Jack turned +over the silver-topped bottles, and peeped at his reflection in the +mirror; Miles tingled his bicycle-bell, and balanced himself on the +saddle; Sylvia handed round bon-bons and surreptitiously fumbled to +discover how many rows the box contained; and Pat demanded immediate +orders for family groups. It took some little time to restore order, +but Geoffrey stood patiently waiting until he could make himself heard, +his hand stretched out to uncover the curtained frame. + +"Now for the general present! With best wishes to the family circle, +from Joan and myself. Are you ready? Very well, then, here you are! +One, two, three!" + +With the last word he whisked off the cloth, and a gasp sounded through +the room, followed by a silence more eloquent than words. + +Sylvia stared with widened eyes at the picture of a girl's head, +strangely like and yet unlike that precious photograph which Bridgie had +exhibited with so much pride. It was Pixie--that was quite evident--but +an older, bigger, wonderfully smartened edition of the elf-like child. +The dark locks were rolled back in pompadour fashion over a high +cushion, the plait turned up in a queue, fastened at the nape of the +neck by an enormous outstanding bow; the cheeks were fuller in outline, +and the disproportion between nose and mouth less marked. She was by no +means pretty, yet there was a charm about the quaint little face which +made the onlooker smile involuntarily and feel a sudden outgoing of +affection. + +"P-pixie!" gasped Bridgie in a breathless whisper. She rested her cheek +against the muff, and stared before her with rapt grey eyes. "Pixie's +portrait! Oh, Esmeralda--what a lovely thought! You had it taken for +us? You sent to Paris for it?" + +"Yes--yes!" cried Esmeralda gleefully. "I knew it would please you more +than anything else to have her with us. Do you like it? Do you think +it is good? Is it quite like her?" + +"It's like--yes, but not quite lifelike. Does she really do her hair +like that? I can't imagine Pixie looking so neat. She looks grave, +too--graver than she ever looked, except when she was up to mischief. I +hope she is not fretting, poor child! Oh, it makes me long for her more +than ever! I could look at it all day long!" + +Jack stroked his chin, and smiled contentedly. + +"That's what I call something like a present! It's a rattling good +portrait of the Piccaninny, judiciously flattered as portraits ought to +be. We can't see it, though, in this light. Let me put the lamp a +little nearer, or take off the shade." + +Esmeralda, however, was standing next the lamp, and refused to move +aside. + +"We arranged it to give the best light, so it's no use trying to improve +it. The best view is from over there by the door," she said in her +masterful fashion which would brook no contradiction. "One can never +see a picture to the best advantage by lamp-light, but you must make +allowances for that. Do you think it is well done? It is by a very +good master!" + +"Rather starry about the eyes!" said Pat critically. + +"Laid on the red rather too thickly about the cheeks!" objected Miles. + +Bridgie put down her muff, and went stooping across the room to get a +nearer view. + +"Is it oil or water-colour? I seem to know the frame. Oh, it _is_ like +her, Esmeralda--oh, so like! Pixie, Pixie, my little Pixie!" + +"_Bridgie_!" cried an answering voice. The picture swayed, rocked +forward, and fell on its face on the table; a little figure stood +squeezed in between the table and the window. It was no picture, but a +reality. Pixie herself stood among them in warm, living flesh and +blood! + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +PIXIE'S REMINISCENCES. + +It is wonderful what money can do--in conjunction with generous impulse +and ingenious brain. Esmeralda hung on to Bridgie's arm relating in +breathless accents how, being herself unable to go abroad until after +the New Year, the happy inspiration had occurred to Geoffrey of +despatching the French maid to her native city to bring back the dear +living Christmas present which now stood before them; how the travellers +had arrived on the previous evening, afire with delight at their own +share in the conspiracy; how she herself had conceived the idea of +presenting Pixie in the form of a portrait, and had brought the frame +from home, and tacked across it a piece of black gauze to heighten the +picture-like effect. + +"And I put the lamp as far-away from it as possible, and covered it over +so that she might not have to keep still too long. Oh, if you could +only have seen yourselves staring at her, and taking it all in grim +earnest! I never, never enjoyed anything so much in my days!" + +"Is it oil colours I am, or water? I'm flattered, ain't I, as a +portrait ought to be? Ye couldn't imagine I could be so neat!" cried +Pixie tauntingly, as she pirouetted to and fro on the top of the table, +to which she had lightly sprung at the first moment of discovery. She +looked like a big French doll, as she swung from side to side, her hands +outheld, her shoulders raised, her tiny feet twinkling to and fro. Her +pink frock was marvellously smart, the flounces stood out in jaunty +fashion around the ankles, the sash encircled a tiny waist, and the +brothers and sisters stood looking on, joy, incredulity, amaze written +upon their faces. + +Bridgie's arms kept stretching out and falling back to her side with +automatic regularity, and still the little figure pranced, and +gesticulated, and blew kisses to right and left, at one moment a merry +Irish vagabond, at the next a French marionette--all smirks and bows and +shrugging shoulders. + +"We got the better of you that time, I'm thinking! Oh, la-la! how it +was droll to hear you all making your pleasantries upon me while I kept +still--so still! I have never been so still but when I am up to +mischief. If ye could have seen under the table, I was shaking like a +jelly, but Esmeralda said, `I'll pack ye back as quick as ye came if you +spoil it on me, after all me trouble!'" + +"Figure it to yourselves; I was sitting so _triste_ by myself in the +_salon_, thinking of you all at home, and the fun ye'd have without me, +and the slices of plum-pudding fried up the next day the way I like them +best, and never a bite to come my way, when behold I the door opened, +and there enters to me Marie, all smiles and complaisance. Everything +is altered, she bears a letter from Madame Hilliard--I must pack my box, +and say my farewells, and be ready to start by the train next day. +Fortunately all is ready. Therese has already prepared for my return. +There was nothing to do but lay the things in the box and drive away." + +"And what did Therese say to it all? How did she and Pere like parting +from you in such a hurry?" + +"They wept!" said Pixie tragically. Her shoulders approached her ears +in eloquent gesture. "But how they wept! I also wept to see them weep, +and Marie wept to leave her dear Paris." She paused, and the solemn +expression gave place to a broad smile of enjoyment. + +"There wasn't a dry rag between the four of us, and Pere took snuff to +console himself, and that started him crying harder than ever. I was so +flurried I couldn't tell which was the topmost, joy or sorrow, until we +had ham and eggs for breakfast this morning, and I felt I was at home. +It's an awful thing to live in a country where there's never a bite of +solid food to cheer your spirits in the morning! Many's the time me +heart would bleed, thinking of Miles if he'd been there. Are ye glad to +see me, boys, now you know that I'm real?" + +There was no doubt about that. When at last the little sister +condescended to step down from her perch, she was passed from one to +another in a series of bear-like hugs, from which she emerged flushed +and complacent, to step briskly towards Sylvia and kiss her effusively +upon the cheek. + +"How d'ye do, me dear, and how's your illness? I've heard so much about +it that I expected to see you worse. You look too pretty to be an +invalid!" + +"Hear, hear!" muttered Jack softly. + +Sylvia blushed and gripped the little hand which lay so confidingly in +her own. + +"Thank you very much. I am getting better, but I don't feel at all +pretty. I'm lame, and have to limp about wherever I go, and my hair is +tumbling out. I have the greatest difficulty to make it look +respectable. I shall be bald soon!" + +Pixie craned forward and examined her head with sorrowful candour. + +"It _is_ thin! Ye can see the scalp shining through like shot silk. +You'll look like an old man with a bald head; but never mind! Think of +the saving in the morning! It will be so easy to do your hair!" + +There was a burst of laughter from brothers and sisters, while Sylvia +covered her face with her hands and rocked to and fro in mock despair. + +"You need never be unduly elated by a compliment from Pixie, Miss +Trevor," said Geoffrey Hilliard meaningly. "She is the most +transparently truthful person I ever encountered, and favoured me with +several character sketches of my wife before we were engaged, which +might have warned me of my fate if I'd been a sensible fellow. I have +remembered them, Pixie, many a time since then, and I'm glad to find +your foreign experiences have not affected your candour. There's +another thing that is not much altered, so far as I can hear--and that's +your brogue, my dear! It sounds to me almost as pronounced as in the +old days when you were running wild at Knock." + +"But it's got a French accent to it now--that's better than English!" +cried Pixie eagerly. "I was learning to speak quite elegantly in +Surbiton, but Therese wouldn't listen to a word of English out of my +mouth, and if you'll believe me, me dears, my very dreams are in French +the last few months. There was a _jeune fille_ in Paris who used to +promenade with us sometimes for the benefit of hearing me talk English. +She said the words didn't sound the same way as when they taught them to +her at school. _Helas le miserable_! The brogue of her put shame on me +own before I came away." + +The shoulders went up again, and a roguish smile lit up the little face. +Bridgie watched it with rapt, adoring eyes; her Pixie, her baby, was +now a big girl, almost grown-up, transformed from the forlorn-looking +elf to a natty little personage, more like the pictures of _jeunes +filles_ on the back of French pattern plates than she could have +believed possible for Irish flesh and blood. Imitative Pixie had caught +"the air," and the good Therese had evidently taken immense pains with +the costume in which her pupil should make her reappearance in the +family circle. + +Bridgie gazed at the buckled, high-heeled shoes peeping from beneath the +flounces, and wondered if it could really be that they held the same +little feet which used to patter about, buttonless, and down at heel; +she looked at the jaunty, outstanding bow which tied back the hair, and +contrasted it with the wisp of ribbon twisted to the proportions of a +tape, and knotted like a cat-o'-nine-tails, which used to bind together +the straggly locks, and as she looked, she felt--shall it be +confessed?--a pang of longing and regret for the days that were no more. +It passed in a moment, for whatever her external appearance might be, +Pixie was transparently the same at heart, and quick to note the +faintest shadow on the face of the dear mother-sister. She swung round +to face Bridgie, the grey eyes bent upon her in earnest scrutiny. + +They saw something written there that had not been visible two years +before--the outward marks of an inward, and very bitter struggle, and +Bridgie flushed beneath the scrutiny of that clear-seeing, childlike +gaze, and trembled at the thought of what was to come. + +"Has anyone been unkind to ye, Bridgie?" asked Pixie in deep, full- +throated tones. She put up her hand and stroked the soft cheek with a +tenderness of pitying love which was more eloquent than words. "There +are dips in your cheeks, like Miss Minnitt's when she was getting over +the fever, and your eyes look tired. What has happened to worry ye, me +dear, and take the colour out of your face?" + +"She has enough colour to satisfy you at the moment, hasn't she?" Jack +said, laughing, and Pixie nodded with ruthless candour. + +"Because she is blushing. What are you blushing for, you silly girl? +It isn't as if I had asked about a heart affair. The girls in France +were always talking of heart affairs, and asking if you were _fiancee_. +They thought you were very old, and must be going to _coif_ Saint +Catherine. That means that you are going to be an old maid. I said +yes, of course you were, because you were needed at home. Esmeralda was +no use, but we could not get on without Bridgie!" + +"You miserable, ungrateful child! This is my reward for all I have done +for you!" declaimed Esmeralda with dramatic emphasis, but Bridgie's face +lit up with a smile of whole-hearted satisfaction. + +Thank God! Whatever her personal disappointment might be, she could +never feel that she was alone in the world--that among all its teeming +millions there was no human being whose happiness depended upon her +presence; she had been spared that worst trial to a woman's heart, and +Pixie's calm taking-for-granted that she was indispensable to the family +circle was the greatest comfort which she could have given. + +"No, I shan't leave you, darling. I have too much to do looking after +you and those three big boys, and when you fly away to nests of your +own, Sylvia and I have all sorts of plans for enjoying ourselves +together. I have promised faithfully to wheel her about in her Bath- +chair." + +"And I will make your caps. I'm clever at millinery," said Sylvia, +pretending not to hear Jack's murmurs of protest, and looking very +pretty and animated as she sat erect in her chair and gesticulated with +her thin little hands. "You shall have one with pearl dangles for high +days and holidays, and nice, stiff little black bows for ordinary wear. +We will knit socks and mittens, and play cribbage in the evening, and +talk over the days of our youth. It's almost a pity we know each other +now, for we shan't be able to romance as much as we would like!" + +"Perhaps the romance will come in in some other way! Perhaps a husband +may interfere with the claims of Saint Catherine!" said Geoffrey, +putting into words the language of Jack's eyes, and everybody stared at +Sylvia's face with embarrassing curiosity. + +"I shall never marry!" she said obstinately. Not that she meant it in +the least, for she did not, but she was one of the girls who foolishly +think it the right thing to protest in public, and who are mistaken +enough to feel a trifle ashamed of the natural womanly longing for +someone to love and to protect them, which God Himself has put in their +hearts. A few girls there may be who honestly mean such a decision, but +they are very few indeed, while their hearers are invariably sceptical. + +Not one of the O'Shaughnessys seemed in the least impressed by Sylvia's +disclaimer, and it was disconcerting to hear Pixie's sympathetic, "Did +no one ever ask ye? Never mind! They may still. You are not so very +old!" + +Sylvia made up her mind there and then that it was better to say exactly +what one meant in the presence of Miss Pixie O'Shaughnessy! + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +ESMERALDA CHECKMATED. + +Three days after Christmas, Esmeralda and her husband returned to +Ireland, scattering invitations, severally and in bulk, to all the +inhabitants of Number Three, Rutland Road. Even Sylvia found herself +invited for a long visit, and was the more surprised at this mark of +favour because Mrs Hilliard's demeanour towards her was tinged with +jealousy and uneasy suspicion. She was willing enough to play Lady +Bountiful, present offerings of fruit and flowers, and be gushingly +sympathetic, but she liked to monopolise the whole attention of her +sisters, and was not well pleased when they in their turn hung about the +invalid's couch. She had not been an hour in the same room, moreover, +before she had intercepted one of Jack's most melting glances, and the +stare of the great grey eyes left no doubt as to the disapproval with +which she viewed the flirtation. + +Sylvia's annoyance converted her into a very hedgehog of dignity, and +the prickly quills kept the young fellow at such a distance that he lost +faith in his own fascinations for the first and only time in his career. +He bade Esmeralda an affectionate farewell, but was in truth well +resigned to her departure--a fact which she was quite sharp enough to +discover. + +"Jack is pleased that I am going away!" she said to Bridgie as the two +sisters sat together for the last confidential chat. "He knows that I +watch him flirting with Sylvia Trevor, and thinks he will get on better +without me. You really ought to be careful, Bridgie, and not let them +be too much together!" + +"Does he flirt with her? Not more than he does with every other girl," +said Bridgie leniently. "I don't see why I should worry myself about +it. Sylvia is a sensible girl, who is not given to fancying that every +man is in love with her, and Jack is just a dear, soft-hearted boy, who +can't help making pretty speeches, but he would never make serious love +if he did not mean it, and if he did--well, why not Sylvia as well as +anyone else?" + +But Mrs Geoffrey Hilliard was not to be so easily appeased. She threw +back her haughty head, lowered languid eyelids, and drawled out-- + +"My dear Bridgie, remember whom you are speaking about! Jack is the +head of the family--he's O'Shaughnessy of Knock! Eventually, as we hope +and believe, he will go back to take up his own position, and, thanks to +Geoff, the property will be in a very different condition from what it +was when he left. He must make a marriage which will be a help, not a +hindrance. And who is she? Answer me that! What do you know about +her?" + +"She is a dear girl! She is very attractive! Her father is abroad. +She lives with an old aunt." + +"Exactly! A pleasant girl in a London suburb!" Esmeralda's voice was +full of ineffable condescension. "There are thousands of them, and no +doubt they are charming in their way, but not for Jack. He owes a duty +to the family as well as himself, and you ought to tell him as much. +You really ought, Bridgie! Speak to him at once, before it goes too +far!" + +"Suppose you speak to him yourself! When you are so hot upon it, it's a +pity to leave it to me." + +"No, I'd rather not. Jack is so stupid about taking advice. He would +snap my nose off if I said anything." + +"I really don't see why my nose is not as valuable as yours! Why should +I do your disagreeable work for you?" retorted Bridgie with spirit. +"You did not know that Geoffrey was a rich man when you promised to +marry him, and it's the last thing I would think of myself, so why +should we expect any more of Jack? I am not going to interfere, +whatever happens, and if you take my advice you won't mention Sylvia's +name to him!" + +"I don't intend to, but--" + +Esmeralda shut her lips tightly over an unspoken determination. There +are more ways than one of nipping in the bud an incipient love affair, +but she did not care about confiding her latest inspiration to any +hearer, least of all to Bridgie, who would have given up her most +cherished plans rather than hurt the feelings of a fellow-creature. She +changed the subject, and talked lightly on impersonal topics until the +moment of parting drew near, when there came a sudden softening over the +beautiful face, and she said in gentle, diffident tones-- + +"I didn't like to ask before, but I can't leave without knowing, +darling. Have you heard?" + +Bridgie shook her head mutely, and the lines which Pixie had noticed +deepened round her eyes and mouth, but the eyes smiled still--a brave, +steady smile. + +"I never shall hear now, Joan. I've made up my mind to that." + +"I don't know how you bear it! I can't think how you manage to be so +composed and cheerful! If Geoff had treated me like that, it would have +soured me for life. You were never sour from the first, and now you +seem quite happy. Yet, as Pixie says, you have a pathetic look which +shows that you have not really forgotten. You still care, Bridgie +dear?" + +"I shall always care," said Bridgie quietly. "There's an ache at the +back of my heart, but there are so many things at the front that it gets +crowded out. Besides, you know, Esmeralda darling, I don't want to seem +to praise myself, but it's a trouble which God has sent me, and I ask +Him every night to help me to bear it in the right way. It wouldn't be +the right way to let the shadow of it darken other lives besides my own. +If I moped and grizzled, everyone in the house would be uncomfortable, +and they have their own worries, poor creatures, without suffering for +mine! I made an excellent rule for my own benefit--to laugh downstairs +and cry in my own room, and it answers beautifully, for I'm so tired +when I get to bed that I've no sooner begun repining than I wake up and +find it's morning. You try it, dear, when you've got a worry. You'll +find it splendid!" + +Esmeralda shook her head. + +"Not for me! What I feel I must show, and sooner than I feel it, if +that is possible. If I tried to bottle up my feelings it would make me +ill, and the explosion would be all the greater when it did come. My +only chance is to get it over as soon as possible, but in your case it +is a long slow suspense, which is worse than any definite trouble. You +are an angel, dear, to bear it as you do! It's mysterious that it +should have come to you and not me, for you didn't need discipline, and +I, who was always the naughty one, have got all that I want--Geoffrey, +and home, and the dear little boy. You must come soon, Bridgie, to see +the boy. He will be getting teeth and all sorts of luxuries, and his +godmother ought to be there to look after him." + +Esmeralda rose and strolled over to the glass to arrange her hat and pin +on a filmy veil. "I must go downstairs now, and say good-bye to Miss +Trevor. Don't hurry, dear, if you have anything to do. We don't leave +for a quarter of an hour still." + +Unsuspecting Bridgie trotted away to the kitchen to give some orders, +while Esmeralda sailed into the drawing-room, all smiles and amiability. +A peal of laughter greeted her ears as she entered, and there sat Pixie +perched on the end of the sofa, with her hands clasped round her knees, +and her chin poked forward, enjoying to the full the discovery of a new +audience, who was apparently as much interested in the sayings and +doings of the O'Shaughnessy family as she was herself. + +Both girls looked up as the rustle of silks heralded Mrs Hilliard's +approach, but while the younger remained serenely composed, Sylvia's +lips tightened, and her eyes gave out an ominous flash. It was as if +she felt an antagonistic spirit in the air, and braced herself for the +conflict. Yet nothing could have been more friendly than Esmeralda's +smile--more cordial than her voice. + +"I told Bridgie I must really have ten minutes for a farewell chat with +you before I go. It has been so pleasant to have you here, and I hope +we shall soon meet again. Has Pixie been amusing you while we were +upstairs? Come down from that couch, child! You must be quite cramped. +I am here, so you need not mount guard any longer." + +"I'm very comfortable where I am," said Pixie easily. She laid her head +on one side, and stared at her sister with large, innocent eyes, which +seemed strangely disconcerting to that young lady's composure. She +frowned, and snapped a bracelet together with quite a vicious snap. + +"But you are too old for such inelegant positions. You are almost +grown-up now, and must learn how to behave. For goodness' sake get up +before Geoff sees you! He is so very particular about nice behaviour in +girls." + +"'Twas a bad relapse for him when he married you!" muttered Pixie +beneath her breath. She straightened herself slowly and let her feet +slip to the ground, but Esmeralda realised that nothing but a direct +request would convince her of the extraordinary fact that her absence +was for once more desired than her presence. For obvious reasons such a +request could not be made, and as the time was quickly passing nothing +remained but to clothe her hints even more circumspectly than she had +intended. + +"I am so glad that your foot is really getting better," she said +graciously to Sylvia. "Bridgie says the nurse is so pleased with its +progress the last few days. You will be able to walk about soon, and +then if you feel inclined for a change we shall be so pleased if you +will come over to visit us. It is quiet at Knock, but I would drive you +about, and the air is so delightful that I am sure it would do you good. +You will hear all about the place from Pixie, so that it would not feel +strange to you when you arrived, and we have a few nice friends within +driving distance. + +"She would like Mollie Burrell, wouldn't she, Pixie? That's a young +girl who lives seven miles from us at Knock, but we think nothing of +that distance in the country. She was always over at the Castle before +Jack went away, and we used to say she felt like another sister. You +remember how he used to drive over in the cart, and bring her back to +surprise us?" + +"I do so! And the afternoon when she went shopping into the post-office +as they drove through the village, and Tim Hegan came up and began +bidding for the old grey mare, and with that Jack took him into the cart +and drove over to the farm, and never a thought of poor Mollie until the +evening, when she cut him dead limping home through the mud. 'Twas a +cruel thing to do, and the poor creature putting on new boots for the +occasion to do him honour, and says Jack, `I've done for myself this +time! It would take a cleverer man than myself to twist _that_ into a +compliment!'" + +"Oh, that's an old-world story!" cried Esmeralda, with her head in the +air. Her cheeks had flushed despite her efforts for composure, and she +was uncomfortably conscious that Sylvia was trying to restrain a smile +at this most open contradiction of the implied attachment between Jack +and his Irish neighbour. Her irritation urged her to stronger measures, +and she said testily-- + +"It proves how little dependence can be placed upon Jack's promises. If +he could forget Mollie, it is no wonder that he changes his mind every +other day. But they made up that quarrel ages ago, and he was over +there shooting in September and squiring her all over the county. You +should not tell tales out of school, Pixie!" + +"Was it me? I thought it was yourself. You began saying that they were +such friends, and I thought maybe it would amuse Sylvia to hear--" + +"So it does, Pixie. It amuses me extremely," assented Sylvia with an +intentional emphasis, which made Esmeralda wince once more, for, however +innocent the little sister might be, she felt convinced that Sylvia +Trevor thoroughly understood her implied warning, and was by no means +docile in her manner of receiving it. She sat up stiff and erect, +smiling into space with an expression of scornful superiority which +filled the beholder with unwilling admiration. In just such a spirit +would she herself have accepted interference from the lips of a +stranger. She recognised a kindred spirit, and realised that, putting +Jack out of the question, Miss Sylvia Trevor would be a friend after her +own heart. + +The repeated invitation had in it a note of sincerity which had been +wanting in the earlier rendering, but Sylvia only murmured, "Thank you!" +in a politely non-committal manner, and shrank back so decidedly from +the proffered kiss that there was no choice but to substitute a formal +handshake in its stead. + +The sisters drove off together to the station, and Sylvia was left alone +to relieve pent-up irritation by making one impetuous resolve after +another, to replace each the following moment by one diametrically +different. + +"Thank goodness, she has gone at last! I can't think how I ever could +have liked her! I think I dislike her more than anyone I ever met. How +dare she interfere with me! How dare she imply that I want to +monopolise her precious brother! I shall never speak to him again as +long as I live! I shall go home to-morrow, and take good care that I +never come across when he is likely to be at home. Perhaps she has +warned him too, as if he were not conceited enough already! He is worth +a dozen of her all the same, and is far nicer than I thought at first. +It's perfectly absurd to think a man and a girl cannot be in the same +house for a week without falling in love with each other. I won't +condescend to take the faintest notice of her insinuations. I shall be +as nice as I like, and give up snubbing him from this minute. He can be +engaged to fifty Mollie Burrells if he likes; that's no reason why I +should not treat him civilly!" + +In the hours which elapsed before the return of the sisters she had had +time to change her mind a dozen times over, to write letters to Aunt +Margaret and burn them in the fire, to invent scathing sarcasms by which +poor Jack was to be reduced to a condition of hopeless subjection, and +rehearse melting scenes when her womanly sympathy would soothe ruffled +spirits and restore him to calm. + +All uncertainty as to her conduct was, however, removed by the first +glance at Jack's face when he returned home in the evening, for it bore +the unmistakable marks of real anxiety, and the weary sigh with which he +sank into his chair was something new to his vigorous manhood. + +Bridgie bustled in with the tea which always awaited his coming, kissed +him lightly, and hurried away to finish some letters. Pixie sat hunched +up before the fire devouring a book, and Jack pushed his chair nearer +Sylvia's couch, staring at her in a dumb, melancholy fashion which had +in it something singularly beguiling. Despite his great height and +muscular form, he looked so helpless and appealing, like a nice child +who has lost a toy, or a big collie dog which turns pathetic eyes +towards his master's face. + +Sylvia smiled involuntarily, but it was a very friendly smile, and her +voice had lost its mocking tone as she inquired-- + +"Well--what's the trouble?" + +Jack put his cup on the table and leant towards her, his elbows resting +on his knees, his chin supported on clasped hands. Pixie read on +undisturbed, soft gurgles of laughter marking her enjoyment of +sensational passages. + +"I've had a blow," said Jack, "a ghastly disappointment! This is the +day when the firm announces the various arrangements for the year, +increases in salary and so on. I quite understood that I should come in +for a substantial rise, if not a junior partnership. It was talked +about when I joined four years back, and as nothing was done last +January I made a certainty of it coming off now. Instead of that, I get +nothing--nothing! No advance at all upon the payment of the last two +years. I had it out with the partners this afternoon, and they seemed +to think I had done unusually well. They implied that it was a piece of +pure imagination on my part to have expected to be taken into the firm." + +"But--I know nothing about business except what I have read--but is it +not usual to have something written--a definite agreement which settles +things without the possibility of argument? If you joined this firm +with the idea of being made a partner, was not an agreement written down +in black and white?" + +Jack waved his hand in airy dissent. + +"No, there was nothing definite, but we talked it over.--The old fellow +certainly held out hopes for the future! I made so sure of a +partnership that we took this house in the prospect of being able to pay +for it out of my increased earnings. It's too expensive as it is for +people brought up as we have been. I'm the most practical of the +bundle, and with care and attention can make half a crown go almost as +far as an Englishman's shilling; but Bridgie, bless her! wears herself +out saving pennies, and throws away pounds with the best. In my +father's time there was never any money to trouble about, so she got +into the way of ordering things without thinking what they would cost, +and it's a difficult plan to forsake. She's done her best, poor +creature! I wouldn't blame her for the world." + +"And--and will you have to leave the house?" Sylvia's heart sank +drearily at the prospect. What if the O'Shaughnessys flitted away to a +suburb at the opposite end of the city, and Number Three, Rutland Road +was deserted once more, or tenanted by an ordinary, commonplace family, +such as inhabited every other villa in the neighbourhood! After the +sweet friendship of Bridgie, the fascinations of Jack, the audacities of +the two boys, the witcheries of Pixie, and last but not least, the +incursions of Esmeralda, exasperating, but to the last degree romantic +and beautiful, Sylvia felt a shudder of distaste at the thought of a +stout mamma and papa, one baby in a perambulator, another in a mail- +cart, and a graduated line of school-boys and girls sallying forth daily +to their appointed tasks. "Oh, I'm so sorry you will have to leave!" +she sighed, and Jack smiled at her in grateful acknowledgment of her +regret. + +"I'm glad you are sorry, but I don't intend to leave. We have been here +only four months, and I can't face another removal for--many reasons! +We will have to squeeze along somehow until things look up. A crop of +bills have come in during the last few days to make matters worse, and I +will have to talk things over with Bridgie to-night. I hate to worry +her, but there must be some system, or we shall find ourselves in the +workhouse some fine day. And now there is the child to think of. She +will be an extra expense!" + +Sylvia glanced quickly across the room at the figure in the depths of +the arm-chair. She sat motionless, her head bent over her book, but +Pixie was one of those intensely alive little creatures who seem to +infect their very surroundings with vitality. It seemed to Sylvia that +the pages fluttered in agitated fashion, the bow of ribbon holding back +her hair seemed of a sudden to stand out at attention, the knotted ends +looked like two alert, curious ears at the back of her head. + +How much had Pixie heard? + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A FAMILY COUNCIL. + +That night after dinner Jack broke the news of his disappointment to the +assembled family, who bore the shock with surprising resignation. Pat +whistled, and said, "Just our luck! Ah, well, if it's no better, let's +be thankful it's no worse!" Miles suggested cheerfully, "Why don't you +chuck it and keep a shop? Then we should get all our food for nothing." +And Bridgie's sigh turned into a smile as she cried, "What a blessing +we took this house when we did! Now we should not have been able to +afford it, and we should never have known you, Sylvia dear! It's funny, +isn't it, to think that this little crib is too big for us?" + +"Oh, awfully funny!" said Jack drily. He had opened the topmost drawer +in the writing-table and taken out half a dozen red-backed books and a +bundle of bills. "The fact remains that we shall have to spend at least +a hundred a year less than we calculated if we want to keep out of the +Bankruptcy Court. I don't know how it is, but I seem to have given the +money for half these bills, and yet here they are again! I was +perfectly horrified to see them. This coal bill, for instance,--I +remember distinctly giving you two sovereigns one morning just as I was +starting for town--" + +Sylvia sat up hastily and fumbled for the stick by which she supported +herself about the house. It seemed to her impossible that such intimate +family affairs could be discussed before a stranger, but at the first +movement Jack inquired eagerly where she was going, and both he and +Bridgie laughed to scorn the idea of privacy. The presence of a +stranger seemed indeed to whet their interest in the forthcoming +discussion, which was conducted throughout with a cheerfulness and +composure which contrasted strangely with Miss Munns's weekly +lamentations over her tradesmen's accounts. + +"'Deed, I remember quite well!" said Bridgie, referring to the money +which had been given to her in settlement of the coal bill. "It was the +morning the cat got lost in the oven, and all of us searching the house +over because of the piteous mews of it. It crept in, Sylvia, when the +door was open, after the bacon came out, and Sarah pushed it to as she +passed, so the poor creature had a fine Turkish bath of it before we +found her. Did I not pay the bill, after all? I suppose I was short of +money for something else. It's wonderful the way it slips away when you +are keeping house!" + +Jack sighed and took up another paper from the table. + +"There's another here. I know I gave you ten shillings to settle this +ironmonger fellow. Eight and threepence! It's ridiculous running on +bills for little sums like this." + +"I paid it! I paid it!" cried Bridgie triumphantly. "I distinctly +remember, because there is such a funny little man in the shop who says, +`What is your next pleasure, madam?' when you buy a box of tacks. I +remember distinctly going in and paying something." + +"Very well, then, you must have the receipt. Where have you put the +receipt?" + +Bridgie looked vaguely round the room, turned out the contents of her +writing-pad, peeped into a drawer under the table, searched the bottom +of the stocking-basket, the pocket of her dress, then stroked her chin +meditatively, and said-- + +"Perhaps I was paying for something else! I remember now that I _did_ +buy a saucepan." + +Jack sighed again, and paced up and down the floor, but he showed no +signs of anger or even surprise, and his voice was quite apologetic as +he said-- + +"I'm afraid you will have to be more methodical, dear, if we stay on in +this house. We shall never know how we stand if bills keep coming in +when we think they are settled. We had better hold a cabinet council +and decide how much we can afford to spend in housekeeping and other +departments, and cut our coat according to our cloth. It will be +difficult after the way things went on at Knock, but it's our only +chance. I tried to put down my private expenses this afternoon, and was +horrified to find how heavy they were." + +Bridgie cast an admiring glance upon him, and turned to Sylvia with an +air of pride. + +"Isn't he splendid, now, at his age, talking like an old man for wisdom +and prudence! You may well say things are different from what they were +at home, for there, if the worst came to the worst, you could always +fall back on the pigs and the vegetables that grew for nothing at your +door. The idea of paying fourpence for a cauliflower takes me heart out +of me every time I go marketing, and the bacon is no sooner bought, than +it is eaten. Well, I'm willing enough to learn method, but who's to +teach me? Saving your presence, Jack, you're just a beginner yourself!" + +Sylvia chuckled mischievously, and her eyes danced with amusement. + +"There is a mistress in the art at your very door! Aunt Margaret would +be enchanted to instruct you, and her housekeeping is a marvel of +accuracy. She could tell you exactly how much she spent last year on +soft soap, and the reason why it was more in ninety-six than in ninety- +seven. She could walk about the house in the dark and put her hand on +the blue-bag and the list of last week's washing. She makes lists of +everything she possesses, from household linen to the Christmas cards +which she sends out and receives. Her dresses last for best for four +years before they are turned for afternoon wear, and two years later +they are re-dipped for mornings. They have histories, like her +relations, and make valuable Christmas presents to the charwoman on +their eighth birthday. She thinks I am recklessly extravagant because +my dresses are worn-out in a year!" + +"I'll ask her to teach me at once! I'll begin making lists this very +afternoon! I'll practise shutting my eyes and searching for the blue- +bag," cried Bridgie ardently. "Jack dear, I'll be a model housekeeper, +and save so much money that we shall be quite rich." + +She was all smiles and complaisance, and sat down for the cabinet +council with an unruffled brow, but, as we all know, it is more +difficult to face one or two definite difficulties than an army of +shadowy deprivations, and when the division of the family income made it +necessary to subtract considerably from her housekeeping allowance, and +to saddle her in addition with several outside expenses, Mistress +Bridget sighed and showed signs of rebellion. + +"Such a lot of trouble for such a trifling saving! 'Twill destroy me +altogether to be fussing over every halfpenny. What would it matter if +we were a trifle in debt at the end of the year? Geoffrey would pay a +hundred pounds without knowing it, and be proud to do it into the +bargain!" + +"But I won't accept it. He has done quite enough as it is. He has paid +for Pat's training, and will give him the agency as soon as he is ready +to take it, and he paid for Pixie's lessons in Paris. I could not +refuse what was good for them, but I'll keep my own house, or give it up +altogether!" said Jack proudly, and Sylvia nodded her head in emphatic +approval from her place of vantage on the sofa. + +Pat and Miles also applauded the declaration of independence, and +accepted their own share in the contemplated economies with unperturbed +serenity, while Pixie sat solemnly in a corner, turning her eyes on the +face of each speaker in turns, her shoulders heaving with suppressed +emotion. Of all the members of the family it was evident that she took +the present difficulty most seriously, and Sylvia was strengthened in +the conviction that she had heard and taken to heart the reference to +herself which had been made in the afternoon. + +She made no reference to the subject, but three times over the next day +Sylvia entered a room in time to hear a hurried rustle and scramble, and +behold Pixie gazing into the fire with an air of elaborate +unconsciousness--the newspaper rolled into a ball beneath her chair. It +was always open at the advertisement sheet, moreover, so that the +onlooker had not much difficulty in guessing the character of the +letters which were inscribed with such deep-breathed earnestness in the +afternoon. + +They were posted in the pillar-box at the corner of the road, and Pixie +marched back to the house and sat herself down with an air of mysterious +importance. Her head was held proudly erect, her lips pressed tightly +together as if nothing, no nothing, would induce her to put her secret +into words, and Sylvia smiled to herself, and from the experiences of a +week's acquaintance, gave her exactly five minutes in which to divulge +the whole story. + +"If you were threatened with a danger--a hidjus danger--what should you +think would be the best way to avoid it?" asked Pixie earnestly, at the +expiration of two minutes and a half. + +Sarah had that moment brought in the lamp and brushed up the fire, and +the little room looked wonderfully cheerful and cosy. It was just the +time and opportunity for a confidential chat, and Sylvia sat herself +down in the arm-chair with a pleasant sense of expectancy. She was +allowed to sit up for an hour or two in the day, and that in itself was +a cheering circumstance. + +"If I were threatened with a danger, how should I try to avoid it? I +really don't know, Pixie. What do you advise yourself?" she asked +smilingly, and Pixie smote her fists together, and stamped on the floor +with dramatic emphasis. + +"Ye ought to march straight out and meet it! That's what Therese has +been teaching me all these years, for, says she, `Bridgie, the dear, is +so soft-hearted that she'll never believe but that everything will come +right if ye sit still and look pleasant.' The last thing but one that +she said to me before parting was that I must look after the family and +keep them out of trouble; so I've been reading over the papers to see +how I can make some money, and it's wonderful the choice you can have! +I thought at first about taking a situation, but it's better that I +should stay at home to look after Bridgie, and teach her how to use up +the scraps as they do in France. Me dear, the most elegant soup made +out of nothing at all but the scraps ye would throw to the hens! +There's one advertisement which says a lady like meself can earn a +handsome income in her own home, without interfering with present +duties. It sounds so light and pleasant that it quite struck my fancy; +and only two shillings for samples and directions!" + +"Oh, Pixie, did you really send it? I'm so sorry you did that without +telling me first. I'm afraid it's a hoax, dear! It sounds too good to +be true!" + +"But it says so plainly in those very words. I'll show it to you if you +like. It's printed!" cried Pixie in a tone of shocked reproof which +silenced the protests on Sylvia's lips. If her suspicions were correct, +time would teach the lesson that even printed advertisements were not +always accurately truthful, but she had not the heart to dilate on the +perfidiousness of mankind in the presence of such innocent trustfulness. +She murmured apologetic phrases, and Pixie beamed once more and +continued her story. + +"There's another gentleman wants you to go round and sell books. I've +written to him, but I'd rather do things at home. Did you ever hear of +anyone making a fortune by addressing envelopes? They want someone to +do that too, but I write so slowly meself, and it's only a shilling a +thousand. A literery lady is wanted to correct proofs. That would be +nice, because they might be stories. How do you spell `literery', +Sylvia?" + +"L-i-t-e-r-a-r-y!" + +"Not `e-r-y?' You are quite sure?" + +"Absolutely sure!" + +"I put `literery'!" said Pixie, with a sigh. Perhaps it will prejudice +him against me! Spelling was never my strong point, but that was worse +than ignorance--with the paper lying beside me for reference! The best +of all is a shop that wants you to colour photographs. I love painting +pictures, and the scrap-books I've done for hospitals would fill a +museum. Of course, these would have to be done carefully, but I've seen +Therese sketching at Versailles, and artists painting in the Louvre, and +I'm quick at imitating. They wanted three shillings to sell you the +paints and brushes, and it will be cheap if it brings in pounds a week. +"Twas a good thing Esmeralda gave me a sovereign before she left, and I +could get the stamps without anyone being the wiser. I thought, you +see, it would be so nice to keep it a secret until I could go to Bridgie +with my earnings in my hand. You will promise truly and faithfully not +to tell?" + +"If you will promise not to send any more money without asking my +advice. I think you ought to do that, Pixie!" + +"I shan't need to, me dear. I'll earn enough as it is. Will I get the +replies to-morrow, do you think? The letters ought to be delivered to- +night!" + +Sylvia felt doubtful whether answers would ever be received, but as +events proved, she was wrong, and Pixie was right, for her inquiries +were answered by return of post, and on the first opportunity handed +over for inspection. The philanthropist who provided remunerative work +for gentlewomen at their own homes without interfering with present +duties, forwarded samples as promised, the which Pixie spread out on the +table with an air of depression. They consisted of a two-inch length of +a simple stamping-off pattern, a fragment of black net, and a few dozen +common jet beads, wrapped in a paper. + +"You iron off the pattern on the net, and then you sew round it with the +beads, and then ye cut off the scallops, and then it's jetted lace!" she +explained anxiously. "And when it's jetted lace, ye go out and sell it +to the shops." She sighed deeply, and turned over the patterns with her +fingers. "How much a yard is jetted lace, Sylvia?" + +"I don't know exactly, but I should think a narrow width like this could +not be over a couple of shillings at the most." + +"And it would take me months to do, and be puckered at that! It's such +wobbly stuff to sew. Even if I did a lot, I'm afraid the shops would +never buy it." + +"I'm afraid not, Pixie. I wouldn't waste your time trying, dear!" + +Pixie sighed again and carefully replaced the fragments in their +envelopes. + +"It was very kind of them to send them so soon, and if I was clever with +my fingers, it would be a fine idea, but I know quite well it would be +puckered. Will I send back the patterns, do you think? They might be +useful for someone else." + +"I think whoever sent them can very well afford to send another +selection to the next inquirer. I should not dream of wasting a stamp +on them," replied Sylvia drily, and as she spoke she pulled Pixie nearer +to her, and kissed her with a fervour which was somewhat startling to +the recipient. + +"Are ye sorry for me?" she queried. "Ye needn't be, because I shall +have so much to do with the photographs that I am not disappointed a +bit. They have sent me one to paint, and if I do it to their +satisfaction they can keep me in constant work. They don't say anything +about paying, but I expect that will be settled next week. Here's the +paints, and here's the lady!" + +Sylvia looked, and beheld half a dozen cheap paints such as are found in +a child's sixpenny box, a thick and a thin brush, equally common, and a +photograph of a buxom lady with a mop of tousled hair, swinging in a +hammock-chair under some trees, while a flight of marble steps led up to +a palatial mansion in the background. She read the letter, and found +that Pixie had accurately described its contents. It appeared that the +firm was in pressing need of outside help, and had practically unlimited +work to bestow upon ladies "with artistic tendencies." + +Judging from the note-paper, the handwriting, and the style of the +photograph itself, the critics could not be very severe, and for a +moment Sylvia found herself wondering if by chance Pixie had indeed +found some work within her scope. She herself knew little about +painting, but after a long discussion of the different features of the +photograph, she succeeded in dissuading the youthful artist from a +somewhat violent scheme of colour, and in extracting a promise that the +completed picture should be brought across the road for her inspection +before it was despatched, for by this time Miss Munns was once more +settled at home, and the last evening of the happy visit had arrived. + +Sylvia tried not to allow herself to think how quiet and dull the days +would seem with only Aunt Margaret as a companion; how hard it would be +to sit contentedly playing cribbage in the evenings, while across the +road, within a stone's-throw from the window, was this dear, bright, +homey room, full of young creatures like herself. She told herself that +she had had a happy holiday, and ought to go home refreshed and cheered. +She made noble resolutions to be more patient and considerate, and +pretended that she was really quite relieved to be leaving Jack +O'Shaughnessy, for it was far more difficult to withstand the humbugging +eyes now that she knew what a dear kind fellow he was at heart, and he +on his part seemed quite embarrassingly sorry to say good-bye! + +"You have not been half so nice to me lately as you were the first few +days," he said plaintively in the privacy afforded by the strains of a +comb orchestra vigorously conducted at the end of the room. "I must +have offended you without meaning it; clumsy fellow that I am!" + +"Oh dear no, not at all. It is only that I am getting better, and my +natural bad temper is asserting itself. Most people are mild when they +are ill," she replied lightly, but Jack was not so easily silenced. + +"That's not the reason. Saving your presence, you are better tempered, +not worse, but there's a difference all the same. I suppose you don't +like me so well now that you know me better?" + +"On the contrary, I like you infinitely more." Sylvia hesitated a +moment, then added with sudden resolution, "I thought you were a very +agreeable flirt; you amused me, and I enjoyed being flattered; but now I +think you are a real good friend, and I treat you in a different way. +One gets tired of compliments, but friendship grows better and better +all the time." + +Jack coloured, and was silent. Sylvia wondered if he were offended by +the plainness of her words, but when he turned to her again, there was +the frank, manly expression in his eyes which she liked most to see. + +"May I come and call upon you sometimes in the evening? I shall have no +chance of seeing you in the daytime." + +"I should like it very much, but it is not my house, remember, and Aunt +Margaret is not fond of young men." + +"But I am terribly partial to old ladies, and I never met the one yet +that wasn't wrapped up in me before we parted. I've got a way with old +ladies!" said Jack complacently. "There was an old dear in Ireland who +managed everyone for miles around, but she was as soft as putty in my +hands. The poor girl, her daughter, was not allowed to join in any of +the fun that was on hand, and when there was anything special coming on, +she'd write pitiful letters and ask me to lunch. I always went--she had +very good eyes of her own!--and she'd meet me in the drive, and put me +up to what she wanted. By the time the old lady had told me all about +her hens, and her servants, and her latest quarrel with her neighbours, +and I'd flattered her by saying her rheumatism was the pick of any in +the county, she'd be ready to eat out of my hand. And I'd fix up to +call for Mollie, and see her safely home after the show was over." + +"Mollie? A pretty name! Is it common in Ireland?" + +"It is so. We knew a stack of them at Knock, but Mollie Burrell was the +best of the bundle." + +Sylvia smiled, but her lips felt stiff, and the effort was not a +success. A little weight of depression settled over her spirits. She +felt anything but sympathetic for the deprivations of Miss Mollie +Burrell. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +BARGAIN-HUNTING. + +Two days after Sylvia's return home, Pixie took the tinted photograph +across the road for inspection. She had toiled at it with conscientious +effort, but, alas! the result was pathetically bad, the paint being laid +on in uncertain daubs, while carmine cheeks and scarlet lips laid the +buxom lady under suspicion of sickening for fever or some other deadly +complaint. Pixie herself was vaguely disquieted by the general effect, +but, as she earnestly explained, you "got used to it after a bit, and it +didn't look so bad. And even if it was only half price this time, it +would be encouraging to the family!" + +Sylvia refrained from criticism, but helped to pack the work of art +between two sheets of cardboard in readiness for the post, and after +that was done, took her visitor downstairs to be introduced to Miss +Munns. + +The old lady was sitting darning stockings, with a newspaper spread over +one half of the table and a little bowl standing ready to receive the +snippings of worsted. On the baize cloth at the other end stood an +indiarubber plant and four little artificial ferns. A gas fire +flickered in the grate, a wire blind shut out the view, the chairs stood +ranged in mathematical order against the walls, the very newspaper was +folded into an accurate square and put away in the rack, and Pixie +looked round with awed eyes the while she was introduced. + +"This is Bridgie's youngest sister, Aunt Margaret--Pixie O'Shaughnessy." + +"I hope you are quite well, my dear," said Miss Munns. + +"Good morning, madame!" said Pixie in her most Parisian manner, not +attempting to shake hands, but bowing with an air of gracious effusion +from half-way across the room. + +Aunt Margaret let the stocking drop in her lap and stared over her +spectacles, shaking her head solemnly as Sylvia related how the new- +comer had just returned from Paris, where she had been living under the +charge of an old governess. + +"That accounts for it!" she said darkly, when the explanations were +finished. "I never can understand why people want to go abroad when +there are so many good schools at their door. When I was a girl I went +to Miss Banks at Peckham, and it was most select. Every girl over +fifteen wore a bonnet; mine was white Dunstable, with check ribbons, +blue and white. I wore it with a dress with silk pipings, and it was +very much admired. My cousin Gertrude went to Paris, because her father +had business on the Continent, and she never got over it for years. +They gave her dreadful food, and when she could not eat it, it was put +aside and brought up meal after meal. She told me as a solemn fact that +they used to put fruit in the soup, and there was something dreadful +made of cabbages. Did they give you cabbages, my dear?" + +"Mais oui, madame!" returned Pixie, involuntarily returning to the +language of the place of which they were speaking. "But they were +delicious, those cabbage! Mademoiselle has without doubt had an unhappy +experience. The cabbage of France is a most excellent cabbage. He +resembles himself absolutely to an English cabbage, but he is more well +prepared." + +"Speak English, my dear, for pity's sake! I never could understand that +gibberish. My poor father paid extra for me to learn under a native, +but it seemed as if I always turned against it. Well, I don't +understand about the cabbages; Gertrude certainly said they were quite +sour, and mixed with all manner of horrible things!" + +"Perhaps you mean sauerkraut, Aunt Margaret. She would hardly have that +in Paris. Are you quite sure it was not Germany where she was at +school?" + +"Berlin, was it? Berlin!" said Miss Munns, meditating with her finger +to her lip. "Yes, I think it was, because I remember I always +associated it with the wool. All these foreign schools are alike. +Nothing comes of them but bowing and scraping. Give me a good sound +English education!" + +Miss Munns threaded her needle through the heel of the black stocking +with an expression which seemed to imply that the last word was spoken +on that subject, and Pixie put on her most engaging manner as she +replied, as if anxious to prove that she was not altogether ruined by +her Continental experiences-- + +"Madame is without doubt so clever that she does not need to be taught. +Sylvia has told us that you could teach Bridgie better than anyone else. +She is the best meaner in the world, is Bridgie, but it comes natural +to her to forget. Sylvia said it was wonderful the way you managed the +house. You could find the blue-bag in the dark!" + +"Find--the blue-bag--in the--dark! Why should I find the blue-bag in +the dark? What do I want with it in the dark? The blue-bag! Why +should I look for the blue-bag?" cried Miss Munns, all anxiety to fathom +the meaning of this perplexing statement. + +The most elaborate explanations on Sylvia's part failed to solve the +mystery, and she kept on reiterating, "Why blue-bag?" in tones of +baffled curiosity, while Sylvia lay back in her chair and sighed, and +raised her eyebrows and stared hopelessly at the corner of the ceiling. +It was a trying moment, but Pixie entered gallantly into the breach, and +succeeded in diverting attention into another channel. + +"It was just to shame us beside you, because we couldn't find it in the +light. The sugar-basin would have done just as well. My family had +gone on spending money when there was none to spend, until now at last +it's all gone, and Jack says we must begin to be careful. Bridgie +thought maybe if you would give her a hint it would be useful, as she +has no one to teach her." + +"I never earned a sovereign in my life, but I should be afraid to say +how many I have saved!" said Miss Munns complacently. "There is nothing +wasted in my house, my dear, and I should be only too thankful to tell +your sister the way your servants behave when her back is turned. The +light is flaring in their bedroom until after eleven at night, and I've +seen them myself running after the grocer's lad to give him extra +orders. Does your sister allowance them in butter and sugar? Depend +upon it, if she doesn't, they eat twice as much as they should. + +"If she brings her books over to me, I will tell her exactly what +quantities she ought to order. It's hard on a young man like your +brother to have to provide for such a long family. I suppose you will +be doing something for yourself in a couple of years when you are old +enough to go about alone. You will be able to turn your education to +account, and give lessons in the French language. You look more French +than English, as it is, and have just their way of twisting yourself +about as you talk." + +"Aunt Margaret!" cried Sylvia reproachfully, but Pixie's eyes brightened +as at a sudden suggestion, and she cried eagerly-- + +"Do I? Do I really? Oh, I'm so glad! If you saw me in the street, +would you think I was a Parisian? Oh, thank you so much for saying so!" + +"Humph! You're easily pleased. I should not take it as a compliment if +anyone said that to me. I'm an Englishwoman, and a good subject of +Queen Victoria, and I'm thankful to say I look it. No one would mistake +me for a French madam!" + +"No, they wouldn't. You are a different shape," said Pixie truthfully, +whereupon Miss Munns sent a sharp inquiry over the edge of her +spectacles, but the glance which met hers was so guileless that no +suspicions could live in its presence. So she said, "Humph!" once more, +and that ended the discussion. + +Pixie renewed her study of the newspapers with fresh interest after this +conversation, and made marks against quite a number of advertisements, +which, however, she took no active steps to answer, pending the verdict +from the photographic company. It came at last, and proved to be a +judicious mingling of praise and blame. + +The painting of the photograph, said the critic, displayed great taste +and artistic promise, though unfortunately the execution did not quite +come up to the high standard of excellence required by the firm. No +doubt this deficiency was largely caused by a lack of proper materials, +and he would strongly recommend further expenditure of five shillings, +for a complete artist's outfit, given which, and a little more practice, +he had no doubt whatever of being able to send a constant supply of +work, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. + +Sylvia was shown this missive in due course, and tossed it from her with +impatient hand. + +"You must not send it, Pixie! You must not dream of sending it. Don't +you see, dear, they only want to get money from you instead of giving it +themselves? You have already sent three shillings, and now they want +five more, and probably next time there would be another excuse for +getting some more. You can't afford to throw away money like that, +especially without Bridgie's knowledge or consent. Give it up, dear, +and have no more to do with them." + +"I will!" said Pixie sadly; "but you mustn't blame them, poor creatures, +for it's my own fault. It's the truth that I was short of paints, for +the ones they sent were so dry I could hardly get them to mark, and the +colours wouldn't seem to come right. It's very kind of them to promise +me work, but I must give it up, for I can't do better without taking +lessons, and where would be the profit in that? I took hours, and +hours, and hours painting that lady, and ye saw yourself she looked more +like a beetroot than a human creature. Don't you say a word to Bridgie, +and I'll promise you faithfully I won't send another penny. I've a new +idea in my head, which maybe will turn out best of all." + +She refused to say anything more explicit on the subject, but hinted +that definite information might be forthcoming on the following evening, +and Sylvia wondered what new web for the unwary had caught this most +innocent little fly in its meshes. She concluded that Pixie must be +expecting another prospectus, but next day the two sisters came across +the road for a few minutes' chat _en route_ for a shopping expedition, +and all the time that the elder was speaking, the younger stood in the +background, rolling her eyes and mouthing unintelligible messages, +evidently intended to convey the information that some great issue was +at stake. + +"Don't you envy me, me dear? I am going to buy new clothes!" announced +Bridgie, beaming. "Esmeralda gave me a five-pound note before she left, +and, `For pity's sake,' she said, `buy yourself a decent gown! You're a +disgrace to be walking about the streets, and with Pixie so smart as she +is, too. Now's your chance to get something cheap at the sales!' and +with that you should have heard her groan to think she'd lost all the +pleasure of hunting for bargains through marrying a rich man! I want a +dress, and a jacket, and a hat, and a blouse or two for the house, and +gloves, and--" + +"Don't you wish you may get them!" cried Sylvia mockingly. She watched +the two girls walk down the road, and noted that Pixie was arrayed in +her very best clothes to do honour to the mysterious errand, whatever it +might be. Her felt hat was tilted at an extraordinary angle; the smart +little jacket looked quite different from the ordinary bulky winter +garments which one was accustomed to see; her boots were of patent +leather, and her muff was decorated with a huge rosette, and ends of +ribbon. + +Miss Munns might have truthfully declared that she looked French this +morning, and there was a suggestion of a strut in her walk which seemed +to speak of personal satisfaction in her appearance. Bridgie did indeed +look shabby beside her, but then no clothes, however poor, could ever +make the sweet thing look anything but a lady, and she too held up her +head in triumphant fashion, for was she not going shopping with five +bright golden sovereigns in her purse? + +When Oxford Street was reached, the novices eagerly examined the windows +of a famous drapery establishment, in which the most thrilling bargains +were displayed to decoy the passers-by, and on the happy Irish principle +of placing the pleasantest duty first on the list, elbowed their way +upstairs to the millinery department. The room was blocked with a +throng of excited females all engaged in lifting hats from their pegs +and trying them on before the various mirrors. Sometimes two of the +number would set their affections on the same treasure, and then the one +who had been unsuccessful in obtaining possession would stand gloomily +by ready to pounce upon it the moment her adversary laid it down. Two +or three assistants stood at bay trying to answer a dozen questioners at +once, and experienced bargain-hunters were turning over the contents of +the drawers with one hand, and grasping four or five bonnets in the +other. + +For a few moments the new-comers were too much bewildered to know what +to do first, but the spirit of plunder soon laid hold of them in their +turn, and they began to pounce upon the most fascinating of the spoils +and to try them on in breathless excitement. + +Bridgie looked charming in all, her small head and cloud-like hair +making her an easy person to suit, but, alas! the prices still seemed +ruinous to her innocent mind, and she sadly turned her attention to the +more simple of the models. These were by no means so becoming as their +predecessors, and Pixie's criticisms were as usual strictly truthful as +she regarded them. + +"Ye look a fright. Ye look old enough to be your own mother. It takes +all the colour out of your face. You look quite yellow!" + +Bridgie tore the hat from her head, and seized upon a modest brown toque +which lay close at hand. + +"Is that better, then? Is that dowdy enough to suit you?" + +"It's hidjus!" cried Pixie with emphasis. "It's uglier than the other. +I wouldn't have it given to me as a present. You look an object from +the side!" + +"But it's useful--it is useful!" sighed Bridgie dejectedly. Buying hats +was not so exciting as she had imagined if she were obliged to abjure +the pretty ones, and buy the useful in which she appeared to such +painful disadvantage. "And I expect it is cheap, Pixie. Very cheap! I +have, to think of that, remember!" + +She tilted the hand-glass to the side to study the effect which had been +condemned, and as she did so, a sepulchral voice said grimly in her ear, +"When you have quite finished with my hat!" and she turned to behold a +severe-looking, elderly lady staring fixedly at her headgear, and +holding out her hand to claim it as her own. Poor Bridgie! her cheeks +flamed for the next hour. She was so hot, and breathless, and agitated +that she would have rushed straightway from the department, but Pixie +stood her ground and remained serenely unperturbed. + +"'Twas true!" she cried. "'Twas only the truth she heard. _'Twas_ +hidjus, and no words of yours would make it pretty. And as for cheap, +she ought to take that for a compliment, seeing the pains she's taking +to get another like it! Somebody must be trying on your own hat, I'm +thinking. It was lying over the rail of that chair where the fat lady +is resting. You'd better be asking her what she's done with it." + +Bridgie walked forward and put an anxious Inquiry, whereupon the fat +lady leapt up in alarm, and there against the back of the chair lay a +poor flattened object, with battered crown and crestfallen bows--all +that was left of Bridgie's very best hat! She was horrified at the +sight, but the fat lady was more horrified still, and so lavish in her +apologies that it was impossible to cherish anger against her. She +insisted upon herself smoothing out the ribbons and moulding the crown +into something like the original shape, and in doing so bestowed the +information that there was another millinery department downstairs, +where there might possibly be less crowd and more chance of attention. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +"A FRENCH LADY." + +The sisters agreed to adjourn forthwith, but just at the moment of +departing a hat was discovered which was in every way what was required, +so they proceeded straight to the remnant counter where a mountain of +material was being tossed about hither and thither by a crowd of +purchasers three rows deep. + +"First catch your hare, then cook it," so runs the old proverb, and in +this case the adventure was by no means concluded when the selection was +made. It was necessary to pay for what you had bought, and that +necessitated a wait of a long half-hour before anyone could be induced +to receive the money. The glove department was, if possible, still more +crowded, and it was a relief to see through a doorway a vista of a great +hall filled with cases of beautiful ready-made dresses, where, despite +the presence of a goodly number of customers, there was still enough +room to move about, without pushing a way with your elbows. + +"Let us come in here and breathe again!" cried Bridgie. "I don't think +I was ever so tired during my life, but I'm enjoying myself terribly. +It's so exciting, isn't it, Pixie?--and those blouse lengths are quite +elegant. They will take a lot of making, though. Wouldn't it be nice +if I could buy a dress all ready, and be spared the work?" + +"It would!" agreed Pixie. "Tell one of the ladies what you're wanting, +and maybe she'll have the very thing. Here is one coming this way. +Speak to her." + +Bridgie cleared her throat nervously as she made her request, for the +show-woman was a most impressive figure, tall, incredibly slight, with +elaborately arranged hair, satin skirts sweeping the ground, and a +manner that was quite painfully superior. She swept a scrutinising +glance over the sisters as she listened to the request for a simple +house dress, volunteered the information that, "Our cheapest costumes +are in this stand!" in a blighting tone, and began pulling out the +skirts and exhibiting them in professional manner. + +"That is a very nice little dress, madam, very neatly made--quite in the +latest style! Too light? We are selling a great many light shades this +season.--Do you care for this colour? This is a very well-cut gown. +Too dark? I am afraid I have not many medium shades.--Here is a pretty +gown, very much reduced. Quite a simple little gown, but it looks very +well on. This embroidery is all hand-done. The bodice is prettily +made." + +Bridgie privately thought the simple little gown a most elaborate +creation, but her hopes went up as she heard that "very cheap," and she +asked the price with trembling hope, whereupon the show-woman referred +to the little ticket sewn on the belt, and said airily,--"Eight and a +half guineas, madam. Reduced from twelve. It really is quite a +bargain." + +"Ye might as well say a thousand pounds!" said Bridgie hopelessly, +relapsing into a deep, musical brogue in the emotion of the moment, and, +wonder of wonders, the bored superiority of the great lady's manner gave +place to a smile of sympathetic amusement. + +She was accustomed to customers who asked the prices of a dozen dresses +in succession, and then floated away declaring that they would "think it +over," never, as she knew well, to return again; but not one in a +thousand was honest enough to make a confession of poverty! She lived +in an atmosphere of vanity and affectation, and put on her haughty +manners every morning with her black satin dress; but at night she was +only a poor, tired, working woman, going home to a dingy lodging, and +dividing her earnings with an invalid mother and a family of struggling +brothers and sisters. Her heart went out to this other girl who was so +evidently a lady despite her poverty, and when Bridgie mentioned a +ludicrously small sum as the limit to which she was prepared to go, she +showed neither surprise nor the thinly-veiled contempt which is usual +under the circumstances, but volunteered some really useful information +in its place. + +"You will not be able to buy any ready-made costume for that price, +madam, but there will be a special sale of dress materials on Tuesday +next. If you could be here quite early in the morning, and go straight +to the counter under the clock, you would find some wonderful bargains. +I should advise you to leave it until then, but perhaps there is some +other department to which I could direct you." + +"Thank you, I'm dreadfully tired. Could we go somewhere, and have a cup +of tea?" + +The way was pointed out, and the sisters mounted the stairs once more, +took possession of a little table in a corner, and leant back wearily in +their chairs. The room was crowded like the others, but it was +comparatively quiet, for the ladies were resting after the fray, +stifling surreptitious yawns, and sipping tea with languid enjoyment. + +It was a long time before Bridgie could find anyone to attend to her +wants, and meantime the temptation of the parcels lying before her was +too great to be resisted. "I really must look at those gloves and the +lace ties that are wrapped up with them! I never had so many new pairs +in my life, but they were so cheap that I hadn't the heart to leave +them. 'Twill be a refreshment to gloat over them until the tea comes!" +She untied the string and complacently folded back the paper, but, alas! +what was then revealed was the reverse of refreshing, for, in some +mysterious manner, the gloves and laces had disappeared, and in their +place lay a fragment of dull, prosaic flannel, at which the poor +bargain-hunter stared with dilated eyes. + +"F-flannel!" she gasped. "Flannel! It was gloves when it was made up. +What's the matter with it--is it witchcraft?" + +"I'd call it stupidity, if you asked my opinion," said Pixie calmly. +"You've stolen a poor creature's parcel, and perhaps she wanted to make +a poultice with it. It will be awful for her when she goes home, and +her husband groaning in agony, and nothing to relieve him but two lace +ties! I pity her when she finds it out." + +"She has stolen my gloves. I'm not sorry for her at all, and if she is +an honest woman she will bring them back at once and hand them in to the +office. I shall take the wretched flannel there the moment we go +downstairs, but I've a conviction that I'll never see my parcel again. +I suppose they got changed at one of those crowded counters. I don't +think I care for sales very much, Pixie; they are too expensive. We +will go straight home after we have had tea." + +"We will so, and make haste about it. I wanted specially to be back by +four o'clock." + +To Bridgie's surprise, however, ten minutes before the omnibus reached +the corner at which they were wont to alight, Pixie beckoned to the +conductor to stop, and announced her intention of walking the rest of +the way. There was no time to discuss the point, and as she herself was +too tired to walk a step farther than she was obliged, she sat still and +watched the little figure affectionately until the omnibus rounded a +corner and it was hidden from sight. + +She would have been astonished if she had seen the sudden energy with +which Pixie immediately turned right about face and walked away in the +opposite direction, taking a crumpled square of newspaper from her +pocket, and reading over a certain advertisement with eager attention. + +"`Wanted a French lady.'--I'm not whole French, but I'm half. Haven't I +been in their country nearly two years? `To amuse two children.'--I'd +amuse a dozen, and never know I was doing it! `And perfect them in the +language for a couple of hours every morning.' Look at that, now, it's +better than the jetted lace! Two hours wouldn't interfere with me one +bit, for I've all the day to do nothing. `Apply personally between four +and six at Seven, Fitzjames Crescent.' Only ten minutes' walk from me +own door, as if it had been made on purpose to suit me! And quite a +good-looking house it is, with real silk curtains in the windows." + +She tripped undauntedly up the steps and pressed the electric bell, and, +all unseen to her eyes, the little god of fate peered at her from behind +the fat white pillars of the portico, and clapped his little hands in +triumph. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +PIXIE SCORES A SUCCESS. + +A butler came to the door, a solemn-looking butler, with a white tie and +immaculate black clothes, but he seemed rather stupid for his age, for +he asked twice over before he could grasp the fact that Pixie had called +in answer to the advertisement, and then stared fixedly at her all the +time he was escorting her to the room where the other lady applicants +were waiting their turns. + +Pixie gasped as she looked round and saw ladies, ladies everywhere, on +the row of leather chairs ranged along by the wall, on the sofa, on the +two easy-lounges by the fireside,--old ladies, young ladies, middle-aged +ladies, elderly ladies, shabby and dressy, fat and thin, but all +distinctly past their first youth, and all most obviously French. They +gaped at the new-comer, even as the butler had done, and she bowed +graciously from side to side, and said, "Bon jour, mesdames!" in her +most Parisian manner, then squeezed herself into a little corner by the +window and listened entranced to the never-ending stream of +conversation. + +A room full of Englishwomen would under the circumstances have preserved +a depressed and solemn silence, but these good ladies chattered like +magpies, with such shruggings of shoulders, such waving of hands, such +shrillness of emphasis, that Pixie felt as if she were once more +domiciled in the Avenue Gustave. + +The lady in the plaid dress, who occupied the next chair, asked her with +frank curiosity to recount then how she found herself in such a +position, and, being assured that she was indeed applying for the +situation, prophesied that it would never march! She turned and +whispered loudly to her companion, "Behold her, the poor pigeon! One +sees well that she has the white heart!" But the companion was less +amiable, and enraged herself because there were already applicants +enough, and with each new-comer her own chance of success became less +assured. + +At intervals of five or ten minutes the butler returned and marshalled +the next in order to the presence of the lady of the house, but, short +as were the interviews, it was a weary wait before it came to Pixie's +turn, and she wondered fearfully whether Bridgie had taken fright at her +absence, and was even now searching the streets in a panic of alarm. +The hands of the clock pointed to ten minutes to six before the butler +gave the longed-for signal, and she smiled at him in her most friendly +manner as she crossed the room towards him. Without any exchange of +words she divined that he took more interest in herself than in any of +the other applicants, and also that for some mysterious reason he was +sorry for her, and imagined that she was making a mistake, and the smile +was meant at once as thanks and reassurement. + +They walked together down the slippery floor, such a slippery, shiny +floor, that one felt as if skates would be almost more in keeping than +boots, and finally arrived at a cosy little room at the back of the +house, where a tired-looking gentleman and a bored-looking lady stood +ready to receive her. They looked at each other, they looked at the +butler, they looked again at the little pig-tailed figure, with short +skirts and beaming, childlike face, and their faces became blank with +astonishment. + +"Bon jour, mademoiselle!" began the lady uncertainly. + +"Good day to ye!" said Pixie in response, and at that the bewilderment +became more marked than ever. The lady sat down and drew a long, weary +sigh. She was handsome and young, but very, very thin, and looked as if +she had hardly enough energy to go through any more interviews. + +"Then--then you are not French after all?" + +"I forgot!" sighed Pixie sadly. She sat down and hitched her chair +nearer the fire in sociable fashion. "It's just like me to make up me +mind, and then forget at the right moment! I intended to let you hear +me speak French, before I broke it to you that I'm Irish and all my +people before me." + +"I almost think I should have discovered it for myself!" said the lady, +looking as if she were not quite sure whether to be amused or irritated. +"But if that is so, what is your business here? I advertised for a +French lady." + +"You did. I read the advertisement, but if I'm not French I'm just as +good, for I've just last month returned from Paris, and the lady where I +was staying was most particular about my accent. Over in Ireland I was +so quick in picking up the brogue that I had to be sent to England to +get rid of it, and I was just as handy with another language. If I'd +remembered to answer you in French, you would never have known the +difference between me and those old ladies who came in first." + +"Old ladies, indeed! I'll never advertise again if this is what it +means!" sighed the lady _sotto voce_. She looked across the room, met a +gleam of amusement in her husband's eyes, and said in a tolerant voice, +"Well, then, let me hear you now! I am a pretty good French scholar +myself, so you won't find me easy to deceive!" + +"Perfectly, madam, perfectly!" cried Pixie, gesticulating assent. She +found none of the difficulty in settling what to talk about which +handicaps most people under similar circumstances, but poured forth a +stream of commonplaces in such fluent, rapid French as showed that she +had good reason for boasting of proficiency. When she finished, the +lady looked at her husband with a triumphant air, and cried-- + +"There! It shows how important it is for children to learn a language +while they are still young. It can never be mastered so well if it is +left until they are grown-up." + +Then turning to Pixie-- + +"Yes, indeed, you speak French charmingly. I congratulate you, and hope +you may find it very useful. You are so young that you cannot have +finished your own education. Perhaps you are going to school in +England?" + +"'Deed I am not. I want to teach instead. My brother is a very grand +gentleman, but he's in difficulties. He has a fine estate in Ireland, +but it is let, and he's over in London trying to make enough money to +get back again, and that's none too easy, as you may know yourself, and +if I can earn some money it will keep me from being a burden on me +friends. I've answered quite a lot of advertisements, but there was +nothing really to suit me until I saw your own yesterday morning." + +"I see! May I ask if your mother knows what you are doing--if you are +here with her consent?" + +Pixie sighed at that, and shook her head in melancholy fashion. + +"I've no mother. She died when I was young, and the Major's horse threw +him two years ago, and I've been an orphan ever since. There's only +Bridgie now!" + +"Poor child!" The lady looked at the quaint figure with a kindly +glance, thinking of the two little girls upstairs, and picturing them +starting out to fight the world when they should still have been safe +within the shelter of the schoolroom. "I'm sorry to hear that. +Bridgie, I suppose, is your sister? Does she know what you are doing? +Would she be willing for you to apply for a situation in this manner?" + +"Maybe not at first, but I'd beguile her. I'm the youngest, and I +always get my own way. I told Sylvia Trevor, who was staying with us, +and she was very kind, giving me good advice not to do it, but it is to +be a surprise for Bridgie to help her to pay the bills. If ye want +money, what else can you do than try to earn it?" + +"But not at your age, dear! You are too young yet awhile!" Mrs +Wallace crossed the room and seating herself in a chair by Pixie's side, +laid a hand on her shoulder with quite affectionate pressure. "I +appreciate your kindly intention, but I am afraid it will be a good many +years before you are ready to take a governess's place. You saw +yourself what a difference there was between yourself and the other +ladies who came to see me to-day!" + +"I'm more amusing! Ye wouldn't believe how amusing I can be when I try! +At school there was a prize which was given to the girl who was nicest +to the other girls, and they all voted for me, and I've got it now and +could bring it to show you if you liked. I'm not exactly clever, and +there was no chance for anyone else at the bottom of the class, but you +didn't say a word about teaching, except French, and I could talk that +all day long!" + +"Yes! I should be quite satisfied if my girlies spoke as well as you +do. Your accent is charming, and you have just the air, but--but you +are so young--so ridiculously young!" + +"So are the children. They'd like me best!" maintained Pixie sturdily, +and at that Mr Wallace burst into a laugh. His eyes had been twinkling +for some time past, and he had been stroking his moustache as if to +conceal his amusement, but now he made no more disguise, but laughed and +laughed again, as if he were thoroughly enjoying himself. + +"Upon my word, Edith, I believe she is right! If you consider the +children's feelings, there is no doubt how they would decide. If you +want them kept happy and bright, now's your chance! After our earlier +experiences this is really quite refreshing, and I am beginning to think +your advertisement has been of some use after all. How would it be if +you interviewed Miss Bridgie--I didn't catch the second name--and if she +is agreeable, you might perhaps make some temporary arrangement!" + +"O'Shaughnessy. It's Irish! I'm sure Bridgie would say yes, for it +would be occupation for me in the mornings, and so near that I could +come by myself. We live in Rutland Road, but the house is so small ye +would hardly notice it if you passed by. Jack says if he could get +London rents in Ireland, he'd never do another honest day's work while +he lived. You could put the whole place down in the hall at Knock +Castle, and never know it was there, and Bridgie says she knows every +blade of grass in the garden. We had the loveliest grounds at Knock, +all the flowers coming up anyway, and volunteers drilling in the park, +and the glass-houses full of ferrets and white mice, and tomatoes, and +everything you can think of. If I could make some money we should be +able to go back sooner than we thought, and Bridgie would be so pleased. +When shall I say you are coming to see her?" + +"I have not promised to come at all. You must not leap at conclusions. +It is a most ridiculous scheme, but really--" + +Mrs Wallace laughed in her turn, and going up to where her husband +stood, exchanged a few whispered confidences, some scattered words of +which reached the listener's ear. "Typically Irish! Preposterous! No +harm trying. What about Viva? So difficult to manage." + +The discussion was still progressing when from above sounded a sudden +piercing cry, mounting ever higher and higher, the note sustained in +evident but determined effort. Footsteps raced across the floor, +followed by a bang as of some heavy wooden structure, a murmured +protest, and two distinct sets of shrieks, each warring against the +other. + +Mr Wallace pressed his hands to his head, Mrs Wallace sighed, "Oh +dear, dear, dear!" in tones of hopeless distress, but Pixie cried +eagerly-- + +"Will I run upstairs and try what I can do? Will I make them stop, and +laugh instead?" + +"You'd deserve the Victoria Cross!" the father declared, while the +mother hurried to the door, and led the way with rapid footsteps. + +"They have been brought up by an Indian ayah, and this English nurse +doesn't understand them a bit. They _have_ trying tempers, there is no +use denying it, but they are dear little creatures _if_ rightly managed. +Oh dear, dear, dear! these dreadful shrieks! They go through my head." + +"Let me go in alone. They will listen better if they don't see you," +said Pixie, and walked undauntedly on to the field of battle. In this +instance it was represented by a remarkably handsome and well-filled +nursery, and the belligerents took the form of two little girls of four +and five, who were seated on the floor, dry-eyed, but crimson-faced from +the effort to sustain their shrieks. A box of bricks lay scattered by +the window, and an anaemic nurse leant against the wall in an attitude +of despair. + +Pixie walked forward, seated herself on the floor immediately in front +of the children, and gazed at them with benign curiosity. There was no +anger in her face, no warning of punishment to come, her expression was +in such striking contrast with that which they were accustomed to behold +on such occasions, that from pure amazement they stopped crying to stare +at her in their turn. The moment was hers, and she lost no time in +using it. + +"The fat one," she said, pointing gravely to the younger of the sisters, +"the fat one shouts higher, but the thin one,"--the eloquent finger was +turned towards the maid with the golden locks,--"the thin one keeps on +longer. You have both won! The prize is that I tell you a story about +the Spoopjacks, when they went to fight the Bobityshooties in the +Christmas holidays!" + +Silence. Viva laid her head on one side and considered the project. +Inda pouted her lower lip, and burst into the story of her woes. + +"An' I was jest finishin' ze house, and ze chimbleys was getting ready, +and she comed against me, an' I pinched her leg, and she throwed it +down, an' it was all spoiled, an' the dolls was going to live in it, +an'--" + +"The Spoopjacks live in the lamp-posts. There are seven of them, and +they have tin whiskers, and they went to war with the Bobityshooties +because they ate all the muffins, and there were none left for tea. So +Nicholas Spoopjack bought six rolling-pins and a watering-cart, and +melted down his whiskers for guns, and they put on red gaiters and clean +pinafores, and marched across the park. The Bobityshooties were resting +under the trees, and all the little birds were eating up the muffin +crumbs. The Bobityshooties really live in the pantry cupboard, so that +was how they found the muffins, but they were spending the day in the +country, and Selina Bobityshooty said to her mother--" + +"Is that in a book?" queried the elder Miss Wallace suddenly. She was +an exceedingly precocious young lady, and quick to note the unusual +style of the narrative. Sometimes the stories in books were about good +little girls with whom she had no sympathy, and even if the heroine were +naughty to begin with, she invariably improved at the end, and never, +never knocked down her sister's bricks. The Spoopjacks and +Bobityshooties were new acquaintances and promised well, but she wished +to be reassured as regards the moral. "Is that written in a book?" + +"No, it's out of my head. There are billions and billions of little +girls in the world, and not one of them has ever heard what Selina said +to her mother. If you will kiss your sister and say you're sorry, I'll +tell you as a secret. It's awful exciting!" + +"All right, I'm sorry, only you pinched me too--go on about Selina!" +cried Viva in a breath. She kissed her sister on the cheek, and fat +little Inda smiled complacently, and repeated, "Go on 'bout S'lina!" + +Outside in the passage father and mother looked at each other with +sparkling eyes. + +"My dear, she is worth a fortune to us!" cried Mr Wallace rapturously. +"She understands children, and they understand her; the girlies will be +as good as gold under her care. I'll tell Spencer to bring round the +carriage and send her home in state, and to-morrow afternoon without +fail you must strike a bargain with Mistress Bridgie!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +VIVA'S STORY. + +Pixie drove home in state, so puffed up with her own importance that it +was a distinct blow to find the curtains comfortably drawn, and hear the +echo of laughter from the drawing-room. In all the books which she had +ever read, candles were left burning in the windows to guide the +footsteps of wanderers from the fold, to say nothing of bellmen parading +the streets, and anxious relatives rushing from one police station to +another. Here, however, all was peace and contentment, and, incredible +as it appeared, no one seemed to have been the least agitated about her +prolonged absence. + +Bridgie was perched on a stool in the centre of the fire rug, relating +the history of the day's shopping to the three brothers, and she nodded +cheerily at the little sister as she entered, and saluted her with +unconcerned composure. + +"Well, dear, here you are! Tired after your long day?" + +Pixie sank down on the corner of the sofa, and yawned with a nonchalant +air. If there was one thing which she loved above everything else in +the world, it was to make an impression and be the centre of attraction, +and it was not likely that she was going to let slip such an opportunity +as the present. + +"'Deed I'm not tired," she said genially. "Carriage exercise was always +more to my fancy than walking about the streets. If we'd been meant to +walk, wouldn't we have had four legs the same as the horses, and if we +haven't, doesn't it show that they were meant to do it for us? So when +he said the butler should get me the carriage, it wasn't likely I was +going to refuse, and up I drove to the very door!" + +Jack stopped short in the middle of crossing the room, Pat peered round +the corner of his chair and twinkled with mischievous enjoyment, +Bridgie's eyes opened as wide as saucers. + +"Which door? What carriage? What romance are ye telling me? Haven't +you been with Sylvia since I left you?" + +"'Deed I have not. What made you fancy I had?" + +"There was nowhere else to go, and you had not come home. I made +certain you were with Sylvia!" + +"It's a bad thing to be certain about what you don't know. If any +mischief had happened to me, it would be annoying to you to remember how +you were laughing with your back to the fire, while I was run over in +the street, and having my legs sawed off at the hospital." + +Jack frowned at that, and put a quick question. + +"Have you been walking about by yourself? I won't have it at this hour +of the night. You can find your own way about the neighbourhood in the +daytime, but I won't have you going into town by yourself, or even +across the road in the dark. London is not Knock, remember, and it +would be the easiest thing in the world to get lost. Don't let her roam +about without you, Bridgie!" + +"'Twas only a step, and barely four o'clock!" Bridgie's forehead was +fretted with anxious lines, but Pixie nodded back cheery reassurement. + +"Don't you repine about me, for I got on famously, and Mrs Wallace is +coming herself to see you in the afternoon. I've engaged myself as a +French lady to amuse the children, and you shall have the money to pay +the bills. It was an advertisement in the paper, and you had to call +between four and six, so I didn't want you to know before everything was +settled. I don't know how much it will be, but Mr Wallace said I was +worth a fortune, because I made them stop howling. There are only two, +but outside the door you would think they were a dozen, and I made them +laugh, and they sent me home in a carriage." + +"What _is_ she talking about?" Bridgie and Jack exchanged bewildered +glances, and stared in incredulous silence at the little figure on the +sofa. She had pulled off her hat, and with it the bow of ribbon, and +the loosened hair hung down her back; her hands were crossed on her lap, +there were dark shadows under her eyes. She looked so small and frail +and childlike that Bridgie felt a lump rising in her throat at the +thought of help coming from this strange and most unexpected quarter. +She rose, and, going over to the sofa, took Pixie's hand between her +own. + +"Is it the truth that you are telling us?" + +"It is, then! The solemn truth! Every word of it." + +"What made you think there was any need for you to disturb yourself? +What put it in your head to answer an advertisement at all?" + +"Because I didn't want to be a burden to ye, my dear, after all the +money you've spent on me education!" + +"A little midget like you to speak of being a burden! No one would +guess you were there if you weren't so upsetting! It's no use fifty +Mrs Wallaces coming to see me. Some other French lady will have to +amuse her children. This one is wanted at home!" + +Pixie smiled composedly, and squeezed the clinging hands. + +"I knew you'd say `No' at the start. So did she. She was first cross, +and then she laughed, and said it would be a long, long time before I +was ready to teach. But she didn't really want teaching, only someone +to be funny in French, and when she heard me telling tales, and the +little girls both laughing, she began to think she would love to have +me. You remember the stories you used to tell me, Jack, about the +Spoopjacks and the Bobityshooties? I made up a new bit, and they simply +loved it. It's two hours every morning, and only ten minutes' walk, and +Therese says it's no use beginning to be proud till you've paid your +bills. You would like me to help you, wouldn't you, Jack?" + +"Shades of Mrs Hilliard!" muttered Jack, and shrugged his shoulders +recklessly. "She will have a few volumes to write to me if I say `Yes!' +You are bound to help me, Piccaninny, whatever you are about, but I +can't bind myself to allow you to go out governessing before you are out +of short frocks. It is Saturday to-morrow, so I shall be home in the +afternoon, and see this Mrs Wallace for myself. It's a bad scheme on +the face of it, but it's just possible it may be more feasible than it +sounds." + +That was all the length which he would go for the moment, and Pixie was +content to drop the subject, secure in her conviction that time and Mrs +Wallace would win the victory. She was petted and fussed over to her +heart's content for the rest of the evening, and the story of her +various efforts to retrieve the family fortunes was heard with +breathless attention. She wondered why the listening faces wore such +tender, pitiful expressions, why lazy Pat flushed, and Bridgie went over +to her desk and spent a whole half-hour sorting out her bills. It never +occurred to her that her earnest effort to take her own share of +responsibility was a more eloquent stimulus than twenty lectures! + +Next afternoon at three o'clock the two sisters and Sylvia Trevor +stationed themselves in positions of vantage behind the curtains, and +looked out eagerly for the advent of Mrs Wallace. Bridgie could not +divest herself of a suspicion that the promise might have been given as +the easiest way out of a difficulty, but before the half-hour struck a +well-appointed carriage turned the corner of the road, the coachman +glanced at the number on the door, and drew up his horses, when a fluffy +head peered out of the window, and Pixie cried excitedly-- + +"That's the thin one! That's Viva! I expect she howled, and they could +not keep her away. That's Mrs Wallace! Isn't it an elegant hat?" + +Bridgie peeped and grew quite pink with excitement, for, truth to tell, +mother and daughter made a charming picture as they came up the little +path. Mrs Wallace looked almost like a girl herself in her becoming +hat and veil, while the golden-haired child wore a white coat and cap +edged with fluffy swan's-down. Sylvia retreated to the dining-room. + +Pixie ran to meet the visitors at the door, and the voice that +exclaimed, "Bon jour, Mamzelle Paddy!" was in itself an augury of +friendship. The next moment they were in the drawing-room, and Mrs +Wallace was smilingly explaining the title. + +"I am sure you must have been very much surprised to hear of yesterday's +interview, Miss O'Shaughnessy! `mamzelle Paddy,' as my husband has named +your small sister, has made quite a conquest of my little girls, and +Viva refused to be left behind when she heard where I was going. I hope +you were not very anxious about her absence yesterday?" + +"Indeed I was not, for I took it for granted she was with some friends +near by. Please sit down, and get warm. 'Twas a ridiculous idea of the +child's to suppose for one moment that she could fulfil your +requirements; but she's the baby of the family, and has never been +thwarted, and such a kind little creature that she must try to help if +there is any difficulty. It is good of you to take the trouble to come +and explain, but indeed we have decided already that it is quite, quite +impossible!" + +Mrs Wallace gave a start of consternation, and the smile faded from her +lips. She looked first at Bridgie, then across the room to where Viva +stood on tiptoe dragging at Pixie's sleeve, and reiterating, "Mamzelle! +Mamzelle Paddy, will you come again to my nursery? Will you tell me +more stories about those peoples in the lamp-posts?" + +"Oh, don't say it is impossible!" she said softly. "I want her to help +me too, and I am so troubled about my children. Could she--could they +both go into another room for a few minutes, while we talk it over +together?" + +"Certainly they could!" Bridgie raised her voice a tone higher. "Pixie +dear, go to Sylvia in the dining-room and take the little girl with you. +Show her some of your treasures!" + +"I like cake!" remarked Viva pointedly. She skipped to the door, and +stared round the hall with curious eyes. "You do live in a poky little +house, don't you? My mamma's house is much bigger than your house. +Where does the dining-room live? Is there a cupboard in it that you +keep cake in? Is Sylvia your 'nother sister? Who is the man?" + +The man was none other than handsome Jack himself, who was enjoying the +rare luxury of a _tete-a-tete_ with Sylvia Trevor, and was not too well +pleased by this speedy interruption. He frowned when he heard the +opening of the door, but when he turned round and saw the vision of pink +and white and gold, he smiled in spite of himself, as most people did +smile at the sight of Viva Wallace, and held out his hand invitingly. + +"Hallo, whom have we here?" + +"Quite well, thank you. How are you?" replied Viva fluently. She paid +no attention to Sylvia at the other side of the fireplace, but leant +confidingly against Jack's chair, staring at him with rapt attention. +His eyes looked as if they liked you very, very much; his moustache had +sharp little ends which stood out stiff and straight, there was a lump +in his throat which moved up and down as he spoke--altogether he was a +most fascinating person, and quite deserving of attention. "Are you the +papa?" she asked enviously. "My papa has got a brown face with lines in +it. He is very old. My muzzer is old too. She is talking to the lady +in the 'nother room, and she said I was to be amused. You are to amuse +me!" + +"No, no, quite a mistake. You must amuse me!" said Jack solemnly. "I +have been out all day, and am tired and sleepy, so you must do something +to cheer me up. What can you suggest, now, that would be really lively +and entertaining?" + +Viva reflected deeply. + +"I'm learning the `Pied Piper of Hamelin'!" + +"You don't say so!" + +"Yes, I am. I'll say it to you now, from the beginning right to the +very miggle!" + +"Thanks awfully. I should be delighted--another time. Not to-day, I +think, if you don't mind. I have rather a sore throat." + +Viva opened her eyes and stared at the Adam's apple which showed above +the white necktie. She was trying to puzzle out the connection between +Mr O'Shaughnessy's throat and the Pied Piper, but the difficulty was +too great. She heaved a sigh, and hazarded another suggestion. + +"You tell _me_ a story!" + +"That would never do. I should be entertaining you, and it ought to be +the other way about." + +"I'll tell you a story!" + +"That's better. Go ahead, then. What is it to be about? Fairies?" + +"No, it's not going to be about fairies,--fairies is silly. Giants are +more sensibler than fairies, because there was a giant once. There was +Golosher!" + +"I beg your pardon?" + +"Golosher!" + +"Don't know the gentleman." + +"Oh, you naughty! And David killed him in the Bible. I'll tell you a +story about giants." + +"I don't think I am interested in giants." + +"Princesses, then, beautiful princesses, and cruel people trying to be +unkind to them, and princes running away and marrying them, and living +happily ever afterwards." + +"That's the style for my money! Fire away, and let us have plenty of +adventure. I'll lean back in this chair and listen to you." + +Viva moistened her lips, swallowed rapidly once or twice, and began her +story in a shrill, high-pitched voice. + +"Once upon a long, long time ago, there was a princess, and she was the +most beautiful princess that was ever born. Everyone said so, and her +face was as white as snow, and her hair as yellow as--" + +"Excuse me--brown!" + +"No, it wasn't brown. Bright, curly, golden, down to her--" + +"Then she couldn't have been the most beautiful princess in the world, +because I've seen the lady and her hair is brown." + +Jack stroked his moustache with a look of lamb-like innocence, and +Sylvia could have shaken herself with annoyance because she could not +help blushing and looking stupid and self-conscious. Pixie's melodious +gurgle sounded from the background, and Viva cried severely-- + +"You couldn't have seen her, because she lived hundreds and hundreds of +years ago, when you were a teeny baby. Golden hair down to her feet, +and her teef were like pearls, and all the godfathers and godmuzzers +came to the christening and gave her nice presinks, only one wicked old +mugian who--" + +"Pardon me! One wicked old--?" + +"Mugian! He's a man what does things. They always have them in +stories--that the mamma had forgotten to ask, so he was angry and said +she should tumble downstairs when she was grown-up and be lame ever +after till a beautiful prince made her better. Oh, but I shouldn't have +told you that jest now. You must pitend that you forget I have told +you. So then the beautiful princess--her true name was Mabel, but only +I call her Norah because her hair was gold--" + +Now it was Jack's turn to gasp and search in vain for the connection +between Norah and golden hair! It proved as impossible to discover as +that between a sore throat and the Piper of Hamelin, but there was +another allusion in the story which was too fortunate to be allowed to +pass unnoticed. + +"The princess was lame, was she? and no one could make her better but +the prince? That's very interesting. Could you tell me, now, how he +managed the cure? It might be useful to me someday." + +"Was your princess a lame princess?" + +"I think you had better go on with your story, Viva!" Jack said +hurriedly. "Your mother may call you away before it is finished, and I +should be disappointed. When did the prince arrive on the scene?" + +"It doesn't get to that yet. So the princess lived in a house where +there were no stairs. Only one day when she was walking through the +wood, there was a little house and she went in, and she said, `Oh, what +funny things!' and she went up them, and she tumbled down, and her foot +was underneaf, so she was lame. An' she lay on the sofa, and the queen- +mamma cried, and the godfathers and the godmuzzers came flying up, only +they could do nothing, and the king said anyone should have the land who +made her better, an' thousands an' thousands tried, an' at last the +prince came riding along on a white horse, an' he looked froo the +window--" + +"Jack dear, will you please come to the drawing-room? We want to +consult you!" Bridgie's head peered round the corner of the door, her +cheeks quite pink, her eyes shining with excitement. She gripped her +brother's arm as he came to meet her, and whispered, "It's the most +extraordinary thing--she really means it! She is charming, Jack, +charming; I can't say `No' to her. Come and try what you can do!" + +But Jack was not a good hand at saying "No," least of all to charming +ladies, and Mrs Wallace took his measure at once, and felt that she had +gained a friend. + +"I am trying to persuade Miss O'Shaughnessy to lend your little sister +to me for a short time every day, to help me with my children," she +said, smiling at him under lifted brows. "I understand that you knew +nothing about her application, and when I first saw her I felt, as you +must have done, that the idea was preposterous, but Viva and Inda fell +desperately in love with her, and have talked of nothing else since she +left. I think I followed their example, and I am quite sure my husband +did. He thinks Mamzelle Paddy would be the solution of all our nursery +troubles, if you could be induced to spare her to us. I would be very +careful of her; I promise you that!" + +Jack looked at Bridgie; Bridgie looked at Jack. + +"I'd be delighted that she should help you, and it would be an amusement +to her to play with the dear little girls. If she might come as a +friend--" + +"Oh, Miss O'Shaughnessy, how cruel of you, when her great idea was to +help you! She would be a most welcome friend, but I could not consent +to using her time without paying for it." + +Mrs Wallace had approached this question before, and had discovered +that Bridgie was no more embarrassed by a reference to her poverty than +had been Mamzelle Paddy herself. "We should think any sum cheap which +ensured our little girls being happy and occupied, instead of crying and +quarrelling, as I am sorry to say they do now for the greater part of +the day. They are too young for regular lessons, but they already know +French fairly well, and would soon be able to speak fluently." + +"I can't judge of Pixie's French, but her English is so Irish that it +was a stroke of genius to offer herself in the character of a +foreigner!" said Jack, stroking his moustache, and smiling to himself in +whimsical fashion. "Of course, she is quite confident that she could do +all you require, but you must not listen to her own account of herself. +If you offered Pixie the command of the Channel Fleet, she'd accept +without a qualm! If you want the kindest-hearted, most mischievous +little ignoramus in the world, Mrs Wallace, it would be waste of time +to search any farther, for you have found her already! She will keep +your children happy, and never say a word that they wouldn't be the +better for hearing, but it won't be the orthodox training! I fancy +Pixie was a big surprise to the English boarding-school when she first +arrived." + +"But she left with the prize for being the most popular and unselfish of +the girls! Your sister has just shown me the books with the touching +inscription. If she can teach my girlies to be as sweet and helpful, I +shall not mind a few eccentricities. Two hours in the morning would not +take her away too much from home, and she would have plenty of time left +for her own music. Her ambition seemed to be to pay for her own +lessons, so if I gave her thirty pounds, she could go to a really good +master without feeling that she was overtaxing you. It would be such a +pleasure to me too, Miss O'Shaughnessy. I feel sure your brother will +agree, if you consent. Please say `Yes'!" + +So it was left to Bridgie to make the final decision, and in after years +she used to wonder what would have happened if she had refused her +consent! It was a difficult problem, for to her old-fashioned notions +it was a trifle _infra dig_ for a girl to work for herself, and it hurt +her tender heart that the Piccaninny of all others should be the one to +go out into the world. + +What would the dear dead mother have said to such a project? What would +the Major have said? What would Esmeralda think now, and, thinking, +say, with all the impassioned eloquence of which she was mistress? +Bridgie reflected earnestly on the questions, while Mrs Wallace watched +her face with anxious eyes. + +The dear mother had never been able to resign herself to the happy-go- +lucky Irish customs, and had died before her time, worn-out with the +strain of trying to make both ends meet. When she looked down from +heaven with those clear angel eyes, would it seem more noble to her that +her baby should preserve a puny social distinction at the cost of a +purposeless life, or that she should use the talents which had been +given to her for her own good and the good of others? + +There could be little doubt how the mother would have decided, and as +for the Major, Bridgie smiled with indulgent tenderness as she pictured, +one after the other, the swift stages of his behaviour if he had been +present to-day. Horror and indignation at the possibility that the +Piccaninny should be in subjection to anyone but himself; irritated +impatience that the O'Shaughnessys should be expected to pay for what +they desired, like any ordinary, commonplace family; chuckling delight +over the smartness of the child; and finally an even greater inability +than his sons to say "No" to a charming woman! Storm he never so +wildly, the Major would undoubtedly have ended by consenting to Mrs +Wallace's plea, while Esmeralda's wrath would be kept within bounds by +Geoffrey's strong common sense. + +Bridgie sighed and looked across the room to where Jack sat. + +"If it is left to me," she said slowly, "if I am to decide, I think I +will say `Yes'! She shall come to you for a month on trial, Mrs +Wallace, and we can see how it works." + +Mrs Wallace beamed with relief and satisfaction. + +"That's very kind!" she said. "I am truly grateful. I realise that +your decision is unselfish, but believe me, you shall never regret it!" + +And Bridgie remembered that prophecy, and smiled over it many times in +the happy years to come. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +JACK'S DISCOVERY. + +Pixie received the intelligence that she was to begin her new duties on +the following Monday with the unruffled composure of one who has +expected no other decision. She asked eagerly what salary she was to +receive, and was a trifle depressed to find that it did not run to three +figures. Thirty pounds sounded very little, though she had only the +vaguest notion of its purchasing value, but her ambition had been to +supply the whole additional sum which was needed for the support of the +household. + +Innocent Bridgie had no idea as to what might be expected under the +circumstances, but Miss Munns, who knew everything, declared that the +offer was a handsome one, and ten pounds in excess of the ordinary rate +of payment. Still, as she sagely remarked, one could never tell! +People sometimes seemed very generous and pleasant-spoken at first, and +then turned out everything that was exacting and unreasonable. Several +young friends of her own had gone out as governesses, and met with +tragic adventures. Marianne Summers, the cousin of Summers' Celebrated +Snowflake Soap, was with a family at Rochester, and nursed a little boy +all through scarlatina, and when she had toothache herself the lady said +it was most inconvenient because a dinner-party was coming. No +consideration whatever, and the food very poor. She was never so much +as asked to have a second helping! + +"Maybe the lady had so many to help that she forgot to ask her. +Couldn't she ask herself? It would have been more friendly than +grumbling behind her back," said Pixie severely. "When I go out to +meals with people I make myself at home. I went to _dejeuner_ with some +friends in Paris, and I was so much at home that when they had cabbage, +I remarked that I wished it had been cauliflower. They smiled, and +looked quite pleasant!" + +Miss Munns looked over her spectacles, and grunted to herself. She +considered Pixie O'Shaughnessy a most uncomfortable girl, and was never +at ease in her society. She asked embarrassing questions, stared with +unconcealed curiosity, while her innocence had a trick of developing +into quite remarkable shrewdness at sudden and inappropriate moments. +Miss Munns recalled several incidents when the gaze of the childlike +eyes had filled her with a most unpleasant embarrassment, and declared +that not for fifty thousand pounds would she have that child living in +her house! + +Bridgie was different. She was invariably anxious to hear further +anecdotes concerning relations and friends, and was such a docile pupil +in domestic matters, that the old lady had the felicity of practically +ruling two households instead of one. In the fervour of her resolve to +turn over a new leaf, Bridgie had made no reservations, but had placed +herself and her accounts in Miss Munns's hands, and from that moment +there was no drawing back. The weekly orders were supervised and cut +down, the accounts carefully checked and paid to the hour, the receipts +were endorsed and filed, so that they could be produced at a moment's +notice; extras were faithfully entered into the housekeeping ledger at +the end of each day, and the whole account balanced to a laborious +penny. When the penny was very difficult to find, Bridgie pleaded hard +to be allowed to supply it from her private purse, and could never be +quite brought to see that the result would not be the same, but it was a +proud moment when Jack surveyed the ledger on Saturday evenings and +wrote, "Examined, and found correct!" with a big flourish underneath the +final addition. Then he would stroke his moustache and twinkle at her +with amused eyes, as he said-- + +"Bravo, Bridgie, right to a fraction! I'll ask Miss Munns to take me in +hand next--since she has scored such a triumph out of you. Evening +classes two or three times a week, with Sylvia to sit by me and sharpen +my pencils--that would be a happy way of combining instruction and +amusement for the winter evenings, wouldn't it?" and--shades of +Esmeralda!--Bridgie smiled, and ejaculated, "You naughty boy!" in a tone +as far removed from fault-finding as it is possible to imagine. + +Sylvia Trevor, however, being a young woman of spirit, was by no means +disposed to provide amusement for Master Jack or any other masculine +flirt. If any man wished to win her, she was worth wooing seriously, so +she told herself with a tilt of the pretty dark head, but when Jack said +one thing with his lips, beseeching Miss Munns to take pity on his +ignorance, and put him on the path whereon he should walk, and another +with his eyes, mutely inviting her to stay and flirt with him the while +he pretended to listen--then her pride was roused, and she determined to +teach him a wholesome lesson. She waited until Miss Munns had produced +half a dozen ledgers to demonstrate the elaborate system of book-keeping +by which she conducted her miniature establishment--until Jack had +seated himself by her side and was irrevocably victimised for the +evening; then she rose from her chair and said amiably-- + +"I mustn't disturb you. You will like to be quiet, so I'll run across +and chat to Bridgie for an hour, while you are away!" + +The "running" was a polite fiction, for in spite of massage and the most +careful doctoring it would be many months before Sylvia could run again. +By walking very deliberately she could just conceal her limp, and now +as she turned towards the door she had a good view of Jack's petrified +glare of disgust. + +The picture of him sitting by the old lady's side, while she prepared to +teach him what he himself knew a dozen times better than herself, was +too much for Sylvia's composure, and around the corner of the door, +where her aunt could not see her, she doubled up with silent laughter +and cast on him a glance of such mocking triumph, such sparkling, +dimpling, deliciously girl-like derision, as was more eloquent than a +thousand gibes. + +Jack leapt to his feet; at that moment he would have given half he +possessed to have rushed after the tantalising creature, to have stood +over her, and watched her self-confidence give place gradually to +embarrassment, and the pink flush rise to the pale cheeks as it had a +trick of doing under his scrutiny, but, alas! the door was shut, and +Miss Munns's voice inquired soberly-- + +"Do you want the lamp? Put it on the mat, please. You can't be too +careful of lamps. If the oil gets on the cloth, nothing will take it +out!" + +"'Twill be a lesson to me while I live!" sighed Jack sorrowfully to +himself. He was smarting with annoyance and impatience, but he managed, +as not one man in a hundred could have done, to keep his irritation to +himself, and be absolutely amiable and courteous to his instructress. +Miss Munns thought him a most well-disposed young man, and did not +discover one of the anxious glances at the clock, nor the yawns so +dexterously hidden beneath strokings of the moustache. + +When three-quarters of an hour had passed by, Jack felt as if the +interview had lasted a fortnight, but fate was kinder to him than he +deserved, and sent relief in the person of the widow occupant of Number +Ten, who arrived to pay an evening call, cribbage-board in hand. Then +Mr Jack departed, and paced up and down the road smoking cigarettes, +and meditating on revenge. He caught the echo of girlish laughter from +within his own threshold, and could easily picture the scene within--the +two sisters huddling over the fire, Sylvia seated in state in the +grandfather chair, Pat, her devoted admirer, perched on the end of a +table, and placidly maintaining his position in spite of repeated +injunctions to run away. + +He pictured Sylvia's face also as he had often seen it--the sharply-cut +little features, the suspicion of pride and self-will in aquiline nose +and firmly-moulded chin, the short, roughened hair, which was such a +cross to its owner, but which gave her a gallant, boyish air, which one +spectator at least found irresistibly piquant. He saw the firelight +play upon the pretty pink dress and the rings on the restless hands, saw +the brown eyes sparkle with laughter, and grow suddenly soft and +wistful. It seemed to him that they were turned towards himself, that +her thoughts were meeting his half-way, that she was already repenting, +and dreading the result of her hasty flight. + +Jack O'Shaughnessy stopped short in his pacings up and down, and stood +staring before him with a strange, rapt expression. Out there in the +prosaic street the greatest discovery of his life had come to him, and +the wonder of it took away his breath. Young men often imagine +themselves in love with half a dozen pretty faces before they have +reached five-and-twenty, but to most of them there comes at last, in the +providence of God, the one woman who is as far removed from the passing +fancies of an hour as the moon from her attendant stars. She has +appeared, and for him thenceforth there is no more doubt or change; his +life is, humanly speaking, in her hands, and her influence over him is +the greatest of all the talents which has been entrusted to her care. +Too often he is careless about religious matters, if not actively +antagonistic, and her light words may confirm him in a life of +indifference; but, on the other hand, his heart is never so tender and +ready to be influenced as at the moment when she has given her life into +his charge, and this golden opportunity is hers to seize and turn to +lasting good. In the best sense of the word she is his Queen and he is +her knight, who will perform noble and gallant deeds at her behest. + +Jack of the humbugging eyes, handsome, happy-go-lucky Jack +O'Shaughnessy, had been what he called "in love" since the days when he +wore pinafores and little round collars with frills at the edge, but he +had never known what love meant until this winter evening, when at the +vision of Sylvia's face his heart leapt with painful violence, and he +stood still appalled by the strength of his own emotions. + +He had known Sylvia Trevor for one month, four short weeks in all, yet +now here she was occupying the foremost position in his thoughts, making +the past years seem blank and empty, blocking the gate of the future +with her girlish figure. Jack felt dazed and bewildered, a trifle +alarmed, too, at the extent of the journey which he had travelled so +unthinkingly, but he never attempted to deny its reality. He loved +Sylvia--that was an established truth; the only question which remained +concerned the next step in the drama. + +When a man loved a girl, when a girl blushed when he appeared, and, +despite all her little airs of superiority, could not hide her pleasure +in his society, it was generally easy enough to prophesy a speedy +engagement and marriage, but what if Providence had made other ties for +the man before the Queen's appearance? What if, though unmarried, he +was still master of a household, a bread-winner to whom brothers and +sisters looked for support? + +Jack's thoughts drifted longingly towards a little home of his own, +where Sylvia reigned as mistress, and cast pretty, saucy glances at him +from the other side of the table, but he knew all the time that it was +the veriest castle of dreams. He could not keep a wife who was hard +pressed to fulfil his present obligations; marriage was out of the +question until the boys were self-supporting, and the girls either +settled in homes of their own, or comfortably portioned off. That being +so, it was plainly the duty of an honourable man to keep out of the +girl's way, to make no attempt to win her affections, but to hide his +love both from her and those at home, who would otherwise be made to +feel themselves in the way. + +Jack turned and renewed his pacings up and down. There was a heavy +weight of depression on his spirits, but he never flinched from the +right path, nor did it occur to him that there was anything heroic in +this simple accepting of a hard duty. Family affection was very strong +among the O'Shaughnessys, and not even the glamour of first love could +make him grudge anything to Bridgie and Pixie, or the two big boys who +looked up to him with such touching confidence. His first duty was to +them, and it would be "caddish" to let them suspect any sacrifice in its +fulfilment. A poor, commonplace word, which it is safe to say would +have a nobler translation in the Great White Book, wherein are written +the records of men's lives! + +Sylvia blushed as she heard the key turn in the latch, and cast an +apprehensive glance at the door. Would Jack be angry? How would he +look? What would he say? The first glance showed him graver than +usual, but with no shadow of offence in look or bearing, and for some +unaccountable reason her spirits sank as she met his unclouded smile. +He sat down and held out his hand to Pixie, who promptly seated herself +on the arm of his chair, and amused herself by trying the effects of +various arrangements of the curling brown hair. Parted in the middle, +it gave a ridiculously dandified expression to the handsome face; pulled +forward in shaggy locks over the forehead, the dandy died a sudden +death, and Pat of the cabin and clay pipe appeared in his stead; combed +upward by ten little fingers until it stood erect above the forehead, +nationality underwent an even more startling change. + +"_Voila_, Adolph!" cried Pixie triumphantly. "Me I have seen a hundred +men, but a hundred, all the same as thou every day I promenade me in +Paris!" And Jack smiled and, to Bridgie's surprise, allowed himself to +be disfigured without a protest--a surprising thing when a pretty girl +was among the spectators. + +When the hairdressing operations were concluded, he held Pixie's hand in +his own, as if unwilling to let her go, and turned towards Sylvia with a +smile. + +"I think your aunt quite enjoyed giving me a lesson, and I was very much +interested in her original system of book-keeping. What a wonderful old +dear she is, so energetic and full of interest in her fellow-creatures! +I must go to see her again, and have a game of cribbage, which appears +to be her pet dissipation. I'm fond of old people, but I daresay they +get a little trying if you have no variety. If I relieve guard +sometimes, it will set you free to have a chat with the girls!" + +Was he sarcastic? Was he paying her back in her own coin? Sylvia +stared dumbly, but could see no hidden meaning in the glance which met +hers so frankly. "Thanks awfully. You are kind!" she cried with +enthusiasm, but in her heart she thought the kindness the most cruel +treatment she had ever experienced. As soon as she could leave +naturally she rose to say good-bye, and then came a fresh blow, for, +instead of escorting her across the road as he had insisted on doing +hitherto, Jack kept his arm round Pixie's shoulder, and deputed Pat to +take his place. + +"Now, then, you lazy fellow, get your hat, and see Miss Trevor home!" + +Pat was delighted, and after all it was natural enough that Jack should +not care to turn out in the cold so soon after coming in, and yet--and +yet--Sylvia stood at her bedroom window looking at the lights across the +road, and as she looked they grew strangely dull and faint. Triumphs +are dearly won sometimes, and her mood to-night was the reverse of +victorious. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +AT THE CIRCUS. + +Mamzelle Paddy began and continued her work in the Wallace nursery with +complete satisfaction to all concerned. Esmeralda, it is true, had +surpassed herself in violence of diction in the letter which came in +answer to the one breaking the news; but while Bridgie shed tears of +distress, and Jack frowned impatience, the person against whom the +hurricane of invective was hurled, received it with unruffled and even +sympathetic composure. + +As Pixie read over the crowded sheets her eye flashed approval of +dramatic points, she set her lips, and wagged her head, entering so +thoroughly into the spirit of the writer that she unconsciously adopted +her manner when aroused, and when the concluding words were read, heaved +a deep sigh of satisfaction. "She'll feel a lot better after that!" she +remarked tersely, and the prophecy could not fail to be comforting to +those who knew Mrs Hilliard's temperament. + +After such an outburst, repentance might be expected to set in even more +speedily than usual, and a peace-offering in the shape of a hamper +crowded with good things could be confidently looked for in the course +of the next few days. Esmeralda disliked formal apologies, and from the +boys' point of view, at least, turkeys and game made a more eloquent +_amende_. + +Viva and Inda Wallace were loving and lovable children, but possessed +with a nervous restlessness, an insatiable curiosity, and with such +easily-roused tempers as would have reduced an ordinary adult governess +to despair within a very short period. Their delicate mother was +occupied with many social duties, and the father, though devoted to his +pretty daughters, had little patience with their vagaries, while the +frequent screaming attacks which sounded through the house had a trying +effect on nerves already strained by long residence abroad. + +Parents and servants alike breathed sighs of relief when each morning +punctually as the clock struck ten, Mamzelle Paddy came running upstairs +primed with half a dozen thrilling devices for amusement and occupation. +Viva, as ringleader and rebel-in-chief, had flatly refused to speak, or +listen to, a word of French, but when it was presently revealed to her +that the Spoopjacks understood no other language, there was no course +left but to withdraw her opposition. The Bobityshooties were English, +and stupid at that, but by the time that Nicholas Spoopjack had +succeeded in teaching them how to address him with propriety, the two +unsuspicious listeners to the conversation had themselves mastered the +lesson without once suspecting what they were about. + +The adventures which those two enterprising and admirable families went +through, were as varied as they were endless, and each day brought a +thrilling development of the situation. Nicholas Spoopjack thought +nothing of going out in a diving-bell in the morning, and a balloon in +the afternoon, while the Bobityshooties entertained royalty to dinner in +the kitchen cupboard, and feasted luxuriously on the cruets, and the +pinked-out paper which covered the shelves. + +"She don't teach us nuffin': we only plays!" was little Inda's summing +up of the situation; but a moment later she would repeat a dialogue +which had taken place between the rival factions during the morning, +reproducing, with the wonderful imitative faculty of children, the very +accent and gesture with which it had been delivered, and her parents +would look at each other with delighted appreciation. + +Mamzelle Paddy was a grand institution, and being generously disposed +people, Mr and Mrs Wallace endeavoured to show their gratitude by +including her in the many amusements which were arranged for the +children's benefit. She accompanied them on sight-seeing expeditions, +organised games at evening parties, and on one memorable occasion paid a +visit to the circus. Pixie had always cherished a passion for clowns, +and when in Paris had appreciated nothing more than an evening at the +"Nouveau Cirque," where Auguste the Frenchman played a secondary part to +his English brother, and the performance concluded with a play in which +the British tourist played a large part, conspicuous in plaid suits, +sailor hats, and thick-soled shoes. She was all eagerness to see the +London circus, and nearly as much excited as her pupils, as they drove +up to the door, and took their seats on the red velvet chairs. + +Inda sat by her mother and stared solemnly around, but Viva insisted +upon being next her dear Mamzelle, and pranced up and down in a manner +which augured ill for future comfort. Once she began to fidget, adieu +to all hope of peace for her companions. Once she began to ask +questions, it was safe to predict that she would go on until despair +seized those who were obliged to answer. Pixie recognised signs of the +coming attack, and managed an adroit change of places which would leave +Mrs Wallace free to enjoy the afternoon, and punctually at three +o'clock the performance began. + +The ring-master walked in and cracked his whip; the clown tumbled head +over heels into the arena, and cried, "Here we are again!" the lady +rider jumped through paper hoops, and blew kisses to the audience. +Viva's cheeks grew a vivid pink, and at each change in the performance +she adopted a change of position. When the hook of her jacket had been +extricated from the hair of the lady in front, she perched herself on +the arm of her own chair; when she had applauded herself backward into +Pixie's arms, she leant against the supercilious-looking gentleman in +the next seat, and tickled his cheeks with her fluffy hair. Then the +first wonder wore away, and she found her tongue. + +"Why does the clown look like that?" + +"It's a way they have in the family. They always have those funny eyes, +and red and white faces." + +"Did he always look like that?" + +"He did--all the time he has been a clown." + +"Is it the same clown that was here before?" + +"It says on the paper it's a new one for the occasion." + +"Then why does he say he is here again?" + +"I'll ask him next time we meet! Hush now, and listen to what he is +saying. See how they are all laughing!" + +"Does the clown sleep in the circus?" + +"'Deed he does not, poor creature! There are no beds, and the seats are +too hard." + +"Where does he sleep, then? What is his true home?" + +"Number Seven, Poplar Gardens, corner of Phillamore Park--the corner +house with the red curtains!" + +Pixie understood her pupil's love of detail by this time, and Viva put +her head on one side and stared at her with gratified admiration. If +she had asked her mother, she would have looked tired and sighed, and +said, "My dear child! how should _I_ know? Don't ask ridiculous +questions," but Mamzelle Paddy knew better than that. + +Her face assumed an expression of radiant satisfaction as she pondered +on that house in Poplar Gardens. Big and grey, with flower boxes in the +windows and little clowns looking out of the nursery windows. +Delightful! She was silent for several minutes, and the supercilious +gentleman took advantage of the pause to examine the party with curious +eyes. The elegant-looking woman was plainly the mother of the little +girls, but who was this, who was scarcely more than a child herself, who +was addressed as "Mamzelle" and spoke with a strong Irish accent? He +stared at her, and Viva discovering his glance turned round with her +back to the ring, and stared back with leisurely enjoyment. + +At first her face expressed nothing but curiosity, but gradually her +features became twisted, the lips down drawn, the eyebrows elevated to +an unnatural height, until the beholder realised with horror that she +was experimenting on his own expression, and endeavouring to copy it on +her own small visage. Many a long year had passed since he had known +what it meant to blush, but he blushed then, and hitched round in his +seat to hide his scarlet face from view, while Viva once more turned her +attention to the ring. + +The white-skirted lady had disappeared and another was cantering round, +clad in a riding habit and gentleman's hat. The horse was black, and +shone like satin; he pawed the ground with dainty, cat-like tread; the +ring-master followed him as he went, and cracked his whip in encouraging +fashion. Viva planted one foot on Pixie's toe, and jumped up and down +to attract attention. + +"Is the gentleman really angry, that he cracks his whip? Does he pitend +to be angry? If he pitends to be angry, why do all the others pitend +that they think he doesn't pitend, but only,--Why does the gentleman +crack his whip?" + +"Maybe he hears you talking! I saw him cast his eye upon you," replied +Pixie sagely, and the supercilious gentleman pointed the sentence with a +sigh, and privately resolved to remove his seat at the first +opportunity. + +The threat of the whip, however, had the effect of quietening Miss Viva +for a good two minutes, and in the meantime Fate sent an unexpected +deliverance. Certain portions of the auditorium were portioned off into +squares, which did duty for private boxes, and into the nearest of these +there now entered a party of ladies and children, in whom he recognised +some intimate friends. To advance towards them and beg the use of a +vacant chair was the work of a moment, when he proceeded to pour the +story of his woes into the ear of the young lady by his side. She was +fair and pretty, charmingly dressed, and almost as supercilious in +expression as he was himself. + +"Little wretch! How impossible of her!" she ejaculated, and bent +forward to examine the wretch forthwith. + +Viva had climbed on the empty seat, and was craning her little face to +right and left to discover where the deserter had fled. With her great +blue eyes and rose-leaf complexion set in a frame of golden hair, she +looked like an angel from heaven, or one of the sweet-faced cherubs who +float in space at the top of Christmas cards and valentines. + +But it was not on Viva that the young lady's attention was riveted, but +upon the figure by her side--Mamzelle Paddy in all the glory of a French +hat, wearing the very biggest hair-ribbon in her possession, in honour +of the occasion. At sight of the profile the young lady started and +cried, "It is! It must be!" Then she dodged backwards, saw the hat, +and became filled with doubt. "No, it can't be! It's much too smart!" + +Finally Pixie turned round to apostrophise Miss Viva, who was in the act +of striding the back of her chair, and immediately a flash of +recognition leapt from eye to eye. The French hat nodded until the +feathers fairly quivered with the strain, and the face beneath became a +beam of delight, in which eyes disappeared and the parted lips stretched +back to a surprising distance. The fair-haired young lady had more +respect to appearance in her recognition, but all the same she grew +quite pink with pleasure, and cried eagerly-- + +"It's my dearest friend! We were at school together, but she has been +in Paris finishing her education, and I have not heard from her since +her return. I must speak to her in the interval--I really must! You +can't think what a fascinating little creature she is when you get to +know her." + +"Ah, really! She looks distinctly--er--out of the common," drawled the +supercilious man lazily. "Rather interesting-looking woman, the +children's mother. Some relation of your friend, I suppose?" + +"Oh, I suppose so! The O'Shaughnessys are a very good family. Very +well connected. Beautiful old place in Ireland," drawled the young lady +in her turn, and in the intervals of the performance she proceeded to +expatiate on the grandeur of the O'Shaughnessy family, the beauty of +Esmeralda, and the riches of her husband, until her companion looked +forward with increased interest to the coming introduction. + +At the first interval Pixie came forward in response to eager +beckonings, and stood leaning against the side of the box talking to her +friend, with superb disregard of the more extended audience. + +"Fancy, now, the two of us meeting without knowing that we were here! +You look quite old, Lottie, with your hair done up. Turn your head and +let me see the back! D'you still curl it with slate-pencils, like you +did at school? I came home at Christmas, and I've thought of writing +ever since, but I've been too busy. I suppose you're busy too, now you +are grown-up and living at home. Have you come out, and gone to dances +in low necks? We had an old servant at Knock, and one day a friend came +to lunch and she says to Bridgie, `That's a fine, handsome young lady!' +`She is,' says Bridgie. `She's just come out!' `Out of w'ere?' says +Molly, staring." + +Pixie darted a quick glance round the box to enjoy the general +appreciation of her joke, then gave a low chuckle of satisfaction. +"Ye'll never guess what I'm doing!" + +"No," said Lottie Vane complacently. She too had noticed the smiles of +the audience, and was anxious to encourage her friend in her +reminiscences. In society people were always grateful for being amused, +and if in her recital Pixie let fall further references to the standing +and importance of her family, why, so much the better for all concerned. + +"What mischief are you up to now, you funny little thing?" + +"I'm in service!" said Pixie proudly. + +The shocked amaze of Lottie's expression, the involuntary rustle of +surprise which went round the box, were as so many tributes to the +thrilling nature of the intelligence, and she waited a moment to enjoy +it before pointing unabashed in the direction of the two children, and +condescending to further explanations. + +"Me pupils! I've been with them now for over a month." + +"What do you mean? How absurd you are, Pixie!" cried Lottie irritably. +"In service--you! I never heard such nonsense. As if you were a +servant! I don't know what you are talking about!" + +"I get wages, anyhow, and that's all I care about. They are my pupils, +I tell you, and I've brought them here with their mother for a little +diversion. I've the training of them every morning for a couple of +hours, and thirty pounds a year paid every month. Jack and I make +enough between us to support the family." + +"You don't really mean it?" gasped Lottie, horrified. Her cheeks were +scarlet, and it was evident that she was profoundly uncomfortable, but +as she met the triumphant eyes her face softened, and she made a valiant +effort to retain composure. "You mean to say you have turned into a +governess at sixteen--you who were always at the bottom of the class, +and couldn't get a sum right to save your life! Poor little girls, I +pity their education! How did you ever persuade the mother to take +you?" + +Mamzelle Paddy tossed her head with complacent pride. + +"'Deed, me dear, the room was packed with them, and natives at that, and +she chose me before the whole bunch. I'm not supposed to teach them +anything but French, and I don't teach that except by playing games. +But I keep them from crying and quarrelling, and ye don't need to be +head of your class for that! 'Twasn't cleverness she took me for, as +she told me plainly the first day I went; 'twas m'influence!" + +A smothered laugh went round the box at the sound of this curious +compound word, uttered in tones of complacent pride; but Lottie Vane did +not laugh, and her hand stretched out involuntarily and clasped the +little fingers which lay on the side of the box. Her face lost its +supercilious expression, and grew sweet and womanly. + +"Dear little Pixie," she said softly, "I don't pity the pupils after +all. I think they are very well off. May I come over and be introduced +to them and their mother? She must be a very wise woman." + +The two girls walked forward together towards the spot where Mrs +Wallace was sitting, and the supercilious man looked after them with +thoughtful eyes. He had always admired Miss Lottie Vane, though he had +privately sneered at her snobbish tendencies, but it occurred to him to- +day that he had been over-hasty in judgment. How sweet she had looked +as she answered her little friend, how kindly had been the tones of her +voice! He felt his heart thrill with the beginning of a new and deeper +interest. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +A TEA-PARTY. + +Jack kept his resolve of avoiding dangerous _tete-a-tetes_ with Sylvia +Trevor, and kept it in so pleasant and friendly a manner that no one +suspected his motives save the person most concerned. She knew only too +well that a wall of division had suddenly risen between them, but though +her heart ached she carried her proud little head more erect than ever, +and was so very, very lively and pleasant that Jack in his turn was +deceived, and believed that she was relieved by his absence. When they +met, as meet they did from time to time, they laughed and joked, and +teased each other about little family jokes, and Bridgie listened +delightedly, and told herself that it did Jack all the good in the world +to meet Sylvia, for he was growing so much quieter, and seemed so +worried over that horrid old business. Miss Munns, however, had the +same complaint to make about her niece, and delivered herself of many +homilies on the subject. + +"Extremes," she said, "extremes, my dear, ought always to be avoided. +To be constantly running from one extreme to another shows an unbalanced +character. A medium path is the wisest which one can choose, and one +should show neither undue elation nor foundless depression at the events +of life. I remember a proverb which we used to quote as children: +`Laugh in the morning, cry before night!'--and there is a great deal of +truth in it, too. High spirits are bound to be brought low before very +long." + +"Well, I think it's a horrid proverb and a very wicked one into the +bargain!" cried Sylvia hotly. "It sounds as if God disliked seeing one +happy, and I believe He loves it and means it, and tries to teach us +that it is a duty! He made the world as bright as He could for us to +live in, with the sunshine and the flowers, and He made all the little +animals skip and bound, and play games among themselves, so it stands to +reason that He expects men and women to be happy too, especially young +ones." + +"Exactly! Precisely! Just what I say! I was just pointing out to you, +my love, that it is over an hour since you made a remark, and that such +depression of spirits was very trying to me as your companion," cried +Miss Munns, with an air of triumph. "After the long period of anxiety +through which I have passed, I think I am entitled to expect some +cheering society." + +"But then, you see, I might cry before evening!" retorted Sylvia pertly, +and had the satisfaction of feeling that she had been rude to her +elders, and put herself hopelessly in the wrong, as Miss Munns took up +her stocking-bag and began to darn, drooping her eyelids with an air of +stony displeasure. + +Sylvia glanced at her from time to time during the next half-hour, and +felt ashamed of herself, and wished she were sweet-tempered like +Bridgie, and thought how nice it would be if she could learn to think +before she spoke, and be cautious and prudent, and never say what she +was sorry for afterwards. She also wished that Aunt Margaret would not +look so particularly old and frail this morning of all others. How thin +she was! What great big hollows she had in her cheeks! It was rather +dreadful to be old like that, and have no one to love and care for one +best of all, no one but a thoughtless girl, who was never so grateful as +she ought to be, and sometimes even really impertinent. The wave of +penitence could not be repressed, and she jumped from her seat with her +characteristic impetuosity, and threw her arms round her aunt's +shoulders. + +"I'm sorry I answered you back, auntie; it was horrid of me. I've been +a great trouble to you this winter, but I really am awfully grateful for +all your goodness. Do give me a kiss, and say you forgive me!" + +"Well, well, well, my dear child, don't be so impetuous! You have +nearly pulled the cap off my head. Extremes, as I said before, always +extremes! Do please try to exercise some self-control. I quite +understand that you are troubled about your foot, but as the doctor says +it is only a question of time, and if you are patient for a month or two +more, you will be able to go about as well as ever. There is no +necessity to brood about it as you do, no necessity at all!" + +Sylvia was not brooding about her foot, but she did not choose to say so +to Miss Munns, and her silence being accepted as a sign of submission, +the old lady became so mollified as to suggest that the two Miss +O'Shaughnessys should be invited to tea forthwith. + +Afternoon tea under Miss Munns's _regime_ was a more formal meal than is +usually the case, and also a trifle more solid, for it was followed by +no dinner, but a supper of cocoa and potted meat served at nine o'clock. +This arrangement was one of Sylvia's minor trials in life, but Pixie +O'Shaughnessy saw great compensations in a tea where you really sat up +to the table, and had jam in a pot, and a loaf, and scones, and eggs. +It fascinated her to see how the table was laid, with a white cloth +spread diamond-wise under the tea-tray, and the different viands dotted +about on the green baize. + +Miss Munns boiled her own water, and ladled the tea out of a little +silver caddy, and dipped the bottom of each cup in water before it was +filled to prevent slippings on the saucer. She had a kettle-holder +worked in cross-stitch--red wool roses on a black wool background--and a +cosy ornamented with a wreath of bead flowers. The eggs were boiled to +order, hard or soft, just as you liked, in a silver pot filled with +methylated spirits out of a fascinating, thimble-like measure. Pixie +watched the various preparations with rapt attention, while the two +elder girls chatted together at the end of the table. + +"I want you to give me Whitey's address," Bridgie said, "so that I can +send her some flowers. Esmeralda sent me a hamper this morning, so I am +rather rich and would like to share my goad things. You said she was +nursing a case in the city, so she probably has no flowers, and it's +cheery to have boxes coming in as a surprise. It's so hard for nurses +to live in a constant atmosphere of depression and sickness. When one +is ill for a long time, as you were, one gets so bored and wearied by +the monotony of the sick-room, and it's such bliss to be free again, and +speak at the pitch of your voice, and be done with medicines, and +pulses, and temperatures, and tiresome rules and regulations, but the +nurse never gets free. Just when things are beginning to get cheerful, +she goes away to another darkened room and another anxious household, +and the whole programme begins over again. They love their work, of +course, but it must be very hard sometimes. Don't you think so?" + +"I--I--" Sylvia pursed up her lips and elevated her eyebrows in +deprecatory fashion. "I never thought of it! It does sound horrid when +you put it like that, but I'm afraid I just took it for granted that it +was their work. Whitey never grumbled. She left that to me, and was +always cheerful, though I found out afterwards that she had been awfully +anxious about her sister. I wish I had thought of sending her flowers!" + +"Send these--do!" cried Bridgie eagerly. "She will like them better +from you, and I don't mind a bit so long as she gets them. I'll send +over the box, and you shall address it and put in a little note. Yes, +you must, because I felt rather mean about not bringing some for +yourself, but there were not very many, and as I was going into town I +couldn't resist taking some to the woman in the waiting-room." + +"The woman in the-- What do you mean?" + +Bridgie laughed easily. + +"At London, of course. There are several waiting-rooms at our station, +but I go to the dullest of all, where there is hardly a gleam of light, +and one day I saw the woman staring so longingly at some flowers which a +lady was carrying. Since then I have generally taken her a little bunch +when I go up to town, and it is quite pathetic the way she grabs them. +She knows me now, and looks so pleased to see me!" + +That was an easy thing to imagine. Sylvia pictured to herself the long, +monotonous day in that dreary little room, the constant hope which +reached its fulfilment when the door swung open and Bridgie's face +smiled a greeting, leaving behind her the fragrant blossoms to sweeten +the hours with their own perfume, and the remembrance of another's care. +Such a simple thing to do! Such an easy thing! Why had she never +thought of it herself? She would have done it gladly enough if it had +occurred to her mind: it was not heart that was wanted, but thought! +Oh, what a number of lives might be brightened, what an army of good +deeds would be accomplished if people would only "think!" + +"Well, my dear, I only hope she was a decent woman, and worthy of your +kindness," said Miss Munns primly. "A lazy life, I call it. I've no +opinion of people who make their living by sitting still all day. I had +occasion to wait at a station some little time ago, and entered into +conversation with the woman in charge. She said she was a widow, and I +advised her to use my furniture-polish, for the woodwork was in a +disgraceful condition, and she answered me back in a most unbecoming +manner. I have done a great deal of charitable work in my day, and am +on three committees at the present moment, so I am not easily taken in. + +"I have been investigating cases for relief this very afternoon, and if +you'll believe me in one house where they asked for help there was a +musical-box upon the table! The woman said it was given to her by an +old mistress, and that it amused the children while she did her work. I +told her we did not undertake to relieve cases who could afford to keep +musical instruments. I don't know what the poor are coming to in these +days. She must dispose of it before I can have anything to do with +her." + +"But 'twas a present to her! It's not polite to give away presents. +Who do you want her to give it to?" queried Pixie, with the wide-eyed +stare which always made Miss Munns feel so hot and discomposed. She +frowned and fidgeted with the kettle, while Pixie continued to discuss +the situation. "I know what it is to have children about when there's +something to do. Mrs Wallace gave me a book the other day, and the +schemes I made to get time to look at the pictures! I was supposed to +have gone out for a walk, and they were to prepare a surprise for me +when I got back. And 'twas a surprise! They'd pretended to be savages, +and pulled all the feathers out of my hat to stick in their hair!" + +"Very ill-mannered and impertinent I call it! I hope you gave them a +good scolding?" + +"I did not," said Pixie calmly. "I don't like scolding meself, and it +makes me worse. I merely remarked that it was a pity, as I'd have to +sew them back again instead of playing games. 'Twas dull work watching +me sew, and I didn't disturb myself with hurrying. Ye couldn't bribe +them within yards of me hat this last week!" + +"Humph! When I was a child I was whipped when I did wrong, and that was +the end of it. But things have changed since then, and time will prove +which was the best system. Another cup of tea, Miss Bridgie? I hope +you have good news of your sister and the little boy?" + +"Yes, thank you, Miss Munns. They are both well, and we are hoping to +see them quite soon. They come up to their town house at the beginning +of May, and we expect to have quite a gay time. Esmeralda is bringing a +house-party of old Irish friends with her, and it will be delightful to +meet again. She always loved entertaining, and was clever in devising +novelties, and now that she has plenty of money she can do as she likes +without thinking of the cost. You must get your fineries ready, Sylvia. +There will be lots of invitations for you next month." + +Sylvia's smile was less whole-hearted than it would have been if one +sentence had been omitted from Bridgie's announcement. "Old friends +from Ireland" would of a surety include Miss Mollie Burrell, and +Esmeralda would see that Jack made the most of his opportunity. It +would not be exactly pleasure to accept invitations for the sake of +seeing other people flirting together, while she herself sat alone in a +corner. + +"I shan't go!" she told herself. "If she asks me I shall refuse. I +don't care to be patronised at Park Lane or anywhere else. I'd rather +stay at home and play cribbage in Rutland Road." But all the same in +the depths of her heart she knew well that when the time came she would +not have enough resolution to say no. The temptation to obtain a +glimpse of the fashionable world of which she had read so much and seen +too little would be too great to be resisted; she would go even if it +were to have her heart stabbed with a fresh pain, and to come home to +weep herself to sleep! + +"My dear, your sister will have plenty of friends to ask without +thinking of Sylvia. She won't find it plain sailing looking after a big +house like that. I should advise her to engage a housekeeper if she +doesn't want to be cheated right and left. I know what servants are +when the mistress is never in the kitchen to look after the scraps. I +daresay I might be able to help her to find a suitable woman in +connection with our different agencies. I'll inquire for you if you +think she would like it." + +"Dear Miss Munns, how kind of you! I'll write to Esmeralda at once, and +I daresay she would be most grateful. You make me quite ashamed of +myself when I think of all the work you do, and how lazy and useless I +am in comparison!" cried Bridgie earnestly. Her grey eyes were fixed on +Miss Munns's face with the sweetest, most unaffected admiration, and +Sylvia looked at them both and thought many thoughts. + +Miss Munns did indeed give both time and strength to charitable work, +and withal a generous share of her small income, but her interest was of +the head, not of the heart, and she was sublimely ignorant of her +failure to help or comfort. Bridgie thought she was not helping at all, +and was ashamed of herself because she was on no committees, and knew +nothing of authorised agencies. Her ignorance was so sweet that it +would be a sin to enlighten it, but there was something in Sylvia's +expression which aroused her friend's curiosity. + +"What are you thinking of, Sylvia?" she asked. "Something nice?" + +"Very nice!" said Sylvia, smiling. She had just recalled a quotation +which seemed as though it might have been written to describe Bridgie +O'Shaughnessy-- + + "Sweet souls without reproach or blot, + Who do God's will and know it not!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +A LUNCHEON BASKET. + +Esmeralda announced her arrival in town on the first of May, a week in +advance of her house-party, so that she might have leisure to visit her +brothers and sisters, and put the final touches to her own preparations. +She did not mention the hour of her arrival, but this was easily +calculated, and at home in Rutland Road, Bridgie and Pixie held eager +committee meetings as to the best method of welcome. It was decided not +to go to the station, as Esmeralda did not appreciate being taken +unawares, and would of a certainty be annoyed if her son and heir were +beheld at a disadvantage. + +"Babies are bound to be cross at the end of a journey, and his little +frock would be soiled and crumpled, and she will want him to look his +very, very best. No! we will go straight to Park Lane," Bridgie +decided, "and arrive an hour after they are due, so that they will have +had time to get tidy. The house will be upset, of course, for it has +been closed for so long, and we may be able to help. I shall never +forget the day we came here--all the furniture piled in the middle of +the rooms, and nowhere to sit down, and nothing to eat, and my poor back +aching as if 'twere broken. That's another thing I was thinking about. +We'll take lunch with us all ready prepared--a cold chicken, I think, +and some fruit for dessert, and enjoy it together, we three girls, if we +have to sit on the floor to eat it. How lovely it will be to meet +again! It seems too good to be true." + +Pixie was delighted at the idea of the luncheon basket, and when the +eventful day arrived one little extra after another was added to the +original list, until the weight became quite formidable, but Bridgie +declared that an omnibus ran to within but a short distance of their +destination, and the two girls set off in high spirits, each holding a +handle of the basket, and swinging it gaily to and fro. Curious glances +were cast towards it _en route_, whereat Pixie beamed with pride. It +looked so like a picnic basket, with the top bulging from the sides, +allowing glimpses to be seen of the fruit bags, and the white linen +serviette enfolding the chicken; she was convinced that the beholders +were consumed with envy and curiosity! + +Arrived at Park Lane, Pixie was much concerned to realise that +Esmeralda's much vaunted town residence was situated in this dull and +narrow street! In vain Bridgie represented that the site was famous the +world over; the little sister smiled quietly, and retained her own +opinion. Bridgie as usual was making the best of the situation, but it +was evident that Geoffrey's riches had been much exaggerated, since this +was the best he could do for his wife. + +Poor Esmeralda! how disappointed she would be! What a good thing it was +that they had brought the cold chicken to take off the first edge of +disappointment! The house itself looked dark and gloomy, but there were +a great many windows, and looking upwards Pixie espied a glimpse of a +graceful head inside the line of one of the curtains. The travellers +had indeed arrived, and in another moment the three sisters would be +reunited, after four months' separation. + +"Ring again, darling! I can't. This basket weighs me down!" said +Bridgie, straining at the heavy handle, and then came surprise number +one, for even as she spoke the door was flung back, and there appeared +on the threshold one immaculate-looking man-servant, while farther down +the hall stood two more in attitudes of attention. Three whole men to +open one door! This was indeed a height of luxury to which the simple +Irish mind had never soared; and where was the upset and confusion which +had been expected, where the signs of recent arrival, where the +smallest, most trifling evidence of confusion? The stately hall looked +as if it had been undisturbed from immemorial ages, and the butler +stared at the two girls and their basket with lofty disdain. + +"Not at home, madam!" + +Bridgie gasped, and looked blank dismay, but Pixie's shrill protest +could not be restrained. + +"Not at home, when I saw her meself not a second ago looking out of the +window?" + +What would have happened it is difficult to say, but at that moment a +voice sounded from afar, an eager voice repeating two names over and +over again in tones of rapturous welcome. The man stepped aside, and +Bridgie pressed the basket into his hands and raced along the hall, past +the staring footmen to the bend of the stairs, where Esmeralda stood +with arms stretched wide. Pixie was only a step aside, and Esmeralda +escorted the two girls upstairs to her own room, talking breathlessly +the while. + +"Of course he said I was not at home! We arrived only an hour ago, so I +can hardly be ready for visitors yet, but I saw the top of your hats +from the nursery windows. You must come this very minute and see the +boy. He is sweeter than ever. Everyone says he is a perfect beauty. +Oh, me dears, how glad I am to see you! How sweet of you to come!" + +"Of course we came; we thought perhaps we might be able to--help!" +Bridgie said, looking around the gorgeous staircase with pensive regret. +"We imagined you in such an upset, dear, with the carpets up, and the +furniture covered with dust-sheets, and we thought we could dust, and +put things straight as we used to do at Knock. You told us you were +coming to open the house!" + +"You didn't expect I was going to work myself?" drawled Esmeralda, her +impetuous manner changing suddenly to one of drawling affectation. "The +servants have been here for a week, getting ready for our arrival. I +have nothing to look after but a few frocks, and preparations for the +fray next week! Did you expect to see me in an apron, with a duster +over my head?" + +"It makes no difference to me what you wear!" said Bridgie quietly, and +at that Esmeralda laughed, and became herself once more. + +"It does to me, though. The best of everything is good enough for me, +nothing less! You dear old thing, it's like old times to have you +looking at me with that solemn face. No one keeps me in order now. +Geoff tries occasionally, but it's such an evident effort that it +doesn't have much effect. It will be quite good for me to have some +family snubbings once more. This is the way to the nursery--this door! +Now, my beauty, come to mother. She's brought two new aunties to see +you!" + +The beauty regarded his relations in stolid silence for a moment, then +hung his lower lip and began to howl. His mother walked him up and down +the room, striving by various blandishments to win him back to smiles, +but he kept turning his head over his shoulder to gaze at his new +relatives with an expression of agonised incredulity, as though loath to +believe that such monsters could really exist on the earth. He was very +fat and very bald, and, if the truth were told, not a beauty at all, but +Esmeralda made a fascinating mother, and was so happily deluded about +his charms that it would have been cruel to undeceive her. + +Even Pixie managed for once to preserve a discreet silence, while +Bridgie's ejaculations of astonishment at size and weight passed muster +as admiration with the complacent mother and nurse. + +"You shall see him again later on," Esmeralda announced, as though +anxious to soften the pain of separation, as she led her sisters from +the room. "I must show you over the house before lunch. Geoffrey had +the drawing-rooms redecorated before we were married, but this is the +first time I have been able to entertain. I wish you could come and +stay here, Bridgie, but I suppose nothing would make you desert the +boys. Never mind, you will be here every time that there is anything +going on, and it is not much fun preparing when one has a houseful of +servants. Do you remember how we used to be making jellies and creams +all the day before, and running about arranging the house until a few +minutes before the time when the people arrived? That's all over now, +and I do nothing but give orders and grumble. This way! There! What +do you think of that for an imposing vista?" + +It was indeed very imposing, for one long yellow room opened into +another decorated in palest blue, which in its turn showed a glimpse of +a conservatory gay with flowers. + +The rooms were so huge, so lofty in stature, that Pixie was puzzled to +understand how the unimposing exterior could contain such surprises, +while Esmeralda strutted about displaying one treasure after another, +giving detailed descriptions of exactly how the rooms were to be +arranged for the contemplated entertainments, and glancing complacently +at her own reflection in the long mirrors. She looked ridiculously +young to be the mistress of this fine establishment, and despite +occasional affectations, there was more of the schoolgirl than of the +woman of the world, in her happy voice and eager gestures. + +From the reception-rooms the sisters adjourned to the dining-room, a +big, somewhat gloomy apartment facing the street, very handsome, very +severe, and evidently dedicated to one purpose only, and never by any +chance entered from the time one meal ended until another began. The +butler was arranging dishes on the sideboard, the table was spread with +a glittering profusion of glass and silver, and an array of cold +dainties, at sight of which Bridgie blushed, and stared at the floor. +She waited, trembling, to hear Pixie's exclamation, but none came, and +as they adjourned towards the library she slipped her hand through +Esmeralda's arm, and said, half laughing, half nervous-- + +"I don't understand the ways of grand ladies yet, Joan dear! I shall +have to get into them by degrees. You wrote that you were coming to +open the house, and I imagined you in the same sort of confusion which +we were in at Rutland Road, only of course ten times worse, as your +house is so big. We thought you would be tired and hungry, and perhaps +have nothing to eat but sandwiches or biscuits, and we--we brought some +lunch for you and ourselves!" + +Esmeralda threw back her head and laughed with much enjoyment. + +"You funny dear, I never heard of anything so quaint! It was sweet of +you all the same, and I'm ever so grateful. But, oh dear! what would +the servants say if they knew! They would think my relations had come +out of the Ark. And where in the world have you put the provisions?" + +"I--I--" Bridgie looked round for Pixie, but she had lingered behind, +and there was no one to help her out of her plight. "I had the basket +in my hand, and we were standing at the door, and I heard you calling +and I rushed in. I gave it to someone. I was in such a hurry I hardly +noticed who it was. I think it was the man in the dining-room now!" + +"Montgomery!" echoed Esmeralda blankly. She stood staring at Bridgie +with horrified eyes. "Bridgie, how _could_ you? What do you mean by +it? What did you bring, and how was it made up?" + +"A chicken, and pies, and apples, and a tin of toffee. Everything you +liked--and some little rolls and a pot of butter. They were in a +basket--a big basket with a serviette over the top!" cried Bridgie, with +desperate candour, determined to tell the worst at once and get it over. + +At home at Rutland Road it had seemed such a simple and natural thing to +do, but ten minutes' experience of Park Lane had shown clearly enough +how unnecessary had been her anxiety, how ridiculous it must seem in the +estimation of the household! She looked at Esmeralda with troubled +eyes, and Esmeralda flushed, and cried testily-- + +"A basket of provisions, and you handed it to Montgomery! He would +think, of course, that it was his duty to open it, and-- Oh, Bridgie, +how could you? He will tell the story in the servants' hall, and they +will all laugh and make fun. It's too tiresome! I can't think how you +can have made such a mistake!" + +"I thought of you, you see, and not of the servants. It never occurred +to my mind that you could be ashamed of me, whatever I did!" said +Bridgie quietly. + +"I'm not in the least ashamed of you, I'm ashamed of the basket! You +ask Jack when you go home, and he'll tell you 'twas a foolish thing to +do, and you walking, too, and not driving to the door. We won't talk +about it any more, or we shall both get angry, and it's done now and +can't be helped. What do you think of this room? Geoffrey is quite +proud of his books, and we mean to make this our private little den, and +retire here when we are tired of living in public. Here's the electric +light, you see, switched on to these movable lamps, so that one can read +comfortably in any position!" + +"Very nice! So convenient! It looks most comfortable!" + +Bridgie's voice sounded formal and ill-at-ease, and both sisters felt +the position a trifle strained, and were unaffectedly relieved to see +Pixie strolling towards them at this critical minute. + +She was smiling to herself as at a pleasant remembrance, and lost no +time in entering into conversation. + +"I don't know how it is about butlers--they all love me!" she announced +thoughtfully. "The Wallace one turns his back to the sideboard when I +talk, and the vegetable-dishes wobble when he hands them round. He +tries hard not to laugh, because it's rude for servants to see a joke, +but he really appreciates them frightfully much. Your one has whiskers, +too, and isn't he pleasant to talk to? Not half as proud as he looks. +We have just been talking about the basket, because he'd got chickens +already, and he asked what he should do with ours. I said we'd take it +back, of course, because it would be a treat to us to-night. That was +quite right, wasn't it, Bridgie?" + +"Yes, darling, perfectly right!" said Bridgie. + +Esmeralda frowned, bit her lip, and finally succumbed, even as the +butler had done before her, and laughed with a good grace. She hugged +Pixie, and Pixie hugged her back, and chattered away so freely and +naturally that it was impossible for restraint to live in her presence. + +Esmeralda as usual avoided a formal apology, but when Geoffrey arrived +and the little party were seated round the luncheon-table, she made the +_amende honorable_ by telling him of the basket incident in the presence +of three men-servants with as much unction as if it had given her the +most unmitigated delight. + +"Thank you, Bridgie, you _are_ a brick! How jolly of you to have taken +so much trouble! If I'd known of that chicken before I began lunch, +nothing would have induced me to eat anything else!" cried Geoffrey +heartily. + +There was no snobbishness about him at any rate, and to judge from the +glance which his wife cast upon him it was evident that she was quite +able to appreciate a quality that was lacking in her own composition. + +They seemed very happy together, this young husband and wife, and as +Bridgie saw them smile at one another across the table, for no other +reason than pure happiness and content in each other's presence; when +Esmeralda announced "Geoffrey says," as the definite conclusion of any +argument, and Geoffrey said quietly, "Esmeralda likes it!" as though the +fact debarred all further discussion--when she heard and saw all this, +the pain which was so bravely buried in Bridgie's heart seemed to take a +fresh lease of life, and stab her with the memory of dead hopes. + +It was not that she envied Esmeralda her happiness--Bridgie had none of +the dog in the manger in her composition--but she felt suddenly +oppressed by loneliness and a sense of want, which the quiet home-life +failed to satisfy. Once she had imagined that this happiness would be +hers in the future, but that hope was dead, and it did not seem possible +that it could ever come to life again. Even if by chance she met Dick +Victor in the future, what explanation could he have to offer which +would wipe away the reproach of that long silence? Bridgie hoped they +might never meet; it would be too painful to see her idol dethroned from +his pedestal. + +"Are they worth a penny, dear? I've asked you the same question twice +over!" cried Esmeralda mischievously, and Bridgie came back to the +present with a shock of remembrance. + +"I was wool-gathering again. So sorry! What did you want to know?" + +"I was talking about our invitations. Do you want any cards for +friends? Is there anyone whom you would like me to ask?" + +"Lottie Vane, please, and Mr and Mrs Wallace," cried Pixie eagerly, +and Esmeralda smiled at the first name, and frowned at the second. She +remembered having seen the Vanes at a school festival, and being +favourably impressed by their appearance, but the name of Wallace was +still repugnant to her ears, and could not be heard unmoved. + +She did not care, however, to appear ungracious in Geoffrey's presence, +and reflected that it might be judicious to impress Pixie's employers +with the grandeur of the O'Shaughnessy family, and thus nip in the bud +any ideas of patronage. A moment later she was thankful that she had +made no objections, as Sylvia Trevor's name from Bridgie's lips +convinced her that here at least a stand must be made. + +"Oh, my dear, it is no use asking Miss Trevor. She is lame, and I shall +have enough to do without looking after invalids." + +"She would come with us, and we would take care of her. The boys are so +fond of Sylvia. They'd think it a pleasure!" pleaded innocent Bridgie, +all unconscious of the fatal nature of her argument, and Esmeralda +frowned again and said impatiently-- + +"She'd much better stay at home. Crowded rooms are no place for people +who need such care." + +"No, but that is all the more reason why she should get what enjoyment +she can. She would love one of the receptions you spoke of, when you +will have music and other entertainments, and her limp can scarcely be +noticed now. She would be no trouble to you. You asked her to visit +you in Ireland, Esmeralda!" + +"'Deed I did, and she snubbed me for my pains. I don't like Miss +Trevor, and I don't mean to give her the chance of refusing any more +invitations." + +Bridgie looked aghast, as well she might, and made no attempt to hide +her discomfiture. + +"But--but I told her you would! I made quite sure of it, and told her +she would have such a good time. The poor girl is counting upon it." + +"And she is Bridgie's friend. Bridgie wants to bring her. That settles +the question surely!" said Geoffrey quietly. He looked across the table +with uplifted brows, and, wonder of wonders, Esmeralda blushed, and +murmured vaguely about being "much pleased." + +"What a mercy it was that Geoffrey was at home! But oh, if you love me, +Pixie, never, never let Sylvia guess that we had to plead for her +invitations!" pleaded Bridgie earnestly, as the two sisters made their +way home an hour later on. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +AN "AT HOME." + +Fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be, there is no hall mark +of sincerity to distinguish one invitation from another, and the printed +cards which were in due time received by Sylvia Trevor differed in no +respect from those sent to the most favoured of Esmeralda's guests. +Fortunately also the remarks with which invitations are received are not +overheard by the prospective hostess, else might she often feel her +trouble wasted, and repent when it was too late. + +Mrs Hilliard's fashionable acquaintances yawned when they received her +cards, and exclaimed, "Another engagement for Thursday! We shall have +to accept, I suppose, but it's a dreadful nuisance! We can just look in +for a quarter of an hour on our way to Lady Joan's dance;" and +unfashionable Sylvia pursed up her lips and remarked to herself, "Humph! +I suppose she wants to dazzle me with the sight of her splendours. +Much `pleasure' my company will give her! I shall go, of course. I +don't think I _could_ stay quietly at home and play cribbage, and know +that Bridgie and the boys were driving away, and that I might have been +with them. Yes, I'll go, and I will get a new dress for the occasion--a +beauty! Dad said I might be extravagant once in a way, without emptying +the exchequer; and he would like me to look nice. Perhaps Bridgie will +go to town with me and help me to choose. It is nice to have some +excitement to look forward to. What with typhoid and--Jack,--this has +been the dullest winter I ever knew." + +The advent of the Hilliards did indeed make a great difference to the +two quiet households in Rutland Road. Esmeralda was too much occupied +with her guests to pay many visits in person, but she appeared at +intervals, leaning back against the cushions of the carriage, and +looking like some wonderful princess out of a fairy-tale, and as far +removed as possible from the good ladies of the neighbourhood. + +The coachman would draw up before the door of Number Three, the footman +would throw open the door, and Mistress Esmeralda would saunter up the +little garden, dragging yards of chiffon and lace in her train, and +acutely, delightfully conscious of the heads peering from behind the +curtains on either side of the road. Acknowledged beauty as she was, +her advent caused a greater sensation in this suburban district than +among her own associates, and though she affected to despise its +demonstrations, they were yet very dear to her vain little heart. + +Sometimes the two sisters were spirited away to lunch or a drive in the +Park, and on their return would adjourn into Number Six, and entertain +Miss Munns and her niece with the story of their adventures. There was +a party every single day at Park Lane--titled creatures, and "men who +did things," as Pixie eloquently explained, and Miss Munns recognised +every name as it was repeated, and inquired anxiously concerning +clothes, if the celebrity were of the female sex, concerning manner and +choice of eatables, if he were a man. + +Once, too, before the date of the formal invitation, Sylvia herself was +invited to accompany her friend to an afternoon reception, when she +beheld the fabled glories with her own eyes. Never before had she +entered such a house, or met so distinguished a company, but not for +worlds would she have allowed her surprise to be visible to Esmeralda's +eyes. The fashionable expression, she noticed, was one of bored +superiority, so she looked bored and superior too, refused offers of +refreshments which she was really longing to accept, and lounged from +one room to another with an abstracted air, as if unconscious of her +surroundings. All the same she felt very lonely and out of her depth, +for Bridgie was helping her sister to receive her guests, and Pixie as +usual roaming about in search of adventure. + +It is very difficult to sit alone in a crowd and keep up an appearance +of dignity, and Sylvia was grateful when a girl of her own age took +possession of the chair by her side, and began to talk without waiting +for the formality of an introduction. She was a pleasant-looking, much- +freckled damsel, with a wholesome, out-of-door atmosphere, which +distinguished her from the other ladies present, and she seemed for some +reason quite interested in Sylvia Trevor. + +All the time that they talked the honest blue eyes--studied the little +clear-cut face of her companion, and though Sylvia was puzzled to +account for the scrutiny, she was quite conscious of its presence, and +anxious that the decision should be in her favour. She dropped her +artificial airs and graces, and talked simply and naturally, asking +questions about the different people present, and listening to the +biographical sketches which were given in return, with much greater +interest than was vouchsafed to her aunt's more humble reminiscences. + +It was so interesting to meet a celebrated author in flesh and blood, +and find that she talked about the weather like any ordinary stupid +person; a statesman in whose hands lay the destiny of a nation, yet +could discuss with seriousness whether he should choose pink cakes or +white. So extraordinary to discover that this gorgeously-attired lady +was plain Mrs Somebody, while the funny, shabby-looking old woman in +black was a celebrated Duchess, whose name was a household word. + +Sylvia understood now why Esmeralda had been so anxious to place this +guest in the most comfortable chair, and had waited on her with such +assiduous care; she understood, too, why the Duchess herself wore an +expression of patient resignation, and cast surreptitious glances at the +clock. Poor creature, these so-called amusements were the business of +her life, and one was so much like another that it was impossible to get +up any feeling of interest, much less amusement. She yawned behind her +glove, and vouchsafed the briefest of answers to her companions; it was +abundantly evident, in short, that the Duchess was bored, and as this +was the first time that she had honoured his house by a visit, Geoffrey +was naturally anxious that this state of things should not continue. +Esmeralda had done her utmost, but her airs and graces had failed to +make any impression on one who had been acquainted with the beauties of +the last fifty years, and there seemed no one present who possessed the +requisite qualities to help him out of his difficulty. The Duchess was +already acquainted with every visitor of note, and would not care to be +introduced to insignificant nonentities. + +Stay, though! What of the most insignificant of his guests? What of +Pixie O'Shaughnessy, of the ready tongue, and the audacious self- +confidence, which would flourish unchecked in the presence of kings and +emperors? "Pixie for ever! Pixie to the rescue!" cried Geoffrey to +himself, and promptly stole across to the room set apart for +refreshments, where his small sister-in-law sat eating her fourth ice, +waited upon with assiduous care by her friend Montgomery. + +"Pixie," he said, "there's an old lady in black sitting under the big +palm in the yellow drawing-room and looking dreadfully bored! Just go +and talk to her like a good girl, and see if you can amuse her a little +bit before she goes." + +"I will so!" responded Pixie heartily. "It's a very dull party when +there's nothing to do but be pleasant. I was bored myself, before I +began to eat. I'll leave the ice now, but maybe I'll venture on another +by and by.--In black, you said, under the palm?" + +She flicked a lapful of crumbs on to the floor, and pranced away with +her light, dancing step. Geoffrey watched her from the doorway, saw her +squeeze herself into the corner of the lounge on which the Duchess was +seated, and gaze into her face with the broadest of broad beaming +smiles, while the great lady, in her turn, put up a lorgnon and stared +back in amazed curiosity. + +"Well, little girl," said the Duchess, smiling, "and what have you got +to say?" + +"Plenty, thank you! I always have. Me difficulty is to find someone to +listen!" replied Miss Pixie, with a confidential nod. + +The old lady looked extraordinarily thin; the lines on her face crossed +and re-crossed like the most intricate puzzle, her lips were sunken, and +the tips of nose and chin were at perilously close quarters, but her +eyes were young still, such sharp, bright little eyes, and they twinkled +just as Pat's did when he was pleased. + +"Talk to me, then. I'll stop you when I'm bored!" she said, and at that +Pixie nodded once again. + +"Of course. We always do. Jack stamps on me foot, and Pat snores, the +same as if he were asleep. He says he is strong enough to hear a tale +six times over, but he won't listen to it a seventh, to please man nor +woman. Bridgie says jokes are one of the trials of family life, because +by the time you've improved the points so that no one would recognise +them for the same, your relations won't give you a hearing. It's a +curious thing, when you think of it, that you get so exhausted with +other people's stories, while you go on laughing at your own. Bridgie +says you'll find fifty people to cry with you, for one who will +sympathise about jokes. Have you found it that way in your experience?" + +"Upon my word," cried the Duchess with unction, "this Bridgie appears to +be a remarkably sensible young woman! My experience has been that I +rarely meet a joke that is not my own exclusive property, to judge by +the faces of my companions. Do you happen to possess a name, my +youthful philosopher? I should like to know to whom I am talking." + +"I'm Pixie O'Shaughnessy, and Geoffrey married my sister Esmeralda. He +came over to Ireland and fell in love with her in spite of me telling +him about her bad temper, thinking of course that he was a perfect +stranger. I apologised to him after it was settled and said there was +nothing really wrong with her, for she'd always rather be pleasant than +not, only at times it's easier to be nasty, and she's been lazy from her +youth. The night they met they mistook each other for ghosts, and +Esmeralda clung to his arm and screeched for help. + +"There was never a thing that girl was frightened at, all her life, +until now, and, would you believe it?--it's her own servants! Of course +in Ireland they were like friends, as free and easy as we were +ourselves, and entering into the conversation at table; but Geoffrey's +Englishmen are so solemn and proper that she lives in terror of shocking +their feelings. One day the butler found her kissing Geoffrey, +believing they were alone, and she waited for him to say, `Allow me, +madam!' as he always does if she ventures to do a hand's turn for +herself. She's says it's dispiriting to think you can't even quarrel in +peace for fear of interruption, and it takes a good deal to interrupt +Esmeralda when once she's started." + +The Duchess screwed up her bright little eyes, and her shoulders shook +beneath her black lace cape. Sylvia and her companion, watching the +strangely assorted pair from across the room, saw Pixie move nearer and +nearer, and whisper a long dramatic history; saw the Duchess nod her +head in appreciation of the various points, and heard the burst of +laughter which greeted the _denouement_. Everyone stopped talking and +stared with inquiring eyes. Esmeralda turned towards the lounge, +anxiety thinly disguised by smiles, and, seeing her, the Duchess rose +from her seat with a sigh of regret. + +"Your sister is a born story-teller, Mrs Hilliard. I wish I had more +time to listen. Please ask me to meet her again! It is a long time +since I have been so amused." + +Here was praise indeed! Esmeralda beamed with satisfaction, and seized +Pixie's hand with an unusual outburst of affection. + +"How noble of you, dear! She was looking as bored as bored, and I was +at my wits' end. What did you tell her that made her laugh like that?" + +"Oh, nothing much. Just things about ourselves, and the adventures at +home. 'Twas the beeswax pudding that pleased her most," said Pixie +easily, and wondered at Esmeralda's sudden extinction of interest. + +"Now what disclosures has that child been making next!" cried the +freckled girl, looking on at this little scene with curious eyes. "I +doubt whether Esmeralda appreciates them as much as the Duchess. We +used to say at home that if there was one thing which should not be +revealed, Pixie was bound to choose it as the subject of conversation on +the first possible occasion! And she was so sweet and innocent about +it, too, that it was impossible to be angry. I expect you have found +out that for yourself?" + +"Yes--No!" said Sylvia absently, for she was thinking less of what she +was saying than of certain phrases which her companion had just uttered. +"We used to say at home." Who was this, then, who had known Pixie +O'Shaughnessy in bygone days--could it by any chance be the dreaded +rival towards whom she was prepared to cherish so ardent a dislike? She +stared at the honest, kindly face, and felt that it would be difficult +to harbour a prejudice against its owner, even if--if-- "Are you Miss +Burrell?" she asked, and Mollie smiled assent. + +"I am that, and you are Sylvia Trevor. I've heard about you from--" + +"Bridgie--yes! We have been great friends all winter." + +"Not Bridgie--no! We had so much to discuss about the old place and its +people, that I'm afraid we have never mentioned your name. It was not +Bridgie." + +"Oh!" said Sylvia, and stared across the room. It might, of course, +have been Esmeralda herself who had enlightened Miss Burrell's +ignorance, but there was a mysterious something in the girl's manner +which gave a different impression. She was too proud to ask questions, +and Miss Burrell volunteered no information, but smiled to herself as at +an interesting reminiscence. It seemed as though what she had heard had +been of a distinctly pleasant character! + +Sylvia returned home feeling mysteriously happy and elated, and the +sight of a letter addressed to herself in her father's handwriting put +the finishing touch on her satisfaction. She took it upstairs to her +own room, and sat herself down on the one comfortable chair which she +possessed, to read its contents with undisturbed enjoyment. She was in +no hurry to break the seal, however, for it was so pleasant just to hold +the letter in her hand, and lean back comfortably against the cushions, +and dream. + +The dreams, it is true, were mostly concerned with the events of the +afternoon, and Mollie Burrell's intent and kindly scrutiny; but it was +like the old times when she had thought her own thoughts with her hand +clasped in that of the dear old dad, and the touch of the sheet on which +his fingers had rested brought back the old feeling of strength and +security. She had told him much about her new friends, and he seemed +always to wish to hear more, asking carefully veiled questions, the +meaning of which were perfectly understood by his shrewd little +daughter. + +Dad was anxious about this friendship with a family which included a +handsome grown-up son among its members; a trifle afraid lest she should +be spirited away to another home before he had enjoyed his own innings. + +"Poor old darling!" murmured Sylvia remorsefully, for at the bottom of +her heart she knew well which home she would choose if the choice were +given, and it did seem hard--horribly hard--that a parent should love +and guard and work for his child from the hour of her birth, and that +when she had grown old and sensible enough to be a companion instead of +a care, she should immediately desert him for another! "But I could +never love dad any less, never, never! I'd give anything in the world +to see him again!" Sylvia cried mentally as she opened the envelope and +straightened the thin, foreign sheets. + +It was a long letter, and took a long time to read, and in the process +Sylvia's expression changed once and again, and finally settled into one +of incredulous dismay. It was not that the news was bad; on the +contrary, it was good--very good indeed--the thing above all others +which she would have wished to hear, but it threatened a complete +uprooting of her life just as it was growing most interesting, and full +of possibilities. Dad was coming home, was even now on his way, and had +desired her to meet him on his arrival at Marseilles. It was +incredible, quite incredible in its startling unexpectedness. She +turned again to the wonderful paragraph, and read it over once more +slowly and carefully. + + "And now, my darling, I have a piece of news, which I hope and believe + will be welcome to you. Certain business changes have taken place of + late, which you would not understand even if I tried to explain them, + but such as they are they set me free to return home at my own + convenience. I have been impatiently waiting this settlement of + affairs for some time back, as I have been most anxious to see you + after your long illness, and to satisfy myself that the best means are + being used to restore the full use of your foot. + + "I have made inquiries here, and believe that a course of baths of the + German Spa B--- would probably put the final touch to what has already + been done. I propose, therefore, that you engage in good time a + trustworthy lady courier from an office in London, and travel in her + company to Marseilles, where I will meet you in the first week of + June, having previously spent a week or ten days in Italy with my old + friends the Nisbets, who return in the same boat. + + "Come prepared for a summer abroad, and we can fit you up with any + extras that are needed before we start on our travels. After you have + finished your course of treatment and are, I trust, thoroughly + convalescent, we will have a tour through Switzerland, and settle down + at some mountain hotel, where the air will brace us up after our + sufferings, climatic and otherwise. + + "For the future, I have as yet no definite plans, except that, of + course, you will not return to your present quarters. Perhaps we may + eventually find a house that suits us in the south of England, but I + can't face English winters after my long residence in this sunny land, + and you must make up your mind to humour a restless old Anglo-Indian + for the next few years to come. Perhaps by that time I may have + regained my old strength and nerve, which have sadly failed of late. + I will wire from Brindisi as to definite arrangements." + +Sylvia let the letter drop on her lap, and stared before her with blank +eyes. Through the curtains could be seen a glimpse of the house +opposite, the blind at Bridgie's window drawn up at its usual rakish +angle. + +In three weeks, in less than three weeks, she would say good-bye for +ever to Rutland Road and its inhabitants; good-bye to England itself, it +appeared, for at least a year to come, and at two-and-twenty a year is +as long as a lifetime, if it divides us from those we love. She would +drift away out of sight, and the last six months would become but an +episode in her own life and those of her friends. + +"D'ye remember Sylvia,--the girl with the bark on the road?" In +imagination she could hear Pixie putting the question in the years to +come, and Bridgie would remember quite well, because she had not the +faculty of forgetting, but other people--other people were reputedly +fickle, and tempted to forget old friends in favour of new! Other +people would probably be in love with a fair-haired beauty by that time, +and have forgotten all about Sylvia Trevor! + +The pain which shot through the girl's heart at these reflections was so +sharp that it startled her into a realisation of her own position. Dad +was coming home, she was going to live with him once more, and instead +of being happy and elated she was miserable--miserable! She was going +to leave her aunt's home, with the restrictions and lack of sympathy +which had made it so trying, and was once more to live with the fondest +and most indulgent of parents, and instead of filling her with delight +the news seemed like a sentence of banishment from all that made life +worth living! + +To do Sylvia justice she was shocked at her own thoughts, and made a +valiant effort to look at the prospect in a more dutiful spirit. At +least, she determined, no one should suspect a want of loyalty to that +best and kindest of men! Aunt Margaret would take for granted that she +felt nothing but delight, and she would postpone breaking the news to +Bridgie until she had grown accustomed to the idea of separation, and +could discuss it with composure. + +It would be easier than usual to keep this resolve, for since +Esmeralda's arrival the neighbours necessarily saw less of each other +than in the long winter days when there had been no rival claims on +their time and attention. Aunt Margaret would be pleased to find that +she was chosen as counsellor and adviser-in-chief, and during the short +time which was left she must do her utmost to gratify the old lady, who +had been on the whole very kind and forbearing during the two years +which they had spent together. + +"I wish I had been nicer to her!" sighed Sylvia regretfully. "I was +always meaning to be, but now it's too late. That's the worst of +putting off things in this world; the chance may never come again!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +GREAT EXPECTATIONS. + +A whole week passed by before Sylvia had an opportunity of telling her +great news to her friend. To begin with, Bridgie was absent from home +for three days and nights, attending a ball and a water-party given by +Esmeralda for the entertainment of her house-party, and to neither of +which Sylvia had received an invitation. To be sure, it was no use +going to a dance when dancing was an impossibility, and the getting in +and out of boats would have been painful and difficult, but all the same +Sylvia felt slighted and out in the cold, and, though absent in the +flesh, mentally followed every stage in the two entertainments, and +tortured herself by imagining Jack's light-hearted enjoyment and +absorption in other company than her own. + +When Bridgie returned home, Miss Munns insisted on several expeditions +to town, and also to surrounding suburbs, where lived those family +connections to whom it was clearly the girl's duty to say good-bye. The +old lady was quite inclined to enjoy the little stir of preparation +involved by the trip abroad, and would allow no one but herself to +interview the lady in whose charge her niece was to travel. That she +was entirely satisfied was the best possible guarantee for Sylvia's +safety, and Mistress Courier Rickman promised to be ready to start the +moment the expected wire was received. + +Miss Munns laid in a store of patent medicines, stocked her niece's +workbox with every imaginable useful, and waxed quite affectionate in +her manner, but all the same it was easy to see that she would be +relieved to get rid of her charge, and settle down once more in the old +groove. It requires a great deal of forbearance and unselfish +imagination to enable a young person and an old to live together +happily, and the lack of these qualities is the explanation of many +miserable homes. + +Old people should remember that the peaceful monotony which has become +their own idea of happiness, must by the laws of nature spell a very +different word to buoyant, restless youth, and also that there comes a +stage when the children are not children any longer, when they are +entitled to their own opinions, and may even--most reverently be it +said--understand what is best for themselves, better than those of a +different generation; and the young people in their turn should remember +the long years of tender care and devotion which they have received, and +be infinitely patient in their turn. They, who are so impatient of +passing ailments, should try to imagine how it would feel to be always +feeble, and to see in the future the certainty of growing more and more +suffering and incapable. They should realise that it is in their power +to make the sunshine of declining days, and thereby to store up for +themselves a lasting joy, instead of a reproach. + +In looking back upon those two years spent in Rutland Road, Sylvia +forgot her aunt's lack of sympathy, her prosy talk, and repeated fault- +finding; they were lost in remembering the true kindness of heart which +lay beneath all mannerism. What she was never able to forget was her +own impatience and neglect of opportunity. + +Once or twice as the days passed by, Bridgie O'Shaughnessy ran to the +gate to intercept her friend as she passed, and exchange a hurried +greeting, but Sylvia would not trust her great news to such occasions as +these. She waited until an opportunity arose for an uninterrupted talk, +and as she waited a desire awoke and grew in intensity, to herself tell +Jack of the coming separation. Bridgie must, of course, be informed of +the journey to France and Germany, but she would wait until the evening +of Esmeralda's reception before disclosing the full extent of her +travels. + +When she and Jack were sitting together in one of the charming little +niches in which the rooms abounded, he would naturally begin to talk of +her journey, and she would smile and look unconcerned, and, in the most +cheerful and natural of tones, announce that she was not coming back to +Rutland Road, that it would probably be a year at least before she saw +England again. + +Surely when he heard this for the first time, when it was burst upon him +as an utter surprise, she would read in his face whether she had been +right in imagining that he really "cared," or if it had been a delusion +born of girlish vanity. She would be quite calm and serene, would not +in any way pose as a martyr or seem to expect any expression of +distress, but she could not--could not bring herself to go away without +making this one innocent little effort to solve the mystery which meant +so much to her happiness and peace of mind. + +So Sylvia purposely kept out of Bridgie's way during the ten days after +the receipt of her letter, and when they met it was easy to tell just +what she chose, and keep silent about the rest, for Bridgie was not one +of the curious among womenkind, and never dreamt of questioning and +cross-questioning as to the plans of another. She simply took for +granted that Sylvia would return to her old quarters, after a pleasant +summer holiday, just as she was happily assured that her friend felt +nothing but purest joy and satisfaction in the prospect before her. + +"Oh, me darling," she cried rapturously, "I am delighted for you! Isn't +that the very best news that could happen? So soon, too, and a lovely +jaunt together in the beautiful summer weather. 'Twill make you strong +again in no time, and you will write me long letters telling me all your +adventures, and 'twill be almost as good as having them myself. I +couldn't tell you when I've been so pleased!" + +"Humph!" said Sylvia disconsolately. Would Jack be delighted also, and +hail her departure with rapturous congratulations? "Won't you miss me? +Won't you feel lonely when I'm not here?" she questioned earnestly, and +Bridgie smiled a cheery reassurement. + +"I'll have Esmeralda, you see! She will be here until the end of the +season, and then we are going up to Scotland with her. We shall be so +busy and taken up with one thing and another that I shan't have time to +miss you, darling." + +"Humph!" said Sylvia once more. This was intended for comfort, she was +aware, but it was not the kind of comfort that was required. Bridgie +O'Shaughnessy might be so unselfish as to rejoice because a friend did +not suffer by her absence, but Sylvia longed to hear that she was +indispensable, and that nothing and no one could fill her place. It was +another bitter drop in her cup to realise that the O'Shaughnessy girls +were so closely united that any friend must needs be at a discount in +comparison with a sister. + +"Ye don't seem as excited as I should have expected. Is anything +worrying you, dear?" Bridgie inquired, and Sylvia hurriedly searched +for a plausible excuse and found it in her father's health. + +In reality she was not disquieted by his reference to his own weakness, +for he had been complaining for months back without apparently growing +worse, and she was convinced that the coming rest would speedily restore +him to health. It made an excuse, however, and Bridgie sympathised and +offered a dozen kindly, unpractical suggestions as her custom was. + +Then the conversation drifted to the all-important reception which was +so close at hand, and to which both girls were looking forward with such +expectation. Bridgie related the latest arrangements for the +entertainment of some three hundred guests, while her friend listened +with eager attention. Esmeralda was sparing neither money nor pains to +make the evening one of the events of the season. Singers and musicians +whose names were known throughout Europe were to perform at intervals in +the great drawing-room; the hall and staircase were to be transformed +into a bower of roses, pink La France roses here, there, and everywhere, +wreathed round the banisters, massed on the window-sills and +mantelpieces, hanging in great golden baskets from the ceiling. Rose- +coloured shades were to soften the glare of the electric lights; the air +was to be kept cool by great blocks of ice, and scented fountains rising +from banks of moss and ferns; the conservatory was to be illuminated by +jewelled lanterns. + +It sounded like a fairy-tale to the girl in the unfashionable suburb, +and she would have been less than human if she had not counted the hours +which must elapse before the evening arrived. Bridgie thought it a pity +that the guests could not be labelled for the edification of the +unsophisticated, but Sylvia's greatest interest was centred on figures +which were too familiar to be mistaken. The whole entertainment was, in +truth, but a gorgeous setting to that conversation with Jack, which +might be their last _tete-a-tete_ for so long to come. + +The dressmaker who was preparing Miss Trevor's dress for the great +occasion had seldom had more difficulty in satisfying an employer, and +the sum total expended on fineries would have horrified Miss Munns if +she had been allowed to see the bills. Even Sylvia winced when she +added up the figures, but she repeated sturdily the old phrase, "Dad +won't mind!" and felt secure that she would meet with no worse reprimand +than a little good-natured banter. On the whole she had been very +economical during her stay in England, and her conscience did not +upbraid her concerning this one extravagance. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +A TELEGRAM. + +As soon as her room was in order on the day of the reception, Sylvia +began the delightful task of opening boxes and parcels, and laying their +contents on the bed. The satin skirt was spread out with careful +fingers, and over it a foam of frills and flounces which must surely +have grown, since it was inconceivable that they could have been +fashioned by mortal hands. Fan, and gloves, and little lacy +handkerchief lay side by side on the pillows; little satin shoes stood +at a jaunty angle, the crystal buckles shining in the sun. The pearl +necklace, which had been a present from dad on her twenty-first +birthday, lay on the toilet-table ready to be snapped on, and a spray of +white roses and maiden-hair floated in a basin of water. + +All was ready, and Sylvia beamed with delight at the result of her +preparations. She had come upstairs ostensibly to rest, but in reality +she was far too excited to settle down even to read, and could only +wander about the room inventing one little duty after another, and +weaving endless day-dreams. In a corner of the room stood her +travelling-box, a convenient receptacle into which to put the new +purchases as they arrived from the shops. + +The travelling dress, the piles of cool garments for summer wear lay +neatly packed away, looking fresh and dainty enough to have charmed any +girl's heart, but this afternoon Sylvia had no thought for the future; +every hope and ambition was centred on the events of the next few hours. + +Three o'clock! How slowly the time passed! Four, five, six, seven, +eight, nine--six hours still to while away before she would drive from +the door with Pixie by her side, and Jack _vis-a-vis_, leaning forward +to look her over, and exclaim in admiration at her fine feathers. + +Sylvia could almost imagine that she heard him speak, and saw the sudden +softening of the handsome eyes, and for once in her life she was +inclined to rejoice that Bridgie was again staying at Park Lane, since +Pixie and Pat would be so much engrossed in their own discussions as to +ensure a virtual _tete-a-tete_ for their companions. She rose +restlessly from her seat and walked to the window. Was Pixie occupied +even as she had been herself in laying out her dress for the evening? +She peered curiously through the opposite windows, but no sign of the +inhabitants was to be seen; she yawned, drummed her fingers against the +pane, and stared idly down the road. + +It was not a lively neighbourhood at the best of times, and to-day it +seemed even duller than usual. A nurse was wheeling a perambulator +along the pavement, a milkman's cart was making slow progress from door +to door, a telegraph-boy was sauntering down the middle of the road +whistling a popular air. Sylvia wondered where he was going, and what +was the nature of the message which he bore. Some people were so +nervous about telegrams--Aunt Margaret, for instance! It was so rarely +that her quiet life was disturbed by a message of sufficient importance +to make it worth while for the sender to expend sixpence on its +delivery. + +Sylvia's heart gave a leap of apprehension as the thought arose that +perhaps the message was for the O'Shaughnessy household to tell of some +dire accident which had interfered with the festivity of the evening. +She had hardly time to breathe a sigh of relief as the boy passed the +gate of Number Three before apprehension re-awoke as he approached her +own doorway. + +A telegram for Aunt Margaret! What could it be? Ought she to go +downstairs to lend the support of her presence, or stay in her room +where she was supposed to be enjoying a refreshing nap? She heard the +opening of the door and the sound of voices in the hall, then to her +surprise footsteps ascended the stairs, and someone whispered a gentle +summons-- + +"Sylvia! Are you awake? A telegram has arrived for you, my dear. You +had better see it at once." + +Miss Munns looked flurried and anxious, but her niece smiled a placid +reassurement. + +"I expect it is from father, fixing the date of my journey. He said he +would wire." She tore open the envelope and glanced hurriedly at the +address. "Yes, it is! He is at Marseilles. `Come at--'" Her voice +died away, and she stood staring at the words in horrified incredulity, +while Miss Munns stepped forward hurriedly, and peered over her +shoulder. + +"Come at once. Father dangerously ill. Remain in charge till you +come.--Nisbet." + +"Nisbet! Nisbet! That was the name of the friends with whom he was to +travel. `Dangerously ill!' `At once!' What can it mean?" + +Sylvia laid the paper on the bed and pressed her hands against her head. +She was deathly pale, but perfectly composed and quiet, and the +expression of her eyes showed that so far from being stunned, she was +thinking in quick, capable fashion. + +"There is a train from Charing Cross at four o'clock," she said +presently. "I should arrive in Paris at midnight, and at Marseilles +some time to-morrow. It is three now. My box is more than half packed. +I shall have time. Mary must go out and order a cab!" + +"My dear, it is impossible! You cannot possibly leave to-day. I will +go with you myself, and I cannot get ready at an hour's notice. Wait +until to-morrow, and--" + +Sylvia turned round with a flash of anger in her eyes, but suddenly +softened and took both the old lady's hands in her own, holding them in +a tender pressure. + +"Listen," she said, and her voice, gentle though it was, had in it a new +quality which awed and impressed the hearer. "Listen!--there is not one +single minute to spare. If there was a train at half-past three, I +should catch that, box or no box, for father is dying, Aunt Margaret--he +would not have let me be summoned like this for any passing ailment. +Nothing in all the world would make me wait here until to-morrow, so +please, dear, do not hinder me now. I know it is impossible for you to +come with me, but I will telegraph the moment I arrive, and if--if there +is still time, you can follow then." + +"But you can't travel alone! Edward would not like it. He is so +particular. How can you manage about the trains?" + +"Listen! I have thought of that too. Put on your bonnet and go to the +telephone office at the corner. Ask the people at the agency if they +can possibly send a lady courier to meet me at the train at Charing +Cross. If they can, very well! If they can't, I am twenty-two, and can +speak French easily, and am not afraid of travelling by myself. I will +telegraph to Cook's agent to meet me in Paris, if it will make you any +happier, but I am going, auntie dear, and I have not a moment to spare. +I will get dressed now, and the cab must be here in half an hour." + +Miss Munns turned without a word, and left the room. She had the sense +to know when she was beaten, and, having once faced the situation, set +to work in her usual business-like fashion, and proved the most capable +of helpers. Having been successful in arranging for a lady courier +through the convenient medium of the telephone, she returned home to +write labels, fasten together cloaks and umbrellas, and order a hasty +but tempting little meal for the refreshment of the traveller. This +accomplished, she returned once more to the bedroom, where Sylvia was +putting the last touches to her packing. + +"Nearly finished? That's right, my dear. You have eight minutes still, +and tea is waiting for you downstairs. Don't trouble to tidy the room, +I'll attend to that after you have gone. All these things on the bed-- +they had better be packed away in the attics, I suppose. It's a pity +they were ever bought, as things have turned out. You may never need +them now." + +"No, I may never need them now!" said Sylvia steadily. "In one minute, +aunt, just one minute. You go down and pour out my tea, and I'll follow +immediately. I've just one thing more I want to do." + +"Don't dawdle, then--don't dawdle! Mary will fasten the straps--don't +wait for that." + +Miss Munns departed, unwillingly enough, and Sylvia shut the door after +her, and gave a swift step back towards the bed. The satin dress, and +the fan, and the gloves, and the jaunty little shoes lay there looking +precisely the same as they had done an hour ago--the only difference was +in the eyes which beheld them. + +Sylvia had read of a bride who was buried in her wedding dress, and she +felt at this moment as if she were leaving her own girlhood behind, with +that mass of dainty white finery. What lay in the future she could not +tell; only one thing seemed certain, that those few words on the slip of +brown paper had made a great chasm of separation between it and the +past. The opportunity for which she had longed was not to be hers; she +must leave England without so much as a word of farewell to the friends +who of late had filled such a large part of her life. + +If her plans had been frustrated by one of the annoying little +_contretemps_ of daily life, Sylvia would have exhausted herself in +lamentations and repinings, but she was dumb before this great +catastrophe, which came so obviously from a higher Hand. When her +father lay dying, there was no regret in her heart for a lost amusement, +but this hurried departure might mean more--much more than the +forfeiture of Esmeralda's hospitality. She stretched out her hand, and +smoothed the satin folds with a very tender touch. + +"Good-bye!" she whispered softly, in the silence of the room. "Good- +bye, Jack!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +TOO LATE. + +Sylvia's journey was quiet and uneventful, and her companion was +tactfully silent, leaving her at peace to think her own thoughts. As +time passed by, the natural hopefulness of youth reasserted itself, and +she began to think that she had been too hasty in taking it for granted +that her father was hopelessly ill. + +After all he had not despatched the telegram; it had been signed by his +friends, the Nisbets, who, no doubt, were unwilling to accept a position +of responsibility. When she arrived she would nurse him so devotedly, +would surround him with such an atmosphere of love and care, that he +could not help recovering and growing strong once more. He would be +longing to see her, poor dear old dad, working himself into an invalid's +nervous dread lest they might never meet again, as she herself had done +a few months earlier, and the sight of his child would be his best +medicine. + +They left the train and took their places in the boat. It was a +cloudless summer afternoon, and the white cliffs stood out in striking +contrast to the blue sky and sea. What a change from the big grey city +which even now was beginning to grow close and dusty, what a glorious +open prospect for one who had been shut up for months in the confines of +a narrow street, and yet Rutland Road had been far more beautiful to one +voyager at least, for at that moment, exactly at that moment, as timed +by the little watch at her wrist, Jack O'Shaughnessy would have turned +the corner of the main road to saunter towards his own home. + +Jack always sauntered, with the air of a gentleman at large who had +never known the necessity of hurry. Sylvia had watched him many times +from the shelter of her window curtains, and knew exactly how he would +carry his head, and twirl his stick, and glance rapidly across the road +as he unlatched the gate. Pixie would open the door and breathlessly +unfold the news with which she had by this time been made acquainted, +and how would Jack look then? Would the smile fade away, would he feel +as if all zest and interest had departed from the evening entertainment, +or would he make the best of things in happy O'Shaughnessy fashion and +console himself in Mollie's smiles? + +The breeze grew fresher and more chill, and the stars began to peep; the +travellers had reached the shores of France; and far-away in London +Esmeralda's guests were beginning to arrive, the carriages were jostling +one another in the narrow street. Then came Paris, and a space for rest +and refreshment before starting on the next stage of the journey. + +Sylvia had hoped that a telegram might be waiting for her at this point, +but none was forthcoming, and its absence was a bitter disappointment +despite the old adage that no news is good news. She sat in the big +deserted buffet, drinking bouillon and eating poulet and salad; and +catching sight of her own pallid reflection in one of the mirrors, +smiled feebly at the contrast between the present and the "might have +been"! This white-faced, weary-looking girl was surely not the Sylvia +Trevor whose day-dreams had woven such golden things about this very +hour. + +The lady courier engaged a sleeping compartment for the first stage of +the long journey to Marseilles, but though it was a comfort to lie down +and stretch her weary limbs, there was little sleep for Sylvia that +night. She was up and gazing out of the window by six o'clock in the +morning, and the day seemed endless despite the interest of the scenes +through which she passed. "Through thy cornfields green, and sunny +vines, O pleasant land of France." + +The lines which she had read in her youth came back to memory as the +train crossed the broad waters of the Loire and sped through valleys of +grapes and olives, surrounded by hills of smiling green. The sun was +hot in these southern plains, and the dust blew in clouds through the +windows; it was a relief when evening fell again, and brought the end of +the long journey. + +Sylvia stepped on to the platform and looked around with eager gaze. +Although she had never met her father's friends, she knew their +appearance sufficiently well from photographs and descriptions to be +able to distinguish them from strangers, but nowhere could she see +either husband or wife. It was unkind to leave her unwelcomed and with +no word to allay her anxiety, and she had hard work to keep back her +tears as her companion ran about collecting the scattered pieces of +luggage. + +She was so tired mentally and physically that this last disappointment +was too much for her endurance, and she thanked God that in a few +minutes the strain would be over, and she would be seated by her +father's side. They drove along the quaint, foreign streets, and +presently arrived at the hotel itself, a large building set back in a +courtyard in which visitors sat before little tables, smoking and +drinking their after-dinner coffee. + +They looked up curiously as Sylvia passed, but no one came forward to +meet her, and the waiter gesticulated dumbly in answer to her +questionings, and led the way upstairs without vouchsafing a word in +reply. It was humiliating to think that her accent had so degenerated +as to be unrecognisable in his ears, but there was no other explanation, +and it was at least evident that she was expected, since he seemed in no +doubt as to where to conduct her first. He turned down a corridor to +the right, stopped at the second door, and threw it open, and Sylvia saw +with surprise that it was not a bedroom, but a sitting-room, in which a +lady and a gentleman were already seated. + +The gentleman leapt to his feet, wheeled round and stood with his face +to the window; the lady shrank back into her chair, then suddenly jumped +up and ran forward with outstretched hands. It was Mrs Nisbet, though +looking older and more worn than Sylvia had expected to see her, and +nothing could have been kinder or more affectionate than her greeting. + +"My dear child--my poor dear child, how tired you must be! You have had +an awful journey. Come in, dear, and rest a few minutes while I will +make some tea for you. English people always like tea, don't they? And +I will make it myself, so that it shall be good. Come, dear, sit down! +Let me take off your hat." + +She stroked the girl's cheek with her hand--such a hot, trembling hand-- +and there was an odd, excited thrill in her voice which filled Sylvia +with a vague alarm. She stepped back a step, and drew herself up +straight and determined. + +"Thank you very much, but I don't want any tea. I want to go at once to +father. It has been such a long, long journey. I mustn't waste any +more time!" + +"No, no, but you are not ready just this moment. You must have +something to strengthen you first. If you won't wait for tea, here is +some wine. Drink a glass, dear, do. To please me!" + +Sylvia stared at her fixedly, and from her to that other figure which +stood motionless by the window without so much as a glance for his +friend's child. A cold fear seized her in its grip, the room swam +before her eyes, and out of the confusion she heard a weak voice saying +brokenly, "Tell me quickly, please! It won't help me to drink wine. +Father--" + +Mrs Nisbet burst into a passion of tears, and clasped the girl tightly +in her arms. + +"You are too late, dear. An hour too late! We did everything we could. +He left you his last love and blessing." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It was all over. The two long days of waiting, the last glimpse of +dad's still face, the funeral in the foreign cemetery, and Sylvia sat +alone in the hotel sitting-room, striving to recover sufficiently from +the shock to decide on the next step which lay before her. + +In the crushing weight of the new sorrow it seemed as if it were +impossible to go on living at all, yet it was absolutely necessary to +make her plans, for she could not be an indefinite burden on her +father's friends. They had come home to enjoy a hard-earned rest, and +as the holiday had begun so sadly there was all the more reason why the +remainder should be passed under cheerful conditions. Mr and Mrs +Nisbet had pressed the girl to spend the next few months travelling in +their company, but Sylvia was resolute in her refusal. + +"I should be a constant care to you, and a constant kill-joy, and that +would be a poor return for all you have done for me," she said sadly. +"It will comfort me all my life to remember that you were with dad +during those last dreadful days, and some day I should like very much to +visit you when I can be a pleasure instead of a burden. It does not +seem now as if I could ever be happy again, but I suppose it will come +in time." + +"It will, if you trust in God and ask Him to help you. He sends +troubles to teach us lessons, dear, and to draw our thoughts to Him, but +never, never to make us miserable," said Mrs Nisbet softly. "You did +not feel that you had lost your father when he was far-off in India, and +he is a great deal nearer to you now in the spirit world. Never think +of him as in the grave, think of him in heaven, and it will grow dear +and home-like to you just because he is there. It would have grieved +him to the heart to see your young life clouded, so you must try to be +happy for his sake. I don't mean by that that you can be lively, or +care for the old amusements; that can only come with time; but +unhappiness comes from rebellion against God's will, and if you submit +to that and leave your life in His hands, you will find that all the +sting has gone out of your trouble." + +The slow tears rose and stood in Sylvia's eyes. + +"Thank you!" she said meekly. "I will try, but it's hard to be resigned +when one is young, and all one's life seems shattered. I don't know +what to do next. Every arrangement so far has been made, `till dad +comes home,' and now that hope has gone, and what am I to do? I have no +home, and no work, and nobody needs me. Aunt Margaret would take me in, +of course, but she would not like it as a permanency any more than I +should myself. She has her own way, and I have mine, and we did not +agree very well. She was very kind when she thought I was going away, +but at the bottom of her heart she was glad. She doesn't need me, you +see! I don't help her at all." + +"But you could _make_ her need you! You could help her if you went back +determined to make it your work in life!" + +Mrs Nisbet took the girl's hand in hers and pressed it gently, and +Sylvia looked into her face with miserable, honest eyes. + +"Yes--I could! I could shut my lips up tight and never answer back, and +look interested when I was bored, and go little walks up and down the +terrace, and play cribbage when I wanted to read, and read aloud dull +books when I wanted to read lively ones to myself, and pretend to like +what I really hate and detest." + +"Poor lassie! It does sound dull. I'll tell you a secret, though. It +would not be pretence very long, for it is one of the blessed +recompenses in life that if we conquer self, and perform a duty whole- +heartedly and cheerfully, it is distasteful no longer, but becomes more +interesting than we could have believed possible in the old rebellious +days." + +"Does it? But I don't think I quite want to be satisfied with that kind +of life," Sylvia said slowly. "I don't wish to seem disrespectful, but +really and truly Aunt Margaret's ideas are terribly narrow and old- +fashioned, and I shouldn't like it a bit if I were like her when I was +old. I have managed pretty well so far, for I had nice friends, and was +always looking forward to the time when I should have my own home, but +don't you understand how different it is now, and how dreary it seems to +settle down to it as a permanency?" She looked up wistfully in Mrs +Nisbet's face, and met a smile of kindest understanding. + +"But there is no necessity to grieve over the future, child! At your +age arrangements are rarely `permanent,' and you are concerned only with +the next step. It seems for the moment as if it were the right course +to return to London, so try to look upon the situation from a new +standpoint, and face it bravely. Forget your aunt's shortcomings, and +remember only that she is your father's only remaining relative, the +playmate and companion of his youth, and that you are connected by a +common sorrow and a common loss. Set yourself to brighten her life, and +to fill it with wider interests; forget yourself, in short, and think +about other people. When you have learned that lesson, dear, you will +have solved the great secret of life, and found the key to happiness and +peace of mind." + +"Yes," sighed Sylvia faintly. It sounded very sweet and very beautiful, +but, oh, so terribly difficult to accomplish! If it had been a big +thing, on great, heroic sacrifice which she was called upon to make, she +could have braced herself to the effort, and have borne it with courage, +but the little daily pin-pricks, the chafings of temper, the weariness +of uncongenial companionship--these were the hardest test, the most +cruel tax upon endurance. + +Day after day, week after week, month after month, the same uneventful, +monotonous existence--and suppose for one moment that Jack married +Mollie Burrell, and Bridgie returned to her Irish home! Sylvia shivered +and shut her eyes as at an unbearable prospect, and Mrs Nisbet's voice +said softly in her ear-- + +"`I do not ask to see the distant scene. One step enough for me!' Take +each day as it comes, dear, and try to live it bravely without thinking +of to-morrow. We will travel with you as far as Paris, and have a few +days together before you go on to London. I wish you would have stayed +with us longer, but perhaps it will be better for us all to be apart for +a time, and meet again later on. We shall be in London in autumn, and +one of my first visits will be to you. Your father has been like a +brother to my husband for years past, and we shall always feel a very +close interest in your welfare. + +"By the way, dear, how are you off for money? Would it be a convenience +if I lent you some to pay for mourning and the return journey? You came +away expecting to be responsible for a few days only, and, as you know, +when a man dies it is not possible to touch his money until certain +legal formalities have been observed. We should be only too delighted +to act as your bankers until matters are settled." + +"Thank you very much, but I think I shall have enough. I drew out what +money was in the bank before leaving home, and I would rather not get +into debt until I know exactly how I am placed. There may be very +little left. Father always spoke as if he were poor." + +"He told you nothing about his affairs, then? You know nothing about +them?" + +Mrs Nisbet looked at her curiously as she spoke, and Sylvia's heart +gave a throb of fear. She knew something; there was evidently some +secret with which she herself was unacquainted, and in her present +depressed condition of mind and body it was only natural that she should +leap to the conclusion that the news must be bad, and, ostrich-like, +tried to hide her head in the sand. + +"He told me there had been some changes lately, which I should not +understand. His lawyers will write to me some time, I suppose, but I +don't want to think about money yet. I have sufficient for the next few +months, for I shall go nowhere, and need no more clothes." + +"Yes, yes, dear! It's all right. You will get along nicely, I'm sure," +said the other soothingly, and Sylvia felt another thrill of foreboding. + +"Get along nicely!" Did that mean that she would have to earn her own +living? She dared not inquire further, shrinking from the possibility +of another blow, but it was impossible to keep from wondering what she +should do if indeed there was no provision for her support. + +Pixie's adventures in search of employment had proved how difficult it +was for an inexperienced girl to escape becoming the prey of fraudulent +advertisements, and it was humiliating to reflect on her own incapacity. +What could she do that a thousand other girls could not accomplish +equally well? She could play fairly well, sing fairly well, paint +fairly well, trim a hat so that it did not look obviously home-made, +make a trifle or creams, though she was densely ignorant about boiling a +potato. She possessed, in fact, a smattering of many things, but had +not really mastered one which, if needs be, would be a staff through +life. + +A hundred poor girls find themselves in this position every year, yet +their short-sighted sisters continue to fritter away their time, +oblivious of the fact that to them also may come the rainy day when they +must face the world alone. Learn to do one thing _well_, compare your +productions, whatever they may be, not with those of other amateurs, but +with perfected professional specimens, and do not be content until your +own reach the same standard. This is a golden rule, which every girl +ought to take to heart. + +During the ten days which elapsed before Sylvia's return to London, she +was haunted by the fear of monetary troubles which would make her either +dependent on her own efforts, or a burden upon her aunt's narrow income, +but neither Mrs Nisbet nor her husband referred again to the subject, +and some time must still elapse before she could hear from her father's +lawyer in Colombo. + +The week in Paris passed away quietly, but more pleasantly than she +could have believed possible under the circumstances; for nothing could +have been kinder or more considerate than the way in which she was +treated by her father's friends, while the brilliant sunshine acted as a +tonic to the spirits. Every day they went long drives in the Bois, or +took the train to Versailles, and spent long quiet hours in the woods, +and Sylvia even found herself able to enjoy a visit to one of the huge +Magasins, where Mrs Nisbet invested in quite a collection of presents +to send home to English friends. Sylvia was tempted to buy some on her +own account, and it was a new and depressing experience to feel that she +must not spend an unnecessary penny. Her little hoard was diminishing +rapidly, and she was growing more and more anxious to be safest home, +and free from at least immediate anxiety. + +There was no lady courier to accompany her on this journey, for the days +of independence had begun, and she preferred to be alone to wrestle with +her forebodings, and try to bring herself into a fitting frame of mind +for that trying return to the old scenes. + +The parting from the Nisbets was like saying good-bye once more to the +dear dad, and she felt hopelessly adrift without their wise and tender +counsels, and the feeling of loneliness grew ever deeper and deeper as +she approached the English shores. + +The great shock through which she had passed had loosened all the ties +in life, and made the friends of a few weeks ago seem but the merest of +acquaintances. Bridgie had written the sweetest of sympathetic letters, +but sorry though she might be, the force of circumstances kept the two +girls so far apart, that what had been the saddest time in her friend's +life had seen the climax of her own gaiety. She had been dancing, and +singing, and pleasure making while Sylvia shed the bitter tears of +bereavement, and in a few weeks more she would be spirited off in +Esmeralda's train to another scene of gaiety. The O'Shaughnessys were +by nature so light of heart that they might not care to welcome among +them a black-robed figure of grief! + +Sylvia felt as though the whole wide world yawned between her and the +old interests, and did not yet realise that this feeling of aloofness +from the world and its interests is one of the invariable accompaniments +of grief. She was young and not given to serious reflection, and she +knew only that she was tired and miserable, that the white cliffs about +which she had been accustomed to speak with patriotic fervour, looked +bleak and cheerless in the light of a wet and chilly evening. + +June though it was, she was glad to wrap herself in her cloak, and pull +her umbrella over her head as she passed down the gangway on to the +stage. In Paris it had been a glorious summer day, and the change to +wet and gloom seemed typical of the home-coming before her. The cloaked +and mackintoshed figures on the stage seemed all black, all the same. +She would not look at them lest their presence should make her realise +more keenly her own loneliness; but someone came up beside her as she +struggled through the crowd, and forcibly lifted the bag from her hand. +She turned in alarm and saw a man's tall figure, lifted her eyes, and +felt her troubles and anxieties drop from her like a cloak. + +It was Jack O'Shaughnessy himself! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +A COMFORTER. + +Think of it! Think of it! The grey, inhospitable skies, the rain-swept +stage, the feeling of hopeless loneliness, as one traveller after +another was greeted with loving exclamations, and borne away by friendly +watchers; and then suddenly to feel your hand grasped, and laid tenderly +on a protecting arm, and to see, looking into your own, the face of all +others which you would have wished for, had the choice been given! To +feel no longer a helpless unit, belonging to no one, and having no +corner of the earth to call your own, but to know that someone had +watched for your arrival, and to read how you had been missed, in the +flash of eloquent eyes. + +"Oh, Jack!" cried Sylvia involuntarily; "oh, Jack!" and clung to his arm +with a sob of pure joy and thanksgiving. "Oh, I'm so glad! I was so +lonely. How did you--whatever made you come?" + +"A great many reasons, but principally because I couldn't stay away!" +replied Jack, not smiling as was his wont, but looking down upon her +with an intent scrutiny, which aroused Sylvia's curiosity. She did not +realise how changed she was by the experience of the last few weeks, or +what a pathetic little face it was which looked up at him between the +dead black of hat and cape. + +The brown eyes looked bigger than ever, the delicate aquiline of the +features showed all the more distinctly for their sharpened pallor, and +Jack looked down at her through the mist, and thanked God for the health +and strength which made him a fitting protector for her weakness. The +sound of that involuntary "Oh, Jack!" rang sweetly in his ears, and gave +a greater confidence to his manner, as he steered her through the crowd. + +"Miss Munns told us when you were expected, and we talked of meeting you +at the station, but I decided that I had better stay away; then I wrote +a letter to welcome you, and tore it up; then for no purpose at all I +began looking at Bradshaw, and it seemed there was a train which I could +catch. And it rained! It's dismal arriving in the rain. Next thing I +knew I was in the station, and the train started when I was sitting +inside, and--here I am!" + +Sylvia laughed softly, it was such an age since she had laughed, and it +was such a happy, contented little sound that she was quite startled +thereat. The custom-house officials were going through the farce of +examining the luggage, and while the rest of the passengers groaned and +lamented at the delay, Jack and his companion stood together in the +background, blissfully unconscious of time and damp. + +"Are you glad to see me, Sylvia?" he asked, for the joy of hearing her +say in words what voice and eyes had already proclaimed; and she waved +her hand round the bleak landscape, and said tersely-- + +"Look! It felt like that; black and empty, and heart-breaking, and all +the others seemed to have friends--everyone but me. I think I was never +so glad before. I shall bless you for coming all my life!" + +Jack laughed softly, and pressed her hand against his arm. "Poor little +girl! I knew just how you would be feeling; that's why I came. +Wouldn't you have come to meet me, if you had been the man and I the +girl?" + +"Yes, to the ends of the earth!" Sylvia replied, but not with her lips, +for there are some things which a self-respecting girl may not say, +however much she may feel them. Instead she murmured a few non- +committal phrases, and gave the conversation a less personal tone, by +inquiring after the various friends at home--Miss Munns, Bridgie, Pixie +and the boys, and Jack answered in his usual breezy fashion, relating +little incidents which made Sylvia smile with the old happy sense of +friendship, repeating loving speeches, which brought the grateful tears +to her eyes. The world was not empty after all, while she possessed +such faithful, loving friends. + +When the luggage had passed the inspection of the custom-house and +received the magic mark in chalk, Jack led the way down the platform, +before which the train was already drawn up, and passed by one carriage +after another, until at last an empty compartment was discovered, of +which he immediately took possession. + +"Now we can talk!" he said, and sat himself down opposite Sylvia, +looking at her with compassionate eyes. + +"I have gone through it myself," he said. "Tell me all you can." + +And as the train steamed onward, Sylvia told the story of the past +weeks, told it quietly, and without breakdown, though the dark eyes grew +moist, and tears trembled on the lashes which looked so long and black +against the white cheeks. It was a comfort to tell it all to one who +understood, and was full of sympathy and kindness, and strange though it +might seem, separation, instead of widening the distance between Jack +and herself, had only drawn them more closely together. + +The old formalities of intercourse had dropped like a cloak at the first +moment of meeting; they were no longer Miss and Mr, but "Jack" and +"Sylvia"; no longer acquaintances, but dear and intimate friends. + +"Miss Munns has been terribly distressed," Jack said, when at last the +sad recital came to an end. "She loved your father more than anyone in +the world, and you come next as his child. Poor old lady! it was quite +pathetic to see her efforts to make your home-coming as cheerful as +possible. Bridgie says she has put up clean curtains all over the +house, and discussed the menu for supper for the last week. It's her +way of showing sympathy, the creature! and you understand better than +myself all that it means. Different people have different ways, haven't +they, Sylvia? _I_ came to Dover!" + +"Yes!" assented Sylvia, with a flickering smile. "You came to Dover, +and Aunt Margaret put up clean curtains, and ordered a roast fowl for +supper--I know it will be a roast fowl!--and if you had not warned me in +time, I should probably have said I could not eat anything, and gone to +bed supperless, without even noticing the curtains. I am afraid I have +been horrid to the poor old soul in that sort of way many times in the +last two years. It is good of her to take such trouble, because, +honestly speaking, she won't be any more pleased to have me back as a +permanency than I am to come. We have mutually comforted ourselves with +the reflection that it was `only for a time,' but now it is different. +I want to be good--I have made, oh! such a crowd of good resolutions, +but I don't know how long they will last!" + +Jack looked down at his boots, and drew his brows together thoughtfully. + +"You--er--it's too early, I suppose, to have made any plans for the +future. You hardly know what you will do?" + +"No: my natural home is, of course, with Aunt Margaret as father's +sister, but there are other considerations." Sylvia hesitated a moment, +then added impetuously--it seemed so natural to confide in Jack!--"About +money, I mean. I don't know what I have, or if I have anything at all. +Father always said he was poor, though he seemed to have enough for what +he wanted, and to give me all I asked. Perhaps he made enough to keep +us, but had nothing to leave behind. Mrs Nisbet just referred to the +subject one evening, and I could see from her manner that there was +something I did not know, so I turned the conversation at once. I had +had so much trouble that I felt as if I simply could not bear any more +bad news just then, and would rather remain in ignorance as long as +possible. It was weak, perhaps, but--can't you understand the feeling?" + +"Me name's O'Shaughnessy!" said Jack simply. "We never face a +disagreeable fact until it comes so close that we hit ourselves against +it. I'm sorry; but don't worry more than you can help. I've been short +of money all my life, but I don't know anyone who has had a better time. +So long as you have youth and health, what does it matter whether you +are rich or poor? It's all in the way you look at things. For useful +purposes, most people can make their money go farther than mine, but for +sheer fun and enjoyment I'll back my half-crown against another fellow's +sovereign!" + +"Ah, but you're Irish! You have the happy temperament which can throw +off troubles and forget all about them for the time being. They sit +right down upon my shoulders--little black imps of care, and anxiety, +and quaking fears, and press so heavily that I can remember nothing +else. Perhaps I could be philosophical too, if I were one of a big, +happy family--but when one is all alone--" + +"All alone--when I'm here! How can you be all alone, when there are two +of ye!" cried Jack impulsively. + +He had resolved, not once, but a hundred times over, that he would speak +no words but those of friendship; that no temptation, however strong, +should make him break his vow of silence; but some impulses seem +independent of thought. He did not know what he was going to do, he was +conscious of no mental prompting, but one moment he was quietly sitting +in his corner opposite Sylvia, and the next he was seated beside her, +with both arms wrapped tightly round her trembling figure, and she was +shedding tears of mingled sorrow and happiness upon his shoulder. + +"I've been in love with you ever since the first evening you came to our +house. Before that! Ever since I saw you sitting up at your window in +your little red jacket. You knew it, didn't you? You found that out +for yourself?" + +"No--Yes! Sometimes. Only I thought--I was afraid it couldn't be true, +and there was--Mollie!" faltered Sylvia incoherently, hardly knowing +what she was saying, conscious of nothing but an overwhelming sense of +content and well-being, as the strong arm supported her tired back, and +the big, tender finger wiped away her tears. + +Jack laughed at the suggestion, but did not indulge in the depreciatory +remarks concerning Miss Burrell which many men would have used under the +circumstances. + +"Good old Mollie!" he said. "She's a broth of a girl, but I would as +soon think of marrying Bridgie herself. She was my confidante, bless +her, and cheered me up when I was down on my luck. You might have +noticed how interested she was in you that night at Esmeralda's crush!" + +At that Sylvia opened her eyes wide, with a sudden unpleasant +recollection. + +"What will Esmeralda think? Oh, Jack, what will she say?" + +"Plenty, my dear! You may be sure of that," replied Jack, laughing; +then he, too, gave a little start of surprise, and, straightening +himself, held Sylvia from him at the length of his strong young arms. +"I say--what's this? You little witch, what have you done to me? I had +made a solemn vow not to speak a word of love-making, and it seems to me +I have broken it pretty successfully. Have I been making love to you, +Sylvia--have I?" + +It was a very charming little face that laughed back at him, pale no +longer, but flushed to a delicate pink, the dark eyes a-sparkle with +happiness, and a tinge of the old mischievous spirit. + +"Yes, you have! Do you want to draw back?" + +Jack's answer was wordless but convincing, but the next moment he +sobered, and said in that charming way of his, which was at once so +manly and so boyish, "But I didn't want to bind you, I spoke only for +myself. I am your property, darling, and your slave to command, but I +can't ask you to marry me yet awhile, for I've the children on my hands, +and until they are settled I can't think of myself. I am the head of +the house, and must do what I can for them, poor creatures. + +"Pat will be off to the Agricultural College next term, and then back to +Ireland to do agent's work; Miles is doing well in the city, but can't +keep himself for several years to come; and then there are the girls. I +had no right to speak as I did; it wasn't fair to you. I won't bind you +down to a long, uncertain engagement. You must feel yourself free, +perfectly free." + +"I don't want to be free! I like to be bound--to you, Jack!" Sylvia +said firmly. "I'm so thankful that you did speak, for it makes just all +the difference in my life. I am young, and can wait quite happily and +contentedly, so long as I know that you care, and can look forward--" + +Sylvia stopped short, awed at the prospect of happiness which had +suddenly opened before her, and Jack was silent too, holding her hand in +a close pressure. His face was very tender, but troubled through all +its tenderness, and when he spoke again, it was in very anxious accents. + +"But are you contented to leave it a secret, darling, a secret between +you and me? You see, if Bridgie knew we were waiting, she'd know no +peace, feeling that she was in our way, and the young ones would get the +same fancy, and be wanting to turn out before they were ready. They +have no one but me, and I couldn't have them feeling upset in their own +home. That was why I determined to keep silent, and it's bad of me to +have broken my vow, but it's your own fault, darling! I couldn't be +with you again, and keep quiet. Do you care for me enough to wait +perhaps for years before we can even be publicly engaged?" + +Sylvia smiled at him bravely, but her heart sank a little, poor girl, as +it was only natural it should do. A girl is by nature much quicker than +a man projecting herself into the future, and in realising all that is +involved. + +Jack was conscious only of a general regret that he could not claim his +bride before the world, but Sylvia saw in a flash the impossibility of +frequent meetings, the minute chance of _tete-a-tetes_, the quicksands +in the shape of misunderstandings, which must needs attend so unnatural +a position. On the other hand, she honoured Jack the more for his +loyalty to his home duties, and agreed with the wisdom of his decision. + +"Yes, Jack, I do. I'd like to wait. I love Bridgie with all my heart, +and could not bear her to suffer through me. It shall be exactly as you +think best for them in every way." + +Jack bent and kissed her, even more tenderly than before. + +"My little helpmeet!" he said, and Sylvia found her best reward in the +sound of that word, and the knowledge that she was strengthening him in +the right path. Surely it was the best guarantee for the happiness of +their new relationship, that it was inaugurated in a spirit of self- +sacrifice and care for others. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +REMINISCENCES. + +Bridgie was not waiting at the station. "She heard me saying that I +might be here myself, and maybe remembered that two are company," said +Jack, with a laugh. + +But when Rutland Road was reached someone stood waiting to open the door +of the cab and welcome the wanderer in the sweetest tones of a sweet +contralto voice. She said only a few words, but with true Irish tact +chose just the ones which were most comforting under the circumstances. + +"Welcome back, dear. I've missed you badly. So have we all." Then she +looked at Jack, and smiled as if his presence were the most natural +thing in the world. "You have brought her home safely. That's right," +she said. It was one of Bridgie's most lovable qualities that she never +asked awkward questions, nor showed undue curiosity about the affairs of +others. + +Brother and sister said good-bye at the door, leaving aunt and niece +alone, and, as the door closed behind them, Sylvia felt a spasm of +loneliness and regret. It was hard to part from Jack with that formal +shake of the hand, to feel that days might elapse before they met again, +and, as she looked round the ugly little dining-room, she felt like a +prisoned bird which longs to break loose the bars and fly to its mate. + +It seemed impossible to settle down to the old monotonous life, and +yet--and yet--how much, much worse it might have been! How thankful she +ought to be! If one hope had been taken away, another had been granted +in its stead. The path ahead was still bright with promise, and a +sudden pity seized her for the woman whose youth was gone, and who had +lost the last tie to the past. She returned her aunt's kisses with +unusual affection, and roused herself to notice and show appreciation of +the efforts which had been made on her behalf. + +The table was laid with the best china, the red satin tea-cosy had been +brought from its hiding-place upstairs and divested of its muslin bag +and holland wrappings; the centre mat presented by Cousin Mary Ferguson +two Christmases ago was displayed for the first time; the serviettes +were folded into rakish imitations of cocked hats. + +It was half touching, half gruesome, to find the occasion turned into a +_fete_, but Sylvia was determined to be amiable, and said gratefully-- + +"How kind of you to have supper ready for me, Aunt Margaret! I could +not eat anything on the boat, but now I believe I am hungry. It all +looks very good. The chickens one gets in France are not the least like +the ones at home." + +"They don't know how to feed them, my dear. I am glad you have an +appetite. I always find that when I am in trouble nothing tempts me so +much as a cup of tea and a slice off the breast. Just take off your +hat, and sit down as you are. Everything is ready." + +Miss Munns was evidently gratified to receive an acknowledgment of her +efforts, and insisted upon waiting upon her niece and loading her plate +with one good thing after another; but after the meal was over there +followed a painful half-hour, when Sylvia had to submit to a searching +cross-questioning on the events of the past weeks. + +Unlike Bridgie, Miss Munns insisted upon detail--had a ghoulish +curiosity to know in exactly what words Mrs Nisbet had broken the sad +news, in exactly what words Sylvia had replied, in exactly what manner +the first black days had been spent. Her spectacles were dimmed with +tears as she listened to what the girl had to tell, and her thin lips +quivered with genuine grief; but she was still acutely interested to +hear of the number of carriages at the funeral, of the meals in the +hotel, and the purchase of Sylvia's mourning garments. + +"You must show them to me to-morrow. I expect they are very smart-- +coming from France. I always wear black, so there was not much to be +done. I had the black satin taken off my cashmere dress, and folds of +crape put in its place, and some dull trimming, instead of jet, on my +cape. I haven't decided about my bonnet. You must give me your advice. +Of course, I wish to do everything that is proper, but it's been an +expensive year." + +"Yes," assented Sylvia absently. She rose from her seat and, walking +across the room, leant her elbow on the mantelpiece. There was +something she wanted to say, and it was easier to say it with averted +face. "Aunt Margaret, I want to ask you a question. Please tell me the +truth. Shall I have any money? Was father able to provide for me? I +know you are not well off, and I could not bear to be a burden to you. +If I have no money of my own, I must try to earn some." + +"I should be telling you the truth, my dear, if I said that I knew less +about it than you do yourself. Your father was very close about +business matters--very close indeed. He was supposed to have a good +business a few years ago, and was always very handsome in his ways, but +he has grumbled a good deal of late, and I don't know how things will be +now he is gone. He had a lawsuit with an old partner in Ceylon, which +hung on a long time. I don't know if it is settled yet; and, if not, we +shall have to let it drop. You can always have a home with me; but +there will be nothing to spare for lawyers' expenses. Give me a bird in +the hand, as I said to your father the last time he was home. + +"If the worst comes to the worst, you can give some music lessons in the +neighbourhood. Mrs Burton was telling me on Monday that her little boy +has quite a taste--picks out all the barrel-organ tunes on the piano +with one finger. You might get him as a beginning." + +"Yes," assented Sylvia faintly; and to herself she cried, "Oh, Jack +dear--how good of you to love me! How good of you to give me something +to live for! How dreadful, dreadful, dreadful I should be feeling now +if you had not met me, and made the whole world different!" + +Miss Munns was watching her anxiously, fearing a burst of tears, and was +greatly relieved when she turned round and showed a composed and even +smiling face. "I'll find some work if it is necessary, auntie; and I'll +try to help you too. You have been very good to me, and I'm afraid I +have been rather horrid sometimes. I thought of it when I was away, and +determined to make a fresh start if you would forgive me this time. We +are the only two left, and we ought to love each other." + +"I am sure I am very much attached to you, my dear. I was saying so to +Miss O'Shaughnessy only to-day. I don't deny that your manner is rather +sharp at times, but there's nothing like trouble for taming the spirits. +I shouldn't wonder if we got along much more happily after this. Miss +Bridgie brought a little parcel for you--I mustn't forget that. It is +on that little table. She told me to give it to you at once." + +"What can it be, I wonder?--something I left over there by mistake, I +suppose," Sylvia said listlessly, as she unfolded the paper; but her +expression altered the next moment as she beheld a flat leather case, +inside which reposed a miniature painting of the same face which used to +smile upon her from her own chimney-piece. + +Surprise held her speechless, while a quick rush of tears testified more +eloquently than words to the faithfulness of the portrait. The painting +was exquisitely fine and soft, the setting the perfection of good taste +in its handsome severity. It seemed at the moment just the greatest +treasure which the world could offer. Who could have sent it? + +Sylvia reluctantly handed the case for Miss Munns's curious scrutiny, +the while she opened the note which had fallen from the paper. +Bridgie's handwriting confronted her; but she had hardly time to marvel +how so costly a gift could come from such an impecunious donor, before +surprise number two confronted her in the opening words. + +"Esmeralda told me to give you this miniature from myself, but I want +you to know that it is entirely her idea and present from the beginning. +As soon as she heard your sad news, she asked me to borrow the best +photograph of your father, to be copied by the same artist who painted +the Major for her. She has been to see how he was getting on almost +every day, till the poor man was thankful to finish it, just to be rid +of her, and here it is to welcome you, dear, and, we hope, to be a +comfort to you, all your life." + +"Esmeralda!" echoed Sylvia blankly. It seemed for a moment as if +Bridgie must be romancing, for the staid English mind refused to believe +that one who had at one time appeared actively antagonistic, and at the +best had shown nothing warmer than a lofty tolerance, should suddenly +become the most thoughtful and generous of friends. Yet there it was, +specified in black and white. Esmeralda had originated the kindly plan; +she had engaged no second-rate artist, but one to whom her own work had +been entrusted, and had given freely of what was even more value to her +than money, her time, in order that the gift should arrive at the right +moment. + +Sylvia flushed with a gratification which was twofold in its nature, for +here at last seemed an opening of drawing near in heart to that +beautiful, baffling personality, who was Jack's sister, and might some +day--oh, wonderful thought!--be her own also. It would be a triumph, +indeed, if in these days of waiting she could overcome the last +lingering prejudice, and feel that there would be no dissentient note +when at last the great secret was revealed. + +Aunt and niece hung together over the case with its precious contents, +the one exhausting herself in expressions of gratitude and appreciation, +the other equally delighted, but quite unable to resist looking the gift +horse in the mouth, and speculating in awed tones concerning the +enormous cost of ivory miniatures. That jarred, but on the whole the +evening passed more pleasantly than Sylvia could have believed possible, +the unexpected excitement breaking the thread of that painful cross- +examination, and carrying the old lady's thoughts back to the far-off +days when she and her brother had been sworn friends and playmates. + +"Tell me what you used to do, auntie! It must be so nice to have +someone to play with. Do tell me some of your escapades!" she pleaded +wistfully, and Miss Munns shook her head, and assumed a great air of +disapproval, though it was easy to see that she cherished a secret pride +in the remembrance of her own audacities. + +"I am afraid we were very naughty, thankless children. One day, I +remember, Teddy, as we used to call him, had been very rightly punished +for disobedience, and he confided in me that he intended to run away, +and go to sea, as a cabin-boy. We always did everything together in +those days, so of course nothing must suit me but I must go too. We got +up early the next morning, and ran out into the garden, where we were +allowed to play before breakfast, and then slipped out of the side door, +to walk to Portsmouth. + +"Portsmouth was eighteen miles away, and I was only six, and before we +had walked two miles, I was crying with fatigue and hunger. Teddy had +brought some bread-and-butter, so we sat under a hedge to eat it, and he +told me we must be very nearly there. Just then up came a tramp, and +stopped to ask why we were crying, and what we were doing out there in +the road at that hour in the morning. `We are going to Portsmouth to be +cabin-boys,' we told him, and I can remember to this day how he laughed. +`If you are going to be cabin-boys, you won't want those clothes,' he +said. `You had better take them off, and give them to me, to change for +proper sailor things.' + +"We thought that a splendid idea, so he took Teddy's suit, and my frock +and hat, and left us shivering under the hedge waiting his return. Of +course he never came, and an hour or two later, my father came driving +along to look for us, and we were taken home, and punished as we +deserved. That is to say, Teddy was whipped, and I was only put to bed, +for he insisted that the idea was his, and that he alone was to blame." + +"Nice little Teddy!" murmured Sylvia fondly, looking down at the +pictured face, which, despite grey hair and wrinkles, had still the +gallant air of the little boy who shielded his sister from blame. + +Having once started, Miss Munns told one story after another of her +childhood's days; of the lessons which brother and sister used to learn +together--a whole page of Mangnall's Questions at a time, and of the +dire and terrible conspiracy, by which they learnt alternate answers, +easily persuading the docile governess to take the right "turns." Thus +Teddy, when asked "What is starch?" could reply with prompt accuracy, +while remaining in dense ignorance of the date when printing was +introduced into England, concerning which his small sister was so well +informed. + +Sylvia was told of the books which were read and re-read, until the +pages came loose from their bindings; of the thrilling adventures of one +Masterman Ready, whose stockade, being besieged by savages, it became an +immediate necessity to guard the gate at the head of the nursery stairs, +and to hurl a succession of broken toys at the innocent nurse, as she +forced an entry; of a misguided and stubborn "Rosamond" who expended her +savings on a large purple vase from a chemist's window, and found to her +chagrin that when the water was poured away, it was only a plain glass +bottle; and of a certain "Leila," who sojourned on a desert island in +the utmost comfort and luxury, being possessed of a clever father who +found all that he needed on the trees in the forest. + +An hour later, when Sylvia went up to her room, it was impossible to +resist drawing aside the blind to look across the road, and in an +instant, another blind was pulled back, and a tall dark figure stood +clearly outlined against the lighted background. + +Sylvia understood that Jack had been watching for her advent, and felt +comforted by his presence, and all that was meant by that waving hand. +She wondered whether she had better write to Esmeralda, or try to see +her in person, but the question was decided by Pixie, who came over +early the next morning to announce Mrs Hilliard's arrival in the +afternoon. + +"She wants to see you, and say she's sorry," she explained, and when +Sylvia exhausted herself in expressions of gratitude and delight, "Oh, +Esmeralda would give you her skin if it would fit ye!" she said coolly. +"She's the kindest of us all when she isn't cross. Give her her way, +and you may have all the rest. I've known her raise the roof on us, and +appealing to every relation we owned, to get what she wanted, and then +wrap it up in brown paper that very day, and post it back where it came. +I'm glad ye like it so much. Now if I'd been clever, and bought some +more paints when those people wanted me, maybe I could have done it for +you meself." Her face grew suddenly grave and wistful. + +"When I got my telegram at school, the girls all brought me home +presents from the walk--pencil-boxes, and jujubes, and a little toy +rabbit that wagged its head. I don't know how it was, but they soothed +my feelings! I should have liked to buy you something, Sylvia, but I +don't get my wages till the end of the month, and then they are spent. +You'll excuse me, won't you, me dear, for you know I am sorry!" + +"My darling girl, I don't want presents! Come to see me as often as you +can, and go on being fond of me--that's all I want," cried Sylvia +warmly, and Pixie brightened once more. + +"There's no credit in that. It isn't as if you were nasty. I'll not be +able to call on ye as often as I'd like, for I'm off to the seaside. +Mrs Wallace has taken a house on the Thames, and her cousin is coming +home from the wars and a friend with him, and lots of ladies and +gentlemen all staying in the house to be entertained, so they want me to +go too. Of course!" + +"Of course," repeated Sylvia gravely. There was something so charming +in Pixie's simple assumption that everyone desired her company, that she +would not for the world have tried to destroy it. "I hope you will +enjoy yourself very much, dear, and come back with some colour in your +cheeks, though I am afraid that particular part of the `seaside' is not +very bracing. Tell Mrs Hilliard with my love that I shall be charmed +to see her this afternoon!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +ESMERALDA'S VISIT. + +Miss Munns was greatly excited to hear of the expected visit, and busied +herself taking the holland covers off the drawing-room chairs, and +displaying the best antimacassars in the most advantageous position. + +Sylvia longed to introduce a little disorder into the painful severity +of the room, but it would have distressed her aunt if she had moved a +chair out of the straight, or confiscated one of the books which were +ranged at equal distances round the rosewood table, and, as it was one +of her resolves not to interfere with domestic arrangements, she +shrugged her shoulders resignedly, and hoped that Esmeralda might be as +unnoticing of her surroundings as were her brothers and sisters. + +At four o'clock a carriage drove up to the door, and Esmeralda alighted, +clad from head to foot in black, as Sylvia noticed at the first quick +glance. She was waiting in the little drawing-room, and scarcely was +the door opened when the tall figure was at her side, and her hands were +crushed with affectionate fervour. She looked up, and was startled by +the beauty of the face above her, startled as even Esmeralda's brothers +and sisters were at times, when as now the grey eyes were misty with +tears, and the lips all sweet and tremulous. + +"If I'd known--if I'd had the slightest idea he was ill, I would rather +have killed myself than have behaved as I did! Oh, don't pretend you +didn't notice! I was hateful to you when you were ill, too, poor +creature, and my sister's guest. I told Geoff all about it. I hate +telling him when I do wrong, so I did it just as a penance, and he was +so vexed with me. Do you know why I spoke as I did? Did you guess the +reason?" + +Sylvia shrank into herself with an uneasy foreboding, for Esmeralda was +an impetuous creature, who might be expected to be as undisguised in her +penitence as in offence. + +"Oh, please don't say anything more about it!" she cried hurriedly. "It +was very trying for you finding me there when you came over for a visit. +I have forgotten all about it, if there is anything to forget; and now +there's this lovely miniature. How can I thank you?" + +"Oh, that is nothing--that's nothing!" cried Esmeralda, waving aside the +subject, and insisting upon a full confession of her fault. "I was +jealous of you--that is what it was--jealous because they all seemed so +fond of you, and I wanted their attention for myself. It was horribly +mean, because I have Geoff and the boy, and it is only natural that they +should want their own interests. + +"I daresay Pixie has told you how father spoiled me all my life, and +Bridgie gave way to me until it seemed natural to think first of myself. +But I don't now. I think of Geoffrey and the boy, and I'm trying to be +better for their sake. Geoff says he got me only just in time. He is +rather stern with me sometimes, do you know. He doesn't say much-- +perhaps I don't give him the chance--but his face sets, and his eyes are +so large and grave. I can't bear it when he looks at me like that, +because, as a rule, you know,"--she gave a soft, happy little laugh--"he +loves me so frightfully much, and we are so happy together. I ought to +want every girl to be as happy as I am, and I do--really I do. + +"In a month or two, when we are home at Knock, will you come and stay +with me, Sylvia, and learn to be fond of me too? I'm rather lonely over +there now that all the others have left, and I have not many girl- +friends. The one I cared for most will be engaged soon, I think, and +the man lives abroad, so she may be leaving the neighbourhood. It is +not settled yet, but I think Mrs Burrell will give in." + +She stared ostentatiously through the window, and Sylvia blushed, and +had some ado not to smile at this very transparent intimation of +hostility withdrawn. + +"Thank you so much! I'd love to come," she said simply; and then the +two girls talked quietly together for a few minutes before Miss Munns +came in and dispensed tea and reminiscences of all the grand people whom +she had ever met, with a view of impressing her visitor, who, of course, +was not impressed at all, but secretly amused, as listeners invariably +are under such circumstances. + +Esmeralda was just rising to leave when a loud rat-tat at the knocker +made Sylvia's heart leap in expectation; and the next moment Jack came +into the room in his most easy and assured manner. + +"I thought I would come across for my sister, and inquire how Miss +Trevor was after her journey," he announced; and once more Sylvia smiled +to herself as she noted how Esmeralda immediately plunged into animated +conversation with Miss Munns, to keep her attention engrossed at the +opposite end of the room. + +Jack O'Shaughnessy stood by the window, and looked down upon his little +love with tender, dissatisfied eyes. + +"I say," he said softly, "I can't stand this sort of thing! Two +minutes' talk, with two other people in the room. How much longer do +you suppose I can stand this?" + +"You have had only one day yet. It's too soon to complain. You may +have seven years!" retorted Sylvia saucily; but at the bottom of her +heart she was glad that he found it difficult to be patient. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +BY THE RIVER. + +Pixie went off in great spirits to join the Wallaces at the riverside +cottage which they had rented for the remainder of the summer. The heat +in town was already growing oppressive, and it was delightful to think +of being in the country again and running free over the dear green +fields. Esmeralda had presented her with quite a trousseau of summer +dresses, with a selection of hair-ribbons to match, at least an inch +wider than any which she had previously possessed, and she piled up her +pompadour higher than ever, and pulled out the bows to their farthest +extent in her anxiety to do justice to the occasion, and the importance +of her own position as the instructor of youth. + +A pony-cart was at the station to meet her, with Viva and Inda clinging +together on the front seat, ready to pour breathless confidences into +her ear the moment she appeared. They spoke with a curious mingling of +tongues, but had apparently no difficulty in understanding her when she +replied in rapid, colloquial French, so that it was evident that the +hours of play had not been wasted, but had the effect of successful +study. + +"Mamzelle! Mamzelle Paddy, we have boats in our house!" cried Viva +eagerly. "Three boats with cushions, and a punt, and one with a funnel +in the miggle. And Cousin Jim takes us out with the 'nother gentleman, +and we splash with our hands, and the lady was cross because of her +sash, and she dried it in the sun. And there's tea in the garden, and a +big steamer that makes waves, and muzzer says if we are very good you +will play with us at being gipsies under the wheel-barrow." + +"An' we got in a box, and the water went up, an' up, an' up, an' then it +went down, an' down, an' down, an' then we came home," contributed fat +little Inda in her deep, gurgling voice, and Pixie turned from one to +the other and cried, "Vraiment!" "Sans doute!" "Bravo!" and beamed in +delighted expectation. + +The house-party were assembled on the lawn drinking tea when the pony- +carriage turned in at the gate, and Pixie looked round with sparkling +eyes, quite dazzled by the beauty of the scene. The narrow road, +running at the back of the houses, had been dull and uninteresting, but +before many yards of the drive had been traversed, there came a view +over the wide sunlit river, and beyond it green meadows stretching away +as far as the eye could reach. + +The house was not a cottage after all, but quite a large, imposing- +looking house, and the lawn sloping to the river bank was smooth and +soft as velvet. Baskets of flowers hung from the verandah; picturesque +stumps of trees were hollowed out to receive pots of geraniums; a red +and white awning shaded the tea-table; and the wicker chairs were +plentifully supplied with scarlet cushions. It was Pixie's first peep +at the summer glories of the river, and she felt as if she had stepped +into fairyland itself. + +The little girls seized her hands and dragged her in triumph across the +lawn, and Mrs Wallace looked round, and said smilingly to her friends-- + +"Here's my French governess--the latest addition to the household. What +do you think of my choice?" + +"Governess! That girl! She looks a child herself. Edith, what +nonsense are you talking?" + +"Sense, my dear, I assure you. The wisest thing I ever did, as you will +see before many hours are past. We shall have some peace now that she +has arrived. Bon jour, Mamzelle. How I am happy to see thee again! +Thou are not fatigued--no? Seat thyself in this chair, and I will make +known to thee my friends." + +She spoke in French, and evidently wished her governess to appear as +French on this occasion at least; and Pixie rose to the occasion, +sweeping elaborate bows from side to side, unconsciously elevating her +shoulders, and waving expressive hands. She discoursed volubly about +her long and adventurous journey of three-quarters of an hour's +duration, and Mrs Wallace's guests looked on with smiling faces, +putting an occasional laborious question as she appeared to be reaching +the end of her story. + +There were several ladies, all young and pretty and beautifully dressed, +and three strange men, including Cousin Jim and his soldier friend from +India. Cousin Jim had bright, twinkling eyes, and looked full of life +and spirit; but his friend's brown face was lined and haggard, and his +smile was half-hearted, as if his thoughts were not in the present. + +Pixie noticed, however, that it was to his side that little Inda crept +for support, and that his disengaged hand softly stroked the child's +head from time to time, as if he found comfort in her presence. Such +good friends did they appear that after the meal was finished she +refused to be separated from him, and implored his company in the gipsy +tent in the paddock. Mrs Wallace protested, but the young fellow +declared that he enjoyed being victimised, and walked off with the +schoolroom party with the utmost good humour. + +"But I can't speak French, Viva," he explained--"not well enough to be +able to converse with Mademoiselle, at least! You must explain to her +that I am only a stupid Englishman, and ask her to excuse me. You can +translate that for me, I suppose?" + +"She's not French either; she's only pitending. She's only English the +same as me," protested Viva sturdily; and Pixie nodded at him with +complacent smiles. + +"But I've lived abroad; so I speak it to them for their good. You've +been away too, haven't you? I hope you enjoyed yourself?" + +He smiled, but it was rather a sad little smile, despite its amusement. +"I went for work, you know, not pleasure. We accomplished what there +was to do, which was satisfactory; but I can't honestly say I enjoyed +it." + +"I hate work!" agreed Pixie sympathetically. "We all do; it's in the +family. `Never do to-day what you can put off till to-morrow,' my +brother used to tell me, for you never know what may happen, and you may +get out of it altogether if you wait. But if we are obliged to do it, +we pretend we like it, for it's so dull to be unhappy. And if it was +horrid abroad, it makes it all the nicer to come back, doesn't it?" + +"Sometimes," he said shortly. + +They had reached the gipsy encampment by this time, and were +peremptorily commanded to sit down on a bench pending certain important +preparations under the wheel-barrow; so he took possession of one +corner, and Pixie took the other and stared at him with unabashed +scrutiny. He was unhappy, she decided, and that was enough to enlist +her whole-hearted sympathy; but besides being unhappy, he was very good +to look upon, with his bronzed skin, well-cut features, and soldierly +bearing. She admired him immensely; and the admiration was mutual, +though of a different nature. + +She was a quaint-looking little soul, the young fellow decided--plain- +looking, he had thought on first sight, but there was something oddly +attractive about the wide eyes and large curving lips; you wanted to +look at them once and yet again, and each time you looked the attraction +increased. What was it? Not beauty, not intellect, not wit--nothing, +it appeared, but a crystalline sincerity and sweetness of heart, which +exercised an irresistible claim on the affections. His face softened, +and he bent towards her with a kindly questioning. + +"How do you come to be governessing these children? You are so young +still--sixteen--seventeen, is it? You ought to be in the schoolroom +yourself!" + +"There was nothing else I could do, and I wanted to earn some money, +because we're poor. I'm small, but I've known a lot of trouble," +replied Pixie, with a complacent air which was distinctly trying to her +companion's composure. He stroked his moustache to hide the twitching +lips, and said solemnly-- + +"I'm sorry--very sorry to hear that! I hope, however, it is all in the +past. You look remarkably cheerful now." + +"That's because I'm helping; and we are such a nice family at home. If +you are with the people you like best, that makes you happy, doesn't it, +without thinking of anything else?" + +"Yes," he said shortly, and rose from his seat to walk across to where +the children were scrambling on the grass. They leapt on him, and hung +on his arms; and he played with them for five or ten minutes, then +produced a packet of chocolate from a pocket, and giving it to Pixie to +distribute, made his escape to the house. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +A CONFIDENCE. + +During the next few days the "Capting," as Viva called him, was +constantly deserting his companions to join himself to the schoolroom +party in their walks and games. + +As Pixie had suspected, his heart was sore, and the innocent affection +which the children lavished upon him made their society more congenial +than that of his own companions, who were enjoying their stay in the +country in merry, uproarious fashion. + +Viva and Inda were interesting and original children, while "Mamzelle +Paddy" was a house-party in herself--a delicious combination of +shrewdness and innocence. He had little chance of private conversation +with her, for the children were exacting in their demands; but their +intimacy rapidly increased, as was only natural under the circumstances. + +It was impossible to remain on formal terms with one who was united with +yourself to withstand an assault of wild savages, as portrayed by two +little girls with branches of bracken waving above their heads, and +geranium petals stuck in ferocious patterns about their cheeks; +impossible not to feel an affection for the tallest member of the +battalion which marched regularly every morning to the corner of the +paddock to be drilled by their commander, scarlet sashes crossed +sideways over holland dresses, and Panama hats fastened by immaculate +black chin-straps. + +In the afternoon, when the grown-up members of the household drove off +in state to attend garden parties at neighbouring mansions, the Captain +found it infinitely more enjoyable to punt slowly down the stream, +dreaming his own dreams, or listening with a smile while the older child +amused her juniors by quaint and adventurous stories. + +She was always happy, this little Mamzelle Paddy. Another girl of her +age might have felt lonely and diffident in this large, bustling +household, but she was sunshine personified--content to work, content to +play, content to go on an expedition, content to be left behind, having +no desires of her own, it would appear, excepting only this one--to +love, and be loved by those around. + +"Some day, Mamzelle," the Captain said, "I will take you and the +children a little jaunt on our own account. We will take a boat and go +up the river to a dear little spot which I know very well, and there we +will have tea and pretend to be Robinson Crusoes on a desert island. It +is an island, you know; and we will take a basket of provisions with us, +and boil our own kettle, and spread the tablecloth under the trees. +Robinson didn't have tablecloths, I believe; but we will improve on the +story, and go shopping in the village to see what we can buy." + +"Wants to go now!" Inda insisted; while Viva executed a war-dance of +triumph, and Pixie murmured deeply-- + +"I love picnics! We had a beauty once when I was young. 'Twas some +friends near by, and they asked me and Miles; and ye could smell the +cooking coming up the drive--all sorts of things cooked for days before, +and packed in hampers. We went there by train--to the place we were +going to, I mean--but by bad luck the hampers went somewhere else, +through leaving them on the platform without seeing them put in. Ye get +very hungry when you are enjoying yourself, and there was nothing to be +bought in the village but bread and spring-onions and herrings in +barrels. 'Twas a lucky accident, all the same, for we had the picnic, +and a party next day to eat up the food." + +"Well, we'll look after the hamper this time. We should not find even +the onions on our island," said the Captain, laughing. "We will ask +Mrs Wallace's permission when she comes home, and begin preparations +to-morrow morning if it is fine." + +Mrs Wallace protested that the children were being spoiled by so much +kindness, but was delighted to give her consent, and the next morning +was happily employed in packing the tea-basket, and purchasing +strawberries, cakes, and chocolates from the shops in the village. + +Several of the visitors pleaded to be allowed to join the party, and +tried to wheedle invitations from the children during the luncheon-hour, +to their own humiliation and defeat. + +"You would like to have me with you, wouldn't you, darling? You would +like to sit next to me in the boat?" pleaded one pretty young lady of +the chubby baby; but Inda wriggled away, and replied sturdily-- + +"Don't want you in the boat! Don't want nobody only the Capting and +Mamzelle. You go anuzzer picnic by yourself!" + +"You must forgive us, Miss Rose, but this is strictly a limited +expedition. We children want to be as mischievous as we like without +the controlling influence of grown-up people. No best frocks, please, +Mrs Wallace! Just holland pinafores that we can soil as much as we +like!" pleaded the Captain, feeling more than rewarded for his firmness +as he met the adoring glances of three pairs of innocent eyes. + +There was quite a little assembly by the boat-house to speed the +expedition on its way, and it is safe to say that no boat on the river +that afternoon carried a happier, more excited party. The Captain +rowed; Pixie sat in the stern and pulled the rudder-lines according to +instructions, with occasional lapses of memory when she mistook her +right hand for her left, and was surprised to find the boat going in an +opposite direction from what had been intended; the little girls sat on +either side, as yet too mindful of their promises of good behaviour even +to splash the water. They snored with excitement at the mystery of the +first lock, and wrapped their hands in their pinafores to keep them +safely out of the way, since the Captain said that it was impossible to +be too careful in such places. + +Along the banks were dotted beautiful houses set back in luxuriant +gardens; round the bend of the river stood a house-boat known by the +fascinating name of The Yellow Butterfly. The paint was white, but +everything else was a rich, glowing yellow--yellow plants and flowers in +baskets; yellow curtains to the windows; yellow cushions on the chairs; +actually--if you can believe it--a yellow parakeet in a golden cage on +the top deck. + +"I should like to live and _die_ in that house-boat!" cried Viva +rapturously. + +Presently came the sound of music from afar and a thud, thud, thud, +which foretold the advent of a steamer. Now there would be waves--real, +true, up-and-down waves, and you could pitend you were going to be +drowned, and the boat go upside down. What fun! What fun! The gurgles +of excitement, the clutchings of Mamzelle's skirts, the shrieks of +exultation as the happy moment drew near, were as charming to the +beholder as to the children themselves. + +In the sunny reaches of the river the boats carried Japanese umbrellas +which made charming touches of colour against the green. Under the +great trees more boats were moored in the shade, while their occupants +brought out the tea-baskets from beneath the seats. + +Viva and Inda regarded all such proceedings as deliberate offences +against their exclusive rights, and angrily pointed out the fact that +"other people" were having picnics too; but the Captain soothed them by +a promise that the island should be their private property, and that he +would fight to the death to keep off foreign invasions. Already this +land of promise was looming in the distance, and presently they were +rowing slowly round and round looking for a convenient place of landing, +tying the rope to the trunk of a willow whose branches dipped in the +stream, and stepping cautiously ashore. + +The children were wild with excitement, but the Captain claimed for +himself a quarter of an hour's rest and smoke before proceeding to the +difficult business of boiling the kettle; and the two little girls +scampered off to explore the island, promising faithfully to keep clear +of the banks. + +"Mamzelle shall stay and talk to me! It's my turn to be amused," he +said; but for once Pixie did not seem in a talkative mood, but leant +silently against the stump of a tree, staring around her with dreamy +eyes. + +The young fellow watched her curiously as he pulled his pipe out of his +pocket and prepared for the longed-for smoke. "What are you thinking +of, Mamzelle?" he asked; and Pixie looked round with a little start of +remembrance. + +"I don't know. Everything. Nothing in particular, only that it's so +warm and sunny and pretty; and you are so kind. I wasn't thinking +anything, only being happy." + +"`_Only_ being happy,' were you?" he repeated softly. "Does it seem so +easy, little Mamzelle? Some of the richest men in the world would give +all their money if you could teach them that little secret. `Only being +happy' is a very difficult thing to some of us as we grow older in this +world." + +Pixie looked at him with an anxious scrutiny. + +"But you were happy once, weren't you," she asked, "before you were +miserable? People have been kind to you too, and made you happy before +you began to be worried?" + +"I worried! I miserable! Mamzelle, what can you mean? I am out for a +picnic, with three charming ladies for my guests. How can I be anything +but proud and delighted?" + +He spoke with affected hilarity; but Pixie was not so easily convinced, +and shook her head incredulously as she replied-- + +"No--you are not happy, really--not through and through! Ye sigh in the +middle of laughing, and think of something else when you pretend to +listen. I've been in trouble meself. Once there was an awful time when +the girls sent me to Coventry for weeks on end, and there was a horrid +dull pain inside me, as if I'd swallowed up a lump of lead. Was someone +unkind to you too?" + +He laughed--a short, mirthless laugh--and pushed his hair from his brow. +It was a strange thing that he should dream of confiding his story to +this bit of a girl, yet never before had he known such an impulse to +speak. + +"No, Mademoiselle," he said,--"not unkind; it was not in her nature to +be that. The mistake was all on my side. I was a conceited coxcomb to +think that she could ever care for me; but I did think it, and went on +dreaming my foolish castle in the air, until one day it fell to the +ground, and left me sitting among the ruins." + +"It was a heart affair, then! I thought it was," cried Pixie shrewdly. +"I heard a lot about heart affairs in Paris, and I had a sister once who +was married. Her husband used to look just like you do when she was +cross to him; but really and truly she wanted to be kind, and now they +are married and living happily ever after. It will come all right for +you too, some day!" + +"No, never! There's no hope of that. She married someone else. That +was the news which came to me one day and wrecked my castle!" + +"Oh, oh!--how could she! The misguided creature! And when she might +have had you instead! I'd marry you myself if I were big enough!" cried +Pixie in a fervour of indignation which was more soothing than any +expressions of sympathy; and the Captain stretched out his hand and +patted her tenderly on the shoulder. + +"Would you really? That's very sweet of you. Thank you, dear, for the +compliment. We will be real good friends in any case, won't we? and you +will keep my confidence, for no one in this place knows anything about +it. And we won't talk of it any more, I think; it's rather a sore +subject, don't you know. We might begin unpacking those baskets. The +children will want their tea." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +IN THE LOCK. + +The tea-making was attended with the usual excitements, and the kettle- +boiling with the inevitable misadventures. A scouting party was +organised to discover a sheltered spot in which to lay the fire, but +although until this minute the day had appeared absolutely calm and +tranquil, all the winds of heaven seemed to unite in blowing upon that +unfortunate fire from the moment that the match was applied! + +When at long last a feeble flame was established, the sticks promptly +collapsed and precipitated the kettle to the ground; when rebuilt more +solidly, it died out for want of a draught; and when at last, and at +last, and at very long last, the smoke was seen issuing from the kettle- +spout, lo, the water was smoked, and unfit to drink! So decided the +Captain, at least, but while he drank milk with the little girls, Pixie +emptied the tea-pot with undiminished enjoyment. + +"It gives it a flavour," she said. "I like to taste what I'm drinking." + +It was not a trifle like smoked tea which would mar Mamzelle Paddy's +enjoyment when on pleasure bent! + +The Captain's preparations had been on so lavish a scale that there was +quite a supply of good things left when the meal was finished, and by a +kindly thought these were packed together to give to the children of the +lock-keeper on the way up stream. + +When every odd piece of paper had been religiously collected and packed +in the hamper with the cups and saucers, the little girls were lifted +into the boat, Pixie pulled the rudder-ropes over her shoulders, and the +Captain pushed the boat from the shore and jumped lightly into his seat. + +They were off again, rowing homewards and passing once more all the +fascinating landmarks which they had noticed on the way down. The +picnickers on the banks were fastening hampers and preparing to depart; +on the green lawns by the waterside servants were flitting to and fro +carrying trays into the house. Inda was beginning to yawn and long for +bed. She leant against Pixie, the weight of the small head becoming +ever heavier and heavier, but roused up again as the boat entered the +"box," as she persisted in calling a lock. She wanted to hand out the +parcel of good things without a moment's delay, but the Captain told her +to wait until the water had lifted the boat nearer to the bank. + +It seemed an extraordinary thing that, whereas, in passing through the +lock before they had gone down, down, down, they should now rise higher +with every moment that passed. The children had a hundred questions to +ask, while the Captain stood up and kept the boat in position with a +boat-hook. He explained the mystery as simply as possible, and also why +he was at such pains to keep at a safe distance from the walls. + +"You see those things sticking out from the side of the boat into which +I put my oars? They are called `rollocks,' and when you are coming up +stream through a lock you have to be careful indeed not to let them +catch under any of the beams. It would be almost impossible to get them +loose again, you see, because every moment more water would pour in, and +press them tighter and tighter!" + +"And what would it do to us if it did press them?" Viva inquired +curiously, whereat the Captain smiled and shook his head. + +"Something very disagreeable, I'm afraid--give us all a good wetting in +the water! You needn't be afraid of that, though, when you are with me, +for I shall take good care of my little crew. You see how far I keep +away with this oar." + +"Yes, I see. But why does one end of the boat stick out into the +middle, and the other into the side?" + +"It's the current that sweeps it round, the force of the water that is +coming in under the gates. That doesn't matter so long as we are not +caught." + +"But the end _is_ caught, isn't it? That little bit of iron that sticks +up at the pointed end!" cried Pixie suddenly. She was densely ignorant +of all that concerns boats, and invariably alluded to the bow and the +stern as the "blunt" and "pointed" ends, to the Captain's intense +amusement. + +This time, however, he did not smile. Pixie saw his face set suddenly +as he turned his head to look in the direction of her outstretched +finger, but his voice sounded reassuringly confident. + +"Oh, I see! Yes. Let me pass you, dear, for a moment. Sit quite +still!" + +He stepped past her into the space occupied by the hampers, and stamped +vigorously first with one foot, then with two, jumped with all his +weight, then stepped quickly back to the centre of the boat and called +to the man at the sluices-- + +"Hi, there! _Stop_! My boat is caught! Turn off that water! Quick, +man, do you hear me!" + +But the man's head was turned in the opposite direction, and he was so +much engrossed with his work that it was some moments before he heard, +and meantime it was terrifying to see how swiftly the water arose, how +dangerously near to its edge grew the side of the boat! The children +began to shriek and stand on their seats, and the Captain seized Inda in +his arms and held her up, calling loudly for help. + +The lock-keeper was hurriedly dropping the sluices, but at the sound of +the continued cries his wife ran out of the house and across the +bridgeway. In another moment she would be able to lift Inda ashore; but +Viva, frantic with terror, was clamouring to be taken too, and Pixie +impetuously lifted her towards the bank. + +What happened next it is difficult to describe, so swiftly did it +happen, so like a nightmare did it appear for ever after in the memories +of those concerned. The woman came rushing forward, followed by her +husband; they seized the children and dragged them on the bank. + +The boat, relieved suddenly of a weight, gave an unexpected lurch, and +the next moment Pixie and the Captain were in the water. The children +screamed aloud in terror, but the Captain had hardly disappeared before +he was up again, capless, and shaking the water from his head, but +looking none the worse for his ducking. But it was a long, agonising +minute before there came a swirling and bubbling at the end of the lock, +and Pixie's white, unconscious little face floated on the surface. The +Captain's arm was round her in an instant, the lock-keeper threw a rope +to help him to the iron ladder fixed in the walls of the lock, and +between them the two men carried the dripping figure along the bank and +into the house. + +There was a sofa in an inner room, and there they laid her, while the +woman, assisted by her eldest daughter, took off the wringing garments +and wrapped her round with warm blankets and coverings. The Captain ran +out into the village, sent a messenger flying for a doctor, and rushed +back again in terror lest the two little girls should have taken +advantage of his absence to get into fresh mischief. + +This was a pretty ending to their expedition! What would Mrs Wallace +say to him when he got home, and what should he say to himself if +through any fault or carelessness a serious injury had happened to sweet +little Mamzelle! + +"Why on earth do they want to put these irons at the end of a boat? +Wretched, dangerous things!" cried the distracted man to himself. "To +think that I have been through a thousand locks in safety, and that this +should have happened just when I had made myself responsible for a party +of children! Never again! Never again, if I get safely out of this! I +wonder how long that doctor fellow will take to come along?" + +Viva and Inda were sitting in the front kitchen, glancing askance at +several rosy, curly-headed children who were shyly huddled together by +the door. The fascination of new surroundings and possible new +playmates had diverted their minds from their misfortunes, and the +Captain heaved a sigh of relief as he passed into the inner room. + +The lock-keeper's wife had filled two bottles with hot water, and put +one to Pixie's feet, and another between her cold hands; a towel was +wrapped round the wet locks with somewhat ghastly effect, and the young +man shivered as he looked down at the still, white face. + +"She is not--she can't be--" he faltered, not having the courage to +pronounce the dread word; and to his inexpressible relief the woman +smiled at the thought. + +"Not she! Stunned a bit, that's all. Perhaps hit her head in falling. +I've often had them like this before, and they are pretty well all right +in a few hours. We have a lot of people up here in summertime who know +nothing about managing a boat--no offence to you, sir--I daresay you are +well accustomed to them, but accidents will happen!" + +"I thought I was!" sighed the Captain dismally. He knelt down by the +couch, and touched the cold cheek with his fingers. "Feels a little +warmer, doesn't she? For goodness' sake, take that thing off her head, +I can't bear to see it." + +The woman lifted the head from the pillow to unloosen the tight folds, +and at the movement Pixie sighed, and opened wide, bewildered eyes. For +the first moment they held nothing but blankest surprise at finding +herself in so extraordinary a position, but, even as the Captain held +his breath in suspense, a spark of remembrance came into the clear +depths, and the face lit up with a flickering merriment. + +"Were we drowned?" she whispered hoarsely. "The two of us?--Viva +jumped, and the boat slipped, and my feet went down. Who saved me? Was +it you?" + +"I suppose it was, but it was not a very heroic rescue--only a few yards +to the bank. You are sure you feel all right? Quite warm and +comfortable? Your head doesn't ache?" + +Pixie shook her dishevelled head from side to side, frowning the while +in speculative fashion. + +"I think it does--a little bit, but I'm not quite sure. It feels +muzzy!" she declared, with a gesture and accent which lent some +enlightenment to the enigmatical expression. Then she stretched out a +hand, and touched him anxiously on the shoulder. "You're drenched! +You'll catch all sorts of diseases in those wet clothes. Can't you have +some blankets too? I'm so lovely and warm." + +"My husband is putting out some clothes for you upstairs, sir. You had +better go and change. The young lady is all right now, and I will tell +you when the doctor comes." + +"Doctor! Is a doctor coming? To see me?" Pixie asked, rapturously +incredulous. + +To find herself the heroine of an adventure, a genuine thrilling +adventure, to lie stretched upon a sofa, wrapped in blankets, with two +attendants anxiously inquiring her symptoms; to know that a doctor was +hurrying to her side--this was indeed a glorious ending to the day's +enjoyment! She lay back on the cushions wreathed in smiles, and the +doctor, coming in hurriedly, was somewhat taken aback to behold so +radiant a patient. + +"I fainted!" cried Pixie proudly. "I never fainted before in all my +life. I don't remember a single thing after I slipped, until I woke up +on this sofa." + +"Indeed!--and a very sensible arrangement. Just as well to know nothing +about these disagreeable experiences." + +The doctor smiled, and fingered her head with a careful touch. "Does +that hurt you? No? Does that? Do you feel any tenderness there? A +little bit, eh? You don't like me to press it? You probably grazed +yourself slightly as you fell, and that caused the `faint.' Nothing +serious, though. You need not be frightened." + +"I like it!" said Pixie stoutly, and the burst of laughter with which +the two hearers greeted this statement, sounded pleasantly in the +Captain's ears as he dressed himself in the lock-keeper's Sunday +garments in the room overhead. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +LOVERS' MEETINGS. + +The doctor saw no reason why Pixie should not be driven home, and +offered to order a closed carriage in the village, and pending its +arrival, the adventurers enjoyed another cup of tea, not smoked this +time, and made merry over the change in their appearance, wrought by the +borrowed clothing. + +Pixie's red merino dress was the pride of little Miss Lock-keeper's +heart, but about two sizes too big for its present occupant. The bodice +hung in folds about her tiny figure, the sleeves came down to her +finger-tips; the Captain's shiny black suit made him appear quite clumsy +and awkward, but that was all part of the fun, in the estimation of +three members of the party, at least. + +Mrs Wallace was undecided whether to laugh or to cry as she welcomed +her truants and listened to the story of their adventures. Nothing +would satisfy her but to despatch Pixie to bed forthwith, to that young +lady's intense mortification, and to order the Captain upstairs to have +a hot bath and a dose of quinine. When he came downstairs, she was +putting a letter in the post-box in the hall, and, motioning towards it, +explained its purport. + +"I've been writing to Mamzelle's sister in London. These lock accidents +get into the papers sometimes, and are generally exaggerated into +something really so thrilling and terrible. It's best to tell the true +story ourselves." + +"And I have brought this trouble upon you! I could kick myself for my +stupidity. You will never trust me again, but please make me the +scapegoat to the sister, and let her wreak her wrath on me. It's not +fair that you should be blamed." + +"Oh, I am not afraid of any wrath, I assure you. She's a charming girl, +and as sweet as Mamzelle herself. I have asked her to come down to- +morrow and see for herself that there is no harm done. I thought that +was the best way out of the difficulty; and please don't blame yourself +too much. It was an accident, and we must just be very, very thankful +that you were all preserved from harm." + +The next morning the Captain took himself off for a long walk, +ostensibly to call on some friends, in reality to avoid meeting the +visitor from town; for though a man may boldly acknowledge his +responsibility and offer to bear the blame, he has an instinctive +shrinking from the society of females in distress, and will walk a very +long distance in order to avoid anything like a scene. + +It seemed the height of bad fortune that this particular visitor should +arrive in the afternoon, instead of the morning, and that he should +stumble into the library almost immediately after she had arrived. She +was seated on an ottoman with her back towards him, but Mrs Wallace's +quick exclamation took away any chance of retreating unseen. + +"Why, here he is!" she cried. "This is the culprit, or the hero, +whichever you choose to call him. Come and tell your own story, Dick. +This is Mademoiselle's sister, Miss O'Shaughnessy." + +But he had recognised her already. She had turned her head as Mrs +Wallace spoke, and beneath the curving brim of the hat he had seen the +face which had been enshrined in his heart for three long years, the +sweet face which had brought to him at once the greatest joy and the +bitterest sorrow of his life! He stood still in the middle of the room, +staring at her as if suddenly turned to stone, and Bridgie rose to her +feet, the pretty colour fading out of her cheeks, her lips a-tremble +with emotion. + +Mrs Wallace looked from one to the other, and with a woman's intuition +divined something very nearly approaching the truth. Dick was quite +changed from his old happy self--everyone had noticed it, and speculated +as to the cause. In his last furlough he had stayed some time in +Ireland. Could it be--could it possibly be-- + +"You have met before?" she said quickly. "That is very nice. You know +each other, and can talk over yesterday's adventure without my help. +Will you excuse me if I leave you for a few moments, while I give some +orders to the maids?" + +No one answered, but she lost no time in hurrying from the room, and as +the door closed behind her, the Captain came slowly across the room, +staring at Bridgie's white face. + +"_Miss O'Shaughnessy_! She called you `_Miss O'Shaughnessy_'!" + +She shrank before him, scared by his strange, excited manner. + +"Yes, it is my name. I am Bridgie O'Shaughnessy. Don't you remember +me?" + +"Remember you!" he repeated with an emphasis which was more eloquent +than a hundred protestations. He seized her hands in a painful +pressure. "You are not married, then? It was not true! You did not +marry him as they told me?" + +"I? You thought I was married! Oh, what put such an idea into your +head?" + +"I heard it eighteen months ago--shortly after your last letter arrived, +telling me about your father, and hinting at other changes which might +follow. My friend wrote that Miss O'Shaughnessy was engaged to a fellow +with a lot of money--Hilliard--that they were going to be married almost +at once. Was it all an invention? Was there no truth in it at all?" + +"It was quite true--quite, but it was Esmeralda, not me! She married +him over a year ago." + +"Esmeralda! your sister--but he said the eldest daughter, and you are +the eldest. I knew I was not mistaken about that, for I remember every +word you had told me." + +Bridgie smiled faintly; the colour was coming back into her cheeks, and +the grey eyes met his with shy, incredulous happiness. + +"But most people give her the credit for it, all the same. There's so +much more of her, you see. You never wrote to--to ask if it were true?" + +"I was too proud and hurt, badly hurt, Bridgie--mortally badly! And you +never wrote to ask why I was silent. Were you proud too, or +contemptuous--which was it? Did you think I was nothing but a flirt, +and a heartless one at that?" + +"I never thought unkindly of you, but I suppose I was proud, for I +couldn't write when all the money was gone, and I was so poor. I +thought you had forgotten, or met someone else! I hoped you were very +happy, only I--wasn't!" faltered Bridgie, with a little break in her +voice as she spoke that last word, which brought the tears to the +Captain's eyes. He bent his head over the clasped hands, and kissed +them a dozen times over. + +"Bridgie, Bridgie!" he cried brokenly. "Is it true? Have I found you +again after all these years? Can you forgive me for this wretched +blunder which has brought such unhappiness upon us both? I am thankful +to know you were unhappy too, for I had nothing to go on, Bridgie, no +claim whatever upon you, only you must have guessed how I felt. I could +not believe that you had really given yourself to me in that short +time." + +"I couldn't myself!" said Bridgie naively. "I tried to pretend that it +was all a mistake, and that I was quite happy without you." She looked +up at him shyly, and shook her head in the most beguiling denial. +"'Twas not a mite of use. I remember all the same! And are you sure-- +quite sure--that you thought of me all the time? Was there never anyone +else all these long, long years?" + +The Captain smiled and stroked his moustache in amused, contemplative +fashion. + +"There was never anyone, except one girl! I met one girl who quite +stole my heart, and I think I stole hers into the bargain." + +"Oh! oh! How dreadful! Why did you tell me? But you didn't--you never +thought of marrying her, did you, Dick?" + +"I'm not so sure. She did!" He laughed, and seized her hands once +more. "No, it is too bad! I won't tease you. It was Mamzelle Paddy, +darling, to whom I confided my story, and who comforted me in her own +sweet fashion. And she is your sister, and it is she who has brought us +together! Bridgie, if I didn't love you with all my heart, I believe I +should still have to marry you, for nothing else than to be Mamzelle's +brother." + +But Bridgie did not affect to be jealous. She threw back her head, and +smiled happily as she answered, "I'm thankful to hear you say it, for +whoever marries me must love Pixie too. I can never leave her behind +me!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +CONCLUSION. + +The news of Captain Victor's engagement and long attachment to the +charming Miss O'Shaughnessy caused the greatest interest and excitement +among the guests at the cottage, while his old friends rejoiced to see +the happy brightness on his face. + +"Welcome home, Dick!" Mr Wallace cried, shaking him warmly by the +hand. "Thankful to see you back again, instead of that other fellow who +has been moping about in your clothes!" and Pixie commented on the +announcement with her usual outspoken honesty. + +"I told ye it would come all right! I suppose it was you Bridgie was +fretting about, when I thought it was the bills! She's got dips in her +cheeks, only you can't see them now, because she's blushing. I'm glad +you are coming into the family, but I don't see how you can ever be +married! She can't be spared!" + +The Captain laughed at that statement, and vowed that she would have to +be spared, and that at an early date; but a shadow fell across Bridgie's +face, and as they sat alone in the garden she said anxiously-- + +"I am afraid I have been selfish, Dick! I can think of nothing but you, +but, after all, Pixie was quite right--I can't possibly be spared for a +long time to come. She won't be old enough to take charge of a house +for three years at the soonest, and Jack has been so good and unselfish +that I couldn't possibly leave him in the lurch. You have waited so +long that you won't mind waiting a few years longer, will you?" + +"It doesn't seem to me a particularly logical conclusion, sweetheart!" +the Captain said, smiling. "Personally I feel that I ought to be +rewarded at once, but I won't make any promises one way or another until +I have met your brother and heard his views. Don't worry yourself, you +shan't do anything that you feel to be wrong, but I don't despair of +finding a solution of the difficulty. When it is an alternative between +that and waiting for you for three years, Bridgie, I shall be very, very +resourceful!" + +"I don't know what you can do. It's no use suggesting a housekeeper-- +the boys would not hear of it, and she'd be destroyed in a week with the +life they would lead her!" So argued Bridgie, but she was willing to be +convinced, and too happy in the present to feel much concern for the +future. + +The weight of depression which had lain on her heart despite her brave +cheeriness of manner was lifted once and for ever now that she was +convinced of Dick's faithful love, and it seemed impossible that she +could ever be more content than at this moment. Until now almost all +the joys of her life had come from an unselfish pleasure in the good +fortune of others, but this wonderful new happiness was her very own, +hers and Dick's, and she could hardly believe that it was true, and not +a wonderful dream. + +Mrs Wallace's letter had conveyed an invitation to stay for the night, +so the lovers had two days to sit and talk together in the lovely summer +garden before returning to give an account of themselves in Rutland +Road. + +Jack was not prepared to see a stranger accompanying his sister, but he +welcomed him with Irish heartiness, and guessed how the land lay at the +first glance at Bridgie's face. So did Pat; so did Miles; but they +concealed their suspicions with admirable tact, and talked persistently +through the evening meal with intent to relieve the embarrassment which +was so evidently experienced by the hostess. + +Poor Bridgie was painfully conscious of the enormity of her conduct as +she looked from one to the other of her three big brothers. Jack's +manner was nervous and excited. Poor fellow! he was evidently dreading +the explanations which were in store. Pat was looking pale; he grew so +fast that he needed constant care. Miles kept handing her the mustard +with sympathetic effusion; he had a heart of gold and could be led with +a word, but it must be the right word, and woe to the housekeeper of the +future if she tried to rule by force! She smiled at him with wistful +apology, and Miles patted her hand affectionately under the tablecloth. + +It was a pity when a sensible girl like Bridgie made an idiot of herself +by falling in love, but they all seemed to do it sooner or later, and +there was no use making a fuss, Master Miles told himself resignedly. +She seemed to have met this Captain Victor years ago, and to have +corresponded with him in India, but she had never mentioned his name at +home. How strange to know that Bridgie had had an interest beyond her +own brothers and sisters! Miles felt mildly aggrieved, but consoled +himself by the reflection that the Captain seemed a decent sort of +fellow with plenty to say for himself. He had been on active service +twice already, and though he refused details of manslaughter, gave such +a graphic account of tiger-shooting expeditions as made Miles's lips +water, and aroused rebellious repinings at his own hard lot in living in +a miserable suburb where the only sport to be obtained was the tracking +of a few superfluous cats! + +When dinner was over, the two boys discreetly lingered behind while +their elders retired to the drawing-room, and Bridgie grew rosy red with +embarrassment as the door closed behind them. + +"We wanted to tell you, Jack--" she began nervously. "I would have told +you before, only there was nothing to tell. There isn't now! At least, +I mean, it won't be for a long, long time, dear. Not until you don't +want me any more." + +"Better let me try, Bridgie!" cried the Captain, laughing. He put his +hand on her shoulder in a proudly possessive fashion, and looked Jack +full in the face. "She is dreadfully afraid of what you will say, and +ashamed of herself for daring to think of anything but her home duties. +It doesn't seem to strike her that she has a duty to me too, when I have +been thinking of her for the last three years. I must explain to you, +O'Shaughnessy, that a friend wrote to tell me that your eldest sister +was about to be married to a man called Hilliard, and by an unfortunate +coincidence Bridgie herself had vaguely referred to coming changes in +her last letter, so I believed the report, and we have mutually been +eating our hearts, and believing the other to be faithless. There was +no engagement, you must understand, but I made up my mind about her the +first day we met, and she now acknowledges that she ran away because she +was afraid I might interfere with her home claims. You see, I have +already spared her to you for three good years, so I think it is my turn +now! My friends will tell you that I have been miserably dull and +surly, and for their sakes alone I feel I ought to make a stand." + +"And Bridgie has been always sweet and cheerful. We have each expected +her to be sorry for us in turns, and never once suspected that she +needed us to be sorry for her too. Thank you, Bridgie!" said Jack, +looking across at her with a loving look which was the sweetest reward +which she could possibly have received for the struggles which had been +so gallantly concealed. + +"It was my greatest comfort to have you all to work and care for when I +thought he had--forgotten!" she cried hastily. "And I have loved +helping you, Jack! Please speak honestly, dear, let us all speak out +honestly. Of course I want to be with Dick, but I want most of all to +do what is right--we all do--and the children must come first. You +can't be left alone, Jack, and there is no one else to take my place." + +"Unless--" began Jack slowly. Bridgie looked at him in surprise, and +saw the red flush come creeping up from beneath his collar, touch his +cheeks, and mount up and up to the roots of his curling hair. "Unless I +married myself!" he said breathlessly, and at that Bridgie darted +forward and caught him by both hands. + +"What? What? What? Jack, what do you mean? Is it Sylvia? Of course +it is Sylvia! And does she--Jack, what does it mean? Are you engaged +too? Have you been keeping it from me because you thought--" + +"We wouldn't let you think you were in our way; we loved you too much, +old girl, so we were quietly waiting until--" + +"I came along!" concluded Dick Victor tersely. + +The three young people stood staring at each other for a moment, and the +tears brimmed over in Bridgie's eyes, but presently she began to laugh, +and the young men joined in with a sense of the happiest relief. Each +one had been thinking of the other, and putting personal hopes in the +background, and lo, in the simplest, most delightful of fashions, the +knot was cut, and each was left free to be happy after his heart's +desire. + +"Oh, it's perfectly, perfectly perfect!" Bridgie cried rapturously. +"The boys adore Sylvia, and will be her devoted slaves; she is twice the +housekeeper that I am, and she has been so lonely, poor darling, without +her parents. Oh, Jack, how nice of you to care for her, and give her a +home!" + +"That's what she says!" replied Jack naively. "Shall we send for her to +join the council? She ought to have her say. I'll run across--" + +"No, no! Send Mary. I want to see her first--I want to see exactly how +she looks when she knows she is found out," Bridgie insisted; so Mary +was promptly despatched on her errand, and back came Sylvia, wondering +and excited, and not a little mystified by the presence of the tall +stranger. + +"Master Jack has good taste!" said the Captain to himself as he looked +at the dainty figure and erect little head with its crop of curls. +"Rather an embarrassing position for the poor girl! Hope they break it +to her gently!" + +But it was not the O'Shaughnessy custom to break news gently, or in a +circuitous fashion, and the moment Sylvia entered the doorway, Bridgie +flew at her with outstretched arms, crying incoherently, and with +sublime disregard of grammar-- + +"Oh, Sylvia, Sylvia, I'm engaged! That's him! It's been a mistake all +the time, and we are going to be married at once. We are all going to +be married! Dick and me, and you and Jack, and you are coming here to +look after the house! I thought I couldn't be married because of Jack, +and he thought he couldn't be married because of me, and now it's all +right, and we can all be happy. I congratulate you, Sylvia! +Congratulate me! I made Jack let me tell you, for I knew you would be +so surprised. Don't you feel too bewildered to take it in?" + +"I do!" replied Sylvia, with much truth. Red as a rose was she, at this +sudden and public announcement of her engagement, not knowing where to +look, or what to say, yet with a consciousness of immense happiness to +come, and unfeigned delight at the happy ending to Bridgie's love-story. + +Dick Victor came forward and introduced himself, and presently they all +seated themselves, and tried to discuss the future in staid, responsible +fashion. The Captain expected to be quartered in England for the +immediate future, but could not of course be certain of his ultimate +movements. He proposed that he and Bridgie should look out for a +furnished house, so as to have a home of their own and yet be ready for +such changes as might arise. + +Jack anxiously questioned Sylvia as to the responsibility which would be +hers, and she professed herself only too ready to sister the two dear +boys. + +"And Pixie--I should love to have Pixie!" she cried, whereat Bridgie +frowned, and fidgeted restlessly on the sofa. + +"We will make definite arrangements later on," she said. "Everything +cannot be decided at once. The boys will be quite enough trouble for +you, me dear! They are as good as gold, but they will grow, and their +clothes wear out so fast, and since we came to town they've taken a +distaste to patches, and they want money in their own pockets, the same +as the other boys they meet. `If I give you some shillings just to +jingle, and show they are there, will that satisfy you?' I asked Pat +only last week, and he laughed in my face! It's hard to say `No' when +they smile at you, Sylvia, but you'll have to do it." + +"I--don't--know!" said Sylvia slowly. The others looked at her +questioningly, and she turned to Jack with a sparkling face. "I was +waiting for a chance of telling you. Mr Nisbet telegraphed to Ceylon +about father's death, and I've had a letter from his lawyers. It came +last night, and I'm rich, Jack! Isn't it lovely?--really quite rich! +The lawsuit was settled in his favour, and he was coming home to settle, +and now everything comes to me. I can help with the boys, and some day, +when you are ready, we can go back to Knock, and live in the old home +again! I've been so happy since I heard, thinking that at last I could +do something for you too. You are pleased about it, aren't you, Jack? +Do say you are pleased!" + +Jack's beaming smile was the best answer to that question. + +"'Deed, I'm delighted!" he declared. "I'll spend money with any man +alive, and the more there is, the better I'm pleased. We will stay +where we are and see the boys settled, and let Geoffrey enjoy his lease, +and then we'll go home, and I shall probably have some savings of my own +to add to yours by that time, and not feel I am living on my wife. I'm +thankful you have the money, and I'm thankful that I knew nothing of it +before we were engaged." + +"And so am I!" said Sylvia softly. + +A week later there was a second conference, at which every member of the +family put in an appearance, and the question of the hour was, "Who +shall have Pixie? Where shall Pixie have her home?" + +"I am the head of the family. It is the right thing that she should be +with me. Sylvia and I would both like to have her, so it is unnecessary +to discuss the point any further," said Mr Jack, with an air. + +"I don't wish to say anything in the least unkind to Sylvia--you know +that, don't you, dear?" cried Esmeralda the magnificent, sitting amidst +billows of chiffon and lace, and smiling sweetly across the room. "But +the fact remains that I am Pixie's real sister, and she is not; and I +think a sister's claim comes before a brother's. Bridgie will have no +settled home, and I am at Knock. Anyone might see at a glance that her +home ought to be with me, under the circumstances." + +"I want Pixie!" said Bridgie softly. "I want Pixie!" + +And Pixie sat on the edge of the sofa, and looked from one to the other +with bright, bird-like glances. Everyone wanted her, everyone had an +argument to prove a prior claim; they were all arguing and struggling +for the supreme happiness of welcoming her into their households. It +was the happiest moment of her life. + +"It's like Solomon and the babies!" she cried exultantly. "Ye'll have +to cut me in threes, and divide the pieces. Esmeralda shall have my +head, for the times when she loses her own; Sylvia shall have my feet, +because she limps herself; and,"--she looked across the room deep into +Bridgie's eyes--"Bridgie shall have my heart! It would be with her, +anyway, wherever she went." + +The tears brimmed over in Bridgie's eyes; Esmeralda frowned quickly, +then glanced at Geoffrey, as he stood by her side, and softened into a +smile. + +Jack stifled a sigh, and said gravely-- + +"Pixie has settled the question for herself. After that confession +there can be no more to say. Take her, Bridgie, but be generous and +spare her to us for part of the year. We all need you, Pixie--wise +little head, willing little feet, loving little heart--every single bit +of you. Come and help us as often as you can." + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's More about Pixie, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORE ABOUT PIXIE *** + +***** This file should be named 21122.txt or 21122.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/2/21122/ + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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