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diff --git a/41831-0.txt b/41831-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fdbbdf --- /dev/null +++ b/41831-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1220 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41831 *** + + BETTY LEICESTER'S CHRISTMAS + + BY SARAH ORNE JEWETT + + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + 1899 + + COPYRIGHT, 1894 AND 1899, BY SARAH ORNE JEWETT + + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + + To + M. E. G. + + + + +[Illustration: IN SOLEMN MAJESTY] + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + IN SOLEMN MAJESTY (page 62) _Frontispiece_ + + "I WAS SO GLAD TO COME" 20 + + A TALL BOY HAD JOINED THEM 42 + + BETTY, EDITH, AND WARFORD 50 + + + + +BETTY LEICESTER'S CHRISTMAS + + + + +I + + +There was once a story-book girl named Betty Leicester, who lived in a +small square book bound in scarlet and white. I, who know her better +than any one else does, and who know my way about Tideshead, the +story-book town, as well as she did, and who have not only made many a +visit to her Aunt Barbara and Aunt Mary in their charming old +country-house, but have even seen the house in London where she spent +the winter: I, who confess to loving Betty a good deal, wish to write a +little more about her in this Christmas story. The truth is, that ever +since I wrote the first story I have been seeing girls who reminded me +of Betty Leicester of Tideshead. Either they were about the same age or +the same height, or they skipped gayly by me in a little gown like hers, +or I saw a pleased look or a puzzled look in their eyes which seemed to +bring Betty, my own story-book girl, right before me. + + * * * * * + +Now, if anybody has read the book, this preface will be much more +interesting than if anybody has not. Yet, if I say to all new +acquaintances that Betty was just in the middle of her sixteenth year, +and quite in the middle of girlhood; that she hated some things as much +as she could, and liked other things with all her heart, and did not +feel pleased when older people kept saying _don't!_ perhaps these new +acquaintances will take the risk of being friends. Certain things had +become easy just as Betty was leaving Tideshead in New England, where +she had been spending the summer with her old aunts, so that, having got +used to all the Tideshead liberties and restrictions, she thought she +was leaving the easiest place in the world; but when she got back to +London with her father, somehow or other life was very difficult indeed. + +She used to wish for London and for her cronies, the Duncans, when she +was first in Tideshead; but when she was in England again she found +that, being a little nearer to the awful responsibilities of a grown +person, she was not only a new Betty, but London--great, busy, roaring, +delightful London--was a new London altogether. To say that she felt +lonely, and cried one night because she wished to go back to Tideshead +and be a village person again, and was homesick for her four-posted bed +with the mandarins parading on the curtains, is only to tell the honest +truth. + +In Tideshead that summer Betty Leicester learned two things which she +could not understand quite well enough to believe at first, but which +always seem more and more sensible to one as time goes on. The first is +that you must be careful what you wish for, because if you wish hard +enough you are pretty sure to get it; and the second is, that no two +persons can be placed anywhere where one will not be host and the other +guest. One will be in a position to give and to help and to show; the +other must be the one who depends and receives. + +Now, this subject may not seem any clearer to you at first than it did +to Betty; but life suddenly became a great deal more interesting, and +she felt herself a great deal more important to the rest of the world +when she got a little light from these rules. For everybody knows that +two of the hardest things in the world are to know what to do and how to +behave; to know what one's own duty is in the world and how to get on +with other people. What to be and how to behave--these are the questions +that every girl has to face; and if somebody answers, "Be good and be +polite," it is such a general kind of answer that one throws it away and +feels uncomfortable. + +I do not remember that I happened to say anywhere in the story that +there was a pretty fashion in Tideshead, as summer went on, of calling +our friend "Sister Betty." Whether it came from her lamenting that she +had no sister, and being kindly adopted by certain friends, or whether +there was something in her friendly, affectionate way of treating +people, one cannot tell. + + + + +II + + +Betty Leicester, in a new winter gown which had just been sent home from +Liberty's, with all desirable qualities of color, and a fine expanse of +smocking at the yoke, and some sprigs of embroidery for ornament in +proper places, was yet an unhappy Betty. In spite of being not only +fine, but snug and warm as one always feels when cold weather first +comes and one gets into a winter dress, everything seemed disappointing. +The weather was shivery and dark, the street into which she was looking +was narrow and gloomy, and there was a moment when Betty thought +wistfully of Tideshead as if there were no December there, and only the +high, clear September sky that she had left. Somehow, all out-of-door +life appeared to have come to an end, and she felt as if she were shut +into a dark and wintry prison. Not long before this she had come from +Whitby, the charming red-roofed Yorkshire fishing-town that forever +climbs the hill to its gray abbey. There were flocks of young people at +Whitby that autumn, and Betty had lived out of doors in pleasant company +to her heart's content, and tramped about the moors and along the cliffs +with gay parties, and played golf and cricket, and helped to plan some +great excitement or lively excursion for almost every day. There is a +funny, dancing-step sort of walk, set to the tune of "Humpty-Dumpty," +which seems to belong with the Whitby walking-sticks which everybody +carries; you lock arms in lines across the road, and keep step to the +gay chant of the dismal nursery lines, and the faster you go, especially +when you are tired, the more it seems to rest you (or that's what some +people think) in the long walks home. Whitby was almost as good as +Tideshead, to which lovely town Betty now compared every other, even +London itself. + +Betty and her father had not yet gone to housekeeping by themselves +(which made them very happy later on), but they were living in some +familiar old Clarges Street lodgings convenient to the Green Park, where +Betty could go for a consoling scamper with a new dog called "Toby" +because he looked so exactly like the beloved Toby on the cover of +"Punch." Betty had spent a whole morning's work upon a proper belled +ruff for Toby, who gravely sat up and wore it as if he were conscious of +literary responsibilities. + +Papa had gone to the British Museum that rainy morning, and was not +likely to reappear before the close of day. For a wonder, he was going +to dine at home that night. Something very interesting to the scientific +world had happened to him during his summer visit to Alaska, and it +seemed as if every one of his scientific friends had also made some +discovery, or something had happened to each one, which made many talks +and dinners and club meetings delightfully important. But most of the +London people were in the country; for in England they stay in the hot +town until July or August, while all Americans scatter among green +fields or seashore places; and then spend the gloomy months of the year +in their country houses, when we fly back to the shelter and music and +pictures and companionship of town life. This all depends upon the +meeting of parliament and other great reasons; but even Betty Leicester +felt quite left out and lonely in town that dark day. Her best friends, +the Duncans, were at their great house in Warwickshire. She was going to +stay with them for a month, but not just yet; while her father was soon +going to pay a short visit to a very great lady indeed at Danesly +Castle, just this side the Border. + +This "very great lady indeed" was perfectly charming to our friend; a +smile or a bow from her was just then more than anything else to Betty. +We all know how perfectly delightful it is to love some one so much that +we keep dreaming of her a little all the time, and what happiness it +gives when the least thing one has to do with her is a perfectly golden +joy. Betty loved Mrs. Duncan fondly and constantly, and she loved Aunt +Barbara with a spark of true enchantment and eager desire to please; +but for this new friend, for Lady Mary Danesly (who was Mrs. Duncan's +cousin), there was something quite different in her heart. As she stood +by the window in Clarges Street she was thinking of this lovely friend, +and wishing for once that she herself was older, so that perhaps she +might have been asked to come with papa for a week's visit at Christmas. +But Lady Mary would be busy enough with her great house-party of +distinguished people. Once she had been so delightful as to say that +Betty must some day come to Danesly with her father, but of course this +could not be the time. Miss Day, Betty's old governess, who now lived +with her mother in one of the suburbs of London, was always ready to +come to spend a week or two if Betty were to be left alone, and it was +pleasanter every year to try to make Miss Day have a good time as well +as to have one one's self; but, somehow, a feeling of having outgrown +Miss Day was hard to bear. They had not much to talk about except the +past, and what they used to do; and when friendship comes to this alone, +it may be dear, but is never the best sort. + +The fog was blowing out of the street, and the window against which +Betty leaned was suddenly flecked with raindrops. A telegraph boy came +round the corner as if the gust of wind had brought him, and ran toward +the steps; presently the maid brought in a telegram to Betty, who +hastened to open it, as she was always commissioned to do in her +father's absence. To her surprise it was meant for herself. She looked +at the envelope to make sure. It was from Lady Mary. + + _Can you come to me with your father next week, dear? I wish for + you very much._ + +"There's no answer--at least there's no answer now," said Betty, quite +trembling with excitement and pleasure; "I must see papa first, but I +can't think that he will say no. He meant to come home for Christmas day +with me, and now we can both stay on." She hopped about, dancing and +skipping, after the door was shut. What a thing it is to have one's +wishes come true before one's eyes! And then she asked to have a hansom +cab called and for the company of Pagot, who was her maid now; a very +nice woman whom Mrs. Duncan had recommended, in as much as Betty was +older and had thoughts of going to housekeeping. Pagot's sister also was +engaged as housemaid, and, strange as it may appear, our Tideshead Betty +was to become the mistress of a cook and butler. Pagot herself looked +sedate and responsible, but she dearly liked a little change and was +finding the day dull. So they started off together toward the British +Museum in all the rain, with the shutter of the cab put down and the +horse trotting along the shining streets as if he liked it. + + + + +III + + +Mr. Leicester was in the Department of North American Prehistoric +Remains, and had a jar of earth before him which he was examining with +closest interest. "Here's a bit of charred bone," he was saying eagerly +to a wise-looking old gentleman, "and here's a funeral bead--just as I +expected. This proves my theory of the sacrificial--Why, Betty, what's +the matter?" and he looked startled for a moment. "A telegram?" + +"It was so very important, you see, papa," said Betty. + +"I thought it was bad news from Tideshead," said Mr. Leicester, looking +up at her with a smile after he had read it. "Well, my dear, that's very +nice, and very important too," he added, with a fine twinkle in his +eyes. "I shall be going out for a bit of luncheon presently, and I'll +send the answer with great pleasure." + +Betty's cheeks were brighter than ever, as if a rosy cloud of joy were +shining through. "Now that I'm here, I'll look at the arrowheads; mayn't +I, papa?" she asked, with great self-possession. "I should like to see +if I can find one like mine--I mean my best white one that I found on +the river-bank last summer." + +Papa nodded, and turned to his jar again. "You may let Pagot go home at +one o'clock," he said, "and come back to find me here, and we'll go and +have luncheon together. I was thinking of coming home early to get you. +We've a house to look at, and it's dull weather for what I wish to do +here at the museum. Clear sunshine is the only possible light for this +sort of work," he added, turning to the old gentleman, who nodded; and +Betty nodded sagely, and skipped away with Pagot, to search among the +arrowheads. + +She found many white quartz arrowpoints and spearheads like her own +treasure. Pagot thought them very dull, and was made rather +uncomfortable by the Indian medicine-masks and war-bonnets and +evil-looking war-clubs, and openly called it a waste of time for any one +to have taken trouble to get all that heathen rubbish together. Such +savages and their horrid ways were best forgotten by decent folks, if +Pagot might be so bold as to say so. But presently it was luncheon time; +and the good soul cheerfully departed, while Betty joined her father, +and waited for him as still as a mouse for half an hour, while he and +the scientific old gentleman reluctantly said their last words and +separated. She had listened to a good deal of their talk about altar +fires, and the ceremonies that could be certainly traced in a handful of +earth from the site of a temple in the mounds of a buried city; but all +her thoughts were of Lady Mary and the pleasures of the next week. She +looked again at the telegram, which was much nicer than most telegrams. +It was so nice of Lady Mary to have said _dear_ in it--just as if she +were talking; people did not often say _dear_ in a message. "Perhaps +some of her guests can't come; but then, everybody likes to be asked to +Danesly," Betty thought. "And I wonder if I shall dine at table with the +guests; I never have. At any rate, I shall see Lady Mary often and be +with papa. It is perfectly lovely! I can give her the Indian basket I +brought her, now, before the sweet grass is all dry." + +It was a great delight to be asked to the holiday party; many a grown +person would be thankful to take Betty's place. For was not Lady Mary a +very great lady indeed, and one of the most charming women in +England?--a famous hostess and assembler of really delightful people? + +"I am going to Danesly on the seventeenth," said Betty to herself, with +satisfaction. + + + + +IV + + +Betty and her father had taken a long journey from London. They had been +nearly all day in the train, after a breakfast by candle-light; and it +was quite dark, except for the light of the full moon in a misty sky, as +they drove up the long avenue at Danesly. Pagot was in great spirits; +she was to go everywhere with Betty now, being used to the care of young +ladies, and more being expected of this young lady than in the past. +Pagot had been at Danesly before with the Duncans, and had many friends +in the household. + +Mr. Leicester was walking across the fields by a path he well knew from +the little station, with a friend and fellow guest whom they had met at +Durham. This path was much shorter than the road, so that papa was sure +of reaching the house first; but Betty felt a little lonely, being +tired, and shy of meeting a great bright houseful of people quite by +herself, in case papa should loiter. But suddenly the carriage stopped, +and the footman jumped down and opened the door. "My lady is walking +down to meet you, miss," he said; "she's just ahead of us, coming down +the avenue." And Betty flew like a pigeon to meet her dear friend. The +carriage drove on and left them together under the great trees, walking +along together over the beautiful tracery of shadows. Suddenly Lady Mary +felt the warmth of Betty's love for her and her speechless happiness as +she had not felt it before, and she stopped, looking so tall and +charming, and put her two arms round Betty, and hugged her to her heart. + +"My dear little girl!" she said for the second time; and then they +walked on, and still Betty could not say anything for sheer joy. "Now +I'm going to tell you something quite in confidence," said the hostess +of the great house, which showed its dim towers and scattered lights +beyond the leafless trees. "I had been wishing to have you come to me, +but I should not have thought this the best time for a visit; later on, +when the days will be longer, I shall be able to have much more time to +myself. But an American friend of mine, Mr. Banfield, who is a friend of +your papa's, I believe, wrote to ask if he might bring his young +daughter, whom he had taken from school in New York for a holiday. It +seemed a difficult problem for the first moment," and Lady Mary gave a +funny little laugh. "I did not know quite what to do with her just now, +as I should with a grown person. And then I remembered that I might ask +you to help me, Betty dear. You know that the Duncans always go for a +Christmas visit to their grandmother in Devon." + +"I was so glad to come," said Betty warmly; "it was nicer than anything +else." + +[Illustration: "I WAS SO GLAD TO COME"] + +"I am a little afraid of young American girls, you understand," said +Lady Mary gayly; and then, taking a solemn tone: "Yes, you needn't +laugh, Miss Betty! But you know all about what they like, don't you? and +so I am sure we can make a bit of pleasure together, and we'll be +fellow hostesses, won't we? We must find some time every day for a +little talking over of things quite by ourselves. I've put you next your +father's rooms, and to-morrow Miss Banfield will be near by, and you're +to dine in my little morning-room to-night. I'm so glad good old Pagot +is with you; she knows the house perfectly well. I hope you will soon +feel at home. Why, this is almost like having a girl of my very own," +said Lady Mary wistfully, as they began to go up the great steps and +into the hall, where the butler and other splendid personages of the +household stood waiting. Lady Mary was a tall, slender figure in black, +with a beautiful head; and she carried herself with great spirit and +grace. She had wrapped some black lace about her head and shoulders, and +held it gathered with one hand at her throat. + +"I must fly to the drawing-room now, and then go to dress for dinner; so +good-night, darling," said this dear lady, whom Betty had always longed +to be nearer to and to know better. "To-morrow you must tell me all +about your summer in New England," she said, looking over her shoulder +as she went one way and Betty another, with Pagot and a footman who +carried the small luggage from the carriage. How good and kind she had +been to come to meet a young stranger who might feel lonely, and as if +there were no place for her in the great strange house in the first +minute of her arrival. And Betty Leicester quite longed to see Miss +Banfield and to help her to a thousand pleasures at once for Lady Mary's +sake. + + + + +V + + +Somebody has said that there are only a very few kinds of people in the +world, but that they are put into all sorts of places and conditions. +The minute Betty Leicester looked at Edith Banfield next day she saw +that she was a little like Mary Beck, her own friend and Tideshead +neighbor. The first thought was one of pleasure, and the second was a +fear that the new "Becky" would not have a good time at Danesly. It was +the morning after Betty's own arrival. That first evening she had her +dinner alone, and afterward was reading and resting after her journey in +Lady Mary's own little sitting-room, which was next her own room. When +Pagot came up from her own hasty supper and "crack" with her friends to +look after Betty, and to unpack, she had great tales to tell of the +large and noble company assembled at Danesly House. "They're dining in +the great banquet hall itself," she said with pride. "Lady Mary looks a +queen at the head of the table, with the French prince beside her and +the great Earl of Seacliff at the other side," said Pagot proudly. "I +took a look from the old musicians' gallery, miss, as I came along, and +it was a fine sight, indeed. Lady Mary's own maid, as I have known well +these many years, was telling me the names of the strangers." Pagot was +very proud of her own knowledge of fine people. + +Betty asked if it was far to the gallery; and, finding that it was quite +near the part of the house where they were, she went out with Pagot +along the corridors with their long rows of doors, and into the +musicians' gallery, where they found themselves at a delightful point of +view. Danesly Castle had been built at different times; the banquet-hall +itself was very old and stately, with a high, carved roof. There were +beautiful old hangings and banners where the walls and roof met, and +lower down were spread great tapestries. There was a huge fire blazing +in the deep fireplace at the end, and screens before it; the long table +twinkled with candle-light, and the gay company sat about it. Betty +looked first for papa, and saw him sitting beside Lady Dimdale, who was +a great friend of his; then she looked for Lady Mary, who was at the +head between the two gentlemen of whom Pagot had spoken. She was still +dressed in black lace, but with many diamonds sparkling at her throat, +and she looked as sweet and quiet and self-possessed as if there were no +great entertainment at all. The men-servants in their handsome livery +moved quickly to and fro, as if they were actors in a play. The people +at the table were talking and laughing, and the whole scene was so +pleasant, so gay and friendly, that Betty wished, for almost the first +time, that she were grown up and dining late, to hear all the delightful +talk. She and Pagot were like swallows high under the eaves of the great +room. Papa looked really boyish, so many of the men were older than he. +There were twenty at table; and Pagot said, as Betty counted them, that +many others were expected the next day. You could imagine the great +festivals of an older time as you looked down from the gallery. In the +gallery itself there were quaint little heavy wooden stools for the +musicians: the harpers and fiddlers and pipers who had played for so +many generations of gay dancers, for whom the same lights had flickered, +and over whose heads the old hangings had waved. You felt as if you were +looking down at the past. Betty and Pagot closed the narrow door of the +gallery softly behind them, and our friend went back to her own bedroom, +where there was a nice fire, and nearly fell asleep before it, while +Pagot was getting the last things unpacked and ready for the night. + + + + +VI + + +The next day at about nine o'clock Lady Mary came through her +morning-room and tapped at the door. Betty was just ready and very glad +to say good-morning. The sun was shining, and she had been leaning out +upon the great stone window-sill looking down the long slopes of the +country into the wintry mists. Lady Mary looked out too, and took a long +breath of the fresh, keen air. "It's a good day for hunting," she said, +"and for walking. I'm going down to breakfast, because I have planned +for an idle day. I thought we might go down together if you were ready." + +Betty's heart was filled with gratitude; it was so very kind of her +hostess to remember that it would be difficult for the only girl in the +house party to come alone to breakfast for the first time. They went +along the corridor and down the great staircase, past the portraits and +the marble busts and figures on the landings. There were two or three +ladies in the great hall at the foot, with an air of being very early, +and some gentlemen who were going fox hunting; and after Betty had +spoken with Lady Dimdale, whom she knew, they sauntered into the +breakfast-room, where they found some other people; and papa and Betty +had a word together and then sat down side by side to their muffins and +their eggs and toast and marmalade. It was not a bit like a Tideshead +company breakfast. Everybody jumped up if he wished for a plate, or for +more jam, or some cold game, which was on the sideboard with many other +things. The company of servants had disappeared, and it was all as +unceremonious as if the breakfasters were lunching out of doors. There +was not a long tableful like that of the night before; many of the +guests were taking their tea and coffee in their own rooms. + +By the time breakfast was done, Betty had begun to forget herself as if +she were quite at home. She stole an affectionate glance now and then +at Lady Mary, and had fine bits of talk with her father, who had spent a +charming evening and now told Betty something about it, and how glad he +was to have her see their fellow guests. When he went hurrying away to +join the hunt, Betty was sure that she knew exactly what to do with +herself. It would take her a long time to see the huge old house and the +picture gallery, where there were some very famous paintings, and the +library, about which papa was always so enthusiastic. Lady Mary was to +her more interesting than anybody else, and she wished especially to do +something for Lady Mary. Aunt Barbara had helped her niece very much one +day in Tideshead when she talked about her own experience in making +visits and going much into company. "The best thing you can do," she +said, "is to do everything you can to help your hostess. Don't wait to +see what is going to be done for you, but try to help entertain your +fellow guests and to make the moment pleasant, and you will be sure to +enjoy yourself and to find your hostess wishing you to come again. +Always do the things that will help your hostess." Our friend thought of +this sage advice now, but it was at a moment when every one else was +busy talking, and they were all going on to the great library except two +or three late breakfasters who were still at the table. Aunt Barbara had +also said that when there was nothing else to do, your plain duty was to +entertain yourself; and, having a natural gift for this, Betty wandered +off into a corner and found a new "Punch" and some of the American +magazines on a little table close by the window-seat. After a while she +happened to hear some one ask: "What time is Mr. Banfield coming?" + +"By the eleven o'clock train," said Lady Mary. "I am just watching for +the carriage that is to fetch him. Look; you can see it first between +the two oaks there to the left. It is an awkward time to get to a +strange house, poor man; but they were in the South and took a night +train that is very slow. Mr. Banfield's daughter is with him, and my +dear friend Betty, who knows what American girls like best, is kindly +going to help me entertain her." + +"Oh, really!" said one of the ladies, looking up and smiling as if she +had been wondering just what Betty was for, all alone in the grown-up +house party. "Really, that's very nice. But I might have seen that you +are Mr. Leicester's daughter. It was very stupid of me, my dear; you're +quite like him--oh, quite!" + +"I have seen you with the Duncans, have I not?" asked some one else, +with great interest. "Why, fancy!" said this friendly person, who was +named the Honorable Miss Northumberland, a small, eager little lady in +spite of her solemn great name,--"fancy! you must be an American too. I +should have thought you quite an English girl." + +"Oh, no, indeed," said Betty. "Indeed, I'm quite American, except for +living in England a very great deal." She was ready to go on and say +much more, but she had been taught to say as little about herself as +she possibly could, since general society cares little for knowledge +that is given it too easily, especially about strangers and one's self! + +"There's the carriage now," said Lady Mary, as she went away to welcome +the guests. "Poor souls! they will like to get to their rooms as soon as +possible," she said hospitably; but although the elder ladies did not +stir, Betty deeply considered the situation, and then, with a happy +impulse, hurried after her hostess. It was a long way about, through two +or three rooms and the great hall to the entrance; but Betty overtook +Lady Mary just as she reached the great door, going forward in the most +hospitable, charming way to meet the new-comers. She did not seem to +have seen Betty at all. + +The famous lawyer, Mr. Banfield, came quickly up the steps, and after +him, more slowly, came his daughter, whom he seemed quite to forget. + +A footman was trying to take her wraps and traveling-bag, but she clung +fast to them, and looked up apprehensively toward Lady Mary. + +Betty was very sympathetic, and was sure that it was a trying moment, +and she ran down to meet Miss Banfield, and happened to be so fortunate +as to catch her just as she was tripping over her dress upon the high +stone step. Mr. Banfield himself was well known in London, and was a +great favorite in society; but at first sight his daughter's +self-conscious manners struck one as being less interesting. She was a +pretty girl, but she wore a pretentious look, which was further borne +out by very noticeable clothes--not at all the right things to travel in +at that hour; but, as has long ago been said, Betty saw at once the +likeness to her Tideshead friend and comrade, Mary Beck, and opened her +heart to take the stranger in. It was impossible not to be reminded of +the day when Mary Beck came to call in Tideshead, with her best hat and +bird-of-paradise feather, and they both felt so awkward and miserable. + +"Did you have a very tiresome journey?" Betty was asking as they +reached the top of the steps at last; but Edith Banfield's reply was +indistinct, and the next moment Lady Mary turned to greet her young +guest cordially. Betty felt that she was a little dismayed, and was all +the more eager to have the young compatriot's way made easy. + +"Did you have a tiresome journey?" asked Lady Mary, in her turn; but the +reply was quite audible now. + +"Oh, yes," said Edith. "It was awfully cold--oh, awfully!--and so smoky +and horrid and dirty! I thought we never should get here, with changing +cars in horrid stations, and everything," she said, telling all about +it. + +"Oh, that was too bad," said Betty, rushing to the rescue, while Lady +Mary walked on with Mr. Banfield. Edith Banfield talked on in an +excited, persistent way to Betty, after having finally yielded up her +bag to the footman, and looking after him somewhat anxiously. "It's a +splendid big house, isn't it?" she whispered; "but awfully solemn +looking. I suppose there's another part where they live, isn't there? +Have you been here before? Are you English?" + +"I'm Betty Leicester," said Betty, in an undertone. "No, I haven't been +here before; but I have known Lady Mary for a long time in London. I'm +an American, too." + +"You aren't, really!" exclaimed Edith. "Why, you must have been over +here a good many times, or something"--She cast a glance at Betty's +plain woolen gear, and recognized the general comfortable appearance of +the English schoolgirl. Edith herself was very fine in silk attire, with +much fur trimming and a very expensive hat. "Well, I'm awfully glad +you're here," she said, with a satisfied sigh; "you know all about it +better than I do, and can tell me what to put on." + +"Oh, yes, indeed," said Betty cheerfully; "and there are lots of nice +things to do. We can see the people, and then there are all the pictures +and the great conservatories, and the stables and dogs and everything. +I've been waiting to see them with you; and we can ride every day, if +you like; and papa says it's a perfectly delightful country for +walking." + +"I hate to walk," said Edith frankly. + +"Oh, what a pity," lamented Betty, a good deal dashed. She was striving +against a very present disappointment, but still the fact could not be +overlooked that Edith Banfield looked like Mary Beck. Now, Mary also was +apt to distrust all strangers and to take suspicious views of life, and +she had little enthusiasm; but Betty knew and loved her loyalty and +really good heart. She felt sometimes as if she tried to walk in tight +shoes when "Becky's" opinions had to be considered; but Becky's world +had grown wider month by month, and she loved her very much. Edith +Banfield was very pretty; that was a comfort, and though Betty might +never like her as she did Mary Beck, she meant more than ever to help +her to have a good visit. + +Lady Mary appeared again, having given Mr. Banfield into the young +footman's charge. She looked at Sister Betty for an instant with an +affectionate, amused little smile, and kept one hand on her shoulder as +she talked for a minute pleasantly with the new guest. + +A maid appeared to take Edith to her room, and Lady Mary patted Betty's +shoulder as they parted. They did not happen to have time for a word +together again all day. + +By luncheon time the two girls were very good friends, and Betty knew +all about the new-comer; and in spite of a succession of minor +disappointments, the acquaintance promised to be very pleasant. Poor +Edith Banfield, like poor Betty, had no mother, but Edith had spent +several years already at a large boarding-school. She was taking this +journey by way of vacation, and was going back after the Christmas +holidays. She was a New-Yorker, and she hated the country, and loved to +stay in foreign hotels. This was the first time she had ever paid a +visit in England, except to some American friends who had a villa on the +Thames, which Edith had found quite dull. She had not been taught either +to admire or to enjoy very much, which seemed to make her schooling +count for but little so far; but she adored her father and his +brilliant wit in a most lovely way, and with this affection and pride +Betty could warmly sympathize. Edith longed to please her father in +every possible fashion, and secretly confessed that she did not always +succeed, in a way that touched Betty's heart. It was hard to know +exactly how to please the busy man; he was apt to show only a mild +interest in the new clothes which at present were her chief joy; perhaps +she was always making the mistake of not so much trying to please him as +to make him pleased with herself, which is quite a different thing. + + + + +VII + + +There was an anxious moment on Betty's part when Edith Banfield summoned +her to decide upon what dress should be worn for the evening. Pagot, +whom Betty had asked to go and help her new friend, was wearing a +disapproving look, and two or three fine French dresses were spread out +for inspection. + +"Why, aren't you going to dress?" asked Edith. "I was afraid you were +all ready to go down, but I couldn't think what to put on." + +"I'm all dressed," said Betty, with surprise. "Oh, what lovely gowns! +But we"--she suddenly foresaw a great disappointment--"we needn't go +down yet, you know, Edith; we are not out, and dinner isn't like +luncheon here in England. We can go down afterward, if we like, and hear +the songs, but we girls never go to dinner when it's a great dinner +like this. I think it is much better fun to stay away; at least, I +always have thought so until last night, and then it did really look +very pleasant," she frankly added. "Why, I'm not sixteen, and you're +only a little past, you know." But there lay a grown-up young lady's +evening gowns as if to confute all Betty's arguments. + +"How awfully stupid!" said Edith, with great scorn. "Nursery tea for +anybody like us!" and she turned to look at Betty's dress, which was +charming enough in its way, and made in very pretty girlish fashion. "I +should think they'd make you wear a white pinafore," said Edith +ungraciously; but Betty, who had been getting a little angry, thought +this so funny that she laughed and felt much better. + +"I wear muslins for very best," she said serenely. "Why, of course we'll +go down after dinner and stay a while before we say good-night; they'll +be out before half-past nine,--I mean the ladies,--and we'll be there in +the drawing-room. Oh, isn't that blue gown a beauty! I wish I had put +on my best muslin, Pagot." + +"You look very suitable, Miss Betty," said Pagot stiffly. Pagot was very +old-fashioned, and Edith made a funny little face at Betty behind her +back. + +The two girls had a delightful dinner together in the morning-room next +Betty's own, and Edith's good humor was quite restored. She had had a +good day, on the whole, and the picture galleries and conservatories had +not failed to please by their splendors and delights. After they had +finished their dessert, Betty, as a great surprise, offered the +hospitalities of the musicians' gallery, and they sped along the +corridors and up the stairs in great spirits, Betty leading the way. +"Now, don't upset the little benches," she whispered, as she opened the +narrow door out of the dark passage, and presently their two heads were +over the edge of the gallery. They leaned boldly out, for nobody would +think of looking up. + +The great hall was even gayer and brighter than it had looked the night +before. The lights and colors shone, there were new people at table, and +much talk was going on. The butler and his men were more military than +ever; it was altogether a famous, much-diamonded dinner company, and +Lady Mary looked quite magnificent at the head. + +"It looks pretty," whispered Edith; "but how dull it sounds! I don't +believe that they are having a bit of a good time. At home, you know, +there's such a noise at a party. What a splendid big room!" + +"People never talk loud when they get together in England," said Betty. +"They never make that awful chatter that we do at home. Just four or +five people who come to tea in Tideshead can make one another's ears +ache. I couldn't get used to it last summer; Aunt Barbara was almost the +only tea-party person in Tideshead who didn't get screaming." + +"Oh, I do think it's splendid!" said Edith wistfully. "I wish we were +down there. I wish there was a little gallery lower down. There's Lord +Dunwater, who sat next me at luncheon. Who's that next your father?" + +There was a little noise behind the eager girls, and they turned +quickly. A tall boy had joined them, who seemed much disturbed at +finding any one in the gallery, which seldom had a visitor. Edith stood +up, and seemed an alarmingly tall and elegant young lady in the dim +light. Betty, who was as tall, was nothing like so imposing to behold at +that moment; but the new-comer turned to make his escape. + +[Illustration: A TALL BOY HAD JOINED THEM] + +"Don't go away," Betty begged, seeing his alarm, and wondering who he +could be. "There's plenty of room to look. Don't go." And thereupon the +stranger came forward. + +He was a handsome fellow, dressed in Eton clothes. He was much confused, +and said nothing; and, after a look at the company below, during which +the situation became more embarrassing to all three, he turned to go +away. + +"Are you staying in the house, too?" asked Betty timidly; it was so +very awkward. + +"I just came," said the boy, who now appeared to be a very nice fellow +indeed. They had left the musicians' gallery,--nobody knew why,--and now +stood outside in the corridor. + +"I just came," he repeated. "I walked over from the station across the +fields. I'm Lady Mary's nephew, you know. She's not expecting me. I had +my supper in the housekeeper's room. I was going on a week's tramp in +France with my old tutor, just to get rid of Christmas parties and +things; but he strained a knee at football, and we had to give it up, +and so I came here for the holidays. There was nothing else to do," he +explained ruefully. "What a lot of people my aunt's got this year!" + +"It's very nice," said Betty cordially. + +"It's beastly slow, _I_ think," said the boy. "I like it much better +when my aunt and I have the place to ourselves. Oh, no; that's not what +I mean!" he said, blushing crimson as both the girls laughed. "Only we +have jolly good times by ourselves, you know; no end of walks and +rides; and we fish if the water's right. You ought to see my aunt cast a +fly." + +"She's perfectly lovely, isn't she?" said Betty, in a tone which made +them firm friends at once. "We're going down to the drawing-room soon; +wouldn't you like to come?" + +"Yes," said the boy slowly. "It'll be fun to surprise her. And I saw +Lady Dimdale at dinner. I like Lady Dimdale awfully." + +"So does papa," said Betty; "oh, so very much!--next to Lady Mary and +Mrs. Duncan." + +"You're Betty Leicester, aren't you? Oh, I know you now," said the boy, +turning toward her with real friendliness. "I danced with you at the +Duncans', at a party, just before I first went to Eton,--oh, ever so +long ago!--you won't remember it; and I've seen you once besides, at +their place in Warwickshire, you know. I'm Warford, you know." + +"Why, of course," said Betty, with great pleasure. "It puzzled me; I +couldn't think at first, but you've quite grown up since then. How we +used to dance when we were little things! Do you like it now?" + +"No, I hate it," said Warford coldly, and they all three laughed. Edith +was walking alongside, feeling much left out of the conversation, though +Warford had been stealing glances at her. + +"Oh, I am so sorry--I didn't think," Betty exclaimed in her politest +manner. "Miss Banfield, this is Lord Warford. I didn't mean to be rude, +but you were a great surprise, weren't you?" and they all laughed again, +as young people will. Just then they reached the door of Lady Mary's +morning-room; the girls' dessert was still on the table, and, being +properly invited, Warford began to eat the rest of the fruit. "One never +gets quite enough grapes," said Warford, who was evidently suffering the +constant hunger of a rapidly growing person. + +Edith Banfield certainly looked very pretty, both her companions +thought so; but they felt much more at home with each other. It seemed +as if she were a great deal older than they, in her fine evening gown. +Warford was very admiring and very polite, but Betty and he were already +plunged into the deep intimacy of true fellowship. Edith got impatient +before they were ready to go downstairs, but at last they all started +down the great staircase, and had just settled themselves in the +drawing-room when the ladies began to come in. + +"Why, Warford, my dear!" said Lady Mary, with great delight, as he met +her and kissed her twice, as if they were quite by themselves; then he +turned and spoke to Lady Dimdale, who was just behind, still keeping +Lady Mary's left hand in his own. Warford looked taller and more manly +than ever in the bright light, and he was recognized warmly by nearly +all the ladies, being not only a fine fellow, but the heir of Danesly +and great possessions besides, so that he stood for much that was +interesting, even if he had not been interesting himself. Betty and +Edith looked on with pleasure, and presently Lady Mary came toward them. + +"I am so glad that you came down," she said; "and how nice of you to +bring Warford! He usually objects so much that I believe you have found +some new way to make it easy. I suppose it is dull when he is by +himself. Mr. Frame is here, and has promised to sing by and by. He and +Lady Dimdale have practiced some duets--their voices are charming +together. I hope that you will not go up until afterward, no matter how +late." + +Betty, who had been sitting when Lady Mary came toward her, had risen at +once to meet her, without thinking about it; but Edith Banfield still +sat in her low chair, feeling stiff and uncomfortable, while Lady Mary +did not find it easy to talk down at her or to think of anything to say. +All at once it came to Edith's mind to follow Betty's example, and they +all three stood together talking cheerfully until Lady Mary had to go to +her other guests. + +"Isn't she lovely!" said Edith, with all the ardor that Betty could +wish. "I don't feel a bit afraid of her, as I thought I should." + +"She takes such dear trouble," said Betty, warmly. "She never forgets +anybody. Some grown persons behave as if you ought to be ashamed of not +being older, and as if you were going to bore them if they didn't look +out." At this moment Warford came back most loyally from the other side +of the room, and presently some gentlemen made their appearance, and the +delightful singing began. Betty, who loved music, sat and listened like +a quiet young robin in her red dress, and her father, who looked at her +happy, dreaming face, was sure that there never had been a dearer girl +in the world. Lady Mary looked at her too, and was really full of +wonder, because in some way Betty had managed with simple friendliness +to make her shy nephew quite forget himself, and to give some feeling of +belongingness to Edith Banfield, who would have felt astray by herself +in a strange English house. + + + + +VIII + + +The days flew by until Christmas, and the weather kept clear and bright, +without a bit of rain or gloom, which was quite delightful and wonderful +in that northern country. The older guests hunted or drove or went +walking. There were excursions of every sort for those who liked them, +and sometimes the young people joined in what was going on, and +sometimes Betty and Edith and Warford made fine plans of their own. It +proved that Edith had spent much time with the family of her uncle, who +was an army officer; and at the Western army posts she had learned to +ride with her cousins, who were excellent riders and insisted upon her +joining them. So Edith could share many pleasures of this sort at +Danesly, and she was so pretty and gay that people liked her a good +deal; and presently some of the house party had gone, and some new +guests came, and the two girls and Warford were unexpected helpers in +their entertainment. Sometimes they dined downstairs now, when no one +was asked from outside; and every day it seemed pleasanter and more +homelike to stay at Danesly. There were one or two other great houses in +the neighborhood where there were also house parties in the gay holiday +season, and so Betty and Edith saw a great deal of the world in one way +and another; and Lady Mary remembered that girls were sometimes lonely, +as they grew up, and was very good to them, teaching them, in quiet +ways, many a thing belonging to manners and getting on with other +people, that they would be glad to know all their life long. + +[Illustration: BETTY, EDITH AND WARFORD] + +"Don't talk about yourself," she said once, "and you won't half so often +think of yourself, and then you are sure to be happy." And again: "My +old friend, Mrs. Procter, used to say, '_Never explain, my dear. People +don't care a bit._'" + +Warford was more at home in the hunting field than in the house; but +the young people saw much of each other. He took a great deal of +trouble, considering his usual fashion, to be nice to the two girls; and +so one day, when Betty went to find him, he looked up eagerly to see +what she wanted. Warford was busy in the gun room, with the parts of a +gun which he had taken to pieces. There was nobody else there at that +moment, and the winter sun was shining in along the floor. + +"Warford," Betty began, with an air of great confidence, "what can we do +for a bit of fun at Christmas?" + +Warford looked up at her over his shoulder, a little bewildered. He was +just this side of sixteen, like Betty herself; sometimes he seemed +manly, and sometimes very boyish, as happened that day. "I'm in for +anything you like," he said, after a moment's reflection. "What's on?" + +"If we give up dining with the rest, I can think of a great plan," said +Betty, shining with enthusiasm. "There's the old gallery, you know. +Couldn't we have some music there, as they used in old times?" + +"My aunt would like it awfully," exclaimed Warford, letting his gunstock +drop with a thump. "I'd rather do anything than sit all through the +dinner. Somebody'd be sure to make a row about me, and I should feel +like getting into a burrow. I'll play the fiddle: what did you +mean?--singing, or what? If we had it Christmas Eve, we might have the +Christmas waits, you know." + +"_Fancy!_" said Betty, in true English fashion; and then they both +laughed. + +"The waits are pretty silly," said Warford. "They were better than usual +last year, though. Mr. Macalister, the schoolmaster, is a good musician, +and he trained them well. He plays the flute and the cornet. Why not see +what we can do ourselves first, and perhaps let them sing last? They'd +be disappointed not to come at midnight under the windows, you know," +said Warford considerately. "We'll go down and ask the schoolmaster +after hours, and we'll think what we can do ourselves. One of the +grooms has a lovely tenor voice. I heard him singing 'The Bonny Ivy +Tree' like a flute only yesterday, so he must know more of those other +old things that Aunt Mary likes." + +"We needn't have much music," said Betty. "The people at dinner will not +listen long,--they'll want to talk. But if we sing a Christmas song all +together, and have the flute and fiddle, you know, Warford, it would be +very pretty--like an old-fashioned choir, such as there used to be in +Tideshead. We'll sing things that everybody knows, because everybody +likes old songs best. I wish Mary Beck was here; but Edith sings--she +told me so; and don't you know how we sang some nice things together, +the other day upon the moor, when we were coming home from the +hermit's-cell ruins?" + +Warford nodded, and picked up his gunstock. + +"I'm your man," he said soberly. "Let's dress up whoever sings, with +wigs and ruffles and things. And then there are queer trumpets and +viols in that collection of musical instruments in the music-room. Some +of us can make believe play them." + +"A procession! a procession!" exclaimed Betty. "What do you say to a +company with masks to come right into the great hall, and walk round the +table three times, singing and playing? Lady Dimdale knows everything +about music; I mean to ask her. I'll go and find her now." + +"I'll come, too," said Warford, with delightful sympathy. "I saw her a +while ago writing in the little book-room off the library." + + + + +IX + + +It was Christmas at last; and all the three young people had been +missing since before luncheon in a most mysterious manner. But Betty +Leicester, who came in late and flushed, managed to sit next her father; +and he saw at once, being well acquainted with Betty, that some great +affair was going on. She was much excited, and her eyes were very +bright, and there was such a great secret that Mr. Leicester could do no +less than ask to be let in, and be gayly refused and hushed, lest +somebody else should know there was a secret, too. Warford, who appeared +a little later, looked preternaturally solemn, and Edith alone behaved +as if nothing were going to happen. She was as grown-up as possible, and +chattered away about the delights of New York with an old London +barrister who was Lady Mary's uncle, and Warford's guardian, and chief +adviser to the great Danesly estates. Edith was so pretty and talked so +brightly that the old gentleman looked as amused and happy as possible. + +"He may be thinking that she's coming down to dinner, but he'll look for +her in vain," said Betty, who grew gayer herself. + +"Not coming to dinner?" asked papa, with surprise; at which Betty gave +him so stern a glance that he was more careful to avoid even the +appearance of secrets from that time on; and they talked together softly +about dear old Tideshead, and Aunt Barbara, and all the household, and +wondered if the great Christmas box from London had arrived safely and +gone up the river by the packet, just as Betty herself had done six or +seven months before. It made her a little homesick, even there in the +breakfast-room at Danesly,--even with papa at her side, and Lady Mary +smiling back if she looked up,--to think of the dear old house, and of +Serena and Letty, and how they would all be thinking of her at Christmas +time. + +The great hall was gay with holly and Christmas greens. It was snowing +outside for the first time that year, and the huge fireplace was full of +logs blazing and snapping in a splendidly cheerful way. Dinner was to be +earlier than usual. A great festivity was going on in the servants' +hall; and when Warford went out with Lady Mary to cut the great +Christmas cake and have his health drunk, Betty and Edith went too; and +everybody stood up and cheered, and cried, "Merry Christmas! Merry +Christmas! and God bless you!" in the most hearty fashion. It seemed as +if all the holly in the Danesly woods had been brought in--as if +Christmas had never been so warm and friendly and generous in a great +house before. Christmas eve had begun, and cast its lovely charm and +enchantment over everybody's heart. Old dislikes were forgotten between +the guests; at Christmas time it is easy to say kind words that are hard +to say all the rest of the year; at Christmas time one loves his +neighbor and thinks better of him; Christmas love and good-will come +and fill the heart whether one beckons them or no. Betty had spent some +lonely Christmases in her short life, as all the rest of us have done; +and perhaps for this reason the keeping of the great day at Danesly in +such happy company, in such splendor and warm-heartedness of the old +English fashion, seemed a kind of royal Christmas to her young heart. +Everybody was so kind and charming. + +Lady Dimdale, who had entered with great enthusiasm into the Christmas +plans, caught her after luncheon and kissed her, and held her hand like +an elder sister as they walked away. It would have been very hard to +keep things from Lady Mary herself; but that dear lady had many ways to +turn her eyes and her thoughts, and so many secret plots of her own to +keep in hand at this season, that she did not suspect what was going on +in a distant room of the old south wing (where Warford still preserved +some of his boyish collections of birds' eggs and other plunder), of +which he kept the only key. There was a steep staircase that led down +to a door in the courtyard; and by this Mr. Macalister, the +schoolmaster, had come and gone, and the young groom of the tenor voice, +and five or six others, men and girls, who could either sing or play. It +was the opposite side of the house from Lady Mary's own rooms, and +nobody else would think anything strange of such comings and goings. +Pagot and some friendly maids helped with the costumes. They had +practiced their songs twice in the schoolmaster's own house at +nightfall, down at the edge of the village by the church; and so +everything was ready, with the help of Lady Dimdale and of Mrs. Drum, +the housekeeper, who would always do everything that Warford asked her, +and be heartily pleased besides. + +So Lady Mary did not know what was meant until after her Christmas +guests were seated, and the old vicar had said grace, and all the great +candelabra were lit, high on the walls between the banners and flags, +and among the staghorns and armor lower down, and there were lights +even in the old musicians' gallery, which she could see as she sat with +her back to the painted leather screen that hid the fireplace. Suddenly +there was a sound of violins and a bass-viol and a flute from the +gallery, and a sound of voices singing--the fresh young voices of +Warford and Betty and Edith and their helpers, who sang a beautiful old +Christmas song, so unexpected, so lovely, that the butler stopped +halfway from the sideboard with the wine, and the footmen stood +listening where they were, with whatever they had in hand. The guests at +dinner looked up in surprise, and Lady Dimdale nodded across at Mr. +Leicester because they both knew it was Betty's plan coming true in this +delightful way. And fresh as the voices were, the look of the singers +was even better, for you could see from below that all the musicians +were in quaint costume. The old schoolmaster stood in the middle as +leader, with a splendid powdered wig and gold-laced coat, and all the +rest wore coats and gowns of velvet and brocade from the old house's +store of treasures. They made a charming picture against the wall with +its dark tapestry, and Lady Dimdale felt proud of her own part in the +work. + +There was a cry of delight from below as the first song ended. Betty in +the far corner of the gallery could see Lady Mary looking up so pleased +and happy and holding her dear white hands high as she applauded with +the rest. Nobody knew better than Lady Mary that dinners are sometimes +dull, and that even a Christmas dinner is none the worse for a little +brightening. So Betty had helped her in great as well as in little +things, and she blessed the child from her heart. Then the dinner went +on, and so did the music; it was a pretty programme, and before anybody +had dreamed of being tired of it the sound ceased and the gallery was +empty. + +After a while, when dessert was soon coming in, and the Christmas +pudding with its flaming fire might be expected at any moment, there was +a pause and a longer delay than usual in the serving. People were +talking busily about the long table, and hardly noticed this until with +loud knocking and sound of music, old Bond, the butler, made his +appearance, with an assistant on either hand, bearing the plum pudding +aloft in solemn majesty, the flames rising merrily from the huge +platter. Behind him came a splendid retinue of the musicians, singing +and playing; every one carried some picturesque horn or trumpet or +stringed instrument from Lady Mary's collection, and those who sang also +made believe to play in the interludes. Behind these were all the men in +livery, two and two; and so they went round and round the table until at +last Warford slipped into his seat, and the pudding was put before him +with great state, while the procession waited. The tall shy boy forgot +himself and his shyness, and was full of the gayety of his pleasure. The +costumes were all somewhat fine for Christmas choristers, and the young +heir wore a magnificent combination of garments that had belonged to +noble peers his ancestors, and was pretty nearly too splendid to be +well seen without smoked glass. For the first time in his life he felt a +brave happiness in belonging to Danesly, and in the thought that Danesly +would really belong to him; he looked down the long room at Lady Mary, +and loved her as he never had before, and understood things all in a +flash, and made a vow to be a good fellow and to stand by her so that +she should never, never feel alone or overburdened again. + +Betty and Edith and the good schoolmaster (who was splendid in his white +wig, and a great addition to the already brilliant company) took their +own places, which were quickly made, and dessert went on; the rest of +the musicians had been summoned away by Mrs. Drum, the housekeeper,--all +these things having been planned beforehand. And then it was soon time +for the ladies to go to the drawing-room, and Betty, feeling a little +tired and out of breath with so much excitement, slipped away by herself +and to her own thoughts; of Lady Mary, who would be busy with her +guests, but still more of papa, who must be waited for until he came to +join the ladies, when she could have a talk with him before they said +good-night. It was perfectly delightful that everything had gone off so +well. Lady Dimdale had known just what to do about everything, and +Edith, who had grown nicer every day, had sung as well as Mary Beck (she +had Becky's voice as well as her look, and had told Betty it was the +best time she ever had in her life); and Warford had been so nice and +had looked so handsome, and Lady Mary was so pleased because he was not +shy and had not tried to hide or be grumpy, as he usually did. Betty +liked Warford better than any boy she had ever seen, except Harry Foster +in Tideshead. They would be sure to like each other, and perhaps they +might meet some day. Harry's life of care and difficulty made him seem +older than Warford, upon whom everybody had always showered all the good +things he could be persuaded to take. + + + + +X + + +Betty was all by herself, walking up and down in the long picture +gallery. There were lights here and there in the huge, shadowy room, but +the snow had ceased falling out of doors, and the moon was out and shone +brightly in at the big windows with their leaded panes. She felt very +happy. It was so pleasant to see how everybody cared about papa, and +thought him so delightful. She had never seen him in his place with such +a company of people, or known so many of his friends together before. It +was so good of Lady Mary to have let her come with papa. They would have +so many things to talk over together when they got back to town. + +The old pictures on the wall were watching Miss Betty Leicester of +Tideshead as she walked past them through the squares of moonlight, and +into the dim candle-light and out to the moonlight again. It was cooler +in the gallery than in the great hall, but not too cold, and it was +quiet and still. She was dressed in an ancient pink brocade, with fine +old lace, that had come out of a camphor-wood chest in one of the +storerooms, and she still held a little old-fashioned lute carefully +under her arm. Suddenly one of the doors opened, and Lady Mary came in +and crossed the moonlight square toward her. + +"So here you are, darling," she said. "I missed you, and every one is +wondering where you are. I asked Lady Dimdale, and she remembered that +she saw you come this way." + +Lady Mary was holding Betty, lace and lute and all, in her arms, and +then she kissed her in a way that meant a great deal. "Let us come over +here and look out at the snow," she said at last, and they stood +together in the deep window recess and looked out. The new snow was +sparkling under the moon; the park stretched away, dark woodland and +open country, as far as one could see; off on the horizon were the +twinkling lights of a large town. Lady Mary did not say anything more, +but her arm was round Betty still, and presently Betty's head found its +way to Lady Mary's shoulder as if it belonged there. The top of her +young head was warm under Lady Mary's cheek. + +"Everybody is lonely sometimes, darling," said Lady Mary at last; "and +as for me, I am very lonely indeed, even with all my friends, and all my +cares and pleasures. The only thing that really helps any of us is being +loved, and doing things for love's sake; it isn't the things themselves, +but the love that is in them. That's what makes Christmas so much to all +the world, dear child. But everybody misses somebody at Christmas time; +and there's nothing like finding a gift of new love and unlooked-for +pleasure." + +"Lady Dimdale helped us splendidly. It wouldn't have been half so nice +if it hadn't been for her," said Betty softly,--for her Christmas +project had come to so much more than she had dreamed at first. + +There was a stir in the drawing-room, and a louder sound of voices. The +gentlemen were coming in. Lady Mary must go back; but when she kissed +Betty again, there was a tear on her cheek, and so they stood waiting a +minute longer, and loving to be together, and suddenly the sweet old +bells in Danesly church, down the hill, rang out the Christmas chimes. + + * * * * * + + ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED + BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND CO. + + THE RIVERSIDE PRESS + + CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U. S. A. + + * * * * * + + Books by Sarah Orne Jewett. + + DEEPHAVEN. + + PLAY-DAYS. Stories for Children. + + OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. + + COUNTRY BY-WAYS. + + THE MATE OF THE DAYLIGHT, AND FRIENDS ASHORE. + + A COUNTRY DOCTOR. A Novel. + + A MARSH ISLAND. A Novel. + + A WHITE HERON, AND OTHER STORIES. + + THE KING OF FOLLY ISLAND, AND OTHER PEOPLE. + + BETTY LEICESTER. A Story for Girls. + + TALES OF NEW ENGLAND. + + STRANGERS AND WAYFARERS. + + A NATIVE OF WINBY, AND OTHER TALES. + + THE LIFE OF NANCY. + + THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS. + + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, + BOSTON AND NEW YORK. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Betty Leicester's Christmas, by Sarah Orne Jewett + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41831 *** |