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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The School Queens, by L. T. Meade
+
+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: The School Queens
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2009 [EBook #28819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCHOOL QUEENS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SCHOOL QUEENS
+
+BY
+
+L T. MEADE
+
+Author of "Polly, a New-Fashioned Girl," "Sue, a Little Heroine,"
+"Daddy's Girl," "A Sweet Girl Graduate," etc.
+
+NEW YORK
+
+THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+
+1910
+
+
+
+
+                      BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+L. T. Meade (Mrs. Elizabeth Thomasina Smith), English novelist, was
+born at Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, 1854, the daughter of Rev. R. T.
+Meade, Rector of Novohal, County Cork, and married Toulmin Smith in
+1879. She wrote her first book, _Lettie's Last Home_, at the age of
+seventeen and since then has been an unusually prolific writer, her
+stories attaining wide popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.
+
+She worked in the British Museum, living in Bishopsgate Without,
+making special studies of East London life which she incorporated in
+her stories. She edited _Atlanta_ for six years. Her pictures of
+girls, especially in the influence they exert on their elders, are
+drawn with intuitive fidelity; pathos, love, and humor, as in _Daddy's
+Girl_, flowing easily from her pen. She has traveled extensively,
+being devoted to motoring and other outdoor sports.
+
+Among more than fifty novels she has written, dealing largely with
+questions of home life, are: _David's Little Lad; Great St.
+Benedict's; A Knight of To-day (1877); Miss Toosey's Mission;
+Bel-Marjory (1878); Laddie; Outcast Robbin: or, Your Brother and Mine;
+A Cry from the Great City; White Lillie and Other Tales; Scamp and I;
+The Floating Light of Ringfinnan; Dot and Her Treasures; The
+Children's Kingdom: the Story of Great Endeavor; The Water Gipsies; A
+Dweller in Tents; Andrew Harvey's Wife; Mou-setse: A Negro Hero
+(1880); Mother Herring's Chickens (1881); A London Baby: the Story of
+King Roy (1883); Hermie's Rose-Buds and Other Stories; How it all Came
+Round; Two Sisters (1884); Autocrat of the Nursery; Tip Cat; Scarlet
+Anemones; The Band of Three; A Little Silver Trumpet; Our Little Ann;
+The Angel of Love (1885); A World of Girls (1886); Beforehand; Daddy's
+Boy; The O'Donnells of Inchfawn; The Palace Beautiful; Sweet Nancy
+(1887); Deb and the Duchess (1888); Nobody's Neighbors; Pen (1888); A
+Girl from America (1907)._
+
+
+
+
+THE SCHOOL QUEENS
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE FASCINATING MAGGIE
+
+
+Cicely Cardew and her sister Merry were twins. At the time when this
+story opens they were between fifteen and sixteen years of age. They
+were bright, amiable, pretty young girls, who had never wanted for any
+pleasure or luxury during their lives. Their home was a happy one.
+Their parents were affectionate and lived solely for them. They were
+the only children, and were treated--as only children often are--with
+a considerable amount of attention. They were surrounded by all the
+appliances of wealth. They had ponies to ride and carriages to drive
+in, and each had her own luxurious and beautifully furnished bedroom.
+
+It was Mr. Cardew's wish that his daughters should be educated at
+home. In consequence they were not sent to any school, but had daily
+masters and governesses to instruct them in the usual curriculum of
+knowledge. It might be truly said that for them the sun always shone,
+and that they were carefully guarded from the east wind. They were
+naturally bright and amiable. They had their share of good looks,
+without being quite beautiful. They had not the slightest knowledge of
+what the world meant, of what sorrow meant, or pain. They were brought
+up in such a sheltered way that it seemed to them that there were no
+storms in life. They were not discontented, for no one ever breathed
+the word in their presence. Their requests were reasonable, for they
+knew of no very big things to ask for. Even their books were carefully
+selected for them, and their amusements were of a mild and orderly
+character.
+
+Such were the girls when this story opens on a bright day towards the
+end of a certain July. Their home was called Meredith Manor, and Merry
+was called after an old ancestor on their mother's side to whom the
+house had at one time belonged.
+
+Mr. Cardew was a merchant-prince. Mrs. Cardew belonged to an old
+county family. If there was one thing in the world that Cicely and
+Merry thought nothing whatever about, it was money. They could
+understand neither poverty nor the absence of gold.
+
+The little village near Meredith Manor was a model place, for Mr.
+Cardew, to whom it belonged, devoted himself absolutely to it. The
+houses were well drained and taken great care of. Prizes were offered
+for the best gardens; consequently each cottager vied with the other
+in producing the most lovely flowers and the most tempting fruits. The
+village consisted entirely of Mr. Cardew's laborers and the different
+servants on his estate. There were, therefore, no hardships for the
+girls to witness at Meredith village. They were fond of popping in and
+out of the cottages and talking to the young wives and mothers, and
+playing with the babies; and they particularly enjoyed that great
+annual day when Mr. Cardew threw open the grounds of Meredith to the
+entire neighborhood, and when games and fun and all sorts of
+amusements were the order of the hour.
+
+Besides the people who lived in the village, there was, of course, the
+rector, who had a pretty, picturesque, old brown house, with a nice
+garden in one corner of the grounds. He had a good-natured,
+round-faced, happy wife, and a family of four stalwart sons and
+daughters. He was known as the Reverend William Tristram; and, as the
+living was in the gift of the Meredith family, he was a distant
+connection of Mrs. Cardew, and had been appointed by her husband to
+the living of Meredith at her request.
+
+The only playfellows the girls had ever enjoyed were the young
+Tristrams. There were two boys and two girls. The boys were the
+younger, the girls the elder. The boys were not yet in their teens,
+but Molly and Isabel Tristram were about the same age as the young
+Cardews. Molly was, in fact, a year older, and was a very sympathetic,
+strong-minded, determined girl. She and her sister Isabel had not been
+educated at home, but had been sent to foreign schools both in France
+and Germany; and Molly, in her heart of hearts, rather looked down
+upon what she considered the meager attainments of the young Cardews
+and their want of knowledge of the world.
+
+"It is ridiculous!" she was heard to say to Isabel on that very July
+morning when this story opens. "Of course they are nice girls, and
+would be splendid if they could do anything or knew what to do; but,
+as it is, they are nothing whatever but half-grown-up children, with
+no more idea of the world than has that baby-kitten disporting itself
+at the present moment on the lawn."
+
+"Oh, they're right enough," said Isabel. "They will learn by-and-by. I
+don't suppose Mr. and Mrs. Cardew mean to keep them always shut up in
+a nutshell."
+
+"I don't know," replied Molly. "Mr. and Mrs. Cardew are like no other
+people. I have heard father say that he thinks it a great pity that
+girls should be so terribly isolated."
+
+"Well, as to that," replied Isabel, "I wouldn't be in their shoes for
+creation. I have so enjoyed my time at Hanover and in France; and now
+that we are to have two years at Aylmer House, in Kensington, I
+cannot tell you how I look forward to it."
+
+"Yes, won't it be fine?" replied Molly. "But now we had better go up
+at once to Meredith Manor and ask the girls if we may bring Maggie
+Howland with us this afternoon. Father has sent the pony-trap to the
+station to meet her, and she may arrive any moment."
+
+"All right," said Isabel; "but one of us had better stay at home to
+receive her. You, Molly, can run up to the Manor and ask the girls if
+we may bring our visitor."
+
+"All right," replied Molly. Then she added "I wonder if Maggie is as
+fascinating as ever. Don't you remember, Belle, what a spell she cast
+over us at our school at Hanover? She was like no one else I ever met.
+She seems to do what she likes with people. I shall be deeply
+interested to know what she thinks of Cicely and Merry."
+
+"Thinks of them!" replied Isabel. "It's my opinion she won't tolerate
+them for a minute; and we are bound to take her with us, for of course
+they will give permission."
+
+"Well," said Molly, "I'll be off at once and secure that permission.
+You' look after Maggie--won't you, Isabel?--and see that her bedroom
+is all right." As Molly spoke she waved her hand to her sister, then
+departed on her errand.
+
+She was a bright, fairly good-looking girl, with exceedingly handsome
+eyes and curling dark-brown hair. She was somewhat square in build and
+athletic in all her movements. In short, she was as great a contrast
+to the twin Cardew girls as could be found. Nevertheless she liked
+them, and was interested in them; for were not the Cardews the great
+people of the place? There was nothing of the snob about Molly; but it
+is difficult even for the most independent English girl to spend the
+greater part of her life in a village where one family reigns as
+sovereign without being more or less under its influence.
+
+Mr. Tristram, too, was a very great friend of Mr. Cardew's; and
+Molly's fat, round, good-natured mother, although a little afraid of
+Mrs. Cardew, who was a very stately lady in her way, nevertheless held
+her in the greatest respect and admiration. It was one of the rules of
+the house of Tristram that no invitation sent to them from Meredith
+Manor should be refused. They must accept that invitation as though it
+were the command of a king.
+
+The girls, brought up mostly at foreign schools, had in some ways
+wider ideas of life than had their parents. But even they were more or
+less influenced by the fact that the Cardews were the great people of
+the place.
+
+The day was a very hot one; rather oppressive too, with thunder-clouds
+in the distance. But Molly was very strong, and did not feel the heat
+in the least. The distance from the rectory to the Manor was a little
+over a mile. In addition, it was all uphill. But when you passed the
+village--so exquisitely neat, such a model in its way--you found
+yourself entering a road shaded by overhanging elm-trees. Here it was
+cool even on the hottest summer day. There were deep pine-woods at
+each side of the road, and the road itself had been cut right through
+a part of the forest, which belonged to the Meredith estate. After
+going uphill for nearly three-quarters of a mile you arrived at the
+handsome wrought-iron gates which led to the avenue that brought you
+to the great front door of Meredith Manor.
+
+Molly often took this walk, but she generally did so in the company of
+her sister Isabel. Isabel's light chatter, her gay, infectious
+laughter, her merry manner, soothed the tedium of the road. To-day
+Molly was alone; but by no means on this account did she feel a sense
+of weariness; her mind was very busy. She was greatly excited at the
+thought of seeing Maggie Howland again. Maggie had made a remarkable
+impression on her. She made that impression on all her friends.
+Wherever she went she was a leader, and no one could quite discover
+where her special charm or magnetism lay; for she was decidedly plain,
+and not specially remarkable for cleverness--that is, she was not
+remarkable for what may be termed school-cleverness. She was
+indifferent to prizes, and was just as happy at the bottom of her form
+as at the top; but wherever she appeared girls clustered round her,
+and consulted her, and hung on her words; and to be Maggie Howland's
+friend was considered the greatest honor possible among the girls
+themselves at any school where she spent her time.
+
+Maggie was the daughter of a widow who lived in London. Her father had
+died when she was a very little girl. He was a man of remarkable
+character. He had great strength of will and immense determination;
+and Maggie, his only child, took after him. She resembled him in
+appearance also, for he was very plain of face and rather ungainly of
+figure. Maggie's mother, on the other hand, was a delicate, pretty,
+blue-eyed woman, who could as little manage her headstrong young
+daughter as a lamb could manage a young lion. Mrs. Howland was
+intensely amiable. Maggie was very good to her mother, as she
+expressed it; and when she got that same mother to yield to all her
+wishes the mother thought that she was doing the right thing. She had
+a passionate love for her daughter, although she deplored her plain
+looks, and often told the girl to her face that she wished she had
+taken after her in personal appearance. Maggie used to smile when this
+was said, and then would go away to her own room and look at her
+queer, dark face, and rather small eyes, and determined mouth, and
+somewhat heavy jaw, and shake her head solemnly. She did not agree
+with her mother; she preferred being what she was. She liked best to
+take after her father.
+
+It was Maggie Howland who had persuaded Mr. Tristram, during a brief
+visit which he had made to town at Christmas, to send his daughters to
+Aylmer House. Maggie was fond of Molly and Isabel. With all her
+oddities, she had real affection, and one of her good qualities was
+that she really loved those whom she influenced.
+
+Mr. Tristram went to see Mrs. Ward, the head-mistress of that most
+select establishment for young ladies at Kensington. Mrs. Ward was all
+that was delightful. She was a noble-minded woman of high aspirations,
+and her twenty young boarders were happy and bright and contented
+under her influence.
+
+Maggie joined the school at Easter, and spent one term there, and was
+now coming on a visit to the rectory.
+
+"I wonder what she will have to tell us! I wonder if she is as
+fascinating as ever!" thought Molly Tristram as she hurried her
+steps.
+
+She had now reached that point in the avenue which gave a good view of
+the old Manor, with its castellated walls and its square towers at
+each end. The gardens were laid out in terraces after an old-world
+fashion. There was one terrace devoted to croquet, another to tennis.
+As Molly approached she saw Cicely and Merry playing a game of croquet
+rather languidly. They wore simple white frocks which just came down
+above their ankles, and had white washing-hats on their heads. Their
+thick, rather fair hair was worn in a plait down each young back, and
+was tied with a bunch of pale-blue ribbon at the end.
+
+"Hello!" shouted Molly.
+
+The girls flung down their rackets and ran joyfully to meet her.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you have come!" said Cicely. "It's much too hot to
+play tennis, and even croquet is more than we can manage. Are you
+going to stay and have lunch with us, Molly?"
+
+"No," replied Molly; "I must go back immediately."
+
+"Oh dear! I wish you would stay," continued Merry. "We could go and
+sit in the arbor, and you could tell us another fascinating story
+about that school of yours at Hanover."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Cicely; "do stay--do, Molly! We want to hear a lot
+more about that remarkable girl Maggie Howland."
+
+"I can't stay," said Molly in a semi-whisper; "but I tell you what,
+girls." She seized a hand of both as she spoke. "I have come with
+news."
+
+"What?" "What?" asked the twins eagerly.
+
+"There's very seldom much news going on here," said Cicely. "Not that
+we mind--not a little bit; we're as happy as girls can be."
+
+"Of course we are," said Merry. "We haven't a care in the world."
+
+"All the same," said Cicely, "tell us your news, Molly, for you do
+look excited."
+
+"Well," said Molly, who enjoyed the pleasure of giving her friends a
+piece of information which she knew would interest them intensely,
+"you know we are to come up here this afternoon to have tea and buns,
+aren't we?"
+
+"Oh, don't talk in that way!" said Merry. "One would suppose you were
+school children, when you are our darling, dear friends."
+
+"Our only friends," said Cicely. "You are the only girls in the world
+father allows us to be the least bit intimate with."
+
+"Oh, well," said Molly, "of course Belle and I are very fond of you
+both, naturally."
+
+"Naturally!" echoed Cicely. But then she added, "How queer you look,
+Molly, as though you were keeping something back!"
+
+"Well, yes, I am," said Molly; "but I'll have it out in a minute."
+
+"Oh, please, be quick!" said Merry. "Anything a little bit out of the
+common is very interesting.--Isn't it, Cicely?"
+
+"Very," said Cicely; "more particularly in the holidays. When we are
+busy with our lessons things don't so much matter, you know.--But do
+be quick, Molly; what is it?"
+
+"Well," said Molly, "you've asked us to spend the afternoon with
+you."
+
+"Of course, and you're both coming, surely?"
+
+"We are--certainly we are--that is, if you will allow us to
+bring"----
+
+"To bring"----interrupted Cicely. "Oh Molly, do speak!"
+
+"Well, I will; only, don't jump, you two girls. To bring Maggie
+Howland!"
+
+Cicely's face grew very pink. Merry, on the contrary, turned a little
+pale. They were both silent for a brief space. Then Merry said
+excitedly, "Maggie Howland--_the_ Maggie Howland?"
+
+"Yes, _the_ Maggie Howland; the one who has got the power, the charm,
+the fascination."
+
+"Oh, oh!" said Cicely. "But why is she with you? How has it
+happened?"
+
+"She is not absolutely with us yet; and as to how it happened I cannot
+exactly tell you. We had a telegram from her late last night asking if
+she might come to-day to spend a week or fortnight, and of course we
+wired back 'Yes.' We are delighted; but of course you may not like
+her, girls."
+
+"Like her! like her!" said Cicely; "and after all you have said too!
+We shall be certain to more than like her."
+
+"She's not a bit pretty, so don't expect it," said Molly.
+
+"We were brought up," said Merry a little stiffly, "not to regard
+looks as anything at all."
+
+"Nonsense!" replied Molly. "Looks mean a great deal. I'd give I don't
+know what to be beautiful; but as I am not I don't mean to fret about
+it. Well, Maggie's downright plain; in fact--in fact--almost ugly, I
+may say; and yet--and yet, she is just Maggie; and you are not five
+minutes in her society before you'd rather have her face than any
+other face in the world. But the immediate question is: may she come
+this afternoon, or may she not?"
+
+"Of course--of course she may come," said Cicely; "we'll be delighted,
+we'll be charmed to see her. This _is_ pleasant news!"
+
+"I think, perhaps," said Merry, "we ought to go and ask mother. Don't
+you think so, Cis?"
+
+"Of course we ought," said Cicely. "I forgot that. Just stay where you
+are, Molly, and I'll run to the house and find mother. It's only to
+ask her, for of course she will give leave."
+
+Cicely ran off at once, and Merry and Molly were left alone.
+
+"I know you'll be delighted with her," said Molly.
+
+"It will be very delightful to see her," replied Merry.
+
+"You must expect to be disappointed at first, all the same," continued
+Molly.
+
+"Oh, looks do not matter one scrap," said Merry.
+
+"Isabel and I are going to her school; you know that, don't you,
+Merry?"
+
+"Yes," said Merry with a sigh. "What fun you do have at your different
+schools! Don't you, Molly?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Molly rather gravely; "but it isn't only the fun; we
+see a lot of the world, and we mix with other girls and make
+friends."
+
+"Mother prefers a home education for us, and so does father," remarked
+Merry. "Ah! here comes Cicely. She is flying down the terrace. Of
+course mother is delighted."
+
+This proved to be the case. Mrs. Cardew would welcome any girl
+introduced to her daughters through her dear friend Mr. Tristram. She
+sent a further invitation for the three young people to remain to an
+impromptu supper, which was pleasanter than late dinner in such hot
+weather, and asked if Mr. and Mrs. Tristram would join them at the
+meal.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Molly. "That will be fun! I must be off now, girls.
+We'll be with you, all three of us, between four and five o'clock."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SPOT-EAR.
+
+
+Isabel took great pains arranging Maggie Rowland's bedroom. At the
+Castle (or Manor) there were always troops of servants for every
+imaginable thing; but at the rectory the servants were few, and the
+girls did a good many odds and ends of work themselves. They were
+expected to dust and keep in perfect order their exceedingly pretty
+bedrooms, they were further required to make their own beds, and if a
+young visitor arrived, they were obliged to wait on her and see to her
+comfort. For the Tristrams had just an income sufficient to cover
+their expenses, with nothing at all to put by. Mr. Tristram had his
+two little boys to think of as well as his two girls. His intention
+was to give his children the best education possible, believing that
+such a gift was far more valuable to them than mere money. By-and-by,
+when they were old enough, the girls might earn their own living if
+they felt so inclined, and each girl might become a specialist in her
+way.
+
+Molly was exceedingly fond of music, and wished to excel in that
+particular. Isabel, on the contrary, was anxious to obtain a post as
+gymnasium teacher with the London County Council. But all these things
+were for the future. At present the girls were to study, were to
+acquire knowledge, were to be prepared for that three-fold battle
+which includes body, soul, and spirit, and which needs triple armor in
+the fight.
+
+Mr. Tristram was a man of high religious principles. He taught his
+children to love the good and refuse the evil. He wanted his girls to
+be useful women by-and-by in the world. He put usefulness before
+happiness, assuring his children that if they followed the one they
+would secure the other.
+
+Belle, therefore, felt quite at home now as she took out pretty mats
+and laid them on little tables in the neat spare room which had been
+arranged for the reception of Maggie Howland. She saw that all the
+appointments of the room were as perfect as simplicity and cleanliness
+could effect, and then went out into the summer garden to pick some
+choice, sweet-smelling flowers. She selected roses and carnations,
+and, bringing them in, arranged them in vases in the room.
+
+Hearing the sound of wheels, she flew eagerly downstairs and met her
+friend as she stepped out of the little governess-cart.
+
+"Well, here I am!" said Maggie. "And how is Belle? How good-natured of
+you all to have me, and how delightful it is to smell the delicious
+country air! Mother and I find town so hot and stuffy. I haven't
+brought a great lot of luggage, and I am not a bit smart; but you
+won't mind that--will you, dear old Belle?"
+
+"You always talk about not being smart, Maggie; but you manage to look
+smarter than anyone else," said Isabel, her eager brown eyes devouring
+her friend's appearance with much curiosity. For Maggie looked, to use
+a proverbial phrase, as if she had stepped out of a bandbox. If she
+was plain of face she had an exceedingly neat figure, and there was a
+fashionable, trim look about her which is uncommon in a girl of her
+age; for Maggie was only just sixteen, and scarcely looked as much. In
+some ways she might almost have been a French girl, so exceedingly
+neat and _comme il faut_ was her little person. She was built on a
+_petite_ scale, and although her face was so plain, she had lovely
+hands and beautiful small feet. These feet were always shod in the
+most correct style, and she took care of her hands, never allowing
+them to get red or sunburnt.
+
+"Where's Molly?" was her remark, as the two girls, with their arms
+twined round each other, entered the wide, low hall which was one of
+the special features of the old rectory.
+
+"She has gone up to see the Cardews."
+
+"Who are the Cardews?"
+
+"Why, surely, Mags, you must have heard of them?"
+
+"You don't mean," said Maggie with a laugh, and showing a gleam of
+strong white teeth, "the two little ladies who live in a bandbox?"
+
+"Oh, you really must not laugh at them," said Isabel, immediately on
+the defensive for her friends; "but they do lead a somewhat exclusive
+life. Molly has gone up to the Castle, as we always call Meredith
+Manor, to announce your arrival, and to ask permission to bring you
+there to a tennis-party this afternoon; so you will soon see them for
+yourself. Now, come in and say good-morning to the mater; she is
+longing to see you."
+
+"Hello, Peterkins!" called out Maggie at that moment, as a small boy
+with a smut across his face suddenly peeped round a door.
+
+"I'm not Peterkins!" he said angrily.
+
+Maggie laughed again. "I am going to call you Peterkins," she said.
+"Is this one of the little brothers, Belle?"
+
+"Yes.--Come here at once, Andrew, and speak to Miss Howland."
+
+The boy approached shyly. Then his eyes looked up into the queer face
+of the girl who looked down at him. The sulkiness cleared away from
+his brow, and he said, in an eager, hurried, half-shy,
+half-confidential way, "I say, do you like rabbits?"
+
+"Dote on 'em," said Maggie.
+
+"Then I'm your man, and I don't mind being Peterkins to you; and will
+you--will you come and see mine? I've got Spot-ear, and Dove, and
+Angelus, and Clover. And Jack, he has five rabbits, but they're not
+near as nice as mine. You'll come and see my rabbits, won't you,
+Miss--Miss-----"
+
+"Oh, I am Maggie," said the girl. "I'll come and see your rabbits,
+Peterkins, in a minute; and I won't look at Jack's; but you must let
+me talk to your mother first."
+
+"There you are, Maggie," said Belle when the boy had disappeared;
+"fascinating Andrew in your usual way; and Jack will be just furious,
+for he's the elder, you know, and he has a temper, and you mustn't set
+one of them against the other--promise you won't."
+
+"Trust me," said Maggie. "Peterkins is a nice little fellow, and I'll
+manage Jackdaw too."
+
+"You don't mean to say you'll call them by those names?"
+
+"Yes, yes. I always have my own way with people, as you know."
+
+"Indeed I do. Oh, come along, you queer creature. Here's the darling
+mums. Mater dearest, here is Maggie Howland."
+
+"Delighted to see you, my dear," said Mrs. Tristram. "I hope you are
+not tired after your journey from town."
+
+"Not in the least, thank you, Mrs. Tristram," said Maggie, speaking in
+a voice of very peculiar quality; it was sweet and rich and full of
+many intonations. She had the power of putting a world of meaning into
+the most commonplace expressions.
+
+Mrs. Tristram had not seen Maggie before, and it was Mr. Tristram who
+had been completely bowled over by the young lady just at
+Christmas-time.
+
+"I bid you a hearty welcome to the rectory," said the good clergyman's
+wife, "and I hope you will have a pleasant time with my children."
+
+"I'll have a fascinating time," said Maggie. "I'm just too delighted
+to come. It was sweet of you to have me; and may I, please, give you a
+kiss?"
+
+"Of course you may, dear child," said Mrs. Tristram.
+
+Maggie bestowed the kiss, and immediately afterward was conducted to
+her room by the worshiping Belle.
+
+"I do hope you'll like it," said Belle in an almost timorous voice. "I
+prepared it for you myself."
+
+"Why, it's sweet," said Maggie, "and so full of the country! Oh, I
+say, what roses! And those carnations--Malmaisons, aren't they? I must
+wear a couple in this brown holland frock; they'll tone with it
+perfectly. What a delicious smell!"
+
+Maggie sniffed at the roses. Belle lounged on the window-seat.
+
+"Molly will be jealous," she said. "Think of my having you these few
+moments all to myself!"
+
+"I am delighted to come, as you know quite well," replied Maggie.
+"It's all right about school, isn't it, Belle?"
+
+"Yes, quite, quite right. We are to join you there in September."
+
+"It's a perfectly splendid place," said Maggie. "I will describe it to
+you later on."
+
+"But can it be nicer," said Belle, "than our darling school at
+Hanover?"
+
+"Nicer!" exclaimed Maggie. "You couldn't compare the two places. I
+tell you it's perfect. The girls--well, they're aristocratic; they're
+girls of the Upper Ten. It's the most select school. You are in luck
+to be admitted, I can tell you. You will learn a lot about society
+when you are a member of Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"But what possible good will that do us when we are never going into
+it?" said Belle.
+
+Maggie slightly narrowed her already narrow eyes, took off her hat,
+and combed back her crisp, dark hair from her low, full, very broad
+forehead. Then she said, with a smile, "You are to stay two years at
+Mrs. Ward's, are you not?"
+
+"Yes, I think that is the arrangement."
+
+"And I am to stay there for two years," said Maggie; "I mean two
+more. I will ask you, Isabel Tristram, what good society is worth at
+the end of your two years. I expect you will tell me a very different
+story then."
+
+At this moment there came a hurried, nervous, excited knock at the
+room door.
+
+"Aren't you coming, Miss--Miss--Maggie? Clover and Dove and Spot-ear
+and Angelus are all waiting. Their hutch is beautiful and clean, and I
+have all their lettuces waiting for them just outside, so they sha'n't
+begin to nibble till you come. Do, do come, please, Miss Maggie."
+
+"Of course I will, my darling Peterkins," replied Maggie in her joyful
+voice. "Oh, this is--this is--this _is_ fun!--Come along, Belle; come
+along."
+
+"But don't let poor Jack get into a temper," said Isabel in a
+half-frightened whisper.
+
+Maggie took no notice of her. She opened the bedroom door and flew
+downstairs, holding the dirty, hot little hand of Andrew, _alias_
+Peterkins, while Isabel followed in their wake.
+
+In a far-away part of the rectory garden, on a bit of waste land at
+the other side of the great vegetable garden, were two hutches which
+stood side by side, and these hutches contained those most adorable
+creatures, the pets, the darlings of the Tristram boys.
+
+The Tristram boys were aged eleven and ten years respectively. Jack
+was eleven, Andrew ten. They were very sturdy, healthy, fine little
+fellows. At present they went to a good day-school in the
+neighborhood, but were to be sent to a boarding-school about the same
+time as their sisters were to begin their education at Aylmer House in
+Kensington. Their passion above all things was for pets. They had
+tried every sort: white mice (these somehow or other were sacrificed
+to the reigning cat) and waltzing mice (that shared an equally
+luckless fate); these were followed by white rats, which got into the
+garden and did mischief, and were banished by order of the rector, who
+was a most determined master in his own house. Dogs were also
+forbidden, except one very intelligent Airedale, that belonged to the
+whole family and to no one in particular. But the boys must find vent
+for their passion in some way, and rabbits were allowed them. At the
+present moment Jack owned five, Andrew four.
+
+In trembling triumph, Andrew brought his new friend to see his
+darlings. He greatly hoped that Jack would not appear on the scene
+just now. While Maggie was up in her bedroom taking off, her hat, he
+had, with herculean strength, managed to move an old wooden door and
+put it in such a position that Jack's hutch was completely hidden,
+while his hutch shone forth in all its glory, with those fascinating
+creatures Spot-ear, Angelus, Dove, and Clover looking through their
+prison-bars at the tempting meal that awaited them.
+
+"Here they are! here they are!" said Andrew. "Beauties, all four; my
+own--my very own! Maggie, you may share one of them with me while you
+are here. He must live in his hutch, but he shall be yours and mine.
+Would you like Spot-ear? He is a character. He's the finest old cove
+you ever came across in your life. Look at him now, pretending he
+doesn't care anything at all for his lettuce, and he's just dying for
+it. Clover is the greedy one. Clover would eat till he-burst if I let
+him. As to Angelus, she squeaks sometimes--you'll hear her if you
+listen hard--that's why I called her Angelus; and Dove--why, she's a
+dear pet; but the character of all is Spot-ear. You'd like to share
+him with me, wouldn't you, Maggie?"
+
+"Yes, yes; he is so ugly; he is quite interesting," said Maggie. She
+flung herself on the ground by the side of the hutch, and gazed in at
+the occupants as though her only aim in life was to worship rabbits.
+
+"You take that leaf of lettuce and give it to Spot-ear your very own
+self," said Peterkins. "He'll love you ever after; he's a most
+affectionate old fellow."
+
+Maggie proceeded to feed the rabbit. Peterkins hopped about in a state
+of excitement which he had seldom experienced before. Maggie asked
+innumerable questions. Belle seated herself on the fallen trunk of an
+old oak-tree and looked on in wonder.
+
+Maggie was a curious girl. She seemed to have a power over every one.
+There was Andrew--such a shy little fellow as a rule--simply pouring
+out his heart to her.
+
+Suddenly Belle rose. "It's time for lunch," she said, "and you must be
+hungry. Andrew, go straight to the house and wash your face and hands.
+No lady would sit down to lunch with such a dirty boy as you are."
+
+"Oh, I say, am I?" said Andrew. "Do you think so, Maggie?"
+
+"You are a most disreputable-looking little scamp," said Maggie.
+
+"Then I won't be--I won't, most truly. I'll run off at once and get
+clean, and I'll get into my Sunday best if you wish it."
+
+"Dear me, no!" said Maggie; "I don't wish it. But clean hands and
+face--well, they are essential to the ordinary British boy, if he's a
+gentleman."
+
+"I am your gentleman--for evermore," said Andrew.
+
+"I think you are, Peterkins."
+
+"Then I'm off to clean up," said the small boy.
+
+"I say, Andrew," cried his sister; "before you go take that door away
+from Jack's hutch. He'll be so furious at your keeping the light and
+air away from his rabbits."
+
+"Not I. I can't be bothered," said Peterkins.
+
+"Please take it away at once," said Maggie.
+
+Andrew's brow puckered into a frown.
+
+"But you'll see 'em, and he's got five!" he said in a most distressed
+voice.
+
+"Honor bright," said Maggie, "I'll turn my back and shut my eyes.
+Jackdaw shall show me his rabbits himself."
+
+Peterkins immediately removed the door, dragging it to its former
+place, where it leaned against a high wall. He then rushed up to
+Maggie.
+
+"I've done it," he said. "Promise you won't like his bunnies."
+
+"Can't," said Maggie, "for I'll love 'em."
+
+"Well, at least promise you won't love him."
+
+"Can't," said Maggie again, "for I shall."
+
+"I'll die of raging jealousy," said Peterkins.
+
+"No, you won't, you silly boy. Get off to the house and make yourself
+tidy. Come along, Belle."
+
+"I say, Maggie," said Belle, "you mustn't set those two boys by the
+ears. They're fond enough of each other."
+
+"Of course I'll do nothing of the kind," said Maggie. "That's a
+charming little chap, and Spot-ear is my rabbit as well as his.
+Jackdaw shall share two of his rabbits with me. Oh, it is such fun
+turning people round your little finger!"
+
+Just then Molly, rather red in the face, ran up.
+
+"Oh, you darling, darling Maggie!" she said. "So you've come!"
+
+"Come!" cried Maggie. "I feel as if I'd been here for ever."
+
+"I am delighted to see you," said Molly.
+
+She kissed her friend rapturously. Maggie presented a cool, firm,
+round cheek.
+
+"Oh, how sweet you look, Mags!"
+
+"Don't talk nonsense, Molly; I'm not a bit sweet-looking."
+
+"To me," said Molly with fervor, "You're the loveliest girl in all the
+wide world."
+
+"I'm very ugly, and you know that perfectly well," said Maggie; "but
+now don't let's talk of looks."
+
+"Whatever were you doing in this part of the garden?" inquired Molly.
+
+"Oh, she was making love to Andrew," remarked Belle. "She calls him
+Peterkins, and he allows it, and he has given her one-half of
+Spot-ear; and she means to make love to Jack, and he's to give her a
+couple of his rabbits--I mean, to share them with her. She's more
+extraordinary than ever, more altogether out of the common."
+
+"As if I didn't know that," said Molly. "It's all right about this
+afternoon, Maggie. Oh, what do you think? We're to stay to supper, and
+I have a special invitation for father and mother to come and join us
+then. Won't it be fun! I do wonder, Maggie, if you will like the
+Cardew girls."
+
+"Probably not," replied Maggie in a very calm voice; "but at least I
+can promise you one thing: they'll both like me."
+
+"No doubt whatever on that point," replied Belle with fervor.
+
+They entered the house, and soon found themselves seated round the
+table. Mr. Tristram greeted Maggie with his usual gentle dignity.
+Molly delivered herself of her message from the Castle. Mr. and Mrs.
+Tristram said that they would be delighted to join the Cardews at
+supper.
+
+The meal was proceeding cheerfully, and Maggie was entertaining her
+host and hostess by just those pleasant little pieces of information
+which an exceedingly well-bred girl can impart without apparently
+intending to do so, when a shy and very clean little figure glided
+into the room, a pair of bright-brown eyes looked fixedly at Maggie,
+and then glared defiance at Belle, who happened to be seated near that
+adorable young person.
+
+Peterkins was making up his mind that in future that coveted seat
+should be his--for he and Maggie could talk in whispers during the
+meal about Spot-ear, Angelus, and the rest--when his father said, "Sit
+down, my boy; take your place at once. You are rather late."
+
+The boy slipped into his seat.
+
+"I am glad to see you looking so tidy, Andrew," said his mother
+approvingly.
+
+Andrew looked across at Maggie. Maggie did not once glance at him. She
+was talking in her gentle, lady-like tone to the rector.
+
+Presently another boy came in, bigger and broader than Andrew.
+
+Andrew said in a raised voice, "Here's Jack, and his hands aren't a
+bit clean."
+
+"Hush!" said the rector.
+
+Jack flushed and looked defiantly at Maggie.
+
+Maggie raised her eyes and gave him a sweet glance. "Are you really
+Jack?" she said. "I am so glad to know you. I have been making friends
+with your brother Andrew, whom I call Peterkins. I want to call you
+Jackdaw. May I?"
+
+Jack felt a great lump in his throat. His face was scarlet. He felt
+unable to speak, but he nodded.
+
+"I have been looking at Peterkins's rabbits," continued Maggie. "I
+want to see yours after lunch."
+
+"They're beauties!" burst from Jack. "They're ever so many times
+better than Andrew's. I've got a cream-colored Angora. His name is
+Fanciful, and I've got----"
+
+"Hush, my boy, hush!" said the rector. "Not so much talking during
+meals. Well, Maggie, my dear--we must, of course, call you by your
+Christian name----"
+
+"Of course, Mr. Tristram; I should indeed feel strange if you
+didn't."
+
+"We are delighted to see you," continued the rector, "and you must
+tell the girls all about your new school."
+
+"And you too, sir," said Maggie, in her soft, rich voice. "Oh! you'll
+be delighted--delighted; there never was such a woman as Mrs. Ward."
+
+"I took a very great liking to her," said the rector. "I think my
+girls fortunate to be placed under her care. She has been good, very
+good and kind, to me and mine."
+
+"I wonder what he means by that," thought Maggie; but she made no
+remark aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+LADY LYSLE.
+
+
+At about a quarter to four that same afternoon three girls prepared to
+walk over to Meredith Manor. It was for such golden opportunities that
+Molly and Isabel kept their best frocks; it was for just such
+occasions that they arrayed themselves most neatly and becomingly.
+Their dress, it must be owned, was limited in quantity and also in
+quality; but on the present occasion, in their pretty white spotted
+muslins, with pale-blue sashes round their waists and white muslin
+hats to match, they looked as charming a young pair of English girls
+as could be found in the length and breadth of the land. It is true
+their feet were not nearly as perfectly shod as Maggie's, nor were
+their gloves quite so immaculate; but then they were going to play
+tennis, and shoes and gloves did not greatly matter in the country.
+Maggie thought otherwise. Her tan tennis-shoes exactly toned with her
+neatly fitting brown holland dress. The little hat she wore on her
+head was made of brown straw trimmed very simply with ribbon; it was
+an ugly hat, but on Maggie's head it seemed to complete her dress, to
+be a part of her, so that no one noticed in the least what she wore
+except that she looked all right.
+
+Two boys with worshiping eyes watched the trio as they stepped down
+the rectory avenue and disappeared from view. Two boys fought a little
+afterward, but made it up again, and then lay on the grass side by
+side and discussed Maggie, pulling her to pieces in one sense, but
+adoring her all the same.
+
+Meanwhile the girls themselves chatted as girls will when the heart is
+light and there is no care anywhere. It was very hot, even hotter than
+it had been in the morning; but when they reached the road shaded so
+beautifully by the elm-trees they found a delicious breeze which
+fanned their faces. Somehow, Maggie never seemed to suffer from
+weather at all. She was never too cold; she was never too hot; she was
+never ill; no one had ever heard her complain of ache or pain. She was
+always joyous, except when she was sympathizing with somebody else's
+sorrow, and then her sympathy was detached--that is, it did not make
+her personally sad, although it affected and helped the person who was
+the recipient of it to a most remarkable extent. One of Maggie's great
+attractions was her absolute health, her undiminished strength, the
+fact that she could endure almost any exertion without showing a trace
+of fatigue.
+
+Molly and Isabel were also strong, hearty, well-made girls, and the
+excitement of this expedition caused them to chatter more volubly than
+usual. Maggie had a good deal to tell them with regard to the new
+school, and they had a great deal to tell her with regard to the
+Cardews.
+
+Just as they were entering the avenue Maggie turned and faced her two
+companions. "May I say something?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Why, of course, Mags," said Molly.
+
+"Well, it's this: from what you told me of your friends, they must be
+the most profoundly uninteresting girls."
+
+"Oh no, indeed they are not!" said Isabel stanchly. "Merry has a great
+deal in her, and Cicely is so nice-looking! We think she will be
+beautiful by-and-by; but Merry undoubtedly has the most character.
+Then there is something dignified and aristocratic about them, and yet
+they are not really proud, although they might be, for they are so
+rich, and Meredith Manor is such a wonderful old house."
+
+"Didn't you tell me," said Maggie, "that Meredith Manor belonged to
+Mrs. Cardew?"
+
+"Did I?" said Isabel, coloring in some confusion. "I am sure I don't
+know; I don't remember saying it. I don't think Mrs. Cardew is the
+sort of woman who would call anything hers apart from her husband. She
+is devoted to him, and no wonder, for he is quite charming. He is
+nearly as charming as father, and that's saying a great deal."
+
+"Do let's come on. We'll be late!" said Molly impatiently.
+
+"No, not quite yet, please," said Maggie. "I want to understand the
+position. Mrs. Cardew was a Miss Meredith?"
+
+"Yes, dear Maggie; but what does that matter?"
+
+"And," continued Maggie, "she was the heiress of Meredith Manor?"
+
+"I suppose so. Father can tell you exactly."
+
+"Oh, I don't want to question him, but I want to get my bearings. On
+the mother's side, the Cardew girls belong to the country. Isn't that
+so?"
+
+"Yes, yes, yes. Do come on."
+
+"But their father," continued Maggie, "he is in trade, isn't he?"
+
+"He's a perfect gentleman," said Isabel stoutly; "no one looks down on
+trade in these days."
+
+"Of course not. I adore trade myself," said Maggie. She now proceeded
+to walk very slowly up the avenue. She was evidently thinking hard.
+After a time she said, "I mean to get those girls to come to school
+with you, Molly, and with you, Isabel, in September."
+
+Both the Tristrams burst into a peal of merry laughter. "Oh Mags!"
+they cried, "we never did think before that you were conceited. You
+certainly overrate even your powers when you imagine that you will get
+Mr. Cardew to change his mind."
+
+"What do you mean by his changing his mind?"
+
+"Why, this," said Belle. "He has set his face from the very first
+against his girls leaving home. He wishes them to have a home
+education, and that alone."
+
+"Oh, that is all right," said Maggie cheerfully. "Well, what will you
+bet, girls, that I have my way?"
+
+"We don't want you to lose, Maggie; but you certainly will not get
+your way in this particular."
+
+"Well, now, I am going to be generous. I am not rich; but I have got
+two gold bracelets at home, and I will give one to each of you for
+your very own if I succeed in bringing Cicely and Merry Cardew to Mrs.
+Ward's school."
+
+"Oh! oh!" exclaimed both the Tristram girls.
+
+"You'll get your bracelets," said Maggie in a most confident tone,
+"and I can assure you they are beauties; my darling father brought
+them from India years and years ago. He brought a lot of jewels for
+mother and me, and I will get the bracelets for you--one each--if I
+succeed; but you must allow me to manage things my own way."
+
+"But you won't do anything--anything--to upset the Cardews?" said
+Isabel.
+
+"Upset them!" said Maggie. "Well, yes, I do mean to upset them. I mean
+to alter their lives; I mean to turn things topsyturvy for them; but
+I'll manage it in such a fashion that neither you, nor Molly, nor your
+father, nor your mother, nor anyone will suspect how I have got my
+way, but get it I will. I thought I'd tell you, that's all. You'd like
+to have them at school with you, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, very much indeed," said Molly.
+
+"I am not so sure," said Isabel. "It's rather fun coming back to the
+rectory in the holidays and telling the Cardew girls all about what we
+do and how we spend our time. There'll be nothing to tell them if we
+all go to the same school."
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "I don't agree with you. I expect, on the
+contrary, you'll find a vast lot more to talk about. But come, let's
+hurry now; I want to be introduced to them, for I have no time to
+lose."
+
+Neither Isabel nor Molly could quite make out why they felt a certain
+depression after Maggie Howland had explained her views. The thought
+of the possible possession of the bracelets did not greatly elate
+them. Besides, there was not the most remote chance of even such a
+fascinating young person as Maggie succeeding in her project. She
+would meet her match, if not in Mrs. Cardew, then in Mr. Cardew. There
+was no doubt whatever on that point. But they greatly wished she would
+not try. They did not want her to upset the placid existence of their
+young friends. The girls who lived at the Castle, the girls who
+pursued their sheltered, happy, refined life, were in a manner
+mysterious and remote to the young Tristrams, and they thought that
+they would not love them any more if they were brought into closer
+contact with them.
+
+A turn in the avenue now brought the old manor-house into view. Some
+friends of Mrs. Cardew's had arrived, but there were no other young
+people to be seen. Cicely and Merry were standing talking to a lady of
+middle age who had come to pay an afternoon call, when Cicely found
+herself changing color and glancing eagerly at Merry.
+
+"Oh, will you excuse me?" she said in her pretty, refined voice. "Our
+special friends the Tristrams, the rector's daughters, and a friend of
+theirs, a Miss Howland, are coming up the avenue."
+
+"Certainly, my dear," said Lady Lysle; and Cicely and Merry were off
+down the avenue like arrows from the bow to meet their friends.
+
+Lady Lysle watched the two girls, and then turned to speak to Mrs.
+Cardew.
+
+"What name was that I heard Cicely say?" was her remark. "Of course I
+know the Tristrams, but who was the girl who was with them?"
+
+"A special friend of theirs, a Miss Howland. She has been their school
+companion abroad. She is staying with them at the rectory. Why, what
+is the matter, Lady Lysle? Do you know anything about her?"
+
+"I don't know her," said Lady Lysle, "but I know a little bit about
+her mother. I should not have supposed the Tristram girls and Miss
+Howland were in the same set."
+
+"Why, what is wrong?" said Mrs. Cardew, who was exceedingly particular
+as regarded the people whom her daughters knew.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Lady Lysle. "I happen not particularly to
+like Mrs. Howland; but doubtless I am prejudiced."
+
+She turned to talk to a neighbor, and by this time the five girls had
+met. There was an eager interchange of greetings, and then Maggie
+found herself walking up the avenue by Merry's side, while Cicely
+found a place between the two Tristram girls.
+
+"I am so glad you've come!" said Merry in her gentle, polite voice.
+
+"It is kind of you to ask me," replied Maggie. "Do you know," she
+added, turning and fixing her curious eyes on her companion's face,
+"that I am one of those poor girls who have never seen a beautiful
+house like yours before."
+
+"I am so glad you like our house," said Merry; "but you haven't seen
+it yet."
+
+"I am looking at it now. So this is what I am accustomed to hear
+spoken of as one of the 'Homes of England'?"
+
+"It certainly is a home," said Merry, "and an old one, too. Parts of
+the Manor have been centuries in existence, but some parts, of course,
+are comparatively new."
+
+"Will you take me all over it, Miss Cardew?" asked Maggie.
+
+"Indeed, I shall be delighted; but you must come another day for
+that, for we want to make up some sets of tennis without any delay. We
+have all our afternoon planned out. There are three or four young
+people who may arrive any moment, so that we shall be able to make two
+good sets."
+
+"How wonderful it all is!" said Maggie, who kept on looking at the
+house with ever-increasing admiration, and did not seem particularly
+keen about tennis.
+
+"Don't you like tennis, Miss--Miss Howland?" said Merry.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Maggie after a pause; "but then I think," she added,
+after yet another pause, "that I like every nice thing in all the
+world."
+
+"How delightful that must be!" said Merry, becoming more and more
+attracted by Maggie each moment. "And you know a lot, too, don't you?
+For you have seen so much of the world."
+
+"I know very little," replied Maggie; "and as to having seen the
+world, that is to come. I am quite young, you know--only just
+sixteen."
+
+"But Isabel and Molly told me that you knew more than any other girl
+of their acquaintance."
+
+Maggie gave a cheerful laugh, and said, "You mustn't mind what they
+say, poor darlings! The fact is, they're fond of me, and they magnify
+my knowledge; but in reality it doesn't exist. Only, I must tell you,
+Miss Cardew, I mean to see everything, and to know everything. I mean
+to have a glorious future."
+
+The enthusiasm in the charming voice was also seen, to shine through
+those queer, narrow eyes. Merry felt her heart beat. "I am going to
+tell you something in return," she said, speaking, for a wonder,
+without diffidence, for she was naturally very shy and retiring. "I
+wish with all my heart that I could live a glorious life such as you
+describe."
+
+"And surely you can?" said Maggie.
+
+"No, I must be satisfied with a very quiet life. But we won't talk of
+it now. I am really very happy. I should consider myself a most
+wicked, discontented girl were I anything else. And, please, may I
+take you to see mother?"
+
+Merry brought up her new friend to introduce her to Mrs. Cardew, who
+for the first moment, remembering what Lady Lysle had said, was a
+trifle stiff to Maggie Howland, but two minutes afterward was chatting
+to her in a pleasant and very friendly manner. She even went the
+length of personally introducing Maggie to Lady Lysle, excusing
+herself for the act by saying that Lady Lysle knew her mother.
+
+Maggie also succeeded in charming Lady Lysle, who said to Mrs. Cardew
+afterward, "I am glad you have introduced the girl to me. She is not
+in the least like her commonplace, affected mother. She seems a very
+good sort, and I like plain girls."
+
+"But is she plain?" said Mrs. Cardew in some astonishment. "Do you
+know, I never noticed it."
+
+Lady Lysle laughed. "You never noticed how remarkably plain that girl
+is, my dear friend?" she said.
+
+"To be frank with you," said Mrs. Cardew, "I didn't think of her face
+at all. She has a pretty manner and a nice, sensible, agreeable way of
+talking. I do not think my girls can suffer injury from her."
+
+"They seem to like her, at any rate," said Lady Lysle, looking
+significantly as she spoke at the distant part of the grounds, where
+Maggie, with Cicely at one side of her and Merry at the other, was
+talking eagerly. "Oh yes, she seems a nice child," continued the great
+lady, "and it would be unfair to judge a girl because her mother is
+not to one's taste."
+
+"But is there anything really objectionable in the mother?" asked Mrs.
+Cardew.
+
+"Nothing whatsoever, except that she is pushing, vulgar, and shallow.
+I am under the impression that the Howlands are exceedingly poor. Of
+course they are not to be blamed for that, but how the mother can
+manage to send the girl to expensive schools puzzles me."
+
+"Ah, well," said Mrs. Gardew in her gentle voice, "the child is
+evidently very different from her mother, and I must respect the
+mother for doing her best to get her girl well educated."
+
+"Your girls are not going to school, are they, Sylvia?" asked Lady
+Lysle.
+
+"Mine? Of course not. Their father wouldn't hear of it."
+
+"On the whole, I think he is right," said Lady Lysle, "though there
+are advantages in schools. Now, that school at Kensington, Aylmer
+House, which my dear friend Mrs. Ward conducts with such skill and
+marvelous dexterity, is a place where any girl might receive
+advantages."
+
+"Is it possible," said Mrs. Cardew, "that Mrs. Ward is your friend?"
+
+"My very great friend, dear. I have known her all my life. Aylmer
+House is particularly select. My niece Aneta is at the school, and her
+mother is charmed with it."
+
+"But that is very strange," said Mrs. Gardew after a pause. "You must
+talk to-night to our rector when he comes. Oh yes, of course you'll
+stay to supper."
+
+"I cannot, I regret to say."
+
+"Well, then, if you won't, there's no use in pressing you. But I have
+something curious to say. The rector's two little girls are going to
+Aylmer House in September, and that little Miss Howland whom I just
+introduced to you is also one of the girls under Mrs. Ward's care."
+
+"Then she will do well," said Lady Lysle alter a pause, during which
+her face looked very thoughtful.
+
+"I wonder if she knows your niece," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+Lady Lysle laughed. "I presume she does. The school only contains
+twenty boarders--never any more. I happen to know that there are two
+vacancies at the present moment. Really, if I were you, Sylvia, I
+would give your girls a couple of years there. It would do them a
+world of good, and they would acquire some slight knowledge of the
+world before they enter it."
+
+"Impossible! quite impossible!" said Mrs. Cardew; "their father would
+never consent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+POWER WAS EVERYTHING TO MAGGIE.
+
+
+Meanwhile the young people enjoyed themselves vastly. Maggie was very
+modest with regard to her tennis, but she quickly proved that she
+could play better than any one else at the Manor that day. The
+visitors walking about the grounds paused to remark on her excellent
+play and to inquire who she was. She took her little triumph very
+modestly, saying that she was rather surprised at herself, and
+supposed that it was the fresh and delicious air of the country which
+had put her into such good form.
+
+"She is ridiculously overmodest," said Isabel Tristram to Merry, "for
+she always did play every sort of game better than the rest of us. She
+is not quite so good at her books; except, indeed, at certain things,
+such as recitation. I wish you could see and hear her then. She is
+almost a genius. She looks like one inspired."
+
+"I think her quite delightful," said Merry; "and as to being
+plain----"
+
+"I told you, didn't I?" said Belle, "that you'd never notice her looks
+after you had seen her for a minute or two."
+
+By-and-by it was time for the family to go into the house for supper
+at Meredith Manor. The three girls from the rectory were taken
+upstairs, to a spacious bedroom to wash their hands and brush their
+hair. Molly and Isabel were both most anxious to know what Maggie
+thought of Cicely and Merry.
+
+"What I think of them?" said Maggie. "Oh, they're first-rate, and not
+really dull at all; and the whole place is lovely, and all the people
+I met to-day were so nice, except, indeed, that Lady Lysle."
+
+"Lady Lysle!" exclaimed Molly in a tone of astonishment. "Why, she is
+Mrs. Cardew's greatest friend. Do you mean to say you were introduced
+to her?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Cardew was kind enough to do so, though I am sure I didn't
+want it at all."
+
+"But I can't imagine why she did it," said Molly in a tone of
+astonishment. "Mrs. Cardew never introduces either of us to the
+grown-up people."
+
+"Well, her ostensible reason," said Maggie, "was that Lady Lysle knows
+my mother."
+
+"Does she, indeed?" said Isabel in a tone of great respect.
+
+"But that doesn't make me like her any the better," said Maggie. "And
+now I will tell you why, girls, only you must faithfully promise you
+won't repeat it to any one."
+
+"Of course not," said the girls eagerly, who were accustomed to
+receive secrets from their schoolfellows, though Maggie, as a rule,
+never gave her secrets to anyone.
+
+"Well, I will tell you," said Maggie, the color flushing into her face
+and then leaving it pale again. "Aneta Lysle is one of the girls at
+Aylmer House. She is Lady Lysle's niece; and--well--you know I am
+tolerant enough, but I can't bear Aneta Lysle."
+
+Molly and Isabel were silent for a minute.
+
+"If _you_ can't bear her," said Isabel, "then I don't suppose we'll
+like her either when we go to the school."
+
+"Oh yes, you will; you'll adore her--sure to. Now promise once again
+that you will never repeat this."
+
+"We certainly will not," said Molly.
+
+Isabel nodded emphatically. "We don't tell secrets," she said. Then
+she added, "We had best go downstairs now, if you're quite tidy,
+Mags."
+
+During supper that night Mrs. Cardew, who found herself seated near
+her favorite rector, began to ply him with questions with regard to
+Aylmer House. How had he heard of it, and why had he specially fixed
+on that establishment for his daughters?
+
+The rector smiled. He had twinkling dark eyes, and they now looked
+down the long table until they rested for a brief moment on Maggie's
+young figure. She was talking to Mr. Cardew, who, stately and reserved
+as he was, took her remarks with good-natured tolerance.
+
+"A nice, unaffected child," he kept saying to himself, and neither did
+he remark how plain she was.
+
+"That young person yonder," said Mr. Tristram to Mrs. Cardew, "is the
+influence that has induced me to make arrangements for my girls at
+Aylmer House."
+
+"Miss Howland! You don't mean to say that you are influenced by a
+schoolgirl?"
+
+Mr. Tristram looked grave. "In this case I may as well confess at once
+that I have been influenced," he said. "I have heard a great deal of
+the child from Molly and Isabel, for they were all three at the same
+excellent school in Hanover. I met little Miss Howland when I was in
+London at Christmas. Being such a great friend of my children's, I
+naturally talked to her. She told me of Mrs. Ward and of the new
+delightful school to which she was going. She certainly never once
+pressed me to send my girls there, but it occurred to me that I would
+visit Mrs. Ward and see if it could be arranged. My girls are quite
+proficient for their ages in foreign languages; but I want them now
+thoroughly to learn literature and English history, and also those
+numerous small accomplishments which are so necessary for a
+gentlewoman. There is also no place in the world like London, in my
+opinion, for hearing good music and seeing good art. I saw Mrs. Ward.
+A short interview with her was all-sufficient. I could not desire to
+put my girls in safer hands."
+
+Mrs. Cardew listened very attentively.
+
+"Then you think, Mr. Tristram," she said after a pause, "that
+school-life is really good for girls?"
+
+"In my humble opinion, Mrs. Cardew, it is essential. A girl must find
+her level. She can only find it at school."
+
+"Then what about my dear girls?" said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+The rector bowed in a very courteous manner. "School-life may not be
+really necessary for them," he said; "although you know my opinion--in
+short you know what I would do with them did they belong to me."
+
+Mrs. Cardew was silent for a minute or two. Then she continued the
+conversation by saying, "It is really a curious fact that Lady Lysle,
+my great friend, who was here this afternoon, spoke to me in terms of
+the warmest approbation with regard to Mrs. Ward and Aylmer House. She
+says that her own niece Aneta is a member of the school. She further
+said that there were two vacancies at present, and she urged me to
+send my girls there. But, alas I cannot do that, for their father
+would not hear of it."
+
+"I do wish he would hear of it," said Mr. Tristram with some feeling.
+"You will never have your girls properly taught unless they go to
+school. It is impossible at this distance from London to command the
+services of the best masters and governesses. You will not have a
+resident governess in the house--forgive me if I speak freely, dear
+lady, but I love your children as though they were my own--and if you
+could persuade Mr. Cardew to seize this opportunity and let them go to
+school with Molly and Isabel I am certain you would never regret it."
+
+"I wish I could persuade him," said Mrs. Cardew; "more particularly as
+that excellent music master, Mr. Bennett, has just written to say he
+must discontinue giving his music-lessons, as the distance from
+Warwick is too far for his health, and Miss Beverley, their daily
+governess, has also broken down. But there, I know my husband never
+will agree to part with the girls."
+
+"Then the next best thing," said Mr. Tristram, speaking in a cheerful
+tone, "is for you to take up your abode in your London house, and give
+the girls the advantages of masters and mistresses straight from the
+Metropolis. Why, you will be bringing them out in a couple of years,
+Mrs. Cardew, and you would like them to have all possible advantages
+first."
+
+"Something must be done, certainly," said Mrs. Cardew; "and I like
+that girl, Miss Howland, although Lady Lysle seemed prejudiced against
+her at first."
+
+"Oh, she is a girl in a thousand," said Mr. Tristram; "so
+matter-of-fact and amiable and agreeable. See how she is talking to
+your husband at this very moment! I never saw a nicer or more modest
+young creature, but she is so exceedingly clever that she will push
+her own way anywhere. She has bowled over my two young urchins
+already, although she has been only a few hours at the rectory. What
+could Lady Lysle have to say against Maggie Howland?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing at all, and I ought not to have spoken; but it
+seems she does not much care for Mrs. Howland."
+
+"I think I can explain that," said Mr. Tristram. "Mrs. Howland means
+well, but is a rather silly sort of woman. The girl manages her in the
+sweetest way. The girl herself takes after her father, poor Howland
+the African explorer, who lost his life in his country's cause. He
+had, I am told, a most remarkable personality."
+
+When Molly and Isabel Tristram, accompanied by Maggie Howland, the
+rector, and his wife, walked back to the rectory that evening, Maggie
+was in excellent spirits. It was natural that the three young people
+should start on in front. Maggie talked on various subjects; but
+although the Tristrams were most anxious to get opinions from her with
+regard to the Cardews, she could not be led to talk of them until they
+were approaching the house.
+
+It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and a perfect summer night. The
+boys, Jack and Andrew, had gone to bed, but a few lights were
+twinkling here and there in the dear old rectory.
+
+"Oh, I am not a scrap sleepy", said Maggie. "This air stimulates one;
+it is splendid. By the way, girls," she added, suddenly turning and
+facing her companions, "would you like your bracelets to have rubies
+in them or sapphires?"
+
+"Nonsense!" said Molly, turning crimson.
+
+Belle laughed. "You don't suppose you are accomplishing that?" she
+said.
+
+Maggie spoke rather slowly. "Mother has one dozen bracelets in her
+jewelry-case. Father brought them to her in the course of his travels.
+Some he got in India and some in Africa. They are very valuable and
+exceedingly quaint, and I recall now to my memory, and can-see clearly
+in my mind's eye one lovely gold bracelet fashioned like a snake and
+with eyes of ruby, and another (which I think he must have got at
+Colombo) that consists of a broad gold band studded here and there
+with sapphires. How pretty those bracelets would look on your dear
+little arms, Molly and Isabel; and how glad--how very, very glad--your
+Maggie will be to give them to you!"
+
+"And, of course, when you do give them to us we'll be delighted to
+have them," said Molly and Isabel.
+
+Then Isabel laughed and said, "But what is the good of counting your
+chickens before they're hatched?"
+
+"I consider my chickens hatched," was Maggie's remark, "What fun we
+shall all have together next winter! Aneta won't have much chance
+against us. Yes, girls, of course I like your friends Cicely and
+Merry; but they'll be twice three times--the girls they are when they
+have been for a short time at Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"Aren't you tired, Maggie?" was Molly's remark. "Wouldn't you like to
+go to bed?"
+
+"I am not a scrap tired, and I don't want to go to bed at all; but I
+suppose that means that you would?"
+
+"Well, I must own to feeling a little sleepy," said Molly.
+
+"And so am I," said Belle.
+
+"Girls, girls, come in; your father wants to lock up," called Mrs.
+Tristram at that moment.
+
+The girls all entered the house, lit their candles, and went upstairs
+to their rooms.
+
+As Maggie was wishing her two dear friends good-night she said
+quietly, "I hope you won't mind; but Merry Cardew--or, as I ought to
+call her, Miss Cardew--has asked me to go over to the Manor to-morrow
+morning in order to show me the old house. I said I'd be there at ten
+o'clock, and could then get back to you in time for lunch. I do trust
+you don't mind."
+
+"Of course we don't," said Molly in a hearty tone. "Now, good-night,
+Mags."
+
+"But if you think, Maggie," said Isabel, "that you will succeed in
+that scheme of yours you will find yourself vastly mistaken."
+
+Maggie smiled gently, and the next moment she found herself alone. She
+went and stood by the open window. There was a glorious full moon in
+the sky, and the garden, with its deep shadows and brilliant avenues
+of light, looked lovely. But Maggie was not thinking of the scenery.
+Her thoughts were busy with those ideas which were always running riot
+in her busy little head. She was not unamiable; she was in reality a
+good-hearted girl, but she was very ambitious, and she sighed, above
+all things for power and popularity.
+
+When she came to visit Molly and Isabel she had not the faintest idea
+of inducing Cicely and Merry to join that select group who were taught
+by Mrs. Ward at Aylmer House. But when once the idea had entered her
+brain, she determined, with her accustomed quickness, to carry it into
+execution. She had never yet, in the whole course of her life, met
+with defeat. At the various schools where she had been taught she had
+always been popular and had won friends and never created an enemy-but
+at Aylmer House, extraordinary and delightful as the life was, there
+was one girl who excited her enmity--who, in short, roused the worst
+that was in her. That girl's name was Aneta Lysle. No sophistries on
+the part of Maggie, no clever speeches, no well-timed and courteous
+acts, could win the approval of Aneta; and just because she was
+impossible to get at, because she carried her young head high, because
+she had that which Maggie could never have--a stately and wonderful
+beauty--Maggie was jealous of her, and was determined, if she could
+not win Aneta over to be her friend, to use her own considerable
+powers against the girl. She had not for a single moment, however,
+thought that she could be helped by Cicely and Merry in this
+direction, and had intended to get them to come to the school simply
+because they were aristocratic and rich, in the first instance. But
+when she saw Lady Lysle--Lady Lysle, who hated her mother and before
+whom her mother trembled and shrank; Lady Lysle, who was Aneta's
+aunt--she knew that Cicely and Merry might be most valuable aids to
+her in carrying out her campaign against Aneta, and would help her to
+establish herself once and for all as the most powerful and important
+person in Mrs. Ward's school.
+
+Power was everything to Maggie. By power she meant to rule her small
+school-world, and eventually by the aid of that same gift to take her
+position in the greater world that lies beyond school. In her heart of
+hearts she considered Cicely and Merry tiresome, silly, ignorant
+little girls; but they could be made to play into her hands. They must
+come to Aylmer House--oh yes! and already she felt certain she had put
+the thin end of the wedge beneath that opposition which she knew she
+must expect from Mr. Cardew. She would see him again on the morrow.
+Indeed, greater schemes than hers could be carried into effect within
+a fortnight.
+
+Maggie was the soul of common-sense, however, and had no idea of
+wearing herself out thinking when she ought to be asleep. She
+accordingly soon turned from the window, and, getting into bed,
+dropped at once into healthy slumber.
+
+When she awoke she felt remarkably light-hearted and cheerful. She got
+up early, and went with Andrew and Jack to see the adorable rabbits.
+So judicious was she on this occasion that both boys returned with her
+to breakfast in the highest good-humor.
+
+"Mother, mother," cried Jackdaw, "she loves Fanciful because he's so
+beautiful."
+
+"And she adores Spot-ear because he's so ugly," said Peterkins.
+
+The boys were exceedingly happy at being allowed to sit at breakfast
+one on each side of Maggie, who, when she did not speak to them--for
+she wanted to ingratiate herself with every one present, and not with
+them alone--contrived to pat their hands from time to time, and so
+keep them in a subdued state of exceeding good-humor.
+
+Soon after breakfast she flew up to her room, put on that strangely
+becoming brown hat, which would have suited no other girl but herself,
+and went off to the Manor. She was met at the gate by Merry, who was
+anxiously waiting for her appearance.
+
+"I am so sorry that Cicely isn't here too," said Merry; "but mother
+wanted Cicely to drive into Warwick with her this morning. We're
+going for a long motor-ride this afternoon. Don't you love motors?"
+
+"I have never been in one in my life," replied Maggie.
+
+"Oh dear!" said Merry; "then you shall come with us, although I know I
+can't ask you to-day, but perhaps to-morrow we could manage."
+
+"I must not be too much away from Molly and Isabel, for it would not
+be kind--would it, Miss Cardew?"
+
+"Do call me Merry. 'Miss Cardew' sounds so stiff, and you know I feel
+that I have known you all my life, for Molly and Isabel have always
+been talking about you. Mother was so pleased when she heard that you
+wanted to see the old house; and, do you know, Maggie----You don't
+mind my saying Maggie?"
+
+"Of course not, Merry--dear Merry."
+
+"Well--would you believe it?--father is going to show you the
+manuscript-room himself. I can tell you that is an honor."
+
+"I am so delighted!" said Maggie. "Your father is a most charming
+man."
+
+"Indeed, that he is," said Merry; "but I never saw him get on so well
+with a young girl before."
+
+"Oh," said Maggie in her modest way, "it was just that I wanted to
+listen to him; what he said was so very interesting."
+
+The girls were now walking up the avenue.
+
+"Please," said Merry suddenly, "tell me more about your school--I mean
+that new, wonderful school you are at in London."
+
+"Aylmer House?" said Maggie.
+
+"Yes, Aylmer House. Mother was talking about it this morning. She was
+quite interested in it."
+
+"Your mother was talking about it?"
+
+"Yes. It seems Mr. Tristram had been praising it to her like anything
+last night."
+
+"Well, he can't say too much in its favor," said Maggie. "Any girl who
+didn't get good from it ought to be ashamed of herself."
+
+"What is that you are saying, Miss Howland?" said the voice of Mr.
+Cardew at that moment.
+
+"Oh father! I never saw you," cried Merry.
+
+Mr. Cardew came up and shook hands with Maggie. "I was walking just
+behind you on the grass," he said, "and I heard your enthusiastic
+remarks with regard to the school that the young Tristrams are going
+to. I am heartily pleased; I take a great interest in the Tristrams."
+
+"Oh sir," said Maggie suddenly, "I only wish--oh! I hardly dare to say
+it--but I only do wish that your girls were coming too!"
+
+Merry turned crimson and then grew pale. "Father doesn't approve of
+schools," she said in a faint voice.
+
+"As a rule, I do not," said Mr. Cardew decidedly; "but of course I am
+bound to say there are schools and schools. You shall tell me all
+about your school presently, Miss Howland. And now, I will allow my
+daughter to entertain you."
+
+"But, father darling, you promised to show Maggie the manuscript-room
+yourself."
+
+"Are you interested in black-letter?" said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"I am interested in everything old," replied Maggie.
+
+"Well, then, I will show you the manuscript-room with pleasure; but if
+you want to go over the Manor you have a heavy morning's work before
+you, and Merry is an excellent guide. However, let me see. I will meet
+you in the library at a quarter to twelve. Until then, adieu."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT?"
+
+
+Maggie and Merry had now reached the great porch which overshadowed
+the entrance to the old house. The next instant they found themselves
+in the hall. This, supported by graceful pillars, was open up to the
+roof of the house. It was a magnificent hall, and Merry began
+enthusiastically to explain its perfections. Maggie showed not a
+pretended but a real interest. She asked innumerable and sensible
+questions. Her queer, calm, narrow eyes grew very bright. She smiled
+now and then, and her face seemed the personification of intelligence.
+With that smile, and those gleaming white teeth, who could have
+thought of Maggie Howland as plain?
+
+They went from the hall into the older part of the house, and there
+Merry continued her duties as guide. Never before had she been in the
+company of so absolutely charming a companion. Maggie was the best
+listener in the world. She never interrupted with tiresome or
+irrelevant questions. When she did speak it was with the utmost
+intelligence, showing clearly that she understood what she was being
+told.
+
+By-and-by they found themselves in the picture-gallery. There Merry
+insisted on their sitting down for a time and taking a rest. She
+touched a bell as she spoke, and then motioned Maggie to recline in a
+deep arm-chair which faced the picture of a beautiful lady who was the
+grandmother of the present Mrs. Cardew.
+
+"That lady's name," said Merry, "was Cicely Meredith, and she was the
+wife of the last Meredith but one who owned the Manor. It was little
+supposed in those days that my darling mother would inherit the place,
+and that Cardews should live at Meredith Manor after all. Ah, here
+comes Dixon!--Dixon, will you put our lunch on that small table? Thank
+you very much."
+
+One of the servants in the Cardew livery had appeared. He was bearing
+a small tray of tempting drinks, fruit, and cake.
+
+"Now, Maggie, eat; do eat," said Merry.
+
+"I declare I am as hungry as a hawk," said Maggie, and she munched
+cake and ate fruit and felt that she was, as she expressed it to
+herself--although she would not have used the words aloud--in clover.
+
+Nevertheless, she was not going to lose sight of that mission which
+she had set herself. She turned and looked thoughtfully at Merry.
+Merry had a pretty profile, with the short upper-lip and the graceful
+appearance of a very high-bred girl.
+
+"Do you," said Maggie after a pause, "happen to know Aneta Lysle?"
+
+"Why, of course," said Merry. "Do you mean Lady Lysle's niece?"
+
+"Yes," replied Maggie.
+
+"I don't know her well, but she has stayed here once or twice. Is she
+a friend of yours, Maggie?"
+
+"Oh no; scarcely a friend, although we are schoolfellows."
+
+"How stupid of me!" said Merry, speaking with some warmth. "Of course,
+I quite forgot that she is at Mrs. Ward's school. She is older than
+you, isn't she, Maggie?"
+
+"Yes, a year older, as days are counted; but she appears even more
+than her age, which is just seventeen. Don't you think her very
+beautiful, Merry?"
+
+"Now that I recall her, I do; but she never made a special impression
+on me. She never stayed here long enough."
+
+"Nevertheless, she is a sort of cousin of yours?"
+
+"Yes, Lady Lysle is mother's cousin; but then one doesn't love all
+one's relations," said Merry carelessly. "Have another piece of cake,
+Maggie."
+
+"Thanks," said Maggie, helping herself. "How delicious it is!"
+
+"And put some more cream over your raspberries. The raspberries at
+Meredith Manor are celebrated."
+
+Maggie helped herself to some more cream. "I do wish" she said
+suddenly.
+
+"That I would go on telling you about the pictures?" said Merry. "But
+you must be tired. I never knew any one take in interesting things so
+quickly."
+
+"I am glad you think I do; but it so happens that I do not want to
+hear about the pictures this morning. I think perhaps I am, after all,
+a bit tired. It is the pleasure, the delight of knowing you and your
+sister, and of being with those sweet girls Molly and Isabel."
+
+"Yes, aren't they darlings'?" said Merry.
+
+"I want you to tell me a lot about yourself," said Maggie.
+
+"We have half-an-hour yet before I am to meet your father in the
+manuscript-room. Begin at the beginning, and tell me just everything.
+You are not schoolgirls?"
+
+"Oh, no," said Merry, speaking slowly. "We are taught at home."
+
+"But have you a resident governess?"
+
+"No; father objects. This is holiday-time of course; but as a rule we
+have a daily governess and masters."
+
+"It must be dull," said Maggie, speaking in a low tone--so low that
+Merry had to strain her ears to hear it.
+
+She replied at once, "'Tisn't nearly so interesting as school; but
+we--we are--quite--_quite_ satisfied."
+
+"I wonder you don't go to school," said Maggie.
+
+"Father doesn't wish it, Maggie."
+
+"But you'd like it, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Like it!" said Merry, her eyes distended a little. "Like to see the
+world and to know other girls? Well, yes, I should like it."
+
+"There'd be discipline, you know," said Maggie. "It wouldn't be all
+fun."
+
+"Of course not," said Merry. "How could one expect education to be all
+fun?"
+
+"And you would naturally like to be very well educated, wouldn't you?"
+said Maggie.
+
+"Certainly; but I suppose we are--that is, after a fashion."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, "after a fashion, doubtless; but you will go into
+society by-and-by, and you'll find--well, that home education leaves
+out a great many points of knowledge which cannot possibly be attained
+except by mixing with other girls."
+
+"I suppose so," said Merry, speaking with a slight degree of
+impatience; "but then Cicely and I can't help it. We have to do what
+father and mother wish."
+
+"Yes, exactly, Merry; and it's so awfully sweet and amiable of you!
+Now, may I describe to you a little bit of school-life?"
+
+"If you like, Maggie. Molly and Isabel have often told me of what you
+did in Hanover."
+
+"Oh, Hanover?" said Maggie with a tone of slight contempt. "We don't
+think of Hanover now in our ideas of school-life. We had a fairly good
+time, for a German school; but to compare it with Mrs. Ward's house!
+Oh, I cannot tell you what a dream of a life I have lived during the
+last term! It is only to see Mrs. Ward to love her; and all the other
+mistresses are so nice, and the girls are so very select and
+lady-like. Then we take a keen interest in our lessons. You're the
+musical one, aren't you, Merry?"
+
+"Yes. How ever did you find that out?"
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "I looked at you, and I guessed it. Besides, I
+heard you hum an air under your breath yesterday, and I knew at once
+that you had a lovely voice."
+
+"I am sure I haven't; and I'm too young to begin singing-lessons."
+
+"Not a bit of it. That's quite an exploded idea. If, for
+instance----Oh, of course I know you won't be there; but if you
+were so lucky as to be a pupil at Mrs. Ward's you would be
+taught to sing, and, what is more valuable, you would hear
+good, wonderful, beautiful singing, and wonderful, beautiful
+music of all sorts. Once a week we all go to a concert at
+Queen's Hall. Have you ever been there?"
+
+"No! I don't know London at all."
+
+"Well, then, another day in the week," continued Maggie, "we go to
+the different museums and picture-galleries, and we get accustomed to
+good art, and we are taught to discern good from bad. We learn
+architecture at St. Paul's and the Abbey and some of the other
+churches. You see, Mrs. Ward's idea is to teach us everything
+first-hand, and during the summer term she takes us on long
+expeditions up the river to Kew and Hampton Court and all those dear
+old places. Then, in addition, she has what she calls reunions in
+the evenings. We all wear evening-dress, and she invites two or
+three friends, and we sing and play among ourselves, and we are taught
+the little observances essential to good society; and, besides all
+the things that Mrs. Ward does, we have our own private club and our
+own debating society, and--oh, it is a full life!--and it teaches
+one, it helps one."
+
+Merry's soft brown eyes were very bright, and her cheeks had a
+carnation glow on them, and her pretty red lips were slightly parted.
+"You do all these things at school--at school?" she said.
+
+"Why, of course; and many, many more things that you can't even
+imagine, for it's the whole influence of the place that is so
+delightful. Then you make friends--great friends--and you get to
+understand character, and you get to understand the value of real
+discipline, and you are taught also that you are not meant to live a
+worldly and selfish life, for Mrs. Ward is very philanthropic. Each
+girl in her school has to help a poor girl in East London, and the
+poor girl becomes in a sort of manner her property. I have got a dear
+little lame girl. Her name is Susie Style. I am allowed to see her
+once or twice a year, and I write her a letter every week, and she
+writes back to me, and I collect enough money to keep her in a
+cripples' home. I haven't enough of my own, for I am perhaps the
+poorest girl in the school; but that makes no difference, for Mrs.
+Ward doesn't allow the word money or rank to be spoken of--she lives
+above all that. She says that money is a great talent, and that people
+who are merely purse-proud are detestable. Oh, but I've told you
+enough, haven't I?"
+
+"Yes, oh yes!" said Merry. "Thanks very, very much. And so Aneta is
+there; and as Molly and Isabel will be there, they will tell me more
+at Christmas. Perhaps we ought to go down now to meet father in the
+manuscript-room."
+
+Maggie rose with alacrity. She followed her companion quite
+cheerfully. She felt assured within herself that the thin end of the
+wedge had been well inserted by now.
+
+Mr. Cardew was exceedingly courteous and pleasant, and Maggie charmed
+him by her intelligence and her marvellous gift of assimilating
+knowledge. Not a word was said with regard to the London school, and
+at ten minutes to one Maggie bade good-bye to Mr. Cardew and Merry,
+and went back to the rectory in considerable spirits.
+
+Molly and Isabel were all impatience for her return.
+
+"Well, what did you do?" said Molly. "Who was there to meet you?"
+
+"Only Merry. Cicely had gone with Mrs. Cardew to Warwick."
+
+"Oh, well, Merry is the jollier of the two, although they are both
+perfectly sweet," said Molly. "And did she show you all the house,
+Maggie?"
+
+"No," said Maggie; "I really couldn't take it all in; but she took me
+round the armory and into the old tower, and then we went into the
+picture-gallery."
+
+"Oh, she took you into the picture-gallery! There are Romneys and
+Gainsboroughs and Sir Joshua Reynoldses, and all sorts of magnificent
+treasures there."
+
+"Doubtless," said Maggie. "But when I tell you what we did you will
+laugh."
+
+"What did you do? Do tell us, Mags."
+
+"We sat in easy-chairs. I faced the portrait of a very beautiful lady
+after whom Cicely Cardew is called."
+
+"Of course I know her well--I mean her picture," said Isabel. "That is
+a Gainsborough. Didn't you admire it?"
+
+"Yes; but I want to look at it again; I'm going to do the gallery
+another day, and on that occasion I think I shall ask Cicely to
+accompany me."
+
+"Why, what do you mean? Don't you like our sweet little Merry?"
+
+"Like her? I quite love her," said Maggie; "but the fact is, girls, I
+did my duty by her this morning, and now I want to do my duty by
+Cicely."
+
+"Oh Mags, you are so mysterious!" said Molly; "but come upstairs and
+take off your hat, for the gong will sound for lunch in a moment."
+
+Maggie went upstairs, Molly and Isabel following her. "Come into my
+room, girls," she said. Then she added, dropping her voice, "I think
+those bracelets are pretty secure."
+
+Molly colored. Isabel looked down.
+
+"You will never succeed," said Molly.
+
+Then Isabel said, "Even if you do, I don't think we ought, perhaps,
+to--to take them, for it would seem as though they were a sort
+of--sort of--bribe."
+
+"Oh, you old goose!" said Maggie, kissing her. "How could they be a
+bribe when I don't ask you to do anything at all? But now, listen. We
+were tired when we got to the gallery; therefore that sweet little
+Merry of yours ordered fruit and milk and cake, and we ate and
+talked."
+
+"What did you talk about?"
+
+"School, dear."
+
+"What was the good of your talking about school to Merry when she
+can't go?"
+
+"Can't go?" said Maggie. "Why, she is going; only, it was my bounden
+duty to make her want to go. Well, I succeeded in doing that this
+morning. There's the gong, and, notwithstanding my lunch, I am quite
+hungry."
+
+"Well, Andrew and Jack are perfectly mad to see you; you'll have to
+devote a bit of your time to them. Dear me, Mags!" said Molly, "it
+must be tiresome to be a sort of universal favorite, as you are."
+
+"Tiresome!" said Maggie, glancing round with her queer, expressive
+eyes, "when I love it like anything? Let's get up a sort of play
+between ourselves this afternoon, and let the boys join in; and, oh!
+couldn't we--don't you think we might--get your two friends Cicely and
+Merry to join us, just for an impromptu thing that we could act
+beautifully in the hay-field? Wouldn't their father consent?"
+
+"Why, of course he would. I'll run round the minute lunch is over and
+get them," said Isabel. "You are a girl for planning things, Mags!
+It'll be quite glorious."
+
+"We might have tea in the hay-field too," continued Maggie. "I am sure
+Peterkins and Jackdaw will help us."
+
+"Capital! capital! and we'll get David"--David was the gardener's
+boy--"to pick lots of fruit for the occasion."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+FORBIDDEN FRUIT.
+
+
+Meanwhile a little girl stood all alone on one of the terrace walks at
+Meredith Manor. Mrs. Cardew and Cicely would not arrive until rather
+late for lunch, and Merry and her father were to partake of it alone.
+Merry paced up and down very slowly. What a lovely day it was, and how
+beautiful the place looked with its long lines of stately trees, and
+its background of woods, and its terraces of bright flowers and green,
+green grass!
+
+As far as the eye could reach the land belonged to the Cardews, and
+yet Merry Cardew, the joint-heiress with Cicely of all this wealth,
+did not feel either happy or contented at that moment. A girl had come
+into her life who had suddenly turned her gold to gray, her sunshine
+to shadow. She was a very nice girl, too--exceedingly nice. There was
+something about her which Merry found impossible to define, for Merry
+had no acquaintances just then in her sheltered life who possessed the
+all-important and marvelous power of charm. Merry knew quite well that
+Maggie Howland was neither rich nor beautiful. She was just a little
+schoolgirl, and yet she could not get Maggie out of her head. She
+sighed for the girl's companionship, and she sighed yet more for the
+forbidden fruit which Maggie had placed so enticingly before her
+mental vision: the school-life, the good life, the energetic,
+purposeful life. Music--oh, how passionately Merry loved the very
+little music she had ever heard! And art--Merry and Cicely had learned
+a little bit of art in their own picture-gallery; but of all there was
+outside they knew nothing. Then that delightful, wonderful scheme of
+having an East End girl for your very own to train, and help, and
+write to, and support; and the companionship, and all the magical
+things which the Tristrams had more or less enjoyed in foreign
+schools, but which seemed to have reached a delicacy of perfection at
+Aylmer House!
+
+Yes, doubtless these were forbidden fruits; but she could not help, as
+she paced alone on the terrace, contrasting her mode of education with
+that which was put within the reach of her friends Molly and Isabel,
+and of Maggie herself. How dull, after all, were her lessons! The
+daily governess, who was always tired when she arrived, taught her out
+of books which even Molly and Isabel declared to be out of date; who
+yawned a good deal; who was always quite, quite kind, but at the same
+time had no enthusiasm; who said, "Yes, my dears; very nicely done,"
+but never even punished; and who only uttered just that mild phrase
+which was monotonous by reason of its repetition. Where was the good
+of reading Racine aloud to Miss Beverley day after day, and not being
+able to talk French properly at all? And where was the use of
+struggling through German with the same instructress?
+
+Then the drawing-master who came from Warwick: he was better than Miss
+Beverley; but, after all, he taught what Molly and Isabel said was now
+quite exploded--namely, freehand--and he only came once a week.
+Merry's passion was for music more than for drawing; it was Cicely who
+pleased Mr. Vaughan, the drawing-master, best. Then there was the
+music-master, Mr. Bennett; but he never would allow her to sing a
+note, and he taught very dull, old-fashioned pieces. How sick she was
+of pieces, and of playing them religiously before her father at least
+once a week! Her dancing was better, for she had to go to Warwick to a
+dancing-class, and there were other girls, and they made it exciting.
+But compared to school, and in especial Mrs. Ward's school, Merry's
+mode of instruction was very dull. After all, Molly and Isabel,
+although they would be quite poor girls, had a better time than she
+and Cicely with all their wealth.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts, my love," said her father at that moment,
+and Merry turned her charming little face towards him.
+
+"I ought not to tell them to you, dad," she said, "for they are--I'm
+ever so sorry--they are discontented thoughts."
+
+"You discontented, my dear child! I did feel that I had two little
+girls unacquainted with the meaning of the word."
+
+"Well, I'll just tell you, and get it over, dad. I'll be perfectly all
+right once I have told you."
+
+"Then talk away my child; you know I have your very best interests at
+heart."
+
+"Indeed I know that, my darling father. The fact is this," said Merry;
+"I"----She stopped; she glanced at her father. He was a most
+determined and yet a most absolutely kind man. Merry adored him;
+nevertheless, she was a tiny little bit in awe of him.
+
+"What is the matter?" he said, looking round at her. "Has your
+companion, that nice little Miss Howland, been putting silly thoughts
+into your head? If so, she mustn't come here again."
+
+"Oh father, don't say that! You'll make me quite miserable. And indeed
+she has not been putting silly thoughts into my head."
+
+"Well, then, what are you so melancholy about?"
+
+"The fact is--there, I will have it out," said Merry--"I'd give
+anything in the world to go to school."
+
+"What?" said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Yes," said Merry, gaining courage as she spoke; "Molly and Isabel are
+going, and Aneta Lysle is there, and Maggie Howland is there, and I'd
+like to go, too, and I'm sure Cicely would; and, oh, father! I know it
+_can't_ be; but you asked me what was the matter. Well, that's the
+matter. I do want most awfully to go to school!"
+
+"Has that girl Miss Howland been telling you that you ought to go to
+school?"
+
+"Indeed no, she has not breathed such a word. But I am always
+interested, as you know--or as perhaps you don't know--in schools; and
+I have always asked--and so has Cicely--Molly and Isabel to tell us
+all about their lives at school."
+
+"I did not know it, my little Merry."
+
+"Well, yes, father, Cicely and I have been curious; for, you see, the
+life is so very different from ours. And so to-day, when Maggie and I
+were in the picture-gallery, I asked her to tell me about Aylmer
+House, and she--she did."
+
+"She made a glowing picture, evidently," said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Oh father, it must be so lovely! Think of it, father--to get the best
+music and the best art, and to be under the influence of a woman like
+Mrs. Ward. Oh, it must be good! Do you know, father, that every girl
+in her school has an East End girl to look after and help; so that
+some of the riches of the West should be felt and appreciated by those
+who live in the East. Oh father! I could not help feeling a little
+jealous."
+
+"Yes, darling, I quite understand. And you find your life with Miss
+Beverley and Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Bennett a little monotonous compared
+to the variety which a school-life affords?"
+
+"That is it, father darling."
+
+"I don't blame you in the least, Merry--not in the very least; but the
+fact is, I have my own reasons for not approving of school-life. I
+prefer girls who are trained at home. If, indeed, you had to earn your
+living it would be a different matter. But you will be rich, dear,
+some day, and----Well, I am glad you've spoken to me. Don't think
+anything more about it. Come in to lunch now."
+
+"I'll try not to think of it, father; and you're not really angry?"
+
+"Angry!" said Mr. Gardew. "I'll never be angry with you, Merry, when
+you tell me all the thoughts of your heart."
+
+"And you won't--you won't," said Merry in an anxious tone--"vex
+darling mother by talking to her about this?"
+
+"I make no promises whatsoever You have trusted me; you must continue
+to trust me."
+
+"I do; indeed I do! You are not angry with dear, nice Miss Howland,
+are you, father?"
+
+"Angry with her! Why should I be? Most certainly not. Now, come in to
+lunch, love."
+
+At that meal Mr. Cardew did his very utmost to be pleasant to Merry;
+and as there could be no man more charming when he pleased, soon the
+little girl was completely under his influence, and forgot that
+fascinating picture of school-life which Maggie had so delicately
+painted for her edification.
+
+Soon after lunch Mrs. Cardew and Cicely returned; and Merry, the
+moment she was with her sister, felt her sudden fit of the blues
+departing, and ran out gaily with Cicely into the garden. They were
+seated comfortably in a little arbor, when Isabel's voice was heard
+calling them. She was hot and panting. She had come up to tell them of
+the proposed arrangements for the afternoon, and to beg of them both
+to come immediately to the rectory.
+
+"How more than delightful!" said Merry.--"Cicely, you stay still, for
+you're a little tired. I'll run up to the house at once and ask father
+and mother if we may go."
+
+"Yes, please do," said Isabel; "and I'll rest here for a little, for
+really the walk up to your house is somewhat fatiguing." She mopped
+her hot forehead as she spoke. "You might as well come back with me,
+both of you girls," she added. But she only spoke to Cicely, for Merry
+had already vanished.
+
+"Father! mother!" said the young girl, bursting abruptly into their
+presence. "Belle Tristram has just come up to ask us to spend the
+afternoon at the rectory. Tea in the hay-field, and all kinds of fun!
+May we go?"
+
+"Of course you may, dears," said Mrs. Cardew at once. "We intended
+motoring, but we can do that another day."
+
+Mr. Cardew looked dubious for a moment. Then he said, "All right, only
+you must not be out too late. I'll send the pony-trap down to the
+rectory for you at half-past eight o'clock."
+
+"Oh, but, father," said Merry, "we can walk home."
+
+"No dear; I will send the little carriage. Now, go and enjoy yourself,
+my child."
+
+He looked at her with great affection, and she felt herself reddening.
+Had she hurt that most dear father after all? Oh! no school that ever
+existed was worth that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DISCONTENT.
+
+
+On that special afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Cardew happened to be alone.
+The girls had gone down to the rectory. This was not Mrs. Cardew's At
+Home day, and she therefore did not expect any visitors. She was a
+little tired after her long drive to Warwick, and was glad when her
+husband suggested that they should go out and have tea all alone
+together under one of the wide-spreading elm-trees.
+
+Mrs. Cardew said to herself that this was almost like the old, old
+times of very long ago. She and her husband had enjoyed an almost
+ideal married life. They had never quarreled; they had never even had
+a small disagreement. They were blessed abundantly with this world's
+good things, for when Sylvia Meredith of Meredith Manor had accepted
+the hand of Cyril Cardew she had also given her heart to him.
+
+He and she were one in all particulars. Their thoughts were almost
+identical. She was by no means a weak-minded woman--she had plenty of
+character and firmness; but she deferred to the wishes of her husband,
+as a good wife should, and was glad! to feel that he was slightly her
+master. Never, under any circumstances, did he make her feel the yoke.
+Nevertheless, she obeyed him, and delighted in doing so.
+
+The arrival of their little twin-daughters was the crown of their
+bliss. They never regretted the fact that no son was born to them to
+inherit the stately acres of Meredith Manor; they were the last sort
+of people to grumble. Mrs. Cardew inherited the Meredith property in
+her own right, and eventually it would be divided between her two
+daughters.
+
+Meanwhile the children themselves absorbed the most loving care of
+their parents. Mr. Cardew was, as has already been said, a great
+merchant-prince. He often went to London to attend to his business
+affairs, but he spent most of his time in the exquisite country home.
+It was quite true that discontent seemed far, very far away from so
+lovely a spot as Meredith Manor. Nevertheless, Mr. Cardew had seen it
+to-day on the face of his best-loved child, his little Merry. The
+look had hurt him; and while he was having lunch with her, and joking
+with her, and talking, in his usually bright and intelligent way, her
+words, and still more the expression of her face and the longing look
+in her sweet brown eyes, returned to him again and again.
+
+He was, therefore, more thoughtful than usual as he sat by his wife's
+side now under the elm-tree. He had a pile of newspapers and magazines
+on the grass at his feet, and his favorite fox-terrier Jim lay close
+to his master. Mrs. Cardew had her invariable knitting and a couple of
+novels waiting to occupy her attention when Mr. Cardew took up one of
+the newspapers. But for a time the pair were silent. Mrs. Cardew was
+thinking of something which she wanted to say, and Mr. Cardew was
+thinking of Merry. It was, as is invariably the case, the woman who
+first broke the silence.
+
+"Well, Cyril," said his wife, "to find ourselves seated here all
+alone, without the children's voices to listen to reminds me of the
+old times, the good times, the beautiful times when we were first
+married."
+
+"My dear," he answered, starting slightly as she spoke, "those were
+certainly good and beautiful times, but surely not more good and
+beautiful than now, when our two dear little girls are growing up and
+giving us such great happiness."
+
+"That is true. Please don't misunderstand me, love; but you come even
+before the children."
+
+He felt touched as she said this, and glancing at her, said to himself
+that he was indeed in luck to have secured so priceless a woman as his
+wife.
+
+"We have had happy times together, Cyril," she said, returning his
+glance.
+
+"Yes, Sylvia," he answered, and once again he thought of Merry's
+face.
+
+"Nothing can alter that," she continued.
+
+"Nothing, my love," he said.
+
+Then he looked at her again, and saw that she was a little troubled
+about something; and, as was his custom, he determined to take the
+bull by the horns.
+
+"You have something on your mind, Sylvia. What is it?"
+
+"I have," she said at once; "and something of very great importance. I
+have a sort of fear that to talk of it with you may possibly trouble
+you a little. Shall we defer it, dear? The day is so peaceful, and we
+are so happy."
+
+"No, no," he replied at once. "We will take the opportunity of the
+children being perfectly happy at the rectory to discuss the thing
+that worries you. But what can it be?" he continued. "That is more
+than I can imagine. I have never seen you worried before."
+
+Again he thought of Merry, but it was impossible to connect his wife's
+trouble with his child's discontent.
+
+"Well, I will tell you just out, Cyril," said his wife. "I urge
+nothing, but I feel bound to make a suggestion. I know your views with
+regard to the girls."
+
+"My views, dear! What do you mean?"
+
+"With regard to their education, Cyril."
+
+"Yes, yes, Sylvia; we have done our very best. Have you any reason to
+find fault with Miss Beverley or with Vaughan or Bennett?"
+
+"Unfortunately," said Mrs. Cardew, "Miss Beverley, who, you know, is
+an admirable governess, and whom we can most thoroughly trust, wrote
+to me yesterday morning saying that she was obliged to resign her post
+as daily governess to our girls. She finds the distance from Warwick
+too far; in fact, she has her physician's orders to take work nearer
+home. She regrets it immensely, but feels that she has no
+alternative."
+
+"Provoking!" said Mr. Cardew; "but really, Sylvia, I wouldn't allow it
+to upset me if I were you. Surely there are plenty of other Miss
+Beverleys in the world; and"--again he thought of Merry--"we might
+perhaps find some one a little less old-fashioned."
+
+"I am afraid, dear, that is impossible, for you will not allow a
+resident governess in the house."
+
+"I will not," said Mr. Cardew with decision. "Such an arrangement
+would break in on our family life. You know my views."
+
+"Yes, dear; and I must say I approve of them."
+
+"You must find some one else in Warwick who is not too tired to take
+the train journey. Doubtless it would be quite easy," said Mr.
+Cardew.
+
+"I went to Warwick this morning in order to make inquiries," said Mrs.
+Cardew in her gentle voice, "and I grieve to say there is no one who
+can in the least take the post which dear Miss Beverley has so
+worthily filled. But I have further bad news to give you. Mr. Bennett
+is leaving Warwick for a better post in London, and we shall be at our
+wits' end to get the girls good music-lessons for next term."
+
+"How provoking! how annoying!" said Mr. Cardew, and his irritation was
+plainly shown in his face. "It does seem hard," he said after a
+moment's pause, "that we, with all our wealth, should be unable to
+give our girls the thorough education they require."
+
+"The fact is this, dear," said Mrs. Cardew, "and I must speak out
+plainly even at the risk of displeasing you--Cicely and Merry are
+exceedingly clever girls, but at the present moment they are very far
+behind other girls of their age. Their knowledge of foreign languages
+is most deficient. I have no doubt Miss Beverley has grounded them
+well in English subjects; but as to accomplishments, they are not
+getting the advantages their rank in life and their talent demand.
+Dear Cyril, we ought to forget ourselves and our interests for the
+children."
+
+"What has put all this into your head?" said Mr. Cardew. "As, for
+instance--" He paused. "It seemed impossible----"
+
+"What, dear?" asked his wife very earnestly.
+
+"Well, I may as well say it. Has Merry been talking to you?"
+
+"Our little Merry!" said Mrs. Cardew in astonishment. "Of course not.
+What in the world do you mean?"
+
+"I will not explain just at present, dear. You have some idea in your
+head, or you wouldn't speak to me as you do."
+
+"Well, the fact is, when my cousin, Lucia Lysle, was here yesterday
+she spoke very strongly to me on the subject of the girls' education,
+and urged me to do what I knew you would never for a moment consent
+to."
+
+"And what is that?" asked Mr. Gardew. "I seem to be an awful bugbear
+in this business."
+
+"No, dear, no. I quite understand your scruples, and--and--respect
+them. But Lucia naturally wanted us to seize the opportunity of two
+vacancies at Aylmer House, Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"I shall soon begin to hate the name of Mrs. Ward," said Cardew with
+some asperity.
+
+"My cousin spoke most highly of the school," continued Mrs. Cardew.
+"She said that two years there, or perhaps a little longer, would give
+the girls that knowledge of life which will be all-essential to them
+in the future."
+
+"Home education is best; I know it is best," said Mr. Cardew. "I hate
+girls' schools."
+
+"I gave her to understand, dear, that those were your views; but I
+have something else to tell you. You know how attached we both are to
+the dear Tristrams."
+
+"Of course, of course," said Mr. Cardew with impatience.
+
+"Well, at supper yesterday evening Mr. Tristram began to talk to me on
+the very same subject as my cousin, Lady Lysle, had spoken of earlier
+in the day."
+
+"Very interfering of Tristram," replied Mr. Cardew.
+
+"He didn't mean it in that way, I assure you, my love; nothing could
+be nicer than the way he spoke. I was telling him--for I had not
+mentioned the fact to you, and it was troubling me a little--about
+Miss Beverley and Mr. Bennett, and asking his advice, as I often do.
+He immediately urged Aylmer House as the best possible substitute for
+Miss Beverley and Mr. Bennett. I repeated almost the same words I had
+used to Lucia Lysle--namely, that you were dead-set against girls'
+schools."
+
+"That was scarcely polite, my love, seeing that he sends his own
+daughters to school."
+
+"Well, yes," said Mrs. Cardew; "but of course their circumstances are
+very different."
+
+"I would be sorry if he should feel that difference, Sylvia. Tristram
+is a most excellent fellow."
+
+"He is--indeed he is!" said Mrs. Cardew. "Feeling for him, therefore,
+as you do, dear, you may perhaps be more inclined to listen to an
+alternative which he proposed to me."
+
+"And what is that, my dear?"
+
+"Well, he thinks we might occupy our house in London during the school
+terms of each year----"
+
+"During the school terms of each year!" echoed Mr. Cardew in a voice
+of dismay. "But I hate living in London."
+
+"Yes, dearest; but you see we must think of our girls. If you and I
+took the children to town they could have governesses and masters--the
+very best--and would thus be sufficiently educated to take their place
+in society."
+
+Mr. Cardew was quite silent for a full minute after his wife had made
+this suggestion. To tell the truth, she had done a somewhat
+extraordinary thing. Amongst this great lady's many rich possessions
+was a splendid mansion in Grosvenor Street; but, as she hated what is
+called London society, it had long been let to different tenants, for
+nothing would induce the Cardews to leave their delightful home, with
+its fresh air and country pursuits, for the dingy old house in town.
+They knew that when the girls came out--a far-distant date as
+yet--they would have to occupy the house in Grosvenor Street for the
+season; but Mrs. Cardew's suggestion that they should go there almost
+immediately for the sake of their daughters' education was more
+annoying to her husband than he could possibly endure.
+
+"I consider the rector very officious," he said. "Nothing would induce
+me to live in town."
+
+"I thought you would feel like that, dear. I was certain of it."
+
+"You surely would not wish it yourself, Sylvia?"
+
+"I should detest it beyond words," she replied.
+
+"Besides, the house is occupied," said Mr. Cardew, catching at any
+excuse not to carry out this abominable plan, as he termed it.
+
+"Well, dear, at the present moment it is not. I had a letter a week
+ago from our agent to ask if he should relet it for the winter and
+next season, and I have not yet replied to him."
+
+"Nonsense, nonsense, Sylvia! We cannot go to live there."
+
+"I don't wish it, my love."
+
+The pair sat quite silent after Mrs. Cardew had made this last
+remark.
+
+After a time her husband said, "We're really placed in a very cruel
+dilemma; but doubtless there are schools and schools. Now, I feel that
+the time has arrived when I ought to tell you about Merry."
+
+"What about the dear child?" asked her mother. "Isn't she well?"
+
+"Absolutely and perfectly well, but our dear little girl is consumed
+by the fever of discontent."
+
+"My dear, you must be mistaken."
+
+"I am not. Listen, and I will tell you what has happened."
+
+Mr. Cardew then related his brief interview with Merry, and Merry's
+passionate desire to go to Aylmer House.
+
+"And what did you say to her, love?" asked his wife.
+
+"I told her it was impossible, of course."
+
+"But it really isn't, dear, you know," said Mrs. Cardew in a low tone;
+"and as you cannot make up your mind to live in London, those two
+vacancies at Aylmer House seem providential."
+
+At these words Mr. Cardew sprang to his feet. "Nothing will ever shake
+my opinion with regard to school-life," he said.
+
+"And yet the life in town----"
+
+"That is impossible. Look me straight in the face, Sylvia. If by any
+chance--don't, please, imagine that I'm giving way--but if, by any
+possible chance, I were to yield, could you, my darling, live without
+your girls?"
+
+"With you--I could," she answered, and she held out her hand to him,
+which he raised to his lips and kissed.
+
+"Well, I am upset," he said. "If only Miss Beverley and Bennett were
+not so silly, we should not be in this awkward fix. I'll go for a
+ride, if you don't mind, Sylvia, and be back with you in an hour's
+time."
+
+During that ride Mr. Cardew felt as a strong man does when his most
+cherished wishes are opposed, and when circumstance, with its
+overpowering weight, bears down every objection. Beyond doubt the
+girls must be educated. Beyond doubt the scheme of living in London
+could not be entertained. Country life was essential. Meredith Manor
+must not be deserted for the greater part of the year. He might visit
+the girls whenever he went to London; but, after all, he was now more
+or less a sleeping partner in his great firm. There was no necessity
+for him to go to London more than four or five times a year. Oh!
+school was hateful, but little Merry had longed for it. How
+troublesome education was! Surely the girls knew enough.
+
+He was riding home, his thoughts still in a most perturbed condition,
+when he suddenly drew up just in front of a little figure who stood by
+the roadside, attired as a gipsy, with a scarlet bandana handkerchief
+twisted round her head, a short skirt reaching not quite to her ankles
+made also of scarlet, and a little gay blue shawl across her
+shoulders. She was carrying a tambourine in one hand and in the other
+a great bunch of many-colored ribbons.
+
+This little, unexpected figure was seen close to the rectory grounds,
+and Mr. Cardew was so startled by it, and so also was his horse, that
+he drew up abruptly and looked imperiously at the small suppliant for
+his favor.
+
+"If you please, sir," said Maggie Howland, speaking in her most
+enticing voice, and knowing well that her dress magnified her charms,
+"will you, kind sir, allow me to cross your hand with silver and let
+me tell your fortune?"
+
+Mr. Cardew now burst into a merry laugh.
+
+"Why, Miss Howland," he said, "I beg your pardon; I did not recognize
+you."
+
+Maggie dropped a low curtsy. "I'm the gipsy girl Caranina, and I
+should like to tell your fortune, kind and generous sir."
+
+Just then the pretty face of Cicely was seen peeping over the rectory
+grounds. She was dressed as a flower-girl, and looked more lovely than
+he had ever seen her before.
+
+"Why, dad, dad," she cried, "oh! you must come in and join our fun.
+Mustn't he, Maggie?"
+
+"I am Caranina, the gipsy girl," said Maggie, dropping another low
+curtsy, and holding her little tambourine in the most beseeching
+attitude; "and you are Flora, queen of the flowers."
+
+"Well, really, this is entertaining," said Mr. Cardew. "What queer
+little minxes you all are! And may I really come in and see the fun?"
+
+"Indeed you may, dad," said the flower-girl. "Oh, and please we want
+you to look at Merry. Merry's a fairy, with wings. We're going to have
+what we call an evening revel presently, and we are all in our dress
+for the occasion. But Maggie--I mean Caranina--is telling our
+fortunes--that is, until the real fun begins."
+
+"Do please come in, Mr. Cardew. This is the height of good luck," said
+Mrs. Tristram, coming forward herself at this moment. "Won't you join
+my husband and me under the shadow of the tent yonder? The young
+people are having such a good time."
+
+"I will come for a minute or two," said Cardew, dismounting as he
+spoke. "Can some one hold Hector for me?"
+
+David was quickly summoned, and Mr. Cardew walked across the hay-field
+to where the hastily improvised tent was placed.
+
+"No one can enter here who doesn't submit to the will of the gipsy,"
+remarked Caranina in her clear and beautiful voice. "This is my tent,
+and I tell the fortunes of all those kind ladies and gentlemen who
+will permit me to do so."
+
+"Then you shall tell mine, with pleasure, little maid," said Mr.
+Cardew, who felt wonderfully cheered and entertained at this _al
+fresco_ amusement.
+
+Quick as thought Maggie had been presented with a silver coin. With
+this she crossed the good gentleman's palm, and murmured a few words
+with regard to his future. There was nothing whatever remarkable in
+her utterance, for Maggie knew nothing of palmistry, and was only a
+very pretense gipsy fortune-teller. But she was quick--quicker than
+most--in reading character; and as she glanced now into Mr. Cardew's
+face an inspiration seized her.
+
+"He is troubled about something," thought the girl. "It's the thin end
+of the wedge; I'll push it in a little farther."
+
+Her voice dropped to a low tone. "I see in your hand, kind sir," she
+said, "all happiness, long life, and prosperity; but I also see a
+little cross, just here--" she pointed with her pretty finger--"and it
+means self-sacrifice for the sake of a great and lasting good. Kind
+sir, I have nothing more to add."
+
+Mr. Cardew left the tent and sat down beside the rector and his wife.
+Maggie's words were really unimportant. As one after the other the
+merry group of actors went to have their fortunes told he paid no
+attention whatever to them. Gipsy fortune-tellers always mixed a
+little sorrow with their joyful tidings. It was a bewitching little
+gipsy after all. He could not quite make out her undefined charm, but
+he was interested in her; and after a time, when the fortune-telling
+had come to an end and Maggie was about to change her dress for what
+they called the evening revels, he crossed the field and stood near
+her.
+
+"So you, Miss Howland, have been telling my daughter Merry a good many
+things with regard to your new school?"
+
+She raised her queer, bright eyes, and looked him full in the face. "I
+have told Merry a few things," she said; "but, most of all, I have
+assured her that Aylmer House is the happiest place in the world."
+
+"Happier than home? Should you say it was happier than home, Miss
+Howland?"
+
+"Happier than my home," said Maggie with a little sigh, very gentle
+and almost imperceptible, in her voice. "Oh, I love it!" she continued
+with enthusiasm; "for it helps--I mean, the life there helps--to make
+one good."
+
+Mr. Cardew said nothing more. After a time he bade his friends good-by
+and returned to Meredith Manor. In course of time the little
+pony-carriage was sent down to the rectory for the Cardew girls, who
+went back greatly elated.
+
+How delightful their evening had been, and what a marvelous girl
+Maggie Howland was.'
+
+"Why, she even manages to subdue and to rule those really tiresome
+boys," said Cicely.
+
+"Yes," remarked Merry, "she is like no one else."
+
+"You have quite fallen in love with her, haven't you, Merry?"
+
+"Well, perhaps I have a little bit," said Merry. She looked
+thoughtful. She longed to say to Cicely, "How I wish beyond all things
+on earth that I were going to the same school!" But a certain fidelity
+to her father kept her silent.
+
+She was startled, therefore, when Cicely herself, who was always
+supposed to be much calmer than Merry, and less vehement in her
+desires, clasped her sister's hand and said with emphasis, "I don't
+know, after all, if it is good for us to see too much of Maggie
+Howland."
+
+"Why, Cissie? What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean this," said Cicely: "she makes me--yes, I will say
+it--discontented."
+
+"And me too," said Merry, uttering the words with an emphasis which
+astonished herself.
+
+"We have talked of school over and over again," said Cicely, "with
+Molly and Belle; but notwithstanding their glowing accounts we have
+been quite satisfied with Miss Beverley, and dear, gray-haired Mr.
+Bennett, and Mr. Vaughan; but now I for one, don't feel satisfied any
+longer." "Nor do I," said Merry.
+
+"Oh Merry!"
+
+"It is true," said Merry. "I want to go to Aylmer House."
+
+"And I am almost mad to go there," said Cicely.
+
+"I'll tell you something, Cissie. I spoke to father about it to-day."
+
+"Merry! you didn't dare?"
+
+"Well, I just did. I couldn't help myself. It is hateful to be
+under-educated, and you know we shall never be like other girls if we
+don't see something of the world."
+
+"He didn't by any chance agree with you?" said Cicely.
+
+"Not a bit of it," said Merry. "We must bear with our present life,
+only perhaps we oughtn't to see too much of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Well," said Cicely, "I've something to tell you, Merry."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"You don't know just at present why mother and I went to Warwick this
+morning?"
+
+"No," said Merry, who was rather uninterested. "I had a very good time
+with Maggie, and didn't miss you too dreadfully."
+
+"Well, you will be interested to know why we did go, all the same,"
+said Cicely. "It's because Miss Beverley is knocked up and can't teach
+us any more, and Mr. Bennett is going to London. Mother can't hear of
+anyone to take Miss Beverley's place, or of any music-teacher equal to
+Mr. Bennett; so, somehow or other, I feel that there are changes in
+the air. Oh Merry, Merry! suppose----"
+
+"There's no use in it," said Merry. "Father will never change. We'll
+get some other dreadfully dull daily governess, and some other
+fearfully depressing music-master, and we'll never be like Molly and
+Belle and Maggie and our cousin Aneta. It does seem hard."
+
+"We must try not to be discontented," said Cicely.
+
+"Then we had best not ask Maggie here too often," replied Merry.
+
+"Oh, but they're all coming up to-morrow morning, for I have asked
+them," said Cicely.
+
+"Dear, dear!" replied Merry.
+
+"We may as well have what fun we can," remarked Cicely, "for you know
+we shall be going to the seaside in ten days."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+MRS. WARD'S SCHOOL.
+
+
+It is to be regretted that Mr. Cardew spent a restless night. Mrs.
+Cardew, on the contrary, slept with the utmost peace. She trusted so
+absolutely in her husband's judgment and in in his power to do the
+very best he could on all possible occasions for her and hers that she
+was never deeply troubled about anything. Her dear husband must not be
+forced to live in London if he did not like to do so, and some
+arrangement must be made for the girls' home education if he could not
+see his way to sending them to school.
+
+Great, therefore, was her astonishment on the following morning when
+he came hastily into her room.
+
+"My dear," he said, "I am off to London for the day."
+
+"What for?" she asked.
+
+"I will tell you, darling, when I return to-night."
+
+"Cyril, may I not come with you?"
+
+"I think not, my love. Make all the young people as happy as you can.
+I'm just off to the station, in the motor-car."
+
+Mr. Cardew left his wife's room. The girls were told at breakfast that
+their father had gone to London; but as this frequently happened, and
+was invariably connected with that business which they knew nothing
+whatever about, they were not keenly interested. As a matter of fact,
+they were much more absorbed in getting things ready for the
+entertainment of their friends; and in this Mrs. Cardew very heartily
+joined them. She proposed that during Maggie Howland's visit the five
+girls should have as happy a time together as possible; and as the
+weather was perfect the invariable picnics and gipsy teas were
+arranged for their benefit.
+
+"You can all make yourselves happy here to-day, my darlings," said
+Mrs. Cardew, addressing Cicely and Merry. "To-morrow, when your father
+is here, the Tristrams, he and I, and you girls will have a very
+pleasant picnic to the Aldersleigh woods. We will arrange it to-day,
+for there is nothing your father enjoys more than a whole, long, happy
+day in the open air. I will speak to Mrs. Fairlight, and tell her to
+have all things in readiness for our picnic."
+
+"Oh mummy, how good! how good!" said Merry, clasping her mother's
+hand. Then she added, "Mummy, is it true that Miss Beverley is never
+going to teach us any more?"
+
+"I am afraid it is only too true, Merry; but this is holiday-time,
+darling; we needn't talk of your education just at present."
+
+"Only, we must be educated--mustn't we, mother?"
+
+"Of course, dearest. Your father will see to that."
+
+Merry ran off to join her sister, and it is not too much to say that
+the whole of that glorious day was one of unalloyed pleasure. The
+Tristram girls were always delightful to the Cardew girls, but now
+that they were accompanied by Maggie Howland there was a great
+addition to their charm. Nevertheless, Maggie, with her purpose full
+in view, with her heart beating a little more quickly than usual when
+she heard that Mr. Cardew had gone to London, religiously avoided the
+subject of the life at Aylmer House. She felt, somehow, that she had
+done her part. A great deal of her own future depended on these two
+girls coming to Aylmer House. She would make use of them--large use of
+them--at school. She was fond of Molly and Belle; but they were poor.
+Maggie herself was poor. She wanted to have rich friends. The Cardews
+were rich. By their means she would defeat her enemy, Aneta Lysle, and
+establish herself not only in the school but with regard to her future
+life. Maggie felt that she could make herself indispensable to Cicely
+and Merry. Oh yes, they would certainly go to Aylmer House in
+September. She need not worry herself any further, therefore, with
+regard to that matter. Little would they guess how much she had really
+done toward this desirable goal, and how fortunate circumstances had
+been in aiding her to the accomplishment of her desire. It was enough
+for Maggie that they were certainly going. She could, therefore, give
+herself up to enjoyment.
+
+With Maggie Howland enjoyment meant a very different thing from what
+it does to the average English girl. She enjoyed herself with all her
+heart and soul, without one single reservation. To see her face at
+such moments was to behold pure sunshine; to hear her voice was to
+listen to the very essence of laughter and happiness. She had a
+marvelous power of telling stories, and when she was happy she told
+them with such verve that all people within earshot hung on her words.
+Then she could improvise, and dance, and take off almost any
+character; in short, she was the life of every party who admitted her
+within their circle.
+
+Meanwhile a rather tired and rather sad man found himself, very much
+against his will, in London. He said to himself, "This wonderful Mrs.
+Ward will not be at Aylmer House now. These are the holidays, and she
+will be probably miles away. I will go to see her. Yes, but she won't
+be in; that alone will clinch the matter. But first I will pay a visit
+to Lucia Lysle; she said she would be in London--she told my dear wife
+so. But Lucia is so erratic, it is most improbable that she either
+will be at home."
+
+Mr. Cardew drove first of all to Lady Lysle's house in Hans Place. He
+asked if she was within, and, very much to his annoyance, the servant
+replied in the affirmative. He entered Lady Lysle's drawing-room
+feeling rather silly. The first person he saw there was a tall, slim,
+lovely girl, whom he did not recognize at first, but who knew him and
+ran up to him and introduced herself as Aneta.
+
+"Why, my dear," he said, "how are you? How you have grown!"
+
+"How is dear Cousin Sylvia, and how are Cicely and Merry?" asked
+Aneta. "Oh, I am very well indeed, Mr. Cardew; I don't suppose anybody
+could be anything but well who was lucky enough to be at Aylmer
+House."
+
+"Mrs. Ward's school?" said Mr. Cardew, feeling rather shy and almost
+self-conscious.
+
+"Of course. Don't you know Mrs. Ward, Mr. Cardew?"
+
+"No, my dear, I don't."
+
+"It's the most marvelous school in the world," said Aneta with
+enthusiasm. "I do wish you would send Cicely and Merry there. They
+would have a good time."
+
+"Is your aunt in?" said Mr. Cardew, a little restlessly.
+
+"Oh yes; she'll be down in a minute."
+
+Lady Lysle now hurried into the room.
+
+"How do you do, Cyril?" she said. "I didn't expect to find you in town
+just now. Is there anything I can do for you?"
+
+"I am rather anxious to have a chat with you," replied Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Aneta darling, you had better leave us," said her aunt.
+
+The girl went off with a light laugh. "Auntie," she said, "I've just
+been telling Mr. Cardew that he ought to send Cicely and Merry to
+Aylmer House." She closed the door as she made this parting shot.
+
+"As a matter of fact, I agree with Aneta," said Lady Lysle. "A couple
+of years at that splendid school would do the girls no end of good."
+
+Mr. Cardew was silent for a minute. "I may as well confess something
+to you, Lucia," he said then.
+
+"What is it, Cyril?"
+
+"I have by no means made up my mind; but we are very much annoyed at
+the illness of our daily governess Miss Beverley, and at the girls'
+music-master Mr. Bennett removing to London. So I just thought I would
+ask you a question or two about this wonderful Mrs. Ward. I don't
+suppose for a single moment I should dream of sending the children
+there; and, besides, she is not in London now, is she?"
+
+"Yes, she is," replied Lady Lysle. Mr. Cardew felt at that moment that
+he hated Mrs. Ward. "She came to see me only last evening. She is
+leaving town to-morrow; but if by any chance you would like to go and
+see her, and thus judge of the school for yourself--it would commit
+you to nothing, of course--she will, I know, be at home all this
+morning."
+
+"Dear, dear!" said Mr. Cardew. "How very provoking!"
+
+"What do you mean, Cyril?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing, of course, Lucia. But if, as you say, the school is
+so popular, there will be no vacancies, for I think some one told me
+that Mrs. Ward only took a limited number of pupils."
+
+"There are two vacancies at the present moment," said Lady Lysle in
+her calm voice, "although they are likely to be filled up immediately,
+for Mrs. Ward has had many applications; but then she is exceedingly
+particular, and will only take girls of high birth and of very
+distinguished character."
+
+"Doubtless she has filled up the vacancies by this morning," said Mr.
+Cardew, rising with some alacrity. "Well, thank you, Lucia. As I am in
+town--came up on business you know--I may as well just have a look at
+Aylmer House and Mrs. Ward. It will satisfy my dear wife."
+
+"Why, surely you don't for a minute really intend to send the girls
+there?" said Lady Lysle with a superior smile.
+
+"I cannot tell what I may do. When a man is distracted, and when a
+valuable daily governess breaks down, and--and--don't question me too
+closely, Lucia, and keep our little interview to yourself. As I have
+just said, nothing will probably come of this; but I will go and see
+the lady just to satisfy myself."
+
+"Aneta will be delighted if you do send the girls to Aylmer House,"
+was Lady Lysle's last word.
+
+She laughed as she spoke, and Mr. Cardew found himself turning rather
+red. He left her, called a hansom, and got into it.
+
+"Of course the vacancies will be filled up," he said to himself as he
+was driving in the direction of South Kensington. He further thought,
+"Although that good Mrs. Ward is remaining for such an unconscionable
+time in town, she will very probably be out this morning. If she is
+out that puts an end to everything; but even if she is in, she must
+ave filled up her vacancies. Then I shall be able to return to the
+Manor with a quiet mind. I'll have done my best, and the thing will be
+taken out of my hands. Dear little Merry! I didn't like that
+discontent on her sweet face. Ah, well, she can't guess what school is
+like. It's not home; but I suppose the educational advantages would be
+greater, and a man must sacrifice himself for his children. Odd what
+that queer little Miss Howland told me last night: that I was
+approaching a deed of self-sacrifice. She's a queer girl, but quite
+nice; and Aneta is a charming creature. I could never desire even one
+of my own precious girls to look nicer than Aneta does. Well, here I
+am. Now, then, what will Fate decide?"
+
+Mr. Cardew sprang from the hansom, desired the man to wait, ran up
+some low steps, and rang the bell at the front door of a stately
+mansion.
+
+A smiling, very bright-looking maid-servant opened it for him.
+
+"Is Mrs. Ward, within?" questioned Cardew.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Good heavens!" murmured Cardew under his breath.
+
+"Is she disengaged, and can she give me a few moments of her time?"
+continued the much-disappointed gentleman.
+
+"Certainly, sir. Will you come into the drawing-room? What name shall
+I say?"
+
+Cardew produced one of his cards.
+
+"Have the goodness to tell your mistress that if she is particularly
+engaged I can "--he hesitated--"call another time."
+
+"I will tell her, sir; but Mrs. Ward is not particularly engaged. She
+will see you, I am sure, directly."
+
+The girl withdrew, and Cardew sank into a low chair.
+
+He had to wait a few minutes, and during that time had abundant
+leisure to look round the beautiful room in which he found himself. It
+was so furnished as to resemble a fresh country room. The wall-paper
+was white; the pictures were all water-colors, all original, and all
+the works of well-known artists. They mostly represented country
+scenes, but there were a few admirable portraits of charming girls
+just in the heyday of youth and happiness. The floor was of polished
+oak and had a large pale-blue drugget in the center, which could be
+rolled up at any moment if an impromptu dance was desirable. The large
+windows had boxes of flowers outside, which were fresh and well kept,
+and had evidently been recently watered, for some sparkling drops
+which looked almost like summer rain still glistened on them. The room
+itself was also decked with flowers in every available corner, and all
+these flowers were fresh and beautifully arranged. They were country
+flowers--and of course roses, roses everywhere. There were also great
+bowls of mignonette and large glass vases filled with sweet peas.
+
+The air of the room was fresh and full of delicate perfume. Mr. Cardew
+had to admit to himself that this was a room in which the most refined
+young ladies in the world might sit with pleasure and profit. There
+was a shelf for books running round the dado, and the books therein
+were good of their kind and richly and handsomely bound. There were no
+small tables anywhere. Mr. Cardew was glad of that--he detested small
+tables; but there was a harp standing close to the magnificent grand
+piano, and several music stands, and a violin case on a chair near
+by.
+
+The furniture of the room was covered with a cool, fresh chintz. In
+short, it was a charming room, quite different from the rooms at
+Meredith Manor, which, of course, were old and magnificent and
+stately; but it had a refreshing, wholesome look about it which, in
+spite of himself, Mr. Cardew appreciated.
+
+He had just taken in the room and its belongings when the door was
+opened and a lady of about thirty-five years of age entered. She was
+dressed very simply in a long dress made in a sort of Empire fashion.
+The color was pale blue, which suited her calm, fair face, her large,
+hazel-brown eyes, and her rich chestnut hair to perfection. She came
+forward swiftly.
+
+"I am Mrs. Ward," she said, and held out her hand.
+
+Mr. Cardew considered himself a connoisseur as regards all women, and
+he was immediately impressed by a certain quality in that face: a
+mingling of sweetness and power, of extreme gentleness and extreme
+determination. There was a lofty expression in the eyes, too, and
+round the mouth, which further appealed to him; and the hands of the
+lady were perfect--they were white, somewhat long, with tapering
+fingers and well-kept nails. There was one signet ring on the left
+hand, worn as a guard to the wedding-ring--that was all.
+
+Mr. Cardew was a keen observer, and he noted these things at a
+glance.
+
+"I have come to talk to you, Mrs. Ward," he said; "and, if you will
+forgive me, I should like to be quite frank with you."
+
+"There is nothing I desire better," said Mrs. Ward in her exceedingly
+high-bred and sympathetic voice.
+
+That voice reminded Cardew of Maggie Howland, and yet he felt at once
+that it was infinitely superior to hers.
+
+"Sit down, won't you, Mr. Cardew?" said Mrs. Ward, and she set him the
+example by seating herself in a low chair as she spoke.
+
+"I hope I am not taking up too much of your time," he said; "for, if
+so, as I said to your servant, I can call again."
+
+"By no means," said Mrs. Ward; "I have nothing whatever to do this
+morning. I am, therefore, quite at your service. You will tell me what
+you wish?" she said in that magnetic voice of hers.
+
+"The fact is simply this," he said. "My friend Tristram, who is rector
+of Meredith, in Warwickshire, is sending his two daughters to your
+school."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward gently. "Molly and Isabel are coming to me next
+term."
+
+"I am Tristram's near neighbor," said Mr. Cardew, "I live at Meredith
+Manor. At the present moment the Tristram girls have another pupil of
+yours staying with them--Miss Howland."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward very quietly.
+
+"Lady Lysle's niece Aneta is also one of your pupils."
+
+"That is true, Mr. Cardew."
+
+"Lady Lysle is my wife's cousin."
+
+Mrs. Ward bowed very slightly.
+
+"I will come to the point now, Mrs. Ward. I am the father of two
+little girls. They are of the same age as Molly and Isabel Tristram;
+that is, they are both just sixteen. They are twins. They are my only
+children. Some day they will be rich, for we have no son, and they
+will inherit considerable property." Mrs. Ward looked scarcely
+interested at this. "Hitherto," continued Mr. Cardew, "I have stoutly
+opposed school-life for my children, and in consequence they have been
+brought up at home, and have had the best advantages that could be
+obtained for them in a country life. Things went apparently all right
+until two or three days ago, when I discovered that my girl--her name
+is Meredith; we call her Merry for short--was exceedingly anxious to
+change her home-life for school-life. At the same time, our excellent
+daily governess and the music-master who taught the children have been
+obliged to discontinue their work. The girls are at an age when
+education is essential; and, although I _hate_ schools, I have come
+here to talk over the possibility of your receiving them."
+
+"Had you delayed coming to me, Mr. Cardew, until this evening I should
+have had no vacancy, for at the present moment I have twelve
+applications for the two vacancies which are to be filled at Aylmer
+House. But do you really wish me to consider the proposal of taking
+your girls when you hate school-life for young ladies?"
+
+Mr. Cardew could not help smiling. "Then you are not anxious to have
+them?"
+
+"Certainly not, unless you yourself and Mrs. Cardew most earnestly
+desire to send them to me. Suppose, before we go any further, that I
+take you over the house."
+
+"Thank you," said Mr. Cardew in a tone of relief.
+
+Mrs. Ward rose immediately, and for the next hour the head-mistress
+and the owner of Meredith Manor went from one dainty room to another.
+They visited the gymnasium; they entered the studio. All the different
+properties of the music-room were explained to the interested visitor.
+The excellent playground was also inspected.
+
+By-and-by, when Mr. Cardew returned to the drawing-room, Mrs. Ward
+said, "My number of pupils is limited. You have seen for yourself that
+sisters are provided with a room together, and that girls who are not
+related have rooms to themselves. The house is well warmed in winter,
+and at all seasons of the year I keep it bright and cheerful with
+flowers and everything that a judicious expenditure of money can
+secure. I have my own special plan for educating my girls. I believe
+in personal influence. In short, Mr. Cardew, I am not at all ashamed
+to tell you that I believe in my own influence. I have never yet met a
+girl whom I could not influence."
+
+"If by any chance my Cicely and Merry come to you," said Mr. Cardew,
+"you will find them--I may at least say it--perfect ladies in word and
+thought and deed."
+
+Mrs. Ward bowed. "I could receive no others within this
+establishment," she said. "If," continued Mrs. Ward, "you decide
+to entrust your daughters to me, I will leave no stone unturned to
+do my best for them, to educate them in a three-fold capacity:
+to induce their minds to work as God meant them to work--without
+overtoil, without undue haste, and yet with intelligence and
+activity; to give them such exercises as will promote health to
+their bodies; and to teach them, above all things, to live for
+others, not for themselves. Please, Mr. Cardew, give me no answer
+now, but think it over. The vacancies at Aylmer House will
+remain at your disposal until four o'clock this afternoon. Will
+you send me before that hour a telegram saying 'Yes' or 'No'?"
+
+"I thank you," said Mr. Cardew. He wrung Mrs. Ward's hand and left the
+house.
+
+The hall was as spacious and nearly as beautiful as the drawing-room,
+and the pretty, bright parlor-maid smiled at the gentleman as he went
+out. Mrs. Ward remained for a time alone after her visitor had left.
+
+"I should like to have those girls," she said to herself. "Any girls
+related to such a splendid, lofty character as Aneta could not but be
+welcome to me. Their poor father, he will feel parting with them; but
+I have no doubt that I shall receive them next September at this
+house."
+
+The thought had scarcely passed through her mind before there came a
+brisk ring at the front door, and Lady Lysle and Aneta were
+announced.
+
+"Oh, dear Mrs. Ward!" said Lady Lysle, speaking in her quick,
+impulsive manner, "have you seen my dear friend and cousin, Mr.
+Cardew?"
+
+"And are the girls coming to the school?" asked Aneta.
+
+"I have seen Mr. Cardew," said Mrs. Ward. "He is a very charming man.
+He will decide whether he will send his daughters here or not during
+the course of to-day."
+
+"But," said Lady Lysle, "didn't you urge him?"
+
+"No, dear friend; I never urge any one to put a girl in my care. I
+should feel myself very wrong in doing so. If Mr. Cardew thinks well
+of what he has seen here he may send his daughters to me, but I
+certainly did nothing to urge him."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Aneta, "I should so like them to come. You can't
+think, Mrs. Ward, what nice people the Cardews are; and the
+girls--they do want school-life. Don't they, auntie darling?"
+
+"Such a school as this would do them a world of good," said Lady
+Lysle.
+
+"Well, I really hope they will come," said Mrs. Ward; "but I quite
+understand their father's objections. They are evidently very precious
+treasures, and he has the sort of objection which exists in the minds
+of many country gentlemen to sending his girls to school."
+
+"Ah," said Aneta, "but there are schools and schools!"
+
+"The girls will be exceedingly rich," said Lady Lysle. "Their mother
+was a Meredith and belonged to an old county family. She inherits vast
+wealth _and_ the old family place. Their father is what may be termed
+a merchant-prince. By-and-by all the money of the parents will go to
+these girls. They are very nice children, but know nothing whatever of
+the world. It seems to me a cruel thing that they should be brought up
+with no knowledge of the great world where they must eventually
+live."
+
+"I hope they will come here," said Mrs. Ward. "Great wealth means
+great responsibility. They can make magnificent use of their money. I
+should be interested to have them."
+
+"I know you would, my dear friend," said Lady Lysle, "and they are
+really quite sweet girls. Now, come, Aneta; we must not keep Mrs. Ward
+any longer."
+
+When her visitors had left her Mrs. Ward still remained in the
+pleasant drawing-room. She sank into a low chair, folded her hands in
+her lap, and remained very still. Although she was only thirty-five
+years of age, she had been a widow for over ten years. She had married
+when quite a young girl, and had lost her husband and child before she
+was five-and-twenty. It was in her generous and noble nature to love
+most passionately and all too well. For a time after her terrible
+trouble she scarcely know how to bear her grief. Then she took it to
+the one place where such sorrow can be borne--namely, to the foot of
+the throne of God; and afterwards it occurred to her to devote her
+life to the education of others. She was quite well-off, and did not
+need to work for her living. But work, to a nature such as hers, was
+essential. She also needed the sympathy of others, and the love of
+others; and so, aided by her friends, her small but most select school
+in South Kensington was started.
+
+From the very first it was a success. It was unlike many other
+schools, for the head-mistress had broader and nobler views of life.
+She loved all her girls, and they all loved her; but it was impossible
+for her not to like some girls more than others, and of all the girls
+at present at her school Aneta Lysle was the one she really loved
+best. There was also, it is sad to relate, a girl there whom she did
+not love, and that girl was Maggie Howland. There was nothing whatever
+with regard to Maggie that her mistress could lay hold of. She was
+quite aware of the girl's fascination, and of her powerful influence
+over her schoolfellows. Nevertheless, she never thought of her without
+a sense of discomfort.
+
+Maggie was one of the girls who were educated at Aylmer House for a
+very low fee; for Mrs. Ward was quite rich enough and generous enough
+to take girls who could not afford her full terms for very much less.
+Maggie's fees, therefore, were almost nominal, and no one knew this
+fact better than Maggie herself and her mother, Mrs. Howland. None of
+her schoolfellows knew, for she learned just what they did, and had
+precisely the same advantages. She was treated just like the others.
+No one could guess that her circumstances were different. And
+certainly Maggie would never tell, but none the less did she in her
+heart hate her position.
+
+As a matter of fact, Molly and Isabel Tristram were also coming to the
+school on specially low terms; but no one would know this. Maggie,
+however, suspected it, and intended, if necessary, to make the fact an
+added power over her young friends when they all assembled at Aylmer
+House.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward, half-aloud, half to herself, "I don't quite
+trust Maggie Howland. But I cannot possibly dismiss her from the
+school. I may win her round to a loftier standard of life, but at
+present there is no doubt she has not that high ideal in view which I
+think my other girls aim at."
+
+Between three and four o'clock that day Mrs. Ward received a telegram
+from Mr. Cardew. It contained the following words:
+
+"After consideration, I have made up my mind to do myself the great
+honor of confiding my girls to your care. Their mother and I will
+write to you fully in a day or two."
+
+Mrs. Ward smiled when she received the telegram. "I will do my best
+for those children," she said to herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE NEWS.
+
+
+Mr. Cardew arrived at Meredith Manor very late that evening. The long
+and happy day had come to an end. The Tristram girls and Maggie
+Howland had returned to the rectory. Cicely and Merry were having a
+long, confidential chat together. They were in Merry's bedroom. They
+had dismissed their maid. They were talking of the pleasures of the
+day, and in particular were discussing the delightful fact that their
+beautiful cousin Aneta had wired to say she would be with them in two
+days' time.
+
+They had not seen Aneta for some years, but they both remembered her
+vividly. Her memory shone out before them both as something specially
+dazzling and specially beautiful. Maggie Howland, too, had spoken of
+Aneta's beauty. Maggie had been told that Aneta was coming, and Maggie
+had expressed pleasure. Whatever Maggie's private feelings may have
+been, she was very careful now to express delight at Aneta's
+appearance at Meredith Manor.
+
+"What a darling she is!" said Merry. "I doubt very much--I suppose
+it's rank heresy to say so, Cicely, but I really greatly doubt whether
+I shall ever prefer Aneta to Maggie. What are mere looks, after all,
+when one possesses such charm as Maggie has? That seems to me a much
+greater gift."
+
+"We need not compare them, need we?" said Cicely.
+
+"Oh, certainly not," said Merry; "but, Cicely darling, doesn't it seem
+funny that such a lot of girls who are all to meet in September at
+Aylmer House should be practically staying with us at the present
+moment?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Cicely. "I feel almost as though I belonged to it,
+which of course is quite ridiculous, for we shall never by any chance
+go there."
+
+"Of course not," said Merry, and she sighed.
+
+After a time Cicely said, "I wonder what father went to town for
+to-day."
+
+"Well, we don't know, so where's the use of troubling?" said Merry.
+
+"I asked mother," said Cicely, "why he went to town, and she said she
+couldn't tell me; but she got rather red as she spoke."
+
+"Cicely," said Merry after a long pause, "when these glorious holidays
+come to an end, and the Aylmer House girls have gone to Aylmer House,
+what shall you and I do?"
+
+"Do," said Cicely--"do? I suppose what we've always done. A fresh
+governess will be found, and another music-master, and we'll work at
+our lessons and do the best we can."
+
+Merry gave a deep sigh.
+
+"We'll never talk French like Belle Tristram," she said, "and we'll
+never play so that any one will care to listen to us. We'll never,
+never know the world the way the others know it. There seems very
+little use in being rich when one can't get education."
+
+It was just at that moment that there came a light tap at the girls'
+door. Before they could reply, it was opened and Mrs. Cardew came in.
+She looked as though she had been crying; nevertheless, there was a
+joyful sort of triumph on her face. She said quickly, "I thought,
+somehow, you two naughty children would not be in bed, and I told
+father that I'd come up on the chance of finding you. Father has come
+back from London, and has something important to tell you. Will you
+come down with me at once?"
+
+"Oh mother! mother! what is it?" said Merry in a tone of excitement
+which was slightly mingled with awe.
+
+"Your father will tell you, my darling," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+She put her arm round Merry's slight waist and held Cicely's hand, and
+they came down to the great drawing-room where Mr. Cardew was waiting
+for them.
+
+He was pacing slowly up and down the room, his hands folded behind his
+back. His face was slightly tired, and yet he too wore that odd
+expression of mingled triumph and pain which Mrs. Cardew's eyes
+expressed.
+
+When the mother and the girls entered the room he at once shut the
+door. Mr. Cardew looked first of all at Merry. He held out his hand to
+her. "Come to me, little girl," he said.
+
+She flew to him and put her arms round his neck. She kissed him
+several times. "Oh dad! dad!" she said, "I know I was downright horrid
+and unkind and perfectly dreadful yesterday, and I don't--no, I
+_don't_--want to leave you and mother. If I was discontented then, I
+am not now."
+
+Merry believed her own words at that moment, for the look on her
+father's face had struck to her very heart.
+
+He disengaged her pretty arms very gently, and, still holding her
+hand, went up to Cicely, who was clinging to her mother. "I have just
+got some news for you both," he said. "You know, of course, that Miss
+Beverley cannot teach you any longer?"
+
+"Poor old Beverley," said Cicely; "we are so sorry. But you'll find
+another good governess for us, won't you, dad?"
+
+"I am afraid I can't," said Mr. Cardew, "So I sent for you to-night
+to tell you that I have broken the resolve which I always meant to
+keep."
+
+"You have what?" said Merry.
+
+"I have turned my back on a determination which I made when you were
+both very little girls, and to-day I went up to town and saw Mrs.
+Ward."
+
+"Oh!" said Merry. She turned white and dropped her father's hand, and,
+clasping her own two hands tightly together, gazed at him as though
+she would devour his face.
+
+"Well, it's all settled, children," said Mr. Cardew, "and: when
+September comes you will go with your friends Molly and Belle to
+Aylmer House."
+
+This announcement was received at first in total silence. Then Merry
+flew to her father and kissed him a great many times, and Cicely
+kissed her mother.
+
+Then Merry said, "We can't talk of it to-night; we can't quite realize
+it to-night; but--but--we are glad!"
+
+Then she took Cicely's hand, and they went out of the room. Mr. and
+Mrs. Cardew watched them as the little figures approached the door.
+Merry opened it, and they both passed out.
+
+"I wonder," said Mr. Cardew, looking at his wife, "if they are going
+out of our lives."
+
+"Indeed, no," said Mrs. Cardew; "from what you have told me of Mrs.
+Ward, she must be a good woman--one of the best."
+
+"She is one of the very, very best, Sylvia; and I think the very
+happiest thing for us both would be to run up to town to-morrow, and
+for you to see her for yourself."
+
+"Very well, darling; we will do so," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ANETA.
+
+
+So everything was settled. Cicely and Merry scarcely slept at all that
+night. They were too much excited; the news was too wonderful. Now
+that their wish was granted, there was pain mingled with their joy. It
+seems as though perfect joy must have its modicum of pain to make it
+perfect.
+
+But when the next morning dawned the regret of the night before seemed
+to have vanished. In the first place, Mr. and Mrs. Cardew had gone
+early to London; and the mere fact that their father and mother were
+not present was a sort of relief to the excited girls. The picnic need
+not be postponed, for Mr. and Mrs. Tristram could act as chaperons on
+this auspicious occasion.
+
+They were all to meet at the Manor at eleven o'clock; and, punctual to
+the hour, a goodly array of happy young people walked up the avenue
+and entered the porch of the old-house. Andrew, devoted to Maggie, was
+present. Jack, equally Maggie's slave, was also there. Maggie herself,
+looking neat and happy, was helping every one. Molly and Belle, all
+in white, and looking as charming as little girls could, were full of
+expectation of their long and delightful day.
+
+One wagonette could hold the whole party, and as it drove round to the
+front door the boys fiercely took possession of the box-seat, fighting
+with the coachman, who said that there would be no room for Miss
+Howland to sit between them.
+
+"Well then, Mags, if that is the case," said Peterkins, "you get along
+in at once, and take this corner close to me; then, whenever we want,
+we can do a bit of whispering."
+
+"You won't whisper more than your share," said Jackdaw. "I've a
+frightful lot to say to Mags this morning."
+
+"Hush, boys!" said Maggie; "if you quarrel about me I shall not speak
+to either of you."
+
+This threat was so awful that the boys glanced at each other, remained
+silent and got quietly into their places. Then the hampers were put on
+the floor just under their feet.
+
+Presently Cicely and Merry came out to join the group. They were
+wearing pretty pink muslins, with pink sashes to match. Merry's
+beautiful dark eyes were very bright. Mr. and Mrs. Tristram inquired
+for their host and hostess.
+
+"Oh, I have news for you!" said Merry.
+
+"Yes," said Cicely, "Merry will tell."
+
+"Well, it's Just this," said Merry, almost jerking out her words in
+excitement: "Father and mother have been obliged to go rather
+unexpectedly to town."
+
+"Why?" said Maggie; then she restrained herself, knowing that it was
+not her place to speak.
+
+"They have gone to town," said Merry, scarcely looking at Maggie now,
+and endeavoring with all her might and main not to show undue
+excitement, "because a great and wonderful thing has happened;
+something so unexpected that--that Cicely and I can scarcely believe
+it."
+
+Maggie glanced at the sweet little faces. She said to herself, "All
+right," and got calmly into the wagonette, where she sat close under
+the box-seat which contained those obstreperous young heroes Andrew
+and Jack. The others clustered round Merry.
+
+"As I said, I can scarcely believe it," said Merry; "but father has
+done the most marvelous thing. Oh Belle! oh Molly! it is too
+wonderful! For after all--after all, Cicely and I are to go with you
+to Aylmer House in September, and--and--that is why father and mother
+have gone to town. Father went up yesterday and saw Mrs. Ward, and
+he--he settled it; and father and mother have gone up to-day--both of
+them--to see her, and to make final arrangements. And we're to go!
+we're to _go_!"
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Molly. Immediately the boys, and Maggie and Belle, and
+even Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, took up the glad "Hurrah!"
+
+"Well, children," said Mr. Tristram when the first excitement had
+subsided, "I must say I am heartily pleased. This is delightful! I
+take some credit to myself for having helped on this most excellent
+arrangement."
+
+"No one thanks me for anything," thought Maggie; but she had the
+prudence to remain silent.
+
+"We had better start on our picnic now," said Mr. Tristram, and
+immediately the whole party climbed into the wagonette. The horses
+started; the wheels rolled. They were off.
+
+By-and-by Merry felt her hand taken by Maggie. Maggie just squeezed
+that hand, and whispered in that very, very rich and wonderfully
+seductive voice of hers, "Oh, I am glad! I am very, very glad!"
+
+Merry felt her heart thrill as Maggie uttered those words. She
+answered back, turning her face to her young companion, "To be with
+you alone would be happiness enough for me."
+
+"Is it true, Cicely," said Mrs. Tristram at the moment, "that your
+cousin, Aneta Lysle, is coming to stay with you?"
+
+"Oh yes; but I had half-forgotten it in all this excitement," said
+Cicely. "She will arrive to-morrow.--Maggie, you'll be glad, won't
+you?"
+
+"More than delighted," said Maggie.
+
+"It is too wonderful," said Cicely. "Why, it will soon come to pass
+that half Mrs. Ward's school will be all together during the holidays.
+Fancy, we two, and you two"--she touched one of the Tristram
+girls--"and you, Maggie, and then dear Aneta; why, that'll make six.
+What a lot we shall have to talk about! Maggie, you and Aneta will be
+our two heroines; we shall always be applying to you for
+information."
+
+The conversation was here interrupted by Jackdaw, who pinched Maggie
+on the arm. "You're not attending to us," he said.
+
+"Nonsense, Jackdaw!"
+
+"Well, stand up for a minute; I want to whisper to you."
+
+Maggie, who never lost a chance of ingratiating herself with any one,
+obeyed.
+
+"Jack dear, don't be troublesome," said his mother.
+
+"I am not," said Jackdaw. "She loves it, the duck that she is!"
+
+"Be quick, Jackdaw; it's very difficult for me to keep my hold
+standing up," said Maggie.
+
+"How many chocolates can you eat at a pinch?" whispered Jackdaw in her
+ear.
+
+"Oh, forty," replied Maggie; "but I should be rather ill afterwards."
+
+"We've got some in our pockets. They're a little bit clammy, but you
+don't mind that?"
+
+"I don't want any just now, dear boy; and I'll tell you why. I want
+to be really starving hungry when the picnic begins."
+
+"That's a good notion, isn't it?" said Jackdaw.--"I say, Andrew, she
+wants to be starving hungry when the picnic begins!"
+
+Maggie resumed her seat, and the boys went on whispering together, and
+kicking each other at intervals, and rather upsetting that very stolid
+personage, Mr. Charles, the Meredith Manor coachman.
+
+The picnic was a perfect success. When people are very happy there is
+no room for discontent in their hearts, and all the members of that
+party were in the highest spirits. The Cardew girls had no time yet
+for that period of regret which must invariably follow a period of
+intense excitement. They had no time yet to realize that they must
+part with their father and mother for the greater portion of the
+year.
+
+To children so intensely affectionate as Cicely and Merry such a
+parting must mean considerable pain. But even the beginning of the
+pain did not come to them on that auspicious day, and they returned to
+the house after the picnic in the highest good-humor.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, however, were wise in their generation; and
+although Cicely and Merry begged and implored the whole party to come
+to the Manor for supper, they very firmly declined. It is to be
+regretted that both Jack and Andrew turned sulky on this occasion.
+
+As the rectory girls and Maggie and the boys and Mr. and Mrs. Tristam
+were all going homewards the two girls and Maggie fell behind.
+
+"Isn't this real fun? Isn't it magnificent?" said Molly Tristram.
+
+"It's a very good thing indeed for your friends Cicely and Merry,"
+said Maggie. Then she added, "Didn't I tell you, girls, that you would
+win your bracelets?"
+
+Belle felt herself changing color.
+
+"We don't want them a bit--we really don't," said Molly.
+
+"Of course we don't want them," said Isabel.
+
+"You'll have them all the same," said Maggie. "They are my present to
+you. Surely you won't refuse my present?"
+
+"But such a very rich and handsome present we ought not to accept,"
+said Molly.
+
+"Nonsense, girls! I shall be unhappy unless you wear them. When I
+return to mother--which, alas! I must do before many days are over--I
+shall send you the bracelets."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't, Maggie," said Belle Tristram; "for I am certain
+father and mother would not like us to wear jewelry while we are so
+young."
+
+"Well, then," said Maggie, "I will give them to you when we all meet
+at Aylmer House. You must take them; you know you promised you would.
+You will hurt me most frightfully if you don't."
+
+As Molly and Isabel certainly did not wish to hurt Maggie, they
+remained silent, and during the rest of the walk the three girls
+scarcely spoke. Meanwhile Cicely and Merry entered the Manor House and
+waited impatiently for the return of their father and mother.
+
+"We must get everything extra nice for them," said Cicely to her
+sister. "I do think it is so wonderfully splendid of them to send us
+to school."
+
+The sun had already set, and twilight had come on; but it would be
+quite impossible for Mr. and Mrs. Cardew to arrive at the Manor until
+about ten o'clock. What, therefore, was the amazement of the girls
+when they heard carriage-wheels in the distance!
+
+"Father and mother could not possibly have done their business and
+caught the early train," said Merry in some excitement. "Who can be
+coming now?"
+
+The next moment their doubts were set at rest, for Aneta Lysle entered
+the hall.
+
+"I came to-day after all," she said. "Auntie thought it would be more
+convenient. You got my telegram, didn't you?"
+
+These words were uttered while her two cousins, in rapture and
+delight, were kissing her.
+
+"No, no," said Merry, "we got no telegram; but, oh, Aneta! we are glad
+to see you."
+
+"Here's the telegram on the hall-table," said Aneta, and she took up a
+yellow envelope. This was addressed to "Cardew, Meredith Manor." "Yes,
+I know this must be from me," said Aneta. "But why didn't you open
+it?"
+
+"Well, the fact is," said Cicely, "father and mother were in London,
+and the rest of us were out on a picnic. But it doesn't matter a bit;
+you've come, and the sooner the better. Oh, it is nice to see you
+again! But how tall you are, Neta, and how grown up you look!"
+
+"I am seventeen, remember," said Aneta. "I don't feel grown-up, but
+auntie says I look it."
+
+"Oh, come into the light--do," said Merry, "and let's see you! We've
+heard so very much of you lately, and we want to look at your darling
+face again."
+
+"And I want to look at you both," said Aneta in her affectionate
+manner.
+
+The servants had conveyed Miss Lysle's luggage into the house, and now
+the three girls, with their arms twined round each other, entered the
+same big drawing-room where Mr. Cardew had given his wonderful news of
+the night before. There was a blaze of electric light, and this,
+judiciously softened with rose-colored silk, was most becoming to all
+those who came under its influence. But the strongest glare of light
+could not disfigure any one so absolutely beautiful as Aneta Lysle.
+Her delicate complexion, the wonderful purity and regularity of her
+features, her sweet, tender young mouth, her charming blue eyes, and
+her great luxuriance of golden hair made people who looked at her
+once long to study that charming face again and yet again.
+
+There was no vanity about this young girl; her manner, her expression,
+were simplicity itself. There was a certain nobility about her fine
+forehead, and the shape of her head was classical, and showed
+undoubted talent. Her clear, musical voice was in itself a charm. Her
+young figure was the very personification of grace. Beside her, Cicely
+and Merry felt awkward and commonplace; not that they were so, but
+very few people could attain to Aneta Lysle's incomparable beauty.
+
+"Well, girls," she said, "you do look sweet, both of you!"
+
+"Oh Neta, what a darling you are!" said Merry, who worshipped beauty,
+and had never come across any one so lovely as her cousin. "It's two
+years since we met," she continued, "and you have altered, and not
+altered. You're more grown-up and more--more stately, but your face is
+the same. Whenever we want to think of the angels we think of you too,
+Neta."
+
+"That is very sweet of you, darlings; but, indeed, I am far from being
+an angel. I am just a very human girl; and, please, if you don't mind,
+we won't discuss my looks any more."
+
+Cicely and Merry both save their cousin a thoughtful glance. Then they
+said eagerly, "You must come to your room and wash your hands, and get
+refreshed for supper, for of course you are starving."
+
+"I shall like to have something to eat," said Aneta. "What room am I
+to have, girls?"
+
+"Oh, the white room, next to ours; we arranged it all this morning,"
+said Cicely.
+
+"Well, come along at once," said Aneta.
+
+Soon the three girls found themselves in the beautiful bedroom which
+had been arranged for Aneta's reception. As soon as ever they got
+there Cicely clasped one of her cousin's arms and Merry the other.
+
+"We have news for you--news!" they said.
+
+"Yes?" said Aneta, looking at them with her bright, soft eyes.
+
+"Most wonderful--most extraordinary--most--most beautiful!" said
+Merry, speaking almost with passion. "We're going to your school; yes,
+to yours--to Aylmer House, in September. Could you have believed it?
+Think of father consenting, and just because I felt a little
+discontented. Oh, isn't he an angel? Father, of all people, who until
+now would not hear of our leaving home! But we're going."
+
+"Well," said Aneta, "I am not greatly surprised, for I happen to know
+that your father, Cousin Cyril, came to see auntie yesterday, and
+afterwards he went to visit Mrs. Ward, and after his visit we saw Mrs.
+Ward; and, although he had not quite made up his mind then whether he
+would send you or not, we quite thought he would do so. Yes, this is
+splendid. I'll he able to tell you lots about the school; but, after
+all, it isn't the school that matters."
+
+"Then what matters, Aneta?"
+
+"It's Mrs. Ward herself," said Aneta; "it's she who makes the whole
+thing so perfect. She guides us; she enlightens us. Sometimes I can
+scarcely talk of her, my love for her and my passion for her are so
+deep."
+
+Cicely and Merry looked thoughtful for a minute.
+
+"I'm ready now to come downstairs," said Aneta; and they went down, to
+find supper prepared for them, and the old butler waiting to attend on
+his young ladies.
+
+After the meal was over the girls retired to the drawing-room, where
+they all three sat by one of the windows waiting for Mr. and Mrs.
+Cardew's return.
+
+Merry then said, "It is so funny of you, Aneta, to speak as though the
+school was Mrs. Ward."
+
+"But it is," said Aneta.
+
+"Surely, surely," said Merry, "it's the girls too."
+
+"You will be surprised, perhaps, Aneta, to hear," said Cicely, "that
+our dear, darling friends--our greatest girl-friends, except yourself
+perhaps, and you're a sort of sister--Molly and Isabel Tristram are
+also going to Aylmer House in September. They are so nice--you will
+like them; and then, of course, there's Maggie Howland, one of the
+most charming girls we have come across."
+
+"Whom did you say?" asked Aneta.
+
+"Maggie Howland. She is here."
+
+"In this house?" said Aneta.
+
+"No; she is at the rectory. She is a special friend of Molly and
+Isabel. She has been at school with them before in Hanover. You know
+her, of course? She is one of the girls at Aylmer House."
+
+"I know her--oh yes, I know her," said Aneta.
+
+"And you like her, you feel her charm, you--you almost worship her,
+don't you, Neta?"
+
+Aneta was silent.
+
+"Oh, I know she is considered plain," said Merry, "but there's
+something about her which prevents one even considering her features.
+She is the most unselfish, most fascinating girl we have ever come
+across. You love her, don't you, Neta?"
+
+There had come a curious change over Aneta's face. After a brief pause
+she said, "I have no right to say it, but you two are my cousins"----
+
+"Yes, yes! What does this mean?" said Cicely with great eagerness.
+
+"Well, I know you will be faithful and not repeat it to any one; but I
+don't love Maggie Howland."
+
+"Oh, Neta!"
+
+"And," continued Aneta, "you; as my cousins, I most earnestly hope,
+will not make her your special friend at Aylmer House."
+
+"But we have done so already, Neta. Oh, Neta darling! you are mistaken
+in her."
+
+"I say nothing whatever against her," said Aneta, "except that
+personally I do not care for her. I should be very glad if I found
+that I had misjudged her."
+
+"Then why don't you want us to be friends with her? We are friends
+with her."
+
+"I cannot control you, darlings. When you come to school you will see
+a variety of girls, and most of them--indeed, all of them--nice, I
+think."
+
+"Then why shouldn't we like poor Maggie?"
+
+"You do like her, it seems, already."
+
+"Yes; but you are so mysterious, Neta."
+
+"I cannot say any more; you must forgive me," answered Aneta. "And I
+hear the sound of wheels. Your father and mother are coming."
+
+"Yes, yes, the darlings!" said Merry, rushing into the hall to meet
+her parents.
+
+Aneta and Cicely followed her example, and there was great excitement
+and much talk. Mrs. Cardew was now as anxious that the girls should go
+to Aylmer House as though she herself had always wished for such an
+arrangement, while Mr. Cardew could not say enough in Mrs. Ward's
+praise.
+
+"You agree with me, Aneta," said Mrs. Cardew, "that the school is
+quite unique and above the ordinary."
+
+"Mrs. Ward is unique and above the ordinary," was Aneta's reply.
+
+When the girls retired to their own rooms that night, Cicely and Merry
+met for a brief moment.
+
+"How funny of Aneta not to like Maggie!" said Merry.
+
+"Well, if I were you, Merry," said Cicely, "I wouldn't talk about it.
+I suppose Aneta is prejudiced."
+
+"Yes," said Merry; "but against Maggie, of all people! Well, I, for my
+part, will never give her up."
+
+"I suppose," said Cicely, who was more conscientious than her sister,
+"that we ought to think something of Aneta's opinion."
+
+"Oh, that's very fine," said Merry; "but we ought to think something,
+too, of Molly's opinion, and Belle's opinion. They have known Maggie
+longer than Aneta has."
+
+"Yes," replied Cicely; "I forgot that. But isn't Aneta herself
+delightful? It's a pure joy to look at her."
+
+"It certainly is," said Merry; "and of course I love her dearly and am
+very proud of her; but I confess I did not quite like her when she
+spoke in that queer way about dear little Maggie. I, at least, am
+absolutely determined that nothing will induce me to give Maggie up."
+
+"Of course we won't give her up," said Cicely. But she spoke with
+thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TEN POUNDS.
+
+
+In perfect summer weather, when the heart is brimful of happiness, and
+when a great desire has been unexpectedly fulfilled, what can there
+possibly be more delightful than an open-air life? This was what the
+girls who belonged to the rectory and the girls who belonged to the
+Manor now found. Mr. and Mrs. Cardew and Mr. and Mrs. Tristram could
+not do enough for their benefit. Maggie could only stay for one week
+longer with her friends; but Aneta had changed her mind with regard to
+Belgium, and was to go with the young Cardews to the seaside, and Mrs.
+Cardew had asked the Tristram girls to accompany them. She had also
+extended her invitation to Maggie, who would have given a great deal
+to accept it. She wrote to her mother on the subject. Mrs. Howland
+made a brief reply: "You know it is impossible, Maggie. You must come
+back to me early next week. I cannot do without you, so say no more
+about it."
+
+Maggie was a girl with a really excellent temper, and, recognizing
+that her mother had a good reason for not giving her the desired
+holiday, made the best of things.
+
+Meanwhile Cicely and Merry watched her carefully. As to Aneta, she was
+perfectly cordial with Maggie, not talking to her much, it is true,
+but never showing the slightest objection to her society.
+Nevertheless, there was, since the arrival of Aneta on the scene, a
+strange, undefinable change in the atmosphere. Merry noticed this more
+than Cicely. It felt to her electrical, as though there might be a
+storm brewing.
+
+On the day before Maggie was to return to London to take up her abode
+in her mother's dull house in Shepherd's Bush, a magnificent picnic on
+a larger scale even than usual was the order of the hour. Some young
+girls of the name of Heathfield who lived a little way off were asked
+to Meredith Manor to spend the night, and these girls, who were
+exceedingly jolly and bright and lively, were a fresh source of
+delight to all those whom they happened to meet. Their names were
+Susan and Mary Heathfield. They were older than the Tristrams and the
+Cardews, and had, in fact, just left school. Their last year of
+school-life had been spent in Paris; they were highly educated, and
+had an enviable proficiency in the French tongue.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Heathfield, the parents of these girls, were also guests
+at the Manor, so that the picnic on this last day of Maggie's visit to
+the rectory was quite a large one. They drove nearly twenty miles to a
+beautiful place not far from Warwick. There the usual picnic
+arrangements were made with great satisfaction; dinner was eaten
+out-of-doors, and presently there was to be a gipsy-tea. This all the
+girls looked forward to, and Andrew and Jack were wild with delight
+over the prospect of making the kettle boil. This particular task was
+given to them, and very proud they were of the trust reposed in them.
+
+But now, dinner being over, the older people took shelter from the
+fierce rays of the sun under the wide-spreading trees, and the young
+people moved about in groups or in couples. Merry Cardew found herself
+alone with Maggie Howland. Without intending to do so, she had
+slightly, very slightly, avoided Maggie during the last day or two;
+but Maggie now seized her arm and drew her down a shady glade.
+
+"Come with me, Merry," she said; "I have a lot I want to say to you."
+
+Merry looked at her. "Of course I will come with you, Maggie," she
+answered.
+
+"I want just to get quite away from the others," continued Maggie,
+"for we shall not meet again until we meet in the autumn at Aylmer
+House. You don't know, perhaps--do you, Merry--that you owe the great
+joy of coming to that lovely school to me?"
+
+"To you!" said Merry in the utmost amazement.
+
+"Yes," replied Maggie in her calmest tone, "to me."
+
+"Oh, dear Maggie!" replied Merry, "you surely must be mistaken."
+
+"I don't intend to explain myself," said Maggie; "I simply state what
+is a fact. You owe your school-life to me. It was I who inserted the
+thin end of the wedge beneath your father's fixed resolution that you
+were to be educated at home. It was I, in short, who acted the part of
+the fairy princess and who pulled those silken reins which brought
+about the desire of your heart."
+
+"I don't understand you, Maggie," said Merry in a distressful tone;
+"but I suppose," she added, "as you say so, it is the case. Only, I
+ought to tell you that what really and truly happened was this"----
+
+"Oh, I know quite well what really and truly happened," interrupted
+Maggie. "Let me tell you. I know that there came a certain day when a
+little girl who calls herself Merry Cardew was very discontented, and
+I know also that kind Mr. Cardew discovered the discontent of his
+child. Well, now, who put that discontent into your mind?"
+
+"Why, I am afraid it was you," said Merry, turning pale and then red.
+
+Maggie laughed. "Why, of course it was," she said; "and you suppose I
+didn't do it on purpose?"
+
+"But, Maggie, you didn't really mean--you couldn't for a minute
+mean--that I was to be miserable at home if father didn't give his
+consent?"
+
+"Of course not," said Maggie lightly; "but, you see, I meant him to
+give his consent--I meant it all the time. I own that there were
+several favoring circumstances; but I want to tell you now, Merry, in
+the strictest confidence of course, that from the moment I arrived at
+the rectory I determined that you and Cicely were to come with Molly
+and Isabel to Aylmer House."
+
+"It was very kind of you, Maggie," said Merry; but she felt a certain
+sense of distress which she could not quite account for as she spoke.
+
+"Why do you look so melancholy?" said Maggie, turning and fixing her
+queer, narrow eyes on the pretty face of her young companion.
+
+"I am not really melancholy, only I would much rather you had told me
+openly at the time that you wished me to come to school."
+
+Maggie gave a faint sigh. "Had I done so, darling," she said, "you
+would never have come. You must leave your poor friend Maggie to
+manage things in her own way. But now I have something else to talk
+about."
+
+They had gone far down the glade, and were completely separated from
+their companions.
+
+"Sit down," said Maggie; "it's too hot to walk far even under the
+shade of the trees."
+
+They both sat down.
+
+Maggie tossed off her hat. "To-morrow," she said, "you will perhaps be
+having another picnic, or, at any rate, the best of good times with
+your friends."
+
+"I hope so," replied Merry.
+
+"But I shall be in hot, stifling London, in a little house, in poky
+lodgings; to-morrow, at this hour, I shall not be having what you call
+a good time."
+
+"But, Maggie, you will be with your mother."
+
+"Yes, poor darling mother! of course."
+
+"Don't you love her very much?" asked Merry.
+
+Maggie flashed round an excited glance at her companion. "Love her?
+Yes," she said, "I love her."
+
+"But you must love her tremendously," said Merry--"as much as I love
+my mother."
+
+"As a rule all girls love their mothers," said Maggie. "We are not
+talking about that now, are we?"
+
+"What do you want to say to me in particular, Maggie?" was Merry's
+response.
+
+"This. We shall meet at school on the 20th of September. There will
+be, as I have told you already, twenty boarders at Aylmer House. You
+will arrive at the school as strangers; so will Molly and Isabel
+arrive as strangers; but you will have two friends--Aneta Lysle and
+myself. You're very much taken, with your cousin Aneta, are you not?"
+
+"Taken with her?" said Merry. "That seems to me a curious expression.
+She is our cousin, and she is beautiful."
+
+"Merry, I must tell you something. At Aylmer House there are two
+individuals who lead the school."
+
+"Oh," said Merry, "I thought Mrs. Ward led the school."
+
+"Of course, of course, Mrs. Ward is just splendid; but, you see, you,
+poor Merry, know nothing of school-life. School-life is really
+controlled--I mean the inner part of it--by the girls themselves. Now,
+there are two girls at Aylmer House who control the school: one of
+them is your humble servant, Maggie Howland; the other is your cousin,
+Aneta Lysle. Aneta does not love me; and, to be frank with you, I hate
+her."
+
+Merry found herself turning very red. She remembered Aneta's words on
+the night of her arrival.
+
+"She has already told you," said Maggie, "that she doesn't like me."
+
+Merry remained silent.
+
+"Oh, you needn't speak. I know quite well," said Maggie.
+
+Merry felt more and more uncomfortable.
+
+"The petition I have to make to you is this," continued Maggie: "that
+at school you will, for a time at least--say for the first month or
+so--be _neutral_. I want you and Cicely and Molly and Isabel to belong
+neither to Aneta's party nor to mine; and I want you to do this
+because--because I have been the person who has got you to Aylmer
+House. Just remain neutral for a month. Will you promise me that?"
+
+"I don't understand you. You puzzle me very much indeed," said Merry.
+
+"You will understand fast enough when you get to Aylmer House. I wish
+I were not going away; I wish I hadn't to return to mother. I wish I
+could go with you all to Scarborough; but I am the last girl on earth
+to neglect my duties, and my duty is to be with poor dear mother. You
+will understand that what I ask is but reasonable. If four new girls
+came to the school, and altogether went over to Aneta's side, where
+should I be? What chance should I have? But I do not ask you to come
+to my side; I only ask you to be neutral. Merry, will you promise?"
+
+"You distress me more than I can say," replied Merry. "I feel so
+completely in the dark. I don't, of course, want to take any side."
+
+"Ah, then you will promise?" said Maggie.
+
+"I don't know what to say."
+
+"Let me present a picture to you," continued Maggie. "There are two
+girls; they are not equally equipped for the battle of life. I say
+nothing of injustice in the matter; I only state a fact. One of them
+is rich and highly born, and endowed with remarkable beauty of face.
+That girl is your own cousin, Aneta Lysle. Then there is the other
+girl, Maggie Howland, who is ugly."
+
+"Oh no--no!" said Merry affectionately.
+
+"Yes, darling," said Maggie, using her most magnetic voice, "really
+ugly."
+
+"Not in my eyes," said Merry.
+
+"She is ugly," repeated Maggie, speaking with great calm;
+"and--yes--she is poor. I will tell you as a great secret--I have
+never breathed it to a soul yet--that it would be impossible for this
+girl to be an inmate of Aylmer House if Mrs. Ward, in the kindness of
+her great heart, had not offered her very special terms. You will
+never breathe that, Merry, not even to Cicely?"
+
+"Oh, poor Maggie!" said Merry, "are you really--really as poor as
+that?"
+
+"Church mice aren't poorer," said Maggie. "But never mind; I have got
+something which even your Aneta hasn't got. I have talent, and I have
+the power--the power of charming. I want most earnestly to be your
+special friend, Merry. I have a very affectionate heart, and I love
+you and Cicely and Molly and Isabel more than I can say; but of all
+you four girls I love you the best. You come first in my heart; and to
+see you at my school turning away from me and going altogether to
+Aneta's side would give me agony. There, I can't help it. Forgive me.
+I'll be all right in a minute."
+
+Maggie turned her face aside. She had taken out her handkerchief and
+was pressing it to her eyes. Real tears had filled them, for her
+emotions were genuine enough.
+
+"Don't you think," she said after a pause, "that you, who are so rich
+in this world's goods, might be kind and loving to a poor little plain
+girl who loves you but who has got very little?"
+
+"Indeed, indeed, I shall always love you, dear Maggie," said Merry.
+
+"Then you will do what I want?"
+
+"I don't like to make promises, and I am so much in the dark; but I
+can certainly say this--that, whatever happens, I shall be your friend
+at school. I shall look to you to help me in a hundred ways."
+
+"Will you indeed, darling Merry?"
+
+"Of course I shall. I always intended to, and I think Cicely will do
+just the same."
+
+"I don't want you to talk to Cicely about this. She doesn't care for
+me as much as you do."
+
+"Perhaps not quite," said honest Merry.
+
+"Oh, I am sure--certain of it. Then you will be my friend as I shall
+be yours, and when we meet at Aylmer House you will talk of me to
+others as your friend?"
+
+"Of course I shall."
+
+"That's what I require. The thought of your friendship when I love you
+so passionately makes sunshine in my heart. I sha'n't be miserable at
+all to-morrow after what you have said. I shall think of our pleasant
+talk under this great oak-tree; I shall recall this lovely, perfect
+day. Merry, you have made me very happy!"
+
+"But please understand," said Merry, "that, although I am your friend,
+I cannot give up Aneta."
+
+"Certainly not, dear; only, don't take what you call sides. It is
+quite reasonable to suppose that girls who have only just come to
+school would prefer to be there at first quite free and untrammeled;
+and to belong to a certain set immediately trammels you."
+
+"Well, I, for one, will promise--at any rate at first--that I won't
+belong to any set," said Merry. "Now, are you satisfied, Maggie?"
+
+"Oh, truly I am! Do let me kiss you, darling."
+
+The girls kissed very affectionately.
+
+Then Maggie said, "Now I am quite happy." After a pause, she continued
+as though it were an after-thought, "Of course you won't speak of this
+to any one?"
+
+"Unless, perhaps, to Cicely," said Merry.
+
+"No, not even to Cicely; for if you found it hard to understand, she
+would find it impossible."
+
+"But," said Merry, "I never had a secret from her in my life. She is
+my twin, you know."
+
+"Please, please," said Maggie, "keep this little secret all to
+yourself for my sake. Oh, do think how important it is to me, and how
+much more you have to be thankful for than I have!"
+
+"If you feel it like that, poor Maggie," said Merry, "I will keep it
+as my own secret."
+
+"Then I have nothing further to say." Maggie sprang to her feet.
+"There are the boys running to meet us," she said. "I know they'll
+want my help in preparing the fire for the gipsy-kettle."
+
+"And I will join the others. There's Susan Heathfield; she is all
+alone," said Merry. "But one moment first, please, Maggie. Are you
+going to make Molly and Isabel bind themselves by the same promise?"
+
+"Dear me, no!" said Maggie. "They will naturally be my friends without
+any effort; but you are the one I want, for you are the one I truly
+love."
+
+"Hallo! there you are," called Andrew's voice, "hobnobbing, as usual,
+with Merry Cardew."
+
+"I say, Merry," cried Jack, "it is unfair of you to take our Maggie
+away on her last day."
+
+The two boys now rushed up.
+
+"I am going to cry bottles-full to-morrow," said Andrew; "and,
+although I am a boy, about to be a man, I'm not a bit ashamed of it."
+
+"I'll beat you at that," said Jackdaw, "for I'll cry basins-full."
+
+"Dear me, boys, how horrid of you!" said Maggie. "What on earth good
+will crying do to me? And you'll both be so horribly limp and damp
+after it."
+
+"Well, come now," said Jackdaw, pulling her by one arm while Peterkin
+secured the other.--"You've had your share of her, Merry, and it's our
+turn."
+
+Maggie and her devoted satellites went off in the direction where the
+bonfire was to be made; and Merry, walking slowly, joined Susan
+Heathfield.
+
+Susan was more than two years older than Merry, and on that account
+the younger girls looked up to her with a great deal of respect. Up to
+the present, however, they had had no confidential talk.
+
+Susan now said, "So you are to be a schoolgirl after all?"
+
+"Yes. Isn't it jolly?" said Merry.
+
+"Oh, it has its pros and cons," replied Susan. "In one sense, there is
+no place like school; but in the best sense of all there is no place
+like home."
+
+"Were you long at school, Susan?"
+
+"Of course; Mary and I went to a school in Devonshire when we were
+quite little girls. I was eleven and Mary ten. Afterwards we were at a
+London school, and then we went to Paris. We had an excellent time at
+all our schools; but I think the best fun of all was the thought of
+the holidays and coming home again."
+
+"That must be delightful," said Merry. "Did you make many friends at
+school?"
+
+"Well, of course," said Susan. "But now let me give you a word of
+advice, Merry. You are going to a most delightful school, which, alas!
+we were not lucky enough to get admitted to, although mother tried
+very hard. It may be different at Aylmer House from what it is in the
+ordinary school, but I would strongly advise you and Cicely not to
+join any clique at school."
+
+"Oh dear, how very queer!" said Merry, and she reddened deeply.
+
+"Why do you look like that?" said Susan.
+
+"Nothing, nothing," said Merry.
+
+Susan was silent for a minute or two. Then she said, "That's a
+curious-looking girl."
+
+"What girl?" said Merry indignantly.
+
+"I think you said her name was Howland--Miss Howland."
+
+"She is one of the most delightful girls I know," replied Merry at
+once.
+
+"Well, I don't know her, you see, so I can't say. Aneta tells me that
+she is a member of your school."
+
+"Yes; and I am so delighted!" said Merry.
+
+Again Susan Heathfield was silent, feeling a little puzzled; but Merry
+quickly changed the conversation, for she did not want to have any
+more talk with regard to Maggie Howland. Merry, however, had a very
+transparent face. Her conversation with her friend had left traces of
+anxiety and even slight apprehension on her sweet, open face. Merry
+Cardew was oppressed by the first secret of her life, and it is
+perhaps to be regretted, or perhaps the reverse, that she found it
+almost impossible to keep a secret.
+
+"Well," Cicely said to her as they were hurrying from the shady woods
+in the direction of the picnic-tea, "what is wrong with you, Merry?
+Have you a headache?"
+
+"Oh no; I am perfectly all right," said Merry, brightening up. "It's
+only--well, to say the truth, I am sorry that Maggie is going
+to-morrow."
+
+"You are very fond of her, aren't you?" said Cicely.
+
+"Well, yes; that is it, I am," said Merry.
+
+"We'll see plenty of her at school, anyway," said Cicely.
+
+"I wish she were rich," said Merry. "I hate to think of her as poor."
+
+"Is she poor?" asked Cicely.
+
+"Oh yes; she was just telling me, poor darling!"
+
+"I don't understand what it means to be poor," said Cicely. "People
+say it is very bad, but somehow I can't take it in."
+
+"Maggie takes it in, at any rate," said Merry. "Think of us to-morrow,
+Cicely, having more fun, being out again in the open air, having
+pleasant companions all round us, and our beautiful home to go back
+to, and our parents, whom we love so dearly; and then, next week, of
+the house by the sea, and Aneta and Molly and Isabel our companions."
+
+"Well, of course," said Cicely.
+
+"And then think of poor Maggie," continued Merry. "She'll be shut up
+in a musty, fusty London lodging. I can't think how she endures it."
+
+"I don't know what a musty, fusty lodging is," said Cicely; "but she
+could have come with us, because mother invited her."
+
+"She can't, because her own mother wants her. Oh dear! I wish we could
+have her and her mother too."
+
+"Come on now, Merry, I don't think we ought to ask father and mother
+to invite Mrs. Howland."
+
+"Of course not. I quite understand that," replied Merry.
+"Nevertheless, I am a little sad about dear Maggie."
+
+Merry's sadness took a practical form. She thought a great deal about
+her friend during the rest of that day, although Maggie rather avoided
+her. She thought, in particular, of Maggie's poverty, and wondered
+what poverty really meant. The poor people--those who were called poor
+at Meredith--did not really suffer at all, for it was the bounden duty
+of the squire of the Manor to see to all their wants, to provide them
+with comfortable houses and nice gardens, and if they were ill to give
+them the advice of a good doctor, also to send them nourishing food
+from the Manor. But poor people of that sort were quite different from
+the Maggie Howland sort. Merry could not imagine any lord of the manor
+taking Maggie and Mrs. Howland in hand and providing them with all the
+good things of life.
+
+But all of a sudden it darted through her eager, affectionate little
+heart that she herself might be lord of the manor to Maggie, and might
+help Maggie out of her own abundance. If it were impossible to get
+Maggie Howland and her mother both invited to Scarborough, why should
+not she, Merry, provide Maggie with means to take her mother from the
+fusty, dusty lodgings to another seaside resort?
+
+Merry thought over this for some time, and the more she thought over
+it the more enamored she was of the idea. She and Cicely had, of
+course, no special means of their own, nor could they have until they
+came of age. Nevertheless, they were allowed as pocket-money ten
+pounds every quarter. Now, Merry's ten pounds would be due in a week.
+She really did not want it. When she got it she spent it mostly on
+presents for her friends and little gifts for the villagers; but on
+this occasion she might give it all in one lump sum to Maggie Howland.
+Surely her father would let her have it? She might give it to Maggie
+early to-morrow morning. Maggie would not be too proud to accept it
+just as a tiny present.
+
+Merry had as little idea how far ten pounds would go toward the
+expenses of a visit to the seaside as she had of what real poverty
+meant. But it occurred to her as a delightful way of assuring Maggie
+of her friendship to present Maggie with her quarter's pocket-money.
+
+On their way home that evening, therefore, she was only too glad to
+find herself by her father's side.
+
+"Well, little girl," he said, "so you're forsaking all your young
+companions and wish to sit close to the old dad?"
+
+The old dad, it may be mentioned, was driving home in a mail-phaeton
+from the picnic, and Merry found herself perched high up beside him as
+he held the reins and guided a pair of thoroughbred horses.
+
+"Well, what is it, little girl?" he said.
+
+"I wonder, father, if you'd be most frightfully kind?"
+
+"What!" he answered, just glancing at her; "that means that you are
+discontented again. What more can I do for you, Merry?"
+
+"If I might only have my pocket-money to-night."
+
+"You extravagant child! Your pocket-money! It isn't due for a week."
+
+"But I do want it very specially. Will you advance it to me just this
+once, dad?"
+
+"I am not to know why you want it?"
+
+"No, dad darling, you are not to know."
+
+Mr. Cardew considered for a minute.
+
+"I hope you are not going to be a really extravagant woman, Merry," he
+said. "To tell the truth, I hate extravagance, although I equally hate
+stinginess. You will have no lack of money, child, but money is a
+great and wonderful gift and ought to be used to the best of best
+advantages. It ought never to be wasted, for there are so many people
+who haven't half enough, and those who are rich, my child, ought to
+help those who are not rich."
+
+"Yes, darling father," said Merry; "and that is what I should so
+awfully like to do."
+
+"Well, I think you have the root of the matter in you," said Mr.
+Cardew, "and I, for one, am the last person to pry on my child. Does
+Cicely also want her money in advance?"
+
+"Oh no, no! I want it for a very special reason."
+
+"Very well, my little girl. Come to me in the study to-night before
+you go to bed, and you shall have your money."
+
+"In sovereigns, please, father?"
+
+"Yes, child, in sovereigns."
+
+"Thank you ever so much, darling."
+
+During the rest of the drive there was no girl happier than Merry
+Cardew. Mr. Cardew looked at her once or twice, and wondered what all
+this meant. But he was not going to question her.
+
+When they got home he took her away to his study, and, opening a
+drawer, took out ten sovereigns.
+
+"I may as well tell you," he said as he put them into her hand, "that
+when you go to school I shall raise your pocket-money allowance to
+fifteen pounds a quarter. That is quite as large a sum as a girl of
+your age ought to have in the year. I do this because I well
+understand that at Mrs. Ward's school there will be special
+opportunities for you to act in a philanthropic manner."
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you, father!" said Merry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+SHEPHERD'S BUSH.
+
+
+While Merry was in a state of high rejoicing at this simple means of
+helping her friend, Maggie Howland herself was not having quite such a
+good time. She had been much relieved by her conversation with Merry,
+but shortly after the picnic-tea Aneta had come up to her.
+
+"Would you like to walk with me," said Aneta, "as far as the giant
+oak? It isn't a great distance from here, and I'll not keep you
+long."
+
+"Certainly I will come with you, Aneta," said Maggie; but she felt
+uncomfortable, and wondered what it meant.
+
+The two girls set off together. They made a contrast which must have
+been discernible to the eyes of all those who saw them: Aneta the very
+essence of elegance; Maggie spotlessly neat, but, compared to her
+companion, downright plain. Aneta was tall and slim; Maggie was short.
+Nevertheless, her figure was her good point, and she made the most of
+it by having perfectly fitting clothes. This very fact, however, took
+somewhat from her appearance, and gave her the look of a grown-up
+girl, whereas she was still only a child.
+
+As soon as ever the girls got out of earshot, Aneta turned to Maggie
+and said gravely, "My cousins the Cardews are to join us all at Aylmer
+House in September."
+
+Maggie longed to say, "Thank you for nothing," but she never dared to
+show rudeness to Aneta. No one had ever been rude to the stately young
+lady.
+
+"Yes," she said. Then she added, "I am so glad! Aren't you?"
+
+"For some reasons I am very glad," said Aneta.
+
+"But surely for all, aren't you?"
+
+"Not for all," replied Aneta.
+
+How Maggie longed to give her companion a fierce push, or otherwise
+show how she detested her!
+
+"I will tell you why I regret it," said Aneta, turning her calm,
+beautiful eyes upon Maggie's face.
+
+"Thank you," said Maggie.
+
+"I regret it, Maggie Howland, because you are at the school."
+
+"How very polite!" said Maggie, turning crimson.
+
+"It is not polite," said Aneta, "and I am sorry that I have to speak
+as I do; but it is necessary. We needn't go into particulars; but I
+have something to say to you, and please understand that what I say I
+mean. You know that when first you came to the school I was as anxious
+as any one else to be kind to you, to help you, to be good to you. You
+know the reason why I changed my mind. You know what you did. You know
+that were Mrs. Ward to have the slightest inkling of what really
+occurred you would not remain another hour at Aylmer House. I haven't
+told any one what I know; but if you, Maggie, tamper with Cicely and
+Merry Cardew, who are my cousins and dear friends--if you win them
+over to what you are pleased to call your side of the school--I shall
+consider it my duty to tell Mrs. Ward what I have hitherto kept back
+from her."
+
+Maggie was trembling very violently.
+
+"You could not be so cruel," she said after a pause.
+
+"I have long thought," continued Aneta, speaking in her calm, gentle
+voice, "that I did wrong at the time to keep silent; but you got my
+promise, and I kept it."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Maggie, "I got your promise; you wouldn't dare to
+break it?"
+
+"You are mistaken," said Aneta. "If the circumstances to which I have
+just alluded should arise I would break that promise. Now you
+understand?"
+
+"I think you are the meanest, the cruellest--I think you are----There,
+I hate you!" said Maggie.
+
+"You have no reason to. I will not interfere with you if you, on your
+part, leave those I love alone. Cicely and Merry are coming to the
+school because I am there, because my aunt recommends the school,
+because it is a good school. Leave off doing wrong, and join us,
+Maggie, in what is noble and high; but continue your present course at
+your peril. You would do anything for power; you go too far. You have
+influenced one or two girls adversely already. I am convinced that
+Mrs. Ward does not trust you. If you interfere with Cicely or Merry,
+Mrs. Ward will have good reason to dislike you, for I myself shall
+open her eyes."
+
+"You will be an informer, a tell-tale?"
+
+"You can call me any names you like, Maggie; I shall simply do what I
+consider my duty."
+
+"Oh, but----I hate you!" said Maggie again.
+
+"I am sorry you hate me, for it isn't necessary; and if I saw you in
+the least like others I should do all in my power to help you. Now,
+will you give me your promise that you won't interfere with Cicely and
+Merry?"
+
+"But does this mean--does this mean," said Maggie, who was almost
+choking with rage, "that I am to have nothing to do with the
+Cardews?"
+
+"You are on no account to draw the Cardews into the circle of your
+friends, who are, I am thankful to say, limited. If you do, you know
+the consequences, and I am not the sort of girl to go back when I have
+firmly made up my mind on a certain point."
+
+Maggie suddenly clutched hold of her companion's arm.
+
+"I am miserable enough already," she said, "and you make my life
+unendurable! You don't know what it is to have a mother like mine, and
+to be starvingly poor."
+
+"I am very sorry you are poor, Maggie, and I am very sorry for you
+with regard to your mother, although I do not think you ought to speak
+unkindly of her. But your father was a very good man, and you might
+live up to his memory. I saw you and Merry together to-day. Beware how
+you try to influence her."
+
+"Oh, I can't stand you!" said Maggie.
+
+"I have said my say. Shall we return to the others?" said Aneta in her
+calm voice.
+
+"If she would only get into a rage and we might have a hand-to-hand
+fight I should feel better," thought Maggie. But she was seriously
+alarmed, for she well remembered something which had happened at
+school, which Aneta had discovered, and which, if known, would force
+Mrs. Ward to dismiss her from the establishment. Such a course would
+spell ruin. Maggie had strong feelings, but she had also self-control;
+and by the time the two joined the others her face looked much as
+usual.
+
+On the following morning early a little girl ran swiftly from the
+Manor to the rectory. Maggie was to leave by the eleven o'clock train.
+Merry appeared on the scene soon after nine.
+
+"I want you, Maggie, all quite by yourself," said Merry, speaking with
+such excitement that Molly and Belle looked at her in unbounded
+amazement.
+
+"You can't keep her long," said Peterkins and Jackdaw, "for it is our
+very last day, and Spot-ear and Fanciful want to say good-bye to her.
+You can't have the darling more than three minutes at the most."
+
+"I am going to keep Maggie for ten minutes, and no longer.--Come along
+at once, Maggie," said Merry Cardew.
+
+They went out into the grounds, and Merry, putting her hand into her
+pocket, took out a little brown leather bag. She thrust it into her
+companion's hand.
+
+"What is it?" said Maggie.
+
+"It is for you--for you, darling," said Merry. "Take it, as a loan, if
+you like--only take it. It is only ten pounds. I am afraid you will
+think it nothing at all; but do take it, just as a mere loan. It is my
+pocket-money for the next quarter. Perhaps you could go from the
+musty, fusty lodgings to some fresher place with this to help you.
+Do--do take it, Maggie! I shall so love you if you do."
+
+Maggie's narrow eyes grew wide. Maggie's sallow face flushed. There
+came a wild commotion in her heart--a real, genuine sense of downright
+love for the girl who had done this thing for her. And ten pounds,
+which meant so very little to Merry Cardew, held untold possibilities
+for Maggie.
+
+"You will hurt me frightfully if you refuse," said Merry.
+
+Maggie trembled from head to foot. Suppose, by any chance, it got to
+Aneta's ears that she had taken this money from Merry; suppose it got
+abroad in the school! Oh, she dared not take it! she must not!
+
+"What is it, Maggie? Why don't you speak?" said Merry, looking at her
+in astonishment.
+
+"I love you with all my heart and soul," said Maggie; "but I just
+can't take the money."
+
+"Oh Maggie! but why?"
+
+"I can't, dear; I can't. It--it would not be right. You mustn't lower
+me in my own estimation. I should feel low down if I took your money.
+I know well I am poor, and so is dear mother, and the lodgings are
+fusty and musty, but we are neither of us so poor as that. I'll never
+forget that you brought it to me, and I'll love you just more than I
+have ever done; but I can't take it."
+
+"Do come on, Maggie!" shouted Jackdaw. "Fanciful is dying for his
+breakfast; and as to Peterkins, he has got Spot-ear out of his cage.
+Peterkins is crying like anything, and his tears are dropping on
+Spot-ear, and Spot-ear doesn't like it. Do come on!"
+
+"Yes, yes; I am coming," said Maggie--"Good-bye, darling Merry. My
+best thanks and best love."
+
+That evening, or in the course of the afternoon, Maggie appeared at
+Shepherd's Bush. She had been obliged to travel third-class, and the
+journey was hot and dusty.
+
+She lay back against the cushions with a tired feeling all over her.
+For a time she had been able to forget her poverty. Now it had fully
+returned to her, and she was not in the mood to be good-natured. There
+was no need to show any charm or any kindliness to her neighbors, who,
+in their turn, thought her a disagreeable, plain girl, not worth any
+special notice.
+
+It was, therefore, by no means a prepossessing-looking girl who ran up
+the high flight of steps which belonged to that lodging-house in
+Shepherd's Bush where Mrs. Howland was staying. Maggie knew the
+lodgings well, although she had never spent much time there. As a
+rule, she contrived to spend almost all her holidays with friends;
+but on this occasion her mother had sent for her in a very summary
+manner; and, although Maggie had no real love for her mother, she was
+afraid to disobey her.
+
+Mrs. Howland occupied the drawing-room floor of the said lodgings.
+They were kept by a Mrs. Ross, an untidy and by no means too
+clean-looking woman. Mrs. Ross kept one small "general," and the
+general's name was Tildy. Tildy had bright-red hair and a great many
+freckles on her round face. She was squat in figure, and had a
+perpetual smut either on her cheek or forehead. In the morning she was
+nothing better than a slavey, but in the afternoon she generally
+managed to put on a cap with long white streamers and an apron with a
+bib. Tildy thought herself very fine in this attire, and she had
+donned it now in honor of Miss Howland's arrival. She had no
+particular respect for Mrs. Howland, but she had a secret and
+consuming admiration for Maggie.
+
+Maggie had been kind to Tildy once or twice, and had even given the
+general a cast-off dress of her own. Maggie was plain, and yet people
+liked her and listened to her words.
+
+"Oh miss," said Tildy when she opened the front door, "it's me that's
+glad to see you! Your ma is upstairs; she's took with a headache, but
+you'll find her lyin' down on the sofy in the drawin'-room."
+
+"Then I'll run up at once, Matilda," said Maggie. "And how are you?"
+she added good-naturedly. "Oh, you've got your usual smut."
+
+"Indicate the spot, miss, and it shall be moved instancious," said
+Tildy. "Seems to me as if never could get rid of smuts, what with the
+kitchen-range, and missus bein' so exacsheous, and Tildy here, Tildy
+there; Tildy do this, Tildy do t'other, soundin' in my hears all day
+long."
+
+"You are a very good girl," said Maggie, "and if I were in your place
+I'd have a hundred smuts, not one. But take it off now, do; it's on
+the very center of your forehead. And bring me some tea to the
+drawing-room, for I'm ever so thirsty."
+
+"You've been in a blessed wondrous castle since, haven't you, missie?"
+said Matilda in a voice of suppressed awe.
+
+"I know some young ladies who live in a castle; but I myself have been
+at a rectory," said Maggie. "Now, don't keep me. Oh, here's a shilling
+for the cabman; give it to him, and get my box taken upstairs."
+
+Maggie flew up the steep, badly carpeted stairs to the hideous
+drawing-room. Her spirits had been very low; but, somehow, Tildy had
+managed to revive them. Tildy was plain, and very much lower than
+Maggie in the social scale; but Tildy admired her, and because of that
+admiration made her life more or less endurable in the fusty, musty
+lodgings. She had always cultivated Tildy's good will, and she thought
+of the girl now with a strange sense of pity.
+
+"Compared to her, I suppose I am well off," thought Maggie. "I have
+only five weeks at the most to endure this misery; then there will be
+Aylmer House."
+
+She opened the drawing-room door and entered. Mrs. Howland was lying
+on a sofa, which was covered with faded rep and had a broken spring.
+She had a handkerchief wrung out of aromatic vinegar over her
+forehead. Her eyes were shut, and her exceedingly thin face was very
+pale. When her daughter entered the room she opened a pair of faded
+eyes and looked at her, but no sense of pleasure crossed Mrs.
+Howland's shallow face. On the contrary, she looked much worried, and
+said, in a cross tone, "I wish you would not be so noisy, Maggie.
+Didn't Tildy tell you that I had an acute headache?"
+
+"Yes, mother; and I didn't know I was noisy," replied Maggie. "I came
+upstairs as softly as possible. That door"--she pointed to the door by
+which she had entered--"creaks horribly. That is not my fault."
+
+"Excusing yourself, as usual," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Well, mother," said Maggie after a pause, "may I kiss you now that I
+have come back against my will?"
+
+"I knew you'd be horribly discontented," said Mrs. Howland; "but of
+course you may kiss me."
+
+Maggie bent down and touched her mother's cheek with her young lips.
+
+"I was having a beautiful time," she said, "and you don't seem glad
+now that I have come back. What is the matter?"
+
+"I have something to communicate to you," said Mrs. Howland. "I did
+not think I could write it; therefore I was obliged to have you with
+me. But we won't talk of it for a little. Have you ordered tea?"
+
+"Yes, mother. Tildy is bringing it."
+
+"That's right," said Mrs. Howland. "What a hot day it is!" she
+continued.
+
+"This room is stifling," replied Maggie. "Do you mind if I pull down
+the Venetian blinds? That will keep some of the sun out."
+
+"The blinds are all broken," said Mrs. Howland. "I have spoken to that
+woman Ross till I am tired, but she never will see to my wishes in any
+way."
+
+"I can't imagine why we stay here, mother."
+
+"Oh! don't begin your grumbles now," said Mrs. Howland. "I have news
+for you when tea is over."
+
+Just then the drawing-room door was opened by means of a kick and a
+bump, and Tildy entered, weighed down by an enormous tea-tray. Maggie
+ran to prepare a table for its reception, and Tildy looked at her with
+eyes of fresh admiration. Mrs. Howland raised herself and also looked
+at the girl.
+
+"Have you kept the cakes downstairs, and the muffins that I ordered,
+and the gooseberries?"
+
+"No, um," said Tildy. "I brought them up for Miss Maggie's tea."
+
+"I told you they were not to be touched till Mr. Martin came."
+
+"Yes, um," said Tildy; "but me and Mrs. Ross thought as Miss Maggie
+'u'd want 'em."
+
+Mrs. Howland glanced at her daughter. Then all of a sudden, and quite
+unexpectedly, her faded face grew red. She perceived an expression of
+inquiry in Maggie's eyes which rather frightened her.
+
+"It's all right," she said. "Now that you've brought the things up,
+Tildy, leave them here, and go. When Mr. Martin comes, show him up.
+Now leave us, and be quick about it."
+
+Tildy departed, slamming the door behind her.
+
+"How noisy that girl is!" said Mrs. Howland. "Well, I am better now;
+I'll just go into our bedroom and get tidy. I'll be back in a few
+minutes. I mustn't be seen looking this fright when Mr. Martin
+comes."
+
+"But who is Mr. Martin?" said Maggie.
+
+"You will know presently," said Mrs. Howland. "It's about him that I
+have news."
+
+Maggie felt her heart thumping in a very uncomfortable manner. The
+bedroom which she and her mother shared together--that is, when Maggie
+was with her mother--was at the back of the drawing-room. Mrs. Howland
+remained there for about five minutes, and during that time Maggie
+helped herself to a cup of tea, for she was feverishly hot and
+thirsty.
+
+Her mother returned at the end of five minutes, looking wonderfully
+better, and in fact quite rejuvenated. Her dress was fairly neat. She
+had a slight color in her pale cheeks which considerably brightened
+her light-blue eyes. Her faded hair was arranged with some neatness,
+and she had put on a white blouse and a blue alpaca skirt.
+
+"Oh mother," said Maggie, hailing this change with great relief, "how
+much better you look now! I am a comfort to you, am I not, mums? I
+sha'n't mind coming back and giving up all my fun if I am a real
+comfort to you."
+
+"I wouldn't have sent for you but for Mr. Martin," said Mrs. Howland.
+"It was he who wished it. Yes, I am much better now, though I cannot
+honestly say that you are the cause. It's the thought of seeing Mr.
+Martin that cheers me up; I must be tidy for him. Yes, you may pour
+out a cup of tea for me; only see that you keep some really strong tea
+in the teapot for Mr. Martin, for he cannot bear it weak. He calls
+weak tea wish-wash."
+
+"But whoever is this mysterious person?" said Maggie.
+
+"I will tell you in a minute or two. You may give me one of those
+little cakes. No, I couldn't stand muffins; I hate them in hot
+weather. Besides, my digestion isn't what it was; but I shall be all
+right by-and-by; so will you too, my dear. And what I do, I do for
+you."
+
+"Well, I wish you would tell me what you are doing for me, and get it
+over," said Maggie. "You were always very peculiar, mums,
+always--even when dear father was alive--and you're not less so now."
+
+"That's a very unkind way for a child to speak of her parent," said
+Mrs. Howland; "but I can assure you, Maggie, that Mr. Martin won't
+allow it in the future."
+
+Maggie now sprang to her feet.
+
+"Good gracious, mother! What has Mr. Martin to do with me? Is he--is
+he--it cannot be, mother!"
+
+"Yes, I can," said Mrs. Howland. "I may as well have it out first as
+last. I am going to marry Mr. Martin."
+
+"Mother!"
+
+There was a wailing cry in Maggie's voice. No girl can stand with
+equanimity her mother marrying a second time; and as Maggie, with all
+her dreams of her own future, had never for an instant contemplated
+this fact, she was simply staggered for a minute or two.
+
+"You will have to take it in the right spirit, my dear," said her
+mother. "I can't stand this life any longer. I want money, and
+comforts, and devotion, and the love of a faithful husband, and Mr.
+Martin will give me all these things. He is willing to adopt you too.
+He said so. He has no children of his own. I mean, when I say that,
+that his first family are all settled in life, and he says that he
+wouldn't object at all to a pleasant, lively girl in the house. He
+wants you to leave school."
+
+"Leave Aylmer House!" said Maggie. "Oh no, mother!"
+
+"I knew you'd make a fuss about it," said Mrs. Howland. "He has a
+great dislike to what he calls fine folks. He speaks of them as
+daisies, and he hates daisies."
+
+"But, mother--mother dear--before he comes, tell me something about
+him. Where did you meet him? Who is he? A clergyman--a barrister? What
+is he, mother?"
+
+Mrs. Howland remained silent for a minute. Then she pressed her hand
+to her heart. Then she gave way to a burst of hysterical laughter.
+
+"Just consider for a minute, Maggie," she said, "what utter nonsense
+you are talking. Where should I be likely to meet a clergyman or a
+barrister? Do clergymen or barristers or people in any profession come
+to houses like this? Do talk sense when you're about it."
+
+"Well, tell me what he is, at least."
+
+"He is in--I am by no means ashamed of it--in _trade_."
+
+Now, it so happened that it had been duly impressed upon Maggie's mind
+that Mr. Cardew of Meredith Manor was also, so to speak, in trade;
+that is, he was the sleeping partner in one of the largest and
+wealthiest businesses in London. Maggie therefore, for a minute, had a
+glittering vision of a great country-house equal in splendor to
+Meredith Manor, where she and her mother could live together. But the
+next minute Mrs. Howland killed these glowing hopes even in the moment
+of their birth.
+
+"I want to conceal nothing from you," she said. "Mr. Martin keeps the
+grocer's shop at the corner. I may as well say that I met him when I
+went to that shop to get the small articles of grocery which I
+required for my own consumption. He has served me often across the
+counter. Then one day I was taken rather weak and ill in the shop, and
+he took me into his back-parlor, a very comfortable room, and gave me
+a glass of excellent old port; and since then, somehow, we have been
+friends. He is a widower, I a widow. His children have gone into the
+world, and each one of them is doing well. My child is seldom or never
+with her mother. It is about a week ago since he asked me if I would
+accept him and plenty, instead of staying as I am--a genteel widow
+with so little money that I am half-starved. His only objection to our
+marriage is the thought of you, Maggie; for he said that I was
+bringing you up as a fine lady, with no provision whatever for the
+future. He hates fine ladies, as he calls them; in fact, he is dead
+nuts against the aristocracy."
+
+"Oh mother!" wailed poor Maggie; "and my father was a gentleman!"
+
+"Mr. Martin has quite a gentlemanly heart," said Mrs. Howland. "I
+don't pretend for a moment that he is in the same position as my late
+lamented husband; but he is ten times better off, and we shall live in
+a nice little house in Clapham, and I can have two servants of my own;
+he is having the house refurnished and repapered for me--in his own
+taste, it is true, for he will not hear of what he calls Liberty
+rubbish. But it is going to be very comfortable, and I look forward to
+my change of surroundings with great satisfaction."
+
+"Yes, mother," said Maggie, "you always did think of yourself first.
+But what about me?"
+
+"You had better not talk to me in that strain before Mr. Martin. He is
+very deeply devoted to me," said Mrs. Howland; "and do not imagine
+that we have not given you careful consideration. He is willing to
+adopt you, but insists on your leaving Aylmer House and coming to
+Laburnum Villa at Clapham. From what he says, you are quite
+sufficiently educated, and your duty now is to look after your mother
+and your new father, to be pleasant to me all day long, and to be
+bright and cheerful with him when he comes back from business in the
+evening. If you play your cards well, Maggie, he will leave you well
+provided for, as he is quite rich--of course, not rich like those
+people you are staying near, but rich for his class. I am very much
+pleased myself at the engagement. Our banns were called last Sunday in
+church, and we are to be married in a fortnight. After that, you had
+best stay on here until we desire you to join us at Laburnum Villa."
+
+"I can't, mother," said Maggie. "I can't--and I won't."
+
+"Oh, come, I hear a step on the stairs," said Mrs. Howland. "That is
+Mr. Martin. Now, you will restrain yourself for my sake."
+
+There _was_ a step on the stairs--firm, solid, heavy. The
+drawing-room door was opened about an inch, but no one came in.
+
+Mrs. Howland said in a low whisper to her daughter, "He doesn't know
+you have returned; he is very playful. Just stay quiet. He really is a
+most amusing person."
+
+"Bo-peep!" said a voice at the door; and a round, shining, bald head
+was popped in and then disappeared.
+
+"Bo-peep!" said Mrs. Howland in response.
+
+She stood up, and there came over her faded face a waggish expression.
+She held up her finger and shook it playfully. The bald head appeared
+again, followed immediately by a very round body. The playful finger
+continued to waggle.
+
+"Ducksie dear!" said Mr. Martin, and he clasped Mrs. Howland in his
+arms.
+
+Maggie gave a smothered groan.
+
+"It's the child," said Mrs. Howland in a whisper. "She is a bit upset;
+but when she knows you, James, she'll love you as much as I do."
+
+"Hope so," said Mr. Martin. "I'm a duckle, Little-sing; ain't I,
+Victoria?" Here he chuckled the good lady under the chin. "Ah, and so
+this is Maggie?--How do, my dear? How do, Popsy-wopsy?"
+
+"How do you do?" said Maggie.
+
+"Come, come," said Mr. Martin. "No flights and vapors, no fine airs,
+no affected, mincing ways. A little girl should love her new parent. A
+little girl should kiss her new parent."
+
+"I won't kiss you, Mr. Martin," said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, come, come--shy, is she? Let me tell you, Popsy-wopsy, that every
+man wouldn't want to kiss you.--She is not a bit like you, my dear
+Victoria. Wherever did she get that queer little face? She is no
+beauty, and that I will say.--Now, your mother, Popsy, is a most
+elegant woman; any one can see that she is a born aristocrat; but I
+hate 'em, my dear--hate 'em! I am one of those who vote for the
+abolition of the House of Lords. Give me the Commons; no bloated Lords
+for me. Well, you're a bit took aback, ain't you? Your mother and
+me--we settled things up very tidy while you were sporting in the
+country. I like you all the better, my dear, for being plain. I don't
+want no beauties except my beloved Victoria. She's the woman for
+me.--Ain't you, my Little-sing? Eh dear! Eh dear! It's we three who'll
+have the fun.--I'll take you right into my heart, Popsy-wopsy, and
+snug and comfortable you'll find yourself there."
+
+Poor Maggie! The overwhelming contrast between this scene and the
+scenes of yesterday! The awful fact that her mother was going to marry
+such a being as Mr. Martin overpowered her with such a sense of horror
+that for the time she felt quite dumb and stupid.
+
+Mr. Martin, however, was in a radiant humor. "Now then, Little-sing,"
+he said, addressing Mrs. Howland, "where's the tea! Poor Bo-peep wants
+his tea. He's hungry and he's thirsty, is Bo-peep. Little-sing will
+pour out Bo-peep's tea with her own pretty, elegant hands, and butter
+his muffins for him, and Cross-patch in the corner can keep herself
+quiet."
+
+"May I go into our bedroom, mother?" said Maggie at that juncture.
+
+"No, miss, you may not," said Martin, suddenly rousing himself from a
+very comfortable position in the only easy-chair the room afforded. "I
+have something to say to you, and when I have said it you may do what
+you please."
+
+"Stay quiet, dear Maggie, for the present," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+The poor woman felt a queer sense of shame. Bo-peep and Little-sing
+had quite an agreeable time together when they were alone. She did not
+mind the boisterous attentions of her present swain; but with Maggie
+by there seemed to be a difference. Maggie made her ashamed of
+herself.
+
+Maggie walked to the window, and, taking a low chair, sat down. Her
+heart was beating heavily. There was such a misery within her that she
+could scarcely contain herself. Could anything be done to rescue her
+mother from such a marriage? She was a very clever girl; but, clever
+as she was, she could see no way out.
+
+Meanwhile Mr. Martin drank his tea with huge gulps, ate a quantity of
+muffins, pooh-poohed the gooseberries as not worth his attention, and
+then said, "Now, Victoria, my dearest dear, I am ready to propound my
+scheme to your offspring.--Come forward, Popsy-wopsy, and listen to
+what new pa intends to do for you."
+
+Maggie rose, feeling that her limbs were turned to ice. She crossed
+the room and stood before Mr. Martin.
+
+"Well?" she said.
+
+"None of those airs, Popsy."
+
+"I want to know what you mean to do," said Maggie, struggling hard to
+keep her temper.
+
+"Well, missie miss, poor Bo-peep means to marry your good ma, and he
+wants a nice 'ittle dirl to come and live with ma and pa at Clapham;
+pretty house, solid furniture, garden stocked with fruit-trees, a
+swing for good 'ittle dirl, a nice room for dear Popsy to sleep in, no
+more lessons, no more fuss, no more POVERTY! That's what new pa
+proposes to ma's 'ittle dirl. What does 'ittle dirl say?"
+
+There was a dead silence in the room. Mrs. Howland looked with wild
+apprehension at her daughter. Mr. Martin had, however, still a jovial
+and smiling face.
+
+"Down on its knees ought Popsy-wopsy to go," he said. "Tears might
+come in Popsy-wopsy's eyes, and the 'ittle dirl might say, 'Dearest pa
+that is to be, I love you with all my heart, and I am glad that you're
+going to marry ma and to take me from horrid school.'"
+
+But there was no sign on the part of Maggie Howland of fulfilling
+these expectations on the part of the new pa. On the contrary, she
+stood upright, and then said in a low voice, "This has been a very
+great shock to me."
+
+"Shock!" cried Martin. "What do you mean by that, miss?"
+
+"I must speak," said Maggie. "You must let me, sir; and, mother, you
+must let me. It is for the last time. Quite the last time. I will
+never be here to offend you any more."
+
+"'Pon my word!" said Martin, springing to his feet, and his red,
+good-humored face growing crimson. "There's gratitude for you! There's
+manners for you!--Ma, how ever did you bring her up?"
+
+"Let me speak," said Maggie. "I am sorry to hurt your feelings, sir.
+You are engaged to my mother."
+
+"Ra-_ther_!" said Mr. Martin. "My pretty birdling hopped, so to speak,
+into my arms. No difficulties with her; no drawing back on the part of
+Little-sing. She wanted her Bo-peep, and she--well, her Bo-peep wanted
+her."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Maggie. "I am exceedingly sorry--bitterly sorry--that
+my mother is going to marry again; but as she cares for you"----
+
+"Which I _do_!" said Mrs. Howland, who was now reduced to tears.
+
+"I have nothing more to say," continued Maggie, "except that I hope
+she will be happy. But I, sir, am my father's daughter as well as my
+mother's, and I cannot for a single moment accept your offer. It is
+impossible. I must go on with my own education as best I can."
+
+"Then you _re-fuse_," said Martin, "to join your mother and me?"
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, "I refuse."
+
+"Has she anything to live on, ma?" asked Mr. Martin.
+
+"Oh, dear James," said Mrs. Howland, "don't take all the poor child
+says in earnest now! She'll be down on her knees to you to-morrow. I
+know she will. Leave her to me, James dear, and I'll manage her."
+
+"You can manage most things, Little-sing," said Mr. Martin; "but I
+don't know that I want that insolent piece. She is very different from
+you. If she is to be about our pleasant, cheerful home snubbing me and
+putting on airs--why, I'll have none of it. Let her go, Victoria, I
+say--let her go if she wants to; but if she comes to me she must come
+in a cheerful spirit, and joke with me, and take my fun, and be as
+agreeable as you are yourself, Little-sing."
+
+"Well, at least," said Mrs. Howland, "give us till to-morrow. The
+child is surprised; she will be different to-morrow."
+
+"I hope so," said Mr. Martin; "but if there's any philandering, or
+falling back, or if there's any _on_-gratitude, I'll have naught to do
+with her. I only take her to oblige you, Victoria."
+
+"You had best leave us now, dear," said Mrs. Howland. "I will talk to
+Maggie, and let you know."
+
+Mr. Martin sat quite still for a minute. Then he rose, took not the
+slightest notice of Maggie, but, motioning Mrs. Howland to follow him,
+performed a sort of cake-walk out of the room.
+
+When he reached the door and had said good-bye, he opened it again and
+said, "Bo-peep!" pushing a little bit of his bald head in, and then
+withdrawing it, while Mrs. Howland pretended to admire his antics.
+
+At last he was gone; but by this time Maggie had vanished into the
+bedroom. She had flung herself on her knees by the bed, and pushed her
+handkerchief against her mouth to stifle the sound of her sobs. Mrs.
+Howland gently opened the door, looked at her daughter, and then shut
+it again. She felt thoroughly afraid of Maggie.
+
+An hour or two later a pale, subdued-looking girl came out of the
+bedroom and sat down by her mother.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Howland, "he is very pleasant and cheerful, isn't
+he?"
+
+"Mother, he is horrible!"
+
+"Maggie, you have no right to say those things to me. I want a good
+husband to take care of me. I am very lonely, and no one appreciates
+me."
+
+"Oh mother!" said poor Maggie--"my father!"
+
+"He was a very good man," said Mrs. Howland restlessly; "but he was
+above me, somehow, and I never, never could reach up to his heights."
+
+"And you really tell me, his child, that you prefer that person?"
+
+"I think I shall be quite happy with him," said Mrs. Howland. "I
+really do. He is awfully kind, and his funny little ways amuse me."
+
+"Oh mother!"
+
+"You will be good about it, Maggie; won't you?" said Mrs. Howland.
+"You won't destroy your poor mother's happiness? I have had such
+lonely years, and such a struggle to keep my head above water; and now
+that good man comes along and offers me a home and every comfort. I am
+not young, dear; I am five-and-forty; and there is nothing before me
+if I refuse Mr. Martin but an old age of great poverty and terrible
+loneliness. You won't stand in my way, Maggie?"
+
+"I can't, mother; though it gives me agony to think of your marrying
+him."
+
+"But you'll get quite accustomed to it after a little; and he is
+really very funny, I can assure you; he puts me into fits of laughter.
+You will get accustomed to him, darling; you will come and live with
+your new father and me at Laburnum Villa?"
+
+"Mother, you must know that I never will."
+
+"But what are you to do, Maggie? You've got no money at all."
+
+"Oh mother!" said poor Maggie, "it costs very little to keep me at
+Aylmer House; you know that quite, quite well. Please do let me go on
+with my education. Afterwards I can earn my living as a teacher or in
+some profession, for I have plenty of talent. I take after father in
+that."
+
+"Oh yes, I know I always was a fool," said Mrs. Howland; "but I have a
+way with people for all that."
+
+"Mother, you have a great deal that is quite sweet about you, and
+you're throwing yourself away on that awful man! Can't we go on as we
+did for a year or two, you living here, and I coming to you in the
+holidays? Then, as soon as ever I get a good post I shall be able to
+help you splendidly. Can't you do it, mother? This whole thing seems
+so dreadful to me."
+
+"No, I can't, and won't," said Mrs. Howland in a decided voice. "I am
+exceedingly fond of my Bo-peep--as I call him--and greatly enjoy the
+prospect of being his wife. Oh Maggie, you have not returned to be a
+thorn in our sides? You will submit?"
+
+"Never, never, never!" said Maggie.
+
+"Then I don't know what you are to do; for your new father insists on
+my keeping the very little money I have for my own personal use, and
+if you refuse to conform to his wishes he will not allow me to spend a
+farthing of it on you. You can't live on nothing at all."
+
+"I can't," said Maggie. "I don't know quite what to do. Are you going
+to be so very cruel as to take away the little money you have hitherto
+spent on me?"
+
+"I must, dear; in fact, it is done already. Mr. Martin has invested it
+in the grocery business. He already provides for all my wants, and we
+are to be married in a fortnight. I have nothing whatever to spend on
+you."
+
+"Well, mother, we'll say no more to-night. I have a headache, but I'll
+sleep on the sofa here; it's less hot than the bedroom."
+
+"Won't you sleep with your poor old mother?"
+
+"No, I can't, really. Oh, how dreadfully hot this place is!"
+
+"You are spoilt by your fine life, Maggie; but I grant that these
+lodgings are hot. The house at Clapham, however, is very cool and
+fresh. Oh Maggie! My dear Bo-peep is getting such a sweet little
+bedroom ready for you. I could cry when I think of your cross
+obstinacy."
+
+But even the thought of the sweet little bedroom didn't move Maggie
+Howland. Tildy presently brought up a meagre supper, of which the
+mother and daughter partook almost in silence. Then Mrs. Howland went
+to her room, where she fell fast asleep, and Maggie had the
+drawing-room to herself. She had arranged a sort of extempore bed on
+the hard sofa, and was about to lie down, when Tildy opened the door.
+
+"I say," said Tildy, "ain't he cunnin'?"
+
+"What do you mean, Matilda?" said Maggie.
+
+"Oh my," said Tildy, "wot a 'arsh word! Does you know, missie, that
+he's arsked me to go down to Clap'am presently to 'elp wait on your
+ma? If you're there, miss, it'll be the 'eight of 'appiness to me."
+
+"I may as well say at once, Matilda, that I shall not be there."
+
+"You don't like 'im, then?" said Tildy, backing a step. "And 'e is so
+enticin'--the prettiest ways 'e 'ave--at least, that's wot me and Mrs.
+Ross thinks. We always listen on the stairs for 'im to greet your ma.
+We like 'im, that we do."
+
+"I have an old dress in my trunk, Tildy, which I will give you. You
+can manage to make it look quite nice for your new post as parlor-maid
+at Laburnum Villa. But now go, please; for I must be alone to think."
+
+Tildy went. She crept downstairs to the kitchen regions. There she met
+Mrs. Ross.
+
+"The blessed young lady's full of ructions," said Tildy.
+
+"And no wonder," replied Mrs. Ross. "She's a step above Martin, and
+Martin knows it."
+
+"I 'ope as she won't refuse to jine us at Laburnum Villa," said
+Tildy.
+
+"There's no sayin' wot a spirited gel like that'll do," said Mrs.
+Ross; "but ef she do go down, Martin 'll be a match for 'er."
+
+"I don't know about that," replied Tildy. "She 'ave a strong,
+determined w'y about 'er, has our Miss Maggie."
+
+If Mrs. Howland slept profoundly, poor Maggie could not close her
+eyes. She suddenly found herself surrounded by calamity. The
+comparatively small trials which she had thought big enough in
+connection with Aylmer House and Cicely and Merry Cardew completely
+disappeared before this great trouble which now faced her. Her
+mother's income amounted to a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and out
+of that meagre sum the pair had contrived to live, and, owing to Mrs.
+Ward's generosity, Maggie had been educated. But now that dreadful Mr.
+Martin had secured Mrs. Howland's little property, and the only
+condition on which it could be spent on Maggie was that she should
+accept a home with her future stepfather. This nothing whatever would
+induce her to do. But what was to be done?
+
+She had no compunction whatever in leaving her mother. They had never
+been really friends, for the girl took after her father, whom her
+mother had never even pretended to understand. Mrs. Howland, when she
+became Mrs. Martin, would be absolutely happy without Maggie, and
+Maggie knew well that she would be equally miserable with her. On the
+other hand, how was Maggie to live?
+
+Suddenly it flashed across her mind that there was a way out, or at
+least a way of providing sufficient funds for the coming term at
+Aylmer House. Her mother had, after all, some sort of affection for
+her, and if Maggie made her request she was certain it would not be
+refused. She meant to get her mother to give her all that famous
+collection of jewels which her father had collected in different parts
+of the world. In especial, the bracelets flashed before her memory.
+These could be sold, and would produce a sum which might keep Maggie
+at Aylmer House, perhaps for a year--certainly for the approaching
+term.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BREAKFAST WITH BO-PEEP.
+
+
+After Maggie's restless night she got up early. The day promised to be
+even hotter than the one before; but as the drawing-room faced west it
+was comparatively cool at this hour.
+
+Tildy brought her favorite young lady a cup of tea, and suggested that
+she should go for an outing while Tildy herself freshened up the room.
+Maggie thought that a good idea, and when she found herself in the
+street her spirits rose a trifle.
+
+A curious sort of fascination drew her in the direction of Martin's
+shop. It was a very large corner shop, had several entrances, and at
+this early hour the young shopmen and shopwomen were busy dressing the
+windows; they were putting appetizing sweetmeats and cakes and
+biscuits and all kinds of delectable things in the different windows
+to tempt the passers-by.
+
+Maggie felt a hot sense of burning shame rising to her cheeks as she
+passed the shop. She was about to turn back, when whom should she see
+standing in the doorway but the prosperous owner himself! He
+recognized her immediately, and called out to her in his full, pompous
+voice, "Come along here, Wopsy!"
+
+The young shop-people turned to gaze in some wonder as the
+refined-looking girl approached the fat, loud-mannered man.
+
+"I'm in a hurry back to breakfast with my mother," said Maggie in her
+coldest voice.
+
+"Well, then, I will come along with you, my dear; I am just in the
+mood. Little-sing, she will give me breakfast this morning. I'll be
+back again in the shop soon after nine. It's a fine shop, ain't it,
+Popsy?"
+
+"It does seem large," said Maggie.
+
+"It's the sort of shop," responded Martin, "that takes a deal of
+getting. It's not done in a day, nor a month, nor a year. It takes a
+lifetime to build up premises like these. It means riches, my
+dear--riches." He rolled out the words luxuriously.
+
+"I am sure it does," said Maggie, who felt that for her own sake she
+must humor him.
+
+"You think so, do you?" said Martin, giving her a keen glance.
+
+"Of course I do," replied Maggie.
+
+Martin gazed at her from head to foot. She was plain. He rather liked
+her for that. He admired her, too, for, as he expressed it, standing
+up to him. His dear Little-sing would never stand up to him. But this
+girl was not the least like her mother. She had a lot of character;
+Little-sing had none.
+
+"You'd make an admirable accountant, Popsy," he said. "How would you
+like to take that post by-and-by in my shop?"
+
+Maggie was about to reply that nothing would induce her to accept such
+a position, when a quick thought darted through her mind. She could
+scarcely hope to make anything of her mother, for, alack and alas!
+Mrs. Howland was one of those weak characters who slip away from you
+even as you try to grasp them. But Martin, with his terrible vulgarity
+and awful pleasantry, was at least fairly strong.
+
+"Mr. Martin," said Maggie then, "instead of going in to breakfast with
+mother, will you take me to some restaurant and give me a good meal,
+and let me talk to you?"
+
+"Well, now," said Martin, chuckling, "you _are_ a girl! You have
+cheek! I am not a man to waste my money, and breakfast with
+Little-sing won't cost me anything."
+
+"But under the circumstances you will waste a little money in order to
+oblige me?" said Maggie.
+
+"There now, I admire your cheek. So be it. You don't deserve anything
+from me, for a ruder 'ittle dirl than you were yesterday to poor
+Bo-peep could not have been found in the length and breadth of
+England."
+
+"You could scarcely expect me to be pleased, sir. The news was broken
+to me very suddenly, and I was tired after my long journey, too."
+
+"Yes; and you vented your spite on me, on poor old Bo-peep, who has
+the kindest heart in Christendom."
+
+"I may have said some things that I regret," said Maggie; "but, at any
+rate, I had the night to think matters over, and if you give me some
+breakfast I can talk to you."
+
+"I will take you to Harrison's for breakfast," said Martin. "You'll
+get a topper there, I can tell you--eggs, bacon, kidneys, liver,
+game-pie, cocoa, coffee, tea, chocolate; anything and everything you
+fancy, and the best marmalade in London."
+
+Maggie felt rather hungry, and when the pair entered Harrison's she
+was not displeased at the liberal supply of food which her future
+stepfather ordered. He pretended to hate the aristocracy, as he called
+them, and poor Maggie could certainly never claim this distinction in
+her own little person. Nevertheless, she was entirely superior to
+Martin, and he felt a sort of pride in her as she walked up the long
+restaurant by his side.
+
+"Now, waiter," he said to the man who approached to take orders, "you
+look slippy. This young 'oman and me, we want a real comfortable,
+all-round, filling meal. You give us the best the house contains; and
+look slippy, I say."
+
+The waiter did look "slippy," whatever that word might imply, and
+Martin proceeded to treat Maggie to really excellent viands and to
+satisfy himself to his heart's content. Maggie ate with a certain
+amount of relish, for, as has been said, she was really hungry.
+
+"Like it, don't you?" said Martin as he watched her consuming her eggs
+and bacon.
+
+"Oh yes, very much indeed," said Maggie.
+
+"I'm fond of a good table myself," said Martin. "This is the sort of
+thing you'll have on all occasions and at every meal at Laburnum
+Villa. We'll soon fill your poor mother's thin cheeks out, and get her
+rosy and plump, and then she'll be a more charming Little-sing to her
+own Bo-peep than ever."
+
+Maggie was silent.
+
+"Come, come," said Martin, patting her hand; "it's all right about
+Laburnum Villa, ain't it, my girl?"
+
+"No, Mr. Martin," said Maggie then.
+
+She withdrew her hand and turned and looked at him fixedly. "I want to
+tell you all about myself," she said. "I was really rude to you
+yesterday, and I am sorry; but I couldn't go to live with you and
+mother at Laburnum Villa. I will tell you the principal reason why I
+couldn't go."
+
+"Oh, come, come, you're only a child; you must do what you are told.
+Your mother has no money to give you, and you can't live on air, you
+know. Air is all very well, but it don't keep folks alive. You'll have
+to come to me whether you like it or not."
+
+"Before you come to that determination, Mr. Martin, may I tell you
+something about myself?"
+
+"Oh dear! I hope it isn't a long story."
+
+"It's very important, and not very long. I am not the least like
+mother"----
+
+"My good girl, any one can see that. Your mother's a remarkably pretty
+and elegant woman, and you're the plainest young person I ever came
+across."
+
+"I am plain," said Maggie; "and, in addition, I am by no means
+good-natured."
+
+"Oh, you admit that? For shame!"
+
+"I was born that way," said Maggie. "I'm a very high-spirited girl,
+and I have got ideas with regard to my future. You said just now that
+perhaps some day you might make me accountant in your shop. That was
+kind of you, and I might be a good accountant; but, of course, all
+that is for the future. I shouldn't mind that--I mean, not
+particularly. But if you were to follow out your plan, and take me to
+live with you and mother at Laburnum Villa, you would never have a
+happy moment; for, you see, I am much stronger in character than
+mother, and I couldn't help making your life miserable; whereas you
+and mother would be awfully happy without me. Mother says that she
+loves you, and wishes to be your wife"--
+
+"Now, what are you driving at, Popsy? For if you have nothing hanging
+on your hands I have a vast lot hanging on mine, and time is
+precious."
+
+"I will tell you quite frankly what I want you to do, Mr. Martin. You
+are taking mother."
+
+"I am willing to take you too. I can't do any more."
+
+"But then, you see, I don't want to be taken. Until you came forward
+and proposed to mother to be your wife she spent a little of her money
+on my education. She tells me that she has put it now into your
+business."
+
+"Poor thing!" said Martin. "She was making ducks and drakes of it; but
+it is safe enough now."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie in a determined voice; "but I think, somehow, that
+a part of it does lawfully belong to me."
+
+"Oh, come! tut, tut!"
+
+"I think so," said Maggie in a resolute tone; "for, you see, it was
+father's money; and though he left it absolutely to mother, it was to
+go to me at her death, and it was meant, little as it was, to help to
+educate me. I could ask a lawyer all about the rights, of course."
+
+For some extraordinary reason Martin looked rather frightened.
+
+"You can go to any lawyer you please," he said; "but what for? let me
+ask. If I take you, and do for you, and provide for you, what has a
+lawyer to say in the matter?"
+
+"Well, that is just it--that's just what I have to inquire into;
+because, you see, Mr. Martin, I don't want you to provide for me at
+all."
+
+"I think now we are coming to the point," said Martin. "Stick to it,
+Popsy, for time's precious."
+
+"I think you ought to allow me to be educated out of mother's money."
+
+"Highty-tighty! I'm sure you know enough."
+
+"I don't really know enough. Mrs. Ward, of Aylmer House, has taken me
+as an inmate of her school for forty pounds a year. Her terms for most
+girls are a great deal more."
+
+Martin looked with great earnestness at Maggie.
+
+"I want to go on being Mrs. Ward's pupil, and I want you to allow me
+forty pounds a year for the purpose, and twenty over for my clothes
+and small expenses--that is, sixty pounds a year altogether. I shall
+be thoroughly educated then, and it seems only fair that, out of
+mother's hundred and fifty a year, sixty pounds of the money should be
+spent on me. There's no use talking to mother, for she gets so easily
+puzzled about money; but you have a very good business head. You see,
+Mr. Martin, I am only just sixteen, and if I get two more years'
+education, I shall be worth something in the world, whereas now I am
+worth nothing. I hope you will think it over, Mr. Martin, and do what
+I wish."
+
+Martin was quite silent for a minute. The waiter came along and was
+paid his bill, with a very substantial tip for himself thrown in.
+Still Martin lingered at the breakfast-table with his eyes lowered.
+
+"There's one thing--and one thing only--I like about this,
+Popsy-wopsy," he said.
+
+"And what is that?" asked Maggie.
+
+"That you came to me on the matter instead of going to your mother;
+that you recognized the strength and force of my character."
+
+"Oh, any one can see that," said Maggie.
+
+"You put it straight, too, with regard to your own disagreeable
+nature."
+
+"Yes, I put it straight," said Maggie.
+
+"Well, all I can say at present is this: I will think it over. You go
+home to your mother now, and tell her that her Bo-peep will be in as
+usual to tea; and you, little girl, may as well make yourself scarce
+at that hour. Here's a sovereign for you. Go and have a jolly time
+somewhere."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Martin, I"----began Maggie, her face crimson.
+
+"You had best not put on airs," said Martin; and Maggie slipped the
+sovereign into her pocket.
+
+When she reached her mother's lodgings she felt well assured that she
+had done the right thing. Hitherto she had been too stunned and
+miserable to use any of her power--that strange power which she
+possessed--on Mr. Martin. But she felt well assured that she could do
+so in the future. She had gauged his character correctly. He was
+hopelessly vulgar, but an absolutely good-natured and straight
+person.
+
+"He will do what I wish," she thought. Her uneasiness vanished as soon
+as the first shock of her mother's disclosure was over. She entered
+the house.
+
+"Why, missie?" said Tildy, "w'erehever 'ave you been? The breakfast's
+stony cold upstairs, and Mrs. 'Owland's cryin' like nothin' at all."
+
+"Thank you, Tildy; I'll see mother immediately," said Maggie. "And I
+don't want any breakfast, for I've had it already."
+
+"With the haristocracy?" asked Tildy in a low, awed kind of voice.
+"You always was one o' they, Miss Maggie."
+
+"No, not with the aristocracy," said Maggie, trying to suppress her
+feelings. "Tildy, your smut is on your left cheek this morning. You
+can remove the breakfast-things, and I'll go up to mother."
+
+Maggie ran upstairs. Mrs. Howland had eaten a little, very indifferent
+breakfast, and was looking weepy and washed-out as she sat in her
+faded dressing-gown near the open window.
+
+"Really, Maggie," she said when her daughter entered, "your ways
+frighten me most terribly! I do wish poor Mr. Martin would insist on
+your coming to live with us. I shall never have an easy moment with
+your queer pranks and goings-on."
+
+"I am sure you won't, dear mother," said Maggie. "But come, don't be
+cross with me. Here's Matilda; she'll clear away the breakfast-things
+in no time, and then I have something I want to say to you."
+
+"Oh dear! my head is so weak this morning," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"If I were you, Miss Maggie," said Tildy as she swept the cups and
+saucers with noisy vehemence on to a tray, "I wouldn't worrit the poor
+mistress, and she just on the eve of a matrimonial venture. It's
+tryin' to the nerves, it is; so Mrs. Ross tells me. Says she, 'When I
+married Tom,' says she, 'I was on the twitter for a good month.' It's
+awful to think as your poor ma's so near the brink--for that's 'ow
+Mrs. Ross speaks o' matrimony."
+
+"Please be quick, Tildy, and go," said Maggie in a determined voice.
+
+Matilda cleared the table, but before she would take her departure she
+required definite instructions with regard to dinner, tea, and
+supper.
+
+Mrs. Howland raised a distracted face. "Really, I can't think," she
+said, "my head is so weak."
+
+"Well, mum," said Matilda, "s'pose as missus and me does the
+'ousekeepin' for you to-day. You ain't fit, mum; it's but to look at
+you to know that. It's lyin' down you ought to be, with haromatic
+vinegar on your 'ead."
+
+"You're quite right, Matilda. Well, you see to the things to-day. Have
+them choice, but not too choice; fairly expensive, but not too
+expensive, you understand."
+
+"Yus, 'um," said Tildy, and left the room.
+
+Maggie found herself alone with her mother. "Mother," she said
+eagerly, "now I will tell you why I was not home for breakfast this
+morning."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't matter, Maggie," said Mrs. Howland; "I am too weak to
+be worried, and that's a fact."
+
+"It won't worry you, mother. I breakfasted with Mr. Martin."
+
+"What--what!" said Mrs. Howland, astonishment in her voice, and with
+eyebrows raised almost to meet her hair.
+
+"And an excellent breakfast we had," said Maggie. "He isn't a bad sort
+at all, mother."
+
+"Well, I am glad you've found that out. Do you suppose your mother
+would marry a man who was not most estimable in character?"
+
+"He is quite estimable, mother; the only unfortunate thing against him
+is that he is not in your rank in life."
+
+"A woman who lives in these rooms," said Mrs. Howland, "has no rank in
+life."
+
+"Well, dear mother, I cannot agree with you. However, as I said, I
+breakfasted with him."
+
+"Then you're coming round?" said Mrs. Howland. "You're going to be
+good, and a comfort to us both?"
+
+"No, mother, I haven't come round a bit. When I was breakfasting with
+Mr. Martin I fully explained to him what a fearful trial I should be
+to him; how, day by day and hour by hour, I'd annoy him."
+
+"You did that! Oh you wicked child!"
+
+"I thought it best to be frank, mother. I made an impression on him. I
+did what I did as much for your sake as for mine."
+
+"Then he'll break off the engagement--of course he will!" said Mrs.
+Howland. She took a moist handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it
+to her eyes.
+
+"Not he. He is just devoted to you, mother; you need have no such
+apprehension."
+
+"What else did you say to him?"
+
+"Well, mother darling, I said what I thought right."
+
+"Oh, of course you won't confide in me."
+
+"I think not. I will let him do that. He is coming to tea this
+afternoon, and he has given me a sovereign"--how Maggie felt inclined
+to kick that sovereign!--"to go and have some pleasure somewhere. So I
+mean to take the train to Richmond, and perhaps get a boatman to take
+me out on the river for a little."
+
+"He is certainly more playful and amusing when you are not here," said
+Mrs. Howland, a faint smile dawning on her face.
+
+"I am certain of that," said Maggie; "and what's more, he is very fond
+of good living. I mean to go out presently and get some excellent
+things for his tea."
+
+"Will you, Maggie? Will you, my child? Why, that will be quite sweet
+of you."
+
+"I will do it with pleasure, mother. But now I want you to do
+something for me."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Howland, "I thought you were coming to that."
+
+"Well, it is this," said Maggie. "When he talks to you about me, don't
+oppose him. He will most probably propound a scheme to you, as his own
+perhaps; and you are to be quite certain to let him think that it is
+his own scheme. And you might make out to him, mother, that I am
+really very disagreeable, and that nothing in all the world would make
+me anything else. And if you are a very wise little mother you will
+tell him that you are happier alone with him."
+
+"Which I am--I am," said Mrs. Howland. "He is a dear, quite a dear;
+and so comical and amusing!"
+
+"Then it's all right," said Maggie. "You know I told you yesterday
+that nothing would induce me to live at Laburnum Villa; but I will
+certainly come to you, mums, in the holidays, if you wish it."
+
+"But, dear child, there is no money to keep you at that expensive
+school. There isn't a penny."
+
+"Oh, well, well, mother, perhaps that can be managed. But now we
+needn't talk any more about my future until after Mr. Martin has had
+tea with you to-day. If you have any news for me when I return from
+Richmond you can let me know."
+
+"You are a very independent girl to go to Richmond by yourself."
+
+"Oh, that'll be all right," said Maggie in a cheerful tone.
+
+"Have you anything else to say to me?"
+
+"Yes. You know all that beautiful jewellery that my dear father
+brought back with him from those different countries where he spent
+his life."
+
+Mrs. Howland looked mysterious and frightened.
+
+"It was meant for me eventually, was it not?" said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, well, I suppose so; only, somehow, I have a life-interest in
+it."
+
+"You won't want for jewellery when you are Mr. Martin's wife."
+
+"Indeed no; why, he has given me a diamond ornament for my hair
+already. He means to take me out a great deal, he says."
+
+"Out!--oh mother--in his set!"
+
+"Well, dear child, I shall get accustomed to that."
+
+"Don't you think you might give me father's jewellery?" said Maggie.
+
+"Is it worth a great deal?" said Mrs. Howland. "I never could bear to
+look at it--that is, since he died."
+
+"You haven't given it to Mr. Martin, have you, mother?"
+
+"No, nor said a word about it to him either."
+
+"Well, suppose, now that we have a quiet time, we look at the
+jewellery?" said Maggie.
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Howland. Then she added, "I was half-tempted to
+sell some of it; but your father was so queer, and the things seemed
+so very ugly and unlike what is worn, that I never had the heart to
+part with them. I don't suppose they'd fetch a great deal."
+
+"Let's look at them," said Maggie.
+
+Mrs. Howland half-rose from her chair, then sank back again.
+
+"No," she said, "I am afraid of them. Your father told me so many
+stories about each and all. He courted death to get some of them, and
+others came into his hands through such extraordinary adventures that
+I shudder at night when I recall what he said. I want to forget them.
+Mr. Martin would never admire them at all. I want to forget all my
+past life absolutely. You're like your father, and perhaps you admire
+that sort of thing; but they are not to my taste. Here's the key of my
+wardrobe. You will find the tin boxes which hold the jewels. You can
+take them; only never let out a word to your stepfather. He doesn't
+know I posses them--no one does."
+
+"Thank you, mother," said Maggie in a low voice. "Will you lie down on
+the sofa, mums? Oh, here's a nice new novel for you to read. I bought
+it coming up in the train yesterday. You read and rest and feel quite
+contented, and let me go to the bedroom to look at the jewels."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Howland; "you can have them. I consider them of
+little or no importance; only don't tell your stepfather."
+
+"He is not that yet, mums."
+
+"Well, well," said Mrs. Howland, "what does a fortnight matter? He'll
+be your stepfather in a fortnight. Yes, take the key and go. I shall
+be glad to rest on the sofa. You're in a much more reasonable frame of
+mind to-day."
+
+"Thank you, dear mother," said Maggie.
+
+She entered the bedroom and closed the door softly behind her. She
+held her mother's bunch of keys in her hand. First of all she unlocked
+the wardrobe, and then, removing the tin boxes, laid them on the table
+which stood at the foot of the bed. She took the precaution first,
+however, to lock the bedroom door. Having done this, she seated
+herself at the table, and, selecting the proper keys, unlocked the two
+tin boxes. One of them contained the twelve famous bracelets which
+Maggie had described to Molly and Isabel Tristram. She would keep her
+word: she would give a bracelet to each girl. She recognized at once
+the two which she considered suitable for the girls, and then examined
+the others with minute care.
+
+Her mother could not admire what was strange in pattern and dimmed by
+neglect; but Maggie, with her wider knowledge, knew well that she
+possessed great treasures, which, if possible, she would keep, but
+which, if necessary, she could sell for sums of money which would
+enable her to start in life according to her own ideas.
+
+She put the twelve bracelets back into their case, and then, opening
+the second tin box, took from it many quaint curios, the value of
+which she had no means of ascertaining. There was a great deal of gold
+and silver, and queer beaten-work in brass, and there were pendants
+and long chains and brooches and queer ornaments of all kinds.
+
+"Poor father!" thought the girl. She felt a lump in her throat--a
+choking sensation, which seemed to make her mother's present conduct
+all the more intolerable. How was she to live in the future with the
+knowledge that her father's memory was, as she felt, profaned? But at
+least she had got his treasures.
+
+She relocked the two tin boxes, and, stowing them carefully away in
+her own trunk, transferred the keys from her mother's bunch to her
+own, and brought her mother's keys back to Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Have you looked at them? Are they worth anything, Maggie?"
+
+"Memories mostly," said Maggie evasively.
+
+"Oh, then," said Mrs. Howland, "I am glad you have them; for I hate
+memories."
+
+"Mother," said Maggie, and she went on her knees to her parent, "you
+have really given them to me?"
+
+"Well, of course, child. Didn't I say so? I don't want them. I haven't
+looked at the things for years."
+
+"I wonder, mums, if you would write something on a piece of paper for
+me."
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland. "Mr. Martin doesn't approve of
+what he calls documents."
+
+"Darling mother, you're not Mr. Martin's wife yet. I want you to put
+on paper that you have given me father's curios. He always meant them
+for me, didn't he?"
+
+"He did! he did!" said Mrs. Howland. "One of the very last things he
+said--in his letter, I mean, for you know he died in Africa--was:
+'The treasures I am sending home will be appreciated by my little
+girl.'"
+
+"Oh mother! yes, and they are. Please, mother, write something on this
+bit of paper."
+
+"My head is so weak. I haven't an idea what to say."
+
+"I'll dictate it to you, if I may."
+
+"Very well, child; I suppose I can't prevent you."
+
+Maggie brought paper, blotting-pad, and pen, and Mrs. Howland
+presently wrote: "I have given, on the eve of my marriage to Mr.
+Martin, her father's treasures to my daughter, Margaret Howland."
+
+"Thank you, mother," said Maggie.
+
+The date was affixed. Mrs. Howland added the name she was so soon to
+resign, and Maggie almost skipped into the bedroom.
+
+"It's all right now," she said to herself.
+
+She unlocked her trunk, also unlocking one of the tin boxes. In the
+box which contained the twelve bracelets she put the piece of paper in
+her mother's handwriting. She then relocked the box, relocked the
+trunk, and came back to her mother, restored to perfect good-humor.
+
+Maggie was in her element when she was planning things. Yesterday was
+a day of despair, but to-day was a day of hope. She sat down by her
+mother's desk and wrote a long letter to Molly Tristram, in which she
+told Molly that her mother was about to be married again to a very
+rich man. She mentioned the coming marriage in a few brief words, and
+then went on to speak of herself, and of how delightful it would be to
+welcome Molly and Isabel when they arrived at Aylmer House. Not by the
+faintest suggestion did she give her friend to understand the step
+down in the social scale which Mrs. Howland's marriage with Mr. Martin
+meant.
+
+Having finished her letter, she thought for a minute, then wrote a
+careful line to Merry Cardew. She did not tell Merry about her
+mother's approaching marriage, but said that Molly would have news for
+her. In other respects her letter to Merry was very much more
+confidential than her letter to Molly. She assured Merry of her deep
+love, and begged of her friend to regard this letter as quite private.
+"If you feel you must show it to people, tear it up rather than do
+so," said Maggie, "for I cannot bear that our great and sacred love
+each for the other should be commented on."
+
+When Merry received the letter she neither showed it to any one else
+nor tore it up. She could not forget Maggie's face as she parted from
+her, and the fact that she had refused to accept the ten pounds which
+the little girl had wanted to give her in order to remove her from
+musty, fusty lodgings had raised Maggie considerably in her friend's
+estimation.
+
+Meanwhile Maggie Howland, having finished her letters, went out and
+posted them. She then changed her sovereign, and bought some excellent
+and appetizing fruit and cakes for her mother's and Mr. Martin's tea.
+She consulted with Tildy as to how these dainties were to be
+arranged, and Tildy entered into the spirit of the thing with
+effusion, and declared that they were perfect crowns of beauty, and
+that most assuredly they would melt in Mr. Martin's mouth.
+
+On hearing this Maggie hastened to change the conversation; but when
+she had impressed upon Tildy the all-importance of a snowy cloth being
+placed upon the ugly tray, and further begged of her to polish up the
+teapot and spoons, Tildy thought that Miss Maggie was more wonderful
+than ever.
+
+"With them as is about to step into the life-matrimonial, pains should
+be took," thought Tildy, and she mentioned her sentiments to Mrs.
+Ross, who shook her head sadly, and replied that one ought to do the
+best one could for the poor things.
+
+At three o'clock Maggie put on her hat, drew her gloves on, and,
+taking up a parasol, went out.
+
+"Good-bye, darling," she said to her mother.
+
+After all, she did not go to Richmond; it was too far off, and she was
+feeling a little tired. Besides, the thought of her father's wonderful
+treasures filled her mind. She determined to go to South Kensington
+and look at similar jewels and ornaments which she believed she could
+find there. It occurred to her, too, that it might be possible some
+day to consult the manager of the jewel department with regard to the
+worth of the things which her dear father had sent home; but this she
+would not do to-day.
+
+Her visit to the South Kensington Museum made her feel positively
+assured that she had articles of great value in the tin boxes.
+
+Meanwhile Mrs. Howland waited impatiently for Mr. Martin. She was
+puzzled about Maggie, and yet relieved. She wondered much what Maggie
+could have said to Mr. Martin that day when she breakfasted with him.
+She was not really alarmed. But had she been able to look into Mr.
+Martin's mind she would have felt a considerable amount of surprise.
+The worthy grocer, although an excellent man of business, knew little
+or nothing about law. Maggie's words had made him distinctly
+uncomfortable. Suppose, after all, the girl could claim a right in her
+father's beggarly hundred and fifty pounds a year? Perhaps the child
+of the man who had settled that little income on his wife must have
+some sort of right to it? It would be horrible to consult lawyers;
+they were so terribly expensive, too.
+
+There was a man in the shop, however, of the name of Howard. He was
+the principal shopwalker, and Mr. Martin had a great respect for him.
+Without mentioning names, he put the case before him--as he himself
+expressed it--in a nutshell.
+
+Howard thought for a few minutes, then said slowly that he had not the
+slightest doubt that a certain portion of the money should be spent on
+the child--in fact, that the child had a right to it.
+
+Martin did not like this. A heavy frown came between his brows. The
+girl was a smart and clever girl, not a bit like Little-sing, and she
+could make herself very disagreeable. Her modest request for sixty
+pounds a year did not seem unreasonable. He thought and thought, and
+the more he thought the more inclined he felt to give Maggie her way.
+
+When he arrived at Mrs. Ross's house he did not look quite as cheerful
+as usual. He went upstairs, as Tildy expressed it, "heavy-like"; and
+although both she and Mrs. Ross watched for that delightful scene when
+he was "Bo-peep" to "Little-sing," Martin entered the drawing-room
+without making any exhibition of himself. The room looked quite clean
+and inviting, for Maggie had dusted it with her own hands, and there
+was a very nice tea on the board, and Mrs. Howland was dressed very
+prettily indeed. Martin gave a long whistle.
+
+"I say, Little-sing," he remarked, "whoever has been and done it?"
+
+"What do you mean, James?" said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Why, the place," said Martin; "it looks sort of different."
+
+"Oh, it's Maggie," said Mrs. Howland. "She went out and bought all
+those cakes for you herself."
+
+"Bless me, now, did she?" said Martin. "She's a smart girl--a _ver_-ry
+smart girl."
+
+"She's a very clever girl, James."
+
+"Yes, that's how I put it--very clever. She has a way about her."
+
+"She has, James. Every one thinks so."
+
+"Well, Little-sing, give me a good meal, and then we'll talk."
+
+Mrs. Howland lifted the teapot and was preparing to pour out a cup of
+tea for Mr. Martin, when he looked at her, noticed her extreme
+elegance and grace, and made a spring toward her.
+
+"You haven't give Bo-peep one kiss yet, you naughty Little-sing."
+
+Mrs. Howland colored as she kissed him. Of course she liked him very
+much; but somehow Maggie had brought a new atmosphere into the house.
+Even Mrs. Howland felt it.
+
+"Let's eat, let's eat," said Martin. "I never deny myself the good
+things of life. That girl knows a thing or two. She's a ver-ry clever
+girl."
+
+"She is, James; she is."
+
+"Now, what on earth do you call me James for? Ain't I Bo-peep--ain't
+I?"
+
+"Yes, Bo-peep, of course you are."
+
+"And you are Little-sing. You're a wonderfully elegant-looking woman
+for your years, Victoria."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+IN THE PARK.
+
+
+Mrs. Howland did not like to have her years mentioned. Mr. Martin had
+been careful never to do so until Maggie appeared on the scene. On
+the contrary, he had dropped hints that his birdling, his Little-sing,
+his Victoria, was in the early bloom of youth. But now he said that
+she was a wonderful woman for her years.
+
+Mrs. Howland bridled slightly. "I am not old, James," she said.
+
+"Come, come," said the good-natured grocer; "no 'Jamesing' of me. I'm
+your Bo-peep. What does it matter whether you are old or young,
+Victoria, if you suit me and I suit you? This is a first-rate tea, and
+that girl's clever--uncommon clever. By the way, how old may she
+happen to be?"
+
+"Sixteen her last birthday," said Mrs. Howland. "I was very, very
+young, a mere child, when I married, James."
+
+"There you are with your 'James' again! Strikes me, you're a bit huffy
+to-day, Little-sing."
+
+"No, I am not; only I've been worried since Maggie came back. She was
+so rude to you yesterday. I felt it terribly."
+
+"Did you now? Well, that was very sensible of you. We'll finish our
+tea before we begin our talk. Come, Little-sing, eat your cake and
+drink your tea, and make yourself agreeable to your Bo-peep."
+
+Mrs. Howland felt cheered. She did enjoy her meal; and, if she liked
+it, Mr. Martin liked it immensely also.
+
+"What a useful girl that would be!" he said. "We could make her
+housekeeper at Laburnum Villa in no time. She has a head on her
+shoulders."
+
+Mrs. Howland was silent. She was dreading inexpressibly the little
+scene which she felt must be endured between her and her intended.
+
+"We'll ring the bell now," said Martin, wiping a few crumbs from his
+mouth and dusting his trousers with his pocket-handkerchief. "We'll
+get Tildy to remove all these things, and then what do you say to my
+taking you for a drive to the Park?"
+
+"Oh, I should like that!" said Mrs. Howland in surprise,
+
+"Thought so. Never say that Bo-peep isn't thoughtful.--Ah, here you
+be, Tildy. You clear away--smart, my girl, and then whistle for a
+'ansom. Do you hear me? A 'ansom, not a four-wheeler. Look as sharp as
+you can, my girl, and I'll give you sixpence."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Tildy. She looked with admiring eyes at the
+pair who were so close to the matrimonial venture, and quickly removed
+all traces of the meal.
+
+"Now then, Little-sing, go into your room and get dressed for your
+drive."
+
+Mrs. Howland did so. She put on an elegant sort of bonnet-hat which
+had been presented to her by Martin, a lace fichu over her shoulders,
+and a pair of long white gloves. She had also been presented with a
+white parasol by Martin. He thought that no one could look more
+beautiful than his ladylove when she reappeared in the drawing-room.
+
+"The 'ansom's at the door," he said. "We'll go now and start on our
+drive."
+
+Mrs. Howland rose, and Tildy agreed with Martin as to Mrs. Howland's
+appearance when she stepped into that hansom. Tildy said she looked
+bride-like. Mrs. Ross remarked that as elegant women before now had
+become widows in no time. Tildy shuddered, and said that Mrs. Ross
+should not say things of that sort. Mrs. Ross replied that she
+invariably spoke the truth, and then returned to her dismal kitchen.
+
+Meanwhile Martin and Mrs. Howland were driven swiftly in the direction
+of Hyde Park. London society people were fast going out of town, for
+it was very nearly the end of July; but still there were a few
+carriages about, and some fine horses, and some gaily dressed ladies
+and several smart-looking men. Martin provided a couple of chairs for
+himself and his future wife, and they sat for some little time
+enjoying the fresh air and looking on at the gay scene.
+
+"It is wonderful," said Martin, "what a sight of money is wasted in
+this sort of thing."
+
+"But they enjoy it, don't they?" said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Yes, my pet," he replied, "but not as you and me will enjoy Laburnum
+Villa. And now, Little-sing, can you attend to business?"
+
+"I have a very weak head for business, Bo-peep," was the reply.
+
+"Don't I know it, my pet; and I am the last person on earth to allow
+you to be worried; but I tell you what it is, Victory, if your head is
+weak as regards money matters, your girl has a topping good brain in
+that direction. Now, I have a notion in my head about her."
+
+"You can't do anything with her," said Mrs. Howland; "she is quite
+impossible. I never thought she would treat you as she did. I could
+weep when I think of it. I shouldn't be surprised if, on account of
+her rudeness and ingratitude, we broke off the engagement. I shouldn't
+really, James."
+
+"What do you take me for?" said James. "It isn't the girl I want to
+marry! it's you."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland; "of course, I know."
+
+"She ain't a patch on you, Little-sing--that is, I mean as regards
+looks. But now, don't you fret. If you have been turning things over
+in your mind, so have I been turning things over in my mind, and the
+sum and substance of it all is that I believe that girl's right after
+all."
+
+"Right after all! But dear, dear James, the child can't live on
+nothing!"
+
+"Who said she was to live on nothing?" said Martin. "Don't tremble,
+Little-sing; it's more than I can stand. I have been thinking that a
+sharp young miss like that wants a bit more training. She wants
+breaking in. Now, I've no mind to the job. I can manage my
+shop-people--not one of them can come round me, I can tell you--but a
+miss like your daughter, brought up altogether, I will say, above her
+station, is beyond me. What I have been turning over in my mind is
+this, that a year or two's training longer will do her no sort of
+harm."
+
+"Oh!" said Mrs. Howland. She was trembling exceedingly.
+
+"I think, too," continued Martin, "that Laburnum Villa might not be
+agreeable to her at present; and if it ain't agreeable to her she'll
+put on the sulks, and that's more than I _can_ abide. Cheerfulness I
+must have. My joke I must be allowed to make. My fun in my own way I
+must enjoy. You and me--we'll hit it off splendid, and let the girl go
+for the present."
+
+"But she must go somewhere," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Good gracious, my lady! do you suppose I'd allow the girl to be
+destitute? No; I'm ready to do the generous; and now, I'll tell you
+something. You mustn't blame her too much. She repented of her
+ill-natured manner last night, and came to me as pretty as you please
+this morning, and asked me to breakfast with her. I was taken aback,
+but she came round me, and we went to Harrison's and had a topping
+meal. Then she spoke to me very sensible, and explained that she
+wanted more 'parlez-vooing' and more 'pi-annofortying,' and all the
+rest of the so-called ladies' accomplishments. She consulted me very
+pretty and very proper indeed; and the long and the short of it is
+that I am willing to allow her forty pounds a year for her education
+at that blessed Aylmer House where all the swells go, and to keep her
+there for two years certain; and I am willing, further, to give her
+twenty pounds a year to spend on dress. Of course she takes her
+holidays with us. Then, if at the end of that time she turns out what
+I hope she will, I will make her an accountant in the shop; it will be
+a first-rate post for her, and I am sure, from the way she talks, she
+has a splendid head for business. Now, what do you say to that,
+Little-sing?"
+
+"I say there never was your like, Bo-peep."
+
+Mr. Martin rubbed his hands. "Thought you'd be pleased," he said. "The
+girl spoke very proper indeed this morning, and she is a good
+girl--plain and sensible, and I couldn't but take notice of her words.
+Now then, s'pose we take a fresh 'ansom, and hurry home; and I'll take
+you out and give you a right good bit of dinner, and afterwards we'll
+go to the play."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland, "you are good to me, Bo-peep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TWO SIDES.
+
+
+Mrs. Ward's school reopened on the 20th of September. For two or three
+days beforehand the immaculate and beautiful house was being made, if
+possible, still more immaculate and still more lovely. The
+window-boxes were refilled with flowers; the dainty little bedrooms
+were supplied with fresh curtains to the windows and fresh drapery for
+the beds.
+
+Mrs. Ward herself arrived at the school about a week before her pupils
+made their appearance. She had much to settle during this week. She
+had, in short, to prepare her plan of campaign for the ensuing term:
+to interview her different masters and mistresses, to consult with her
+resident English governess (a charming girl of the name of Talbot), to
+talk over matters with Fräulein Beck, and to reassure Mademoiselle
+Laplage, who was very lively, very conscientious, but at the same time
+very nervous with regard to her own powers. "_Les jeunes filles
+Anglaises sont bien capables et bien distinguées mais--ma foi! comme
+elles me fatiguent les nerfs!_" Mademoiselle Laplage would say; and,
+although she had been at Aylmer House for three terms, she always
+doubted her powers, and made the same speech over and over again at
+the beginning of each term. In addition to Miss Talbot, there was a
+very cheery, bright girl of the name of Johnson, who looked after the
+girls' wardrobes and helped them, if necessary, with their work, saw
+that they were punctual at meals, and occasionally took an English
+class. She was a great favorite with all the girls at Mrs. Ward's
+school. They called her Lucy, instead of Miss Johnson. She was quite
+young--not more than twenty years of age.
+
+These four ladies resided at Aylmer House; but masters and mistresses
+for various accomplishments came daily to instruct the girls. Mrs.
+Ward loved her teachers almost as much as she loved her girls, and
+they each and all adored her.
+
+Miss Talbot was an exceedingly clever woman, close on thirty years of
+age. She had taken very high honors at Cambridge, and was a person of
+great penetration of character, with a genius for imparting
+knowledge.
+
+Unlike most head-mistresses, Mrs. Ward seldom changed her staff of
+teachers. She had the gift of selection to a marvellous degree, and
+never was known to make a mistake with regard to the choice of those
+women who helped her in her great work of education.
+
+Summer was, of course, over when the girls assembled at Aylmer House.
+Nevertheless, there was a sort of afterglow of summer, which was
+further intensified by the beautiful flowers in the window-boxes and
+by the fresh, clean, fragrant atmosphere of the house itself.
+
+The two Cardews and the two Tristrams came up to Aylmer House by an
+early train. Mr. Tristram brought them to school, Mr. and Mrs. Cardew
+at the last moment feeling unequal to the task of parting with their
+darlings in the presence of their companions. The real parting had
+taken place the previous night; and that pain which Merry had felt at
+intervals during the end of the summer vacation was sharp enough to
+cause her to cry when she lay down to sleep on the night before going
+to school. But Merry was brave, and so was Cicely; and, although Merry
+did hate beyond words the thought of not seeing her beloved father and
+her dear mother until Christmas, she thought also that very good
+times were before her, and she was resolved to make the best of them.
+
+Molly and Isabel, who were quite accustomed to going to school, had no
+pangs of heart at all when they bade their mother good-bye. As to
+Peterkins and Jackdaw, as they were also going to school on the
+following day, they scarcely observed the departure of their sisters,
+only saying, when Belle hugged one and Molly the other, "What a fuss
+you girls do make! Now, if Spot-ear and Fanciful were to fret about us
+there'd be some reason in it. But mother's going to look after them;
+and mother's a brick, I can tell you." The girls laughed very merrily,
+and asked what message her two adorers would like to send to Maggie.
+
+The two adorers only vouchsafed the remark, "Don't bother; we're going
+to be with boys now, and boys are worth all the girls in creation put
+together."
+
+The journey to town was taken without any special adventure, and at
+about three o'clock in the afternoon an omnibus containing the four
+girls, accompanied by Mr. Tristram, with their luggage piled on the
+roof, stopped at Aylmer House.
+
+Aneta had already arrived; and as the girls entered with a new feeling
+of timidity through the wide-open doors they caught a glimpse of
+Maggie in the distance. There were other girls, absolute strangers to
+them, who peeped for a minute over the balusters and then retired from
+view. But, whatever the four strangers might have felt with regard to
+these interesting occurrences, every other feeling was brought into
+subjection by the appearance of Mrs. Ward on the scene.
+
+Mrs. Ward looked quite as stately as Mrs. Cardew, with her beautiful
+face still quite young; with her most kind, most gentle, most
+protective manner; with the glance of the eye and the pressure of the
+hand which spoke untold volumes of meaning. Merry felt her loving
+heart rise in sudden adoration. Cicely gave her a quick, adoring
+glance. As to Molly and Isabel, they were speechless with pleasure.
+
+"You have come, dears," said Mrs. Ward. "Welcome, all four!--These are
+your girls, Mr. Tristram"--she singled out Molly and Isabel without
+being introduced to them. "I know them," she said with a smile, "from
+their likeness to you. And these are the Cardews. Now, which is Cicely
+and which Merry? Ah, I think I can tell. This is Merry, is she not?"
+and she laid her hand on the pretty girl's shoulder.
+
+"Yes, I am Merry," replied Meredith Cardew in a voice which almost
+choked her.
+
+"And you, of course, are Cicely," said Mrs. Ward. "In this house all
+the girls speak to each other by their Christian names; and you will
+be Cicely and Merry to me, as Molly and Isabel Tristram will be Molly
+and Isabel to me. You know Aneta, of course. She is hovering near,
+anxious to take possession of you. Go with her, dears. I think all my
+girls have now come.--Is it not so, Miss Talbot?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Ward," replied Miss Talbot.
+
+"Miss Talbot, may I introduce my four new pupils to you, Cicely and
+Merry Cardew, and Molly and Isabel Tristram?--You will have a good
+deal to do with Miss Talbot, girls, for she is our English teacher,
+and my very great friend."
+
+Miss Talbot blushed slightly from pleasure. She said a gentle word to
+each girl, and a minute afterwards they had, so to speak, crossed the
+Rubicon, and were in the heart of Aylmer House; for Aneta had seized
+Merry's hand, and Cicely followed immediately afterwards, while Molly
+and Belle found themselves one at each side of Maggie Howland.
+
+"Oh, this is delightful!" said Maggie. "We have all met at last. Isn't
+the day glorious? Isn't the place perfect? Aren't you in love with
+Mrs. Ward?"
+
+"She seems very nice," said Molly in an almost timid voice.
+
+"How nice Merry and Cicely look!" continued Maggie.
+
+"You look nice, yourself, Maggie. Everything is wonderful," said
+Molly; "not a bit like the school in Hanover."
+
+"Of course not. Who could compare it?" said Maggie.
+
+Meanwhile Aneta, Cicely, and Merry had gone on in front. But as they
+were ascending the broad, low stairs, Merry turned and glanced at
+Maggie and smiled at her, and Maggie smiled back at Merry. Oh, that
+smile of Merry's, how it caused her heart to leap! Aneta, try as she
+would, could not take Merry Cardew quite away from her.
+
+Cicely and Merry had a bedroom together. Two little white beds stood
+side by side. The drugget on the floor was pale blue. The room was a
+study in pale blue and white. It was all exquisitely neat, fresh,
+airy, and the smell of the flowers in the window-boxes came in through
+the open windows.
+
+"Why," said Cicely with a gasp, "we might almost be in the country!"
+
+"This is one of the nicest rooms in the whole house," said Aneta. "But
+why should I say that," she continued, "when every room is, so to
+speak, perfect? I never saw Mrs. Ward, however, more particular than
+she was about your bedroom, girls. I think she is very much pleased at
+your coming to Aylmer House."
+
+Cicely ran to the window and looked out.
+
+"It is so nice to be in London," she said; "but somehow, I thought it
+would be much more noisy."
+
+Aneta laughed.
+
+"Aylmer House," she said, "stands in the midst of a great square. We
+don't have huge traffic in the squares; and, really, at night it is as
+quiet as the country itself."
+
+"But hark! hark!" said Merry, "there is a funny sound after all."
+
+"What do you take it for?" asked Aneta.
+
+"I don't know," said Merry. "I could almost imagine that we were by
+the seaside, and that the sound was the roar of the breakers on the
+beach."
+
+"It is the roar of human breakers," said Aneta. "One always hears
+that kind of sound even in the quietest parts of London. It is the
+great traffic in the thoroughfares not far away."
+
+"It is delightful! wonderful!" said Merry. "Oh, I long to know all the
+girls! You will introduce us, won't you, Aneta?"
+
+"Of course; and you must be very quick remembering names. Let me see.
+You two, and Molly and Isabel, and Maggie Howland, and I make six.
+There are twenty girls in the house altogether, so you have to make
+the acquaintance of fourteen others."
+
+"I never can possibly remember their names," said Merry.
+
+"You will have to try. That's the first thing expected of a
+schoolgirl--to know the names of her schoolfellows."
+
+"Well, I will do my best."
+
+"You had better do your best; it will be a good occupation for you
+during this first evening. Now, are you ready? And shall we go down?
+We have tea in the refectory at four o'clock. Mademoiselle Laplage
+presides over the tea-table this week."
+
+"Oh, but does she talk English?"
+
+"Of course not--French. How can you learn French if you don't talk
+it?"
+
+"I shall never understand," said poor Merry.
+
+"Well, I've no doubt she will let you off very easily during the first
+few days," said Aneta. "But afterwards she is just as particular as
+woman can be."
+
+The girls went downstairs, where a group of other girls--most of them
+wearing pretty white dresses, for they were all still in full summer
+attire--met in the wide, pleasant hall. Aneta performed the ceremony
+of introduction.
+
+"Henrietta and Mary Gibson, may I introduce my special friends and
+cousins, Cicely and Meredith--otherwise Merry--Cardew?"
+
+Two tall, fair, lady-like girls responded to this introduction with a
+hearty shake of the hand and a hearty welcome to the new-comers.
+
+"Here is Rosamond Dacre," continued Aneta, as a very dark, somewhat
+plain girl appeared in view.--"Rosamond, my friends and cousins,
+Cicely and Merry Cardew."
+
+Rosamond shook hands, but stiffly and without any smile. The next
+minute a laughing, merry, handsome little girl, with dark-blue eyes,
+very dark curling eyelashes, and quantities of curling black hair,
+tumbled rather than walked into view.
+
+"Ah Kathleen--Kitty, you're just as incorrigible as ever!" cried
+Aneta:--"Girls, this is our Irish romp, as we always call her. Her
+name is Kathleen O'Donnell.--Now then, Kathleen, you must be good, you
+know, and not too terribly Irish. I have the honor to present to you,
+Kathleen, my cousins Cicely and Merry Cardew."
+
+Kathleen did more than smile. She laughed outright. "I am delighted
+you have come," she said. "How are you? Isn't school glorious? I do
+love it! I have come straight from Glengariff--the most beautiful part
+of the whole of Ireland. Do you know Ireland? Have you ever seen
+Bantry Bay? Oh, there is no country in all the world like it, and
+there is no scenery so magnificent."
+
+"Come, Kitty, not quite so much chatter," said Aneta.--"Ah, there's
+the tea-gong."
+
+The girls now followed Aneta into a pleasant room which looked out on
+to a small garden. The garden, compared to the great, sweeping lawns
+and lovely parterres of Meredith Manor, was insignificant.
+Nevertheless, with the French windows of the refectory wide open, and
+the beds full of hardy flowers--gay geraniums, late roses, innumerable
+asters, fuchsias, etc.--it appeared as a fresh surprise to the country
+girls.
+
+"It isn't like London," thought Merry.
+
+At tea she found herself, greatly to her relief, at Maggie's side.
+There was also another piece of good fortune--at least so it seemed to
+the Cardews, whose conversational French was still almost
+_nil_--Mademoiselle Laplage was unexpectedly absent, the good lady
+being forced to remain in her room with a sudden, overpowering
+headache, and pleasant, good-natured Lucy--otherwise Miss
+Johnson--took her place.
+
+"Perfect freedom to-day, girls," said Miss Johnson.
+
+"Ah, good Lucy! thank you, Lucy!" exclaimed Kathleen.
+
+"That's right, Lucy! Hurrah for Lucy!" cried several other voices.
+
+"No discipline at all to-day," continued Lucy. "School doesn't begin
+until to-morrow."
+
+Cicely was seated near Aneta, with Kathleen O'Donnell at her other
+side. Just for a minute Aneta's eyes traveled across the table and
+fixed themselves on Maggie's face. Maggie found herself coloring, and
+a resentful feeling awoke in her heart. She could not dare to oppose
+Aneta; and yet--and yet--she was determined at any cost to keep the
+love of Merry Cardew for herself.
+
+Meanwhile Merry, who was equally delighted to find herself by Maggie's
+side, began to talk to her in a low tone.
+
+"You don't look very well, Mags," she said--"not nearly as robust as
+when I saw you last; and you never wrote to me after that first
+letter."
+
+"I have a great deal I want to tell you," said Maggie in a low tone.
+"Lucy is quite right; there are no lessons of any sort this evening.
+Mrs. Ward always gives us the first evening to settle and to get
+perfectly at home in, so we shall be able to chatter to our heart's
+content. This is going to be a glorious night, and we can walk about
+in the garden."
+
+"But won't there be a lot of other people in the garden?" asked
+Merry.
+
+"Why, of course," said Maggie in a surprised tone. "I suppose we'll
+all be there."
+
+"We can't talk any secrets, if that is what you mean," said Merry,
+"for the garden is so very small."
+
+Maggie laughed. "That's because you are accustomed to Meredith Manor,"
+she said. "Anyhow," she continued, dropping her voice, "I must talk to
+you. I have a great, great deal to say, and you'll have to listen."
+
+"Of course I will listen, dear," said Merry.
+
+Rosamond Dacre now joined in, and the conversation became general.
+Henrietta and Mary Gibson had a very agreeable way of describing
+things. Maggie felt herself reinstated in the life she loved; Merry,
+the girl she cared for best, was by her side, and she would not have
+had a single thorn in the flesh but for the presence of Aneta.
+
+It has been said that in this school there were two girls who held
+considerable sway over their companions. One of them was Aneta Lysle,
+the other Maggie Howland. Aneta had, of course, far and away the
+greater number of girls under her spell, if such a word could describe
+her high and noble influence over them. But Maggie had her own
+friends, among whom were Rosamond Dacre, Kathleen O'Donnell, Matty and
+Clara Roache, and Janet Burns. All these girls were fairly nice, but
+not so high-bred and not so noble in tone as the girls who devoted
+themselves to Aneta. Kathleen was, indeed, altogether charming; she
+was the romp of the school and the darting of every one. But Rosamond
+Dacre was decidedly morose and sulky. She was clever, and on this
+account her mistresses liked her; but she was a truly difficult girl
+to deal with, being more or less shut up within herself, and
+disinclined to true friendship with any one. She liked Kathleen
+O'Donnell, however, and Kathleen adored Maggie. Rosamond was,
+therefore, considered to be on Maggie's side of the school. Matty and
+Clara Roache were quite ordinary, everyday sort of girls, neither very
+good-looking nor the reverse, neither specially clever nor specially
+stupid. Their greatest friend was Janet Burns, a handsome little girl
+with a very lofty brow, calm, clear gray eyes, and a passionate
+adoration for Maggie Howland. Matty and Clara would follow Janet to
+the world's end, and, as Janet adhered to Maggie, they were also on
+Maggie's side.
+
+Maggie naturally expected to add to the numbers of her special
+adherents her own two friends, the Tristrams. She felt she could
+easily have won Merry also to join, the ranks of adorers; but then it
+suddenly occurred to her that her friendship for Merry should be even
+more subtle than the ordinary friendship that an ordinary girl who is
+queen at school gives to her fellows. She did not dare to defy Aneta.
+Merry must outwardly belong to Aneta, but if her heart was Maggie's
+what else mattered?
+
+When tea was over several of the girls drifted into the garden, where
+they walked in twos, discussing their holidays, their old friends, and
+the time which was just coming. There was not a trace of unhappiness
+in any face. The whole atmosphere of the place seemed to breathe peace
+and goodwill.
+
+Aneta and Cicely, with some of Aneta's own friends, two girls of the
+name of Armitage--Anne and Jessie--and a very graceful girl called
+Sylvia St. John, walked up and down talking quietly together for some
+little time.
+
+Then Cicely looked eagerly round her. "I can't see Merry anywhere,"
+she remarked.
+
+"She is all right, dear, I am sure," said Aneta. But Aneta in her
+inmost heart did not think so. She was, however, far too prudent to
+say a word to make her cousin Cicely uneasy.
+
+Meanwhile Maggie and Merry had found a cosy corner for themselves in
+one of the conservatories. They sat side by side in two little
+garden-chairs.
+
+"Well, you've come!" said Maggie. "I have carried out my design. My
+heart's desire is satisfied."
+
+"Oh, how sweet you are, Maggie!" said Merry. "I have missed you so
+much!" she added. "I have so often wished for you!"
+
+"Do you really love me?" asked Maggie, looking at Merry in her queer,
+abrupt manner.
+
+"You know I do," said Merry.
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "there are a great many girls in the school who
+love me very dearly."
+
+"It is easy to perceive that," said Merry. "Why, Maggie, at tea-time
+that handsome little Irish girl--Kathleen you call her--couldn't take
+her eyes off you."
+
+"Oh, Kitty," said Maggie. "Yes, she is on my side."
+
+"What do you mean by your side?"
+
+"Well, of course I have told you--haven't I?--that there are two of us
+in this school who are more looked up to than the others. It seems
+very conceited for me to say that I happen to be one. Of course I am
+not a patch on Aneta; I know that perfectly well."
+
+"Aneta is a darling," said Merry; "and she is my own cousin; but"--she
+dropped her voice--"Maggie, somehow, I can't help loving you best."
+
+"Oh," said Maggie with a start, "is that true?"
+
+"It is! it is!"
+
+Maggie was silent for a minute. At the end of that time she said very
+gently, "You won't be hurt at something I want to tell you?"
+
+"Hurt! No," said Merry; "why should I be?"
+
+"Well, it is just this: Aneta is frightfully jealous of me."
+
+"Oh! I don't believe it," said Merry indignantly. "It isn't in her
+nature to be jealous. It's very low-minded to be jealous."
+
+"There is no school," said Maggie, "where jealousy does not abound.
+There is no life into which jealousy does not enter. The world itself
+is made up of jealous people. Aneta is jealous of me, and I--I am
+jealous of her."
+
+"Oh, Maggie dear, you must not, and you ought not to be jealous of
+Aneta! She thinks so kindly, so sweetly of every one."
+
+"She loves you," said Maggie. "You just go and tell her how much you
+care for me, that you love me better than you love her, and see how
+she will take it."
+
+"But I wouldn't tell her that," said little Merry, "for it would hurt
+her."
+
+"There!" said Maggie with a laugh; "and yet you pretend that you don't
+think her jealous."
+
+"She will never be jealous of me, for I'll never give her cause--dear
+Aneta!" said Merry.
+
+Maggie was again silent and thoughtful for a few minutes. "Listen to
+me, Merry," she said. "In this school the girls follow the queens. If
+I wanted to make Aneta Lysle really mad with jealousy I'd get you over
+to me; but--don't speak for a minute--I won't get you over to me. You
+shall stay at school and be on Aneta's side."
+
+"I suppose--I suppose I ought," said Merry in a faint voice.
+
+"You must--you must be on Aneta's side of the school, and so must
+Cicely; but you can, all the same, love me best."
+
+"Can I?" said Merry, brightening up. "Then, if I can, I sha'n't mind a
+bit."
+
+Maggie patted her hand very gently. "You can, Merry; and you can help
+me. You will always take my part, won't you?"
+
+"Indeed--indeed I will! But it won't be necessary."
+
+"It may be," said Maggie very earnestly. "Promise that, if the time
+comes, you will take my part."
+
+"I promise, of course. What can be the matter with you, Maggie? You
+don't look a bit yourself."
+
+Maggie did not at once reply. "I shall have a great deal to do this
+term," she said after a pause; "and my party in the school won't be so
+weak after all. There'll be Rosamond Dacre----"
+
+"I didn't very much like Rosamond," said Merry, speaking in a low
+voice.
+
+"Oh, she is excellent fun when you know her," said Maggie; "but as she
+won't be on your side, nor in your form, you are not likely to have
+much to do with her. Then Matty and Clara are first-rate, and they're
+mine too; and Kathleen O'Donnell is a perfect brick; and Janet Burns,
+she's as strong as they make 'em. Of course the Tristrams will belong
+to me. Let me see: Tristrams, two; Rosamond, three; Kathleen, four;
+Matty and Clara, six; Janet, seven. Ah, well, I am quite in the
+minority. Aneta carries off eleven girls as her share."
+
+"Don't be sad about it, Maggie. Surely we might all be one in the
+school! Why should there be parties?" said Merry.
+
+"Little you know, Merry, how impossible school-life would be without
+parties, and great friends, and medium friends, and favorites, and
+enemies. Why, Merry, school is a little world, and the world is made
+up of elements such as these."
+
+"Tell me," said Merry after a pause, "what you did after you left
+us."
+
+Maggie colored. "Oh, stayed for a time in that horrid Shepherd's
+Bush."
+
+"In those fusty, musty lodgings?" said Merry.
+
+"Yes, and they were fusty, musty."
+
+"Oh dear! I am sorry for you. We had such a glorious time!"
+
+"I know it, dear; but glorious times don't come to girls like me."
+
+"Why, are you so very, very sad, Maggie? Oh, now I know--of course I
+know. I didn't like to write to you about it, for it seemed to me
+quite--you will forgive me, won't you?--quite dreadful that your
+mother should have married again. Is she married yet, Maggie?"
+
+Maggie nodded.
+
+"Oh, I can sympathize with you, dear Maggie! It must be so fearful to
+have a stepfather!"
+
+"It is," said Maggie.
+
+"Is he a nice man, Maggie? Or would you rather I didn't speak of
+him?"
+
+"No; you may speak of him if you like. He is a rich man--he is very
+rich."
+
+"I am glad of that at any rate," said Merry. "You will never be in
+fusty, musty lodgings any more."
+
+"Oh no, never! My mother's husband--I cannot speak of him as my
+stepfather--will see to that."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+Maggie hesitated. Not for the world would she have let any of her
+schoolfellows know the real position; but she could not very well
+conceal her stepfather's name.
+
+"Martin," she said.
+
+"Spelt with a 'y'? We know some awfully nice Martyns. They live about
+twenty miles away from Meredith Manor. I wonder if your Mr. Martyn is
+related to them."
+
+"Oh, very likely," said Maggie.
+
+"Then perhaps you will go to stay with them--your mother, and
+your--your mother's husband, and you too; and we'll all meet. They
+live at a place-called The Meadows. It isn't as old or as beautiful as
+our Manor, but it's a sweet place, and the girls are so nice you'll be
+sure to like them."
+
+"Yes, I dare say I shall," said Maggie, who didn't care to contradict
+Merry's innocent ideas with regard to her mother's marriage.
+
+"Well, I am glad," said Merry, "that your dear mother has married a
+rich gentleman. Has he a country place of his own?"
+
+"Of course he has," said Maggie, who felt that she could at least
+utter these words with truth.
+
+"And is it far, far from London, or quite in the country?"
+
+"It is," said Maggie, "in--in the Norwood direction."
+
+This remark made no impression whatever on Merry, who had not the
+least idea where the Norwood direction was. But by-and-by, when she
+parted from Maggie and joined her sister and Aneta, she said, "I have
+a piece of rather good news to tell about dear Maggie Howland. She
+won't be poor any more."
+
+"That is a word we never discuss at school," said Aneta.
+
+"Well, we needn't after to-night," said Merry with a slight touch of
+irritation in her manner. "But although I haven't the faintest idea
+what poverty means, I think poor Maggie knows a good deal about it.
+Well, she won't have anything to do with it in future, for her mother
+has just married again."
+
+"Oh!" said Aneta, with a show of interest.
+
+"Yes; and a very nice gentleman he must be. He is a cousin of the
+Martyns of The Meadows. You know how you liked them when we spent a
+day there during these holidays--didn't you, Aneta?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "most charming people. I felt quite sorry that the
+Martyn girls were too old for school. I wonder they didn't mention the
+fact of their cousin being about to marry Mrs. Howland; for you know
+we were talking of Maggie to them, or at least you were, Merry."
+
+"Of course I was," said Merry in a determined voice. "I am very, very
+fond of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Perhaps we had better go to bed now," said Aneta. "I may as well tell
+you, girls, that we have to get up at half-past six. Lucy comes to us
+and wakes us at that hour, and we are expected to be downstairs at
+seven. Lucy will tell you, too, girls, that it is expected of us all
+that we shall keep our rooms in perfect order. Now, shall we say
+good-night?"
+
+The Cardews kissed their cousin and went to their own pleasant room.
+
+As soon as they were there Merry said, "Cicely, I am glad about poor
+Maggie."
+
+"And so am I," said Cicely.
+
+"When we write home we must be sure to mention to mother about Mr.
+Martyn. I don't think dear Maggie knew anything about The Meadows; so
+perhaps, after all, he is a somewhat distant cousin; but it is such a
+comfort to know that he is rich and a gentleman."
+
+"Yes," said Cicely. Then she added, "I don't think Aneta wants you to
+make too great a friend of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" said Merry, coloring slightly. "I am never going to
+give Maggie up, for I love her dearly."
+
+"Of course," said Cicely, "it would be very mean to give her up; but
+you and I, as Aneta's cousins, must be on her side in the school. What
+I am afraid of is that Maggie will try to induce you to join her
+set."
+
+"That shows how little you know her," said Merry, roused to the
+defensive. "She explained everything to me this afternoon, and said
+that I certainly must belong to Aneta."
+
+"Did she? Well, I call that splendid," said Cicely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BO-PEEP.
+
+
+When Aneta found herself alone that evening she stayed for a short
+time thinking very deeply. She felt a queer sense of responsibility
+with regard to the Cardews. If Maggie imagined that it was through her
+influence they had come to Aylmer House, Aneta was positive that they
+would never have entered the school but for her and her aunt, Lady
+Lysle. Besides, they were her very own cousins, and she loved them
+both dearly. She was not especially anxious about Cicely, who was a
+more ordinary and less enthusiastic girl than Merry; but about Merry
+she had some qualms. There was no doubt whatever that the girl was
+attracted by Maggie; and, in Aneta's opinion, Maggie Howland was in no
+sense of the word a proper companion for her.
+
+Aneta, as she sat calmly by her open window--for it was not necessary
+to hurry to bed to-night--thought much over the future which spread
+itself immediately in front of her and her companions. She was
+naturally a very reserved girl. She was born with that exclusiveness
+and reserve which a distinguished class bestows upon those who belong
+to it. But she had in her heart very wide sympathies; and, like many
+another girl in her position, she could be kind to the poor,
+philanthropic to the last degree to those in real distress, denying
+herself for the sake of those who wanted bread. Towards girls,
+however, who were only a trifle below her in the social scale she
+could be arbitrary, haughty, and strangely wanting in sympathy. Maggie
+Howland was exactly the sort of girl who repelled Aneta. Nevertheless,
+she was a member of the school; and not only was she a member of the
+school, but a very special member. Had she even been Janet Burns (who
+was so clever, and as far as learning was concerned carried all before
+her), or had she been as brilliant and witty as Kathleen O'Donnell,
+Aneta would not have troubled herself much over her. But Maggie was
+possessed of a curious sense of _power_ which was hers by heritage,
+which her father had possessed before her, and which caused him--one
+of the least prepossessing and yet one of the most distinguished men
+of his day--to be worshipped wherever he went. This power was greater
+than beauty, greater than birth, greater than genius. Maggie had it,
+and used it to such effect that she and Aneta divided the school
+between them. Aneta was never quite certain whether some of her
+special friends would not leave her and go over to Maggie's side; but
+she felt that she did not greatly care about this, provided she could
+keep Merry and Cicely altogether to herself.
+
+After thinking for a little time she sprang to her feet, and going to
+the electric bell, sounded it. After a short delay a servant
+appeared.
+
+"Mary," said Aneta, "will you have the goodness to ask Miss Lucy if I
+may speak to her for a minute?"
+
+"Yes, miss," replied Mary, closing the door behind her in her usual
+noiseless fashion.
+
+In a very few minutes Miss Johnson entered Aneta's room.
+
+"I was just thinking of going to bed, dear," said that good-natured
+young woman. "Can I do anything for you?"
+
+"I only want to say something to you, Lucy."
+
+"What is it, my love? I do not like to see that our dear Aneta looks
+worried, but your face almost wears that expression."
+
+"Well," said Aneta, "it is just this: I am a trifle worried about a
+matter which I hope I may set right. It is against the rules for girls
+to leave their rooms after they have gone to them for the night, and
+it would never do for me to be the first to break a rule at Aylmer
+House. Nevertheless, I do want to break it. May I, Miss Lucy?"
+
+"Well, Aneta, I do not think that there'll be the slightest
+difficulty, for we don't really begin school till to-morrow. What do
+you wish to do, dear?"
+
+"I want to go and visit one of my schoolmates, and stay with her for a
+time."
+
+"Of course you may go, Aneta. I give you permission; but don't remain
+too long, for we get up early to-morrow, as to-morrow school really
+begins."
+
+"I won't remain a minute longer than I can help. Thank you, Lucy,"
+said Aneta.
+
+Miss Johnson kissed her pupil and left the room.
+
+A minute later Aneta Lysle was running down the corridor in the
+direction of the bedroom occupied by Maggie Howland. It was some
+distance from her own room. She knocked at the door. She guessed
+somehow that Maggie would be still up.
+
+Maggie said, "Come in," and Aneta entered.
+
+Maggie was in a white dressing-gown, with her thick, handsome hair
+falling below her waist. Her hair was her strongest point, and she
+looked for the time being almost pretty.
+
+"What do you want, Aneta?" she said.
+
+"To speak to you, Maggie."
+
+"But it's against the rules," said Maggie, drawling out her words a
+little, and giving Aneta a defiant glance.
+
+"No," said Aneta. "I asked for permission to come and see you, and I
+have obtained it."
+
+"Well, sit down, won't you?" said Maggie.
+
+Aneta availed herself of the invitation, and took a chair.
+
+Maggie remained standing.
+
+"Won't you sit too, Maggie?" said Aneta.
+
+"I don't particularly want to, but I will if you insist on it. To tell
+the truth, I am a little sleepy. You won't keep me long, will you?"
+
+"That depends on yourself."
+
+Maggie opened her narrow eyes. Then she contracted them and looked
+fixedly at her companion. "Have you come here to talk about Merry
+Cardew?"
+
+"Yes, about her, and other matters."
+
+"Don't you trust me at all, Aneta?"
+
+Aneta looked full up at the girl. "No, Maggie," she said.
+
+"Do you think when you say so that you speak kindly?"
+
+"I am afraid I don't, but I can't help myself," said Aneta.
+
+Maggie gave a faint yawn. She was, in reality, far too interested to
+be really sleepy. Suddenly she dropped into a sitting position on the
+floor. "You have me," she said, "in the hollow of your hand. Do you
+mean to crush me? What have I done that you should hate me so much?"
+
+"I never said I hated you," said Aneta. "I don't hate you, but I am
+exceedingly anxious that you should not have any influence over my two
+young cousins who came here to-day."
+
+"I thought we discussed that when you were staying at Meredith Manor,"
+said Maggie. "You made me unhappy enough then, but I gave you my
+promise."
+
+"I was sorry to make you unhappy, Maggie; and you did give me your
+promise; but I have come here to-day to know why you have broken it."
+
+"Broken it!" said Maggie. "Broken it!"
+
+"Don't you understand me?" said Aneta. "You and Merry were together
+the greater part of the evening, and even Cicely wondered where her
+sister was. Why did you do it?"
+
+"Merry is my friend," said Maggie.
+
+"I don't wish her to be your friend."
+
+"I am afraid you can't help it," said Maggie. She looked a little
+insolent, and round her mouth there came a dogged expression. After a
+minute she said, "I did want to talk to Merry to-night; but, at the
+same time, I most undoubtedly did not forget my promise to you. I
+explained to Merry what I think she already knew: that there were two
+girls in the school who greatly influence their fellows; in short,
+that you and I are the two queens of the school. But I said that,
+compared to you, I had a comparatively small number of subjects. Merry
+was interested, and asked questions, and then I most particularly
+explained to her that, although I knew well she cared for me, and I
+cared for her, she was to be on your side in the school. If you don't
+believe me, you have but to ask Merry herself."
+
+"I have no reason not to believe you, Maggie," said Aneta, "and I am
+relieved that you have spoken as you did to Merry. But now I want to
+say something else. I have thought of it a good deal during the
+holidays, and I am firmly convinced that this taking sides, or rather
+making parties, in a school is pernicious, especially in such a small
+school as ours. I am willing to give up my queendom, if you, on your
+part, will give yours up. I want us all to be in unity--every one of
+us--all striving for the good of the school and for the happiness and
+welfare each of the other. If you will agree to this I will myself
+speak to Mrs. Ward to-morrow."
+
+"Mrs. Ward!" said Maggie. "What has she to do with it?"
+
+"I want to consult with her, so that _she_ may be the queen of the
+school--not one girl or two girls. She is so clever, so young, so
+resourceful, that she will more than make up to us for the little we
+lose in this matter. But, of course, there is no manner of use in my
+resigning my queendom if you won't resign yours."
+
+"I will never do it," said Maggie--"never! Two queens in the school
+means little or nothing at all. All it does mean is that I have
+special friends whom I can influence, and whom I love to influence,
+and you have special friends whom you love to influence. Well, go on
+influencing them as hard as ever you can, and I will do the same with
+my friends. Your cousins will belong to you. I could, I believe, have
+won Merry Cardew to my side, but I am not going to do so."
+
+"It would be very unwise of you," said Aneta in a low tone. "Very
+well, Maggie," she added after a pause, "if you won't give up being
+queen in the minds of a certain number of girls, I must, of course,
+continue my influence on the other side. It's a great pity, for we
+might all work together."
+
+"We never could work together," said Maggie with passion. "It is but
+to talk to you, Aneta, to know how you despise and hate me."
+
+"I neither despise nor hate you, Maggie."
+
+"Well, I despise and hate you, so I suppose it comes to the same
+thing."
+
+"I am very, very sorry, Maggie. Some day, perhaps, you will know me as
+I really am."
+
+"I know you now as you really are--eaten up with pride of birth, and
+with no sympathy at all for girls a trifle poorer than yourself."
+
+"You speak with cruelty, and I am sorry."
+
+To Aneta's astonishment, Maggie's face underwent a queer change. It
+puckered up in an alarming manner, and the next moment the girl burst
+into tears.
+
+The sight of Maggie's tears immediately changed Aneta Lysle's
+attitude. Those tears were genuine. Whether they were caused by anger
+or by sorrow she did not stop to discriminate. The next minute she was
+down on her knees by the other girl and had swept her young arms round
+Maggie's neck.
+
+"Maggie, Maggie, what is it? Oh, if you would only understand me!"
+
+"Don't!--don't touch me!" said Maggie. "I am a miserable girl!"
+
+"And I have hurt you, poor Maggie!" said Aneta. "Oh, I am terribly
+sorry! Sit here now, and let me comfort you."
+
+"Oh! I can't, Aneta. You don't understand me--not a bit."
+
+"Better than you think, perhaps; and I am terribly sorry you are
+troubled. Oh, perhaps I know. I was told to-night that your mother had
+married again. You are unhappy about that?"
+
+Maggie immediately dried her fast-falling tears. She felt that she was
+in danger. If Aneta found out, or if Mrs. Ward found out, who Maggie's
+stepfather was, she would certainly not be allowed to stay at Aylmer
+House. This was her dread of all dreads, and she had so managed
+matters with her mother that Mrs. Ward knew nothing at all of Mrs.
+Howland's change of name.
+
+"Yes, my mother is married again," said Maggie. "She is a rich woman
+now; but the fact is, I dearly loved my own father, and--it hurt me
+very much to see another put into his place."
+
+"Of course it did," said Aneta, with deep sympathy; "it would have
+driven me nearly wild. Does Mrs. Ward know that your mother is married
+again, Maggie?"
+
+"Well, I haven't told her; and, please, Aneta, will you promise me not
+to do so?"
+
+"But is there any occasion to keep it a secret, dear?"
+
+"I would so much rather she did not know. She received me here as
+Maggie Howland. I am Maggie Howland still; my mother having changed
+her name makes no difference, except, indeed, that she is very well
+off, whereas she was poor."
+
+"Well, that of course is a comfort to you," said Aneta. "Perhaps
+by-and-by you will learn to be glad that your mother has secured the
+care of a good husband. I am told that she has married one of those
+very nice Martyns who live in Warwickshire. Is that true?"
+
+Maggie nodded. She hated herself after she had given that inclination
+of her head; but she had done it now, and must abide by it. To own
+Martin the grocer as a stepfather was beyond her power.
+
+Aneta did not think it specially necessary to worry about Maggie's
+mother and her new husband. She said that the whole thing was Maggie's
+own affair; and, after trying to comfort the girl for a little longer,
+she kissed Maggie, and went to her own room. When there, she went at
+once to bed and fell fast asleep.
+
+But Maggie sat for a long time by her open window. "What an awful and
+ridiculous position I have put myself in!" she thought. "The Martyns
+of The Meadows and Bo-peep of Laburnum Villa to be connected! I could
+almost scream with laughter if I were not also inclined to scream with
+terror. What an awful idea to get into people's heads, and now I have,
+confirmed it! Of course I shall be found out, and things will be worse
+than ever."
+
+Before Maggie went to bed she sat down and wrote a brief note to her
+mother. She addressed it when written to Mrs. Martyn (spelt with a
+"y"), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie had seen Laburnum Villa, and
+regarded it as one of the most poky suburban residences she had ever
+had the pleasure of entering. The whole house was odiously cheap and
+common, and in her heart poor Maggie preferred Tildy and Mrs. Ross,
+and the fusty, musty lodgings at Shepherd's Bush.
+
+Her note to her mother was very brief:
+
+"I am back at school, and quite happy. Tell Mr. Martin, if he should
+happen to write to me, to spell his name with a 'y,' and please spell
+your name with a 'y.' Please tell Mr. Martin that I will explain the
+reason of this when we meet. He is so good to me, I don't know how to
+thank him enough."
+
+Maggie managed the next day to post this letter unknown to her
+fellows, and in course of time a remarkable post-card arrived for her.
+It was dated from Laburnum Villa, Clapham, and was written in a
+sprawly but business-like hand:
+
+"No 'y's' for me, thank you.--Bo-peep."
+
+Very fortunately, Maggie received her card when none of her
+schoolfellows were present; but it was certainly the reverse of
+reassuring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE LEISURE HOURS.
+
+
+School-life began in real earnest, and school-life at Aylmer House was
+so stimulating, so earnest, so invigorating, that all that was best in
+each girl was brought to the fore. There was an admirable time-table,
+which allowed the girls periods for play as well as the most suitable
+hours for work. In addition, each day there were what were called the
+"leisure hours." These were from five to seven o'clock each evening.
+The leisure hours began immediately after tea, and lasted until the
+period when the girls went to their rooms to dress for dinner. During
+these two hours they were allowed to do precisely what they pleased.
+
+Mrs. Ward was most particular that no teacher should interfere with
+her girls during the leisure hours. From the very first she had
+insisted on this period of rest and absolute relaxation from all work.
+Work was strictly forbidden in the school from five to seven, and it
+was during that period that the queens of the school generally
+exercised their power. Aneta then usually found herself surrounded by
+her satellites in one corner of the girls' own special sitting-room,
+and Maggie was in a similar position at the farther end. Aneta's
+satellites were always quiet, sober, and well-behaved; Maggie's, it is
+sad to relate, were a trifle rowdy. There is something else also
+painful to relate--namely, that Merry Cardew cast longing eyes from
+time to time in the direction of that portion of the room where Maggie
+and her friends clustered.
+
+The girls had been about a fortnight at school, and work was in full
+swing, when Kathleen, springing from her seat, said abruptly, "Queen,
+I want to propose something."
+
+"Well, what is it?" asked Maggie, who was lying back against a pile of
+cushions and supplying herself daintily from a box of chocolates which
+her adorers had purchased for her.
+
+"I want us all," said Kathleen, "to give a party to the other queen
+and her subjects; and I want it to be about the very jolliest
+entertainment that can be found. We must, of course, ask Mrs. Ward's
+leave; but she is certain to give it."
+
+"I don't know that she is," said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, she is--certain sure," said Kathleen. "May I go and ask her
+now?"
+
+"Do you dare?" said Rosamond Dacre, looking at Kitty's radiant face
+with some astonishment.
+
+"Dare!" cried Irish Kitty. "I don't know the meaning of anything that
+I don't dare. I am off. I'll bring you word in a few minutes, girls."
+She rushed out of the room.
+
+Janet Burns looked after her, slightly raising her brows. Rosamond
+Dacre and the two Roaches began to sound her praises. "She is sweet,
+isn't she?"
+
+"Yes," said Clara; "and I do so love her pretty Irish brogue."
+
+"Mother tells me," said Janet, who was Scotch, "that Irish characters
+are not much good--they're not reliable, I mean."
+
+"Oh, what a shame!" said Matty Roache.
+
+"I don't think we need discuss characters," said Maggie. "I don't know
+a great deal about the Irish, but I do know that Kitty is a darling."
+
+"Yes, so she is--one of the sweetest girls in the whole school," said
+Molly Tristram, who was quite as excited as Kathleen herself with
+regard to the party scheme.
+
+Meantime Kitty found herself tapping at Mrs. Ward's private door. Mrs.
+Ward said, "Come in," and the pretty girl, with her great dark-blue
+eyes and wild-rose complexion, entered abruptly.
+
+"Well, Kathleen?" said Mrs. Ward in her pleasant tone.
+
+"Oh, please, Mrs. Ward, I've come with such a lovely scheme."
+
+"And you want me to help you?"
+
+"Oh yes, please, do say you will before I let you into the secret!"
+
+"I can't do that, dear; you must just tell me what is in your mind,
+and be satisfied with my decision. The only thing that I can assure
+you beforehand is that if it is a workable scheme, and likely to give
+you great pleasure, I will do my best to entertain it."
+
+"Then we're certain to have it--certain," said Kathleen.
+
+"It was I who thought of it. You will forgive me if I speak out just
+as plainly as possible?"
+
+"Of course, Kathleen dear."
+
+"Well, you know you are the head-mistress."
+
+"That is scarcely news to me, my child."
+
+"And people, as a rule," continued Kathleen, "respect their
+head-mistress."
+
+"Dear me," said Mrs. Ward with a smile, "have you come here, Kathleen,
+to say that you don't respect me?"
+
+"Respect you!" said Kathleen. "We do a jolly lot more than that. We
+adore you! We love you! You're--you're a sort of--of mother to us."
+
+"That is what I want to be," said Mrs. Ward with fervor, and she took
+the girl's hand and smoothed it gently.
+
+"I often want to hug you, and that's a fact," said Kathleen.
+
+"You may kiss me now if you like, Kitty."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward!" Kitty bent down and bestowed a reverent kiss on that
+sweet face.
+
+"I have permitted you to kiss me, Kitty," said Mrs. Ward, "in order to
+show you that I sympathize with you, as I do with all my dear girls.
+But now, what is the matter?"
+
+"Well, the fact is this. We want, during the 'leisure hours' to give a
+party."
+
+"Is that all? Do you all want to give a party?"
+
+"Our side wants to give a party, and we want to invite the other side
+to it."
+
+"But what do you mean by 'our side' and 'the other side'?"
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward! you know--of course you know--that Aneta and Maggie
+divide the school."
+
+"I know," said Mrs. Ward after a pause, "that Aneta has considerable
+influence, and that Maggie also has influence."
+
+"Those two girls divide the school," said Kathleen, "the rest of us
+follow them. As a matter of fact, we only follow our leaders in the
+leisure hours; but as they come every day a good deal can be done in
+that time, can't it?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward, and her tone was not exactly cheerful. "On
+which side are you, Kitty?"
+
+"Oh, dear Mrs. Ward, of course, on Maggie's! Do you think that a girl
+like me, with all my spirit and that irresistible sort of fun always
+bubbling up in me, could stand the stuck-ups?"
+
+"Kitty, you have no right to speak of any girls in the school by such
+an offensive term."
+
+"I am sorry," said Kitty. "I ought not to have said it to you. But
+they are stuck-ups; they really are."
+
+"And what do you call yourself?"
+
+"Oh, the live-and-let-live--that's our title. But it's only quite
+among ourselves, and perhaps I ought not to have said it."
+
+"I will never repeat what you have told me in confidence, dear. But
+now for your request?"
+
+"Well, we of Maggie's set want to invite the Aneta set to a sort of
+general party. We should like it to be on the half-holiday, if
+possible. We want to give them a right royal entertainment in order to
+knock some of their stuck-upness out of them. We wish for your leave
+in the matter."
+
+"You must describe your entertainment a little more fully."
+
+"I can't; for we haven't really and truly planned it all out yet. But
+I tell you what we'll do. If you give us leave to have the party, we
+will ask Queen Aneta and her satellites if possible this very evening,
+and then we'll submit our programme to you. Now, may we do this, or
+may we not?"
+
+"Who sent you to me, Kathleen?"
+
+"I came of my own very self, but of course the others approved. We
+have no intention of doing shabby things in the dark, as they do in
+some schools. That would be unfair to you."
+
+Mrs. Ward thought a little longer. "I will give you the required
+permission," she said, "on one condition."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward, darling! what is that?"
+
+"You can have your party on Saturday week, and I will give you from
+early in the afternoon until bedtime to enjoy it."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward, you are too angelic!"
+
+"Stop a minute. You may not care for it so much when I have finished
+what I have got to say."
+
+"What is it, dear Mrs. Ward?"
+
+"It is this: that you ask me too as one of your guests."
+
+"Oh! oh!" said Kathleen. Her expressive face changed from red to white
+and then to red again. Her eyes brimmed over with laughter, and then
+as suddenly filled with tears. "But would you--would you like it?"
+
+"Yes, and I don't want to destroy your pleasure; but I presume you
+will have a sort of supper or an entertainment which will include
+refreshments. Let me assist you with the expense of your supper, and
+may I be present at it as one of your guests? I will promise to leave
+soon after supper, and not to appear until supper. How will that do?"
+
+"Oh, it would be just, heavenly! It will give such distinction. I know
+the girls will love it."
+
+"I think I can make myself pleasant to you all," said Mrs. Ward, "and
+I should like to be there."
+
+"But as to paying anything, Mrs. Ward, you will come as our guest, and
+you know we have most of us plenty of money. Please, please, let us do
+the entertaining."
+
+"Very well, dear, I will not press that point. I hope I have made you
+happy, Kathleen."
+
+"Oh! you have--very, very happy indeed. And Saturday week is to be the
+day?"
+
+"Yes, Kathleen."
+
+Kathleen bent down, took one of Mrs. Ward's hands, and kissed it. Then
+she skipped out of the room and flew back to her companions. They were
+waiting for her in a state of suppressed eagerness.
+
+"Well, Kathleen--Kitty--Kit, what's the news?" asked Maggie.
+
+Room was made for Kathleen in the center of the group.
+
+"We have won! We may do it!" she said, speaking in a low tone. "Oh,
+she's--she's like no one else! I don't know how you will take it,
+girls; but if you're not just delighted you ought, to be. Why, what
+_do_ you think? She wants to come herself."
+
+"Mrs. Ward!" said Maggie in amazement.
+
+"Yes, just to supper. She says she will come--she wishes to come--that
+we're to invite her; in fact, she makes it a _sine quâ non_. She will
+go away again after supper, and we're to have the whole glorious day,
+next Saturday week, from two in the afternoon until bedtime. Oh,
+sha'n't we have fun!"
+
+"Yes, of course," said Maggie. "It's much better even than I thought.
+I will write the letters of invitation immediately."
+
+"But why should you write a whole lot of letters?" said Kathleen. "You
+are one queen. Write to the other queen and mention that Mrs. Ward is
+coming."
+
+There was nothing like the present time for making arrangements; and
+Maggie wrote on a sheet of headed note-paper provided for her by her
+satellites the following words:
+
+  "Queen Maggie presents her compliments to Queen Aneta, and begs
+  for the pleasure of her company with all her subjects on
+  Saturday the 15th of October, to an entertainment from three to
+  nine o'clock. She hopes that the whole school will be present,
+  and writes in the names of her own subjects as well as of
+  herself.
+
+  "_P.S._--Mrs. Ward has most kindly promised to attend."
+
+This letter was subjected to the approval of the group of girls who
+surrounded Maggie. It was then addressed to "Queen Aneta," and
+Kathleen crossed the room with it and dropped it, there and then, into
+Aneta Lysle's lap.
+
+It caused very deep amazement in the hearts of all the girls who
+belonged to Aneta's party, and it is highly probable that they might
+have refused to accept the invitation but for that magical postscript,
+"Mrs. Ward has most kindly promised to attend." But there was no
+withstanding that patent fact, as Mrs. Ward knew very well when she
+made the proposal to Kathleen.
+
+After a lapse of about twenty minutes, Cicely Cardew crossed the room
+and laid the answer to Maggie's note in her lap:
+
+"Queen Aneta and her subjects have much pleasure in accepting Queen
+Maggie's invitation for the 15th inst."
+
+"Hip, hip, hurrah!" cried Kathleen. "The thing's arranged, and we'll
+have about the jolliest flare-up and the most enticing time that girls
+ever had at any school." She sprang from her seat, and began tossing a
+book which had lain in her lap into the air, catching it again. In
+short, the subjects of the two queens broke up on the spot and chatted
+gaily together, and Maggie and her subjects could not be induced to
+say one word of what was to take place on the 15th of October.
+
+"It is wonderful," thought Aneta to herself. "Why does Mrs. Ward come?
+But, of course, as she comes we must all come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE TREASURE.
+
+
+Maggie had by no means forgotten her promise to the Tristram girls to
+give them a bracelet apiece. It was easy to do this, for they were her
+very special friends in the school. The fact is that Molly and Belle
+had a somewhat peculiar position at Aylmer House, for they were not
+only Maggie's special friends, but also the undoubted friends and
+allies of Cicely, Merry, and also of Aneta. But they were such
+good-humored, good-natured, pleasant sort of girls--so lively, so
+jolly--that they could take up a position with ease which would
+oppress and distress other people.
+
+When Maggie presented them with their bracelets they were in wild
+raptures, accepting them gleefully, and on occasions when ornaments
+were permitted to be worn--which, as a matter of fact, was only in the
+leisure hours--they invariably had them on their arms.
+
+But other girls noticed them, and one and all admired them immensely.
+
+"Oh, I have others," said Maggie in a careless tone; "many more. My
+dear father was a great traveler, and these are some of the treasures
+he brought from the East."
+
+Maggie had by no means forgotten to bring her two boxes of jewellery
+to Aylmer House. These lay at the bottom of her little trunk, which
+was, it is true, stowed away in the box-room. But as the girls were at
+liberty to go there for anything they especially required, she was not
+troubled on this account.
+
+There came a day, shortly after the great party was arranged, when the
+rain poured incessantly, and some of the girls were a little restless.
+Molly and Isabel were wearing their queer Oriental bracelets. Kathleen
+suddenly caught sight of them, and demanded in an eager tone that
+Maggie should exhibit her treasures. Maggie, only too pleased to have
+anything to do which glorified herself, immediately complied. She ran
+to find Miss Lucy in order to obtain the key of the box-room.
+
+"What do you want it for, dear?" said Miss Johnson in her pleasant
+voice.
+
+"I have two boxes in the bottom of one of my trunks, Miss Lucy; they
+are full of curiosities which my father collected from time to time.
+The girls want to see them. Do you mind my showing them?"
+
+"Of course not, Maggie; but if they are of any value you had better
+give them to Mrs. Ward to take care of for you."
+
+"Oh, well," said Maggie, "I don't know really whether they are of
+value or not." She got rather red as she spoke.
+
+"I should like to see them myself," said Miss Johnson. "I know a
+little bit about gems and curios."
+
+"Certainly, Miss Lucy; do come," said Maggie. "We're in our
+sitting-room, and I shall be only too delighted to show them to you."
+
+Maggie fetched down her two precious boxes, and soon she was
+surrounded, not only by her own special satellites, but by every girl
+in the school. They were all loud in their expressions of rapture at
+the unique and lovely things which she exhibited to them.
+
+Kathleen, as usual, was quick in suggestion. "Would not Mrs. Ward love
+to see them?" she said.
+
+"I am sure she would," remarked Miss Johnson.--"I hadn't the least
+idea, Maggie, that you had such treasures in those old tin boxes. They
+must be carefully put away in the safe for you. My dear girl, they're
+worth a great deal of money."
+
+"Oh, I don't suppose they are," said Maggie, trying to speak
+carelessly, although she by no means wished to part with her
+treasures.
+
+"I tell you what," said Kathleen. "Can't we make an exhibition of them
+on _the_ day?"
+
+"Yes, why not?" said Molly and Isabel. "That would be quite lovely."
+
+"Oh yes, do!--do, Maggie darling!" said Merry Cardew.
+
+Maggie at once agreed; and Miss Johnson said, "Now, if you will put
+them all back in their boxes I will take them and lock them into the
+safe myself. I shouldn't have an easy moment if I thought such
+valuable things were in one of your school-trunks."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie, looking up with flushed cheeks and bright eyes,
+"please--please let me keep them until after our party. Then we will
+consult Mrs. Ward, and she will tell me what to do."
+
+"If you must keep them, then, Maggie," said Miss Johnson, "you had
+better have them in your own bedroom. They would be at least safe
+there. Put them into your locked drawer, dear; I think it will hold
+both these boxes."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Maggie. She put the ten bracelets into
+their tin box, and the necklets and other curios into the other,
+locked each, and took them upstairs. "It would never, never do," she
+said to herself, "for me to lose control of these precious things. I
+am almost sorry now that I allowed the girls to tempt me to show
+them."
+
+After a few minutes she came downstairs. Her stepfather's allowance of
+pocket-money was certainly not ample, and she knew that at the party
+which was to be so specially distinguished she must give, if she
+wished to keep up her prestige in the school, a lion's share towards
+the expenses. There was a quaint little brooch in one of her boxes
+containing one large ruby and set with diamonds which she intended to
+sell in order to provide herself with funds. But what use would any of
+her treasures be if they were consigned to the safe at Aylmer House?
+
+After a great deal of consultation, it was resolved that the girls
+were to meet in their own special sitting-room at four o'clock, where
+tea and light refreshments were to be provided by Queen Maggie and her
+subjects. Afterwards they were to play games, have recitations, and
+amuse themselves in different ways until five o'clock; when a curtain
+which would be put across a portion of the room would be raised, and
+tableaux vivants, in which Maggie, Kathleen, and both the Tristram
+girls, who were all adaptable for this purpose, were to take special
+parts. The tableaux were under the management of Janet Burns, who was
+exceedingly clever, and had studied the scenes--which she took from
+different episodes in Scott's novels--with great care. The rehearsing
+for the tableaux was a little difficult, but this was done each
+evening after tea, when Maggie and her subjects had the sitting-room
+to themselves.
+
+Immediately after the tableaux there would be that wonderful supper,
+at which Mrs. Ward was to be the principal guest, and then the happy
+evening would end with all sorts of dances and frolics.
+
+Now, all these things would cost money, and it was arranged, after
+brief consultation, that each girl was to subscribe in an equal ratio
+towards the proposed entertainment. Janet, who had a head for figures
+as well as a taste for tableaux vivants, suggested that, to do the
+entertainment properly, they would have to expend something like
+fifteen shillings each. This was immediately agreed upon, and even the
+Tristrams did not feel embarrassed by the amount which was decided
+upon, for Mr. Tristram was wise in his generation, and would not send
+his girls to an expensive school if he could not give them a
+sufficient supply of pocket-money to make them feel independent. The
+only person who was short of funds on this occasion was Maggie, for
+her stepfather had arranged that she was to receive her allowance at
+the end of the term, not at the beginning. He had given her a few
+shillings to go to school with; but these she had already spent on
+chocolates, which were considered essential during the leisure hours.
+It is true that Mrs. Ward would have advanced a little money to
+Maggie, but Maggie could not bear to ask her. She had a great dislike
+to the subject of money being mentioned in Mrs. Ward's presence. She
+was afraid beyond everything else that the fact of her being received
+at such a select school for forty pounds a year might reach the ears
+of her fellow-pupils. What more easy than to sell that charming little
+Oriental brooch, which was one of the treasures in one of those tin
+boxes? But Maggie could not manage this in Miss Lucy's presence, and
+it was quite against the rules at Aylmer House for any girl to go
+shopping or even to leave the house unaccompanied.
+
+On one or two previous occasions Maggie had, however, managed to evade
+this rule without being found out, and she thought she could do so
+now. She planned the whole thing rather cleverly. She had a room to
+herself; which of course made it easier for her, and there were always
+the leisure hours. She made up her mind to feign headache or some
+slight indisposition, to go downstairs by the back way, and sell her
+brooch on a certain afternoon during the leisure hours. She must do it
+quickly, for the girls had proposed to put the necessary money for the
+entertainment into a bag on a certain Tuesday. Maggie must, therefore,
+go out on Monday in order to sell her brooch. Her absence from the
+little party in the girls' sitting-room was explained by Molly
+Tristram, who said that Maggie was upstairs lying down. No one
+troubled to make any comment with regard to this. Any girl might have
+a headache, and Mrs. Ward did not wish her girls to be catechised as
+to how they spent their leisure hours. Besides, Janet Burns was
+occupying all their attention with the tableaux vivants, Queen Aneta's
+girls most good-naturedly leaving them the sitting-room to themselves
+for this purpose.
+
+Maggie, in her distant bedroom, felt the quiet in the house. She had
+been lying down; now she rose noiselessly. This was the time when the
+servants had their tea, when Mrs. Ward was busy writing letters or
+resting in her own sitting-room, when Lucy Johnson and the other
+governesses were either reposing in their bedrooms, or were out, or
+were reading. There was, of course, the chance that Maggie might meet
+some one; but, having calculated all possibilities, she thought that
+she could most likely get out unobserved.
+
+During her expeditions with Miss Lucy Johnson she had noticed a
+jeweller's shop not far away, and resolved to go to him with her
+precious brooch. It was a very respectable shop, and she was certain
+he would give her fair value. She could be back again before she was
+missed, and, in fact, could join her companions in the girls'
+sitting-room long before the leisure hours had expired. The days were
+now getting very short, but this fact was in Maggie's favor rather
+than otherwise.
+
+She ran downstairs unnoticed by any one, opened a side-door which was
+used as a tradesmen's entrance, and got into the street. Then, putting
+wings to her feet, she quickly turned the corner, left the square
+where Aylmer House was situated, and reached the jeweller's shop. She
+entered. There were a few people standing by the counter; and the
+jeweller, a certain Mr. Pearce, was attending to them. Maggie felt
+impatient. She awaited her turn as best she could. How she disliked
+those showy-looking people who were purchasing goods of some value,
+whereas she only wanted to sell! She could scarcely restrain her great
+impatience, and was relieved when another shopman came forward.
+
+He asked her what he could do for her. She immediately showed him the
+quaint little brooch set with rubies and diamonds.
+
+"I want to sell this," said Maggie, speaking abruptly and the color
+flaming into her cheeks. "What will you give me for it?"
+
+"Oh my!" suddenly exclaimed one of the ladies who was purchasing
+jewels in Pearce's shop, "what a lovely curio! Wherever now did you
+get it from?"
+
+Maggie turned and said in a low tone, "It belongs to me. It was left
+to me by my father."
+
+The man who was attending to Maggie took up the brooch and examined it
+carefully. He took it into another room, where he subjected it to
+various tests. He then came back to Maggie.
+
+"I will give you five pounds for this, miss, if you can satisfy me
+that you have come rightly by it."
+
+"Oh my!" said the American lady, drawing near, and her eyes
+glistening.
+
+"What is your address, miss?"
+
+Maggie by no means wished to give her address. "I haven't, stolen that
+brooch," she said. "It belongs to me; I have a right to sell it."
+
+"Of course, miss, I shall never trouble you in any way, but I really
+must have your address. In purchasing secondhand from young ladies
+like yourself it is essential that everything should be above-board
+and quite correct."
+
+"Well," said Maggie in a hurried voice, "take the brooch and give me
+the money. I must get back as quickly as I can. I am one of Mrs.
+Ward's pupils at Aylmer House."
+
+The man looked at Maggie with all respect. "And your own name?"
+
+"Howland," said Maggie. "Miss Howland."
+
+The man entered name and address in his book, and then handed Maggie
+five sovereigns. She was hurrying from the shop, when the customer who
+had been standing near all the time, and listening with great
+attention, followed her.
+
+"I say, young lady," she exclaimed, "I am from New York, and I like
+your quaint old English things. That man cheated you, I take it. If
+you had offered me that brooch I'd have given you fifteen pounds for
+it, not five. If you have any more curios to sell, my address is Miss
+H. Annie Lapham, Langham Hotel. I am straight from the States, and
+would like to take a collection of beautiful things home with me."
+
+"Thank you," said Maggie in a hurried voice.
+
+She ran back to Aylmer House as quickly as she could. As soon as she
+was quite out of sight the lady re-entered the shop.
+
+"Say," she remarked to the shopman, "I witnessed that little
+transaction between you and Miss Howland. I want to buy that brooch
+for ten pounds."
+
+"I am sorry, madam," said the man, "but it is not for sale just at
+present."
+
+"That means," said Miss Lapham, coloring crimson, "that you have
+cheated the young lady. You ought to have given her four times as much
+for the brooch."
+
+The man shrugged his shoulders.
+
+Miss Lapham grew redder than ever, "I happen to know Miss Howland's
+address," she said. Then she went away without giving' him time to add
+a word.
+
+When she had left the shop the younger Mr. Pearce turned to his
+brother, took the little brooch from the drawer into which he had
+carelessly thrown it, and gave it to the elder Mr. Pearce to examine.
+"There's a find here," he said; "only, somehow, I feel a bit
+uncomfortable. How did one of the young ladies from Aylmer House come
+by a treasure of this sort?"
+
+The other man examined the brooch carefully. "It's worth a good bit,"
+he said. "What did you give her for it?"
+
+"Five pounds; but somehow I think that I ought not to have taken it
+for that sum."
+
+"It is worth at least two hundred," said the elder Mr. Pearce. "Where
+did you say she lived?"
+
+"She is one of the young ladies at Aylmer House--Miss Howland."
+
+"What! from Mrs. Ward's school?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You had better give me that brooch, Alfred," said his brother. "We'll
+have to consider what is to be done. We can't rob the young lady of
+it. We had best consult Mrs. Ward."
+
+"Oh, as to that," said the younger Pearce, "that sounds almost as
+shabby as giving the schoolgirl too little money."
+
+"Well, lock it up for the present," said the elder Pearce; "but I am
+an honest tradesman, and I can't see even a schoolgirl robbed."
+
+"She was up to some little lark," said the younger man, "and evidently
+did not know the value of the brooch. Why, I think she'd have taken a
+pound for it. But what she did know the value of was her precious
+time; she was very much annoyed at being kept waiting and at being
+asked for her address. It is plain she got out without leave; and
+although the brooch may belong to her--I am sure I hope it does--she
+has broken a rule, you mark my words. Those schoolgirls are always up
+to larks. Well, I'd never have thought it of one of Mrs. Ward's
+girls."
+
+"It is a pity you didn't consult me, Alfred," said his brother. "The
+best thing to do now is to put the brooch carefully away. We'll
+consider what is best to be done with it; but as to giving the young
+lady only five pounds for what we can sell any day at Christie's for a
+couple of hundred, that is not to be thought of."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE LETTER.
+
+
+Maggie got out and came back again without any apparent adventure. She
+had five pounds in her pocket, and thought herself rich beyond the
+dreams of avarice. What a delightful fairy-gift had been handed down
+to her by her dear dead father! She did not miss the brooch in the
+least, but she valued the small sum she had obtained for it
+exceedingly.
+
+But while Maggie thought herself so secure, and while the pleasant
+jingle of the sovereigns as she touched them with her little hand
+comforted her inexpressibly, things quite against Maggie Howland's
+supposed interests were transpiring in another part of the school.
+
+It was a strange fact that on this special afternoon both the queens
+should be prostrated with headache. It is true that Queen Maggie's
+headache was only a fiction, but poor Queen Aneta's was real enough.
+She was lying down in her pretty bedroom, hoping that quiet might
+still the throbbing of her temples, when the door was very softly
+opened, and Merry Cardew brought in a letter and laid it by her side.
+
+"May I bring you some tea upstairs, Aneta?" she said. "Is there
+anything I can do for you?"
+
+"Oh no, darling," said Aneta. "I can't eat or drink; but if I stay
+very still I shall be better by-and-by. Leave me now, dear; all I want
+is perfect quiet."
+
+"I am so sorry for you, Aneta," said Merry.
+
+"What are you doing downstairs?" said Aneta as the girl turned away.
+
+"Well, Maggie has a headache too."
+
+"Oh!" said Aneta.
+
+"So we are without our queens," continued Merry; "but Maggie's girls
+have taken possession of our sitting-room, and we are all in the
+schoolroom. We're having great fun and are very happy, so don't worry
+about us at all, Aneta."
+
+"I won't," said Aneta, closing her eyes, while a feeling of drowsy
+relief stole over her.
+
+Her anxiety with regard to Maggie was really making her ill. Her sense
+of responsibility with reference to the Cardew girls seemed to oppress
+her usually calm spirit. She could not conceal the fact from herself
+that Merry loved Maggie, most passionately. The knowledge, therefore,
+that Maggie was not downstairs gave her such a sense of comfort that
+she dropped into a doze, and when she awoke a short time afterwards
+her headache was gone.
+
+Yes, her headache had departed, but there lay by her pillow what is a
+great treasure to all schoolgirls--an unopened letter. She looked at
+the handwriting, and saw that it was from her aunt, Lady Lysle. Aneta
+was very fond of Lady Lysle; and, sitting up against her pillows, she
+tore open the letter and began to read. She was surprised to see that
+it was dated from Meredith Manor.
+
+  "MY DEAR ANETA"--it ran--"I have been staying with the dear
+  Cardews for the last week. We have been having a very pleasant
+  time; although, of course, the house is vastly different without
+  Cicely and Merry. But the dear Cardews are so sensible that they
+  never would regret anything that was for the real benefit of
+  their children.
+
+  "Your letter assuring me that the children were happy at school
+  gave me great delight, and when I told the Cardews they were
+  equally pleased. Altogether, this school-venture seems likely to
+  turn out most satisfactory, and the dear children will be
+  properly equipped for the brilliant life which lies before
+  them.
+
+  "But now I have a curious piece of information for you. You
+  told me about Miss Howland and her mother's second marriage to
+  one of the Martyns of The Meadows. Well, dear, we went there
+  yesterday, and I happened incidentally to speak on the subject;
+  and, whatever may be the position of Miss Howland's stepfather,
+  he certainly is no relation to our dear friends the Martyns.
+  They have no uncles or cousins in England at all. All their
+  people come from Australia, and they assured me that such a
+  marriage as I have described has, in the first place, never
+  reached their ears, and, in the next, is impossible, for they
+  have no marriageable relations in the country. I mention this to
+  show that your friend has made a mistake. At the same time, it
+  is strange of her to say that her mother, has married into such
+  a well-known and distinguished family. I can add no more
+  now.--Yours, with love, and in haste,
+
+                                                     LUCIA LYSLE."
+
+Aneta thought over this letter for some time. Her face was very grave
+as she tried to put two and two together. She rose from her bed,
+dressed herself with her usual immaculate neatness, and came down to
+supper, which took place each evening at half-past seven.
+
+All the girls were present, and each and all were in the best of
+good-humor. Maggie was radiant. Why not? She had performed a difficult
+task discreetly, and she had five lovely golden sovereigns in her
+drawer upstairs. She could put the required money into the bag for the
+school-treat, and she would have plenty over to buy chocolates and
+little things that she might require for herself. She did not in the
+least miss that one small brooch which her father had left her; but
+she thought with a feeling of intense satisfaction of her treasures.
+She need no longer be a penniless girl. She had but at rare intervals
+to visit Pearce the jeweler, and her pocket would be well lined. She
+had no romantic feeling with regard to those beautiful things which
+her father had collected on his travels. She had been so poor all her
+life that money to her represented power. She even thought of getting
+a couple of new dresses made by a fashionable dressmaker. She resolved
+to consult Lucy on the subject. She was never quite as well dressed as
+the other girls, although very plain clothes were the order of the
+hour at school.
+
+Immediately after supper those girls who required to look over their
+lessons went into the schoolroom and spent a quiet time there; but the
+others, as a rule, joined Mrs. Ward in the drawing-room. There those
+who could play were requested to do so, and those who could sing did
+likewise. Mrs. Ward was very fond of needlework. She could do rare and
+wonderful embroideries, and knew some of the tapestry stitches which
+were in vogue hundreds of years ago. The girls who cared to be taught
+those things she was only too glad to instruct; but she never pressed
+any one into her working-party. This was always an hour of relaxation
+for those girls who had all their lessons ready for the following
+day.
+
+Maggie, who was exceedingly clever and learned with the utmost ease,
+was generally a member of the drawing-room coterie. She wore a white
+dress on this evening, with a somewhat crude pink sash round her
+waist. She hated the crudity of the color, and it occurred to her that
+she could get some soft and becoming sashes out of part of the money
+which Pearce had given her for the brooch.
+
+By-and-by she found herself near Aneta. Aneta was working a
+center-piece which she meant to present to Lady Lysle at Christmas.
+Maggie was no good whatever at needlework, and seldom joined the band
+of needlewomen. But Aneta now motioned the girl to come and sit by her
+side. Maggie did so. Aneta looked full in her face.
+
+"Is your headache better, Maggie?" she asked.
+
+Maggie had to reflect for a time, she had so absolutely forgotten that
+she had pretended to have a headache that afternoon! Then she said,
+with a slight flush and a suspicious narrowing of her eyes, "Oh yes;
+thank you, I am quite all right again." Maggie had not heard of
+Aneta's headache. She, therefore, did not ask about it.
+
+"I pity people who have headaches," said Aneta. "I suffer from them
+very badly myself. Nothing cures me but perfect rest. I was lying down
+all the afternoon. Merry came to see me, and told me that you were
+also prostrated with headache. I was sorry for you."
+
+"Oh, thank you so much!" said Maggie. "Mine is quite gone; is yours?"
+
+"Yes, thank you."
+
+Aneta sat quiet and very still. When her face was in repose she never
+moved her body. There was an absolute sense of rest about her which
+was refreshing to those who really knew her well. But Maggie hated it.
+She wanted to leave her; she wanted to go and talk to Merry, who was
+playing a solitary game of patience in a distant part of the
+drawing-room; she wanted to do anything rather than remain by Aneta's
+side.
+
+Then Aneta looked up. "I had a letter this afternoon from my aunt,
+Lady Lysle."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie. She could not quite understand why her heart beat
+so fast, but she had undoubtedly a premonition of some sort of trouble
+ahead.
+
+"Aunt Lucia is staying with the Cardews," continued Aneta.
+
+"Is she?" said Maggie. "Oh, that sweet and beautiful place!" she
+continued.
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "Meredith Manor will always be lovely. There is no
+season of the year when it is not, in my opinion, more charming than
+any other place I know."
+
+"Is your aunt going to stay there long?" asked Maggie, who felt that
+she need not say anything further with regard to the delights of
+Meredith Manor just now.
+
+"I cannot tell you," replied Aneta. "She mentioned something rather
+curious. It is connected with you."
+
+"With poor little me?" said Maggie.
+
+"With you," said Aneta. "You remember telling me that your stepfather
+is one of the Martyns of The Meadows?"
+
+Maggie's face grew crimson, then turned pale.
+
+"Well," said Aneta, bringing out her words with great calmness, "it
+turns out to be a mistake. Your stepfather is no relation whatever to
+our friends the Martyns. Aunt Lucia and Mrs. Cardew went to call on
+them the other day, and asked the question. You made a mistake in
+announcing your stepfather as being a connection of our friends."
+
+"Did I? Perhaps so," said Maggie. "I thought he was, that's all."
+
+"You thought wrong," said Aneta. "I felt I would mention it to you. He
+may be just as well connected," she added quietly; "but he is _not_
+related to the Martyns of The Meadows."
+
+"You speak in a very disagreeable tone," said Maggie.
+
+"I don't mean to," replied Aneta; "but I thought I would tell you in
+order that you should not spread the report any further."
+
+"I am sure I don't want to. My stepfather has just as good connections
+as any one else."
+
+"No doubt," said Aneta gently; "only, he is not related to our special
+friends. You might let Merry and Cicely know."
+
+"Why?" asked Maggie in a dogged voice.
+
+"You can please yourself. I shall tell them if you don't."
+
+"Why do you hate me so much, Aneta?" said Maggie then.
+
+"I hate subterfuge and untruth," said Aneta. "I don't hate you. If you
+would be straight and open and above-board you would find me your best
+friend."
+
+"Thank you so much!" said Maggie in a sneering tone. "When I require
+you for my best friend it will be time enough for you to offer me that
+enviable position." Then she added, speaking in a low tone of intense
+dislike, "Is it likely that any girl would wish to make a best friend
+of another girl who accused her of subterfuge and want of
+truthfulness?"
+
+The delicate pink rose in Aneta's cheeks. She raised her eyes and
+looked full up at Maggie. Her clear, calm eyes seemed like mirrors.
+Maggie felt that she could not meet them.
+
+It was just at that moment that Cicely Cardew, in a state of
+suppressed excitement, came into the room.
+
+"Maggie," she said, coming straight up to Maggie Howland, "there's a
+very large parcel addressed to you in the hall. It has been paid for;
+we are all dying with curiosity to know what it is."
+
+Maggie rose abruptly.
+
+"I will go and look at it myself," she said. "A large parcel addressed
+to me! Who can have sent me anything?"
+
+"It looks like a huge dress-box," said Cicely. "We're all curious
+about it."
+
+Before any girl could leave the drawing-room it was necessary that she
+should ask Mrs. Ward's permission. So Maggie now went up to that good
+lady and asked if she might go and look at her parcel.
+
+"A parcel for you, dear?" said Mrs. Ward. "And you want to see its
+contents? But bring it in here; we shall all be delighted to look at
+it--sha'n't we, girls?"
+
+Maggie went away, wondering a good deal. Cicely accompanied her. Miss
+Johnson also appeared on the scene.
+
+"Why, Maggie," she said, "what can you have got? Such a huge box, and
+all covered over with brown paper! I don't suppose Mrs. Ward would
+really like that box to be brought into the drawing-room. I'll just go
+and ask her."
+
+One of Mrs. Ward's peculiarities, and perhaps one of the reasons why
+she was such a favorite and led her girls with such gentle, silken
+cords, was her power of entering into their pleasures. She used to
+confess with a smile that she was like a child herself over an
+unopened parcel; and when Miss Johnson appeared with the information
+that the box was large and cumbersome, Mrs. Ward still gave directions
+that it was to be brought into the drawing-room.
+
+"You can put some of the brown paper on the floor, if you like, Lucy,"
+she said, "and Maggie can show us its contents."
+
+Now, one glance at the parcel told Maggie Howland who had sent it. She
+recognized her stepfather's writing. That bold commercial hand was
+painfully visible on the label. She would have given worlds not to
+have anything selected for her by Martin exhibited in the drawing-room
+at Aylmer House. But to refuse to show the contents of the box would
+but raise strong suspicion against her. She therefore, although very
+unwillingly, followed Miss Johnson into the drawing-room. The box was
+laid on the floor. The lid was removed, some tissue-paper was next
+extricated, and beneath lay a wardrobe such as poor Maggie even in her
+wildest dreams had never imagined. There was a letter lying on the top
+which she clutched and put into her pocket. This letter was in her
+stepfather's writing. She could not read it before the others. Aneta
+and all the girls of her set, also Kathleen O'Donnell, Rosamond Dacre,
+Matty and Clara Roache, Janet Barns, the Tristrams, the Cardews, all
+clustered round the box.
+
+"Oh, what fun!" said Kathleen. "A box of dresses for you! You lucky
+Queen Maggie! How I wish some one would send me some clothes!"
+
+"Take them out, dear, and let us look at them," said Mrs. Ward.
+
+The first dress to be removed was a magenta cachemire. It was made
+with a short skirt trimmed with little frills of the same. The bodice
+had sleeves to the elbows, and long, coarse cream-colored lace sleeves
+below. The front of the dress was also much bedizened by the same
+coarse cream lace.
+
+Maggie felt her face nearly purple with rage. "Oh, why must all these
+things be looked at here?" she said; and there was a piteous note in
+her voice.
+
+"I don't see the necessity, dear," said Mrs. Ward kindly.
+
+"But, oh! please, please," said Kathleen, "we _must_ see the others.
+Here's a sage-green dress trimmed with bands of black silk: that will
+be quite useful in the winter, won't it, Mags?"
+
+She tried to speak kindly, for the sage-green dress was as little to
+her taste as the impossible magenta. Under the two dresses were
+ribbons of different shades and hues, some strong, coarse stockings,
+some square-toed shoes, and finally, below everything else, an
+evening-dress made of voile, and deep blue in tone.
+
+"Some of the things will he very useful," said Miss Johnson. "I will
+put them all back again now."
+
+"But whom have they come from?" said Mrs. Ward. "I saw you take a note
+and put it into your pocket, Maggie."
+
+"Yes, these are a present from my stepfather," said Maggie.
+
+"Miss Johnson, you will take them upstairs, won't you?" said Mrs.
+Ward.--"It is kind of your stepfather to think of you, Maggie."
+
+Maggie looked up and met Aneta's glance. Was Aneta thinking of the
+Martyns of The Meadows? The color rushed all over Maggie's face. She
+clenched her hands. "I hate the horrid, horrid things!" she said. "I
+won't wear one of them."
+
+"Oh, come, dear," said Mrs. Ward kindly; "your stepfather means very
+well indeed by you. He has doubtless had very little to do with
+dressing a lady before.--We can slightly alter those dresses, can we
+not, Miss Johnson?"
+
+Miss Johnson had now placed all the hideous garments back in the box.
+She said with a smile, "The sage-green dress can be made quite useful;
+but I rather despair of the magenta."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "it was meant kindly. Perhaps, Maggie, if you
+gave me your stepfather's address I might write to him and tell him
+the sort of things that I like my girls to wear."
+
+Maggie turned crimson. That would indeed be the final straw. She
+murmured something which Mrs. Ward did not choose to hear. To her
+great relief, the hour for bed had arrived, and all the girls went to
+their rooms.
+
+Miss Johnson came down again after she had deposited the hideous
+dresses in Maggie's wardrobe. "I quite pity poor little Maggie," she
+said. "What frightful taste! There is really nothing in the whole of
+that box that she can possibly wear."
+
+"I must write to Mr. Martyn," said Mrs. Ward. "Didn't somebody tell me
+that he was a country gentleman--a relation of the Martyns of The
+Meadows? Such particularly nice people!"
+
+"I know nothing about that," said Miss Johnson. "I only know that the
+contents of the box are simply atrocious."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "we won't say anything to annoy Maggie
+to-night; I could see that the poor dear child was greatly mortified.
+I only regret that I had the box opened here; but you know it is one
+of our customs to share all our pleasures. Poor little Maggie! The
+thing was most unlucky."
+
+Up in her room, Maggie had locked her door. She would unlock it again,
+but she must read that frightful letter without any chance of being
+disturbed. She opened it, tore it from its envelope, and read the
+contents:
+
+  "DEAR POPSY,--I came across a cheap lot of frocks the other day
+  at a bankrupt's sale, and thought at once of Little-sing and her
+  daughter Popsy-wopsy. I am sending the dresses off to you
+  without saying a word to Little-sing. You will be well off now
+  for some time, and won't require the five pounds from me for
+  dress at Christmas. Hope you're enjoying your fine young ladies
+  and fine life. Neither Little-sing nor me miss you a bit; but,
+  all the same, your room will be ready for you at Christmas. Take
+  care of those good clothes, for I can't often spend as much on
+  you.
+
+  "Good-bye for the present.--Your affectionate father,
+
+                                                         "BO-PEEP.
+
+  "_P.S._--I have a good mind to call on that fine-lady
+  schoolmistress of yours, Mrs. Ward. There's no saying but that
+  Little-sing and me may come along some afternoon when you least
+  expect us."
+
+Maggie crushed the letter in her hand. Fresh terrors seemed to
+surround her. Dreadful as the impossible clothes were, they were
+nothing to what the appearance on the scene would be of the impossible
+stepfather and her poor mother. Oh, why had she concealed the position
+of the man whom her mother had married? Already Aneta had detected her
+little act of deception with regard to the Martyns of The Meadows. But
+that, Maggie felt, could be got over. It was easy for a girl to make a
+mistake in a matter of that kind, and surely there were other Martyns
+in the country high-born and respectable and all that was desirable.
+But James Martin who kept a grocer's shop at Shepherd's Bush--James
+Martin, with "grocer" written all over him!--rich, it is true; but,
+oh, so vulgarly rich! Were he to appear and announce his relationship
+to her at the school, she felt that, as far as she was concerned, the
+end of the world would have arrived. What was she to do? There was not
+a minute to be lost. In one way or another she had seen a good deal of
+Bo-peep during the last half of those dreadful summer holidays, and
+she knew that he was, as he expressed it, as good as his word.
+
+Her only chance was in writing to her mother. But then, if, by any
+chance, Maggie's letter got into the hands of Bo-peep, his wrath would
+be so great that he would, in all probability, take her from the
+school at once. What was to be done? Poor Maggie felt herself between
+two fires. In either direction was danger. On the whole, she resolved
+to throw herself on her mother's mercy. Mrs. Martin, as she was now,
+would much prefer Maggie to remain at school, and she might be clever
+enough to keep Maggie's stepfather from putting in an appearance at
+Aylmer House.
+
+Maggie wrote a short and frantic letter. She was in the midst of it
+when there came a tap at her room-door.
+
+"It's I, Maggie," said Miss Johnson's voice from without. "Your light
+is still burning; you ought to be in bed."
+
+Maggie flew and opened the door. "I am sorry," she said. "I was a good
+deal upset about those detestable clothes. I am writing to my mother.
+Please, Lucy, let me finish the letter. When it's done--and I won't be
+a minute longer--I'll put it in the post-box myself, so that it can go
+by the first post in the morning."
+
+"Very well, dear," said Lucy, who was too kind not to be good to any
+girl in the school; "only be quick, Maggie," she said, "for you know
+you are breaking the rules."
+
+"Yes! oh yes!" said Maggie; "and I will never do it again."
+
+Miss Johnson left her, and Maggie flew back to bend over her paper and
+continue her writing:
+
+  "Darling, you must not let him come here. He threatens to come,
+  but you must keep him away. All will be up with me if he is seen
+  at the school. I beseech of you have a little mercy on me. For
+  the sake of my own father, keep him--do keep him--from Aylmer
+  House.--Your distracted daughter,
+
+                                                 "MAGGIE HOWLAND."
+
+This letter was addressed to Mrs. Martin (spelt this time with an
+"i"), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie stamped it, and, flying
+downstairs, popped it into the box which held the letters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE VILLA.
+
+
+Laburnum Villa, in the suburb of Clapham, was, in the new Mrs.
+Martin's eyes, quite a delightful place. She had never appreciated her
+first husband, Professor Howland, but she thoroughly appreciated
+Bo-peep, and after her own fashion was fond of him. He gave her
+comforts. She had lived so long without comforts that she appreciated
+these good things of life to the full. She had never really been much
+attached to Maggie, who was too like her own father and too unlike
+herself to allow of the existence of any sympathy between them.
+Maggie, even before Mrs. Howland met Martin the Shepherd's Bush
+grocer, had been more or less a thorn in the flesh to her mother.
+
+Laburnum Villa was furnished, as James Martin expressed it, with an
+eye to comfort. There were solid arm-chairs with deep seats and good
+springs, and these were covered with maroon-colored leather. There
+were thick, maroon-colored curtains to the dining-room windows, and
+all the furniture of the room was of solid oak. There was a rich
+Turkey carpet on the floor, and prints of different hunting scenes--by
+no means bad in their way--hanging on the walls. The paint-work of the
+room was of dull red, and the paper was of the same tone. It was a
+small room, and the furniture was large and heavy, but it represented
+in Martin's eyes the very essence of comfort. The fireplace was
+modern, and when it was piled up with goodly lumps of coal it caused a
+warmth to pervade the whole room which, as Mrs. Martin expressed it,
+was very stimulating. The house had electric light, which both Mr. and
+Mrs. Martin considered distinguished.
+
+They spent most of their time in the dining-room, although Mrs.
+Martin, with some faint instinct still left of her own life, would
+have preferred to use the drawing-room in the evenings; but when she
+suggested this Bo-peep said, "No, no, Little-sing; I can smoke here
+and sit by the fire, and enjoy the rest which I have rightly earned. I
+hate rooms full of fal-lals. You can keep your drawing-room for the
+time when I am out, Little-sing."
+
+Mrs. Martin knew better than to oppose her husband. She recognized her
+own weakness, and knew that against his fiat she could no more
+exercise her puny strength than a babbling stream can disturb a great
+rock. She used her drawing-room when Bo-peep was out, and regarded it
+with intense satisfaction. It is true that the colors were crude, for
+James Martin would have screamed at any Liberty tints. But the carpet
+was good of its kind, the pictures on the walls not too atrocious.
+Although they were in gilt frames, the large mirrors over the
+mantelpiece and at one end of the room were first rate; in short, the
+drawing-room was fairly presentable, and Mrs. Martin had some traces
+of her old life still lingering about her which gave a look of
+domesticity and even repose to the place. Her little work-basket, with
+its embroidery, was home-like and pleasant. She had forgotten how to
+play, but she always kept the piano open. Bo-peep suggested buying a
+pianola, and Mrs. Martin thought it would be a good idea.
+
+"We'll have all the comic operas on it," said Bo-peep; "nothing of the
+classic order for me--nothing over-my-head, but the popular tunes,
+plenty of them--no stint. What do you say, Little-sing?"
+
+Little-sing replied that it would be charming; but in her heart she
+somewhat shuddered, and was glad that the pianola was still a thing to
+be purchased.
+
+Tildy had been turned into a very presentable little parlor-maid.
+There was also a first-rate cook, for Martin was fond of the pleasures
+of the table. On the whole, the little household was comfortable, and
+Mrs. Martin enjoyed her life. She had some cards printed with her new
+name and address, and the notification that she was "at home" on the
+third, fourth, and fifth of each month. Tildy was very much excited
+about these At Home days; but the first month after Mrs. Martin's
+marriage passed without a single individual calling upon her.
+
+Mrs. Martin had been settled for over six weeks, and the day of Queen
+Maggie's great reception at the school in Kensington was drawing on
+apace. Mrs. Martin was in a state of subdued excitement. She was
+dressed in her best. Her best consisted of a light fawn-colored silk
+with velvet trimmings of the same. The silk rustled as she walked. On
+her fingers were many rings of much brilliancy, and she wore a small
+diamond brooch at her throat. The reason of all this festive attire
+was a simple one, a good one, a domestic one. James Martin was coming
+home. He had been in Liverpool, engaged on special business, for the
+greater part of a week; but he was now returning to his beloved
+Little-sing, who had missed him, and he was pleased to feel that he
+would be with her again. She knew his tastes to a nicety, and had
+desired the cook to prepare a very special dinner for his
+delectation.
+
+"Beef-steak pudding, cook," she said, "with mutton kidneys, and plenty
+of oysters; and be sure the crust is very light."
+
+Cook replied that if she did not know how to make beef-steak pudding
+she ought immediately to leave her "perfession." She was a stout,
+red-faced woman, and had a way of frightening Mrs. Martin, who
+generally retreated from the kitchen premises as quickly as possible.
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Martin; "I am glad you quite understand. You
+know that my husband is very particular. Then we'll have potatoes and
+fried mushrooms, and I think afterwards apple-tart and cream."
+
+The cook, whose name was Horniman, condescended to signify her
+willingness to provide this dinner, and Mrs. Martin went up to the
+drawing-room.
+
+"You had better light a fire here, Matilda," she said. "It's going to
+be a very cold day."
+
+"I'd a sight rayther you called me Tildy, mum. It seems like as though
+a lump o' ice got on my 'eart when you say Mat-tilda."
+
+"'Matilda' is more refined and suitable," said Mrs. Martin with
+dignity.
+
+"Oh yes, 'um--'course, 'um. When 'ull Miss Maggie be comin' to see us,
+'um?"
+
+"Not before Christmas, you silly girl. Miss Maggie is at school."
+
+"So I 'ave 'eard," said Matilda. "You 'aven't give me no 'olidays,
+'um, sence I come to yer; and it were understood, sure-_ly_, that I
+were to 'ave my day out once a month."
+
+"You shall go out to-morrow, Matilda. I haven't the slightest wish to
+keep you indoors against your will."
+
+"To-morrer's cook's day, 'um."
+
+"Well, then, you shall go the next day."
+
+"Thank you, 'um. I thought I'd go and see Miss Maggie ef you'd give me
+her address."
+
+"Well, now, that's a very good idea," said Mrs. Martin. "I could write
+her a little note, and you could take it to her. That's very
+thoughtful of you, Tilda. Yes, I should like you to go and bring me
+word how she is."
+
+"It's longin' I am to lay eyes on 'er, mum. She's a bee-utiful way
+with 'er," said Matilda.
+
+When she was quite alone Mrs. Martin took that letter of Maggie's,
+which she had received during her husband's absence, from her pocket.
+She was terrified lest Bo-peep should read it. The letter had offended
+her. Maggie had written with great fire and distress: "You must not
+let him come here. All will be up with me if he is seen at the school.
+For the sake of my own father, keep him from Aylmer House."
+
+Mrs. Martin slipped it back into her pocket, and then sat by her
+comfortable drawing-room fire waiting for the arrival of the good
+Bo-peep. He was a very playful creature. His one idea of happiness
+consisted in endless jokes--practical jokes or otherwise, just as it
+suited him at the moment.
+
+He had done a very successful stroke of business in Liverpool, and was
+returning to Laburnum Villa in the highest spirits. While he was in
+the train he was planning how he could most effectively announce his
+return. To ring at his own hall-door, or to open it with a latch-key,
+or to walk in in the ordinary fashion of the master of the house did
+not content him at all. He must invent a more novel manner of return
+than that. He was really fond of Little-sing. She suited him to
+perfection. What he called her "fine-lady airs," when they were
+displayed to any one but himself, pleased him mightily. He thought of
+her as pretty and gracious and sweet. He really loved her after his
+own fashion, and would do anything in his power to make her happy. But
+he must, as he expressed it, have his joke.
+
+Mrs. Martin was seated by the fire in the drawing-room. It was getting
+late--nearly four o'clock; but, according to an expressed wish of
+Bo-peep, the window-blinds had not yet been drawn down. He liked, as
+he said, to see his home before he entered it. Mrs. Martin, therefore,
+with the electric light on, was perfectly visible from the road. Mr.
+Martin guessed that this would be the case, and he stopped the cab at
+a little distance from the house, paid the fare, shouldered his bag,
+and walked softly down the street. He went and stood outside the
+window. He looked in. The street was a quiet one, and at that moment
+there were no passers-by. Mrs. Martin was seated in her smart dress
+which he had given her, with her profile towards him. He thought her
+very beautiful indeed. His heart swelled with pride. She belonged to
+him. He hated fine ladies, as a rule; but a fine lady who was his very
+own was a different matter. He even felt romantic.
+
+She was reading a letter. Who could have been writing to Little-sing?
+Suddenly it occurred to him to slip down the area steps and stand
+close under the window. He did so, to the terror of cook and Tildy.
+Cook was about to scream, "Burglars!" but Tildy recognized her
+master.
+
+"It's his joke," she said. "'E's a wonderful man for jokes. Don't let
+on to Mrs. Martin that 'e's 'ere for your life. 'E'll do something so
+comic in a minute."
+
+The comicality of Martin consisted, in the present instance, of
+singing in a harsh baritone the song of the Troubadour:
+
+                       "Gaily the Troubadour
+                         Touched his guitar,
+                       When he was hastening
+                         Home from the war;
+                       Singing, 'From Palestine
+                         Hither I come.
+                       Ladye love! ladye love!
+                         Welcome me home.'"
+
+Mrs. Martin gave a shriek. She had the presence of mind to pop her
+letter into her pocket. Then she approached the window, trembling and
+blushing. Bo-peep uttered a huge laugh of delight, let himself in by
+the back way, and ran up the stairs.
+
+"Little-sing!" he said, and clasped his wife in his arms.
+
+During dinner James Martin was in high good humor, and it was not
+until dessert was put on the table and he had helped himself liberally
+to port wine, and was filling his pipe for his evening smoke, that it
+occurred to him to speak to his wife about Maggie.
+
+"By the way," he said, "I did a right good turn for that girl of
+yours, Little-sing, before I left for Liverpool. I sent her a box of
+clothes--two smart everyday dresses, an evening dress, and no end of
+fal-lals. She wrote to thank me, I suppose?"
+
+"She wrote to me, dear," said Mrs. Martin, trembling a good deal. "She
+was very much obliged to you."
+
+"And well she ought to be. Did she clearly understand that I sent her
+the things--that you had nothing to do with them?"
+
+"Oh yes, yes," said Mrs. Martin. "Won't you have some coffee, James?
+I'll tell Matilda to bring it in."
+
+"Coffee--fiddlestick!" said Martin; "and you know I hate to be called
+'James.' Where's Bo-peep?"
+
+"You are Bo-peep," said his wife with a funny smile.
+
+"Well, then, no 'Jamesing' of me. I think it is very queer of your
+daughter not to reply to me when I send her expensive and handsome
+things. What did she say in her letter to you?"
+
+"Oh, she was very grateful, of course, Bo-peep."
+
+"Well--but--where's the letter? I may as well see it. There's stuff in
+that girl. I don't despair of her yet. She has a head for business. I
+wouldn't have your dear little head muddled with business, but your
+daughter's a different person. She has nothing whatever to live on
+except what I allow her, and unless she is to starve she has got to
+please me."
+
+Mrs. Martin might have said, had she not been afraid, that Maggie was
+certainly entitled to her own father's money; but it is to be
+regretted that Little-sing had not much courage.
+
+Matilda came in with the coffee, which caused a slight diversion, more
+particularly as it was not to Martin's taste, who desired her to take
+it away again, and request Horniman to send him something fit to
+drink. When the door was closed behind Matilda he renewed the subject
+of the letter.
+
+"I saw you reading something as I came along," he said. "When I peeped
+in at the window you had a letter in your hand. Who has been writing
+to you?"
+
+"Only Maggie."
+
+"And that is the letter you spoke about?"
+
+"Yes, dear James--I mean Bo-peep--yes. The child is very grateful."
+
+"She ought to be. I'd like to see the letter. Where is it?"
+
+"I will go upstairs and fetch it," said Mrs. Martin, who knew well
+that it was safe in her pocket all the time.
+
+James Martin roused himself and gave her a studied look.
+
+"Do so," he said. "Bring it back to me at once. If I have to support
+that girl, and keep her at school, and pay for her clothing, I'll
+allow her to have no secrets from me. You understand that, don't you,
+Little-sing?"
+
+"Yes. I will fetch the letter," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+She left the room. Martin was fond of her, but he was no fool. He was
+certain now that there was something in the letter which his wife did
+not wish him to see, and his curiosity was instantly aroused. He was
+determined to read poor Maggie's letter at any cost. He waited
+impatiently, drumming his large, fat hand on the highly polished oak
+table the while. Tildy came in with fresh coffee.
+
+"Please, sir," she said, "cook wants to see you for a minute."
+
+"I can't see her now. Tell her so," replied Martin.
+
+"Which is no message for a woman of my class," said Horniman, entering
+the room and showing a very heated face. "I wishes to give notice that
+I leave your service this day month."
+
+"You can go to-morrow," said Martin.
+
+"As you please, sir; wages in full."
+
+"You go to-morrow," said Martin; "and if you say another word you go
+to-night. Leave the room."
+
+Tildy breathed a little quickly, felt inclined to pat master on the
+back, thought better of it, and left the room.
+
+"Whatever is keeping Little-sing?" thought Martin to himself.
+
+He was not going to worry about cook and her whims, but of
+Little-sing and the letter. He grew a little more suspicious, and
+consequently a little more angry.
+
+"She has that letter in her pocket; I saw her put it there when I was
+acting the part of the Troubadour," he said to himself. "She is
+destroying it now; but she sha'n't--not before I get it."
+
+He softly left the dining-room and crept with catlike steps upstairs.
+He stopped outside his wife's bedroom. There was a light burning
+there. He turned the handle of the door. It was locked.
+
+"Open the door at once," he said; and Mrs. Martin flew to do so.
+
+"Oh Bo-peep, you gave me a fright!"
+
+"Where is that letter, Victoria?"
+
+"It--it--I can't find it," she replied.
+
+"What are those papers lying on the floor?"
+
+Mrs. Martin gave a cry. Mr. Martin was too quick for her. He swept up
+the pieces of torn letter, collected them in his great hand, and,
+taking Mrs. Martin with the other hand, returned with her to the
+dining-room.
+
+"Now, you sit there, Little-sing," he said, "while I piece the letter
+together. There is something in it that you want hidden from me; but
+you've quite mistook your man. There are to be no secrets between you
+and me. I'm not the least bit angry with you, but I am not going to
+have that girl ruling you. You're frightened of that girl. Now, let's
+see what she has to say."
+
+Poor Mrs. Martin trembled from head to foot. Suddenly she went on her
+knees, clasped her hands round Bo-peep's arm, and looked into his
+face. "She was naughty. She was a silly child. Oh, forgive her! I
+ought to have destroyed the letter. I ought not to have kept it until
+you came back. Please--please, don't read it!"
+
+"Nonsense, Little-sing," he replied, restored once more to the height
+of good humor. "You have roused my curiosity; nothing will induce me
+not to see every word of the letter now."
+
+It took Martin some time to piece together poor Maggie's letter; but
+at last the greater part of its meaning was made plain to him. Mrs.
+Martin sat, white as death, looking at her lord and master. What was
+going to happen? What awful thing lay ahead of her? She felt crushed
+beyond words. Once again she struggled to get on her knees to implore
+him, to entreat; but Martin put out his great hand and kept her
+forcibly in her seat.
+
+When he had quite taken in the meaning of the letter he made no
+comment whatever, but carefully deposited the torn fragments in
+his pocket-book. Then he said quietly, "I don't blame you,
+Little-sing, not one bit. But we've got to punish this girl.
+To-morrow I shall be busy in town. The day after will be Friday, and
+I shall be busy then; but on Saturday we'll take a half-holiday and
+go to visit Miss Margaret Howland at Aylmer House--you and me
+together, Little-sing--the grocer and his wife together. Not a word,
+my love; not a word."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+TILDY'S MESSAGE.
+
+
+Nothing ever kept Mrs. Martin awake; and, notwithstanding her anxiety
+with regard to Maggie, she slept soundly that night. Bo-peep was his
+own delightful self. His jokes were really too good for anything! She
+regarded him as the wittiest man of her acquaintance. She laughed till
+the tears ran down her cheeks. He told her that he would take her to
+the theater on the following evening, and further said that he would
+engage a cook himself in town, send her out in the course of the
+morning, and that Horniman could go.
+
+Horniman came up to interview her mistress soon after Martin's
+departure. She was penitent now, and willing to stay; but nothing
+would induce Martin himself to forgive her, and, in consequence, Mrs.
+Martin did not dare to do so. The woman was paid her wages in full,
+and dismissed. Then it occurred to Mrs. Martin that here was her
+opportunity to send a short note of warning to Maggie. Why she did not
+send it by post it is hard to ascertain; but she thought that it would
+go more swiftly and surely if Tildy were the messenger.
+
+Accordingly she sent for Tildy and told her what she expected her to
+do.
+
+"Matilda," she said, "cook has gone, and I shall be quite content with
+tea and toast and a lightly boiled egg for my lunch. After lunch you
+can take the train to London and convey a message from me to Miss
+Maggie."
+
+"Oh mum, 'ow beauteous!" said Tildy.
+
+"I will have a letter ready which you are, if possible, to put into
+her own hands."
+
+"Yes, 'um; and don't I long to see 'er, jest!"
+
+"Well, this is the address," said Mrs. Martin. "Get everything cosy
+and comfortable in the house, and bring me my tea by one o'clock. A
+train will take you to Victoria at half-past one, which you ought to
+catch. You can easily be back here between four and five; by that time
+the new cook will have arrived."
+
+"Things ain't dull a bit to-day'," said Tildy. "They're much more
+Shepherd's Bushy, and I like 'em a sight better than I did."
+
+"Well, go now, and attend to your business," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+Having secured a messenger, Mrs. Martin next prepared to write to poor
+Maggie:
+
+  "MY DEAR CHILD,--Most unfortunately your father has discovered
+  the letter you wrote to me. He doesn't say much, but I can see
+  that he is furiously angry. He intends to take me with him to
+  call on you next Saturday--I presume, some time in the
+  afternoon. I will try to make him dress in as gentlemanly a
+  manner as possible, and also will endeavor to prevent his
+  talking about the shop. You must make the very best of things
+  you can, dear; for there's no possible way of keeping him from
+  Aylmer House.--Your affectionate mother,
+
+                                                "VICTORIA MARTIN."
+
+When the letter was finished Mrs. Martin put it into an envelope,
+addressed to Miss Maggie Howland, Aylmer House, Randal Square, South
+Kensington, and put it into Tildy's care. Tildy caught her train all
+in good time, arrived at Victoria, and took a bus to South Kensington.
+A very little inquiry enabled her to find Randal Square, and at about
+half-past two she was standing on the steps of that most refined and
+genteel home, Aylmer House. The look of the place impressed her, but
+did not give her any sense of intimidation. When the door was opened
+to her modest ring, and the pleasant, bright-looking parlor-maid
+answered her summons, Tildy gazed at her with great interest but
+without a scrap of shyness.
+
+"I've come from 'er 'ome to see Miss Maggie 'Owland," said Tildy; "and
+I've a message for 'er from 'er ma."
+
+The girl, whose name was Agnes, stared for a minute at Tildy. She
+recognized her "sort" in a moment. Tildy belonged to the lodging-house
+sort of girl. What she could have to do with one of Agnes's young
+ladies puzzled that young person considerably. It was the rule,
+however, at Aylmer House that no one, however poor or humble, should
+be treated with rudeness, and certainly a person bringing a message to
+one of the young ladies was entitled to respect. Agnes said,
+therefore, in a polite and superior tone, "Step in, will you, miss?
+and I will find out if Miss Howland is in."
+
+Tildy stepped into the hall, feeling, as she expressed it, "dream-like
+and queer all over." She did not dare to sit down, but stood on the
+mat, gazing with her bright, inquisitive eyes at the various things in
+this new world in which she found herself.
+
+"How beauteous!" she kept repeating at intervals. "Why, Laburnum Villa
+ain't a patch on this. How very beauteous! No wonder Miss Maggie 'ave
+the hair of a queen."
+
+Now, it so happened that Maggie Howland was out, and would not be back
+for some time. This was the day when she and the other girls belonging
+to her kingdom had gone forth to purchase all sorts of good things for
+the coming feast. Maggie, as queen, had put a whole sovereign into the
+bag. There would, therefore, be no stint of first-class provisions.
+Every sort of eatable that was not usually permitted at Aylmer House
+was to grace the board--jelly, meringues, frosted cake, tipsy cake, as
+well as chickens garnished in the most exquisite way and prepared
+specially by a confectioner round the corner; also different dainties
+in aspic jellies were to be ordered. Then flowers were to be secured
+in advance, so as to make the table really very beautiful.
+
+Maggie, Kathleen O'Donnell, and Janet were the people selected to
+arrange about the supper. Not a single thing was to be cooked in the
+establishment; this would give extra trouble to the servants, and was
+therefore not to be permitted. The girls would make their own
+sandwiches; and, oh, what troublesome thoughts they had over these!
+Maggie was in the highest spirits, and left the house with her
+companions--Miss Johnson, of course, in close attendance--half-an-hour
+before Tildy with her ominous letter appeared on the scene.
+
+Now, it so happened that Agnes knew nothing at all of the absence of
+the young ladies. They usually went out by a side-door which had been
+specially assigned to their use when the house was turned into a
+school. As Agnes was going upstairs, however, in order to try to find
+Maggie, she met Aneta coming down.
+
+"Oh miss," she said, "can you tell me if Miss Howland is in?"
+
+"No," said Aneta, "I happen to know that she is out, and I don't think
+she will be in for some little time."
+
+"Very well, miss; the young person will be sorry, I expect."
+
+"What young person?" asked Aneta, eager in her turn to find out why
+Maggie was inquired for.
+
+"A girl, miss, who has called, and has asked very particularly to see
+Miss Howland. She's rather a common sort of girl, miss, although I
+dare say she means well."
+
+"I will go and see her myself," said Aneta; "perhaps I can convey a
+message from her to Miss Howland, for I know she won't be back for
+some little time."
+
+Agnes, quite relieved in her mind, turned down the back-stairs and
+went to attend to her numerous duties. A few minutes after, Aneta, in
+all her slim grace, stood in the hall and confronted Tildy. Aneta was
+herself going out; she was going out with Mademoiselle Laplage. They
+had some commissions to execute. The day was a foggy one, and they
+were both rather in a hurry. Nevertheless, Aneta stopped to say a kind
+word to Tildy. Tildy gazed at her with open-eyed admiration. Beautiful
+as the house was, this young lady was indeed a radiant and dazzling
+vision.
+
+"She made me sort o' choky," said Tildy as she related the
+circumstance afterwards to Mrs. Martin. "There was a hair about her.
+Well, much as I loves our Miss Maggie, she ain't got the hair o' that
+beauteous young lady, with 'er eyes as blue as the sky, and 'er walk
+so very distinguishified."
+
+"What can I do for you?" said Aneta now, in a kind tone.
+
+Tildy dropped an awkward curtsy. "I've come, miss," she said, "to see
+our Miss Maggie."
+
+"Miss Howland is out," said Aneta.
+
+"Oh, miss!" replied Tildy, the corners of her mouth beginning to
+droop, "that's crool 'ard on me. Do you think, miss, if I may make so
+bold as to inquire, that Miss Maggie 'll be in soon?"
+
+"I do not think so," replied Aneta; "but I can convey any message you
+like to her, if you will trust me."
+
+"Oh miss," said Tildy, worshipping Aneta on the spot, "who wouldn't
+trust one like you?"
+
+"Well, what is it? What can I do for you?"
+
+"I was maid, miss--maid-of-all-work--at Shepherd's Bush when Miss
+Maggie and 'er ma used to live there; and when Mrs. 'Owland married
+Martin the grocer they was that kind they took me to live at Laburnum
+Villa. It's a very rich and comfortable 'ouse, miss; and the way they
+two goes on is most excitin'. It's joke, joke, and play, play, from
+morn till night--that's the ma and steppa of Miss Maggie. I've brought
+a letter from Mrs. Martin to be delivered straight to Miss Maggie."
+
+"I can give it to her," said Aneta in her calm voice.
+
+"You'll per'aps mention, miss," said Tildy, taking the letter from her
+pocket, "as I called, and as I love our dear Miss Maggie as much as I
+ever did. You'll per'aps say, miss, with my dutiful respects, that my
+'eart is 'ers, and always will be."
+
+"I will give her a kind message," said Aneta, "and safely deliver her
+mother's letter to her. I am afraid there's no use in asking you to
+stay, as Miss Howland is very much occupied just now."
+
+"Very well, miss, I've delivered my message faithful."
+
+"You have."
+
+As Aneta spoke she herself opened the hall-door.
+
+"Good-day, miss," said Tildy, dropping another curtsy, "and I wishes
+you well."
+
+"Good-day," replied Aneta.
+
+Tildy's little form was swallowed up in the fog, which was growing
+thicker each moment, and at that instant Mademoiselle Laplage, profuse
+in apologies for her brief delay, entered the hall.
+
+"Pardon me, _ma chère_, that I have caused you to wait. I was just
+ready to descend, when--see! the lace of my shoe was broken. But what
+will you? You will go out in this dreadful fog?"
+
+Aneta replied in French that she did not think the fog was too thick,
+and the French governess and the girl went out together into the
+street. But all the time Aneta Lysle was thinking hard. She was in
+possession of Maggie's secret. Her stepfather, instead of being
+related to the Martyns of The Meadows, was a grocer! Aneta belonged to
+that class of persons who think a great deal of good birth. She did
+not mind Tildy in the least, for Tildy was so far below her as to be
+after a fashion quite companionable; but--a grocer! Nevertheless,
+Aneta had a heart. She thought of Maggie, and the more she thought of
+her the more pitiful she felt towards her. She did not want to crush
+or humiliate her schoolfellow. She felt almost glad that the secret
+of Maggie's unhappiness had been made known to her. She might at last
+gain a true influence over the girl.
+
+Her walk, therefore, with Mademoiselle Laplage took place almost in
+silence. They hastily executed their commissions, and presently found
+themselves in Pearce's shop, where Aneta had taken a brooch a day or
+two ago to have a pin put on.
+
+The shopman, as he handed her the mended brooch, said at the same
+time, "If you will excuse me, miss, you are one of the young ladies
+who live at Aylmer House?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "that is true."
+
+"Then I wonder, miss, if"----He paused a minute, looked hard at the
+girl, and then continued, "Might my brother speak to you for a minute,
+miss?"
+
+"But it make so cold!" said mademoiselle, who knew very little of the
+English tongue, "and behold--zee fog! I have such fear of it. It is
+not to joke when it fogs in your country, _ma chère. Il faute bien
+dépêcher_."
+
+"I shall be quite ready to come back with you in a minute or two,"
+said Aneta.
+
+Just then the man who had bought the brooch from Maggie appeared. "I
+am very sorry, miss," he said, "but I thought that, instead of writing
+to Miss Howland, I might send her a message; otherwise I should have
+to see Mrs. Ward on the matter."
+
+"But what matter is it?" said Aneta. "You want to see Miss Howland, or
+you want me to take her a message?"
+
+"Well, miss, it's no special secret; only my brother and I cannot
+afford to buy the brooch which she sold us the other day."
+
+"But I don't understand," said Aneta. "Miss Howland sold you a brooch?
+Then if she sold it, you did buy it."
+
+"The fact is, miss," said young Pearce, coloring rather deeply, "I was
+not myself quite aware of its value at the time, and I gave the young
+lady much too small a sum of money for it. I want her to return me the
+money, and I will give her back the brooch. My brother and I have been
+talking it over, and we cannot do an injustice to one of the ladies at
+Aylmer House--it is quite impossible."
+
+"I will give your message," said Aneta coldly. "Please do not purchase
+anything else from Miss Howland. She will doubtless call to see you
+to-morrow."
+
+"Thank you, miss; then that is all right," said the man, looking much
+relieved.
+
+Aneta hastened home. She felt perplexed and alarmed. She must see
+Maggie, and as soon as possible. It was a strange fact that while
+Maggie was in no danger at all, while everything seemed to be going
+right with her, and as long as she held an undeniable position in the
+school as one of the queens, Aneta could scarcely endure her; that now
+that Maggie Howland, was, so to speak, at her mercy, this girl, whose
+nature was fine and brave and good, felt a strong desire to help
+her.
+
+There were, however, very strict rules at Aylmer House, and one of
+them was that no girl on any account whatsoever was to sell any of her
+possessions in order to make money. This was one of the unwritten
+rules of the school; but the idea of an Aylmer House girl really
+requiring to do such a thing was never contemplated for an instant.
+There were broad lines of conduct, however, which no girl was expected
+to pass. Liberty was allowed to a great extent at Aylmer House; but it
+was a liberty which only those who struggle to walk in the right path
+can fully enjoy. Crooked ways, underhand dealings, could not be
+permitted in the school.
+
+Maggie had done quite enough to cause her to be expelled. There had
+been times when Aneta almost wished for this; when she had felt deep
+down in her heart that Maggie Howland was the one adverse influence in
+the school; when she had been certain that if Maggie Howland were
+removed all the other girls would come more or less under her own
+gentle sway, and she would be queen, not of the greater number of the
+girls at Aylmer House, but of all the girls, and very gentle, very
+loving, very sympathetic would be her rule. Her subjects should feel
+her sympathy, but at the same time they should acknowledge her power.
+Maggie's was a counter-influence; and now there was a chance of
+putting a stop to it.
+
+Aneta knew well that, kind as Mrs. Ward was to Maggie, she did not in
+her heart absolutely trust her. Therefore, if Maggie left it would
+also be a relief to Mrs. Ward. Miss Johnson might be sorry, and one or
+two of the girls might be sorry; in particular, dear little Merry.
+Aneta had a great love for Merry, and was deeply sorry to feel that
+Merry was under Maggie's spell; that was the case, although she did
+not openly belong to Maggie's party. So Merry too would be saved if
+Maggie left the school. Oh! it was most desirable, and Aneta held the
+key of the position in her hand. She also had in her pocket Mrs.
+Martin's letter. That did not perhaps so greatly matter, for Maggie's
+father, whatever her mother had done, was himself a gentleman; but the
+fact of Maggie's slipping out of doors alone to sell an ornament was a
+sufficiently grave offense to banish her from such a school as Aylmer
+House.
+
+Yes, Aneta could send her away, but it might be managed dexterously.
+Maggie might stay till the end of the present term and then go,
+knowing herself that she would never return, whereas the girls would
+know nothing about it until the beginning of the next term, when they
+would no longer see her familiar face or hear her pleasant voice. A
+few of them might be sorry, but they would quickly forget. The school
+would be the better for her absence. The thing could be done, and it
+would be done, if Aneta used that knowledge which she now possessed.
+
+The girls all met at tea, and Maggie was in the highest spirits. She
+knew nothing whatever of all the information which Aneta had gathered
+in her absence. She knew nothing of Tildy's arrival, of Tildy's
+departure, nor of the letter which Aneta had put into one of her
+drawers. Still less did she know anything of Pearce and his betrayal
+of her. She and her companions had had a very pleasant time, and
+immediately after tea, in the "leisure hours," they were to meet in
+the girl's private sitting-room to discuss matters officially.
+
+The Aneta girls had, by common consent, given up the room to them
+during these last important days. There were plenty of nooks and
+corners all over the cheerful house where they could amuse themselves
+and talk secrets, and have that sort of confidence which schoolgirls
+delight in.
+
+As soon as tea was over Maggie jumped up and said, "Now, Kitty"--she
+turned to Kathleen O'Donnell as she spoke--"you and I, and Rosamond
+and Jane, and Matty and Clara, and the Tristrams will get through our
+work as quickly as possible.--I suppose, girls"--here she glanced at
+Aneta in particular--"you will let us have the sitting-room as usual
+during the leisure hours?"
+
+"Of course we will," said Sylvia St. John in her gentle tone; but she
+had scarcely uttered the words before Aneta rose.
+
+"Of course you can have the sitting-room," she said; "but I want to
+talk to you, Maggie."
+
+"You can't, I am afraid, just now," said Maggie. "I am much too
+busy.--We have to go into accounts, girls," she added. "There are no
+end of things to be done, besides, at the rehearsal." Here she dropped
+her voice slightly.
+
+"The rest of you can go to the sitting-room and do what is necessary,"
+continued Aneta. "I want you, Maggie, and you had better come with
+me." She spoke very firmly.
+
+A dogged look came into Maggie's face. She threw back her head and
+glanced full at Aneta. "I go with you," she said, "just because you
+ask me, forsooth! You forget yourself, Queen Aneta. I also am a queen
+and have a kingdom."
+
+"My business with you has something to do with a person who calls
+herself Tildy," said Aneta in her gravest voice; and Maggie suddenly
+felt as though a cold douche had been thrown over her. She colored a
+vivid red. Then she turned eagerly to Kathleen.
+
+"I won't be a minute," she said. "You all go into the sitting-room and
+get the accounts in order. You might also go over that tableaux with
+Diana Vernon.--Kathleen, you know that you must put a little more life
+into your face than you did the other day; and--and--oh dear, how
+annoying this is!--Yes, of course I will go with you, Aneta. You won't
+keep me a minute?"
+
+Maggie and Aneta left the room.
+
+Merry turned to her sister and said in a troubled voice, "I can't
+imagine why it is that Aneta doesn't care for poor Maggie. I love
+Aneta, of course, for she is our very own cousin; but I cannot
+understand her want of sympathy for dearest Maggie."
+
+"I am not altogether quite so fond of Maggie as you are, Merry; and
+you know that," said Cicely.
+
+"I know it," said Merry. "You are altogether taken up with Aneta."
+
+"Oh, and with school generally," said Cicely, "it is all so splendid.
+But come, we are alone in the room, and losing some of our delightful
+leisure hours."
+
+The Maggie-girls had meanwhile retired into the sitting-room, where
+they stood together in groups, talking about the excitement which was
+to take place on the following Saturday (it was now Thursday), and
+paying very little heed to Maggie's injunctions to put the accounts in
+order.
+
+"Don't bother about accounts," said Kitty; "there's heaps of money
+left in the bag. Wasn't it scrumptious of old Mags to put a whole
+sovereign in? And I know she is not rich, the dear old precious!"
+
+"She is exactly the sort of girl who would do a generous thing," said
+Clara Roache, "and of course, as queen, she felt that she must put a
+little more money into the bag than the rest of us."
+
+"Well, she needn't," said Kathleen. "I'd have loved her just as much
+if she hadn't put a penny in. She is a duck, though! I can't think why
+I care so much about her, for she's not beautiful."
+
+"Strictly speaking, she is plain," said Janet Burns; "but in a case
+like Maggie's plain face doesn't matter in the least."
+
+"She has got something inside," said Matty, "which makes up for her
+plain features. It's her soul shining out of her eyes."
+
+"Yes, of course," said Kathleen O'Donnell; "and it fills her voice
+too. She has got power and--what you call charm. She is meant to rule
+people."
+
+"I admire her myself more than Aneta Lysle," said Janet Burns,
+"although of course all the world would call Aneta beautiful."
+
+"Yes, that is quite true," said Kathleen; "but I call Aneta a little
+stiff, and she is very determined too, and she doesn't like poor old
+Mags one single bit. Wasn't it jolly of Mags to get up this glorious
+day for us? Won't we have fun? Aneta may look to her laurels, for it's
+my opinion that the Gibsons and the Cardews will both come over to our
+side after Saturday."
+
+While this conversation was going on, and Maggie's absence was
+deplored, and no business whatever was being done towards the
+entertainment of Saturday, Maggie found herself seated opposite to
+Aneta in Aneta's own bedroom. Maggie felt queer and shaken. She did
+not quite know what was the matter. Aneta's face was very quiet.
+
+After a time she drew a letter from her pocket and put it into
+Maggie's hand.
+
+"Who brought this?" asked Maggie.
+
+"A person who called herself Tildy."
+
+Maggie held the letter unopened in her lap.
+
+"Why don't you read it?" said Aneta.
+
+Maggie took it up and glanced at the handwriting. Then she put it down
+again.
+
+"It's from my mother," she said. "It can keep."
+
+"I cannot imagine," said Aneta, "anybody waiting even for one moment
+to read a letter which one's own mother has written. My mother is
+dead, you know."
+
+She spoke in a low tone, and her pretty eyelashes rested on her softly
+rounded cheeks.
+
+Maggie looked at her. "Why did you bring me up here, Aneta, away from
+all the others, away from our important business, to give me this
+letter?"
+
+"I thought you would rather have it in private," said Aneta.
+
+"You thought more than that, Aneta."
+
+"Yes, I thought more than that," said Aneta in her gentlest tone.
+
+Maggie's queer, narrow, eyes flashed fire. Suddenly she stood up. "You
+have something to say. Say it, and be quick, for I must go."
+
+"I don't think you must go just yet, Maggie; for what I have to say
+cannot be said in a minute. You will have to give up your leisure
+hours to-day."
+
+"I cannot. Our entertainment is on Saturday."
+
+"The entertainment must wait," said Aneta. "It is of no consequence
+compared to what I have to say to you."
+
+"Oh, have it out!" said Maggie. "You were always spying and prying on
+me. You always hated me. I don't know what I have done to you. I'd
+have left you alone if you had left me alone; but you have interfered
+with me and made my life miserable. God knows, I am not too
+happy"--Maggie struggled with her emotion--"but you have made things
+twice as bad."
+
+"Do you really, really think that, Maggie? Please don't say any more,
+then, until you hear me out to the end. I will tell you as quickly as
+possible; I will put you out of suspense. I could have made things
+very different for you, but at least I will put you out of suspense."
+
+"Well, go on; I am willing to listen. I hope you will be brief."
+
+"It is this, Maggie. I will say nothing about your past; I simply tell
+you what, through no fault of mine, I found out to-day. You gave the
+girls of this school to understand that your mother's husband--your
+stepfather--was a gentleman of old family. The person called Tildy
+told me about Mr. Martin. He may be a gentleman by nature, but he is
+not one by profession."
+
+Maggie clutched one of her hands so tightly that the nails almost
+pierced her flesh.
+
+"I won't hurt you, Maggie, by saying much on that subject. Your own
+father was a gentleman, and you cannot help your mother having married
+beneath her."
+
+Maggie gasped. Such words as these from the proud Aneta!
+
+"But there is worse to follow," continued Aneta. "I happened to go to
+Pearce's to-day."
+
+Maggie, who had half-risen, sank back again in her seat.
+
+"And Pearce wants to see you in order to return a brooch which you
+sold him. He says that he cannot afford the right price for the
+brooch. He wants you to give him back the money which he lent you on
+it, and he wants you to have the brooch again in your possession. You,
+of course, know, Maggie, that in selling one of your belongings and in
+going out without leave you broke one of the fundamental rules of
+Aylmer House. You know that, therefore----Why, what is the matter?"
+
+Maggie's queer face was working convulsively. After a time slow, big
+tears gathered in her eyes. Her complexion changed from its usual dull
+ugliness to a vivid red; it then went white, so ghastly white that the
+girl might have been going to faint. All this took place in less than
+a minute. At the end of that time Maggie was her old disdainful, angry
+self once more.
+
+"You must be very glad," she said. "You have me in your power at last.
+My stepfather is a grocer. He keeps a shop at Shepherd's Bush. He is
+one of the most horribly vulgar men that ever lived. Had I been at
+home my mother would not have consented to marry him. But my mother,
+although pretty and refined-looking, and in herself a lady, has little
+force of character, and she was quite alone and very poor indeed. You,
+who don't know the meaning of the word 'poor,' cannot conceive what it
+meant to her. Little Merry guessed--dear, dear little Merry; but as to
+you, you think when you subscribe to this charity and the other, you
+think when you adopt an East End child and write letters to her, and
+give of your superabundance to benefit her, that you understand the
+poor. I tell you you _don't_! Your wealth is a curse to you, not a
+blessing. You no more understand what people like mother and like
+myself have lived through than you understand what the inhabitants of
+Mars do--the petty shifts, the smallnesses, the queer efforts to make
+two ends meet! You in your lovely home, and surrounded by lovely
+things, and your aunt so proud of you--how _can_ you understand what
+lodgings in the hot weather in Shepherd's Bush are like? Mother
+understood--never any fresh air, never any tempting food; Tildy, that
+poor little faithful girl as servant--slavey was her right name; Tildy
+at every one's beck and call, always with a smut on her cheek, and her
+hair so untidy, and her little person so disreputable; and mother
+alone, wondering how she could make two ends meet. Talk of your
+knowing what the poor people in my class go through!"
+
+"I don't pretend that I do know, Maggie," said Aneta, who was
+impressed by the passion and strength of Maggie's words. "I don't
+pretend it for a moment. The poverty of such lives is to me a sealed
+book. But--forgive me--if you are so poor, how could you come here?"
+
+"I don't mind your knowing everything now," said Maggie. "I am
+disgraced, and nothing will ever get me out of my trouble. I am up to
+my neck, and I may as well drown at once; but Mrs. Ward--she
+understood what a poor girl whose father was a gentleman could feel,
+and she--oh, she was good!--she took me for so little that mother
+could afford it. She made no difference between you and me, Aneta, who
+are so rich, and your cousins the Cardews, who are so rich too. She
+said, 'Maggie Howland, your father was a gentleman and a man of honor,
+a man of whom his country was proud; and I will educate you, and give
+you your chance.' And, oh, I was happy here! And I--and I should be
+happy now but for you and your prying ways."
+
+"You are unkind to me, Maggie. The knowledge that your stepfather was
+a grocer was brought to me in a most unexpected way. I was not to
+blame for the little person who called herself Tildy coming here
+to-day. Tildy felt no shame in the fact that your mother had married a
+grocer. She was far more lady-like about it than you are, Maggie. No
+one could have blamed you because your mother chose to marry beneath
+her. But you were to blame, Maggie, when you gave us to understand
+that her husband was in quite a different position from what he is."
+
+"And you think," said Maggie, stamping her foot, "that the girls of
+this house--Kathleen O'Donnell, Sylvia St. John, Henrietta and Mary
+Gibson, the Cardews, the Tristrams, you yourself--would put up with me
+for a single moment if it was known what my mother has done?"
+
+"I think you underrate us all," said Aneta. Then she came close to
+Maggie and took one of her hands. "I want to tell you something," she
+added.
+
+Maggie had never before allowed her hand to remain for a second in
+Aneta's grasp. But there was something at this moment about the young
+girl, a look in her eyes, which absolutely puzzled Maggie and caused
+her to remain mute. She had struggled for a minute, but now her hand
+lay still in Aneta's clasp.
+
+"I want to help you," said Aneta.
+
+"To--help me! How? I thought you hated me."
+
+"Well, as a matter of fact," said Aneta, "I did not love you
+until"----
+
+"Until?" said Maggie, her eyes shining and her little face becoming
+transformed in a minute.
+
+"Until I knew what you must have suffered."
+
+"You do not mean to say that you love me now?"
+
+"I believe," said Aneta, looking fixedly at Maggie, "that I could love
+you."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie. She snatched her hand away, and, walking to the
+window, looked out. The fog was thicker than ever, and she could see
+nothing. But that did not matter. She wanted to keep her back turned
+to Aneta. Presently her shoulders began to heave, and, taking her
+handkerchief from her pocket, she pressed it to her eyes. Then she
+turned round. "Go on," she said.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Aneta.
+
+"Say what you want to say. I am the stepdaughter of a grocer, and I
+have broken one of the strictest rules in the school. When will you
+tell Mrs. Ward? I had better leave at once."
+
+"You needn't leave at all."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean," said Aneta, "that if you will tell Mrs. Ward everything--all
+about your stepfather, and all about your selling that jewel and going
+out without leave--I am positively sure that dear Mrs. Ward will not
+expel you from the school. I am also sure, Maggie, that there will not
+be one girl at Aylmer House who will ever reproach you. As to your
+stepfather being what he is, no girl in her senses would blame you for
+that. You are the daughter of Professor Howland, one of the greatest
+explorers of his time--a man who has had a book written about him, and
+has largely contributed to the world's knowledge. Don't forget that,
+please; none of us are likely to forget it. As to the other
+thing--well, there is always the road of confession, and I am quite
+certain that if you will see Mrs. Ward she will be kind to you and
+forgive you; for her heart is very big and her sympathies very wide;
+and then, afterwards, I myself will, for your sake, try to understand
+your position, and I myself will be your true friend."
+
+"Oh Aneta!" said Maggie.
+
+She ran up to Aneta; she took her hand; she raised it to her lips and
+kissed it.
+
+"Give me till to-morrow," she said. "Promise that you won't say
+anything till to-morrow."
+
+Aneta promised. Maggie went to her room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ANETA'S PLAN.
+
+
+The girls downstairs wondered why Maggie Howland did not appear. After
+an hour of waiting Kathleen O'Donnell took the lead. The accounts were
+left alone, but the tableaux vivants were diligently rehearsed, the
+Tristrams and Jane Burns being the three critics; Rosamond Dacre,
+Kathleen O'Donnell, and Matty and Clara Roache the performers. But,
+somehow, there was no life in the acting, for the moving spirit was
+not there; the bright, quick eye was missed, the eager words were
+lacking, with the pointed and telling criticism. Then there was the
+scene where Maggie herself was to take a part. It was from _The
+Talisman_, and a night-scene, which she was able to render with great
+precision and even beauty, and the dun light would be in her favor. It
+was to be the crowning one, and the last of the tableaux. It was
+expected to bring down the house. But Maggie was not there, and the
+girls could not help feeling a little disconsolate and a little
+surprised.
+
+At supper that evening there were eager inquiries with regard to
+Maggie Howland. All the girls came up to ask Aneta where the other
+queen was.
+
+"She is not quite well, and has gone to bed," said Aneta. "She does
+not wish to be disturbed until the morning."
+
+Aneta's words had a curious effect upon every one who heard her speak.
+It was as though she had, for the first time in her life, absolutely
+taken Maggie's part. Her eyes, when she spoke of Maggie, were full of
+affection. The girls were puzzled; but Merry, as they turned away,
+suddenly ran back to Aneta, swept her arm round the girl's neck, and
+said, "Oh Neta, I do love you!"
+
+Aneta pressed Merry's hand. For the first time these two understood
+each other.
+
+Meanwhile poor Maggie was living through one of the most dreadful
+periods of her life. Her mother's intimation that she and her
+stepfather were coming without fail to Aylmer House on Saturday--_the_
+day, the glorious day when Maggie and her friends were to entertain
+Mrs. Ward and the rest of the school--drove the girl nearly wild.
+Aneta had discovered her secret, and Aneta had urged, as the one way
+out, the painful but salutary road of confession. Maggie writhed at
+the thought, but she writhed far more terribly at the news which her
+mother's letter contained.
+
+The girl said to herself, "I cannot stand it! I will run away! He has
+destroyed my last chance. I will run away and hide. I will go
+to-night. There is no use in waiting. Aneta is kind; she is far kinder
+than I could ever have given her credit for. She would, I believe,
+help me; and dear Mrs. Ward would help me--I am sure of that. And I
+don't really mind now that it comes to the point of losing my position
+in the school as queen; but for all the school--for the Tristrams, for
+Merry Cardew, for Kathleen--to see that man is beyond my power of
+endurance. He will call here, and he will bring poor mother, but as I
+won't be here I won't feel anything. I will go to-night. I'll slip
+downstairs and let myself out. I have some money--thank goodness for
+that!--and I have my father's treasures. I can take them out of the
+tin box and wear them on my person, and I can sell them one by one.
+Yes, I will run away. There's no help for it."
+
+Maggie, at Aneta's suggestion, had got into bed, but even to think of
+sleep was beyond her power. She got up again presently, dressed, and
+sat by the foggy window. The fog was worse; it was so thick now that
+you could not see your way even as far as the trees in the middle of
+the square. There were fog-signals sounding from time to time, and
+cabs going very slowly, and boys carrying torches to light belated and
+lost passengers.
+
+Maggie was safe enough in her room, which had, like all the other
+bedrooms at Aylmer House, a small fire burning in the grate. By-and-by
+some one tapped at the door. Maggie said, "Don't come in"; but her
+words were unheeded. The door was opened an inch or two, and Merry
+Cardew entered.
+
+"Oh Merry, you--of all people!" said Maggie.
+
+"And why not?" said Merry. "I am your friend--your own very, very
+great friend. What is the matter, Mags? You were so jolly at tea; what
+can have happened since?"
+
+"Something most dreadful," said Maggie; "but you will know on
+Saturday."
+
+"Oh!" said Merry, coming up to Maggie and dropping on her knees and
+fondling one of the girl's cold hands, "why should I wait till
+Saturday? Why should I not know now?"
+
+"I can't talk of it, Merry. I am glad you--you--_loved_ me. You won't
+love me in the future. But kiss me just this once."
+
+"I am not going to leave you like this," said Merry.
+
+"You must, dear; yes, you must. Please, please go! And--please, be
+quick. Some one will see us together. Lucy Johnson will come in. Oh!
+don't make matters worse for me. Good-night, Merry, good-night."
+
+Maggie seemed so anxious that Merry should go that the girl felt hurt
+and rose to her feet.
+
+"Good-night, Merry dear," said Maggie as Merry was walking towards the
+door. Then she added, in a semi-whisper which Merry did not catch,
+"And good-bye, Merry dear; we shall never meet again."
+
+Merry left the room, feeling full of apprehension. She thought for a
+minute as she stood outside. Then she went and knocked at Aneta's
+door.
+
+"Aneta, may I come in?"
+
+"Of course, dear. What is the matter?" said her cousin.
+
+Merry entered at once.
+
+"I have been to see Maggie. She is awfully queer. Oh, I know I broke
+the rules. I must tell Miss Johnson in the morning."
+
+"I did beg of you, Merry, not to go to her," said Aneta.
+
+"Yes, I know you did; but I could not help thinking and thinking about
+her. She is very queer. Her eyes look so strange."
+
+"I hoped she was in bed and asleep," said Aneta.
+
+"In bed!" said Merry. "Not a bit of it. She was up and sitting by the
+window gazing at the fog."
+
+"I will go and see her myself," said Aneta.
+
+"Will you, Neta? And you will be kind to her?"
+
+"Yes, darling, of course."
+
+"Somehow, she used to think that--that you didn't love her," said
+Merry.
+
+"Nor did I," said Aneta. "But I will be kind to her; don't be afraid.
+I think I can guess what is the matter."
+
+"It is all very queer," said Merry. "She was in such splendid spirits
+to-day; all the girls said so when they were out preparing for our
+party, and now she looks years older and utterly miserable."
+
+"Go to bed, Merry, and leave your friend in my care."
+
+"Then you don't think it wrong of me to be very fond of her?"
+
+"I do not, Merry. There was a time when I hoped you would not care for
+her; now I earnestly want you to be her true friend. There is a very
+great deal of good in her, and she has had many sorrows. Pray for her
+to-night. Don't be anxious. Everything will come as right as
+possible."
+
+"Oh Neta," said Merry, "you are a darling! And when you talk like that
+I love you more than I ever did before. You see, dear, I could not
+help caring for Maggie from the very first, and nothing nor anybody
+can alter my love."
+
+Aneta kissed Merry, who left the room. Then Aneta herself, taking up
+her candle, went out. She was wearing a long white wrapper, and her
+clouds of golden hair were falling far below her waist. She looked
+almost like an angel as she went down the corridor as far as Miss
+Johnson's room.
+
+Lucy Johnson was just getting into bed when Aneta knocked.
+
+"What is it, Neta?" said the governess in a tone almost of alarm.
+
+"I want to break a rule, Lucy," said Aneta; "so put me down for
+punishment to-morrow."
+
+"Oh, but why? What are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to do something which I shall be punished for. I am going
+to spend to-night, if necessary, with Maggie Howland."
+
+"Is she ill, Neta? Ought we to send for the doctor?"
+
+"Oh no, she is not a bit ill in that way. Good-night, Lucy; I felt I
+ought to tell you."
+
+Aneta continued her way until she reached Maggie's room. It was now
+past midnight. The quiet and regular household had all retired to bed,
+and Maggie had feverishly begun to prepare for departure. She knew how
+to let herself out. Once out of the house, she would be, so she felt,
+through the worst part of her trouble. She was not unacquainted with
+the ways of this cruel world, and thought that she might be taken in
+at some hotel, not too far away, for the night. Early in the morning
+she would go by train to some seaside place. From there she would
+embark for the Continent. Beyond that she had made no plans.
+
+Maggie was in the act of removing her father's treasures from the tin
+boxes when, without any warning, the room-door was opened, and Aneta,
+in her pure white dress, with her golden hair surrounding her very
+fair face, entered the room.
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie, dropping a curiously made cross in her confusion
+and turning a dull brick-red. "Whatever have you come about?"
+
+Aneta closed the door calmly, and placed her lighted candle on the top
+of Maggie's chest of drawers.
+
+"I hoped you were in bed and asleep," she said; "but instead of that
+you are up. I have made arrangements to spend the night with you. It
+is bitterly cold. We must build up the fire."
+
+Maggie felt wild.
+
+Aneta did not take the slightest notice. She knelt down and put knobs
+of fresh coal on the fire. Soon it was blazing up merrily. "That's
+better," she said. "Now, don't you think a cup of cocoa each would be
+advisable?"
+
+"I don't want to eat," said Maggie.
+
+"I should like the cocoa," said Aneta; "and I have brought it with me.
+I thought your supply might be out. Here's your glass of milk which
+you never drank, and here's a little saucepan, and there are cups and
+saucers in your cupboard, and a box of biscuits. Just sit down, won't
+you? while I make the cocoa."
+
+Maggie felt very strange. Her dislike of Aneta was growing less and
+less moment by moment. Nevertheless, she by no means gave up her
+primary idea of running away. She felt that she must hoodwink Aneta.
+Surely she was clever enough for that. The best plan would be to
+acquiesce in the cocoa scheme, afterwards to pretend that she was
+sleepy, and go to bed. Then Aneta would, of course, leave her, and
+there would still be plenty of time to get out of the house and
+disappear into the foggy world of London. The glowing fire, the
+beautiful young girl kneeling by it, the preparation for the little
+meal which she made with such swiftness and dexterity, caused Maggie
+to gaze at her in speechless amazement.
+
+Maggie drank her delicious cocoa and munched her biscuits with
+appetite, and afterwards she felt better. The world was not quite so
+black and desolate, and Aneta looked lovely with her soft eyes glowing
+and the rose-color in her cheeks.
+
+"Why are you doing all this for me?" said Maggie then.
+
+"Why?" said Aneta. "I think the reason is very simple." Then she
+paused for a minute and her eyes filled with sudden tears. "I think it
+is, Maggie, because quite unexpectedly I have learned to love you."
+
+"You--to love me--me?" said Maggie.
+
+"Yes."
+
+Maggie felt herself trembling. She could not reply. She did not
+understand that she returned the love so suddenly given to her--given
+to her, too, in her moment of deepest degradation, of her most utter
+misery. Once again the feeling that she must go, that she could not
+face confession and the scorn of the school, and the awful words of
+Bo-peep, and her poor mother as Bo-peep's wife, overpowered her.
+
+"You are--very kind," she said in a broken voice; "and the cocoa was
+good; and, if you don't mind--I will--go to bed now, and
+perhaps--sleep a little."
+
+"What have you been doing with all those lovely curios?" said Aneta.
+
+"I?" said Maggie. "I--oh, I like to look at them."
+
+"Do pick up that cross which is lying on the floor, and let me examine
+it."
+
+Maggie did so rather unwillingly.
+
+"Please bring over all the other things, and let me look at them,"
+said Aneta then.
+
+Maggie obeyed, but grudgingly, as though she did not care that Aneta
+should handle them.
+
+"Why have you taken them out of their boxes and put them all in a
+muddle like this?" said Aneta.
+
+"I--I wanted something to do," said Maggie. "I couldn't sleep."
+
+"Was that the only reason--honor bright?" said Aneta.
+
+Maggie dropped her eyes.
+
+Aneta did not question her any further, but she drew her down to a low
+chair by the fire, and put a hand on her lap, and kept on looking at
+the treasures: the bracelets, the crosses, the brooches, the quaint
+designs belonging to a bygone period. After a time she said, "I am not
+at all sure--I am not a real judge of treasures; but I have an uncle,
+Sir Charles Lysle, who knows more about these things than any one else
+in London; and if he thinks what I am inclined to think with regard to
+the contents of these two boxes, you will be"----She stopped
+abruptly.
+
+Maggie's eyes were shining. "Aneta," she said, "don't talk of these
+any more; and don't talk either of wealth or poverty any more. There
+is something I want to say. When you came into my room just now I was
+packing up to run away."
+
+"Oh yes, I know that," said Aneta. "I saw that you had that intention
+the moment I entered the room."
+
+"And you said nothing!"
+
+"Why should I? I didn't want to force your confidence. But you're not
+going to run away now, Mags?" She bent towards her and kissed her on
+the forehead.
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, trembling. "I want you to let me go."
+
+"I cannot possibly do that, dear. If you go, I go too."
+
+"I must go," said Maggie. "You don't understand. You found things out
+about me to-day, and you have behaved--well, splendidly. I didn't give
+you credit for it. I didn't know you. Now I do know you, and I see
+that no girl in the school can be compared to you for nobleness and
+courage, and just for being downright splendid. But, Aneta, I cannot
+bear that which is before me."
+
+"The fact is," said Aneta, "you are in the midst of a terrible battle,
+and you mean to give in and turn tail, and let the enemy walk over the
+field. That is not a bit what I should have expected at one time from
+Maggie Howland."
+
+"I will tell you," said Maggie. "I am not really a bit brave; there is
+nothing good in me."
+
+"We won't talk about that," said Aneta. "What we have to think about
+now is what lies straight ahead of you; not of your past any more,
+but your immediate future. You have a tough time before you; in fact,
+you have a very great battle to fight, but I do not think you will
+turn tail."
+
+"You want me," said Maggie, "to go to Mrs. Ward and tell her
+everything?"
+
+"You must do that, Maggie. There is no second course to pursue. There
+is no way out. But I have been thinking since I saw you that perhaps
+you might have your day on Saturday. I think it would be best for you
+to tell Mrs. Ward to-morrow; and I think she would not prevent you
+having your day on Saturday. Perhaps it will be necessary--but she is
+the one to decide--that some of your schoolfellows should be told; and
+of course your little brooch which you sold to Pearce must be got
+back. Even Pearce is far too honest to keep it for the price he paid
+you."
+
+"He gave me five pounds, and I have spent one. There are still four
+pounds left," said Maggie. "I meant to run away with the help of
+these."
+
+"I will lend you a pound," said Aneta, "and we'll get the brooch back
+to-morrow."
+
+"But, Aneta, I have not yet told you--it is too fearful--you cannot
+conceive what my stepfather is like. It isn't only his being a
+grocer--for I have no doubt there are lots of grocers who are quite,
+quite tolerable; but you cannot imagine what he is. I had a letter
+from him a little time ago--that time, you remember, when he sent me
+those perfectly awful dresses--and he said then that he and my mother
+were coming to see me, as he wanted to interview Mrs. Ward and to look
+at the school for himself. Well, that poor Tildy brought me a letter
+to-day from mother. I had written to mother to beg of her not to let
+him come; but he got hold of the letter, and he was nearly mad about
+it. The end of it is that he and she are coming on _Saturday_, and,
+somehow, I can't bear it. I must run away; I _cannot_ endure it!"
+
+"I don't wonder," said Aneta. "Let me think. Lay your head on my
+shoulder, Maggie. Oh, how tired you are!"
+
+"Aneta, you seem to me quite new--just as though I had never seen you
+before."
+
+"I think you and your story have opened my eyes and done me good,"
+said Aneta. "Then what you said about the sufferings of the poor--I
+mean your sort of poor--gave me great pain. Will you take off your
+things and lie down, and let me lie by your side? Do, Maggie
+darling!"
+
+Maggie darling! Such words to come from Aneta Lysle's lips! Maggie
+felt subjugated. She allowed her rival queen to undress her, and
+presently the two girls were lying side by side in the little bed.
+Maggie dropped off into heavy slumber. Aneta lay awake.
+
+It was early morning when Aneta touched her companion.
+
+"Maggie, I have been thinking hard all night, and I am going to do
+something."
+
+"You! What can you do? Oh, I remember everything now. Oh, the horror!
+Oh, how can I endure it? Why didn't I run away?"
+
+"Maggie, you must promise me faithfully that you will never run away.
+Say it now, this minute. I believe in your word; I believe in your
+fine nature. I will help you with all my might and main through
+school-life, and afterwards. Give me your word now. You will stay at
+Aylmer House?"
+
+"I will stay," said poor Maggie.
+
+"I don't ask any more. Thank you, dear. Maggie, do nothing to-day, but
+leave matters in my hands. You are not well; your head aches, your
+forehead is so hot."
+
+"Yes, I have a headache," owned Maggie.
+
+"I shall be away for the greater part of the day, but I will ask Miss
+Johnson to look after you. Don't say anything until I return."
+
+"But what are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to see your mother and your stepfather."
+
+"Aneta!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Oh Aneta, you must not see him!"
+
+"It is probable that I shall seem him, dear; I am not easily alarmed.
+I will take Aunt Lucia with me. I am going downstairs now to ask Mrs.
+Ward's permission."
+
+"And you will say nothing about me?"
+
+"Something, but nothing of your story. When you feel well enough you
+can get up and go on with the preparations for to-morrow. I believe we
+shall have our happy day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+AT LABURNUM VILLA.
+
+
+Aneta went back to her room, where she dressed with her usual
+expedition and extreme neatness. When she had finished her toilet she
+ran downstairs. It was not yet eight o'clock; but most of the girls
+were assembled in the large hall waiting for prayers, which always
+took place before breakfast. Mrs. Ward was seen passing to the
+library, where prayers were held. Aneta went up to her.
+
+"Prayers first, of course," said Aneta, "and afterwards may I talk to
+you?"
+
+Mrs. Ward looked at Aneta. "What is the matter, dear?"
+
+"Something very important indeed. I must see you."
+
+"Well, breakfast follows prayers; come to me the minute breakfast is
+over."
+
+"Thank you, dear Mrs. Ward," said Aneta.
+
+At breakfast Merry asked Aneta how Maggie was. Aneta said that Maggie
+had a headache, and would not be in school during the morning.
+
+"Then what are we to do about our day?" said Molly Tristram, who
+overheard this remark. "We have absolutely more to get through than we
+can possibly manage."
+
+"Oh, to-morrow will be quite all right," said Aneta; "and Maggie will
+join you presently."
+
+Aneta was so respected in the school, so little given to exaggeration,
+so absolutely to be relied on, that these words of hers had a most
+calming effect. The girls continued their breakfast, those who were in
+the secret of to-morrow occasionally alluding to the subject in
+French, which was the only language allowed to be spoken. The others
+talked about their different occupations.
+
+As soon as ever breakfast was over, Aneta went to Mrs. Ward's private
+room.
+
+"Now, dear, what is it?" said the head-mistress. "I have to take the
+class for literature at half-past nine, and have very little time to
+spare."
+
+"I won't keep you," said Aneta; "but what I wanted was to beg for a
+day's holiday."
+
+"My dear girl! What do you mean? In the middle of term--a day's
+holiday! Can you not take it to-morrow?--oh, I forgot, to-morrow
+Maggie is having her grand carnival, as I call it. But what is the
+matter, Aneta? Have you any trouble?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta; "and I cannot tell you, dear Mrs. Ward."
+
+"I trust you, of course, Aneta."
+
+"I know you do; and I want you to trust me more than ever. It has
+something to do with Maggie."
+
+Mrs. Ward slightly frowned. "I am never sure"--she began.
+
+But Aneta stopped her impulsively. "If you give me that holiday
+to-day," she said, "and if you trust me, and if you will also give me
+Mrs. Martin's address, which, of course, you must have on your
+books"----
+
+"Mrs. Martin's address?" said Mrs. Ward.
+
+"Yes. You know Maggie's mother has married again; she is Mrs.
+Martin."
+
+"Of course, of course; I had forgotten for the moment. Yes, I have her
+address."
+
+"Well, if you will do all that," continued Aneta, "I think that you
+will find a new Maggie in the future, one whom you--will trust,
+and--and love, as I love her."
+
+"My dear girl! as you love Maggie Howland?"
+
+Aneta lowered her head for a minute. "It is true I did not love her,"
+she said, "in the past, but I have changed my views. I have been
+narrow-minded, and small, and silly. She herself has opened my eyes. I
+cannot tell you more now. Maggie will come down, and will be able to
+go on with her lessons just as usual this afternoon; but I want a day
+off, and I want it at once."
+
+"But where are you going, dear?"
+
+"I am going to Aunt Lucia. You will let me have a cab, and I will
+drive to Aunt Lucia's house in Eaton Square at once?"
+
+Mrs. Ward looked doubtful. "You have a very grave reason for this?"
+she said.
+
+"Very, very grave; and I will tell you all presently."
+
+"I have never had reason to doubt you," said Mrs. Ward, "and I won't
+doubt you now. Does Maggie know of this?"
+
+"Yes--oh yes; but please don't question her until I return."
+
+"Very well, dear; you shall have your way. Oh, you want Mrs. Martin's
+address. It is Laburnum Villa, Clapham."
+
+Aneta entered the address in a little tablet bound in gold which she
+always wore at her waist.
+
+"Thank you ever so much," she said, and then left the room.
+
+A minute or two later she met Miss Johnson. "Give me something stiff
+to learn--something that I don't like--to-night, dear Lucy," she said.
+"I am off for a whole day's holiday, but I shall be back in the
+evening."
+
+"That is very queer," said Miss Johnson. "What does it mean?"
+
+"I cannot explain, but Mrs. Ward knows. Be specially kind to dear
+Maggie, and give me something that I don't like to do when I return."
+
+Miss Johnson smiled. "You shall hem some dusters," she said.
+
+Aneta made a wry face. "Thanks ever so much," she replied; then she
+ran upstairs to get ready for her visit.
+
+Just before leaving the house she looked in at Maggie. "I'm off, Mags.
+It's all right. I shall probably see you about tea-time."
+
+Before Maggie had time even to expostulate Aneta closed the door, and
+a minute or two later had stepped into the cab which Agnes had called
+for her. The cabman was desired to drive Miss Lysle to Lady Lysle's
+house in Eaton Square. This was accordingly done, and soon after ten
+o'clock Lady Lysle, who had not yet completed her morning toilet, was
+most amazed at being informed by her maid that Miss Lysle was waiting
+for her downstairs.
+
+"Aneta! You don't mean Aneta, Purcell?"
+
+"Yes, my lady; and she wants to see you in a very great hurry."
+
+"Then send her up to me."
+
+Purcell disappeared. Lady Lysle wondered what was wrong. Presently
+Aneta burst into the room.
+
+"My dear child," said her aunt, "what can be wrong? Why have you left
+school? I do hope no illness has broken out there. It would be very
+inconvenient for me to have you here at present."
+
+"There is no illness whatever at the school, Aunt Lucia," said Aneta,
+going up to her aunt and kissing her; "only there is a girl there, one
+of my schoolfellows, in a good bit of trouble, and I want to help her,
+and I have got a day off from Mrs. Ward, who doesn't know why she is
+giving it to me, but trusts me all the same. And now, auntie, I want
+you to come with me at once."
+
+"Oh my dear child, where?"
+
+"To Clapham, auntie."
+
+"Clapham! I never stopped at Clapham in my life. I have driven through
+the place, it is true."
+
+"Well, we'll stop there to-day," said Aneta, "at Laburnum Villa,
+Clapham. I want to see Mrs. Martin, Maggie's mother."
+
+"Oh, dear child," said Lady Lysle, "you mean Miss Howland when you
+speak of Maggie? Now, you know I told you that her stepfather is no
+relation whatever to the Martyns of The Meadows. I cannot make out why
+she should have given you to understand that he was. A man who lives
+at Clapham! Dear Aneta, I would rather be excused."
+
+"There is no excuse, auntie, that I can listen to for a single moment.
+I know all about Maggie's stepfather, and I will tell you as we are
+driving out to Clapham. You have always let me have my own way, and I
+have--yes, I have tried to be a good girl; but there is something
+before me to-day more important and more difficult than I ever tackled
+yet, and if I can't come to my own aunt--I, who am a motherless
+girl--for help at this crisis I shall think the world is coming to an
+end."
+
+"What a strange, earnest way you do speak in, Aneta!"
+
+"I am very sorry, darling; but I assure you the case is most urgent.
+You are quite well, aren't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, my love; I am never an ailing sort of person."
+
+"Well, then, I will send Purcell back to you, and please order the
+carriage, and please be as quick as possible. We have to go somewhere
+else after we have done with Mrs. Martin."
+
+"Well, Aneta, I always was wax in your hands, and I suppose I must do
+what you wish. But remember your promise that you will tell me the
+meaning of this extraordinary thing during our drive to Clapham."
+
+"I promise faithfully to tell you what is necessary, for the fact is I
+want your help. Darling auntie! you are doing about the best work of
+your life to-day. I knew you would stand by me; I felt certain of it,
+and I told Maggie so."
+
+"That girl!" said Lady Lysle. "I don't care for that girl."
+
+"You will change your mind about her presently," said Aneta, and she
+ran downstairs to request Davidson, the butler, to bring her something
+to eat, for her breakfast had been slight, and she was quite hungry
+enough to enjoy some of her aunt's nice food.
+
+By-and-by Lady Lysle, looking slim and beautiful, wearing her becoming
+sables and her toque with its long black ostrich plume, appeared on
+the scene, and a minute later Davidson announced that the carriage was
+at the door.
+
+The two ladies stepped in, Aneta giving very careful directions to the
+driver.
+
+He expressed some astonishment at the address. "Laburnum Villa,
+Clapham!" he said. "Martin, Laburnum Villa, Clapham! Clapham's a big
+place, miss."
+
+"I know that," said Aneta; "but that is all the address I can obtain.
+We must call at the post-office, if necessary, to get the name of the
+street."
+
+The footman sprang into his place, and Aneta and her aunt drove off in
+the comfortable brougham towards that suburb known as Clapham.
+
+"Now, Aneta, I suppose you will tell me what is the meaning of this?"
+
+"Yes, I will," said Aneta. "I made a mistake about Maggie, and I am
+willing to own it. She has been placed in a difficult position. I do
+not mean for a minute to imply that she has acted in a straight way,
+for she has not. But there is that in her which will make her the best
+of girls in the future, as she is one of the cleverest and one of the
+most charming. Yes, auntie, she has got a great power about her. She
+is a sort of magnet--she attracts people to her."
+
+"She has never attracted me," said Lady Lysle. "I have always thought
+her a singularly plain girl."
+
+"Ugliness like hers is really attractive," said Aneta. "But, now, the
+thing is this: if we don't help her she will be absolutely lost, all
+her chance taken from her, and her character ruined for ever. We do a
+lot at our school for those poor slum-girls, but we never do anything
+for girls in our class. Now, I mean my girl in future to be Maggie
+Howland."
+
+"Aneta, you are absurd!"
+
+"I mean it, auntie; her father's daughter deserves help. Her father
+was as good a man as ever lived, and for his sake something ought to
+be done for his only child. As to her mother"----
+
+"Yes, the woman who has married a person of the name of Martin, and to
+whose house I presume we are going"----
+
+"Auntie, I have rather a shock to give you. Poor Maggie did mean to
+imply that her stepfather was in a different class of life from what
+he is. He is a--grocer!"
+
+Lady Lysle put up her hand to pull the check-string.
+
+"Pray, auntie, don't do that. Maggie isn't the daughter of a grocer,
+and she can't help her mother having married this dreadful man. I want
+Maggie to have nothing to do with her stepfather in the future, and I
+mean to carry out my ideas, and you have got to help me."
+
+"Indeed, I will do nothing of the kind. What a disgraceful girl! She
+must leave Aylmer House at once."
+
+"Then I will go too," said Aneta.
+
+"Aneta, I never knew you behave in such a way before."
+
+"Come, auntie darling, you know you are the sweetest and the most
+loving and sympathetic person in the world; and why should you turn
+away from a poor little girl who quite against her own will finds
+herself the stepdaughter of a grocer? Maggie has given me to
+understand that he is a dreadful man. She is horrified with him, and
+what I am going now to Laburnum Villa about is to try to prevent his
+visiting the school with his wife on Saturday. I will do the talking,
+dear, and you have only to sit by and look dignified."
+
+"I never was put in such a dreadful position before," said Lady Lysle,
+"and really even you, Aneta, go too far when you expect me to do
+this."
+
+"But you would visit a poor woman in East London without the smallest
+compunction," said Aneta.
+
+"That is different," replied Lady Lysle with dignity.
+
+"It is different," replied Aneta; "but the difference lies in the fact
+that the grocer's wife is very much higher up in the social scale than
+the East End woman."
+
+"Oh my dear child, this is really appalling! I have always distrusted
+that Miss Howland. Does Mrs. Ward know of your project?"
+
+"Not yet, but she will to-night."
+
+"And what am I to do when I visit this person?"
+
+"Just look your dear, sweet, dignified self, and allow me to do the
+talking."
+
+"I think you have taken leave of your senses."
+
+"I haven't taken leave of my senses, and I would do more than I am now
+doing to help a fine girl round a nasty corner. So cheer up, auntie!
+After we have seen Mrs. Martin we have to go on and visit the
+grocer."
+
+"Aneta, that I do decline!"
+
+"I am sure you won't decline. But let us think of Mrs. Martin herself
+first, and try to remember that by birth she is a lady."
+
+Just at this moment the carriage drew up outside a post-office. There
+was a short delay while Laburnum Villa was being inquired for by the
+footman. At last the street in which this small suburban dwelling was
+situated was discovered, and a few minutes later the carriage, with
+its splendid horses and two servants on the box, drew up before the
+green-painted door.
+
+The villa was small, but it was exceedingly neat. The little brass
+knocker shone, even though yesterday was a day of such fog. The
+footman came to the carriage-door to make inquiries.
+
+"I will get out," said Aneta.
+
+"Hadn't James best inquire if the woman is in?" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"No, I think I will," said Aneta.
+
+She went up the narrow path and rang the front-door bell. Tildy opened
+the door. The new cook had been peeping above the blinds in the
+kitchen. Tildy had hastily put on a white apron, but it is to be
+regretted that a smut was once more on her cheek. Somehow, Aneta liked
+her all the better for that smut.
+
+"I want to see your mistress, Tildy," she said. "It is something about
+Miss Maggie, and I am, as you know, one of her schoolfellows."
+
+"Lor', miss! yes, for certain, miss. Mrs. Martin 'll be that proud,
+miss."
+
+"I have brought my aunt with me," said Aneta. "She would like to come
+in too in order to see Mrs. Martin."
+
+"Yes, miss; in course, miss. There's no fire lit in the drawin'-room.
+But there's the dinin'-room; it do smell a bit smoky, for master 'e
+loves 'is pipe. 'E smokes a lot in the dinin'-room, miss."
+
+"Show us into the dining-room," said Aneta. She ran back to fetch Lady
+Lysle, and conducted that amazed and indignant woman into the house.
+
+Tildy rushed upstairs to fetch her mistress. "You get into your best
+gown in no time, mum. There's visitors downstairs--that most beauteous
+young lady who spoke to me yesterday at Aylmer House, and a lady
+alongside of 'er as 'u'd make yer 'eart quake. Ef Queen Victoria was
+alive I'd say yes, it was 'erself. Never did I mark such a sweepin'
+and 'aughty manner. They're fine folks, both of 'em, and no mistake."
+
+"Did they give their names?" asked Mrs. Martin.
+
+"I didn't even arsk, mum. They want to see you about our Miss
+Maggie."
+
+"Well, I will go down. What a queer, early hour for visitors! What
+dress shall I wear, Tildy?"
+
+"I'd say the amber satin, mum, ef I'd a voice in the choice. You look
+elegant in it, mum, and you might 'ave your black lace shawl."
+
+"I don't think I will wear satin in the morning," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+Tildy helped her into a dark-brown merino dress, one of her extensive
+trousseau. Mrs. Martin then went downstairs, prepared to show these
+visitors that she was "as good as them, if not better." But the
+glimpse of the carriage and horses which she got through the
+lobby-window very nearly bowled her over.
+
+"Go in, mum, now; you've kept them waitin' long enough. I can serve up
+an elegant lunch if you want it."
+
+Tildy felt almost inclined to poke at her mistress in order to hurry
+her movements. Mrs. Martin opened the dining-room door and stood just
+for a minute on the threshold. She looked at that moment a perfect
+lady. Her gentle, faded face and extreme slimness gave her a grace of
+demeanor which Lady Lysle was quick to acknowledge. She bowed, and
+looked at Aneta to speak for her.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Martin," said that young lady. "I am Aneta Lysle,
+one of your daughter's schoolfellows. My aunt, Lady Lysle"--Mrs.
+Martin bowed--"has kindly come with me to see you. We want to have a
+little confidential talk with you."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" said Mrs. Martin. "Has Maggie done anything wrong? She
+always was a particularly troublesome girl."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said Lady Lysle. At that moment she had an
+idea of Maggie in disgrace and banished from Aylmer House, which
+pleased her.
+
+Mrs. Martin stopped speaking when Lady Lysle said this.
+
+"Doubtless you agree with me, Mrs. Martin," continued the lady, "that
+your daughter would do better at another school."
+
+"Oh no," said Mrs. Martin; "we wish her--Bo-peep and I--I mean James
+and I--to stay where she is."
+
+"And so do I wish her to stay where she is," said Aneta.--"Auntie
+darling, you don't quite understand; but Mrs. Martin and I
+understand.--Don't we, Mrs. Martin?"
+
+"Well, I am sure," said Mrs. Martin, "I haven't the faintest idea what
+you are driving at, Miss--Miss Lysle."
+
+"Well, it is just this," said Aneta. "You sent a letter yesterday to
+Maggie."
+
+"I did," said Mrs. Martin; "and great need I had to send it."
+
+"In that letter you informed Maggie that you and your husband were
+coming to see her to-morrow."
+
+"Bo-peep wishes--I mean, James wishes--to."
+
+"Really, Aneta, had not we better go?" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"Not yet, auntie, please.--Mrs. Martin, I begged for a holiday to-day
+on purpose to come and see you."
+
+"If it's because you think I'll keep James--Bo-peep--I mean
+James--from having his heart's wish, I am sorry you have wasted your
+time," said Mrs. Martin. "The fact is, he is very angry indeed with
+Maggie. He considers her his own child now, which of course is true,
+seeing that he has married me, and I really can't go into particulars;
+but he is determined to see her and to see Mrs. Ward, and he's not a
+bit ashamed of being--being--well, what he is--an honorable
+tradesman--a grocer."
+
+"But perhaps you are aware," said Lady Lysle, "that the daughters of
+grocers--I mean tradesmen--are not admitted to Aylmer House."
+
+Mrs. Martin turned her frightened eyes on the lady. "Maggie isn't the
+real daughter of a tradesman," she said then. "She is only the
+stepdaughter. Her own father was"----
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "we all know what her own father was--a splendid
+man, one of the makers of our Empire. We are all proud of her own
+father, and we do not see for a moment why Maggie should not live up
+to the true circumstances of her birth, and I have come here to-day,
+Mrs. Martin, to ask you to help me. If you and your husband come to
+Aylmer House there will be no help, for Maggie will certainly have to
+leave the school."
+
+"Of course, and the sooner the better," said Lady Lysle.
+
+"But if you will help us, and prevent your husband from coming to our
+school to-morrow, there is no reason whatever why she shouldn't stay
+at the school. Even her expenses can be paid from quite another
+source."
+
+Mrs. Martin looked intensely nervous. A bright spot of color came into
+her left cheek. Her right cheek was deadly pale.
+
+"I--I cannot help it," she said. "I never meant Bo-peep to go; I never
+wished him to go. But he said, 'Little-sing, I will go'--I--I forgot
+myself--of course you don't understand. He is a very good husband to
+me, but he and Maggie never get on."
+
+"I am sure they don't," said Aneta with fervor.
+
+"Never," continued Mrs. Martin. "I got on with her only with
+difficulty before I married my present dear husband. I am not at all
+ashamed of his being a grocer. He gives me comforts, and is fond of
+me, and I have a much better time with him than I had in shabby, dirty
+lodgings at Shepherd's Bush. I don't want him to go to that school
+to-morrow; but I thought it right to let Maggie know he was coming,
+for, all the same, go he will. When James puts his foot down he is a
+very determined man."
+
+"This is altogether a most unpleasant interview," said Lady Lysle,
+"and I have only come here at my niece's request.--Perhaps, Aneta, we
+can go now."
+
+"Not yet, auntie darling.--Mrs. Martin, Maggie and I had a long talk
+yesterday, and will you put this matter into my hands?"
+
+"Good heavens! what next?" murmured Lady Lysle to herself.
+
+"Will you give me your husband's address, and may I go to see him?"
+
+"You mean the--the--shop?" said Mrs. Martin.
+
+"I don't go into that shop!" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"Yes, I mean the shop," said Aneta. "I want to go and see him there."
+
+"Oh, he will be so angry, and I am really terrified of him when he is
+angry."
+
+"But think how much more angry he will be if you don't give me that
+address, and things happen to-morrow which you little expect. Oh!
+please trust me."
+
+Aneta said a few more words, and in the end she was in possession of
+that address at Shepherd's Bush where Martin the grocer's flourishing
+shop was to be found.
+
+"Thank you so very much, Mrs. Martin. I don't think you will ever
+regret this," said the girl.
+
+Lady Lysle bowed to the wife of the grocer as she went out, but Aneta
+took her hand.
+
+"Perhaps you never quite understood Maggie," she said; "and perhaps,
+in the future, you won't have a great deal to say to her."
+
+"I don't want to; she never suited me a bit," said the mother, "and I
+am very happy with Bo-peep."
+
+"Well, at least you may feel," said Aneta, "that I am going to be
+Maggie's special friend."
+
+Mrs. Martin stood silent while Lady Lysle and her niece walked down
+the little path and got into the carriage. When the carriage rolled
+away she burst into a flood of tears. She did not know whether she was
+glad or sorry; but, somehow, she had faith in Aneta. Was she never
+going to see Maggie again? She was not quite without maternal love for
+her only child, but she cared very much more for Bo-peep, and quite
+felt that Maggie would be a most troublesome inmate of Laburnum
+Villa.
+
+"Now, Aneta," said her aunt as the carriage rolled away, "I have gone
+through enough in your service for one day."
+
+"You haven't been at all nice, auntie," said Aneta; "but perhaps you
+will be better when you get to the shop."
+
+"I will not go to the shop."
+
+"Auntie, just think, once and for all, that you are doing a very
+philanthropic act, and that you are helping me, whom you love so
+dearly."
+
+"Of course I love you, Aneta. Are you not as my own precious child?"
+
+"Well, now, I want you to buy no end of things at Martin's shop."
+
+"Buy things! Good gracious, child, at a grocer's shop! But I get all
+my groceries at the Stores, and the housekeeper attends to my
+orders."
+
+"Well, anyhow, spend from five to ten pounds at Martin's to-day. You
+can get tea made up in half-pound packets and give it away wholesale
+to your poor women. Christmas is coming on, and they will appreciate
+good tea, no matter where it has been bought from."
+
+"Well, you may go in and give the order," said Lady Lysle; "but I
+won't see that grocer. I will sit in the carriage and wait for you."
+
+Aneta considered for a few minutes, and then said in a sad voice,
+"Very well."
+
+Lady Lysle looked at her once or twice during the long drive which
+followed. Aneta's little face was rather pale, but her eyes were full
+of subdued fire. She was determined to carry the day at any cost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A VISIT TO THE GROCER.
+
+
+James Martin abhorred the aristocracy--so he said. Nevertheless,
+he greatly admired his elegant wife in her faded beauty. He liked to
+hear her speak, and he made some effort to copy her "genteel
+pronunciation." He also, in his inmost heart, admired Maggie as a
+girl of spirit, although not a beautiful one. He had his own ideas
+with regard to female loveliness, and, like all men, was impressed
+and attracted by it.
+
+On this special foggy day, as he was standing behind his counter
+busily engaged attending to a customer who was only requiring a small
+order to be made up, he gave a visible start, raised his eyes, dropped
+his account-book, let his pencil roll on to the floor, and stared
+straight before him. For somebody was coming into the shop--somebody
+so very beautiful that his eyes were dazzled and, as he said
+afterwards, his heart melted within him. A radiant-looking girl, with
+wonderful blue eyes and hair of the color of pure gold, a girl with a
+refined face--most beautifully dressed--although Martin could not
+quite make out in what fashion she was apparelled--came quickly up to
+the counter and then stood still, waiting for some one to attend to
+her. The other men in the shop also saw this lovely vision, and an
+attendant of the name of Turtle sprang forward to ask what he could
+do.
+
+"I want to see Mr. Martin," said the silvery voice.
+
+Martin felt pleased, and said _sotto voce_, "Chuck it, Turtle; you're
+out of it, old boy." A minute later he was standing before Aneta,
+inquiring in a trembling voice what he could do for her.
+
+"I want to order fifty pounds of tea to be made up in half-pound
+packets and sent to my aunt, Lady Lysle, 16B Eaton Square," said
+Aneta. "The tea will be paid for on delivery, and please let it be the
+very best. I also want a hundred pound-packets of the best currants,
+and a hundred pound-packets of the best sugar."
+
+"Demerara, miss, or loaf?" inquired Martin, tremblingly putting down
+the order.
+
+"Loaf, I think," said Aneta. "Will you kindly send everything within
+the next day or two to Eaton Square, 16B, to Lady Lysle?"
+
+"I will enter her ladyship's name in my book. Yes, it shall be done,"
+said Martin.
+
+He looked at Aneta, and Aneta looked straight back at him.
+
+"Mr. Martin," she said suddenly, "I am the school-friend of your
+stepdaughter, Maggie Howland. May I have a little conversation with
+you in your private room?"
+
+"Ah, I thought there was something!" said Martin. "To be sure, miss,"
+he added.--"Turtle, you see that this order is _h_executed. It's for
+her ladyship, Lady Lysle, 16B Eaton Square.--Come this way, my lady."
+
+"I am only Miss Lysle," said Aneta.
+
+All the attendants in the shop gazed in wonder as the beautiful girl
+and the excited Martin went into the little parlor at the back of the
+business establishment. There Martin stood with his hands behind him;
+but Aneta sank into a low chair.
+
+"I want to ask you a great favor, Mr. Martin," said the girl. She
+looked full up at him as she spoke.
+
+Martin thought that he had never in his life seen such melting and
+lovely blue eyes before. "She bowls me over," he kept saying to
+himself. "I hate the aristocrats, but somehow she bowls me
+over."--"Anything in my power, miss," he said aloud, and he made a low
+bow, pressing his hand to his chest.
+
+"I think," said Aneta--"indeed, I am sure--to judge from your most
+flourishing shop--that you are a good business man."
+
+"Well, now, there's no doubt on that point, Miss--Miss Lysle."
+
+"But you would like to extend your custom?" said Aneta.
+
+"Business is always business to me," replied Martin.
+
+"Well, the fact is, it lies in my power to induce my aunt, Lady Lysle,
+to get her groceries from you. She has a large establishment and sees
+a great deal of company. She gets them now at the Army and Navy
+Stores, but I haven't the slightest doubt that she would not object to
+have them from you."
+
+"You are exceedingly good, Miss Lysle, and I am sure anything that her
+ladyship ordered should have my very best attention; in fact, I should
+make it my business to get in specially good things for her. If I
+might let you into a business secret, miss, the people round here
+don't want the very best things; they don't, so to speak, appreciate
+them."
+
+"I quite understand that," said Aneta. "Of course Lady Lysle would
+require the very best."
+
+"She should have the best, miss; I'd be proud of her custom. Things
+should be punctually delivered; just an order overnight, and my cart
+would convey them to her ladyship's door at an early hour on the
+following day."
+
+"Yes, it could be arranged," said Aneta.
+
+"Then, perhaps, miss," said Mr. Martin, who saw brilliant prospects
+opening before him, and the possibility of a West End shop, a genuine
+West End shop, being his, as well as the profitable establishment at
+Shepherd's Bush, "her ladyship might be so kind as to recommend me to
+others."
+
+"It is possible," said Aneta coldly; "but of course I can only speak
+for my aunt herself." Then she added, "And even for her I cannot quite
+speak, although I believe the matter can be arranged. I have given you
+a large order to-day."
+
+"You have, Miss Lysle, and most faithfully will it be attended to."
+
+Martin took out his red silk handkerchief and mopped his forehead.
+
+"Now," said Aneta gently, "I haven't come here all the way from Aylmer
+House, and practically given up a day of my school-life, for nothing.
+I have come on behalf of another."
+
+"Ho, ho!" said Martin, "so the cat's going to be let out of the bag."
+
+Aneta colored.
+
+Martin saw he had gone too far, and immediately apologized. "You will
+forgive my coarse way of expressing myself, miss. I know it isn't done
+in your circle."
+
+"It doesn't matter," said Aneta. "I will come to the point at once. I
+am interested in Miss Howland."
+
+"Ah! my little stepdaughter. I keep her at a fine, smart school, don't
+I? I do the knowing by her, don't I?"
+
+"Well, all I want you to do in future--and I believe her mother will
+consent, for I have seen Mrs. Martin this morning"----
+
+"You went to Laburnum Villa this morning? Tasty place, that, eh?"
+
+"Yes, a very comfortable sort of house. My aunt, Lady Lysle, and I
+went together."
+
+"Her ladyship and you?"
+
+"We drove there."
+
+"I hope the neighbors saw," said Martin. "They'll come in shoals to
+see Little-sing after they've peeped at her ladyship's carriage."
+
+Aneta could scarcely keep back a smile.
+
+"Mr. Martin," she said, "if I do what I intend for you--and it lies in
+my power--will you please not come to Aylmer House to-morrow?"
+
+"Ho, hi! And why not? Ashamed of me, eh?"
+
+"Not at all," said Aneta. "I am not ashamed of you in your walk in
+life; but I think it would be best for Maggie if you did not come;
+therefore I ask you not to do so."
+
+"But the girl's my girl."
+
+"No, she is her mother's daughter; and, to tell the truth, we all
+want--I mean, my aunt and I, and others--to have her to ourselves, at
+least until she is educated."
+
+"But, come now, miss, that's all very fine. Who pays for her
+education?"
+
+"Her father's money."
+
+"So she let that out?" said Martin.
+
+"I know about it," said Aneta. "That is sufficient. Now, Mr. Martin, I
+ask you to become grocer to my aunt, Lady Lysle, of Eaton Square, and
+to any friends who she may recommend, on the sole condition that you
+do not come to Aylmer House, and that you allow Maggie Howland to
+spend the holidays with us."
+
+"Oh, my word, I am sure I don't care," said Martin,
+
+"You promise, then?"
+
+"Yes, I promise fast enough. If you're going to take Maggie and bring
+her up a fine lady she'll never suit me. All I beg is that she doesn't
+come back to me like a bad penny some day."
+
+"That I can absolutely assure you she will never do. I am exceedingly
+obliged to you. Will you come with me now and let me say a few words
+to my aunt; for as you have made your definite promise to leave Maggie
+alone, my aunt must make a definite promise to you."
+
+Lady Lysle was much astonished, as she sat wearily in her carriage,
+when a red-faced, bald-looking, stout grocer accompanied her elegant
+young niece to the carriage-door.
+
+"Aunt Lucia," said Aneta, "this is Mr. Martin."
+
+Lady Lysle gave the faintest inclination of her head.
+
+"Proud to see your ladyship," said Martin.
+
+"I have been making arrangements with Mr. Martin," said Aneta, "and
+on certain conditions he will do what I want. Will you please, in
+future, get your groceries from him?"
+
+"I will faithfully attend to you, my lady, if agreeable to you. I will
+come weekly for _h_orders. I will do anything to oblige your
+ladyship."
+
+"Please, auntie, you've got to do it," said Aneta.
+
+"My dear, it depends on Watson, my housekeeper."
+
+"Oh, I'll manage Watson," said Aneta, springing lightly into the
+carriage, her face all beams and smiles.--"It is quite right, Mr.
+Martin; and you will get your second order this evening. You won't
+forget about the tea and currants and sugar for the poor people.--Now,
+auntie, will you drive me back to Aylmer House, or shall we go
+straight to Eaton Square?"
+
+"Eaton Square, I think."
+
+"Good-day, Mr. Martin."
+
+The carriage rolled out of sight. Martin stood bareheaded in the
+doorway of his shop. There was not a prouder man than he in the whole
+of Christendom. When he returned to the sacred precincts of the shop
+itself he said to Turtle, "Fresh customer, Turtle--West End, Turtle.
+That's a fine young lady--eh, Turtle?"
+
+"The most beautiful young female I ever saw," returned Turtle.
+
+"When I ask you what you think of her personal appearance you can tell
+me, Turtle. Now, go and attend to the shop."
+
+Meanwhile Aneta, her heart full of thankfulness, accompanied her aunt
+to Eaton Square.
+
+"I have got what I want," she said, "and dear Maggie is practically
+saved; and you have done it, auntie. You will feel happier for this to
+your dying day."
+
+Lady Lysle said that at the present moment she did not feel specially
+elated at the thought of getting her tea and numerous groceries at a
+shop in Shepherd's Bush; but Aneta assured her that that was a very
+tiny sacrifice to make for so great an end as she had in view.
+
+"It will help Mr. Martin," she said. "He is not a gentleman, and
+doesn't pretend to be, but he's a good, honest tradesman; and perhaps
+Mrs. Ward, too, will give him some of her custom."
+
+"Well, my dear Aneta, if you're happy, I have nothing to say,"
+responded her aunt. "But you must tackle Watson, for I really cannot
+attempt it."
+
+Aneta did tackle the old housekeeper to some purpose. At first there
+were objections, protests, exclamations; but Aneta was sure of her
+ground. Did not Mrs. Watson idolize the girl, having known her from
+her earliest days?
+
+About tea-time a tired and triumphant girl returned to Aylmer House.
+She had had her way. The great difficulty was overcome. Maggie,
+looking pale and tired, was having tea with the others. Aneta sat down
+by her side. Maggie turned anxious eyes towards the queen of the
+school whom she used to fear and almost hate. But there was no hatred
+now in Maggie's eyes. Far, far from that, she looked upon Aneta as a
+refuge in the storm. If Aneta could not get her out of her present
+trouble no one could.
+
+"You will be very busy during the leisure hours this afternoon," said
+Aneta when the meal was coming to an end. "But, first of all, I want
+to speak to you just for a minute or two."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie.
+
+"We have done tea now. May Maggie and I go away by ourselves, please,
+Miss Johnson, for a few minutes?" said Aneta.
+
+Miss Johnson signified her consent, and the two queens left the room
+together. The other girls looked after them, wondering vaguely what
+was up.
+
+"Maggie," said Aneta, "I have managed everything."
+
+"Aneta--you haven't"----
+
+"Yes; he isn't coming to-morrow, nor is your mother; and Aunt Lucia
+has invited you to spend the Christmas holidays with us. You can see
+your mother occasionally; but, somehow or other, Maggie dear, you are
+to be my friend in future; and--oh, Maggie!"
+
+"Oh Aneta! how can I ever, ever thank you?"
+
+"Well, the beginning of the way is a little hard," said Aneta. "Come
+now, at once, straight to Mrs. Ward, and tell her every single
+thing."
+
+"She will expel me if I do," said Maggie.
+
+"That I know she will not. She is too true and dear and kind. Besides,
+I will stay with you all the time while you are telling her. Come,
+quick. You can get your confession over in a very few minutes."
+
+"Oh Aneta! for you I would do anything. But how did you manage to get
+my dreadful stepfather to give up his plan."
+
+"That matters little. He has given it up. Now, come. There's much to
+do to prepare for to-morrow; but you must get your confession over
+first."
+
+Mrs. Ward always had her tea alone, and she was just finishing it on
+this special evening when there came a tap at her door, and, to her
+great amazement, Aneta and Maggie entered, holding each other's
+hands.
+
+"Mrs. Ward, Maggie has something to say to you."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie; and then in a few broken words, choked by tears of
+true repentance, she told her story. She had been ashamed of her
+stepfather. She had been deceitful. She had been afraid to confess
+that she was taken at a lower fee than the other girls at the school.
+She had gone out, without leave, to sell one of her own father's
+treasures. Everything was told. Mrs. Ward looked very grave as the
+girl, with bent head, related the story of her deceit and
+wrong-doing.
+
+"I know you can expel me," said Maggie.
+
+"But you will not," said Aneta. "I feel sure of that, for I, who never
+cared for Maggie until now, love her with all my heart. There will be
+no rivalry in the school any more, and dear Maggie must not go."
+
+"Oh, if you would keep me! If you would keep me," said Maggie, "and
+give me one more chance!"
+
+"Have you asked God to forgive you, Maggie?" said Mrs. Ward.
+
+"I cannot, somehow; my heart is so cold. But if--if you would"----
+
+"We will ask Him together," said Mrs. Ward.
+
+There and then she knelt down, and Aneta and Maggie knelt at each side
+of her, and she said a few words of prayer which touched Maggie's
+heart as no words had ever touched it before. "Keep from her all
+hurtful things, and give her those things which are necessary for her
+salvation," pleaded the mistress.
+
+Suddenly Mrs. Ward's hand was taken by Maggie and covered with kisses.
+"Oh, I will try!" she said; "I will try hard to be really good! And,"
+she added, "I will take any punishment you give me."
+
+Mrs. Ward looked at her with sparkling eyes. She was a very keen
+observer of character. She put her hand under the girl's chin and
+looked into her downcast face.
+
+"My dear," she said, "full and absolute forgiveness means the doing
+away with punishment. You have suffered sorely; I will not add to your
+suffering in any way. Now, go and prepare for to-morrow's
+entertainment.--Aneta, you will stay with me for a few minutes."
+
+Maggie left the room, but in a short time she returned. She carried in
+her arms the two tin boxes which contained her father's treasures.
+
+"I want you to keep these for me, or to sell them, or to do what you
+like with them," said Maggie. She then immediately left the room.
+
+Mrs. Ward and Aneta bent over the treasures. Mrs. Ward gave a start of
+great surprise when she saw them.
+
+"Why, these," she said, "are a fortune in themselves."
+
+"I thought so," said Aneta, her eyes sparkling. "I felt sure of it. We
+must get that brooch back from Pearce."
+
+"Yes, Aneta; I will send Miss Johnson round for it at once. What did
+you say he gave Maggie for it?"
+
+"Five pounds, Mrs. Ward."
+
+"It is very honest of him to offer to restore it to her. Ring the
+bell, dear, and Lucy Johnson will come."
+
+Miss Johnson was very much interested when she saw the sparkling
+treasures.
+
+"Maggie's!" she exclaimed. "I am glad she has given them to you to
+take care of for her. I was always terrified at her keeping such
+priceless things in her drawer."
+
+Mrs. Ward gave the girl some directions and the necessary money; she
+went off to fulfill her errand in considerable amazement. Lucy
+returned in less than half-an-hour with the lovely little brooch,
+which was immediately added to the collection.
+
+"The best person to see these, as you suggested, Aneta," said Mrs.
+Ward, "is Sir Charles Lysle. They are really no good to Maggie, but
+ought to be sold for their utmost value for her benefit. She has many
+fine points, and considerable strength of character; and if you take
+her up, dear, I feel certain that she will be saved from all those
+things which would ruin a nature like hers."
+
+"I mean to take her up," said Aneta with spirit.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "the first thing to do is to get to-morrow
+over. I have no doubt it will be a success. Meanwhile, will you write
+a line to your uncle, Sir Charles, and ask him if he can call here to
+see these treasures?"
+
+"Yes, I will write to him at once," said Aneta. "He spends most of his
+time at the British Museum. Couldn't I send him a wire, Mrs. Ward, and
+then he would come to-night?"
+
+"Yes, that is a very good idea. Do so, my love."
+
+The girls had a very spirited rehearsal, and Maggie was her old
+vivacious, daring, clever self once more. That inward change which no
+doubt had taken place brought an added charm to her always expressive
+face.
+
+Between seven and eight that evening Aneta's uncle, Sir Charles,
+arrived. He and Mrs. Ward had a long consultation. His opinion was
+that the bracelets and other curios were worth at least seven thousand
+pounds, and that such a sum could easily be obtained for them.
+
+"In fact, I myself would buy them for that figure," said Sir Charles.
+"It is not only that there are in this collection some unique and
+valuable stones; but the history, the setting, and the make of these
+ancient relics would induce the British Museum to buy many of them.
+Doubtless, however, Miss Howland will get the biggest price of all for
+them if they are auctioned at Christie's."
+
+Before she went to bed that night Aneta told Maggie that she was by no
+means a penniless girl, and that if she would consent to having her
+father's treasures sold she would have sufficient money to be well
+educated, and have a nice nest-egg in the future to start in any
+profession she fancied.
+
+"Oh Aneta, it is all too wonderful!" said poor Maggie--"to think of me
+as I am to-night, and of me as I felt last night when I wanted to lose
+myself in the London fog. Aneta, I can never love you enough!"
+
+"You want a good long sleep," she said. "Think of to-morrow and all
+the excitement which lies before us!"
+
+Maggie did sleep soundly that night, for she was quite worn out, and
+when Saturday arrived she awoke without a fear and with a wonderful
+lightness of heart. The day of the festival and rejoining passed
+without a hitch. The supper was delightful. The tableaux vivants were
+the best the school had ever seen. The games, the fun, made the
+Cardews at least think that they had entered into a new world.
+
+But perhaps the best scene of all came at the end when Aneta went up
+to Maggie and took her hand, and, still holding it, turned and faced
+the assembled school.
+
+"Maggie and I don't mean to be rival queens any longer," she said. "We
+are joint-queens. All Maggie's subjects are my subjects and all my
+subjects are Maggie's. Any girl who disapproves of this, will she hold
+down her hand? Any girl who approves, will she hold her hand up in the
+air?"
+
+Instantly all the pairs of hands were raised, and there was such a
+clapping and so many cheers for the queens who were no longer rival
+queens that mademoiselle was heard to exclaim, "But it is charming. It
+makes the heart to bound. I do love the English manner, and
+Mademoiselle Aneta, _si jolie, si élégante_; and Mademoiselle Maggie,
+who has a large charm. I do make homage to them as the two queens. I
+would," she continued, turning and clasping Miss Johnson's hands, "be
+a schoolgirl myself to be a subject of them."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few words will suffice to end this story. Lady Lysle might be proud
+and perhaps somewhat disdainful, but she was at least as good as her
+word, and in a very short time Martin the grocer thought it worth his
+while to open a very smart-looking shop in the West End. This shop
+Lady Lysle took a curious interest in and recommended to her friends,
+so that Martin began to do as sound a business in the neighborhood of
+Eaton Square as he did in Shepherd's Bush. Of all things in the world,
+he liked best to make money, and he was quite glad to be rid of Maggie
+when his own prospects became golden owing to her absence from his
+premises.
+
+As to Mrs. Martin, she was content to see her daughter occasionally.
+
+Maggie's curios were all sold, except the little brooch (which she
+kept for herself in memory of her father), for a sufficiently large
+sum to pay for her education and to leave her enough money to do well
+for herself by-and-by. Having no longer anything to conceal, and under
+the beautiful, brave influence of Aneta, she became quite a different
+girl. That strength of character and that strange fascination which
+were her special powers were now turned into useful channels. Maggie
+could never be beautiful, but her talents were above the average, and
+her moral nature now received every stimulus in the right direction.
+Merry Cardew could love her, and gain good, not harm, from her
+influence. But, strange to say--although perhaps not strange--Aneta
+was her special friend. It was with Aneta that Maggie mostly spent her
+holidays. It was Aneta's least word that Maggie obeyed. It was for
+Aneta's approval that Maggie lived.
+
+Queens of the school they still remain, each exercising her influence
+in her own way, and yet both working in perfect harmony.
+
+"Have they not both the characters beautiful?" said mademoiselle. "I
+think there is no girl like the English girl."
+
+Doubtless she is right.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The School Queens, by L. T. Meade
+
+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: The School Queens
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2009 [EBook #28819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCHOOL QUEENS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='pb' />
+<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.6em;margin-top:50px;'>THE</p>
+<p class='tp' style='font-size:2.2em;font-variant:small-caps;'>School Queens</p>
+<p class='tp' style='margin-top:40px;'>BY</p>
+<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>L T. MEADE</p>
+<p class='tp' style='font-size:smaller;'>Author of &#8220;Polly, a New-Fashioned Girl,&#8221;<br />&#8220;Sue, a Little Heroine,&#8221; &#8220;Daddy&#8217;s Girl,&#8221;<br />&#8220;A Sweet Girl Graduate,&#8221; etc.</p>
+
+<div style='margin:30px auto; text-align:center;'>
+<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-emb.png' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:50px;'>NEW YORK<br />THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY<br />1910</p>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div style='font-size:smaller; margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%;'>
+<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:center'>BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY<br /></p>
+<p><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>L. T. Meade</span> (Mrs. Elizabeth Thomasina Smith),
+English novelist, was born at Bandon, County Cork,
+Ireland, 1854, the daughter of Rev. R. T. Meade,
+Rector of Novohal, County Cork, and married Toulmin
+Smith in 1879. She wrote her first book, <i>Lettie&#8217;s
+Last Home</i>, at the age of seventeen and since then has
+been an unusually prolific writer, her stories attaining
+wide popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.</p>
+<p>She worked in the British Museum, living in Bishopsgate
+Without, making special studies of East
+London life which she incorporated in her stories.
+She edited <i>Atlanta</i> for six years. Her pictures of
+girls, especially in the influence they exert on their
+elders, are drawn with intuitive fidelity; pathos,
+love, and humor, as in <i>Daddy&#8217;s Girl</i>, flowing easily
+from her pen. She has traveled extensively, being
+devoted to motoring and other outdoor sports.</p>
+<p>Among more than fifty novels she has written, dealing
+largely with questions of home life, are: <i>David&#8217;s
+Little Lad; Great St. Benedict&#8217;s; A Knight of To-day (1877);
+Miss Toosey&#8217;s Mission; Bel-Marjory (1878);
+Laddie; Outcast Robbin: or, Your Brother and Mine; A
+Cry from the Great City; White Lillie and Other Tales;
+Scamp and I; The Floating Light of Ringfinnan; Dot
+and Her Treasures; The Children&#8217;s Kingdom: the Story
+of Great Endeavor; The Water Gipsies; A Dweller in
+Tents; Andrew Harvey&#8217;s Wife; Mou-setse: A Negro
+Hero (1880); Mother Herring&#8217;s Chickens (1881); A
+London Baby: the Story of King Roy (1883); Hermie&#8217;s
+Rose-Buds and Other Stories; How it all Came Round;
+Two Sisters (1884); Autocrat of the Nursery; Tip Cat;
+Scarlet Anemones; The Band of Three; A Little Silver
+Trumpet; Our Little Ann; The Angel of Love (1885); A
+World of Girls (1886); Beforehand; Daddy&#8217;s Boy; The
+O&#8217;Donnells of Inchfawn; The Palace Beautiful; Sweet
+Nancy (1887); Deb and the Duchess (1888); Nobody&#8217;s
+Neighbors; Pen (1888); A Girl from America (1907).</i></p>
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<h1>THE SCHOOL QUEENS</h1>
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span>
+<a name='CHAPTER_I_THE_FASCINATING_MAGGIE' id='CHAPTER_I_THE_FASCINATING_MAGGIE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>THE FASCINATING MAGGIE</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Cicely Cardew and her sister Merry were twins. At the
+time when this story opens they were between fifteen and
+sixteen years of age. They were bright, amiable, pretty
+young girls, who had never wanted for any pleasure or
+luxury during their lives. Their home was a happy one.
+Their parents were affectionate and lived solely for them.
+They were the only children, and were treated&mdash;as only
+children often are&mdash;with a considerable amount of attention.
+They were surrounded by all the appliances of wealth. They
+had ponies to ride and carriages to drive in, and each had
+her own luxurious and beautifully furnished bedroom.</p>
+<p>It was Mr. Cardew&#8217;s wish that his daughters should be
+educated at home. In consequence they were not sent to
+any school, but had daily masters and governesses to instruct
+them in the usual curriculum of knowledge. It might be
+truly said that for them the sun always shone, and that
+they were carefully guarded from the east wind. They were
+naturally bright and amiable. They had their share of
+good looks, without being quite beautiful. They had not
+the slightest knowledge of what the world meant, of what
+sorrow meant, or pain. They were brought up in such a
+sheltered way that it seemed to them that there were no
+storms in life. They were not discontented, for no one ever
+breathed the word in their presence. Their requests were
+reasonable, for they knew of no very big things to ask for.
+Even their books were carefully selected for them, and their
+amusements were of a mild and orderly character.</p>
+<p>Such were the girls when this story opens on a bright day
+towards the end of a certain July. Their home was called
+Meredith Manor, and Merry was called after an old ancestor
+on their mother&#8217;s side to whom the house had at one time
+belonged.</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew was a merchant-prince. Mrs. Cardew belonged
+to an old county family. If there was one thing in the
+world that Cicely and Merry thought nothing whatever about,
+it was money. They could understand neither poverty nor
+the absence of gold.</p>
+<p>The little village near Meredith Manor was a model place,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+for Mr. Cardew, to whom it belonged, devoted himself absolutely
+to it. The houses were well drained and taken great
+care of. Prizes were offered for the best gardens; consequently
+each cottager vied with the other in producing the
+most lovely flowers and the most tempting fruits. The village
+consisted entirely of Mr. Cardew&#8217;s laborers and the different
+servants on his estate. There were, therefore, no hardships
+for the girls to witness at Meredith village. They
+were fond of popping in and out of the cottages and talking
+to the young wives and mothers, and playing with the babies;
+and they particularly enjoyed that great annual day when
+Mr. Cardew threw open the grounds of Meredith to the entire
+neighborhood, and when games and fun and all sorts of
+amusements were the order of the hour.</p>
+<p>Besides the people who lived in the village, there was, of
+course, the rector, who had a pretty, picturesque, old brown
+house, with a nice garden in one corner of the grounds. He
+had a good-natured, round-faced, happy wife, and a family
+of four stalwart sons and daughters. He was known as the
+Reverend William Tristram; and, as the living was in the
+gift of the Meredith family, he was a distant connection of
+Mrs. Cardew, and had been appointed by her husband to the
+living of Meredith at her request.</p>
+<p>The only playfellows the girls had ever enjoyed were the
+young Tristrams. There were two boys and two girls. The
+boys were the younger, the girls the elder. The boys were
+not yet in their teens, but Molly and Isabel Tristram were
+about the same age as the young Cardews. Molly was, in fact,
+a year older, and was a very sympathetic, strong-minded,
+determined girl. She and her sister Isabel had not been educated
+at home, but had been sent to foreign schools both in
+France and Germany; and Molly, in her heart of hearts,
+rather looked down upon what she considered the meager
+attainments of the young Cardews and their want of knowledge
+of the world.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is ridiculous!&#8221; she was heard to say to Isabel on that
+very July morning when this story opens. &#8220;Of course they
+are nice girls, and would be splendid if they could do anything
+or knew what to do; but, as it is, they are nothing
+whatever but half-grown-up children, with no more idea of
+the world than has that baby-kitten disporting itself at the
+present moment on the lawn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, they&#8217;re right enough,&#8221; said Isabel. &#8220;They will learn
+by-and-by. I don&#8217;t suppose Mr. and Mrs. Cardew mean to
+keep them always shut up in a nutshell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; replied Molly. &#8220;Mr. and Mrs. Cardew
+are like no other people. I have heard father say that he
+thinks it a great pity that girls should be so terribly isolated.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, as to that,&#8221; replied Isabel, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t be in their
+shoes for creation. I have so enjoyed my time at Hanover
+and in France; and now that we are to have two years at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+Aylmer House, in Kensington, I cannot tell you how I look
+forward to it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, won&#8217;t it be fine?&#8221; replied Molly. &#8220;But now we had
+better go up at once to Meredith Manor and ask the girls
+if we may bring Maggie Howland with us this afternoon.
+Father has sent the pony-trap to the station to meet her, and
+she may arrive any moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Isabel; &#8220;but one of us had better stay
+at home to receive her. You, Molly, can run up to the
+Manor and ask the girls if we may bring our visitor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; replied Molly. Then she added &#8220;I wonder
+if Maggie is as fascinating as ever. Don&#8217;t you remember,
+Belle, what a spell she cast over us at our school at Hanover?
+She was like no one else I ever met. She seems to
+do what she likes with people. I shall be deeply interested
+to know what she thinks of Cicely and Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thinks of them!&#8221; replied Isabel. &#8220;It&#8217;s my opinion she
+won&#8217;t tolerate them for a minute; and we are bound to take
+her with us, for of course they will give permission.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Molly, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be off at once and secure that
+permission. You&#8217; look after Maggie&mdash;won&#8217;t you, Isabel?&mdash;and
+see that her bedroom is all right.&#8221; As Molly spoke she
+waved her hand to her sister, then departed on her errand.</p>
+<p>She was a bright, fairly good-looking girl, with exceedingly
+handsome eyes and curling dark-brown hair. She was
+somewhat square in build and athletic in all her movements.
+In short, she was as great a contrast to the twin Cardew
+girls as could be found. Nevertheless she liked them, and
+was interested in them; for were not the Cardews the great
+people of the place? There was nothing of the snob about
+Molly; but it is difficult even for the most independent English
+girl to spend the greater part of her life in a village
+where one family reigns as sovereign without being more
+or less under its influence.</p>
+<p>Mr. Tristram, too, was a very great friend of Mr. Cardew&#8217;s;
+and Molly&#8217;s fat, round, good-natured mother, although a
+little afraid of Mrs. Cardew, who was a very stately lady
+in her way, nevertheless held her in the greatest respect and
+admiration. It was one of the rules of the house of Tristram
+that no invitation sent to them from Meredith Manor
+should be refused. They must accept that invitation as
+though it were the command of a king.</p>
+<p>The girls, brought up mostly at foreign schools, had in
+some ways wider ideas of life than had their parents. But
+even they were more or less influenced by the fact that the
+Cardews were the great people of the place.</p>
+<p>The day was a very hot one; rather oppressive too, with
+thunder-clouds in the distance. But Molly was very strong,
+and did not feel the heat in the least. The distance from the
+rectory to the Manor was a little over a mile. In addition,
+it was all uphill. But when you passed the village&mdash;so
+exquisitely neat, such a model in its way&mdash;you found yourself
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+entering a road shaded by overhanging elm-trees. Here
+it was cool even on the hottest summer day. There were
+deep pine-woods at each side of the road, and the road
+itself had been cut right through a part of the forest, which
+belonged to the Meredith estate. After going uphill for
+nearly three-quarters of a mile you arrived at the handsome
+wrought-iron gates which led to the avenue that brought
+you to the great front door of Meredith Manor.</p>
+<p>Molly often took this walk, but she generally did so in the
+company of her sister Isabel. Isabel&#8217;s light chatter, her
+gay, infectious laughter, her merry manner, soothed the
+tedium of the road. To-day Molly was alone; but by no
+means on this account did she feel a sense of weariness; her
+mind was very busy. She was greatly excited at the thought
+of seeing Maggie Howland again. Maggie had made a remarkable
+impression on her. She made that impression on
+all her friends. Wherever she went she was a leader, and no
+one could quite discover where her special charm or magnetism
+lay; for she was decidedly plain, and not specially remarkable
+for cleverness&mdash;that is, she was not remarkable
+for what may be termed school-cleverness. She was indifferent
+to prizes, and was just as happy at the bottom of her
+form as at the top; but wherever she appeared girls clustered
+round her, and consulted her, and hung on her words; and
+to be Maggie Howland&#8217;s friend was considered the greatest
+honor possible among the girls themselves at any school
+where she spent her time.</p>
+<p>Maggie was the daughter of a widow who lived in London.
+Her father had died when she was a very little girl. He was
+a man of remarkable character. He had great strength of
+will and immense determination; and Maggie, his only child,
+took after him. She resembled him in appearance also, for
+he was very plain of face and rather ungainly of figure.
+Maggie&#8217;s mother, on the other hand, was a delicate, pretty,
+blue-eyed woman, who could as little manage her headstrong
+young daughter as a lamb could manage a young
+lion. Mrs. Howland was intensely amiable. Maggie was
+very good to her mother, as she expressed it; and when
+she got that same mother to yield to all her wishes the
+mother thought that she was doing the right thing. She
+had a passionate love for her daughter, although she deplored
+her plain looks, and often told the girl to her face
+that she wished she had taken after her in personal appearance.
+Maggie used to smile when this was said, and then
+would go away to her own room and look at her queer, dark
+face, and rather small eyes, and determined mouth, and somewhat
+heavy jaw, and shake her head solemnly. She did
+not agree with her mother; she preferred being what she
+was. She liked best to take after her father.</p>
+<p>It was Maggie Howland who had persuaded Mr. Tristram,
+during a brief visit which he had made to town at Christmas,
+to send his daughters to Aylmer House. Maggie was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+fond of Molly and Isabel. With all her oddities, she had
+real affection, and one of her good qualities was that she
+really loved those whom she influenced.</p>
+<p>Mr. Tristram went to see Mrs. Ward, the head-mistress
+of that most select establishment for young ladies at Kensington.
+Mrs. Ward was all that was delightful. She was
+a noble-minded woman of high aspirations, and her twenty
+young boarders were happy and bright and contented under
+her influence.</p>
+<p>Maggie joined the school at Easter, and spent one term
+there, and was now coming on a visit to the rectory.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder what she will have to tell us! I wonder if
+she is as fascinating as ever!&#8221; thought Molly Tristram as
+she hurried her steps.</p>
+<p>She had now reached that point in the avenue which gave
+a good view of the old Manor, with its castellated walls and
+its square towers at each end. The gardens were laid out in
+terraces after an old-world fashion. There was one terrace
+devoted to croquet, another to tennis. As Molly approached
+she saw Cicely and Merry playing a game of croquet rather
+languidly. They wore simple white frocks which just came
+down above their ankles, and had white washing-hats on
+their heads. Their thick, rather fair hair was worn in a
+plait down each young back, and was tied with a bunch of
+pale-blue ribbon at the end.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello!&#8221; shouted Molly.</p>
+<p>The girls flung down their rackets and ran joyfully to
+meet her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so glad you have come!&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+much too hot to play tennis, and even croquet is more than
+we can manage. Are you going to stay and have lunch
+with us, Molly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Molly; &#8220;I must go back immediately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear! I wish you would stay,&#8221; continued Merry.
+&#8220;We could go and sit in the arbor, and you could tell us
+another fascinating story about that school of yours at Hanover.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; said Cicely; &#8220;do stay&mdash;do, Molly! We want
+to hear a lot more about that remarkable girl Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t stay,&#8221; said Molly in a semi-whisper; &#8220;but I tell you
+what, girls.&#8221; She seized a hand of both as she spoke. &#8220;I
+have come with news.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; &#8220;What?&#8221; asked the twins eagerly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s very seldom much news going on here,&#8221; said
+Cicely. &#8220;Not that we mind&mdash;not a little bit; we&#8217;re as happy
+as girls can be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we are,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;We haven&#8217;t a care in
+the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All the same,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;tell us your news, Molly, for
+you do look excited.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Molly, who enjoyed the pleasure of giving
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+her friends a piece of information which she knew would
+interest them intensely, &#8220;you know we are to come up here
+this afternoon to have tea and buns, aren&#8217;t we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t talk in that way!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;One would
+suppose you were school children, when you are our darling,
+dear friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Our only friends,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;You are the only girls
+in the world father allows us to be the least bit intimate
+with.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; said Molly, &#8220;of course Belle and I are very
+fond of you both, naturally.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Naturally!&#8221; echoed Cicely. But then she added, &#8220;How
+queer you look, Molly, as though you were keeping something
+back!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes, I am,&#8221; said Molly; &#8220;but I&#8217;ll have it out in
+a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please, be quick!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Anything a little
+bit out of the common is very interesting.&mdash;Isn&#8217;t it, Cicely?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very,&#8221; said Cicely; &#8220;more particularly in the holidays.
+When we are busy with our lessons things don&#8217;t so much
+matter, you know.&mdash;But do be quick, Molly; what is it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Molly, &#8220;you&#8217;ve asked us to spend the afternoon
+with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, and you&#8217;re both coming, surely?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are&mdash;certainly we are&mdash;that is, if you will allow us
+to bring&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To bring&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;interrupted Cicely. &#8220;Oh Molly, do speak!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I will; only, don&#8217;t jump, you two girls. To bring
+Maggie Howland!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely&#8217;s face grew very pink. Merry, on the contrary,
+turned a little pale. They were both silent for a brief
+space. Then Merry said excitedly, &#8220;Maggie Howland&mdash;<i>the</i>
+Maggie Howland?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, <i>the</i> Maggie Howland; the one who has got the power,
+the charm, the fascination.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, oh!&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;But why is she with you? How
+has it happened?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is not absolutely with us yet; and as to how it happened
+I cannot exactly tell you. We had a telegram from her
+late last night asking if she might come to-day to spend a
+week or fortnight, and of course we wired back &#8216;Yes.&#8217; We
+are delighted; but of course you may not like her, girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Like her! like her!&#8221; said Cicely; &#8220;and after all you have
+said too! We shall be certain to more than like her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not a bit pretty, so don&#8217;t expect it,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We were brought up,&#8221; said Merry a little stiffly, &#8220;not to
+regard looks as anything at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense!&#8221; replied Molly. &#8220;Looks mean a great deal.
+I&#8217;d give I don&#8217;t know what to be beautiful; but as I am not
+I don&#8217;t mean to fret about it. Well, Maggie&#8217;s downright
+plain; in fact&mdash;in fact&mdash;almost ugly, I may say; and yet&mdash;and
+yet, she is just Maggie; and you are not five minutes in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+her society before you&#8217;d rather have her face than any other
+face in the world. But the immediate question is: may she
+come this afternoon, or may she not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course&mdash;of course she may come,&#8221; said Cicely; &#8220;we&#8217;ll
+be delighted, we&#8217;ll be charmed to see her. This <i>is</i> pleasant
+news!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think, perhaps,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;we ought to go and ask
+mother. Don&#8217;t you think so, Cis?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we ought,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;I forgot that. Just
+stay where you are, Molly, and I&#8217;ll run to the house and
+find mother. It&#8217;s only to ask her, for of course she will give
+leave.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely ran off at once, and Merry and Molly were left alone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you&#8217;ll be delighted with her,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be very delightful to see her,&#8221; replied Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must expect to be disappointed at first, all the same,&#8221;
+continued Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, looks do not matter one scrap,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isabel and I are going to her school; you know that,
+don&#8217;t you, Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Merry with a sigh. &#8220;What fun you do have
+at your different schools! Don&#8217;t you, Molly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes,&#8221; said Molly rather gravely; &#8220;but it isn&#8217;t only
+the fun; we see a lot of the world, and we mix with other
+girls and make friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother prefers a home education for us, and so does
+father,&#8221; remarked Merry. &#8220;Ah! here comes Cicely. She is
+flying down the terrace. Of course mother is delighted.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This proved to be the case. Mrs. Cardew would welcome
+any girl introduced to her daughters through her dear friend
+Mr. Tristram. She sent a further invitation for the three
+young people to remain to an impromptu supper, which
+was pleasanter than late dinner in such hot weather, and
+asked if Mr. and Mrs. Tristram would join them at the meal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; cried Molly. &#8220;That will be fun! I must be off
+now, girls. We&#8217;ll be with you, all three of us, between four
+and five o&#8217;clock.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_II_SPOTEAR' id='CHAPTER_II_SPOTEAR'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<h3>SPOT-EAR.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Isabel took great pains arranging Maggie Rowland&#8217;s bedroom.
+At the Castle (or Manor) there were always troops
+of servants for every imaginable thing; but at the rectory
+the servants were few, and the girls did a good many odds
+and ends of work themselves. They were expected to dust
+and keep in perfect order their exceedingly pretty bedrooms,
+they were further required to make their own beds, and if a
+young visitor arrived, they were obliged to wait on her and
+see to her comfort. For the Tristrams had just an income
+sufficient to cover their expenses, with nothing at all to put
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>
+by. Mr. Tristram had his two little boys to think of as well
+as his two girls. His intention was to give his children the
+best education possible, believing that such a gift was far
+more valuable to them than mere money. By-and-by, when
+they were old enough, the girls might earn their own living
+if they felt so inclined, and each girl might become a specialist
+in her way.</p>
+<p>Molly was exceedingly fond of music, and wished to excel
+in that particular. Isabel, on the contrary, was anxious to
+obtain a post as gymnasium teacher with the London County
+Council. But all these things were for the future. At present
+the girls were to study, were to acquire knowledge, were
+to be prepared for that three-fold battle which includes body,
+soul, and spirit, and which needs triple armor in the fight.</p>
+<p>Mr. Tristram was a man of high religious principles. He
+taught his children to love the good and refuse the evil. He
+wanted his girls to be useful women by-and-by in the world.
+He put usefulness before happiness, assuring his children
+that if they followed the one they would secure the other.</p>
+<p>Belle, therefore, felt quite at home now as she took out
+pretty mats and laid them on little tables in the neat spare
+room which had been arranged for the reception of Maggie
+Howland. She saw that all the appointments of the room
+were as perfect as simplicity and cleanliness could effect,
+and then went out into the summer garden to pick some
+choice, sweet-smelling flowers. She selected roses and carnations,
+and, bringing them in, arranged them in vases in the
+room.</p>
+<p>Hearing the sound of wheels, she flew eagerly downstairs
+and met her friend as she stepped out of the little governess-cart.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, here I am!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;And how is Belle?
+How good-natured of you all to have me, and how delightful
+it is to smell the delicious country air! Mother and I
+find town so hot and stuffy. I haven&#8217;t brought a great lot
+of luggage, and I am not a bit smart; but you won&#8217;t mind
+that&mdash;will you, dear old Belle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You always talk about not being smart, Maggie; but you
+manage to look smarter than anyone else,&#8221; said Isabel, her
+eager brown eyes devouring her friend&#8217;s appearance with
+much curiosity. For Maggie looked, to use a proverbial
+phrase, as if she had stepped out of a bandbox. If she was
+plain of face she had an exceedingly neat figure, and there
+was a fashionable, trim look about her which is uncommon
+in a girl of her age; for Maggie was only just sixteen, and
+scarcely looked as much. In some ways she might almost
+have been a French girl, so exceedingly neat and <i>comme il
+faut</i> was her little person. She was built on a <i>petite</i> scale,
+and although her face was so plain, she had lovely hands
+and beautiful small feet. These feet were always shod in
+the most correct style, and she took care of her hands, never
+allowing them to get red or sunburnt.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Molly?&#8221; was her remark, as the two girls, with
+their arms twined round each other, entered the wide, low
+hall which was one of the special features of the old rectory.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has gone up to see the Cardews.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who are the Cardews?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, surely, Mags, you must have heard of them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean,&#8221; said Maggie with a laugh, and showing
+a gleam of strong white teeth, &#8220;the two little ladies who
+live in a bandbox?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you really must not laugh at them,&#8221; said Isabel, immediately
+on the defensive for her friends; &#8220;but they do lead
+a somewhat exclusive life. Molly has gone up to the Castle,
+as we always call Meredith Manor, to announce your arrival,
+and to ask permission to bring you there to a tennis-party
+this afternoon; so you will soon see them for yourself. Now,
+come in and say good-morning to the mater; she is longing
+to see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Peterkins!&#8221; called out Maggie at that moment, as
+a small boy with a smut across his face suddenly peeped
+round a door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not Peterkins!&#8221; he said angrily.</p>
+<p>Maggie laughed again. &#8220;I am going to call you Peterkins,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;Is this one of the little brothers, Belle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&mdash;Come here at once, Andrew, and speak to Miss
+Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The boy approached shyly. Then his eyes looked up into
+the queer face of the girl who looked down at him. The
+sulkiness cleared away from his brow, and he said, in an
+eager, hurried, half-shy, half-confidential way, &#8220;I say, do
+you like rabbits?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dote on &#8217;em,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;m your man, and I don&#8217;t mind being Peterkins
+to you; and will you&mdash;will you come and see mine? I&#8217;ve got
+Spot-ear, and Dove, and Angelus, and Clover. And Jack, he
+has five rabbits, but they&#8217;re not near as nice as mine. You&#8217;ll
+come and see my rabbits, won&#8217;t you, Miss&mdash;Miss&#8211;&#8211;-&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am Maggie,&#8221; said the girl. &#8220;I&#8217;ll come and see your
+rabbits, Peterkins, in a minute; and I won&#8217;t look at Jack&#8217;s;
+but you must let me talk to your mother first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There you are, Maggie,&#8221; said Belle when the boy had
+disappeared; &#8220;fascinating Andrew in your usual way; and
+Jack will be just furious, for he&#8217;s the elder, you know, and
+he has a temper, and you mustn&#8217;t set one of them against
+the other&mdash;promise you won&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Trust me,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Peterkins is a nice little fellow,
+and I&#8217;ll manage Jackdaw too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean to say you&#8217;ll call them by those names?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes. I always have my own way with people, as
+you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed I do. Oh, come along, you queer creature. Here&#8217;s
+the darling mums. Mater dearest, here is Maggie Howland.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Delighted to see you, my dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Tristram. &#8220;I
+hope you are not tired after your journey from town.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least, thank you, Mrs. Tristram,&#8221; said Maggie,
+speaking in a voice of very peculiar quality; it was sweet
+and rich and full of many intonations. She had the power
+of putting a world of meaning into the most commonplace
+expressions.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Tristram had not seen Maggie before, and it was Mr.
+Tristram who had been completely bowled over by the young
+lady just at Christmas-time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I bid you a hearty welcome to the rectory,&#8221; said the good
+clergyman&#8217;s wife, &#8220;and I hope you will have a pleasant time
+with my children.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have a fascinating time,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I&#8217;m just
+too delighted to come. It was sweet of you to have me; and
+may I, please, give you a kiss?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course you may, dear child,&#8221; said Mrs. Tristram.</p>
+<p>Maggie bestowed the kiss, and immediately afterward was
+conducted to her room by the worshiping Belle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do hope you&#8217;ll like it,&#8221; said Belle in an almost timorous
+voice. &#8220;I prepared it for you myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, it&#8217;s sweet,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;and so full of the country!
+Oh, I say, what roses! And those carnations&mdash;Malmaisons,
+aren&#8217;t they? I must wear a couple in this brown
+holland frock; they&#8217;ll tone with it perfectly. What a delicious
+smell!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie sniffed at the roses. Belle lounged on the window-seat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Molly will be jealous,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Think of my having
+you these few moments all to myself!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am delighted to come, as you know quite well,&#8221; replied
+Maggie. &#8220;It&#8217;s all right about school, isn&#8217;t it, Belle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, quite, quite right. We are to join you there in
+September.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a perfectly splendid place,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I will
+describe it to you later on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But can it be nicer,&#8221; said Belle, &#8220;than our darling school
+at Hanover?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nicer!&#8221; exclaimed Maggie. &#8220;You couldn&#8217;t compare the
+two places. I tell you it&#8217;s perfect. The girls&mdash;well, they&#8217;re
+aristocratic; they&#8217;re girls of the Upper Ten. It&#8217;s the most
+select school. You are in luck to be admitted, I can tell you.
+You will learn a lot about society when you are a member
+of Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what possible good will that do us when we are
+never going into it?&#8221; said Belle.</p>
+<p>Maggie slightly narrowed her already narrow eyes, took
+off her hat, and combed back her crisp, dark hair from her
+low, full, very broad forehead. Then she said, with a smile,
+&#8220;You are to stay two years at Mrs. Ward&#8217;s, are you not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I think that is the arrangement.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I am to stay there for two years,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+mean two more. I will ask you, Isabel Tristram, what good
+society is worth at the end of your two years. I expect you
+will tell me a very different story then.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this moment there came a hurried, nervous, excited
+knock at the room door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you coming, Miss&mdash;Miss&mdash;Maggie? Clover and
+Dove and Spot-ear and Angelus are all waiting. Their hutch
+is beautiful and clean, and I have all their lettuces waiting
+for them just outside, so they sha&#8217;n&#8217;t begin to nibble till
+you come. Do, do come, please, Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I will, my darling Peterkins,&#8221; replied Maggie
+in her joyful voice. &#8220;Oh, this is&mdash;this is&mdash;this <i>is</i> fun!&mdash;Come
+along, Belle; come along.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But don&#8217;t let poor Jack get into a temper,&#8221; said Isabel
+in a half-frightened whisper.</p>
+<p>Maggie took no notice of her. She opened the bedroom
+door and flew downstairs, holding the dirty, hot little hand
+of Andrew, <i>alias</i> Peterkins, while Isabel followed in their
+wake.</p>
+<p>In a far-away part of the rectory garden, on a bit of waste
+land at the other side of the great vegetable garden, were two
+hutches which stood side by side, and these hutches contained
+those most adorable creatures, the pets, the darlings
+of the Tristram boys.</p>
+<p>The Tristram boys were aged eleven and ten years respectively.
+Jack was eleven, Andrew ten. They were very
+sturdy, healthy, fine little fellows. At present they went to
+a good day-school in the neighborhood, but were to be sent
+to a boarding-school about the same time as their sisters
+were to begin their education at Aylmer House in Kensington.
+Their passion above all things was for pets. They had
+tried every sort: white mice (these somehow or other were
+sacrificed to the reigning cat) and waltzing mice (that shared
+an equally luckless fate); these were followed by white rats,
+which got into the garden and did mischief, and were banished
+by order of the rector, who was a most determined
+master in his own house. Dogs were also forbidden, except
+one very intelligent Airedale, that belonged to the whole
+family and to no one in particular. But the boys must find
+vent for their passion in some way, and rabbits were allowed
+them. At the present moment Jack owned five, Andrew four.</p>
+<p>In trembling triumph, Andrew brought his new friend to
+see his darlings. He greatly hoped that Jack would not
+appear on the scene just now. While Maggie was up in her
+bedroom taking off, her hat, he had, with herculean strength,
+managed to move an old wooden door and put it in such
+a position that Jack&#8217;s hutch was completely hidden, while
+his hutch shone forth in all its glory, with those fascinating
+creatures Spot-ear, Angelus, Dove, and Clover looking
+through their prison-bars at the tempting meal that awaited
+them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here they are! here they are!&#8221; said Andrew. &#8220;Beauties,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+all four; my own&mdash;my very own! Maggie, you may share
+one of them with me while you are here. He must live in
+his hutch, but he shall be yours and mine. Would you like
+Spot-ear? He is a character. He&#8217;s the finest old cove you
+ever came across in your life. Look at him now, pretending
+he doesn&#8217;t care anything at all for his lettuce, and he&#8217;s
+just dying for it. Clover is the greedy one. Clover would
+eat till he-burst if I let him. As to Angelus, she squeaks
+sometimes&mdash;you&#8217;ll hear her if you listen hard&mdash;that&#8217;s why I
+called her Angelus; and Dove&mdash;why, she&#8217;s a dear pet; but
+the character of all is Spot-ear. You&#8217;d like to share him
+with me, wouldn&#8217;t you, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes; he is so ugly; he is quite interesting,&#8221; said
+Maggie. She flung herself on the ground by the side of the
+hutch, and gazed in at the occupants as though her only aim
+in life was to worship rabbits.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You take that leaf of lettuce and give it to Spot-ear your
+very own self,&#8221; said Peterkins. &#8220;He&#8217;ll love you ever after;
+he&#8217;s a most affectionate old fellow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie proceeded to feed the rabbit. Peterkins hopped
+about in a state of excitement which he had seldom experienced
+before. Maggie asked innumerable questions.
+Belle seated herself on the fallen trunk of an old oak-tree
+and looked on in wonder.</p>
+<p>Maggie was a curious girl. She seemed to have a power
+over every one. There was Andrew&mdash;such a shy little fellow
+as a rule&mdash;simply pouring out his heart to her.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Belle rose. &#8220;It&#8217;s time for lunch,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and
+you must be hungry. Andrew, go straight to the house and
+wash your face and hands. No lady would sit down to lunch
+with such a dirty boy as you are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I say, am I?&#8221; said Andrew. &#8220;Do you think so,
+Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are a most disreputable-looking little scamp,&#8221; said
+Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I won&#8217;t be&mdash;I won&#8217;t, most truly. I&#8217;ll run off at
+once and get clean, and I&#8217;ll get into my Sunday best if you
+wish it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me, no!&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;I don&#8217;t wish it. But clean
+hands and face&mdash;well, they are essential to the ordinary
+British boy, if he&#8217;s a gentleman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am your gentleman&mdash;for evermore,&#8221; said Andrew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you are, Peterkins.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;m off to clean up,&#8221; said the small boy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, Andrew,&#8221; cried his sister; &#8220;before you go take
+that door away from Jack&#8217;s hutch. He&#8217;ll be so furious at
+your keeping the light and air away from his rabbits.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not I. I can&#8217;t be bothered,&#8221; said Peterkins.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please take it away at once,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>Andrew&#8217;s brow puckered into a frown.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ll see &#8217;em, and he&#8217;s got five!&#8221; he said in a most
+distressed voice.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Honor bright,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I&#8217;ll turn my back and shut
+my eyes. Jackdaw shall show me his rabbits himself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Peterkins immediately removed the door, dragging it to
+its former place, where it leaned against a high wall. He
+then rushed up to Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Promise you won&#8217;t like his
+bunnies.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;for I&#8217;ll love &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, at least promise you won&#8217;t love him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Maggie again, &#8220;for I shall.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll die of raging jealousy,&#8221; said Peterkins.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, you won&#8217;t, you silly boy. Get off to the house and
+make yourself tidy. Come along, Belle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, Maggie,&#8221; said Belle, &#8220;you mustn&#8217;t set those two
+boys by the ears. They&#8217;re fond enough of each other.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I&#8217;ll do nothing of the kind,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s a charming little chap, and Spot-ear is my rabbit
+as well as his. Jackdaw shall share two of his rabbits with
+me. Oh, it is such fun turning people round your little
+finger!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Just then Molly, rather red in the face, ran up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you darling, darling Maggie!&#8221; she said. &#8220;So you&#8217;ve
+come!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come!&#8221; cried Maggie. &#8220;I feel as if I&#8217;d been here for
+ever.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am delighted to see you,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>She kissed her friend rapturously. Maggie presented a
+cool, firm, round cheek.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how sweet you look, Mags!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t talk nonsense, Molly; I&#8217;m not a bit sweet-looking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To me,&#8221; said Molly with fervor, &#8220;You&#8217;re the loveliest girl
+in all the wide world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very ugly, and you know that perfectly well,&#8221; said
+Maggie; &#8220;but now don&#8217;t let&#8217;s talk of looks.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Whatever were you doing in this part of the garden?&#8221;
+inquired Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she was making love to Andrew,&#8221; remarked Belle.
+&#8220;She calls him Peterkins, and he allows it, and he has given
+her one-half of Spot-ear; and she means to make love to
+Jack, and he&#8217;s to give her a couple of his rabbits&mdash;I mean, to
+share them with her. She&#8217;s more extraordinary than ever,
+more altogether out of the common.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;As if I didn&#8217;t know that,&#8221; said Molly. &#8220;It&#8217;s all right
+about this afternoon, Maggie. Oh, what do you think? We&#8217;re
+to stay to supper, and I have a special invitation for father
+and mother to come and join us then. Won&#8217;t it be fun! I
+do wonder, Maggie, if you will like the Cardew girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Probably not,&#8221; replied Maggie in a very calm voice; &#8220;but
+at least I can promise you one thing: they&#8217;ll both like
+me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No doubt whatever on that point,&#8221; replied Belle with
+fervor.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span></p>
+<p>They entered the house, and soon found themselves seated
+round the table. Mr. Tristram greeted Maggie with his usual
+gentle dignity. Molly delivered herself of her message from
+the Castle. Mr. and Mrs. Tristram said that they would be
+delighted to join the Cardews at supper.</p>
+<p>The meal was proceeding cheerfully, and Maggie was entertaining
+her host and hostess by just those pleasant little
+pieces of information which an exceedingly well-bred girl
+can impart without apparently intending to do so, when a
+shy and very clean little figure glided into the room, a pair
+of bright-brown eyes looked fixedly at Maggie, and then
+glared defiance at Belle, who happened to be seated near
+that adorable young person.</p>
+<p>Peterkins was making up his mind that in future that
+coveted seat should be his&mdash;for he and Maggie could talk in
+whispers during the meal about Spot-ear, Angelus, and the
+rest&mdash;when his father said, &#8220;Sit down, my boy; take your
+place at once. You are rather late.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The boy slipped into his seat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to see you looking so tidy, Andrew,&#8221; said his
+mother approvingly.</p>
+<p>Andrew looked across at Maggie. Maggie did not once
+glance at him. She was talking in her gentle, lady-like tone
+to the rector.</p>
+<p>Presently another boy came in, bigger and broader than
+Andrew.</p>
+<p>Andrew said in a raised voice, &#8220;Here&#8217;s Jack, and his hands
+aren&#8217;t a bit clean.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush!&#8221; said the rector.</p>
+<p>Jack flushed and looked defiantly at Maggie.</p>
+<p>Maggie raised her eyes and gave him a sweet glance. &#8220;Are
+you really Jack?&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am so glad to know you. I
+have been making friends with your brother Andrew, whom
+I call Peterkins. I want to call you Jackdaw. May I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jack felt a great lump in his throat. His face was scarlet.
+He felt unable to speak, but he nodded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been looking at Peterkins&#8217;s rabbits,&#8221; continued
+Maggie. &#8220;I want to see yours after lunch.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re beauties!&#8221; burst from Jack. &#8220;They&#8217;re ever so
+many times better than Andrew&#8217;s. I&#8217;ve got a cream-colored
+Angora. His name is Fanciful, and I&#8217;ve got&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, my boy, hush!&#8221; said the rector. &#8220;Not so much
+talking during meals. Well, Maggie, my dear&mdash;we must, of
+course, call you by your Christian name&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, Mr. Tristram; I should indeed feel strange if
+you didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are delighted to see you,&#8221; continued the rector, &#8220;and
+you must tell the girls all about your new school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you too, sir,&#8221; said Maggie, in her soft, rich voice.
+&#8220;Oh! you&#8217;ll be delighted&mdash;delighted; there never was such
+a woman as Mrs. Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I took a very great liking to her,&#8221; said the rector. &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+think my girls fortunate to be placed under her care. She
+has been good, very good and kind, to me and mine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder what he means by that,&#8221; thought Maggie; but
+she made no remark aloud.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_III_LADY_LYSLE' id='CHAPTER_III_LADY_LYSLE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<h3>LADY LYSLE.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>At about a quarter to four that same afternoon three girls
+prepared to walk over to Meredith Manor. It was for such
+golden opportunities that Molly and Isabel kept their best
+frocks; it was for just such occasions that they arrayed
+themselves most neatly and becomingly. Their dress, it must
+be owned, was limited in quantity and also in quality; but
+on the present occasion, in their pretty white spotted muslins,
+with pale-blue sashes round their waists and white muslin
+hats to match, they looked as charming a young pair of
+English girls as could be found in the length and breadth
+of the land. It is true their feet were not nearly as perfectly
+shod as Maggie&#8217;s, nor were their gloves quite so immaculate;
+but then they were going to play tennis, and shoes
+and gloves did not greatly matter in the country. Maggie
+thought otherwise. Her tan tennis-shoes exactly toned with
+her neatly fitting brown holland dress. The little hat she
+wore on her head was made of brown straw trimmed very
+simply with ribbon; it was an ugly hat, but on Maggie&#8217;s head
+it seemed to complete her dress, to be a part of her, so that
+no one noticed in the least what she wore except that she
+looked all right.</p>
+<p>Two boys with worshiping eyes watched the trio as they
+stepped down the rectory avenue and disappeared from view.
+Two boys fought a little afterward, but made it up again,
+and then lay on the grass side by side and discussed Maggie,
+pulling her to pieces in one sense, but adoring her all the
+same.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile the girls themselves chatted as girls will when
+the heart is light and there is no care anywhere. It was
+very hot, even hotter than it had been in the morning; but
+when they reached the road shaded so beautifully by the
+elm-trees they found a delicious breeze which fanned their
+faces. Somehow, Maggie never seemed to suffer from
+weather at all. She was never too cold; she was never too
+hot; she was never ill; no one had ever heard her complain
+of ache or pain. She was always joyous, except when she
+was sympathizing with somebody else&#8217;s sorrow, and then her
+sympathy was detached&mdash;that is, it did not make her personally
+sad, although it affected and helped the person who
+was the recipient of it to a most remarkable extent. One
+of Maggie&#8217;s great attractions was her absolute health, her
+undiminished strength, the fact that she could endure almost
+any exertion without showing a trace of fatigue.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span></p>
+<p>Molly and Isabel were also strong, hearty, well-made
+girls, and the excitement of this expedition caused them to
+chatter more volubly than usual. Maggie had a good deal
+to tell them with regard to the new school, and they had a
+great deal to tell her with regard to the Cardews.</p>
+<p>Just as they were entering the avenue Maggie turned and
+faced her two companions. &#8220;May I say something?&#8221; she
+asked eagerly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course, Mags,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s this: from what you told me of your friends,
+they must be the most profoundly uninteresting girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, indeed they are not!&#8221; said Isabel stanchly.
+&#8220;Merry has a great deal in her, and Cicely is so nice-looking!
+We think she will be beautiful by-and-by; but Merry undoubtedly
+has the most character. Then there is something
+dignified and aristocratic about them, and yet they are not
+really proud, although they might be, for they are so rich,
+and Meredith Manor is such a wonderful old house.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t you tell me,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;that Meredith Manor
+belonged to Mrs. Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did I?&#8221; said Isabel, coloring in some confusion. &#8220;I am
+sure I don&#8217;t know; I don&#8217;t remember saying it. I don&#8217;t think
+Mrs. Cardew is the sort of woman who would call anything
+hers apart from her husband. She is devoted to him, and
+no wonder, for he is quite charming. He is nearly as charming
+as father, and that&#8217;s saying a great deal.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do let&#8217;s come on. We&#8217;ll be late!&#8221; said Molly impatiently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not quite yet, please,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I want to understand
+the position. Mrs. Cardew was a Miss Meredith?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear Maggie; but what does that matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And,&#8221; continued Maggie, &#8220;she was the heiress of Meredith
+Manor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose so. Father can tell you exactly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t want to question him, but I want to get my
+bearings. On the mother&#8217;s side, the Cardew girls belong to
+the country. Isn&#8217;t that so?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, yes. Do come on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But their father,&#8221; continued Maggie, &#8220;he is in trade,
+isn&#8217;t he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a perfect gentleman,&#8221; said Isabel stoutly; &#8220;no one
+looks down on trade in these days.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not. I adore trade myself,&#8221; said Maggie. She
+now proceeded to walk very slowly up the avenue. She was
+evidently thinking hard. After a time she said, &#8220;I mean to
+get those girls to come to school with you, Molly, and with
+you, Isabel, in September.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Both the Tristrams burst into a peal of merry laughter.
+&#8220;Oh Mags!&#8221; they cried, &#8220;we never did think before that
+you were conceited. You certainly overrate even your powers
+when you imagine that you will get Mr. Cardew to change
+his mind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by his changing his mind?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, this,&#8221; said Belle. &#8220;He has set his face from the
+very first against his girls leaving home. He wishes them to
+have a home education, and that alone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is all right,&#8221; said Maggie cheerfully. &#8220;Well,
+what will you bet, girls, that I have my way?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t want you to lose, Maggie; but you certainly
+will not get your way in this particular.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, now, I am going to be generous. I am not rich;
+but I have got two gold bracelets at home, and I will give
+one to each of you for your very own if I succeed in bringing
+Cicely and Merry Cardew to Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! oh!&#8221; exclaimed both the Tristram girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll get your bracelets,&#8221; said Maggie in a most confident
+tone, &#8220;and I can assure you they are beauties; my
+darling father brought them from India years and years ago.
+He brought a lot of jewels for mother and me, and I will
+get the bracelets for you&mdash;one each&mdash;if I succeed; but you
+must allow me to manage things my own way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you won&#8217;t do anything&mdash;anything&mdash;to upset the Cardews?&#8221;
+said Isabel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upset them!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Well, yes, I do mean to
+upset them. I mean to alter their lives; I mean to turn
+things topsyturvy for them; but I&#8217;ll manage it in such a
+fashion that neither you, nor Molly, nor your father, nor
+your mother, nor anyone will suspect how I have got my
+way, but get it I will. I thought I&#8217;d tell you, that&#8217;s all.
+You&#8217;d like to have them at school with you, wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, very much indeed,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not so sure,&#8221; said Isabel. &#8220;It&#8217;s rather fun coming
+back to the rectory in the holidays and telling the Cardew
+girls all about what we do and how we spend our time.
+There&#8217;ll be nothing to tell them if we all go to the same
+school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I don&#8217;t agree with you. I expect,
+on the contrary, you&#8217;ll find a vast lot more to talk about. But
+come, let&#8217;s hurry now; I want to be introduced to them, for
+I have no time to lose.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Neither Isabel nor Molly could quite make out why they
+felt a certain depression after Maggie Howland had explained
+her views. The thought of the possible possession
+of the bracelets did not greatly elate them. Besides, there
+was not the most remote chance of even such a fascinating
+young person as Maggie succeeding in her project. She
+would meet her match, if not in Mrs. Cardew, then in Mr.
+Cardew. There was no doubt whatever on that point. But
+they greatly wished she would not try. They did not want
+her to upset the placid existence of their young friends.
+The girls who lived at the Castle, the girls who pursued their
+sheltered, happy, refined life, were in a manner mysterious
+and remote to the young Tristrams, and they thought that
+they would not love them any more if they were brought into
+closer contact with them.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>A turn in the avenue now brought the old manor-house
+into view. Some friends of Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s had arrived, but
+there were no other young people to be seen. Cicely and
+Merry were standing talking to a lady of middle age who
+had come to pay an afternoon call, when Cicely found herself
+changing color and glancing eagerly at Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, will you excuse me?&#8221; she said in her pretty, refined
+voice. &#8220;Our special friends the Tristrams, the rector&#8217;s
+daughters, and a friend of theirs, a Miss Howland, are coming
+up the avenue.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, my dear,&#8221; said Lady Lysle; and Cicely and
+Merry were off down the avenue like arrows from the bow
+to meet their friends.</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle watched the two girls, and then turned to
+speak to Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What name was that I heard Cicely say?&#8221; was her
+remark. &#8220;Of course I know the Tristrams, but who was
+the girl who was with them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A special friend of theirs, a Miss Howland. She has
+been their school companion abroad. She is staying with
+them at the rectory. Why, what is the matter, Lady Lysle?
+Do you know anything about her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know her,&#8221; said Lady Lysle, &#8220;but I know a
+little bit about her mother. I should not have supposed
+the Tristram girls and Miss Howland were in the same
+set.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, what is wrong?&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, who was exceedingly
+particular as regarded the people whom her daughters
+knew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nothing, nothing,&#8221; said Lady Lysle. &#8220;I happen not
+particularly to like Mrs. Howland; but doubtless I am prejudiced.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She turned to talk to a neighbor, and by this time the five
+girls had met. There was an eager interchange of greetings,
+and then Maggie found herself walking up the avenue by
+Merry&#8217;s side, while Cicely found a place between the two
+Tristram girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so glad you&#8217;ve come!&#8221; said Merry in her gentle,
+polite voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is kind of you to ask me,&#8221; replied Maggie. &#8220;Do you
+know,&#8221; she added, turning and fixing her curious eyes on her
+companion&#8217;s face, &#8220;that I am one of those poor girls who
+have never seen a beautiful house like yours before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so glad you like our house,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but you
+haven&#8217;t seen it yet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am looking at it now. So this is what I am accustomed
+to hear spoken of as one of the &#8216;Homes of England&#8217;?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It certainly is a home,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;and an old one, too.
+Parts of the Manor have been centuries in existence, but
+some parts, of course, are comparatively new.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you take me all over it, Miss Cardew?&#8221; asked Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, I shall be delighted; but you must come another
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+day for that, for we want to make up some sets of tennis
+without any delay. We have all our afternoon planned out.
+There are three or four young people who may arrive any
+moment, so that we shall be able to make two good
+sets.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How wonderful it all is!&#8221; said Maggie, who kept on looking
+at the house with ever-increasing admiration, and did
+not seem particularly keen about tennis.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you like tennis, Miss&mdash;Miss Howland?&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; replied Maggie after a pause; &#8220;but then I think,&#8221;
+she added, after yet another pause, &#8220;that I like every nice
+thing in all the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How delightful that must be!&#8221; said Merry, becoming
+more and more attracted by Maggie each moment. &#8220;And you
+know a lot, too, don&#8217;t you? For you have seen so much of
+the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know very little,&#8221; replied Maggie; &#8220;and as to having
+seen the world, that is to come. I am quite young, you
+know&mdash;only just sixteen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Isabel and Molly told me that you knew more than
+any other girl of their acquaintance.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie gave a cheerful laugh, and said, &#8220;You mustn&#8217;t mind
+what they say, poor darlings! The fact is, they&#8217;re fond
+of me, and they magnify my knowledge; but in reality it
+doesn&#8217;t exist. Only, I must tell you, Miss Cardew, I mean
+to see everything, and to know everything. I mean to have
+a glorious future.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The enthusiasm in the charming voice was also seen, to
+shine through those queer, narrow eyes. Merry felt her
+heart beat. &#8220;I am going to tell you something in return,&#8221;
+she said, speaking, for a wonder, without diffidence, for she
+was naturally very shy and retiring. &#8220;I wish with all my
+heart that I could live a glorious life such as you describe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And surely you can?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I must be satisfied with a very quiet life. But
+we won&#8217;t talk of it now. I am really very happy. I should
+consider myself a most wicked, discontented girl were I anything
+else. And, please, may I take you to see mother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry brought up her new friend to introduce her to
+Mrs. Cardew, who for the first moment, remembering what
+Lady Lysle had said, was a trifle stiff to Maggie Howland,
+but two minutes afterward was chatting to her in a pleasant
+and very friendly manner. She even went the length of personally
+introducing Maggie to Lady Lysle, excusing herself
+for the act by saying that Lady Lysle knew her mother.</p>
+<p>Maggie also succeeded in charming Lady Lysle, who said
+to Mrs. Cardew afterward, &#8220;I am glad you have introduced
+the girl to me. She is not in the least like her commonplace,
+affected mother. She seems a very good sort, and
+I like plain girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But is she plain?&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew in some astonishment.
+&#8220;Do you know, I never noticed it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span></p>
+<p>Lady Lysle laughed. &#8220;You never noticed how remarkably
+plain that girl is, my dear friend?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To be frank with you,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t think
+of her face at all. She has a pretty manner and a nice,
+sensible, agreeable way of talking. I do not think my girls
+can suffer injury from her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They seem to like her, at any rate,&#8221; said Lady Lysle,
+looking significantly as she spoke at the distant part of the
+grounds, where Maggie, with Cicely at one side of her and
+Merry at the other, was talking eagerly. &#8220;Oh yes, she
+seems a nice child,&#8221; continued the great lady, &#8220;and it would
+be unfair to judge a girl because her mother is not to one&#8217;s
+taste.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But is there anything really objectionable in the
+mother?&#8221; asked Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing whatsoever, except that she is pushing, vulgar,
+and shallow. I am under the impression that the Howlands
+are exceedingly poor. Of course they are not to be blamed
+for that, but how the mother can manage to send the girl
+to expensive schools puzzles me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, well,&#8221; said Mrs. Gardew in her gentle voice, &#8220;the
+child is evidently very different from her mother, and I
+must respect the mother for doing her best to get her girl
+well educated.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your girls are not going to school, are they, Sylvia?&#8221;
+asked Lady Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mine? Of course not. Their father wouldn&#8217;t hear of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the whole, I think he is right,&#8221; said Lady Lysle,
+&#8220;though there are advantages in schools. Now, that school
+at Kensington, Aylmer House, which my dear friend Mrs.
+Ward conducts with such skill and marvelous dexterity, is
+a place where any girl might receive advantages.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, &#8220;that Mrs. Ward is
+your friend?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My very great friend, dear. I have known her all my
+life. Aylmer House is particularly select. My niece Aneta
+is at the school, and her mother is charmed with it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But that is very strange,&#8221; said Mrs. Gardew after a pause.
+&#8220;You must talk to-night to our rector when he comes. Oh
+yes, of course you&#8217;ll stay to supper.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot, I regret to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, if you won&#8217;t, there&#8217;s no use in pressing you.
+But I have something curious to say. The rector&#8217;s two little
+girls are going to Aylmer House in September, and that
+little Miss Howland whom I just introduced to you is also
+one of the girls under Mrs. Ward&#8217;s care.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then she will do well,&#8221; said Lady Lysle alter a pause,
+during which her face looked very thoughtful.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if she knows your niece,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle laughed. &#8220;I presume she does. The school
+only contains twenty boarders&mdash;never any more. I happen to
+know that there are two vacancies at the present moment.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+Really, if I were you, Sylvia, I would give your girls a couple
+of years there. It would do them a world of good, and they
+would acquire some slight knowledge of the world before
+they enter it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Impossible! quite impossible!&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew; &#8220;their
+father would never consent.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV_POWER_WAS_EVERYTHING_TO_MAGGIE' id='CHAPTER_IV_POWER_WAS_EVERYTHING_TO_MAGGIE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h3>POWER WAS EVERYTHING TO MAGGIE.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Meanwhile the young people enjoyed themselves vastly.
+Maggie was very modest with regard to her tennis, but she
+quickly proved that she could play better than any one
+else at the Manor that day. The visitors walking about the
+grounds paused to remark on her excellent play and to inquire
+who she was. She took her little triumph very
+modestly, saying that she was rather surprised at herself,
+and supposed that it was the fresh and delicious air of the
+country which had put her into such good form.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is ridiculously overmodest,&#8221; said Isabel Tristram to
+Merry, &#8220;for she always did play every sort of game better
+than the rest of us. She is not quite so good at her books;
+except, indeed, at certain things, such as recitation. I wish
+you could see and hear her then. She is almost a genius.
+She looks like one inspired.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think her quite delightful,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;and as to
+being plain&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I told you, didn&#8217;t I?&#8221; said Belle, &#8220;that you&#8217;d never notice
+her looks after you had seen her for a minute or two.&#8221;</p>
+<p>By-and-by it was time for the family to go into the house
+for supper at Meredith Manor. The three girls from the
+rectory were taken upstairs, to a spacious bedroom to wash
+their hands and brush their hair. Molly and Isabel were
+both most anxious to know what Maggie thought of Cicely
+and Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I think of them?&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Oh, they&#8217;re first-rate,
+and not really dull at all; and the whole place is lovely,
+and all the people I met to-day were so nice, except, indeed,
+that Lady Lysle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lady Lysle!&#8221; exclaimed Molly in a tone of astonishment.
+&#8220;Why, she is Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s greatest friend. Do
+you mean to say you were introduced to her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Mrs. Cardew was kind enough to do so, though I
+am sure I didn&#8217;t want it at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I can&#8217;t imagine why she did it,&#8221; said Molly in a
+tone of astonishment. &#8220;Mrs. Cardew never introduces either
+of us to the grown-up people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, her ostensible reason,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;was that Lady
+Lysle knows my mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Does she, indeed?&#8221; said Isabel in a tone of great respect.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But that doesn&#8217;t make me like her any the better,&#8221; said
+Maggie. &#8220;And now I will tell you why, girls, only you must
+faithfully promise you won&#8217;t repeat it to any one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said the girls eagerly, who were accustomed
+to receive secrets from their schoolfellows, though
+Maggie, as a rule, never gave her secrets to anyone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I will tell you,&#8221; said Maggie, the color flushing into
+her face and then leaving it pale again. &#8220;Aneta Lysle is
+one of the girls at Aylmer House. She is Lady Lysle&#8217;s
+niece; and&mdash;well&mdash;you know I am tolerant enough, but I
+can&#8217;t bear Aneta Lysle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Molly and Isabel were silent for a minute.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If <i>you</i> can&#8217;t bear her,&#8221; said Isabel, &#8220;then I don&#8217;t suppose
+we&#8217;ll like her either when we go to the school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, you will; you&#8217;ll adore her&mdash;sure to. Now promise
+once again that you will never repeat this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We certainly will not,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>Isabel nodded emphatically. &#8220;We don&#8217;t tell secrets,&#8221; she
+said. Then she added, &#8220;We had best go downstairs now,
+if you&#8217;re quite tidy, Mags.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During supper that night Mrs. Cardew, who found herself
+seated near her favorite rector, began to ply him with questions
+with regard to Aylmer House. How had he heard of
+it, and why had he specially fixed on that establishment
+for his daughters?</p>
+<p>The rector smiled. He had twinkling dark eyes, and they
+now looked down the long table until they rested for a brief
+moment on Maggie&#8217;s young figure. She was talking to Mr.
+Cardew, who, stately and reserved as he was, took her remarks
+with good-natured tolerance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A nice, unaffected child,&#8221; he kept saying to himself, and
+neither did he remark how plain she was.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That young person yonder,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram to Mrs.
+Cardew, &#8220;is the influence that has induced me to make arrangements
+for my girls at Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Howland! You don&#8217;t mean to say that you are influenced
+by a schoolgirl?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Tristram looked grave. &#8220;In this case I may as well
+confess at once that I have been influenced,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I
+have heard a great deal of the child from Molly and Isabel,
+for they were all three at the same excellent school in
+Hanover. I met little Miss Howland when I was in London
+at Christmas. Being such a great friend of my children&#8217;s,
+I naturally talked to her. She told me of Mrs. Ward and of
+the new delightful school to which she was going. She certainly
+never once pressed me to send my girls there, but it
+occurred to me that I would visit Mrs. Ward and see if it
+could be arranged. My girls are quite proficient for their
+ages in foreign languages; but I want them now thoroughly
+to learn literature and English history, and also those numerous
+small accomplishments which are so necessary for a gentlewoman.
+There is also no place in the world like London,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+in my opinion, for hearing good music and seeing good art.
+I saw Mrs. Ward. A short interview with her was all-sufficient.
+I could not desire to put my girls in safer hands.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Cardew listened very attentively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you think, Mr. Tristram,&#8221; she said after a pause,
+&#8220;that school-life is really good for girls?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In my humble opinion, Mrs. Cardew, it is essential. A
+girl must find her level. She can only find it at school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then what about my dear girls?&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>The rector bowed in a very courteous manner. &#8220;School-life
+may not be really necessary for them,&#8221; he said; &#8220;although
+you know my opinion&mdash;in short you know what I
+would do with them did they belong to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Cardew was silent for a minute or two. Then she
+continued the conversation by saying, &#8220;It is really a curious
+fact that Lady Lysle, my great friend, who was here this
+afternoon, spoke to me in terms of the warmest approbation
+with regard to Mrs. Ward and Aylmer House. She
+says that her own niece Aneta is a member of the school.
+She further said that there were two vacancies at present,
+and she urged me to send my girls there. But, alas I cannot
+do that, for their father would not hear of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do wish he would hear of it,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram with
+some feeling. &#8220;You will never have your girls properly
+taught unless they go to school. It is impossible at this distance
+from London to command the services of the best
+masters and governesses. You will not have a resident governess
+in the house&mdash;forgive me if I speak freely, dear
+lady, but I love your children as though they were my own&mdash;and
+if you could persuade Mr. Cardew to seize this opportunity
+and let them go to school with Molly and Isabel I
+am certain you would never regret it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish I could persuade him,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew; &#8220;more
+particularly as that excellent music master, Mr. Bennett, has
+just written to say he must discontinue giving his music-lessons,
+as the distance from Warwick is too far for his
+health, and Miss Beverley, their daily governess, has also
+broken down. But there, I know my husband never will
+agree to part with the girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then the next best thing,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram, speaking
+in a cheerful tone, &#8220;is for you to take up your abode in
+your London house, and give the girls the advantages of
+masters and mistresses straight from the Metropolis. Why,
+you will be bringing them out in a couple of years, Mrs.
+Cardew, and you would like them to have all possible advantages
+first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something must be done, certainly,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew;
+&#8220;and I like that girl, Miss Howland, although Lady Lysle
+seemed prejudiced against her at first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she is a girl in a thousand,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram; &#8220;so
+matter-of-fact and amiable and agreeable. See how she is
+talking to your husband at this very moment! I never saw
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+a nicer or more modest young creature, but she is so exceedingly
+clever that she will push her own way anywhere.
+She has bowled over my two young urchins already, although
+she has been only a few hours at the rectory. What could
+Lady Lysle have to say against Maggie Howland?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nothing&mdash;nothing at all, and I ought not to have
+spoken; but it seems she does not much care for Mrs. Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I can explain that,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram. &#8220;Mrs. Howland
+means well, but is a rather silly sort of woman. The
+girl manages her in the sweetest way. The girl herself takes
+after her father, poor Howland the African explorer, who
+lost his life in his country&#8217;s cause. He had, I am told,
+a most remarkable personality.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Molly and Isabel Tristram, accompanied by Maggie
+Howland, the rector, and his wife, walked back to the rectory
+that evening, Maggie was in excellent spirits. It was natural
+that the three young people should start on in front. Maggie
+talked on various subjects; but although the Tristrams were
+most anxious to get opinions from her with regard to the
+Cardews, she could not be led to talk of them until they
+were approaching the house.</p>
+<p>It was now nearly eleven o&#8217;clock, and a perfect summer
+night. The boys, Jack and Andrew, had gone to bed, but
+a few lights were twinkling here and there in the dear old
+rectory.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am not a scrap sleepy&#8221;, said Maggie. &#8220;This air
+stimulates one; it is splendid. By the way, girls,&#8221; she added,
+suddenly turning and facing her companions, &#8220;would you
+like your bracelets to have rubies in them or sapphires?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense!&#8221; said Molly, turning crimson.</p>
+<p>Belle laughed. &#8220;You don&#8217;t suppose you are accomplishing
+that?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>Maggie spoke rather slowly. &#8220;Mother has one dozen bracelets
+in her jewelry-case. Father brought them to her in
+the course of his travels. Some he got in India and some
+in Africa. They are very valuable and exceedingly quaint,
+and I recall now to my memory, and can-see clearly in my
+mind&#8217;s eye one lovely gold bracelet fashioned like a snake
+and with eyes of ruby, and another (which I think he must
+have got at Colombo) that consists of a broad gold band
+studded here and there with sapphires. How pretty those
+bracelets would look on your dear little arms, Molly and
+Isabel; and how glad&mdash;how very, very glad&mdash;your Maggie
+will be to give them to you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, of course, when you do give them to us we&#8217;ll be delighted
+to have them,&#8221; said Molly and Isabel.</p>
+<p>Then Isabel laughed and said, &#8220;But what is the good of
+counting your chickens before they&#8217;re hatched?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I consider my chickens hatched,&#8221; was Maggie&#8217;s remark,
+&#8220;What fun we shall all have together next winter! Aneta
+won&#8217;t have much chance against us. Yes, girls, of course
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+I like your friends Cicely and Merry; but they&#8217;ll be twice
+three times&mdash;the girls they are when they have been for
+a short time at Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you tired, Maggie?&#8221; was Molly&#8217;s remark.
+&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t you like to go to bed?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not a scrap tired, and I don&#8217;t want to go to bed
+at all; but I suppose that means that you would?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I must own to feeling a little sleepy,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so am I,&#8221; said Belle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Girls, girls, come in; your father wants to lock up,&#8221; called
+Mrs. Tristram at that moment.</p>
+<p>The girls all entered the house, lit their candles, and went
+upstairs to their rooms.</p>
+<p>As Maggie was wishing her two dear friends good-night
+she said quietly, &#8220;I hope you won&#8217;t mind; but Merry Cardew&mdash;or,
+as I ought to call her, Miss Cardew&mdash;has asked me
+to go over to the Manor to-morrow morning in order to
+show me the old house. I said I&#8217;d be there at ten o&#8217;clock,
+and could then get back to you in time for lunch. I do
+trust you don&#8217;t mind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Molly in a hearty tone. &#8220;Now,
+good-night, Mags.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But if you think, Maggie,&#8221; said Isabel, &#8220;that you will
+succeed in that scheme of yours you will find yourself
+vastly mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie smiled gently, and the next moment she found
+herself alone. She went and stood by the open window.
+There was a glorious full moon in the sky, and the garden,
+with its deep shadows and brilliant avenues of light, looked
+lovely. But Maggie was not thinking of the scenery. Her
+thoughts were busy with those ideas which were always
+running riot in her busy little head. She was not unamiable;
+she was in reality a good-hearted girl, but she was very
+ambitious, and she sighed, above all things for power and
+popularity.</p>
+<p>When she came to visit Molly and Isabel she had not the
+faintest idea of inducing Cicely and Merry to join that select
+group who were taught by Mrs. Ward at Aylmer House.
+But when once the idea had entered her brain, she determined,
+with her accustomed quickness, to carry it into
+execution. She had never yet, in the whole course of her
+life, met with defeat. At the various schools where she
+had been taught she had always been popular and had won
+friends and never created an enemy-but at Aylmer House,
+extraordinary and delightful as the life was, there was one
+girl who excited her enmity&mdash;who, in short, roused the
+worst that was in her. That girl&#8217;s name was Aneta Lysle.
+No sophistries on the part of Maggie, no clever speeches,
+no well-timed and courteous acts, could win the approval of
+Aneta; and just because she was impossible to get at, because
+she carried her young head high, because she had that
+which Maggie could never have&mdash;a stately and wonderful
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+beauty&mdash;Maggie was jealous of her, and was determined, if
+she could not win Aneta over to be her friend, to use her own
+considerable powers against the girl. She had not for a single
+moment, however, thought that she could be helped by
+Cicely and Merry in this direction, and had intended to
+get them to come to the school simply because they were
+aristocratic and rich, in the first instance. But when she
+saw Lady Lysle&mdash;Lady Lysle, who hated her mother and
+before whom her mother trembled and shrank; Lady Lysle,
+who was Aneta&#8217;s aunt&mdash;she knew that Cicely and Merry
+might be most valuable aids to her in carrying out her
+campaign against Aneta, and would help her to establish
+herself once and for all as the most powerful and important
+person in Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school.</p>
+<p>Power was everything to Maggie. By power she meant
+to rule her small school-world, and eventually by the aid
+of that same gift to take her position in the greater world
+that lies beyond school. In her heart of hearts she considered
+Cicely and Merry tiresome, silly, ignorant little girls;
+but they could be made to play into her hands. They must
+come to Aylmer House&mdash;oh yes! and already she felt certain
+she had put the thin end of the wedge beneath that opposition
+which she knew she must expect from Mr. Cardew. She
+would see him again on the morrow. Indeed, greater schemes
+than hers could be carried into effect within a fortnight.</p>
+<p>Maggie was the soul of common-sense, however, and
+had no idea of wearing herself out thinking when she
+ought to be asleep. She accordingly soon turned from the
+window, and, getting into bed, dropped at once into healthy
+slumber.</p>
+<p>When she awoke she felt remarkably light-hearted and
+cheerful. She got up early, and went with Andrew and
+Jack to see the adorable rabbits. So judicious was she on
+this occasion that both boys returned with her to breakfast
+in the highest good-humor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother, mother,&#8221; cried Jackdaw, &#8220;she loves Fanciful because
+he&#8217;s so beautiful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And she adores Spot-ear because he&#8217;s so ugly,&#8221; said
+Peterkins.</p>
+<p>The boys were exceedingly happy at being allowed to sit at
+breakfast one on each side of Maggie, who, when she did
+not speak to them&mdash;for she wanted to ingratiate herself with
+every one present, and not with them alone&mdash;contrived to
+pat their hands from time to time, and so keep them in a
+subdued state of exceeding good-humor.</p>
+<p>Soon after breakfast she flew up to her room, put on
+that strangely becoming brown hat, which would have suited
+no other girl but herself, and went off to the Manor. She
+was met at the gate by Merry, who was anxiously waiting
+for her appearance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so sorry that Cicely isn&#8217;t here too,&#8221; said Merry;
+&#8220;but mother wanted Cicely to drive into Warwick with her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+this morning. We&#8217;re going for a long motor-ride this afternoon.
+Don&#8217;t you love motors?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have never been in one in my life,&#8221; replied Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear!&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;then you shall come with us,
+although I know I can&#8217;t ask you to-day, but perhaps to-morrow
+we could manage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must not be too much away from Molly and Isabel, for
+it would not be kind&mdash;would it, Miss Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do call me Merry. &#8216;Miss Cardew&#8217; sounds so stiff, and
+you know I feel that I have known you all my life, for
+Molly and Isabel have always been talking about you.
+Mother was so pleased when she heard that you wanted to
+see the old house; and, do you know, Maggie&#8211;&#8211;You don&#8217;t
+mind my saying Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not, Merry&mdash;dear Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;would you believe it?&mdash;father is going to show
+you the manuscript-room himself. I can tell you that is
+an honor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so delighted!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Your father is a
+most charming man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, that he is,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but I never saw him
+get on so well with a young girl before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Maggie in her modest way, &#8220;it was just that
+I wanted to listen to him; what he said was so very interesting.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls were now walking up the avenue.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please,&#8221; said Merry suddenly, &#8220;tell me more about your
+school&mdash;I mean that new, wonderful school you are at in
+London.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aylmer House?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Aylmer House. Mother was talking about it this
+morning. She was quite interested in it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your mother was talking about it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. It seems Mr. Tristram had been praising it to
+her like anything last night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, he can&#8217;t say too much in its favor,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;Any girl who didn&#8217;t get good from it ought to be ashamed
+of herself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that you are saying, Miss Howland?&#8221; said the
+voice of Mr. Cardew at that moment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh father! I never saw you,&#8221; cried Merry.</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew came up and shook hands with Maggie. &#8220;I
+was walking just behind you on the grass,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and
+I heard your enthusiastic remarks with regard to the school
+that the young Tristrams are going to. I am heartily
+pleased; I take a great interest in the Tristrams.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh sir,&#8221; said Maggie suddenly, &#8220;I only wish&mdash;oh! I
+hardly dare to say it&mdash;but I only do wish that your girls
+were coming too!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry turned crimson and then grew pale. &#8220;Father
+doesn&#8217;t approve of schools,&#8221; she said in a faint voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As a rule, I do not,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew decidedly; &#8220;but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+of course I am bound to say there are schools and schools.
+You shall tell me all about your school presently, Miss
+Howland. And now, I will allow my daughter to entertain
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, father darling, you promised to show Maggie the
+manuscript-room yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you interested in black-letter?&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am interested in everything old,&#8221; replied Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, I will show you the manuscript-room with
+pleasure; but if you want to go over the Manor you have a
+heavy morning&#8217;s work before you, and Merry is an excellent
+guide. However, let me see. I will meet you in the library
+at a quarter to twelve. Until then, adieu.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_V_WHAT_DID_YOU_TALK_ABOUT' id='CHAPTER_V_WHAT_DID_YOU_TALK_ABOUT'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT?&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Maggie and Merry had now reached the great porch which
+overshadowed the entrance to the old house. The next instant
+they found themselves in the hall. This, supported by graceful
+pillars, was open up to the roof of the house. It was
+a magnificent hall, and Merry began enthusiastically to explain
+its perfections. Maggie showed not a pretended but a
+real interest. She asked innumerable and sensible questions.
+Her queer, calm, narrow eyes grew very bright. She smiled
+now and then, and her face seemed the personification of intelligence.
+With that smile, and those gleaming white teeth,
+who could have thought of Maggie Howland as plain?</p>
+<p>They went from the hall into the older part of the house,
+and there Merry continued her duties as guide. Never before
+had she been in the company of so absolutely charming a
+companion. Maggie was the best listener in the world. She
+never interrupted with tiresome or irrelevant questions.
+When she did speak it was with the utmost intelligence,
+showing clearly that she understood what she was being
+told.</p>
+<p>By-and-by they found themselves in the picture-gallery.
+There Merry insisted on their sitting down for a time and
+taking a rest. She touched a bell as she spoke, and then
+motioned Maggie to recline in a deep arm-chair which faced
+the picture of a beautiful lady who was the grandmother
+of the present Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That lady&#8217;s name,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;was Cicely Meredith,
+and she was the wife of the last Meredith but one who
+owned the Manor. It was little supposed in those days that
+my darling mother would inherit the place, and that Cardews
+should live at Meredith Manor after all. Ah, here comes
+Dixon!&mdash;Dixon, will you put our lunch on that small table?
+Thank you very much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>One of the servants in the Cardew livery had appeared.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+He was bearing a small tray of tempting drinks, fruit,
+and cake.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Maggie, eat; do eat,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I declare I am as hungry as a hawk,&#8221; said Maggie, and
+she munched cake and ate fruit and felt that she was, as
+she expressed it to herself&mdash;although she would not have
+used the words aloud&mdash;in clover.</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, she was not going to lose sight of that mission
+which she had set herself. She turned and looked
+thoughtfully at Merry. Merry had a pretty profile, with the
+short upper-lip and the graceful appearance of a very high-bred
+girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you,&#8221; said Maggie after a pause, &#8220;happen to know
+Aneta Lysle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Do you mean Lady
+Lysle&#8217;s niece?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know her well, but she has stayed here once
+or twice. Is she a friend of yours, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no; scarcely a friend, although we are schoolfellows.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How stupid of me!&#8221; said Merry, speaking with some
+warmth. &#8220;Of course, I quite forgot that she is at Mrs.
+Ward&#8217;s school. She is older than you, isn&#8217;t she, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, a year older, as days are counted; but she appears
+even more than her age, which is just seventeen. Don&#8217;t you
+think her very beautiful, Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now that I recall her, I do; but she never made a special
+impression on me. She never stayed here long enough.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nevertheless, she is a sort of cousin of yours?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Lady Lysle is mother&#8217;s cousin; but then one doesn&#8217;t
+love all one&#8217;s relations,&#8221; said Merry carelessly. &#8220;Have another
+piece of cake, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; said Maggie, helping herself. &#8220;How delicious
+it is!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And put some more cream over your raspberries. The
+raspberries at Meredith Manor are celebrated.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie helped herself to some more cream. &#8220;I do wish&#8221;
+she said suddenly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That I would go on telling you about the pictures?&#8221; said
+Merry. &#8220;But you must be tired. I never knew any one take
+in interesting things so quickly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad you think I do; but it so happens that I do
+not want to hear about the pictures this morning. I think
+perhaps I am, after all, a bit tired. It is the pleasure, the
+delight of knowing you and your sister, and of being with
+those sweet girls Molly and Isabel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, aren&#8217;t they darlings&#8217;?&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you to tell me a lot about yourself,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have half-an-hour yet before I am to meet your
+father in the manuscript-room. Begin at the beginning, and
+tell me just everything. You are not schoolgirls?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; said Merry, speaking slowly. &#8220;We are taught
+at home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But have you a resident governess?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; father objects. This is holiday-time of course; but
+as a rule we have a daily governess and masters.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It must be dull,&#8221; said Maggie, speaking in a low tone&mdash;so
+low that Merry had to strain her ears to hear it.</p>
+<p>She replied at once, &#8220;&#8217;Tisn&#8217;t nearly so interesting as school;
+but we&mdash;we are&mdash;quite&mdash;<i>quite</i> satisfied.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder you don&#8217;t go to school,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Father doesn&#8217;t wish it, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;d like it, wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Like it!&#8221; said Merry, her eyes distended a little. &#8220;Like
+to see the world and to know other girls? Well, yes, I
+should like it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;d be discipline, you know,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;It
+wouldn&#8217;t be all fun.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;How could one expect education
+to be all fun?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you would naturally like to be very well educated,
+wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly; but I suppose we are&mdash;that is, after a fashion.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;after a fashion, doubtless; but you
+will go into society by-and-by, and you&#8217;ll find&mdash;well, that
+home education leaves out a great many points of knowledge
+which cannot possibly be attained except by mixing with
+other girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose so,&#8221; said Merry, speaking with a slight degree
+of impatience; &#8220;but then Cicely and I can&#8217;t help it. We have
+to do what father and mother wish.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, exactly, Merry; and it&#8217;s so awfully sweet and amiable
+of you! Now, may I describe to you a little bit of school-life?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you like, Maggie. Molly and Isabel have often told me
+of what you did in Hanover.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Hanover?&#8221; said Maggie with a tone of slight contempt.
+&#8220;We don&#8217;t think of Hanover now in our ideas of
+school-life. We had a fairly good time, for a German school;
+but to compare it with Mrs. Ward&#8217;s house! Oh, I cannot
+tell you what a dream of a life I have lived during the
+last term! It is only to see Mrs. Ward to love her; and
+all the other mistresses are so nice, and the girls are so very
+select and lady-like. Then we take a keen interest in our
+lessons. You&#8217;re the musical one, aren&#8217;t you, Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. How ever did you find that out?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I looked at you, and I guessed it.
+Besides, I heard you hum an air under your breath yesterday,
+and I knew at once that you had a lovely voice.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure I haven&#8217;t; and I&#8217;m too young to begin singing-lessons.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a bit of it. That&#8217;s quite an exploded idea. If, for
+instance&#8211;&#8211;Oh, of course I know you won&#8217;t be there; but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+if you were so lucky as to be a pupil at Mrs. Ward&#8217;s you
+would be taught to sing, and, what is more valuable, you
+would hear good, wonderful, beautiful singing, and wonderful,
+beautiful music of all sorts. Once a week we all
+go to a concert at Queen&#8217;s Hall. Have you ever been there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No! I don&#8217;t know London at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, another day in the week,&#8221; continued Maggie,
+&#8220;we go to the different museums and picture-galleries, and
+we get accustomed to good art, and we are taught to discern
+good from bad. We learn architecture at St. Paul&#8217;s and
+the Abbey and some of the other churches. You see, Mrs.
+Ward&#8217;s idea is to teach us everything first-hand, and during
+the summer term she takes us on long expeditions up the
+river to Kew and Hampton Court and all those dear old
+places. Then, in addition, she has what she calls reunions
+in the evenings. We all wear evening-dress, and she invites
+two or three friends, and we sing and play among ourselves,
+and we are taught the little observances essential to
+good society; and, besides all the things that Mrs. Ward
+does, we have our own private club and our own debating
+society, and&mdash;oh, it is a full life!&mdash;and it teaches one, it
+helps one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry&#8217;s soft brown eyes were very bright, and her cheeks
+had a carnation glow on them, and her pretty red lips were
+slightly parted. &#8220;You do all these things at school&mdash;at
+school?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course; and many, many more things that you
+can&#8217;t even imagine, for it&#8217;s the whole influence of the
+place that is so delightful. Then you make friends&mdash;great
+friends&mdash;and you get to understand character, and you get
+to understand the value of real discipline, and you are taught
+also that you are not meant to live a worldly and selfish
+life, for Mrs. Ward is very philanthropic. Each girl in her
+school has to help a poor girl in East London, and the poor
+girl becomes in a sort of manner her property. I have got
+a dear little lame girl. Her name is Susie Style. I am allowed
+to see her once or twice a year, and I write her a
+letter every week, and she writes back to me, and I collect
+enough money to keep her in a cripples&#8217; home. I haven&#8217;t
+enough of my own, for I am perhaps the poorest girl
+in the school; but that makes no difference, for Mrs. Ward
+doesn&#8217;t allow the word money or rank to be spoken
+of&mdash;she lives above all that. She says that money is
+a great talent, and that people who are merely purse-proud
+are detestable. Oh, but I&#8217;ve told you enough, haven&#8217;t
+I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, oh yes!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Thanks very, very much.
+And so Aneta is there; and as Molly and Isabel will be
+there, they will tell me more at Christmas. Perhaps we
+ought to go down now to meet father in the manuscript-room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie rose with alacrity. She followed her companion
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+quite cheerfully. She felt assured within herself that the
+thin end of the wedge had been well inserted by now.</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew was exceedingly courteous and pleasant, and
+Maggie charmed him by her intelligence and her marvellous
+gift of assimilating knowledge. Not a word was said with
+regard to the London school, and at ten minutes to one
+Maggie bade good-bye to Mr. Cardew and Merry, and went
+back to the rectory in considerable spirits.</p>
+<p>Molly and Isabel were all impatience for her return.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what did you do?&#8221; said Molly. &#8220;Who was there
+to meet you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only Merry. Cicely had gone with Mrs. Cardew to Warwick.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, Merry is the jollier of the two, although they
+are both perfectly sweet,&#8221; said Molly. &#8220;And did she show
+you all the house, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;I really couldn&#8217;t take it all in; but
+she took me round the armory and into the old tower, and
+then we went into the picture-gallery.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she took you into the picture-gallery! There are
+Romneys and Gainsboroughs and Sir Joshua Reynoldses, and
+all sorts of magnificent treasures there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Doubtless,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;But when I tell you what we
+did you will laugh.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you do? Do tell us, Mags.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We sat in easy-chairs. I faced the portrait of a very
+beautiful lady after whom Cicely Cardew is called.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I know her well&mdash;I mean her picture,&#8221; said
+Isabel. &#8220;That is a Gainsborough. Didn&#8217;t you admire it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but I want to look at it again; I&#8217;m going to do
+the gallery another day, and on that occasion I think I shall
+ask Cicely to accompany me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, what do you mean? Don&#8217;t you like our sweet little
+Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Like her? I quite love her,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;but the
+fact is, girls, I did my duty by her this morning, and now
+I want to do my duty by Cicely.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Mags, you are so mysterious!&#8221; said Molly; &#8220;but come
+upstairs and take off your hat, for the gong will sound for
+lunch in a moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie went upstairs, Molly and Isabel following her.
+&#8220;Come into my room, girls,&#8221; she said. Then she added,
+dropping her voice, &#8220;I think those bracelets are pretty
+secure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Molly colored. Isabel looked down.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will never succeed,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>Then Isabel said, &#8220;Even if you do, I don&#8217;t think we ought,
+perhaps, to&mdash;to take them, for it would seem as though
+they were a sort of&mdash;sort of&mdash;bribe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you old goose!&#8221; said Maggie, kissing her. &#8220;How
+could they be a bribe when I don&#8217;t ask you to do anything
+at all? But now, listen. We were tired when we got to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+the gallery; therefore that sweet little Merry of yours ordered
+fruit and milk and cake, and we ate and talked.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you talk about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;School, dear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What was the good of your talking about school to
+Merry when she can&#8217;t go?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t go?&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Why, she is going; only, it
+was my bounden duty to make her want to go. Well, I succeeded
+in doing that this morning. There&#8217;s the gong, and,
+notwithstanding my lunch, I am quite hungry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Andrew and Jack are perfectly mad to see you;
+you&#8217;ll have to devote a bit of your time to them. Dear me,
+Mags!&#8221; said Molly, &#8220;it must be tiresome to be a sort of universal
+favorite, as you are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tiresome!&#8221; said Maggie, glancing round with her queer,
+expressive eyes, &#8220;when I love it like anything? Let&#8217;s get
+up a sort of play between ourselves this afternoon, and
+let the boys join in; and, oh! couldn&#8217;t we&mdash;don&#8217;t you think we
+might&mdash;get your two friends Cicely and Merry to join us,
+just for an impromptu thing that we could act beautifully
+in the hay-field? Wouldn&#8217;t their father consent?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course he would. I&#8217;ll run round the minute
+lunch is over and get them,&#8221; said Isabel. &#8220;You are a girl
+for planning things, Mags! It&#8217;ll be quite glorious.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We might have tea in the hay-field too,&#8221; continued Maggie.
+&#8220;I am sure Peterkins and Jackdaw will help us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Capital! capital! and we&#8217;ll get David&#8221;&mdash;David was the
+gardener&#8217;s boy&mdash;&#8220;to pick lots of fruit for the occasion.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI_FORBIDDEN_FRUIT' id='CHAPTER_VI_FORBIDDEN_FRUIT'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<h3>FORBIDDEN FRUIT.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Meanwhile a little girl stood all alone on one of the terrace
+walks at Meredith Manor. Mrs. Cardew and Cicely
+would not arrive until rather late for lunch, and Merry and
+her father were to partake of it alone. Merry paced up and
+down very slowly. What a lovely day it was, and how
+beautiful the place looked with its long lines of stately trees,
+and its background of woods, and its terraces of bright
+flowers and green, green grass!</p>
+<p>As far as the eye could reach the land belonged to the
+Cardews, and yet Merry Cardew, the joint-heiress with
+Cicely of all this wealth, did not feel either happy or contented
+at that moment. A girl had come into her life who
+had suddenly turned her gold to gray, her sunshine to
+shadow. She was a very nice girl, too&mdash;exceedingly nice.
+There was something about her which Merry found impossible
+to define, for Merry had no acquaintances just then
+in her sheltered life who possessed the all-important and
+marvelous power of charm. Merry knew quite well that
+Maggie Howland was neither rich nor beautiful. She was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+just a little schoolgirl, and yet she could not get Maggie
+out of her head. She sighed for the girl&#8217;s companionship,
+and she sighed yet more for the forbidden fruit which
+Maggie had placed so enticingly before her mental vision:
+the school-life, the good life, the energetic, purposeful life.
+Music&mdash;oh, how passionately Merry loved the very little
+music she had ever heard! And art&mdash;Merry and Cicely had
+learned a little bit of art in their own picture-gallery; but
+of all there was outside they knew nothing. Then that delightful,
+wonderful scheme of having an East End girl for
+your very own to train, and help, and write to, and support;
+and the companionship, and all the magical things which
+the Tristrams had more or less enjoyed in foreign schools,
+but which seemed to have reached a delicacy of perfection
+at Aylmer House!</p>
+<p>Yes, doubtless these were forbidden fruits; but she could
+not help, as she paced alone on the terrace, contrasting her
+mode of education with that which was put within the
+reach of her friends Molly and Isabel, and of Maggie herself.
+How dull, after all, were her lessons! The daily governess,
+who was always tired when she arrived, taught her out
+of books which even Molly and Isabel declared to be out of
+date; who yawned a good deal; who was always quite, quite
+kind, but at the same time had no enthusiasm; who said,
+&#8220;Yes, my dears; very nicely done,&#8221; but never even punished;
+and who only uttered just that mild phrase which was
+monotonous by reason of its repetition. Where was the
+good of reading Racine aloud to Miss Beverley day after
+day, and not being able to talk French properly at all? And
+where was the use of struggling through German with the
+same instructress?</p>
+<p>Then the drawing-master who came from Warwick: he
+was better than Miss Beverley; but, after all, he taught
+what Molly and Isabel said was now quite exploded&mdash;namely,
+freehand&mdash;and he only came once a week. Merry&#8217;s passion
+was for music more than for drawing; it was Cicely who
+pleased Mr. Vaughan, the drawing-master, best. Then there
+was the music-master, Mr. Bennett; but he never would
+allow her to sing a note, and he taught very dull, old-fashioned
+pieces. How sick she was of pieces, and of playing
+them religiously before her father at least once a week!
+Her dancing was better, for she had to go to Warwick to
+a dancing-class, and there were other girls, and they made it
+exciting. But compared to school, and in especial Mrs. Ward&#8217;s
+school, Merry&#8217;s mode of instruction was very dull.
+After all, Molly and Isabel, although they would be quite
+poor girls, had a better time than she and Cicely with all
+their wealth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A penny for your thoughts, my love,&#8221; said her father
+at that moment, and Merry turned her charming little face
+towards him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ought not to tell them to you, dad,&#8221; she said, &#8220;for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+they are&mdash;I&#8217;m ever so sorry&mdash;they are discontented
+thoughts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You discontented, my dear child! I did feel that I had
+two little girls unacquainted with the meaning of the word.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll just tell you, and get it over, dad. I&#8217;ll be
+perfectly all right once I have told you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then talk away my child; you know I have your very
+best interests at heart.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed I know that, my darling father. The fact is
+this,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;I&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;She stopped; she glanced at
+her father. He was a most determined and yet a most absolutely
+kind man. Merry adored him; nevertheless, she
+was a tiny little bit in awe of him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter?&#8221; he said, looking round at her. &#8220;Has
+your companion, that nice little Miss Howland, been putting
+silly thoughts into your head? If so, she mustn&#8217;t come here
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh father, don&#8217;t say that! You&#8217;ll make me quite miserable.
+And indeed she has not been putting silly thoughts
+into my head.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, what are you so melancholy about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is&mdash;there, I will have it out,&#8221; said Merry&mdash;&#8220;I&#8217;d
+give anything in the world to go to school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Merry, gaining courage as she spoke; &#8220;Molly
+and Isabel are going, and Aneta Lysle is there, and Maggie
+Howland is there, and I&#8217;d like to go, too, and I&#8217;m sure Cicely
+would; and, oh, father! I know it <i>can&#8217;t</i> be; but you asked me
+what was the matter. Well, that&#8217;s the matter. I do want
+most awfully to go to school!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has that girl Miss Howland been telling you that you
+ought to go to school?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed no, she has not breathed such a word. But I
+am always interested, as you know&mdash;or as perhaps you
+don&#8217;t know&mdash;in schools; and I have always asked&mdash;and so
+has Cicely&mdash;Molly and Isabel to tell us all about their lives
+at school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not know it, my little Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes, father, Cicely and I have been curious; for,
+you see, the life is so very different from ours. And so
+to-day, when Maggie and I were in the picture-gallery, I
+asked her to tell me about Aylmer House, and she&mdash;she did.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She made a glowing picture, evidently,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh father, it must be so lovely! Think of it, father&mdash;to
+get the best music and the best art, and to be under the
+influence of a woman like Mrs. Ward. Oh, it must be
+good! Do you know, father, that every girl in her school
+has an East End girl to look after and help; so that some
+of the riches of the West should be felt and appreciated by
+those who live in the East. Oh father! I could not help
+feeling a little jealous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling, I quite understand. And you find your life
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+with Miss Beverley and Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Bennett a
+little monotonous compared to the variety which a school-life
+affords?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is it, father darling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t blame you in the least, Merry&mdash;not in the very
+least; but the fact is, I have my own reasons for not approving
+of school-life. I prefer girls who are trained at home.
+If, indeed, you had to earn your living it would be a different
+matter. But you will be rich, dear, some day, and&#8211;&#8211;Well,
+I am glad you&#8217;ve spoken to me. Don&#8217;t think anything more
+about it. Come in to lunch now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll try not to think of it, father; and you&#8217;re not really
+angry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Angry!&#8221; said Mr. Gardew. &#8220;I&#8217;ll never be angry with you,
+Merry, when you tell me all the thoughts of your heart.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you won&#8217;t&mdash;you won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Merry in an anxious
+tone&mdash;&#8220;vex darling mother by talking to her about this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I make no promises whatsoever You have trusted me;
+you must continue to trust me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do; indeed I do! You are not angry with dear, nice
+Miss Howland, are you, father?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Angry with her! Why should I be? Most certainly
+not. Now, come in to lunch, love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At that meal Mr. Cardew did his very utmost to be
+pleasant to Merry; and as there could be no man more
+charming when he pleased, soon the little girl was completely
+under his influence, and forgot that fascinating picture of
+school-life which Maggie had so delicately painted for her
+edification.</p>
+<p>Soon after lunch Mrs. Cardew and Cicely returned; and
+Merry, the moment she was with her sister, felt her sudden
+fit of the blues departing, and ran out gaily with Cicely
+into the garden. They were seated comfortably in a little
+arbor, when Isabel&#8217;s voice was heard calling them. She
+was hot and panting. She had come up to tell them of the
+proposed arrangements for the afternoon, and to beg of
+them both to come immediately to the rectory.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How more than delightful!&#8221; said Merry.&mdash;&#8220;Cicely, you
+stay still, for you&#8217;re a little tired. I&#8217;ll run up to the house
+at once and ask father and mother if we may go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, please do,&#8221; said Isabel; &#8220;and I&#8217;ll rest here for a
+little, for really the walk up to your house is somewhat
+fatiguing.&#8221; She mopped her hot forehead as she spoke.
+&#8220;You might as well come back with me, both of you girls,&#8221;
+she added. But she only spoke to Cicely, for Merry had
+already vanished.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Father! mother!&#8221; said the young girl, bursting abruptly
+into their presence. &#8220;Belle Tristram has just come up to
+ask us to spend the afternoon at the rectory. Tea in the hay-field,
+and all kinds of fun! May we go?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course you may, dears,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew at once.
+&#8220;We intended motoring, but we can do that another day.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span></p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew looked dubious for a moment. Then he said,
+&#8220;All right, only you must not be out too late. I&#8217;ll send the
+pony-trap down to the rectory for you at half-past eight
+o&#8217;clock.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but, father,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;we can walk home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No dear; I will send the little carriage. Now, go and
+enjoy yourself, my child.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He looked at her with great affection, and she felt herself
+reddening. Had she hurt that most dear father after all?
+Oh! no school that ever existed was worth that.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII_DISCONTENT' id='CHAPTER_VII_DISCONTENT'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<h3>DISCONTENT.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>On that special afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Cardew happened
+to be alone. The girls had gone down to the rectory. This
+was not Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s At Home day, and she therefore did
+not expect any visitors. She was a little tired after her
+long drive to Warwick, and was glad when her husband suggested
+that they should go out and have tea all alone together
+under one of the wide-spreading elm-trees.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Cardew said to herself that this was almost like the
+old, old times of very long ago. She and her husband had
+enjoyed an almost ideal married life. They had never quarreled;
+they had never even had a small disagreement.
+They were blessed abundantly with this world&#8217;s good things,
+for when Sylvia Meredith of Meredith Manor had accepted
+the hand of Cyril Cardew she had also given her heart
+to him.</p>
+<p>He and she were one in all particulars. Their thoughts
+were almost identical. She was by no means a weak-minded
+woman&mdash;she had plenty of character and firmness; but she
+deferred to the wishes of her husband, as a good wife should,
+and was glad! to feel that he was slightly her master. Never,
+under any circumstances, did he make her feel the yoke.
+Nevertheless, she obeyed him, and delighted in doing so.</p>
+<p>The arrival of their little twin-daughters was the crown
+of their bliss. They never regretted the fact that no son
+was born to them to inherit the stately acres of Meredith
+Manor; they were the last sort of people to grumble. Mrs.
+Cardew inherited the Meredith property in her own right,
+and eventually it would be divided between her two daughters.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile the children themselves absorbed the most loving
+care of their parents. Mr. Cardew was, as has already
+been said, a great merchant-prince. He often went to
+London to attend to his business affairs, but he spent most
+of his time in the exquisite country home. It was quite
+true that discontent seemed far, very far away from so
+lovely a spot as Meredith Manor. Nevertheless, Mr. Cardew
+had seen it to-day on the face of his best-loved child,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+his little Merry. The look had hurt him; and while he was
+having lunch with her, and joking with her, and talking,
+in his usually bright and intelligent way, her words, and
+still more the expression of her face and the longing look in
+her sweet brown eyes, returned to him again and again.</p>
+<p>He was, therefore, more thoughtful than usual as he sat
+by his wife&#8217;s side now under the elm-tree. He had a pile
+of newspapers and magazines on the grass at his feet, and his
+favorite fox-terrier Jim lay close to his master. Mrs. Cardew
+had her invariable knitting and a couple of novels waiting
+to occupy her attention when Mr. Cardew took up one of the
+newspapers. But for a time the pair were silent. Mrs. Cardew
+was thinking of something which she wanted to
+say, and Mr. Cardew was thinking of Merry. It was,
+as is invariably the case, the woman who first broke the
+silence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Cyril,&#8221; said his wife, &#8220;to find ourselves seated here
+all alone, without the children&#8217;s voices to listen to reminds
+me of the old times, the good times, the beautiful times when
+we were first married.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; he answered, starting slightly as she spoke,
+&#8220;those were certainly good and beautiful times, but surely
+not more good and beautiful than now, when our two dear
+little girls are growing up and giving us such great happiness.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is true. Please don&#8217;t misunderstand me, love; but
+you come even before the children.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He felt touched as she said this, and glancing at her, said
+to himself that he was indeed in luck to have secured so
+priceless a woman as his wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have had happy times together, Cyril,&#8221; she said,
+returning his glance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Sylvia,&#8221; he answered, and once again he thought
+of Merry&#8217;s face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing can alter that,&#8221; she continued.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, my love,&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>Then he looked at her again, and saw that she was a little
+troubled about something; and, as was his custom, he determined
+to take the bull by the horns.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have something on your mind, Sylvia. What is it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have,&#8221; she said at once; &#8220;and something of very great
+importance. I have a sort of fear that to talk of it with
+you may possibly trouble you a little. Shall we defer it,
+dear? The day is so peaceful, and we are so happy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no,&#8221; he replied at once. &#8220;We will take the opportunity
+of the children being perfectly happy at the rectory
+to discuss the thing that worries you. But what can it
+be?&#8221; he continued. &#8220;That is more than I can imagine. I
+have never seen you worried before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Again he thought of Merry, but it was impossible to connect
+his wife&#8217;s trouble with his child&#8217;s discontent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I will tell you just out, Cyril,&#8221; said his wife. &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+urge nothing, but I feel bound to make a suggestion. I know
+your views with regard to the girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My views, dear! What do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With regard to their education, Cyril.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, Sylvia; we have done our very best. Have
+you any reason to find fault with Miss Beverley or with
+Vaughan or Bennett?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unfortunately,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, &#8220;Miss Beverley, who,
+you know, is an admirable governess, and whom we can
+most thoroughly trust, wrote to me yesterday morning saying
+that she was obliged to resign her post as daily governess
+to our girls. She finds the distance from Warwick too far;
+in fact, she has her physician&#8217;s orders to take work nearer
+home. She regrets it immensely, but feels that she has no
+alternative.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Provoking!&#8221; said Mr. Cardew; &#8220;but really, Sylvia, I
+wouldn&#8217;t allow it to upset me if I were you. Surely there are
+plenty of other Miss Beverleys in the world; and&#8221;&mdash;again he
+thought of Merry&mdash;&#8220;we might perhaps find some one a little
+less old-fashioned.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid, dear, that is impossible, for you will not
+allow a resident governess in the house.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will not,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew with decision. &#8220;Such an arrangement
+would break in on our family life. You know
+my views.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear; and I must say I approve of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must find some one else in Warwick who is not
+too tired to take the train journey. Doubtless it would be
+quite easy,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I went to Warwick this morning in order to make inquiries,&#8221;
+said Mrs. Cardew in her gentle voice, &#8220;and I grieve
+to say there is no one who can in the least take the post
+which dear Miss Beverley has so worthily filled. But I have
+further bad news to give you. Mr. Bennett is leaving Warwick
+for a better post in London, and we shall be at our
+wits&#8217; end to get the girls good music-lessons for next term.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How provoking! how annoying!&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, and
+his irritation was plainly shown in his face. &#8220;It does seem
+hard,&#8221; he said after a moment&#8217;s pause, &#8220;that we, with all
+our wealth, should be unable to give our girls the thorough
+education they require.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is this, dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, &#8220;and I must
+speak out plainly even at the risk of displeasing you&mdash;Cicely
+and Merry are exceedingly clever girls, but at the present
+moment they are very far behind other girls of their age.
+Their knowledge of foreign languages is most deficient. I
+have no doubt Miss Beverley has grounded them well in
+English subjects; but as to accomplishments, they are not
+getting the advantages their rank in life and their talent demand.
+Dear Cyril, we ought to forget ourselves and our
+interests for the children.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has put all this into your head?&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+&#8220;As, for instance&mdash;&#8221; He paused. &#8220;It seemed impossible&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What, dear?&#8221; asked his wife very earnestly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I may as well say it. Has Merry been talking to
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Our little Merry!&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew in astonishment.
+&#8220;Of course not. What in the world do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will not explain just at present, dear. You have some
+idea in your head, or you wouldn&#8217;t speak to me as you
+do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the fact is, when my cousin, Lucia Lysle, was here
+yesterday she spoke very strongly to me on the subject of
+the girls&#8217; education, and urged me to do what I knew you
+would never for a moment consent to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what is that?&#8221; asked Mr. Gardew. &#8220;I seem to be
+an awful bugbear in this business.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, dear, no. I quite understand your scruples, and&mdash;and&mdash;respect
+them. But Lucia naturally wanted us to seize
+the opportunity of two vacancies at Aylmer House, Mrs. Ward&#8217;s
+school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall soon begin to hate the name of Mrs. Ward,&#8221; said
+Cardew with some asperity.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My cousin spoke most highly of the school,&#8221; continued
+Mrs. Cardew. &#8220;She said that two years there, or perhaps a
+little longer, would give the girls that knowledge of life which
+will be all-essential to them in the future.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Home education is best; I know it is best,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.
+&#8220;I hate girls&#8217; schools.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I gave her to understand, dear, that those were your
+views; but I have something else to tell you. You know how
+attached we both are to the dear Tristrams.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, of course,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew with impatience.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, at supper yesterday evening Mr. Tristram began to
+talk to me on the very same subject as my cousin, Lady
+Lysle, had spoken of earlier in the day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very interfering of Tristram,&#8221; replied Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t mean it in that way, I assure you, my love;
+nothing could be nicer than the way he spoke. I was telling
+him&mdash;for I had not mentioned the fact to you, and it was
+troubling me a little&mdash;about Miss Beverley and Mr. Bennett,
+and asking his advice, as I often do. He immediately urged
+Aylmer House as the best possible substitute for Miss Beverley
+and Mr. Bennett. I repeated almost the same words
+I had used to Lucia Lysle&mdash;namely, that you were dead-set
+against girls&#8217; schools.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was scarcely polite, my love, seeing that he sends
+his own daughters to school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew; &#8220;but of course their circumstances
+are very different.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I would be sorry if he should feel that difference, Sylvia.
+Tristram is a most excellent fellow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is&mdash;indeed he is!&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew. &#8220;Feeling for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+him, therefore, as you do, dear, you may perhaps be more
+inclined to listen to an alternative which he proposed to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what is that, my dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, he thinks we might occupy our house in London
+during the school terms of each year&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;During the school terms of each year!&#8221; echoed Mr. Cardew
+in a voice of dismay. &#8220;But I hate living in London.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dearest; but you see we must think of our girls.
+If you and I took the children to town they could have
+governesses and masters&mdash;the very best&mdash;and would thus
+be sufficiently educated to take their place in society.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew was quite silent for a full minute after his
+wife had made this suggestion. To tell the truth, she had
+done a somewhat extraordinary thing. Amongst this great
+lady&#8217;s many rich possessions was a splendid mansion in
+Grosvenor Street; but, as she hated what is called London
+society, it had long been let to different tenants, for nothing
+would induce the Cardews to leave their delightful home,
+with its fresh air and country pursuits, for the dingy old
+house in town. They knew that when the girls came out&mdash;a
+far-distant date as yet&mdash;they would have to occupy the
+house in Grosvenor Street for the season; but Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s
+suggestion that they should go there almost immediately for
+the sake of their daughters&#8217; education was more annoying
+to her husband than he could possibly endure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I consider the rector very officious,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Nothing
+would induce me to live in town.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you would feel like that, dear. I was certain
+of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You surely would not wish it yourself, Sylvia?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should detest it beyond words,&#8221; she replied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Besides, the house is occupied,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, catching
+at any excuse not to carry out this abominable plan, as
+he termed it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, dear, at the present moment it is not. I had a
+letter a week ago from our agent to ask if he should relet it
+for the winter and next season, and I have not yet replied
+to him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, nonsense, Sylvia! We cannot go to live there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t wish it, my love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The pair sat quite silent after Mrs. Cardew had made this
+last remark.</p>
+<p>After a time her husband said, &#8220;We&#8217;re really placed in a
+very cruel dilemma; but doubtless there are schools and
+schools. Now, I feel that the time has arrived when I ought
+to tell you about Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What about the dear child?&#8221; asked her mother. &#8220;Isn&#8217;t
+she well?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Absolutely and perfectly well, but our dear little girl
+is consumed by the fever of discontent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear, you must be mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not. Listen, and I will tell you what has happened.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew then related his brief interview with Merry,
+and Merry&#8217;s passionate desire to go to Aylmer House.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what did you say to her, love?&#8221; asked his wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I told her it was impossible, of course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it really isn&#8217;t, dear, you know,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew in
+a low tone; &#8220;and as you cannot make up your mind to live
+in London, those two vacancies at Aylmer House seem providential.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At these words Mr. Cardew sprang to his feet. &#8220;Nothing
+will ever shake my opinion with regard to school-life,&#8221; he
+said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And yet the life in town&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is impossible. Look me straight in the face, Sylvia.
+If by any chance&mdash;don&#8217;t, please, imagine that I&#8217;m giving
+way&mdash;but if, by any possible chance, I were to yield, could
+you, my darling, live without your girls?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With you&mdash;I could,&#8221; she answered, and she held out her
+hand to him, which he raised to his lips and kissed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am upset,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If only Miss Beverley and
+Bennett were not so silly, we should not be in this awkward
+fix. I&#8217;ll go for a ride, if you don&#8217;t mind, Sylvia, and be back
+with you in an hour&#8217;s time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During that ride Mr. Cardew felt as a strong man does
+when his most cherished wishes are opposed, and when
+circumstance, with its overpowering weight, bears down
+every objection. Beyond doubt the girls must be educated.
+Beyond doubt the scheme of living in London could not be
+entertained. Country life was essential. Meredith Manor
+must not be deserted for the greater part of the year. He
+might visit the girls whenever he went to London; but, after
+all, he was now more or less a sleeping partner in his great
+firm. There was no necessity for him to go to London more
+than four or five times a year. Oh! school was hateful, but
+little Merry had longed for it. How troublesome education
+was! Surely the girls knew enough.</p>
+<p>He was riding home, his thoughts still in a most perturbed
+condition, when he suddenly drew up just in front of a little
+figure who stood by the roadside, attired as a gipsy, with a
+scarlet bandana handkerchief twisted round her head, a short
+skirt reaching not quite to her ankles made also of scarlet,
+and a little gay blue shawl across her shoulders. She was
+carrying a tambourine in one hand and in the other a great
+bunch of many-colored ribbons.</p>
+<p>This little, unexpected figure was seen close to the rectory
+grounds, and Mr. Cardew was so startled by it, and so also
+was his horse, that he drew up abruptly and looked imperiously
+at the small suppliant for his favor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you please, sir,&#8221; said Maggie Howland, speaking in her
+most enticing voice, and knowing well that her dress magnified
+her charms, &#8220;will you, kind sir, allow me to cross your
+hand with silver and let me tell your fortune?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew now burst into a merry laugh.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Miss Howland,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I beg your pardon; I did
+not recognize you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie dropped a low curtsy. &#8220;I&#8217;m the gipsy girl Caranina,
+and I should like to tell your fortune, kind and generous
+sir.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Just then the pretty face of Cicely was seen peeping over
+the rectory grounds. She was dressed as a flower-girl, and
+looked more lovely than he had ever seen her before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, dad, dad,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;oh! you must come in and
+join our fun. Mustn&#8217;t he, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am Caranina, the gipsy girl,&#8221; said Maggie, dropping
+another low curtsy, and holding her little tambourine in the
+most beseeching attitude; &#8220;and you are Flora, queen of the
+flowers.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, really, this is entertaining,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew.
+&#8220;What queer little minxes you all are! And may I really
+come in and see the fun?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed you may, dad,&#8221; said the flower-girl. &#8220;Oh, and
+please we want you to look at Merry. Merry&#8217;s a fairy, with
+wings. We&#8217;re going to have what we call an evening revel
+presently, and we are all in our dress for the occasion. But
+Maggie&mdash;I mean Caranina&mdash;is telling our fortunes&mdash;that is,
+until the real fun begins.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do please come in, Mr. Cardew. This is the height of
+good luck,&#8221; said Mrs. Tristram, coming forward herself at
+this moment. &#8220;Won&#8217;t you join my husband and me under
+the shadow of the tent yonder? The young people are having
+such a good time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will come for a minute or two,&#8221; said Cardew, dismounting
+as he spoke. &#8220;Can some one hold Hector for me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>David was quickly summoned, and Mr. Cardew walked
+across the hay-field to where the hastily improvised tent
+was placed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No one can enter here who doesn&#8217;t submit to the will of
+the gipsy,&#8221; remarked Caranina in her clear and beautiful
+voice. &#8220;This is my tent, and I tell the fortunes of all those
+kind ladies and gentlemen who will permit me to do so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you shall tell mine, with pleasure, little maid,&#8221;
+said Mr. Cardew, who felt wonderfully cheered and entertained
+at this <i>al fresco</i> amusement.</p>
+<p>Quick as thought Maggie had been presented with a silver
+coin. With this she crossed the good gentleman&#8217;s palm, and
+murmured a few words with regard to his future. There
+was nothing whatever remarkable in her utterance, for
+Maggie knew nothing of palmistry, and was only a very
+pretense gipsy fortune-teller. But she was quick&mdash;quicker
+than most&mdash;in reading character; and as she glanced now
+into Mr. Cardew&#8217;s face an inspiration seized her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is troubled about something,&#8221; thought the girl. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+the thin end of the wedge; I&#8217;ll push it in a little farther.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Her voice dropped to a low tone. &#8220;I see in your hand,
+kind sir,&#8221; she said, &#8220;all happiness, long life, and prosperity;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+but I also see a little cross, just here&mdash;&#8221; she pointed with her
+pretty finger&mdash;&#8220;and it means self-sacrifice for the sake of a
+great and lasting good. Kind sir, I have nothing more to add.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew left the tent and sat down beside the rector and
+his wife. Maggie&#8217;s words were really unimportant. As one
+after the other the merry group of actors went to have their
+fortunes told he paid no attention whatever to them. Gipsy
+fortune-tellers always mixed a little sorrow with their joyful
+tidings. It was a bewitching little gipsy after all. He
+could not quite make out her undefined charm, but he was
+interested in her; and after a time, when the fortune-telling
+had come to an end and Maggie was about to change her
+dress for what they called the evening revels, he crossed the
+field and stood near her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you, Miss Howland, have been telling my daughter
+Merry a good many things with regard to your new school?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She raised her queer, bright eyes, and looked him full in
+the face. &#8220;I have told Merry a few things,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but,
+most of all, I have assured her that Aylmer House is the
+happiest place in the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Happier than home? Should you say it was happier
+than home, Miss Howland?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Happier than my home,&#8221; said Maggie with a little sigh,
+very gentle and almost imperceptible, in her voice. &#8220;Oh,
+I love it!&#8221; she continued with enthusiasm; &#8220;for it helps&mdash;I
+mean, the life there helps&mdash;to make one good.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew said nothing more. After a time he bade his
+friends good-by and returned to Meredith Manor. In course
+of time the little pony-carriage was sent down to the rectory
+for the Cardew girls, who went back greatly elated.</p>
+<p>How delightful their evening had been, and what a marvelous
+girl Maggie Howland was.&#8217;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, she even manages to subdue and to rule those
+really tiresome boys,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; remarked Merry, &#8220;she is like no one else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have quite fallen in love with her, haven&#8217;t you,
+Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, perhaps I have a little bit,&#8221; said Merry. She
+looked thoughtful. She longed to say to Cicely, &#8220;How I wish
+beyond all things on earth that I were going to the same
+school!&#8221; But a certain fidelity to her father kept her silent.</p>
+<p>She was startled, therefore, when Cicely herself, who was
+always supposed to be much calmer than Merry, and less
+vehement in her desires, clasped her sister&#8217;s hand and said
+with emphasis, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, after all, if it is good for us
+to see too much of Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Cissie? What do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean this,&#8221; said Cicely: &#8220;she makes me&mdash;yes, I will
+say it&mdash;discontented.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And me too,&#8221; said Merry, uttering the words with an
+emphasis which astonished herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have talked of school over and over again,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+Cicely, &#8220;with Molly and Belle; but notwithstanding their glowing
+accounts we have been quite satisfied with Miss Beverley,
+and dear, gray-haired Mr. Bennett, and Mr. Vaughan; but now
+I for one, don&#8217;t feel satisfied any longer.&#8221;
+&#8220;Nor do I,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Merry!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I want to go to Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I am almost mad to go there,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you something, Cissie. I spoke to father about
+it to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Merry! you didn&#8217;t dare?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I just did. I couldn&#8217;t help myself. It is hateful
+to be under-educated, and you know we shall never be like
+other girls if we don&#8217;t see something of the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t by any chance agree with you?&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a bit of it,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;We must bear with our
+present life, only perhaps we oughtn&#8217;t to see too much of
+Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;I&#8217;ve something to tell you, Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t know just at present why mother and I went
+to Warwick this morning?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Merry, who was rather uninterested. &#8220;I had
+a very good time with Maggie, and didn&#8217;t miss you too dreadfully.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you will be interested to know why we did go,
+all the same,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;It&#8217;s because Miss Beverley is
+knocked up and can&#8217;t teach us any more, and Mr. Bennett is
+going to London. Mother can&#8217;t hear of anyone to take Miss
+Beverley&#8217;s place, or of any music-teacher equal to Mr. Bennett;
+so, somehow or other, I feel that there are changes in
+the air. Oh Merry, Merry! suppose&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no use in it,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Father will never
+change. We&#8217;ll get some other dreadfully dull daily governess,
+and some other fearfully depressing music-master,
+and we&#8217;ll never be like Molly and Belle and Maggie and our
+cousin Aneta. It does seem hard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must try not to be discontented,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we had best not ask Maggie here too often,&#8221; replied
+Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but they&#8217;re all coming up to-morrow morning, for I
+have asked them,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear, dear!&#8221; replied Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We may as well have what fun we can,&#8221; remarked
+Cicely, &#8220;for you know we shall be going to the seaside in
+ten days.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII_MRS_WARDS_SCHOOL' id='CHAPTER_VIII_MRS_WARDS_SCHOOL'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<h3>MRS. WARD&#8217;S SCHOOL.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>It is to be regretted that Mr. Cardew spent a restless night.
+Mrs. Cardew, on the contrary, slept with the utmost peace.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+She trusted so absolutely in her husband&#8217;s judgment and in
+in his power to do the very best he could on all possible
+occasions for her and hers that she was never deeply troubled
+about anything. Her dear husband must not be forced to
+live in London if he did not like to do so, and some arrangement
+must be made for the girls&#8217; home education if he could
+not see his way to sending them to school.</p>
+<p>Great, therefore, was her astonishment on the following
+morning when he came hastily into her room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I am off to London for the day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What for?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you, darling, when I return to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cyril, may I not come with you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think not, my love. Make all the young people as happy
+as you can. I&#8217;m just off to the station, in the motor-car.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew left his wife&#8217;s room. The girls were told at
+breakfast that their father had gone to London; but as this
+frequently happened, and was invariably connected with
+that business which they knew nothing whatever about, they
+were not keenly interested. As a matter of fact, they were
+much more absorbed in getting things ready for the entertainment
+of their friends; and in this Mrs. Cardew very
+heartily joined them. She proposed that during Maggie
+Howland&#8217;s visit the five girls should have as happy a time
+together as possible; and as the weather was perfect the
+invariable picnics and gipsy teas were arranged for their
+benefit.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can all make yourselves happy here to-day, my
+darlings,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, addressing Cicely and Merry.
+&#8220;To-morrow, when your father is here, the Tristrams, he
+and I, and you girls will have a very pleasant picnic to the
+Aldersleigh woods. We will arrange it to-day, for there is
+nothing your father enjoys more than a whole, long, happy
+day in the open air. I will speak to Mrs. Fairlight, and tell
+her to have all things in readiness for our picnic.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mummy, how good! how good!&#8221; said Merry, clasping
+her mother&#8217;s hand. Then she added, &#8220;Mummy, is it true
+that Miss Beverley is never going to teach us any more?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid it is only too true, Merry; but this is holiday-time,
+darling; we needn&#8217;t talk of your education just at
+present.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only, we must be educated&mdash;mustn&#8217;t we, mother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, dearest. Your father will see to that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry ran off to join her sister, and it is not too much
+to say that the whole of that glorious day was one of unalloyed
+pleasure. The Tristram girls were always delightful
+to the Cardew girls, but now that they were accompanied
+by Maggie Howland there was a great addition to
+their charm. Nevertheless, Maggie, with her purpose full
+in view, with her heart beating a little more quickly than
+usual when she heard that Mr. Cardew had gone to London,
+religiously avoided the subject of the life at Aylmer House.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+She felt, somehow, that she had done her part. A great deal
+of her own future depended on these two girls coming to
+Aylmer House. She would make use of them&mdash;large use of
+them&mdash;at school. She was fond of Molly and Belle; but they
+were poor. Maggie herself was poor. She wanted to have
+rich friends. The Cardews were rich. By their means she
+would defeat her enemy, Aneta Lysle, and establish herself
+not only in the school but with regard to her future life.
+Maggie felt that she could make herself indispensable to
+Cicely and Merry. Oh yes, they would certainly go to
+Aylmer House in September. She need not worry herself
+any further, therefore, with regard to that matter. Little
+would they guess how much she had really done toward this
+desirable goal, and how fortunate circumstances had been in
+aiding her to the accomplishment of her desire. It was
+enough for Maggie that they were certainly going. She
+could, therefore, give herself up to enjoyment.</p>
+<p>With Maggie Howland enjoyment meant a very different
+thing from what it does to the average English girl. She
+enjoyed herself with all her heart and soul, without one
+single reservation. To see her face at such moments was
+to behold pure sunshine; to hear her voice was to listen to
+the very essence of laughter and happiness. She had a
+marvelous power of telling stories, and when she was happy
+she told them with such verve that all people within earshot
+hung on her words. Then she could improvise, and dance,
+and take off almost any character; in short, she was the
+life of every party who admitted her within their circle.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile a rather tired and rather sad man found himself,
+very much against his will, in London. He said to
+himself, &#8220;This wonderful Mrs. Ward will not be at Aylmer
+House now. These are the holidays, and she will be probably
+miles away. I will go to see her. Yes, but she won&#8217;t
+be in; that alone will clinch the matter. But first I will pay
+a visit to Lucia Lysle; she said she would be in London&mdash;she
+told my dear wife so. But Lucia is so erratic, it is most
+improbable that she either will be at home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew drove first of all to Lady Lysle&#8217;s house in Hans
+Place. He asked if she was within, and, very much to his
+annoyance, the servant replied in the affirmative. He entered
+Lady Lysle&#8217;s drawing-room feeling rather silly. The
+first person he saw there was a tall, slim, lovely girl, whom
+he did not recognize at first, but who knew him and ran up
+to him and introduced herself as Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, my dear,&#8221; he said, &#8220;how are you? How you have
+grown!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How is dear Cousin Sylvia, and how are Cicely and
+Merry?&#8221; asked Aneta. &#8220;Oh, I am very well indeed, Mr.
+Cardew; I don&#8217;t suppose anybody could be anything but well
+who was lucky enough to be at Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school?&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, feeling rather
+shy and almost self-conscious.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course. Don&#8217;t you know Mrs. Ward, Mr. Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear, I don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the most marvelous school in the world,&#8221; said Aneta
+with enthusiasm. &#8220;I do wish you would send Cicely and
+Merry there. They would have a good time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is your aunt in?&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, a little restlessly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes; she&#8217;ll be down in a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle now hurried into the room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, Cyril?&#8221; she said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t expect to
+find you in town just now. Is there anything I can do for
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am rather anxious to have a chat with you,&#8221; replied
+Mr. Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta darling, you had better leave us,&#8221; said her aunt.</p>
+<p>The girl went off with a light laugh. &#8220;Auntie,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve just been telling Mr. Cardew that he ought to send
+Cicely and Merry to Aylmer House.&#8221; She closed the door
+as she made this parting shot.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As a matter of fact, I agree with Aneta,&#8221; said Lady Lysle.
+&#8220;A couple of years at that splendid school would do the
+girls no end of good.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew was silent for a minute. &#8220;I may as well confess
+something to you, Lucia,&#8221; he said then.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Cyril?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have by no means made up my mind; but we are very
+much annoyed at the illness of our daily governess Miss
+Beverley, and at the girls&#8217; music-master Mr. Bennett removing
+to London. So I just thought I would ask you a question
+or two about this wonderful Mrs. Ward. I don&#8217;t suppose for
+a single moment I should dream of sending the children
+there; and, besides, she is not in London now, is she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, she is,&#8221; replied Lady Lysle. Mr. Cardew felt at
+that moment that he hated Mrs. Ward. &#8220;She came to see
+me only last evening. She is leaving town to-morrow; but
+if by any chance you would like to go and see her, and thus
+judge of the school for yourself&mdash;it would commit you to
+nothing, of course&mdash;she will, I know, be at home all this
+morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear, dear!&#8221; said Mr. Cardew. &#8220;How very provoking!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, Cyril?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, nothing, of course, Lucia. But if, as you say,
+the school is so popular, there will be no vacancies, for I
+think some one told me that Mrs. Ward only took a limited
+number of pupils.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are two vacancies at the present moment,&#8221; said
+Lady Lysle in her calm voice, &#8220;although they are likely to
+be filled up immediately, for Mrs. Ward has had many applications;
+but then she is exceedingly particular, and will only
+take girls of high birth and of very distinguished character.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Doubtless she has filled up the vacancies by this morning,&#8221;
+said Mr. Cardew, rising with some alacrity. &#8220;Well,
+thank you, Lucia. As I am in town&mdash;came up on business
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+you know&mdash;I may as well just have a look at Aylmer House
+and Mrs. Ward. It will satisfy my dear wife.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, surely you don&#8217;t for a minute really intend to send
+the girls there?&#8221; said Lady Lysle with a superior smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell what I may do. When a man is distracted,
+and when a valuable daily governess breaks down, and&mdash;and&mdash;don&#8217;t
+question me too closely, Lucia, and keep our little
+interview to yourself. As I have just said, nothing will
+probably come of this; but I will go and see the lady just
+to satisfy myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta will be delighted if you do send the girls to Aylmer
+House,&#8221; was Lady Lysle&#8217;s last word.</p>
+<p>She laughed as she spoke, and Mr. Cardew found himself
+turning rather red. He left her, called a hansom, and got
+into it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course the vacancies will be filled up,&#8221; he said to
+himself as he was driving in the direction of South Kensington.
+He further thought, &#8220;Although that good Mrs. Ward
+is remaining for such an unconscionable time in town, she
+will very probably be out this morning. If she is out that
+puts an end to everything; but even if she is in, she must
+ave filled up her vacancies. Then I shall be able to return
+to the Manor with a quiet mind. I&#8217;ll have done my best,
+and the thing will be taken out of my hands. Dear little
+Merry! I didn&#8217;t like that discontent on her sweet face. Ah,
+well, she can&#8217;t guess what school is like. It&#8217;s not home;
+but I suppose the educational advantages would be greater,
+and a man must sacrifice himself for his children. Odd
+what that queer little Miss Howland told me last night: that
+I was approaching a deed of self-sacrifice. She&#8217;s a queer
+girl, but quite nice; and Aneta is a charming creature. I
+could never desire even one of my own precious girls to
+look nicer than Aneta does. Well, here I am. Now, then,
+what will Fate decide?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew sprang from the hansom, desired the man to
+wait, ran up some low steps, and rang the bell at the front
+door of a stately mansion.</p>
+<p>A smiling, very bright-looking maid-servant opened it
+for him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is Mrs. Ward, within?&#8221; questioned Cardew.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good heavens!&#8221; murmured Cardew under his breath.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is she disengaged, and can she give me a few moments
+of her time?&#8221; continued the much-disappointed gentleman.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, sir. Will you come into the drawing-room?
+What name shall I say?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cardew produced one of his cards.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have the goodness to tell your mistress that if she is
+particularly engaged I can &#8221;&mdash;he hesitated&mdash;&#8220;call another
+time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell her, sir; but Mrs. Ward is not particularly
+engaged. She will see you, I am sure, directly.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></p>
+<p>The girl withdrew, and Cardew sank into a low chair.</p>
+<p>He had to wait a few minutes, and during that time had
+abundant leisure to look round the beautiful room in which
+he found himself. It was so furnished as to resemble a
+fresh country room. The wall-paper was white; the pictures
+were all water-colors, all original, and all the works
+of well-known artists. They mostly represented country
+scenes, but there were a few admirable portraits of charming
+girls just in the heyday of youth and happiness. The
+floor was of polished oak and had a large pale-blue drugget
+in the center, which could be rolled up at any moment if
+an impromptu dance was desirable. The large windows
+had boxes of flowers outside, which were fresh and well
+kept, and had evidently been recently watered, for some
+sparkling drops which looked almost like summer rain still
+glistened on them. The room itself was also decked with
+flowers in every available corner, and all these flowers were
+fresh and beautifully arranged. They were country flowers&mdash;and
+of course roses, roses everywhere. There were also
+great bowls of mignonette and large glass vases filled with
+sweet peas.</p>
+<p>The air of the room was fresh and full of delicate perfume.
+Mr. Cardew had to admit to himself that this was
+a room in which the most refined young ladies in the world
+might sit with pleasure and profit. There was a shelf for
+books running round the dado, and the books therein were
+good of their kind and richly and handsomely bound. There
+were no small tables anywhere. Mr. Cardew was glad of
+that&mdash;he detested small tables; but there was a harp standing
+close to the magnificent grand piano, and several music
+stands, and a violin case on a chair near by.</p>
+<p>The furniture of the room was covered with a cool, fresh
+chintz. In short, it was a charming room, quite different
+from the rooms at Meredith Manor, which, of course, were
+old and magnificent and stately; but it had a refreshing,
+wholesome look about it which, in spite of himself, Mr. Cardew
+appreciated.</p>
+<p>He had just taken in the room and its belongings when the
+door was opened and a lady of about thirty-five years of
+age entered. She was dressed very simply in a long dress
+made in a sort of Empire fashion. The color was pale blue,
+which suited her calm, fair face, her large, hazel-brown
+eyes, and her rich chestnut hair to perfection. She came
+forward swiftly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am Mrs. Ward,&#8221; she said, and held out her hand.</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew considered himself a connoisseur as regards
+all women, and he was immediately impressed by a certain
+quality in that face: a mingling of sweetness and power, of
+extreme gentleness and extreme determination. There was
+a lofty expression in the eyes, too, and round the mouth,
+which further appealed to him; and the hands of the lady were
+perfect&mdash;they were white, somewhat long, with tapering fingers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+and well-kept nails. There was one signet ring on
+the left hand, worn as a guard to the wedding-ring&mdash;that
+was all.</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew was a keen observer, and he noted these
+things at a glance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have come to talk to you, Mrs. Ward,&#8221; he said; &#8220;and,
+if you will forgive me, I should like to be quite frank with
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is nothing I desire better,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward in her
+exceedingly high-bred and sympathetic voice.</p>
+<p>That voice reminded Cardew of Maggie Howland, and yet
+he felt at once that it was infinitely superior to hers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sit down, won&#8217;t you, Mr. Cardew?&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, and
+she set him the example by seating herself in a low chair
+as she spoke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope I am not taking up too much of your time,&#8221;
+he said; &#8220;for, if so, as I said to your servant, I can call
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By no means,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward; &#8220;I have nothing whatever
+to do this morning. I am, therefore, quite at your
+service. You will tell me what you wish?&#8221; she said in that
+magnetic voice of hers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is simply this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My friend Tristram,
+who is rector of Meredith, in Warwickshire, is sending his
+two daughters to your school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward gently. &#8220;Molly and Isabel are
+coming to me next term.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am Tristram&#8217;s near neighbor,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, &#8220;I live
+at Meredith Manor. At the present moment the Tristram
+girls have another pupil of yours staying with them&mdash;Miss
+Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward very quietly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lady Lysle&#8217;s niece Aneta is also one of your pupils.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is true, Mr. Cardew.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lady Lysle is my wife&#8217;s cousin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward bowed very slightly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will come to the point now, Mrs. Ward. I am the father
+of two little girls. They are of the same age as Molly and
+Isabel Tristram; that is, they are both just sixteen. They
+are twins. They are my only children. Some day they will
+be rich, for we have no son, and they will inherit considerable
+property.&#8221; Mrs. Ward looked scarcely interested at this.
+&#8220;Hitherto,&#8221; continued Mr. Cardew, &#8220;I have stoutly opposed
+school-life for my children, and in consequence they have
+been brought up at home, and have had the best advantages
+that could be obtained for them in a country life. Things
+went apparently all right until two or three days ago, when
+I discovered that my girl&mdash;her name is Meredith; we call
+her Merry for short&mdash;was exceedingly anxious to change
+her home-life for school-life. At the same time, our excellent
+daily governess and the music-master who taught
+the children have been obliged to discontinue their work.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
+The girls are at an age when education is essential; and, although
+I <i>hate</i> schools, I have come here to talk over the
+possibility of your receiving them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Had you delayed coming to me, Mr. Cardew, until this
+evening I should have had no vacancy, for at the present
+moment I have twelve applications for the two vacancies
+which are to be filled at Aylmer House. But do you really
+wish me to consider the proposal of taking your girls when
+you hate school-life for young ladies?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew could not help smiling. &#8220;Then you are not
+anxious to have them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not, unless you yourself and Mrs. Cardew most
+earnestly desire to send them to me. Suppose, before we go
+any further, that I take you over the house.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew in a tone of relief.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward rose immediately, and for the next hour the
+head-mistress and the owner of Meredith Manor went from
+one dainty room to another. They visited the gymnasium;
+they entered the studio. All the different properties of the
+music-room were explained to the interested visitor. The
+excellent playground was also inspected.</p>
+<p>By-and-by, when Mr. Cardew returned to the drawing-room,
+Mrs. Ward said, &#8220;My number of pupils is limited.
+You have seen for yourself that sisters are provided with
+a room together, and that girls who are not related have
+rooms to themselves. The house is well warmed in winter,
+and at all seasons of the year I keep it bright and cheerful
+with flowers and everything that a judicious expenditure
+of money can secure. I have my own special plan for educating
+my girls. I believe in personal influence. In short,
+Mr. Cardew, I am not at all ashamed to tell you that I believe
+in my own influence. I have never yet met a girl whom
+I could not influence.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If by any chance my Cicely and Merry come to you,&#8221;
+said Mr. Cardew, &#8220;you will find them&mdash;I may at least say it&mdash;perfect
+ladies in word and thought and deed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward bowed. &#8220;I could receive no others within
+this establishment,&#8221; she said. &#8220;If,&#8221; continued Mrs. Ward,
+&#8220;you decide to entrust your daughters to me, I will leave
+no stone unturned to do my best for them, to educate them
+in a three-fold capacity: to induce their minds to work as
+God meant them to work&mdash;without overtoil, without undue
+haste, and yet with intelligence and activity; to give them
+such exercises as will promote health to their bodies; and to
+teach them, above all things, to live for others, not for themselves.
+Please, Mr. Cardew, give me no answer now, but
+think it over. The vacancies at Aylmer House will remain
+at your disposal until four o&#8217;clock this afternoon. Will you
+send me before that hour a telegram saying &#8216;Yes&#8217; or &#8216;No&#8217;?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thank you,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew. He wrung Mrs. Ward&#8217;s
+hand and left the house.</p>
+<p>The hall was as spacious and nearly as beautiful as the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+drawing-room, and the pretty, bright parlor-maid smiled
+at the gentleman as he went out. Mrs. Ward remained for
+a time alone after her visitor had left.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to have those girls,&#8221; she said to herself.
+&#8220;Any girls related to such a splendid, lofty character as
+Aneta could not but be welcome to me. Their poor father,
+he will feel parting with them; but I have no doubt that
+I shall receive them next September at this house.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The thought had scarcely passed through her mind before
+there came a brisk ring at the front door, and Lady Lysle
+and Aneta were announced.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear Mrs. Ward!&#8221; said Lady Lysle, speaking in her
+quick, impulsive manner, &#8220;have you seen my dear friend
+and cousin, Mr. Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And are the girls coming to the school?&#8221; asked Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have seen Mr. Cardew,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;He is a
+very charming man. He will decide whether he will send
+his daughters here or not during the course of to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Lady Lysle, &#8220;didn&#8217;t you urge him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, dear friend; I never urge any one to put a girl in
+my care. I should feel myself very wrong in doing so. If
+Mr. Cardew thinks well of what he has seen here he may
+send his daughters to me, but I certainly did nothing to
+urge him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear!&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;I should so like them to come.
+You can&#8217;t think, Mrs. Ward, what nice people the Cardews
+are; and the girls&mdash;they do want school-life. Don&#8217;t they,
+auntie darling?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Such a school as this would do them a world of good,&#8221;
+said Lady Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I really hope they will come,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward;
+&#8220;but I quite understand their father&#8217;s objections. They are
+evidently very precious treasures, and he has the sort of
+objection which exists in the minds of many country gentlemen
+to sending his girls to school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;but there are schools and schools!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girls will be exceedingly rich,&#8221; said Lady Lysle.
+&#8220;Their mother was a Meredith and belonged to an old county
+family. She inherits vast wealth <i>and</i> the old family place.
+Their father is what may be termed a merchant-prince.
+By-and-by all the money of the parents will go to these
+girls. They are very nice children, but know nothing whatever
+of the world. It seems to me a cruel thing that they
+should be brought up with no knowledge of the great world
+where they must eventually live.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope they will come here,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;Great
+wealth means great responsibility. They can make magnificent
+use of their money. I should be interested to have
+them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you would, my dear friend,&#8221; said Lady Lysle,
+&#8220;and they are really quite sweet girls. Now, come, Aneta;
+we must not keep Mrs. Ward any longer.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></p>
+<p>When her visitors had left her Mrs. Ward still remained
+in the pleasant drawing-room. She sank into a low chair,
+folded her hands in her lap, and remained very still. Although
+she was only thirty-five years of age, she had been
+a widow for over ten years. She had married when quite
+a young girl, and had lost her husband and child before
+she was five-and-twenty. It was in her generous and noble
+nature to love most passionately and all too well. For a time
+after her terrible trouble she scarcely know how to bear her
+grief. Then she took it to the one place where such sorrow
+can be borne&mdash;namely, to the foot of the throne of God;
+and afterwards it occurred to her to devote her life to the
+education of others. She was quite well-off, and did not
+need to work for her living. But work, to a nature such as
+hers, was essential. She also needed the sympathy of
+others, and the love of others; and so, aided by her friends,
+her small but most select school in South Kensington was
+started.</p>
+<p>From the very first it was a success. It was unlike many
+other schools, for the head-mistress had broader and nobler
+views of life. She loved all her girls, and they all loved
+her; but it was impossible for her not to like some girls
+more than others, and of all the girls at present at her
+school Aneta Lysle was the one she really loved best. There
+was also, it is sad to relate, a girl there whom she did not
+love, and that girl was Maggie Howland. There was nothing
+whatever with regard to Maggie that her mistress could lay
+hold of. She was quite aware of the girl&#8217;s fascination, and
+of her powerful influence over her schoolfellows. Nevertheless,
+she never thought of her without a sense of discomfort.</p>
+<p>Maggie was one of the girls who were educated at Aylmer
+House for a very low fee; for Mrs. Ward was quite rich
+enough and generous enough to take girls who could not
+afford her full terms for very much less. Maggie&#8217;s fees,
+therefore, were almost nominal, and no one knew this fact
+better than Maggie herself and her mother, Mrs. Howland.
+None of her schoolfellows knew, for she learned just what
+they did, and had precisely the same advantages. She was
+treated just like the others. No one could guess that her
+circumstances were different. And certainly Maggie would
+never tell, but none the less did she in her heart hate her
+position.</p>
+<p>As a matter of fact, Molly and Isabel Tristram were also
+coming to the school on specially low terms; but no one
+would know this. Maggie, however, suspected it, and intended,
+if necessary, to make the fact an added power over
+her young friends when they all assembled at Aylmer House.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, half-aloud, half to herself, &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t quite trust Maggie Howland. But I cannot possibly
+dismiss her from the school. I may win her round to a
+loftier standard of life, but at present there is no doubt she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+has not that high ideal in view which I think my other girls
+aim at.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Between three and four o&#8217;clock that day Mrs. Ward received
+a telegram from Mr. Cardew. It contained the following
+words:</p>
+<p>&#8220;After consideration, I have made up my mind to do myself
+the great honor of confiding my girls to your care.
+Their mother and I will write to you fully in a day or two.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward smiled when she received the telegram. &#8220;I
+will do my best for those children,&#8221; she said to herself.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX_THE_NEWS' id='CHAPTER_IX_THE_NEWS'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<h3>THE NEWS.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Mr. Cardew arrived at Meredith Manor very late that
+evening. The long and happy day had come to an end. The
+Tristram girls and Maggie Howland had returned to the
+rectory. Cicely and Merry were having a long, confidential
+chat together. They were in Merry&#8217;s bedroom. They had
+dismissed their maid. They were talking of the pleasures
+of the day, and in particular were discussing the delightful
+fact that their beautiful cousin Aneta had wired to say she
+would be with them in two days&#8217; time.</p>
+<p>They had not seen Aneta for some years, but they both
+remembered her vividly. Her memory shone out before
+them both as something specially dazzling and specially
+beautiful. Maggie Howland, too, had spoken of Aneta&#8217;s
+beauty. Maggie had been told that Aneta was coming, and
+Maggie had expressed pleasure. Whatever Maggie&#8217;s private
+feelings may have been, she was very careful now to
+express delight at Aneta&#8217;s appearance at Meredith Manor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a darling she is!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I doubt very
+much&mdash;I suppose it&#8217;s rank heresy to say so, Cicely, but I
+really greatly doubt whether I shall ever prefer Aneta to
+Maggie. What are mere looks, after all, when one possesses
+such charm as Maggie has? That seems to me a much
+greater gift.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We need not compare them, need we?&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, certainly not,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but, Cicely darling,
+doesn&#8217;t it seem funny that such a lot of girls who are all
+to meet in September at Aylmer House should be practically
+staying with us at the present moment?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, indeed,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;I feel almost as though I
+belonged to it, which of course is quite ridiculous, for we
+shall never by any chance go there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said Merry, and she sighed.</p>
+<p>After a time Cicely said, &#8220;I wonder what father went to
+town for to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we don&#8217;t know, so where&#8217;s the use of troubling?&#8221;
+said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I asked mother,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;why he went to town, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+she said she couldn&#8217;t tell me; but she got rather red as she
+spoke.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cicely,&#8221; said Merry after a long pause, &#8220;when these glorious
+holidays come to an end, and the Aylmer House girls
+have gone to Aylmer House, what shall you and I do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do,&#8221; said Cicely&mdash;&#8220;do? I suppose what we&#8217;ve always
+done. A fresh governess will be found, and another music-master,
+and we&#8217;ll work at our lessons and do the best we
+can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry gave a deep sigh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll never talk French like Belle Tristram,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;and we&#8217;ll never play so that any one will care to listen to
+us. We&#8217;ll never, never know the world the way the others
+know it. There seems very little use in being rich when
+one can&#8217;t get education.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was just at that moment that there came a light tap
+at the girls&#8217; door. Before they could reply, it was opened
+and Mrs. Cardew came in. She looked as though she had
+been crying; nevertheless, there was a joyful sort of triumph
+on her face. She said quickly, &#8220;I thought, somehow, you
+two naughty children would not be in bed, and I told father
+that I&#8217;d come up on the chance of finding you. Father has
+come back from London, and has something important to
+tell you. Will you come down with me at once?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother! mother! what is it?&#8221; said Merry in a tone
+of excitement which was slightly mingled with awe.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your father will tell you, my darling,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<p>She put her arm round Merry&#8217;s slight waist and held
+Cicely&#8217;s hand, and they came down to the great drawing-room
+where Mr. Cardew was waiting for them.</p>
+<p>He was pacing slowly up and down the room, his hands
+folded behind his back. His face was slightly tired, and yet
+he too wore that odd expression of mingled triumph and
+pain which Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s eyes expressed.</p>
+<p>When the mother and the girls entered the room he at
+once shut the door. Mr. Cardew looked first of all at Merry.
+He held out his hand to her. &#8220;Come to me, little girl,&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>She flew to him and put her arms round his neck. She
+kissed him several times. &#8220;Oh dad! dad!&#8221; she said, &#8220;I
+know I was downright horrid and unkind and perfectly
+dreadful yesterday, and I don&#8217;t&mdash;no, I <i>don&#8217;t</i>&mdash;want to leave
+you and mother. If I was discontented then, I am not now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry believed her own words at that moment, for the
+look on her father&#8217;s face had struck to her very heart.</p>
+<p>He disengaged her pretty arms very gently, and, still
+holding her hand, went up to Cicely, who was clinging to
+her mother. &#8220;I have just got some news for you both,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You know, of course, that Miss Beverley cannot
+teach you any longer?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor old Beverley,&#8221; said Cicely; &#8220;we are so sorry. But
+you&#8217;ll find another good governess for us, won&#8217;t you, dad?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid I can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, &#8220;So I sent for you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+to-night to tell you that I have broken the resolve which I
+always meant to keep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have what?&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have turned my back on a determination which I
+made when you were both very little girls, and to-day I
+went up to town and saw Mrs. Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Merry. She turned white and dropped her
+father&#8217;s hand, and, clasping her own two hands tightly together,
+gazed at him as though she would devour his face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s all settled, children,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, &#8220;and:
+when September comes you will go with your friends Molly
+and Belle to Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This announcement was received at first in total silence.
+Then Merry flew to her father and kissed him a great many
+times, and Cicely kissed her mother.</p>
+<p>Then Merry said, &#8220;We can&#8217;t talk of it to-night; we can&#8217;t
+quite realize it to-night; but&mdash;but&mdash;we are glad!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then she took Cicely&#8217;s hand, and they went out of the
+room. Mr. and Mrs. Cardew watched them as the little figures
+approached the door. Merry opened it, and they both
+passed out.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; said Mr. Cardew, looking at his wife, &#8220;if they
+are going out of our lives.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, no,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew; &#8220;from what you have
+told me of Mrs. Ward, she must be a good woman&mdash;one of
+the best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is one of the very, very best, Sylvia; and I think
+the very happiest thing for us both would be to run up to
+town to-morrow, and for you to see her for yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, darling; we will do so,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_X_ANETA' id='CHAPTER_X_ANETA'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<h3>ANETA.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>So everything was settled. Cicely and Merry scarcely
+slept at all that night. They were too much excited; the
+news was too wonderful. Now that their wish was granted,
+there was pain mingled with their joy. It seems as though
+perfect joy must have its modicum of pain to make it perfect.</p>
+<p>But when the next morning dawned the regret of the night
+before seemed to have vanished. In the first place, Mr. and
+Mrs. Cardew had gone early to London; and the mere fact
+that their father and mother were not present was a sort
+of relief to the excited girls. The picnic need not be postponed,
+for Mr. and Mrs. Tristram could act as chaperons on
+this auspicious occasion.</p>
+<p>They were all to meet at the Manor at eleven o&#8217;clock; and,
+punctual to the hour, a goodly array of happy young people
+walked up the avenue and entered the porch of the old-house.
+Andrew, devoted to Maggie, was present. Jack,
+equally Maggie&#8217;s slave, was also there. Maggie herself, looking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+neat and happy, was helping every one. Molly and Belle,
+all in white, and looking as charming as little girls could,
+were full of expectation of their long and delightful day.</p>
+<p>One wagonette could hold the whole party, and as it drove
+round to the front door the boys fiercely took possession of
+the box-seat, fighting with the coachman, who said that
+there would be no room for Miss Howland to sit between
+them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well then, Mags, if that is the case,&#8221; said Peterkins, &#8220;you
+get along in at once, and take this corner close to me; then,
+whenever we want, we can do a bit of whispering.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t whisper more than your share,&#8221; said Jackdaw.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve a frightful lot to say to Mags this morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, boys!&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;if you quarrel about me I
+shall not speak to either of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This threat was so awful that the boys glanced at each
+other, remained silent and got quietly into their places.
+Then the hampers were put on the floor just under their
+feet.</p>
+<p>Presently Cicely and Merry came out to join the group.
+They were wearing pretty pink muslins, with pink sashes
+to match. Merry&#8217;s beautiful dark eyes were very bright.
+Mr. and Mrs. Tristram inquired for their host and hostess.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I have news for you!&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;Merry will tell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s Just this,&#8221; said Merry, almost jerking out her
+words in excitement: &#8220;Father and mother have been obliged
+to go rather unexpectedly to town.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; said Maggie; then she restrained herself, knowing
+that it was not her place to speak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They have gone to town,&#8221; said Merry, scarcely looking
+at Maggie now, and endeavoring with all her might and
+main not to show undue excitement, &#8220;because a great and
+wonderful thing has happened; something so unexpected
+that&mdash;that Cicely and I can scarcely believe it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie glanced at the sweet little faces. She said to herself,
+&#8220;All right,&#8221; and got calmly into the wagonette, where
+she sat close under the box-seat which contained those obstreperous
+young heroes Andrew and Jack. The others
+clustered round Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As I said, I can scarcely believe it,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but
+father has done the most marvelous thing. Oh Belle! oh Molly!
+it is too wonderful! For after all&mdash;after all, Cicely and I are
+to go with you to Aylmer House in September, and&mdash;and&mdash;that
+is why father and mother have gone to town. Father
+went up yesterday and saw Mrs. Ward, and he&mdash;he settled it;
+and father and mother have gone up to-day&mdash;both of them&mdash;to
+see her, and to make final arrangements. And we&#8217;re to go!
+we&#8217;re to <i>go</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; cried Molly. Immediately the boys, and Maggie
+and Belle, and even Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, took up the
+glad &#8220;Hurrah!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, children,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram when the first excitement
+had subsided, &#8220;I must say I am heartily pleased.
+This is delightful! I take some credit to myself for having
+helped on this most excellent arrangement.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No one thanks me for anything,&#8221; thought Maggie; but
+she had the prudence to remain silent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had better start on our picnic now,&#8221; said Mr. Tristram,
+and immediately the whole party climbed into the
+wagonette. The horses started; the wheels rolled. They
+were off.</p>
+<p>By-and-by Merry felt her hand taken by Maggie. Maggie
+just squeezed that hand, and whispered in that very, very
+rich and wonderfully seductive voice of hers, &#8220;Oh, I am glad!
+I am very, very glad!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry felt her heart thrill as Maggie uttered those words.
+She answered back, turning her face to her young companion,
+&#8220;To be with you alone would be happiness enough
+for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it true, Cicely,&#8221; said Mrs. Tristram at the moment,
+&#8220;that your cousin, Aneta Lysle, is coming to stay with you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes; but I had half-forgotten it in all this excitement,&#8221;
+said Cicely. &#8220;She will arrive to-morrow.&mdash;Maggie,
+you&#8217;ll be glad, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;More than delighted,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is too wonderful,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;Why, it will soon
+come to pass that half Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school will be all together
+during the holidays. Fancy, we two, and you two&#8221;&mdash;she
+touched one of the Tristram girls&mdash;&#8220;and you, Maggie,
+and then dear Aneta; why, that&#8217;ll make six. What a lot we
+shall have to talk about! Maggie, you and Aneta will be our
+two heroines; we shall always be applying to you for information.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The conversation was here interrupted by Jackdaw, who
+pinched Maggie on the arm. &#8220;You&#8217;re not attending to us,&#8221;
+he said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, Jackdaw!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, stand up for a minute; I want to whisper to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie, who never lost a chance of ingratiating herself
+with any one, obeyed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jack dear, don&#8217;t be troublesome,&#8221; said his mother.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not,&#8221; said Jackdaw. &#8220;She loves it, the duck that
+she is!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be quick, Jackdaw; it&#8217;s very difficult for me to keep my
+hold standing up,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How many chocolates can you eat at a pinch?&#8221; whispered
+Jackdaw in her ear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, forty,&#8221; replied Maggie; &#8220;but I should be rather ill
+afterwards.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got some in our pockets. They&#8217;re a little bit
+clammy, but you don&#8217;t mind that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want any just now, dear boy; and I&#8217;ll tell you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+why. I want to be really starving hungry when the picnic
+begins.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a good notion, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; said Jackdaw.&mdash;&#8220;I say,
+Andrew, she wants to be starving hungry when the picnic
+begins!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie resumed her seat, and the boys went on whispering
+together, and kicking each other at intervals, and rather
+upsetting that very stolid personage, Mr. Charles, the Meredith
+Manor coachman.</p>
+<p>The picnic was a perfect success. When people are very
+happy there is no room for discontent in their hearts, and
+all the members of that party were in the highest spirits.
+The Cardew girls had no time yet for that period of regret
+which must invariably follow a period of intense excitement.
+They had no time yet to realize that they must part with
+their father and mother for the greater portion of the year.</p>
+<p>To children so intensely affectionate as Cicely and Merry
+such a parting must mean considerable pain. But even the
+beginning of the pain did not come to them on that auspicious
+day, and they returned to the house after the picnic
+in the highest good-humor.</p>
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, however, were wise in their generation;
+and although Cicely and Merry begged and implored
+the whole party to come to the Manor for supper, they very
+firmly declined. It is to be regretted that both Jack and
+Andrew turned sulky on this occasion.</p>
+<p>As the rectory girls and Maggie and the boys and Mr. and
+Mrs. Tristam were all going homewards the two girls and
+Maggie fell behind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t this real fun? Isn&#8217;t it magnificent?&#8221; said Molly
+Tristram.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a very good thing indeed for your friends Cicely and
+Merry,&#8221; said Maggie. Then she added, &#8220;Didn&#8217;t I tell you,
+girls, that you would win your bracelets?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Belle felt herself changing color.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t want them a bit&mdash;we really don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we don&#8217;t want them,&#8221; said Isabel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have them all the same,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;They are
+my present to you. Surely you won&#8217;t refuse my present?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But such a very rich and handsome present we ought
+not to accept,&#8221; said Molly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, girls! I shall be unhappy unless you wear
+them. When I return to mother&mdash;which, alas! I must do
+before many days are over&mdash;I shall send you the bracelets.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish you wouldn&#8217;t, Maggie,&#8221; said Belle Tristram; &#8220;for
+I am certain father and mother would not like us to wear
+jewelry while we are so young.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I will give them to you when
+we all meet at Aylmer House. You must take them; you
+know you promised you would. You will hurt me most
+frightfully if you don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span></p>
+<p>As Molly and Isabel certainly did not wish to hurt Maggie,
+they remained silent, and during the rest of the walk
+the three girls scarcely spoke. Meanwhile Cicely and Merry
+entered the Manor House and waited impatiently for the
+return of their father and mother.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must get everything extra nice for them,&#8221; said
+Cicely to her sister. &#8220;I do think it is so wonderfully splendid
+of them to send us to school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The sun had already set, and twilight had come on; but
+it would be quite impossible for Mr. and Mrs. Cardew to
+arrive at the Manor until about ten o&#8217;clock. What, therefore,
+was the amazement of the girls when they heard carriage-wheels
+in the distance!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Father and mother could not possibly have done their
+business and caught the early train,&#8221; said Merry in some
+excitement. &#8220;Who can be coming now?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The next moment their doubts were set at rest, for Aneta
+Lysle entered the hall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I came to-day after all,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Auntie thought it
+would be more convenient. You got my telegram, didn&#8217;t
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>These words were uttered while her two cousins, in rapture
+and delight, were kissing her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;we got no telegram; but, oh, Aneta!
+we are glad to see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s the telegram on the hall-table,&#8221; said Aneta, and
+she took up a yellow envelope. This was addressed to &#8220;Cardew,
+Meredith Manor.&#8221; &#8220;Yes, I know this must be from
+me,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;But why didn&#8217;t you open it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the fact is,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;father and mother were
+in London, and the rest of us were out on a picnic. But it
+doesn&#8217;t matter a bit; you&#8217;ve come, and the sooner the better.
+Oh, it is nice to see you again! But how tall you are, Neta,
+and how grown up you look!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am seventeen, remember,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I don&#8217;t feel
+grown-up, but auntie says I look it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come into the light&mdash;do,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;and let&#8217;s see
+you! We&#8217;ve heard so very much of you lately, and we want
+to look at your darling face again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I want to look at you both,&#8221; said Aneta in her affectionate
+manner.</p>
+<p>The servants had conveyed Miss Lysle&#8217;s luggage into the
+house, and now the three girls, with their arms twined
+round each other, entered the same big drawing-room where
+Mr. Cardew had given his wonderful news of the night before.
+There was a blaze of electric light, and this, judiciously
+softened with rose-colored silk, was most becoming
+to all those who came under its influence. But the strongest
+glare of light could not disfigure any one so absolutely beautiful
+as Aneta Lysle. Her delicate complexion, the wonderful
+purity and regularity of her features, her sweet, tender
+young mouth, her charming blue eyes, and her great luxuriance
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+of golden hair made people who looked at her once
+long to study that charming face again and yet again.</p>
+<p>There was no vanity about this young girl; her manner,
+her expression, were simplicity itself. There was a certain
+nobility about her fine forehead, and the shape of her head
+was classical, and showed undoubted talent. Her clear,
+musical voice was in itself a charm. Her young figure was
+the very personification of grace. Beside her, Cicely and
+Merry felt awkward and commonplace; not that they were
+so, but very few people could attain to Aneta Lysle&#8217;s incomparable
+beauty.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, girls,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you do look sweet, both of you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Neta, what a darling you are!&#8221; said Merry, who worshipped
+beauty, and had never come across any one so lovely
+as her cousin. &#8220;It&#8217;s two years since we met,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;and you have altered, and not altered. You&#8217;re more grown-up
+and more&mdash;more stately, but your face is the same. Whenever
+we want to think of the angels we think of you too,
+Neta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is very sweet of you, darlings; but, indeed, I am
+far from being an angel. I am just a very human girl; and,
+please, if you don&#8217;t mind, we won&#8217;t discuss my looks any
+more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely and Merry both save their cousin a thoughtful
+glance. Then they said eagerly, &#8220;You must come to your
+room and wash your hands, and get refreshed for supper,
+for of course you are starving.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall like to have something to eat,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;What
+room am I to have, girls?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the white room, next to ours; we arranged it all this
+morning,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, come along at once,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Soon the three girls found themselves in the beautiful
+bedroom which had been arranged for Aneta&#8217;s reception.
+As soon as ever they got there Cicely clasped one of her
+cousin&#8217;s arms and Merry the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have news for you&mdash;news!&#8221; they said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes?&#8221; said Aneta, looking at them with her bright, soft
+eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Most wonderful&mdash;most extraordinary&mdash;most&mdash;most beautiful!&#8221;
+said Merry, speaking almost with passion. &#8220;We&#8217;re
+going to your school; yes, to yours&mdash;to Aylmer House, in
+September. Could you have believed it? Think of father
+consenting, and just because I felt a little discontented. Oh,
+isn&#8217;t he an angel? Father, of all people, who until now
+would not hear of our leaving home! But we&#8217;re going.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;I am not greatly surprised, for I
+happen to know that your father, Cousin Cyril, came to see
+auntie yesterday, and afterwards he went to visit Mrs. Ward,
+and after his visit we saw Mrs. Ward; and, although he had
+not quite made up his mind then whether he would send
+you or not, we quite thought he would do so. Yes, this is
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+splendid. I&#8217;ll he able to tell you lots about the school; but,
+after all, it isn&#8217;t the school that matters.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then what matters, Aneta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Mrs. Ward herself,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;it&#8217;s she who makes
+the whole thing so perfect. She guides us; she enlightens
+us. Sometimes I can scarcely talk of her, my love for her
+and my passion for her are so deep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely and Merry looked thoughtful for a minute.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m ready now to come downstairs,&#8221; said Aneta; and they
+went down, to find supper prepared for them, and the old
+butler waiting to attend on his young ladies.</p>
+<p>After the meal was over the girls retired to the drawing-room,
+where they all three sat by one of the windows waiting
+for Mr. and Mrs. Cardew&#8217;s return.</p>
+<p>Merry then said, &#8220;It is so funny of you, Aneta, to speak
+as though the school was Mrs. Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it is,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Surely, surely,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;it&#8217;s the girls too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be surprised, perhaps, Aneta, to hear,&#8221; said
+Cicely, &#8220;that our dear, darling friends&mdash;our greatest girl-friends,
+except yourself perhaps, and you&#8217;re a sort of sister&mdash;Molly
+and Isabel Tristram are also going to Aylmer House
+in September. They are so nice&mdash;you will like them; and
+then, of course, there&#8217;s Maggie Howland, one of the most
+charming girls we have come across.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Whom did you say?&#8221; asked Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie Howland. She is here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In this house?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; she is at the rectory. She is a special friend of
+Molly and Isabel. She has been at school with them before
+in Hanover. You know her, of course? She is one of the
+girls at Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know her&mdash;oh yes, I know her,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you like her, you feel her charm, you&mdash;you almost
+worship her, don&#8217;t you, Neta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta was silent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I know she is considered plain,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;but
+there&#8217;s something about her which prevents one even considering
+her features. She is the most unselfish, most fascinating
+girl we have ever come across. You love her, don&#8217;t
+you, Neta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There had come a curious change over Aneta&#8217;s face. After
+a brief pause she said, &#8220;I have no right to say it, but you
+two are my cousins&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes! What does this mean?&#8221; said Cicely with great
+eagerness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I know you will be faithful and not repeat it to
+any one; but I don&#8217;t love Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Neta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And,&#8221; continued Aneta, &#8220;you; as my cousins, I most earnestly
+hope, will not make her your special friend at Aylmer
+House.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But we have done so already, Neta. Oh, Neta darling!
+you are mistaken in her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say nothing whatever against her,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;except
+that personally I do not care for her. I should be very
+glad if I found that I had misjudged her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then why don&#8217;t you want us to be friends with her?
+We are friends with her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot control you, darlings. When you come to school
+you will see a variety of girls, and most of them&mdash;indeed, all
+of them&mdash;nice, I think.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then why shouldn&#8217;t we like poor Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You do like her, it seems, already.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but you are so mysterious, Neta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot say any more; you must forgive me,&#8221; answered
+Aneta. &#8220;And I hear the sound of wheels. Your father and
+mother are coming.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, the darlings!&#8221; said Merry, rushing into the
+hall to meet her parents.</p>
+<p>Aneta and Cicely followed her example, and there was
+great excitement and much talk. Mrs. Cardew was now as
+anxious that the girls should go to Aylmer House as though
+she herself had always wished for such an arrangement,
+while Mr. Cardew could not say enough in Mrs. Ward&#8217;s
+praise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You agree with me, Aneta,&#8221; said Mrs. Cardew, &#8220;that the
+school is quite unique and above the ordinary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Ward is unique and above the ordinary,&#8221; was
+Aneta&#8217;s reply.</p>
+<p>When the girls retired to their own rooms that night,
+Cicely and Merry met for a brief moment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How funny of Aneta not to like Maggie!&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, if I were you, Merry,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+talk about it. I suppose Aneta is prejudiced.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but against Maggie, of all people!
+Well, I, for my part, will never give her up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose,&#8221; said Cicely, who was more conscientious than
+her sister, &#8220;that we ought to think something of Aneta&#8217;s
+opinion.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s very fine,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;but we ought to
+think something, too, of Molly&#8217;s opinion, and Belle&#8217;s opinion.
+They have known Maggie longer than Aneta has.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Cicely; &#8220;I forgot that. But isn&#8217;t Aneta
+herself delightful? It&#8217;s a pure joy to look at her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It certainly is,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;and of course I love her
+dearly and am very proud of her; but I confess I did not
+quite like her when she spoke in that queer way about dear
+little Maggie. I, at least, am absolutely determined that
+nothing will induce me to give Maggie up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we won&#8217;t give her up,&#8221; said Cicely. But she
+spoke with thought.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span></p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI_TEN_POUNDS' id='CHAPTER_XI_TEN_POUNDS'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<h3>TEN POUNDS.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>In perfect summer weather, when the heart is brimful
+of happiness, and when a great desire has been unexpectedly
+fulfilled, what can there possibly be more delightful than an
+open-air life? This was what the girls who belonged to
+the rectory and the girls who belonged to the Manor now
+found. Mr. and Mrs. Cardew and Mr. and Mrs. Tristram
+could not do enough for their benefit. Maggie could only
+stay for one week longer with her friends; but Aneta had
+changed her mind with regard to Belgium, and was to go
+with the young Cardews to the seaside, and Mrs. Cardew had
+asked the Tristram girls to accompany them. She had also
+extended her invitation to Maggie, who would have given a
+great deal to accept it. She wrote to her mother on the
+subject. Mrs. Howland made a brief reply: &#8220;You know it
+is impossible, Maggie. You must come back to me early
+next week. I cannot do without you, so say no more about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie was a girl with a really excellent temper, and,
+recognizing that her mother had a good reason for not giving
+her the desired holiday, made the best of things.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Cicely and Merry watched her carefully. As
+to Aneta, she was perfectly cordial with Maggie, not talking
+to her much, it is true, but never showing the slightest
+objection to her society. Nevertheless, there was, since the
+arrival of Aneta on the scene, a strange, undefinable change
+in the atmosphere. Merry noticed this more than Cicely.
+It felt to her electrical, as though there might be a storm
+brewing.</p>
+<p>On the day before Maggie was to return to London to take
+up her abode in her mother&#8217;s dull house in Shepherd&#8217;s Bush,
+a magnificent picnic on a larger scale even than usual was
+the order of the hour. Some young girls of the name of
+Heathfield who lived a little way off were asked to Meredith
+Manor to spend the night, and these girls, who were exceedingly
+jolly and bright and lively, were a fresh source of
+delight to all those whom they happened to meet. Their
+names were Susan and Mary Heathfield. They were older
+than the Tristrams and the Cardews, and had, in fact, just
+left school. Their last year of school-life had been spent
+in Paris; they were highly educated, and had an enviable
+proficiency in the French tongue.</p>
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Heathfield, the parents of these girls, were
+also guests at the Manor, so that the picnic on this last day
+of Maggie&#8217;s visit to the rectory was quite a large one. They
+drove nearly twenty miles to a beautiful place not far from
+Warwick. There the usual picnic arrangements were made
+with great satisfaction; dinner was eaten out-of-doors, and
+presently there was to be a gipsy-tea. This all the girls
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+looked forward to, and Andrew and Jack were wild with
+delight over the prospect of making the kettle boil. This
+particular task was given to them, and very proud they were
+of the trust reposed in them.</p>
+<p>But now, dinner being over, the older people took shelter
+from the fierce rays of the sun under the wide-spreading
+trees, and the young people moved about in groups or in
+couples. Merry Cardew found herself alone with Maggie
+Howland. Without intending to do so, she had slightly, very
+slightly, avoided Maggie during the last day or two; but
+Maggie now seized her arm and drew her down a shady
+glade.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with me, Merry,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I have a lot I want to
+say to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry looked at her. &#8220;Of course I will come with you,
+Maggie,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want just to get quite away from the others,&#8221; continued
+Maggie, &#8220;for we shall not meet again until we meet
+in the autumn at Aylmer House. You don&#8217;t know, perhaps&mdash;do
+you, Merry&mdash;that you owe the great joy of coming to
+that lovely school to me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To you!&#8221; said Merry in the utmost amazement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Maggie in her calmest tone, &#8220;to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear Maggie!&#8221; replied Merry, &#8220;you surely must be
+mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t intend to explain myself,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;I simply
+state what is a fact. You owe your school-life to me. It
+was I who inserted the thin end of the wedge beneath your
+father&#8217;s fixed resolution that you were to be educated at
+home. It was I, in short, who acted the part of the fairy
+princess and who pulled those silken reins which brought
+about the desire of your heart.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand you, Maggie,&#8221; said Merry in a distressful
+tone; &#8220;but I suppose,&#8221; she added, &#8220;as you say so, it
+is the case. Only, I ought to tell you that what really and
+truly happened was this&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I know quite well what really and truly happened,&#8221;
+interrupted Maggie. &#8220;Let me tell you. I know that there
+came a certain day when a little girl who calls herself
+Merry Cardew was very discontented, and I know also that
+kind Mr. Cardew discovered the discontent of his child.
+Well, now, who put that discontent into your mind?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, I am afraid it was you,&#8221; said Merry, turning pale
+and then red.</p>
+<p>Maggie laughed. &#8220;Why, of course it was,&#8221; she said; &#8220;and
+you suppose I didn&#8217;t do it on purpose?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Maggie, you didn&#8217;t really mean&mdash;you couldn&#8217;t for a
+minute mean&mdash;that I was to be miserable at home if father
+didn&#8217;t give his consent?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said Maggie lightly; &#8220;but, you see, I
+meant him to give his consent&mdash;I meant it all the time. I
+own that there were several favoring circumstances; but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+I want to tell you now, Merry, in the strictest confidence of
+course, that from the moment I arrived at the rectory I determined
+that you and Cicely were to come with Molly and
+Isabel to Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was very kind of you, Maggie,&#8221; said Merry; but she
+felt a certain sense of distress which she could not quite
+account for as she spoke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you look so melancholy?&#8221; said Maggie, turning
+and fixing her queer, narrow eyes on the pretty face of her
+young companion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not really melancholy, only I would much rather
+you had told me openly at the time that you wished me to
+come to school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie gave a faint sigh. &#8220;Had I done so, darling,&#8221; she
+said, &#8220;you would never have come. You must leave your
+poor friend Maggie to manage things in her own way. But
+now I have something else to talk about.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They had gone far down the glade, and were completely
+separated from their companions.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sit down,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;it&#8217;s too hot to walk far even
+under the shade of the trees.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They both sat down.</p>
+<p>Maggie tossed off her hat. &#8220;To-morrow,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you
+will perhaps be having another picnic, or, at any rate, the
+best of good times with your friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope so,&#8221; replied Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I shall be in hot, stifling London, in a little house,
+in poky lodgings; to-morrow, at this hour, I shall not be
+having what you call a good time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Maggie, you will be with your mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, poor darling mother! of course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you love her very much?&#8221; asked Merry.</p>
+<p>Maggie flashed round an excited glance at her companion.
+&#8220;Love her? Yes,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I love her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you must love her tremendously,&#8221; said Merry&mdash;&#8220;as
+much as I love my mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;As a rule all girls love their mothers,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;We are not talking about that now, are we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want to say to me in particular, Maggie?&#8221;
+was Merry&#8217;s response.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This. We shall meet at school on the 20th of September.
+There will be, as I have told you already, twenty
+boarders at Aylmer House. You will arrive at the school as
+strangers; so will Molly and Isabel arrive as strangers; but
+you will have two friends&mdash;Aneta Lysle and myself. You&#8217;re
+very much taken, with your cousin Aneta, are you not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Taken with her?&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;That seems to me a
+curious expression. She is our cousin, and she is beautiful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Merry, I must tell you something. At Aylmer House
+there are two individuals who lead the school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;I thought Mrs. Ward led the school.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, of course, Mrs. Ward is just splendid; but,
+you see, you, poor Merry, know nothing of school-life.
+School-life is really controlled&mdash;I mean the inner part of it&mdash;by
+the girls themselves. Now, there are two girls at
+Aylmer House who control the school: one of them is your
+humble servant, Maggie Howland; the other is your cousin,
+Aneta Lysle. Aneta does not love me; and, to be frank with
+you, I hate her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry found herself turning very red. She remembered
+Aneta&#8217;s words on the night of her arrival.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has already told you,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;that she doesn&#8217;t
+like me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry remained silent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you needn&#8217;t speak. I know quite well,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>Merry felt more and more uncomfortable.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The petition I have to make to you is this,&#8221; continued
+Maggie: &#8220;that at school you will, for a time at least&mdash;say
+for the first month or so&mdash;be <i>neutral</i>. I want you and Cicely
+and Molly and Isabel to belong neither to Aneta&#8217;s party nor
+to mine; and I want you to do this because&mdash;because I have
+been the person who has got you to Aylmer House. Just
+remain neutral for a month. Will you promise me that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand you. You puzzle me very much indeed,&#8221;
+said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will understand fast enough when you get to Aylmer
+House. I wish I were not going away; I wish I hadn&#8217;t to
+return to mother. I wish I could go with you all to Scarborough;
+but I am the last girl on earth to neglect my duties,
+and my duty is to be with poor dear mother. You will understand
+that what I ask is but reasonable. If four new girls
+came to the school, and altogether went over to Aneta&#8217;s
+side, where should I be? What chance should I have? But
+I do not ask you to come to my side; I only ask you to
+be neutral. Merry, will you promise?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You distress me more than I can say,&#8221; replied Merry.
+&#8220;I feel so completely in the dark. I don&#8217;t, of course, want
+to take any side.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, then you will promise?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me present a picture to you,&#8221; continued Maggie.
+&#8220;There are two girls; they are not equally equipped for the
+battle of life. I say nothing of injustice in the matter;
+I only state a fact. One of them is rich and highly born, and
+endowed with remarkable beauty of face. That girl is your
+own cousin, Aneta Lysle. Then there is the other girl, Maggie
+Howland, who is ugly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no&mdash;no!&#8221; said Merry affectionately.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling,&#8221; said Maggie, using her most magnetic
+voice, &#8220;really ugly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not in my eyes,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is ugly,&#8221; repeated Maggie, speaking with great calm;
+&#8220;and&mdash;yes&mdash;she is poor. I will tell you as a great secret&mdash;I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+have never breathed it to a soul yet&mdash;that it would be impossible
+for this girl to be an inmate of Aylmer House if
+Mrs. Ward, in the kindness of her great heart, had not
+offered her very special terms. You will never breathe that,
+Merry, not even to Cicely?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, poor Maggie!&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;are you really&mdash;really
+as poor as that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Church mice aren&#8217;t poorer,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;But never
+mind; I have got something which even your Aneta hasn&#8217;t
+got. I have talent, and I have the power&mdash;the power of
+charming. I want most earnestly to be your special friend,
+Merry. I have a very affectionate heart, and I love you and
+Cicely and Molly and Isabel more than I can say; but of all
+you four girls I love you the best. You come first in my
+heart; and to see you at my school turning away from me
+and going altogether to Aneta&#8217;s side would give me agony.
+There, I can&#8217;t help it. Forgive me. I&#8217;ll be all right in a
+minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie turned her face aside. She had taken out her
+handkerchief and was pressing it to her eyes. Real tears had
+filled them, for her emotions were genuine enough.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think,&#8221; she said after a pause, &#8220;that you, who
+are so rich in this world&#8217;s goods, might be kind and loving
+to a poor little plain girl who loves you but who has got
+very little?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, indeed, I shall always love you, dear Maggie,&#8221;
+said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you will do what I want?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like to make promises, and I am so much in the
+dark; but I can certainly say this&mdash;that, whatever happens,
+I shall be your friend at school. I shall look to you to help
+me in a hundred ways.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you indeed, darling Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I shall. I always intended to, and I think
+Cicely will do just the same.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want you to talk to Cicely about this. She doesn&#8217;t
+care for me as much as you do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps not quite,&#8221; said honest Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am sure&mdash;certain of it. Then you will be my
+friend as I shall be yours, and when we meet at Aylmer
+House you will talk of me to others as your friend?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I shall.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I require. The thought of your friendship
+when I love you so passionately makes sunshine in my heart.
+I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t be miserable at all to-morrow after what you have
+said. I shall think of our pleasant talk under this great
+oak-tree; I shall recall this lovely, perfect day. Merry,
+you have made me very happy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But please understand,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;that, although I
+am your friend, I cannot give up Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not, dear; only, don&#8217;t take what you call sides.
+It is quite reasonable to suppose that girls who have only
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+just come to school would prefer to be there at first quite
+free and untrammeled; and to belong to a certain set immediately
+trammels you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I, for one, will promise&mdash;at any rate at first&mdash;that
+I won&#8217;t belong to any set,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Now, are you satisfied,
+Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, truly I am! Do let me kiss you, darling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls kissed very affectionately.</p>
+<p>Then Maggie said, &#8220;Now I am quite happy.&#8221; After a
+pause, she continued as though it were an after-thought,
+&#8220;Of course you won&#8217;t speak of this to any one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unless, perhaps, to Cicely,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not even to Cicely; for if you found it hard to understand,
+she would find it impossible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;I never had a secret from her in my
+life. She is my twin, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, please,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;keep this little secret all
+to yourself for my sake. Oh, do think how important it is
+to me, and how much more you have to be thankful for
+than I have!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you feel it like that, poor Maggie,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;I will
+keep it as my own secret.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I have nothing further to say.&#8221; Maggie sprang to
+her feet. &#8220;There are the boys running to meet us,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;I know they&#8217;ll want my help in preparing the fire for the
+gipsy-kettle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I will join the others. There&#8217;s Susan Heathfield;
+she is all alone,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;But one moment first, please,
+Maggie. Are you going to make Molly and Isabel bind themselves
+by the same promise?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me, no!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;They will naturally be
+my friends without any effort; but you are the one I want,
+for you are the one I truly love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hallo! there you are,&#8221; called Andrew&#8217;s voice, &#8220;hobnobbing,
+as usual, with Merry Cardew.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, Merry,&#8221; cried Jack, &#8220;it is unfair of you to take our
+Maggie away on her last day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The two boys now rushed up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to cry bottles-full to-morrow,&#8221; said Andrew;
+&#8220;and, although I am a boy, about to be a man, I&#8217;m not a
+bit ashamed of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll beat you at that,&#8221; said Jackdaw, &#8220;for I&#8217;ll cry basins-full.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me, boys, how horrid of you!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;What
+on earth good will crying do to me? And you&#8217;ll both be so
+horribly limp and damp after it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, come now,&#8221; said Jackdaw, pulling her by one arm
+while Peterkin secured the other.&mdash;&#8220;You&#8217;ve had your share
+of her, Merry, and it&#8217;s our turn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie and her devoted satellites went off in the direction
+where the bonfire was to be made; and Merry, walking
+slowly, joined Susan Heathfield.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></p>
+<p>Susan was more than two years older than Merry, and on
+that account the younger girls looked up to her with a great
+deal of respect. Up to the present, however, they had had
+no confidential talk.</p>
+<p>Susan now said, &#8220;So you are to be a schoolgirl after all?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. Isn&#8217;t it jolly?&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it has its pros and cons,&#8221; replied Susan. &#8220;In one
+sense, there is no place like school; but in the best sense of
+all there is no place like home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Were you long at school, Susan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course; Mary and I went to a school in Devonshire
+when we were quite little girls. I was eleven and Mary ten.
+Afterwards we were at a London school, and then we went to
+Paris. We had an excellent time at all our schools; but
+I think the best fun of all was the thought of the holidays
+and coming home again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That must be delightful,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Did you make
+many friends at school?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, of course,&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;But now let me give
+you a word of advice, Merry. You are going to a most delightful
+school, which, alas! we were not lucky enough to
+get admitted to, although mother tried very hard. It may
+be different at Aylmer House from what it is in the ordinary
+school, but I would strongly advise you and Cicely not
+to join any clique at school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear, how very queer!&#8221; said Merry, and she reddened
+deeply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you look like that?&#8221; said Susan.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, nothing,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>Susan was silent for a minute or two. Then she said,
+&#8220;That&#8217;s a curious-looking girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What girl?&#8221; said Merry indignantly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you said her name was Howland&mdash;Miss Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is one of the most delightful girls I know,&#8221; replied
+Merry at once.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know her, you see, so I can&#8217;t say. Aneta
+tells me that she is a member of your school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; and I am so delighted!&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>Again Susan Heathfield was silent, feeling a little puzzled;
+but Merry quickly changed the conversation, for she did not
+want to have any more talk with regard to Maggie Howland.
+Merry, however, had a very transparent face. Her conversation
+with her friend had left traces of anxiety and even
+slight apprehension on her sweet, open face. Merry Cardew
+was oppressed by the first secret of her life, and it is
+perhaps to be regretted, or perhaps the reverse, that she
+found it almost impossible to keep a secret.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Cicely said to her as they were hurrying from the
+shady woods in the direction of the picnic-tea, &#8220;what is
+wrong with you, Merry? Have you a headache?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no; I am perfectly all right,&#8221; said Merry, brightening
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+up. &#8220;It&#8217;s only&mdash;well, to say the truth, I am sorry that
+Maggie is going to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very fond of her, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, yes; that is it, I am,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll see plenty of her at school, anyway,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish she were rich,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I hate to think of
+her as poor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is she poor?&#8221; asked Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes; she was just telling me, poor darling!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand what it means to be poor,&#8221; said Cicely.
+&#8220;People say it is very bad, but somehow I can&#8217;t take it in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie takes it in, at any rate,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Think of
+us to-morrow, Cicely, having more fun, being out again in
+the open air, having pleasant companions all round us, and
+our beautiful home to go back to, and our parents, whom
+we love so dearly; and then, next week, of the house by the
+sea, and Aneta and Molly and Isabel our companions.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, of course,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then think of poor Maggie,&#8221; continued Merry.
+&#8220;She&#8217;ll be shut up in a musty, fusty London lodging. I
+can&#8217;t think how she endures it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what a musty, fusty lodging is,&#8221; said Cicely;
+&#8220;but she could have come with us, because mother invited
+her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She can&#8217;t, because her own mother wants her. Oh dear!
+I wish we could have her and her mother too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on now, Merry, I don&#8217;t think we ought to ask father
+and mother to invite Mrs. Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not. I quite understand that,&#8221; replied Merry.
+&#8220;Nevertheless, I am a little sad about dear Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry&#8217;s sadness took a practical form. She thought a
+great deal about her friend during the rest of that day, although
+Maggie rather avoided her. She thought, in particular,
+of Maggie&#8217;s poverty, and wondered what poverty
+really meant. The poor people&mdash;those who were called poor
+at Meredith&mdash;did not really suffer at all, for it was the
+bounden duty of the squire of the Manor to see to all their
+wants, to provide them with comfortable houses and nice
+gardens, and if they were ill to give them the advice of a
+good doctor, also to send them nourishing food from the
+Manor. But poor people of that sort were quite different
+from the Maggie Howland sort. Merry could not imagine
+any lord of the manor taking Maggie and Mrs. Howland in
+hand and providing them with all the good things of life.</p>
+<p>But all of a sudden it darted through her eager, affectionate
+little heart that she herself might be lord of the
+manor to Maggie, and might help Maggie out of her own
+abundance. If it were impossible to get Maggie Howland
+and her mother both invited to Scarborough, why should not
+she, Merry, provide Maggie with means to take her mother
+from the fusty, dusty lodgings to another seaside resort?</p>
+<p>Merry thought over this for some time, and the more she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+thought over it the more enamored she was of the idea. She
+and Cicely had, of course, no special means of their own,
+nor could they have until they came of age. Nevertheless,
+they were allowed as pocket-money ten pounds every quarter.
+Now, Merry&#8217;s ten pounds would be due in a week. She
+really did not want it. When she got it she spent it mostly
+on presents for her friends and little gifts for the villagers;
+but on this occasion she might give it all in one lump sum
+to Maggie Howland. Surely her father would let her have
+it? She might give it to Maggie early to-morrow morning.
+Maggie would not be too proud to accept it just as a tiny
+present.</p>
+<p>Merry had as little idea how far ten pounds would go toward
+the expenses of a visit to the seaside as she had of
+what real poverty meant. But it occurred to her as a delightful
+way of assuring Maggie of her friendship to present
+Maggie with her quarter&#8217;s pocket-money.</p>
+<p>On their way home that evening, therefore, she was only
+too glad to find herself by her father&#8217;s side.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, little girl,&#8221; he said, &#8220;so you&#8217;re forsaking all your
+young companions and wish to sit close to the old dad?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The old dad, it may be mentioned, was driving home in a
+mail-phaeton from the picnic, and Merry found herself
+perched high up beside him as he held the reins and guided
+a pair of thoroughbred horses.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what is it, little girl?&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder, father, if you&#8217;d be most frightfully kind?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; he answered, just glancing at her; &#8220;that means
+that you are discontented again. What more can I do for
+you, Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I might only have my pocket-money to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You extravagant child! Your pocket-money! It isn&#8217;t
+due for a week.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I do want it very specially. Will you advance it to
+me just this once, dad?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not to know why you want it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, dad darling, you are not to know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Cardew considered for a minute.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope you are not going to be a really extravagant woman,
+Merry,&#8221; he said. &#8220;To tell the truth, I hate extravagance,
+although I equally hate stinginess. You will have no lack
+of money, child, but money is a great and wonderful gift and
+ought to be used to the best of best advantages. It ought
+never to be wasted, for there are so many people who haven&#8217;t
+half enough, and those who are rich, my child, ought to help
+those who are not rich.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling father,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;and that is what I
+should so awfully like to do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I think you have the root of the matter in you,&#8221;
+said Mr. Cardew, &#8220;and I, for one, am the last person to pry
+on my child. Does Cicely also want her money in advance?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, no! I want it for a very special reason.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, my little girl. Come to me in the study to-night
+before you go to bed, and you shall have your money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In sovereigns, please, father?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, child, in sovereigns.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you ever so much, darling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During the rest of the drive there was no girl happier
+than Merry Cardew. Mr. Cardew looked at her once or
+twice, and wondered what all this meant. But he was not
+going to question her.</p>
+<p>When they got home he took her away to his study, and,
+opening a drawer, took out ten sovereigns.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I may as well tell you,&#8221; he said as he put them into her
+hand, &#8220;that when you go to school I shall raise your pocket-money
+allowance to fifteen pounds a quarter. That is quite
+as large a sum as a girl of your age ought to have in the
+year. I do this because I well understand that at Mrs.
+Ward&#8217;s school there will be special opportunities for you to
+act in a philanthropic manner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, thank you, thank you, father!&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII_SHEPHERDS_BUSH' id='CHAPTER_XII_SHEPHERDS_BUSH'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<h3>SHEPHERD&#8217;S BUSH.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>While Merry was in a state of high rejoicing at this
+simple means of helping her friend, Maggie Howland herself
+was not having quite such a good time. She had been much
+relieved by her conversation with Merry, but shortly after the
+picnic-tea Aneta had come up to her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would you like to walk with me,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;as far
+as the giant oak? It isn&#8217;t a great distance from here, and
+I&#8217;ll not keep you long.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly I will come with you, Aneta,&#8221; said Maggie; but
+she felt uncomfortable, and wondered what it meant.</p>
+<p>The two girls set off together. They made a contrast
+which must have been discernible to the eyes of all those
+who saw them: Aneta the very essence of elegance; Maggie
+spotlessly neat, but, compared to her companion, downright
+plain. Aneta was tall and slim; Maggie was short. Nevertheless,
+her figure was her good point, and she made the
+most of it by having perfectly fitting clothes. This very
+fact, however, took somewhat from her appearance, and
+gave her the look of a grown-up girl, whereas she was still
+only a child.</p>
+<p>As soon as ever the girls got out of earshot, Aneta turned
+to Maggie and said gravely, &#8220;My cousins the Cardews are to
+join us all at Aylmer House in September.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie longed to say, &#8220;Thank you for nothing,&#8221; but she
+never dared to show rudeness to Aneta. No one had ever
+been rude to the stately young lady.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said. Then she added, &#8220;I am so glad! Aren&#8217;t
+you?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;For some reasons I am very glad,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But surely for all, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not for all,&#8221; replied Aneta.</p>
+<p>How Maggie longed to give her companion a fierce push,
+or otherwise show how she detested her!</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you why I regret it,&#8221; said Aneta, turning her
+calm, beautiful eyes upon Maggie&#8217;s face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I regret it, Maggie Howland, because you are at the
+school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How very polite!&#8221; said Maggie, turning crimson.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is not polite,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;and I am sorry that I
+have to speak as I do; but it is necessary. We needn&#8217;t go
+into particulars; but I have something to say to you, and
+please understand that what I say I mean. You know that
+when first you came to the school I was as anxious as any
+one else to be kind to you, to help you, to be good to you.
+You know the reason why I changed my mind. You know
+what you did. You know that were Mrs. Ward to have the
+slightest inkling of what really occurred you would not remain
+another hour at Aylmer House. I haven&#8217;t told any one
+what I know; but if you, Maggie, tamper with Cicely and
+Merry Cardew, who are my cousins and dear friends&mdash;if you
+win them over to what you are pleased to call your side of
+the school&mdash;I shall consider it my duty to tell Mrs. Ward
+what I have hitherto kept back from her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie was trembling very violently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could not be so cruel,&#8221; she said after a pause.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have long thought,&#8221; continued Aneta, speaking in her
+calm, gentle voice, &#8220;that I did wrong at the time to keep
+silent; but you got my promise, and I kept it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I got your promise; you
+wouldn&#8217;t dare to break it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are mistaken,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;If the circumstances
+to which I have just alluded should arise I would break that
+promise. Now you understand?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you are the meanest, the cruellest&mdash;I think you
+are&#8211;&#8211;There, I hate you!&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have no reason to. I will not interfere with you
+if you, on your part, leave those I love alone. Cicely and
+Merry are coming to the school because I am there, because
+my aunt recommends the school, because it is a good school.
+Leave off doing wrong, and join us, Maggie, in what is noble
+and high; but continue your present course at your peril.
+You would do anything for power; you go too far. You
+have influenced one or two girls adversely already. I am
+convinced that Mrs. Ward does not trust you. If you interfere
+with Cicely or Merry, Mrs. Ward will have good reason
+to dislike you, for I myself shall open her eyes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be an informer, a tell-tale?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can call me any names you like, Maggie; I shall
+simply do what I consider my duty.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but&#8211;&#8211;I hate you!&#8221; said Maggie again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry you hate me, for it isn&#8217;t necessary; and if I
+saw you in the least like others I should do all in my power
+to help you. Now, will you give me your promise that you
+won&#8217;t interfere with Cicely and Merry?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But does this mean&mdash;does this mean,&#8221; said Maggie, who
+was almost choking with rage, &#8220;that I am to have nothing
+to do with the Cardews?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are on no account to draw the Cardews into the
+circle of your friends, who are, I am thankful to say, limited.
+If you do, you know the consequences, and I am not the
+sort of girl to go back when I have firmly made up my mind
+on a certain point.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie suddenly clutched hold of her companion&#8217;s arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am miserable enough already,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and you
+make my life unendurable! You don&#8217;t know what it is to
+have a mother like mine, and to be starvingly poor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very sorry you are poor, Maggie, and I am very
+sorry for you with regard to your mother, although I do
+not think you ought to speak unkindly of her. But your
+father was a very good man, and you might live up to his
+memory. I saw you and Merry together to-day. Beware
+how you try to influence her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I can&#8217;t stand you!&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have said my say. Shall we return to the others?&#8221;
+said Aneta in her calm voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If she would only get into a rage and we might have
+a hand-to-hand fight I should feel better,&#8221; thought Maggie.
+But she was seriously alarmed, for she well remembered
+something which had happened at school, which Aneta had
+discovered, and which, if known, would force Mrs. Ward to
+dismiss her from the establishment. Such a course would
+spell ruin. Maggie had strong feelings, but she had also self-control;
+and by the time the two joined the others her face
+looked much as usual.</p>
+<p>On the following morning early a little girl ran swiftly
+from the Manor to the rectory. Maggie was to leave by
+the eleven o&#8217;clock train. Merry appeared on the scene soon
+after nine.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you, Maggie, all quite by yourself,&#8221; said Merry,
+speaking with such excitement that Molly and Belle looked
+at her in unbounded amazement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t keep her long,&#8221; said Peterkins and Jackdaw,
+&#8220;for it is our very last day, and Spot-ear and Fanciful want
+to say good-bye to her. You can&#8217;t have the darling more
+than three minutes at the most.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to keep Maggie for ten minutes, and no
+longer.&mdash;Come along at once, Maggie,&#8221; said Merry Cardew.</p>
+<p>They went out into the grounds, and Merry, putting her
+hand into her pocket, took out a little brown leather bag.
+She thrust it into her companion&#8217;s hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; said Maggie.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It is for you&mdash;for you, darling,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Take it,
+as a loan, if you like&mdash;only take it. It is only ten pounds.
+I am afraid you will think it nothing at all; but do take it,
+just as a mere loan. It is my pocket-money for the next
+quarter. Perhaps you could go from the musty, fusty lodgings
+to some fresher place with this to help you. Do&mdash;do
+take it, Maggie! I shall so love you if you do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s narrow eyes grew wide. Maggie&#8217;s sallow face
+flushed. There came a wild commotion in her heart&mdash;a
+real, genuine sense of downright love for the girl who had
+done this thing for her. And ten pounds, which meant so
+very little to Merry Cardew, held untold possibilities for
+Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will hurt me frightfully if you refuse,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>Maggie trembled from head to foot. Suppose, by any
+chance, it got to Aneta&#8217;s ears that she had taken this money
+from Merry; suppose it got abroad in the school! Oh, she
+dared not take it! she must not!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Maggie? Why don&#8217;t you speak?&#8221; said Merry,
+looking at her in astonishment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I love you with all my heart and soul,&#8221; said Maggie;
+&#8220;but I just can&#8217;t take the money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Maggie! but why?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t, dear; I can&#8217;t. It&mdash;it would not be right. You
+mustn&#8217;t lower me in my own estimation. I should feel low
+down if I took your money. I know well I am poor, and
+so is dear mother, and the lodgings are fusty and musty, but
+we are neither of us so poor as that. I&#8217;ll never forget that
+you brought it to me, and I&#8217;ll love you just more than
+I have ever done; but I can&#8217;t take it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do come on, Maggie!&#8221; shouted Jackdaw. &#8220;Fanciful is
+dying for his breakfast; and as to Peterkins, he has got Spot-ear
+out of his cage. Peterkins is crying like anything, and
+his tears are dropping on Spot-ear, and Spot-ear doesn&#8217;t
+like it. Do come on!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes; I am coming,&#8221; said Maggie&mdash;&#8220;Good-bye, darling
+Merry. My best thanks and best love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That evening, or in the course of the afternoon, Maggie
+appeared at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush. She had been obliged to travel
+third-class, and the journey was hot and dusty.</p>
+<p>She lay back against the cushions with a tired feeling
+all over her. For a time she had been able to forget her
+poverty. Now it had fully returned to her, and she was not
+in the mood to be good-natured. There was no need to
+show any charm or any kindliness to her neighbors, who,
+in their turn, thought her a disagreeable, plain girl, not
+worth any special notice.</p>
+<p>It was, therefore, by no means a prepossessing-looking girl
+who ran up the high flight of steps which belonged to that
+lodging-house in Shepherd&#8217;s Bush where Mrs. Howland was
+staying. Maggie knew the lodgings well, although she had
+never spent much time there. As a rule, she contrived
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+to spend almost all her holidays with friends; but on this
+occasion her mother had sent for her in a very summary
+manner; and, although Maggie had no real love for her
+mother, she was afraid to disobey her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland occupied the drawing-room floor of the said
+lodgings. They were kept by a Mrs. Ross, an untidy and by
+no means too clean-looking woman. Mrs. Ross kept one
+small &#8220;general,&#8221; and the general&#8217;s name was Tildy. Tildy
+had bright-red hair and a great many freckles on her round
+face. She was squat in figure, and had a perpetual smut either
+on her cheek or forehead. In the morning she was nothing
+better than a slavey, but in the afternoon she generally
+managed to put on a cap with long white streamers and
+an apron with a bib. Tildy thought herself very fine in this
+attire, and she had donned it now in honor of Miss Howland&#8217;s
+arrival. She had no particular respect for Mrs. Howland,
+but she had a secret and consuming admiration for
+Maggie.</p>
+<p>Maggie had been kind to Tildy once or twice, and had even
+given the general a cast-off dress of her own. Maggie was
+plain, and yet people liked her and listened to her words.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh miss,&#8221; said Tildy when she opened the front door,
+&#8220;it&#8217;s me that&#8217;s glad to see you! Your ma is upstairs;
+she&#8217;s took with a headache, but you&#8217;ll find her lyin&#8217; down on
+the sofy in the drawin&#8217;-room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;ll run up at once, Matilda,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;And
+how are you?&#8221; she added good-naturedly. &#8220;Oh, you&#8217;ve got
+your usual smut.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indicate the spot, miss, and it shall be moved instancious,&#8221;
+said Tildy. &#8220;Seems to me as if never could get
+rid of smuts, what with the kitchen-range, and missus bein&#8217;
+so exacsheous, and Tildy here, Tildy there; Tildy do this,
+Tildy do t&#8217;other, soundin&#8217; in my hears all day long.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are a very good girl,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;and if I were
+in your place I&#8217;d have a hundred smuts, not one. But
+take it off now, do; it&#8217;s on the very center of your forehead.
+And bring me some tea to the drawing-room, for I&#8217;m
+ever so thirsty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve been in a blessed wondrous castle since, haven&#8217;t
+you, missie?&#8221; said Matilda in a voice of suppressed awe.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know some young ladies who live in a castle; but I myself
+have been at a rectory,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Now, don&#8217;t keep
+me. Oh, here&#8217;s a shilling for the cabman; give it to him,
+and get my box taken upstairs.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie flew up the steep, badly carpeted stairs to the
+hideous drawing-room. Her spirits had been very low; but,
+somehow, Tildy had managed to revive them. Tildy was
+plain, and very much lower than Maggie in the social scale;
+but Tildy admired her, and because of that admiration made
+her life more or less endurable in the fusty, musty lodgings.
+She had always cultivated Tildy&#8217;s good will, and she thought
+of the girl now with a strange sense of pity.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Compared to her, I suppose I am well off,&#8221; thought Maggie.
+&#8220;I have only five weeks at the most to endure this
+misery; then there will be Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She opened the drawing-room door and entered. Mrs. Howland
+was lying on a sofa, which was covered with faded
+rep and had a broken spring. She had a handkerchief wrung
+out of aromatic vinegar over her forehead. Her eyes were
+shut, and her exceedingly thin face was very pale. When
+her daughter entered the room she opened a pair of faded
+eyes and looked at her, but no sense of pleasure crossed Mrs.
+Howland&#8217;s shallow face. On the contrary, she looked much
+worried, and said, in a cross tone, &#8220;I wish you would not be
+so noisy, Maggie. Didn&#8217;t Tildy tell you that I had an acute
+headache?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, mother; and I didn&#8217;t know I was noisy,&#8221; replied Maggie.
+&#8220;I came upstairs as softly as possible. That door&#8221;&mdash;she
+pointed to the door by which she had entered&mdash;&#8220;creaks
+horribly. That is not my fault.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excusing yourself, as usual,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, mother,&#8221; said Maggie after a pause, &#8220;may I kiss
+you now that I have come back against my will?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew you&#8217;d be horribly discontented,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland;
+&#8220;but of course you may kiss me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie bent down and touched her mother&#8217;s cheek with her
+young lips.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was having a beautiful time,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and you don&#8217;t
+seem glad now that I have come back. What is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have something to communicate to you,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;I did not think I could write it; therefore I was obliged
+to have you with me. But we won&#8217;t talk of it for a little.
+Have you ordered tea?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, mother. Tildy is bringing it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;What a hot day it
+is!&#8221; she continued.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This room is stifling,&#8221; replied Maggie. &#8220;Do you mind
+if I pull down the Venetian blinds? That will keep some of
+the sun out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The blinds are all broken,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;I have
+spoken to that woman Ross till I am tired, but she never will
+see to my wishes in any way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine why we stay here, mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! don&#8217;t begin your grumbles now,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;I have news for you when tea is over.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Just then the drawing-room door was opened by means of
+a kick and a bump, and Tildy entered, weighed down by an
+enormous tea-tray. Maggie ran to prepare a table for its
+reception, and Tildy looked at her with eyes of fresh admiration.
+Mrs. Howland raised herself and also looked at the girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you kept the cakes downstairs, and the muffins that
+I ordered, and the gooseberries?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, um,&#8221; said Tildy. &#8220;I brought them up for Miss Maggie&#8217;s
+tea.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I told you they were not to be touched till Mr. Martin
+came.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, um,&#8221; said Tildy; &#8220;but me and Mrs. Ross thought as
+Miss Maggie &#8217;u&#8217;d want &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland glanced at her daughter. Then all of a sudden,
+and quite unexpectedly, her faded face grew red. She
+perceived an expression of inquiry in Maggie&#8217;s eyes which
+rather frightened her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Now that you&#8217;ve brought the
+things up, Tildy, leave them here, and go. When Mr. Martin
+comes, show him up. Now leave us, and be quick about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tildy departed, slamming the door behind her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How noisy that girl is!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;Well, I
+am better now; I&#8217;ll just go into our bedroom and get tidy.
+I&#8217;ll be back in a few minutes. I mustn&#8217;t be seen looking this
+fright when Mr. Martin comes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But who is Mr. Martin?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will know presently,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;It&#8217;s about
+him that I have news.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie felt her heart thumping in a very uncomfortable
+manner. The bedroom which she and her mother shared
+together&mdash;that is, when Maggie was with her mother&mdash;was
+at the back of the drawing-room. Mrs. Howland remained
+there for about five minutes, and during that time Maggie
+helped herself to a cup of tea, for she was feverishly hot and
+thirsty.</p>
+<p>Her mother returned at the end of five minutes, looking
+wonderfully better, and in fact quite rejuvenated. Her dress
+was fairly neat. She had a slight color in her pale cheeks
+which considerably brightened her light-blue eyes. Her faded
+hair was arranged with some neatness, and she had put on a
+white blouse and a blue alpaca skirt.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother,&#8221; said Maggie, hailing this change with great
+relief, &#8220;how much better you look now! I am a comfort to
+you, am I not, mums? I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t mind coming back and giving
+up all my fun if I am a real comfort to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have sent for you but for Mr. Martin,&#8221; said
+Mrs. Howland. &#8220;It was he who wished it. Yes, I am much
+better now, though I cannot honestly say that you are the
+cause. It&#8217;s the thought of seeing Mr. Martin that cheers me
+up; I must be tidy for him. Yes, you may pour out a cup
+of tea for me; only see that you keep some really strong
+tea in the teapot for Mr. Martin, for he cannot bear it weak.
+He calls weak tea wish-wash.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But whoever is this mysterious person?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you in a minute or two. You may give me one
+of those little cakes. No, I couldn&#8217;t stand muffins; I hate them
+in hot weather. Besides, my digestion isn&#8217;t what it was; but
+I shall be all right by-and-by; so will you too, my dear. And
+what I do, I do for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I wish you would tell me what you are doing for
+me, and get it over,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You were always very
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+peculiar, mums, always&mdash;even when dear father was alive&mdash;and
+you&#8217;re not less so now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a very unkind way for a child to speak of her
+parent,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland; &#8220;but I can assure you, Maggie,
+that Mr. Martin won&#8217;t allow it in the future.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie now sprang to her feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good gracious, mother! What has Mr. Martin to do with
+me? Is he&mdash;is he&mdash;it cannot be, mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I can,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;I may as well have it
+out first as last. I am going to marry Mr. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was a wailing cry in Maggie&#8217;s voice. No girl can
+stand with equanimity her mother marrying a second time;
+and as Maggie, with all her dreams of her own future, had
+never for an instant contemplated this fact, she was simply
+staggered for a minute or two.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will have to take it in the right spirit, my dear,&#8221; said
+her mother. &#8220;I can&#8217;t stand this life any longer. I want
+money, and comforts, and devotion, and the love of a faithful
+husband, and Mr. Martin will give me all these things.
+He is willing to adopt you too. He said so. He has no children
+of his own. I mean, when I say that, that his first family are
+all settled in life, and he says that he wouldn&#8217;t object at all
+to a pleasant, lively girl in the house. He wants you to
+leave school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Leave Aylmer House!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Oh no, mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew you&#8217;d make a fuss about it,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;He has a great dislike to what he calls fine folks. He speaks
+of them as daisies, and he hates daisies.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, mother&mdash;mother dear&mdash;before he comes, tell me
+something about him. Where did you meet him? Who is
+he? A clergyman&mdash;a barrister? What is he, mother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland remained silent for a minute. Then she
+pressed her hand to her heart. Then she gave way to a burst
+of hysterical laughter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just consider for a minute, Maggie,&#8221; she said, &#8220;what utter
+nonsense you are talking. Where should I be likely to meet
+a clergyman or a barrister? Do clergymen or barristers or
+people in any profession come to houses like this? Do talk
+sense when you&#8217;re about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, tell me what he is, at least.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is in&mdash;I am by no means ashamed of it&mdash;in <i>trade</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now, it so happened that it had been duly impressed upon
+Maggie&#8217;s mind that Mr. Cardew of Meredith Manor was also,
+so to speak, in trade; that is, he was the sleeping partner
+in one of the largest and wealthiest businesses in London.
+Maggie therefore, for a minute, had a glittering vision of a
+great country-house equal in splendor to Meredith Manor,
+where she and her mother could live together. But the next
+minute Mrs. Howland killed these glowing hopes even in the
+moment of their birth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to conceal nothing from you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Mr.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+Martin keeps the grocer&#8217;s shop at the corner. I may as well
+say that I met him when I went to that shop to get the small
+articles of grocery which I required for my own consumption.
+He has served me often across the counter. Then one day
+I was taken rather weak and ill in the shop, and he took
+me into his back-parlor, a very comfortable room, and gave
+me a glass of excellent old port; and since then, somehow,
+we have been friends. He is a widower, I a widow. His children
+have gone into the world, and each one of them is doing
+well. My child is seldom or never with her mother. It is
+about a week ago since he asked me if I would accept him
+and plenty, instead of staying as I am&mdash;a genteel widow with
+so little money that I am half-starved. His only objection
+to our marriage is the thought of you, Maggie; for he said that
+I was bringing you up as a fine lady, with no provision whatever
+for the future. He hates fine ladies, as he calls them;
+in fact, he is dead nuts against the aristocracy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother!&#8221; wailed poor Maggie; &#8220;and my father was a
+gentleman!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Martin has quite a gentlemanly heart,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t pretend for a moment that he is in the same
+position as my late lamented husband; but he is ten times
+better off, and we shall live in a nice little house in Clapham,
+and I can have two servants of my own; he is having the house
+refurnished and repapered for me&mdash;in his own taste, it is true,
+for he will not hear of what he calls Liberty rubbish. But
+it is going to be very comfortable, and I look forward to my
+change of surroundings with great satisfaction.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, mother,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;you always did think of yourself
+first. But what about me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better not talk to me in that strain before Mr.
+Martin. He is very deeply devoted to me,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland;
+&#8220;and do not imagine that we have not given you careful
+consideration. He is willing to adopt you, but insists on your
+leaving Aylmer House and coming to Laburnum Villa at Clapham.
+From what he says, you are quite sufficiently educated,
+and your duty now is to look after your mother and your new
+father, to be pleasant to me all day long, and to be bright and
+cheerful with him when he comes back from business in the
+evening. If you play your cards well, Maggie, he will leave
+you well provided for, as he is quite rich&mdash;of course, not
+rich like those people you are staying near, but rich for
+his class. I am very much pleased myself at the engagement.
+Our banns were called last Sunday in church, and
+we are to be married in a fortnight. After that, you had
+best stay on here until we desire you to join us at Laburnum
+Villa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t, mother,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I can&#8217;t&mdash;and I won&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come, I hear a step on the stairs,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;That is Mr. Martin. Now, you will restrain yourself for
+my sake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>There <i>was</i> a step on the stairs&mdash;firm, solid, heavy. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+drawing-room door was opened about an inch, but no one
+came in.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland said in a low whisper to her daughter, &#8220;He
+doesn&#8217;t know you have returned; he is very playful. Just
+stay quiet. He really is a most amusing person.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bo-peep!&#8221; said a voice at the door; and a round, shining,
+bald head was popped in and then disappeared.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bo-peep!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland in response.</p>
+<p>She stood up, and there came over her faded face a waggish
+expression. She held up her finger and shook it playfully.
+The bald head appeared again, followed immediately by a
+very round body. The playful finger continued to waggle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ducksie dear!&#8221; said Mr. Martin, and he clasped Mrs. Howland
+in his arms.</p>
+<p>Maggie gave a smothered groan.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the child,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland in a whisper. &#8220;She is
+a bit upset; but when she knows you, James, she&#8217;ll love you
+as much as I do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hope so,&#8221; said Mr. Martin. &#8220;I&#8217;m a duckle, Little-sing;
+ain&#8217;t I, Victoria?&#8221; Here he chuckled the good lady under the
+chin. &#8220;Ah, and so this is Maggie?&mdash;How do, my dear? How
+do, Popsy-wopsy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, come,&#8221; said Mr. Martin. &#8220;No flights and vapors,
+no fine airs, no affected, mincing ways. A little girl should
+love her new parent. A little girl should kiss her new parent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t kiss you, Mr. Martin,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come, come&mdash;shy, is she? Let me tell you, Popsy-wopsy,
+that every man wouldn&#8217;t want to kiss you.&mdash;She is
+not a bit like you, my dear Victoria. Wherever did she get
+that queer little face? She is no beauty, and that I will say.&mdash;Now,
+your mother, Popsy, is a most elegant woman; any one
+can see that she is a born aristocrat; but I hate &#8217;em, my dear&mdash;hate
+&#8217;em! I am one of those who vote for the abolition of
+the House of Lords. Give me the Commons; no bloated Lords
+for me. Well, you&#8217;re a bit took aback, ain&#8217;t you? Your
+mother and me&mdash;we settled things up very tidy while you
+were sporting in the country. I like you all the better, my
+dear, for being plain. I don&#8217;t want no beauties except my
+beloved Victoria. She&#8217;s the woman for me.&mdash;Ain&#8217;t you, my
+Little-sing? Eh dear! Eh dear! It&#8217;s we three who&#8217;ll have
+the fun.&mdash;I&#8217;ll take you right into my heart, Popsy-wopsy, and
+snug and comfortable you&#8217;ll find yourself there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Poor Maggie! The overwhelming contrast between this
+scene and the scenes of yesterday! The awful fact that her
+mother was going to marry such a being as Mr. Martin overpowered
+her with such a sense of horror that for the time she
+felt quite dumb and stupid.</p>
+<p>Mr. Martin, however, was in a radiant humor. &#8220;Now then,
+Little-sing,&#8221; he said, addressing Mrs. Howland, &#8220;where&#8217;s the
+tea! Poor Bo-peep wants his tea. He&#8217;s hungry and he&#8217;s
+thirsty, is Bo-peep. Little-sing will pour out Bo-peep&#8217;s tea
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+with her own pretty, elegant hands, and butter his muffins
+for him, and Cross-patch in the corner can keep herself quiet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I go into our bedroom, mother?&#8221; said Maggie at that
+juncture.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, miss, you may not,&#8221; said Martin, suddenly rousing
+himself from a very comfortable position in the only easy-chair
+the room afforded. &#8220;I have something to say to you,
+and when I have said it you may do what you please.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay quiet, dear Maggie, for the present,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>The poor woman felt a queer sense of shame. Bo-peep and
+Little-sing had quite an agreeable time together when they
+were alone. She did not mind the boisterous attentions of her
+present swain; but with Maggie by there seemed to be a difference.
+Maggie made her ashamed of herself.</p>
+<p>Maggie walked to the window, and, taking a low chair, sat
+down. Her heart was beating heavily. There was such a
+misery within her that she could scarcely contain herself.
+Could anything be done to rescue her mother from such a
+marriage? She was a very clever girl; but, clever as she was,
+she could see no way out.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Mr. Martin drank his tea with huge gulps, ate
+a quantity of muffins, pooh-poohed the gooseberries as not
+worth his attention, and then said, &#8220;Now, Victoria, my dearest
+dear, I am ready to propound my scheme to your offspring.&mdash;Come
+forward, Popsy-wopsy, and listen to what new pa intends
+to do for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie rose, feeling that her limbs were turned to ice. She
+crossed the room and stood before Mr. Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;None of those airs, Popsy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to know what you mean to do,&#8221; said Maggie, struggling
+hard to keep her temper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, missie miss, poor Bo-peep means to marry your
+good ma, and he wants a nice &#8217;ittle dirl to come and live
+with ma and pa at Clapham; pretty house, solid furniture,
+garden stocked with fruit-trees, a swing for good &#8217;ittle dirl,
+a nice room for dear Popsy to sleep in, no more lessons, no
+more fuss, no more <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>POVERTY</span>! That&#8217;s what new pa proposes
+to ma&#8217;s &#8217;ittle dirl. What does &#8217;ittle dirl say?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was a dead silence in the room. Mrs. Howland looked
+with wild apprehension at her daughter. Mr. Martin had,
+however, still a jovial and smiling face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Down on its knees ought Popsy-wopsy to go,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;Tears might come in Popsy-wopsy&#8217;s eyes, and the &#8217;ittle dirl
+might say, &#8216;Dearest pa that is to be, I love you with all
+my heart, and I am glad that you&#8217;re going to marry ma and
+to take me from horrid school.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>But there was no sign on the part of Maggie Howland of
+fulfilling these expectations on the part of the new pa. On
+the contrary, she stood upright, and then said in a low voice,
+&#8220;This has been a very great shock to me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Shock!&#8221; cried Martin. &#8220;What do you mean by that,
+miss?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must speak,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You must let me, sir;
+and, mother, you must let me. It is for the last time.
+Quite the last time. I will never be here to offend you any
+more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Pon my word!&#8221; said Martin, springing to his feet, and his
+red, good-humored face growing crimson. &#8220;There&#8217;s gratitude
+for you! There&#8217;s manners for you!&mdash;Ma, how ever did
+you bring her up?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me speak,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I am sorry to hurt your
+feelings, sir. You are engaged to my mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ra-<i>ther</i>!&#8221; said Mr. Martin. &#8220;My pretty birdling hopped, so
+to speak, into my arms. No difficulties with her; no drawing
+back on the part of Little-sing. She wanted her Bo-peep,
+and she&mdash;well, her Bo-peep wanted her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I am exceedingly sorry&mdash;bitterly
+sorry&mdash;that my mother is going to marry again; but as she
+cares for you&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which I <i>do</i>!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, who was now reduced
+to tears.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have nothing more to say,&#8221; continued Maggie, &#8220;except
+that I hope she will be happy. But I, sir, am my father&#8217;s
+daughter as well as my mother&#8217;s, and I cannot for a single
+moment accept your offer. It is impossible. I must go on
+with my own education as best I can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you <i>re-fuse</i>,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;to join your mother
+and me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I refuse.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has she anything to live on, ma?&#8221; asked Mr. Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear James,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;don&#8217;t take all the
+poor child says in earnest now! She&#8217;ll be down on her knees
+to you to-morrow. I know she will. Leave her to me, James
+dear, and I&#8217;ll manage her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can manage most things, Little-sing,&#8221; said Mr. Martin;
+&#8220;but I don&#8217;t know that I want that insolent piece. She is
+very different from you. If she is to be about our pleasant,
+cheerful home snubbing me and putting on airs&mdash;why, I&#8217;ll
+have none of it. Let her go, Victoria, I say&mdash;let her go if she
+wants to; but if she comes to me she must come in a cheerful
+spirit, and joke with me, and take my fun, and be as
+agreeable as you are yourself, Little-sing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, at least,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;give us till to-morrow.
+The child is surprised; she will be different to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope so,&#8221; said Mr. Martin; &#8220;but if there&#8217;s any philandering,
+or falling back, or if there&#8217;s any <i>on</i>-gratitude, I&#8217;ll have
+naught to do with her. I only take her to oblige you, Victoria.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had best leave us now, dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;I will talk to Maggie, and let you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Martin sat quite still for a minute. Then he rose, took
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+not the slightest notice of Maggie, but, motioning Mrs. Howland
+to follow him, performed a sort of cake-walk out of
+the room.</p>
+<p>When he reached the door and had said good-bye, he
+opened it again and said, &#8220;Bo-peep!&#8221; pushing a little bit of
+his bald head in, and then withdrawing it, while Mrs. Howland
+pretended to admire his antics.</p>
+<p>At last he was gone; but by this time Maggie had vanished
+into the bedroom. She had flung herself on her knees by
+the bed, and pushed her handkerchief against her mouth to
+stifle the sound of her sobs. Mrs. Howland gently opened the
+door, looked at her daughter, and then shut it again. She
+felt thoroughly afraid of Maggie.</p>
+<p>An hour or two later a pale, subdued-looking girl came out
+of the bedroom and sat down by her mother.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;he is very pleasant and cheerful,
+isn&#8217;t he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother, he is horrible!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie, you have no right to say those things to me.
+I want a good husband to take care of me. I am very lonely,
+and no one appreciates me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother!&#8221; said poor Maggie&mdash;&#8220;my father!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was a very good man,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland restlessly;
+&#8220;but he was above me, somehow, and I never, never could
+reach up to his heights.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you really tell me, his child, that you prefer that
+person?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I shall be quite happy with him,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.
+&#8220;I really do. He is awfully kind, and his funny little
+ways amuse me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be good about it, Maggie; won&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Mrs.
+Howland. &#8220;You won&#8217;t destroy your poor mother&#8217;s happiness?
+I have had such lonely years, and such a struggle to keep my
+head above water; and now that good man comes along and
+offers me a home and every comfort. I am not young, dear;
+I am five-and-forty; and there is nothing before me if I refuse
+Mr. Martin but an old age of great poverty and terrible loneliness.
+You won&#8217;t stand in my way, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t, mother; though it gives me agony to think of
+your marrying him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ll get quite accustomed to it after a little; and
+he is really very funny, I can assure you; he puts me into
+fits of laughter. You will get accustomed to him, darling;
+you will come and live with your new father and me at Laburnum
+Villa?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother, you must know that I never will.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what are you to do, Maggie? You&#8217;ve got no money
+at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother!&#8221; said poor Maggie, &#8220;it costs very little to keep
+me at Aylmer House; you know that quite, quite well. Please
+do let me go on with my education. Afterwards I can earn
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+my living as a teacher or in some profession, for I have plenty
+of talent. I take after father in that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, I know I always was a fool,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland;
+&#8220;but I have a way with people for all that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother, you have a great deal that is quite sweet about
+you, and you&#8217;re throwing yourself away on that awful man!
+Can&#8217;t we go on as we did for a year or two, you living here,
+and I coming to you in the holidays? Then, as soon as ever
+I get a good post I shall be able to help you splendidly. Can&#8217;t
+you do it, mother? This whole thing seems so dreadful
+to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I can&#8217;t, and won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland in a decided
+voice. &#8220;I am exceedingly fond of my Bo-peep&mdash;as I call him&mdash;and
+greatly enjoy the prospect of being his wife. Oh
+Maggie, you have not returned to be a thorn in our sides?
+You will submit?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never, never, never!&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I don&#8217;t know what you are to do; for your new
+father insists on my keeping the very little money I have
+for my own personal use, and if you refuse to conform to his
+wishes he will not allow me to spend a farthing of it on you.
+You can&#8217;t live on nothing at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know quite what to do.
+Are you going to be so very cruel as to take away the little
+money you have hitherto spent on me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must, dear; in fact, it is done already. Mr. Martin has
+invested it in the grocery business. He already provides for
+all my wants, and we are to be married in a fortnight. I have
+nothing whatever to spend on you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, mother, we&#8217;ll say no more to-night. I have a headache,
+but I&#8217;ll sleep on the sofa here; it&#8217;s less hot than the
+bedroom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you sleep with your poor old mother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I can&#8217;t, really. Oh, how dreadfully hot this place is!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are spoilt by your fine life, Maggie; but I grant that
+these lodgings are hot. The house at Clapham, however, is
+very cool and fresh. Oh Maggie! My dear Bo-peep is getting
+such a sweet little bedroom ready for you. I could cry when
+I think of your cross obstinacy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But even the thought of the sweet little bedroom didn&#8217;t
+move Maggie Howland. Tildy presently brought up a meagre
+supper, of which the mother and daughter partook almost in
+silence. Then Mrs. Howland went to her room, where she
+fell fast asleep, and Maggie had the drawing-room to herself.
+She had arranged a sort of extempore bed on the hard sofa,
+and was about to lie down, when Tildy opened the door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say,&#8221; said Tildy, &#8220;ain&#8217;t he cunnin&#8217;?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, Matilda?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh my,&#8221; said Tildy, &#8220;wot a &#8217;arsh word! Does you know,
+missie, that he&#8217;s arsked me to go down to Clap&#8217;am presently
+to &#8217;elp wait on your ma? If you&#8217;re there, miss, it&#8217;ll be the
+&#8217;eight of &#8217;appiness to me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I may as well say at once, Matilda, that I shall not be
+there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t like &#8217;im, then?&#8221; said Tildy, backing a step.
+&#8220;And &#8217;e is so enticin&#8217;&mdash;the prettiest ways &#8217;e &#8217;ave&mdash;at least,
+that&#8217;s wot me and Mrs. Ross thinks. We always listen on
+the stairs for &#8217;im to greet your ma. We like &#8217;im, that we do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have an old dress in my trunk, Tildy, which I will give
+you. You can manage to make it look quite nice for your
+new post as parlor-maid at Laburnum Villa. But now go,
+please; for I must be alone to think.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tildy went. She crept downstairs to the kitchen regions.
+There she met Mrs. Ross.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The blessed young lady&#8217;s full of ructions,&#8221; said Tildy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And no wonder,&#8221; replied Mrs. Ross. &#8220;She&#8217;s a step above
+Martin, and Martin knows it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I &#8217;ope as she won&#8217;t refuse to jine us at Laburnum Villa,&#8221;
+said Tildy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no sayin&#8217; wot a spirited gel like that&#8217;ll do,&#8221; said
+Mrs. Ross; &#8220;but ef she do go down, Martin &#8217;ll be a match
+for &#8217;er.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know about that,&#8221; replied Tildy. &#8220;She &#8217;ave a
+strong, determined w&#8217;y about &#8217;er, has our Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>If Mrs. Howland slept profoundly, poor Maggie could not
+close her eyes. She suddenly found herself surrounded by
+calamity. The comparatively small trials which she had
+thought big enough in connection with Aylmer House and
+Cicely and Merry Cardew completely disappeared before this
+great trouble which now faced her. Her mother&#8217;s income
+amounted to a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and out of
+that meagre sum the pair had contrived to live, and, owing
+to Mrs. Ward&#8217;s generosity, Maggie had been educated. But
+now that dreadful Mr. Martin had secured Mrs. Howland&#8217;s
+little property, and the only condition on which it could be
+spent on Maggie was that she should accept a home with her
+future stepfather. This nothing whatever would induce her
+to do. But what was to be done?</p>
+<p>She had no compunction whatever in leaving her mother.
+They had never been really friends, for the girl took after
+her father, whom her mother had never even pretended to
+understand. Mrs. Howland, when she became Mrs. Martin,
+would be absolutely happy without Maggie, and Maggie knew
+well that she would be equally miserable with her. On the
+other hand, how was Maggie to live?</p>
+<p>Suddenly it flashed across her mind that there was a way
+out, or at least a way of providing sufficient funds for the
+coming term at Aylmer House. Her mother had, after all,
+some sort of affection for her, and if Maggie made her request
+she was certain it would not be refused. She meant to get
+her mother to give her all that famous collection of jewels
+which her father had collected in different parts of the world.
+In especial, the bracelets flashed before her memory. These
+could be sold, and would produce a sum which might keep
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+Maggie at Aylmer House, perhaps for a year&mdash;certainly for
+the approaching term.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_BREAKFAST_WITH_BOPEEP' id='CHAPTER_XIII_BREAKFAST_WITH_BOPEEP'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<h3>BREAKFAST WITH BO-PEEP.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>After Maggie&#8217;s restless night she got up early. The day
+promised to be even hotter than the one before; but as the
+drawing-room faced west it was comparatively cool at this
+hour.</p>
+<p>Tildy brought her favorite young lady a cup of tea, and
+suggested that she should go for an outing while Tildy herself
+freshened up the room. Maggie thought that a good idea, and
+when she found herself in the street her spirits rose a trifle.</p>
+<p>A curious sort of fascination drew her in the direction
+of Martin&#8217;s shop. It was a very large corner shop, had several
+entrances, and at this early hour the young shopmen and
+shopwomen were busy dressing the windows; they were putting
+appetizing sweetmeats and cakes and biscuits and all
+kinds of delectable things in the different windows to tempt
+the passers-by.</p>
+<p>Maggie felt a hot sense of burning shame rising to her
+cheeks as she passed the shop. She was about to turn back,
+when whom should she see standing in the doorway but the
+prosperous owner himself! He recognized her immediately,
+and called out to her in his full, pompous voice, &#8220;Come along
+here, Wopsy!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young shop-people turned to gaze in some wonder as
+the refined-looking girl approached the fat, loud-mannered
+man.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m in a hurry back to breakfast with my mother,&#8221; said
+Maggie in her coldest voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, I will come along with you, my dear; I am
+just in the mood. Little-sing, she will give me breakfast
+this morning. I&#8217;ll be back again in the shop soon after nine.
+It&#8217;s a fine shop, ain&#8217;t it, Popsy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It does seem large,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the sort of shop,&#8221; responded Martin, &#8220;that takes a
+deal of getting. It&#8217;s not done in a day, nor a month, nor a
+year. It takes a lifetime to build up premises like these. It
+means riches, my dear&mdash;riches.&#8221; He rolled out the words
+luxuriously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure it does,&#8221; said Maggie, who felt that for her own
+sake she must humor him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You think so, do you?&#8221; said Martin, giving her a keen
+glance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I do,&#8221; replied Maggie.</p>
+<p>Martin gazed at her from head to foot. She was plain. He
+rather liked her for that. He admired her, too, for, as he expressed
+it, standing up to him. His dear Little-sing would
+never stand up to him. But this girl was not the least like
+her mother. She had a lot of character; Little-sing had none.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d make an admirable accountant, Popsy,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;How would you like to take that post by-and-by in my
+shop?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie was about to reply that nothing would induce her
+to accept such a position, when a quick thought darted through
+her mind. She could scarcely hope to make anything of her
+mother, for, alack and alas! Mrs. Howland was one of those
+weak characters who slip away from you even as you try to
+grasp them. But Martin, with his terrible vulgarity and awful
+pleasantry, was at least fairly strong.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Martin,&#8221; said Maggie then, &#8220;instead of going in to
+breakfast with mother, will you take me to some restaurant
+and give me a good meal, and let me talk to you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, now,&#8221; said Martin, chuckling, &#8220;you <i>are</i> a girl! You
+have cheek! I am not a man to waste my money, and breakfast
+with Little-sing won&#8217;t cost me anything.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But under the circumstances you will waste a little money
+in order to oblige me?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There now, I admire your cheek. So be it. You don&#8217;t
+deserve anything from me, for a ruder &#8217;ittle dirl than you were
+yesterday to poor Bo-peep could not have been found in the
+length and breadth of England.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could scarcely expect me to be pleased, sir. The news
+was broken to me very suddenly, and I was tired after my
+long journey, too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; and you vented your spite on me, on poor old Bo-peep,
+who has the kindest heart in Christendom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I may have said some things that I regret,&#8221; said Maggie;
+&#8220;but, at any rate, I had the night to think matters over, and
+if you give me some breakfast I can talk to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will take you to Harrison&#8217;s for breakfast,&#8221; said Martin.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ll get a topper there, I can tell you&mdash;eggs, bacon, kidneys,
+liver, game-pie, cocoa, coffee, tea, chocolate; anything
+and everything you fancy, and the best marmalade in London.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie felt rather hungry, and when the pair entered
+Harrison&#8217;s she was not displeased at the liberal supply of
+food which her future stepfather ordered. He pretended to
+hate the aristocracy, as he called them, and poor Maggie could
+certainly never claim this distinction in her own little person.
+Nevertheless, she was entirely superior to Martin, and he felt
+a sort of pride in her as she walked up the long restaurant
+by his side.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, waiter,&#8221; he said to the man who approached to take
+orders, &#8220;you look slippy. This young &#8217;oman and me, we want
+a real comfortable, all-round, filling meal. You give us the
+best the house contains; and look slippy, I say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The waiter did look &#8220;slippy,&#8221; whatever that word might
+imply, and Martin proceeded to treat Maggie to really excellent
+viands and to satisfy himself to his heart&#8217;s content. Maggie
+ate with a certain amount of relish, for, as has been said,
+she was really hungry.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Like it, don&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Martin as he watched her consuming
+her eggs and bacon.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, very much indeed,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m fond of a good table myself,&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;This is
+the sort of thing you&#8217;ll have on all occasions and at every meal
+at Laburnum Villa. We&#8217;ll soon fill your poor mother&#8217;s thin
+cheeks out, and get her rosy and plump, and then she&#8217;ll be a
+more charming Little-sing to her own Bo-peep than ever.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie was silent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, come,&#8221; said Martin, patting her hand; &#8220;it&#8217;s all right
+about Laburnum Villa, ain&#8217;t it, my girl?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Mr. Martin,&#8221; said Maggie then.</p>
+<p>She withdrew her hand and turned and looked at him
+fixedly. &#8220;I want to tell you all about myself,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I
+was really rude to you yesterday, and I am sorry; but I
+couldn&#8217;t go to live with you and mother at Laburnum Villa.
+I will tell you the principal reason why I couldn&#8217;t go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come, come, you&#8217;re only a child; you must do what
+you are told. Your mother has no money to give you, and you
+can&#8217;t live on air, you know. Air is all very well, but it don&#8217;t
+keep folks alive. You&#8217;ll have to come to me whether you
+like it or not.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Before you come to that determination, Mr. Martin, may
+I tell you something about myself?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear! I hope it isn&#8217;t a long story.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very important, and not very long. I am not the least
+like mother&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My good girl, any one can see that. Your mother&#8217;s a
+remarkably pretty and elegant woman, and you&#8217;re the plainest
+young person I ever came across.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am plain,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;and, in addition, I am by no
+means good-natured.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you admit that? For shame!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was born that way,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I&#8217;m a very high-spirited
+girl, and I have got ideas with regard to my future.
+You said just now that perhaps some day you might make
+me accountant in your shop. That was kind of you, and I
+might be a good accountant; but, of course, all that is for the
+future. I shouldn&#8217;t mind that&mdash;I mean, not particularly. But
+if you were to follow out your plan, and take me to live with
+you and mother at Laburnum Villa, you would never have a
+happy moment; for, you see, I am much stronger in character
+than mother, and I couldn&#8217;t help making your life miserable;
+whereas you and mother would be awfully happy without me.
+Mother says that she loves you, and wishes to be your wife&#8221;&mdash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, what are you driving at, Popsy? For if you have
+nothing hanging on your hands I have a vast lot hanging on
+mine, and time is precious.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you quite frankly what I want you to do, Mr.
+Martin. You are taking mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am willing to take you too. I can&#8217;t do any more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But then, you see, I don&#8217;t want to be taken. Until you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+came forward and proposed to mother to be your wife she
+spent a little of her money on my education. She tells me that
+she has put it now into your business.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor thing!&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;She was making ducks and
+drakes of it; but it is safe enough now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie in a determined voice; &#8220;but I think,
+somehow, that a part of it does lawfully belong to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come! tut, tut!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; said Maggie in a resolute tone; &#8220;for, you see,
+it was father&#8217;s money; and though he left it absolutely to
+mother, it was to go to me at her death, and it was meant,
+little as it was, to help to educate me. I could ask a lawyer
+all about the rights, of course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For some extraordinary reason Martin looked rather frightened.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can go to any lawyer you please,&#8221; he said; &#8220;but what
+for? let me ask. If I take you, and do for you, and provide
+for you, what has a lawyer to say in the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, that is just it&mdash;that&#8217;s just what I have to inquire
+into; because, you see, Mr. Martin, I don&#8217;t want you to provide
+for me at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think now we are coming to the point,&#8221; said Martin.
+&#8220;Stick to it, Popsy, for time&#8217;s precious.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you ought to allow me to be educated out of
+mother&#8217;s money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Highty-tighty! I&#8217;m sure you know enough.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t really know enough. Mrs. Ward, of Aylmer House,
+has taken me as an inmate of her school for forty pounds a
+year. Her terms for most girls are a great deal more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin looked with great earnestness at Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to go on being Mrs. Ward&#8217;s pupil, and I want you to
+allow me forty pounds a year for the purpose, and twenty
+over for my clothes and small expenses&mdash;that is, sixty pounds
+a year altogether. I shall be thoroughly educated then, and it
+seems only fair that, out of mother&#8217;s hundred and fifty a year,
+sixty pounds of the money should be spent on me. There&#8217;s
+no use talking to mother, for she gets so easily puzzled about
+money; but you have a very good business head. You see,
+Mr. Martin, I am only just sixteen, and if I get two more years&#8217;
+education, I shall be worth something in the world, whereas
+now I am worth nothing. I hope you will think it over, Mr.
+Martin, and do what I wish.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin was quite silent for a minute. The waiter came
+along and was paid his bill, with a very substantial tip for
+himself thrown in. Still Martin lingered at the breakfast-table
+with his eyes lowered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one thing&mdash;and one thing only&mdash;I like about this,
+Popsy-wopsy,&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what is that?&#8221; asked Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That you came to me on the matter instead of going to
+your mother; that you recognized the strength and force of
+my character.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, any one can see that,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You put it straight, too, with regard to your own disagreeable
+nature.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I put it straight,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, all I can say at present is this: I will think it over.
+You go home to your mother now, and tell her that her Bo-peep
+will be in as usual to tea; and you, little girl, may as well
+make yourself scarce at that hour. Here&#8217;s a sovereign for
+you. Go and have a jolly time somewhere.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mr. Martin, I&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;began Maggie, her face crimson.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had best not put on airs,&#8221; said Martin; and Maggie
+slipped the sovereign into her pocket.</p>
+<p>When she reached her mother&#8217;s lodgings she felt well assured
+that she had done the right thing. Hitherto she had
+been too stunned and miserable to use any of her power&mdash;that
+strange power which she possessed&mdash;on Mr. Martin. But she
+felt well assured that she could do so in the future. She
+had gauged his character correctly. He was hopelessly vulgar,
+but an absolutely good-natured and straight person.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He will do what I wish,&#8221; she thought. Her uneasiness
+vanished as soon as the first shock of her mother&#8217;s disclosure
+was over. She entered the house.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, missie?&#8221; said Tildy, &#8220;w&#8217;erehever &#8217;ave you been?
+The breakfast&#8217;s stony cold upstairs, and Mrs. &#8217;Owland&#8217;s cryin&#8217;
+like nothin&#8217; at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Tildy; I&#8217;ll see mother immediately,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;And I don&#8217;t want any breakfast, for I&#8217;ve had it already.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With the haristocracy?&#8221; asked Tildy in a low, awed kind
+of voice. &#8220;You always was one o&#8217; they, Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not with the aristocracy,&#8221; said Maggie, trying to suppress
+her feelings. &#8220;Tildy, your smut is on your left cheek
+this morning. You can remove the breakfast-things, and I&#8217;ll
+go up to mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie ran upstairs. Mrs. Howland had eaten a little, very
+indifferent breakfast, and was looking weepy and washed-out
+as she sat in her faded dressing-gown near the open
+window.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really, Maggie,&#8221; she said when her daughter entered,
+&#8220;your ways frighten me most terribly! I do wish poor Mr.
+Martin would insist on your coming to live with us. I shall
+never have an easy moment with your queer pranks and
+goings-on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure you won&#8217;t, dear mother,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;But
+come, don&#8217;t be cross with me. Here&#8217;s Matilda; she&#8217;ll clear
+away the breakfast-things in no time, and then I have something
+I want to say to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear! my head is so weak this morning,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I were you, Miss Maggie,&#8221; said Tildy as she swept the
+cups and saucers with noisy vehemence on to a tray, &#8220;I
+wouldn&#8217;t worrit the poor mistress, and she just on the eve of
+a matrimonial venture. It&#8217;s tryin&#8217; to the nerves, it is; so
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+Mrs. Ross tells me. Says she, &#8216;When I married Tom,&#8217; says
+she, &#8216;I was on the twitter for a good month.&#8217; It&#8217;s awful to
+think as your poor ma&#8217;s so near the brink&mdash;for that&#8217;s &#8217;ow Mrs.
+Ross speaks o&#8217; matrimony.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please be quick, Tildy, and go,&#8221; said Maggie in a determined
+voice.</p>
+<p>Matilda cleared the table, but before she would take her
+departure she required definite instructions with regard to
+dinner, tea, and supper.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland raised a distracted face. &#8220;Really, I can&#8217;t
+think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;my head is so weak.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, mum,&#8221; said Matilda, &#8220;s&#8217;pose as missus and me does
+the &#8217;ousekeepin&#8217; for you to-day. You ain&#8217;t fit, mum; it&#8217;s but
+to look at you to know that. It&#8217;s lyin&#8217; down you ought to be,
+with haromatic vinegar on your &#8217;ead.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re quite right, Matilda. Well, you see to the things
+to-day. Have them choice, but not too choice; fairly expensive,
+but not too expensive, you understand.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yus, &#8217;um,&#8221; said Tildy, and left the room.</p>
+<p>Maggie found herself alone with her mother. &#8220;Mother,&#8221;
+she said eagerly, &#8220;now I will tell you why I was not home
+for breakfast this morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it doesn&#8217;t matter, Maggie,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland; &#8220;I
+am too weak to be worried, and that&#8217;s a fact.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It won&#8217;t worry you, mother. I breakfasted with Mr. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&mdash;what!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, astonishment in her
+voice, and with eyebrows raised almost to meet her hair.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And an excellent breakfast we had,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;He
+isn&#8217;t a bad sort at all, mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am glad you&#8217;ve found that out. Do you suppose
+your mother would marry a man who was not most estimable
+in character?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is quite estimable, mother; the only unfortunate thing
+against him is that he is not in your rank in life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A woman who lives in these rooms,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland,
+&#8220;has no rank in life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, dear mother, I cannot agree with you. However, as
+I said, I breakfasted with him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you&#8217;re coming round?&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;You&#8217;re
+going to be good, and a comfort to us both?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, mother, I haven&#8217;t come round a bit. When I was
+breakfasting with Mr. Martin I fully explained to him what
+a fearful trial I should be to him; how, day by day and hour
+by hour, I&#8217;d annoy him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You did that! Oh you wicked child!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought it best to be frank, mother. I made an impression
+on him. I did what I did as much for your sake as
+for mine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then he&#8217;ll break off the engagement&mdash;of course he will!&#8221;
+said Mrs. Howland. She took a moist handkerchief from her
+pocket and pressed it to her eyes.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Not he. He is just devoted to you, mother; you need
+have no such apprehension.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What else did you say to him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, mother darling, I said what I thought right.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, of course you won&#8217;t confide in me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think not. I will let him do that. He is coming to
+tea this afternoon, and he has given me a sovereign&#8221;&mdash;how
+Maggie felt inclined to kick that sovereign!&mdash;&#8220;to go and have
+some pleasure somewhere. So I mean to take the train to
+Richmond, and perhaps get a boatman to take me out on the
+river for a little.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is certainly more playful and amusing when you are
+not here,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, a faint smile dawning on her
+face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am certain of that,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;and what&#8217;s more, he
+is very fond of good living. I mean to go out presently and
+get some excellent things for his tea.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you, Maggie? Will you, my child? Why, that will
+be quite sweet of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will do it with pleasure, mother. But now I want you
+to do something for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;I thought you were coming to
+that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it is this,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;When he talks to you
+about me, don&#8217;t oppose him. He will most probably propound
+a scheme to you, as his own perhaps; and you are to
+be quite certain to let him think that it is his own scheme.
+And you might make out to him, mother, that I am really very
+disagreeable, and that nothing in all the world would make
+me anything else. And if you are a very wise little mother
+you will tell him that you are happier alone with him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which I am&mdash;I am,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;He is a dear,
+quite a dear; and so comical and amusing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then it&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You know I told you
+yesterday that nothing would induce me to live at Laburnum
+Villa; but I will certainly come to you, mums, in the holidays,
+if you wish it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, dear child, there is no money to keep you at that
+expensive school. There isn&#8217;t a penny.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, well, mother, perhaps that can be managed. But
+now we needn&#8217;t talk any more about my future until after
+Mr. Martin has had tea with you to-day. If you have any
+news for me when I return from Richmond you can let me
+know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are a very independent girl to go to Richmond by
+yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;ll be all right,&#8221; said Maggie in a cheerful tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you anything else to say to me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. You know all that beautiful jewellery that my dear
+father brought back with him from those different countries
+where he spent his life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland looked mysterious and frightened.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It was meant for me eventually, was it not?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, I suppose so; only, somehow, I have a life-interest
+in it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t want for jewellery when you are Mr. Martin&#8217;s
+wife.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed no; why, he has given me a diamond ornament
+for my hair already. He means to take me out a great deal,
+he says.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Out!&mdash;oh mother&mdash;in his set!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, dear child, I shall get accustomed to that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think you might give me father&#8217;s jewellery?&#8221;
+said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it worth a great deal?&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;I never
+could bear to look at it&mdash;that is, since he died.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t given it to Mr. Martin, have you, mother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, nor said a word about it to him either.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, suppose, now that we have a quiet time, we look at
+the jewellery?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. Then she added, &#8220;I was
+half-tempted to sell some of it; but your father was so queer,
+and the things seemed so very ugly and unlike what is worn,
+that I never had the heart to part with them. I don&#8217;t suppose
+they&#8217;d fetch a great deal.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s look at them,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland half-rose from her chair, then sank back
+again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I am afraid of them. Your father told me
+so many stories about each and all. He courted death to get
+some of them, and others came into his hands through such
+extraordinary adventures that I shudder at night when I
+recall what he said. I want to forget them. Mr. Martin would
+never admire them at all. I want to forget all my past life
+absolutely. You&#8217;re like your father, and perhaps you admire
+that sort of thing; but they are not to my taste. Here&#8217;s the
+key of my wardrobe. You will find the tin boxes which hold
+the jewels. You can take them; only never let out a word
+to your stepfather. He doesn&#8217;t know I posses them&mdash;no one
+does.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, mother,&#8221; said Maggie in a low voice. &#8220;Will
+you lie down on the sofa, mums? Oh, here&#8217;s a nice new novel
+for you to read. I bought it coming up in the train yesterday.
+You read and rest and feel quite contented, and let me go to
+the bedroom to look at the jewels.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland; &#8220;you can have them. I
+consider them of little or no importance; only don&#8217;t tell your
+stepfather.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is not that yet, mums.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, well,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;what does a fortnight
+matter? He&#8217;ll be your stepfather in a fortnight. Yes, take
+the key and go. I shall be glad to rest on the sofa. You&#8217;re
+in a much more reasonable frame of mind to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, dear mother,&#8221; said Maggie.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></p>
+<p>She entered the bedroom and closed the door softly behind
+her. She held her mother&#8217;s bunch of keys in her hand. First
+of all she unlocked the wardrobe, and then, removing the tin
+boxes, laid them on the table which stood at the foot of the
+bed. She took the precaution first, however, to lock the bedroom
+door. Having done this, she seated herself at the table,
+and, selecting the proper keys, unlocked the two tin boxes.
+One of them contained the twelve famous bracelets which
+Maggie had described to Molly and Isabel Tristram. She
+would keep her word: she would give a bracelet to each girl.
+She recognized at once the two which she considered suitable
+for the girls, and then examined the others with minute care.</p>
+<p>Her mother could not admire what was strange in pattern
+and dimmed by neglect; but Maggie, with her wider knowledge,
+knew well that she possessed great treasures, which, if
+possible, she would keep, but which, if necessary, she could
+sell for sums of money which would enable her to start in life
+according to her own ideas.</p>
+<p>She put the twelve bracelets back into their case, and then,
+opening the second tin box, took from it many quaint curios,
+the value of which she had no means of ascertaining. There
+was a great deal of gold and silver, and queer beaten-work in
+brass, and there were pendants and long chains and brooches
+and queer ornaments of all kinds.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor father!&#8221; thought the girl. She felt a lump in her
+throat&mdash;a choking sensation, which seemed to make her
+mother&#8217;s present conduct all the more intolerable. How was
+she to live in the future with the knowledge that her father&#8217;s
+memory was, as she felt, profaned? But at least she had got
+his treasures.</p>
+<p>She relocked the two tin boxes, and, stowing them carefully
+away in her own trunk, transferred the keys from her
+mother&#8217;s bunch to her own, and brought her mother&#8217;s keys
+back to Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you looked at them? Are they worth anything,
+Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Memories mostly,&#8221; said Maggie evasively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, then,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;I am glad you have them;
+for I hate memories.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother,&#8221; said Maggie, and she went on her knees to her
+parent, &#8220;you have really given them to me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, of course, child. Didn&#8217;t I say so? I don&#8217;t want
+them. I haven&#8217;t looked at the things for years.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder, mums, if you would write something on a piece
+of paper for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear! oh dear!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;Mr. Martin
+doesn&#8217;t approve of what he calls documents.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Darling mother, you&#8217;re not Mr. Martin&#8217;s wife yet. I want
+you to put on paper that you have given me father&#8217;s curios.
+He always meant them for me, didn&#8217;t he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He did! he did!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;One of the very
+last things he said&mdash;in his letter, I mean, for you know he died
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+in Africa&mdash;was: &#8216;The treasures I am sending home will be
+appreciated by my little girl.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mother! yes, and they are. Please, mother, write
+something on this bit of paper.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My head is so weak. I haven&#8217;t an idea what to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll dictate it to you, if I may.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, child; I suppose I can&#8217;t prevent you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie brought paper, blotting-pad, and pen, and Mrs. Howland
+presently wrote: &#8220;I have given, on the eve of my marriage
+to Mr. Martin, her father&#8217;s treasures to my daughter,
+Margaret Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, mother,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>The date was affixed. Mrs. Howland added the name she
+was so soon to resign, and Maggie almost skipped into the
+bedroom.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right now,&#8221; she said to herself.</p>
+<p>She unlocked her trunk, also unlocking one of the tin boxes.
+In the box which contained the twelve bracelets she put the
+piece of paper in her mother&#8217;s handwriting. She then relocked
+the box, relocked the trunk, and came back to her
+mother, restored to perfect good-humor.</p>
+<p>Maggie was in her element when she was planning things.
+Yesterday was a day of despair, but to-day was a day of hope.
+She sat down by her mother&#8217;s desk and wrote a long letter to
+Molly Tristram, in which she told Molly that her mother was
+about to be married again to a very rich man. She mentioned
+the coming marriage in a few brief words, and then went on
+to speak of herself, and of how delightful it would be to
+welcome Molly and Isabel when they arrived at Aylmer House.
+Not by the faintest suggestion did she give her friend to understand
+the step down in the social scale which Mrs. Howland&#8217;s
+marriage with Mr. Martin meant.</p>
+<p>Having finished her letter, she thought for a minute, then
+wrote a careful line to Merry Cardew. She did not tell Merry
+about her mother&#8217;s approaching marriage, but said that Molly
+would have news for her. In other respects her letter to
+Merry was very much more confidential than her letter to
+Molly. She assured Merry of her deep love, and begged of her
+friend to regard this letter as quite private. &#8220;If you feel you
+must show it to people, tear it up rather than do so,&#8221; said
+Maggie, &#8220;for I cannot bear that our great and sacred love each
+for the other should be commented on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Merry received the letter she neither showed it to
+any one else nor tore it up. She could not forget Maggie&#8217;s
+face as she parted from her, and the fact that she had refused
+to accept the ten pounds which the little girl had wanted to
+give her in order to remove her from musty, fusty lodgings
+had raised Maggie considerably in her friend&#8217;s estimation.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Maggie Howland, having finished her letters,
+went out and posted them. She then changed her sovereign,
+and bought some excellent and appetizing fruit and cakes for
+her mother&#8217;s and Mr. Martin&#8217;s tea. She consulted with Tildy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+as to how these dainties were to be arranged, and Tildy entered
+into the spirit of the thing with effusion, and declared
+that they were perfect crowns of beauty, and that most assuredly
+they would melt in Mr. Martin&#8217;s mouth.</p>
+<p>On hearing this Maggie hastened to change the conversation;
+but when she had impressed upon Tildy the all-importance
+of a snowy cloth being placed upon the ugly tray, and
+further begged of her to polish up the teapot and spoons,
+Tildy thought that Miss Maggie was more wonderful than ever.</p>
+<p>&#8220;With them as is about to step into the life-matrimonial,
+pains should be took,&#8221; thought Tildy, and she mentioned her
+sentiments to Mrs. Ross, who shook her head sadly, and replied
+that one ought to do the best one could for the poor things.</p>
+<p>At three o&#8217;clock Maggie put on her hat, drew her gloves on,
+and, taking up a parasol, went out.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, darling,&#8221; she said to her mother.</p>
+<p>After all, she did not go to Richmond; it was too far off,
+and she was feeling a little tired. Besides, the thought of her
+father&#8217;s wonderful treasures filled her mind. She determined
+to go to South Kensington and look at similar jewels
+and ornaments which she believed she could find there. It
+occurred to her, too, that it might be possible some day to
+consult the manager of the jewel department with regard to
+the worth of the things which her dear father had sent home;
+but this she would not do to-day.</p>
+<p>Her visit to the South Kensington Museum made her feel
+positively assured that she had articles of great value in the
+tin boxes.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Mrs. Howland waited impatiently for Mr. Martin.
+She was puzzled about Maggie, and yet relieved. She wondered
+much what Maggie could have said to Mr. Martin that
+day when she breakfasted with him. She was not really
+alarmed. But had she been able to look into Mr. Martin&#8217;s
+mind she would have felt a considerable amount of surprise.
+The worthy grocer, although an excellent man of business,
+knew little or nothing about law. Maggie&#8217;s words had
+made him distinctly uncomfortable. Suppose, after all, the
+girl could claim a right in her father&#8217;s beggarly hundred and
+fifty pounds a year? Perhaps the child of the man who had
+settled that little income on his wife must have some sort
+of right to it? It would be horrible to consult lawyers; they
+were so terribly expensive, too.</p>
+<p>There was a man in the shop, however, of the name of
+Howard. He was the principal shopwalker, and Mr. Martin
+had a great respect for him. Without mentioning names, he
+put the case before him&mdash;as he himself expressed it&mdash;in a
+nutshell.</p>
+<p>Howard thought for a few minutes, then said slowly that
+he had not the slightest doubt that a certain portion of the
+money should be spent on the child&mdash;in fact, that the child
+had a right to it.</p>
+<p>Martin did not like this. A heavy frown came between his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+brows. The girl was a smart and clever girl, not a bit like
+Little-sing, and she could make herself very disagreeable.
+Her modest request for sixty pounds a year did not seem
+unreasonable. He thought and thought, and the more he
+thought the more inclined he felt to give Maggie her way.</p>
+<p>When he arrived at Mrs. Ross&#8217;s house he did not look quite
+as cheerful as usual. He went upstairs, as Tildy expressed it,
+&#8220;heavy-like&#8221;; and although both she and Mrs. Ross watched
+for that delightful scene when he was &#8220;Bo-peep&#8221; to &#8220;Little-sing,&#8221;
+Martin entered the drawing-room without making any
+exhibition of himself. The room looked quite clean and
+inviting, for Maggie had dusted it with her own hands, and
+there was a very nice tea on the board, and Mrs. Howland was
+dressed very prettily indeed. Martin gave a long whistle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, Little-sing,&#8221; he remarked, &#8220;whoever has been and
+done it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, James?&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, the place,&#8221; said Martin; &#8220;it looks sort of different.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s Maggie,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;She went out and
+bought all those cakes for you herself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bless me, now, did she?&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;She&#8217;s a smart
+girl&mdash;a <i>ver</i>-ry smart girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s a very clever girl, James.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s how I put it&mdash;very clever. She has a way
+about her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has, James. Every one thinks so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Little-sing, give me a good meal, and then we&#8217;ll
+talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland lifted the teapot and was preparing to pour
+out a cup of tea for Mr. Martin, when he looked at her, noticed
+her extreme elegance and grace, and made a spring toward
+her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t give Bo-peep one kiss yet, you naughty
+Little-sing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland colored as she kissed him. Of course she
+liked him very much; but somehow Maggie had brought a
+new atmosphere into the house. Even Mrs. Howland felt it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s eat, let&#8217;s eat,&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;I never deny myself
+the good things of life. That girl knows a thing or two. She&#8217;s
+a ver-ry clever girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is, James; she is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, what on earth do you call me James for? Ain&#8217;t I
+Bo-peep&mdash;ain&#8217;t I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Bo-peep, of course you are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you are Little-sing. You&#8217;re a wonderfully elegant-looking
+woman for your years, Victoria.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV_IN_THE_PARK' id='CHAPTER_XIV_IN_THE_PARK'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE PARK.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Mrs. Howland did not like to have her years mentioned.
+Mr. Martin had been careful never to do so until Maggie
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+appeared on the scene. On the contrary, he had dropped
+hints that his birdling, his Little-sing, his Victoria, was in
+the early bloom of youth. But now he said that she was a
+wonderful woman for her years.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland bridled slightly. &#8220;I am not old, James,&#8221; she
+said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, come,&#8221; said the good-natured grocer; &#8220;no &#8216;Jamesing&#8217;
+of me. I&#8217;m your Bo-peep. What does it matter whether
+you are old or young, Victoria, if you suit me and I suit you?
+This is a first-rate tea, and that girl&#8217;s clever&mdash;uncommon
+clever. By the way, how old may she happen to be?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sixteen her last birthday,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. &#8220;I was
+very, very young, a mere child, when I married, James.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There you are with your &#8216;James&#8217; again! Strikes me,
+you&#8217;re a bit huffy to-day, Little-sing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I am not; only I&#8217;ve been worried since Maggie came
+back. She was so rude to you yesterday. I felt it terribly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you now? Well, that was very sensible of you.
+We&#8217;ll finish our tea before we begin our talk. Come, Little-sing,
+eat your cake and drink your tea, and make yourself
+agreeable to your Bo-peep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland felt cheered. She did enjoy her meal; and, if
+she liked it, Mr. Martin liked it immensely also.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a useful girl that would be!&#8221; he said. &#8220;We could
+make her housekeeper at Laburnum Villa in no time. She has
+a head on her shoulders.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland was silent. She was dreading inexpressibly
+the little scene which she felt must be endured between her
+and her intended.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll ring the bell now,&#8221; said Martin, wiping a few crumbs
+from his mouth and dusting his trousers with his pocket-handkerchief.
+&#8220;We&#8217;ll get Tildy to remove all these things,
+and then what do you say to my taking you for a drive to the
+Park?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I should like that!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland in surprise,</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thought so. Never say that Bo-peep isn&#8217;t thoughtful.&mdash;Ah,
+here you be, Tildy. You clear away&mdash;smart, my girl,
+and then whistle for a &#8217;ansom. Do you hear me? A &#8217;ansom,
+not a four-wheeler. Look as sharp as you can, my girl, and
+I&#8217;ll give you sixpence.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, sir,&#8221; said Tildy. She looked with admiring
+eyes at the pair who were so close to the matrimonial venture,
+and quickly removed all traces of the meal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now then, Little-sing, go into your room and get dressed
+for your drive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland did so. She put on an elegant sort of bonnet-hat
+which had been presented to her by Martin, a lace fichu
+over her shoulders, and a pair of long white gloves. She had
+also been presented with a white parasol by Martin. He
+thought that no one could look more beautiful than his ladylove
+when she reappeared in the drawing-room.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;The &#8217;ansom&#8217;s at the door,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll go now and
+start on our drive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Howland rose, and Tildy agreed with Martin as to Mrs.
+Howland&#8217;s appearance when she stepped into that hansom.
+Tildy said she looked bride-like. Mrs. Ross remarked that as
+elegant women before now had become widows in no time.
+Tildy shuddered, and said that Mrs. Ross should not say things
+of that sort. Mrs. Ross replied that she invariably spoke the
+truth, and then returned to her dismal kitchen.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Martin and Mrs. Howland were driven swiftly
+in the direction of Hyde Park. London society people were
+fast going out of town, for it was very nearly the end of
+July; but still there were a few carriages about, and some
+fine horses, and some gaily dressed ladies and several smart-looking
+men. Martin provided a couple of chairs for himself
+and his future wife, and they sat for some little time
+enjoying the fresh air and looking on at the gay scene.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is wonderful,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;what a sight of money
+is wasted in this sort of thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But they enjoy it, don&#8217;t they?&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my pet,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;but not as you and me will
+enjoy Laburnum Villa. And now, Little-sing, can you attend
+to business?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have a very weak head for business, Bo-peep,&#8221; was the
+reply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t I know it, my pet; and I am the last person on earth
+to allow you to be worried; but I tell you what it is, Victory, if
+your head is weak as regards money matters, your girl has a
+topping good brain in that direction. Now, I have a notion
+in my head about her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t do anything with her,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland; &#8220;she
+is quite impossible. I never thought she would treat you as
+she did. I could weep when I think of it. I shouldn&#8217;t be
+surprised if, on account of her rudeness and ingratitude, we
+broke off the engagement. I shouldn&#8217;t really, James.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you take me for?&#8221; said James. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t the girl
+I want to marry! it&#8217;s you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland; &#8220;of course, I know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She ain&#8217;t a patch on you, Little-sing&mdash;that is, I mean
+as regards looks. But now, don&#8217;t you fret. If you have been
+turning things over in your mind, so have I been turning
+things over in my mind, and the sum and substance of it
+all is that I believe that girl&#8217;s right after all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Right after all! But dear, dear James, the child can&#8217;t live
+on nothing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who said she was to live on nothing?&#8221; said Martin.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t tremble, Little-sing; it&#8217;s more than I can stand. I have
+been thinking that a sharp young miss like that wants a bit
+more training. She wants breaking in. Now, I&#8217;ve no mind
+to the job. I can manage my shop-people&mdash;not one of them
+can come round me, I can tell you&mdash;but a miss like your
+daughter, brought up altogether, I will say, above her station,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
+is beyond me. What I have been turning over in my mind
+is this, that a year or two&#8217;s training longer will do her no
+sort of harm.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland. She was trembling exceedingly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think, too,&#8221; continued Martin, &#8220;that Laburnum Villa
+might not be agreeable to her at present; and if it ain&#8217;t agreeable
+to her she&#8217;ll put on the sulks, and that&#8217;s more than I <i>can</i>
+abide. Cheerfulness I must have. My joke I must be allowed
+to make. My fun in my own way I must enjoy. You and me&mdash;we&#8217;ll
+hit it off splendid, and let the girl go for the present.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But she must go somewhere,&#8221; said Mrs. Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good gracious, my lady! do you suppose I&#8217;d allow the
+girl to be destitute? No; I&#8217;m ready to do the generous; and
+now, I&#8217;ll tell you something. You mustn&#8217;t blame her too much.
+She repented of her ill-natured manner last night, and came
+to me as pretty as you please this morning, and asked me to
+breakfast with her. I was taken aback, but she came round
+me, and we went to Harrison&#8217;s and had a topping meal. Then
+she spoke to me very sensible, and explained that she wanted
+more &#8216;parlez-vooing&#8217; and more &#8216;pi-annofortying,&#8217; and all
+the rest of the so-called ladies&#8217; accomplishments. She consulted
+me very pretty and very proper indeed; and the long
+and the short of it is that I am willing to allow her forty
+pounds a year for her education at that blessed Aylmer House
+where all the swells go, and to keep her there for two years
+certain; and I am willing, further, to give her twenty pounds
+a year to spend on dress. Of course she takes her holidays
+with us. Then, if at the end of that time she turns out
+what I hope she will, I will make her an accountant in the
+shop; it will be a first-rate post for her, and I am sure, from
+the way she talks, she has a splendid head for business. Now,
+what do you say to that, Little-sing?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say there never was your like, Bo-peep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Martin rubbed his hands. &#8220;Thought you&#8217;d be pleased,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;The girl spoke very proper indeed this morning,
+and she is a good girl&mdash;plain and sensible, and I couldn&#8217;t
+but take notice of her words. Now then, s&#8217;pose we take a
+fresh &#8217;ansom, and hurry home; and I&#8217;ll take you out and give
+you a right good bit of dinner, and afterwards we&#8217;ll go to the
+play.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear!&#8221; said Mrs. Howland, &#8220;you are good to me, Bo-peep.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV_TWO_SIDES' id='CHAPTER_XV_TWO_SIDES'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<h3>TWO SIDES.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school reopened on the 20th of September.
+For two or three days beforehand the immaculate and
+beautiful house was being made, if possible, still more immaculate
+and still more lovely. The window-boxes were refilled
+with flowers; the dainty little bedrooms were supplied
+with fresh curtains to the windows and fresh drapery for the
+beds.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward herself arrived at the school about a week before
+her pupils made their appearance. She had much to
+settle during this week. She had, in short, to prepare her
+plan of campaign for the ensuing term: to interview her different
+masters and mistresses, to consult with her resident
+English governess (a charming girl of the name of Talbot),
+to talk over matters with Fr&auml;ulein Beck, and to reassure
+Mademoiselle Laplage, who was very lively, very conscientious,
+but at the same time very nervous with regard to her
+own powers. &#8220;<i>Les jeunes filles Anglaises sont bien capables
+et bien distingu&eacute;es mais&mdash;ma foi! comme elles me fatiguent
+les nerfs!</i>&#8221; Mademoiselle Laplage would say; and, although
+she had been at Aylmer House for three terms, she always
+doubted her powers, and made the same speech over and
+over again at the beginning of each term. In addition to
+Miss Talbot, there was a very cheery, bright girl of the
+name of Johnson, who looked after the girls&#8217; wardrobes and
+helped them, if necessary, with their work, saw that they
+were punctual at meals, and occasionally took an English
+class. She was a great favorite with all the girls at Mrs.
+Ward&#8217;s school. They called her Lucy, instead of Miss Johnson.
+She was quite young&mdash;not more than twenty years of
+age.</p>
+<p>These four ladies resided at Aylmer House; but masters
+and mistresses for various accomplishments came daily to
+instruct the girls. Mrs. Ward loved her teachers almost as
+much as she loved her girls, and they each and all adored her.</p>
+<p>Miss Talbot was an exceedingly clever woman, close on
+thirty years of age. She had taken very high honors at Cambridge,
+and was a person of great penetration of character,
+with a genius for imparting knowledge.</p>
+<p>Unlike most head-mistresses, Mrs. Ward seldom changed
+her staff of teachers. She had the gift of selection to a
+marvellous degree, and never was known to make a mistake
+with regard to the choice of those women who helped her
+in her great work of education.</p>
+<p>Summer was, of course, over when the girls assembled at
+Aylmer House. Nevertheless, there was a sort of afterglow
+of summer, which was further intensified by the beautiful
+flowers in the window-boxes and by the fresh, clean, fragrant
+atmosphere of the house itself.</p>
+<p>The two Cardews and the two Tristrams came up to Aylmer
+House by an early train. Mr. Tristram brought them to school,
+Mr. and Mrs. Cardew at the last moment feeling unequal to
+the task of parting with their darlings in the presence of
+their companions. The real parting had taken place the previous
+night; and that pain which Merry had felt at intervals
+during the end of the summer vacation was sharp enough
+to cause her to cry when she lay down to sleep on the night
+before going to school. But Merry was brave, and so was
+Cicely; and, although Merry did hate beyond words the
+thought of not seeing her beloved father and her dear mother
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+until Christmas, she thought also that very good times were
+before her, and she was resolved to make the best of them.</p>
+<p>Molly and Isabel, who were quite accustomed to going to
+school, had no pangs of heart at all when they bade their
+mother good-bye. As to Peterkins and Jackdaw, as they were
+also going to school on the following day, they scarcely observed
+the departure of their sisters, only saying, when Belle
+hugged one and Molly the other, &#8220;What a fuss you girls do
+make! Now, if Spot-ear and Fanciful were to fret about us
+there&#8217;d be some reason in it. But mother&#8217;s going to look after
+them; and mother&#8217;s a brick, I can tell you.&#8221; The girls
+laughed very merrily, and asked what message her two adorers
+would like to send to Maggie.</p>
+<p>The two adorers only vouchsafed the remark, &#8220;Don&#8217;t bother;
+we&#8217;re going to be with boys now, and boys are worth all
+the girls in creation put together.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The journey to town was taken without any special adventure,
+and at about three o&#8217;clock in the afternoon an omnibus
+containing the four girls, accompanied by Mr. Tristram, with
+their luggage piled on the roof, stopped at Aylmer House.</p>
+<p>Aneta had already arrived; and as the girls entered with a
+new feeling of timidity through the wide-open doors they
+caught a glimpse of Maggie in the distance. There were
+other girls, absolute strangers to them, who peeped for a
+minute over the balusters and then retired from view. But,
+whatever the four strangers might have felt with regard to
+these interesting occurrences, every other feeling was brought
+into subjection by the appearance of Mrs. Ward on the scene.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward looked quite as stately as Mrs. Cardew, with her
+beautiful face still quite young; with her most kind, most
+gentle, most protective manner; with the glance of the eye
+and the pressure of the hand which spoke untold volumes of
+meaning. Merry felt her loving heart rise in sudden adoration.
+Cicely gave her a quick, adoring glance. As to Molly
+and Isabel, they were speechless with pleasure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have come, dears,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;Welcome, all
+four!&mdash;These are your girls, Mr. Tristram&#8221;&mdash;she singled out
+Molly and Isabel without being introduced to them. &#8220;I know
+them,&#8221; she said with a smile, &#8220;from their likeness to you.
+And these are the Cardews. Now, which is Cicely and which
+Merry? Ah, I think I can tell. This is Merry, is she not?&#8221;
+and she laid her hand on the pretty girl&#8217;s shoulder.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I am Merry,&#8221; replied Meredith Cardew in a voice
+which almost choked her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you, of course, are Cicely,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;In
+this house all the girls speak to each other by their Christian
+names; and you will be Cicely and Merry to me, as Molly and
+Isabel Tristram will be Molly and Isabel to me. You know
+Aneta, of course. She is hovering near, anxious to take possession
+of you. Go with her, dears. I think all my girls have
+now come.&mdash;Is it not so, Miss Talbot?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Mrs. Ward,&#8221; replied Miss Talbot.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Talbot, may I introduce my four new pupils to you,
+Cicely and Merry Cardew, and Molly and Isabel Tristram?&mdash;You
+will have a good deal to do with Miss Talbot, girls, for
+she is our English teacher, and my very great friend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Talbot blushed slightly from pleasure. She said a
+gentle word to each girl, and a minute afterwards they had,
+so to speak, crossed the Rubicon, and were in the heart of
+Aylmer House; for Aneta had seized Merry&#8217;s hand, and Cicely
+followed immediately afterwards, while Molly and Belle found
+themselves one at each side of Maggie Howland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is delightful!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;We have all met
+at last. Isn&#8217;t the day glorious? Isn&#8217;t the place perfect?
+Aren&#8217;t you in love with Mrs. Ward?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She seems very nice,&#8221; said Molly in an almost timid voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How nice Merry and Cicely look!&#8221; continued Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You look nice, yourself, Maggie. Everything is wonderful,&#8221;
+said Molly; &#8220;not a bit like the school in Hanover.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not. Who could compare it?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Aneta, Cicely, and Merry had gone on in front.
+But as they were ascending the broad, low stairs, Merry turned
+and glanced at Maggie and smiled at her, and Maggie smiled
+back at Merry. Oh, that smile of Merry&#8217;s, how it caused
+her heart to leap! Aneta, try as she would, could not take
+Merry Cardew quite away from her.</p>
+<p>Cicely and Merry had a bedroom together. Two little white
+beds stood side by side. The drugget on the floor was pale
+blue. The room was a study in pale blue and white. It
+was all exquisitely neat, fresh, airy, and the smell of the
+flowers in the window-boxes came in through the open windows.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; said Cicely with a gasp, &#8220;we might almost be in
+the country!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is one of the nicest rooms in the whole house,&#8221; said
+Aneta. &#8220;But why should I say that,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;when
+every room is, so to speak, perfect? I never saw Mrs. Ward,
+however, more particular than she was about your bedroom,
+girls. I think she is very much pleased at your coming to
+Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely ran to the window and looked out.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is so nice to be in London,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but somehow,
+I thought it would be much more noisy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta laughed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aylmer House,&#8221; she said, &#8220;stands in the midst of a great
+square. We don&#8217;t have huge traffic in the squares; and, really,
+at night it is as quiet as the country itself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But hark! hark!&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;there is a funny sound
+after all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you take it for?&#8221; asked Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I could almost imagine that
+we were by the seaside, and that the sound was the roar of the
+breakers on the beach.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is the roar of human breakers,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;One always
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+hears that kind of sound even in the quietest parts of
+London. It is the great traffic in the thoroughfares not far
+away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is delightful! wonderful!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Oh, I long to
+know all the girls! You will introduce us, won&#8217;t you, Aneta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course; and you must be very quick remembering
+names. Let me see. You two, and Molly and Isabel, and
+Maggie Howland, and I make six. There are twenty girls in
+the house altogether, so you have to make the acquaintance
+of fourteen others.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never can possibly remember their names,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will have to try. That&#8217;s the first thing expected of
+a schoolgirl&mdash;to know the names of her schoolfellows.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I will do my best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better do your best; it will be a good occupation
+for you during this first evening. Now, are you ready? And
+shall we go down? We have tea in the refectory at four
+o&#8217;clock. Mademoiselle Laplage presides over the tea-table
+this week.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but does she talk English?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not&mdash;French. How can you learn French if
+you don&#8217;t talk it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall never understand,&#8221; said poor Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ve no doubt she will let you off very easily during
+the first few days,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;But afterwards she is just
+as particular as woman can be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls went downstairs, where a group of other girls&mdash;most
+of them wearing pretty white dresses, for they were
+all still in full summer attire&mdash;met in the wide, pleasant hall.
+Aneta performed the ceremony of introduction.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Henrietta and Mary Gibson, may I introduce my special
+friends and cousins, Cicely and Meredith&mdash;otherwise Merry&mdash;Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Two tall, fair, lady-like girls responded to this introduction
+with a hearty shake of the hand and a hearty welcome
+to the new-comers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here is Rosamond Dacre,&#8221; continued Aneta, as a very dark,
+somewhat plain girl appeared in view.&mdash;&#8220;Rosamond, my
+friends and cousins, Cicely and Merry Cardew.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Rosamond shook hands, but stiffly and without any smile.
+The next minute a laughing, merry, handsome little girl,
+with dark-blue eyes, very dark curling eyelashes, and quantities
+of curling black hair, tumbled rather than walked into
+view.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah Kathleen&mdash;Kitty, you&#8217;re just as incorrigible as ever!&#8221;
+cried Aneta:&mdash;&#8220;Girls, this is our Irish romp, as we always
+call her. Her name is Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell.&mdash;Now then, Kathleen,
+you must be good, you know, and not too terribly Irish.
+I have the honor to present to you, Kathleen, my cousins
+Cicely and Merry Cardew.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Kathleen did more than smile. She laughed outright. &#8220;I
+am delighted you have come,&#8221; she said. &#8220;How are you? Isn&#8217;t
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+school glorious? I do love it! I have come straight from
+Glengariff&mdash;the most beautiful part of the whole of Ireland.
+Do you know Ireland? Have you ever seen Bantry Bay? Oh,
+there is no country in all the world like it, and there is no
+scenery so magnificent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Kitty, not quite so much chatter,&#8221; said Aneta.&mdash;&#8220;Ah,
+there&#8217;s the tea-gong.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls now followed Aneta into a pleasant room which
+looked out on to a small garden. The garden, compared to the
+great, sweeping lawns and lovely parterres of Meredith Manor,
+was insignificant. Nevertheless, with the French windows of
+the refectory wide open, and the beds full of hardy flowers&mdash;gay
+geraniums, late roses, innumerable asters, fuchsias, etc.&mdash;it
+appeared as a fresh surprise to the country girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t like London,&#8221; thought Merry.</p>
+<p>At tea she found herself, greatly to her relief, at Maggie&#8217;s
+side. There was also another piece of good fortune&mdash;at least
+so it seemed to the Cardews, whose conversational French
+was still almost <i>nil</i>&mdash;Mademoiselle Laplage was unexpectedly
+absent, the good lady being forced to remain in her room with
+a sudden, overpowering headache, and pleasant, good-natured
+Lucy&mdash;otherwise Miss Johnson&mdash;took her place.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perfect freedom to-day, girls,&#8221; said Miss Johnson.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, good Lucy! thank you, Lucy!&#8221; exclaimed Kathleen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right, Lucy! Hurrah for Lucy!&#8221; cried several
+other voices.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No discipline at all to-day,&#8221; continued Lucy. &#8220;School
+doesn&#8217;t begin until to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cicely was seated near Aneta, with Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell at
+her other side. Just for a minute Aneta&#8217;s eyes traveled across
+the table and fixed themselves on Maggie&#8217;s face. Maggie
+found herself coloring, and a resentful feeling awoke in her
+heart. She could not dare to oppose Aneta; and yet&mdash;and
+yet&mdash;she was determined at any cost to keep the love of
+Merry Cardew for herself.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Merry, who was equally delighted to find herself
+by Maggie&#8217;s side, began to talk to her in a low tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t look very well, Mags,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;not nearly
+as robust as when I saw you last; and you never wrote to me
+after that first letter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have a great deal I want to tell you,&#8221; said Maggie in a
+low tone. &#8220;Lucy is quite right; there are no lessons of any
+sort this evening. Mrs. Ward always gives us the first evening
+to settle and to get perfectly at home in, so we shall be able
+to chatter to our heart&#8217;s content. This is going to be a glorious
+night, and we can walk about in the garden.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But won&#8217;t there be a lot of other people in the garden?&#8221;
+asked Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course,&#8221; said Maggie in a surprised tone. &#8220;I
+suppose we&#8217;ll all be there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t talk any secrets, if that is what you mean,&#8221; said
+Merry, &#8220;for the garden is so very small.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></p>
+<p>Maggie laughed. &#8220;That&#8217;s because you are accustomed to
+Meredith Manor,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Anyhow,&#8221; she continued, dropping
+her voice, &#8220;I must talk to you. I have a great, great
+deal to say, and you&#8217;ll have to listen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I will listen, dear,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>Rosamond Dacre now joined in, and the conversation became
+general. Henrietta and Mary Gibson had a very agreeable
+way of describing things. Maggie felt herself reinstated
+in the life she loved; Merry, the girl she cared for best,
+was by her side, and she would not have had a single thorn
+in the flesh but for the presence of Aneta.</p>
+<p>It has been said that in this school there were two girls
+who held considerable sway over their companions. One of
+them was Aneta Lysle, the other Maggie Howland. Aneta had,
+of course, far and away the greater number of girls under
+her spell, if such a word could describe her high and noble
+influence over them. But Maggie had her own friends,
+among whom were Rosamond Dacre, Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell,
+Matty and Clara Roache, and Janet Burns. All these girls
+were fairly nice, but not so high-bred and not so noble in
+tone as the girls who devoted themselves to Aneta. Kathleen
+was, indeed, altogether charming; she was the romp of
+the school and the darting of every one. But Rosamond Dacre
+was decidedly morose and sulky. She was clever, and on this
+account her mistresses liked her; but she was a truly difficult
+girl to deal with, being more or less shut up within herself,
+and disinclined to true friendship with any one. She liked
+Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell, however, and Kathleen adored Maggie.
+Rosamond was, therefore, considered to be on Maggie&#8217;s side
+of the school. Matty and Clara Roache were quite ordinary,
+everyday sort of girls, neither very good-looking nor the reverse,
+neither specially clever nor specially stupid. Their
+greatest friend was Janet Burns, a handsome little girl with
+a very lofty brow, calm, clear gray eyes, and a passionate
+adoration for Maggie Howland. Matty and Clara would follow
+Janet to the world&#8217;s end, and, as Janet adhered to Maggie,
+they were also on Maggie&#8217;s side.</p>
+<p>Maggie naturally expected to add to the numbers of her
+special adherents her own two friends, the Tristrams. She
+felt she could easily have won Merry also to join, the ranks
+of adorers; but then it suddenly occurred to her that her
+friendship for Merry should be even more subtle than the
+ordinary friendship that an ordinary girl who is queen at
+school gives to her fellows. She did not dare to defy Aneta.
+Merry must outwardly belong to Aneta, but if her heart was
+Maggie&#8217;s what else mattered?</p>
+<p>When tea was over several of the girls drifted into the
+garden, where they walked in twos, discussing their holidays,
+their old friends, and the time which was just coming. There
+was not a trace of unhappiness in any face. The whole atmosphere
+of the place seemed to breathe peace and goodwill.</p>
+<p>Aneta and Cicely, with some of Aneta&#8217;s own friends, two
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+girls of the name of Armitage&mdash;Anne and Jessie&mdash;and a very
+graceful girl called Sylvia St. John, walked up and down talking
+quietly together for some little time.</p>
+<p>Then Cicely looked eagerly round her. &#8220;I can&#8217;t see Merry
+anywhere,&#8221; she remarked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is all right, dear, I am sure,&#8221; said Aneta. But Aneta
+in her inmost heart did not think so. She was, however, far
+too prudent to say a word to make her cousin Cicely uneasy.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Maggie and Merry had found a cosy corner for
+themselves in one of the conservatories. They sat side by side
+in two little garden-chairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you&#8217;ve come!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I have carried out my
+design. My heart&#8217;s desire is satisfied.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how sweet you are, Maggie!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I have
+missed you so much!&#8221; she added. &#8220;I have so often wished for
+you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you really love me?&#8221; asked Maggie, looking at Merry
+in her queer, abrupt manner.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know I do,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;there are a great many girls in the
+school who love me very dearly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is easy to perceive that,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Why, Maggie,
+at tea-time that handsome little Irish girl&mdash;Kathleen you call
+her&mdash;couldn&#8217;t take her eyes off you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Kitty,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Yes, she is on my side.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by your side?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, of course I have told you&mdash;haven&#8217;t I?&mdash;that there
+are two of us in this school who are more looked up to than
+the others. It seems very conceited for me to say that I
+happen to be one. Of course I am not a patch on Aneta; I
+know that perfectly well.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta is a darling,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;and she is my own
+cousin; but&#8221;&mdash;she dropped her voice&mdash;&#8220;Maggie, somehow, I
+can&#8217;t help loving you best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Maggie with a start, &#8220;is that true?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is! it is!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie was silent for a minute. At the end of that time
+she said very gently, &#8220;You won&#8217;t be hurt at something I want
+to tell you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurt! No,&#8221; said Merry; &#8220;why should I be?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it is just this: Aneta is frightfully jealous of me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I don&#8217;t believe it,&#8221; said Merry indignantly. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t
+in her nature to be jealous. It&#8217;s very low-minded to be jealous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no school,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;where jealousy does
+not abound. There is no life into which jealousy does not
+enter. The world itself is made up of jealous people. Aneta
+is jealous of me, and I&mdash;I am jealous of her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Maggie dear, you must not, and you ought not to be
+jealous of Aneta! She thinks so kindly, so sweetly of every
+one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She loves you,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You just go and tell her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+how much you care for me, that you love me better than you
+love her, and see how she will take it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I wouldn&#8217;t tell her that,&#8221; said little Merry, &#8220;for it
+would hurt her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There!&#8221; said Maggie with a laugh; &#8220;and yet you pretend
+that you don&#8217;t think her jealous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She will never be jealous of me, for I&#8217;ll never give her
+cause&mdash;dear Aneta!&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>Maggie was again silent and thoughtful for a few minutes.
+&#8220;Listen to me, Merry,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In this school the girls
+follow the queens. If I wanted to make Aneta Lysle really
+mad with jealousy I&#8217;d get you over to me; but&mdash;don&#8217;t speak
+for a minute&mdash;I won&#8217;t get you over to me. You shall stay at
+school and be on Aneta&#8217;s side.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose&mdash;I suppose I ought,&#8221; said Merry in a faint voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must&mdash;you must be on Aneta&#8217;s side of the school, and
+so must Cicely; but you can, all the same, love me best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can I?&#8221; said Merry, brightening up. &#8220;Then, if I can,
+I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t mind a bit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie patted her hand very gently. &#8220;You can, Merry; and
+you can help me. You will always take my part, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed&mdash;indeed I will! But it won&#8217;t be necessary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It may be,&#8221; said Maggie very earnestly. &#8220;Promise that,
+if the time comes, you will take my part.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promise, of course. What can be the matter with you,
+Maggie? You don&#8217;t look a bit yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie did not at once reply. &#8220;I shall have a great deal to
+do this term,&#8221; she said after a pause; &#8220;and my party in the
+school won&#8217;t be so weak after all. There&#8217;ll be Rosamond
+Dacre&#8211;&#8211;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t very much like Rosamond,&#8221; said Merry, speaking
+in a low voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she is excellent fun when you know her,&#8221; said Maggie;
+&#8220;but as she won&#8217;t be on your side, nor in your form, you are
+not likely to have much to do with her. Then Matty and
+Clara are first-rate, and they&#8217;re mine too; and Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell
+is a perfect brick; and Janet Burns, she&#8217;s as strong as
+they make &#8217;em. Of course the Tristrams will belong to me.
+Let me see: Tristrams, two; Rosamond, three; Kathleen, four;
+Matty and Clara, six; Janet, seven. Ah, well, I am quite in
+the minority. Aneta carries off eleven girls as her share.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be sad about it, Maggie. Surely we might all be one
+in the school! Why should there be parties?&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little you know, Merry, how impossible school-life would
+be without parties, and great friends, and medium friends, and
+favorites, and enemies. Why, Merry, school is a little world,
+and the world is made up of elements such as these.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me,&#8221; said Merry after a pause, &#8220;what you did after
+you left us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie colored. &#8220;Oh, stayed for a time in that horrid Shepherd&#8217;s
+Bush.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In those fusty, musty lodgings?&#8221; said Merry.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and they were fusty, musty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh dear! I am sorry for you. We had such a glorious
+time!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it, dear; but glorious times don&#8217;t come to girls
+like me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, are you so very, very sad, Maggie? Oh, now I know&mdash;of
+course I know. I didn&#8217;t like to write to you about it,
+for it seemed to me quite&mdash;you will forgive me, won&#8217;t you?&mdash;quite
+dreadful that your mother should have married again.
+Is she married yet, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie nodded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I can sympathize with you, dear Maggie! It must be so
+fearful to have a stepfather!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is he a nice man, Maggie? Or would you rather I didn&#8217;t
+speak of him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; you may speak of him if you like. He is a rich man&mdash;he
+is very rich.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad of that at any rate,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;You will never
+be in fusty, musty lodgings any more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, never! My mother&#8217;s husband&mdash;I cannot speak of
+him as my stepfather&mdash;will see to that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is his name?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie hesitated. Not for the world would she have let any
+of her schoolfellows know the real position; but she could
+not very well conceal her stepfather&#8217;s name.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Spelt with a &#8216;y&#8217;? We know some awfully nice Martyns.
+They live about twenty miles away from Meredith Manor.
+I wonder if your Mr. Martyn is related to them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, very likely,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then perhaps you will go to stay with them&mdash;your mother,
+and your&mdash;your mother&#8217;s husband, and you too; and we&#8217;ll all
+meet. They live at a place-called The Meadows. It isn&#8217;t as
+old or as beautiful as our Manor, but it&#8217;s a sweet place, and
+the girls are so nice you&#8217;ll be sure to like them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I dare say I shall,&#8221; said Maggie, who didn&#8217;t care to
+contradict Merry&#8217;s innocent ideas with regard to her mother&#8217;s
+marriage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am glad,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;that your dear mother has
+married a rich gentleman. Has he a country place of his
+own?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course he has,&#8221; said Maggie, who felt that she could
+at least utter these words with truth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And is it far, far from London, or quite in the country?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;in&mdash;in the Norwood direction.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This remark made no impression whatever on Merry, who
+had not the least idea where the Norwood direction was. But
+by-and-by, when she parted from Maggie and joined her sister
+and Aneta, she said, &#8220;I have a piece of rather good news to
+tell about dear Maggie Howland. She won&#8217;t be poor any
+more.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That is a word we never discuss at school,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we needn&#8217;t after to-night,&#8221; said Merry with a slight
+touch of irritation in her manner. &#8220;But although I haven&#8217;t
+the faintest idea what poverty means, I think poor Maggie
+knows a good deal about it. Well, she won&#8217;t have anything
+to do with it in future, for her mother has just married again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Aneta, with a show of interest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; and a very nice gentleman he must be. He is a cousin
+of the Martyns of The Meadows. You know how you liked
+them when we spent a day there during these holidays&mdash;didn&#8217;t
+you, Aneta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;most charming people. I felt quite
+sorry that the Martyn girls were too old for school. I wonder
+they didn&#8217;t mention the fact of their cousin being about to
+marry Mrs. Howland; for you know we were talking of Maggie
+to them, or at least you were, Merry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I was,&#8221; said Merry in a determined voice. &#8220;I
+am very, very fond of Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps we had better go to bed now,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I
+may as well tell you, girls, that we have to get up at half-past
+six. Lucy comes to us and wakes us at that hour, and
+we are expected to be downstairs at seven. Lucy will tell you,
+too, girls, that it is expected of us all that we shall keep our
+rooms in perfect order. Now, shall we say good-night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Cardews kissed their cousin and went to their own
+pleasant room.</p>
+<p>As soon as they were there Merry said, &#8220;Cicely, I am glad
+about poor Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so am I,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When we write home we must be sure to mention to
+mother about Mr. Martyn. I don&#8217;t think dear Maggie knew
+anything about The Meadows; so perhaps, after all, he is a
+somewhat distant cousin; but it is such a comfort to know
+that he is rich and a gentleman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Cicely. Then she added, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think Aneta
+wants you to make too great a friend of Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nonsense!&#8221; said Merry, coloring slightly. &#8220;I am never
+going to give Maggie up, for I love her dearly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;it would be very mean to give
+her up; but you and I, as Aneta&#8217;s cousins, must be on her
+side in the school. What I am afraid of is that Maggie will
+try to induce you to join her set.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That shows how little you know her,&#8221; said Merry, roused
+to the defensive. &#8220;She explained everything to me this afternoon,
+and said that I certainly must belong to Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did she? Well, I call that splendid,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI_BOPEEP' id='CHAPTER_XVI_BOPEEP'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<h3>BO-PEEP.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>When Aneta found herself alone that evening she stayed
+for a short time thinking very deeply. She felt a queer sense
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+of responsibility with regard to the Cardews. If Maggie
+imagined that it was through her influence they had come to
+Aylmer House, Aneta was positive that they would never
+have entered the school but for her and her aunt, Lady Lysle.
+Besides, they were her very own cousins, and she loved them
+both dearly. She was not especially anxious about Cicely,
+who was a more ordinary and less enthusiastic girl than
+Merry; but about Merry she had some qualms. There was no
+doubt whatever that the girl was attracted by Maggie; and,
+in Aneta&#8217;s opinion, Maggie Howland was in no sense of the
+word a proper companion for her.</p>
+<p>Aneta, as she sat calmly by her open window&mdash;for it was
+not necessary to hurry to bed to-night&mdash;thought much over
+the future which spread itself immediately in front of her
+and her companions. She was naturally a very reserved girl.
+She was born with that exclusiveness and reserve which a distinguished
+class bestows upon those who belong to it. But
+she had in her heart very wide sympathies; and, like many
+another girl in her position, she could be kind to the poor,
+philanthropic to the last degree to those in real distress, denying
+herself for the sake of those who wanted bread. Towards
+girls, however, who were only a trifle below her in the social
+scale she could be arbitrary, haughty, and strangely wanting
+in sympathy. Maggie Howland was exactly the sort of girl
+who repelled Aneta. Nevertheless, she was a member of the
+school; and not only was she a member of the school, but a
+very special member. Had she even been Janet Burns (who
+was so clever, and as far as learning was concerned carried
+all before her), or had she been as brilliant and witty as
+Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell, Aneta would not have troubled herself
+much over her. But Maggie was possessed of a curious sense
+of <i>power</i> which was hers by heritage, which her father had
+possessed before her, and which caused him&mdash;one of the least
+prepossessing and yet one of the most distinguished men of
+his day&mdash;to be worshipped wherever he went. This power
+was greater than beauty, greater than birth, greater than
+genius. Maggie had it, and used it to such effect that she and
+Aneta divided the school between them. Aneta was never
+quite certain whether some of her special friends would not
+leave her and go over to Maggie&#8217;s side; but she felt that she
+did not greatly care about this, provided she could keep Merry
+and Cicely altogether to herself.</p>
+<p>After thinking for a little time she sprang to her feet, and
+going to the electric bell, sounded it. After a short delay
+a servant appeared.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mary,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;will you have the goodness to ask
+Miss Lucy if I may speak to her for a minute?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, miss,&#8221; replied Mary, closing the door behind her in
+her usual noiseless fashion.</p>
+<p>In a very few minutes Miss Johnson entered Aneta&#8217;s room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was just thinking of going to bed, dear,&#8221; said that good-natured
+young woman. &#8220;Can I do anything for you?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I only want to say something to you, Lucy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, my love? I do not like to see that our dear
+Aneta looks worried, but your face almost wears that expression.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;it is just this: I am a trifle worried
+about a matter which I hope I may set right. It is against
+the rules for girls to leave their rooms after they have gone
+to them for the night, and it would never do for me to be the
+first to break a rule at Aylmer House. Nevertheless, I do
+want to break it. May I, Miss Lucy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Aneta, I do not think that there&#8217;ll be the slightest
+difficulty, for we don&#8217;t really begin school till to-morrow.
+What do you wish to do, dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to go and visit one of my schoolmates, and stay
+with her for a time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course you may go, Aneta. I give you permission; but
+don&#8217;t remain too long, for we get up early to-morrow, as to-morrow
+school really begins.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t remain a minute longer than I can help. Thank
+you, Lucy,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson kissed her pupil and left the room.</p>
+<p>A minute later Aneta Lysle was running down the corridor
+in the direction of the bedroom occupied by Maggie Howland.
+It was some distance from her own room. She knocked at
+the door. She guessed somehow that Maggie would be still up.</p>
+<p>Maggie said, &#8220;Come in,&#8221; and Aneta entered.</p>
+<p>Maggie was in a white dressing-gown, with her thick, handsome
+hair falling below her waist. Her hair was her strongest
+point, and she looked for the time being almost pretty.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want, Aneta?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To speak to you, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it&#8217;s against the rules,&#8221; said Maggie, drawling out her
+words a little, and giving Aneta a defiant glance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I asked for permission to come and see
+you, and I have obtained it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, sit down, won&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>Aneta availed herself of the invitation, and took a chair.</p>
+<p>Maggie remained standing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you sit too, Maggie?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t particularly want to, but I will if you insist on
+it. To tell the truth, I am a little sleepy. You won&#8217;t keep me
+long, will you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That depends on yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie opened her narrow eyes. Then she contracted them
+and looked fixedly at her companion. &#8220;Have you come here
+to talk about Merry Cardew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, about her, and other matters.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you trust me at all, Aneta?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta looked full up at the girl. &#8220;No, Maggie,&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think when you say so that you speak kindly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid I don&#8217;t, but I can&#8217;t help myself,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Maggie gave a faint yawn. She was, in reality, far too interested
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span>
+to be really sleepy. Suddenly she dropped into a
+sitting position on the floor. &#8220;You have me,&#8221; she said, &#8220;in
+the hollow of your hand. Do you mean to crush me? What
+have I done that you should hate me so much?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never said I hated you,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I don&#8217;t hate you,
+but I am exceedingly anxious that you should not have any
+influence over my two young cousins who came here to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought we discussed that when you were staying at
+Meredith Manor,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You made me unhappy
+enough then, but I gave you my promise.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was sorry to make you unhappy, Maggie; and you did
+give me your promise; but I have come here to-day to know
+why you have broken it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Broken it!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Broken it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you understand me?&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;You and Merry
+were together the greater part of the evening, and even Cicely
+wondered where her sister was. Why did you do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Merry is my friend,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t wish her to be your friend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid you can&#8217;t help it,&#8221; said Maggie. She looked
+a little insolent, and round her mouth there came a dogged expression.
+After a minute she said, &#8220;I did want to talk to
+Merry to-night; but, at the same time, I most undoubtedly did
+not forget my promise to you. I explained to Merry what I
+think she already knew: that there were two girls in the
+school who greatly influence their fellows; in short, that you
+and I are the two queens of the school. But I said that, compared
+to you, I had a comparatively small number of subjects.
+Merry was interested, and asked questions, and then I most
+particularly explained to her that, although I knew well she
+cared for me, and I cared for her, she was to be on your side
+in the school. If you don&#8217;t believe me, you have but to ask
+Merry herself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have no reason not to believe you, Maggie,&#8221; said Aneta,
+&#8220;and I am relieved that you have spoken as you did to Merry.
+But now I want to say something else. I have thought of it
+a good deal during the holidays, and I am firmly convinced
+that this taking sides, or rather making parties, in a school
+is pernicious, especially in such a small school as ours. I
+am willing to give up my queendom, if you, on your part,
+will give yours up. I want us all to be in unity&mdash;every one
+of us&mdash;all striving for the good of the school and for the
+happiness and welfare each of the other. If you will agree
+to this I will myself speak to Mrs. Ward to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Ward!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;What has she to do with it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to consult with her, so that <i>she</i> may be the queen
+of the school&mdash;not one girl or two girls. She is so clever, so
+young, so resourceful, that she will more than make up to us
+for the little we lose in this matter. But, of course, there
+is no manner of use in my resigning my queendom if you won&#8217;t
+resign yours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will never do it,&#8221; said Maggie&mdash;&#8220;never! Two queens
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+in the school means little or nothing at all. All it does mean
+is that I have special friends whom I can influence, and
+whom I love to influence, and you have special friends whom
+you love to influence. Well, go on influencing them as hard
+as ever you can, and I will do the same with my friends.
+Your cousins will belong to you. I could, I believe, have
+won Merry Cardew to my side, but I am not going to do so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be very unwise of you,&#8221; said Aneta in a low
+tone. &#8220;Very well, Maggie,&#8221; she added after a pause, &#8220;if you
+won&#8217;t give up being queen in the minds of a certain number
+of girls, I must, of course, continue my influence on the other
+side. It&#8217;s a great pity, for we might all work together.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We never could work together,&#8221; said Maggie with passion.
+&#8220;It is but to talk to you, Aneta, to know how you despise
+and hate me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I neither despise nor hate you, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I despise and hate you, so I suppose it comes to the
+same thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very, very sorry, Maggie. Some day, perhaps, you
+will know me as I really am.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you now as you really are&mdash;eaten up with pride
+of birth, and with no sympathy at all for girls a trifle poorer
+than yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You speak with cruelty, and I am sorry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>To Aneta&#8217;s astonishment, Maggie&#8217;s face underwent a queer
+change. It puckered up in an alarming manner, and the next
+moment the girl burst into tears.</p>
+<p>The sight of Maggie&#8217;s tears immediately changed Aneta
+Lysle&#8217;s attitude. Those tears were genuine. Whether they
+were caused by anger or by sorrow she did not stop to discriminate.
+The next minute she was down on her knees by
+the other girl and had swept her young arms round Maggie&#8217;s
+neck.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie, Maggie, what is it? Oh, if you would only understand
+me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t!&mdash;don&#8217;t touch me!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I am a miserable
+girl!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I have hurt you, poor Maggie!&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Oh, I
+am terribly sorry! Sit here now, and let me comfort you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I can&#8217;t, Aneta. You don&#8217;t understand me&mdash;not a
+bit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better than you think, perhaps; and I am terribly sorry
+you are troubled. Oh, perhaps I know. I was told to-night
+that your mother had married again. You are unhappy about
+that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie immediately dried her fast-falling tears. She felt
+that she was in danger. If Aneta found out, or if Mrs. Ward
+found out, who Maggie&#8217;s stepfather was, she would certainly
+not be allowed to stay at Aylmer House. This was her dread
+of all dreads, and she had so managed matters with her
+mother that Mrs. Ward knew nothing at all of Mrs. Howland&#8217;s
+change of name.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my mother is married again,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;She is
+a rich woman now; but the fact is, I dearly loved my own
+father, and&mdash;it hurt me very much to see another put into
+his place.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course it did,&#8221; said Aneta, with deep sympathy; &#8220;it
+would have driven me nearly wild. Does Mrs. Ward know
+that your mother is married again, Maggie?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I haven&#8217;t told her; and, please, Aneta, will you
+promise me not to do so?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But is there any occasion to keep it a secret, dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I would so much rather she did not know. She received
+me here as Maggie Howland. I am Maggie Howland still; my
+mother having changed her name makes no difference, except,
+indeed, that she is very well off, whereas she was poor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, that of course is a comfort to you,&#8221; said Aneta.
+&#8220;Perhaps by-and-by you will learn to be glad that your
+mother has secured the care of a good husband. I am told that
+she has married one of those very nice Martyns who live in
+Warwickshire. Is that true?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie nodded. She hated herself after she had given that
+inclination of her head; but she had done it now, and must
+abide by it. To own Martin the grocer as a stepfather was
+beyond her power.</p>
+<p>Aneta did not think it specially necessary to worry about
+Maggie&#8217;s mother and her new husband. She said that the
+whole thing was Maggie&#8217;s own affair; and, after trying to comfort
+the girl for a little longer, she kissed Maggie, and went
+to her own room. When there, she went at once to bed and
+fell fast asleep.</p>
+<p>But Maggie sat for a long time by her open window. &#8220;What
+an awful and ridiculous position I have put myself in!&#8221; she
+thought. &#8220;The Martyns of The Meadows and Bo-peep of
+Laburnum Villa to be connected! I could almost scream with
+laughter if I were not also inclined to scream with terror.
+What an awful idea to get into people&#8217;s heads, and now I have,
+confirmed it! Of course I shall be found out, and things will
+be worse than ever.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Before Maggie went to bed she sat down and wrote a brief
+note to her mother. She addressed it when written to Mrs.
+Martyn (spelt with a &#8220;y&#8221;), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie
+had seen Laburnum Villa, and regarded it as one of the
+most poky suburban residences she had ever had the pleasure
+of entering. The whole house was odiously cheap and common,
+and in her heart poor Maggie preferred Tildy and Mrs.
+Ross, and the fusty, musty lodgings at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush.</p>
+<p>Her note to her mother was very brief:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am back at school, and quite happy. Tell Mr. Martin, if
+he should happen to write to me, to spell his name with a
+&#8216;y,&#8217; and please spell your name with a &#8216;y.&#8217; Please tell Mr.
+Martin that I will explain the reason of this when we meet.
+He is so good to me, I don&#8217;t know how to thank him enough.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span></p>
+<p>Maggie managed the next day to post this letter unknown to
+her fellows, and in course of time a remarkable post-card
+arrived for her. It was dated from Laburnum Villa, Clapham,
+and was written in a sprawly but business-like hand:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No &#8216;y&#8217;s&#8217; for me, thank you.&mdash;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Bo-peep</span>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Very fortunately, Maggie received her card when none of
+her schoolfellows were present; but it was certainly the
+reverse of reassuring.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_LEISURE_HOURS' id='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_LEISURE_HOURS'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<h3>THE LEISURE HOURS.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>School-life began in real earnest, and school-life at Aylmer
+House was so stimulating, so earnest, so invigorating,
+that all that was best in each girl was brought to the fore.
+There was an admirable time-table, which allowed the girls
+periods for play as well as the most suitable hours for work.
+In addition, each day there were what were called the &#8220;leisure
+hours.&#8221; These were from five to seven o&#8217;clock each evening.
+The leisure hours began immediately after tea, and lasted
+until the period when the girls went to their rooms to dress
+for dinner. During these two hours they were allowed to do
+precisely what they pleased.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward was most particular that no teacher should interfere
+with her girls during the leisure hours. From the
+very first she had insisted on this period of rest and absolute
+relaxation from all work. Work was strictly forbidden in
+the school from five to seven, and it was during that period
+that the queens of the school generally exercised their power.
+Aneta then usually found herself surrounded by her satellites
+in one corner of the girls&#8217; own special sitting-room, and
+Maggie was in a similar position at the farther end. Aneta&#8217;s
+satellites were always quiet, sober, and well-behaved; Maggie&#8217;s,
+it is sad to relate, were a trifle rowdy. There is something
+else also painful to relate&mdash;namely, that Merry Cardew
+cast longing eyes from time to time in the direction of
+that portion of the room where Maggie and her friends clustered.</p>
+<p>The girls had been about a fortnight at school, and work
+was in full swing, when Kathleen, springing from her seat,
+said abruptly, &#8220;Queen, I want to propose something.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what is it?&#8221; asked Maggie, who was lying back
+against a pile of cushions and supplying herself daintily from
+a box of chocolates which her adorers had purchased for her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want us all,&#8221; said Kathleen, &#8220;to give a party to the other
+queen and her subjects; and I want it to be about the very
+jolliest entertainment that can be found. We must, of course,
+ask Mrs. Ward&#8217;s leave; but she is certain to give it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know that she is,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she is&mdash;certain sure,&#8221; said Kathleen. &#8220;May I go and
+ask her now?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you dare?&#8221; said Rosamond Dacre, looking at Kitty&#8217;s
+radiant face with some astonishment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dare!&#8221; cried Irish Kitty. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know the meaning of
+anything that I don&#8217;t dare. I am off. I&#8217;ll bring you word in a
+few minutes, girls.&#8221; She rushed out of the room.</p>
+<p>Janet Burns looked after her, slightly raising her brows.
+Rosamond Dacre and the two Roaches began to sound her
+praises. &#8220;She is sweet, isn&#8217;t she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Clara; &#8220;and I do so love her pretty Irish
+brogue.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother tells me,&#8221; said Janet, who was Scotch, &#8220;that Irish
+characters are not much good&mdash;they&#8217;re not reliable, I mean.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what a shame!&#8221; said Matty Roache.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we need discuss characters,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t know a great deal about the Irish, but I do know that
+Kitty is a darling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, so she is&mdash;one of the sweetest girls in the whole
+school,&#8221; said Molly Tristram, who was quite as excited as
+Kathleen herself with regard to the party scheme.</p>
+<p>Meantime Kitty found herself tapping at Mrs. Ward&#8217;s private
+door. Mrs. Ward said, &#8220;Come in,&#8221; and the pretty girl,
+with her great dark-blue eyes and wild-rose complexion, entered
+abruptly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Kathleen?&#8221; said Mrs. Ward in her pleasant tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please, Mrs. Ward, I&#8217;ve come with such a lovely
+scheme.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you want me to help you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, please, do say you will before I let you into the
+secret!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t do that, dear; you must just tell me what is in
+your mind, and be satisfied with my decision. The only thing
+that I can assure you beforehand is that if it is a workable
+scheme, and likely to give you great pleasure, I will do my
+best to entertain it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we&#8217;re certain to have it&mdash;certain,&#8221; said Kathleen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was I who thought of it. You will forgive me if I speak
+out just as plainly as possible?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, Kathleen dear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you know you are the head-mistress.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is scarcely news to me, my child.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And people, as a rule,&#8221; continued Kathleen, &#8220;respect their
+head-mistress.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward with a smile, &#8220;have you come
+here, Kathleen, to say that you don&#8217;t respect me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Respect you!&#8221; said Kathleen. &#8220;We do a jolly lot more
+than that. We adore you! We love you! You&#8217;re&mdash;you&#8217;re a
+sort of&mdash;of mother to us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is what I want to be,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward with fervor,
+and she took the girl&#8217;s hand and smoothed it gently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I often want to hug you, and that&#8217;s a fact,&#8221; said Kathleen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You may kiss me now if you like, Kitty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mrs. Ward!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+Kitty bent down and bestowed a reverent kiss on that sweet
+face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have permitted you to kiss me, Kitty,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward,
+&#8220;in order to show you that I sympathize with you, as I do
+with all my dear girls. But now, what is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the fact is this. We want, during the &#8216;leisure
+hours&#8217; to give a party.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that all? Do you all want to give a party?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Our side wants to give a party, and we want to invite the
+other side to it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what do you mean by &#8216;our side&#8217; and &#8216;the other
+side&#8217;?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mrs. Ward! you know&mdash;of course you know&mdash;that
+Aneta and Maggie divide the school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward after a pause, &#8220;that Aneta has
+considerable influence, and that Maggie also has influence.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those two girls divide the school,&#8221; said Kathleen, &#8220;the
+rest of us follow them. As a matter of fact, we only follow
+our leaders in the leisure hours; but as they come every day
+a good deal can be done in that time, can&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, and her tone was not exactly cheerful.
+&#8220;On which side are you, Kitty?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear Mrs. Ward, of course, on Maggie&#8217;s! Do you think
+that a girl like me, with all my spirit and that irresistible
+sort of fun always bubbling up in me, could stand the stuck-ups?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Kitty, you have no right to speak of any girls in the school
+by such an offensive term.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; said Kitty. &#8220;I ought not to have said it to
+you. But they are stuck-ups; they really are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what do you call yourself?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, the live-and-let-live&mdash;that&#8217;s our title. But it&#8217;s only
+quite among ourselves, and perhaps I ought not to have
+said it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will never repeat what you have told me in confidence,
+dear. But now for your request?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we of Maggie&#8217;s set want to invite the Aneta set to
+a sort of general party. We should like it to be on the
+half-holiday, if possible. We want to give them a right royal
+entertainment in order to knock some of their stuck-upness
+out of them. We wish for your leave in the matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must describe your entertainment a little more fully.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t; for we haven&#8217;t really and truly planned it all out
+yet. But I tell you what we&#8217;ll do. If you give us leave
+to have the party, we will ask Queen Aneta and her satellites
+if possible this very evening, and then we&#8217;ll submit our programme
+to you. Now, may we do this, or may we not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who sent you to me, Kathleen?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I came of my own very self, but of course the others approved.
+We have no intention of doing shabby things in the
+dark, as they do in some schools. That would be unfair
+to you.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward thought a little longer. &#8220;I will give you the
+required permission,&#8221; she said, &#8220;on one condition.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mrs. Ward, darling! what is that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can have your party on Saturday week, and I will
+give you from early in the afternoon until bedtime to enjoy
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mrs. Ward, you are too angelic!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop a minute. You may not care for it so much when
+I have finished what I have got to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, dear Mrs. Ward?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is this: that you ask me too as one of your guests.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! oh!&#8221; said Kathleen. Her expressive face changed
+from red to white and then to red again. Her eyes brimmed
+over with laughter, and then as suddenly filled with tears.
+&#8220;But would you&mdash;would you like it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and I don&#8217;t want to destroy your pleasure; but I
+presume you will have a sort of supper or an entertainment
+which will include refreshments. Let me assist you with
+the expense of your supper, and may I be present at it as
+one of your guests? I will promise to leave soon after supper,
+and not to appear until supper. How will that do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it would be just, heavenly! It will give such distinction.
+I know the girls will love it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I can make myself pleasant to you all,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Ward, &#8220;and I should like to be there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But as to paying anything, Mrs. Ward, you will come as
+our guest, and you know we have most of us plenty of money.
+Please, please, let us do the entertaining.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, dear, I will not press that point. I hope I
+have made you happy, Kathleen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! you have&mdash;very, very happy indeed. And Saturday
+week is to be the day?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Kathleen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Kathleen bent down, took one of Mrs. Ward&#8217;s hands, and
+kissed it. Then she skipped out of the room and flew back
+to her companions. They were waiting for her in a state of
+suppressed eagerness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Kathleen&mdash;Kitty&mdash;Kit, what&#8217;s the news?&#8221; asked
+Maggie.</p>
+<p>Room was made for Kathleen in the center of the group.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have won! We may do it!&#8221; she said, speaking in a
+low tone. &#8220;Oh, she&#8217;s&mdash;she&#8217;s like no one else! I don&#8217;t know
+how you will take it, girls; but if you&#8217;re not just delighted
+you ought, to be. Why, what <i>do</i> you think? She wants to
+come herself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Ward!&#8221; said Maggie in amazement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, just to supper. She says she will come&mdash;she wishes
+to come&mdash;that we&#8217;re to invite her; in fact, she makes it a
+<i>sine qu&acirc; non</i>. She will go away again after supper, and
+we&#8217;re to have the whole glorious day, next Saturday week,
+from two in the afternoon until bedtime. Oh, sha&#8217;n&#8217;t we
+have fun!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, of course,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;It&#8217;s much better even than
+I thought. I will write the letters of invitation immediately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But why should you write a whole lot of letters?&#8221; said
+Kathleen. &#8220;You are one queen. Write to the other queen
+and mention that Mrs. Ward is coming.&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was nothing like the present time for making arrangements;
+and Maggie wrote on a sheet of headed note-paper
+provided for her by her satellites the following words:</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;Queen Maggie presents her compliments to Queen Aneta,
+and begs for the pleasure of her company with all her subjects
+on Saturday the 15th of October, to an entertainment from
+three to nine o&#8217;clock. She hopes that the whole school will
+be present, and writes in the names of her own subjects
+as well as of herself.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;<i>P.S.</i>&mdash;Mrs. Ward has most kindly promised to attend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This letter was subjected to the approval of the group of
+girls who surrounded Maggie. It was then addressed to
+&#8220;Queen Aneta,&#8221; and Kathleen crossed the room with it and
+dropped it, there and then, into Aneta Lysle&#8217;s lap.</p>
+<p>It caused very deep amazement in the hearts of all the
+girls who belonged to Aneta&#8217;s party, and it is highly probable
+that they might have refused to accept the invitation but
+for that magical postscript, &#8220;Mrs. Ward has most kindly
+promised to attend.&#8221; But there was no withstanding that
+patent fact, as Mrs. Ward knew very well when she made
+the proposal to Kathleen.</p>
+<p>After a lapse of about twenty minutes, Cicely Cardew
+crossed the room and laid the answer to Maggie&#8217;s note in
+her lap:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Queen Aneta and her subjects have much pleasure in
+accepting Queen Maggie&#8217;s invitation for the 15th inst.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hip, hip, hurrah!&#8221; cried Kathleen. &#8220;The thing&#8217;s arranged,
+and we&#8217;ll have about the jolliest flare-up and the
+most enticing time that girls ever had at any school.&#8221; She
+sprang from her seat, and began tossing a book which had
+lain in her lap into the air, catching it again. In short, the
+subjects of the two queens broke up on the spot and chatted
+gaily together, and Maggie and her subjects could not be
+induced to say one word of what was to take place on the
+15th of October.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is wonderful,&#8221; thought Aneta to herself. &#8220;Why does
+Mrs. Ward come? But, of course, as she comes we must
+all come.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII_THE_TREASURE' id='CHAPTER_XVIII_THE_TREASURE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<h3>THE TREASURE.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Maggie had by no means forgotten her promise to the Tristram
+girls to give them a bracelet apiece. It was easy to do
+this, for they were her very special friends in the school. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+fact is that Molly and Belle had a somewhat peculiar position
+at Aylmer House, for they were not only Maggie&#8217;s special
+friends, but also the undoubted friends and allies of Cicely,
+Merry, and also of Aneta. But they were such good-humored,
+good-natured, pleasant sort of girls&mdash;so lively, so jolly&mdash;that
+they could take up a position with ease which would oppress
+and distress other people.</p>
+<p>When Maggie presented them with their bracelets they
+were in wild raptures, accepting them gleefully, and on occasions
+when ornaments were permitted to be worn&mdash;which,
+as a matter of fact, was only in the leisure hours&mdash;they invariably
+had them on their arms.</p>
+<p>But other girls noticed them, and one and all admired them
+immensely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I have others,&#8221; said Maggie in a careless tone; &#8220;many
+more. My dear father was a great traveler, and these are
+some of the treasures he brought from the East.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie had by no means forgotten to bring her two boxes
+of jewellery to Aylmer House. These lay at the bottom of
+her little trunk, which was, it is true, stowed away in the
+box-room. But as the girls were at liberty to go there for
+anything they especially required, she was not troubled on
+this account.</p>
+<p>There came a day, shortly after the great party was arranged,
+when the rain poured incessantly, and some of the
+girls were a little restless. Molly and Isabel were wearing their
+queer Oriental bracelets. Kathleen suddenly caught sight
+of them, and demanded in an eager tone that Maggie should
+exhibit her treasures. Maggie, only too pleased to have anything
+to do which glorified herself, immediately complied.
+She ran to find Miss Lucy in order to obtain the key of the
+box-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want it for, dear?&#8221; said Miss Johnson in her
+pleasant voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have two boxes in the bottom of one of my trunks,
+Miss Lucy; they are full of curiosities which my father collected
+from time to time. The girls want to see them. Do
+you mind my showing them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not, Maggie; but if they are of any value you had
+better give them to Mrs. Ward to take care of for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know really whether they
+are of value or not.&#8221; She got rather red as she spoke.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to see them myself,&#8221; said Miss Johnson.
+&#8220;I know a little bit about gems and curios.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Miss Lucy; do come,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;We&#8217;re
+in our sitting-room, and I shall be only too delighted to
+show them to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie fetched down her two precious boxes, and soon she
+was surrounded, not only by her own special satellites, but
+by every girl in the school. They were all loud in their
+expressions of rapture at the unique and lovely things which
+she exhibited to them.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span></p>
+<p>Kathleen, as usual, was quick in suggestion. &#8220;Would not
+Mrs. Ward love to see them?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure she would,&#8221; remarked Miss Johnson.&mdash;&#8220;I hadn&#8217;t
+the least idea, Maggie, that you had such treasures in those
+old tin boxes. They must be carefully put away in the safe
+for you. My dear girl, they&#8217;re worth a great deal of money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t suppose they are,&#8221; said Maggie, trying to
+speak carelessly, although she by no means wished to part
+with her treasures.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you what,&#8221; said Kathleen. &#8220;Can&#8217;t we make an exhibition
+of them on <i>the</i> day?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, why not?&#8221; said Molly and Isabel. &#8220;That would be
+quite lovely.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, do!&mdash;do, Maggie darling!&#8221; said Merry Cardew.</p>
+<p>Maggie at once agreed; and Miss Johnson said, &#8220;Now, if
+you will put them all back in their boxes I will take them
+and lock them into the safe myself. I shouldn&#8217;t have an easy
+moment if I thought such valuable things were in one of
+your school-trunks.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Maggie, looking up with flushed cheeks and
+bright eyes, &#8220;please&mdash;please let me keep them until after
+our party. Then we will consult Mrs. Ward, and she will
+tell me what to do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you must keep them, then, Maggie,&#8221; said Miss Johnson,
+&#8220;you had better have them in your own bedroom. They
+would be at least safe there. Put them into your locked
+drawer, dear; I think it will hold both these boxes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; said Maggie. She put the ten
+bracelets into their tin box, and the necklets and other curios
+into the other, locked each, and took them upstairs. &#8220;It
+would never, never do,&#8221; she said to herself, &#8220;for me to lose
+control of these precious things. I am almost sorry now
+that I allowed the girls to tempt me to show them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>After a few minutes she came downstairs. Her stepfather&#8217;s
+allowance of pocket-money was certainly not ample, and she
+knew that at the party which was to be so specially distinguished
+she must give, if she wished to keep up her prestige
+in the school, a lion&#8217;s share towards the expenses. There
+was a quaint little brooch in one of her boxes containing
+one large ruby and set with diamonds which she intended
+to sell in order to provide herself with funds. But what
+use would any of her treasures be if they were consigned
+to the safe at Aylmer House?</p>
+<p>After a great deal of consultation, it was resolved that the
+girls were to meet in their own special sitting-room at four
+o&#8217;clock, where tea and light refreshments were to be provided
+by Queen Maggie and her subjects. Afterwards they
+were to play games, have recitations, and amuse themselves
+in different ways until five o&#8217;clock; when a curtain which
+would be put across a portion of the room would be raised,
+and tableaux vivants, in which Maggie, Kathleen, and both
+the Tristram girls, who were all adaptable for this purpose,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+were to take special parts. The tableaux were under the
+management of Janet Burns, who was exceedingly clever, and
+had studied the scenes&mdash;which she took from different episodes
+in Scott&#8217;s novels&mdash;with great care. The rehearsing
+for the tableaux was a little difficult, but this was done each
+evening after tea, when Maggie and her subjects had the
+sitting-room to themselves.</p>
+<p>Immediately after the tableaux there would be that wonderful
+supper, at which Mrs. Ward was to be the principal guest,
+and then the happy evening would end with all sorts of
+dances and frolics.</p>
+<p>Now, all these things would cost money, and it was arranged,
+after brief consultation, that each girl was to subscribe in
+an equal ratio towards the proposed entertainment. Janet,
+who had a head for figures as well as a taste for tableaux
+vivants, suggested that, to do the entertainment properly,
+they would have to expend something like fifteen shillings
+each. This was immediately agreed upon, and even the Tristrams
+did not feel embarrassed by the amount which was
+decided upon, for Mr. Tristram was wise in his generation,
+and would not send his girls to an expensive school if he
+could not give them a sufficient supply of pocket-money to
+make them feel independent. The only person who was
+short of funds on this occasion was Maggie, for her stepfather
+had arranged that she was to receive her allowance
+at the end of the term, not at the beginning. He had given
+her a few shillings to go to school with; but these she had
+already spent on chocolates, which were considered essential
+during the leisure hours. It is true that Mrs. Ward would
+have advanced a little money to Maggie, but Maggie could
+not bear to ask her. She had a great dislike to the subject
+of money being mentioned in Mrs. Ward&#8217;s presence. She
+was afraid beyond everything else that the fact of her being
+received at such a select school for forty pounds a year might
+reach the ears of her fellow-pupils. What more easy than
+to sell that charming little Oriental brooch, which was one of
+the treasures in one of those tin boxes? But Maggie could
+not manage this in Miss Lucy&#8217;s presence, and it was quite
+against the rules at Aylmer House for any girl to go shopping
+or even to leave the house unaccompanied.</p>
+<p>On one or two previous occasions Maggie had, however,
+managed to evade this rule without being found out, and she
+thought she could do so now. She planned the whole thing
+rather cleverly. She had a room to herself; which of course
+made it easier for her, and there were always the leisure
+hours. She made up her mind to feign headache or some slight
+indisposition, to go downstairs by the back way, and sell her
+brooch on a certain afternoon during the leisure hours. She
+must do it quickly, for the girls had proposed to put the
+necessary money for the entertainment into a bag on a certain
+Tuesday. Maggie must, therefore, go out on Monday in
+order to sell her brooch. Her absence from the little party
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+in the girls&#8217; sitting-room was explained by Molly Tristram,
+who said that Maggie was upstairs lying down. No one
+troubled to make any comment with regard to this. Any
+girl might have a headache, and Mrs. Ward did not wish her
+girls to be catechised as to how they spent their leisure
+hours. Besides, Janet Burns was occupying all their attention
+with the tableaux vivants, Queen Aneta&#8217;s girls most good-naturedly
+leaving them the sitting-room to themselves for
+this purpose.</p>
+<p>Maggie, in her distant bedroom, felt the quiet in the house.
+She had been lying down; now she rose noiselessly. This
+was the time when the servants had their tea, when Mrs.
+Ward was busy writing letters or resting in her own sitting-room,
+when Lucy Johnson and the other governesses were
+either reposing in their bedrooms, or were out, or were reading.
+There was, of course, the chance that Maggie might
+meet some one; but, having calculated all possibilities, she
+thought that she could most likely get out unobserved.</p>
+<p>During her expeditions with Miss Lucy Johnson she had
+noticed a jeweller&#8217;s shop not far away, and resolved to go
+to him with her precious brooch. It was a very respectable
+shop, and she was certain he would give her fair value.
+She could be back again before she was missed, and, in fact,
+could join her companions in the girls&#8217; sitting-room long
+before the leisure hours had expired. The days were now
+getting very short, but this fact was in Maggie&#8217;s favor rather
+than otherwise.</p>
+<p>She ran downstairs unnoticed by any one, opened a side-door
+which was used as a tradesmen&#8217;s entrance, and got into
+the street. Then, putting wings to her feet, she quickly
+turned the corner, left the square where Aylmer House was
+situated, and reached the jeweller&#8217;s shop. She entered. There
+were a few people standing by the counter; and the jeweller,
+a certain Mr. Pearce, was attending to them. Maggie felt
+impatient. She awaited her turn as best she could. How she
+disliked those showy-looking people who were purchasing
+goods of some value, whereas she only wanted to sell! She
+could scarcely restrain her great impatience, and was relieved
+when another shopman came forward.</p>
+<p>He asked her what he could do for her. She immediately
+showed him the quaint little brooch set with rubies and
+diamonds.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to sell this,&#8221; said Maggie, speaking abruptly and
+the color flaming into her cheeks. &#8220;What will you give me
+for it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh my!&#8221; suddenly exclaimed one of the ladies who was
+purchasing jewels in Pearce&#8217;s shop, &#8220;what a lovely curio!
+Wherever now did you get it from?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie turned and said in a low tone, &#8220;It belongs to me.
+It was left to me by my father.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The man who was attending to Maggie took up the brooch
+and examined it carefully. He took it into another room,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+where he subjected it to various tests. He then came back
+to Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will give you five pounds for this, miss, if you can
+satisfy me that you have come rightly by it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh my!&#8221; said the American lady, drawing near, and her
+eyes glistening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is your address, miss?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie by no means wished to give her address. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t,
+stolen that brooch,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It belongs to me; I have
+a right to sell it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, miss, I shall never trouble you in any way,
+but I really must have your address. In purchasing secondhand
+from young ladies like yourself it is essential that everything
+should be above-board and quite correct.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Maggie in a hurried voice, &#8220;take the brooch
+and give me the money. I must get back as quickly as I can.
+I am one of Mrs. Ward&#8217;s pupils at Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The man looked at Maggie with all respect. &#8220;And your
+own name?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Howland,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Miss Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The man entered name and address in his book, and then
+handed Maggie five sovereigns. She was hurrying from the
+shop, when the customer who had been standing near all
+the time, and listening with great attention, followed her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, young lady,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I am from New York,
+and I like your quaint old English things. That man cheated
+you, I take it. If you had offered me that brooch I&#8217;d have
+given you fifteen pounds for it, not five. If you have any
+more curios to sell, my address is Miss H. Annie Lapham,
+Langham Hotel. I am straight from the States, and would
+like to take a collection of beautiful things home with me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Maggie in a hurried voice.</p>
+<p>She ran back to Aylmer House as quickly as she could.
+As soon as she was quite out of sight the lady re-entered
+the shop.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say,&#8221; she remarked to the shopman, &#8220;I witnessed that
+little transaction between you and Miss Howland. I want
+to buy that brooch for ten pounds.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry, madam,&#8221; said the man, &#8220;but it is not for
+sale just at present.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That means,&#8221; said Miss Lapham, coloring crimson, &#8220;that
+you have cheated the young lady. You ought to have given
+her four times as much for the brooch.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The man shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+<p>Miss Lapham grew redder than ever, &#8220;I happen to know
+Miss Howland&#8217;s address,&#8221; she said. Then she went away
+without giving&#8217; him time to add a word.</p>
+<p>When she had left the shop the younger Mr. Pearce turned
+to his brother, took the little brooch from the drawer into
+which he had carelessly thrown it, and gave it to the elder
+Mr. Pearce to examine. &#8220;There&#8217;s a find here,&#8221; he said; &#8220;only,
+somehow, I feel a bit uncomfortable. How did one of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+young ladies from Aylmer House come by a treasure of this
+sort?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The other man examined the brooch carefully. &#8220;It&#8217;s worth
+a good bit,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What did you give her for it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Five pounds; but somehow I think that I ought not to
+have taken it for that sum.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is worth at least two hundred,&#8221; said the elder Mr.
+Pearce. &#8220;Where did you say she lived?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is one of the young ladies at Aylmer House&mdash;Miss
+Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What! from Mrs. Ward&#8217;s school?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better give me that brooch, Alfred,&#8221; said his
+brother. &#8220;We&#8217;ll have to consider what is to be done. We
+can&#8217;t rob the young lady of it. We had best consult Mrs.
+Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, as to that,&#8221; said the younger Pearce, &#8220;that sounds
+almost as shabby as giving the schoolgirl too little money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, lock it up for the present,&#8221; said the elder Pearce;
+&#8220;but I am an honest tradesman, and I can&#8217;t see even a schoolgirl
+robbed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She was up to some little lark,&#8221; said the younger man,
+&#8220;and evidently did not know the value of the brooch. Why,
+I think she&#8217;d have taken a pound for it. But what she
+did know the value of was her precious time; she was very
+much annoyed at being kept waiting and at being asked for
+her address. It is plain she got out without leave; and although
+the brooch may belong to her&mdash;I am sure I hope
+it does&mdash;she has broken a rule, you mark my words. Those
+schoolgirls are always up to larks. Well, I&#8217;d never have
+thought it of one of Mrs. Ward&#8217;s girls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity you didn&#8217;t consult me, Alfred,&#8221; said his
+brother. &#8220;The best thing to do now is to put the brooch carefully
+away. We&#8217;ll consider what is best to be done with it;
+but as to giving the young lady only five pounds for what
+we can sell any day at Christie&#8217;s for a couple of hundred,
+that is not to be thought of.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_THE_LETTER' id='CHAPTER_XIX_THE_LETTER'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<h3>THE LETTER.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Maggie got out and came back again without any apparent
+adventure. She had five pounds in her pocket, and thought
+herself rich beyond the dreams of avarice. What a delightful
+fairy-gift had been handed down to her by her dear dead
+father! She did not miss the brooch in the least, but she
+valued the small sum she had obtained for it exceedingly.</p>
+<p>But while Maggie thought herself so secure, and while the
+pleasant jingle of the sovereigns as she touched them with her
+little hand comforted her inexpressibly, things quite against
+Maggie Howland&#8217;s supposed interests were transpiring in another
+part of the school.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span></p>
+<p>It was a strange fact that on this special afternoon both
+the queens should be prostrated with headache. It is true
+that Queen Maggie&#8217;s headache was only a fiction, but poor
+Queen Aneta&#8217;s was real enough. She was lying down in
+her pretty bedroom, hoping that quiet might still the throbbing
+of her temples, when the door was very softly opened,
+and Merry Cardew brought in a letter and laid it by her side.</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I bring you some tea upstairs, Aneta?&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;Is there anything I can do for you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, darling,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I can&#8217;t eat or drink; but
+if I stay very still I shall be better by-and-by. Leave me
+now, dear; all I want is perfect quiet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so sorry for you, Aneta,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you doing downstairs?&#8221; said Aneta as the girl
+turned away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Maggie has a headache too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So we are without our queens,&#8221; continued Merry; &#8220;but
+Maggie&#8217;s girls have taken possession of our sitting-room, and
+we are all in the schoolroom. We&#8217;re having great fun and
+are very happy, so don&#8217;t worry about us at all, Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Aneta, closing her eyes, while a feeling of
+drowsy relief stole over her.</p>
+<p>Her anxiety with regard to Maggie was really making her
+ill. Her sense of responsibility with reference to the Cardew
+girls seemed to oppress her usually calm spirit. She could
+not conceal the fact from herself that Merry loved Maggie,
+most passionately. The knowledge, therefore, that Maggie
+was not downstairs gave her such a sense of comfort that
+she dropped into a doze, and when she awoke a short time
+afterwards her headache was gone.</p>
+<p>Yes, her headache had departed, but there lay by her pillow
+what is a great treasure to all schoolgirls&mdash;an unopened letter.
+She looked at the handwriting, and saw that it was from her
+aunt, Lady Lysle. Aneta was very fond of Lady Lysle; and,
+sitting up against her pillows, she tore open the letter and
+began to read. She was surprised to see that it was dated
+from Meredith Manor.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>My dear Aneta</span>&#8221;&mdash;it ran&mdash;&#8220;I have been staying with the
+dear Cardews for the last week. We have been having a very
+pleasant time; although, of course, the house is vastly different
+without Cicely and Merry. But the dear Cardews are
+so sensible that they never would regret anything that was
+for the real benefit of their children.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;Your letter assuring me that the children were happy
+at school gave me great delight, and when I told the Cardews
+they were equally pleased. Altogether, this school-venture
+seems likely to turn out most satisfactory, and the dear children
+will be properly equipped for the brilliant life which
+lies before them.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;But now I have a curious piece of information for you.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+You told me about Miss Howland and her mother&#8217;s second
+marriage to one of the Martyns of The Meadows. Well, dear,
+we went there yesterday, and I happened incidentally to
+speak on the subject; and, whatever may be the position of
+Miss Howland&#8217;s stepfather, he certainly is no relation to our
+dear friends the Martyns. They have no uncles or cousins
+in England at all. All their people come from Australia, and
+they assured me that such a marriage as I have described
+has, in the first place, never reached their ears, and, in the
+next, is impossible, for they have no marriageable relations
+in the country. I mention this to show that your friend
+has made a mistake. At the same time, it is strange of her
+to say that her mother, has married into such a well-known
+and distinguished family. I can add no more now.&mdash;Yours,
+with love, and in haste,</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; text-align:right'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Lucia Lysle</span>.&#8221;<br /></p>
+<p>Aneta thought over this letter for some time. Her face
+was very grave as she tried to put two and two together.
+She rose from her bed, dressed herself with her usual immaculate
+neatness, and came down to supper, which took
+place each evening at half-past seven.</p>
+<p>All the girls were present, and each and all were in the
+best of good-humor. Maggie was radiant. Why not? She
+had performed a difficult task discreetly, and she had five
+lovely golden sovereigns in her drawer upstairs. She could
+put the required money into the bag for the school-treat,
+and she would have plenty over to buy chocolates and little
+things that she might require for herself. She did not in the
+least miss that one small brooch which her father had left
+her; but she thought with a feeling of intense satisfaction of
+her treasures. She need no longer be a penniless girl. She
+had but at rare intervals to visit Pearce the jeweler, and her
+pocket would be well lined. She had no romantic feeling
+with regard to those beautiful things which her father had
+collected on his travels. She had been so poor all her life
+that money to her represented power. She even thought
+of getting a couple of new dresses made by a fashionable
+dressmaker. She resolved to consult Lucy on the subject.
+She was never quite as well dressed as the other girls, although
+very plain clothes were the order of the hour at
+school.</p>
+<p>Immediately after supper those girls who required to look
+over their lessons went into the schoolroom and spent a
+quiet time there; but the others, as a rule, joined Mrs. Ward
+in the drawing-room. There those who could play were requested
+to do so, and those who could sing did likewise. Mrs.
+Ward was very fond of needlework. She could do rare and
+wonderful embroideries, and knew some of the tapestry
+stitches which were in vogue hundreds of years ago. The
+girls who cared to be taught those things she was only too
+glad to instruct; but she never pressed any one into her
+working-party. This was always an hour of relaxation for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+those girls who had all their lessons ready for the following
+day.</p>
+<p>Maggie, who was exceedingly clever and learned with the
+utmost ease, was generally a member of the drawing-room
+coterie. She wore a white dress on this evening, with a
+somewhat crude pink sash round her waist. She hated the
+crudity of the color, and it occurred to her that she could get
+some soft and becoming sashes out of part of the money
+which Pearce had given her for the brooch.</p>
+<p>By-and-by she found herself near Aneta. Aneta was working
+a center-piece which she meant to present to Lady Lysle
+at Christmas. Maggie was no good whatever at needlework,
+and seldom joined the band of needlewomen. But Aneta
+now motioned the girl to come and sit by her side. Maggie
+did so. Aneta looked full in her face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is your headache better, Maggie?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>Maggie had to reflect for a time, she had so absolutely forgotten
+that she had pretended to have a headache that afternoon!
+Then she said, with a slight flush and a suspicious
+narrowing of her eyes, &#8220;Oh yes; thank you, I am quite all
+right again.&#8221; Maggie had not heard of Aneta&#8217;s headache. She,
+therefore, did not ask about it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I pity people who have headaches,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I suffer
+from them very badly myself. Nothing cures me but perfect
+rest. I was lying down all the afternoon. Merry came to
+see me, and told me that you were also prostrated with headache.
+I was sorry for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, thank you so much!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Mine is quite
+gone; is yours?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, thank you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta sat quiet and very still. When her face was in
+repose she never moved her body. There was an absolute
+sense of rest about her which was refreshing to those who
+really knew her well. But Maggie hated it. She wanted to
+leave her; she wanted to go and talk to Merry, who was playing
+a solitary game of patience in a distant part of the
+drawing-room; she wanted to do anything rather than remain
+by Aneta&#8217;s side.</p>
+<p>Then Aneta looked up. &#8220;I had a letter this afternoon from
+my aunt, Lady Lysle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Maggie. She could not quite understand why
+her heart beat so fast, but she had undoubtedly a premonition
+of some sort of trouble ahead.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aunt Lucia is staying with the Cardews,&#8221; continued Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is she?&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;Oh, that sweet and beautiful
+place!&#8221; she continued.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;Meredith Manor will always be lovely.
+There is no season of the year when it is not, in my opinion,
+more charming than any other place I know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is your aunt going to stay there long?&#8221; asked Maggie,
+who felt that she need not say anything further with regard
+to the delights of Meredith Manor just now.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell you,&#8221; replied Aneta. &#8220;She mentioned something
+rather curious. It is connected with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With poor little me?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;With you,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;You remember telling me that
+your stepfather is one of the Martyns of The Meadows?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s face grew crimson, then turned pale.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Aneta, bringing out her words with great calmness,
+&#8220;it turns out to be a mistake. Your stepfather is no
+relation whatever to our friends the Martyns. Aunt Lucia
+and Mrs. Cardew went to call on them the other day, and asked
+the question. You made a mistake in announcing your stepfather
+as being a connection of our friends.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did I? Perhaps so,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I thought he was,
+that&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You thought wrong,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I felt I would mention
+it to you. He may be just as well connected,&#8221; she added
+quietly; &#8220;but he is <i>not</i> related to the Martyns of The Meadows.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You speak in a very disagreeable tone,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean to,&#8221; replied Aneta; &#8220;but I thought I would
+tell you in order that you should not spread the report any
+further.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure I don&#8217;t want to. My stepfather has just as
+good connections as any one else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No doubt,&#8221; said Aneta gently; &#8220;only, he is not related
+to our special friends. You might let Merry and Cicely know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; asked Maggie in a dogged voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can please yourself. I shall tell them if you don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you hate me so much, Aneta?&#8221; said Maggie then.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hate subterfuge and untruth,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I don&#8217;t hate
+you. If you would be straight and open and above-board you
+would find me your best friend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you so much!&#8221; said Maggie in a sneering tone.
+&#8220;When I require you for my best friend it will be time enough
+for you to offer me that enviable position.&#8221; Then she added,
+speaking in a low tone of intense dislike, &#8220;Is it likely that
+any girl would wish to make a best friend of another girl
+who accused her of subterfuge and want of truthfulness?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The delicate pink rose in Aneta&#8217;s cheeks. She raised her
+eyes and looked full up at Maggie. Her clear, calm eyes
+seemed like mirrors. Maggie felt that she could not meet
+them.</p>
+<p>It was just at that moment that Cicely Cardew, in a state
+of suppressed excitement, came into the room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie,&#8221; she said, coming straight up to Maggie Howland,
+&#8220;there&#8217;s a very large parcel addressed to you in the hall. It
+has been paid for; we are all dying with curiosity to know
+what it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie rose abruptly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will go and look at it myself,&#8221; she said. &#8220;A large parcel
+addressed to me! Who can have sent me anything?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks like a huge dress-box,&#8221; said Cicely. &#8220;We&#8217;re all
+curious about it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></p>
+<p>Before any girl could leave the drawing-room it was necessary
+that she should ask Mrs. Ward&#8217;s permission. So Maggie
+now went up to that good lady and asked if she might
+go and look at her parcel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A parcel for you, dear?&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;And you
+want to see its contents? But bring it in here; we shall all
+be delighted to look at it&mdash;sha&#8217;n&#8217;t we, girls?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie went away, wondering a good deal. Cicely accompanied
+her. Miss Johnson also appeared on the scene.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Maggie,&#8221; she said, &#8220;what can you have got? Such
+a huge box, and all covered over with brown paper! I don&#8217;t
+suppose Mrs. Ward would really like that box to be brought
+into the drawing-room. I&#8217;ll just go and ask her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>One of Mrs. Ward&#8217;s peculiarities, and perhaps one of the
+reasons why she was such a favorite and led her girls with
+such gentle, silken cords, was her power of entering into
+their pleasures. She used to confess with a smile that she
+was like a child herself over an unopened parcel; and when
+Miss Johnson appeared with the information that the box
+was large and cumbersome, Mrs. Ward still gave directions
+that it was to be brought into the drawing-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can put some of the brown paper on the floor, if you
+like, Lucy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and Maggie can show us its contents.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now, one glance at the parcel told Maggie Howland who had
+sent it. She recognized her stepfather&#8217;s writing. That bold
+commercial hand was painfully visible on the label. She
+would have given worlds not to have anything selected for
+her by Martin exhibited in the drawing-room at Aylmer
+House. But to refuse to show the contents of the box would
+but raise strong suspicion against her. She therefore, although
+very unwillingly, followed Miss Johnson into the
+drawing-room. The box was laid on the floor. The lid was
+removed, some tissue-paper was next extricated, and beneath
+lay a wardrobe such as poor Maggie even in her wildest
+dreams had never imagined. There was a letter lying on
+the top which she clutched and put into her pocket. This
+letter was in her stepfather&#8217;s writing. She could not read it
+before the others. Aneta and all the girls of her set, also
+Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell, Rosamond Dacre, Matty and Clara Roache,
+Janet Barns, the Tristrams, the Cardews, all clustered round
+the box.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what fun!&#8221; said Kathleen. &#8220;A box of dresses for
+you! You lucky Queen Maggie! How I wish some one would
+send me some clothes!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take them out, dear, and let us look at them,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Ward.</p>
+<p>The first dress to be removed was a magenta cachemire.
+It was made with a short skirt trimmed with little frills
+of the same. The bodice had sleeves to the elbows, and long,
+coarse cream-colored lace sleeves below. The front of the
+dress was also much bedizened by the same coarse cream lace.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></p>
+<p>Maggie felt her face nearly purple with rage. &#8220;Oh, why
+must all these things be looked at here?&#8221; she said; and there
+was a piteous note in her voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see the necessity, dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward kindly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, oh! please, please,&#8221; said Kathleen, &#8220;we <i>must</i> see the
+others. Here&#8217;s a sage-green dress trimmed with bands of
+black silk: that will be quite useful in the winter, won&#8217;t it,
+Mags?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She tried to speak kindly, for the sage-green dress was as
+little to her taste as the impossible magenta. Under the two
+dresses were ribbons of different shades and hues, some strong,
+coarse stockings, some square-toed shoes, and finally, below
+everything else, an evening-dress made of voile, and deep
+blue in tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some of the things will he very useful,&#8221; said Miss Johnson.
+&#8220;I will put them all back again now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But whom have they come from?&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;I
+saw you take a note and put it into your pocket, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, these are a present from my stepfather,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Johnson, you will take them upstairs, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+said Mrs. Ward.&mdash;&#8220;It is kind of your stepfather to think of
+you, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie looked up and met Aneta&#8217;s glance. Was Aneta thinking
+of the Martyns of The Meadows? The color rushed all
+over Maggie&#8217;s face. She clenched her hands. &#8220;I hate the
+horrid, horrid things!&#8221; she said. &#8220;I won&#8217;t wear one of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come, dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward kindly; &#8220;your stepfather
+means very well indeed by you. He has doubtless had very
+little to do with dressing a lady before.&mdash;We can slightly
+alter those dresses, can we not, Miss Johnson?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson had now placed all the hideous garments back
+in the box. She said with a smile, &#8220;The sage-green dress
+can be made quite useful; but I rather despair of the magenta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, &#8220;it was meant kindly. Perhaps,
+Maggie, if you gave me your stepfather&#8217;s address I might
+write to him and tell him the sort of things that I like my
+girls to wear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie turned crimson. That would indeed be the final
+straw. She murmured something which Mrs. Ward did not
+choose to hear. To her great relief, the hour for bed had
+arrived, and all the girls went to their rooms.</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson came down again after she had deposited the
+hideous dresses in Maggie&#8217;s wardrobe. &#8220;I quite pity poor little
+Maggie,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What frightful taste! There is really
+nothing in the whole of that box that she can possibly wear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must write to Mr. Martyn,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t
+somebody tell me that he was a country gentleman&mdash;a relation
+of the Martyns of The Meadows? Such particularly nice
+people!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know nothing about that,&#8221; said Miss Johnson. &#8220;I only
+know that the contents of the box are simply atrocious.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, &#8220;we won&#8217;t say anything to annoy
+Maggie to-night; I could see that the poor dear child was
+greatly mortified. I only regret that I had the box opened
+here; but you know it is one of our customs to share all
+our pleasures. Poor little Maggie! The thing was most unlucky.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Up in her room, Maggie had locked her door. She would
+unlock it again, but she must read that frightful letter without
+any chance of being disturbed. She opened it, tore it
+from its envelope, and read the contents:</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Dear Popsy</span>,&mdash;I came across a cheap lot of frocks the
+other day at a bankrupt&#8217;s sale, and thought at once of Little-sing
+and her daughter Popsy-wopsy. I am sending the dresses
+off to you without saying a word to Little-sing. You will be
+well off now for some time, and won&#8217;t require the five pounds
+from me for dress at Christmas. Hope you&#8217;re enjoying your
+fine young ladies and fine life. Neither Little-sing nor me
+miss you a bit; but, all the same, your room will be ready for
+you at Christmas. Take care of those good clothes, for I
+can&#8217;t often spend as much on you.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;Good-bye for the present.&mdash;Your affectionate father,</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; text-align:right'>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Bo-peep</span>.<br /></p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;<i>P.S.</i>&mdash;I have a good mind to call on that fine-lady schoolmistress
+of yours, Mrs. Ward. There&#8217;s no saying but that
+Little-sing and me may come along some afternoon when
+you least expect us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie crushed the letter in her hand. Fresh terrors seemed
+to surround her. Dreadful as the impossible clothes were,
+they were nothing to what the appearance on the scene would
+be of the impossible stepfather and her poor mother. Oh,
+why had she concealed the position of the man whom her
+mother had married? Already Aneta had detected her little
+act of deception with regard to the Martyns of The Meadows.
+But that, Maggie felt, could be got over. It was easy for
+a girl to make a mistake in a matter of that kind, and surely
+there were other Martyns in the country high-born and respectable
+and all that was desirable. But James Martin who
+kept a grocer&#8217;s shop at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush&mdash;James Martin, with
+&#8220;grocer&#8221; written all over him!&mdash;rich, it is true; but, oh, so
+vulgarly rich! Were he to appear and announce his relationship
+to her at the school, she felt that, as far as she was concerned,
+the end of the world would have arrived. What was
+she to do? There was not a minute to be lost. In one way
+or another she had seen a good deal of Bo-peep during the
+last half of those dreadful summer holidays, and she knew
+that he was, as he expressed it, as good as his word.</p>
+<p>Her only chance was in writing to her mother. But then,
+if, by any chance, Maggie&#8217;s letter got into the hands of Bo-peep,
+his wrath would be so great that he would, in all probability,
+take her from the school at once. What was to be
+done? Poor Maggie felt herself between two fires. In either
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+direction was danger. On the whole, she resolved to throw
+herself on her mother&#8217;s mercy. Mrs. Martin, as she was now,
+would much prefer Maggie to remain at school, and she might
+be clever enough to keep Maggie&#8217;s stepfather from putting
+in an appearance at Aylmer House.</p>
+<p>Maggie wrote a short and frantic letter. She was in the
+midst of it when there came a tap at her room-door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s I, Maggie,&#8221; said Miss Johnson&#8217;s voice from without.
+&#8220;Your light is still burning; you ought to be in bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie flew and opened the door. &#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;I was a good deal upset about those detestable clothes. I
+am writing to my mother. Please, Lucy, let me finish the
+letter. When it&#8217;s done&mdash;and I won&#8217;t be a minute longer&mdash;I&#8217;ll
+put it in the post-box myself, so that it can go by the
+first post in the morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, dear,&#8221; said Lucy, who was too kind not to
+be good to any girl in the school; &#8220;only be quick, Maggie,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;for you know you are breaking the rules.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes! oh yes!&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;and I will never do it
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson left her, and Maggie flew back to bend over
+her paper and continue her writing:</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;Darling, you must not let him come here. He threatens
+to come, but you must keep him away. All will be up with
+me if he is seen at the school. I beseech of you have a little
+mercy on me. For the sake of my own father, keep him&mdash;do
+keep him&mdash;from Aylmer House.&mdash;Your distracted daughter,</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; text-align:right'>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Maggie Howland</span>.&#8221;<br /></p>
+<p>This letter was addressed to Mrs. Martin (spelt this time
+with an &#8220;i&#8221;), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie stamped
+it, and, flying downstairs, popped it into the box which held
+the letters.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VILLA' id='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VILLA'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<h3>THE VILLA.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Laburnum Villa, in the suburb of Clapham, was, in the
+new Mrs. Martin&#8217;s eyes, quite a delightful place. She had
+never appreciated her first husband, Professor Howland, but
+she thoroughly appreciated Bo-peep, and after her own
+fashion was fond of him. He gave her comforts. She had
+lived so long without comforts that she appreciated these
+good things of life to the full. She had never really been much
+attached to Maggie, who was too like her own father and too
+unlike herself to allow of the existence of any sympathy
+between them. Maggie, even before Mrs. Howland met Martin
+the Shepherd&#8217;s Bush grocer, had been more or less a thorn
+in the flesh to her mother.</p>
+<p>Laburnum Villa was furnished, as James Martin expressed
+it, with an eye to comfort. There were solid arm-chairs
+with deep seats and good springs, and these were covered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+with maroon-colored leather. There were thick, maroon-colored
+curtains to the dining-room windows, and all the furniture
+of the room was of solid oak. There was a rich Turkey
+carpet on the floor, and prints of different hunting scenes&mdash;by
+no means bad in their way&mdash;hanging on the walls. The
+paint-work of the room was of dull red, and the paper was
+of the same tone. It was a small room, and the furniture was
+large and heavy, but it represented in Martin&#8217;s eyes the very
+essence of comfort. The fireplace was modern, and when it
+was piled up with goodly lumps of coal it caused a warmth
+to pervade the whole room which, as Mrs. Martin expressed
+it, was very stimulating. The house had electric light, which
+both Mr. and Mrs. Martin considered distinguished.</p>
+<p>They spent most of their time in the dining-room, although
+Mrs. Martin, with some faint instinct still left of
+her own life, would have preferred to use the drawing-room
+in the evenings; but when she suggested this Bo-peep
+said, &#8220;No, no, Little-sing; I can smoke here and sit by the
+fire, and enjoy the rest which I have rightly earned. I hate
+rooms full of fal-lals. You can keep your drawing-room for
+the time when I am out, Little-sing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin knew better than to oppose her husband. She
+recognized her own weakness, and knew that against his fiat
+she could no more exercise her puny strength than a babbling
+stream can disturb a great rock. She used her drawing-room
+when Bo-peep was out, and regarded it with intense
+satisfaction. It is true that the colors were crude, for James
+Martin would have screamed at any Liberty tints. But the
+carpet was good of its kind, the pictures on the walls not
+too atrocious. Although they were in gilt frames, the large
+mirrors over the mantelpiece and at one end of the room
+were first rate; in short, the drawing-room was fairly presentable,
+and Mrs. Martin had some traces of her old life
+still lingering about her which gave a look of domesticity
+and even repose to the place. Her little work-basket, with
+its embroidery, was home-like and pleasant. She had forgotten
+how to play, but she always kept the piano open. Bo-peep
+suggested buying a pianola, and Mrs. Martin thought
+it would be a good idea.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll have all the comic operas on it,&#8221; said Bo-peep;
+&#8220;nothing of the classic order for me&mdash;nothing over-my-head,
+but the popular tunes, plenty of them&mdash;no stint. What
+do you say, Little-sing?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Little-sing replied that it would be charming; but in her
+heart she somewhat shuddered, and was glad that the pianola
+was still a thing to be purchased.</p>
+<p>Tildy had been turned into a very presentable little parlor-maid.
+There was also a first-rate cook, for Martin was fond
+of the pleasures of the table. On the whole, the little household
+was comfortable, and Mrs. Martin enjoyed her life. She
+had some cards printed with her new name and address, and
+the notification that she was &#8220;at home&#8221; on the third, fourth,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+and fifth of each month. Tildy was very much excited about
+these At Home days; but the first month after Mrs. Martin&#8217;s
+marriage passed without a single individual calling upon her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin had been settled for over six weeks, and the
+day of Queen Maggie&#8217;s great reception at the school in Kensington
+was drawing on apace. Mrs. Martin was in a state
+of subdued excitement. She was dressed in her best. Her
+best consisted of a light fawn-colored silk with velvet trimmings
+of the same. The silk rustled as she walked. On her
+fingers were many rings of much brilliancy, and she wore a
+small diamond brooch at her throat. The reason of all this
+festive attire was a simple one, a good one, a domestic one.
+James Martin was coming home. He had been in Liverpool,
+engaged on special business, for the greater part of a week;
+but he was now returning to his beloved Little-sing, who
+had missed him, and he was pleased to feel that he would
+be with her again. She knew his tastes to a nicety, and had
+desired the cook to prepare a very special dinner for his
+delectation.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Beef-steak pudding, cook,&#8221; she said, &#8220;with mutton kidneys,
+and plenty of oysters; and be sure the crust is very
+light.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Cook replied that if she did not know how to make beef-steak
+pudding she ought immediately to leave her &#8220;perfession.&#8221;
+She was a stout, red-faced woman, and had a way
+of frightening Mrs. Martin, who generally retreated from the
+kitchen premises as quickly as possible.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin; &#8220;I am glad you quite understand.
+You know that my husband is very particular. Then
+we&#8217;ll have potatoes and fried mushrooms, and I think afterwards
+apple-tart and cream.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The cook, whose name was Horniman, condescended to signify
+her willingness to provide this dinner, and Mrs. Martin
+went up to the drawing-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better light a fire here, Matilda,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+going to be a very cold day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d a sight rayther you called me Tildy, mum. It seems
+like as though a lump o&#8217; ice got on my &#8217;eart when you say
+Mat-tilda.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Matilda&#8217; is more refined and suitable,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin
+with dignity.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, &#8217;um&mdash;&#8217;course, &#8217;um. When &#8217;ull Miss Maggie be
+comin&#8217; to see us, &#8217;um?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not before Christmas, you silly girl. Miss Maggie is at
+school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So I &#8217;ave &#8217;eard,&#8221; said Matilda. &#8220;You &#8217;aven&#8217;t give me no
+&#8217;olidays, &#8217;um, sence I come to yer; and it were understood,
+sure-<i>ly</i>, that I were to &#8217;ave my day out once a month.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall go out to-morrow, Matilda. I haven&#8217;t the slightest
+wish to keep you indoors against your will.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-morrer&#8217;s cook&#8217;s day, &#8217;um.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, you shall go the next day.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, &#8217;um. I thought I&#8217;d go and see Miss Maggie
+ef you&#8217;d give me her address.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, now, that&#8217;s a very good idea,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin. &#8220;I
+could write her a little note, and you could take it to her.
+That&#8217;s very thoughtful of you, Tilda. Yes, I should like you
+to go and bring me word how she is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s longin&#8217; I am to lay eyes on &#8217;er, mum. She&#8217;s a bee-utiful
+way with &#8217;er,&#8221; said Matilda.</p>
+<p>When she was quite alone Mrs. Martin took that letter of
+Maggie&#8217;s, which she had received during her husband&#8217;s absence,
+from her pocket. She was terrified lest Bo-peep should
+read it. The letter had offended her. Maggie had written
+with great fire and distress: &#8220;You must not let him come
+here. All will be up with me if he is seen at the school.
+For the sake of my own father, keep him from Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin slipped it back into her pocket, and then sat
+by her comfortable drawing-room fire waiting for the arrival
+of the good Bo-peep. He was a very playful creature. His
+one idea of happiness consisted in endless jokes&mdash;practical
+jokes or otherwise, just as it suited him at the moment.</p>
+<p>He had done a very successful stroke of business in Liverpool,
+and was returning to Laburnum Villa in the highest
+spirits. While he was in the train he was planning how he
+could most effectively announce his return. To ring at his
+own hall-door, or to open it with a latch-key, or to walk in in
+the ordinary fashion of the master of the house did not content
+him at all. He must invent a more novel manner of
+return than that. He was really fond of Little-sing. She
+suited him to perfection. What he called her &#8220;fine-lady
+airs,&#8221; when they were displayed to any one but himself,
+pleased him mightily. He thought of her as pretty and
+gracious and sweet. He really loved her after his own fashion,
+and would do anything in his power to make her happy. But
+he must, as he expressed it, have his joke.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin was seated by the fire in the drawing-room.
+It was getting late&mdash;nearly four o&#8217;clock; but, according to
+an expressed wish of Bo-peep, the window-blinds had not yet
+been drawn down. He liked, as he said, to see his home
+before he entered it. Mrs. Martin, therefore, with the electric
+light on, was perfectly visible from the road. Mr. Martin
+guessed that this would be the case, and he stopped the cab
+at a little distance from the house, paid the fare, shouldered
+his bag, and walked softly down the street. He went and
+stood outside the window. He looked in. The street was
+a quiet one, and at that moment there were no passers-by.
+Mrs. Martin was seated in her smart dress which he had
+given her, with her profile towards him. He thought her
+very beautiful indeed. His heart swelled with pride. She
+belonged to him. He hated fine ladies, as a rule; but a fine
+lady who was his very own was a different matter. He even
+felt romantic.</p>
+<p>She was reading a letter. Who could have been writing to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+Little-sing? Suddenly it occurred to him to slip down the
+area steps and stand close under the window. He did so,
+to the terror of cook and Tildy. Cook was about to scream,
+&#8220;Burglars!&#8221; but Tildy recognized her master.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s his joke,&#8221; she said. &#8220;&#8217;E&#8217;s a wonderful man for jokes.
+Don&#8217;t let on to Mrs. Martin that &#8217;e&#8217;s &#8217;ere for your life. &#8217;E&#8217;ll
+do something so comic in a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The comicality of Martin consisted, in the present instance,
+of singing in a harsh baritone the song of the Troubadour:</p>
+<table style='margin: auto' summary=''><tr><td>
+<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'>
+&#8220;Gaily the Troubadour<br />
+<span style='margin-left: 0.78125em;'>Touched his guitar,</span><br />
+When he was hastening<br />
+<span style='margin-left: 0.78125em;'>Home from the war;</span><br />
+Singing, &#8216;From Palestine<br />
+<span style='margin-left: 0.78125em;'>Hither I come.</span><br />
+Ladye love! ladye love!<br />
+<span style='margin-left: 0.78125em;'>Welcome me home.&#8217;&#8221;</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+<p>Mrs. Martin gave a shriek. She had the presence of mind
+to pop her letter into her pocket. Then she approached the
+window, trembling and blushing. Bo-peep uttered a huge
+laugh of delight, let himself in by the back way, and ran up
+the stairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little-sing!&#8221; he said, and clasped his wife in his arms.</p>
+<p>During dinner James Martin was in high good humor, and
+it was not until dessert was put on the table and he had
+helped himself liberally to port wine, and was filling his pipe
+for his evening smoke, that it occurred to him to speak to his
+wife about Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;By the way,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I did a right good turn for that
+girl of yours, Little-sing, before I left for Liverpool. I sent
+her a box of clothes&mdash;two smart everyday dresses, an evening
+dress, and no end of fal-lals. She wrote to thank me, I suppose?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She wrote to me, dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin, trembling a good
+deal. &#8220;She was very much obliged to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And well she ought to be. Did she clearly understand
+that I sent her the things&mdash;that you had nothing to do with
+them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin. &#8220;Won&#8217;t you have some
+coffee, James? I&#8217;ll tell Matilda to bring it in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Coffee&mdash;fiddlestick!&#8221; said Martin; &#8220;and you know I hate
+to be called &#8216;James.&#8217; Where&#8217;s Bo-peep?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are Bo-peep,&#8221; said his wife with a funny smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, no &#8216;Jamesing&#8217; of me. I think it is very queer
+of your daughter not to reply to me when I send her expensive
+and handsome things. What did she say in her letter to
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she was very grateful, of course, Bo-peep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;but&mdash;where&#8217;s the letter? I may as well see it.
+There&#8217;s stuff in that girl. I don&#8217;t despair of her yet. She has
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+a head for business. I wouldn&#8217;t have your dear little head
+muddled with business, but your daughter&#8217;s a different person.
+She has nothing whatever to live on except what I allow her,
+and unless she is to starve she has got to please me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin might have said, had she not been afraid, that
+Maggie was certainly entitled to her own father&#8217;s money; but
+it is to be regretted that Little-sing had not much courage.</p>
+<p>Matilda came in with the coffee, which caused a slight
+diversion, more particularly as it was not to Martin&#8217;s taste,
+who desired her to take it away again, and request Horniman
+to send him something fit to drink. When the door was
+closed behind Matilda he renewed the subject of the letter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saw you reading something as I came along,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;When I peeped in at the window you had a letter in your
+hand. Who has been writing to you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that is the letter you spoke about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear James&mdash;I mean Bo-peep&mdash;yes. The child is
+very grateful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She ought to be. I&#8217;d like to see the letter. Where is
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will go upstairs and fetch it,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin, who
+knew well that it was safe in her pocket all the time.</p>
+<p>James Martin roused himself and gave her a studied look.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Bring it back to me at once. If I have
+to support that girl, and keep her at school, and pay for her
+clothing, I&#8217;ll allow her to have no secrets from me. You understand
+that, don&#8217;t you, Little-sing?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. I will fetch the letter,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin.</p>
+<p>She left the room. Martin was fond of her, but he was no
+fool. He was certain now that there was something in the
+letter which his wife did not wish him to see, and his curiosity
+was instantly aroused. He was determined to read poor
+Maggie&#8217;s letter at any cost. He waited impatiently, drumming
+his large, fat hand on the highly polished oak table the while.
+Tildy came in with fresh coffee.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, sir,&#8221; she said, &#8220;cook wants to see you for a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see her now. Tell her so,&#8221; replied Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which is no message for a woman of my class,&#8221; said Horniman,
+entering the room and showing a very heated face.
+&#8220;I wishes to give notice that I leave your service this day
+month.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can go to-morrow,&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As you please, sir; wages in full.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You go to-morrow,&#8221; said Martin; &#8220;and if you say another
+word you go to-night. Leave the room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tildy breathed a little quickly, felt inclined to pat master
+on the back, thought better of it, and left the room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Whatever is keeping Little-sing?&#8221; thought Martin to
+himself.</p>
+<p>He was not going to worry about cook and her whims, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+of Little-sing and the letter. He grew a little more suspicious,
+and consequently a little more angry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has that letter in her pocket; I saw her put it there
+when I was acting the part of the Troubadour,&#8221; he said to
+himself. &#8220;She is destroying it now; but she sha&#8217;n&#8217;t&mdash;not
+before I get it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He softly left the dining-room and crept with catlike steps
+upstairs. He stopped outside his wife&#8217;s bedroom. There was
+a light burning there. He turned the handle of the door. It
+was locked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Open the door at once,&#8221; he said; and Mrs. Martin flew to
+do so.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Bo-peep, you gave me a fright!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is that letter, Victoria?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&mdash;it&mdash;I can&#8217;t find it,&#8221; she replied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are those papers lying on the floor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin gave a cry. Mr. Martin was too quick for her.
+He swept up the pieces of torn letter, collected them in his
+great hand, and, taking Mrs. Martin with the other hand,
+returned with her to the dining-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, you sit there, Little-sing,&#8221; he said, &#8220;while I piece
+the letter together. There is something in it that you want
+hidden from me; but you&#8217;ve quite mistook your man. There
+are to be no secrets between you and me. I&#8217;m not the least
+bit angry with you, but I am not going to have that girl ruling
+you. You&#8217;re frightened of that girl. Now, let&#8217;s see what she
+has to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Poor Mrs. Martin trembled from head to foot. Suddenly
+she went on her knees, clasped her hands round Bo-peep&#8217;s
+arm, and looked into his face. &#8220;She was naughty. She was
+a silly child. Oh, forgive her! I ought to have destroyed the
+letter. I ought not to have kept it until you came back.
+Please&mdash;please, don&#8217;t read it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense, Little-sing,&#8221; he replied, restored once more to
+the height of good humor. &#8220;You have roused my curiosity;
+nothing will induce me not to see every word of the letter
+now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It took Martin some time to piece together poor Maggie&#8217;s
+letter; but at last the greater part of its meaning was made
+plain to him. Mrs. Martin sat, white as death, looking at her
+lord and master. What was going to happen? What awful
+thing lay ahead of her? She felt crushed beyond words.
+Once again she struggled to get on her knees to implore him,
+to entreat; but Martin put out his great hand and kept her
+forcibly in her seat.</p>
+<p>When he had quite taken in the meaning of the letter he
+made no comment whatever, but carefully deposited the torn
+fragments in his pocket-book. Then he said quietly, &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+blame you, Little-sing, not one bit. But we&#8217;ve got to punish
+this girl. To-morrow I shall be busy in town. The day after
+will be Friday, and I shall be busy then; but on Saturday we&#8217;ll
+take a half-holiday and go to visit Miss Margaret Howland at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+Aylmer House&mdash;you and me together, Little-sing&mdash;the grocer
+and his wife together. Not a word, my love; not a word.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI_TILDYS_MESSAGE' id='CHAPTER_XXI_TILDYS_MESSAGE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<h3>TILDY&#8217;S MESSAGE.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Nothing ever kept Mrs. Martin awake; and, notwithstanding
+her anxiety with regard to Maggie, she slept soundly that
+night. Bo-peep was his own delightful self. His jokes were
+really too good for anything! She regarded him as the wittiest
+man of her acquaintance. She laughed till the tears ran
+down her cheeks. He told her that he would take her to the
+theater on the following evening, and further said that he
+would engage a cook himself in town, send her out in the
+course of the morning, and that Horniman could go.</p>
+<p>Horniman came up to interview her mistress soon after
+Martin&#8217;s departure. She was penitent now, and willing to
+stay; but nothing would induce Martin himself to forgive her,
+and, in consequence, Mrs. Martin did not dare to do so. The
+woman was paid her wages in full, and dismissed. Then it
+occurred to Mrs. Martin that here was her opportunity to send
+a short note of warning to Maggie. Why she did not send it
+by post it is hard to ascertain; but she thought that it would
+go more swiftly and surely if Tildy were the messenger.</p>
+<p>Accordingly she sent for Tildy and told her what she expected
+her to do.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Matilda,&#8221; she said, &#8220;cook has gone, and I shall be quite
+content with tea and toast and a lightly boiled egg for my
+lunch. After lunch you can take the train to London and
+convey a message from me to Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh mum, &#8217;ow beauteous!&#8221; said Tildy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will have a letter ready which you are, if possible, to put
+into her own hands.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, &#8217;um; and don&#8217;t I long to see &#8217;er, jest!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, this is the address,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin. &#8220;Get everything
+cosy and comfortable in the house, and bring me my
+tea by one o&#8217;clock. A train will take you to Victoria at half-past
+one, which you ought to catch. You can easily be back
+here between four and five; by that time the new cook will
+have arrived.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Things ain&#8217;t dull a bit to-day&#8217;,&#8221; said Tildy. &#8220;They&#8217;re much
+more Shepherd&#8217;s Bushy, and I like &#8217;em a sight better than I
+did.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, go now, and attend to your business,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Martin.</p>
+<p>Having secured a messenger, Mrs. Martin next prepared to
+write to poor Maggie:</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; '>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>My dear Child</span>,&mdash;Most unfortunately your father has discovered
+the letter you wrote to me. He doesn&#8217;t say much, but
+I can see that he is furiously angry. He intends to take me
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+with him to call on you next Saturday&mdash;I presume, some time
+in the afternoon. I will try to make him dress in as gentlemanly
+a manner as possible, and also will endeavor to prevent
+his talking about the shop. You must make the very best of
+things you can, dear; for there&#8217;s no possible way of keeping
+him from Aylmer House.&mdash;Your affectionate mother,</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em; margin-right:2.0em; text-align:right'>&#8220;<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Victoria Martin</span>.&#8221;<br /></p>
+<p>When the letter was finished Mrs. Martin put it into an
+envelope, addressed to Miss Maggie Howland, Aylmer House,
+Randal Square, South Kensington, and put it into Tildy&#8217;s care.
+Tildy caught her train all in good time, arrived at Victoria,
+and took a bus to South Kensington. A very little inquiry
+enabled her to find Randal Square, and at about half-past
+two she was standing on the steps of that most refined and
+genteel home, Aylmer House. The look of the place impressed
+her, but did not give her any sense of intimidation.
+When the door was opened to her modest ring, and the
+pleasant, bright-looking parlor-maid answered her summons,
+Tildy gazed at her with great interest but without a scrap
+of shyness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve come from &#8217;er &#8217;ome to see Miss Maggie &#8217;Owland,&#8221;
+said Tildy; &#8220;and I&#8217;ve a message for &#8217;er from &#8217;er ma.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girl, whose name was Agnes, stared for a minute at
+Tildy. She recognized her &#8220;sort&#8221; in a moment. Tildy belonged
+to the lodging-house sort of girl. What she could
+have to do with one of Agnes&#8217;s young ladies puzzled that
+young person considerably. It was the rule, however, at
+Aylmer House that no one, however poor or humble, should
+be treated with rudeness, and certainly a person bringing
+a message to one of the young ladies was entitled to respect.
+Agnes said, therefore, in a polite and superior tone, &#8220;Step
+in, will you, miss? and I will find out if Miss Howland is in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tildy stepped into the hall, feeling, as she expressed it,
+&#8220;dream-like and queer all over.&#8221; She did not dare to sit
+down, but stood on the mat, gazing with her bright, inquisitive
+eyes at the various things in this new world in which
+she found herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How beauteous!&#8221; she kept repeating at intervals. &#8220;Why,
+Laburnum Villa ain&#8217;t a patch on this. How very beauteous!
+No wonder Miss Maggie &#8217;ave the hair of a queen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now, it so happened that Maggie Howland was out, and
+would not be back for some time. This was the day when
+she and the other girls belonging to her kingdom had gone
+forth to purchase all sorts of good things for the coming
+feast. Maggie, as queen, had put a whole sovereign into the
+bag. There would, therefore, be no stint of first-class provisions.
+Every sort of eatable that was not usually permitted
+at Aylmer House was to grace the board&mdash;jelly, meringues,
+frosted cake, tipsy cake, as well as chickens garnished
+in the most exquisite way and prepared specially by a confectioner
+round the corner; also different dainties in aspic
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+jellies were to be ordered. Then flowers were to be secured
+in advance, so as to make the table really very beautiful.</p>
+<p>Maggie, Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell, and Janet were the people selected
+to arrange about the supper. Not a single thing was
+to be cooked in the establishment; this would give extra
+trouble to the servants, and was therefore not to be permitted.
+The girls would make their own sandwiches; and, oh, what
+troublesome thoughts they had over these! Maggie was in
+the highest spirits, and left the house with her companions&mdash;Miss
+Johnson, of course, in close attendance&mdash;half-an-hour
+before Tildy with her ominous letter appeared on the scene.</p>
+<p>Now, it so happened that Agnes knew nothing at all of the
+absence of the young ladies. They usually went out by a side-door
+which had been specially assigned to their use when
+the house was turned into a school. As Agnes was going
+upstairs, however, in order to try to find Maggie, she met
+Aneta coming down.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh miss,&#8221; she said, &#8220;can you tell me if Miss Howland
+is in?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;I happen to know that she is out, and
+I don&#8217;t think she will be in for some little time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, miss; the young person will be sorry, I expect.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What young person?&#8221; asked Aneta, eager in her turn to
+find out why Maggie was inquired for.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A girl, miss, who has called, and has asked very particularly
+to see Miss Howland. She&#8217;s rather a common sort of
+girl, miss, although I dare say she means well.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will go and see her myself,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;perhaps I can
+convey a message from her to Miss Howland, for I know she
+won&#8217;t be back for some little time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Agnes, quite relieved in her mind, turned down the back-stairs
+and went to attend to her numerous duties. A few
+minutes after, Aneta, in all her slim grace, stood in the hall
+and confronted Tildy. Aneta was herself going out; she was
+going out with Mademoiselle Laplage. They had some commissions
+to execute. The day was a foggy one, and they were
+both rather in a hurry. Nevertheless, Aneta stopped to say
+a kind word to Tildy. Tildy gazed at her with open-eyed
+admiration. Beautiful as the house was, this young lady
+was indeed a radiant and dazzling vision.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She made me sort o&#8217; choky,&#8221; said Tildy as she related
+the circumstance afterwards to Mrs. Martin. &#8220;There was
+a hair about her. Well, much as I loves our Miss Maggie,
+she ain&#8217;t got the hair o&#8217; that beauteous young lady, with &#8217;er
+eyes as blue as the sky, and &#8217;er walk so very distinguishified.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What can I do for you?&#8221; said Aneta now, in a kind tone.</p>
+<p>Tildy dropped an awkward curtsy. &#8220;I&#8217;ve come, miss,&#8221; she
+said, &#8220;to see our Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Howland is out,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, miss!&#8221; replied Tildy, the corners of her mouth beginning
+to droop, &#8220;that&#8217;s crool &#8217;ard on me. Do you think,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+miss, if I may make so bold as to inquire, that Miss Maggie &#8217;ll
+be in soon?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not think so,&#8221; replied Aneta; &#8220;but I can convey any
+message you like to her, if you will trust me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh miss,&#8221; said Tildy, worshipping Aneta on the spot, &#8220;who
+wouldn&#8217;t trust one like you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what is it? What can I do for you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was maid, miss&mdash;maid-of-all-work&mdash;at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush
+when Miss Maggie and &#8217;er ma used to live there; and when
+Mrs. &#8217;Owland married Martin the grocer they was that kind
+they took me to live at Laburnum Villa. It&#8217;s a very rich
+and comfortable &#8217;ouse, miss; and the way they two goes on is
+most excitin&#8217;. It&#8217;s joke, joke, and play, play, from morn till
+night&mdash;that&#8217;s the ma and steppa of Miss Maggie. I&#8217;ve brought
+a letter from Mrs. Martin to be delivered straight to Miss
+Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can give it to her,&#8221; said Aneta in her calm voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll per&#8217;aps mention, miss,&#8221; said Tildy, taking the
+letter from her pocket, &#8220;as I called, and as I love our dear
+Miss Maggie as much as I ever did. You&#8217;ll per&#8217;aps say, miss,
+with my dutiful respects, that my &#8217;eart is &#8217;ers, and always
+will be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will give her a kind message,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;and safely
+deliver her mother&#8217;s letter to her. I am afraid there&#8217;s no use
+in asking you to stay, as Miss Howland is very much occupied
+just now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, miss, I&#8217;ve delivered my message faithful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As Aneta spoke she herself opened the hall-door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-day, miss,&#8221; said Tildy, dropping another curtsy,
+&#8220;and I wishes you well.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-day,&#8221; replied Aneta.</p>
+<p>Tildy&#8217;s little form was swallowed up in the fog, which
+was growing thicker each moment, and at that instant
+Mademoiselle Laplage, profuse in apologies for her brief delay,
+entered the hall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pardon me, <i>ma ch&egrave;re</i>, that I have caused you to wait. I
+was just ready to descend, when&mdash;see! the lace of my shoe
+was broken. But what will you? You will go out in this
+dreadful fog?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta replied in French that she did not think the fog
+was too thick, and the French governess and the girl went
+out together into the street. But all the time Aneta Lysle
+was thinking hard. She was in possession of Maggie&#8217;s secret.
+Her stepfather, instead of being related to the Martyns of
+The Meadows, was a grocer! Aneta belonged to that class of
+persons who think a great deal of good birth. She did not
+mind Tildy in the least, for Tildy was so far below her as
+to be after a fashion quite companionable; but&mdash;a grocer!
+Nevertheless, Aneta had a heart. She thought of Maggie, and
+the more she thought of her the more pitiful she felt towards
+her. She did not want to crush or humiliate her schoolfellow.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+She felt almost glad that the secret of Maggie&#8217;s unhappiness
+had been made known to her. She might at last
+gain a true influence over the girl.</p>
+<p>Her walk, therefore, with Mademoiselle Laplage took place
+almost in silence. They hastily executed their commissions,
+and presently found themselves in Pearce&#8217;s shop, where Aneta
+had taken a brooch a day or two ago to have a pin put on.</p>
+<p>The shopman, as he handed her the mended brooch, said
+at the same time, &#8220;If you will excuse me, miss, you are one
+of the young ladies who live at Aylmer House?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;that is true.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I wonder, miss, if&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;He paused a minute, looked
+hard at the girl, and then continued, &#8220;Might my brother
+speak to you for a minute, miss?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it make so cold!&#8221; said mademoiselle, who knew very
+little of the English tongue, &#8220;and behold&mdash;zee fog! I have
+such fear of it. It is not to joke when it fogs in your country,
+<i>ma ch&egrave;re. Il faute bien d&eacute;p&ecirc;cher</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall be quite ready to come back with you in a minute
+or two,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Just then the man who had bought the brooch from Maggie
+appeared. &#8220;I am very sorry, miss,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I thought
+that, instead of writing to Miss Howland, I might send her
+a message; otherwise I should have to see Mrs. Ward on
+the matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what matter is it?&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;You want to see
+Miss Howland, or you want me to take her a message?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, miss, it&#8217;s no special secret; only my brother and
+I cannot afford to buy the brooch which she sold us the other
+day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Miss Howland sold
+you a brooch? Then if she sold it, you did buy it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is, miss,&#8221; said young Pearce, coloring rather
+deeply, &#8220;I was not myself quite aware of its value at the
+time, and I gave the young lady much too small a sum of
+money for it. I want her to return me the money, and I
+will give her back the brooch. My brother and I have been
+talking it over, and we cannot do an injustice to one of the
+ladies at Aylmer House&mdash;it is quite impossible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will give your message,&#8221; said Aneta coldly. &#8220;Please do
+not purchase anything else from Miss Howland. She will
+doubtless call to see you to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, miss; then that is all right,&#8221; said the man,
+looking much relieved.</p>
+<p>Aneta hastened home. She felt perplexed and alarmed.
+She must see Maggie, and as soon as possible. It was a strange
+fact that while Maggie was in no danger at all, while everything
+seemed to be going right with her, and as long as she
+held an undeniable position in the school as one of the queens,
+Aneta could scarcely endure her; that now that Maggie Howland,
+was, so to speak, at her mercy, this girl, whose nature
+was fine and brave and good, felt a strong desire to help her.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span></p>
+<p>There were, however, very strict rules at Aylmer House,
+and one of them was that no girl on any account whatsoever
+was to sell any of her possessions in order to make money.
+This was one of the unwritten rules of the school; but the
+idea of an Aylmer House girl really requiring to do such a
+thing was never contemplated for an instant. There were
+broad lines of conduct, however, which no girl was expected
+to pass. Liberty was allowed to a great extent at Aylmer
+House; but it was a liberty which only those who struggle
+to walk in the right path can fully enjoy. Crooked ways,
+underhand dealings, could not be permitted in the school.</p>
+<p>Maggie had done quite enough to cause her to be expelled.
+There had been times when Aneta almost wished for this;
+when she had felt deep down in her heart that Maggie Howland
+was the one adverse influence in the school; when she
+had been certain that if Maggie Howland were removed all the
+other girls would come more or less under her own gentle
+sway, and she would be queen, not of the greater number
+of the girls at Aylmer House, but of all the girls, and very
+gentle, very loving, very sympathetic would be her rule. Her
+subjects should feel her sympathy, but at the same time
+they should acknowledge her power. Maggie&#8217;s was a counter-influence;
+and now there was a chance of putting a stop to it.</p>
+<p>Aneta knew well that, kind as Mrs. Ward was to Maggie,
+she did not in her heart absolutely trust her. Therefore,
+if Maggie left it would also be a relief to Mrs. Ward. Miss
+Johnson might be sorry, and one or two of the girls might
+be sorry; in particular, dear little Merry. Aneta had a great
+love for Merry, and was deeply sorry to feel that Merry was
+under Maggie&#8217;s spell; that was the case, although she did
+not openly belong to Maggie&#8217;s party. So Merry too would
+be saved if Maggie left the school. Oh! it was most desirable,
+and Aneta held the key of the position in her hand. She
+also had in her pocket Mrs. Martin&#8217;s letter. That did not
+perhaps so greatly matter, for Maggie&#8217;s father, whatever her
+mother had done, was himself a gentleman; but the fact of
+Maggie&#8217;s slipping out of doors alone to sell an ornament was
+a sufficiently grave offense to banish her from such a school
+as Aylmer House.</p>
+<p>Yes, Aneta could send her away, but it might be managed
+dexterously. Maggie might stay till the end of the present
+term and then go, knowing herself that she would never
+return, whereas the girls would know nothing about it until
+the beginning of the next term, when they would no longer
+see her familiar face or hear her pleasant voice. A few of
+them might be sorry, but they would quickly forget. The
+school would be the better for her absence. The thing could
+be done, and it would be done, if Aneta used that knowledge
+which she now possessed.</p>
+<p>The girls all met at tea, and Maggie was in the highest
+spirits. She knew nothing whatever of all the information
+which Aneta had gathered in her absence. She knew nothing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+of Tildy&#8217;s arrival, of Tildy&#8217;s departure, nor of the letter which
+Aneta had put into one of her drawers. Still less did she
+know anything of Pearce and his betrayal of her. She and
+her companions had had a very pleasant time, and immediately
+after tea, in the &#8220;leisure hours,&#8221; they were to meet
+in the girl&#8217;s private sitting-room to discuss matters officially.</p>
+<p>The Aneta girls had, by common consent, given up the room
+to them during these last important days. There were plenty
+of nooks and corners all over the cheerful house where they
+could amuse themselves and talk secrets, and have that sort
+of confidence which schoolgirls delight in.</p>
+<p>As soon as tea was over Maggie jumped up and said, &#8220;Now,
+Kitty&#8221;&mdash;she turned to Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell as she spoke&mdash;&#8220;you
+and I, and Rosamond and Jane, and Matty and Clara, and
+the Tristrams will get through our work as quickly as possible.&mdash;I
+suppose, girls&#8221;&mdash;here she glanced at Aneta in particular&mdash;&#8220;you
+will let us have the sitting-room as usual during
+the leisure hours?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we will,&#8221; said Sylvia St. John in her gentle
+tone; but she had scarcely uttered the words before Aneta
+rose.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course you can have the sitting-room,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but
+I want to talk to you, Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t, I am afraid, just now,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I am
+much too busy.&mdash;We have to go into accounts, girls,&#8221; she
+added. &#8220;There are no end of things to be done, besides, at
+the rehearsal.&#8221; Here she dropped her voice slightly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The rest of you can go to the sitting-room and do what
+is necessary,&#8221; continued Aneta. &#8220;I want you, Maggie, and
+you had better come with me.&#8221; She spoke very firmly.</p>
+<p>A dogged look came into Maggie&#8217;s face. She threw back her
+head and glanced full at Aneta. &#8220;I go with you,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;just because you ask me, forsooth! You forget yourself,
+Queen Aneta. I also am a queen and have a kingdom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My business with you has something to do with a person
+who calls herself Tildy,&#8221; said Aneta in her gravest voice; and
+Maggie suddenly felt as though a cold douche had been thrown
+over her. She colored a vivid red. Then she turned eagerly
+to Kathleen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t be a minute,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You all go into the sitting-room
+and get the accounts in order. You might also go over
+that tableaux with Diana Vernon.&mdash;Kathleen, you know that
+you must put a little more life into your face than you did
+the other day; and&mdash;and&mdash;oh dear, how annoying this is!&mdash;Yes,
+of course I will go with you, Aneta. You won&#8217;t keep me
+a minute?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie and Aneta left the room.</p>
+<p>Merry turned to her sister and said in a troubled voice, &#8220;I
+can&#8217;t imagine why it is that Aneta doesn&#8217;t care for poor Maggie.
+I love Aneta, of course, for she is our very own cousin;
+but I cannot understand her want of sympathy for dearest
+Maggie.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not altogether quite so fond of Maggie as you are,
+Merry; and you know that,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;You are altogether taken up
+with Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, and with school generally,&#8221; said Cicely, &#8220;it is all so
+splendid. But come, we are alone in the room, and losing
+some of our delightful leisure hours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Maggie-girls had meanwhile retired into the sitting-room,
+where they stood together in groups, talking about the
+excitement which was to take place on the following Saturday
+(it was now Thursday), and paying very little heed to Maggie&#8217;s
+injunctions to put the accounts in order.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t bother about accounts,&#8221; said Kitty; &#8220;there&#8217;s heaps
+of money left in the bag. Wasn&#8217;t it scrumptious of old Mags
+to put a whole sovereign in? And I know she is not rich, the
+dear old precious!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is exactly the sort of girl who would do a generous
+thing,&#8221; said Clara Roache, &#8220;and of course, as queen, she felt
+that she must put a little more money into the bag than the
+rest of us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, she needn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Kathleen. &#8220;I&#8217;d have loved her
+just as much if she hadn&#8217;t put a penny in. She is a duck,
+though! I can&#8217;t think why I care so much about her, for
+she&#8217;s not beautiful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Strictly speaking, she is plain,&#8221; said Janet Burns; &#8220;but
+in a case like Maggie&#8217;s plain face doesn&#8217;t matter in the least.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has got something inside,&#8221; said Matty, &#8220;which makes
+up for her plain features. It&#8217;s her soul shining out of her
+eyes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, of course,&#8221; said Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell; &#8220;and it fills her
+voice too. She has got power and&mdash;what you call charm. She
+is meant to rule people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I admire her myself more than Aneta Lysle,&#8221; said Janet
+Burns, &#8220;although of course all the world would call Aneta
+beautiful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that is quite true,&#8221; said Kathleen; &#8220;but I call Aneta
+a little stiff, and she is very determined too, and she doesn&#8217;t
+like poor old Mags one single bit. Wasn&#8217;t it jolly of Mags to
+get up this glorious day for us? Won&#8217;t we have fun? Aneta
+may look to her laurels, for it&#8217;s my opinion that the Gibsons
+and the Cardews will both come over to our side after Saturday.&#8221;</p>
+<p>While this conversation was going on, and Maggie&#8217;s absence
+was deplored, and no business whatever was being done
+towards the entertainment of Saturday, Maggie found herself
+seated opposite to Aneta in Aneta&#8217;s own bedroom. Maggie felt
+queer and shaken. She did not quite know what was the
+matter. Aneta&#8217;s face was very quiet.</p>
+<p>After a time she drew a letter from her pocket and put it
+into Maggie&#8217;s hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who brought this?&#8221; asked Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A person who called herself Tildy.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span></p>
+<p>Maggie held the letter unopened in her lap.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you read it?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Maggie took it up and glanced at the handwriting. Then
+she put it down again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s from my mother,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It can keep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot imagine,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;anybody waiting even for
+one moment to read a letter which one&#8217;s own mother has written.
+My mother is dead, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She spoke in a low tone, and her pretty eyelashes rested
+on her softly rounded cheeks.</p>
+<p>Maggie looked at her. &#8220;Why did you bring me up here,
+Aneta, away from all the others, away from our important
+business, to give me this letter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you would rather have it in private,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You thought more than that, Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I thought more than that,&#8221; said Aneta in her gentlest
+tone.</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s queer, narrow, eyes flashed fire. Suddenly she
+stood up. &#8220;You have something to say. Say it, and be quick,
+for I must go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think you must go just yet, Maggie; for what I
+have to say cannot be said in a minute. You will have to
+give up your leisure hours to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot. Our entertainment is on Saturday.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The entertainment must wait,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;It is of no
+consequence compared to what I have to say to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, have it out!&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You were always spying
+and prying on me. You always hated me. I don&#8217;t know what
+I have done to you. I&#8217;d have left you alone if you had left
+me alone; but you have interfered with me and made my
+life miserable. God knows, I am not too happy&#8221;&mdash;Maggie
+struggled with her emotion&mdash;&#8220;but you have made things
+twice as bad.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you really, really think that, Maggie? Please don&#8217;t
+say any more, then, until you hear me out to the end. I
+will tell you as quickly as possible; I will put you out of suspense.
+I could have made things very different for you, but
+at least I will put you out of suspense.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, go on; I am willing to listen. I hope you will be
+brief.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is this, Maggie. I will say nothing about your past;
+I simply tell you what, through no fault of mine, I found
+out to-day. You gave the girls of this school to understand
+that your mother&#8217;s husband&mdash;your stepfather&mdash;was a gentleman
+of old family. The person called Tildy told me about
+Mr. Martin. He may be a gentleman by nature, but he is not
+one by profession.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie clutched one of her hands so tightly that the nails
+almost pierced her flesh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t hurt you, Maggie, by saying much on that subject.
+Your own father was a gentleman, and you cannot help your
+mother having married beneath her.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></p>
+<p>Maggie gasped. Such words as these from the proud Aneta!</p>
+<p>&#8220;But there is worse to follow,&#8221; continued Aneta. &#8220;I happened
+to go to Pearce&#8217;s to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie, who had half-risen, sank back again in her seat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Pearce wants to see you in order to return a brooch
+which you sold him. He says that he cannot afford the right
+price for the brooch. He wants you to give him back the
+money which he lent you on it, and he wants you to have the
+brooch again in your possession. You, of course, know, Maggie,
+that in selling one of your belongings and in going out
+without leave you broke one of the fundamental rules of
+Aylmer House. You know that, therefore&#8211;&#8211;Why, what
+is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s queer face was working convulsively. After a time
+slow, big tears gathered in her eyes. Her complexion changed
+from its usual dull ugliness to a vivid red; it then went white,
+so ghastly white that the girl might have been going to
+faint. All this took place in less than a minute. At the end
+of that time Maggie was her old disdainful, angry self once
+more.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must be very glad,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You have me in
+your power at last. My stepfather is a grocer. He keeps
+a shop at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush. He is one of the most horribly
+vulgar men that ever lived. Had I been at home my mother
+would not have consented to marry him. But my mother,
+although pretty and refined-looking, and in herself a lady,
+has little force of character, and she was quite alone and
+very poor indeed. You, who don&#8217;t know the meaning of the
+word &#8216;poor,&#8217; cannot conceive what it meant to her. Little
+Merry guessed&mdash;dear, dear little Merry; but as to you, you
+think when you subscribe to this charity and the other, you
+think when you adopt an East End child and write letters to
+her, and give of your superabundance to benefit her, that you
+understand the poor. I tell you you <i>don&#8217;t</i>! Your wealth is
+a curse to you, not a blessing. You no more understand what
+people like mother and like myself have lived through than
+you understand what the inhabitants of Mars do&mdash;the petty
+shifts, the smallnesses, the queer efforts to make two ends
+meet! You in your lovely home, and surrounded by lovely
+things, and your aunt so proud of you&mdash;how <i>can</i> you understand
+what lodgings in the hot weather in Shepherd&#8217;s Bush
+are like? Mother understood&mdash;never any fresh air, never
+any tempting food; Tildy, that poor little faithful girl as servant&mdash;slavey
+was her right name; Tildy at every one&#8217;s beck
+and call, always with a smut on her cheek, and her hair so
+untidy, and her little person so disreputable; and mother
+alone, wondering how she could make two ends meet. Talk
+of your knowing what the poor people in my class go
+through!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t pretend that I do know, Maggie,&#8221; said Aneta, who
+was impressed by the passion and strength of Maggie&#8217;s words.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t pretend it for a moment. The poverty of such lives is
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+to me a sealed book. But&mdash;forgive me&mdash;if you are so poor,
+how could you come here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mind your knowing everything now,&#8221; said Maggie.
+&#8220;I am disgraced, and nothing will ever get me out of my
+trouble. I am up to my neck, and I may as well drown at
+once; but Mrs. Ward&mdash;she understood what a poor girl whose
+father was a gentleman could feel, and she&mdash;oh, she was
+good!&mdash;she took me for so little that mother could afford it.
+She made no difference between you and me, Aneta, who are
+so rich, and your cousins the Cardews, who are so rich too.
+She said, &#8216;Maggie Howland, your father was a gentleman
+and a man of honor, a man of whom his country was proud;
+and I will educate you, and give you your chance.&#8217; And, oh,
+I was happy here! And I&mdash;and I should be happy now but
+for you and your prying ways.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are unkind to me, Maggie. The knowledge that your
+stepfather was a grocer was brought to me in a most unexpected
+way. I was not to blame for the little person who
+called herself Tildy coming here to-day. Tildy felt no shame
+in the fact that your mother had married a grocer. She
+was far more lady-like about it than you are, Maggie. No
+one could have blamed you because your mother chose to
+marry beneath her. But you were to blame, Maggie, when
+you gave us to understand that her husband was in quite
+a different position from what he is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you think,&#8221; said Maggie, stamping her foot, &#8220;that the
+girls of this house&mdash;Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell, Sylvia St. John, Henrietta
+and Mary Gibson, the Cardews, the Tristrams, you yourself&mdash;would
+put up with me for a single moment if it was
+known what my mother has done?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you underrate us all,&#8221; said Aneta. Then she came
+close to Maggie and took one of her hands. &#8220;I want to tell
+you something,&#8221; she added.</p>
+<p>Maggie had never before allowed her hand to remain for a
+second in Aneta&#8217;s grasp. But there was something at this
+moment about the young girl, a look in her eyes, which absolutely
+puzzled Maggie and caused her to remain mute. She
+had struggled for a minute, but now her hand lay still in
+Aneta&#8217;s clasp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to help you,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To&mdash;help me! How? I thought you hated me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, as a matter of fact,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;I did not love
+you until&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Until?&#8221; said Maggie, her eyes shining and her little face
+becoming transformed in a minute.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Until I knew what you must have suffered.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You do not mean to say that you love me now?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; said Aneta, looking fixedly at Maggie, &#8220;that I
+could love you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Maggie. She snatched her hand away, and,
+walking to the window, looked out. The fog was thicker than
+ever, and she could see nothing. But that did not matter.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+She wanted to keep her back turned to Aneta. Presently her
+shoulders began to heave, and, taking her handkerchief from
+her pocket, she pressed it to her eyes. Then she turned
+round. &#8220;Go on,&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; asked Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say what you want to say. I am the stepdaughter of a
+grocer, and I have broken one of the strictest rules in the
+school. When will you tell Mrs. Ward? I had better leave
+at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t leave at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;that if you will tell Mrs. Ward
+everything&mdash;all about your stepfather, and all about your
+selling that jewel and going out without leave&mdash;I am positively
+sure that dear Mrs. Ward will not expel you from the
+school. I am also sure, Maggie, that there will not be one
+girl at Aylmer House who will ever reproach you. As to
+your stepfather being what he is, no girl in her senses would
+blame you for that. You are the daughter of Professor Howland,
+one of the greatest explorers of his time&mdash;a man who
+has had a book written about him, and has largely contributed
+to the world&#8217;s knowledge. Don&#8217;t forget that, please; none of
+us are likely to forget it. As to the other thing&mdash;well, there
+is always the road of confession, and I am quite certain that
+if you will see Mrs. Ward she will be kind to you and forgive
+you; for her heart is very big and her sympathies very wide;
+and then, afterwards, I myself will, for your sake, try to
+understand your position, and I myself will be your true
+friend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Aneta!&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>She ran up to Aneta; she took her hand; she raised it to her
+lips and kissed it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me till to-morrow,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Promise that you
+won&#8217;t say anything till to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta promised. Maggie went to her room.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII_ANETAS_PLAN' id='CHAPTER_XXII_ANETAS_PLAN'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<h3>ANETA&#8217;S PLAN.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>The girls downstairs wondered why Maggie Howland did
+not appear. After an hour of waiting Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell took
+the lead. The accounts were left alone, but the tableaux vivants
+were diligently rehearsed, the Tristrams and Jane Burns
+being the three critics; Rosamond Dacre, Kathleen O&#8217;Donnell,
+and Matty and Clara Roache the performers. But, somehow,
+there was no life in the acting, for the moving spirit was not
+there; the bright, quick eye was missed, the eager words were
+lacking, with the pointed and telling criticism. Then there
+was the scene where Maggie herself was to take a part. It
+was from <i>The Talisman</i>, and a night-scene, which she was
+able to render with great precision and even beauty, and
+the dun light would be in her favor. It was to be the crowning
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+one, and the last of the tableaux. It was expected to
+bring down the house. But Maggie was not there, and the
+girls could not help feeling a little disconsolate and a little
+surprised.</p>
+<p>At supper that evening there were eager inquiries with regard
+to Maggie Howland. All the girls came up to ask Aneta
+where the other queen was.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is not quite well, and has gone to bed,&#8221; said Aneta.
+&#8220;She does not wish to be disturbed until the morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta&#8217;s words had a curious effect upon every one who
+heard her speak. It was as though she had, for the first time
+in her life, absolutely taken Maggie&#8217;s part. Her eyes, when
+she spoke of Maggie, were full of affection. The girls were
+puzzled; but Merry, as they turned away, suddenly ran back
+to Aneta, swept her arm round the girl&#8217;s neck, and said, &#8220;Oh
+Neta, I do love you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta pressed Merry&#8217;s hand. For the first time these two
+understood each other.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile poor Maggie was living through one of the most
+dreadful periods of her life. Her mother&#8217;s intimation that she
+and her stepfather were coming without fail to Aylmer
+House on Saturday&mdash;<i>the</i> day, the glorious day when Maggie
+and her friends were to entertain Mrs. Ward and the rest of
+the school&mdash;drove the girl nearly wild. Aneta had discovered
+her secret, and Aneta had urged, as the one way out, the painful
+but salutary road of confession. Maggie writhed at the
+thought, but she writhed far more terribly at the news which
+her mother&#8217;s letter contained.</p>
+<p>The girl said to herself, &#8220;I cannot stand it! I will run
+away! He has destroyed my last chance. I will run away
+and hide. I will go to-night. There is no use in waiting.
+Aneta is kind; she is far kinder than I could ever have given
+her credit for. She would, I believe, help me; and dear Mrs.
+Ward would help me&mdash;I am sure of that. And I don&#8217;t really
+mind now that it comes to the point of losing my position
+in the school as queen; but for all the school&mdash;for the Tristrams,
+for Merry Cardew, for Kathleen&mdash;to see that man is
+beyond my power of endurance. He will call here, and he
+will bring poor mother, but as I won&#8217;t be here I won&#8217;t feel anything.
+I will go to-night. I&#8217;ll slip downstairs and let myself
+out. I have some money&mdash;thank goodness for that!&mdash;and
+I have my father&#8217;s treasures. I can take them out of the
+tin box and wear them on my person, and I can sell them one
+by one. Yes, I will run away. There&#8217;s no help for it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie, at Aneta&#8217;s suggestion, had got into bed, but even
+to think of sleep was beyond her power. She got up again
+presently, dressed, and sat by the foggy window. The fog
+was worse; it was so thick now that you could not see your
+way even as far as the trees in the middle of the square.
+There were fog-signals sounding from time to time, and cabs
+going very slowly, and boys carrying torches to light belated
+and lost passengers.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span></p>
+<p>Maggie was safe enough in her room, which had, like all
+the other bedrooms at Aylmer House, a small fire burning
+in the grate. By-and-by some one tapped at the door. Maggie
+said, &#8220;Don&#8217;t come in&#8221;; but her words were unheeded.
+The door was opened an inch or two, and Merry Cardew entered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Merry, you&mdash;of all people!&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And why not?&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;I am your friend&mdash;your
+own very, very great friend. What is the matter, Mags?
+You were so jolly at tea; what can have happened since?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something most dreadful,&#8221; said Maggie; &#8220;but you will
+know on Saturday.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Merry, coming up to Maggie and dropping on
+her knees and fondling one of the girl&#8217;s cold hands, &#8220;why
+should I wait till Saturday? Why should I not know now?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t talk of it, Merry. I am glad you&mdash;you&mdash;<i>loved</i> me.
+You won&#8217;t love me in the future. But kiss me just this once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not going to leave you like this,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must, dear; yes, you must. Please, please go! And&mdash;please,
+be quick. Some one will see us together. Lucy
+Johnson will come in. Oh! don&#8217;t make matters worse for me.
+Good-night, Merry, good-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie seemed so anxious that Merry should go that the
+girl felt hurt and rose to her feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-night, Merry dear,&#8221; said Maggie as Merry was walking
+towards the door. Then she added, in a semi-whisper
+which Merry did not catch, &#8220;And good-bye, Merry dear; we
+shall never meet again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Merry left the room, feeling full of apprehension. She
+thought for a minute as she stood outside. Then she went
+and knocked at Aneta&#8217;s door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta, may I come in?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, dear. What is the matter?&#8221; said her cousin.</p>
+<p>Merry entered at once.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been to see Maggie. She is awfully queer. Oh, I
+know I broke the rules. I must tell Miss Johnson in the
+morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did beg of you, Merry, not to go to her,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know you did; but I could not help thinking and
+thinking about her. She is very queer. Her eyes look so
+strange.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hoped she was in bed and asleep,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;In bed!&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;Not a bit of it. She was up and
+sitting by the window gazing at the fog.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will go and see her myself,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you, Neta? And you will be kind to her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling, of course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Somehow, she used to think that&mdash;that you didn&#8217;t love
+her,&#8221; said Merry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nor did I,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;But I will be kind to her; don&#8217;t
+be afraid. I think I can guess what is the matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is all very queer,&#8221; said Merry. &#8220;She was in such
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+splendid spirits to-day; all the girls said so when they were
+out preparing for our party, and now she looks years older and
+utterly miserable.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go to bed, Merry, and leave your friend in my care.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you don&#8217;t think it wrong of me to be very fond
+of her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not, Merry. There was a time when I hoped you
+would not care for her; now I earnestly want you to be her
+true friend. There is a very great deal of good in her, and
+she has had many sorrows. Pray for her to-night. Don&#8217;t
+be anxious. Everything will come as right as possible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Neta,&#8221; said Merry, &#8220;you are a darling! And when you
+talk like that I love you more than I ever did before. You
+see, dear, I could not help caring for Maggie from the very
+first, and nothing nor anybody can alter my love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta kissed Merry, who left the room. Then Aneta herself,
+taking up her candle, went out. She was wearing a long
+white wrapper, and her clouds of golden hair were falling
+far below her waist. She looked almost like an angel as
+she went down the corridor as far as Miss Johnson&#8217;s room.</p>
+<p>Lucy Johnson was just getting into bed when Aneta knocked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Neta?&#8221; said the governess in a tone almost
+of alarm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to break a rule, Lucy,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;so put me
+down for punishment to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but why? What are you going to do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to do something which I shall be punished
+for. I am going to spend to-night, if necessary, with Maggie
+Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is she ill, Neta? Ought we to send for the doctor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, she is not a bit ill in that way. Good-night, Lucy;
+I felt I ought to tell you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta continued her way until she reached Maggie&#8217;s room.
+It was now past midnight. The quiet and regular household
+had all retired to bed, and Maggie had feverishly begun to
+prepare for departure. She knew how to let herself out.
+Once out of the house, she would be, so she felt, through
+the worst part of her trouble. She was not unacquainted
+with the ways of this cruel world, and thought that she might
+be taken in at some hotel, not too far away, for the night.
+Early in the morning she would go by train to some seaside
+place. From there she would embark for the Continent. Beyond
+that she had made no plans.</p>
+<p>Maggie was in the act of removing her father&#8217;s treasures
+from the tin boxes when, without any warning, the room-door
+was opened, and Aneta, in her pure white dress, with her
+golden hair surrounding her very fair face, entered the room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Maggie, dropping a curiously made cross in
+her confusion and turning a dull brick-red. &#8220;Whatever have
+you come about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta closed the door calmly, and placed her lighted candle
+on the top of Maggie&#8217;s chest of drawers.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I hoped you were in bed and asleep,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but instead
+of that you are up. I have made arrangements to spend
+the night with you. It is bitterly cold. We must build up
+the fire.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie felt wild.</p>
+<p>Aneta did not take the slightest notice. She knelt down
+and put knobs of fresh coal on the fire. Soon it was blazing
+up merrily. &#8220;That&#8217;s better,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Now, don&#8217;t you
+think a cup of cocoa each would be advisable?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to eat,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like the cocoa,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;and I have brought
+it with me. I thought your supply might be out. Here&#8217;s your
+glass of milk which you never drank, and here&#8217;s a little saucepan,
+and there are cups and saucers in your cupboard, and
+a box of biscuits. Just sit down, won&#8217;t you? while I make
+the cocoa.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie felt very strange. Her dislike of Aneta was growing
+less and less moment by moment. Nevertheless, she by
+no means gave up her primary idea of running away. She
+felt that she must hoodwink Aneta. Surely she was clever
+enough for that. The best plan would be to acquiesce in the
+cocoa scheme, afterwards to pretend that she was sleepy, and
+go to bed. Then Aneta would, of course, leave her, and there
+would still be plenty of time to get out of the house and
+disappear into the foggy world of London. The glowing fire,
+the beautiful young girl kneeling by it, the preparation for
+the little meal which she made with such swiftness and dexterity,
+caused Maggie to gaze at her in speechless amazement.</p>
+<p>Maggie drank her delicious cocoa and munched her biscuits
+with appetite, and afterwards she felt better. The world was
+not quite so black and desolate, and Aneta looked lovely with
+her soft eyes glowing and the rose-color in her cheeks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why are you doing all this for me?&#8221; said Maggie then.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I think the reason is very simple.&#8221;
+Then she paused for a minute and her eyes filled with sudden
+tears. &#8220;I think it is, Maggie, because quite unexpectedly I
+have learned to love you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&mdash;to love me&mdash;me?&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie felt herself trembling. She could not reply. She
+did not understand that she returned the love so suddenly
+given to her&mdash;given to her, too, in her moment of deepest degradation,
+of her most utter misery. Once again the feeling
+that she must go, that she could not face confession and the
+scorn of the school, and the awful words of Bo-peep, and
+her poor mother as Bo-peep&#8217;s wife, overpowered her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are&mdash;very kind,&#8221; she said in a broken voice; &#8220;and
+the cocoa was good; and, if you don&#8217;t mind&mdash;I will&mdash;go to
+bed now, and perhaps&mdash;sleep a little.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have you been doing with all those lovely curios?&#8221;
+said Aneta.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I?&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I&mdash;oh, I like to look at them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do pick up that cross which is lying on the floor, and
+let me examine it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie did so rather unwillingly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please bring over all the other things, and let me look
+at them,&#8221; said Aneta then.</p>
+<p>Maggie obeyed, but grudgingly, as though she did not care
+that Aneta should handle them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why have you taken them out of their boxes and put
+them all in a muddle like this?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I wanted something to do,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t
+sleep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was that the only reason&mdash;honor bright?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Maggie dropped her eyes.</p>
+<p>Aneta did not question her any further, but she drew her
+down to a low chair by the fire, and put a hand on her lap,
+and kept on looking at the treasures: the bracelets, the
+crosses, the brooches, the quaint designs belonging to a bygone
+period. After a time she said, &#8220;I am not at all sure&mdash;I
+am not a real judge of treasures; but I have an uncle, Sir
+Charles Lysle, who knows more about these things than any
+one else in London; and if he thinks what I am inclined to
+think with regard to the contents of these two boxes, you will
+be&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;She stopped abruptly.</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s eyes were shining. &#8220;Aneta,&#8221; she said, &#8220;don&#8217;t talk
+of these any more; and don&#8217;t talk either of wealth or poverty
+any more. There is something I want to say. When you
+came into my room just now I was packing up to run away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, I know that,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I saw that you had
+that intention the moment I entered the room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you said nothing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why should I? I didn&#8217;t want to force your confidence.
+But you&#8217;re not going to run away now, Mags?&#8221; She bent
+towards her and kissed her on the forehead.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie, trembling. &#8220;I want you to let me
+go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot possibly do that, dear. If you go, I go too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must go,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;You don&#8217;t understand. You
+found things out about me to-day, and you have behaved&mdash;well,
+splendidly. I didn&#8217;t give you credit for it. I didn&#8217;t know
+you. Now I do know you, and I see that no girl in the school
+can be compared to you for nobleness and courage, and just
+for being downright splendid. But, Aneta, I cannot bear that
+which is before me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;you are in the midst of a terrible
+battle, and you mean to give in and turn tail, and let the enemy
+walk over the field. That is not a bit what I should have
+expected at one time from Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I am not really a bit
+brave; there is nothing good in me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t talk about that,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;What we have
+to think about now is what lies straight ahead of you; not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+of your past any more, but your immediate future. You have
+a tough time before you; in fact, you have a very great battle
+to fight, but I do not think you will turn tail.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You want me,&#8221; said Maggie, &#8220;to go to Mrs. Ward and tell
+her everything?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must do that, Maggie. There is no second course to
+pursue. There is no way out. But I have been thinking since
+I saw you that perhaps you might have your day on Saturday.
+I think it would be best for you to tell Mrs. Ward to-morrow;
+and I think she would not prevent you having your day on
+Saturday. Perhaps it will be necessary&mdash;but she is the one
+to decide&mdash;that some of your schoolfellows should be told;
+and of course your little brooch which you sold to Pearce
+must be got back. Even Pearce is far too honest to keep it
+for the price he paid you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He gave me five pounds, and I have spent one. There
+are still four pounds left,&#8221; said Maggie. &#8220;I meant to run
+away with the help of these.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will lend you a pound,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;and we&#8217;ll get the
+brooch back to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Aneta, I have not yet told you&mdash;it is too fearful&mdash;you
+cannot conceive what my stepfather is like. It isn&#8217;t only
+his being a grocer&mdash;for I have no doubt there are lots of
+grocers who are quite, quite tolerable; but you cannot imagine
+what he is. I had a letter from him a little time ago&mdash;that
+time, you remember, when he sent me those perfectly awful
+dresses&mdash;and he said then that he and my mother were coming
+to see me, as he wanted to interview Mrs. Ward and to
+look at the school for himself. Well, that poor Tildy brought
+me a letter to-day from mother. I had written to mother
+to beg of her not to let him come; but he got hold of the letter,
+and he was nearly mad about it. The end of it is that he
+and she are coming on <i>Saturday</i>, and, somehow, I can&#8217;t bear
+it. I must run away; I <i>cannot</i> endure it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t wonder,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Let me think. Lay your
+head on my shoulder, Maggie. Oh, how tired you are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta, you seem to me quite new&mdash;just as though I had
+never seen you before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you and your story have opened my eyes and done
+me good,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Then what you said about the sufferings
+of the poor&mdash;I mean your sort of poor&mdash;gave me great
+pain. Will you take off your things and lie down, and let
+me lie by your side? Do, Maggie darling!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie darling! Such words to come from Aneta Lysle&#8217;s
+lips! Maggie felt subjugated. She allowed her rival queen
+to undress her, and presently the two girls were lying side
+by side in the little bed. Maggie dropped off into heavy slumber.
+Aneta lay awake.</p>
+<p>It was early morning when Aneta touched her companion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie, I have been thinking hard all night, and I am going
+to do something.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You! What can you do? Oh, I remember everything now.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+Oh, the horror! Oh, how can I endure it? Why didn&#8217;t I
+run away?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie, you must promise me faithfully that you will
+never run away. Say it now, this minute. I believe in your
+word; I believe in your fine nature. I will help you with all
+my might and main through school-life, and afterwards. Give
+me your word now. You will stay at Aylmer House?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will stay,&#8221; said poor Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t ask any more. Thank you, dear. Maggie, do nothing
+to-day, but leave matters in my hands. You are not well;
+your head aches, your forehead is so hot.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have a headache,&#8221; owned Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall be away for the greater part of the day, but I will
+ask Miss Johnson to look after you. Don&#8217;t say anything until
+I return.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what are you going to do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to see your mother and your stepfather.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Aneta, you must not see him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is probable that I shall seem him, dear; I am not easily
+alarmed. I will take Aunt Lucia with me. I am going downstairs
+now to ask Mrs. Ward&#8217;s permission.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you will say nothing about me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something, but nothing of your story. When you feel well
+enough you can get up and go on with the preparations for
+to-morrow. I believe we shall have our happy day.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII_AT_LABURNUM_VILLA' id='CHAPTER_XXIII_AT_LABURNUM_VILLA'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<h3>AT LABURNUM VILLA.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>Aneta went back to her room, where she dressed with her
+usual expedition and extreme neatness. When she had finished
+her toilet she ran downstairs. It was not yet eight
+o&#8217;clock; but most of the girls were assembled in the large hall
+waiting for prayers, which always took place before breakfast.
+Mrs. Ward was seen passing to the library, where
+prayers were held. Aneta went up to her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Prayers first, of course,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;and afterwards may
+I talk to you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward looked at Aneta. &#8220;What is the matter, dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something very important indeed. I must see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, breakfast follows prayers; come to me the minute
+breakfast is over.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, dear Mrs. Ward,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>At breakfast Merry asked Aneta how Maggie was. Aneta
+said that Maggie had a headache, and would not be in school
+during the morning.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then what are we to do about our day?&#8221; said Molly Tristram,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+who overheard this remark. &#8220;We have absolutely
+more to get through than we can possibly manage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, to-morrow will be quite all right,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;and
+Maggie will join you presently.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta was so respected in the school, so little given to exaggeration,
+so absolutely to be relied on, that these words of
+hers had a most calming effect. The girls continued their
+breakfast, those who were in the secret of to-morrow occasionally
+alluding to the subject in French, which was the
+only language allowed to be spoken. The others talked about
+their different occupations.</p>
+<p>As soon as ever breakfast was over, Aneta went to Mrs.
+Ward&#8217;s private room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear, what is it?&#8221; said the head-mistress. &#8220;I have
+to take the class for literature at half-past nine, and have very
+little time to spare.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t keep you,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;but what I wanted was
+to beg for a day&#8217;s holiday.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear girl! What do you mean? In the middle of term&mdash;a
+day&#8217;s holiday! Can you not take it to-morrow?&mdash;oh,
+I forgot, to-morrow Maggie is having her grand carnival, as
+I call it. But what is the matter, Aneta? Have you any
+trouble?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;and I cannot tell you, dear Mrs. Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I trust you, of course, Aneta.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you do; and I want you to trust me more than
+ever. It has something to do with Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward slightly frowned. &#8220;I am never sure&#8221;&mdash;she
+began.</p>
+<p>But Aneta stopped her impulsively. &#8220;If you give me that
+holiday to-day,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and if you trust me, and if you
+will also give me Mrs. Martin&#8217;s address, which, of course,
+you must have on your books&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Martin&#8217;s address?&#8221; said Mrs. Ward.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. You know Maggie&#8217;s mother has married again; she
+is Mrs. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, of course; I had forgotten for the moment.
+Yes, I have her address.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, if you will do all that,&#8221; continued Aneta, &#8220;I think
+that you will find a new Maggie in the future, one whom you&mdash;will
+trust, and&mdash;and love, as I love her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear girl! as you love Maggie Howland?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta lowered her head for a minute. &#8220;It is true I did not
+love her,&#8221; she said, &#8220;in the past, but I have changed my
+views. I have been narrow-minded, and small, and silly. She
+herself has opened my eyes. I cannot tell you more now.
+Maggie will come down, and will be able to go on with her
+lessons just as usual this afternoon; but I want a day off, and
+I want it at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But where are you going, dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to Aunt Lucia. You will let me have a cab, and
+I will drive to Aunt Lucia&#8217;s house in Eaton Square at once?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward looked doubtful. &#8220;You have a very grave reason
+for this?&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very, very grave; and I will tell you all presently.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have never had reason to doubt you,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward,
+&#8220;and I won&#8217;t doubt you now. Does Maggie know of this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;oh yes; but please don&#8217;t question her until I return.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, dear; you shall have your way. Oh, you want
+Mrs. Martin&#8217;s address. It is Laburnum Villa, Clapham.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta entered the address in a little tablet bound in gold
+which she always wore at her waist.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you ever so much,&#8221; she said, and then left the
+room.</p>
+<p>A minute or two later she met Miss Johnson. &#8220;Give me
+something stiff to learn&mdash;something that I don&#8217;t like&mdash;to-night,
+dear Lucy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am off for a whole day&#8217;s
+holiday, but I shall be back in the evening.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is very queer,&#8221; said Miss Johnson. &#8220;What does
+it mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot explain, but Mrs. Ward knows. Be specially kind
+to dear Maggie, and give me something that I don&#8217;t like to
+do when I return.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson smiled. &#8220;You shall hem some dusters,&#8221; she
+said.</p>
+<p>Aneta made a wry face. &#8220;Thanks ever so much,&#8221; she
+replied; then she ran upstairs to get ready for her visit.</p>
+<p>Just before leaving the house she looked in at Maggie. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+off, Mags. It&#8217;s all right. I shall probably see you about tea-time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Before Maggie had time even to expostulate Aneta closed
+the door, and a minute or two later had stepped into the cab
+which Agnes had called for her. The cabman was desired
+to drive Miss Lysle to Lady Lysle&#8217;s house in Eaton Square.
+This was accordingly done, and soon after ten o&#8217;clock Lady
+Lysle, who had not yet completed her morning toilet, was
+most amazed at being informed by her maid that Miss Lysle
+was waiting for her downstairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta! You don&#8217;t mean Aneta, Purcell?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my lady; and she wants to see you in a very great
+hurry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then send her up to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Purcell disappeared. Lady Lysle wondered what was
+wrong. Presently Aneta burst into the room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear child,&#8221; said her aunt, &#8220;what can be wrong? Why
+have you left school? I do hope no illness has broken out
+there. It would be very inconvenient for me to have you
+here at present.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no illness whatever at the school, Aunt Lucia,&#8221;
+said Aneta, going up to her aunt and kissing her; &#8220;only there
+is a girl there, one of my schoolfellows, in a good bit of
+trouble, and I want to help her, and I have got a day off from
+Mrs. Ward, who doesn&#8217;t know why she is giving it to me, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+trusts me all the same. And now, auntie, I want you to come
+with me at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh my dear child, where?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To Clapham, auntie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clapham! I never stopped at Clapham in my life. I have
+driven through the place, it is true.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we&#8217;ll stop there to-day,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;at Laburnum
+Villa, Clapham. I want to see Mrs. Martin, Maggie&#8217;s mother.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear child,&#8221; said Lady Lysle, &#8220;you mean Miss Howland
+when you speak of Maggie? Now, you know I told you
+that her stepfather is no relation whatever to the Martyns
+of The Meadows. I cannot make out why she should have
+given you to understand that he was. A man who lives at
+Clapham! Dear Aneta, I would rather be excused.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no excuse, auntie, that I can listen to for a single
+moment. I know all about Maggie&#8217;s stepfather, and I will tell
+you as we are driving out to Clapham. You have always let
+me have my own way, and I have&mdash;yes, I have tried to be a
+good girl; but there is something before me to-day more important
+and more difficult than I ever tackled yet, and if I
+can&#8217;t come to my own aunt&mdash;I, who am a motherless girl&mdash;for
+help at this crisis I shall think the world is coming to an
+end.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a strange, earnest way you do speak in, Aneta!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very sorry, darling; but I assure you the case is
+most urgent. You are quite well, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, my love; I am never an ailing sort of person.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, I will send Purcell back to you, and please
+order the carriage, and please be as quick as possible. We
+have to go somewhere else after we have done with Mrs.
+Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Aneta, I always was wax in your hands, and I suppose
+I must do what you wish. But remember your promise
+that you will tell me the meaning of this extraordinary thing
+during our drive to Clapham.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promise faithfully to tell you what is necessary, for the
+fact is I want your help. Darling auntie! you are doing about
+the best work of your life to-day. I knew you would stand
+by me; I felt certain of it, and I told Maggie so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That girl!&#8221; said Lady Lysle. &#8220;I don&#8217;t care for that girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will change your mind about her presently,&#8221; said
+Aneta, and she ran downstairs to request Davidson, the butler,
+to bring her something to eat, for her breakfast had been
+slight, and she was quite hungry enough to enjoy some of her
+aunt&#8217;s nice food.</p>
+<p>By-and-by Lady Lysle, looking slim and beautiful, wearing
+her becoming sables and her toque with its long black
+ostrich plume, appeared on the scene, and a minute later
+Davidson announced that the carriage was at the door.</p>
+<p>The two ladies stepped in, Aneta giving very careful directions
+to the driver.</p>
+<p>He expressed some astonishment at the address. &#8220;Laburnum
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+Villa, Clapham!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Martin, Laburnum Villa,
+Clapham! Clapham&#8217;s a big place, miss.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know that,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;but that is all the address I
+can obtain. We must call at the post-office, if necessary, to
+get the name of the street.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The footman sprang into his place, and Aneta and her aunt
+drove off in the comfortable brougham towards that suburb
+known as Clapham.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Aneta, I suppose you will tell me what is the meaning
+of this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I made a mistake about Maggie,
+and I am willing to own it. She has been placed in a difficult
+position. I do not mean for a minute to imply that she has
+acted in a straight way, for she has not. But there is that in
+her which will make her the best of girls in the future, as
+she is one of the cleverest and one of the most charming. Yes,
+auntie, she has got a great power about her. She is a sort of
+magnet&mdash;she attracts people to her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has never attracted me,&#8221; said Lady Lysle. &#8220;I have
+always thought her a singularly plain girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ugliness like hers is really attractive,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;But,
+now, the thing is this: if we don&#8217;t help her she will be absolutely
+lost, all her chance taken from her, and her character
+ruined for ever. We do a lot at our school for those poor
+slum-girls, but we never do anything for girls in our class.
+Now, I mean my girl in future to be Maggie Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta, you are absurd!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean it, auntie; her father&#8217;s daughter deserves help.
+Her father was as good a man as ever lived, and for his sake
+something ought to be done for his only child. As to her
+mother&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, the woman who has married a person of the name of
+Martin, and to whose house I presume we are going&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Auntie, I have rather a shock to give you. Poor Maggie
+did mean to imply that her stepfather was in a different class
+of life from what he is. He is a&mdash;grocer!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle put up her hand to pull the check-string.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pray, auntie, don&#8217;t do that. Maggie isn&#8217;t the daughter of
+a grocer, and she can&#8217;t help her mother having married this
+dreadful man. I want Maggie to have nothing to do with her
+stepfather in the future, and I mean to carry out my ideas,
+and you have got to help me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, I will do nothing of the kind. What a disgraceful
+girl! She must leave Aylmer House at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I will go too,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta, I never knew you behave in such a way before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, auntie darling, you know you are the sweetest and
+the most loving and sympathetic person in the world; and
+why should you turn away from a poor little girl who quite
+against her own will finds herself the stepdaughter of a grocer?
+Maggie has given me to understand that he is a dreadful
+man. She is horrified with him, and what I am going now
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+to Laburnum Villa about is to try to prevent his visiting the
+school with his wife on Saturday. I will do the talking, dear,
+and you have only to sit by and look dignified.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never was put in such a dreadful position before,&#8221; said
+Lady Lysle, &#8220;and really even you, Aneta, go too far when you
+expect me to do this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you would visit a poor woman in East London without
+the smallest compunction,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is different,&#8221; replied Lady Lysle with dignity.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is different,&#8221; replied Aneta; &#8220;but the difference lies in
+the fact that the grocer&#8217;s wife is very much higher up in the
+social scale than the East End woman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh my dear child, this is really appalling! I have always
+distrusted that Miss Howland. Does Mrs. Ward know of your
+project?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not yet, but she will to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what am I to do when I visit this person?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just look your dear, sweet, dignified self, and allow me to
+do the talking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you have taken leave of your senses.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t taken leave of my senses, and I would do more
+than I am now doing to help a fine girl round a nasty corner.
+So cheer up, auntie! After we have seen Mrs. Martin we have
+to go on and visit the grocer.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta, that I do decline!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure you won&#8217;t decline. But let us think of Mrs.
+Martin herself first, and try to remember that by birth she is
+a lady.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Just at this moment the carriage drew up outside a post-office.
+There was a short delay while Laburnum Villa was
+being inquired for by the footman. At last the street in which
+this small suburban dwelling was situated was discovered,
+and a few minutes later the carriage, with its splendid horses
+and two servants on the box, drew up before the green-painted
+door.</p>
+<p>The villa was small, but it was exceedingly neat. The
+little brass knocker shone, even though yesterday was a day
+of such fog. The footman came to the carriage-door to make
+inquiries.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will get out,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hadn&#8217;t James best inquire if the woman is in?&#8221; said Lady
+Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I think I will,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>She went up the narrow path and rang the front-door bell.
+Tildy opened the door. The new cook had been peeping above
+the blinds in the kitchen. Tildy had hastily put on a white
+apron, but it is to be regretted that a smut was once more on
+her cheek. Somehow, Aneta liked her all the better for that
+smut.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to see your mistress, Tildy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is
+something about Miss Maggie, and I am, as you know, one of
+her schoolfellows.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Lor&#8217;, miss! yes, for certain, miss. Mrs. Martin &#8217;ll be that
+proud, miss.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have brought my aunt with me,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;She
+would like to come in too in order to see Mrs. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, miss; in course, miss. There&#8217;s no fire lit in the
+drawin&#8217;-room. But there&#8217;s the dinin&#8217;-room; it do smell a bit
+smoky, for master &#8217;e loves &#8217;is pipe. &#8217;E smokes a lot in the
+dinin&#8217;-room, miss.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Show us into the dining-room,&#8221; said Aneta. She ran back
+to fetch Lady Lysle, and conducted that amazed and indignant
+woman into the house.</p>
+<p>Tildy rushed upstairs to fetch her mistress. &#8220;You get into
+your best gown in no time, mum. There&#8217;s visitors downstairs&mdash;that
+most beauteous young lady who spoke to me yesterday
+at Aylmer House, and a lady alongside of &#8217;er as &#8217;u&#8217;d make
+yer &#8217;eart quake. Ef Queen Victoria was alive I&#8217;d say yes, it
+was &#8217;erself. Never did I mark such a sweepin&#8217; and &#8217;aughty
+manner. They&#8217;re fine folks, both of &#8217;em, and no mistake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did they give their names?&#8221; asked Mrs. Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t even arsk, mum. They want to see you about our
+Miss Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I will go down. What a queer, early hour for
+visitors! What dress shall I wear, Tildy?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d say the amber satin, mum, ef I&#8217;d a voice in the choice.
+You look elegant in it, mum, and you might &#8217;ave your black
+lace shawl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think I will wear satin in the morning,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Martin.</p>
+<p>Tildy helped her into a dark-brown merino dress, one of
+her extensive trousseau. Mrs. Martin then went downstairs,
+prepared to show these visitors that she was &#8220;as good as
+them, if not better.&#8221; But the glimpse of the carriage and
+horses which she got through the lobby-window very nearly
+bowled her over.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go in, mum, now; you&#8217;ve kept them waitin&#8217; long enough.
+I can serve up an elegant lunch if you want it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tildy felt almost inclined to poke at her mistress in order
+to hurry her movements. Mrs. Martin opened the dining-room
+door and stood just for a minute on the threshold. She
+looked at that moment a perfect lady. Her gentle, faded face
+and extreme slimness gave her a grace of demeanor which
+Lady Lysle was quick to acknowledge. She bowed, and looked
+at Aneta to speak for her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, Mrs. Martin,&#8221; said that young lady. &#8220;I
+am Aneta Lysle, one of your daughter&#8217;s schoolfellows. My
+aunt, Lady Lysle&#8221;&mdash;Mrs. Martin bowed&mdash;&#8220;has kindly come
+with me to see you. We want to have a little confidential talk
+with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, indeed!&#8221; said Mrs. Martin. &#8220;Has Maggie done anything
+wrong? She always was a particularly troublesome
+girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I quite agree with you,&#8221; said Lady Lysle. At that moment
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+she had an idea of Maggie in disgrace and banished from
+Aylmer House, which pleased her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin stopped speaking when Lady Lysle said this.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Doubtless you agree with me, Mrs. Martin,&#8221; continued the
+lady, &#8220;that your daughter would do better at another school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin; &#8220;we wish her&mdash;Bo-peep and I&mdash;I
+mean James and I&mdash;to stay where she is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so do I wish her to stay where she is,&#8221; said Aneta.&mdash;&#8220;Auntie
+darling, you don&#8217;t quite understand; but Mrs. Martin
+and I understand.&mdash;Don&#8217;t we, Mrs. Martin?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am sure,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin, &#8220;I haven&#8217;t the faintest
+idea what you are driving at, Miss&mdash;Miss Lysle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it is just this,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;You sent a letter yesterday
+to Maggie.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin; &#8220;and great need I had to send it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In that letter you informed Maggie that you and your
+husband were coming to see her to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bo-peep wishes&mdash;I mean, James wishes&mdash;to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really, Aneta, had not we better go?&#8221; said Lady Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not yet, auntie, please.&mdash;Mrs. Martin, I begged for a holiday
+to-day on purpose to come and see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If it&#8217;s because you think I&#8217;ll keep James&mdash;Bo-peep&mdash;I
+mean James&mdash;from having his heart&#8217;s wish, I am sorry you
+have wasted your time,&#8221; said Mrs. Martin. &#8220;The fact is, he
+is very angry indeed with Maggie. He considers her his own
+child now, which of course is true, seeing that he has married
+me, and I really can&#8217;t go into particulars; but he is determined
+to see her and to see Mrs. Ward, and he&#8217;s not a bit ashamed of
+being&mdash;being&mdash;well, what he is&mdash;an honorable tradesman&mdash;a
+grocer.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But perhaps you are aware,&#8221; said Lady Lysle, &#8220;that the
+daughters of grocers&mdash;I mean tradesmen&mdash;are not admitted to
+Aylmer House.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin turned her frightened eyes on the lady. &#8220;Maggie
+isn&#8217;t the real daughter of a tradesman,&#8221; she said then.
+&#8220;She is only the stepdaughter. Her own father was&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;we all know what her own father was&mdash;a
+splendid man, one of the makers of our Empire. We are
+all proud of her own father, and we do not see for a moment
+why Maggie should not live up to the true circumstances of
+her birth, and I have come here to-day, Mrs. Martin, to ask
+you to help me. If you and your husband come to Aylmer
+House there will be no help, for Maggie will certainly have to
+leave the school.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, and the sooner the better,&#8221; said Lady Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But if you will help us, and prevent your husband from
+coming to our school to-morrow, there is no reason whatever
+why she shouldn&#8217;t stay at the school. Even her expenses can
+be paid from quite another source.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin looked intensely nervous. A bright spot of
+color came into her left cheek. Her right cheek was deadly
+pale.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I cannot help it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I never meant Bo-peep
+to go; I never wished him to go. But he said, &#8216;Little-sing, I
+will go&#8217;&mdash;I&mdash;I forgot myself&mdash;of course you don&#8217;t understand.
+He is a very good husband to me, but he and Maggie
+never get on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sure they don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Aneta with fervor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never,&#8221; continued Mrs. Martin. &#8220;I got on with her only
+with difficulty before I married my present dear husband. I
+am not at all ashamed of his being a grocer. He gives me
+comforts, and is fond of me, and I have a much better time
+with him than I had in shabby, dirty lodgings at Shepherd&#8217;s
+Bush. I don&#8217;t want him to go to that school to-morrow; but
+I thought it right to let Maggie know he was coming, for, all
+the same, go he will. When James puts his foot down he is a
+very determined man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is altogether a most unpleasant interview,&#8221; said Lady
+Lysle, &#8220;and I have only come here at my niece&#8217;s request.&mdash;Perhaps,
+Aneta, we can go now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not yet, auntie darling.&mdash;Mrs. Martin, Maggie and I had a
+long talk yesterday, and will you put this matter into my
+hands?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good heavens! what next?&#8221; murmured Lady Lysle to
+herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you give me your husband&#8217;s address, and may I go
+to see him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean the&mdash;the&mdash;shop?&#8221; said Mrs. Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t go into that shop!&#8221; said Lady Lysle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I mean the shop,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I want to go and see
+him there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, he will be so angry, and I am really terrified of him
+when he is angry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But think how much more angry he will be if you don&#8217;t
+give me that address, and things happen to-morrow which
+you little expect. Oh! please trust me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta said a few more words, and in the end she was in
+possession of that address at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush where Martin
+the grocer&#8217;s flourishing shop was to be found.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you so very much, Mrs. Martin. I don&#8217;t think you
+will ever regret this,&#8221; said the girl.</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle bowed to the wife of the grocer as she went out,
+but Aneta took her hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps you never quite understood Maggie,&#8221; she said;
+&#8220;and perhaps, in the future, you won&#8217;t have a great deal to
+say to her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to; she never suited me a bit,&#8221; said the
+mother, &#8220;and I am very happy with Bo-peep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, at least you may feel,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;that I am going
+to be Maggie&#8217;s special friend.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Martin stood silent while Lady Lysle and her niece
+walked down the little path and got into the carriage. When
+the carriage rolled away she burst into a flood of tears. She
+did not know whether she was glad or sorry; but, somehow,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+she had faith in Aneta. Was she never going to see Maggie
+again? She was not quite without maternal love for her only
+child, but she cared very much more for Bo-peep, and quite
+felt that Maggie would be a most troublesome inmate of
+Laburnum Villa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Aneta,&#8221; said her aunt as the carriage rolled away,
+&#8220;I have gone through enough in your service for one day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t been at all nice, auntie,&#8221; said Aneta; &#8220;but
+perhaps you will be better when you get to the shop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will not go to the shop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Auntie, just think, once and for all, that you are doing
+a very philanthropic act, and that you are helping me, whom
+you love so dearly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I love you, Aneta. Are you not as my own
+precious child?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, now, I want you to buy no end of things at Martin&#8217;s
+shop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Buy things! Good gracious, child, at a grocer&#8217;s shop! But
+I get all my groceries at the Stores, and the housekeeper
+attends to my orders.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, anyhow, spend from five to ten pounds at Martin&#8217;s
+to-day. You can get tea made up in half-pound packets and
+give it away wholesale to your poor women. Christmas is
+coming on, and they will appreciate good tea, no matter where
+it has been bought from.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you may go in and give the order,&#8221; said Lady Lysle;
+&#8220;but I won&#8217;t see that grocer. I will sit in the carriage and
+wait for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta considered for a few minutes, and then said in a sad
+voice, &#8220;Very well.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle looked at her once or twice during the long
+drive which followed. Aneta&#8217;s little face was rather pale, but
+her eyes were full of subdued fire. She was determined
+to carry the day at any cost.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV_A_VISIT_TO_THE_GROCER' id='CHAPTER_XXIV_A_VISIT_TO_THE_GROCER'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<h3>A VISIT TO THE GROCER.</h3>
+</div>
+<p>James Martin abhorred the aristocracy&mdash;so he said. Nevertheless,
+he greatly admired his elegant wife in her faded
+beauty. He liked to hear her speak, and he made some effort
+to copy her &#8220;genteel pronunciation.&#8221; He also, in his inmost
+heart, admired Maggie as a girl of spirit, although not a beautiful
+one. He had his own ideas with regard to female loveliness,
+and, like all men, was impressed and attracted by it.</p>
+<p>On this special foggy day, as he was standing behind his
+counter busily engaged attending to a customer who was
+only requiring a small order to be made up, he gave a visible
+start, raised his eyes, dropped his account-book, let his pencil
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+roll on to the floor, and stared straight before him. For
+somebody was coming into the shop&mdash;somebody so very beautiful
+that his eyes were dazzled and, as he said afterwards,
+his heart melted within him. A radiant-looking girl, with
+wonderful blue eyes and hair of the color of pure gold, a girl
+with a refined face&mdash;most beautifully dressed&mdash;although Martin
+could not quite make out in what fashion she was apparelled&mdash;came
+quickly up to the counter and then stood still,
+waiting for some one to attend to her. The other men in the
+shop also saw this lovely vision, and an attendant of the
+name of Turtle sprang forward to ask what he could do.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to see Mr. Martin,&#8221; said the silvery voice.</p>
+<p>Martin felt pleased, and said <i>sotto voce</i>, &#8220;Chuck it, Turtle;
+you&#8217;re out of it, old boy.&#8221; A minute later he was standing before
+Aneta, inquiring in a trembling voice what he could do
+for her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to order fifty pounds of tea to be made up in half-pound
+packets and sent to my aunt, Lady Lysle, 16<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>b</span> Eaton
+Square,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;The tea will be paid for on delivery,
+and please let it be the very best. I also want a hundred
+pound-packets of the best currants, and a hundred pound-packets
+of the best sugar.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Demerara, miss, or loaf?&#8221; inquired Martin, tremblingly
+putting down the order.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Loaf, I think,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Will you kindly send everything
+within the next day or two to Eaton Square, 16<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>b</span>, to
+Lady Lysle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will enter her ladyship&#8217;s name in my book. Yes, it
+shall be done,&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>He looked at Aneta, and Aneta looked straight back at him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Martin,&#8221; she said suddenly, &#8220;I am the school-friend
+of your stepdaughter, Maggie Howland. May I have a little
+conversation with you in your private room?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, I thought there was something!&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;To
+be sure, miss,&#8221; he added.&mdash;&#8220;Turtle, you see that this order
+is <i>h</i>executed. It&#8217;s for her ladyship, Lady Lysle, 16<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>b</span> Eaton
+Square.&mdash;Come this way, my lady.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am only Miss Lysle,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>All the attendants in the shop gazed in wonder as the beautiful
+girl and the excited Martin went into the little parlor
+at the back of the business establishment. There Martin
+stood with his hands behind him; but Aneta sank into a low
+chair.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to ask you a great favor, Mr. Martin,&#8221; said the
+girl. She looked full up at him as she spoke.</p>
+<p>Martin thought that he had never in his life seen such melting
+and lovely blue eyes before. &#8220;She bowls me over,&#8221; he
+kept saying to himself. &#8220;I hate the aristocrats, but somehow
+she bowls me over.&#8221;&mdash;&#8220;Anything in my power, miss,&#8221;
+he said aloud, and he made a low bow, pressing his hand to
+his chest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said Aneta&mdash;&#8220;indeed, I am sure&mdash;to judge from
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+your most flourishing shop&mdash;that you are a good business
+man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, now, there&#8217;s no doubt on that point, Miss&mdash;Miss
+Lysle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you would like to extend your custom?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Business is always business to me,&#8221; replied Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the fact is, it lies in my power to induce my aunt,
+Lady Lysle, to get her groceries from you. She has a large
+establishment and sees a great deal of company. She gets
+them now at the Army and Navy Stores, but I haven&#8217;t the
+slightest doubt that she would not object to have them from
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are exceedingly good, Miss Lysle, and I am sure anything
+that her ladyship ordered should have my very best
+attention; in fact, I should make it my business to get in
+specially good things for her. If I might let you into a business
+secret, miss, the people round here don&#8217;t want the very
+best things; they don&#8217;t, so to speak, appreciate them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I quite understand that,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;Of course Lady
+Lysle would require the very best.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She should have the best, miss; I&#8217;d be proud of her custom.
+Things should be punctually delivered; just an order
+overnight, and my cart would convey them to her ladyship&#8217;s
+door at an early hour on the following day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it could be arranged,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, perhaps, miss,&#8221; said Mr. Martin, who saw brilliant
+prospects opening before him, and the possibility of a West
+End shop, a genuine West End shop, being his, as well as the
+profitable establishment at Shepherd&#8217;s Bush, &#8220;her ladyship
+might be so kind as to recommend me to others.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is possible,&#8221; said Aneta coldly; &#8220;but of course I can
+only speak for my aunt herself.&#8221; Then she added, &#8220;And even
+for her I cannot quite speak, although I believe the matter
+can be arranged. I have given you a large order to-day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have, Miss Lysle, and most faithfully will it be attended
+to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin took out his red silk handkerchief and mopped his
+forehead.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said Aneta gently, &#8220;I haven&#8217;t come here all the
+way from Aylmer House, and practically given up a day of
+my school-life, for nothing. I have come on behalf of another.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ho, ho!&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;so the cat&#8217;s going to be let out
+of the bag.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta colored.</p>
+<p>Martin saw he had gone too far, and immediately apologized.
+&#8220;You will forgive my coarse way of expressing myself,
+miss. I know it isn&#8217;t done in your circle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I will come to the point
+at once. I am interested in Miss Howland.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! my little stepdaughter. I keep her at a fine, smart
+school, don&#8217;t I? I do the knowing by her, don&#8217;t I?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, all I want you to do in future&mdash;and I believe her
+mother will consent, for I have seen Mrs. Martin this morning&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You went to Laburnum Villa this morning? Tasty place,
+that, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, a very comfortable sort of house. My aunt, Lady
+Lysle, and I went together.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Her ladyship and you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We drove there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope the neighbors saw,&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;They&#8217;ll come
+in shoals to see Little-sing after they&#8217;ve peeped at her ladyship&#8217;s
+carriage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta could scarcely keep back a smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Martin,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if I do what I intend for you&mdash;and
+it lies in my power&mdash;will you please not come to Aylmer
+House to-morrow?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ho, hi! And why not? Ashamed of me, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not at all,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I am not ashamed of you in your
+walk in life; but I think it would be best for Maggie if you
+did not come; therefore I ask you not to do so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the girl&#8217;s my girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, she is her mother&#8217;s daughter; and, to tell the truth,
+we all want&mdash;I mean, my aunt and I, and others&mdash;to have
+her to ourselves, at least until she is educated.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, come now, miss, that&#8217;s all very fine. Who pays for
+her education?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Her father&#8217;s money.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So she let that out?&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know about it,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;That is sufficient. Now,
+Mr. Martin, I ask you to become grocer to my aunt, Lady Lysle,
+of Eaton Square, and to any friends who she may recommend,
+on the sole condition that you do not come to Aylmer
+House, and that you allow Maggie Howland to spend the holidays
+with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my word, I am sure I don&#8217;t care,&#8221; said Martin,</p>
+<p>&#8220;You promise, then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I promise fast enough. If you&#8217;re going to take Maggie
+and bring her up a fine lady she&#8217;ll never suit me. All
+I beg is that she doesn&#8217;t come back to me like a bad penny
+some day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That I can absolutely assure you she will never do. I am
+exceedingly obliged to you. Will you come with me now
+and let me say a few words to my aunt; for as you have
+made your definite promise to leave Maggie alone, my aunt
+must make a definite promise to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle was much astonished, as she sat wearily in her
+carriage, when a red-faced, bald-looking, stout grocer accompanied
+her elegant young niece to the carriage-door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aunt Lucia,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;this is Mr. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle gave the faintest inclination of her head.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Proud to see your ladyship,&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been making arrangements with Mr. Martin,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+Aneta, &#8220;and on certain conditions he will do what I want.
+Will you please, in future, get your groceries from him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will faithfully attend to you, my lady, if agreeable to
+you. I will come weekly for <i>h</i>orders. I will do anything to
+oblige your ladyship.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, auntie, you&#8217;ve got to do it,&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear, it depends on Watson, my housekeeper.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;ll manage Watson,&#8221; said Aneta, springing lightly
+into the carriage, her face all beams and smiles.&mdash;&#8220;It is quite
+right, Mr. Martin; and you will get your second order this
+evening. You won&#8217;t forget about the tea and currants and
+sugar for the poor people.&mdash;Now, auntie, will you drive me
+back to Aylmer House, or shall we go straight to Eaton
+Square?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eaton Square, I think.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-day, Mr. Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The carriage rolled out of sight. Martin stood bareheaded
+in the doorway of his shop. There was not a prouder man
+than he in the whole of Christendom. When he returned to
+the sacred precincts of the shop itself he said to Turtle,
+&#8220;Fresh customer, Turtle&mdash;West End, Turtle. That&#8217;s a fine
+young lady&mdash;eh, Turtle?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The most beautiful young female I ever saw,&#8221; returned
+Turtle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I ask you what you think of her personal appearance
+you can tell me, Turtle. Now, go and attend to the shop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Aneta, her heart full of thankfulness, accompanied
+her aunt to Eaton Square.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have got what I want,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and dear Maggie is
+practically saved; and you have done it, auntie. You will
+feel happier for this to your dying day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lady Lysle said that at the present moment she did not
+feel specially elated at the thought of getting her tea and
+numerous groceries at a shop in Shepherd&#8217;s Bush; but Aneta
+assured her that that was a very tiny sacrifice to make for
+so great an end as she had in view.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will help Mr. Martin,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He is not a gentleman,
+and doesn&#8217;t pretend to be, but he&#8217;s a good, honest tradesman;
+and perhaps Mrs. Ward, too, will give him some of her
+custom.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my dear Aneta, if you&#8217;re happy, I have nothing to
+say,&#8221; responded her aunt. &#8220;But you must tackle Watson, for
+I really cannot attempt it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Aneta did tackle the old housekeeper to some purpose. At
+first there were objections, protests, exclamations; but Aneta
+was sure of her ground. Did not Mrs. Watson idolize the girl,
+having known her from her earliest days?</p>
+<p>About tea-time a tired and triumphant girl returned to
+Aylmer House. She had had her way. The great difficulty
+was overcome. Maggie, looking pale and tired, was having
+tea with the others. Aneta sat down by her side. Maggie
+turned anxious eyes towards the queen of the school whom
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+she used to fear and almost hate. But there was no hatred
+now in Maggie&#8217;s eyes. Far, far from that, she looked upon
+Aneta as a refuge in the storm. If Aneta could not get her
+out of her present trouble no one could.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be very busy during the leisure hours this afternoon,&#8221;
+said Aneta when the meal was coming to an end. &#8220;But,
+first of all, I want to speak to you just for a minute or two.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have done tea now. May Maggie and I go away by ourselves,
+please, Miss Johnson, for a few minutes?&#8221; said Aneta.</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson signified her consent, and the two queens
+left the room together. The other girls looked after them,
+wondering vaguely what was up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie,&#8221; said Aneta, &#8220;I have managed everything.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aneta&mdash;you haven&#8217;t&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; he isn&#8217;t coming to-morrow, nor is your mother; and
+Aunt Lucia has invited you to spend the Christmas holidays
+with us. You can see your mother occasionally; but, somehow
+or other, Maggie dear, you are to be my friend in future;
+and&mdash;oh, Maggie!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Aneta! how can I ever, ever thank you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the beginning of the way is a little hard,&#8221; said
+Aneta. &#8220;Come now, at once, straight to Mrs. Ward, and tell
+her every single thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She will expel me if I do,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That I know she will not. She is too true and dear and
+kind. Besides, I will stay with you all the time while you
+are telling her. Come, quick. You can get your confession
+over in a very few minutes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Aneta! for you I would do anything. But how did you
+manage to get my dreadful stepfather to give up his plan.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That matters little. He has given it up. Now, come.
+There&#8217;s much to do to prepare for to-morrow; but you must
+get your confession over first.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward always had her tea alone, and she was just finishing
+it on this special evening when there came a tap at
+her door, and, to her great amazement, Aneta and Maggie
+entered, holding each other&#8217;s hands.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Ward, Maggie has something to say to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Maggie; and then in a few broken words, choked
+by tears of true repentance, she told her story. She had been
+ashamed of her stepfather. She had been deceitful. She
+had been afraid to confess that she was taken at a lower fee
+than the other girls at the school. She had gone out, without
+leave, to sell one of her own father&#8217;s treasures. Everything
+was told. Mrs. Ward looked very grave as the girl, with bent
+head, related the story of her deceit and wrong-doing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know you can expel me,&#8221; said Maggie.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you will not,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;I feel sure of that, for I,
+who never cared for Maggie until now, love her with all my
+heart. There will be no rivalry in the school any more, and
+dear Maggie must not go.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if you would keep me! If you would keep me,&#8221; said
+Maggie, &#8220;and give me one more chance!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you asked God to forgive you, Maggie?&#8221; said Mrs.
+Ward.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot, somehow; my heart is so cold. But if&mdash;if you
+would&#8221;&#8211;&#8211;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will ask Him together,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward.</p>
+<p>There and then she knelt down, and Aneta and Maggie knelt
+at each side of her, and she said a few words of prayer which
+touched Maggie&#8217;s heart as no words had ever touched it
+before. &#8220;Keep from her all hurtful things, and give her those
+things which are necessary for her salvation,&#8221; pleaded the
+mistress.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Mrs. Ward&#8217;s hand was taken by Maggie and covered
+with kisses. &#8220;Oh, I will try!&#8221; she said; &#8220;I will try
+hard to be really good! And,&#8221; she added, &#8220;I will take any punishment
+you give me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward looked at her with sparkling eyes. She was
+a very keen observer of character. She put her hand under
+the girl&#8217;s chin and looked into her downcast face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;full and absolute forgiveness means
+the doing away with punishment. You have suffered sorely;
+I will not add to your suffering in any way. Now, go and
+prepare for to-morrow&#8217;s entertainment.&mdash;Aneta, you will stay
+with me for a few minutes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie left the room, but in a short time she returned.
+She carried in her arms the two tin boxes which contained
+her father&#8217;s treasures.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you to keep these for me, or to sell them, or to do
+what you like with them,&#8221; said Maggie. She then immediately
+left the room.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward and Aneta bent over the treasures. Mrs. Ward
+gave a start of great surprise when she saw them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, these,&#8221; she said, &#8220;are a fortune in themselves.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought so,&#8221; said Aneta, her eyes sparkling. &#8220;I felt sure
+of it. We must get that brooch back from Pearce.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Aneta; I will send Miss Johnson round for it at once.
+What did you say he gave Maggie for it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Five pounds, Mrs. Ward.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is very honest of him to offer to restore it to her. Ring
+the bell, dear, and Lucy Johnson will come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Johnson was very much interested when she saw the
+sparkling treasures.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie&#8217;s!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I am glad she has given them
+to you to take care of for her. I was always terrified at her
+keeping such priceless things in her drawer.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Ward gave the girl some directions and the necessary
+money; she went off to fulfill her errand in considerable
+amazement. Lucy returned in less than half-an-hour with
+the lovely little brooch, which was immediately added to the
+collection.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The best person to see these, as you suggested, Aneta,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+said Mrs. Ward, &#8220;is Sir Charles Lysle. They are really no
+good to Maggie, but ought to be sold for their utmost value
+for her benefit. She has many fine points, and considerable
+strength of character; and if you take her up, dear, I feel
+certain that she will be saved from all those things which
+would ruin a nature like hers.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean to take her up,&#8221; said Aneta with spirit.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Ward, &#8220;the first thing to do is to get to-morrow
+over. I have no doubt it will be a success. Meanwhile,
+will you write a line to your uncle, Sir Charles, and
+ask him if he can call here to see these treasures?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will write to him at once,&#8221; said Aneta. &#8220;He spends
+most of his time at the British Museum. Couldn&#8217;t I send
+him a wire, Mrs. Ward, and then he would come to-night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that is a very good idea. Do so, my love.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls had a very spirited rehearsal, and Maggie was
+her old vivacious, daring, clever self once more. That inward
+change which no doubt had taken place brought an added
+charm to her always expressive face.</p>
+<p>Between seven and eight that evening Aneta&#8217;s uncle, Sir
+Charles, arrived. He and Mrs. Ward had a long consultation.
+His opinion was that the bracelets and other curios were
+worth at least seven thousand pounds, and that such a sum
+could easily be obtained for them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;In fact, I myself would buy them for that figure,&#8221; said
+Sir Charles. &#8220;It is not only that there are in this collection
+some unique and valuable stones; but the history, the setting,
+and the make of these ancient relics would induce the British
+Museum to buy many of them. Doubtless, however, Miss
+Howland will get the biggest price of all for them if they are
+auctioned at Christie&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Before she went to bed that night Aneta told Maggie that
+she was by no means a penniless girl, and that if she would
+consent to having her father&#8217;s treasures sold she would have
+sufficient money to be well educated, and have a nice nest-egg
+in the future to start in any profession she fancied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh Aneta, it is all too wonderful!&#8221; said poor Maggie&mdash;&#8220;to
+think of me as I am to-night, and of me as I felt last night
+when I wanted to lose myself in the London fog. Aneta, I can
+never love you enough!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You want a good long sleep,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Think of to-morrow
+and all the excitement which lies before us!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Maggie did sleep soundly that night, for she was quite worn
+out, and when Saturday arrived she awoke without a fear and
+with a wonderful lightness of heart. The day of the festival
+and rejoining passed without a hitch. The supper was delightful.
+The tableaux vivants were the best the school had
+ever seen. The games, the fun, made the Cardews at least
+think that they had entered into a new world.</p>
+<p>But perhaps the best scene of all came at the end when
+Aneta went up to Maggie and took her hand, and, still holding
+it, turned and faced the assembled school.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Maggie and I don&#8217;t mean to be rival queens any longer,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;We are joint-queens. All Maggie&#8217;s subjects are
+my subjects and all my subjects are Maggie&#8217;s. Any girl who
+disapproves of this, will she hold down her hand? Any girl
+who approves, will she hold her hand up in the air?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Instantly all the pairs of hands were raised, and there was
+such a clapping and so many cheers for the queens who were
+no longer rival queens that mademoiselle was heard to exclaim,
+&#8220;But it is charming. It makes the heart to bound. I do
+love the English manner, and Mademoiselle Aneta, <i>si jolie, si
+&eacute;l&eacute;gante</i>; and Mademoiselle Maggie, who has a large charm.
+I do make homage to them as the two queens. I would,&#8221;
+she continued, turning and clasping Miss Johnson&#8217;s hands, &#8220;be
+a schoolgirl myself to be a subject of them.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+<p>A few words will suffice to end this story. Lady Lysle
+might be proud and perhaps somewhat disdainful, but she
+was at least as good as her word, and in a very short time
+Martin the grocer thought it worth his while to open a very
+smart-looking shop in the West End. This shop Lady Lysle
+took a curious interest in and recommended to her friends,
+so that Martin began to do as sound a business in the neighborhood
+of Eaton Square as he did in Shepherd&#8217;s Bush. Of
+all things in the world, he liked best to make money, and
+he was quite glad to be rid of Maggie when his own prospects
+became golden owing to her absence from his premises.</p>
+<p>As to Mrs. Martin, she was content to see her daughter occasionally.</p>
+<p>Maggie&#8217;s curios were all sold, except the little brooch
+(which she kept for herself in memory of her father), for a
+sufficiently large sum to pay for her education and to leave her
+enough money to do well for herself by-and-by. Having no
+longer anything to conceal, and under the beautiful, brave
+influence of Aneta, she became quite a different girl. That
+strength of character and that strange fascination which were
+her special powers were now turned into useful channels.
+Maggie could never be beautiful, but her talents were above
+the average, and her moral nature now received every stimulus
+in the right direction. Merry Cardew could love her,
+and gain good, not harm, from her influence. But, strange to
+say&mdash;although perhaps not strange&mdash;Aneta was her special
+friend. It was with Aneta that Maggie mostly spent her holidays.
+It was Aneta&#8217;s least word that Maggie obeyed. It was
+for Aneta&#8217;s approval that Maggie lived.</p>
+<p>Queens of the school they still remain, each exercising her
+influence in her own way, and yet both working in perfect
+harmony.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have they not both the characters beautiful?&#8221; said
+mademoiselle. &#8220;I think there is no girl like the English girl.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Doubtless she is right.</p>
+<p style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em'>THE END</p>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div style='text-align:center'>
+<img alt='ad page' src='images/illus-ad1.jpg' />
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div style='text-align:center'>
+<img alt='ad page' src='images/illus-ad2.jpg' />
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: ppg0513a -->
+<!-- timestamp: Thu May 14 21:38:46 -0600 2009 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The School Queens, by L. T. Meade
+
+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: The School Queens
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2009 [EBook #28819]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCHOOL QUEENS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SCHOOL QUEENS
+
+BY
+
+L T. MEADE
+
+Author of "Polly, a New-Fashioned Girl," "Sue, a Little Heroine,"
+"Daddy's Girl," "A Sweet Girl Graduate," etc.
+
+NEW YORK
+
+THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+
+1910
+
+
+
+
+                      BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+L. T. Meade (Mrs. Elizabeth Thomasina Smith), English novelist, was
+born at Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, 1854, the daughter of Rev. R. T.
+Meade, Rector of Novohal, County Cork, and married Toulmin Smith in
+1879. She wrote her first book, _Lettie's Last Home_, at the age of
+seventeen and since then has been an unusually prolific writer, her
+stories attaining wide popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.
+
+She worked in the British Museum, living in Bishopsgate Without,
+making special studies of East London life which she incorporated in
+her stories. She edited _Atlanta_ for six years. Her pictures of
+girls, especially in the influence they exert on their elders, are
+drawn with intuitive fidelity; pathos, love, and humor, as in _Daddy's
+Girl_, flowing easily from her pen. She has traveled extensively,
+being devoted to motoring and other outdoor sports.
+
+Among more than fifty novels she has written, dealing largely with
+questions of home life, are: _David's Little Lad; Great St.
+Benedict's; A Knight of To-day (1877); Miss Toosey's Mission;
+Bel-Marjory (1878); Laddie; Outcast Robbin: or, Your Brother and Mine;
+A Cry from the Great City; White Lillie and Other Tales; Scamp and I;
+The Floating Light of Ringfinnan; Dot and Her Treasures; The
+Children's Kingdom: the Story of Great Endeavor; The Water Gipsies; A
+Dweller in Tents; Andrew Harvey's Wife; Mou-setse: A Negro Hero
+(1880); Mother Herring's Chickens (1881); A London Baby: the Story of
+King Roy (1883); Hermie's Rose-Buds and Other Stories; How it all Came
+Round; Two Sisters (1884); Autocrat of the Nursery; Tip Cat; Scarlet
+Anemones; The Band of Three; A Little Silver Trumpet; Our Little Ann;
+The Angel of Love (1885); A World of Girls (1886); Beforehand; Daddy's
+Boy; The O'Donnells of Inchfawn; The Palace Beautiful; Sweet Nancy
+(1887); Deb and the Duchess (1888); Nobody's Neighbors; Pen (1888); A
+Girl from America (1907)._
+
+
+
+
+THE SCHOOL QUEENS
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE FASCINATING MAGGIE
+
+
+Cicely Cardew and her sister Merry were twins. At the time when this
+story opens they were between fifteen and sixteen years of age. They
+were bright, amiable, pretty young girls, who had never wanted for any
+pleasure or luxury during their lives. Their home was a happy one.
+Their parents were affectionate and lived solely for them. They were
+the only children, and were treated--as only children often are--with
+a considerable amount of attention. They were surrounded by all the
+appliances of wealth. They had ponies to ride and carriages to drive
+in, and each had her own luxurious and beautifully furnished bedroom.
+
+It was Mr. Cardew's wish that his daughters should be educated at
+home. In consequence they were not sent to any school, but had daily
+masters and governesses to instruct them in the usual curriculum of
+knowledge. It might be truly said that for them the sun always shone,
+and that they were carefully guarded from the east wind. They were
+naturally bright and amiable. They had their share of good looks,
+without being quite beautiful. They had not the slightest knowledge of
+what the world meant, of what sorrow meant, or pain. They were brought
+up in such a sheltered way that it seemed to them that there were no
+storms in life. They were not discontented, for no one ever breathed
+the word in their presence. Their requests were reasonable, for they
+knew of no very big things to ask for. Even their books were carefully
+selected for them, and their amusements were of a mild and orderly
+character.
+
+Such were the girls when this story opens on a bright day towards the
+end of a certain July. Their home was called Meredith Manor, and Merry
+was called after an old ancestor on their mother's side to whom the
+house had at one time belonged.
+
+Mr. Cardew was a merchant-prince. Mrs. Cardew belonged to an old
+county family. If there was one thing in the world that Cicely and
+Merry thought nothing whatever about, it was money. They could
+understand neither poverty nor the absence of gold.
+
+The little village near Meredith Manor was a model place, for Mr.
+Cardew, to whom it belonged, devoted himself absolutely to it. The
+houses were well drained and taken great care of. Prizes were offered
+for the best gardens; consequently each cottager vied with the other
+in producing the most lovely flowers and the most tempting fruits. The
+village consisted entirely of Mr. Cardew's laborers and the different
+servants on his estate. There were, therefore, no hardships for the
+girls to witness at Meredith village. They were fond of popping in and
+out of the cottages and talking to the young wives and mothers, and
+playing with the babies; and they particularly enjoyed that great
+annual day when Mr. Cardew threw open the grounds of Meredith to the
+entire neighborhood, and when games and fun and all sorts of
+amusements were the order of the hour.
+
+Besides the people who lived in the village, there was, of course, the
+rector, who had a pretty, picturesque, old brown house, with a nice
+garden in one corner of the grounds. He had a good-natured,
+round-faced, happy wife, and a family of four stalwart sons and
+daughters. He was known as the Reverend William Tristram; and, as the
+living was in the gift of the Meredith family, he was a distant
+connection of Mrs. Cardew, and had been appointed by her husband to
+the living of Meredith at her request.
+
+The only playfellows the girls had ever enjoyed were the young
+Tristrams. There were two boys and two girls. The boys were the
+younger, the girls the elder. The boys were not yet in their teens,
+but Molly and Isabel Tristram were about the same age as the young
+Cardews. Molly was, in fact, a year older, and was a very sympathetic,
+strong-minded, determined girl. She and her sister Isabel had not been
+educated at home, but had been sent to foreign schools both in France
+and Germany; and Molly, in her heart of hearts, rather looked down
+upon what she considered the meager attainments of the young Cardews
+and their want of knowledge of the world.
+
+"It is ridiculous!" she was heard to say to Isabel on that very July
+morning when this story opens. "Of course they are nice girls, and
+would be splendid if they could do anything or knew what to do; but,
+as it is, they are nothing whatever but half-grown-up children, with
+no more idea of the world than has that baby-kitten disporting itself
+at the present moment on the lawn."
+
+"Oh, they're right enough," said Isabel. "They will learn by-and-by. I
+don't suppose Mr. and Mrs. Cardew mean to keep them always shut up in
+a nutshell."
+
+"I don't know," replied Molly. "Mr. and Mrs. Cardew are like no other
+people. I have heard father say that he thinks it a great pity that
+girls should be so terribly isolated."
+
+"Well, as to that," replied Isabel, "I wouldn't be in their shoes for
+creation. I have so enjoyed my time at Hanover and in France; and now
+that we are to have two years at Aylmer House, in Kensington, I
+cannot tell you how I look forward to it."
+
+"Yes, won't it be fine?" replied Molly. "But now we had better go up
+at once to Meredith Manor and ask the girls if we may bring Maggie
+Howland with us this afternoon. Father has sent the pony-trap to the
+station to meet her, and she may arrive any moment."
+
+"All right," said Isabel; "but one of us had better stay at home to
+receive her. You, Molly, can run up to the Manor and ask the girls if
+we may bring our visitor."
+
+"All right," replied Molly. Then she added "I wonder if Maggie is as
+fascinating as ever. Don't you remember, Belle, what a spell she cast
+over us at our school at Hanover? She was like no one else I ever met.
+She seems to do what she likes with people. I shall be deeply
+interested to know what she thinks of Cicely and Merry."
+
+"Thinks of them!" replied Isabel. "It's my opinion she won't tolerate
+them for a minute; and we are bound to take her with us, for of course
+they will give permission."
+
+"Well," said Molly, "I'll be off at once and secure that permission.
+You' look after Maggie--won't you, Isabel?--and see that her bedroom
+is all right." As Molly spoke she waved her hand to her sister, then
+departed on her errand.
+
+She was a bright, fairly good-looking girl, with exceedingly handsome
+eyes and curling dark-brown hair. She was somewhat square in build and
+athletic in all her movements. In short, she was as great a contrast
+to the twin Cardew girls as could be found. Nevertheless she liked
+them, and was interested in them; for were not the Cardews the great
+people of the place? There was nothing of the snob about Molly; but it
+is difficult even for the most independent English girl to spend the
+greater part of her life in a village where one family reigns as
+sovereign without being more or less under its influence.
+
+Mr. Tristram, too, was a very great friend of Mr. Cardew's; and
+Molly's fat, round, good-natured mother, although a little afraid of
+Mrs. Cardew, who was a very stately lady in her way, nevertheless held
+her in the greatest respect and admiration. It was one of the rules of
+the house of Tristram that no invitation sent to them from Meredith
+Manor should be refused. They must accept that invitation as though it
+were the command of a king.
+
+The girls, brought up mostly at foreign schools, had in some ways
+wider ideas of life than had their parents. But even they were more or
+less influenced by the fact that the Cardews were the great people of
+the place.
+
+The day was a very hot one; rather oppressive too, with thunder-clouds
+in the distance. But Molly was very strong, and did not feel the heat
+in the least. The distance from the rectory to the Manor was a little
+over a mile. In addition, it was all uphill. But when you passed the
+village--so exquisitely neat, such a model in its way--you found
+yourself entering a road shaded by overhanging elm-trees. Here it was
+cool even on the hottest summer day. There were deep pine-woods at
+each side of the road, and the road itself had been cut right through
+a part of the forest, which belonged to the Meredith estate. After
+going uphill for nearly three-quarters of a mile you arrived at the
+handsome wrought-iron gates which led to the avenue that brought you
+to the great front door of Meredith Manor.
+
+Molly often took this walk, but she generally did so in the company of
+her sister Isabel. Isabel's light chatter, her gay, infectious
+laughter, her merry manner, soothed the tedium of the road. To-day
+Molly was alone; but by no means on this account did she feel a sense
+of weariness; her mind was very busy. She was greatly excited at the
+thought of seeing Maggie Howland again. Maggie had made a remarkable
+impression on her. She made that impression on all her friends.
+Wherever she went she was a leader, and no one could quite discover
+where her special charm or magnetism lay; for she was decidedly plain,
+and not specially remarkable for cleverness--that is, she was not
+remarkable for what may be termed school-cleverness. She was
+indifferent to prizes, and was just as happy at the bottom of her form
+as at the top; but wherever she appeared girls clustered round her,
+and consulted her, and hung on her words; and to be Maggie Howland's
+friend was considered the greatest honor possible among the girls
+themselves at any school where she spent her time.
+
+Maggie was the daughter of a widow who lived in London. Her father had
+died when she was a very little girl. He was a man of remarkable
+character. He had great strength of will and immense determination;
+and Maggie, his only child, took after him. She resembled him in
+appearance also, for he was very plain of face and rather ungainly of
+figure. Maggie's mother, on the other hand, was a delicate, pretty,
+blue-eyed woman, who could as little manage her headstrong young
+daughter as a lamb could manage a young lion. Mrs. Howland was
+intensely amiable. Maggie was very good to her mother, as she
+expressed it; and when she got that same mother to yield to all her
+wishes the mother thought that she was doing the right thing. She had
+a passionate love for her daughter, although she deplored her plain
+looks, and often told the girl to her face that she wished she had
+taken after her in personal appearance. Maggie used to smile when this
+was said, and then would go away to her own room and look at her
+queer, dark face, and rather small eyes, and determined mouth, and
+somewhat heavy jaw, and shake her head solemnly. She did not agree
+with her mother; she preferred being what she was. She liked best to
+take after her father.
+
+It was Maggie Howland who had persuaded Mr. Tristram, during a brief
+visit which he had made to town at Christmas, to send his daughters to
+Aylmer House. Maggie was fond of Molly and Isabel. With all her
+oddities, she had real affection, and one of her good qualities was
+that she really loved those whom she influenced.
+
+Mr. Tristram went to see Mrs. Ward, the head-mistress of that most
+select establishment for young ladies at Kensington. Mrs. Ward was all
+that was delightful. She was a noble-minded woman of high aspirations,
+and her twenty young boarders were happy and bright and contented
+under her influence.
+
+Maggie joined the school at Easter, and spent one term there, and was
+now coming on a visit to the rectory.
+
+"I wonder what she will have to tell us! I wonder if she is as
+fascinating as ever!" thought Molly Tristram as she hurried her
+steps.
+
+She had now reached that point in the avenue which gave a good view of
+the old Manor, with its castellated walls and its square towers at
+each end. The gardens were laid out in terraces after an old-world
+fashion. There was one terrace devoted to croquet, another to tennis.
+As Molly approached she saw Cicely and Merry playing a game of croquet
+rather languidly. They wore simple white frocks which just came down
+above their ankles, and had white washing-hats on their heads. Their
+thick, rather fair hair was worn in a plait down each young back, and
+was tied with a bunch of pale-blue ribbon at the end.
+
+"Hello!" shouted Molly.
+
+The girls flung down their rackets and ran joyfully to meet her.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you have come!" said Cicely. "It's much too hot to
+play tennis, and even croquet is more than we can manage. Are you
+going to stay and have lunch with us, Molly?"
+
+"No," replied Molly; "I must go back immediately."
+
+"Oh dear! I wish you would stay," continued Merry. "We could go and
+sit in the arbor, and you could tell us another fascinating story
+about that school of yours at Hanover."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Cicely; "do stay--do, Molly! We want to hear a lot
+more about that remarkable girl Maggie Howland."
+
+"I can't stay," said Molly in a semi-whisper; "but I tell you what,
+girls." She seized a hand of both as she spoke. "I have come with
+news."
+
+"What?" "What?" asked the twins eagerly.
+
+"There's very seldom much news going on here," said Cicely. "Not that
+we mind--not a little bit; we're as happy as girls can be."
+
+"Of course we are," said Merry. "We haven't a care in the world."
+
+"All the same," said Cicely, "tell us your news, Molly, for you do
+look excited."
+
+"Well," said Molly, who enjoyed the pleasure of giving her friends a
+piece of information which she knew would interest them intensely,
+"you know we are to come up here this afternoon to have tea and buns,
+aren't we?"
+
+"Oh, don't talk in that way!" said Merry. "One would suppose you were
+school children, when you are our darling, dear friends."
+
+"Our only friends," said Cicely. "You are the only girls in the world
+father allows us to be the least bit intimate with."
+
+"Oh, well," said Molly, "of course Belle and I are very fond of you
+both, naturally."
+
+"Naturally!" echoed Cicely. But then she added, "How queer you look,
+Molly, as though you were keeping something back!"
+
+"Well, yes, I am," said Molly; "but I'll have it out in a minute."
+
+"Oh, please, be quick!" said Merry. "Anything a little bit out of the
+common is very interesting.--Isn't it, Cicely?"
+
+"Very," said Cicely; "more particularly in the holidays. When we are
+busy with our lessons things don't so much matter, you know.--But do
+be quick, Molly; what is it?"
+
+"Well," said Molly, "you've asked us to spend the afternoon with
+you."
+
+"Of course, and you're both coming, surely?"
+
+"We are--certainly we are--that is, if you will allow us to
+bring"----
+
+"To bring"----interrupted Cicely. "Oh Molly, do speak!"
+
+"Well, I will; only, don't jump, you two girls. To bring Maggie
+Howland!"
+
+Cicely's face grew very pink. Merry, on the contrary, turned a little
+pale. They were both silent for a brief space. Then Merry said
+excitedly, "Maggie Howland--_the_ Maggie Howland?"
+
+"Yes, _the_ Maggie Howland; the one who has got the power, the charm,
+the fascination."
+
+"Oh, oh!" said Cicely. "But why is she with you? How has it
+happened?"
+
+"She is not absolutely with us yet; and as to how it happened I cannot
+exactly tell you. We had a telegram from her late last night asking if
+she might come to-day to spend a week or fortnight, and of course we
+wired back 'Yes.' We are delighted; but of course you may not like
+her, girls."
+
+"Like her! like her!" said Cicely; "and after all you have said too!
+We shall be certain to more than like her."
+
+"She's not a bit pretty, so don't expect it," said Molly.
+
+"We were brought up," said Merry a little stiffly, "not to regard
+looks as anything at all."
+
+"Nonsense!" replied Molly. "Looks mean a great deal. I'd give I don't
+know what to be beautiful; but as I am not I don't mean to fret about
+it. Well, Maggie's downright plain; in fact--in fact--almost ugly, I
+may say; and yet--and yet, she is just Maggie; and you are not five
+minutes in her society before you'd rather have her face than any
+other face in the world. But the immediate question is: may she come
+this afternoon, or may she not?"
+
+"Of course--of course she may come," said Cicely; "we'll be delighted,
+we'll be charmed to see her. This _is_ pleasant news!"
+
+"I think, perhaps," said Merry, "we ought to go and ask mother. Don't
+you think so, Cis?"
+
+"Of course we ought," said Cicely. "I forgot that. Just stay where you
+are, Molly, and I'll run to the house and find mother. It's only to
+ask her, for of course she will give leave."
+
+Cicely ran off at once, and Merry and Molly were left alone.
+
+"I know you'll be delighted with her," said Molly.
+
+"It will be very delightful to see her," replied Merry.
+
+"You must expect to be disappointed at first, all the same," continued
+Molly.
+
+"Oh, looks do not matter one scrap," said Merry.
+
+"Isabel and I are going to her school; you know that, don't you,
+Merry?"
+
+"Yes," said Merry with a sigh. "What fun you do have at your different
+schools! Don't you, Molly?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Molly rather gravely; "but it isn't only the fun; we
+see a lot of the world, and we mix with other girls and make
+friends."
+
+"Mother prefers a home education for us, and so does father," remarked
+Merry. "Ah! here comes Cicely. She is flying down the terrace. Of
+course mother is delighted."
+
+This proved to be the case. Mrs. Cardew would welcome any girl
+introduced to her daughters through her dear friend Mr. Tristram. She
+sent a further invitation for the three young people to remain to an
+impromptu supper, which was pleasanter than late dinner in such hot
+weather, and asked if Mr. and Mrs. Tristram would join them at the
+meal.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Molly. "That will be fun! I must be off now, girls.
+We'll be with you, all three of us, between four and five o'clock."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SPOT-EAR.
+
+
+Isabel took great pains arranging Maggie Rowland's bedroom. At the
+Castle (or Manor) there were always troops of servants for every
+imaginable thing; but at the rectory the servants were few, and the
+girls did a good many odds and ends of work themselves. They were
+expected to dust and keep in perfect order their exceedingly pretty
+bedrooms, they were further required to make their own beds, and if a
+young visitor arrived, they were obliged to wait on her and see to her
+comfort. For the Tristrams had just an income sufficient to cover
+their expenses, with nothing at all to put by. Mr. Tristram had his
+two little boys to think of as well as his two girls. His intention
+was to give his children the best education possible, believing that
+such a gift was far more valuable to them than mere money. By-and-by,
+when they were old enough, the girls might earn their own living if
+they felt so inclined, and each girl might become a specialist in her
+way.
+
+Molly was exceedingly fond of music, and wished to excel in that
+particular. Isabel, on the contrary, was anxious to obtain a post as
+gymnasium teacher with the London County Council. But all these things
+were for the future. At present the girls were to study, were to
+acquire knowledge, were to be prepared for that three-fold battle
+which includes body, soul, and spirit, and which needs triple armor in
+the fight.
+
+Mr. Tristram was a man of high religious principles. He taught his
+children to love the good and refuse the evil. He wanted his girls to
+be useful women by-and-by in the world. He put usefulness before
+happiness, assuring his children that if they followed the one they
+would secure the other.
+
+Belle, therefore, felt quite at home now as she took out pretty mats
+and laid them on little tables in the neat spare room which had been
+arranged for the reception of Maggie Howland. She saw that all the
+appointments of the room were as perfect as simplicity and cleanliness
+could effect, and then went out into the summer garden to pick some
+choice, sweet-smelling flowers. She selected roses and carnations,
+and, bringing them in, arranged them in vases in the room.
+
+Hearing the sound of wheels, she flew eagerly downstairs and met her
+friend as she stepped out of the little governess-cart.
+
+"Well, here I am!" said Maggie. "And how is Belle? How good-natured of
+you all to have me, and how delightful it is to smell the delicious
+country air! Mother and I find town so hot and stuffy. I haven't
+brought a great lot of luggage, and I am not a bit smart; but you
+won't mind that--will you, dear old Belle?"
+
+"You always talk about not being smart, Maggie; but you manage to look
+smarter than anyone else," said Isabel, her eager brown eyes devouring
+her friend's appearance with much curiosity. For Maggie looked, to use
+a proverbial phrase, as if she had stepped out of a bandbox. If she
+was plain of face she had an exceedingly neat figure, and there was a
+fashionable, trim look about her which is uncommon in a girl of her
+age; for Maggie was only just sixteen, and scarcely looked as much. In
+some ways she might almost have been a French girl, so exceedingly
+neat and _comme il faut_ was her little person. She was built on a
+_petite_ scale, and although her face was so plain, she had lovely
+hands and beautiful small feet. These feet were always shod in the
+most correct style, and she took care of her hands, never allowing
+them to get red or sunburnt.
+
+"Where's Molly?" was her remark, as the two girls, with their arms
+twined round each other, entered the wide, low hall which was one of
+the special features of the old rectory.
+
+"She has gone up to see the Cardews."
+
+"Who are the Cardews?"
+
+"Why, surely, Mags, you must have heard of them?"
+
+"You don't mean," said Maggie with a laugh, and showing a gleam of
+strong white teeth, "the two little ladies who live in a bandbox?"
+
+"Oh, you really must not laugh at them," said Isabel, immediately on
+the defensive for her friends; "but they do lead a somewhat exclusive
+life. Molly has gone up to the Castle, as we always call Meredith
+Manor, to announce your arrival, and to ask permission to bring you
+there to a tennis-party this afternoon; so you will soon see them for
+yourself. Now, come in and say good-morning to the mater; she is
+longing to see you."
+
+"Hello, Peterkins!" called out Maggie at that moment, as a small boy
+with a smut across his face suddenly peeped round a door.
+
+"I'm not Peterkins!" he said angrily.
+
+Maggie laughed again. "I am going to call you Peterkins," she said.
+"Is this one of the little brothers, Belle?"
+
+"Yes.--Come here at once, Andrew, and speak to Miss Howland."
+
+The boy approached shyly. Then his eyes looked up into the queer face
+of the girl who looked down at him. The sulkiness cleared away from
+his brow, and he said, in an eager, hurried, half-shy,
+half-confidential way, "I say, do you like rabbits?"
+
+"Dote on 'em," said Maggie.
+
+"Then I'm your man, and I don't mind being Peterkins to you; and will
+you--will you come and see mine? I've got Spot-ear, and Dove, and
+Angelus, and Clover. And Jack, he has five rabbits, but they're not
+near as nice as mine. You'll come and see my rabbits, won't you,
+Miss--Miss-----"
+
+"Oh, I am Maggie," said the girl. "I'll come and see your rabbits,
+Peterkins, in a minute; and I won't look at Jack's; but you must let
+me talk to your mother first."
+
+"There you are, Maggie," said Belle when the boy had disappeared;
+"fascinating Andrew in your usual way; and Jack will be just furious,
+for he's the elder, you know, and he has a temper, and you mustn't set
+one of them against the other--promise you won't."
+
+"Trust me," said Maggie. "Peterkins is a nice little fellow, and I'll
+manage Jackdaw too."
+
+"You don't mean to say you'll call them by those names?"
+
+"Yes, yes. I always have my own way with people, as you know."
+
+"Indeed I do. Oh, come along, you queer creature. Here's the darling
+mums. Mater dearest, here is Maggie Howland."
+
+"Delighted to see you, my dear," said Mrs. Tristram. "I hope you are
+not tired after your journey from town."
+
+"Not in the least, thank you, Mrs. Tristram," said Maggie, speaking in
+a voice of very peculiar quality; it was sweet and rich and full of
+many intonations. She had the power of putting a world of meaning into
+the most commonplace expressions.
+
+Mrs. Tristram had not seen Maggie before, and it was Mr. Tristram who
+had been completely bowled over by the young lady just at
+Christmas-time.
+
+"I bid you a hearty welcome to the rectory," said the good clergyman's
+wife, "and I hope you will have a pleasant time with my children."
+
+"I'll have a fascinating time," said Maggie. "I'm just too delighted
+to come. It was sweet of you to have me; and may I, please, give you a
+kiss?"
+
+"Of course you may, dear child," said Mrs. Tristram.
+
+Maggie bestowed the kiss, and immediately afterward was conducted to
+her room by the worshiping Belle.
+
+"I do hope you'll like it," said Belle in an almost timorous voice. "I
+prepared it for you myself."
+
+"Why, it's sweet," said Maggie, "and so full of the country! Oh, I
+say, what roses! And those carnations--Malmaisons, aren't they? I must
+wear a couple in this brown holland frock; they'll tone with it
+perfectly. What a delicious smell!"
+
+Maggie sniffed at the roses. Belle lounged on the window-seat.
+
+"Molly will be jealous," she said. "Think of my having you these few
+moments all to myself!"
+
+"I am delighted to come, as you know quite well," replied Maggie.
+"It's all right about school, isn't it, Belle?"
+
+"Yes, quite, quite right. We are to join you there in September."
+
+"It's a perfectly splendid place," said Maggie. "I will describe it to
+you later on."
+
+"But can it be nicer," said Belle, "than our darling school at
+Hanover?"
+
+"Nicer!" exclaimed Maggie. "You couldn't compare the two places. I
+tell you it's perfect. The girls--well, they're aristocratic; they're
+girls of the Upper Ten. It's the most select school. You are in luck
+to be admitted, I can tell you. You will learn a lot about society
+when you are a member of Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"But what possible good will that do us when we are never going into
+it?" said Belle.
+
+Maggie slightly narrowed her already narrow eyes, took off her hat,
+and combed back her crisp, dark hair from her low, full, very broad
+forehead. Then she said, with a smile, "You are to stay two years at
+Mrs. Ward's, are you not?"
+
+"Yes, I think that is the arrangement."
+
+"And I am to stay there for two years," said Maggie; "I mean two
+more. I will ask you, Isabel Tristram, what good society is worth at
+the end of your two years. I expect you will tell me a very different
+story then."
+
+At this moment there came a hurried, nervous, excited knock at the
+room door.
+
+"Aren't you coming, Miss--Miss--Maggie? Clover and Dove and Spot-ear
+and Angelus are all waiting. Their hutch is beautiful and clean, and I
+have all their lettuces waiting for them just outside, so they sha'n't
+begin to nibble till you come. Do, do come, please, Miss Maggie."
+
+"Of course I will, my darling Peterkins," replied Maggie in her joyful
+voice. "Oh, this is--this is--this _is_ fun!--Come along, Belle; come
+along."
+
+"But don't let poor Jack get into a temper," said Isabel in a
+half-frightened whisper.
+
+Maggie took no notice of her. She opened the bedroom door and flew
+downstairs, holding the dirty, hot little hand of Andrew, _alias_
+Peterkins, while Isabel followed in their wake.
+
+In a far-away part of the rectory garden, on a bit of waste land at
+the other side of the great vegetable garden, were two hutches which
+stood side by side, and these hutches contained those most adorable
+creatures, the pets, the darlings of the Tristram boys.
+
+The Tristram boys were aged eleven and ten years respectively. Jack
+was eleven, Andrew ten. They were very sturdy, healthy, fine little
+fellows. At present they went to a good day-school in the
+neighborhood, but were to be sent to a boarding-school about the same
+time as their sisters were to begin their education at Aylmer House in
+Kensington. Their passion above all things was for pets. They had
+tried every sort: white mice (these somehow or other were sacrificed
+to the reigning cat) and waltzing mice (that shared an equally
+luckless fate); these were followed by white rats, which got into the
+garden and did mischief, and were banished by order of the rector, who
+was a most determined master in his own house. Dogs were also
+forbidden, except one very intelligent Airedale, that belonged to the
+whole family and to no one in particular. But the boys must find vent
+for their passion in some way, and rabbits were allowed them. At the
+present moment Jack owned five, Andrew four.
+
+In trembling triumph, Andrew brought his new friend to see his
+darlings. He greatly hoped that Jack would not appear on the scene
+just now. While Maggie was up in her bedroom taking off, her hat, he
+had, with herculean strength, managed to move an old wooden door and
+put it in such a position that Jack's hutch was completely hidden,
+while his hutch shone forth in all its glory, with those fascinating
+creatures Spot-ear, Angelus, Dove, and Clover looking through their
+prison-bars at the tempting meal that awaited them.
+
+"Here they are! here they are!" said Andrew. "Beauties, all four; my
+own--my very own! Maggie, you may share one of them with me while you
+are here. He must live in his hutch, but he shall be yours and mine.
+Would you like Spot-ear? He is a character. He's the finest old cove
+you ever came across in your life. Look at him now, pretending he
+doesn't care anything at all for his lettuce, and he's just dying for
+it. Clover is the greedy one. Clover would eat till he-burst if I let
+him. As to Angelus, she squeaks sometimes--you'll hear her if you
+listen hard--that's why I called her Angelus; and Dove--why, she's a
+dear pet; but the character of all is Spot-ear. You'd like to share
+him with me, wouldn't you, Maggie?"
+
+"Yes, yes; he is so ugly; he is quite interesting," said Maggie. She
+flung herself on the ground by the side of the hutch, and gazed in at
+the occupants as though her only aim in life was to worship rabbits.
+
+"You take that leaf of lettuce and give it to Spot-ear your very own
+self," said Peterkins. "He'll love you ever after; he's a most
+affectionate old fellow."
+
+Maggie proceeded to feed the rabbit. Peterkins hopped about in a state
+of excitement which he had seldom experienced before. Maggie asked
+innumerable questions. Belle seated herself on the fallen trunk of an
+old oak-tree and looked on in wonder.
+
+Maggie was a curious girl. She seemed to have a power over every one.
+There was Andrew--such a shy little fellow as a rule--simply pouring
+out his heart to her.
+
+Suddenly Belle rose. "It's time for lunch," she said, "and you must be
+hungry. Andrew, go straight to the house and wash your face and hands.
+No lady would sit down to lunch with such a dirty boy as you are."
+
+"Oh, I say, am I?" said Andrew. "Do you think so, Maggie?"
+
+"You are a most disreputable-looking little scamp," said Maggie.
+
+"Then I won't be--I won't, most truly. I'll run off at once and get
+clean, and I'll get into my Sunday best if you wish it."
+
+"Dear me, no!" said Maggie; "I don't wish it. But clean hands and
+face--well, they are essential to the ordinary British boy, if he's a
+gentleman."
+
+"I am your gentleman--for evermore," said Andrew.
+
+"I think you are, Peterkins."
+
+"Then I'm off to clean up," said the small boy.
+
+"I say, Andrew," cried his sister; "before you go take that door away
+from Jack's hutch. He'll be so furious at your keeping the light and
+air away from his rabbits."
+
+"Not I. I can't be bothered," said Peterkins.
+
+"Please take it away at once," said Maggie.
+
+Andrew's brow puckered into a frown.
+
+"But you'll see 'em, and he's got five!" he said in a most distressed
+voice.
+
+"Honor bright," said Maggie, "I'll turn my back and shut my eyes.
+Jackdaw shall show me his rabbits himself."
+
+Peterkins immediately removed the door, dragging it to its former
+place, where it leaned against a high wall. He then rushed up to
+Maggie.
+
+"I've done it," he said. "Promise you won't like his bunnies."
+
+"Can't," said Maggie, "for I'll love 'em."
+
+"Well, at least promise you won't love him."
+
+"Can't," said Maggie again, "for I shall."
+
+"I'll die of raging jealousy," said Peterkins.
+
+"No, you won't, you silly boy. Get off to the house and make yourself
+tidy. Come along, Belle."
+
+"I say, Maggie," said Belle, "you mustn't set those two boys by the
+ears. They're fond enough of each other."
+
+"Of course I'll do nothing of the kind," said Maggie. "That's a
+charming little chap, and Spot-ear is my rabbit as well as his.
+Jackdaw shall share two of his rabbits with me. Oh, it is such fun
+turning people round your little finger!"
+
+Just then Molly, rather red in the face, ran up.
+
+"Oh, you darling, darling Maggie!" she said. "So you've come!"
+
+"Come!" cried Maggie. "I feel as if I'd been here for ever."
+
+"I am delighted to see you," said Molly.
+
+She kissed her friend rapturously. Maggie presented a cool, firm,
+round cheek.
+
+"Oh, how sweet you look, Mags!"
+
+"Don't talk nonsense, Molly; I'm not a bit sweet-looking."
+
+"To me," said Molly with fervor, "You're the loveliest girl in all the
+wide world."
+
+"I'm very ugly, and you know that perfectly well," said Maggie; "but
+now don't let's talk of looks."
+
+"Whatever were you doing in this part of the garden?" inquired Molly.
+
+"Oh, she was making love to Andrew," remarked Belle. "She calls him
+Peterkins, and he allows it, and he has given her one-half of
+Spot-ear; and she means to make love to Jack, and he's to give her a
+couple of his rabbits--I mean, to share them with her. She's more
+extraordinary than ever, more altogether out of the common."
+
+"As if I didn't know that," said Molly. "It's all right about this
+afternoon, Maggie. Oh, what do you think? We're to stay to supper, and
+I have a special invitation for father and mother to come and join us
+then. Won't it be fun! I do wonder, Maggie, if you will like the
+Cardew girls."
+
+"Probably not," replied Maggie in a very calm voice; "but at least I
+can promise you one thing: they'll both like me."
+
+"No doubt whatever on that point," replied Belle with fervor.
+
+They entered the house, and soon found themselves seated round the
+table. Mr. Tristram greeted Maggie with his usual gentle dignity.
+Molly delivered herself of her message from the Castle. Mr. and Mrs.
+Tristram said that they would be delighted to join the Cardews at
+supper.
+
+The meal was proceeding cheerfully, and Maggie was entertaining her
+host and hostess by just those pleasant little pieces of information
+which an exceedingly well-bred girl can impart without apparently
+intending to do so, when a shy and very clean little figure glided
+into the room, a pair of bright-brown eyes looked fixedly at Maggie,
+and then glared defiance at Belle, who happened to be seated near that
+adorable young person.
+
+Peterkins was making up his mind that in future that coveted seat
+should be his--for he and Maggie could talk in whispers during the
+meal about Spot-ear, Angelus, and the rest--when his father said, "Sit
+down, my boy; take your place at once. You are rather late."
+
+The boy slipped into his seat.
+
+"I am glad to see you looking so tidy, Andrew," said his mother
+approvingly.
+
+Andrew looked across at Maggie. Maggie did not once glance at him. She
+was talking in her gentle, lady-like tone to the rector.
+
+Presently another boy came in, bigger and broader than Andrew.
+
+Andrew said in a raised voice, "Here's Jack, and his hands aren't a
+bit clean."
+
+"Hush!" said the rector.
+
+Jack flushed and looked defiantly at Maggie.
+
+Maggie raised her eyes and gave him a sweet glance. "Are you really
+Jack?" she said. "I am so glad to know you. I have been making friends
+with your brother Andrew, whom I call Peterkins. I want to call you
+Jackdaw. May I?"
+
+Jack felt a great lump in his throat. His face was scarlet. He felt
+unable to speak, but he nodded.
+
+"I have been looking at Peterkins's rabbits," continued Maggie. "I
+want to see yours after lunch."
+
+"They're beauties!" burst from Jack. "They're ever so many times
+better than Andrew's. I've got a cream-colored Angora. His name is
+Fanciful, and I've got----"
+
+"Hush, my boy, hush!" said the rector. "Not so much talking during
+meals. Well, Maggie, my dear--we must, of course, call you by your
+Christian name----"
+
+"Of course, Mr. Tristram; I should indeed feel strange if you
+didn't."
+
+"We are delighted to see you," continued the rector, "and you must
+tell the girls all about your new school."
+
+"And you too, sir," said Maggie, in her soft, rich voice. "Oh! you'll
+be delighted--delighted; there never was such a woman as Mrs. Ward."
+
+"I took a very great liking to her," said the rector. "I think my
+girls fortunate to be placed under her care. She has been good, very
+good and kind, to me and mine."
+
+"I wonder what he means by that," thought Maggie; but she made no
+remark aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+LADY LYSLE.
+
+
+At about a quarter to four that same afternoon three girls prepared to
+walk over to Meredith Manor. It was for such golden opportunities that
+Molly and Isabel kept their best frocks; it was for just such
+occasions that they arrayed themselves most neatly and becomingly.
+Their dress, it must be owned, was limited in quantity and also in
+quality; but on the present occasion, in their pretty white spotted
+muslins, with pale-blue sashes round their waists and white muslin
+hats to match, they looked as charming a young pair of English girls
+as could be found in the length and breadth of the land. It is true
+their feet were not nearly as perfectly shod as Maggie's, nor were
+their gloves quite so immaculate; but then they were going to play
+tennis, and shoes and gloves did not greatly matter in the country.
+Maggie thought otherwise. Her tan tennis-shoes exactly toned with her
+neatly fitting brown holland dress. The little hat she wore on her
+head was made of brown straw trimmed very simply with ribbon; it was
+an ugly hat, but on Maggie's head it seemed to complete her dress, to
+be a part of her, so that no one noticed in the least what she wore
+except that she looked all right.
+
+Two boys with worshiping eyes watched the trio as they stepped down
+the rectory avenue and disappeared from view. Two boys fought a little
+afterward, but made it up again, and then lay on the grass side by
+side and discussed Maggie, pulling her to pieces in one sense, but
+adoring her all the same.
+
+Meanwhile the girls themselves chatted as girls will when the heart is
+light and there is no care anywhere. It was very hot, even hotter than
+it had been in the morning; but when they reached the road shaded so
+beautifully by the elm-trees they found a delicious breeze which
+fanned their faces. Somehow, Maggie never seemed to suffer from
+weather at all. She was never too cold; she was never too hot; she was
+never ill; no one had ever heard her complain of ache or pain. She was
+always joyous, except when she was sympathizing with somebody else's
+sorrow, and then her sympathy was detached--that is, it did not make
+her personally sad, although it affected and helped the person who was
+the recipient of it to a most remarkable extent. One of Maggie's great
+attractions was her absolute health, her undiminished strength, the
+fact that she could endure almost any exertion without showing a trace
+of fatigue.
+
+Molly and Isabel were also strong, hearty, well-made girls, and the
+excitement of this expedition caused them to chatter more volubly than
+usual. Maggie had a good deal to tell them with regard to the new
+school, and they had a great deal to tell her with regard to the
+Cardews.
+
+Just as they were entering the avenue Maggie turned and faced her two
+companions. "May I say something?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"Why, of course, Mags," said Molly.
+
+"Well, it's this: from what you told me of your friends, they must be
+the most profoundly uninteresting girls."
+
+"Oh no, indeed they are not!" said Isabel stanchly. "Merry has a great
+deal in her, and Cicely is so nice-looking! We think she will be
+beautiful by-and-by; but Merry undoubtedly has the most character.
+Then there is something dignified and aristocratic about them, and yet
+they are not really proud, although they might be, for they are so
+rich, and Meredith Manor is such a wonderful old house."
+
+"Didn't you tell me," said Maggie, "that Meredith Manor belonged to
+Mrs. Cardew?"
+
+"Did I?" said Isabel, coloring in some confusion. "I am sure I don't
+know; I don't remember saying it. I don't think Mrs. Cardew is the
+sort of woman who would call anything hers apart from her husband. She
+is devoted to him, and no wonder, for he is quite charming. He is
+nearly as charming as father, and that's saying a great deal."
+
+"Do let's come on. We'll be late!" said Molly impatiently.
+
+"No, not quite yet, please," said Maggie. "I want to understand the
+position. Mrs. Cardew was a Miss Meredith?"
+
+"Yes, dear Maggie; but what does that matter?"
+
+"And," continued Maggie, "she was the heiress of Meredith Manor?"
+
+"I suppose so. Father can tell you exactly."
+
+"Oh, I don't want to question him, but I want to get my bearings. On
+the mother's side, the Cardew girls belong to the country. Isn't that
+so?"
+
+"Yes, yes, yes. Do come on."
+
+"But their father," continued Maggie, "he is in trade, isn't he?"
+
+"He's a perfect gentleman," said Isabel stoutly; "no one looks down on
+trade in these days."
+
+"Of course not. I adore trade myself," said Maggie. She now proceeded
+to walk very slowly up the avenue. She was evidently thinking hard.
+After a time she said, "I mean to get those girls to come to school
+with you, Molly, and with you, Isabel, in September."
+
+Both the Tristrams burst into a peal of merry laughter. "Oh Mags!"
+they cried, "we never did think before that you were conceited. You
+certainly overrate even your powers when you imagine that you will get
+Mr. Cardew to change his mind."
+
+"What do you mean by his changing his mind?"
+
+"Why, this," said Belle. "He has set his face from the very first
+against his girls leaving home. He wishes them to have a home
+education, and that alone."
+
+"Oh, that is all right," said Maggie cheerfully. "Well, what will you
+bet, girls, that I have my way?"
+
+"We don't want you to lose, Maggie; but you certainly will not get
+your way in this particular."
+
+"Well, now, I am going to be generous. I am not rich; but I have got
+two gold bracelets at home, and I will give one to each of you for
+your very own if I succeed in bringing Cicely and Merry Cardew to Mrs.
+Ward's school."
+
+"Oh! oh!" exclaimed both the Tristram girls.
+
+"You'll get your bracelets," said Maggie in a most confident tone,
+"and I can assure you they are beauties; my darling father brought
+them from India years and years ago. He brought a lot of jewels for
+mother and me, and I will get the bracelets for you--one each--if I
+succeed; but you must allow me to manage things my own way."
+
+"But you won't do anything--anything--to upset the Cardews?" said
+Isabel.
+
+"Upset them!" said Maggie. "Well, yes, I do mean to upset them. I mean
+to alter their lives; I mean to turn things topsyturvy for them; but
+I'll manage it in such a fashion that neither you, nor Molly, nor your
+father, nor your mother, nor anyone will suspect how I have got my
+way, but get it I will. I thought I'd tell you, that's all. You'd like
+to have them at school with you, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, very much indeed," said Molly.
+
+"I am not so sure," said Isabel. "It's rather fun coming back to the
+rectory in the holidays and telling the Cardew girls all about what we
+do and how we spend our time. There'll be nothing to tell them if we
+all go to the same school."
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "I don't agree with you. I expect, on the
+contrary, you'll find a vast lot more to talk about. But come, let's
+hurry now; I want to be introduced to them, for I have no time to
+lose."
+
+Neither Isabel nor Molly could quite make out why they felt a certain
+depression after Maggie Howland had explained her views. The thought
+of the possible possession of the bracelets did not greatly elate
+them. Besides, there was not the most remote chance of even such a
+fascinating young person as Maggie succeeding in her project. She
+would meet her match, if not in Mrs. Cardew, then in Mr. Cardew. There
+was no doubt whatever on that point. But they greatly wished she would
+not try. They did not want her to upset the placid existence of their
+young friends. The girls who lived at the Castle, the girls who
+pursued their sheltered, happy, refined life, were in a manner
+mysterious and remote to the young Tristrams, and they thought that
+they would not love them any more if they were brought into closer
+contact with them.
+
+A turn in the avenue now brought the old manor-house into view. Some
+friends of Mrs. Cardew's had arrived, but there were no other young
+people to be seen. Cicely and Merry were standing talking to a lady of
+middle age who had come to pay an afternoon call, when Cicely found
+herself changing color and glancing eagerly at Merry.
+
+"Oh, will you excuse me?" she said in her pretty, refined voice. "Our
+special friends the Tristrams, the rector's daughters, and a friend of
+theirs, a Miss Howland, are coming up the avenue."
+
+"Certainly, my dear," said Lady Lysle; and Cicely and Merry were off
+down the avenue like arrows from the bow to meet their friends.
+
+Lady Lysle watched the two girls, and then turned to speak to Mrs.
+Cardew.
+
+"What name was that I heard Cicely say?" was her remark. "Of course I
+know the Tristrams, but who was the girl who was with them?"
+
+"A special friend of theirs, a Miss Howland. She has been their school
+companion abroad. She is staying with them at the rectory. Why, what
+is the matter, Lady Lysle? Do you know anything about her?"
+
+"I don't know her," said Lady Lysle, "but I know a little bit about
+her mother. I should not have supposed the Tristram girls and Miss
+Howland were in the same set."
+
+"Why, what is wrong?" said Mrs. Cardew, who was exceedingly particular
+as regarded the people whom her daughters knew.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Lady Lysle. "I happen not particularly to
+like Mrs. Howland; but doubtless I am prejudiced."
+
+She turned to talk to a neighbor, and by this time the five girls had
+met. There was an eager interchange of greetings, and then Maggie
+found herself walking up the avenue by Merry's side, while Cicely
+found a place between the two Tristram girls.
+
+"I am so glad you've come!" said Merry in her gentle, polite voice.
+
+"It is kind of you to ask me," replied Maggie. "Do you know," she
+added, turning and fixing her curious eyes on her companion's face,
+"that I am one of those poor girls who have never seen a beautiful
+house like yours before."
+
+"I am so glad you like our house," said Merry; "but you haven't seen
+it yet."
+
+"I am looking at it now. So this is what I am accustomed to hear
+spoken of as one of the 'Homes of England'?"
+
+"It certainly is a home," said Merry, "and an old one, too. Parts of
+the Manor have been centuries in existence, but some parts, of course,
+are comparatively new."
+
+"Will you take me all over it, Miss Cardew?" asked Maggie.
+
+"Indeed, I shall be delighted; but you must come another day for
+that, for we want to make up some sets of tennis without any delay. We
+have all our afternoon planned out. There are three or four young
+people who may arrive any moment, so that we shall be able to make two
+good sets."
+
+"How wonderful it all is!" said Maggie, who kept on looking at the
+house with ever-increasing admiration, and did not seem particularly
+keen about tennis.
+
+"Don't you like tennis, Miss--Miss Howland?" said Merry.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Maggie after a pause; "but then I think," she added,
+after yet another pause, "that I like every nice thing in all the
+world."
+
+"How delightful that must be!" said Merry, becoming more and more
+attracted by Maggie each moment. "And you know a lot, too, don't you?
+For you have seen so much of the world."
+
+"I know very little," replied Maggie; "and as to having seen the
+world, that is to come. I am quite young, you know--only just
+sixteen."
+
+"But Isabel and Molly told me that you knew more than any other girl
+of their acquaintance."
+
+Maggie gave a cheerful laugh, and said, "You mustn't mind what they
+say, poor darlings! The fact is, they're fond of me, and they magnify
+my knowledge; but in reality it doesn't exist. Only, I must tell you,
+Miss Cardew, I mean to see everything, and to know everything. I mean
+to have a glorious future."
+
+The enthusiasm in the charming voice was also seen, to shine through
+those queer, narrow eyes. Merry felt her heart beat. "I am going to
+tell you something in return," she said, speaking, for a wonder,
+without diffidence, for she was naturally very shy and retiring. "I
+wish with all my heart that I could live a glorious life such as you
+describe."
+
+"And surely you can?" said Maggie.
+
+"No, I must be satisfied with a very quiet life. But we won't talk of
+it now. I am really very happy. I should consider myself a most
+wicked, discontented girl were I anything else. And, please, may I
+take you to see mother?"
+
+Merry brought up her new friend to introduce her to Mrs. Cardew, who
+for the first moment, remembering what Lady Lysle had said, was a
+trifle stiff to Maggie Howland, but two minutes afterward was chatting
+to her in a pleasant and very friendly manner. She even went the
+length of personally introducing Maggie to Lady Lysle, excusing
+herself for the act by saying that Lady Lysle knew her mother.
+
+Maggie also succeeded in charming Lady Lysle, who said to Mrs. Cardew
+afterward, "I am glad you have introduced the girl to me. She is not
+in the least like her commonplace, affected mother. She seems a very
+good sort, and I like plain girls."
+
+"But is she plain?" said Mrs. Cardew in some astonishment. "Do you
+know, I never noticed it."
+
+Lady Lysle laughed. "You never noticed how remarkably plain that girl
+is, my dear friend?" she said.
+
+"To be frank with you," said Mrs. Cardew, "I didn't think of her face
+at all. She has a pretty manner and a nice, sensible, agreeable way of
+talking. I do not think my girls can suffer injury from her."
+
+"They seem to like her, at any rate," said Lady Lysle, looking
+significantly as she spoke at the distant part of the grounds, where
+Maggie, with Cicely at one side of her and Merry at the other, was
+talking eagerly. "Oh yes, she seems a nice child," continued the great
+lady, "and it would be unfair to judge a girl because her mother is
+not to one's taste."
+
+"But is there anything really objectionable in the mother?" asked Mrs.
+Cardew.
+
+"Nothing whatsoever, except that she is pushing, vulgar, and shallow.
+I am under the impression that the Howlands are exceedingly poor. Of
+course they are not to be blamed for that, but how the mother can
+manage to send the girl to expensive schools puzzles me."
+
+"Ah, well," said Mrs. Gardew in her gentle voice, "the child is
+evidently very different from her mother, and I must respect the
+mother for doing her best to get her girl well educated."
+
+"Your girls are not going to school, are they, Sylvia?" asked Lady
+Lysle.
+
+"Mine? Of course not. Their father wouldn't hear of it."
+
+"On the whole, I think he is right," said Lady Lysle, "though there
+are advantages in schools. Now, that school at Kensington, Aylmer
+House, which my dear friend Mrs. Ward conducts with such skill and
+marvelous dexterity, is a place where any girl might receive
+advantages."
+
+"Is it possible," said Mrs. Cardew, "that Mrs. Ward is your friend?"
+
+"My very great friend, dear. I have known her all my life. Aylmer
+House is particularly select. My niece Aneta is at the school, and her
+mother is charmed with it."
+
+"But that is very strange," said Mrs. Gardew after a pause. "You must
+talk to-night to our rector when he comes. Oh yes, of course you'll
+stay to supper."
+
+"I cannot, I regret to say."
+
+"Well, then, if you won't, there's no use in pressing you. But I have
+something curious to say. The rector's two little girls are going to
+Aylmer House in September, and that little Miss Howland whom I just
+introduced to you is also one of the girls under Mrs. Ward's care."
+
+"Then she will do well," said Lady Lysle alter a pause, during which
+her face looked very thoughtful.
+
+"I wonder if she knows your niece," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+Lady Lysle laughed. "I presume she does. The school only contains
+twenty boarders--never any more. I happen to know that there are two
+vacancies at the present moment. Really, if I were you, Sylvia, I
+would give your girls a couple of years there. It would do them a
+world of good, and they would acquire some slight knowledge of the
+world before they enter it."
+
+"Impossible! quite impossible!" said Mrs. Cardew; "their father would
+never consent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+POWER WAS EVERYTHING TO MAGGIE.
+
+
+Meanwhile the young people enjoyed themselves vastly. Maggie was very
+modest with regard to her tennis, but she quickly proved that she
+could play better than any one else at the Manor that day. The
+visitors walking about the grounds paused to remark on her excellent
+play and to inquire who she was. She took her little triumph very
+modestly, saying that she was rather surprised at herself, and
+supposed that it was the fresh and delicious air of the country which
+had put her into such good form.
+
+"She is ridiculously overmodest," said Isabel Tristram to Merry, "for
+she always did play every sort of game better than the rest of us. She
+is not quite so good at her books; except, indeed, at certain things,
+such as recitation. I wish you could see and hear her then. She is
+almost a genius. She looks like one inspired."
+
+"I think her quite delightful," said Merry; "and as to being
+plain----"
+
+"I told you, didn't I?" said Belle, "that you'd never notice her looks
+after you had seen her for a minute or two."
+
+By-and-by it was time for the family to go into the house for supper
+at Meredith Manor. The three girls from the rectory were taken
+upstairs, to a spacious bedroom to wash their hands and brush their
+hair. Molly and Isabel were both most anxious to know what Maggie
+thought of Cicely and Merry.
+
+"What I think of them?" said Maggie. "Oh, they're first-rate, and not
+really dull at all; and the whole place is lovely, and all the people
+I met to-day were so nice, except, indeed, that Lady Lysle."
+
+"Lady Lysle!" exclaimed Molly in a tone of astonishment. "Why, she is
+Mrs. Cardew's greatest friend. Do you mean to say you were introduced
+to her?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Cardew was kind enough to do so, though I am sure I didn't
+want it at all."
+
+"But I can't imagine why she did it," said Molly in a tone of
+astonishment. "Mrs. Cardew never introduces either of us to the
+grown-up people."
+
+"Well, her ostensible reason," said Maggie, "was that Lady Lysle knows
+my mother."
+
+"Does she, indeed?" said Isabel in a tone of great respect.
+
+"But that doesn't make me like her any the better," said Maggie. "And
+now I will tell you why, girls, only you must faithfully promise you
+won't repeat it to any one."
+
+"Of course not," said the girls eagerly, who were accustomed to
+receive secrets from their schoolfellows, though Maggie, as a rule,
+never gave her secrets to anyone.
+
+"Well, I will tell you," said Maggie, the color flushing into her face
+and then leaving it pale again. "Aneta Lysle is one of the girls at
+Aylmer House. She is Lady Lysle's niece; and--well--you know I am
+tolerant enough, but I can't bear Aneta Lysle."
+
+Molly and Isabel were silent for a minute.
+
+"If _you_ can't bear her," said Isabel, "then I don't suppose we'll
+like her either when we go to the school."
+
+"Oh yes, you will; you'll adore her--sure to. Now promise once again
+that you will never repeat this."
+
+"We certainly will not," said Molly.
+
+Isabel nodded emphatically. "We don't tell secrets," she said. Then
+she added, "We had best go downstairs now, if you're quite tidy,
+Mags."
+
+During supper that night Mrs. Cardew, who found herself seated near
+her favorite rector, began to ply him with questions with regard to
+Aylmer House. How had he heard of it, and why had he specially fixed
+on that establishment for his daughters?
+
+The rector smiled. He had twinkling dark eyes, and they now looked
+down the long table until they rested for a brief moment on Maggie's
+young figure. She was talking to Mr. Cardew, who, stately and reserved
+as he was, took her remarks with good-natured tolerance.
+
+"A nice, unaffected child," he kept saying to himself, and neither did
+he remark how plain she was.
+
+"That young person yonder," said Mr. Tristram to Mrs. Cardew, "is the
+influence that has induced me to make arrangements for my girls at
+Aylmer House."
+
+"Miss Howland! You don't mean to say that you are influenced by a
+schoolgirl?"
+
+Mr. Tristram looked grave. "In this case I may as well confess at once
+that I have been influenced," he said. "I have heard a great deal of
+the child from Molly and Isabel, for they were all three at the same
+excellent school in Hanover. I met little Miss Howland when I was in
+London at Christmas. Being such a great friend of my children's, I
+naturally talked to her. She told me of Mrs. Ward and of the new
+delightful school to which she was going. She certainly never once
+pressed me to send my girls there, but it occurred to me that I would
+visit Mrs. Ward and see if it could be arranged. My girls are quite
+proficient for their ages in foreign languages; but I want them now
+thoroughly to learn literature and English history, and also those
+numerous small accomplishments which are so necessary for a
+gentlewoman. There is also no place in the world like London, in my
+opinion, for hearing good music and seeing good art. I saw Mrs. Ward.
+A short interview with her was all-sufficient. I could not desire to
+put my girls in safer hands."
+
+Mrs. Cardew listened very attentively.
+
+"Then you think, Mr. Tristram," she said after a pause, "that
+school-life is really good for girls?"
+
+"In my humble opinion, Mrs. Cardew, it is essential. A girl must find
+her level. She can only find it at school."
+
+"Then what about my dear girls?" said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+The rector bowed in a very courteous manner. "School-life may not be
+really necessary for them," he said; "although you know my opinion--in
+short you know what I would do with them did they belong to me."
+
+Mrs. Cardew was silent for a minute or two. Then she continued the
+conversation by saying, "It is really a curious fact that Lady Lysle,
+my great friend, who was here this afternoon, spoke to me in terms of
+the warmest approbation with regard to Mrs. Ward and Aylmer House. She
+says that her own niece Aneta is a member of the school. She further
+said that there were two vacancies at present, and she urged me to
+send my girls there. But, alas I cannot do that, for their father
+would not hear of it."
+
+"I do wish he would hear of it," said Mr. Tristram with some feeling.
+"You will never have your girls properly taught unless they go to
+school. It is impossible at this distance from London to command the
+services of the best masters and governesses. You will not have a
+resident governess in the house--forgive me if I speak freely, dear
+lady, but I love your children as though they were my own--and if you
+could persuade Mr. Cardew to seize this opportunity and let them go to
+school with Molly and Isabel I am certain you would never regret it."
+
+"I wish I could persuade him," said Mrs. Cardew; "more particularly as
+that excellent music master, Mr. Bennett, has just written to say he
+must discontinue giving his music-lessons, as the distance from
+Warwick is too far for his health, and Miss Beverley, their daily
+governess, has also broken down. But there, I know my husband never
+will agree to part with the girls."
+
+"Then the next best thing," said Mr. Tristram, speaking in a cheerful
+tone, "is for you to take up your abode in your London house, and give
+the girls the advantages of masters and mistresses straight from the
+Metropolis. Why, you will be bringing them out in a couple of years,
+Mrs. Cardew, and you would like them to have all possible advantages
+first."
+
+"Something must be done, certainly," said Mrs. Cardew; "and I like
+that girl, Miss Howland, although Lady Lysle seemed prejudiced against
+her at first."
+
+"Oh, she is a girl in a thousand," said Mr. Tristram; "so
+matter-of-fact and amiable and agreeable. See how she is talking to
+your husband at this very moment! I never saw a nicer or more modest
+young creature, but she is so exceedingly clever that she will push
+her own way anywhere. She has bowled over my two young urchins
+already, although she has been only a few hours at the rectory. What
+could Lady Lysle have to say against Maggie Howland?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing at all, and I ought not to have spoken; but it
+seems she does not much care for Mrs. Howland."
+
+"I think I can explain that," said Mr. Tristram. "Mrs. Howland means
+well, but is a rather silly sort of woman. The girl manages her in the
+sweetest way. The girl herself takes after her father, poor Howland
+the African explorer, who lost his life in his country's cause. He
+had, I am told, a most remarkable personality."
+
+When Molly and Isabel Tristram, accompanied by Maggie Howland, the
+rector, and his wife, walked back to the rectory that evening, Maggie
+was in excellent spirits. It was natural that the three young people
+should start on in front. Maggie talked on various subjects; but
+although the Tristrams were most anxious to get opinions from her with
+regard to the Cardews, she could not be led to talk of them until they
+were approaching the house.
+
+It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and a perfect summer night. The
+boys, Jack and Andrew, had gone to bed, but a few lights were
+twinkling here and there in the dear old rectory.
+
+"Oh, I am not a scrap sleepy", said Maggie. "This air stimulates one;
+it is splendid. By the way, girls," she added, suddenly turning and
+facing her companions, "would you like your bracelets to have rubies
+in them or sapphires?"
+
+"Nonsense!" said Molly, turning crimson.
+
+Belle laughed. "You don't suppose you are accomplishing that?" she
+said.
+
+Maggie spoke rather slowly. "Mother has one dozen bracelets in her
+jewelry-case. Father brought them to her in the course of his travels.
+Some he got in India and some in Africa. They are very valuable and
+exceedingly quaint, and I recall now to my memory, and can-see clearly
+in my mind's eye one lovely gold bracelet fashioned like a snake and
+with eyes of ruby, and another (which I think he must have got at
+Colombo) that consists of a broad gold band studded here and there
+with sapphires. How pretty those bracelets would look on your dear
+little arms, Molly and Isabel; and how glad--how very, very glad--your
+Maggie will be to give them to you!"
+
+"And, of course, when you do give them to us we'll be delighted to
+have them," said Molly and Isabel.
+
+Then Isabel laughed and said, "But what is the good of counting your
+chickens before they're hatched?"
+
+"I consider my chickens hatched," was Maggie's remark, "What fun we
+shall all have together next winter! Aneta won't have much chance
+against us. Yes, girls, of course I like your friends Cicely and
+Merry; but they'll be twice three times--the girls they are when they
+have been for a short time at Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"Aren't you tired, Maggie?" was Molly's remark. "Wouldn't you like to
+go to bed?"
+
+"I am not a scrap tired, and I don't want to go to bed at all; but I
+suppose that means that you would?"
+
+"Well, I must own to feeling a little sleepy," said Molly.
+
+"And so am I," said Belle.
+
+"Girls, girls, come in; your father wants to lock up," called Mrs.
+Tristram at that moment.
+
+The girls all entered the house, lit their candles, and went upstairs
+to their rooms.
+
+As Maggie was wishing her two dear friends good-night she said
+quietly, "I hope you won't mind; but Merry Cardew--or, as I ought to
+call her, Miss Cardew--has asked me to go over to the Manor to-morrow
+morning in order to show me the old house. I said I'd be there at ten
+o'clock, and could then get back to you in time for lunch. I do trust
+you don't mind."
+
+"Of course we don't," said Molly in a hearty tone. "Now, good-night,
+Mags."
+
+"But if you think, Maggie," said Isabel, "that you will succeed in
+that scheme of yours you will find yourself vastly mistaken."
+
+Maggie smiled gently, and the next moment she found herself alone. She
+went and stood by the open window. There was a glorious full moon in
+the sky, and the garden, with its deep shadows and brilliant avenues
+of light, looked lovely. But Maggie was not thinking of the scenery.
+Her thoughts were busy with those ideas which were always running riot
+in her busy little head. She was not unamiable; she was in reality a
+good-hearted girl, but she was very ambitious, and she sighed, above
+all things for power and popularity.
+
+When she came to visit Molly and Isabel she had not the faintest idea
+of inducing Cicely and Merry to join that select group who were taught
+by Mrs. Ward at Aylmer House. But when once the idea had entered her
+brain, she determined, with her accustomed quickness, to carry it into
+execution. She had never yet, in the whole course of her life, met
+with defeat. At the various schools where she had been taught she had
+always been popular and had won friends and never created an enemy-but
+at Aylmer House, extraordinary and delightful as the life was, there
+was one girl who excited her enmity--who, in short, roused the worst
+that was in her. That girl's name was Aneta Lysle. No sophistries on
+the part of Maggie, no clever speeches, no well-timed and courteous
+acts, could win the approval of Aneta; and just because she was
+impossible to get at, because she carried her young head high, because
+she had that which Maggie could never have--a stately and wonderful
+beauty--Maggie was jealous of her, and was determined, if she could
+not win Aneta over to be her friend, to use her own considerable
+powers against the girl. She had not for a single moment, however,
+thought that she could be helped by Cicely and Merry in this
+direction, and had intended to get them to come to the school simply
+because they were aristocratic and rich, in the first instance. But
+when she saw Lady Lysle--Lady Lysle, who hated her mother and before
+whom her mother trembled and shrank; Lady Lysle, who was Aneta's
+aunt--she knew that Cicely and Merry might be most valuable aids to
+her in carrying out her campaign against Aneta, and would help her to
+establish herself once and for all as the most powerful and important
+person in Mrs. Ward's school.
+
+Power was everything to Maggie. By power she meant to rule her small
+school-world, and eventually by the aid of that same gift to take her
+position in the greater world that lies beyond school. In her heart of
+hearts she considered Cicely and Merry tiresome, silly, ignorant
+little girls; but they could be made to play into her hands. They must
+come to Aylmer House--oh yes! and already she felt certain she had put
+the thin end of the wedge beneath that opposition which she knew she
+must expect from Mr. Cardew. She would see him again on the morrow.
+Indeed, greater schemes than hers could be carried into effect within
+a fortnight.
+
+Maggie was the soul of common-sense, however, and had no idea of
+wearing herself out thinking when she ought to be asleep. She
+accordingly soon turned from the window, and, getting into bed,
+dropped at once into healthy slumber.
+
+When she awoke she felt remarkably light-hearted and cheerful. She got
+up early, and went with Andrew and Jack to see the adorable rabbits.
+So judicious was she on this occasion that both boys returned with her
+to breakfast in the highest good-humor.
+
+"Mother, mother," cried Jackdaw, "she loves Fanciful because he's so
+beautiful."
+
+"And she adores Spot-ear because he's so ugly," said Peterkins.
+
+The boys were exceedingly happy at being allowed to sit at breakfast
+one on each side of Maggie, who, when she did not speak to them--for
+she wanted to ingratiate herself with every one present, and not with
+them alone--contrived to pat their hands from time to time, and so
+keep them in a subdued state of exceeding good-humor.
+
+Soon after breakfast she flew up to her room, put on that strangely
+becoming brown hat, which would have suited no other girl but herself,
+and went off to the Manor. She was met at the gate by Merry, who was
+anxiously waiting for her appearance.
+
+"I am so sorry that Cicely isn't here too," said Merry; "but mother
+wanted Cicely to drive into Warwick with her this morning. We're
+going for a long motor-ride this afternoon. Don't you love motors?"
+
+"I have never been in one in my life," replied Maggie.
+
+"Oh dear!" said Merry; "then you shall come with us, although I know I
+can't ask you to-day, but perhaps to-morrow we could manage."
+
+"I must not be too much away from Molly and Isabel, for it would not
+be kind--would it, Miss Cardew?"
+
+"Do call me Merry. 'Miss Cardew' sounds so stiff, and you know I feel
+that I have known you all my life, for Molly and Isabel have always
+been talking about you. Mother was so pleased when she heard that you
+wanted to see the old house; and, do you know, Maggie----You don't
+mind my saying Maggie?"
+
+"Of course not, Merry--dear Merry."
+
+"Well--would you believe it?--father is going to show you the
+manuscript-room himself. I can tell you that is an honor."
+
+"I am so delighted!" said Maggie. "Your father is a most charming
+man."
+
+"Indeed, that he is," said Merry; "but I never saw him get on so well
+with a young girl before."
+
+"Oh," said Maggie in her modest way, "it was just that I wanted to
+listen to him; what he said was so very interesting."
+
+The girls were now walking up the avenue.
+
+"Please," said Merry suddenly, "tell me more about your school--I mean
+that new, wonderful school you are at in London."
+
+"Aylmer House?" said Maggie.
+
+"Yes, Aylmer House. Mother was talking about it this morning. She was
+quite interested in it."
+
+"Your mother was talking about it?"
+
+"Yes. It seems Mr. Tristram had been praising it to her like anything
+last night."
+
+"Well, he can't say too much in its favor," said Maggie. "Any girl who
+didn't get good from it ought to be ashamed of herself."
+
+"What is that you are saying, Miss Howland?" said the voice of Mr.
+Cardew at that moment.
+
+"Oh father! I never saw you," cried Merry.
+
+Mr. Cardew came up and shook hands with Maggie. "I was walking just
+behind you on the grass," he said, "and I heard your enthusiastic
+remarks with regard to the school that the young Tristrams are going
+to. I am heartily pleased; I take a great interest in the Tristrams."
+
+"Oh sir," said Maggie suddenly, "I only wish--oh! I hardly dare to say
+it--but I only do wish that your girls were coming too!"
+
+Merry turned crimson and then grew pale. "Father doesn't approve of
+schools," she said in a faint voice.
+
+"As a rule, I do not," said Mr. Cardew decidedly; "but of course I am
+bound to say there are schools and schools. You shall tell me all
+about your school presently, Miss Howland. And now, I will allow my
+daughter to entertain you."
+
+"But, father darling, you promised to show Maggie the manuscript-room
+yourself."
+
+"Are you interested in black-letter?" said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"I am interested in everything old," replied Maggie.
+
+"Well, then, I will show you the manuscript-room with pleasure; but if
+you want to go over the Manor you have a heavy morning's work before
+you, and Merry is an excellent guide. However, let me see. I will meet
+you in the library at a quarter to twelve. Until then, adieu."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT?"
+
+
+Maggie and Merry had now reached the great porch which overshadowed
+the entrance to the old house. The next instant they found themselves
+in the hall. This, supported by graceful pillars, was open up to the
+roof of the house. It was a magnificent hall, and Merry began
+enthusiastically to explain its perfections. Maggie showed not a
+pretended but a real interest. She asked innumerable and sensible
+questions. Her queer, calm, narrow eyes grew very bright. She smiled
+now and then, and her face seemed the personification of intelligence.
+With that smile, and those gleaming white teeth, who could have
+thought of Maggie Howland as plain?
+
+They went from the hall into the older part of the house, and there
+Merry continued her duties as guide. Never before had she been in the
+company of so absolutely charming a companion. Maggie was the best
+listener in the world. She never interrupted with tiresome or
+irrelevant questions. When she did speak it was with the utmost
+intelligence, showing clearly that she understood what she was being
+told.
+
+By-and-by they found themselves in the picture-gallery. There Merry
+insisted on their sitting down for a time and taking a rest. She
+touched a bell as she spoke, and then motioned Maggie to recline in a
+deep arm-chair which faced the picture of a beautiful lady who was the
+grandmother of the present Mrs. Cardew.
+
+"That lady's name," said Merry, "was Cicely Meredith, and she was the
+wife of the last Meredith but one who owned the Manor. It was little
+supposed in those days that my darling mother would inherit the place,
+and that Cardews should live at Meredith Manor after all. Ah, here
+comes Dixon!--Dixon, will you put our lunch on that small table? Thank
+you very much."
+
+One of the servants in the Cardew livery had appeared. He was bearing
+a small tray of tempting drinks, fruit, and cake.
+
+"Now, Maggie, eat; do eat," said Merry.
+
+"I declare I am as hungry as a hawk," said Maggie, and she munched
+cake and ate fruit and felt that she was, as she expressed it to
+herself--although she would not have used the words aloud--in clover.
+
+Nevertheless, she was not going to lose sight of that mission which
+she had set herself. She turned and looked thoughtfully at Merry.
+Merry had a pretty profile, with the short upper-lip and the graceful
+appearance of a very high-bred girl.
+
+"Do you," said Maggie after a pause, "happen to know Aneta Lysle?"
+
+"Why, of course," said Merry. "Do you mean Lady Lysle's niece?"
+
+"Yes," replied Maggie.
+
+"I don't know her well, but she has stayed here once or twice. Is she
+a friend of yours, Maggie?"
+
+"Oh no; scarcely a friend, although we are schoolfellows."
+
+"How stupid of me!" said Merry, speaking with some warmth. "Of course,
+I quite forgot that she is at Mrs. Ward's school. She is older than
+you, isn't she, Maggie?"
+
+"Yes, a year older, as days are counted; but she appears even more
+than her age, which is just seventeen. Don't you think her very
+beautiful, Merry?"
+
+"Now that I recall her, I do; but she never made a special impression
+on me. She never stayed here long enough."
+
+"Nevertheless, she is a sort of cousin of yours?"
+
+"Yes, Lady Lysle is mother's cousin; but then one doesn't love all
+one's relations," said Merry carelessly. "Have another piece of cake,
+Maggie."
+
+"Thanks," said Maggie, helping herself. "How delicious it is!"
+
+"And put some more cream over your raspberries. The raspberries at
+Meredith Manor are celebrated."
+
+Maggie helped herself to some more cream. "I do wish" she said
+suddenly.
+
+"That I would go on telling you about the pictures?" said Merry. "But
+you must be tired. I never knew any one take in interesting things so
+quickly."
+
+"I am glad you think I do; but it so happens that I do not want to
+hear about the pictures this morning. I think perhaps I am, after all,
+a bit tired. It is the pleasure, the delight of knowing you and your
+sister, and of being with those sweet girls Molly and Isabel."
+
+"Yes, aren't they darlings'?" said Merry.
+
+"I want you to tell me a lot about yourself," said Maggie.
+
+"We have half-an-hour yet before I am to meet your father in the
+manuscript-room. Begin at the beginning, and tell me just everything.
+You are not schoolgirls?"
+
+"Oh, no," said Merry, speaking slowly. "We are taught at home."
+
+"But have you a resident governess?"
+
+"No; father objects. This is holiday-time of course; but as a rule we
+have a daily governess and masters."
+
+"It must be dull," said Maggie, speaking in a low tone--so low that
+Merry had to strain her ears to hear it.
+
+She replied at once, "'Tisn't nearly so interesting as school; but
+we--we are--quite--_quite_ satisfied."
+
+"I wonder you don't go to school," said Maggie.
+
+"Father doesn't wish it, Maggie."
+
+"But you'd like it, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Like it!" said Merry, her eyes distended a little. "Like to see the
+world and to know other girls? Well, yes, I should like it."
+
+"There'd be discipline, you know," said Maggie. "It wouldn't be all
+fun."
+
+"Of course not," said Merry. "How could one expect education to be all
+fun?"
+
+"And you would naturally like to be very well educated, wouldn't you?"
+said Maggie.
+
+"Certainly; but I suppose we are--that is, after a fashion."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, "after a fashion, doubtless; but you will go into
+society by-and-by, and you'll find--well, that home education leaves
+out a great many points of knowledge which cannot possibly be attained
+except by mixing with other girls."
+
+"I suppose so," said Merry, speaking with a slight degree of
+impatience; "but then Cicely and I can't help it. We have to do what
+father and mother wish."
+
+"Yes, exactly, Merry; and it's so awfully sweet and amiable of you!
+Now, may I describe to you a little bit of school-life?"
+
+"If you like, Maggie. Molly and Isabel have often told me of what you
+did in Hanover."
+
+"Oh, Hanover?" said Maggie with a tone of slight contempt. "We don't
+think of Hanover now in our ideas of school-life. We had a fairly good
+time, for a German school; but to compare it with Mrs. Ward's house!
+Oh, I cannot tell you what a dream of a life I have lived during the
+last term! It is only to see Mrs. Ward to love her; and all the other
+mistresses are so nice, and the girls are so very select and
+lady-like. Then we take a keen interest in our lessons. You're the
+musical one, aren't you, Merry?"
+
+"Yes. How ever did you find that out?"
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "I looked at you, and I guessed it. Besides, I
+heard you hum an air under your breath yesterday, and I knew at once
+that you had a lovely voice."
+
+"I am sure I haven't; and I'm too young to begin singing-lessons."
+
+"Not a bit of it. That's quite an exploded idea. If, for
+instance----Oh, of course I know you won't be there; but if you
+were so lucky as to be a pupil at Mrs. Ward's you would be
+taught to sing, and, what is more valuable, you would hear
+good, wonderful, beautiful singing, and wonderful, beautiful
+music of all sorts. Once a week we all go to a concert at
+Queen's Hall. Have you ever been there?"
+
+"No! I don't know London at all."
+
+"Well, then, another day in the week," continued Maggie, "we go to
+the different museums and picture-galleries, and we get accustomed to
+good art, and we are taught to discern good from bad. We learn
+architecture at St. Paul's and the Abbey and some of the other
+churches. You see, Mrs. Ward's idea is to teach us everything
+first-hand, and during the summer term she takes us on long
+expeditions up the river to Kew and Hampton Court and all those dear
+old places. Then, in addition, she has what she calls reunions in
+the evenings. We all wear evening-dress, and she invites two or
+three friends, and we sing and play among ourselves, and we are taught
+the little observances essential to good society; and, besides all
+the things that Mrs. Ward does, we have our own private club and our
+own debating society, and--oh, it is a full life!--and it teaches
+one, it helps one."
+
+Merry's soft brown eyes were very bright, and her cheeks had a
+carnation glow on them, and her pretty red lips were slightly parted.
+"You do all these things at school--at school?" she said.
+
+"Why, of course; and many, many more things that you can't even
+imagine, for it's the whole influence of the place that is so
+delightful. Then you make friends--great friends--and you get to
+understand character, and you get to understand the value of real
+discipline, and you are taught also that you are not meant to live a
+worldly and selfish life, for Mrs. Ward is very philanthropic. Each
+girl in her school has to help a poor girl in East London, and the
+poor girl becomes in a sort of manner her property. I have got a dear
+little lame girl. Her name is Susie Style. I am allowed to see her
+once or twice a year, and I write her a letter every week, and she
+writes back to me, and I collect enough money to keep her in a
+cripples' home. I haven't enough of my own, for I am perhaps the
+poorest girl in the school; but that makes no difference, for Mrs.
+Ward doesn't allow the word money or rank to be spoken of--she lives
+above all that. She says that money is a great talent, and that people
+who are merely purse-proud are detestable. Oh, but I've told you
+enough, haven't I?"
+
+"Yes, oh yes!" said Merry. "Thanks very, very much. And so Aneta is
+there; and as Molly and Isabel will be there, they will tell me more
+at Christmas. Perhaps we ought to go down now to meet father in the
+manuscript-room."
+
+Maggie rose with alacrity. She followed her companion quite
+cheerfully. She felt assured within herself that the thin end of the
+wedge had been well inserted by now.
+
+Mr. Cardew was exceedingly courteous and pleasant, and Maggie charmed
+him by her intelligence and her marvellous gift of assimilating
+knowledge. Not a word was said with regard to the London school, and
+at ten minutes to one Maggie bade good-bye to Mr. Cardew and Merry,
+and went back to the rectory in considerable spirits.
+
+Molly and Isabel were all impatience for her return.
+
+"Well, what did you do?" said Molly. "Who was there to meet you?"
+
+"Only Merry. Cicely had gone with Mrs. Cardew to Warwick."
+
+"Oh, well, Merry is the jollier of the two, although they are both
+perfectly sweet," said Molly. "And did she show you all the house,
+Maggie?"
+
+"No," said Maggie; "I really couldn't take it all in; but she took me
+round the armory and into the old tower, and then we went into the
+picture-gallery."
+
+"Oh, she took you into the picture-gallery! There are Romneys and
+Gainsboroughs and Sir Joshua Reynoldses, and all sorts of magnificent
+treasures there."
+
+"Doubtless," said Maggie. "But when I tell you what we did you will
+laugh."
+
+"What did you do? Do tell us, Mags."
+
+"We sat in easy-chairs. I faced the portrait of a very beautiful lady
+after whom Cicely Cardew is called."
+
+"Of course I know her well--I mean her picture," said Isabel. "That is
+a Gainsborough. Didn't you admire it?"
+
+"Yes; but I want to look at it again; I'm going to do the gallery
+another day, and on that occasion I think I shall ask Cicely to
+accompany me."
+
+"Why, what do you mean? Don't you like our sweet little Merry?"
+
+"Like her? I quite love her," said Maggie; "but the fact is, girls, I
+did my duty by her this morning, and now I want to do my duty by
+Cicely."
+
+"Oh Mags, you are so mysterious!" said Molly; "but come upstairs and
+take off your hat, for the gong will sound for lunch in a moment."
+
+Maggie went upstairs, Molly and Isabel following her. "Come into my
+room, girls," she said. Then she added, dropping her voice, "I think
+those bracelets are pretty secure."
+
+Molly colored. Isabel looked down.
+
+"You will never succeed," said Molly.
+
+Then Isabel said, "Even if you do, I don't think we ought, perhaps,
+to--to take them, for it would seem as though they were a sort
+of--sort of--bribe."
+
+"Oh, you old goose!" said Maggie, kissing her. "How could they be a
+bribe when I don't ask you to do anything at all? But now, listen. We
+were tired when we got to the gallery; therefore that sweet little
+Merry of yours ordered fruit and milk and cake, and we ate and
+talked."
+
+"What did you talk about?"
+
+"School, dear."
+
+"What was the good of your talking about school to Merry when she
+can't go?"
+
+"Can't go?" said Maggie. "Why, she is going; only, it was my bounden
+duty to make her want to go. Well, I succeeded in doing that this
+morning. There's the gong, and, notwithstanding my lunch, I am quite
+hungry."
+
+"Well, Andrew and Jack are perfectly mad to see you; you'll have to
+devote a bit of your time to them. Dear me, Mags!" said Molly, "it
+must be tiresome to be a sort of universal favorite, as you are."
+
+"Tiresome!" said Maggie, glancing round with her queer, expressive
+eyes, "when I love it like anything? Let's get up a sort of play
+between ourselves this afternoon, and let the boys join in; and, oh!
+couldn't we--don't you think we might--get your two friends Cicely and
+Merry to join us, just for an impromptu thing that we could act
+beautifully in the hay-field? Wouldn't their father consent?"
+
+"Why, of course he would. I'll run round the minute lunch is over and
+get them," said Isabel. "You are a girl for planning things, Mags!
+It'll be quite glorious."
+
+"We might have tea in the hay-field too," continued Maggie. "I am sure
+Peterkins and Jackdaw will help us."
+
+"Capital! capital! and we'll get David"--David was the gardener's
+boy--"to pick lots of fruit for the occasion."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+FORBIDDEN FRUIT.
+
+
+Meanwhile a little girl stood all alone on one of the terrace walks at
+Meredith Manor. Mrs. Cardew and Cicely would not arrive until rather
+late for lunch, and Merry and her father were to partake of it alone.
+Merry paced up and down very slowly. What a lovely day it was, and how
+beautiful the place looked with its long lines of stately trees, and
+its background of woods, and its terraces of bright flowers and green,
+green grass!
+
+As far as the eye could reach the land belonged to the Cardews, and
+yet Merry Cardew, the joint-heiress with Cicely of all this wealth,
+did not feel either happy or contented at that moment. A girl had come
+into her life who had suddenly turned her gold to gray, her sunshine
+to shadow. She was a very nice girl, too--exceedingly nice. There was
+something about her which Merry found impossible to define, for Merry
+had no acquaintances just then in her sheltered life who possessed the
+all-important and marvelous power of charm. Merry knew quite well that
+Maggie Howland was neither rich nor beautiful. She was just a little
+schoolgirl, and yet she could not get Maggie out of her head. She
+sighed for the girl's companionship, and she sighed yet more for the
+forbidden fruit which Maggie had placed so enticingly before her
+mental vision: the school-life, the good life, the energetic,
+purposeful life. Music--oh, how passionately Merry loved the very
+little music she had ever heard! And art--Merry and Cicely had learned
+a little bit of art in their own picture-gallery; but of all there was
+outside they knew nothing. Then that delightful, wonderful scheme of
+having an East End girl for your very own to train, and help, and
+write to, and support; and the companionship, and all the magical
+things which the Tristrams had more or less enjoyed in foreign
+schools, but which seemed to have reached a delicacy of perfection at
+Aylmer House!
+
+Yes, doubtless these were forbidden fruits; but she could not help, as
+she paced alone on the terrace, contrasting her mode of education with
+that which was put within the reach of her friends Molly and Isabel,
+and of Maggie herself. How dull, after all, were her lessons! The
+daily governess, who was always tired when she arrived, taught her out
+of books which even Molly and Isabel declared to be out of date; who
+yawned a good deal; who was always quite, quite kind, but at the same
+time had no enthusiasm; who said, "Yes, my dears; very nicely done,"
+but never even punished; and who only uttered just that mild phrase
+which was monotonous by reason of its repetition. Where was the good
+of reading Racine aloud to Miss Beverley day after day, and not being
+able to talk French properly at all? And where was the use of
+struggling through German with the same instructress?
+
+Then the drawing-master who came from Warwick: he was better than Miss
+Beverley; but, after all, he taught what Molly and Isabel said was now
+quite exploded--namely, freehand--and he only came once a week.
+Merry's passion was for music more than for drawing; it was Cicely who
+pleased Mr. Vaughan, the drawing-master, best. Then there was the
+music-master, Mr. Bennett; but he never would allow her to sing a
+note, and he taught very dull, old-fashioned pieces. How sick she was
+of pieces, and of playing them religiously before her father at least
+once a week! Her dancing was better, for she had to go to Warwick to a
+dancing-class, and there were other girls, and they made it exciting.
+But compared to school, and in especial Mrs. Ward's school, Merry's
+mode of instruction was very dull. After all, Molly and Isabel,
+although they would be quite poor girls, had a better time than she
+and Cicely with all their wealth.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts, my love," said her father at that moment,
+and Merry turned her charming little face towards him.
+
+"I ought not to tell them to you, dad," she said, "for they are--I'm
+ever so sorry--they are discontented thoughts."
+
+"You discontented, my dear child! I did feel that I had two little
+girls unacquainted with the meaning of the word."
+
+"Well, I'll just tell you, and get it over, dad. I'll be perfectly all
+right once I have told you."
+
+"Then talk away my child; you know I have your very best interests at
+heart."
+
+"Indeed I know that, my darling father. The fact is this," said Merry;
+"I"----She stopped; she glanced at her father. He was a most
+determined and yet a most absolutely kind man. Merry adored him;
+nevertheless, she was a tiny little bit in awe of him.
+
+"What is the matter?" he said, looking round at her. "Has your
+companion, that nice little Miss Howland, been putting silly thoughts
+into your head? If so, she mustn't come here again."
+
+"Oh father, don't say that! You'll make me quite miserable. And indeed
+she has not been putting silly thoughts into my head."
+
+"Well, then, what are you so melancholy about?"
+
+"The fact is--there, I will have it out," said Merry--"I'd give
+anything in the world to go to school."
+
+"What?" said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Yes," said Merry, gaining courage as she spoke; "Molly and Isabel are
+going, and Aneta Lysle is there, and Maggie Howland is there, and I'd
+like to go, too, and I'm sure Cicely would; and, oh, father! I know it
+_can't_ be; but you asked me what was the matter. Well, that's the
+matter. I do want most awfully to go to school!"
+
+"Has that girl Miss Howland been telling you that you ought to go to
+school?"
+
+"Indeed no, she has not breathed such a word. But I am always
+interested, as you know--or as perhaps you don't know--in schools; and
+I have always asked--and so has Cicely--Molly and Isabel to tell us
+all about their lives at school."
+
+"I did not know it, my little Merry."
+
+"Well, yes, father, Cicely and I have been curious; for, you see, the
+life is so very different from ours. And so to-day, when Maggie and I
+were in the picture-gallery, I asked her to tell me about Aylmer
+House, and she--she did."
+
+"She made a glowing picture, evidently," said Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Oh father, it must be so lovely! Think of it, father--to get the best
+music and the best art, and to be under the influence of a woman like
+Mrs. Ward. Oh, it must be good! Do you know, father, that every girl
+in her school has an East End girl to look after and help; so that
+some of the riches of the West should be felt and appreciated by those
+who live in the East. Oh father! I could not help feeling a little
+jealous."
+
+"Yes, darling, I quite understand. And you find your life with Miss
+Beverley and Mr. Vaughan and Mr. Bennett a little monotonous compared
+to the variety which a school-life affords?"
+
+"That is it, father darling."
+
+"I don't blame you in the least, Merry--not in the very least; but the
+fact is, I have my own reasons for not approving of school-life. I
+prefer girls who are trained at home. If, indeed, you had to earn your
+living it would be a different matter. But you will be rich, dear,
+some day, and----Well, I am glad you've spoken to me. Don't think
+anything more about it. Come in to lunch now."
+
+"I'll try not to think of it, father; and you're not really angry?"
+
+"Angry!" said Mr. Gardew. "I'll never be angry with you, Merry, when
+you tell me all the thoughts of your heart."
+
+"And you won't--you won't," said Merry in an anxious tone--"vex
+darling mother by talking to her about this?"
+
+"I make no promises whatsoever You have trusted me; you must continue
+to trust me."
+
+"I do; indeed I do! You are not angry with dear, nice Miss Howland,
+are you, father?"
+
+"Angry with her! Why should I be? Most certainly not. Now, come in to
+lunch, love."
+
+At that meal Mr. Cardew did his very utmost to be pleasant to Merry;
+and as there could be no man more charming when he pleased, soon the
+little girl was completely under his influence, and forgot that
+fascinating picture of school-life which Maggie had so delicately
+painted for her edification.
+
+Soon after lunch Mrs. Cardew and Cicely returned; and Merry, the
+moment she was with her sister, felt her sudden fit of the blues
+departing, and ran out gaily with Cicely into the garden. They were
+seated comfortably in a little arbor, when Isabel's voice was heard
+calling them. She was hot and panting. She had come up to tell them of
+the proposed arrangements for the afternoon, and to beg of them both
+to come immediately to the rectory.
+
+"How more than delightful!" said Merry.--"Cicely, you stay still, for
+you're a little tired. I'll run up to the house at once and ask father
+and mother if we may go."
+
+"Yes, please do," said Isabel; "and I'll rest here for a little, for
+really the walk up to your house is somewhat fatiguing." She mopped
+her hot forehead as she spoke. "You might as well come back with me,
+both of you girls," she added. But she only spoke to Cicely, for Merry
+had already vanished.
+
+"Father! mother!" said the young girl, bursting abruptly into their
+presence. "Belle Tristram has just come up to ask us to spend the
+afternoon at the rectory. Tea in the hay-field, and all kinds of fun!
+May we go?"
+
+"Of course you may, dears," said Mrs. Cardew at once. "We intended
+motoring, but we can do that another day."
+
+Mr. Cardew looked dubious for a moment. Then he said, "All right, only
+you must not be out too late. I'll send the pony-trap down to the
+rectory for you at half-past eight o'clock."
+
+"Oh, but, father," said Merry, "we can walk home."
+
+"No dear; I will send the little carriage. Now, go and enjoy yourself,
+my child."
+
+He looked at her with great affection, and she felt herself reddening.
+Had she hurt that most dear father after all? Oh! no school that ever
+existed was worth that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DISCONTENT.
+
+
+On that special afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Cardew happened to be alone.
+The girls had gone down to the rectory. This was not Mrs. Cardew's At
+Home day, and she therefore did not expect any visitors. She was a
+little tired after her long drive to Warwick, and was glad when her
+husband suggested that they should go out and have tea all alone
+together under one of the wide-spreading elm-trees.
+
+Mrs. Cardew said to herself that this was almost like the old, old
+times of very long ago. She and her husband had enjoyed an almost
+ideal married life. They had never quarreled; they had never even had
+a small disagreement. They were blessed abundantly with this world's
+good things, for when Sylvia Meredith of Meredith Manor had accepted
+the hand of Cyril Cardew she had also given her heart to him.
+
+He and she were one in all particulars. Their thoughts were almost
+identical. She was by no means a weak-minded woman--she had plenty of
+character and firmness; but she deferred to the wishes of her husband,
+as a good wife should, and was glad! to feel that he was slightly her
+master. Never, under any circumstances, did he make her feel the yoke.
+Nevertheless, she obeyed him, and delighted in doing so.
+
+The arrival of their little twin-daughters was the crown of their
+bliss. They never regretted the fact that no son was born to them to
+inherit the stately acres of Meredith Manor; they were the last sort
+of people to grumble. Mrs. Cardew inherited the Meredith property in
+her own right, and eventually it would be divided between her two
+daughters.
+
+Meanwhile the children themselves absorbed the most loving care of
+their parents. Mr. Cardew was, as has already been said, a great
+merchant-prince. He often went to London to attend to his business
+affairs, but he spent most of his time in the exquisite country home.
+It was quite true that discontent seemed far, very far away from so
+lovely a spot as Meredith Manor. Nevertheless, Mr. Cardew had seen it
+to-day on the face of his best-loved child, his little Merry. The
+look had hurt him; and while he was having lunch with her, and joking
+with her, and talking, in his usually bright and intelligent way, her
+words, and still more the expression of her face and the longing look
+in her sweet brown eyes, returned to him again and again.
+
+He was, therefore, more thoughtful than usual as he sat by his wife's
+side now under the elm-tree. He had a pile of newspapers and magazines
+on the grass at his feet, and his favorite fox-terrier Jim lay close
+to his master. Mrs. Cardew had her invariable knitting and a couple of
+novels waiting to occupy her attention when Mr. Cardew took up one of
+the newspapers. But for a time the pair were silent. Mrs. Cardew was
+thinking of something which she wanted to say, and Mr. Cardew was
+thinking of Merry. It was, as is invariably the case, the woman who
+first broke the silence.
+
+"Well, Cyril," said his wife, "to find ourselves seated here all
+alone, without the children's voices to listen to reminds me of the
+old times, the good times, the beautiful times when we were first
+married."
+
+"My dear," he answered, starting slightly as she spoke, "those were
+certainly good and beautiful times, but surely not more good and
+beautiful than now, when our two dear little girls are growing up and
+giving us such great happiness."
+
+"That is true. Please don't misunderstand me, love; but you come even
+before the children."
+
+He felt touched as she said this, and glancing at her, said to himself
+that he was indeed in luck to have secured so priceless a woman as his
+wife.
+
+"We have had happy times together, Cyril," she said, returning his
+glance.
+
+"Yes, Sylvia," he answered, and once again he thought of Merry's
+face.
+
+"Nothing can alter that," she continued.
+
+"Nothing, my love," he said.
+
+Then he looked at her again, and saw that she was a little troubled
+about something; and, as was his custom, he determined to take the
+bull by the horns.
+
+"You have something on your mind, Sylvia. What is it?"
+
+"I have," she said at once; "and something of very great importance. I
+have a sort of fear that to talk of it with you may possibly trouble
+you a little. Shall we defer it, dear? The day is so peaceful, and we
+are so happy."
+
+"No, no," he replied at once. "We will take the opportunity of the
+children being perfectly happy at the rectory to discuss the thing
+that worries you. But what can it be?" he continued. "That is more
+than I can imagine. I have never seen you worried before."
+
+Again he thought of Merry, but it was impossible to connect his wife's
+trouble with his child's discontent.
+
+"Well, I will tell you just out, Cyril," said his wife. "I urge
+nothing, but I feel bound to make a suggestion. I know your views with
+regard to the girls."
+
+"My views, dear! What do you mean?"
+
+"With regard to their education, Cyril."
+
+"Yes, yes, Sylvia; we have done our very best. Have you any reason to
+find fault with Miss Beverley or with Vaughan or Bennett?"
+
+"Unfortunately," said Mrs. Cardew, "Miss Beverley, who, you know, is
+an admirable governess, and whom we can most thoroughly trust, wrote
+to me yesterday morning saying that she was obliged to resign her post
+as daily governess to our girls. She finds the distance from Warwick
+too far; in fact, she has her physician's orders to take work nearer
+home. She regrets it immensely, but feels that she has no
+alternative."
+
+"Provoking!" said Mr. Cardew; "but really, Sylvia, I wouldn't allow it
+to upset me if I were you. Surely there are plenty of other Miss
+Beverleys in the world; and"--again he thought of Merry--"we might
+perhaps find some one a little less old-fashioned."
+
+"I am afraid, dear, that is impossible, for you will not allow a
+resident governess in the house."
+
+"I will not," said Mr. Cardew with decision. "Such an arrangement
+would break in on our family life. You know my views."
+
+"Yes, dear; and I must say I approve of them."
+
+"You must find some one else in Warwick who is not too tired to take
+the train journey. Doubtless it would be quite easy," said Mr.
+Cardew.
+
+"I went to Warwick this morning in order to make inquiries," said Mrs.
+Cardew in her gentle voice, "and I grieve to say there is no one who
+can in the least take the post which dear Miss Beverley has so
+worthily filled. But I have further bad news to give you. Mr. Bennett
+is leaving Warwick for a better post in London, and we shall be at our
+wits' end to get the girls good music-lessons for next term."
+
+"How provoking! how annoying!" said Mr. Cardew, and his irritation was
+plainly shown in his face. "It does seem hard," he said after a
+moment's pause, "that we, with all our wealth, should be unable to
+give our girls the thorough education they require."
+
+"The fact is this, dear," said Mrs. Cardew, "and I must speak out
+plainly even at the risk of displeasing you--Cicely and Merry are
+exceedingly clever girls, but at the present moment they are very far
+behind other girls of their age. Their knowledge of foreign languages
+is most deficient. I have no doubt Miss Beverley has grounded them
+well in English subjects; but as to accomplishments, they are not
+getting the advantages their rank in life and their talent demand.
+Dear Cyril, we ought to forget ourselves and our interests for the
+children."
+
+"What has put all this into your head?" said Mr. Cardew. "As, for
+instance--" He paused. "It seemed impossible----"
+
+"What, dear?" asked his wife very earnestly.
+
+"Well, I may as well say it. Has Merry been talking to you?"
+
+"Our little Merry!" said Mrs. Cardew in astonishment. "Of course not.
+What in the world do you mean?"
+
+"I will not explain just at present, dear. You have some idea in your
+head, or you wouldn't speak to me as you do."
+
+"Well, the fact is, when my cousin, Lucia Lysle, was here yesterday
+she spoke very strongly to me on the subject of the girls' education,
+and urged me to do what I knew you would never for a moment consent
+to."
+
+"And what is that?" asked Mr. Gardew. "I seem to be an awful bugbear
+in this business."
+
+"No, dear, no. I quite understand your scruples, and--and--respect
+them. But Lucia naturally wanted us to seize the opportunity of two
+vacancies at Aylmer House, Mrs. Ward's school."
+
+"I shall soon begin to hate the name of Mrs. Ward," said Cardew with
+some asperity.
+
+"My cousin spoke most highly of the school," continued Mrs. Cardew.
+"She said that two years there, or perhaps a little longer, would give
+the girls that knowledge of life which will be all-essential to them
+in the future."
+
+"Home education is best; I know it is best," said Mr. Cardew. "I hate
+girls' schools."
+
+"I gave her to understand, dear, that those were your views; but I
+have something else to tell you. You know how attached we both are to
+the dear Tristrams."
+
+"Of course, of course," said Mr. Cardew with impatience.
+
+"Well, at supper yesterday evening Mr. Tristram began to talk to me on
+the very same subject as my cousin, Lady Lysle, had spoken of earlier
+in the day."
+
+"Very interfering of Tristram," replied Mr. Cardew.
+
+"He didn't mean it in that way, I assure you, my love; nothing could
+be nicer than the way he spoke. I was telling him--for I had not
+mentioned the fact to you, and it was troubling me a little--about
+Miss Beverley and Mr. Bennett, and asking his advice, as I often do.
+He immediately urged Aylmer House as the best possible substitute for
+Miss Beverley and Mr. Bennett. I repeated almost the same words I had
+used to Lucia Lysle--namely, that you were dead-set against girls'
+schools."
+
+"That was scarcely polite, my love, seeing that he sends his own
+daughters to school."
+
+"Well, yes," said Mrs. Cardew; "but of course their circumstances are
+very different."
+
+"I would be sorry if he should feel that difference, Sylvia. Tristram
+is a most excellent fellow."
+
+"He is--indeed he is!" said Mrs. Cardew. "Feeling for him, therefore,
+as you do, dear, you may perhaps be more inclined to listen to an
+alternative which he proposed to me."
+
+"And what is that, my dear?"
+
+"Well, he thinks we might occupy our house in London during the school
+terms of each year----"
+
+"During the school terms of each year!" echoed Mr. Cardew in a voice
+of dismay. "But I hate living in London."
+
+"Yes, dearest; but you see we must think of our girls. If you and I
+took the children to town they could have governesses and masters--the
+very best--and would thus be sufficiently educated to take their place
+in society."
+
+Mr. Cardew was quite silent for a full minute after his wife had made
+this suggestion. To tell the truth, she had done a somewhat
+extraordinary thing. Amongst this great lady's many rich possessions
+was a splendid mansion in Grosvenor Street; but, as she hated what is
+called London society, it had long been let to different tenants, for
+nothing would induce the Cardews to leave their delightful home, with
+its fresh air and country pursuits, for the dingy old house in town.
+They knew that when the girls came out--a far-distant date as
+yet--they would have to occupy the house in Grosvenor Street for the
+season; but Mrs. Cardew's suggestion that they should go there almost
+immediately for the sake of their daughters' education was more
+annoying to her husband than he could possibly endure.
+
+"I consider the rector very officious," he said. "Nothing would induce
+me to live in town."
+
+"I thought you would feel like that, dear. I was certain of it."
+
+"You surely would not wish it yourself, Sylvia?"
+
+"I should detest it beyond words," she replied.
+
+"Besides, the house is occupied," said Mr. Cardew, catching at any
+excuse not to carry out this abominable plan, as he termed it.
+
+"Well, dear, at the present moment it is not. I had a letter a week
+ago from our agent to ask if he should relet it for the winter and
+next season, and I have not yet replied to him."
+
+"Nonsense, nonsense, Sylvia! We cannot go to live there."
+
+"I don't wish it, my love."
+
+The pair sat quite silent after Mrs. Cardew had made this last
+remark.
+
+After a time her husband said, "We're really placed in a very cruel
+dilemma; but doubtless there are schools and schools. Now, I feel that
+the time has arrived when I ought to tell you about Merry."
+
+"What about the dear child?" asked her mother. "Isn't she well?"
+
+"Absolutely and perfectly well, but our dear little girl is consumed
+by the fever of discontent."
+
+"My dear, you must be mistaken."
+
+"I am not. Listen, and I will tell you what has happened."
+
+Mr. Cardew then related his brief interview with Merry, and Merry's
+passionate desire to go to Aylmer House.
+
+"And what did you say to her, love?" asked his wife.
+
+"I told her it was impossible, of course."
+
+"But it really isn't, dear, you know," said Mrs. Cardew in a low tone;
+"and as you cannot make up your mind to live in London, those two
+vacancies at Aylmer House seem providential."
+
+At these words Mr. Cardew sprang to his feet. "Nothing will ever shake
+my opinion with regard to school-life," he said.
+
+"And yet the life in town----"
+
+"That is impossible. Look me straight in the face, Sylvia. If by any
+chance--don't, please, imagine that I'm giving way--but if, by any
+possible chance, I were to yield, could you, my darling, live without
+your girls?"
+
+"With you--I could," she answered, and she held out her hand to him,
+which he raised to his lips and kissed.
+
+"Well, I am upset," he said. "If only Miss Beverley and Bennett were
+not so silly, we should not be in this awkward fix. I'll go for a
+ride, if you don't mind, Sylvia, and be back with you in an hour's
+time."
+
+During that ride Mr. Cardew felt as a strong man does when his most
+cherished wishes are opposed, and when circumstance, with its
+overpowering weight, bears down every objection. Beyond doubt the
+girls must be educated. Beyond doubt the scheme of living in London
+could not be entertained. Country life was essential. Meredith Manor
+must not be deserted for the greater part of the year. He might visit
+the girls whenever he went to London; but, after all, he was now more
+or less a sleeping partner in his great firm. There was no necessity
+for him to go to London more than four or five times a year. Oh!
+school was hateful, but little Merry had longed for it. How
+troublesome education was! Surely the girls knew enough.
+
+He was riding home, his thoughts still in a most perturbed condition,
+when he suddenly drew up just in front of a little figure who stood by
+the roadside, attired as a gipsy, with a scarlet bandana handkerchief
+twisted round her head, a short skirt reaching not quite to her ankles
+made also of scarlet, and a little gay blue shawl across her
+shoulders. She was carrying a tambourine in one hand and in the other
+a great bunch of many-colored ribbons.
+
+This little, unexpected figure was seen close to the rectory grounds,
+and Mr. Cardew was so startled by it, and so also was his horse, that
+he drew up abruptly and looked imperiously at the small suppliant for
+his favor.
+
+"If you please, sir," said Maggie Howland, speaking in her most
+enticing voice, and knowing well that her dress magnified her charms,
+"will you, kind sir, allow me to cross your hand with silver and let
+me tell your fortune?"
+
+Mr. Cardew now burst into a merry laugh.
+
+"Why, Miss Howland," he said, "I beg your pardon; I did not recognize
+you."
+
+Maggie dropped a low curtsy. "I'm the gipsy girl Caranina, and I
+should like to tell your fortune, kind and generous sir."
+
+Just then the pretty face of Cicely was seen peeping over the rectory
+grounds. She was dressed as a flower-girl, and looked more lovely than
+he had ever seen her before.
+
+"Why, dad, dad," she cried, "oh! you must come in and join our fun.
+Mustn't he, Maggie?"
+
+"I am Caranina, the gipsy girl," said Maggie, dropping another low
+curtsy, and holding her little tambourine in the most beseeching
+attitude; "and you are Flora, queen of the flowers."
+
+"Well, really, this is entertaining," said Mr. Cardew. "What queer
+little minxes you all are! And may I really come in and see the fun?"
+
+"Indeed you may, dad," said the flower-girl. "Oh, and please we want
+you to look at Merry. Merry's a fairy, with wings. We're going to have
+what we call an evening revel presently, and we are all in our dress
+for the occasion. But Maggie--I mean Caranina--is telling our
+fortunes--that is, until the real fun begins."
+
+"Do please come in, Mr. Cardew. This is the height of good luck," said
+Mrs. Tristram, coming forward herself at this moment. "Won't you join
+my husband and me under the shadow of the tent yonder? The young
+people are having such a good time."
+
+"I will come for a minute or two," said Cardew, dismounting as he
+spoke. "Can some one hold Hector for me?"
+
+David was quickly summoned, and Mr. Cardew walked across the hay-field
+to where the hastily improvised tent was placed.
+
+"No one can enter here who doesn't submit to the will of the gipsy,"
+remarked Caranina in her clear and beautiful voice. "This is my tent,
+and I tell the fortunes of all those kind ladies and gentlemen who
+will permit me to do so."
+
+"Then you shall tell mine, with pleasure, little maid," said Mr.
+Cardew, who felt wonderfully cheered and entertained at this _al
+fresco_ amusement.
+
+Quick as thought Maggie had been presented with a silver coin. With
+this she crossed the good gentleman's palm, and murmured a few words
+with regard to his future. There was nothing whatever remarkable in
+her utterance, for Maggie knew nothing of palmistry, and was only a
+very pretense gipsy fortune-teller. But she was quick--quicker than
+most--in reading character; and as she glanced now into Mr. Cardew's
+face an inspiration seized her.
+
+"He is troubled about something," thought the girl. "It's the thin end
+of the wedge; I'll push it in a little farther."
+
+Her voice dropped to a low tone. "I see in your hand, kind sir," she
+said, "all happiness, long life, and prosperity; but I also see a
+little cross, just here--" she pointed with her pretty finger--"and it
+means self-sacrifice for the sake of a great and lasting good. Kind
+sir, I have nothing more to add."
+
+Mr. Cardew left the tent and sat down beside the rector and his wife.
+Maggie's words were really unimportant. As one after the other the
+merry group of actors went to have their fortunes told he paid no
+attention whatever to them. Gipsy fortune-tellers always mixed a
+little sorrow with their joyful tidings. It was a bewitching little
+gipsy after all. He could not quite make out her undefined charm, but
+he was interested in her; and after a time, when the fortune-telling
+had come to an end and Maggie was about to change her dress for what
+they called the evening revels, he crossed the field and stood near
+her.
+
+"So you, Miss Howland, have been telling my daughter Merry a good many
+things with regard to your new school?"
+
+She raised her queer, bright eyes, and looked him full in the face. "I
+have told Merry a few things," she said; "but, most of all, I have
+assured her that Aylmer House is the happiest place in the world."
+
+"Happier than home? Should you say it was happier than home, Miss
+Howland?"
+
+"Happier than my home," said Maggie with a little sigh, very gentle
+and almost imperceptible, in her voice. "Oh, I love it!" she continued
+with enthusiasm; "for it helps--I mean, the life there helps--to make
+one good."
+
+Mr. Cardew said nothing more. After a time he bade his friends good-by
+and returned to Meredith Manor. In course of time the little
+pony-carriage was sent down to the rectory for the Cardew girls, who
+went back greatly elated.
+
+How delightful their evening had been, and what a marvelous girl
+Maggie Howland was.'
+
+"Why, she even manages to subdue and to rule those really tiresome
+boys," said Cicely.
+
+"Yes," remarked Merry, "she is like no one else."
+
+"You have quite fallen in love with her, haven't you, Merry?"
+
+"Well, perhaps I have a little bit," said Merry. She looked
+thoughtful. She longed to say to Cicely, "How I wish beyond all things
+on earth that I were going to the same school!" But a certain fidelity
+to her father kept her silent.
+
+She was startled, therefore, when Cicely herself, who was always
+supposed to be much calmer than Merry, and less vehement in her
+desires, clasped her sister's hand and said with emphasis, "I don't
+know, after all, if it is good for us to see too much of Maggie
+Howland."
+
+"Why, Cissie? What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean this," said Cicely: "she makes me--yes, I will say
+it--discontented."
+
+"And me too," said Merry, uttering the words with an emphasis which
+astonished herself.
+
+"We have talked of school over and over again," said Cicely, "with
+Molly and Belle; but notwithstanding their glowing accounts we have
+been quite satisfied with Miss Beverley, and dear, gray-haired Mr.
+Bennett, and Mr. Vaughan; but now I for one, don't feel satisfied any
+longer." "Nor do I," said Merry.
+
+"Oh Merry!"
+
+"It is true," said Merry. "I want to go to Aylmer House."
+
+"And I am almost mad to go there," said Cicely.
+
+"I'll tell you something, Cissie. I spoke to father about it to-day."
+
+"Merry! you didn't dare?"
+
+"Well, I just did. I couldn't help myself. It is hateful to be
+under-educated, and you know we shall never be like other girls if we
+don't see something of the world."
+
+"He didn't by any chance agree with you?" said Cicely.
+
+"Not a bit of it," said Merry. "We must bear with our present life,
+only perhaps we oughtn't to see too much of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Well," said Cicely, "I've something to tell you, Merry."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"You don't know just at present why mother and I went to Warwick this
+morning?"
+
+"No," said Merry, who was rather uninterested. "I had a very good time
+with Maggie, and didn't miss you too dreadfully."
+
+"Well, you will be interested to know why we did go, all the same,"
+said Cicely. "It's because Miss Beverley is knocked up and can't teach
+us any more, and Mr. Bennett is going to London. Mother can't hear of
+anyone to take Miss Beverley's place, or of any music-teacher equal to
+Mr. Bennett; so, somehow or other, I feel that there are changes in
+the air. Oh Merry, Merry! suppose----"
+
+"There's no use in it," said Merry. "Father will never change. We'll
+get some other dreadfully dull daily governess, and some other
+fearfully depressing music-master, and we'll never be like Molly and
+Belle and Maggie and our cousin Aneta. It does seem hard."
+
+"We must try not to be discontented," said Cicely.
+
+"Then we had best not ask Maggie here too often," replied Merry.
+
+"Oh, but they're all coming up to-morrow morning, for I have asked
+them," said Cicely.
+
+"Dear, dear!" replied Merry.
+
+"We may as well have what fun we can," remarked Cicely, "for you know
+we shall be going to the seaside in ten days."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+MRS. WARD'S SCHOOL.
+
+
+It is to be regretted that Mr. Cardew spent a restless night. Mrs.
+Cardew, on the contrary, slept with the utmost peace. She trusted so
+absolutely in her husband's judgment and in in his power to do the
+very best he could on all possible occasions for her and hers that she
+was never deeply troubled about anything. Her dear husband must not be
+forced to live in London if he did not like to do so, and some
+arrangement must be made for the girls' home education if he could not
+see his way to sending them to school.
+
+Great, therefore, was her astonishment on the following morning when
+he came hastily into her room.
+
+"My dear," he said, "I am off to London for the day."
+
+"What for?" she asked.
+
+"I will tell you, darling, when I return to-night."
+
+"Cyril, may I not come with you?"
+
+"I think not, my love. Make all the young people as happy as you can.
+I'm just off to the station, in the motor-car."
+
+Mr. Cardew left his wife's room. The girls were told at breakfast that
+their father had gone to London; but as this frequently happened, and
+was invariably connected with that business which they knew nothing
+whatever about, they were not keenly interested. As a matter of fact,
+they were much more absorbed in getting things ready for the
+entertainment of their friends; and in this Mrs. Cardew very heartily
+joined them. She proposed that during Maggie Howland's visit the five
+girls should have as happy a time together as possible; and as the
+weather was perfect the invariable picnics and gipsy teas were
+arranged for their benefit.
+
+"You can all make yourselves happy here to-day, my darlings," said
+Mrs. Cardew, addressing Cicely and Merry. "To-morrow, when your father
+is here, the Tristrams, he and I, and you girls will have a very
+pleasant picnic to the Aldersleigh woods. We will arrange it to-day,
+for there is nothing your father enjoys more than a whole, long, happy
+day in the open air. I will speak to Mrs. Fairlight, and tell her to
+have all things in readiness for our picnic."
+
+"Oh mummy, how good! how good!" said Merry, clasping her mother's
+hand. Then she added, "Mummy, is it true that Miss Beverley is never
+going to teach us any more?"
+
+"I am afraid it is only too true, Merry; but this is holiday-time,
+darling; we needn't talk of your education just at present."
+
+"Only, we must be educated--mustn't we, mother?"
+
+"Of course, dearest. Your father will see to that."
+
+Merry ran off to join her sister, and it is not too much to say that
+the whole of that glorious day was one of unalloyed pleasure. The
+Tristram girls were always delightful to the Cardew girls, but now
+that they were accompanied by Maggie Howland there was a great
+addition to their charm. Nevertheless, Maggie, with her purpose full
+in view, with her heart beating a little more quickly than usual when
+she heard that Mr. Cardew had gone to London, religiously avoided the
+subject of the life at Aylmer House. She felt, somehow, that she had
+done her part. A great deal of her own future depended on these two
+girls coming to Aylmer House. She would make use of them--large use of
+them--at school. She was fond of Molly and Belle; but they were poor.
+Maggie herself was poor. She wanted to have rich friends. The Cardews
+were rich. By their means she would defeat her enemy, Aneta Lysle, and
+establish herself not only in the school but with regard to her future
+life. Maggie felt that she could make herself indispensable to Cicely
+and Merry. Oh yes, they would certainly go to Aylmer House in
+September. She need not worry herself any further, therefore, with
+regard to that matter. Little would they guess how much she had really
+done toward this desirable goal, and how fortunate circumstances had
+been in aiding her to the accomplishment of her desire. It was enough
+for Maggie that they were certainly going. She could, therefore, give
+herself up to enjoyment.
+
+With Maggie Howland enjoyment meant a very different thing from what
+it does to the average English girl. She enjoyed herself with all her
+heart and soul, without one single reservation. To see her face at
+such moments was to behold pure sunshine; to hear her voice was to
+listen to the very essence of laughter and happiness. She had a
+marvelous power of telling stories, and when she was happy she told
+them with such verve that all people within earshot hung on her words.
+Then she could improvise, and dance, and take off almost any
+character; in short, she was the life of every party who admitted her
+within their circle.
+
+Meanwhile a rather tired and rather sad man found himself, very much
+against his will, in London. He said to himself, "This wonderful Mrs.
+Ward will not be at Aylmer House now. These are the holidays, and she
+will be probably miles away. I will go to see her. Yes, but she won't
+be in; that alone will clinch the matter. But first I will pay a visit
+to Lucia Lysle; she said she would be in London--she told my dear wife
+so. But Lucia is so erratic, it is most improbable that she either
+will be at home."
+
+Mr. Cardew drove first of all to Lady Lysle's house in Hans Place. He
+asked if she was within, and, very much to his annoyance, the servant
+replied in the affirmative. He entered Lady Lysle's drawing-room
+feeling rather silly. The first person he saw there was a tall, slim,
+lovely girl, whom he did not recognize at first, but who knew him and
+ran up to him and introduced herself as Aneta.
+
+"Why, my dear," he said, "how are you? How you have grown!"
+
+"How is dear Cousin Sylvia, and how are Cicely and Merry?" asked
+Aneta. "Oh, I am very well indeed, Mr. Cardew; I don't suppose anybody
+could be anything but well who was lucky enough to be at Aylmer
+House."
+
+"Mrs. Ward's school?" said Mr. Cardew, feeling rather shy and almost
+self-conscious.
+
+"Of course. Don't you know Mrs. Ward, Mr. Cardew?"
+
+"No, my dear, I don't."
+
+"It's the most marvelous school in the world," said Aneta with
+enthusiasm. "I do wish you would send Cicely and Merry there. They
+would have a good time."
+
+"Is your aunt in?" said Mr. Cardew, a little restlessly.
+
+"Oh yes; she'll be down in a minute."
+
+Lady Lysle now hurried into the room.
+
+"How do you do, Cyril?" she said. "I didn't expect to find you in town
+just now. Is there anything I can do for you?"
+
+"I am rather anxious to have a chat with you," replied Mr. Cardew.
+
+"Aneta darling, you had better leave us," said her aunt.
+
+The girl went off with a light laugh. "Auntie," she said, "I've just
+been telling Mr. Cardew that he ought to send Cicely and Merry to
+Aylmer House." She closed the door as she made this parting shot.
+
+"As a matter of fact, I agree with Aneta," said Lady Lysle. "A couple
+of years at that splendid school would do the girls no end of good."
+
+Mr. Cardew was silent for a minute. "I may as well confess something
+to you, Lucia," he said then.
+
+"What is it, Cyril?"
+
+"I have by no means made up my mind; but we are very much annoyed at
+the illness of our daily governess Miss Beverley, and at the girls'
+music-master Mr. Bennett removing to London. So I just thought I would
+ask you a question or two about this wonderful Mrs. Ward. I don't
+suppose for a single moment I should dream of sending the children
+there; and, besides, she is not in London now, is she?"
+
+"Yes, she is," replied Lady Lysle. Mr. Cardew felt at that moment that
+he hated Mrs. Ward. "She came to see me only last evening. She is
+leaving town to-morrow; but if by any chance you would like to go and
+see her, and thus judge of the school for yourself--it would commit
+you to nothing, of course--she will, I know, be at home all this
+morning."
+
+"Dear, dear!" said Mr. Cardew. "How very provoking!"
+
+"What do you mean, Cyril?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing, of course, Lucia. But if, as you say, the school is
+so popular, there will be no vacancies, for I think some one told me
+that Mrs. Ward only took a limited number of pupils."
+
+"There are two vacancies at the present moment," said Lady Lysle in
+her calm voice, "although they are likely to be filled up immediately,
+for Mrs. Ward has had many applications; but then she is exceedingly
+particular, and will only take girls of high birth and of very
+distinguished character."
+
+"Doubtless she has filled up the vacancies by this morning," said Mr.
+Cardew, rising with some alacrity. "Well, thank you, Lucia. As I am in
+town--came up on business you know--I may as well just have a look at
+Aylmer House and Mrs. Ward. It will satisfy my dear wife."
+
+"Why, surely you don't for a minute really intend to send the girls
+there?" said Lady Lysle with a superior smile.
+
+"I cannot tell what I may do. When a man is distracted, and when a
+valuable daily governess breaks down, and--and--don't question me too
+closely, Lucia, and keep our little interview to yourself. As I have
+just said, nothing will probably come of this; but I will go and see
+the lady just to satisfy myself."
+
+"Aneta will be delighted if you do send the girls to Aylmer House,"
+was Lady Lysle's last word.
+
+She laughed as she spoke, and Mr. Cardew found himself turning rather
+red. He left her, called a hansom, and got into it.
+
+"Of course the vacancies will be filled up," he said to himself as he
+was driving in the direction of South Kensington. He further thought,
+"Although that good Mrs. Ward is remaining for such an unconscionable
+time in town, she will very probably be out this morning. If she is
+out that puts an end to everything; but even if she is in, she must
+ave filled up her vacancies. Then I shall be able to return to the
+Manor with a quiet mind. I'll have done my best, and the thing will be
+taken out of my hands. Dear little Merry! I didn't like that
+discontent on her sweet face. Ah, well, she can't guess what school is
+like. It's not home; but I suppose the educational advantages would be
+greater, and a man must sacrifice himself for his children. Odd what
+that queer little Miss Howland told me last night: that I was
+approaching a deed of self-sacrifice. She's a queer girl, but quite
+nice; and Aneta is a charming creature. I could never desire even one
+of my own precious girls to look nicer than Aneta does. Well, here I
+am. Now, then, what will Fate decide?"
+
+Mr. Cardew sprang from the hansom, desired the man to wait, ran up
+some low steps, and rang the bell at the front door of a stately
+mansion.
+
+A smiling, very bright-looking maid-servant opened it for him.
+
+"Is Mrs. Ward, within?" questioned Cardew.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Good heavens!" murmured Cardew under his breath.
+
+"Is she disengaged, and can she give me a few moments of her time?"
+continued the much-disappointed gentleman.
+
+"Certainly, sir. Will you come into the drawing-room? What name shall
+I say?"
+
+Cardew produced one of his cards.
+
+"Have the goodness to tell your mistress that if she is particularly
+engaged I can "--he hesitated--"call another time."
+
+"I will tell her, sir; but Mrs. Ward is not particularly engaged. She
+will see you, I am sure, directly."
+
+The girl withdrew, and Cardew sank into a low chair.
+
+He had to wait a few minutes, and during that time had abundant
+leisure to look round the beautiful room in which he found himself. It
+was so furnished as to resemble a fresh country room. The wall-paper
+was white; the pictures were all water-colors, all original, and all
+the works of well-known artists. They mostly represented country
+scenes, but there were a few admirable portraits of charming girls
+just in the heyday of youth and happiness. The floor was of polished
+oak and had a large pale-blue drugget in the center, which could be
+rolled up at any moment if an impromptu dance was desirable. The large
+windows had boxes of flowers outside, which were fresh and well kept,
+and had evidently been recently watered, for some sparkling drops
+which looked almost like summer rain still glistened on them. The room
+itself was also decked with flowers in every available corner, and all
+these flowers were fresh and beautifully arranged. They were country
+flowers--and of course roses, roses everywhere. There were also great
+bowls of mignonette and large glass vases filled with sweet peas.
+
+The air of the room was fresh and full of delicate perfume. Mr. Cardew
+had to admit to himself that this was a room in which the most refined
+young ladies in the world might sit with pleasure and profit. There
+was a shelf for books running round the dado, and the books therein
+were good of their kind and richly and handsomely bound. There were no
+small tables anywhere. Mr. Cardew was glad of that--he detested small
+tables; but there was a harp standing close to the magnificent grand
+piano, and several music stands, and a violin case on a chair near
+by.
+
+The furniture of the room was covered with a cool, fresh chintz. In
+short, it was a charming room, quite different from the rooms at
+Meredith Manor, which, of course, were old and magnificent and
+stately; but it had a refreshing, wholesome look about it which, in
+spite of himself, Mr. Cardew appreciated.
+
+He had just taken in the room and its belongings when the door was
+opened and a lady of about thirty-five years of age entered. She was
+dressed very simply in a long dress made in a sort of Empire fashion.
+The color was pale blue, which suited her calm, fair face, her large,
+hazel-brown eyes, and her rich chestnut hair to perfection. She came
+forward swiftly.
+
+"I am Mrs. Ward," she said, and held out her hand.
+
+Mr. Cardew considered himself a connoisseur as regards all women, and
+he was immediately impressed by a certain quality in that face: a
+mingling of sweetness and power, of extreme gentleness and extreme
+determination. There was a lofty expression in the eyes, too, and
+round the mouth, which further appealed to him; and the hands of the
+lady were perfect--they were white, somewhat long, with tapering
+fingers and well-kept nails. There was one signet ring on the left
+hand, worn as a guard to the wedding-ring--that was all.
+
+Mr. Cardew was a keen observer, and he noted these things at a
+glance.
+
+"I have come to talk to you, Mrs. Ward," he said; "and, if you will
+forgive me, I should like to be quite frank with you."
+
+"There is nothing I desire better," said Mrs. Ward in her exceedingly
+high-bred and sympathetic voice.
+
+That voice reminded Cardew of Maggie Howland, and yet he felt at once
+that it was infinitely superior to hers.
+
+"Sit down, won't you, Mr. Cardew?" said Mrs. Ward, and she set him the
+example by seating herself in a low chair as she spoke.
+
+"I hope I am not taking up too much of your time," he said; "for, if
+so, as I said to your servant, I can call again."
+
+"By no means," said Mrs. Ward; "I have nothing whatever to do this
+morning. I am, therefore, quite at your service. You will tell me what
+you wish?" she said in that magnetic voice of hers.
+
+"The fact is simply this," he said. "My friend Tristram, who is rector
+of Meredith, in Warwickshire, is sending his two daughters to your
+school."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward gently. "Molly and Isabel are coming to me next
+term."
+
+"I am Tristram's near neighbor," said Mr. Cardew, "I live at Meredith
+Manor. At the present moment the Tristram girls have another pupil of
+yours staying with them--Miss Howland."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward very quietly.
+
+"Lady Lysle's niece Aneta is also one of your pupils."
+
+"That is true, Mr. Cardew."
+
+"Lady Lysle is my wife's cousin."
+
+Mrs. Ward bowed very slightly.
+
+"I will come to the point now, Mrs. Ward. I am the father of two
+little girls. They are of the same age as Molly and Isabel Tristram;
+that is, they are both just sixteen. They are twins. They are my only
+children. Some day they will be rich, for we have no son, and they
+will inherit considerable property." Mrs. Ward looked scarcely
+interested at this. "Hitherto," continued Mr. Cardew, "I have stoutly
+opposed school-life for my children, and in consequence they have been
+brought up at home, and have had the best advantages that could be
+obtained for them in a country life. Things went apparently all right
+until two or three days ago, when I discovered that my girl--her name
+is Meredith; we call her Merry for short--was exceedingly anxious to
+change her home-life for school-life. At the same time, our excellent
+daily governess and the music-master who taught the children have been
+obliged to discontinue their work. The girls are at an age when
+education is essential; and, although I _hate_ schools, I have come
+here to talk over the possibility of your receiving them."
+
+"Had you delayed coming to me, Mr. Cardew, until this evening I should
+have had no vacancy, for at the present moment I have twelve
+applications for the two vacancies which are to be filled at Aylmer
+House. But do you really wish me to consider the proposal of taking
+your girls when you hate school-life for young ladies?"
+
+Mr. Cardew could not help smiling. "Then you are not anxious to have
+them?"
+
+"Certainly not, unless you yourself and Mrs. Cardew most earnestly
+desire to send them to me. Suppose, before we go any further, that I
+take you over the house."
+
+"Thank you," said Mr. Cardew in a tone of relief.
+
+Mrs. Ward rose immediately, and for the next hour the head-mistress
+and the owner of Meredith Manor went from one dainty room to another.
+They visited the gymnasium; they entered the studio. All the different
+properties of the music-room were explained to the interested visitor.
+The excellent playground was also inspected.
+
+By-and-by, when Mr. Cardew returned to the drawing-room, Mrs. Ward
+said, "My number of pupils is limited. You have seen for yourself that
+sisters are provided with a room together, and that girls who are not
+related have rooms to themselves. The house is well warmed in winter,
+and at all seasons of the year I keep it bright and cheerful with
+flowers and everything that a judicious expenditure of money can
+secure. I have my own special plan for educating my girls. I believe
+in personal influence. In short, Mr. Cardew, I am not at all ashamed
+to tell you that I believe in my own influence. I have never yet met a
+girl whom I could not influence."
+
+"If by any chance my Cicely and Merry come to you," said Mr. Cardew,
+"you will find them--I may at least say it--perfect ladies in word and
+thought and deed."
+
+Mrs. Ward bowed. "I could receive no others within this
+establishment," she said. "If," continued Mrs. Ward, "you decide
+to entrust your daughters to me, I will leave no stone unturned to
+do my best for them, to educate them in a three-fold capacity:
+to induce their minds to work as God meant them to work--without
+overtoil, without undue haste, and yet with intelligence and
+activity; to give them such exercises as will promote health to
+their bodies; and to teach them, above all things, to live for
+others, not for themselves. Please, Mr. Cardew, give me no answer
+now, but think it over. The vacancies at Aylmer House will
+remain at your disposal until four o'clock this afternoon. Will
+you send me before that hour a telegram saying 'Yes' or 'No'?"
+
+"I thank you," said Mr. Cardew. He wrung Mrs. Ward's hand and left the
+house.
+
+The hall was as spacious and nearly as beautiful as the drawing-room,
+and the pretty, bright parlor-maid smiled at the gentleman as he went
+out. Mrs. Ward remained for a time alone after her visitor had left.
+
+"I should like to have those girls," she said to herself. "Any girls
+related to such a splendid, lofty character as Aneta could not but be
+welcome to me. Their poor father, he will feel parting with them; but
+I have no doubt that I shall receive them next September at this
+house."
+
+The thought had scarcely passed through her mind before there came a
+brisk ring at the front door, and Lady Lysle and Aneta were
+announced.
+
+"Oh, dear Mrs. Ward!" said Lady Lysle, speaking in her quick,
+impulsive manner, "have you seen my dear friend and cousin, Mr.
+Cardew?"
+
+"And are the girls coming to the school?" asked Aneta.
+
+"I have seen Mr. Cardew," said Mrs. Ward. "He is a very charming man.
+He will decide whether he will send his daughters here or not during
+the course of to-day."
+
+"But," said Lady Lysle, "didn't you urge him?"
+
+"No, dear friend; I never urge any one to put a girl in my care. I
+should feel myself very wrong in doing so. If Mr. Cardew thinks well
+of what he has seen here he may send his daughters to me, but I
+certainly did nothing to urge him."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Aneta, "I should so like them to come. You can't
+think, Mrs. Ward, what nice people the Cardews are; and the
+girls--they do want school-life. Don't they, auntie darling?"
+
+"Such a school as this would do them a world of good," said Lady
+Lysle.
+
+"Well, I really hope they will come," said Mrs. Ward; "but I quite
+understand their father's objections. They are evidently very precious
+treasures, and he has the sort of objection which exists in the minds
+of many country gentlemen to sending his girls to school."
+
+"Ah," said Aneta, "but there are schools and schools!"
+
+"The girls will be exceedingly rich," said Lady Lysle. "Their mother
+was a Meredith and belonged to an old county family. She inherits vast
+wealth _and_ the old family place. Their father is what may be termed
+a merchant-prince. By-and-by all the money of the parents will go to
+these girls. They are very nice children, but know nothing whatever of
+the world. It seems to me a cruel thing that they should be brought up
+with no knowledge of the great world where they must eventually
+live."
+
+"I hope they will come here," said Mrs. Ward. "Great wealth means
+great responsibility. They can make magnificent use of their money. I
+should be interested to have them."
+
+"I know you would, my dear friend," said Lady Lysle, "and they are
+really quite sweet girls. Now, come, Aneta; we must not keep Mrs. Ward
+any longer."
+
+When her visitors had left her Mrs. Ward still remained in the
+pleasant drawing-room. She sank into a low chair, folded her hands in
+her lap, and remained very still. Although she was only thirty-five
+years of age, she had been a widow for over ten years. She had married
+when quite a young girl, and had lost her husband and child before she
+was five-and-twenty. It was in her generous and noble nature to love
+most passionately and all too well. For a time after her terrible
+trouble she scarcely know how to bear her grief. Then she took it to
+the one place where such sorrow can be borne--namely, to the foot of
+the throne of God; and afterwards it occurred to her to devote her
+life to the education of others. She was quite well-off, and did not
+need to work for her living. But work, to a nature such as hers, was
+essential. She also needed the sympathy of others, and the love of
+others; and so, aided by her friends, her small but most select school
+in South Kensington was started.
+
+From the very first it was a success. It was unlike many other
+schools, for the head-mistress had broader and nobler views of life.
+She loved all her girls, and they all loved her; but it was impossible
+for her not to like some girls more than others, and of all the girls
+at present at her school Aneta Lysle was the one she really loved
+best. There was also, it is sad to relate, a girl there whom she did
+not love, and that girl was Maggie Howland. There was nothing whatever
+with regard to Maggie that her mistress could lay hold of. She was
+quite aware of the girl's fascination, and of her powerful influence
+over her schoolfellows. Nevertheless, she never thought of her without
+a sense of discomfort.
+
+Maggie was one of the girls who were educated at Aylmer House for a
+very low fee; for Mrs. Ward was quite rich enough and generous enough
+to take girls who could not afford her full terms for very much less.
+Maggie's fees, therefore, were almost nominal, and no one knew this
+fact better than Maggie herself and her mother, Mrs. Howland. None of
+her schoolfellows knew, for she learned just what they did, and had
+precisely the same advantages. She was treated just like the others.
+No one could guess that her circumstances were different. And
+certainly Maggie would never tell, but none the less did she in her
+heart hate her position.
+
+As a matter of fact, Molly and Isabel Tristram were also coming to the
+school on specially low terms; but no one would know this. Maggie,
+however, suspected it, and intended, if necessary, to make the fact an
+added power over her young friends when they all assembled at Aylmer
+House.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward, half-aloud, half to herself, "I don't quite
+trust Maggie Howland. But I cannot possibly dismiss her from the
+school. I may win her round to a loftier standard of life, but at
+present there is no doubt she has not that high ideal in view which I
+think my other girls aim at."
+
+Between three and four o'clock that day Mrs. Ward received a telegram
+from Mr. Cardew. It contained the following words:
+
+"After consideration, I have made up my mind to do myself the great
+honor of confiding my girls to your care. Their mother and I will
+write to you fully in a day or two."
+
+Mrs. Ward smiled when she received the telegram. "I will do my best
+for those children," she said to herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE NEWS.
+
+
+Mr. Cardew arrived at Meredith Manor very late that evening. The long
+and happy day had come to an end. The Tristram girls and Maggie
+Howland had returned to the rectory. Cicely and Merry were having a
+long, confidential chat together. They were in Merry's bedroom. They
+had dismissed their maid. They were talking of the pleasures of the
+day, and in particular were discussing the delightful fact that their
+beautiful cousin Aneta had wired to say she would be with them in two
+days' time.
+
+They had not seen Aneta for some years, but they both remembered her
+vividly. Her memory shone out before them both as something specially
+dazzling and specially beautiful. Maggie Howland, too, had spoken of
+Aneta's beauty. Maggie had been told that Aneta was coming, and Maggie
+had expressed pleasure. Whatever Maggie's private feelings may have
+been, she was very careful now to express delight at Aneta's
+appearance at Meredith Manor.
+
+"What a darling she is!" said Merry. "I doubt very much--I suppose
+it's rank heresy to say so, Cicely, but I really greatly doubt whether
+I shall ever prefer Aneta to Maggie. What are mere looks, after all,
+when one possesses such charm as Maggie has? That seems to me a much
+greater gift."
+
+"We need not compare them, need we?" said Cicely.
+
+"Oh, certainly not," said Merry; "but, Cicely darling, doesn't it seem
+funny that such a lot of girls who are all to meet in September at
+Aylmer House should be practically staying with us at the present
+moment?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Cicely. "I feel almost as though I belonged to it,
+which of course is quite ridiculous, for we shall never by any chance
+go there."
+
+"Of course not," said Merry, and she sighed.
+
+After a time Cicely said, "I wonder what father went to town for
+to-day."
+
+"Well, we don't know, so where's the use of troubling?" said Merry.
+
+"I asked mother," said Cicely, "why he went to town, and she said she
+couldn't tell me; but she got rather red as she spoke."
+
+"Cicely," said Merry after a long pause, "when these glorious holidays
+come to an end, and the Aylmer House girls have gone to Aylmer House,
+what shall you and I do?"
+
+"Do," said Cicely--"do? I suppose what we've always done. A fresh
+governess will be found, and another music-master, and we'll work at
+our lessons and do the best we can."
+
+Merry gave a deep sigh.
+
+"We'll never talk French like Belle Tristram," she said, "and we'll
+never play so that any one will care to listen to us. We'll never,
+never know the world the way the others know it. There seems very
+little use in being rich when one can't get education."
+
+It was just at that moment that there came a light tap at the girls'
+door. Before they could reply, it was opened and Mrs. Cardew came in.
+She looked as though she had been crying; nevertheless, there was a
+joyful sort of triumph on her face. She said quickly, "I thought,
+somehow, you two naughty children would not be in bed, and I told
+father that I'd come up on the chance of finding you. Father has come
+back from London, and has something important to tell you. Will you
+come down with me at once?"
+
+"Oh mother! mother! what is it?" said Merry in a tone of excitement
+which was slightly mingled with awe.
+
+"Your father will tell you, my darling," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+She put her arm round Merry's slight waist and held Cicely's hand, and
+they came down to the great drawing-room where Mr. Cardew was waiting
+for them.
+
+He was pacing slowly up and down the room, his hands folded behind his
+back. His face was slightly tired, and yet he too wore that odd
+expression of mingled triumph and pain which Mrs. Cardew's eyes
+expressed.
+
+When the mother and the girls entered the room he at once shut the
+door. Mr. Cardew looked first of all at Merry. He held out his hand to
+her. "Come to me, little girl," he said.
+
+She flew to him and put her arms round his neck. She kissed him
+several times. "Oh dad! dad!" she said, "I know I was downright horrid
+and unkind and perfectly dreadful yesterday, and I don't--no, I
+_don't_--want to leave you and mother. If I was discontented then, I
+am not now."
+
+Merry believed her own words at that moment, for the look on her
+father's face had struck to her very heart.
+
+He disengaged her pretty arms very gently, and, still holding her
+hand, went up to Cicely, who was clinging to her mother. "I have just
+got some news for you both," he said. "You know, of course, that Miss
+Beverley cannot teach you any longer?"
+
+"Poor old Beverley," said Cicely; "we are so sorry. But you'll find
+another good governess for us, won't you, dad?"
+
+"I am afraid I can't," said Mr. Cardew, "So I sent for you to-night
+to tell you that I have broken the resolve which I always meant to
+keep."
+
+"You have what?" said Merry.
+
+"I have turned my back on a determination which I made when you were
+both very little girls, and to-day I went up to town and saw Mrs.
+Ward."
+
+"Oh!" said Merry. She turned white and dropped her father's hand, and,
+clasping her own two hands tightly together, gazed at him as though
+she would devour his face.
+
+"Well, it's all settled, children," said Mr. Cardew, "and: when
+September comes you will go with your friends Molly and Belle to
+Aylmer House."
+
+This announcement was received at first in total silence. Then Merry
+flew to her father and kissed him a great many times, and Cicely
+kissed her mother.
+
+Then Merry said, "We can't talk of it to-night; we can't quite realize
+it to-night; but--but--we are glad!"
+
+Then she took Cicely's hand, and they went out of the room. Mr. and
+Mrs. Cardew watched them as the little figures approached the door.
+Merry opened it, and they both passed out.
+
+"I wonder," said Mr. Cardew, looking at his wife, "if they are going
+out of our lives."
+
+"Indeed, no," said Mrs. Cardew; "from what you have told me of Mrs.
+Ward, she must be a good woman--one of the best."
+
+"She is one of the very, very best, Sylvia; and I think the very
+happiest thing for us both would be to run up to town to-morrow, and
+for you to see her for yourself."
+
+"Very well, darling; we will do so," said Mrs. Cardew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ANETA.
+
+
+So everything was settled. Cicely and Merry scarcely slept at all that
+night. They were too much excited; the news was too wonderful. Now
+that their wish was granted, there was pain mingled with their joy. It
+seems as though perfect joy must have its modicum of pain to make it
+perfect.
+
+But when the next morning dawned the regret of the night before seemed
+to have vanished. In the first place, Mr. and Mrs. Cardew had gone
+early to London; and the mere fact that their father and mother were
+not present was a sort of relief to the excited girls. The picnic need
+not be postponed, for Mr. and Mrs. Tristram could act as chaperons on
+this auspicious occasion.
+
+They were all to meet at the Manor at eleven o'clock; and, punctual to
+the hour, a goodly array of happy young people walked up the avenue
+and entered the porch of the old-house. Andrew, devoted to Maggie, was
+present. Jack, equally Maggie's slave, was also there. Maggie herself,
+looking neat and happy, was helping every one. Molly and Belle, all
+in white, and looking as charming as little girls could, were full of
+expectation of their long and delightful day.
+
+One wagonette could hold the whole party, and as it drove round to the
+front door the boys fiercely took possession of the box-seat, fighting
+with the coachman, who said that there would be no room for Miss
+Howland to sit between them.
+
+"Well then, Mags, if that is the case," said Peterkins, "you get along
+in at once, and take this corner close to me; then, whenever we want,
+we can do a bit of whispering."
+
+"You won't whisper more than your share," said Jackdaw. "I've a
+frightful lot to say to Mags this morning."
+
+"Hush, boys!" said Maggie; "if you quarrel about me I shall not speak
+to either of you."
+
+This threat was so awful that the boys glanced at each other, remained
+silent and got quietly into their places. Then the hampers were put on
+the floor just under their feet.
+
+Presently Cicely and Merry came out to join the group. They were
+wearing pretty pink muslins, with pink sashes to match. Merry's
+beautiful dark eyes were very bright. Mr. and Mrs. Tristram inquired
+for their host and hostess.
+
+"Oh, I have news for you!" said Merry.
+
+"Yes," said Cicely, "Merry will tell."
+
+"Well, it's Just this," said Merry, almost jerking out her words in
+excitement: "Father and mother have been obliged to go rather
+unexpectedly to town."
+
+"Why?" said Maggie; then she restrained herself, knowing that it was
+not her place to speak.
+
+"They have gone to town," said Merry, scarcely looking at Maggie now,
+and endeavoring with all her might and main not to show undue
+excitement, "because a great and wonderful thing has happened;
+something so unexpected that--that Cicely and I can scarcely believe
+it."
+
+Maggie glanced at the sweet little faces. She said to herself, "All
+right," and got calmly into the wagonette, where she sat close under
+the box-seat which contained those obstreperous young heroes Andrew
+and Jack. The others clustered round Merry.
+
+"As I said, I can scarcely believe it," said Merry; "but father has
+done the most marvelous thing. Oh Belle! oh Molly! it is too
+wonderful! For after all--after all, Cicely and I are to go with you
+to Aylmer House in September, and--and--that is why father and mother
+have gone to town. Father went up yesterday and saw Mrs. Ward, and
+he--he settled it; and father and mother have gone up to-day--both of
+them--to see her, and to make final arrangements. And we're to go!
+we're to _go_!"
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Molly. Immediately the boys, and Maggie and Belle, and
+even Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, took up the glad "Hurrah!"
+
+"Well, children," said Mr. Tristram when the first excitement had
+subsided, "I must say I am heartily pleased. This is delightful! I
+take some credit to myself for having helped on this most excellent
+arrangement."
+
+"No one thanks me for anything," thought Maggie; but she had the
+prudence to remain silent.
+
+"We had better start on our picnic now," said Mr. Tristram, and
+immediately the whole party climbed into the wagonette. The horses
+started; the wheels rolled. They were off.
+
+By-and-by Merry felt her hand taken by Maggie. Maggie just squeezed
+that hand, and whispered in that very, very rich and wonderfully
+seductive voice of hers, "Oh, I am glad! I am very, very glad!"
+
+Merry felt her heart thrill as Maggie uttered those words. She
+answered back, turning her face to her young companion, "To be with
+you alone would be happiness enough for me."
+
+"Is it true, Cicely," said Mrs. Tristram at the moment, "that your
+cousin, Aneta Lysle, is coming to stay with you?"
+
+"Oh yes; but I had half-forgotten it in all this excitement," said
+Cicely. "She will arrive to-morrow.--Maggie, you'll be glad, won't
+you?"
+
+"More than delighted," said Maggie.
+
+"It is too wonderful," said Cicely. "Why, it will soon come to pass
+that half Mrs. Ward's school will be all together during the holidays.
+Fancy, we two, and you two"--she touched one of the Tristram
+girls--"and you, Maggie, and then dear Aneta; why, that'll make six.
+What a lot we shall have to talk about! Maggie, you and Aneta will be
+our two heroines; we shall always be applying to you for
+information."
+
+The conversation was here interrupted by Jackdaw, who pinched Maggie
+on the arm. "You're not attending to us," he said.
+
+"Nonsense, Jackdaw!"
+
+"Well, stand up for a minute; I want to whisper to you."
+
+Maggie, who never lost a chance of ingratiating herself with any one,
+obeyed.
+
+"Jack dear, don't be troublesome," said his mother.
+
+"I am not," said Jackdaw. "She loves it, the duck that she is!"
+
+"Be quick, Jackdaw; it's very difficult for me to keep my hold
+standing up," said Maggie.
+
+"How many chocolates can you eat at a pinch?" whispered Jackdaw in her
+ear.
+
+"Oh, forty," replied Maggie; "but I should be rather ill afterwards."
+
+"We've got some in our pockets. They're a little bit clammy, but you
+don't mind that?"
+
+"I don't want any just now, dear boy; and I'll tell you why. I want
+to be really starving hungry when the picnic begins."
+
+"That's a good notion, isn't it?" said Jackdaw.--"I say, Andrew, she
+wants to be starving hungry when the picnic begins!"
+
+Maggie resumed her seat, and the boys went on whispering together, and
+kicking each other at intervals, and rather upsetting that very stolid
+personage, Mr. Charles, the Meredith Manor coachman.
+
+The picnic was a perfect success. When people are very happy there is
+no room for discontent in their hearts, and all the members of that
+party were in the highest spirits. The Cardew girls had no time yet
+for that period of regret which must invariably follow a period of
+intense excitement. They had no time yet to realize that they must
+part with their father and mother for the greater portion of the
+year.
+
+To children so intensely affectionate as Cicely and Merry such a
+parting must mean considerable pain. But even the beginning of the
+pain did not come to them on that auspicious day, and they returned to
+the house after the picnic in the highest good-humor.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Tristram, however, were wise in their generation; and
+although Cicely and Merry begged and implored the whole party to come
+to the Manor for supper, they very firmly declined. It is to be
+regretted that both Jack and Andrew turned sulky on this occasion.
+
+As the rectory girls and Maggie and the boys and Mr. and Mrs. Tristam
+were all going homewards the two girls and Maggie fell behind.
+
+"Isn't this real fun? Isn't it magnificent?" said Molly Tristram.
+
+"It's a very good thing indeed for your friends Cicely and Merry,"
+said Maggie. Then she added, "Didn't I tell you, girls, that you would
+win your bracelets?"
+
+Belle felt herself changing color.
+
+"We don't want them a bit--we really don't," said Molly.
+
+"Of course we don't want them," said Isabel.
+
+"You'll have them all the same," said Maggie. "They are my present to
+you. Surely you won't refuse my present?"
+
+"But such a very rich and handsome present we ought not to accept,"
+said Molly.
+
+"Nonsense, girls! I shall be unhappy unless you wear them. When I
+return to mother--which, alas! I must do before many days are over--I
+shall send you the bracelets."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't, Maggie," said Belle Tristram; "for I am certain
+father and mother would not like us to wear jewelry while we are so
+young."
+
+"Well, then," said Maggie, "I will give them to you when we all meet
+at Aylmer House. You must take them; you know you promised you would.
+You will hurt me most frightfully if you don't."
+
+As Molly and Isabel certainly did not wish to hurt Maggie, they
+remained silent, and during the rest of the walk the three girls
+scarcely spoke. Meanwhile Cicely and Merry entered the Manor House and
+waited impatiently for the return of their father and mother.
+
+"We must get everything extra nice for them," said Cicely to her
+sister. "I do think it is so wonderfully splendid of them to send us
+to school."
+
+The sun had already set, and twilight had come on; but it would be
+quite impossible for Mr. and Mrs. Cardew to arrive at the Manor until
+about ten o'clock. What, therefore, was the amazement of the girls
+when they heard carriage-wheels in the distance!
+
+"Father and mother could not possibly have done their business and
+caught the early train," said Merry in some excitement. "Who can be
+coming now?"
+
+The next moment their doubts were set at rest, for Aneta Lysle entered
+the hall.
+
+"I came to-day after all," she said. "Auntie thought it would be more
+convenient. You got my telegram, didn't you?"
+
+These words were uttered while her two cousins, in rapture and
+delight, were kissing her.
+
+"No, no," said Merry, "we got no telegram; but, oh, Aneta! we are glad
+to see you."
+
+"Here's the telegram on the hall-table," said Aneta, and she took up a
+yellow envelope. This was addressed to "Cardew, Meredith Manor." "Yes,
+I know this must be from me," said Aneta. "But why didn't you open
+it?"
+
+"Well, the fact is," said Cicely, "father and mother were in London,
+and the rest of us were out on a picnic. But it doesn't matter a bit;
+you've come, and the sooner the better. Oh, it is nice to see you
+again! But how tall you are, Neta, and how grown up you look!"
+
+"I am seventeen, remember," said Aneta. "I don't feel grown-up, but
+auntie says I look it."
+
+"Oh, come into the light--do," said Merry, "and let's see you! We've
+heard so very much of you lately, and we want to look at your darling
+face again."
+
+"And I want to look at you both," said Aneta in her affectionate
+manner.
+
+The servants had conveyed Miss Lysle's luggage into the house, and now
+the three girls, with their arms twined round each other, entered the
+same big drawing-room where Mr. Cardew had given his wonderful news of
+the night before. There was a blaze of electric light, and this,
+judiciously softened with rose-colored silk, was most becoming to all
+those who came under its influence. But the strongest glare of light
+could not disfigure any one so absolutely beautiful as Aneta Lysle.
+Her delicate complexion, the wonderful purity and regularity of her
+features, her sweet, tender young mouth, her charming blue eyes, and
+her great luxuriance of golden hair made people who looked at her
+once long to study that charming face again and yet again.
+
+There was no vanity about this young girl; her manner, her expression,
+were simplicity itself. There was a certain nobility about her fine
+forehead, and the shape of her head was classical, and showed
+undoubted talent. Her clear, musical voice was in itself a charm. Her
+young figure was the very personification of grace. Beside her, Cicely
+and Merry felt awkward and commonplace; not that they were so, but
+very few people could attain to Aneta Lysle's incomparable beauty.
+
+"Well, girls," she said, "you do look sweet, both of you!"
+
+"Oh Neta, what a darling you are!" said Merry, who worshipped beauty,
+and had never come across any one so lovely as her cousin. "It's two
+years since we met," she continued, "and you have altered, and not
+altered. You're more grown-up and more--more stately, but your face is
+the same. Whenever we want to think of the angels we think of you too,
+Neta."
+
+"That is very sweet of you, darlings; but, indeed, I am far from being
+an angel. I am just a very human girl; and, please, if you don't mind,
+we won't discuss my looks any more."
+
+Cicely and Merry both save their cousin a thoughtful glance. Then they
+said eagerly, "You must come to your room and wash your hands, and get
+refreshed for supper, for of course you are starving."
+
+"I shall like to have something to eat," said Aneta. "What room am I
+to have, girls?"
+
+"Oh, the white room, next to ours; we arranged it all this morning,"
+said Cicely.
+
+"Well, come along at once," said Aneta.
+
+Soon the three girls found themselves in the beautiful bedroom which
+had been arranged for Aneta's reception. As soon as ever they got
+there Cicely clasped one of her cousin's arms and Merry the other.
+
+"We have news for you--news!" they said.
+
+"Yes?" said Aneta, looking at them with her bright, soft eyes.
+
+"Most wonderful--most extraordinary--most--most beautiful!" said
+Merry, speaking almost with passion. "We're going to your school; yes,
+to yours--to Aylmer House, in September. Could you have believed it?
+Think of father consenting, and just because I felt a little
+discontented. Oh, isn't he an angel? Father, of all people, who until
+now would not hear of our leaving home! But we're going."
+
+"Well," said Aneta, "I am not greatly surprised, for I happen to know
+that your father, Cousin Cyril, came to see auntie yesterday, and
+afterwards he went to visit Mrs. Ward, and after his visit we saw Mrs.
+Ward; and, although he had not quite made up his mind then whether he
+would send you or not, we quite thought he would do so. Yes, this is
+splendid. I'll he able to tell you lots about the school; but, after
+all, it isn't the school that matters."
+
+"Then what matters, Aneta?"
+
+"It's Mrs. Ward herself," said Aneta; "it's she who makes the whole
+thing so perfect. She guides us; she enlightens us. Sometimes I can
+scarcely talk of her, my love for her and my passion for her are so
+deep."
+
+Cicely and Merry looked thoughtful for a minute.
+
+"I'm ready now to come downstairs," said Aneta; and they went down, to
+find supper prepared for them, and the old butler waiting to attend on
+his young ladies.
+
+After the meal was over the girls retired to the drawing-room, where
+they all three sat by one of the windows waiting for Mr. and Mrs.
+Cardew's return.
+
+Merry then said, "It is so funny of you, Aneta, to speak as though the
+school was Mrs. Ward."
+
+"But it is," said Aneta.
+
+"Surely, surely," said Merry, "it's the girls too."
+
+"You will be surprised, perhaps, Aneta, to hear," said Cicely, "that
+our dear, darling friends--our greatest girl-friends, except yourself
+perhaps, and you're a sort of sister--Molly and Isabel Tristram are
+also going to Aylmer House in September. They are so nice--you will
+like them; and then, of course, there's Maggie Howland, one of the
+most charming girls we have come across."
+
+"Whom did you say?" asked Aneta.
+
+"Maggie Howland. She is here."
+
+"In this house?" said Aneta.
+
+"No; she is at the rectory. She is a special friend of Molly and
+Isabel. She has been at school with them before in Hanover. You know
+her, of course? She is one of the girls at Aylmer House."
+
+"I know her--oh yes, I know her," said Aneta.
+
+"And you like her, you feel her charm, you--you almost worship her,
+don't you, Neta?"
+
+Aneta was silent.
+
+"Oh, I know she is considered plain," said Merry, "but there's
+something about her which prevents one even considering her features.
+She is the most unselfish, most fascinating girl we have ever come
+across. You love her, don't you, Neta?"
+
+There had come a curious change over Aneta's face. After a brief pause
+she said, "I have no right to say it, but you two are my cousins"----
+
+"Yes, yes! What does this mean?" said Cicely with great eagerness.
+
+"Well, I know you will be faithful and not repeat it to any one; but I
+don't love Maggie Howland."
+
+"Oh, Neta!"
+
+"And," continued Aneta, "you; as my cousins, I most earnestly hope,
+will not make her your special friend at Aylmer House."
+
+"But we have done so already, Neta. Oh, Neta darling! you are mistaken
+in her."
+
+"I say nothing whatever against her," said Aneta, "except that
+personally I do not care for her. I should be very glad if I found
+that I had misjudged her."
+
+"Then why don't you want us to be friends with her? We are friends
+with her."
+
+"I cannot control you, darlings. When you come to school you will see
+a variety of girls, and most of them--indeed, all of them--nice, I
+think."
+
+"Then why shouldn't we like poor Maggie?"
+
+"You do like her, it seems, already."
+
+"Yes; but you are so mysterious, Neta."
+
+"I cannot say any more; you must forgive me," answered Aneta. "And I
+hear the sound of wheels. Your father and mother are coming."
+
+"Yes, yes, the darlings!" said Merry, rushing into the hall to meet
+her parents.
+
+Aneta and Cicely followed her example, and there was great excitement
+and much talk. Mrs. Cardew was now as anxious that the girls should go
+to Aylmer House as though she herself had always wished for such an
+arrangement, while Mr. Cardew could not say enough in Mrs. Ward's
+praise.
+
+"You agree with me, Aneta," said Mrs. Cardew, "that the school is
+quite unique and above the ordinary."
+
+"Mrs. Ward is unique and above the ordinary," was Aneta's reply.
+
+When the girls retired to their own rooms that night, Cicely and Merry
+met for a brief moment.
+
+"How funny of Aneta not to like Maggie!" said Merry.
+
+"Well, if I were you, Merry," said Cicely, "I wouldn't talk about it.
+I suppose Aneta is prejudiced."
+
+"Yes," said Merry; "but against Maggie, of all people! Well, I, for my
+part, will never give her up."
+
+"I suppose," said Cicely, who was more conscientious than her sister,
+"that we ought to think something of Aneta's opinion."
+
+"Oh, that's very fine," said Merry; "but we ought to think something,
+too, of Molly's opinion, and Belle's opinion. They have known Maggie
+longer than Aneta has."
+
+"Yes," replied Cicely; "I forgot that. But isn't Aneta herself
+delightful? It's a pure joy to look at her."
+
+"It certainly is," said Merry; "and of course I love her dearly and am
+very proud of her; but I confess I did not quite like her when she
+spoke in that queer way about dear little Maggie. I, at least, am
+absolutely determined that nothing will induce me to give Maggie up."
+
+"Of course we won't give her up," said Cicely. But she spoke with
+thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TEN POUNDS.
+
+
+In perfect summer weather, when the heart is brimful of happiness, and
+when a great desire has been unexpectedly fulfilled, what can there
+possibly be more delightful than an open-air life? This was what the
+girls who belonged to the rectory and the girls who belonged to the
+Manor now found. Mr. and Mrs. Cardew and Mr. and Mrs. Tristram could
+not do enough for their benefit. Maggie could only stay for one week
+longer with her friends; but Aneta had changed her mind with regard to
+Belgium, and was to go with the young Cardews to the seaside, and Mrs.
+Cardew had asked the Tristram girls to accompany them. She had also
+extended her invitation to Maggie, who would have given a great deal
+to accept it. She wrote to her mother on the subject. Mrs. Howland
+made a brief reply: "You know it is impossible, Maggie. You must come
+back to me early next week. I cannot do without you, so say no more
+about it."
+
+Maggie was a girl with a really excellent temper, and, recognizing
+that her mother had a good reason for not giving her the desired
+holiday, made the best of things.
+
+Meanwhile Cicely and Merry watched her carefully. As to Aneta, she was
+perfectly cordial with Maggie, not talking to her much, it is true,
+but never showing the slightest objection to her society.
+Nevertheless, there was, since the arrival of Aneta on the scene, a
+strange, undefinable change in the atmosphere. Merry noticed this more
+than Cicely. It felt to her electrical, as though there might be a
+storm brewing.
+
+On the day before Maggie was to return to London to take up her abode
+in her mother's dull house in Shepherd's Bush, a magnificent picnic on
+a larger scale even than usual was the order of the hour. Some young
+girls of the name of Heathfield who lived a little way off were asked
+to Meredith Manor to spend the night, and these girls, who were
+exceedingly jolly and bright and lively, were a fresh source of
+delight to all those whom they happened to meet. Their names were
+Susan and Mary Heathfield. They were older than the Tristrams and the
+Cardews, and had, in fact, just left school. Their last year of
+school-life had been spent in Paris; they were highly educated, and
+had an enviable proficiency in the French tongue.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Heathfield, the parents of these girls, were also guests
+at the Manor, so that the picnic on this last day of Maggie's visit to
+the rectory was quite a large one. They drove nearly twenty miles to a
+beautiful place not far from Warwick. There the usual picnic
+arrangements were made with great satisfaction; dinner was eaten
+out-of-doors, and presently there was to be a gipsy-tea. This all the
+girls looked forward to, and Andrew and Jack were wild with delight
+over the prospect of making the kettle boil. This particular task was
+given to them, and very proud they were of the trust reposed in them.
+
+But now, dinner being over, the older people took shelter from the
+fierce rays of the sun under the wide-spreading trees, and the young
+people moved about in groups or in couples. Merry Cardew found herself
+alone with Maggie Howland. Without intending to do so, she had
+slightly, very slightly, avoided Maggie during the last day or two;
+but Maggie now seized her arm and drew her down a shady glade.
+
+"Come with me, Merry," she said; "I have a lot I want to say to you."
+
+Merry looked at her. "Of course I will come with you, Maggie," she
+answered.
+
+"I want just to get quite away from the others," continued Maggie,
+"for we shall not meet again until we meet in the autumn at Aylmer
+House. You don't know, perhaps--do you, Merry--that you owe the great
+joy of coming to that lovely school to me?"
+
+"To you!" said Merry in the utmost amazement.
+
+"Yes," replied Maggie in her calmest tone, "to me."
+
+"Oh, dear Maggie!" replied Merry, "you surely must be mistaken."
+
+"I don't intend to explain myself," said Maggie; "I simply state what
+is a fact. You owe your school-life to me. It was I who inserted the
+thin end of the wedge beneath your father's fixed resolution that you
+were to be educated at home. It was I, in short, who acted the part of
+the fairy princess and who pulled those silken reins which brought
+about the desire of your heart."
+
+"I don't understand you, Maggie," said Merry in a distressful tone;
+"but I suppose," she added, "as you say so, it is the case. Only, I
+ought to tell you that what really and truly happened was this"----
+
+"Oh, I know quite well what really and truly happened," interrupted
+Maggie. "Let me tell you. I know that there came a certain day when a
+little girl who calls herself Merry Cardew was very discontented, and
+I know also that kind Mr. Cardew discovered the discontent of his
+child. Well, now, who put that discontent into your mind?"
+
+"Why, I am afraid it was you," said Merry, turning pale and then red.
+
+Maggie laughed. "Why, of course it was," she said; "and you suppose I
+didn't do it on purpose?"
+
+"But, Maggie, you didn't really mean--you couldn't for a minute
+mean--that I was to be miserable at home if father didn't give his
+consent?"
+
+"Of course not," said Maggie lightly; "but, you see, I meant him to
+give his consent--I meant it all the time. I own that there were
+several favoring circumstances; but I want to tell you now, Merry, in
+the strictest confidence of course, that from the moment I arrived at
+the rectory I determined that you and Cicely were to come with Molly
+and Isabel to Aylmer House."
+
+"It was very kind of you, Maggie," said Merry; but she felt a certain
+sense of distress which she could not quite account for as she spoke.
+
+"Why do you look so melancholy?" said Maggie, turning and fixing her
+queer, narrow eyes on the pretty face of her young companion.
+
+"I am not really melancholy, only I would much rather you had told me
+openly at the time that you wished me to come to school."
+
+Maggie gave a faint sigh. "Had I done so, darling," she said, "you
+would never have come. You must leave your poor friend Maggie to
+manage things in her own way. But now I have something else to talk
+about."
+
+They had gone far down the glade, and were completely separated from
+their companions.
+
+"Sit down," said Maggie; "it's too hot to walk far even under the
+shade of the trees."
+
+They both sat down.
+
+Maggie tossed off her hat. "To-morrow," she said, "you will perhaps be
+having another picnic, or, at any rate, the best of good times with
+your friends."
+
+"I hope so," replied Merry.
+
+"But I shall be in hot, stifling London, in a little house, in poky
+lodgings; to-morrow, at this hour, I shall not be having what you call
+a good time."
+
+"But, Maggie, you will be with your mother."
+
+"Yes, poor darling mother! of course."
+
+"Don't you love her very much?" asked Merry.
+
+Maggie flashed round an excited glance at her companion. "Love her?
+Yes," she said, "I love her."
+
+"But you must love her tremendously," said Merry--"as much as I love
+my mother."
+
+"As a rule all girls love their mothers," said Maggie. "We are not
+talking about that now, are we?"
+
+"What do you want to say to me in particular, Maggie?" was Merry's
+response.
+
+"This. We shall meet at school on the 20th of September. There will
+be, as I have told you already, twenty boarders at Aylmer House. You
+will arrive at the school as strangers; so will Molly and Isabel
+arrive as strangers; but you will have two friends--Aneta Lysle and
+myself. You're very much taken, with your cousin Aneta, are you not?"
+
+"Taken with her?" said Merry. "That seems to me a curious expression.
+She is our cousin, and she is beautiful."
+
+"Merry, I must tell you something. At Aylmer House there are two
+individuals who lead the school."
+
+"Oh," said Merry, "I thought Mrs. Ward led the school."
+
+"Of course, of course, Mrs. Ward is just splendid; but, you see, you,
+poor Merry, know nothing of school-life. School-life is really
+controlled--I mean the inner part of it--by the girls themselves. Now,
+there are two girls at Aylmer House who control the school: one of
+them is your humble servant, Maggie Howland; the other is your cousin,
+Aneta Lysle. Aneta does not love me; and, to be frank with you, I hate
+her."
+
+Merry found herself turning very red. She remembered Aneta's words on
+the night of her arrival.
+
+"She has already told you," said Maggie, "that she doesn't like me."
+
+Merry remained silent.
+
+"Oh, you needn't speak. I know quite well," said Maggie.
+
+Merry felt more and more uncomfortable.
+
+"The petition I have to make to you is this," continued Maggie: "that
+at school you will, for a time at least--say for the first month or
+so--be _neutral_. I want you and Cicely and Molly and Isabel to belong
+neither to Aneta's party nor to mine; and I want you to do this
+because--because I have been the person who has got you to Aylmer
+House. Just remain neutral for a month. Will you promise me that?"
+
+"I don't understand you. You puzzle me very much indeed," said Merry.
+
+"You will understand fast enough when you get to Aylmer House. I wish
+I were not going away; I wish I hadn't to return to mother. I wish I
+could go with you all to Scarborough; but I am the last girl on earth
+to neglect my duties, and my duty is to be with poor dear mother. You
+will understand that what I ask is but reasonable. If four new girls
+came to the school, and altogether went over to Aneta's side, where
+should I be? What chance should I have? But I do not ask you to come
+to my side; I only ask you to be neutral. Merry, will you promise?"
+
+"You distress me more than I can say," replied Merry. "I feel so
+completely in the dark. I don't, of course, want to take any side."
+
+"Ah, then you will promise?" said Maggie.
+
+"I don't know what to say."
+
+"Let me present a picture to you," continued Maggie. "There are two
+girls; they are not equally equipped for the battle of life. I say
+nothing of injustice in the matter; I only state a fact. One of them
+is rich and highly born, and endowed with remarkable beauty of face.
+That girl is your own cousin, Aneta Lysle. Then there is the other
+girl, Maggie Howland, who is ugly."
+
+"Oh no--no!" said Merry affectionately.
+
+"Yes, darling," said Maggie, using her most magnetic voice, "really
+ugly."
+
+"Not in my eyes," said Merry.
+
+"She is ugly," repeated Maggie, speaking with great calm;
+"and--yes--she is poor. I will tell you as a great secret--I have
+never breathed it to a soul yet--that it would be impossible for this
+girl to be an inmate of Aylmer House if Mrs. Ward, in the kindness of
+her great heart, had not offered her very special terms. You will
+never breathe that, Merry, not even to Cicely?"
+
+"Oh, poor Maggie!" said Merry, "are you really--really as poor as
+that?"
+
+"Church mice aren't poorer," said Maggie. "But never mind; I have got
+something which even your Aneta hasn't got. I have talent, and I have
+the power--the power of charming. I want most earnestly to be your
+special friend, Merry. I have a very affectionate heart, and I love
+you and Cicely and Molly and Isabel more than I can say; but of all
+you four girls I love you the best. You come first in my heart; and to
+see you at my school turning away from me and going altogether to
+Aneta's side would give me agony. There, I can't help it. Forgive me.
+I'll be all right in a minute."
+
+Maggie turned her face aside. She had taken out her handkerchief and
+was pressing it to her eyes. Real tears had filled them, for her
+emotions were genuine enough.
+
+"Don't you think," she said after a pause, "that you, who are so rich
+in this world's goods, might be kind and loving to a poor little plain
+girl who loves you but who has got very little?"
+
+"Indeed, indeed, I shall always love you, dear Maggie," said Merry.
+
+"Then you will do what I want?"
+
+"I don't like to make promises, and I am so much in the dark; but I
+can certainly say this--that, whatever happens, I shall be your friend
+at school. I shall look to you to help me in a hundred ways."
+
+"Will you indeed, darling Merry?"
+
+"Of course I shall. I always intended to, and I think Cicely will do
+just the same."
+
+"I don't want you to talk to Cicely about this. She doesn't care for
+me as much as you do."
+
+"Perhaps not quite," said honest Merry.
+
+"Oh, I am sure--certain of it. Then you will be my friend as I shall
+be yours, and when we meet at Aylmer House you will talk of me to
+others as your friend?"
+
+"Of course I shall."
+
+"That's what I require. The thought of your friendship when I love you
+so passionately makes sunshine in my heart. I sha'n't be miserable at
+all to-morrow after what you have said. I shall think of our pleasant
+talk under this great oak-tree; I shall recall this lovely, perfect
+day. Merry, you have made me very happy!"
+
+"But please understand," said Merry, "that, although I am your friend,
+I cannot give up Aneta."
+
+"Certainly not, dear; only, don't take what you call sides. It is
+quite reasonable to suppose that girls who have only just come to
+school would prefer to be there at first quite free and untrammeled;
+and to belong to a certain set immediately trammels you."
+
+"Well, I, for one, will promise--at any rate at first--that I won't
+belong to any set," said Merry. "Now, are you satisfied, Maggie?"
+
+"Oh, truly I am! Do let me kiss you, darling."
+
+The girls kissed very affectionately.
+
+Then Maggie said, "Now I am quite happy." After a pause, she continued
+as though it were an after-thought, "Of course you won't speak of this
+to any one?"
+
+"Unless, perhaps, to Cicely," said Merry.
+
+"No, not even to Cicely; for if you found it hard to understand, she
+would find it impossible."
+
+"But," said Merry, "I never had a secret from her in my life. She is
+my twin, you know."
+
+"Please, please," said Maggie, "keep this little secret all to
+yourself for my sake. Oh, do think how important it is to me, and how
+much more you have to be thankful for than I have!"
+
+"If you feel it like that, poor Maggie," said Merry, "I will keep it
+as my own secret."
+
+"Then I have nothing further to say." Maggie sprang to her feet.
+"There are the boys running to meet us," she said. "I know they'll
+want my help in preparing the fire for the gipsy-kettle."
+
+"And I will join the others. There's Susan Heathfield; she is all
+alone," said Merry. "But one moment first, please, Maggie. Are you
+going to make Molly and Isabel bind themselves by the same promise?"
+
+"Dear me, no!" said Maggie. "They will naturally be my friends without
+any effort; but you are the one I want, for you are the one I truly
+love."
+
+"Hallo! there you are," called Andrew's voice, "hobnobbing, as usual,
+with Merry Cardew."
+
+"I say, Merry," cried Jack, "it is unfair of you to take our Maggie
+away on her last day."
+
+The two boys now rushed up.
+
+"I am going to cry bottles-full to-morrow," said Andrew; "and,
+although I am a boy, about to be a man, I'm not a bit ashamed of it."
+
+"I'll beat you at that," said Jackdaw, "for I'll cry basins-full."
+
+"Dear me, boys, how horrid of you!" said Maggie. "What on earth good
+will crying do to me? And you'll both be so horribly limp and damp
+after it."
+
+"Well, come now," said Jackdaw, pulling her by one arm while Peterkin
+secured the other.--"You've had your share of her, Merry, and it's our
+turn."
+
+Maggie and her devoted satellites went off in the direction where the
+bonfire was to be made; and Merry, walking slowly, joined Susan
+Heathfield.
+
+Susan was more than two years older than Merry, and on that account
+the younger girls looked up to her with a great deal of respect. Up to
+the present, however, they had had no confidential talk.
+
+Susan now said, "So you are to be a schoolgirl after all?"
+
+"Yes. Isn't it jolly?" said Merry.
+
+"Oh, it has its pros and cons," replied Susan. "In one sense, there is
+no place like school; but in the best sense of all there is no place
+like home."
+
+"Were you long at school, Susan?"
+
+"Of course; Mary and I went to a school in Devonshire when we were
+quite little girls. I was eleven and Mary ten. Afterwards we were at a
+London school, and then we went to Paris. We had an excellent time at
+all our schools; but I think the best fun of all was the thought of
+the holidays and coming home again."
+
+"That must be delightful," said Merry. "Did you make many friends at
+school?"
+
+"Well, of course," said Susan. "But now let me give you a word of
+advice, Merry. You are going to a most delightful school, which, alas!
+we were not lucky enough to get admitted to, although mother tried
+very hard. It may be different at Aylmer House from what it is in the
+ordinary school, but I would strongly advise you and Cicely not to
+join any clique at school."
+
+"Oh dear, how very queer!" said Merry, and she reddened deeply.
+
+"Why do you look like that?" said Susan.
+
+"Nothing, nothing," said Merry.
+
+Susan was silent for a minute or two. Then she said, "That's a
+curious-looking girl."
+
+"What girl?" said Merry indignantly.
+
+"I think you said her name was Howland--Miss Howland."
+
+"She is one of the most delightful girls I know," replied Merry at
+once.
+
+"Well, I don't know her, you see, so I can't say. Aneta tells me that
+she is a member of your school."
+
+"Yes; and I am so delighted!" said Merry.
+
+Again Susan Heathfield was silent, feeling a little puzzled; but Merry
+quickly changed the conversation, for she did not want to have any
+more talk with regard to Maggie Howland. Merry, however, had a very
+transparent face. Her conversation with her friend had left traces of
+anxiety and even slight apprehension on her sweet, open face. Merry
+Cardew was oppressed by the first secret of her life, and it is
+perhaps to be regretted, or perhaps the reverse, that she found it
+almost impossible to keep a secret.
+
+"Well," Cicely said to her as they were hurrying from the shady woods
+in the direction of the picnic-tea, "what is wrong with you, Merry?
+Have you a headache?"
+
+"Oh no; I am perfectly all right," said Merry, brightening up. "It's
+only--well, to say the truth, I am sorry that Maggie is going
+to-morrow."
+
+"You are very fond of her, aren't you?" said Cicely.
+
+"Well, yes; that is it, I am," said Merry.
+
+"We'll see plenty of her at school, anyway," said Cicely.
+
+"I wish she were rich," said Merry. "I hate to think of her as poor."
+
+"Is she poor?" asked Cicely.
+
+"Oh yes; she was just telling me, poor darling!"
+
+"I don't understand what it means to be poor," said Cicely. "People
+say it is very bad, but somehow I can't take it in."
+
+"Maggie takes it in, at any rate," said Merry. "Think of us to-morrow,
+Cicely, having more fun, being out again in the open air, having
+pleasant companions all round us, and our beautiful home to go back
+to, and our parents, whom we love so dearly; and then, next week, of
+the house by the sea, and Aneta and Molly and Isabel our companions."
+
+"Well, of course," said Cicely.
+
+"And then think of poor Maggie," continued Merry. "She'll be shut up
+in a musty, fusty London lodging. I can't think how she endures it."
+
+"I don't know what a musty, fusty lodging is," said Cicely; "but she
+could have come with us, because mother invited her."
+
+"She can't, because her own mother wants her. Oh dear! I wish we could
+have her and her mother too."
+
+"Come on now, Merry, I don't think we ought to ask father and mother
+to invite Mrs. Howland."
+
+"Of course not. I quite understand that," replied Merry.
+"Nevertheless, I am a little sad about dear Maggie."
+
+Merry's sadness took a practical form. She thought a great deal about
+her friend during the rest of that day, although Maggie rather avoided
+her. She thought, in particular, of Maggie's poverty, and wondered
+what poverty really meant. The poor people--those who were called poor
+at Meredith--did not really suffer at all, for it was the bounden duty
+of the squire of the Manor to see to all their wants, to provide them
+with comfortable houses and nice gardens, and if they were ill to give
+them the advice of a good doctor, also to send them nourishing food
+from the Manor. But poor people of that sort were quite different from
+the Maggie Howland sort. Merry could not imagine any lord of the manor
+taking Maggie and Mrs. Howland in hand and providing them with all the
+good things of life.
+
+But all of a sudden it darted through her eager, affectionate little
+heart that she herself might be lord of the manor to Maggie, and might
+help Maggie out of her own abundance. If it were impossible to get
+Maggie Howland and her mother both invited to Scarborough, why should
+not she, Merry, provide Maggie with means to take her mother from the
+fusty, dusty lodgings to another seaside resort?
+
+Merry thought over this for some time, and the more she thought over
+it the more enamored she was of the idea. She and Cicely had, of
+course, no special means of their own, nor could they have until they
+came of age. Nevertheless, they were allowed as pocket-money ten
+pounds every quarter. Now, Merry's ten pounds would be due in a week.
+She really did not want it. When she got it she spent it mostly on
+presents for her friends and little gifts for the villagers; but on
+this occasion she might give it all in one lump sum to Maggie Howland.
+Surely her father would let her have it? She might give it to Maggie
+early to-morrow morning. Maggie would not be too proud to accept it
+just as a tiny present.
+
+Merry had as little idea how far ten pounds would go toward the
+expenses of a visit to the seaside as she had of what real poverty
+meant. But it occurred to her as a delightful way of assuring Maggie
+of her friendship to present Maggie with her quarter's pocket-money.
+
+On their way home that evening, therefore, she was only too glad to
+find herself by her father's side.
+
+"Well, little girl," he said, "so you're forsaking all your young
+companions and wish to sit close to the old dad?"
+
+The old dad, it may be mentioned, was driving home in a mail-phaeton
+from the picnic, and Merry found herself perched high up beside him as
+he held the reins and guided a pair of thoroughbred horses.
+
+"Well, what is it, little girl?" he said.
+
+"I wonder, father, if you'd be most frightfully kind?"
+
+"What!" he answered, just glancing at her; "that means that you are
+discontented again. What more can I do for you, Merry?"
+
+"If I might only have my pocket-money to-night."
+
+"You extravagant child! Your pocket-money! It isn't due for a week."
+
+"But I do want it very specially. Will you advance it to me just this
+once, dad?"
+
+"I am not to know why you want it?"
+
+"No, dad darling, you are not to know."
+
+Mr. Cardew considered for a minute.
+
+"I hope you are not going to be a really extravagant woman, Merry," he
+said. "To tell the truth, I hate extravagance, although I equally hate
+stinginess. You will have no lack of money, child, but money is a
+great and wonderful gift and ought to be used to the best of best
+advantages. It ought never to be wasted, for there are so many people
+who haven't half enough, and those who are rich, my child, ought to
+help those who are not rich."
+
+"Yes, darling father," said Merry; "and that is what I should so
+awfully like to do."
+
+"Well, I think you have the root of the matter in you," said Mr.
+Cardew, "and I, for one, am the last person to pry on my child. Does
+Cicely also want her money in advance?"
+
+"Oh no, no! I want it for a very special reason."
+
+"Very well, my little girl. Come to me in the study to-night before
+you go to bed, and you shall have your money."
+
+"In sovereigns, please, father?"
+
+"Yes, child, in sovereigns."
+
+"Thank you ever so much, darling."
+
+During the rest of the drive there was no girl happier than Merry
+Cardew. Mr. Cardew looked at her once or twice, and wondered what all
+this meant. But he was not going to question her.
+
+When they got home he took her away to his study, and, opening a
+drawer, took out ten sovereigns.
+
+"I may as well tell you," he said as he put them into her hand, "that
+when you go to school I shall raise your pocket-money allowance to
+fifteen pounds a quarter. That is quite as large a sum as a girl of
+your age ought to have in the year. I do this because I well
+understand that at Mrs. Ward's school there will be special
+opportunities for you to act in a philanthropic manner."
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you, father!" said Merry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+SHEPHERD'S BUSH.
+
+
+While Merry was in a state of high rejoicing at this simple means of
+helping her friend, Maggie Howland herself was not having quite such a
+good time. She had been much relieved by her conversation with Merry,
+but shortly after the picnic-tea Aneta had come up to her.
+
+"Would you like to walk with me," said Aneta, "as far as the giant
+oak? It isn't a great distance from here, and I'll not keep you
+long."
+
+"Certainly I will come with you, Aneta," said Maggie; but she felt
+uncomfortable, and wondered what it meant.
+
+The two girls set off together. They made a contrast which must have
+been discernible to the eyes of all those who saw them: Aneta the very
+essence of elegance; Maggie spotlessly neat, but, compared to her
+companion, downright plain. Aneta was tall and slim; Maggie was short.
+Nevertheless, her figure was her good point, and she made the most of
+it by having perfectly fitting clothes. This very fact, however, took
+somewhat from her appearance, and gave her the look of a grown-up
+girl, whereas she was still only a child.
+
+As soon as ever the girls got out of earshot, Aneta turned to Maggie
+and said gravely, "My cousins the Cardews are to join us all at Aylmer
+House in September."
+
+Maggie longed to say, "Thank you for nothing," but she never dared to
+show rudeness to Aneta. No one had ever been rude to the stately young
+lady.
+
+"Yes," she said. Then she added, "I am so glad! Aren't you?"
+
+"For some reasons I am very glad," said Aneta.
+
+"But surely for all, aren't you?"
+
+"Not for all," replied Aneta.
+
+How Maggie longed to give her companion a fierce push, or otherwise
+show how she detested her!
+
+"I will tell you why I regret it," said Aneta, turning her calm,
+beautiful eyes upon Maggie's face.
+
+"Thank you," said Maggie.
+
+"I regret it, Maggie Howland, because you are at the school."
+
+"How very polite!" said Maggie, turning crimson.
+
+"It is not polite," said Aneta, "and I am sorry that I have to speak
+as I do; but it is necessary. We needn't go into particulars; but I
+have something to say to you, and please understand that what I say I
+mean. You know that when first you came to the school I was as anxious
+as any one else to be kind to you, to help you, to be good to you. You
+know the reason why I changed my mind. You know what you did. You know
+that were Mrs. Ward to have the slightest inkling of what really
+occurred you would not remain another hour at Aylmer House. I haven't
+told any one what I know; but if you, Maggie, tamper with Cicely and
+Merry Cardew, who are my cousins and dear friends--if you win them
+over to what you are pleased to call your side of the school--I shall
+consider it my duty to tell Mrs. Ward what I have hitherto kept back
+from her."
+
+Maggie was trembling very violently.
+
+"You could not be so cruel," she said after a pause.
+
+"I have long thought," continued Aneta, speaking in her calm, gentle
+voice, "that I did wrong at the time to keep silent; but you got my
+promise, and I kept it."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Maggie, "I got your promise; you wouldn't dare to
+break it?"
+
+"You are mistaken," said Aneta. "If the circumstances to which I have
+just alluded should arise I would break that promise. Now you
+understand?"
+
+"I think you are the meanest, the cruellest--I think you are----There,
+I hate you!" said Maggie.
+
+"You have no reason to. I will not interfere with you if you, on your
+part, leave those I love alone. Cicely and Merry are coming to the
+school because I am there, because my aunt recommends the school,
+because it is a good school. Leave off doing wrong, and join us,
+Maggie, in what is noble and high; but continue your present course at
+your peril. You would do anything for power; you go too far. You have
+influenced one or two girls adversely already. I am convinced that
+Mrs. Ward does not trust you. If you interfere with Cicely or Merry,
+Mrs. Ward will have good reason to dislike you, for I myself shall
+open her eyes."
+
+"You will be an informer, a tell-tale?"
+
+"You can call me any names you like, Maggie; I shall simply do what I
+consider my duty."
+
+"Oh, but----I hate you!" said Maggie again.
+
+"I am sorry you hate me, for it isn't necessary; and if I saw you in
+the least like others I should do all in my power to help you. Now,
+will you give me your promise that you won't interfere with Cicely and
+Merry?"
+
+"But does this mean--does this mean," said Maggie, who was almost
+choking with rage, "that I am to have nothing to do with the
+Cardews?"
+
+"You are on no account to draw the Cardews into the circle of your
+friends, who are, I am thankful to say, limited. If you do, you know
+the consequences, and I am not the sort of girl to go back when I have
+firmly made up my mind on a certain point."
+
+Maggie suddenly clutched hold of her companion's arm.
+
+"I am miserable enough already," she said, "and you make my life
+unendurable! You don't know what it is to have a mother like mine, and
+to be starvingly poor."
+
+"I am very sorry you are poor, Maggie, and I am very sorry for you
+with regard to your mother, although I do not think you ought to speak
+unkindly of her. But your father was a very good man, and you might
+live up to his memory. I saw you and Merry together to-day. Beware how
+you try to influence her."
+
+"Oh, I can't stand you!" said Maggie.
+
+"I have said my say. Shall we return to the others?" said Aneta in her
+calm voice.
+
+"If she would only get into a rage and we might have a hand-to-hand
+fight I should feel better," thought Maggie. But she was seriously
+alarmed, for she well remembered something which had happened at
+school, which Aneta had discovered, and which, if known, would force
+Mrs. Ward to dismiss her from the establishment. Such a course would
+spell ruin. Maggie had strong feelings, but she had also self-control;
+and by the time the two joined the others her face looked much as
+usual.
+
+On the following morning early a little girl ran swiftly from the
+Manor to the rectory. Maggie was to leave by the eleven o'clock train.
+Merry appeared on the scene soon after nine.
+
+"I want you, Maggie, all quite by yourself," said Merry, speaking with
+such excitement that Molly and Belle looked at her in unbounded
+amazement.
+
+"You can't keep her long," said Peterkins and Jackdaw, "for it is our
+very last day, and Spot-ear and Fanciful want to say good-bye to her.
+You can't have the darling more than three minutes at the most."
+
+"I am going to keep Maggie for ten minutes, and no longer.--Come along
+at once, Maggie," said Merry Cardew.
+
+They went out into the grounds, and Merry, putting her hand into her
+pocket, took out a little brown leather bag. She thrust it into her
+companion's hand.
+
+"What is it?" said Maggie.
+
+"It is for you--for you, darling," said Merry. "Take it, as a loan, if
+you like--only take it. It is only ten pounds. I am afraid you will
+think it nothing at all; but do take it, just as a mere loan. It is my
+pocket-money for the next quarter. Perhaps you could go from the
+musty, fusty lodgings to some fresher place with this to help you.
+Do--do take it, Maggie! I shall so love you if you do."
+
+Maggie's narrow eyes grew wide. Maggie's sallow face flushed. There
+came a wild commotion in her heart--a real, genuine sense of downright
+love for the girl who had done this thing for her. And ten pounds,
+which meant so very little to Merry Cardew, held untold possibilities
+for Maggie.
+
+"You will hurt me frightfully if you refuse," said Merry.
+
+Maggie trembled from head to foot. Suppose, by any chance, it got to
+Aneta's ears that she had taken this money from Merry; suppose it got
+abroad in the school! Oh, she dared not take it! she must not!
+
+"What is it, Maggie? Why don't you speak?" said Merry, looking at her
+in astonishment.
+
+"I love you with all my heart and soul," said Maggie; "but I just
+can't take the money."
+
+"Oh Maggie! but why?"
+
+"I can't, dear; I can't. It--it would not be right. You mustn't lower
+me in my own estimation. I should feel low down if I took your money.
+I know well I am poor, and so is dear mother, and the lodgings are
+fusty and musty, but we are neither of us so poor as that. I'll never
+forget that you brought it to me, and I'll love you just more than I
+have ever done; but I can't take it."
+
+"Do come on, Maggie!" shouted Jackdaw. "Fanciful is dying for his
+breakfast; and as to Peterkins, he has got Spot-ear out of his cage.
+Peterkins is crying like anything, and his tears are dropping on
+Spot-ear, and Spot-ear doesn't like it. Do come on!"
+
+"Yes, yes; I am coming," said Maggie--"Good-bye, darling Merry. My
+best thanks and best love."
+
+That evening, or in the course of the afternoon, Maggie appeared at
+Shepherd's Bush. She had been obliged to travel third-class, and the
+journey was hot and dusty.
+
+She lay back against the cushions with a tired feeling all over her.
+For a time she had been able to forget her poverty. Now it had fully
+returned to her, and she was not in the mood to be good-natured. There
+was no need to show any charm or any kindliness to her neighbors, who,
+in their turn, thought her a disagreeable, plain girl, not worth any
+special notice.
+
+It was, therefore, by no means a prepossessing-looking girl who ran up
+the high flight of steps which belonged to that lodging-house in
+Shepherd's Bush where Mrs. Howland was staying. Maggie knew the
+lodgings well, although she had never spent much time there. As a
+rule, she contrived to spend almost all her holidays with friends;
+but on this occasion her mother had sent for her in a very summary
+manner; and, although Maggie had no real love for her mother, she was
+afraid to disobey her.
+
+Mrs. Howland occupied the drawing-room floor of the said lodgings.
+They were kept by a Mrs. Ross, an untidy and by no means too
+clean-looking woman. Mrs. Ross kept one small "general," and the
+general's name was Tildy. Tildy had bright-red hair and a great many
+freckles on her round face. She was squat in figure, and had a
+perpetual smut either on her cheek or forehead. In the morning she was
+nothing better than a slavey, but in the afternoon she generally
+managed to put on a cap with long white streamers and an apron with a
+bib. Tildy thought herself very fine in this attire, and she had
+donned it now in honor of Miss Howland's arrival. She had no
+particular respect for Mrs. Howland, but she had a secret and
+consuming admiration for Maggie.
+
+Maggie had been kind to Tildy once or twice, and had even given the
+general a cast-off dress of her own. Maggie was plain, and yet people
+liked her and listened to her words.
+
+"Oh miss," said Tildy when she opened the front door, "it's me that's
+glad to see you! Your ma is upstairs; she's took with a headache, but
+you'll find her lyin' down on the sofy in the drawin'-room."
+
+"Then I'll run up at once, Matilda," said Maggie. "And how are you?"
+she added good-naturedly. "Oh, you've got your usual smut."
+
+"Indicate the spot, miss, and it shall be moved instancious," said
+Tildy. "Seems to me as if never could get rid of smuts, what with the
+kitchen-range, and missus bein' so exacsheous, and Tildy here, Tildy
+there; Tildy do this, Tildy do t'other, soundin' in my hears all day
+long."
+
+"You are a very good girl," said Maggie, "and if I were in your place
+I'd have a hundred smuts, not one. But take it off now, do; it's on
+the very center of your forehead. And bring me some tea to the
+drawing-room, for I'm ever so thirsty."
+
+"You've been in a blessed wondrous castle since, haven't you, missie?"
+said Matilda in a voice of suppressed awe.
+
+"I know some young ladies who live in a castle; but I myself have been
+at a rectory," said Maggie. "Now, don't keep me. Oh, here's a shilling
+for the cabman; give it to him, and get my box taken upstairs."
+
+Maggie flew up the steep, badly carpeted stairs to the hideous
+drawing-room. Her spirits had been very low; but, somehow, Tildy had
+managed to revive them. Tildy was plain, and very much lower than
+Maggie in the social scale; but Tildy admired her, and because of that
+admiration made her life more or less endurable in the fusty, musty
+lodgings. She had always cultivated Tildy's good will, and she thought
+of the girl now with a strange sense of pity.
+
+"Compared to her, I suppose I am well off," thought Maggie. "I have
+only five weeks at the most to endure this misery; then there will be
+Aylmer House."
+
+She opened the drawing-room door and entered. Mrs. Howland was lying
+on a sofa, which was covered with faded rep and had a broken spring.
+She had a handkerchief wrung out of aromatic vinegar over her
+forehead. Her eyes were shut, and her exceedingly thin face was very
+pale. When her daughter entered the room she opened a pair of faded
+eyes and looked at her, but no sense of pleasure crossed Mrs.
+Howland's shallow face. On the contrary, she looked much worried, and
+said, in a cross tone, "I wish you would not be so noisy, Maggie.
+Didn't Tildy tell you that I had an acute headache?"
+
+"Yes, mother; and I didn't know I was noisy," replied Maggie. "I came
+upstairs as softly as possible. That door"--she pointed to the door by
+which she had entered--"creaks horribly. That is not my fault."
+
+"Excusing yourself, as usual," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Well, mother," said Maggie after a pause, "may I kiss you now that I
+have come back against my will?"
+
+"I knew you'd be horribly discontented," said Mrs. Howland; "but of
+course you may kiss me."
+
+Maggie bent down and touched her mother's cheek with her young lips.
+
+"I was having a beautiful time," she said, "and you don't seem glad
+now that I have come back. What is the matter?"
+
+"I have something to communicate to you," said Mrs. Howland. "I did
+not think I could write it; therefore I was obliged to have you with
+me. But we won't talk of it for a little. Have you ordered tea?"
+
+"Yes, mother. Tildy is bringing it."
+
+"That's right," said Mrs. Howland. "What a hot day it is!" she
+continued.
+
+"This room is stifling," replied Maggie. "Do you mind if I pull down
+the Venetian blinds? That will keep some of the sun out."
+
+"The blinds are all broken," said Mrs. Howland. "I have spoken to that
+woman Ross till I am tired, but she never will see to my wishes in any
+way."
+
+"I can't imagine why we stay here, mother."
+
+"Oh! don't begin your grumbles now," said Mrs. Howland. "I have news
+for you when tea is over."
+
+Just then the drawing-room door was opened by means of a kick and a
+bump, and Tildy entered, weighed down by an enormous tea-tray. Maggie
+ran to prepare a table for its reception, and Tildy looked at her with
+eyes of fresh admiration. Mrs. Howland raised herself and also looked
+at the girl.
+
+"Have you kept the cakes downstairs, and the muffins that I ordered,
+and the gooseberries?"
+
+"No, um," said Tildy. "I brought them up for Miss Maggie's tea."
+
+"I told you they were not to be touched till Mr. Martin came."
+
+"Yes, um," said Tildy; "but me and Mrs. Ross thought as Miss Maggie
+'u'd want 'em."
+
+Mrs. Howland glanced at her daughter. Then all of a sudden, and quite
+unexpectedly, her faded face grew red. She perceived an expression of
+inquiry in Maggie's eyes which rather frightened her.
+
+"It's all right," she said. "Now that you've brought the things up,
+Tildy, leave them here, and go. When Mr. Martin comes, show him up.
+Now leave us, and be quick about it."
+
+Tildy departed, slamming the door behind her.
+
+"How noisy that girl is!" said Mrs. Howland. "Well, I am better now;
+I'll just go into our bedroom and get tidy. I'll be back in a few
+minutes. I mustn't be seen looking this fright when Mr. Martin
+comes."
+
+"But who is Mr. Martin?" said Maggie.
+
+"You will know presently," said Mrs. Howland. "It's about him that I
+have news."
+
+Maggie felt her heart thumping in a very uncomfortable manner. The
+bedroom which she and her mother shared together--that is, when Maggie
+was with her mother--was at the back of the drawing-room. Mrs. Howland
+remained there for about five minutes, and during that time Maggie
+helped herself to a cup of tea, for she was feverishly hot and
+thirsty.
+
+Her mother returned at the end of five minutes, looking wonderfully
+better, and in fact quite rejuvenated. Her dress was fairly neat. She
+had a slight color in her pale cheeks which considerably brightened
+her light-blue eyes. Her faded hair was arranged with some neatness,
+and she had put on a white blouse and a blue alpaca skirt.
+
+"Oh mother," said Maggie, hailing this change with great relief, "how
+much better you look now! I am a comfort to you, am I not, mums? I
+sha'n't mind coming back and giving up all my fun if I am a real
+comfort to you."
+
+"I wouldn't have sent for you but for Mr. Martin," said Mrs. Howland.
+"It was he who wished it. Yes, I am much better now, though I cannot
+honestly say that you are the cause. It's the thought of seeing Mr.
+Martin that cheers me up; I must be tidy for him. Yes, you may pour
+out a cup of tea for me; only see that you keep some really strong tea
+in the teapot for Mr. Martin, for he cannot bear it weak. He calls
+weak tea wish-wash."
+
+"But whoever is this mysterious person?" said Maggie.
+
+"I will tell you in a minute or two. You may give me one of those
+little cakes. No, I couldn't stand muffins; I hate them in hot
+weather. Besides, my digestion isn't what it was; but I shall be all
+right by-and-by; so will you too, my dear. And what I do, I do for
+you."
+
+"Well, I wish you would tell me what you are doing for me, and get it
+over," said Maggie. "You were always very peculiar, mums,
+always--even when dear father was alive--and you're not less so now."
+
+"That's a very unkind way for a child to speak of her parent," said
+Mrs. Howland; "but I can assure you, Maggie, that Mr. Martin won't
+allow it in the future."
+
+Maggie now sprang to her feet.
+
+"Good gracious, mother! What has Mr. Martin to do with me? Is he--is
+he--it cannot be, mother!"
+
+"Yes, I can," said Mrs. Howland. "I may as well have it out first as
+last. I am going to marry Mr. Martin."
+
+"Mother!"
+
+There was a wailing cry in Maggie's voice. No girl can stand with
+equanimity her mother marrying a second time; and as Maggie, with all
+her dreams of her own future, had never for an instant contemplated
+this fact, she was simply staggered for a minute or two.
+
+"You will have to take it in the right spirit, my dear," said her
+mother. "I can't stand this life any longer. I want money, and
+comforts, and devotion, and the love of a faithful husband, and Mr.
+Martin will give me all these things. He is willing to adopt you too.
+He said so. He has no children of his own. I mean, when I say that,
+that his first family are all settled in life, and he says that he
+wouldn't object at all to a pleasant, lively girl in the house. He
+wants you to leave school."
+
+"Leave Aylmer House!" said Maggie. "Oh no, mother!"
+
+"I knew you'd make a fuss about it," said Mrs. Howland. "He has a
+great dislike to what he calls fine folks. He speaks of them as
+daisies, and he hates daisies."
+
+"But, mother--mother dear--before he comes, tell me something about
+him. Where did you meet him? Who is he? A clergyman--a barrister? What
+is he, mother?"
+
+Mrs. Howland remained silent for a minute. Then she pressed her hand
+to her heart. Then she gave way to a burst of hysterical laughter.
+
+"Just consider for a minute, Maggie," she said, "what utter nonsense
+you are talking. Where should I be likely to meet a clergyman or a
+barrister? Do clergymen or barristers or people in any profession come
+to houses like this? Do talk sense when you're about it."
+
+"Well, tell me what he is, at least."
+
+"He is in--I am by no means ashamed of it--in _trade_."
+
+Now, it so happened that it had been duly impressed upon Maggie's mind
+that Mr. Cardew of Meredith Manor was also, so to speak, in trade;
+that is, he was the sleeping partner in one of the largest and
+wealthiest businesses in London. Maggie therefore, for a minute, had a
+glittering vision of a great country-house equal in splendor to
+Meredith Manor, where she and her mother could live together. But the
+next minute Mrs. Howland killed these glowing hopes even in the moment
+of their birth.
+
+"I want to conceal nothing from you," she said. "Mr. Martin keeps the
+grocer's shop at the corner. I may as well say that I met him when I
+went to that shop to get the small articles of grocery which I
+required for my own consumption. He has served me often across the
+counter. Then one day I was taken rather weak and ill in the shop, and
+he took me into his back-parlor, a very comfortable room, and gave me
+a glass of excellent old port; and since then, somehow, we have been
+friends. He is a widower, I a widow. His children have gone into the
+world, and each one of them is doing well. My child is seldom or never
+with her mother. It is about a week ago since he asked me if I would
+accept him and plenty, instead of staying as I am--a genteel widow
+with so little money that I am half-starved. His only objection to our
+marriage is the thought of you, Maggie; for he said that I was
+bringing you up as a fine lady, with no provision whatever for the
+future. He hates fine ladies, as he calls them; in fact, he is dead
+nuts against the aristocracy."
+
+"Oh mother!" wailed poor Maggie; "and my father was a gentleman!"
+
+"Mr. Martin has quite a gentlemanly heart," said Mrs. Howland. "I
+don't pretend for a moment that he is in the same position as my late
+lamented husband; but he is ten times better off, and we shall live in
+a nice little house in Clapham, and I can have two servants of my own;
+he is having the house refurnished and repapered for me--in his own
+taste, it is true, for he will not hear of what he calls Liberty
+rubbish. But it is going to be very comfortable, and I look forward to
+my change of surroundings with great satisfaction."
+
+"Yes, mother," said Maggie, "you always did think of yourself first.
+But what about me?"
+
+"You had better not talk to me in that strain before Mr. Martin. He is
+very deeply devoted to me," said Mrs. Howland; "and do not imagine
+that we have not given you careful consideration. He is willing to
+adopt you, but insists on your leaving Aylmer House and coming to
+Laburnum Villa at Clapham. From what he says, you are quite
+sufficiently educated, and your duty now is to look after your mother
+and your new father, to be pleasant to me all day long, and to be
+bright and cheerful with him when he comes back from business in the
+evening. If you play your cards well, Maggie, he will leave you well
+provided for, as he is quite rich--of course, not rich like those
+people you are staying near, but rich for his class. I am very much
+pleased myself at the engagement. Our banns were called last Sunday in
+church, and we are to be married in a fortnight. After that, you had
+best stay on here until we desire you to join us at Laburnum Villa."
+
+"I can't, mother," said Maggie. "I can't--and I won't."
+
+"Oh, come, I hear a step on the stairs," said Mrs. Howland. "That is
+Mr. Martin. Now, you will restrain yourself for my sake."
+
+There _was_ a step on the stairs--firm, solid, heavy. The
+drawing-room door was opened about an inch, but no one came in.
+
+Mrs. Howland said in a low whisper to her daughter, "He doesn't know
+you have returned; he is very playful. Just stay quiet. He really is a
+most amusing person."
+
+"Bo-peep!" said a voice at the door; and a round, shining, bald head
+was popped in and then disappeared.
+
+"Bo-peep!" said Mrs. Howland in response.
+
+She stood up, and there came over her faded face a waggish expression.
+She held up her finger and shook it playfully. The bald head appeared
+again, followed immediately by a very round body. The playful finger
+continued to waggle.
+
+"Ducksie dear!" said Mr. Martin, and he clasped Mrs. Howland in his
+arms.
+
+Maggie gave a smothered groan.
+
+"It's the child," said Mrs. Howland in a whisper. "She is a bit upset;
+but when she knows you, James, she'll love you as much as I do."
+
+"Hope so," said Mr. Martin. "I'm a duckle, Little-sing; ain't I,
+Victoria?" Here he chuckled the good lady under the chin. "Ah, and so
+this is Maggie?--How do, my dear? How do, Popsy-wopsy?"
+
+"How do you do?" said Maggie.
+
+"Come, come," said Mr. Martin. "No flights and vapors, no fine airs,
+no affected, mincing ways. A little girl should love her new parent. A
+little girl should kiss her new parent."
+
+"I won't kiss you, Mr. Martin," said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, come, come--shy, is she? Let me tell you, Popsy-wopsy, that every
+man wouldn't want to kiss you.--She is not a bit like you, my dear
+Victoria. Wherever did she get that queer little face? She is no
+beauty, and that I will say.--Now, your mother, Popsy, is a most
+elegant woman; any one can see that she is a born aristocrat; but I
+hate 'em, my dear--hate 'em! I am one of those who vote for the
+abolition of the House of Lords. Give me the Commons; no bloated Lords
+for me. Well, you're a bit took aback, ain't you? Your mother and
+me--we settled things up very tidy while you were sporting in the
+country. I like you all the better, my dear, for being plain. I don't
+want no beauties except my beloved Victoria. She's the woman for
+me.--Ain't you, my Little-sing? Eh dear! Eh dear! It's we three who'll
+have the fun.--I'll take you right into my heart, Popsy-wopsy, and
+snug and comfortable you'll find yourself there."
+
+Poor Maggie! The overwhelming contrast between this scene and the
+scenes of yesterday! The awful fact that her mother was going to marry
+such a being as Mr. Martin overpowered her with such a sense of horror
+that for the time she felt quite dumb and stupid.
+
+Mr. Martin, however, was in a radiant humor. "Now then, Little-sing,"
+he said, addressing Mrs. Howland, "where's the tea! Poor Bo-peep wants
+his tea. He's hungry and he's thirsty, is Bo-peep. Little-sing will
+pour out Bo-peep's tea with her own pretty, elegant hands, and butter
+his muffins for him, and Cross-patch in the corner can keep herself
+quiet."
+
+"May I go into our bedroom, mother?" said Maggie at that juncture.
+
+"No, miss, you may not," said Martin, suddenly rousing himself from a
+very comfortable position in the only easy-chair the room afforded. "I
+have something to say to you, and when I have said it you may do what
+you please."
+
+"Stay quiet, dear Maggie, for the present," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+The poor woman felt a queer sense of shame. Bo-peep and Little-sing
+had quite an agreeable time together when they were alone. She did not
+mind the boisterous attentions of her present swain; but with Maggie
+by there seemed to be a difference. Maggie made her ashamed of
+herself.
+
+Maggie walked to the window, and, taking a low chair, sat down. Her
+heart was beating heavily. There was such a misery within her that she
+could scarcely contain herself. Could anything be done to rescue her
+mother from such a marriage? She was a very clever girl; but, clever
+as she was, she could see no way out.
+
+Meanwhile Mr. Martin drank his tea with huge gulps, ate a quantity of
+muffins, pooh-poohed the gooseberries as not worth his attention, and
+then said, "Now, Victoria, my dearest dear, I am ready to propound my
+scheme to your offspring.--Come forward, Popsy-wopsy, and listen to
+what new pa intends to do for you."
+
+Maggie rose, feeling that her limbs were turned to ice. She crossed
+the room and stood before Mr. Martin.
+
+"Well?" she said.
+
+"None of those airs, Popsy."
+
+"I want to know what you mean to do," said Maggie, struggling hard to
+keep her temper.
+
+"Well, missie miss, poor Bo-peep means to marry your good ma, and he
+wants a nice 'ittle dirl to come and live with ma and pa at Clapham;
+pretty house, solid furniture, garden stocked with fruit-trees, a
+swing for good 'ittle dirl, a nice room for dear Popsy to sleep in, no
+more lessons, no more fuss, no more POVERTY! That's what new pa
+proposes to ma's 'ittle dirl. What does 'ittle dirl say?"
+
+There was a dead silence in the room. Mrs. Howland looked with wild
+apprehension at her daughter. Mr. Martin had, however, still a jovial
+and smiling face.
+
+"Down on its knees ought Popsy-wopsy to go," he said. "Tears might
+come in Popsy-wopsy's eyes, and the 'ittle dirl might say, 'Dearest pa
+that is to be, I love you with all my heart, and I am glad that you're
+going to marry ma and to take me from horrid school.'"
+
+But there was no sign on the part of Maggie Howland of fulfilling
+these expectations on the part of the new pa. On the contrary, she
+stood upright, and then said in a low voice, "This has been a very
+great shock to me."
+
+"Shock!" cried Martin. "What do you mean by that, miss?"
+
+"I must speak," said Maggie. "You must let me, sir; and, mother, you
+must let me. It is for the last time. Quite the last time. I will
+never be here to offend you any more."
+
+"'Pon my word!" said Martin, springing to his feet, and his red,
+good-humored face growing crimson. "There's gratitude for you! There's
+manners for you!--Ma, how ever did you bring her up?"
+
+"Let me speak," said Maggie. "I am sorry to hurt your feelings, sir.
+You are engaged to my mother."
+
+"Ra-_ther_!" said Mr. Martin. "My pretty birdling hopped, so to speak,
+into my arms. No difficulties with her; no drawing back on the part of
+Little-sing. She wanted her Bo-peep, and she--well, her Bo-peep wanted
+her."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Maggie. "I am exceedingly sorry--bitterly sorry--that
+my mother is going to marry again; but as she cares for you"----
+
+"Which I _do_!" said Mrs. Howland, who was now reduced to tears.
+
+"I have nothing more to say," continued Maggie, "except that I hope
+she will be happy. But I, sir, am my father's daughter as well as my
+mother's, and I cannot for a single moment accept your offer. It is
+impossible. I must go on with my own education as best I can."
+
+"Then you _re-fuse_," said Martin, "to join your mother and me?"
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, "I refuse."
+
+"Has she anything to live on, ma?" asked Mr. Martin.
+
+"Oh, dear James," said Mrs. Howland, "don't take all the poor child
+says in earnest now! She'll be down on her knees to you to-morrow. I
+know she will. Leave her to me, James dear, and I'll manage her."
+
+"You can manage most things, Little-sing," said Mr. Martin; "but I
+don't know that I want that insolent piece. She is very different from
+you. If she is to be about our pleasant, cheerful home snubbing me and
+putting on airs--why, I'll have none of it. Let her go, Victoria, I
+say--let her go if she wants to; but if she comes to me she must come
+in a cheerful spirit, and joke with me, and take my fun, and be as
+agreeable as you are yourself, Little-sing."
+
+"Well, at least," said Mrs. Howland, "give us till to-morrow. The
+child is surprised; she will be different to-morrow."
+
+"I hope so," said Mr. Martin; "but if there's any philandering, or
+falling back, or if there's any _on_-gratitude, I'll have naught to do
+with her. I only take her to oblige you, Victoria."
+
+"You had best leave us now, dear," said Mrs. Howland. "I will talk to
+Maggie, and let you know."
+
+Mr. Martin sat quite still for a minute. Then he rose, took not the
+slightest notice of Maggie, but, motioning Mrs. Howland to follow him,
+performed a sort of cake-walk out of the room.
+
+When he reached the door and had said good-bye, he opened it again and
+said, "Bo-peep!" pushing a little bit of his bald head in, and then
+withdrawing it, while Mrs. Howland pretended to admire his antics.
+
+At last he was gone; but by this time Maggie had vanished into the
+bedroom. She had flung herself on her knees by the bed, and pushed her
+handkerchief against her mouth to stifle the sound of her sobs. Mrs.
+Howland gently opened the door, looked at her daughter, and then shut
+it again. She felt thoroughly afraid of Maggie.
+
+An hour or two later a pale, subdued-looking girl came out of the
+bedroom and sat down by her mother.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Howland, "he is very pleasant and cheerful, isn't
+he?"
+
+"Mother, he is horrible!"
+
+"Maggie, you have no right to say those things to me. I want a good
+husband to take care of me. I am very lonely, and no one appreciates
+me."
+
+"Oh mother!" said poor Maggie--"my father!"
+
+"He was a very good man," said Mrs. Howland restlessly; "but he was
+above me, somehow, and I never, never could reach up to his heights."
+
+"And you really tell me, his child, that you prefer that person?"
+
+"I think I shall be quite happy with him," said Mrs. Howland. "I
+really do. He is awfully kind, and his funny little ways amuse me."
+
+"Oh mother!"
+
+"You will be good about it, Maggie; won't you?" said Mrs. Howland.
+"You won't destroy your poor mother's happiness? I have had such
+lonely years, and such a struggle to keep my head above water; and now
+that good man comes along and offers me a home and every comfort. I am
+not young, dear; I am five-and-forty; and there is nothing before me
+if I refuse Mr. Martin but an old age of great poverty and terrible
+loneliness. You won't stand in my way, Maggie?"
+
+"I can't, mother; though it gives me agony to think of your marrying
+him."
+
+"But you'll get quite accustomed to it after a little; and he is
+really very funny, I can assure you; he puts me into fits of laughter.
+You will get accustomed to him, darling; you will come and live with
+your new father and me at Laburnum Villa?"
+
+"Mother, you must know that I never will."
+
+"But what are you to do, Maggie? You've got no money at all."
+
+"Oh mother!" said poor Maggie, "it costs very little to keep me at
+Aylmer House; you know that quite, quite well. Please do let me go on
+with my education. Afterwards I can earn my living as a teacher or in
+some profession, for I have plenty of talent. I take after father in
+that."
+
+"Oh yes, I know I always was a fool," said Mrs. Howland; "but I have a
+way with people for all that."
+
+"Mother, you have a great deal that is quite sweet about you, and
+you're throwing yourself away on that awful man! Can't we go on as we
+did for a year or two, you living here, and I coming to you in the
+holidays? Then, as soon as ever I get a good post I shall be able to
+help you splendidly. Can't you do it, mother? This whole thing seems
+so dreadful to me."
+
+"No, I can't, and won't," said Mrs. Howland in a decided voice. "I am
+exceedingly fond of my Bo-peep--as I call him--and greatly enjoy the
+prospect of being his wife. Oh Maggie, you have not returned to be a
+thorn in our sides? You will submit?"
+
+"Never, never, never!" said Maggie.
+
+"Then I don't know what you are to do; for your new father insists on
+my keeping the very little money I have for my own personal use, and
+if you refuse to conform to his wishes he will not allow me to spend a
+farthing of it on you. You can't live on nothing at all."
+
+"I can't," said Maggie. "I don't know quite what to do. Are you going
+to be so very cruel as to take away the little money you have hitherto
+spent on me?"
+
+"I must, dear; in fact, it is done already. Mr. Martin has invested it
+in the grocery business. He already provides for all my wants, and we
+are to be married in a fortnight. I have nothing whatever to spend on
+you."
+
+"Well, mother, we'll say no more to-night. I have a headache, but I'll
+sleep on the sofa here; it's less hot than the bedroom."
+
+"Won't you sleep with your poor old mother?"
+
+"No, I can't, really. Oh, how dreadfully hot this place is!"
+
+"You are spoilt by your fine life, Maggie; but I grant that these
+lodgings are hot. The house at Clapham, however, is very cool and
+fresh. Oh Maggie! My dear Bo-peep is getting such a sweet little
+bedroom ready for you. I could cry when I think of your cross
+obstinacy."
+
+But even the thought of the sweet little bedroom didn't move Maggie
+Howland. Tildy presently brought up a meagre supper, of which the
+mother and daughter partook almost in silence. Then Mrs. Howland went
+to her room, where she fell fast asleep, and Maggie had the
+drawing-room to herself. She had arranged a sort of extempore bed on
+the hard sofa, and was about to lie down, when Tildy opened the door.
+
+"I say," said Tildy, "ain't he cunnin'?"
+
+"What do you mean, Matilda?" said Maggie.
+
+"Oh my," said Tildy, "wot a 'arsh word! Does you know, missie, that
+he's arsked me to go down to Clap'am presently to 'elp wait on your
+ma? If you're there, miss, it'll be the 'eight of 'appiness to me."
+
+"I may as well say at once, Matilda, that I shall not be there."
+
+"You don't like 'im, then?" said Tildy, backing a step. "And 'e is so
+enticin'--the prettiest ways 'e 'ave--at least, that's wot me and Mrs.
+Ross thinks. We always listen on the stairs for 'im to greet your ma.
+We like 'im, that we do."
+
+"I have an old dress in my trunk, Tildy, which I will give you. You
+can manage to make it look quite nice for your new post as parlor-maid
+at Laburnum Villa. But now go, please; for I must be alone to think."
+
+Tildy went. She crept downstairs to the kitchen regions. There she met
+Mrs. Ross.
+
+"The blessed young lady's full of ructions," said Tildy.
+
+"And no wonder," replied Mrs. Ross. "She's a step above Martin, and
+Martin knows it."
+
+"I 'ope as she won't refuse to jine us at Laburnum Villa," said
+Tildy.
+
+"There's no sayin' wot a spirited gel like that'll do," said Mrs.
+Ross; "but ef she do go down, Martin 'll be a match for 'er."
+
+"I don't know about that," replied Tildy. "She 'ave a strong,
+determined w'y about 'er, has our Miss Maggie."
+
+If Mrs. Howland slept profoundly, poor Maggie could not close her
+eyes. She suddenly found herself surrounded by calamity. The
+comparatively small trials which she had thought big enough in
+connection with Aylmer House and Cicely and Merry Cardew completely
+disappeared before this great trouble which now faced her. Her
+mother's income amounted to a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and out
+of that meagre sum the pair had contrived to live, and, owing to Mrs.
+Ward's generosity, Maggie had been educated. But now that dreadful Mr.
+Martin had secured Mrs. Howland's little property, and the only
+condition on which it could be spent on Maggie was that she should
+accept a home with her future stepfather. This nothing whatever would
+induce her to do. But what was to be done?
+
+She had no compunction whatever in leaving her mother. They had never
+been really friends, for the girl took after her father, whom her
+mother had never even pretended to understand. Mrs. Howland, when she
+became Mrs. Martin, would be absolutely happy without Maggie, and
+Maggie knew well that she would be equally miserable with her. On the
+other hand, how was Maggie to live?
+
+Suddenly it flashed across her mind that there was a way out, or at
+least a way of providing sufficient funds for the coming term at
+Aylmer House. Her mother had, after all, some sort of affection for
+her, and if Maggie made her request she was certain it would not be
+refused. She meant to get her mother to give her all that famous
+collection of jewels which her father had collected in different parts
+of the world. In especial, the bracelets flashed before her memory.
+These could be sold, and would produce a sum which might keep Maggie
+at Aylmer House, perhaps for a year--certainly for the approaching
+term.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BREAKFAST WITH BO-PEEP.
+
+
+After Maggie's restless night she got up early. The day promised to be
+even hotter than the one before; but as the drawing-room faced west it
+was comparatively cool at this hour.
+
+Tildy brought her favorite young lady a cup of tea, and suggested that
+she should go for an outing while Tildy herself freshened up the room.
+Maggie thought that a good idea, and when she found herself in the
+street her spirits rose a trifle.
+
+A curious sort of fascination drew her in the direction of Martin's
+shop. It was a very large corner shop, had several entrances, and at
+this early hour the young shopmen and shopwomen were busy dressing the
+windows; they were putting appetizing sweetmeats and cakes and
+biscuits and all kinds of delectable things in the different windows
+to tempt the passers-by.
+
+Maggie felt a hot sense of burning shame rising to her cheeks as she
+passed the shop. She was about to turn back, when whom should she see
+standing in the doorway but the prosperous owner himself! He
+recognized her immediately, and called out to her in his full, pompous
+voice, "Come along here, Wopsy!"
+
+The young shop-people turned to gaze in some wonder as the
+refined-looking girl approached the fat, loud-mannered man.
+
+"I'm in a hurry back to breakfast with my mother," said Maggie in her
+coldest voice.
+
+"Well, then, I will come along with you, my dear; I am just in the
+mood. Little-sing, she will give me breakfast this morning. I'll be
+back again in the shop soon after nine. It's a fine shop, ain't it,
+Popsy?"
+
+"It does seem large," said Maggie.
+
+"It's the sort of shop," responded Martin, "that takes a deal of
+getting. It's not done in a day, nor a month, nor a year. It takes a
+lifetime to build up premises like these. It means riches, my
+dear--riches." He rolled out the words luxuriously.
+
+"I am sure it does," said Maggie, who felt that for her own sake she
+must humor him.
+
+"You think so, do you?" said Martin, giving her a keen glance.
+
+"Of course I do," replied Maggie.
+
+Martin gazed at her from head to foot. She was plain. He rather liked
+her for that. He admired her, too, for, as he expressed it, standing
+up to him. His dear Little-sing would never stand up to him. But this
+girl was not the least like her mother. She had a lot of character;
+Little-sing had none.
+
+"You'd make an admirable accountant, Popsy," he said. "How would you
+like to take that post by-and-by in my shop?"
+
+Maggie was about to reply that nothing would induce her to accept such
+a position, when a quick thought darted through her mind. She could
+scarcely hope to make anything of her mother, for, alack and alas!
+Mrs. Howland was one of those weak characters who slip away from you
+even as you try to grasp them. But Martin, with his terrible vulgarity
+and awful pleasantry, was at least fairly strong.
+
+"Mr. Martin," said Maggie then, "instead of going in to breakfast with
+mother, will you take me to some restaurant and give me a good meal,
+and let me talk to you?"
+
+"Well, now," said Martin, chuckling, "you _are_ a girl! You have
+cheek! I am not a man to waste my money, and breakfast with
+Little-sing won't cost me anything."
+
+"But under the circumstances you will waste a little money in order to
+oblige me?" said Maggie.
+
+"There now, I admire your cheek. So be it. You don't deserve anything
+from me, for a ruder 'ittle dirl than you were yesterday to poor
+Bo-peep could not have been found in the length and breadth of
+England."
+
+"You could scarcely expect me to be pleased, sir. The news was broken
+to me very suddenly, and I was tired after my long journey, too."
+
+"Yes; and you vented your spite on me, on poor old Bo-peep, who has
+the kindest heart in Christendom."
+
+"I may have said some things that I regret," said Maggie; "but, at any
+rate, I had the night to think matters over, and if you give me some
+breakfast I can talk to you."
+
+"I will take you to Harrison's for breakfast," said Martin. "You'll
+get a topper there, I can tell you--eggs, bacon, kidneys, liver,
+game-pie, cocoa, coffee, tea, chocolate; anything and everything you
+fancy, and the best marmalade in London."
+
+Maggie felt rather hungry, and when the pair entered Harrison's she
+was not displeased at the liberal supply of food which her future
+stepfather ordered. He pretended to hate the aristocracy, as he called
+them, and poor Maggie could certainly never claim this distinction in
+her own little person. Nevertheless, she was entirely superior to
+Martin, and he felt a sort of pride in her as she walked up the long
+restaurant by his side.
+
+"Now, waiter," he said to the man who approached to take orders, "you
+look slippy. This young 'oman and me, we want a real comfortable,
+all-round, filling meal. You give us the best the house contains; and
+look slippy, I say."
+
+The waiter did look "slippy," whatever that word might imply, and
+Martin proceeded to treat Maggie to really excellent viands and to
+satisfy himself to his heart's content. Maggie ate with a certain
+amount of relish, for, as has been said, she was really hungry.
+
+"Like it, don't you?" said Martin as he watched her consuming her eggs
+and bacon.
+
+"Oh yes, very much indeed," said Maggie.
+
+"I'm fond of a good table myself," said Martin. "This is the sort of
+thing you'll have on all occasions and at every meal at Laburnum
+Villa. We'll soon fill your poor mother's thin cheeks out, and get her
+rosy and plump, and then she'll be a more charming Little-sing to her
+own Bo-peep than ever."
+
+Maggie was silent.
+
+"Come, come," said Martin, patting her hand; "it's all right about
+Laburnum Villa, ain't it, my girl?"
+
+"No, Mr. Martin," said Maggie then.
+
+She withdrew her hand and turned and looked at him fixedly. "I want to
+tell you all about myself," she said. "I was really rude to you
+yesterday, and I am sorry; but I couldn't go to live with you and
+mother at Laburnum Villa. I will tell you the principal reason why I
+couldn't go."
+
+"Oh, come, come, you're only a child; you must do what you are told.
+Your mother has no money to give you, and you can't live on air, you
+know. Air is all very well, but it don't keep folks alive. You'll have
+to come to me whether you like it or not."
+
+"Before you come to that determination, Mr. Martin, may I tell you
+something about myself?"
+
+"Oh dear! I hope it isn't a long story."
+
+"It's very important, and not very long. I am not the least like
+mother"----
+
+"My good girl, any one can see that. Your mother's a remarkably pretty
+and elegant woman, and you're the plainest young person I ever came
+across."
+
+"I am plain," said Maggie; "and, in addition, I am by no means
+good-natured."
+
+"Oh, you admit that? For shame!"
+
+"I was born that way," said Maggie. "I'm a very high-spirited girl,
+and I have got ideas with regard to my future. You said just now that
+perhaps some day you might make me accountant in your shop. That was
+kind of you, and I might be a good accountant; but, of course, all
+that is for the future. I shouldn't mind that--I mean, not
+particularly. But if you were to follow out your plan, and take me to
+live with you and mother at Laburnum Villa, you would never have a
+happy moment; for, you see, I am much stronger in character than
+mother, and I couldn't help making your life miserable; whereas you
+and mother would be awfully happy without me. Mother says that she
+loves you, and wishes to be your wife"--
+
+"Now, what are you driving at, Popsy? For if you have nothing hanging
+on your hands I have a vast lot hanging on mine, and time is
+precious."
+
+"I will tell you quite frankly what I want you to do, Mr. Martin. You
+are taking mother."
+
+"I am willing to take you too. I can't do any more."
+
+"But then, you see, I don't want to be taken. Until you came forward
+and proposed to mother to be your wife she spent a little of her money
+on my education. She tells me that she has put it now into your
+business."
+
+"Poor thing!" said Martin. "She was making ducks and drakes of it; but
+it is safe enough now."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie in a determined voice; "but I think, somehow, that
+a part of it does lawfully belong to me."
+
+"Oh, come! tut, tut!"
+
+"I think so," said Maggie in a resolute tone; "for, you see, it was
+father's money; and though he left it absolutely to mother, it was to
+go to me at her death, and it was meant, little as it was, to help to
+educate me. I could ask a lawyer all about the rights, of course."
+
+For some extraordinary reason Martin looked rather frightened.
+
+"You can go to any lawyer you please," he said; "but what for? let me
+ask. If I take you, and do for you, and provide for you, what has a
+lawyer to say in the matter?"
+
+"Well, that is just it--that's just what I have to inquire into;
+because, you see, Mr. Martin, I don't want you to provide for me at
+all."
+
+"I think now we are coming to the point," said Martin. "Stick to it,
+Popsy, for time's precious."
+
+"I think you ought to allow me to be educated out of mother's money."
+
+"Highty-tighty! I'm sure you know enough."
+
+"I don't really know enough. Mrs. Ward, of Aylmer House, has taken me
+as an inmate of her school for forty pounds a year. Her terms for most
+girls are a great deal more."
+
+Martin looked with great earnestness at Maggie.
+
+"I want to go on being Mrs. Ward's pupil, and I want you to allow me
+forty pounds a year for the purpose, and twenty over for my clothes
+and small expenses--that is, sixty pounds a year altogether. I shall
+be thoroughly educated then, and it seems only fair that, out of
+mother's hundred and fifty a year, sixty pounds of the money should be
+spent on me. There's no use talking to mother, for she gets so easily
+puzzled about money; but you have a very good business head. You see,
+Mr. Martin, I am only just sixteen, and if I get two more years'
+education, I shall be worth something in the world, whereas now I am
+worth nothing. I hope you will think it over, Mr. Martin, and do what
+I wish."
+
+Martin was quite silent for a minute. The waiter came along and was
+paid his bill, with a very substantial tip for himself thrown in.
+Still Martin lingered at the breakfast-table with his eyes lowered.
+
+"There's one thing--and one thing only--I like about this,
+Popsy-wopsy," he said.
+
+"And what is that?" asked Maggie.
+
+"That you came to me on the matter instead of going to your mother;
+that you recognized the strength and force of my character."
+
+"Oh, any one can see that," said Maggie.
+
+"You put it straight, too, with regard to your own disagreeable
+nature."
+
+"Yes, I put it straight," said Maggie.
+
+"Well, all I can say at present is this: I will think it over. You go
+home to your mother now, and tell her that her Bo-peep will be in as
+usual to tea; and you, little girl, may as well make yourself scarce
+at that hour. Here's a sovereign for you. Go and have a jolly time
+somewhere."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Martin, I"----began Maggie, her face crimson.
+
+"You had best not put on airs," said Martin; and Maggie slipped the
+sovereign into her pocket.
+
+When she reached her mother's lodgings she felt well assured that she
+had done the right thing. Hitherto she had been too stunned and
+miserable to use any of her power--that strange power which she
+possessed--on Mr. Martin. But she felt well assured that she could do
+so in the future. She had gauged his character correctly. He was
+hopelessly vulgar, but an absolutely good-natured and straight
+person.
+
+"He will do what I wish," she thought. Her uneasiness vanished as soon
+as the first shock of her mother's disclosure was over. She entered
+the house.
+
+"Why, missie?" said Tildy, "w'erehever 'ave you been? The breakfast's
+stony cold upstairs, and Mrs. 'Owland's cryin' like nothin' at all."
+
+"Thank you, Tildy; I'll see mother immediately," said Maggie. "And I
+don't want any breakfast, for I've had it already."
+
+"With the haristocracy?" asked Tildy in a low, awed kind of voice.
+"You always was one o' they, Miss Maggie."
+
+"No, not with the aristocracy," said Maggie, trying to suppress her
+feelings. "Tildy, your smut is on your left cheek this morning. You
+can remove the breakfast-things, and I'll go up to mother."
+
+Maggie ran upstairs. Mrs. Howland had eaten a little, very indifferent
+breakfast, and was looking weepy and washed-out as she sat in her
+faded dressing-gown near the open window.
+
+"Really, Maggie," she said when her daughter entered, "your ways
+frighten me most terribly! I do wish poor Mr. Martin would insist on
+your coming to live with us. I shall never have an easy moment with
+your queer pranks and goings-on."
+
+"I am sure you won't, dear mother," said Maggie. "But come, don't be
+cross with me. Here's Matilda; she'll clear away the breakfast-things
+in no time, and then I have something I want to say to you."
+
+"Oh dear! my head is so weak this morning," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"If I were you, Miss Maggie," said Tildy as she swept the cups and
+saucers with noisy vehemence on to a tray, "I wouldn't worrit the poor
+mistress, and she just on the eve of a matrimonial venture. It's
+tryin' to the nerves, it is; so Mrs. Ross tells me. Says she, 'When I
+married Tom,' says she, 'I was on the twitter for a good month.' It's
+awful to think as your poor ma's so near the brink--for that's 'ow
+Mrs. Ross speaks o' matrimony."
+
+"Please be quick, Tildy, and go," said Maggie in a determined voice.
+
+Matilda cleared the table, but before she would take her departure she
+required definite instructions with regard to dinner, tea, and
+supper.
+
+Mrs. Howland raised a distracted face. "Really, I can't think," she
+said, "my head is so weak."
+
+"Well, mum," said Matilda, "s'pose as missus and me does the
+'ousekeepin' for you to-day. You ain't fit, mum; it's but to look at
+you to know that. It's lyin' down you ought to be, with haromatic
+vinegar on your 'ead."
+
+"You're quite right, Matilda. Well, you see to the things to-day. Have
+them choice, but not too choice; fairly expensive, but not too
+expensive, you understand."
+
+"Yus, 'um," said Tildy, and left the room.
+
+Maggie found herself alone with her mother. "Mother," she said
+eagerly, "now I will tell you why I was not home for breakfast this
+morning."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't matter, Maggie," said Mrs. Howland; "I am too weak to
+be worried, and that's a fact."
+
+"It won't worry you, mother. I breakfasted with Mr. Martin."
+
+"What--what!" said Mrs. Howland, astonishment in her voice, and with
+eyebrows raised almost to meet her hair.
+
+"And an excellent breakfast we had," said Maggie. "He isn't a bad sort
+at all, mother."
+
+"Well, I am glad you've found that out. Do you suppose your mother
+would marry a man who was not most estimable in character?"
+
+"He is quite estimable, mother; the only unfortunate thing against him
+is that he is not in your rank in life."
+
+"A woman who lives in these rooms," said Mrs. Howland, "has no rank in
+life."
+
+"Well, dear mother, I cannot agree with you. However, as I said, I
+breakfasted with him."
+
+"Then you're coming round?" said Mrs. Howland. "You're going to be
+good, and a comfort to us both?"
+
+"No, mother, I haven't come round a bit. When I was breakfasting with
+Mr. Martin I fully explained to him what a fearful trial I should be
+to him; how, day by day and hour by hour, I'd annoy him."
+
+"You did that! Oh you wicked child!"
+
+"I thought it best to be frank, mother. I made an impression on him. I
+did what I did as much for your sake as for mine."
+
+"Then he'll break off the engagement--of course he will!" said Mrs.
+Howland. She took a moist handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it
+to her eyes.
+
+"Not he. He is just devoted to you, mother; you need have no such
+apprehension."
+
+"What else did you say to him?"
+
+"Well, mother darling, I said what I thought right."
+
+"Oh, of course you won't confide in me."
+
+"I think not. I will let him do that. He is coming to tea this
+afternoon, and he has given me a sovereign"--how Maggie felt inclined
+to kick that sovereign!--"to go and have some pleasure somewhere. So I
+mean to take the train to Richmond, and perhaps get a boatman to take
+me out on the river for a little."
+
+"He is certainly more playful and amusing when you are not here," said
+Mrs. Howland, a faint smile dawning on her face.
+
+"I am certain of that," said Maggie; "and what's more, he is very fond
+of good living. I mean to go out presently and get some excellent
+things for his tea."
+
+"Will you, Maggie? Will you, my child? Why, that will be quite sweet
+of you."
+
+"I will do it with pleasure, mother. But now I want you to do
+something for me."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Howland, "I thought you were coming to that."
+
+"Well, it is this," said Maggie. "When he talks to you about me, don't
+oppose him. He will most probably propound a scheme to you, as his own
+perhaps; and you are to be quite certain to let him think that it is
+his own scheme. And you might make out to him, mother, that I am
+really very disagreeable, and that nothing in all the world would make
+me anything else. And if you are a very wise little mother you will
+tell him that you are happier alone with him."
+
+"Which I am--I am," said Mrs. Howland. "He is a dear, quite a dear;
+and so comical and amusing!"
+
+"Then it's all right," said Maggie. "You know I told you yesterday
+that nothing would induce me to live at Laburnum Villa; but I will
+certainly come to you, mums, in the holidays, if you wish it."
+
+"But, dear child, there is no money to keep you at that expensive
+school. There isn't a penny."
+
+"Oh, well, well, mother, perhaps that can be managed. But now we
+needn't talk any more about my future until after Mr. Martin has had
+tea with you to-day. If you have any news for me when I return from
+Richmond you can let me know."
+
+"You are a very independent girl to go to Richmond by yourself."
+
+"Oh, that'll be all right," said Maggie in a cheerful tone.
+
+"Have you anything else to say to me?"
+
+"Yes. You know all that beautiful jewellery that my dear father
+brought back with him from those different countries where he spent
+his life."
+
+Mrs. Howland looked mysterious and frightened.
+
+"It was meant for me eventually, was it not?" said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, well, I suppose so; only, somehow, I have a life-interest in
+it."
+
+"You won't want for jewellery when you are Mr. Martin's wife."
+
+"Indeed no; why, he has given me a diamond ornament for my hair
+already. He means to take me out a great deal, he says."
+
+"Out!--oh mother--in his set!"
+
+"Well, dear child, I shall get accustomed to that."
+
+"Don't you think you might give me father's jewellery?" said Maggie.
+
+"Is it worth a great deal?" said Mrs. Howland. "I never could bear to
+look at it--that is, since he died."
+
+"You haven't given it to Mr. Martin, have you, mother?"
+
+"No, nor said a word about it to him either."
+
+"Well, suppose, now that we have a quiet time, we look at the
+jewellery?" said Maggie.
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Howland. Then she added, "I was half-tempted to
+sell some of it; but your father was so queer, and the things seemed
+so very ugly and unlike what is worn, that I never had the heart to
+part with them. I don't suppose they'd fetch a great deal."
+
+"Let's look at them," said Maggie.
+
+Mrs. Howland half-rose from her chair, then sank back again.
+
+"No," she said, "I am afraid of them. Your father told me so many
+stories about each and all. He courted death to get some of them, and
+others came into his hands through such extraordinary adventures that
+I shudder at night when I recall what he said. I want to forget them.
+Mr. Martin would never admire them at all. I want to forget all my
+past life absolutely. You're like your father, and perhaps you admire
+that sort of thing; but they are not to my taste. Here's the key of my
+wardrobe. You will find the tin boxes which hold the jewels. You can
+take them; only never let out a word to your stepfather. He doesn't
+know I posses them--no one does."
+
+"Thank you, mother," said Maggie in a low voice. "Will you lie down on
+the sofa, mums? Oh, here's a nice new novel for you to read. I bought
+it coming up in the train yesterday. You read and rest and feel quite
+contented, and let me go to the bedroom to look at the jewels."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Howland; "you can have them. I consider them of
+little or no importance; only don't tell your stepfather."
+
+"He is not that yet, mums."
+
+"Well, well," said Mrs. Howland, "what does a fortnight matter? He'll
+be your stepfather in a fortnight. Yes, take the key and go. I shall
+be glad to rest on the sofa. You're in a much more reasonable frame of
+mind to-day."
+
+"Thank you, dear mother," said Maggie.
+
+She entered the bedroom and closed the door softly behind her. She
+held her mother's bunch of keys in her hand. First of all she unlocked
+the wardrobe, and then, removing the tin boxes, laid them on the table
+which stood at the foot of the bed. She took the precaution first,
+however, to lock the bedroom door. Having done this, she seated
+herself at the table, and, selecting the proper keys, unlocked the two
+tin boxes. One of them contained the twelve famous bracelets which
+Maggie had described to Molly and Isabel Tristram. She would keep her
+word: she would give a bracelet to each girl. She recognized at once
+the two which she considered suitable for the girls, and then examined
+the others with minute care.
+
+Her mother could not admire what was strange in pattern and dimmed by
+neglect; but Maggie, with her wider knowledge, knew well that she
+possessed great treasures, which, if possible, she would keep, but
+which, if necessary, she could sell for sums of money which would
+enable her to start in life according to her own ideas.
+
+She put the twelve bracelets back into their case, and then, opening
+the second tin box, took from it many quaint curios, the value of
+which she had no means of ascertaining. There was a great deal of gold
+and silver, and queer beaten-work in brass, and there were pendants
+and long chains and brooches and queer ornaments of all kinds.
+
+"Poor father!" thought the girl. She felt a lump in her throat--a
+choking sensation, which seemed to make her mother's present conduct
+all the more intolerable. How was she to live in the future with the
+knowledge that her father's memory was, as she felt, profaned? But at
+least she had got his treasures.
+
+She relocked the two tin boxes, and, stowing them carefully away in
+her own trunk, transferred the keys from her mother's bunch to her
+own, and brought her mother's keys back to Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Have you looked at them? Are they worth anything, Maggie?"
+
+"Memories mostly," said Maggie evasively.
+
+"Oh, then," said Mrs. Howland, "I am glad you have them; for I hate
+memories."
+
+"Mother," said Maggie, and she went on her knees to her parent, "you
+have really given them to me?"
+
+"Well, of course, child. Didn't I say so? I don't want them. I haven't
+looked at the things for years."
+
+"I wonder, mums, if you would write something on a piece of paper for
+me."
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland. "Mr. Martin doesn't approve of
+what he calls documents."
+
+"Darling mother, you're not Mr. Martin's wife yet. I want you to put
+on paper that you have given me father's curios. He always meant them
+for me, didn't he?"
+
+"He did! he did!" said Mrs. Howland. "One of the very last things he
+said--in his letter, I mean, for you know he died in Africa--was:
+'The treasures I am sending home will be appreciated by my little
+girl.'"
+
+"Oh mother! yes, and they are. Please, mother, write something on this
+bit of paper."
+
+"My head is so weak. I haven't an idea what to say."
+
+"I'll dictate it to you, if I may."
+
+"Very well, child; I suppose I can't prevent you."
+
+Maggie brought paper, blotting-pad, and pen, and Mrs. Howland
+presently wrote: "I have given, on the eve of my marriage to Mr.
+Martin, her father's treasures to my daughter, Margaret Howland."
+
+"Thank you, mother," said Maggie.
+
+The date was affixed. Mrs. Howland added the name she was so soon to
+resign, and Maggie almost skipped into the bedroom.
+
+"It's all right now," she said to herself.
+
+She unlocked her trunk, also unlocking one of the tin boxes. In the
+box which contained the twelve bracelets she put the piece of paper in
+her mother's handwriting. She then relocked the box, relocked the
+trunk, and came back to her mother, restored to perfect good-humor.
+
+Maggie was in her element when she was planning things. Yesterday was
+a day of despair, but to-day was a day of hope. She sat down by her
+mother's desk and wrote a long letter to Molly Tristram, in which she
+told Molly that her mother was about to be married again to a very
+rich man. She mentioned the coming marriage in a few brief words, and
+then went on to speak of herself, and of how delightful it would be to
+welcome Molly and Isabel when they arrived at Aylmer House. Not by the
+faintest suggestion did she give her friend to understand the step
+down in the social scale which Mrs. Howland's marriage with Mr. Martin
+meant.
+
+Having finished her letter, she thought for a minute, then wrote a
+careful line to Merry Cardew. She did not tell Merry about her
+mother's approaching marriage, but said that Molly would have news for
+her. In other respects her letter to Merry was very much more
+confidential than her letter to Molly. She assured Merry of her deep
+love, and begged of her friend to regard this letter as quite private.
+"If you feel you must show it to people, tear it up rather than do
+so," said Maggie, "for I cannot bear that our great and sacred love
+each for the other should be commented on."
+
+When Merry received the letter she neither showed it to any one else
+nor tore it up. She could not forget Maggie's face as she parted from
+her, and the fact that she had refused to accept the ten pounds which
+the little girl had wanted to give her in order to remove her from
+musty, fusty lodgings had raised Maggie considerably in her friend's
+estimation.
+
+Meanwhile Maggie Howland, having finished her letters, went out and
+posted them. She then changed her sovereign, and bought some excellent
+and appetizing fruit and cakes for her mother's and Mr. Martin's tea.
+She consulted with Tildy as to how these dainties were to be
+arranged, and Tildy entered into the spirit of the thing with
+effusion, and declared that they were perfect crowns of beauty, and
+that most assuredly they would melt in Mr. Martin's mouth.
+
+On hearing this Maggie hastened to change the conversation; but when
+she had impressed upon Tildy the all-importance of a snowy cloth being
+placed upon the ugly tray, and further begged of her to polish up the
+teapot and spoons, Tildy thought that Miss Maggie was more wonderful
+than ever.
+
+"With them as is about to step into the life-matrimonial, pains should
+be took," thought Tildy, and she mentioned her sentiments to Mrs.
+Ross, who shook her head sadly, and replied that one ought to do the
+best one could for the poor things.
+
+At three o'clock Maggie put on her hat, drew her gloves on, and,
+taking up a parasol, went out.
+
+"Good-bye, darling," she said to her mother.
+
+After all, she did not go to Richmond; it was too far off, and she was
+feeling a little tired. Besides, the thought of her father's wonderful
+treasures filled her mind. She determined to go to South Kensington
+and look at similar jewels and ornaments which she believed she could
+find there. It occurred to her, too, that it might be possible some
+day to consult the manager of the jewel department with regard to the
+worth of the things which her dear father had sent home; but this she
+would not do to-day.
+
+Her visit to the South Kensington Museum made her feel positively
+assured that she had articles of great value in the tin boxes.
+
+Meanwhile Mrs. Howland waited impatiently for Mr. Martin. She was
+puzzled about Maggie, and yet relieved. She wondered much what Maggie
+could have said to Mr. Martin that day when she breakfasted with him.
+She was not really alarmed. But had she been able to look into Mr.
+Martin's mind she would have felt a considerable amount of surprise.
+The worthy grocer, although an excellent man of business, knew little
+or nothing about law. Maggie's words had made him distinctly
+uncomfortable. Suppose, after all, the girl could claim a right in her
+father's beggarly hundred and fifty pounds a year? Perhaps the child
+of the man who had settled that little income on his wife must have
+some sort of right to it? It would be horrible to consult lawyers;
+they were so terribly expensive, too.
+
+There was a man in the shop, however, of the name of Howard. He was
+the principal shopwalker, and Mr. Martin had a great respect for him.
+Without mentioning names, he put the case before him--as he himself
+expressed it--in a nutshell.
+
+Howard thought for a few minutes, then said slowly that he had not the
+slightest doubt that a certain portion of the money should be spent on
+the child--in fact, that the child had a right to it.
+
+Martin did not like this. A heavy frown came between his brows. The
+girl was a smart and clever girl, not a bit like Little-sing, and she
+could make herself very disagreeable. Her modest request for sixty
+pounds a year did not seem unreasonable. He thought and thought, and
+the more he thought the more inclined he felt to give Maggie her way.
+
+When he arrived at Mrs. Ross's house he did not look quite as cheerful
+as usual. He went upstairs, as Tildy expressed it, "heavy-like"; and
+although both she and Mrs. Ross watched for that delightful scene when
+he was "Bo-peep" to "Little-sing," Martin entered the drawing-room
+without making any exhibition of himself. The room looked quite clean
+and inviting, for Maggie had dusted it with her own hands, and there
+was a very nice tea on the board, and Mrs. Howland was dressed very
+prettily indeed. Martin gave a long whistle.
+
+"I say, Little-sing," he remarked, "whoever has been and done it?"
+
+"What do you mean, James?" said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Why, the place," said Martin; "it looks sort of different."
+
+"Oh, it's Maggie," said Mrs. Howland. "She went out and bought all
+those cakes for you herself."
+
+"Bless me, now, did she?" said Martin. "She's a smart girl--a _ver_-ry
+smart girl."
+
+"She's a very clever girl, James."
+
+"Yes, that's how I put it--very clever. She has a way about her."
+
+"She has, James. Every one thinks so."
+
+"Well, Little-sing, give me a good meal, and then we'll talk."
+
+Mrs. Howland lifted the teapot and was preparing to pour out a cup of
+tea for Mr. Martin, when he looked at her, noticed her extreme
+elegance and grace, and made a spring toward her.
+
+"You haven't give Bo-peep one kiss yet, you naughty Little-sing."
+
+Mrs. Howland colored as she kissed him. Of course she liked him very
+much; but somehow Maggie had brought a new atmosphere into the house.
+Even Mrs. Howland felt it.
+
+"Let's eat, let's eat," said Martin. "I never deny myself the good
+things of life. That girl knows a thing or two. She's a ver-ry clever
+girl."
+
+"She is, James; she is."
+
+"Now, what on earth do you call me James for? Ain't I Bo-peep--ain't
+I?"
+
+"Yes, Bo-peep, of course you are."
+
+"And you are Little-sing. You're a wonderfully elegant-looking woman
+for your years, Victoria."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+IN THE PARK.
+
+
+Mrs. Howland did not like to have her years mentioned. Mr. Martin had
+been careful never to do so until Maggie appeared on the scene. On
+the contrary, he had dropped hints that his birdling, his Little-sing,
+his Victoria, was in the early bloom of youth. But now he said that
+she was a wonderful woman for her years.
+
+Mrs. Howland bridled slightly. "I am not old, James," she said.
+
+"Come, come," said the good-natured grocer; "no 'Jamesing' of me. I'm
+your Bo-peep. What does it matter whether you are old or young,
+Victoria, if you suit me and I suit you? This is a first-rate tea, and
+that girl's clever--uncommon clever. By the way, how old may she
+happen to be?"
+
+"Sixteen her last birthday," said Mrs. Howland. "I was very, very
+young, a mere child, when I married, James."
+
+"There you are with your 'James' again! Strikes me, you're a bit huffy
+to-day, Little-sing."
+
+"No, I am not; only I've been worried since Maggie came back. She was
+so rude to you yesterday. I felt it terribly."
+
+"Did you now? Well, that was very sensible of you. We'll finish our
+tea before we begin our talk. Come, Little-sing, eat your cake and
+drink your tea, and make yourself agreeable to your Bo-peep."
+
+Mrs. Howland felt cheered. She did enjoy her meal; and, if she liked
+it, Mr. Martin liked it immensely also.
+
+"What a useful girl that would be!" he said. "We could make her
+housekeeper at Laburnum Villa in no time. She has a head on her
+shoulders."
+
+Mrs. Howland was silent. She was dreading inexpressibly the little
+scene which she felt must be endured between her and her intended.
+
+"We'll ring the bell now," said Martin, wiping a few crumbs from his
+mouth and dusting his trousers with his pocket-handkerchief. "We'll
+get Tildy to remove all these things, and then what do you say to my
+taking you for a drive to the Park?"
+
+"Oh, I should like that!" said Mrs. Howland in surprise,
+
+"Thought so. Never say that Bo-peep isn't thoughtful.--Ah, here you
+be, Tildy. You clear away--smart, my girl, and then whistle for a
+'ansom. Do you hear me? A 'ansom, not a four-wheeler. Look as sharp as
+you can, my girl, and I'll give you sixpence."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Tildy. She looked with admiring eyes at the
+pair who were so close to the matrimonial venture, and quickly removed
+all traces of the meal.
+
+"Now then, Little-sing, go into your room and get dressed for your
+drive."
+
+Mrs. Howland did so. She put on an elegant sort of bonnet-hat which
+had been presented to her by Martin, a lace fichu over her shoulders,
+and a pair of long white gloves. She had also been presented with a
+white parasol by Martin. He thought that no one could look more
+beautiful than his ladylove when she reappeared in the drawing-room.
+
+"The 'ansom's at the door," he said. "We'll go now and start on our
+drive."
+
+Mrs. Howland rose, and Tildy agreed with Martin as to Mrs. Howland's
+appearance when she stepped into that hansom. Tildy said she looked
+bride-like. Mrs. Ross remarked that as elegant women before now had
+become widows in no time. Tildy shuddered, and said that Mrs. Ross
+should not say things of that sort. Mrs. Ross replied that she
+invariably spoke the truth, and then returned to her dismal kitchen.
+
+Meanwhile Martin and Mrs. Howland were driven swiftly in the direction
+of Hyde Park. London society people were fast going out of town, for
+it was very nearly the end of July; but still there were a few
+carriages about, and some fine horses, and some gaily dressed ladies
+and several smart-looking men. Martin provided a couple of chairs for
+himself and his future wife, and they sat for some little time
+enjoying the fresh air and looking on at the gay scene.
+
+"It is wonderful," said Martin, "what a sight of money is wasted in
+this sort of thing."
+
+"But they enjoy it, don't they?" said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Yes, my pet," he replied, "but not as you and me will enjoy Laburnum
+Villa. And now, Little-sing, can you attend to business?"
+
+"I have a very weak head for business, Bo-peep," was the reply.
+
+"Don't I know it, my pet; and I am the last person on earth to allow
+you to be worried; but I tell you what it is, Victory, if your head is
+weak as regards money matters, your girl has a topping good brain in
+that direction. Now, I have a notion in my head about her."
+
+"You can't do anything with her," said Mrs. Howland; "she is quite
+impossible. I never thought she would treat you as she did. I could
+weep when I think of it. I shouldn't be surprised if, on account of
+her rudeness and ingratitude, we broke off the engagement. I shouldn't
+really, James."
+
+"What do you take me for?" said James. "It isn't the girl I want to
+marry! it's you."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland; "of course, I know."
+
+"She ain't a patch on you, Little-sing--that is, I mean as regards
+looks. But now, don't you fret. If you have been turning things over
+in your mind, so have I been turning things over in my mind, and the
+sum and substance of it all is that I believe that girl's right after
+all."
+
+"Right after all! But dear, dear James, the child can't live on
+nothing!"
+
+"Who said she was to live on nothing?" said Martin. "Don't tremble,
+Little-sing; it's more than I can stand. I have been thinking that a
+sharp young miss like that wants a bit more training. She wants
+breaking in. Now, I've no mind to the job. I can manage my
+shop-people--not one of them can come round me, I can tell you--but a
+miss like your daughter, brought up altogether, I will say, above her
+station, is beyond me. What I have been turning over in my mind is
+this, that a year or two's training longer will do her no sort of
+harm."
+
+"Oh!" said Mrs. Howland. She was trembling exceedingly.
+
+"I think, too," continued Martin, "that Laburnum Villa might not be
+agreeable to her at present; and if it ain't agreeable to her she'll
+put on the sulks, and that's more than I _can_ abide. Cheerfulness I
+must have. My joke I must be allowed to make. My fun in my own way I
+must enjoy. You and me--we'll hit it off splendid, and let the girl go
+for the present."
+
+"But she must go somewhere," said Mrs. Howland.
+
+"Good gracious, my lady! do you suppose I'd allow the girl to be
+destitute? No; I'm ready to do the generous; and now, I'll tell you
+something. You mustn't blame her too much. She repented of her
+ill-natured manner last night, and came to me as pretty as you please
+this morning, and asked me to breakfast with her. I was taken aback,
+but she came round me, and we went to Harrison's and had a topping
+meal. Then she spoke to me very sensible, and explained that she
+wanted more 'parlez-vooing' and more 'pi-annofortying,' and all the
+rest of the so-called ladies' accomplishments. She consulted me very
+pretty and very proper indeed; and the long and the short of it is
+that I am willing to allow her forty pounds a year for her education
+at that blessed Aylmer House where all the swells go, and to keep her
+there for two years certain; and I am willing, further, to give her
+twenty pounds a year to spend on dress. Of course she takes her
+holidays with us. Then, if at the end of that time she turns out what
+I hope she will, I will make her an accountant in the shop; it will be
+a first-rate post for her, and I am sure, from the way she talks, she
+has a splendid head for business. Now, what do you say to that,
+Little-sing?"
+
+"I say there never was your like, Bo-peep."
+
+Mr. Martin rubbed his hands. "Thought you'd be pleased," he said. "The
+girl spoke very proper indeed this morning, and she is a good
+girl--plain and sensible, and I couldn't but take notice of her words.
+Now then, s'pose we take a fresh 'ansom, and hurry home; and I'll take
+you out and give you a right good bit of dinner, and afterwards we'll
+go to the play."
+
+"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Howland, "you are good to me, Bo-peep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TWO SIDES.
+
+
+Mrs. Ward's school reopened on the 20th of September. For two or three
+days beforehand the immaculate and beautiful house was being made, if
+possible, still more immaculate and still more lovely. The
+window-boxes were refilled with flowers; the dainty little bedrooms
+were supplied with fresh curtains to the windows and fresh drapery for
+the beds.
+
+Mrs. Ward herself arrived at the school about a week before her pupils
+made their appearance. She had much to settle during this week. She
+had, in short, to prepare her plan of campaign for the ensuing term:
+to interview her different masters and mistresses, to consult with her
+resident English governess (a charming girl of the name of Talbot), to
+talk over matters with Fraeulein Beck, and to reassure Mademoiselle
+Laplage, who was very lively, very conscientious, but at the same time
+very nervous with regard to her own powers. "_Les jeunes filles
+Anglaises sont bien capables et bien distinguees mais--ma foi! comme
+elles me fatiguent les nerfs!_" Mademoiselle Laplage would say; and,
+although she had been at Aylmer House for three terms, she always
+doubted her powers, and made the same speech over and over again at
+the beginning of each term. In addition to Miss Talbot, there was a
+very cheery, bright girl of the name of Johnson, who looked after the
+girls' wardrobes and helped them, if necessary, with their work, saw
+that they were punctual at meals, and occasionally took an English
+class. She was a great favorite with all the girls at Mrs. Ward's
+school. They called her Lucy, instead of Miss Johnson. She was quite
+young--not more than twenty years of age.
+
+These four ladies resided at Aylmer House; but masters and mistresses
+for various accomplishments came daily to instruct the girls. Mrs.
+Ward loved her teachers almost as much as she loved her girls, and
+they each and all adored her.
+
+Miss Talbot was an exceedingly clever woman, close on thirty years of
+age. She had taken very high honors at Cambridge, and was a person of
+great penetration of character, with a genius for imparting
+knowledge.
+
+Unlike most head-mistresses, Mrs. Ward seldom changed her staff of
+teachers. She had the gift of selection to a marvellous degree, and
+never was known to make a mistake with regard to the choice of those
+women who helped her in her great work of education.
+
+Summer was, of course, over when the girls assembled at Aylmer House.
+Nevertheless, there was a sort of afterglow of summer, which was
+further intensified by the beautiful flowers in the window-boxes and
+by the fresh, clean, fragrant atmosphere of the house itself.
+
+The two Cardews and the two Tristrams came up to Aylmer House by an
+early train. Mr. Tristram brought them to school, Mr. and Mrs. Cardew
+at the last moment feeling unequal to the task of parting with their
+darlings in the presence of their companions. The real parting had
+taken place the previous night; and that pain which Merry had felt at
+intervals during the end of the summer vacation was sharp enough to
+cause her to cry when she lay down to sleep on the night before going
+to school. But Merry was brave, and so was Cicely; and, although Merry
+did hate beyond words the thought of not seeing her beloved father and
+her dear mother until Christmas, she thought also that very good
+times were before her, and she was resolved to make the best of them.
+
+Molly and Isabel, who were quite accustomed to going to school, had no
+pangs of heart at all when they bade their mother good-bye. As to
+Peterkins and Jackdaw, as they were also going to school on the
+following day, they scarcely observed the departure of their sisters,
+only saying, when Belle hugged one and Molly the other, "What a fuss
+you girls do make! Now, if Spot-ear and Fanciful were to fret about us
+there'd be some reason in it. But mother's going to look after them;
+and mother's a brick, I can tell you." The girls laughed very merrily,
+and asked what message her two adorers would like to send to Maggie.
+
+The two adorers only vouchsafed the remark, "Don't bother; we're going
+to be with boys now, and boys are worth all the girls in creation put
+together."
+
+The journey to town was taken without any special adventure, and at
+about three o'clock in the afternoon an omnibus containing the four
+girls, accompanied by Mr. Tristram, with their luggage piled on the
+roof, stopped at Aylmer House.
+
+Aneta had already arrived; and as the girls entered with a new feeling
+of timidity through the wide-open doors they caught a glimpse of
+Maggie in the distance. There were other girls, absolute strangers to
+them, who peeped for a minute over the balusters and then retired from
+view. But, whatever the four strangers might have felt with regard to
+these interesting occurrences, every other feeling was brought into
+subjection by the appearance of Mrs. Ward on the scene.
+
+Mrs. Ward looked quite as stately as Mrs. Cardew, with her beautiful
+face still quite young; with her most kind, most gentle, most
+protective manner; with the glance of the eye and the pressure of the
+hand which spoke untold volumes of meaning. Merry felt her loving
+heart rise in sudden adoration. Cicely gave her a quick, adoring
+glance. As to Molly and Isabel, they were speechless with pleasure.
+
+"You have come, dears," said Mrs. Ward. "Welcome, all four!--These are
+your girls, Mr. Tristram"--she singled out Molly and Isabel without
+being introduced to them. "I know them," she said with a smile, "from
+their likeness to you. And these are the Cardews. Now, which is Cicely
+and which Merry? Ah, I think I can tell. This is Merry, is she not?"
+and she laid her hand on the pretty girl's shoulder.
+
+"Yes, I am Merry," replied Meredith Cardew in a voice which almost
+choked her.
+
+"And you, of course, are Cicely," said Mrs. Ward. "In this house all
+the girls speak to each other by their Christian names; and you will
+be Cicely and Merry to me, as Molly and Isabel Tristram will be Molly
+and Isabel to me. You know Aneta, of course. She is hovering near,
+anxious to take possession of you. Go with her, dears. I think all my
+girls have now come.--Is it not so, Miss Talbot?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Ward," replied Miss Talbot.
+
+"Miss Talbot, may I introduce my four new pupils to you, Cicely and
+Merry Cardew, and Molly and Isabel Tristram?--You will have a good
+deal to do with Miss Talbot, girls, for she is our English teacher,
+and my very great friend."
+
+Miss Talbot blushed slightly from pleasure. She said a gentle word to
+each girl, and a minute afterwards they had, so to speak, crossed the
+Rubicon, and were in the heart of Aylmer House; for Aneta had seized
+Merry's hand, and Cicely followed immediately afterwards, while Molly
+and Belle found themselves one at each side of Maggie Howland.
+
+"Oh, this is delightful!" said Maggie. "We have all met at last. Isn't
+the day glorious? Isn't the place perfect? Aren't you in love with
+Mrs. Ward?"
+
+"She seems very nice," said Molly in an almost timid voice.
+
+"How nice Merry and Cicely look!" continued Maggie.
+
+"You look nice, yourself, Maggie. Everything is wonderful," said
+Molly; "not a bit like the school in Hanover."
+
+"Of course not. Who could compare it?" said Maggie.
+
+Meanwhile Aneta, Cicely, and Merry had gone on in front. But as they
+were ascending the broad, low stairs, Merry turned and glanced at
+Maggie and smiled at her, and Maggie smiled back at Merry. Oh, that
+smile of Merry's, how it caused her heart to leap! Aneta, try as she
+would, could not take Merry Cardew quite away from her.
+
+Cicely and Merry had a bedroom together. Two little white beds stood
+side by side. The drugget on the floor was pale blue. The room was a
+study in pale blue and white. It was all exquisitely neat, fresh,
+airy, and the smell of the flowers in the window-boxes came in through
+the open windows.
+
+"Why," said Cicely with a gasp, "we might almost be in the country!"
+
+"This is one of the nicest rooms in the whole house," said Aneta. "But
+why should I say that," she continued, "when every room is, so to
+speak, perfect? I never saw Mrs. Ward, however, more particular than
+she was about your bedroom, girls. I think she is very much pleased at
+your coming to Aylmer House."
+
+Cicely ran to the window and looked out.
+
+"It is so nice to be in London," she said; "but somehow, I thought it
+would be much more noisy."
+
+Aneta laughed.
+
+"Aylmer House," she said, "stands in the midst of a great square. We
+don't have huge traffic in the squares; and, really, at night it is as
+quiet as the country itself."
+
+"But hark! hark!" said Merry, "there is a funny sound after all."
+
+"What do you take it for?" asked Aneta.
+
+"I don't know," said Merry. "I could almost imagine that we were by
+the seaside, and that the sound was the roar of the breakers on the
+beach."
+
+"It is the roar of human breakers," said Aneta. "One always hears
+that kind of sound even in the quietest parts of London. It is the
+great traffic in the thoroughfares not far away."
+
+"It is delightful! wonderful!" said Merry. "Oh, I long to know all the
+girls! You will introduce us, won't you, Aneta?"
+
+"Of course; and you must be very quick remembering names. Let me see.
+You two, and Molly and Isabel, and Maggie Howland, and I make six.
+There are twenty girls in the house altogether, so you have to make
+the acquaintance of fourteen others."
+
+"I never can possibly remember their names," said Merry.
+
+"You will have to try. That's the first thing expected of a
+schoolgirl--to know the names of her schoolfellows."
+
+"Well, I will do my best."
+
+"You had better do your best; it will be a good occupation for you
+during this first evening. Now, are you ready? And shall we go down?
+We have tea in the refectory at four o'clock. Mademoiselle Laplage
+presides over the tea-table this week."
+
+"Oh, but does she talk English?"
+
+"Of course not--French. How can you learn French if you don't talk
+it?"
+
+"I shall never understand," said poor Merry.
+
+"Well, I've no doubt she will let you off very easily during the first
+few days," said Aneta. "But afterwards she is just as particular as
+woman can be."
+
+The girls went downstairs, where a group of other girls--most of them
+wearing pretty white dresses, for they were all still in full summer
+attire--met in the wide, pleasant hall. Aneta performed the ceremony
+of introduction.
+
+"Henrietta and Mary Gibson, may I introduce my special friends and
+cousins, Cicely and Meredith--otherwise Merry--Cardew?"
+
+Two tall, fair, lady-like girls responded to this introduction with a
+hearty shake of the hand and a hearty welcome to the new-comers.
+
+"Here is Rosamond Dacre," continued Aneta, as a very dark, somewhat
+plain girl appeared in view.--"Rosamond, my friends and cousins,
+Cicely and Merry Cardew."
+
+Rosamond shook hands, but stiffly and without any smile. The next
+minute a laughing, merry, handsome little girl, with dark-blue eyes,
+very dark curling eyelashes, and quantities of curling black hair,
+tumbled rather than walked into view.
+
+"Ah Kathleen--Kitty, you're just as incorrigible as ever!" cried
+Aneta:--"Girls, this is our Irish romp, as we always call her. Her
+name is Kathleen O'Donnell.--Now then, Kathleen, you must be good, you
+know, and not too terribly Irish. I have the honor to present to you,
+Kathleen, my cousins Cicely and Merry Cardew."
+
+Kathleen did more than smile. She laughed outright. "I am delighted
+you have come," she said. "How are you? Isn't school glorious? I do
+love it! I have come straight from Glengariff--the most beautiful part
+of the whole of Ireland. Do you know Ireland? Have you ever seen
+Bantry Bay? Oh, there is no country in all the world like it, and
+there is no scenery so magnificent."
+
+"Come, Kitty, not quite so much chatter," said Aneta.--"Ah, there's
+the tea-gong."
+
+The girls now followed Aneta into a pleasant room which looked out on
+to a small garden. The garden, compared to the great, sweeping lawns
+and lovely parterres of Meredith Manor, was insignificant.
+Nevertheless, with the French windows of the refectory wide open, and
+the beds full of hardy flowers--gay geraniums, late roses, innumerable
+asters, fuchsias, etc.--it appeared as a fresh surprise to the country
+girls.
+
+"It isn't like London," thought Merry.
+
+At tea she found herself, greatly to her relief, at Maggie's side.
+There was also another piece of good fortune--at least so it seemed to
+the Cardews, whose conversational French was still almost
+_nil_--Mademoiselle Laplage was unexpectedly absent, the good lady
+being forced to remain in her room with a sudden, overpowering
+headache, and pleasant, good-natured Lucy--otherwise Miss
+Johnson--took her place.
+
+"Perfect freedom to-day, girls," said Miss Johnson.
+
+"Ah, good Lucy! thank you, Lucy!" exclaimed Kathleen.
+
+"That's right, Lucy! Hurrah for Lucy!" cried several other voices.
+
+"No discipline at all to-day," continued Lucy. "School doesn't begin
+until to-morrow."
+
+Cicely was seated near Aneta, with Kathleen O'Donnell at her other
+side. Just for a minute Aneta's eyes traveled across the table and
+fixed themselves on Maggie's face. Maggie found herself coloring, and
+a resentful feeling awoke in her heart. She could not dare to oppose
+Aneta; and yet--and yet--she was determined at any cost to keep the
+love of Merry Cardew for herself.
+
+Meanwhile Merry, who was equally delighted to find herself by Maggie's
+side, began to talk to her in a low tone.
+
+"You don't look very well, Mags," she said--"not nearly as robust as
+when I saw you last; and you never wrote to me after that first
+letter."
+
+"I have a great deal I want to tell you," said Maggie in a low tone.
+"Lucy is quite right; there are no lessons of any sort this evening.
+Mrs. Ward always gives us the first evening to settle and to get
+perfectly at home in, so we shall be able to chatter to our heart's
+content. This is going to be a glorious night, and we can walk about
+in the garden."
+
+"But won't there be a lot of other people in the garden?" asked
+Merry.
+
+"Why, of course," said Maggie in a surprised tone. "I suppose we'll
+all be there."
+
+"We can't talk any secrets, if that is what you mean," said Merry,
+"for the garden is so very small."
+
+Maggie laughed. "That's because you are accustomed to Meredith Manor,"
+she said. "Anyhow," she continued, dropping her voice, "I must talk to
+you. I have a great, great deal to say, and you'll have to listen."
+
+"Of course I will listen, dear," said Merry.
+
+Rosamond Dacre now joined in, and the conversation became general.
+Henrietta and Mary Gibson had a very agreeable way of describing
+things. Maggie felt herself reinstated in the life she loved; Merry,
+the girl she cared for best, was by her side, and she would not have
+had a single thorn in the flesh but for the presence of Aneta.
+
+It has been said that in this school there were two girls who held
+considerable sway over their companions. One of them was Aneta Lysle,
+the other Maggie Howland. Aneta had, of course, far and away the
+greater number of girls under her spell, if such a word could describe
+her high and noble influence over them. But Maggie had her own
+friends, among whom were Rosamond Dacre, Kathleen O'Donnell, Matty and
+Clara Roache, and Janet Burns. All these girls were fairly nice, but
+not so high-bred and not so noble in tone as the girls who devoted
+themselves to Aneta. Kathleen was, indeed, altogether charming; she
+was the romp of the school and the darting of every one. But Rosamond
+Dacre was decidedly morose and sulky. She was clever, and on this
+account her mistresses liked her; but she was a truly difficult girl
+to deal with, being more or less shut up within herself, and
+disinclined to true friendship with any one. She liked Kathleen
+O'Donnell, however, and Kathleen adored Maggie. Rosamond was,
+therefore, considered to be on Maggie's side of the school. Matty and
+Clara Roache were quite ordinary, everyday sort of girls, neither very
+good-looking nor the reverse, neither specially clever nor specially
+stupid. Their greatest friend was Janet Burns, a handsome little girl
+with a very lofty brow, calm, clear gray eyes, and a passionate
+adoration for Maggie Howland. Matty and Clara would follow Janet to
+the world's end, and, as Janet adhered to Maggie, they were also on
+Maggie's side.
+
+Maggie naturally expected to add to the numbers of her special
+adherents her own two friends, the Tristrams. She felt she could
+easily have won Merry also to join, the ranks of adorers; but then it
+suddenly occurred to her that her friendship for Merry should be even
+more subtle than the ordinary friendship that an ordinary girl who is
+queen at school gives to her fellows. She did not dare to defy Aneta.
+Merry must outwardly belong to Aneta, but if her heart was Maggie's
+what else mattered?
+
+When tea was over several of the girls drifted into the garden, where
+they walked in twos, discussing their holidays, their old friends, and
+the time which was just coming. There was not a trace of unhappiness
+in any face. The whole atmosphere of the place seemed to breathe peace
+and goodwill.
+
+Aneta and Cicely, with some of Aneta's own friends, two girls of the
+name of Armitage--Anne and Jessie--and a very graceful girl called
+Sylvia St. John, walked up and down talking quietly together for some
+little time.
+
+Then Cicely looked eagerly round her. "I can't see Merry anywhere,"
+she remarked.
+
+"She is all right, dear, I am sure," said Aneta. But Aneta in her
+inmost heart did not think so. She was, however, far too prudent to
+say a word to make her cousin Cicely uneasy.
+
+Meanwhile Maggie and Merry had found a cosy corner for themselves in
+one of the conservatories. They sat side by side in two little
+garden-chairs.
+
+"Well, you've come!" said Maggie. "I have carried out my design. My
+heart's desire is satisfied."
+
+"Oh, how sweet you are, Maggie!" said Merry. "I have missed you so
+much!" she added. "I have so often wished for you!"
+
+"Do you really love me?" asked Maggie, looking at Merry in her queer,
+abrupt manner.
+
+"You know I do," said Merry.
+
+"Well," said Maggie, "there are a great many girls in the school who
+love me very dearly."
+
+"It is easy to perceive that," said Merry. "Why, Maggie, at tea-time
+that handsome little Irish girl--Kathleen you call her--couldn't take
+her eyes off you."
+
+"Oh, Kitty," said Maggie. "Yes, she is on my side."
+
+"What do you mean by your side?"
+
+"Well, of course I have told you--haven't I?--that there are two of us
+in this school who are more looked up to than the others. It seems
+very conceited for me to say that I happen to be one. Of course I am
+not a patch on Aneta; I know that perfectly well."
+
+"Aneta is a darling," said Merry; "and she is my own cousin; but"--she
+dropped her voice--"Maggie, somehow, I can't help loving you best."
+
+"Oh," said Maggie with a start, "is that true?"
+
+"It is! it is!"
+
+Maggie was silent for a minute. At the end of that time she said very
+gently, "You won't be hurt at something I want to tell you?"
+
+"Hurt! No," said Merry; "why should I be?"
+
+"Well, it is just this: Aneta is frightfully jealous of me."
+
+"Oh! I don't believe it," said Merry indignantly. "It isn't in her
+nature to be jealous. It's very low-minded to be jealous."
+
+"There is no school," said Maggie, "where jealousy does not abound.
+There is no life into which jealousy does not enter. The world itself
+is made up of jealous people. Aneta is jealous of me, and I--I am
+jealous of her."
+
+"Oh, Maggie dear, you must not, and you ought not to be jealous of
+Aneta! She thinks so kindly, so sweetly of every one."
+
+"She loves you," said Maggie. "You just go and tell her how much you
+care for me, that you love me better than you love her, and see how
+she will take it."
+
+"But I wouldn't tell her that," said little Merry, "for it would hurt
+her."
+
+"There!" said Maggie with a laugh; "and yet you pretend that you don't
+think her jealous."
+
+"She will never be jealous of me, for I'll never give her cause--dear
+Aneta!" said Merry.
+
+Maggie was again silent and thoughtful for a few minutes. "Listen to
+me, Merry," she said. "In this school the girls follow the queens. If
+I wanted to make Aneta Lysle really mad with jealousy I'd get you over
+to me; but--don't speak for a minute--I won't get you over to me. You
+shall stay at school and be on Aneta's side."
+
+"I suppose--I suppose I ought," said Merry in a faint voice.
+
+"You must--you must be on Aneta's side of the school, and so must
+Cicely; but you can, all the same, love me best."
+
+"Can I?" said Merry, brightening up. "Then, if I can, I sha'n't mind a
+bit."
+
+Maggie patted her hand very gently. "You can, Merry; and you can help
+me. You will always take my part, won't you?"
+
+"Indeed--indeed I will! But it won't be necessary."
+
+"It may be," said Maggie very earnestly. "Promise that, if the time
+comes, you will take my part."
+
+"I promise, of course. What can be the matter with you, Maggie? You
+don't look a bit yourself."
+
+Maggie did not at once reply. "I shall have a great deal to do this
+term," she said after a pause; "and my party in the school won't be so
+weak after all. There'll be Rosamond Dacre----"
+
+"I didn't very much like Rosamond," said Merry, speaking in a low
+voice.
+
+"Oh, she is excellent fun when you know her," said Maggie; "but as she
+won't be on your side, nor in your form, you are not likely to have
+much to do with her. Then Matty and Clara are first-rate, and they're
+mine too; and Kathleen O'Donnell is a perfect brick; and Janet Burns,
+she's as strong as they make 'em. Of course the Tristrams will belong
+to me. Let me see: Tristrams, two; Rosamond, three; Kathleen, four;
+Matty and Clara, six; Janet, seven. Ah, well, I am quite in the
+minority. Aneta carries off eleven girls as her share."
+
+"Don't be sad about it, Maggie. Surely we might all be one in the
+school! Why should there be parties?" said Merry.
+
+"Little you know, Merry, how impossible school-life would be without
+parties, and great friends, and medium friends, and favorites, and
+enemies. Why, Merry, school is a little world, and the world is made
+up of elements such as these."
+
+"Tell me," said Merry after a pause, "what you did after you left
+us."
+
+Maggie colored. "Oh, stayed for a time in that horrid Shepherd's
+Bush."
+
+"In those fusty, musty lodgings?" said Merry.
+
+"Yes, and they were fusty, musty."
+
+"Oh dear! I am sorry for you. We had such a glorious time!"
+
+"I know it, dear; but glorious times don't come to girls like me."
+
+"Why, are you so very, very sad, Maggie? Oh, now I know--of course I
+know. I didn't like to write to you about it, for it seemed to me
+quite--you will forgive me, won't you?--quite dreadful that your
+mother should have married again. Is she married yet, Maggie?"
+
+Maggie nodded.
+
+"Oh, I can sympathize with you, dear Maggie! It must be so fearful to
+have a stepfather!"
+
+"It is," said Maggie.
+
+"Is he a nice man, Maggie? Or would you rather I didn't speak of
+him?"
+
+"No; you may speak of him if you like. He is a rich man--he is very
+rich."
+
+"I am glad of that at any rate," said Merry. "You will never be in
+fusty, musty lodgings any more."
+
+"Oh no, never! My mother's husband--I cannot speak of him as my
+stepfather--will see to that."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+Maggie hesitated. Not for the world would she have let any of her
+schoolfellows know the real position; but she could not very well
+conceal her stepfather's name.
+
+"Martin," she said.
+
+"Spelt with a 'y'? We know some awfully nice Martyns. They live about
+twenty miles away from Meredith Manor. I wonder if your Mr. Martyn is
+related to them."
+
+"Oh, very likely," said Maggie.
+
+"Then perhaps you will go to stay with them--your mother, and
+your--your mother's husband, and you too; and we'll all meet. They
+live at a place-called The Meadows. It isn't as old or as beautiful as
+our Manor, but it's a sweet place, and the girls are so nice you'll be
+sure to like them."
+
+"Yes, I dare say I shall," said Maggie, who didn't care to contradict
+Merry's innocent ideas with regard to her mother's marriage.
+
+"Well, I am glad," said Merry, "that your dear mother has married a
+rich gentleman. Has he a country place of his own?"
+
+"Of course he has," said Maggie, who felt that she could at least
+utter these words with truth.
+
+"And is it far, far from London, or quite in the country?"
+
+"It is," said Maggie, "in--in the Norwood direction."
+
+This remark made no impression whatever on Merry, who had not the
+least idea where the Norwood direction was. But by-and-by, when she
+parted from Maggie and joined her sister and Aneta, she said, "I have
+a piece of rather good news to tell about dear Maggie Howland. She
+won't be poor any more."
+
+"That is a word we never discuss at school," said Aneta.
+
+"Well, we needn't after to-night," said Merry with a slight touch of
+irritation in her manner. "But although I haven't the faintest idea
+what poverty means, I think poor Maggie knows a good deal about it.
+Well, she won't have anything to do with it in future, for her mother
+has just married again."
+
+"Oh!" said Aneta, with a show of interest.
+
+"Yes; and a very nice gentleman he must be. He is a cousin of the
+Martyns of The Meadows. You know how you liked them when we spent a
+day there during these holidays--didn't you, Aneta?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "most charming people. I felt quite sorry that the
+Martyn girls were too old for school. I wonder they didn't mention the
+fact of their cousin being about to marry Mrs. Howland; for you know
+we were talking of Maggie to them, or at least you were, Merry."
+
+"Of course I was," said Merry in a determined voice. "I am very, very
+fond of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Perhaps we had better go to bed now," said Aneta. "I may as well tell
+you, girls, that we have to get up at half-past six. Lucy comes to us
+and wakes us at that hour, and we are expected to be downstairs at
+seven. Lucy will tell you, too, girls, that it is expected of us all
+that we shall keep our rooms in perfect order. Now, shall we say
+good-night?"
+
+The Cardews kissed their cousin and went to their own pleasant room.
+
+As soon as they were there Merry said, "Cicely, I am glad about poor
+Maggie."
+
+"And so am I," said Cicely.
+
+"When we write home we must be sure to mention to mother about Mr.
+Martyn. I don't think dear Maggie knew anything about The Meadows; so
+perhaps, after all, he is a somewhat distant cousin; but it is such a
+comfort to know that he is rich and a gentleman."
+
+"Yes," said Cicely. Then she added, "I don't think Aneta wants you to
+make too great a friend of Maggie Howland."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" said Merry, coloring slightly. "I am never going to
+give Maggie up, for I love her dearly."
+
+"Of course," said Cicely, "it would be very mean to give her up; but
+you and I, as Aneta's cousins, must be on her side in the school. What
+I am afraid of is that Maggie will try to induce you to join her
+set."
+
+"That shows how little you know her," said Merry, roused to the
+defensive. "She explained everything to me this afternoon, and said
+that I certainly must belong to Aneta."
+
+"Did she? Well, I call that splendid," said Cicely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BO-PEEP.
+
+
+When Aneta found herself alone that evening she stayed for a short
+time thinking very deeply. She felt a queer sense of responsibility
+with regard to the Cardews. If Maggie imagined that it was through her
+influence they had come to Aylmer House, Aneta was positive that they
+would never have entered the school but for her and her aunt, Lady
+Lysle. Besides, they were her very own cousins, and she loved them
+both dearly. She was not especially anxious about Cicely, who was a
+more ordinary and less enthusiastic girl than Merry; but about Merry
+she had some qualms. There was no doubt whatever that the girl was
+attracted by Maggie; and, in Aneta's opinion, Maggie Howland was in no
+sense of the word a proper companion for her.
+
+Aneta, as she sat calmly by her open window--for it was not necessary
+to hurry to bed to-night--thought much over the future which spread
+itself immediately in front of her and her companions. She was
+naturally a very reserved girl. She was born with that exclusiveness
+and reserve which a distinguished class bestows upon those who belong
+to it. But she had in her heart very wide sympathies; and, like many
+another girl in her position, she could be kind to the poor,
+philanthropic to the last degree to those in real distress, denying
+herself for the sake of those who wanted bread. Towards girls,
+however, who were only a trifle below her in the social scale she
+could be arbitrary, haughty, and strangely wanting in sympathy. Maggie
+Howland was exactly the sort of girl who repelled Aneta. Nevertheless,
+she was a member of the school; and not only was she a member of the
+school, but a very special member. Had she even been Janet Burns (who
+was so clever, and as far as learning was concerned carried all before
+her), or had she been as brilliant and witty as Kathleen O'Donnell,
+Aneta would not have troubled herself much over her. But Maggie was
+possessed of a curious sense of _power_ which was hers by heritage,
+which her father had possessed before her, and which caused him--one
+of the least prepossessing and yet one of the most distinguished men
+of his day--to be worshipped wherever he went. This power was greater
+than beauty, greater than birth, greater than genius. Maggie had it,
+and used it to such effect that she and Aneta divided the school
+between them. Aneta was never quite certain whether some of her
+special friends would not leave her and go over to Maggie's side; but
+she felt that she did not greatly care about this, provided she could
+keep Merry and Cicely altogether to herself.
+
+After thinking for a little time she sprang to her feet, and going to
+the electric bell, sounded it. After a short delay a servant
+appeared.
+
+"Mary," said Aneta, "will you have the goodness to ask Miss Lucy if I
+may speak to her for a minute?"
+
+"Yes, miss," replied Mary, closing the door behind her in her usual
+noiseless fashion.
+
+In a very few minutes Miss Johnson entered Aneta's room.
+
+"I was just thinking of going to bed, dear," said that good-natured
+young woman. "Can I do anything for you?"
+
+"I only want to say something to you, Lucy."
+
+"What is it, my love? I do not like to see that our dear Aneta looks
+worried, but your face almost wears that expression."
+
+"Well," said Aneta, "it is just this: I am a trifle worried about a
+matter which I hope I may set right. It is against the rules for girls
+to leave their rooms after they have gone to them for the night, and
+it would never do for me to be the first to break a rule at Aylmer
+House. Nevertheless, I do want to break it. May I, Miss Lucy?"
+
+"Well, Aneta, I do not think that there'll be the slightest
+difficulty, for we don't really begin school till to-morrow. What do
+you wish to do, dear?"
+
+"I want to go and visit one of my schoolmates, and stay with her for a
+time."
+
+"Of course you may go, Aneta. I give you permission; but don't remain
+too long, for we get up early to-morrow, as to-morrow school really
+begins."
+
+"I won't remain a minute longer than I can help. Thank you, Lucy,"
+said Aneta.
+
+Miss Johnson kissed her pupil and left the room.
+
+A minute later Aneta Lysle was running down the corridor in the
+direction of the bedroom occupied by Maggie Howland. It was some
+distance from her own room. She knocked at the door. She guessed
+somehow that Maggie would be still up.
+
+Maggie said, "Come in," and Aneta entered.
+
+Maggie was in a white dressing-gown, with her thick, handsome hair
+falling below her waist. Her hair was her strongest point, and she
+looked for the time being almost pretty.
+
+"What do you want, Aneta?" she said.
+
+"To speak to you, Maggie."
+
+"But it's against the rules," said Maggie, drawling out her words a
+little, and giving Aneta a defiant glance.
+
+"No," said Aneta. "I asked for permission to come and see you, and I
+have obtained it."
+
+"Well, sit down, won't you?" said Maggie.
+
+Aneta availed herself of the invitation, and took a chair.
+
+Maggie remained standing.
+
+"Won't you sit too, Maggie?" said Aneta.
+
+"I don't particularly want to, but I will if you insist on it. To tell
+the truth, I am a little sleepy. You won't keep me long, will you?"
+
+"That depends on yourself."
+
+Maggie opened her narrow eyes. Then she contracted them and looked
+fixedly at her companion. "Have you come here to talk about Merry
+Cardew?"
+
+"Yes, about her, and other matters."
+
+"Don't you trust me at all, Aneta?"
+
+Aneta looked full up at the girl. "No, Maggie," she said.
+
+"Do you think when you say so that you speak kindly?"
+
+"I am afraid I don't, but I can't help myself," said Aneta.
+
+Maggie gave a faint yawn. She was, in reality, far too interested to
+be really sleepy. Suddenly she dropped into a sitting position on the
+floor. "You have me," she said, "in the hollow of your hand. Do you
+mean to crush me? What have I done that you should hate me so much?"
+
+"I never said I hated you," said Aneta. "I don't hate you, but I am
+exceedingly anxious that you should not have any influence over my two
+young cousins who came here to-day."
+
+"I thought we discussed that when you were staying at Meredith Manor,"
+said Maggie. "You made me unhappy enough then, but I gave you my
+promise."
+
+"I was sorry to make you unhappy, Maggie; and you did give me your
+promise; but I have come here to-day to know why you have broken it."
+
+"Broken it!" said Maggie. "Broken it!"
+
+"Don't you understand me?" said Aneta. "You and Merry were together
+the greater part of the evening, and even Cicely wondered where her
+sister was. Why did you do it?"
+
+"Merry is my friend," said Maggie.
+
+"I don't wish her to be your friend."
+
+"I am afraid you can't help it," said Maggie. She looked a little
+insolent, and round her mouth there came a dogged expression. After a
+minute she said, "I did want to talk to Merry to-night; but, at the
+same time, I most undoubtedly did not forget my promise to you. I
+explained to Merry what I think she already knew: that there were two
+girls in the school who greatly influence their fellows; in short,
+that you and I are the two queens of the school. But I said that,
+compared to you, I had a comparatively small number of subjects. Merry
+was interested, and asked questions, and then I most particularly
+explained to her that, although I knew well she cared for me, and I
+cared for her, she was to be on your side in the school. If you don't
+believe me, you have but to ask Merry herself."
+
+"I have no reason not to believe you, Maggie," said Aneta, "and I am
+relieved that you have spoken as you did to Merry. But now I want to
+say something else. I have thought of it a good deal during the
+holidays, and I am firmly convinced that this taking sides, or rather
+making parties, in a school is pernicious, especially in such a small
+school as ours. I am willing to give up my queendom, if you, on your
+part, will give yours up. I want us all to be in unity--every one of
+us--all striving for the good of the school and for the happiness and
+welfare each of the other. If you will agree to this I will myself
+speak to Mrs. Ward to-morrow."
+
+"Mrs. Ward!" said Maggie. "What has she to do with it?"
+
+"I want to consult with her, so that _she_ may be the queen of the
+school--not one girl or two girls. She is so clever, so young, so
+resourceful, that she will more than make up to us for the little we
+lose in this matter. But, of course, there is no manner of use in my
+resigning my queendom if you won't resign yours."
+
+"I will never do it," said Maggie--"never! Two queens in the school
+means little or nothing at all. All it does mean is that I have
+special friends whom I can influence, and whom I love to influence,
+and you have special friends whom you love to influence. Well, go on
+influencing them as hard as ever you can, and I will do the same with
+my friends. Your cousins will belong to you. I could, I believe, have
+won Merry Cardew to my side, but I am not going to do so."
+
+"It would be very unwise of you," said Aneta in a low tone. "Very
+well, Maggie," she added after a pause, "if you won't give up being
+queen in the minds of a certain number of girls, I must, of course,
+continue my influence on the other side. It's a great pity, for we
+might all work together."
+
+"We never could work together," said Maggie with passion. "It is but
+to talk to you, Aneta, to know how you despise and hate me."
+
+"I neither despise nor hate you, Maggie."
+
+"Well, I despise and hate you, so I suppose it comes to the same
+thing."
+
+"I am very, very sorry, Maggie. Some day, perhaps, you will know me as
+I really am."
+
+"I know you now as you really are--eaten up with pride of birth, and
+with no sympathy at all for girls a trifle poorer than yourself."
+
+"You speak with cruelty, and I am sorry."
+
+To Aneta's astonishment, Maggie's face underwent a queer change. It
+puckered up in an alarming manner, and the next moment the girl burst
+into tears.
+
+The sight of Maggie's tears immediately changed Aneta Lysle's
+attitude. Those tears were genuine. Whether they were caused by anger
+or by sorrow she did not stop to discriminate. The next minute she was
+down on her knees by the other girl and had swept her young arms round
+Maggie's neck.
+
+"Maggie, Maggie, what is it? Oh, if you would only understand me!"
+
+"Don't!--don't touch me!" said Maggie. "I am a miserable girl!"
+
+"And I have hurt you, poor Maggie!" said Aneta. "Oh, I am terribly
+sorry! Sit here now, and let me comfort you."
+
+"Oh! I can't, Aneta. You don't understand me--not a bit."
+
+"Better than you think, perhaps; and I am terribly sorry you are
+troubled. Oh, perhaps I know. I was told to-night that your mother had
+married again. You are unhappy about that?"
+
+Maggie immediately dried her fast-falling tears. She felt that she was
+in danger. If Aneta found out, or if Mrs. Ward found out, who Maggie's
+stepfather was, she would certainly not be allowed to stay at Aylmer
+House. This was her dread of all dreads, and she had so managed
+matters with her mother that Mrs. Ward knew nothing at all of Mrs.
+Howland's change of name.
+
+"Yes, my mother is married again," said Maggie. "She is a rich woman
+now; but the fact is, I dearly loved my own father, and--it hurt me
+very much to see another put into his place."
+
+"Of course it did," said Aneta, with deep sympathy; "it would have
+driven me nearly wild. Does Mrs. Ward know that your mother is married
+again, Maggie?"
+
+"Well, I haven't told her; and, please, Aneta, will you promise me not
+to do so?"
+
+"But is there any occasion to keep it a secret, dear?"
+
+"I would so much rather she did not know. She received me here as
+Maggie Howland. I am Maggie Howland still; my mother having changed
+her name makes no difference, except, indeed, that she is very well
+off, whereas she was poor."
+
+"Well, that of course is a comfort to you," said Aneta. "Perhaps
+by-and-by you will learn to be glad that your mother has secured the
+care of a good husband. I am told that she has married one of those
+very nice Martyns who live in Warwickshire. Is that true?"
+
+Maggie nodded. She hated herself after she had given that inclination
+of her head; but she had done it now, and must abide by it. To own
+Martin the grocer as a stepfather was beyond her power.
+
+Aneta did not think it specially necessary to worry about Maggie's
+mother and her new husband. She said that the whole thing was Maggie's
+own affair; and, after trying to comfort the girl for a little longer,
+she kissed Maggie, and went to her own room. When there, she went at
+once to bed and fell fast asleep.
+
+But Maggie sat for a long time by her open window. "What an awful and
+ridiculous position I have put myself in!" she thought. "The Martyns
+of The Meadows and Bo-peep of Laburnum Villa to be connected! I could
+almost scream with laughter if I were not also inclined to scream with
+terror. What an awful idea to get into people's heads, and now I have,
+confirmed it! Of course I shall be found out, and things will be worse
+than ever."
+
+Before Maggie went to bed she sat down and wrote a brief note to her
+mother. She addressed it when written to Mrs. Martyn (spelt with a
+"y"), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie had seen Laburnum Villa, and
+regarded it as one of the most poky suburban residences she had ever
+had the pleasure of entering. The whole house was odiously cheap and
+common, and in her heart poor Maggie preferred Tildy and Mrs. Ross,
+and the fusty, musty lodgings at Shepherd's Bush.
+
+Her note to her mother was very brief:
+
+"I am back at school, and quite happy. Tell Mr. Martin, if he should
+happen to write to me, to spell his name with a 'y,' and please spell
+your name with a 'y.' Please tell Mr. Martin that I will explain the
+reason of this when we meet. He is so good to me, I don't know how to
+thank him enough."
+
+Maggie managed the next day to post this letter unknown to her
+fellows, and in course of time a remarkable post-card arrived for her.
+It was dated from Laburnum Villa, Clapham, and was written in a
+sprawly but business-like hand:
+
+"No 'y's' for me, thank you.--Bo-peep."
+
+Very fortunately, Maggie received her card when none of her
+schoolfellows were present; but it was certainly the reverse of
+reassuring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE LEISURE HOURS.
+
+
+School-life began in real earnest, and school-life at Aylmer House was
+so stimulating, so earnest, so invigorating, that all that was best in
+each girl was brought to the fore. There was an admirable time-table,
+which allowed the girls periods for play as well as the most suitable
+hours for work. In addition, each day there were what were called the
+"leisure hours." These were from five to seven o'clock each evening.
+The leisure hours began immediately after tea, and lasted until the
+period when the girls went to their rooms to dress for dinner. During
+these two hours they were allowed to do precisely what they pleased.
+
+Mrs. Ward was most particular that no teacher should interfere with
+her girls during the leisure hours. From the very first she had
+insisted on this period of rest and absolute relaxation from all work.
+Work was strictly forbidden in the school from five to seven, and it
+was during that period that the queens of the school generally
+exercised their power. Aneta then usually found herself surrounded by
+her satellites in one corner of the girls' own special sitting-room,
+and Maggie was in a similar position at the farther end. Aneta's
+satellites were always quiet, sober, and well-behaved; Maggie's, it is
+sad to relate, were a trifle rowdy. There is something else also
+painful to relate--namely, that Merry Cardew cast longing eyes from
+time to time in the direction of that portion of the room where Maggie
+and her friends clustered.
+
+The girls had been about a fortnight at school, and work was in full
+swing, when Kathleen, springing from her seat, said abruptly, "Queen,
+I want to propose something."
+
+"Well, what is it?" asked Maggie, who was lying back against a pile of
+cushions and supplying herself daintily from a box of chocolates which
+her adorers had purchased for her.
+
+"I want us all," said Kathleen, "to give a party to the other queen
+and her subjects; and I want it to be about the very jolliest
+entertainment that can be found. We must, of course, ask Mrs. Ward's
+leave; but she is certain to give it."
+
+"I don't know that she is," said Maggie.
+
+"Oh, she is--certain sure," said Kathleen. "May I go and ask her
+now?"
+
+"Do you dare?" said Rosamond Dacre, looking at Kitty's radiant face
+with some astonishment.
+
+"Dare!" cried Irish Kitty. "I don't know the meaning of anything that
+I don't dare. I am off. I'll bring you word in a few minutes, girls."
+She rushed out of the room.
+
+Janet Burns looked after her, slightly raising her brows. Rosamond
+Dacre and the two Roaches began to sound her praises. "She is sweet,
+isn't she?"
+
+"Yes," said Clara; "and I do so love her pretty Irish brogue."
+
+"Mother tells me," said Janet, who was Scotch, "that Irish characters
+are not much good--they're not reliable, I mean."
+
+"Oh, what a shame!" said Matty Roache.
+
+"I don't think we need discuss characters," said Maggie. "I don't know
+a great deal about the Irish, but I do know that Kitty is a darling."
+
+"Yes, so she is--one of the sweetest girls in the whole school," said
+Molly Tristram, who was quite as excited as Kathleen herself with
+regard to the party scheme.
+
+Meantime Kitty found herself tapping at Mrs. Ward's private door. Mrs.
+Ward said, "Come in," and the pretty girl, with her great dark-blue
+eyes and wild-rose complexion, entered abruptly.
+
+"Well, Kathleen?" said Mrs. Ward in her pleasant tone.
+
+"Oh, please, Mrs. Ward, I've come with such a lovely scheme."
+
+"And you want me to help you?"
+
+"Oh yes, please, do say you will before I let you into the secret!"
+
+"I can't do that, dear; you must just tell me what is in your mind,
+and be satisfied with my decision. The only thing that I can assure
+you beforehand is that if it is a workable scheme, and likely to give
+you great pleasure, I will do my best to entertain it."
+
+"Then we're certain to have it--certain," said Kathleen.
+
+"It was I who thought of it. You will forgive me if I speak out just
+as plainly as possible?"
+
+"Of course, Kathleen dear."
+
+"Well, you know you are the head-mistress."
+
+"That is scarcely news to me, my child."
+
+"And people, as a rule," continued Kathleen, "respect their
+head-mistress."
+
+"Dear me," said Mrs. Ward with a smile, "have you come here, Kathleen,
+to say that you don't respect me?"
+
+"Respect you!" said Kathleen. "We do a jolly lot more than that. We
+adore you! We love you! You're--you're a sort of--of mother to us."
+
+"That is what I want to be," said Mrs. Ward with fervor, and she took
+the girl's hand and smoothed it gently.
+
+"I often want to hug you, and that's a fact," said Kathleen.
+
+"You may kiss me now if you like, Kitty."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward!" Kitty bent down and bestowed a reverent kiss on that
+sweet face.
+
+"I have permitted you to kiss me, Kitty," said Mrs. Ward, "in order to
+show you that I sympathize with you, as I do with all my dear girls.
+But now, what is the matter?"
+
+"Well, the fact is this. We want, during the 'leisure hours' to give a
+party."
+
+"Is that all? Do you all want to give a party?"
+
+"Our side wants to give a party, and we want to invite the other side
+to it."
+
+"But what do you mean by 'our side' and 'the other side'?"
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward! you know--of course you know--that Aneta and Maggie
+divide the school."
+
+"I know," said Mrs. Ward after a pause, "that Aneta has considerable
+influence, and that Maggie also has influence."
+
+"Those two girls divide the school," said Kathleen, "the rest of us
+follow them. As a matter of fact, we only follow our leaders in the
+leisure hours; but as they come every day a good deal can be done in
+that time, can't it?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Ward, and her tone was not exactly cheerful. "On
+which side are you, Kitty?"
+
+"Oh, dear Mrs. Ward, of course, on Maggie's! Do you think that a girl
+like me, with all my spirit and that irresistible sort of fun always
+bubbling up in me, could stand the stuck-ups?"
+
+"Kitty, you have no right to speak of any girls in the school by such
+an offensive term."
+
+"I am sorry," said Kitty. "I ought not to have said it to you. But
+they are stuck-ups; they really are."
+
+"And what do you call yourself?"
+
+"Oh, the live-and-let-live--that's our title. But it's only quite
+among ourselves, and perhaps I ought not to have said it."
+
+"I will never repeat what you have told me in confidence, dear. But
+now for your request?"
+
+"Well, we of Maggie's set want to invite the Aneta set to a sort of
+general party. We should like it to be on the half-holiday, if
+possible. We want to give them a right royal entertainment in order to
+knock some of their stuck-upness out of them. We wish for your leave
+in the matter."
+
+"You must describe your entertainment a little more fully."
+
+"I can't; for we haven't really and truly planned it all out yet. But
+I tell you what we'll do. If you give us leave to have the party, we
+will ask Queen Aneta and her satellites if possible this very evening,
+and then we'll submit our programme to you. Now, may we do this, or
+may we not?"
+
+"Who sent you to me, Kathleen?"
+
+"I came of my own very self, but of course the others approved. We
+have no intention of doing shabby things in the dark, as they do in
+some schools. That would be unfair to you."
+
+Mrs. Ward thought a little longer. "I will give you the required
+permission," she said, "on one condition."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward, darling! what is that?"
+
+"You can have your party on Saturday week, and I will give you from
+early in the afternoon until bedtime to enjoy it."
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Ward, you are too angelic!"
+
+"Stop a minute. You may not care for it so much when I have finished
+what I have got to say."
+
+"What is it, dear Mrs. Ward?"
+
+"It is this: that you ask me too as one of your guests."
+
+"Oh! oh!" said Kathleen. Her expressive face changed from red to white
+and then to red again. Her eyes brimmed over with laughter, and then
+as suddenly filled with tears. "But would you--would you like it?"
+
+"Yes, and I don't want to destroy your pleasure; but I presume you
+will have a sort of supper or an entertainment which will include
+refreshments. Let me assist you with the expense of your supper, and
+may I be present at it as one of your guests? I will promise to leave
+soon after supper, and not to appear until supper. How will that do?"
+
+"Oh, it would be just, heavenly! It will give such distinction. I know
+the girls will love it."
+
+"I think I can make myself pleasant to you all," said Mrs. Ward, "and
+I should like to be there."
+
+"But as to paying anything, Mrs. Ward, you will come as our guest, and
+you know we have most of us plenty of money. Please, please, let us do
+the entertaining."
+
+"Very well, dear, I will not press that point. I hope I have made you
+happy, Kathleen."
+
+"Oh! you have--very, very happy indeed. And Saturday week is to be the
+day?"
+
+"Yes, Kathleen."
+
+Kathleen bent down, took one of Mrs. Ward's hands, and kissed it. Then
+she skipped out of the room and flew back to her companions. They were
+waiting for her in a state of suppressed eagerness.
+
+"Well, Kathleen--Kitty--Kit, what's the news?" asked Maggie.
+
+Room was made for Kathleen in the center of the group.
+
+"We have won! We may do it!" she said, speaking in a low tone. "Oh,
+she's--she's like no one else! I don't know how you will take it,
+girls; but if you're not just delighted you ought, to be. Why, what
+_do_ you think? She wants to come herself."
+
+"Mrs. Ward!" said Maggie in amazement.
+
+"Yes, just to supper. She says she will come--she wishes to come--that
+we're to invite her; in fact, she makes it a _sine qua non_. She will
+go away again after supper, and we're to have the whole glorious day,
+next Saturday week, from two in the afternoon until bedtime. Oh,
+sha'n't we have fun!"
+
+"Yes, of course," said Maggie. "It's much better even than I thought.
+I will write the letters of invitation immediately."
+
+"But why should you write a whole lot of letters?" said Kathleen. "You
+are one queen. Write to the other queen and mention that Mrs. Ward is
+coming."
+
+There was nothing like the present time for making arrangements; and
+Maggie wrote on a sheet of headed note-paper provided for her by her
+satellites the following words:
+
+  "Queen Maggie presents her compliments to Queen Aneta, and begs
+  for the pleasure of her company with all her subjects on
+  Saturday the 15th of October, to an entertainment from three to
+  nine o'clock. She hopes that the whole school will be present,
+  and writes in the names of her own subjects as well as of
+  herself.
+
+  "_P.S._--Mrs. Ward has most kindly promised to attend."
+
+This letter was subjected to the approval of the group of girls who
+surrounded Maggie. It was then addressed to "Queen Aneta," and
+Kathleen crossed the room with it and dropped it, there and then, into
+Aneta Lysle's lap.
+
+It caused very deep amazement in the hearts of all the girls who
+belonged to Aneta's party, and it is highly probable that they might
+have refused to accept the invitation but for that magical postscript,
+"Mrs. Ward has most kindly promised to attend." But there was no
+withstanding that patent fact, as Mrs. Ward knew very well when she
+made the proposal to Kathleen.
+
+After a lapse of about twenty minutes, Cicely Cardew crossed the room
+and laid the answer to Maggie's note in her lap:
+
+"Queen Aneta and her subjects have much pleasure in accepting Queen
+Maggie's invitation for the 15th inst."
+
+"Hip, hip, hurrah!" cried Kathleen. "The thing's arranged, and we'll
+have about the jolliest flare-up and the most enticing time that girls
+ever had at any school." She sprang from her seat, and began tossing a
+book which had lain in her lap into the air, catching it again. In
+short, the subjects of the two queens broke up on the spot and chatted
+gaily together, and Maggie and her subjects could not be induced to
+say one word of what was to take place on the 15th of October.
+
+"It is wonderful," thought Aneta to herself. "Why does Mrs. Ward come?
+But, of course, as she comes we must all come."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE TREASURE.
+
+
+Maggie had by no means forgotten her promise to the Tristram girls to
+give them a bracelet apiece. It was easy to do this, for they were her
+very special friends in the school. The fact is that Molly and Belle
+had a somewhat peculiar position at Aylmer House, for they were not
+only Maggie's special friends, but also the undoubted friends and
+allies of Cicely, Merry, and also of Aneta. But they were such
+good-humored, good-natured, pleasant sort of girls--so lively, so
+jolly--that they could take up a position with ease which would
+oppress and distress other people.
+
+When Maggie presented them with their bracelets they were in wild
+raptures, accepting them gleefully, and on occasions when ornaments
+were permitted to be worn--which, as a matter of fact, was only in the
+leisure hours--they invariably had them on their arms.
+
+But other girls noticed them, and one and all admired them immensely.
+
+"Oh, I have others," said Maggie in a careless tone; "many more. My
+dear father was a great traveler, and these are some of the treasures
+he brought from the East."
+
+Maggie had by no means forgotten to bring her two boxes of jewellery
+to Aylmer House. These lay at the bottom of her little trunk, which
+was, it is true, stowed away in the box-room. But as the girls were at
+liberty to go there for anything they especially required, she was not
+troubled on this account.
+
+There came a day, shortly after the great party was arranged, when the
+rain poured incessantly, and some of the girls were a little restless.
+Molly and Isabel were wearing their queer Oriental bracelets. Kathleen
+suddenly caught sight of them, and demanded in an eager tone that
+Maggie should exhibit her treasures. Maggie, only too pleased to have
+anything to do which glorified herself, immediately complied. She ran
+to find Miss Lucy in order to obtain the key of the box-room.
+
+"What do you want it for, dear?" said Miss Johnson in her pleasant
+voice.
+
+"I have two boxes in the bottom of one of my trunks, Miss Lucy; they
+are full of curiosities which my father collected from time to time.
+The girls want to see them. Do you mind my showing them?"
+
+"Of course not, Maggie; but if they are of any value you had better
+give them to Mrs. Ward to take care of for you."
+
+"Oh, well," said Maggie, "I don't know really whether they are of
+value or not." She got rather red as she spoke.
+
+"I should like to see them myself," said Miss Johnson. "I know a
+little bit about gems and curios."
+
+"Certainly, Miss Lucy; do come," said Maggie. "We're in our
+sitting-room, and I shall be only too delighted to show them to you."
+
+Maggie fetched down her two precious boxes, and soon she was
+surrounded, not only by her own special satellites, but by every girl
+in the school. They were all loud in their expressions of rapture at
+the unique and lovely things which she exhibited to them.
+
+Kathleen, as usual, was quick in suggestion. "Would not Mrs. Ward love
+to see them?" she said.
+
+"I am sure she would," remarked Miss Johnson.--"I hadn't the least
+idea, Maggie, that you had such treasures in those old tin boxes. They
+must be carefully put away in the safe for you. My dear girl, they're
+worth a great deal of money."
+
+"Oh, I don't suppose they are," said Maggie, trying to speak
+carelessly, although she by no means wished to part with her
+treasures.
+
+"I tell you what," said Kathleen. "Can't we make an exhibition of them
+on _the_ day?"
+
+"Yes, why not?" said Molly and Isabel. "That would be quite lovely."
+
+"Oh yes, do!--do, Maggie darling!" said Merry Cardew.
+
+Maggie at once agreed; and Miss Johnson said, "Now, if you will put
+them all back in their boxes I will take them and lock them into the
+safe myself. I shouldn't have an easy moment if I thought such
+valuable things were in one of your school-trunks."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie, looking up with flushed cheeks and bright eyes,
+"please--please let me keep them until after our party. Then we will
+consult Mrs. Ward, and she will tell me what to do."
+
+"If you must keep them, then, Maggie," said Miss Johnson, "you had
+better have them in your own bedroom. They would be at least safe
+there. Put them into your locked drawer, dear; I think it will hold
+both these boxes."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Maggie. She put the ten bracelets into
+their tin box, and the necklets and other curios into the other,
+locked each, and took them upstairs. "It would never, never do," she
+said to herself, "for me to lose control of these precious things. I
+am almost sorry now that I allowed the girls to tempt me to show
+them."
+
+After a few minutes she came downstairs. Her stepfather's allowance of
+pocket-money was certainly not ample, and she knew that at the party
+which was to be so specially distinguished she must give, if she
+wished to keep up her prestige in the school, a lion's share towards
+the expenses. There was a quaint little brooch in one of her boxes
+containing one large ruby and set with diamonds which she intended to
+sell in order to provide herself with funds. But what use would any of
+her treasures be if they were consigned to the safe at Aylmer House?
+
+After a great deal of consultation, it was resolved that the girls
+were to meet in their own special sitting-room at four o'clock, where
+tea and light refreshments were to be provided by Queen Maggie and her
+subjects. Afterwards they were to play games, have recitations, and
+amuse themselves in different ways until five o'clock; when a curtain
+which would be put across a portion of the room would be raised, and
+tableaux vivants, in which Maggie, Kathleen, and both the Tristram
+girls, who were all adaptable for this purpose, were to take special
+parts. The tableaux were under the management of Janet Burns, who was
+exceedingly clever, and had studied the scenes--which she took from
+different episodes in Scott's novels--with great care. The rehearsing
+for the tableaux was a little difficult, but this was done each
+evening after tea, when Maggie and her subjects had the sitting-room
+to themselves.
+
+Immediately after the tableaux there would be that wonderful supper,
+at which Mrs. Ward was to be the principal guest, and then the happy
+evening would end with all sorts of dances and frolics.
+
+Now, all these things would cost money, and it was arranged, after
+brief consultation, that each girl was to subscribe in an equal ratio
+towards the proposed entertainment. Janet, who had a head for figures
+as well as a taste for tableaux vivants, suggested that, to do the
+entertainment properly, they would have to expend something like
+fifteen shillings each. This was immediately agreed upon, and even the
+Tristrams did not feel embarrassed by the amount which was decided
+upon, for Mr. Tristram was wise in his generation, and would not send
+his girls to an expensive school if he could not give them a
+sufficient supply of pocket-money to make them feel independent. The
+only person who was short of funds on this occasion was Maggie, for
+her stepfather had arranged that she was to receive her allowance at
+the end of the term, not at the beginning. He had given her a few
+shillings to go to school with; but these she had already spent on
+chocolates, which were considered essential during the leisure hours.
+It is true that Mrs. Ward would have advanced a little money to
+Maggie, but Maggie could not bear to ask her. She had a great dislike
+to the subject of money being mentioned in Mrs. Ward's presence. She
+was afraid beyond everything else that the fact of her being received
+at such a select school for forty pounds a year might reach the ears
+of her fellow-pupils. What more easy than to sell that charming little
+Oriental brooch, which was one of the treasures in one of those tin
+boxes? But Maggie could not manage this in Miss Lucy's presence, and
+it was quite against the rules at Aylmer House for any girl to go
+shopping or even to leave the house unaccompanied.
+
+On one or two previous occasions Maggie had, however, managed to evade
+this rule without being found out, and she thought she could do so
+now. She planned the whole thing rather cleverly. She had a room to
+herself; which of course made it easier for her, and there were always
+the leisure hours. She made up her mind to feign headache or some
+slight indisposition, to go downstairs by the back way, and sell her
+brooch on a certain afternoon during the leisure hours. She must do it
+quickly, for the girls had proposed to put the necessary money for the
+entertainment into a bag on a certain Tuesday. Maggie must, therefore,
+go out on Monday in order to sell her brooch. Her absence from the
+little party in the girls' sitting-room was explained by Molly
+Tristram, who said that Maggie was upstairs lying down. No one
+troubled to make any comment with regard to this. Any girl might have
+a headache, and Mrs. Ward did not wish her girls to be catechised as
+to how they spent their leisure hours. Besides, Janet Burns was
+occupying all their attention with the tableaux vivants, Queen Aneta's
+girls most good-naturedly leaving them the sitting-room to themselves
+for this purpose.
+
+Maggie, in her distant bedroom, felt the quiet in the house. She had
+been lying down; now she rose noiselessly. This was the time when the
+servants had their tea, when Mrs. Ward was busy writing letters or
+resting in her own sitting-room, when Lucy Johnson and the other
+governesses were either reposing in their bedrooms, or were out, or
+were reading. There was, of course, the chance that Maggie might meet
+some one; but, having calculated all possibilities, she thought that
+she could most likely get out unobserved.
+
+During her expeditions with Miss Lucy Johnson she had noticed a
+jeweller's shop not far away, and resolved to go to him with her
+precious brooch. It was a very respectable shop, and she was certain
+he would give her fair value. She could be back again before she was
+missed, and, in fact, could join her companions in the girls'
+sitting-room long before the leisure hours had expired. The days were
+now getting very short, but this fact was in Maggie's favor rather
+than otherwise.
+
+She ran downstairs unnoticed by any one, opened a side-door which was
+used as a tradesmen's entrance, and got into the street. Then, putting
+wings to her feet, she quickly turned the corner, left the square
+where Aylmer House was situated, and reached the jeweller's shop. She
+entered. There were a few people standing by the counter; and the
+jeweller, a certain Mr. Pearce, was attending to them. Maggie felt
+impatient. She awaited her turn as best she could. How she disliked
+those showy-looking people who were purchasing goods of some value,
+whereas she only wanted to sell! She could scarcely restrain her great
+impatience, and was relieved when another shopman came forward.
+
+He asked her what he could do for her. She immediately showed him the
+quaint little brooch set with rubies and diamonds.
+
+"I want to sell this," said Maggie, speaking abruptly and the color
+flaming into her cheeks. "What will you give me for it?"
+
+"Oh my!" suddenly exclaimed one of the ladies who was purchasing
+jewels in Pearce's shop, "what a lovely curio! Wherever now did you
+get it from?"
+
+Maggie turned and said in a low tone, "It belongs to me. It was left
+to me by my father."
+
+The man who was attending to Maggie took up the brooch and examined it
+carefully. He took it into another room, where he subjected it to
+various tests. He then came back to Maggie.
+
+"I will give you five pounds for this, miss, if you can satisfy me
+that you have come rightly by it."
+
+"Oh my!" said the American lady, drawing near, and her eyes
+glistening.
+
+"What is your address, miss?"
+
+Maggie by no means wished to give her address. "I haven't, stolen that
+brooch," she said. "It belongs to me; I have a right to sell it."
+
+"Of course, miss, I shall never trouble you in any way, but I really
+must have your address. In purchasing secondhand from young ladies
+like yourself it is essential that everything should be above-board
+and quite correct."
+
+"Well," said Maggie in a hurried voice, "take the brooch and give me
+the money. I must get back as quickly as I can. I am one of Mrs.
+Ward's pupils at Aylmer House."
+
+The man looked at Maggie with all respect. "And your own name?"
+
+"Howland," said Maggie. "Miss Howland."
+
+The man entered name and address in his book, and then handed Maggie
+five sovereigns. She was hurrying from the shop, when the customer who
+had been standing near all the time, and listening with great
+attention, followed her.
+
+"I say, young lady," she exclaimed, "I am from New York, and I like
+your quaint old English things. That man cheated you, I take it. If
+you had offered me that brooch I'd have given you fifteen pounds for
+it, not five. If you have any more curios to sell, my address is Miss
+H. Annie Lapham, Langham Hotel. I am straight from the States, and
+would like to take a collection of beautiful things home with me."
+
+"Thank you," said Maggie in a hurried voice.
+
+She ran back to Aylmer House as quickly as she could. As soon as she
+was quite out of sight the lady re-entered the shop.
+
+"Say," she remarked to the shopman, "I witnessed that little
+transaction between you and Miss Howland. I want to buy that brooch
+for ten pounds."
+
+"I am sorry, madam," said the man, "but it is not for sale just at
+present."
+
+"That means," said Miss Lapham, coloring crimson, "that you have
+cheated the young lady. You ought to have given her four times as much
+for the brooch."
+
+The man shrugged his shoulders.
+
+Miss Lapham grew redder than ever, "I happen to know Miss Howland's
+address," she said. Then she went away without giving' him time to add
+a word.
+
+When she had left the shop the younger Mr. Pearce turned to his
+brother, took the little brooch from the drawer into which he had
+carelessly thrown it, and gave it to the elder Mr. Pearce to examine.
+"There's a find here," he said; "only, somehow, I feel a bit
+uncomfortable. How did one of the young ladies from Aylmer House come
+by a treasure of this sort?"
+
+The other man examined the brooch carefully. "It's worth a good bit,"
+he said. "What did you give her for it?"
+
+"Five pounds; but somehow I think that I ought not to have taken it
+for that sum."
+
+"It is worth at least two hundred," said the elder Mr. Pearce. "Where
+did you say she lived?"
+
+"She is one of the young ladies at Aylmer House--Miss Howland."
+
+"What! from Mrs. Ward's school?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You had better give me that brooch, Alfred," said his brother. "We'll
+have to consider what is to be done. We can't rob the young lady of
+it. We had best consult Mrs. Ward."
+
+"Oh, as to that," said the younger Pearce, "that sounds almost as
+shabby as giving the schoolgirl too little money."
+
+"Well, lock it up for the present," said the elder Pearce; "but I am
+an honest tradesman, and I can't see even a schoolgirl robbed."
+
+"She was up to some little lark," said the younger man, "and evidently
+did not know the value of the brooch. Why, I think she'd have taken a
+pound for it. But what she did know the value of was her precious
+time; she was very much annoyed at being kept waiting and at being
+asked for her address. It is plain she got out without leave; and
+although the brooch may belong to her--I am sure I hope it does--she
+has broken a rule, you mark my words. Those schoolgirls are always up
+to larks. Well, I'd never have thought it of one of Mrs. Ward's
+girls."
+
+"It is a pity you didn't consult me, Alfred," said his brother. "The
+best thing to do now is to put the brooch carefully away. We'll
+consider what is best to be done with it; but as to giving the young
+lady only five pounds for what we can sell any day at Christie's for a
+couple of hundred, that is not to be thought of."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE LETTER.
+
+
+Maggie got out and came back again without any apparent adventure. She
+had five pounds in her pocket, and thought herself rich beyond the
+dreams of avarice. What a delightful fairy-gift had been handed down
+to her by her dear dead father! She did not miss the brooch in the
+least, but she valued the small sum she had obtained for it
+exceedingly.
+
+But while Maggie thought herself so secure, and while the pleasant
+jingle of the sovereigns as she touched them with her little hand
+comforted her inexpressibly, things quite against Maggie Howland's
+supposed interests were transpiring in another part of the school.
+
+It was a strange fact that on this special afternoon both the queens
+should be prostrated with headache. It is true that Queen Maggie's
+headache was only a fiction, but poor Queen Aneta's was real enough.
+She was lying down in her pretty bedroom, hoping that quiet might
+still the throbbing of her temples, when the door was very softly
+opened, and Merry Cardew brought in a letter and laid it by her side.
+
+"May I bring you some tea upstairs, Aneta?" she said. "Is there
+anything I can do for you?"
+
+"Oh no, darling," said Aneta. "I can't eat or drink; but if I stay
+very still I shall be better by-and-by. Leave me now, dear; all I want
+is perfect quiet."
+
+"I am so sorry for you, Aneta," said Merry.
+
+"What are you doing downstairs?" said Aneta as the girl turned away.
+
+"Well, Maggie has a headache too."
+
+"Oh!" said Aneta.
+
+"So we are without our queens," continued Merry; "but Maggie's girls
+have taken possession of our sitting-room, and we are all in the
+schoolroom. We're having great fun and are very happy, so don't worry
+about us at all, Aneta."
+
+"I won't," said Aneta, closing her eyes, while a feeling of drowsy
+relief stole over her.
+
+Her anxiety with regard to Maggie was really making her ill. Her sense
+of responsibility with reference to the Cardew girls seemed to oppress
+her usually calm spirit. She could not conceal the fact from herself
+that Merry loved Maggie, most passionately. The knowledge, therefore,
+that Maggie was not downstairs gave her such a sense of comfort that
+she dropped into a doze, and when she awoke a short time afterwards
+her headache was gone.
+
+Yes, her headache had departed, but there lay by her pillow what is a
+great treasure to all schoolgirls--an unopened letter. She looked at
+the handwriting, and saw that it was from her aunt, Lady Lysle. Aneta
+was very fond of Lady Lysle; and, sitting up against her pillows, she
+tore open the letter and began to read. She was surprised to see that
+it was dated from Meredith Manor.
+
+  "MY DEAR ANETA"--it ran--"I have been staying with the dear
+  Cardews for the last week. We have been having a very pleasant
+  time; although, of course, the house is vastly different without
+  Cicely and Merry. But the dear Cardews are so sensible that they
+  never would regret anything that was for the real benefit of
+  their children.
+
+  "Your letter assuring me that the children were happy at school
+  gave me great delight, and when I told the Cardews they were
+  equally pleased. Altogether, this school-venture seems likely to
+  turn out most satisfactory, and the dear children will be
+  properly equipped for the brilliant life which lies before
+  them.
+
+  "But now I have a curious piece of information for you. You
+  told me about Miss Howland and her mother's second marriage to
+  one of the Martyns of The Meadows. Well, dear, we went there
+  yesterday, and I happened incidentally to speak on the subject;
+  and, whatever may be the position of Miss Howland's stepfather,
+  he certainly is no relation to our dear friends the Martyns.
+  They have no uncles or cousins in England at all. All their
+  people come from Australia, and they assured me that such a
+  marriage as I have described has, in the first place, never
+  reached their ears, and, in the next, is impossible, for they
+  have no marriageable relations in the country. I mention this to
+  show that your friend has made a mistake. At the same time, it
+  is strange of her to say that her mother, has married into such
+  a well-known and distinguished family. I can add no more
+  now.--Yours, with love, and in haste,
+
+                                                     LUCIA LYSLE."
+
+Aneta thought over this letter for some time. Her face was very grave
+as she tried to put two and two together. She rose from her bed,
+dressed herself with her usual immaculate neatness, and came down to
+supper, which took place each evening at half-past seven.
+
+All the girls were present, and each and all were in the best of
+good-humor. Maggie was radiant. Why not? She had performed a difficult
+task discreetly, and she had five lovely golden sovereigns in her
+drawer upstairs. She could put the required money into the bag for the
+school-treat, and she would have plenty over to buy chocolates and
+little things that she might require for herself. She did not in the
+least miss that one small brooch which her father had left her; but
+she thought with a feeling of intense satisfaction of her treasures.
+She need no longer be a penniless girl. She had but at rare intervals
+to visit Pearce the jeweler, and her pocket would be well lined. She
+had no romantic feeling with regard to those beautiful things which
+her father had collected on his travels. She had been so poor all her
+life that money to her represented power. She even thought of getting
+a couple of new dresses made by a fashionable dressmaker. She resolved
+to consult Lucy on the subject. She was never quite as well dressed as
+the other girls, although very plain clothes were the order of the
+hour at school.
+
+Immediately after supper those girls who required to look over their
+lessons went into the schoolroom and spent a quiet time there; but the
+others, as a rule, joined Mrs. Ward in the drawing-room. There those
+who could play were requested to do so, and those who could sing did
+likewise. Mrs. Ward was very fond of needlework. She could do rare and
+wonderful embroideries, and knew some of the tapestry stitches which
+were in vogue hundreds of years ago. The girls who cared to be taught
+those things she was only too glad to instruct; but she never pressed
+any one into her working-party. This was always an hour of relaxation
+for those girls who had all their lessons ready for the following
+day.
+
+Maggie, who was exceedingly clever and learned with the utmost ease,
+was generally a member of the drawing-room coterie. She wore a white
+dress on this evening, with a somewhat crude pink sash round her
+waist. She hated the crudity of the color, and it occurred to her that
+she could get some soft and becoming sashes out of part of the money
+which Pearce had given her for the brooch.
+
+By-and-by she found herself near Aneta. Aneta was working a
+center-piece which she meant to present to Lady Lysle at Christmas.
+Maggie was no good whatever at needlework, and seldom joined the band
+of needlewomen. But Aneta now motioned the girl to come and sit by her
+side. Maggie did so. Aneta looked full in her face.
+
+"Is your headache better, Maggie?" she asked.
+
+Maggie had to reflect for a time, she had so absolutely forgotten that
+she had pretended to have a headache that afternoon! Then she said,
+with a slight flush and a suspicious narrowing of her eyes, "Oh yes;
+thank you, I am quite all right again." Maggie had not heard of
+Aneta's headache. She, therefore, did not ask about it.
+
+"I pity people who have headaches," said Aneta. "I suffer from them
+very badly myself. Nothing cures me but perfect rest. I was lying down
+all the afternoon. Merry came to see me, and told me that you were
+also prostrated with headache. I was sorry for you."
+
+"Oh, thank you so much!" said Maggie. "Mine is quite gone; is yours?"
+
+"Yes, thank you."
+
+Aneta sat quiet and very still. When her face was in repose she never
+moved her body. There was an absolute sense of rest about her which
+was refreshing to those who really knew her well. But Maggie hated it.
+She wanted to leave her; she wanted to go and talk to Merry, who was
+playing a solitary game of patience in a distant part of the
+drawing-room; she wanted to do anything rather than remain by Aneta's
+side.
+
+Then Aneta looked up. "I had a letter this afternoon from my aunt,
+Lady Lysle."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie. She could not quite understand why her heart beat
+so fast, but she had undoubtedly a premonition of some sort of trouble
+ahead.
+
+"Aunt Lucia is staying with the Cardews," continued Aneta.
+
+"Is she?" said Maggie. "Oh, that sweet and beautiful place!" she
+continued.
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "Meredith Manor will always be lovely. There is no
+season of the year when it is not, in my opinion, more charming than
+any other place I know."
+
+"Is your aunt going to stay there long?" asked Maggie, who felt that
+she need not say anything further with regard to the delights of
+Meredith Manor just now.
+
+"I cannot tell you," replied Aneta. "She mentioned something rather
+curious. It is connected with you."
+
+"With poor little me?" said Maggie.
+
+"With you," said Aneta. "You remember telling me that your stepfather
+is one of the Martyns of The Meadows?"
+
+Maggie's face grew crimson, then turned pale.
+
+"Well," said Aneta, bringing out her words with great calmness, "it
+turns out to be a mistake. Your stepfather is no relation whatever to
+our friends the Martyns. Aunt Lucia and Mrs. Cardew went to call on
+them the other day, and asked the question. You made a mistake in
+announcing your stepfather as being a connection of our friends."
+
+"Did I? Perhaps so," said Maggie. "I thought he was, that's all."
+
+"You thought wrong," said Aneta. "I felt I would mention it to you. He
+may be just as well connected," she added quietly; "but he is _not_
+related to the Martyns of The Meadows."
+
+"You speak in a very disagreeable tone," said Maggie.
+
+"I don't mean to," replied Aneta; "but I thought I would tell you in
+order that you should not spread the report any further."
+
+"I am sure I don't want to. My stepfather has just as good connections
+as any one else."
+
+"No doubt," said Aneta gently; "only, he is not related to our special
+friends. You might let Merry and Cicely know."
+
+"Why?" asked Maggie in a dogged voice.
+
+"You can please yourself. I shall tell them if you don't."
+
+"Why do you hate me so much, Aneta?" said Maggie then.
+
+"I hate subterfuge and untruth," said Aneta. "I don't hate you. If you
+would be straight and open and above-board you would find me your best
+friend."
+
+"Thank you so much!" said Maggie in a sneering tone. "When I require
+you for my best friend it will be time enough for you to offer me that
+enviable position." Then she added, speaking in a low tone of intense
+dislike, "Is it likely that any girl would wish to make a best friend
+of another girl who accused her of subterfuge and want of
+truthfulness?"
+
+The delicate pink rose in Aneta's cheeks. She raised her eyes and
+looked full up at Maggie. Her clear, calm eyes seemed like mirrors.
+Maggie felt that she could not meet them.
+
+It was just at that moment that Cicely Cardew, in a state of
+suppressed excitement, came into the room.
+
+"Maggie," she said, coming straight up to Maggie Howland, "there's a
+very large parcel addressed to you in the hall. It has been paid for;
+we are all dying with curiosity to know what it is."
+
+Maggie rose abruptly.
+
+"I will go and look at it myself," she said. "A large parcel addressed
+to me! Who can have sent me anything?"
+
+"It looks like a huge dress-box," said Cicely. "We're all curious
+about it."
+
+Before any girl could leave the drawing-room it was necessary that she
+should ask Mrs. Ward's permission. So Maggie now went up to that good
+lady and asked if she might go and look at her parcel.
+
+"A parcel for you, dear?" said Mrs. Ward. "And you want to see its
+contents? But bring it in here; we shall all be delighted to look at
+it--sha'n't we, girls?"
+
+Maggie went away, wondering a good deal. Cicely accompanied her. Miss
+Johnson also appeared on the scene.
+
+"Why, Maggie," she said, "what can you have got? Such a huge box, and
+all covered over with brown paper! I don't suppose Mrs. Ward would
+really like that box to be brought into the drawing-room. I'll just go
+and ask her."
+
+One of Mrs. Ward's peculiarities, and perhaps one of the reasons why
+she was such a favorite and led her girls with such gentle, silken
+cords, was her power of entering into their pleasures. She used to
+confess with a smile that she was like a child herself over an
+unopened parcel; and when Miss Johnson appeared with the information
+that the box was large and cumbersome, Mrs. Ward still gave directions
+that it was to be brought into the drawing-room.
+
+"You can put some of the brown paper on the floor, if you like, Lucy,"
+she said, "and Maggie can show us its contents."
+
+Now, one glance at the parcel told Maggie Howland who had sent it. She
+recognized her stepfather's writing. That bold commercial hand was
+painfully visible on the label. She would have given worlds not to
+have anything selected for her by Martin exhibited in the drawing-room
+at Aylmer House. But to refuse to show the contents of the box would
+but raise strong suspicion against her. She therefore, although very
+unwillingly, followed Miss Johnson into the drawing-room. The box was
+laid on the floor. The lid was removed, some tissue-paper was next
+extricated, and beneath lay a wardrobe such as poor Maggie even in her
+wildest dreams had never imagined. There was a letter lying on the top
+which she clutched and put into her pocket. This letter was in her
+stepfather's writing. She could not read it before the others. Aneta
+and all the girls of her set, also Kathleen O'Donnell, Rosamond Dacre,
+Matty and Clara Roache, Janet Barns, the Tristrams, the Cardews, all
+clustered round the box.
+
+"Oh, what fun!" said Kathleen. "A box of dresses for you! You lucky
+Queen Maggie! How I wish some one would send me some clothes!"
+
+"Take them out, dear, and let us look at them," said Mrs. Ward.
+
+The first dress to be removed was a magenta cachemire. It was made
+with a short skirt trimmed with little frills of the same. The bodice
+had sleeves to the elbows, and long, coarse cream-colored lace sleeves
+below. The front of the dress was also much bedizened by the same
+coarse cream lace.
+
+Maggie felt her face nearly purple with rage. "Oh, why must all these
+things be looked at here?" she said; and there was a piteous note in
+her voice.
+
+"I don't see the necessity, dear," said Mrs. Ward kindly.
+
+"But, oh! please, please," said Kathleen, "we _must_ see the others.
+Here's a sage-green dress trimmed with bands of black silk: that will
+be quite useful in the winter, won't it, Mags?"
+
+She tried to speak kindly, for the sage-green dress was as little to
+her taste as the impossible magenta. Under the two dresses were
+ribbons of different shades and hues, some strong, coarse stockings,
+some square-toed shoes, and finally, below everything else, an
+evening-dress made of voile, and deep blue in tone.
+
+"Some of the things will he very useful," said Miss Johnson. "I will
+put them all back again now."
+
+"But whom have they come from?" said Mrs. Ward. "I saw you take a note
+and put it into your pocket, Maggie."
+
+"Yes, these are a present from my stepfather," said Maggie.
+
+"Miss Johnson, you will take them upstairs, won't you?" said Mrs.
+Ward.--"It is kind of your stepfather to think of you, Maggie."
+
+Maggie looked up and met Aneta's glance. Was Aneta thinking of the
+Martyns of The Meadows? The color rushed all over Maggie's face. She
+clenched her hands. "I hate the horrid, horrid things!" she said. "I
+won't wear one of them."
+
+"Oh, come, dear," said Mrs. Ward kindly; "your stepfather means very
+well indeed by you. He has doubtless had very little to do with
+dressing a lady before.--We can slightly alter those dresses, can we
+not, Miss Johnson?"
+
+Miss Johnson had now placed all the hideous garments back in the box.
+She said with a smile, "The sage-green dress can be made quite useful;
+but I rather despair of the magenta."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "it was meant kindly. Perhaps, Maggie, if you
+gave me your stepfather's address I might write to him and tell him
+the sort of things that I like my girls to wear."
+
+Maggie turned crimson. That would indeed be the final straw. She
+murmured something which Mrs. Ward did not choose to hear. To her
+great relief, the hour for bed had arrived, and all the girls went to
+their rooms.
+
+Miss Johnson came down again after she had deposited the hideous
+dresses in Maggie's wardrobe. "I quite pity poor little Maggie," she
+said. "What frightful taste! There is really nothing in the whole of
+that box that she can possibly wear."
+
+"I must write to Mr. Martyn," said Mrs. Ward. "Didn't somebody tell me
+that he was a country gentleman--a relation of the Martyns of The
+Meadows? Such particularly nice people!"
+
+"I know nothing about that," said Miss Johnson. "I only know that the
+contents of the box are simply atrocious."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "we won't say anything to annoy Maggie
+to-night; I could see that the poor dear child was greatly mortified.
+I only regret that I had the box opened here; but you know it is one
+of our customs to share all our pleasures. Poor little Maggie! The
+thing was most unlucky."
+
+Up in her room, Maggie had locked her door. She would unlock it again,
+but she must read that frightful letter without any chance of being
+disturbed. She opened it, tore it from its envelope, and read the
+contents:
+
+  "DEAR POPSY,--I came across a cheap lot of frocks the other day
+  at a bankrupt's sale, and thought at once of Little-sing and her
+  daughter Popsy-wopsy. I am sending the dresses off to you
+  without saying a word to Little-sing. You will be well off now
+  for some time, and won't require the five pounds from me for
+  dress at Christmas. Hope you're enjoying your fine young ladies
+  and fine life. Neither Little-sing nor me miss you a bit; but,
+  all the same, your room will be ready for you at Christmas. Take
+  care of those good clothes, for I can't often spend as much on
+  you.
+
+  "Good-bye for the present.--Your affectionate father,
+
+                                                         "BO-PEEP.
+
+  "_P.S._--I have a good mind to call on that fine-lady
+  schoolmistress of yours, Mrs. Ward. There's no saying but that
+  Little-sing and me may come along some afternoon when you least
+  expect us."
+
+Maggie crushed the letter in her hand. Fresh terrors seemed to
+surround her. Dreadful as the impossible clothes were, they were
+nothing to what the appearance on the scene would be of the impossible
+stepfather and her poor mother. Oh, why had she concealed the position
+of the man whom her mother had married? Already Aneta had detected her
+little act of deception with regard to the Martyns of The Meadows. But
+that, Maggie felt, could be got over. It was easy for a girl to make a
+mistake in a matter of that kind, and surely there were other Martyns
+in the country high-born and respectable and all that was desirable.
+But James Martin who kept a grocer's shop at Shepherd's Bush--James
+Martin, with "grocer" written all over him!--rich, it is true; but,
+oh, so vulgarly rich! Were he to appear and announce his relationship
+to her at the school, she felt that, as far as she was concerned, the
+end of the world would have arrived. What was she to do? There was not
+a minute to be lost. In one way or another she had seen a good deal of
+Bo-peep during the last half of those dreadful summer holidays, and
+she knew that he was, as he expressed it, as good as his word.
+
+Her only chance was in writing to her mother. But then, if, by any
+chance, Maggie's letter got into the hands of Bo-peep, his wrath would
+be so great that he would, in all probability, take her from the
+school at once. What was to be done? Poor Maggie felt herself between
+two fires. In either direction was danger. On the whole, she resolved
+to throw herself on her mother's mercy. Mrs. Martin, as she was now,
+would much prefer Maggie to remain at school, and she might be clever
+enough to keep Maggie's stepfather from putting in an appearance at
+Aylmer House.
+
+Maggie wrote a short and frantic letter. She was in the midst of it
+when there came a tap at her room-door.
+
+"It's I, Maggie," said Miss Johnson's voice from without. "Your light
+is still burning; you ought to be in bed."
+
+Maggie flew and opened the door. "I am sorry," she said. "I was a good
+deal upset about those detestable clothes. I am writing to my mother.
+Please, Lucy, let me finish the letter. When it's done--and I won't be
+a minute longer--I'll put it in the post-box myself, so that it can go
+by the first post in the morning."
+
+"Very well, dear," said Lucy, who was too kind not to be good to any
+girl in the school; "only be quick, Maggie," she said, "for you know
+you are breaking the rules."
+
+"Yes! oh yes!" said Maggie; "and I will never do it again."
+
+Miss Johnson left her, and Maggie flew back to bend over her paper and
+continue her writing:
+
+  "Darling, you must not let him come here. He threatens to come,
+  but you must keep him away. All will be up with me if he is seen
+  at the school. I beseech of you have a little mercy on me. For
+  the sake of my own father, keep him--do keep him--from Aylmer
+  House.--Your distracted daughter,
+
+                                                 "MAGGIE HOWLAND."
+
+This letter was addressed to Mrs. Martin (spelt this time with an
+"i"), Laburnum Villa, Clapham. Maggie stamped it, and, flying
+downstairs, popped it into the box which held the letters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE VILLA.
+
+
+Laburnum Villa, in the suburb of Clapham, was, in the new Mrs.
+Martin's eyes, quite a delightful place. She had never appreciated her
+first husband, Professor Howland, but she thoroughly appreciated
+Bo-peep, and after her own fashion was fond of him. He gave her
+comforts. She had lived so long without comforts that she appreciated
+these good things of life to the full. She had never really been much
+attached to Maggie, who was too like her own father and too unlike
+herself to allow of the existence of any sympathy between them.
+Maggie, even before Mrs. Howland met Martin the Shepherd's Bush
+grocer, had been more or less a thorn in the flesh to her mother.
+
+Laburnum Villa was furnished, as James Martin expressed it, with an
+eye to comfort. There were solid arm-chairs with deep seats and good
+springs, and these were covered with maroon-colored leather. There
+were thick, maroon-colored curtains to the dining-room windows, and
+all the furniture of the room was of solid oak. There was a rich
+Turkey carpet on the floor, and prints of different hunting scenes--by
+no means bad in their way--hanging on the walls. The paint-work of the
+room was of dull red, and the paper was of the same tone. It was a
+small room, and the furniture was large and heavy, but it represented
+in Martin's eyes the very essence of comfort. The fireplace was
+modern, and when it was piled up with goodly lumps of coal it caused a
+warmth to pervade the whole room which, as Mrs. Martin expressed it,
+was very stimulating. The house had electric light, which both Mr. and
+Mrs. Martin considered distinguished.
+
+They spent most of their time in the dining-room, although Mrs.
+Martin, with some faint instinct still left of her own life, would
+have preferred to use the drawing-room in the evenings; but when she
+suggested this Bo-peep said, "No, no, Little-sing; I can smoke here
+and sit by the fire, and enjoy the rest which I have rightly earned. I
+hate rooms full of fal-lals. You can keep your drawing-room for the
+time when I am out, Little-sing."
+
+Mrs. Martin knew better than to oppose her husband. She recognized her
+own weakness, and knew that against his fiat she could no more
+exercise her puny strength than a babbling stream can disturb a great
+rock. She used her drawing-room when Bo-peep was out, and regarded it
+with intense satisfaction. It is true that the colors were crude, for
+James Martin would have screamed at any Liberty tints. But the carpet
+was good of its kind, the pictures on the walls not too atrocious.
+Although they were in gilt frames, the large mirrors over the
+mantelpiece and at one end of the room were first rate; in short, the
+drawing-room was fairly presentable, and Mrs. Martin had some traces
+of her old life still lingering about her which gave a look of
+domesticity and even repose to the place. Her little work-basket, with
+its embroidery, was home-like and pleasant. She had forgotten how to
+play, but she always kept the piano open. Bo-peep suggested buying a
+pianola, and Mrs. Martin thought it would be a good idea.
+
+"We'll have all the comic operas on it," said Bo-peep; "nothing of the
+classic order for me--nothing over-my-head, but the popular tunes,
+plenty of them--no stint. What do you say, Little-sing?"
+
+Little-sing replied that it would be charming; but in her heart she
+somewhat shuddered, and was glad that the pianola was still a thing to
+be purchased.
+
+Tildy had been turned into a very presentable little parlor-maid.
+There was also a first-rate cook, for Martin was fond of the pleasures
+of the table. On the whole, the little household was comfortable, and
+Mrs. Martin enjoyed her life. She had some cards printed with her new
+name and address, and the notification that she was "at home" on the
+third, fourth, and fifth of each month. Tildy was very much excited
+about these At Home days; but the first month after Mrs. Martin's
+marriage passed without a single individual calling upon her.
+
+Mrs. Martin had been settled for over six weeks, and the day of Queen
+Maggie's great reception at the school in Kensington was drawing on
+apace. Mrs. Martin was in a state of subdued excitement. She was
+dressed in her best. Her best consisted of a light fawn-colored silk
+with velvet trimmings of the same. The silk rustled as she walked. On
+her fingers were many rings of much brilliancy, and she wore a small
+diamond brooch at her throat. The reason of all this festive attire
+was a simple one, a good one, a domestic one. James Martin was coming
+home. He had been in Liverpool, engaged on special business, for the
+greater part of a week; but he was now returning to his beloved
+Little-sing, who had missed him, and he was pleased to feel that he
+would be with her again. She knew his tastes to a nicety, and had
+desired the cook to prepare a very special dinner for his
+delectation.
+
+"Beef-steak pudding, cook," she said, "with mutton kidneys, and plenty
+of oysters; and be sure the crust is very light."
+
+Cook replied that if she did not know how to make beef-steak pudding
+she ought immediately to leave her "perfession." She was a stout,
+red-faced woman, and had a way of frightening Mrs. Martin, who
+generally retreated from the kitchen premises as quickly as possible.
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Martin; "I am glad you quite understand. You
+know that my husband is very particular. Then we'll have potatoes and
+fried mushrooms, and I think afterwards apple-tart and cream."
+
+The cook, whose name was Horniman, condescended to signify her
+willingness to provide this dinner, and Mrs. Martin went up to the
+drawing-room.
+
+"You had better light a fire here, Matilda," she said. "It's going to
+be a very cold day."
+
+"I'd a sight rayther you called me Tildy, mum. It seems like as though
+a lump o' ice got on my 'eart when you say Mat-tilda."
+
+"'Matilda' is more refined and suitable," said Mrs. Martin with
+dignity.
+
+"Oh yes, 'um--'course, 'um. When 'ull Miss Maggie be comin' to see us,
+'um?"
+
+"Not before Christmas, you silly girl. Miss Maggie is at school."
+
+"So I 'ave 'eard," said Matilda. "You 'aven't give me no 'olidays,
+'um, sence I come to yer; and it were understood, sure-_ly_, that I
+were to 'ave my day out once a month."
+
+"You shall go out to-morrow, Matilda. I haven't the slightest wish to
+keep you indoors against your will."
+
+"To-morrer's cook's day, 'um."
+
+"Well, then, you shall go the next day."
+
+"Thank you, 'um. I thought I'd go and see Miss Maggie ef you'd give me
+her address."
+
+"Well, now, that's a very good idea," said Mrs. Martin. "I could write
+her a little note, and you could take it to her. That's very
+thoughtful of you, Tilda. Yes, I should like you to go and bring me
+word how she is."
+
+"It's longin' I am to lay eyes on 'er, mum. She's a bee-utiful way
+with 'er," said Matilda.
+
+When she was quite alone Mrs. Martin took that letter of Maggie's,
+which she had received during her husband's absence, from her pocket.
+She was terrified lest Bo-peep should read it. The letter had offended
+her. Maggie had written with great fire and distress: "You must not
+let him come here. All will be up with me if he is seen at the school.
+For the sake of my own father, keep him from Aylmer House."
+
+Mrs. Martin slipped it back into her pocket, and then sat by her
+comfortable drawing-room fire waiting for the arrival of the good
+Bo-peep. He was a very playful creature. His one idea of happiness
+consisted in endless jokes--practical jokes or otherwise, just as it
+suited him at the moment.
+
+He had done a very successful stroke of business in Liverpool, and was
+returning to Laburnum Villa in the highest spirits. While he was in
+the train he was planning how he could most effectively announce his
+return. To ring at his own hall-door, or to open it with a latch-key,
+or to walk in in the ordinary fashion of the master of the house did
+not content him at all. He must invent a more novel manner of return
+than that. He was really fond of Little-sing. She suited him to
+perfection. What he called her "fine-lady airs," when they were
+displayed to any one but himself, pleased him mightily. He thought of
+her as pretty and gracious and sweet. He really loved her after his
+own fashion, and would do anything in his power to make her happy. But
+he must, as he expressed it, have his joke.
+
+Mrs. Martin was seated by the fire in the drawing-room. It was getting
+late--nearly four o'clock; but, according to an expressed wish of
+Bo-peep, the window-blinds had not yet been drawn down. He liked, as
+he said, to see his home before he entered it. Mrs. Martin, therefore,
+with the electric light on, was perfectly visible from the road. Mr.
+Martin guessed that this would be the case, and he stopped the cab at
+a little distance from the house, paid the fare, shouldered his bag,
+and walked softly down the street. He went and stood outside the
+window. He looked in. The street was a quiet one, and at that moment
+there were no passers-by. Mrs. Martin was seated in her smart dress
+which he had given her, with her profile towards him. He thought her
+very beautiful indeed. His heart swelled with pride. She belonged to
+him. He hated fine ladies, as a rule; but a fine lady who was his very
+own was a different matter. He even felt romantic.
+
+She was reading a letter. Who could have been writing to Little-sing?
+Suddenly it occurred to him to slip down the area steps and stand
+close under the window. He did so, to the terror of cook and Tildy.
+Cook was about to scream, "Burglars!" but Tildy recognized her
+master.
+
+"It's his joke," she said. "'E's a wonderful man for jokes. Don't let
+on to Mrs. Martin that 'e's 'ere for your life. 'E'll do something so
+comic in a minute."
+
+The comicality of Martin consisted, in the present instance, of
+singing in a harsh baritone the song of the Troubadour:
+
+                       "Gaily the Troubadour
+                         Touched his guitar,
+                       When he was hastening
+                         Home from the war;
+                       Singing, 'From Palestine
+                         Hither I come.
+                       Ladye love! ladye love!
+                         Welcome me home.'"
+
+Mrs. Martin gave a shriek. She had the presence of mind to pop her
+letter into her pocket. Then she approached the window, trembling and
+blushing. Bo-peep uttered a huge laugh of delight, let himself in by
+the back way, and ran up the stairs.
+
+"Little-sing!" he said, and clasped his wife in his arms.
+
+During dinner James Martin was in high good humor, and it was not
+until dessert was put on the table and he had helped himself liberally
+to port wine, and was filling his pipe for his evening smoke, that it
+occurred to him to speak to his wife about Maggie.
+
+"By the way," he said, "I did a right good turn for that girl of
+yours, Little-sing, before I left for Liverpool. I sent her a box of
+clothes--two smart everyday dresses, an evening dress, and no end of
+fal-lals. She wrote to thank me, I suppose?"
+
+"She wrote to me, dear," said Mrs. Martin, trembling a good deal. "She
+was very much obliged to you."
+
+"And well she ought to be. Did she clearly understand that I sent her
+the things--that you had nothing to do with them?"
+
+"Oh yes, yes," said Mrs. Martin. "Won't you have some coffee, James?
+I'll tell Matilda to bring it in."
+
+"Coffee--fiddlestick!" said Martin; "and you know I hate to be called
+'James.' Where's Bo-peep?"
+
+"You are Bo-peep," said his wife with a funny smile.
+
+"Well, then, no 'Jamesing' of me. I think it is very queer of your
+daughter not to reply to me when I send her expensive and handsome
+things. What did she say in her letter to you?"
+
+"Oh, she was very grateful, of course, Bo-peep."
+
+"Well--but--where's the letter? I may as well see it. There's stuff in
+that girl. I don't despair of her yet. She has a head for business. I
+wouldn't have your dear little head muddled with business, but your
+daughter's a different person. She has nothing whatever to live on
+except what I allow her, and unless she is to starve she has got to
+please me."
+
+Mrs. Martin might have said, had she not been afraid, that Maggie was
+certainly entitled to her own father's money; but it is to be
+regretted that Little-sing had not much courage.
+
+Matilda came in with the coffee, which caused a slight diversion, more
+particularly as it was not to Martin's taste, who desired her to take
+it away again, and request Horniman to send him something fit to
+drink. When the door was closed behind Matilda he renewed the subject
+of the letter.
+
+"I saw you reading something as I came along," he said. "When I peeped
+in at the window you had a letter in your hand. Who has been writing
+to you?"
+
+"Only Maggie."
+
+"And that is the letter you spoke about?"
+
+"Yes, dear James--I mean Bo-peep--yes. The child is very grateful."
+
+"She ought to be. I'd like to see the letter. Where is it?"
+
+"I will go upstairs and fetch it," said Mrs. Martin, who knew well
+that it was safe in her pocket all the time.
+
+James Martin roused himself and gave her a studied look.
+
+"Do so," he said. "Bring it back to me at once. If I have to support
+that girl, and keep her at school, and pay for her clothing, I'll
+allow her to have no secrets from me. You understand that, don't you,
+Little-sing?"
+
+"Yes. I will fetch the letter," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+She left the room. Martin was fond of her, but he was no fool. He was
+certain now that there was something in the letter which his wife did
+not wish him to see, and his curiosity was instantly aroused. He was
+determined to read poor Maggie's letter at any cost. He waited
+impatiently, drumming his large, fat hand on the highly polished oak
+table the while. Tildy came in with fresh coffee.
+
+"Please, sir," she said, "cook wants to see you for a minute."
+
+"I can't see her now. Tell her so," replied Martin.
+
+"Which is no message for a woman of my class," said Horniman, entering
+the room and showing a very heated face. "I wishes to give notice that
+I leave your service this day month."
+
+"You can go to-morrow," said Martin.
+
+"As you please, sir; wages in full."
+
+"You go to-morrow," said Martin; "and if you say another word you go
+to-night. Leave the room."
+
+Tildy breathed a little quickly, felt inclined to pat master on the
+back, thought better of it, and left the room.
+
+"Whatever is keeping Little-sing?" thought Martin to himself.
+
+He was not going to worry about cook and her whims, but of
+Little-sing and the letter. He grew a little more suspicious, and
+consequently a little more angry.
+
+"She has that letter in her pocket; I saw her put it there when I was
+acting the part of the Troubadour," he said to himself. "She is
+destroying it now; but she sha'n't--not before I get it."
+
+He softly left the dining-room and crept with catlike steps upstairs.
+He stopped outside his wife's bedroom. There was a light burning
+there. He turned the handle of the door. It was locked.
+
+"Open the door at once," he said; and Mrs. Martin flew to do so.
+
+"Oh Bo-peep, you gave me a fright!"
+
+"Where is that letter, Victoria?"
+
+"It--it--I can't find it," she replied.
+
+"What are those papers lying on the floor?"
+
+Mrs. Martin gave a cry. Mr. Martin was too quick for her. He swept up
+the pieces of torn letter, collected them in his great hand, and,
+taking Mrs. Martin with the other hand, returned with her to the
+dining-room.
+
+"Now, you sit there, Little-sing," he said, "while I piece the letter
+together. There is something in it that you want hidden from me; but
+you've quite mistook your man. There are to be no secrets between you
+and me. I'm not the least bit angry with you, but I am not going to
+have that girl ruling you. You're frightened of that girl. Now, let's
+see what she has to say."
+
+Poor Mrs. Martin trembled from head to foot. Suddenly she went on her
+knees, clasped her hands round Bo-peep's arm, and looked into his
+face. "She was naughty. She was a silly child. Oh, forgive her! I
+ought to have destroyed the letter. I ought not to have kept it until
+you came back. Please--please, don't read it!"
+
+"Nonsense, Little-sing," he replied, restored once more to the height
+of good humor. "You have roused my curiosity; nothing will induce me
+not to see every word of the letter now."
+
+It took Martin some time to piece together poor Maggie's letter; but
+at last the greater part of its meaning was made plain to him. Mrs.
+Martin sat, white as death, looking at her lord and master. What was
+going to happen? What awful thing lay ahead of her? She felt crushed
+beyond words. Once again she struggled to get on her knees to implore
+him, to entreat; but Martin put out his great hand and kept her
+forcibly in her seat.
+
+When he had quite taken in the meaning of the letter he made no
+comment whatever, but carefully deposited the torn fragments in
+his pocket-book. Then he said quietly, "I don't blame you,
+Little-sing, not one bit. But we've got to punish this girl.
+To-morrow I shall be busy in town. The day after will be Friday, and
+I shall be busy then; but on Saturday we'll take a half-holiday and
+go to visit Miss Margaret Howland at Aylmer House--you and me
+together, Little-sing--the grocer and his wife together. Not a word,
+my love; not a word."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+TILDY'S MESSAGE.
+
+
+Nothing ever kept Mrs. Martin awake; and, notwithstanding her anxiety
+with regard to Maggie, she slept soundly that night. Bo-peep was his
+own delightful self. His jokes were really too good for anything! She
+regarded him as the wittiest man of her acquaintance. She laughed till
+the tears ran down her cheeks. He told her that he would take her to
+the theater on the following evening, and further said that he would
+engage a cook himself in town, send her out in the course of the
+morning, and that Horniman could go.
+
+Horniman came up to interview her mistress soon after Martin's
+departure. She was penitent now, and willing to stay; but nothing
+would induce Martin himself to forgive her, and, in consequence, Mrs.
+Martin did not dare to do so. The woman was paid her wages in full,
+and dismissed. Then it occurred to Mrs. Martin that here was her
+opportunity to send a short note of warning to Maggie. Why she did not
+send it by post it is hard to ascertain; but she thought that it would
+go more swiftly and surely if Tildy were the messenger.
+
+Accordingly she sent for Tildy and told her what she expected her to
+do.
+
+"Matilda," she said, "cook has gone, and I shall be quite content with
+tea and toast and a lightly boiled egg for my lunch. After lunch you
+can take the train to London and convey a message from me to Miss
+Maggie."
+
+"Oh mum, 'ow beauteous!" said Tildy.
+
+"I will have a letter ready which you are, if possible, to put into
+her own hands."
+
+"Yes, 'um; and don't I long to see 'er, jest!"
+
+"Well, this is the address," said Mrs. Martin. "Get everything cosy
+and comfortable in the house, and bring me my tea by one o'clock. A
+train will take you to Victoria at half-past one, which you ought to
+catch. You can easily be back here between four and five; by that time
+the new cook will have arrived."
+
+"Things ain't dull a bit to-day'," said Tildy. "They're much more
+Shepherd's Bushy, and I like 'em a sight better than I did."
+
+"Well, go now, and attend to your business," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+Having secured a messenger, Mrs. Martin next prepared to write to poor
+Maggie:
+
+  "MY DEAR CHILD,--Most unfortunately your father has discovered
+  the letter you wrote to me. He doesn't say much, but I can see
+  that he is furiously angry. He intends to take me with him to
+  call on you next Saturday--I presume, some time in the
+  afternoon. I will try to make him dress in as gentlemanly a
+  manner as possible, and also will endeavor to prevent his
+  talking about the shop. You must make the very best of things
+  you can, dear; for there's no possible way of keeping him from
+  Aylmer House.--Your affectionate mother,
+
+                                                "VICTORIA MARTIN."
+
+When the letter was finished Mrs. Martin put it into an envelope,
+addressed to Miss Maggie Howland, Aylmer House, Randal Square, South
+Kensington, and put it into Tildy's care. Tildy caught her train all
+in good time, arrived at Victoria, and took a bus to South Kensington.
+A very little inquiry enabled her to find Randal Square, and at about
+half-past two she was standing on the steps of that most refined and
+genteel home, Aylmer House. The look of the place impressed her, but
+did not give her any sense of intimidation. When the door was opened
+to her modest ring, and the pleasant, bright-looking parlor-maid
+answered her summons, Tildy gazed at her with great interest but
+without a scrap of shyness.
+
+"I've come from 'er 'ome to see Miss Maggie 'Owland," said Tildy; "and
+I've a message for 'er from 'er ma."
+
+The girl, whose name was Agnes, stared for a minute at Tildy. She
+recognized her "sort" in a moment. Tildy belonged to the lodging-house
+sort of girl. What she could have to do with one of Agnes's young
+ladies puzzled that young person considerably. It was the rule,
+however, at Aylmer House that no one, however poor or humble, should
+be treated with rudeness, and certainly a person bringing a message to
+one of the young ladies was entitled to respect. Agnes said,
+therefore, in a polite and superior tone, "Step in, will you, miss?
+and I will find out if Miss Howland is in."
+
+Tildy stepped into the hall, feeling, as she expressed it, "dream-like
+and queer all over." She did not dare to sit down, but stood on the
+mat, gazing with her bright, inquisitive eyes at the various things in
+this new world in which she found herself.
+
+"How beauteous!" she kept repeating at intervals. "Why, Laburnum Villa
+ain't a patch on this. How very beauteous! No wonder Miss Maggie 'ave
+the hair of a queen."
+
+Now, it so happened that Maggie Howland was out, and would not be back
+for some time. This was the day when she and the other girls belonging
+to her kingdom had gone forth to purchase all sorts of good things for
+the coming feast. Maggie, as queen, had put a whole sovereign into the
+bag. There would, therefore, be no stint of first-class provisions.
+Every sort of eatable that was not usually permitted at Aylmer House
+was to grace the board--jelly, meringues, frosted cake, tipsy cake, as
+well as chickens garnished in the most exquisite way and prepared
+specially by a confectioner round the corner; also different dainties
+in aspic jellies were to be ordered. Then flowers were to be secured
+in advance, so as to make the table really very beautiful.
+
+Maggie, Kathleen O'Donnell, and Janet were the people selected to
+arrange about the supper. Not a single thing was to be cooked in the
+establishment; this would give extra trouble to the servants, and was
+therefore not to be permitted. The girls would make their own
+sandwiches; and, oh, what troublesome thoughts they had over these!
+Maggie was in the highest spirits, and left the house with her
+companions--Miss Johnson, of course, in close attendance--half-an-hour
+before Tildy with her ominous letter appeared on the scene.
+
+Now, it so happened that Agnes knew nothing at all of the absence of
+the young ladies. They usually went out by a side-door which had been
+specially assigned to their use when the house was turned into a
+school. As Agnes was going upstairs, however, in order to try to find
+Maggie, she met Aneta coming down.
+
+"Oh miss," she said, "can you tell me if Miss Howland is in?"
+
+"No," said Aneta, "I happen to know that she is out, and I don't think
+she will be in for some little time."
+
+"Very well, miss; the young person will be sorry, I expect."
+
+"What young person?" asked Aneta, eager in her turn to find out why
+Maggie was inquired for.
+
+"A girl, miss, who has called, and has asked very particularly to see
+Miss Howland. She's rather a common sort of girl, miss, although I
+dare say she means well."
+
+"I will go and see her myself," said Aneta; "perhaps I can convey a
+message from her to Miss Howland, for I know she won't be back for
+some little time."
+
+Agnes, quite relieved in her mind, turned down the back-stairs and
+went to attend to her numerous duties. A few minutes after, Aneta, in
+all her slim grace, stood in the hall and confronted Tildy. Aneta was
+herself going out; she was going out with Mademoiselle Laplage. They
+had some commissions to execute. The day was a foggy one, and they
+were both rather in a hurry. Nevertheless, Aneta stopped to say a kind
+word to Tildy. Tildy gazed at her with open-eyed admiration. Beautiful
+as the house was, this young lady was indeed a radiant and dazzling
+vision.
+
+"She made me sort o' choky," said Tildy as she related the
+circumstance afterwards to Mrs. Martin. "There was a hair about her.
+Well, much as I loves our Miss Maggie, she ain't got the hair o' that
+beauteous young lady, with 'er eyes as blue as the sky, and 'er walk
+so very distinguishified."
+
+"What can I do for you?" said Aneta now, in a kind tone.
+
+Tildy dropped an awkward curtsy. "I've come, miss," she said, "to see
+our Miss Maggie."
+
+"Miss Howland is out," said Aneta.
+
+"Oh, miss!" replied Tildy, the corners of her mouth beginning to
+droop, "that's crool 'ard on me. Do you think, miss, if I may make so
+bold as to inquire, that Miss Maggie 'll be in soon?"
+
+"I do not think so," replied Aneta; "but I can convey any message you
+like to her, if you will trust me."
+
+"Oh miss," said Tildy, worshipping Aneta on the spot, "who wouldn't
+trust one like you?"
+
+"Well, what is it? What can I do for you?"
+
+"I was maid, miss--maid-of-all-work--at Shepherd's Bush when Miss
+Maggie and 'er ma used to live there; and when Mrs. 'Owland married
+Martin the grocer they was that kind they took me to live at Laburnum
+Villa. It's a very rich and comfortable 'ouse, miss; and the way they
+two goes on is most excitin'. It's joke, joke, and play, play, from
+morn till night--that's the ma and steppa of Miss Maggie. I've brought
+a letter from Mrs. Martin to be delivered straight to Miss Maggie."
+
+"I can give it to her," said Aneta in her calm voice.
+
+"You'll per'aps mention, miss," said Tildy, taking the letter from her
+pocket, "as I called, and as I love our dear Miss Maggie as much as I
+ever did. You'll per'aps say, miss, with my dutiful respects, that my
+'eart is 'ers, and always will be."
+
+"I will give her a kind message," said Aneta, "and safely deliver her
+mother's letter to her. I am afraid there's no use in asking you to
+stay, as Miss Howland is very much occupied just now."
+
+"Very well, miss, I've delivered my message faithful."
+
+"You have."
+
+As Aneta spoke she herself opened the hall-door.
+
+"Good-day, miss," said Tildy, dropping another curtsy, "and I wishes
+you well."
+
+"Good-day," replied Aneta.
+
+Tildy's little form was swallowed up in the fog, which was growing
+thicker each moment, and at that instant Mademoiselle Laplage, profuse
+in apologies for her brief delay, entered the hall.
+
+"Pardon me, _ma chere_, that I have caused you to wait. I was just
+ready to descend, when--see! the lace of my shoe was broken. But what
+will you? You will go out in this dreadful fog?"
+
+Aneta replied in French that she did not think the fog was too thick,
+and the French governess and the girl went out together into the
+street. But all the time Aneta Lysle was thinking hard. She was in
+possession of Maggie's secret. Her stepfather, instead of being
+related to the Martyns of The Meadows, was a grocer! Aneta belonged to
+that class of persons who think a great deal of good birth. She did
+not mind Tildy in the least, for Tildy was so far below her as to be
+after a fashion quite companionable; but--a grocer! Nevertheless,
+Aneta had a heart. She thought of Maggie, and the more she thought of
+her the more pitiful she felt towards her. She did not want to crush
+or humiliate her schoolfellow. She felt almost glad that the secret
+of Maggie's unhappiness had been made known to her. She might at last
+gain a true influence over the girl.
+
+Her walk, therefore, with Mademoiselle Laplage took place almost in
+silence. They hastily executed their commissions, and presently found
+themselves in Pearce's shop, where Aneta had taken a brooch a day or
+two ago to have a pin put on.
+
+The shopman, as he handed her the mended brooch, said at the same
+time, "If you will excuse me, miss, you are one of the young ladies
+who live at Aylmer House?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "that is true."
+
+"Then I wonder, miss, if"----He paused a minute, looked hard at the
+girl, and then continued, "Might my brother speak to you for a minute,
+miss?"
+
+"But it make so cold!" said mademoiselle, who knew very little of the
+English tongue, "and behold--zee fog! I have such fear of it. It is
+not to joke when it fogs in your country, _ma chere. Il faute bien
+depecher_."
+
+"I shall be quite ready to come back with you in a minute or two,"
+said Aneta.
+
+Just then the man who had bought the brooch from Maggie appeared. "I
+am very sorry, miss," he said, "but I thought that, instead of writing
+to Miss Howland, I might send her a message; otherwise I should have
+to see Mrs. Ward on the matter."
+
+"But what matter is it?" said Aneta. "You want to see Miss Howland, or
+you want me to take her a message?"
+
+"Well, miss, it's no special secret; only my brother and I cannot
+afford to buy the brooch which she sold us the other day."
+
+"But I don't understand," said Aneta. "Miss Howland sold you a brooch?
+Then if she sold it, you did buy it."
+
+"The fact is, miss," said young Pearce, coloring rather deeply, "I was
+not myself quite aware of its value at the time, and I gave the young
+lady much too small a sum of money for it. I want her to return me the
+money, and I will give her back the brooch. My brother and I have been
+talking it over, and we cannot do an injustice to one of the ladies at
+Aylmer House--it is quite impossible."
+
+"I will give your message," said Aneta coldly. "Please do not purchase
+anything else from Miss Howland. She will doubtless call to see you
+to-morrow."
+
+"Thank you, miss; then that is all right," said the man, looking much
+relieved.
+
+Aneta hastened home. She felt perplexed and alarmed. She must see
+Maggie, and as soon as possible. It was a strange fact that while
+Maggie was in no danger at all, while everything seemed to be going
+right with her, and as long as she held an undeniable position in the
+school as one of the queens, Aneta could scarcely endure her; that now
+that Maggie Howland, was, so to speak, at her mercy, this girl, whose
+nature was fine and brave and good, felt a strong desire to help
+her.
+
+There were, however, very strict rules at Aylmer House, and one of
+them was that no girl on any account whatsoever was to sell any of her
+possessions in order to make money. This was one of the unwritten
+rules of the school; but the idea of an Aylmer House girl really
+requiring to do such a thing was never contemplated for an instant.
+There were broad lines of conduct, however, which no girl was expected
+to pass. Liberty was allowed to a great extent at Aylmer House; but it
+was a liberty which only those who struggle to walk in the right path
+can fully enjoy. Crooked ways, underhand dealings, could not be
+permitted in the school.
+
+Maggie had done quite enough to cause her to be expelled. There had
+been times when Aneta almost wished for this; when she had felt deep
+down in her heart that Maggie Howland was the one adverse influence in
+the school; when she had been certain that if Maggie Howland were
+removed all the other girls would come more or less under her own
+gentle sway, and she would be queen, not of the greater number of the
+girls at Aylmer House, but of all the girls, and very gentle, very
+loving, very sympathetic would be her rule. Her subjects should feel
+her sympathy, but at the same time they should acknowledge her power.
+Maggie's was a counter-influence; and now there was a chance of
+putting a stop to it.
+
+Aneta knew well that, kind as Mrs. Ward was to Maggie, she did not in
+her heart absolutely trust her. Therefore, if Maggie left it would
+also be a relief to Mrs. Ward. Miss Johnson might be sorry, and one or
+two of the girls might be sorry; in particular, dear little Merry.
+Aneta had a great love for Merry, and was deeply sorry to feel that
+Merry was under Maggie's spell; that was the case, although she did
+not openly belong to Maggie's party. So Merry too would be saved if
+Maggie left the school. Oh! it was most desirable, and Aneta held the
+key of the position in her hand. She also had in her pocket Mrs.
+Martin's letter. That did not perhaps so greatly matter, for Maggie's
+father, whatever her mother had done, was himself a gentleman; but the
+fact of Maggie's slipping out of doors alone to sell an ornament was a
+sufficiently grave offense to banish her from such a school as Aylmer
+House.
+
+Yes, Aneta could send her away, but it might be managed dexterously.
+Maggie might stay till the end of the present term and then go,
+knowing herself that she would never return, whereas the girls would
+know nothing about it until the beginning of the next term, when they
+would no longer see her familiar face or hear her pleasant voice. A
+few of them might be sorry, but they would quickly forget. The school
+would be the better for her absence. The thing could be done, and it
+would be done, if Aneta used that knowledge which she now possessed.
+
+The girls all met at tea, and Maggie was in the highest spirits. She
+knew nothing whatever of all the information which Aneta had gathered
+in her absence. She knew nothing of Tildy's arrival, of Tildy's
+departure, nor of the letter which Aneta had put into one of her
+drawers. Still less did she know anything of Pearce and his betrayal
+of her. She and her companions had had a very pleasant time, and
+immediately after tea, in the "leisure hours," they were to meet in
+the girl's private sitting-room to discuss matters officially.
+
+The Aneta girls had, by common consent, given up the room to them
+during these last important days. There were plenty of nooks and
+corners all over the cheerful house where they could amuse themselves
+and talk secrets, and have that sort of confidence which schoolgirls
+delight in.
+
+As soon as tea was over Maggie jumped up and said, "Now, Kitty"--she
+turned to Kathleen O'Donnell as she spoke--"you and I, and Rosamond
+and Jane, and Matty and Clara, and the Tristrams will get through our
+work as quickly as possible.--I suppose, girls"--here she glanced at
+Aneta in particular--"you will let us have the sitting-room as usual
+during the leisure hours?"
+
+"Of course we will," said Sylvia St. John in her gentle tone; but she
+had scarcely uttered the words before Aneta rose.
+
+"Of course you can have the sitting-room," she said; "but I want to
+talk to you, Maggie."
+
+"You can't, I am afraid, just now," said Maggie. "I am much too
+busy.--We have to go into accounts, girls," she added. "There are no
+end of things to be done, besides, at the rehearsal." Here she dropped
+her voice slightly.
+
+"The rest of you can go to the sitting-room and do what is necessary,"
+continued Aneta. "I want you, Maggie, and you had better come with
+me." She spoke very firmly.
+
+A dogged look came into Maggie's face. She threw back her head and
+glanced full at Aneta. "I go with you," she said, "just because you
+ask me, forsooth! You forget yourself, Queen Aneta. I also am a queen
+and have a kingdom."
+
+"My business with you has something to do with a person who calls
+herself Tildy," said Aneta in her gravest voice; and Maggie suddenly
+felt as though a cold douche had been thrown over her. She colored a
+vivid red. Then she turned eagerly to Kathleen.
+
+"I won't be a minute," she said. "You all go into the sitting-room and
+get the accounts in order. You might also go over that tableaux with
+Diana Vernon.--Kathleen, you know that you must put a little more life
+into your face than you did the other day; and--and--oh dear, how
+annoying this is!--Yes, of course I will go with you, Aneta. You won't
+keep me a minute?"
+
+Maggie and Aneta left the room.
+
+Merry turned to her sister and said in a troubled voice, "I can't
+imagine why it is that Aneta doesn't care for poor Maggie. I love
+Aneta, of course, for she is our very own cousin; but I cannot
+understand her want of sympathy for dearest Maggie."
+
+"I am not altogether quite so fond of Maggie as you are, Merry; and
+you know that," said Cicely.
+
+"I know it," said Merry. "You are altogether taken up with Aneta."
+
+"Oh, and with school generally," said Cicely, "it is all so splendid.
+But come, we are alone in the room, and losing some of our delightful
+leisure hours."
+
+The Maggie-girls had meanwhile retired into the sitting-room, where
+they stood together in groups, talking about the excitement which was
+to take place on the following Saturday (it was now Thursday), and
+paying very little heed to Maggie's injunctions to put the accounts in
+order.
+
+"Don't bother about accounts," said Kitty; "there's heaps of money
+left in the bag. Wasn't it scrumptious of old Mags to put a whole
+sovereign in? And I know she is not rich, the dear old precious!"
+
+"She is exactly the sort of girl who would do a generous thing," said
+Clara Roache, "and of course, as queen, she felt that she must put a
+little more money into the bag than the rest of us."
+
+"Well, she needn't," said Kathleen. "I'd have loved her just as much
+if she hadn't put a penny in. She is a duck, though! I can't think why
+I care so much about her, for she's not beautiful."
+
+"Strictly speaking, she is plain," said Janet Burns; "but in a case
+like Maggie's plain face doesn't matter in the least."
+
+"She has got something inside," said Matty, "which makes up for her
+plain features. It's her soul shining out of her eyes."
+
+"Yes, of course," said Kathleen O'Donnell; "and it fills her voice
+too. She has got power and--what you call charm. She is meant to rule
+people."
+
+"I admire her myself more than Aneta Lysle," said Janet Burns,
+"although of course all the world would call Aneta beautiful."
+
+"Yes, that is quite true," said Kathleen; "but I call Aneta a little
+stiff, and she is very determined too, and she doesn't like poor old
+Mags one single bit. Wasn't it jolly of Mags to get up this glorious
+day for us? Won't we have fun? Aneta may look to her laurels, for it's
+my opinion that the Gibsons and the Cardews will both come over to our
+side after Saturday."
+
+While this conversation was going on, and Maggie's absence was
+deplored, and no business whatever was being done towards the
+entertainment of Saturday, Maggie found herself seated opposite to
+Aneta in Aneta's own bedroom. Maggie felt queer and shaken. She did
+not quite know what was the matter. Aneta's face was very quiet.
+
+After a time she drew a letter from her pocket and put it into
+Maggie's hand.
+
+"Who brought this?" asked Maggie.
+
+"A person who called herself Tildy."
+
+Maggie held the letter unopened in her lap.
+
+"Why don't you read it?" said Aneta.
+
+Maggie took it up and glanced at the handwriting. Then she put it down
+again.
+
+"It's from my mother," she said. "It can keep."
+
+"I cannot imagine," said Aneta, "anybody waiting even for one moment
+to read a letter which one's own mother has written. My mother is
+dead, you know."
+
+She spoke in a low tone, and her pretty eyelashes rested on her softly
+rounded cheeks.
+
+Maggie looked at her. "Why did you bring me up here, Aneta, away from
+all the others, away from our important business, to give me this
+letter?"
+
+"I thought you would rather have it in private," said Aneta.
+
+"You thought more than that, Aneta."
+
+"Yes, I thought more than that," said Aneta in her gentlest tone.
+
+Maggie's queer, narrow, eyes flashed fire. Suddenly she stood up. "You
+have something to say. Say it, and be quick, for I must go."
+
+"I don't think you must go just yet, Maggie; for what I have to say
+cannot be said in a minute. You will have to give up your leisure
+hours to-day."
+
+"I cannot. Our entertainment is on Saturday."
+
+"The entertainment must wait," said Aneta. "It is of no consequence
+compared to what I have to say to you."
+
+"Oh, have it out!" said Maggie. "You were always spying and prying on
+me. You always hated me. I don't know what I have done to you. I'd
+have left you alone if you had left me alone; but you have interfered
+with me and made my life miserable. God knows, I am not too
+happy"--Maggie struggled with her emotion--"but you have made things
+twice as bad."
+
+"Do you really, really think that, Maggie? Please don't say any more,
+then, until you hear me out to the end. I will tell you as quickly as
+possible; I will put you out of suspense. I could have made things
+very different for you, but at least I will put you out of suspense."
+
+"Well, go on; I am willing to listen. I hope you will be brief."
+
+"It is this, Maggie. I will say nothing about your past; I simply tell
+you what, through no fault of mine, I found out to-day. You gave the
+girls of this school to understand that your mother's husband--your
+stepfather--was a gentleman of old family. The person called Tildy
+told me about Mr. Martin. He may be a gentleman by nature, but he is
+not one by profession."
+
+Maggie clutched one of her hands so tightly that the nails almost
+pierced her flesh.
+
+"I won't hurt you, Maggie, by saying much on that subject. Your own
+father was a gentleman, and you cannot help your mother having married
+beneath her."
+
+Maggie gasped. Such words as these from the proud Aneta!
+
+"But there is worse to follow," continued Aneta. "I happened to go to
+Pearce's to-day."
+
+Maggie, who had half-risen, sank back again in her seat.
+
+"And Pearce wants to see you in order to return a brooch which you
+sold him. He says that he cannot afford the right price for the
+brooch. He wants you to give him back the money which he lent you on
+it, and he wants you to have the brooch again in your possession. You,
+of course, know, Maggie, that in selling one of your belongings and in
+going out without leave you broke one of the fundamental rules of
+Aylmer House. You know that, therefore----Why, what is the matter?"
+
+Maggie's queer face was working convulsively. After a time slow, big
+tears gathered in her eyes. Her complexion changed from its usual dull
+ugliness to a vivid red; it then went white, so ghastly white that the
+girl might have been going to faint. All this took place in less than
+a minute. At the end of that time Maggie was her old disdainful, angry
+self once more.
+
+"You must be very glad," she said. "You have me in your power at last.
+My stepfather is a grocer. He keeps a shop at Shepherd's Bush. He is
+one of the most horribly vulgar men that ever lived. Had I been at
+home my mother would not have consented to marry him. But my mother,
+although pretty and refined-looking, and in herself a lady, has little
+force of character, and she was quite alone and very poor indeed. You,
+who don't know the meaning of the word 'poor,' cannot conceive what it
+meant to her. Little Merry guessed--dear, dear little Merry; but as to
+you, you think when you subscribe to this charity and the other, you
+think when you adopt an East End child and write letters to her, and
+give of your superabundance to benefit her, that you understand the
+poor. I tell you you _don't_! Your wealth is a curse to you, not a
+blessing. You no more understand what people like mother and like
+myself have lived through than you understand what the inhabitants of
+Mars do--the petty shifts, the smallnesses, the queer efforts to make
+two ends meet! You in your lovely home, and surrounded by lovely
+things, and your aunt so proud of you--how _can_ you understand what
+lodgings in the hot weather in Shepherd's Bush are like? Mother
+understood--never any fresh air, never any tempting food; Tildy, that
+poor little faithful girl as servant--slavey was her right name; Tildy
+at every one's beck and call, always with a smut on her cheek, and her
+hair so untidy, and her little person so disreputable; and mother
+alone, wondering how she could make two ends meet. Talk of your
+knowing what the poor people in my class go through!"
+
+"I don't pretend that I do know, Maggie," said Aneta, who was
+impressed by the passion and strength of Maggie's words. "I don't
+pretend it for a moment. The poverty of such lives is to me a sealed
+book. But--forgive me--if you are so poor, how could you come here?"
+
+"I don't mind your knowing everything now," said Maggie. "I am
+disgraced, and nothing will ever get me out of my trouble. I am up to
+my neck, and I may as well drown at once; but Mrs. Ward--she
+understood what a poor girl whose father was a gentleman could feel,
+and she--oh, she was good!--she took me for so little that mother
+could afford it. She made no difference between you and me, Aneta, who
+are so rich, and your cousins the Cardews, who are so rich too. She
+said, 'Maggie Howland, your father was a gentleman and a man of honor,
+a man of whom his country was proud; and I will educate you, and give
+you your chance.' And, oh, I was happy here! And I--and I should be
+happy now but for you and your prying ways."
+
+"You are unkind to me, Maggie. The knowledge that your stepfather was
+a grocer was brought to me in a most unexpected way. I was not to
+blame for the little person who called herself Tildy coming here
+to-day. Tildy felt no shame in the fact that your mother had married a
+grocer. She was far more lady-like about it than you are, Maggie. No
+one could have blamed you because your mother chose to marry beneath
+her. But you were to blame, Maggie, when you gave us to understand
+that her husband was in quite a different position from what he is."
+
+"And you think," said Maggie, stamping her foot, "that the girls of
+this house--Kathleen O'Donnell, Sylvia St. John, Henrietta and Mary
+Gibson, the Cardews, the Tristrams, you yourself--would put up with me
+for a single moment if it was known what my mother has done?"
+
+"I think you underrate us all," said Aneta. Then she came close to
+Maggie and took one of her hands. "I want to tell you something," she
+added.
+
+Maggie had never before allowed her hand to remain for a second in
+Aneta's grasp. But there was something at this moment about the young
+girl, a look in her eyes, which absolutely puzzled Maggie and caused
+her to remain mute. She had struggled for a minute, but now her hand
+lay still in Aneta's clasp.
+
+"I want to help you," said Aneta.
+
+"To--help me! How? I thought you hated me."
+
+"Well, as a matter of fact," said Aneta, "I did not love you
+until"----
+
+"Until?" said Maggie, her eyes shining and her little face becoming
+transformed in a minute.
+
+"Until I knew what you must have suffered."
+
+"You do not mean to say that you love me now?"
+
+"I believe," said Aneta, looking fixedly at Maggie, "that I could love
+you."
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie. She snatched her hand away, and, walking to the
+window, looked out. The fog was thicker than ever, and she could see
+nothing. But that did not matter. She wanted to keep her back turned
+to Aneta. Presently her shoulders began to heave, and, taking her
+handkerchief from her pocket, she pressed it to her eyes. Then she
+turned round. "Go on," she said.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Aneta.
+
+"Say what you want to say. I am the stepdaughter of a grocer, and I
+have broken one of the strictest rules in the school. When will you
+tell Mrs. Ward? I had better leave at once."
+
+"You needn't leave at all."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean," said Aneta, "that if you will tell Mrs. Ward everything--all
+about your stepfather, and all about your selling that jewel and going
+out without leave--I am positively sure that dear Mrs. Ward will not
+expel you from the school. I am also sure, Maggie, that there will not
+be one girl at Aylmer House who will ever reproach you. As to your
+stepfather being what he is, no girl in her senses would blame you for
+that. You are the daughter of Professor Howland, one of the greatest
+explorers of his time--a man who has had a book written about him, and
+has largely contributed to the world's knowledge. Don't forget that,
+please; none of us are likely to forget it. As to the other
+thing--well, there is always the road of confession, and I am quite
+certain that if you will see Mrs. Ward she will be kind to you and
+forgive you; for her heart is very big and her sympathies very wide;
+and then, afterwards, I myself will, for your sake, try to understand
+your position, and I myself will be your true friend."
+
+"Oh Aneta!" said Maggie.
+
+She ran up to Aneta; she took her hand; she raised it to her lips and
+kissed it.
+
+"Give me till to-morrow," she said. "Promise that you won't say
+anything till to-morrow."
+
+Aneta promised. Maggie went to her room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ANETA'S PLAN.
+
+
+The girls downstairs wondered why Maggie Howland did not appear. After
+an hour of waiting Kathleen O'Donnell took the lead. The accounts were
+left alone, but the tableaux vivants were diligently rehearsed, the
+Tristrams and Jane Burns being the three critics; Rosamond Dacre,
+Kathleen O'Donnell, and Matty and Clara Roache the performers. But,
+somehow, there was no life in the acting, for the moving spirit was
+not there; the bright, quick eye was missed, the eager words were
+lacking, with the pointed and telling criticism. Then there was the
+scene where Maggie herself was to take a part. It was from _The
+Talisman_, and a night-scene, which she was able to render with great
+precision and even beauty, and the dun light would be in her favor. It
+was to be the crowning one, and the last of the tableaux. It was
+expected to bring down the house. But Maggie was not there, and the
+girls could not help feeling a little disconsolate and a little
+surprised.
+
+At supper that evening there were eager inquiries with regard to
+Maggie Howland. All the girls came up to ask Aneta where the other
+queen was.
+
+"She is not quite well, and has gone to bed," said Aneta. "She does
+not wish to be disturbed until the morning."
+
+Aneta's words had a curious effect upon every one who heard her speak.
+It was as though she had, for the first time in her life, absolutely
+taken Maggie's part. Her eyes, when she spoke of Maggie, were full of
+affection. The girls were puzzled; but Merry, as they turned away,
+suddenly ran back to Aneta, swept her arm round the girl's neck, and
+said, "Oh Neta, I do love you!"
+
+Aneta pressed Merry's hand. For the first time these two understood
+each other.
+
+Meanwhile poor Maggie was living through one of the most dreadful
+periods of her life. Her mother's intimation that she and her
+stepfather were coming without fail to Aylmer House on Saturday--_the_
+day, the glorious day when Maggie and her friends were to entertain
+Mrs. Ward and the rest of the school--drove the girl nearly wild.
+Aneta had discovered her secret, and Aneta had urged, as the one way
+out, the painful but salutary road of confession. Maggie writhed at
+the thought, but she writhed far more terribly at the news which her
+mother's letter contained.
+
+The girl said to herself, "I cannot stand it! I will run away! He has
+destroyed my last chance. I will run away and hide. I will go
+to-night. There is no use in waiting. Aneta is kind; she is far kinder
+than I could ever have given her credit for. She would, I believe,
+help me; and dear Mrs. Ward would help me--I am sure of that. And I
+don't really mind now that it comes to the point of losing my position
+in the school as queen; but for all the school--for the Tristrams, for
+Merry Cardew, for Kathleen--to see that man is beyond my power of
+endurance. He will call here, and he will bring poor mother, but as I
+won't be here I won't feel anything. I will go to-night. I'll slip
+downstairs and let myself out. I have some money--thank goodness for
+that!--and I have my father's treasures. I can take them out of the
+tin box and wear them on my person, and I can sell them one by one.
+Yes, I will run away. There's no help for it."
+
+Maggie, at Aneta's suggestion, had got into bed, but even to think of
+sleep was beyond her power. She got up again presently, dressed, and
+sat by the foggy window. The fog was worse; it was so thick now that
+you could not see your way even as far as the trees in the middle of
+the square. There were fog-signals sounding from time to time, and
+cabs going very slowly, and boys carrying torches to light belated and
+lost passengers.
+
+Maggie was safe enough in her room, which had, like all the other
+bedrooms at Aylmer House, a small fire burning in the grate. By-and-by
+some one tapped at the door. Maggie said, "Don't come in"; but her
+words were unheeded. The door was opened an inch or two, and Merry
+Cardew entered.
+
+"Oh Merry, you--of all people!" said Maggie.
+
+"And why not?" said Merry. "I am your friend--your own very, very
+great friend. What is the matter, Mags? You were so jolly at tea; what
+can have happened since?"
+
+"Something most dreadful," said Maggie; "but you will know on
+Saturday."
+
+"Oh!" said Merry, coming up to Maggie and dropping on her knees and
+fondling one of the girl's cold hands, "why should I wait till
+Saturday? Why should I not know now?"
+
+"I can't talk of it, Merry. I am glad you--you--_loved_ me. You won't
+love me in the future. But kiss me just this once."
+
+"I am not going to leave you like this," said Merry.
+
+"You must, dear; yes, you must. Please, please go! And--please, be
+quick. Some one will see us together. Lucy Johnson will come in. Oh!
+don't make matters worse for me. Good-night, Merry, good-night."
+
+Maggie seemed so anxious that Merry should go that the girl felt hurt
+and rose to her feet.
+
+"Good-night, Merry dear," said Maggie as Merry was walking towards the
+door. Then she added, in a semi-whisper which Merry did not catch,
+"And good-bye, Merry dear; we shall never meet again."
+
+Merry left the room, feeling full of apprehension. She thought for a
+minute as she stood outside. Then she went and knocked at Aneta's
+door.
+
+"Aneta, may I come in?"
+
+"Of course, dear. What is the matter?" said her cousin.
+
+Merry entered at once.
+
+"I have been to see Maggie. She is awfully queer. Oh, I know I broke
+the rules. I must tell Miss Johnson in the morning."
+
+"I did beg of you, Merry, not to go to her," said Aneta.
+
+"Yes, I know you did; but I could not help thinking and thinking about
+her. She is very queer. Her eyes look so strange."
+
+"I hoped she was in bed and asleep," said Aneta.
+
+"In bed!" said Merry. "Not a bit of it. She was up and sitting by the
+window gazing at the fog."
+
+"I will go and see her myself," said Aneta.
+
+"Will you, Neta? And you will be kind to her?"
+
+"Yes, darling, of course."
+
+"Somehow, she used to think that--that you didn't love her," said
+Merry.
+
+"Nor did I," said Aneta. "But I will be kind to her; don't be afraid.
+I think I can guess what is the matter."
+
+"It is all very queer," said Merry. "She was in such splendid spirits
+to-day; all the girls said so when they were out preparing for our
+party, and now she looks years older and utterly miserable."
+
+"Go to bed, Merry, and leave your friend in my care."
+
+"Then you don't think it wrong of me to be very fond of her?"
+
+"I do not, Merry. There was a time when I hoped you would not care for
+her; now I earnestly want you to be her true friend. There is a very
+great deal of good in her, and she has had many sorrows. Pray for her
+to-night. Don't be anxious. Everything will come as right as
+possible."
+
+"Oh Neta," said Merry, "you are a darling! And when you talk like that
+I love you more than I ever did before. You see, dear, I could not
+help caring for Maggie from the very first, and nothing nor anybody
+can alter my love."
+
+Aneta kissed Merry, who left the room. Then Aneta herself, taking up
+her candle, went out. She was wearing a long white wrapper, and her
+clouds of golden hair were falling far below her waist. She looked
+almost like an angel as she went down the corridor as far as Miss
+Johnson's room.
+
+Lucy Johnson was just getting into bed when Aneta knocked.
+
+"What is it, Neta?" said the governess in a tone almost of alarm.
+
+"I want to break a rule, Lucy," said Aneta; "so put me down for
+punishment to-morrow."
+
+"Oh, but why? What are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to do something which I shall be punished for. I am going
+to spend to-night, if necessary, with Maggie Howland."
+
+"Is she ill, Neta? Ought we to send for the doctor?"
+
+"Oh no, she is not a bit ill in that way. Good-night, Lucy; I felt I
+ought to tell you."
+
+Aneta continued her way until she reached Maggie's room. It was now
+past midnight. The quiet and regular household had all retired to bed,
+and Maggie had feverishly begun to prepare for departure. She knew how
+to let herself out. Once out of the house, she would be, so she felt,
+through the worst part of her trouble. She was not unacquainted with
+the ways of this cruel world, and thought that she might be taken in
+at some hotel, not too far away, for the night. Early in the morning
+she would go by train to some seaside place. From there she would
+embark for the Continent. Beyond that she had made no plans.
+
+Maggie was in the act of removing her father's treasures from the tin
+boxes when, without any warning, the room-door was opened, and Aneta,
+in her pure white dress, with her golden hair surrounding her very
+fair face, entered the room.
+
+"Oh!" said Maggie, dropping a curiously made cross in her confusion
+and turning a dull brick-red. "Whatever have you come about?"
+
+Aneta closed the door calmly, and placed her lighted candle on the top
+of Maggie's chest of drawers.
+
+"I hoped you were in bed and asleep," she said; "but instead of that
+you are up. I have made arrangements to spend the night with you. It
+is bitterly cold. We must build up the fire."
+
+Maggie felt wild.
+
+Aneta did not take the slightest notice. She knelt down and put knobs
+of fresh coal on the fire. Soon it was blazing up merrily. "That's
+better," she said. "Now, don't you think a cup of cocoa each would be
+advisable?"
+
+"I don't want to eat," said Maggie.
+
+"I should like the cocoa," said Aneta; "and I have brought it with me.
+I thought your supply might be out. Here's your glass of milk which
+you never drank, and here's a little saucepan, and there are cups and
+saucers in your cupboard, and a box of biscuits. Just sit down, won't
+you? while I make the cocoa."
+
+Maggie felt very strange. Her dislike of Aneta was growing less and
+less moment by moment. Nevertheless, she by no means gave up her
+primary idea of running away. She felt that she must hoodwink Aneta.
+Surely she was clever enough for that. The best plan would be to
+acquiesce in the cocoa scheme, afterwards to pretend that she was
+sleepy, and go to bed. Then Aneta would, of course, leave her, and
+there would still be plenty of time to get out of the house and
+disappear into the foggy world of London. The glowing fire, the
+beautiful young girl kneeling by it, the preparation for the little
+meal which she made with such swiftness and dexterity, caused Maggie
+to gaze at her in speechless amazement.
+
+Maggie drank her delicious cocoa and munched her biscuits with
+appetite, and afterwards she felt better. The world was not quite so
+black and desolate, and Aneta looked lovely with her soft eyes glowing
+and the rose-color in her cheeks.
+
+"Why are you doing all this for me?" said Maggie then.
+
+"Why?" said Aneta. "I think the reason is very simple." Then she
+paused for a minute and her eyes filled with sudden tears. "I think it
+is, Maggie, because quite unexpectedly I have learned to love you."
+
+"You--to love me--me?" said Maggie.
+
+"Yes."
+
+Maggie felt herself trembling. She could not reply. She did not
+understand that she returned the love so suddenly given to her--given
+to her, too, in her moment of deepest degradation, of her most utter
+misery. Once again the feeling that she must go, that she could not
+face confession and the scorn of the school, and the awful words of
+Bo-peep, and her poor mother as Bo-peep's wife, overpowered her.
+
+"You are--very kind," she said in a broken voice; "and the cocoa was
+good; and, if you don't mind--I will--go to bed now, and
+perhaps--sleep a little."
+
+"What have you been doing with all those lovely curios?" said Aneta.
+
+"I?" said Maggie. "I--oh, I like to look at them."
+
+"Do pick up that cross which is lying on the floor, and let me examine
+it."
+
+Maggie did so rather unwillingly.
+
+"Please bring over all the other things, and let me look at them,"
+said Aneta then.
+
+Maggie obeyed, but grudgingly, as though she did not care that Aneta
+should handle them.
+
+"Why have you taken them out of their boxes and put them all in a
+muddle like this?" said Aneta.
+
+"I--I wanted something to do," said Maggie. "I couldn't sleep."
+
+"Was that the only reason--honor bright?" said Aneta.
+
+Maggie dropped her eyes.
+
+Aneta did not question her any further, but she drew her down to a low
+chair by the fire, and put a hand on her lap, and kept on looking at
+the treasures: the bracelets, the crosses, the brooches, the quaint
+designs belonging to a bygone period. After a time she said, "I am not
+at all sure--I am not a real judge of treasures; but I have an uncle,
+Sir Charles Lysle, who knows more about these things than any one else
+in London; and if he thinks what I am inclined to think with regard to
+the contents of these two boxes, you will be"----She stopped
+abruptly.
+
+Maggie's eyes were shining. "Aneta," she said, "don't talk of these
+any more; and don't talk either of wealth or poverty any more. There
+is something I want to say. When you came into my room just now I was
+packing up to run away."
+
+"Oh yes, I know that," said Aneta. "I saw that you had that intention
+the moment I entered the room."
+
+"And you said nothing!"
+
+"Why should I? I didn't want to force your confidence. But you're not
+going to run away now, Mags?" She bent towards her and kissed her on
+the forehead.
+
+"Yes," said Maggie, trembling. "I want you to let me go."
+
+"I cannot possibly do that, dear. If you go, I go too."
+
+"I must go," said Maggie. "You don't understand. You found things out
+about me to-day, and you have behaved--well, splendidly. I didn't give
+you credit for it. I didn't know you. Now I do know you, and I see
+that no girl in the school can be compared to you for nobleness and
+courage, and just for being downright splendid. But, Aneta, I cannot
+bear that which is before me."
+
+"The fact is," said Aneta, "you are in the midst of a terrible battle,
+and you mean to give in and turn tail, and let the enemy walk over the
+field. That is not a bit what I should have expected at one time from
+Maggie Howland."
+
+"I will tell you," said Maggie. "I am not really a bit brave; there is
+nothing good in me."
+
+"We won't talk about that," said Aneta. "What we have to think about
+now is what lies straight ahead of you; not of your past any more,
+but your immediate future. You have a tough time before you; in fact,
+you have a very great battle to fight, but I do not think you will
+turn tail."
+
+"You want me," said Maggie, "to go to Mrs. Ward and tell her
+everything?"
+
+"You must do that, Maggie. There is no second course to pursue. There
+is no way out. But I have been thinking since I saw you that perhaps
+you might have your day on Saturday. I think it would be best for you
+to tell Mrs. Ward to-morrow; and I think she would not prevent you
+having your day on Saturday. Perhaps it will be necessary--but she is
+the one to decide--that some of your schoolfellows should be told; and
+of course your little brooch which you sold to Pearce must be got
+back. Even Pearce is far too honest to keep it for the price he paid
+you."
+
+"He gave me five pounds, and I have spent one. There are still four
+pounds left," said Maggie. "I meant to run away with the help of
+these."
+
+"I will lend you a pound," said Aneta, "and we'll get the brooch back
+to-morrow."
+
+"But, Aneta, I have not yet told you--it is too fearful--you cannot
+conceive what my stepfather is like. It isn't only his being a
+grocer--for I have no doubt there are lots of grocers who are quite,
+quite tolerable; but you cannot imagine what he is. I had a letter
+from him a little time ago--that time, you remember, when he sent me
+those perfectly awful dresses--and he said then that he and my mother
+were coming to see me, as he wanted to interview Mrs. Ward and to look
+at the school for himself. Well, that poor Tildy brought me a letter
+to-day from mother. I had written to mother to beg of her not to let
+him come; but he got hold of the letter, and he was nearly mad about
+it. The end of it is that he and she are coming on _Saturday_, and,
+somehow, I can't bear it. I must run away; I _cannot_ endure it!"
+
+"I don't wonder," said Aneta. "Let me think. Lay your head on my
+shoulder, Maggie. Oh, how tired you are!"
+
+"Aneta, you seem to me quite new--just as though I had never seen you
+before."
+
+"I think you and your story have opened my eyes and done me good,"
+said Aneta. "Then what you said about the sufferings of the poor--I
+mean your sort of poor--gave me great pain. Will you take off your
+things and lie down, and let me lie by your side? Do, Maggie
+darling!"
+
+Maggie darling! Such words to come from Aneta Lysle's lips! Maggie
+felt subjugated. She allowed her rival queen to undress her, and
+presently the two girls were lying side by side in the little bed.
+Maggie dropped off into heavy slumber. Aneta lay awake.
+
+It was early morning when Aneta touched her companion.
+
+"Maggie, I have been thinking hard all night, and I am going to do
+something."
+
+"You! What can you do? Oh, I remember everything now. Oh, the horror!
+Oh, how can I endure it? Why didn't I run away?"
+
+"Maggie, you must promise me faithfully that you will never run away.
+Say it now, this minute. I believe in your word; I believe in your
+fine nature. I will help you with all my might and main through
+school-life, and afterwards. Give me your word now. You will stay at
+Aylmer House?"
+
+"I will stay," said poor Maggie.
+
+"I don't ask any more. Thank you, dear. Maggie, do nothing to-day, but
+leave matters in my hands. You are not well; your head aches, your
+forehead is so hot."
+
+"Yes, I have a headache," owned Maggie.
+
+"I shall be away for the greater part of the day, but I will ask Miss
+Johnson to look after you. Don't say anything until I return."
+
+"But what are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to see your mother and your stepfather."
+
+"Aneta!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Oh Aneta, you must not see him!"
+
+"It is probable that I shall seem him, dear; I am not easily alarmed.
+I will take Aunt Lucia with me. I am going downstairs now to ask Mrs.
+Ward's permission."
+
+"And you will say nothing about me?"
+
+"Something, but nothing of your story. When you feel well enough you
+can get up and go on with the preparations for to-morrow. I believe we
+shall have our happy day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+AT LABURNUM VILLA.
+
+
+Aneta went back to her room, where she dressed with her usual
+expedition and extreme neatness. When she had finished her toilet she
+ran downstairs. It was not yet eight o'clock; but most of the girls
+were assembled in the large hall waiting for prayers, which always
+took place before breakfast. Mrs. Ward was seen passing to the
+library, where prayers were held. Aneta went up to her.
+
+"Prayers first, of course," said Aneta, "and afterwards may I talk to
+you?"
+
+Mrs. Ward looked at Aneta. "What is the matter, dear?"
+
+"Something very important indeed. I must see you."
+
+"Well, breakfast follows prayers; come to me the minute breakfast is
+over."
+
+"Thank you, dear Mrs. Ward," said Aneta.
+
+At breakfast Merry asked Aneta how Maggie was. Aneta said that Maggie
+had a headache, and would not be in school during the morning.
+
+"Then what are we to do about our day?" said Molly Tristram, who
+overheard this remark. "We have absolutely more to get through than we
+can possibly manage."
+
+"Oh, to-morrow will be quite all right," said Aneta; "and Maggie will
+join you presently."
+
+Aneta was so respected in the school, so little given to exaggeration,
+so absolutely to be relied on, that these words of hers had a most
+calming effect. The girls continued their breakfast, those who were in
+the secret of to-morrow occasionally alluding to the subject in
+French, which was the only language allowed to be spoken. The others
+talked about their different occupations.
+
+As soon as ever breakfast was over, Aneta went to Mrs. Ward's private
+room.
+
+"Now, dear, what is it?" said the head-mistress. "I have to take the
+class for literature at half-past nine, and have very little time to
+spare."
+
+"I won't keep you," said Aneta; "but what I wanted was to beg for a
+day's holiday."
+
+"My dear girl! What do you mean? In the middle of term--a day's
+holiday! Can you not take it to-morrow?--oh, I forgot, to-morrow
+Maggie is having her grand carnival, as I call it. But what is the
+matter, Aneta? Have you any trouble?"
+
+"Yes," said Aneta; "and I cannot tell you, dear Mrs. Ward."
+
+"I trust you, of course, Aneta."
+
+"I know you do; and I want you to trust me more than ever. It has
+something to do with Maggie."
+
+Mrs. Ward slightly frowned. "I am never sure"--she began.
+
+But Aneta stopped her impulsively. "If you give me that holiday
+to-day," she said, "and if you trust me, and if you will also give me
+Mrs. Martin's address, which, of course, you must have on your
+books"----
+
+"Mrs. Martin's address?" said Mrs. Ward.
+
+"Yes. You know Maggie's mother has married again; she is Mrs.
+Martin."
+
+"Of course, of course; I had forgotten for the moment. Yes, I have her
+address."
+
+"Well, if you will do all that," continued Aneta, "I think that you
+will find a new Maggie in the future, one whom you--will trust,
+and--and love, as I love her."
+
+"My dear girl! as you love Maggie Howland?"
+
+Aneta lowered her head for a minute. "It is true I did not love her,"
+she said, "in the past, but I have changed my views. I have been
+narrow-minded, and small, and silly. She herself has opened my eyes. I
+cannot tell you more now. Maggie will come down, and will be able to
+go on with her lessons just as usual this afternoon; but I want a day
+off, and I want it at once."
+
+"But where are you going, dear?"
+
+"I am going to Aunt Lucia. You will let me have a cab, and I will
+drive to Aunt Lucia's house in Eaton Square at once?"
+
+Mrs. Ward looked doubtful. "You have a very grave reason for this?"
+she said.
+
+"Very, very grave; and I will tell you all presently."
+
+"I have never had reason to doubt you," said Mrs. Ward, "and I won't
+doubt you now. Does Maggie know of this?"
+
+"Yes--oh yes; but please don't question her until I return."
+
+"Very well, dear; you shall have your way. Oh, you want Mrs. Martin's
+address. It is Laburnum Villa, Clapham."
+
+Aneta entered the address in a little tablet bound in gold which she
+always wore at her waist.
+
+"Thank you ever so much," she said, and then left the room.
+
+A minute or two later she met Miss Johnson. "Give me something stiff
+to learn--something that I don't like--to-night, dear Lucy," she said.
+"I am off for a whole day's holiday, but I shall be back in the
+evening."
+
+"That is very queer," said Miss Johnson. "What does it mean?"
+
+"I cannot explain, but Mrs. Ward knows. Be specially kind to dear
+Maggie, and give me something that I don't like to do when I return."
+
+Miss Johnson smiled. "You shall hem some dusters," she said.
+
+Aneta made a wry face. "Thanks ever so much," she replied; then she
+ran upstairs to get ready for her visit.
+
+Just before leaving the house she looked in at Maggie. "I'm off, Mags.
+It's all right. I shall probably see you about tea-time."
+
+Before Maggie had time even to expostulate Aneta closed the door, and
+a minute or two later had stepped into the cab which Agnes had called
+for her. The cabman was desired to drive Miss Lysle to Lady Lysle's
+house in Eaton Square. This was accordingly done, and soon after ten
+o'clock Lady Lysle, who had not yet completed her morning toilet, was
+most amazed at being informed by her maid that Miss Lysle was waiting
+for her downstairs.
+
+"Aneta! You don't mean Aneta, Purcell?"
+
+"Yes, my lady; and she wants to see you in a very great hurry."
+
+"Then send her up to me."
+
+Purcell disappeared. Lady Lysle wondered what was wrong. Presently
+Aneta burst into the room.
+
+"My dear child," said her aunt, "what can be wrong? Why have you left
+school? I do hope no illness has broken out there. It would be very
+inconvenient for me to have you here at present."
+
+"There is no illness whatever at the school, Aunt Lucia," said Aneta,
+going up to her aunt and kissing her; "only there is a girl there, one
+of my schoolfellows, in a good bit of trouble, and I want to help her,
+and I have got a day off from Mrs. Ward, who doesn't know why she is
+giving it to me, but trusts me all the same. And now, auntie, I want
+you to come with me at once."
+
+"Oh my dear child, where?"
+
+"To Clapham, auntie."
+
+"Clapham! I never stopped at Clapham in my life. I have driven through
+the place, it is true."
+
+"Well, we'll stop there to-day," said Aneta, "at Laburnum Villa,
+Clapham. I want to see Mrs. Martin, Maggie's mother."
+
+"Oh, dear child," said Lady Lysle, "you mean Miss Howland when you
+speak of Maggie? Now, you know I told you that her stepfather is no
+relation whatever to the Martyns of The Meadows. I cannot make out why
+she should have given you to understand that he was. A man who lives
+at Clapham! Dear Aneta, I would rather be excused."
+
+"There is no excuse, auntie, that I can listen to for a single moment.
+I know all about Maggie's stepfather, and I will tell you as we are
+driving out to Clapham. You have always let me have my own way, and I
+have--yes, I have tried to be a good girl; but there is something
+before me to-day more important and more difficult than I ever tackled
+yet, and if I can't come to my own aunt--I, who am a motherless
+girl--for help at this crisis I shall think the world is coming to an
+end."
+
+"What a strange, earnest way you do speak in, Aneta!"
+
+"I am very sorry, darling; but I assure you the case is most urgent.
+You are quite well, aren't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, my love; I am never an ailing sort of person."
+
+"Well, then, I will send Purcell back to you, and please order the
+carriage, and please be as quick as possible. We have to go somewhere
+else after we have done with Mrs. Martin."
+
+"Well, Aneta, I always was wax in your hands, and I suppose I must do
+what you wish. But remember your promise that you will tell me the
+meaning of this extraordinary thing during our drive to Clapham."
+
+"I promise faithfully to tell you what is necessary, for the fact is I
+want your help. Darling auntie! you are doing about the best work of
+your life to-day. I knew you would stand by me; I felt certain of it,
+and I told Maggie so."
+
+"That girl!" said Lady Lysle. "I don't care for that girl."
+
+"You will change your mind about her presently," said Aneta, and she
+ran downstairs to request Davidson, the butler, to bring her something
+to eat, for her breakfast had been slight, and she was quite hungry
+enough to enjoy some of her aunt's nice food.
+
+By-and-by Lady Lysle, looking slim and beautiful, wearing her becoming
+sables and her toque with its long black ostrich plume, appeared on
+the scene, and a minute later Davidson announced that the carriage was
+at the door.
+
+The two ladies stepped in, Aneta giving very careful directions to the
+driver.
+
+He expressed some astonishment at the address. "Laburnum Villa,
+Clapham!" he said. "Martin, Laburnum Villa, Clapham! Clapham's a big
+place, miss."
+
+"I know that," said Aneta; "but that is all the address I can obtain.
+We must call at the post-office, if necessary, to get the name of the
+street."
+
+The footman sprang into his place, and Aneta and her aunt drove off in
+the comfortable brougham towards that suburb known as Clapham.
+
+"Now, Aneta, I suppose you will tell me what is the meaning of this?"
+
+"Yes, I will," said Aneta. "I made a mistake about Maggie, and I am
+willing to own it. She has been placed in a difficult position. I do
+not mean for a minute to imply that she has acted in a straight way,
+for she has not. But there is that in her which will make her the best
+of girls in the future, as she is one of the cleverest and one of the
+most charming. Yes, auntie, she has got a great power about her. She
+is a sort of magnet--she attracts people to her."
+
+"She has never attracted me," said Lady Lysle. "I have always thought
+her a singularly plain girl."
+
+"Ugliness like hers is really attractive," said Aneta. "But, now, the
+thing is this: if we don't help her she will be absolutely lost, all
+her chance taken from her, and her character ruined for ever. We do a
+lot at our school for those poor slum-girls, but we never do anything
+for girls in our class. Now, I mean my girl in future to be Maggie
+Howland."
+
+"Aneta, you are absurd!"
+
+"I mean it, auntie; her father's daughter deserves help. Her father
+was as good a man as ever lived, and for his sake something ought to
+be done for his only child. As to her mother"----
+
+"Yes, the woman who has married a person of the name of Martin, and to
+whose house I presume we are going"----
+
+"Auntie, I have rather a shock to give you. Poor Maggie did mean to
+imply that her stepfather was in a different class of life from what
+he is. He is a--grocer!"
+
+Lady Lysle put up her hand to pull the check-string.
+
+"Pray, auntie, don't do that. Maggie isn't the daughter of a grocer,
+and she can't help her mother having married this dreadful man. I want
+Maggie to have nothing to do with her stepfather in the future, and I
+mean to carry out my ideas, and you have got to help me."
+
+"Indeed, I will do nothing of the kind. What a disgraceful girl! She
+must leave Aylmer House at once."
+
+"Then I will go too," said Aneta.
+
+"Aneta, I never knew you behave in such a way before."
+
+"Come, auntie darling, you know you are the sweetest and the most
+loving and sympathetic person in the world; and why should you turn
+away from a poor little girl who quite against her own will finds
+herself the stepdaughter of a grocer? Maggie has given me to
+understand that he is a dreadful man. She is horrified with him, and
+what I am going now to Laburnum Villa about is to try to prevent his
+visiting the school with his wife on Saturday. I will do the talking,
+dear, and you have only to sit by and look dignified."
+
+"I never was put in such a dreadful position before," said Lady Lysle,
+"and really even you, Aneta, go too far when you expect me to do
+this."
+
+"But you would visit a poor woman in East London without the smallest
+compunction," said Aneta.
+
+"That is different," replied Lady Lysle with dignity.
+
+"It is different," replied Aneta; "but the difference lies in the fact
+that the grocer's wife is very much higher up in the social scale than
+the East End woman."
+
+"Oh my dear child, this is really appalling! I have always distrusted
+that Miss Howland. Does Mrs. Ward know of your project?"
+
+"Not yet, but she will to-night."
+
+"And what am I to do when I visit this person?"
+
+"Just look your dear, sweet, dignified self, and allow me to do the
+talking."
+
+"I think you have taken leave of your senses."
+
+"I haven't taken leave of my senses, and I would do more than I am now
+doing to help a fine girl round a nasty corner. So cheer up, auntie!
+After we have seen Mrs. Martin we have to go on and visit the
+grocer."
+
+"Aneta, that I do decline!"
+
+"I am sure you won't decline. But let us think of Mrs. Martin herself
+first, and try to remember that by birth she is a lady."
+
+Just at this moment the carriage drew up outside a post-office. There
+was a short delay while Laburnum Villa was being inquired for by the
+footman. At last the street in which this small suburban dwelling was
+situated was discovered, and a few minutes later the carriage, with
+its splendid horses and two servants on the box, drew up before the
+green-painted door.
+
+The villa was small, but it was exceedingly neat. The little brass
+knocker shone, even though yesterday was a day of such fog. The
+footman came to the carriage-door to make inquiries.
+
+"I will get out," said Aneta.
+
+"Hadn't James best inquire if the woman is in?" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"No, I think I will," said Aneta.
+
+She went up the narrow path and rang the front-door bell. Tildy opened
+the door. The new cook had been peeping above the blinds in the
+kitchen. Tildy had hastily put on a white apron, but it is to be
+regretted that a smut was once more on her cheek. Somehow, Aneta liked
+her all the better for that smut.
+
+"I want to see your mistress, Tildy," she said. "It is something about
+Miss Maggie, and I am, as you know, one of her schoolfellows."
+
+"Lor', miss! yes, for certain, miss. Mrs. Martin 'll be that proud,
+miss."
+
+"I have brought my aunt with me," said Aneta. "She would like to come
+in too in order to see Mrs. Martin."
+
+"Yes, miss; in course, miss. There's no fire lit in the drawin'-room.
+But there's the dinin'-room; it do smell a bit smoky, for master 'e
+loves 'is pipe. 'E smokes a lot in the dinin'-room, miss."
+
+"Show us into the dining-room," said Aneta. She ran back to fetch Lady
+Lysle, and conducted that amazed and indignant woman into the house.
+
+Tildy rushed upstairs to fetch her mistress. "You get into your best
+gown in no time, mum. There's visitors downstairs--that most beauteous
+young lady who spoke to me yesterday at Aylmer House, and a lady
+alongside of 'er as 'u'd make yer 'eart quake. Ef Queen Victoria was
+alive I'd say yes, it was 'erself. Never did I mark such a sweepin'
+and 'aughty manner. They're fine folks, both of 'em, and no mistake."
+
+"Did they give their names?" asked Mrs. Martin.
+
+"I didn't even arsk, mum. They want to see you about our Miss
+Maggie."
+
+"Well, I will go down. What a queer, early hour for visitors! What
+dress shall I wear, Tildy?"
+
+"I'd say the amber satin, mum, ef I'd a voice in the choice. You look
+elegant in it, mum, and you might 'ave your black lace shawl."
+
+"I don't think I will wear satin in the morning," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+Tildy helped her into a dark-brown merino dress, one of her extensive
+trousseau. Mrs. Martin then went downstairs, prepared to show these
+visitors that she was "as good as them, if not better." But the
+glimpse of the carriage and horses which she got through the
+lobby-window very nearly bowled her over.
+
+"Go in, mum, now; you've kept them waitin' long enough. I can serve up
+an elegant lunch if you want it."
+
+Tildy felt almost inclined to poke at her mistress in order to hurry
+her movements. Mrs. Martin opened the dining-room door and stood just
+for a minute on the threshold. She looked at that moment a perfect
+lady. Her gentle, faded face and extreme slimness gave her a grace of
+demeanor which Lady Lysle was quick to acknowledge. She bowed, and
+looked at Aneta to speak for her.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Martin," said that young lady. "I am Aneta Lysle,
+one of your daughter's schoolfellows. My aunt, Lady Lysle"--Mrs.
+Martin bowed--"has kindly come with me to see you. We want to have a
+little confidential talk with you."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" said Mrs. Martin. "Has Maggie done anything wrong? She
+always was a particularly troublesome girl."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said Lady Lysle. At that moment she had an
+idea of Maggie in disgrace and banished from Aylmer House, which
+pleased her.
+
+Mrs. Martin stopped speaking when Lady Lysle said this.
+
+"Doubtless you agree with me, Mrs. Martin," continued the lady, "that
+your daughter would do better at another school."
+
+"Oh no," said Mrs. Martin; "we wish her--Bo-peep and I--I mean James
+and I--to stay where she is."
+
+"And so do I wish her to stay where she is," said Aneta.--"Auntie
+darling, you don't quite understand; but Mrs. Martin and I
+understand.--Don't we, Mrs. Martin?"
+
+"Well, I am sure," said Mrs. Martin, "I haven't the faintest idea what
+you are driving at, Miss--Miss Lysle."
+
+"Well, it is just this," said Aneta. "You sent a letter yesterday to
+Maggie."
+
+"I did," said Mrs. Martin; "and great need I had to send it."
+
+"In that letter you informed Maggie that you and your husband were
+coming to see her to-morrow."
+
+"Bo-peep wishes--I mean, James wishes--to."
+
+"Really, Aneta, had not we better go?" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"Not yet, auntie, please.--Mrs. Martin, I begged for a holiday to-day
+on purpose to come and see you."
+
+"If it's because you think I'll keep James--Bo-peep--I mean
+James--from having his heart's wish, I am sorry you have wasted your
+time," said Mrs. Martin. "The fact is, he is very angry indeed with
+Maggie. He considers her his own child now, which of course is true,
+seeing that he has married me, and I really can't go into particulars;
+but he is determined to see her and to see Mrs. Ward, and he's not a
+bit ashamed of being--being--well, what he is--an honorable
+tradesman--a grocer."
+
+"But perhaps you are aware," said Lady Lysle, "that the daughters of
+grocers--I mean tradesmen--are not admitted to Aylmer House."
+
+Mrs. Martin turned her frightened eyes on the lady. "Maggie isn't the
+real daughter of a tradesman," she said then. "She is only the
+stepdaughter. Her own father was"----
+
+"Yes," said Aneta, "we all know what her own father was--a splendid
+man, one of the makers of our Empire. We are all proud of her own
+father, and we do not see for a moment why Maggie should not live up
+to the true circumstances of her birth, and I have come here to-day,
+Mrs. Martin, to ask you to help me. If you and your husband come to
+Aylmer House there will be no help, for Maggie will certainly have to
+leave the school."
+
+"Of course, and the sooner the better," said Lady Lysle.
+
+"But if you will help us, and prevent your husband from coming to our
+school to-morrow, there is no reason whatever why she shouldn't stay
+at the school. Even her expenses can be paid from quite another
+source."
+
+Mrs. Martin looked intensely nervous. A bright spot of color came into
+her left cheek. Her right cheek was deadly pale.
+
+"I--I cannot help it," she said. "I never meant Bo-peep to go; I never
+wished him to go. But he said, 'Little-sing, I will go'--I--I forgot
+myself--of course you don't understand. He is a very good husband to
+me, but he and Maggie never get on."
+
+"I am sure they don't," said Aneta with fervor.
+
+"Never," continued Mrs. Martin. "I got on with her only with
+difficulty before I married my present dear husband. I am not at all
+ashamed of his being a grocer. He gives me comforts, and is fond of
+me, and I have a much better time with him than I had in shabby, dirty
+lodgings at Shepherd's Bush. I don't want him to go to that school
+to-morrow; but I thought it right to let Maggie know he was coming,
+for, all the same, go he will. When James puts his foot down he is a
+very determined man."
+
+"This is altogether a most unpleasant interview," said Lady Lysle,
+"and I have only come here at my niece's request.--Perhaps, Aneta, we
+can go now."
+
+"Not yet, auntie darling.--Mrs. Martin, Maggie and I had a long talk
+yesterday, and will you put this matter into my hands?"
+
+"Good heavens! what next?" murmured Lady Lysle to herself.
+
+"Will you give me your husband's address, and may I go to see him?"
+
+"You mean the--the--shop?" said Mrs. Martin.
+
+"I don't go into that shop!" said Lady Lysle.
+
+"Yes, I mean the shop," said Aneta. "I want to go and see him there."
+
+"Oh, he will be so angry, and I am really terrified of him when he is
+angry."
+
+"But think how much more angry he will be if you don't give me that
+address, and things happen to-morrow which you little expect. Oh!
+please trust me."
+
+Aneta said a few more words, and in the end she was in possession of
+that address at Shepherd's Bush where Martin the grocer's flourishing
+shop was to be found.
+
+"Thank you so very much, Mrs. Martin. I don't think you will ever
+regret this," said the girl.
+
+Lady Lysle bowed to the wife of the grocer as she went out, but Aneta
+took her hand.
+
+"Perhaps you never quite understood Maggie," she said; "and perhaps,
+in the future, you won't have a great deal to say to her."
+
+"I don't want to; she never suited me a bit," said the mother, "and I
+am very happy with Bo-peep."
+
+"Well, at least you may feel," said Aneta, "that I am going to be
+Maggie's special friend."
+
+Mrs. Martin stood silent while Lady Lysle and her niece walked down
+the little path and got into the carriage. When the carriage rolled
+away she burst into a flood of tears. She did not know whether she was
+glad or sorry; but, somehow, she had faith in Aneta. Was she never
+going to see Maggie again? She was not quite without maternal love for
+her only child, but she cared very much more for Bo-peep, and quite
+felt that Maggie would be a most troublesome inmate of Laburnum
+Villa.
+
+"Now, Aneta," said her aunt as the carriage rolled away, "I have gone
+through enough in your service for one day."
+
+"You haven't been at all nice, auntie," said Aneta; "but perhaps you
+will be better when you get to the shop."
+
+"I will not go to the shop."
+
+"Auntie, just think, once and for all, that you are doing a very
+philanthropic act, and that you are helping me, whom you love so
+dearly."
+
+"Of course I love you, Aneta. Are you not as my own precious child?"
+
+"Well, now, I want you to buy no end of things at Martin's shop."
+
+"Buy things! Good gracious, child, at a grocer's shop! But I get all
+my groceries at the Stores, and the housekeeper attends to my
+orders."
+
+"Well, anyhow, spend from five to ten pounds at Martin's to-day. You
+can get tea made up in half-pound packets and give it away wholesale
+to your poor women. Christmas is coming on, and they will appreciate
+good tea, no matter where it has been bought from."
+
+"Well, you may go in and give the order," said Lady Lysle; "but I
+won't see that grocer. I will sit in the carriage and wait for you."
+
+Aneta considered for a few minutes, and then said in a sad voice,
+"Very well."
+
+Lady Lysle looked at her once or twice during the long drive which
+followed. Aneta's little face was rather pale, but her eyes were full
+of subdued fire. She was determined to carry the day at any cost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A VISIT TO THE GROCER.
+
+
+James Martin abhorred the aristocracy--so he said. Nevertheless,
+he greatly admired his elegant wife in her faded beauty. He liked to
+hear her speak, and he made some effort to copy her "genteel
+pronunciation." He also, in his inmost heart, admired Maggie as a
+girl of spirit, although not a beautiful one. He had his own ideas
+with regard to female loveliness, and, like all men, was impressed
+and attracted by it.
+
+On this special foggy day, as he was standing behind his counter
+busily engaged attending to a customer who was only requiring a small
+order to be made up, he gave a visible start, raised his eyes, dropped
+his account-book, let his pencil roll on to the floor, and stared
+straight before him. For somebody was coming into the shop--somebody
+so very beautiful that his eyes were dazzled and, as he said
+afterwards, his heart melted within him. A radiant-looking girl, with
+wonderful blue eyes and hair of the color of pure gold, a girl with a
+refined face--most beautifully dressed--although Martin could not
+quite make out in what fashion she was apparelled--came quickly up to
+the counter and then stood still, waiting for some one to attend to
+her. The other men in the shop also saw this lovely vision, and an
+attendant of the name of Turtle sprang forward to ask what he could
+do.
+
+"I want to see Mr. Martin," said the silvery voice.
+
+Martin felt pleased, and said _sotto voce_, "Chuck it, Turtle; you're
+out of it, old boy." A minute later he was standing before Aneta,
+inquiring in a trembling voice what he could do for her.
+
+"I want to order fifty pounds of tea to be made up in half-pound
+packets and sent to my aunt, Lady Lysle, 16B Eaton Square," said
+Aneta. "The tea will be paid for on delivery, and please let it be the
+very best. I also want a hundred pound-packets of the best currants,
+and a hundred pound-packets of the best sugar."
+
+"Demerara, miss, or loaf?" inquired Martin, tremblingly putting down
+the order.
+
+"Loaf, I think," said Aneta. "Will you kindly send everything within
+the next day or two to Eaton Square, 16B, to Lady Lysle?"
+
+"I will enter her ladyship's name in my book. Yes, it shall be done,"
+said Martin.
+
+He looked at Aneta, and Aneta looked straight back at him.
+
+"Mr. Martin," she said suddenly, "I am the school-friend of your
+stepdaughter, Maggie Howland. May I have a little conversation with
+you in your private room?"
+
+"Ah, I thought there was something!" said Martin. "To be sure, miss,"
+he added.--"Turtle, you see that this order is _h_executed. It's for
+her ladyship, Lady Lysle, 16B Eaton Square.--Come this way, my lady."
+
+"I am only Miss Lysle," said Aneta.
+
+All the attendants in the shop gazed in wonder as the beautiful girl
+and the excited Martin went into the little parlor at the back of the
+business establishment. There Martin stood with his hands behind him;
+but Aneta sank into a low chair.
+
+"I want to ask you a great favor, Mr. Martin," said the girl. She
+looked full up at him as she spoke.
+
+Martin thought that he had never in his life seen such melting and
+lovely blue eyes before. "She bowls me over," he kept saying to
+himself. "I hate the aristocrats, but somehow she bowls me
+over."--"Anything in my power, miss," he said aloud, and he made a low
+bow, pressing his hand to his chest.
+
+"I think," said Aneta--"indeed, I am sure--to judge from your most
+flourishing shop--that you are a good business man."
+
+"Well, now, there's no doubt on that point, Miss--Miss Lysle."
+
+"But you would like to extend your custom?" said Aneta.
+
+"Business is always business to me," replied Martin.
+
+"Well, the fact is, it lies in my power to induce my aunt, Lady Lysle,
+to get her groceries from you. She has a large establishment and sees
+a great deal of company. She gets them now at the Army and Navy
+Stores, but I haven't the slightest doubt that she would not object to
+have them from you."
+
+"You are exceedingly good, Miss Lysle, and I am sure anything that her
+ladyship ordered should have my very best attention; in fact, I should
+make it my business to get in specially good things for her. If I
+might let you into a business secret, miss, the people round here
+don't want the very best things; they don't, so to speak, appreciate
+them."
+
+"I quite understand that," said Aneta. "Of course Lady Lysle would
+require the very best."
+
+"She should have the best, miss; I'd be proud of her custom. Things
+should be punctually delivered; just an order overnight, and my cart
+would convey them to her ladyship's door at an early hour on the
+following day."
+
+"Yes, it could be arranged," said Aneta.
+
+"Then, perhaps, miss," said Mr. Martin, who saw brilliant prospects
+opening before him, and the possibility of a West End shop, a genuine
+West End shop, being his, as well as the profitable establishment at
+Shepherd's Bush, "her ladyship might be so kind as to recommend me to
+others."
+
+"It is possible," said Aneta coldly; "but of course I can only speak
+for my aunt herself." Then she added, "And even for her I cannot quite
+speak, although I believe the matter can be arranged. I have given you
+a large order to-day."
+
+"You have, Miss Lysle, and most faithfully will it be attended to."
+
+Martin took out his red silk handkerchief and mopped his forehead.
+
+"Now," said Aneta gently, "I haven't come here all the way from Aylmer
+House, and practically given up a day of my school-life, for nothing.
+I have come on behalf of another."
+
+"Ho, ho!" said Martin, "so the cat's going to be let out of the bag."
+
+Aneta colored.
+
+Martin saw he had gone too far, and immediately apologized. "You will
+forgive my coarse way of expressing myself, miss. I know it isn't done
+in your circle."
+
+"It doesn't matter," said Aneta. "I will come to the point at once. I
+am interested in Miss Howland."
+
+"Ah! my little stepdaughter. I keep her at a fine, smart school, don't
+I? I do the knowing by her, don't I?"
+
+"Well, all I want you to do in future--and I believe her mother will
+consent, for I have seen Mrs. Martin this morning"----
+
+"You went to Laburnum Villa this morning? Tasty place, that, eh?"
+
+"Yes, a very comfortable sort of house. My aunt, Lady Lysle, and I
+went together."
+
+"Her ladyship and you?"
+
+"We drove there."
+
+"I hope the neighbors saw," said Martin. "They'll come in shoals to
+see Little-sing after they've peeped at her ladyship's carriage."
+
+Aneta could scarcely keep back a smile.
+
+"Mr. Martin," she said, "if I do what I intend for you--and it lies in
+my power--will you please not come to Aylmer House to-morrow?"
+
+"Ho, hi! And why not? Ashamed of me, eh?"
+
+"Not at all," said Aneta. "I am not ashamed of you in your walk in
+life; but I think it would be best for Maggie if you did not come;
+therefore I ask you not to do so."
+
+"But the girl's my girl."
+
+"No, she is her mother's daughter; and, to tell the truth, we all
+want--I mean, my aunt and I, and others--to have her to ourselves, at
+least until she is educated."
+
+"But, come now, miss, that's all very fine. Who pays for her
+education?"
+
+"Her father's money."
+
+"So she let that out?" said Martin.
+
+"I know about it," said Aneta. "That is sufficient. Now, Mr. Martin, I
+ask you to become grocer to my aunt, Lady Lysle, of Eaton Square, and
+to any friends who she may recommend, on the sole condition that you
+do not come to Aylmer House, and that you allow Maggie Howland to
+spend the holidays with us."
+
+"Oh, my word, I am sure I don't care," said Martin,
+
+"You promise, then?"
+
+"Yes, I promise fast enough. If you're going to take Maggie and bring
+her up a fine lady she'll never suit me. All I beg is that she doesn't
+come back to me like a bad penny some day."
+
+"That I can absolutely assure you she will never do. I am exceedingly
+obliged to you. Will you come with me now and let me say a few words
+to my aunt; for as you have made your definite promise to leave Maggie
+alone, my aunt must make a definite promise to you."
+
+Lady Lysle was much astonished, as she sat wearily in her carriage,
+when a red-faced, bald-looking, stout grocer accompanied her elegant
+young niece to the carriage-door.
+
+"Aunt Lucia," said Aneta, "this is Mr. Martin."
+
+Lady Lysle gave the faintest inclination of her head.
+
+"Proud to see your ladyship," said Martin.
+
+"I have been making arrangements with Mr. Martin," said Aneta, "and
+on certain conditions he will do what I want. Will you please, in
+future, get your groceries from him?"
+
+"I will faithfully attend to you, my lady, if agreeable to you. I will
+come weekly for _h_orders. I will do anything to oblige your
+ladyship."
+
+"Please, auntie, you've got to do it," said Aneta.
+
+"My dear, it depends on Watson, my housekeeper."
+
+"Oh, I'll manage Watson," said Aneta, springing lightly into the
+carriage, her face all beams and smiles.--"It is quite right, Mr.
+Martin; and you will get your second order this evening. You won't
+forget about the tea and currants and sugar for the poor people.--Now,
+auntie, will you drive me back to Aylmer House, or shall we go
+straight to Eaton Square?"
+
+"Eaton Square, I think."
+
+"Good-day, Mr. Martin."
+
+The carriage rolled out of sight. Martin stood bareheaded in the
+doorway of his shop. There was not a prouder man than he in the whole
+of Christendom. When he returned to the sacred precincts of the shop
+itself he said to Turtle, "Fresh customer, Turtle--West End, Turtle.
+That's a fine young lady--eh, Turtle?"
+
+"The most beautiful young female I ever saw," returned Turtle.
+
+"When I ask you what you think of her personal appearance you can tell
+me, Turtle. Now, go and attend to the shop."
+
+Meanwhile Aneta, her heart full of thankfulness, accompanied her aunt
+to Eaton Square.
+
+"I have got what I want," she said, "and dear Maggie is practically
+saved; and you have done it, auntie. You will feel happier for this to
+your dying day."
+
+Lady Lysle said that at the present moment she did not feel specially
+elated at the thought of getting her tea and numerous groceries at a
+shop in Shepherd's Bush; but Aneta assured her that that was a very
+tiny sacrifice to make for so great an end as she had in view.
+
+"It will help Mr. Martin," she said. "He is not a gentleman, and
+doesn't pretend to be, but he's a good, honest tradesman; and perhaps
+Mrs. Ward, too, will give him some of her custom."
+
+"Well, my dear Aneta, if you're happy, I have nothing to say,"
+responded her aunt. "But you must tackle Watson, for I really cannot
+attempt it."
+
+Aneta did tackle the old housekeeper to some purpose. At first there
+were objections, protests, exclamations; but Aneta was sure of her
+ground. Did not Mrs. Watson idolize the girl, having known her from
+her earliest days?
+
+About tea-time a tired and triumphant girl returned to Aylmer House.
+She had had her way. The great difficulty was overcome. Maggie,
+looking pale and tired, was having tea with the others. Aneta sat down
+by her side. Maggie turned anxious eyes towards the queen of the
+school whom she used to fear and almost hate. But there was no hatred
+now in Maggie's eyes. Far, far from that, she looked upon Aneta as a
+refuge in the storm. If Aneta could not get her out of her present
+trouble no one could.
+
+"You will be very busy during the leisure hours this afternoon," said
+Aneta when the meal was coming to an end. "But, first of all, I want
+to speak to you just for a minute or two."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie.
+
+"We have done tea now. May Maggie and I go away by ourselves, please,
+Miss Johnson, for a few minutes?" said Aneta.
+
+Miss Johnson signified her consent, and the two queens left the room
+together. The other girls looked after them, wondering vaguely what
+was up.
+
+"Maggie," said Aneta, "I have managed everything."
+
+"Aneta--you haven't"----
+
+"Yes; he isn't coming to-morrow, nor is your mother; and Aunt Lucia
+has invited you to spend the Christmas holidays with us. You can see
+your mother occasionally; but, somehow or other, Maggie dear, you are
+to be my friend in future; and--oh, Maggie!"
+
+"Oh Aneta! how can I ever, ever thank you?"
+
+"Well, the beginning of the way is a little hard," said Aneta. "Come
+now, at once, straight to Mrs. Ward, and tell her every single
+thing."
+
+"She will expel me if I do," said Maggie.
+
+"That I know she will not. She is too true and dear and kind. Besides,
+I will stay with you all the time while you are telling her. Come,
+quick. You can get your confession over in a very few minutes."
+
+"Oh Aneta! for you I would do anything. But how did you manage to get
+my dreadful stepfather to give up his plan."
+
+"That matters little. He has given it up. Now, come. There's much to
+do to prepare for to-morrow; but you must get your confession over
+first."
+
+Mrs. Ward always had her tea alone, and she was just finishing it on
+this special evening when there came a tap at her door, and, to her
+great amazement, Aneta and Maggie entered, holding each other's
+hands.
+
+"Mrs. Ward, Maggie has something to say to you."
+
+"Yes," said Maggie; and then in a few broken words, choked by tears of
+true repentance, she told her story. She had been ashamed of her
+stepfather. She had been deceitful. She had been afraid to confess
+that she was taken at a lower fee than the other girls at the school.
+She had gone out, without leave, to sell one of her own father's
+treasures. Everything was told. Mrs. Ward looked very grave as the
+girl, with bent head, related the story of her deceit and
+wrong-doing.
+
+"I know you can expel me," said Maggie.
+
+"But you will not," said Aneta. "I feel sure of that, for I, who never
+cared for Maggie until now, love her with all my heart. There will be
+no rivalry in the school any more, and dear Maggie must not go."
+
+"Oh, if you would keep me! If you would keep me," said Maggie, "and
+give me one more chance!"
+
+"Have you asked God to forgive you, Maggie?" said Mrs. Ward.
+
+"I cannot, somehow; my heart is so cold. But if--if you would"----
+
+"We will ask Him together," said Mrs. Ward.
+
+There and then she knelt down, and Aneta and Maggie knelt at each side
+of her, and she said a few words of prayer which touched Maggie's
+heart as no words had ever touched it before. "Keep from her all
+hurtful things, and give her those things which are necessary for her
+salvation," pleaded the mistress.
+
+Suddenly Mrs. Ward's hand was taken by Maggie and covered with kisses.
+"Oh, I will try!" she said; "I will try hard to be really good! And,"
+she added, "I will take any punishment you give me."
+
+Mrs. Ward looked at her with sparkling eyes. She was a very keen
+observer of character. She put her hand under the girl's chin and
+looked into her downcast face.
+
+"My dear," she said, "full and absolute forgiveness means the doing
+away with punishment. You have suffered sorely; I will not add to your
+suffering in any way. Now, go and prepare for to-morrow's
+entertainment.--Aneta, you will stay with me for a few minutes."
+
+Maggie left the room, but in a short time she returned. She carried in
+her arms the two tin boxes which contained her father's treasures.
+
+"I want you to keep these for me, or to sell them, or to do what you
+like with them," said Maggie. She then immediately left the room.
+
+Mrs. Ward and Aneta bent over the treasures. Mrs. Ward gave a start of
+great surprise when she saw them.
+
+"Why, these," she said, "are a fortune in themselves."
+
+"I thought so," said Aneta, her eyes sparkling. "I felt sure of it. We
+must get that brooch back from Pearce."
+
+"Yes, Aneta; I will send Miss Johnson round for it at once. What did
+you say he gave Maggie for it?"
+
+"Five pounds, Mrs. Ward."
+
+"It is very honest of him to offer to restore it to her. Ring the
+bell, dear, and Lucy Johnson will come."
+
+Miss Johnson was very much interested when she saw the sparkling
+treasures.
+
+"Maggie's!" she exclaimed. "I am glad she has given them to you to
+take care of for her. I was always terrified at her keeping such
+priceless things in her drawer."
+
+Mrs. Ward gave the girl some directions and the necessary money; she
+went off to fulfill her errand in considerable amazement. Lucy
+returned in less than half-an-hour with the lovely little brooch,
+which was immediately added to the collection.
+
+"The best person to see these, as you suggested, Aneta," said Mrs.
+Ward, "is Sir Charles Lysle. They are really no good to Maggie, but
+ought to be sold for their utmost value for her benefit. She has many
+fine points, and considerable strength of character; and if you take
+her up, dear, I feel certain that she will be saved from all those
+things which would ruin a nature like hers."
+
+"I mean to take her up," said Aneta with spirit.
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "the first thing to do is to get to-morrow
+over. I have no doubt it will be a success. Meanwhile, will you write
+a line to your uncle, Sir Charles, and ask him if he can call here to
+see these treasures?"
+
+"Yes, I will write to him at once," said Aneta. "He spends most of his
+time at the British Museum. Couldn't I send him a wire, Mrs. Ward, and
+then he would come to-night?"
+
+"Yes, that is a very good idea. Do so, my love."
+
+The girls had a very spirited rehearsal, and Maggie was her old
+vivacious, daring, clever self once more. That inward change which no
+doubt had taken place brought an added charm to her always expressive
+face.
+
+Between seven and eight that evening Aneta's uncle, Sir Charles,
+arrived. He and Mrs. Ward had a long consultation. His opinion was
+that the bracelets and other curios were worth at least seven thousand
+pounds, and that such a sum could easily be obtained for them.
+
+"In fact, I myself would buy them for that figure," said Sir Charles.
+"It is not only that there are in this collection some unique and
+valuable stones; but the history, the setting, and the make of these
+ancient relics would induce the British Museum to buy many of them.
+Doubtless, however, Miss Howland will get the biggest price of all for
+them if they are auctioned at Christie's."
+
+Before she went to bed that night Aneta told Maggie that she was by no
+means a penniless girl, and that if she would consent to having her
+father's treasures sold she would have sufficient money to be well
+educated, and have a nice nest-egg in the future to start in any
+profession she fancied.
+
+"Oh Aneta, it is all too wonderful!" said poor Maggie--"to think of me
+as I am to-night, and of me as I felt last night when I wanted to lose
+myself in the London fog. Aneta, I can never love you enough!"
+
+"You want a good long sleep," she said. "Think of to-morrow and all
+the excitement which lies before us!"
+
+Maggie did sleep soundly that night, for she was quite worn out, and
+when Saturday arrived she awoke without a fear and with a wonderful
+lightness of heart. The day of the festival and rejoining passed
+without a hitch. The supper was delightful. The tableaux vivants were
+the best the school had ever seen. The games, the fun, made the
+Cardews at least think that they had entered into a new world.
+
+But perhaps the best scene of all came at the end when Aneta went up
+to Maggie and took her hand, and, still holding it, turned and faced
+the assembled school.
+
+"Maggie and I don't mean to be rival queens any longer," she said. "We
+are joint-queens. All Maggie's subjects are my subjects and all my
+subjects are Maggie's. Any girl who disapproves of this, will she hold
+down her hand? Any girl who approves, will she hold her hand up in the
+air?"
+
+Instantly all the pairs of hands were raised, and there was such a
+clapping and so many cheers for the queens who were no longer rival
+queens that mademoiselle was heard to exclaim, "But it is charming. It
+makes the heart to bound. I do love the English manner, and
+Mademoiselle Aneta, _si jolie, si elegante_; and Mademoiselle Maggie,
+who has a large charm. I do make homage to them as the two queens. I
+would," she continued, turning and clasping Miss Johnson's hands, "be
+a schoolgirl myself to be a subject of them."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few words will suffice to end this story. Lady Lysle might be proud
+and perhaps somewhat disdainful, but she was at least as good as her
+word, and in a very short time Martin the grocer thought it worth his
+while to open a very smart-looking shop in the West End. This shop
+Lady Lysle took a curious interest in and recommended to her friends,
+so that Martin began to do as sound a business in the neighborhood of
+Eaton Square as he did in Shepherd's Bush. Of all things in the world,
+he liked best to make money, and he was quite glad to be rid of Maggie
+when his own prospects became golden owing to her absence from his
+premises.
+
+As to Mrs. Martin, she was content to see her daughter occasionally.
+
+Maggie's curios were all sold, except the little brooch (which she
+kept for herself in memory of her father), for a sufficiently large
+sum to pay for her education and to leave her enough money to do well
+for herself by-and-by. Having no longer anything to conceal, and under
+the beautiful, brave influence of Aneta, she became quite a different
+girl. That strength of character and that strange fascination which
+were her special powers were now turned into useful channels. Maggie
+could never be beautiful, but her talents were above the average, and
+her moral nature now received every stimulus in the right direction.
+Merry Cardew could love her, and gain good, not harm, from her
+influence. But, strange to say--although perhaps not strange--Aneta
+was her special friend. It was with Aneta that Maggie mostly spent her
+holidays. It was Aneta's least word that Maggie obeyed. It was for
+Aneta's approval that Maggie lived.
+
+Queens of the school they still remain, each exercising her influence
+in her own way, and yet both working in perfect harmony.
+
+"Have they not both the characters beautiful?" said mademoiselle. "I
+think there is no girl like the English girl."
+
+Doubtless she is right.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
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