"Oh, dear, no! because soon you will do it for its own sake. Now, here"s a long mirror; come and see yourself in the gla.s.s. Can"t you fancy what you are like?"
But Irene started away.
"No, no, no!" she said. "There"s a pool at the bottom of the garden, and there are water-lilies all around it. We"ll go, both of us, and look at ourselves there; that will be much prettier."
"As you please. I am quite indifferent; only I want you to respect yourself, Irene."
"Respect myself? But then, no one else does."
"Well, I intend to respect you, and I can only do it by your respecting yourself. Come along; let us look at ourselves in the pool. I am considered fairly good-looking--I don"t pretend to deny it; but I am nothing to you to-day, for you gave me a very tiring night."
"So I did, you poor dear! This white dress is rather nice, but I wouldn"t wear it for mother for all the world; I only wear it now. Now then, come along."
The two raced downstairs; the servants peeped out from different corners in astonishment. Miss Irene, who would make such a show of herself, was absolutely pretty in her shady hat of softest white, and her white dress to match, and that face, which, notwithstanding all her naughtiness, was and must ever be beautiful above ordinary faces.
By-and-by the girls reached the pool. They both fell on their knees, and Rosamund desired Irene to gaze at her reflection.
"Here are some forget-me-nots," said Rosamund. "I am going to make a wreath to put round your hair. Take your hat off."
She made a little wreath in a few minutes, and twined them through Irene"s curling locks.
"Now look again. What do you see?"
"Why, she is somebody rather--I mean she is beautiful, very beautiful,"
said Irene in a low voice. "But she is not me."
"She is you. Look again. Don"t you see that soft little mouth, and that nose, so beautifully formed, and those bright, bright eyes, and that hair, and the whole thing? It was G.o.d who made you, Irene, and He made you beautiful, and beautiful people have a great gift."
Irene ceased to look at herself. She flung off the forget-me-not wreath and turned to Rosamund.
"Now, what do you mean by all this lecturing?" she said.
"Beautiful people have a great responsibility," continued Rosamund in a stout voice. "They are sent into the world to make it better. As far as I can make out, up to the present time you have done nothing whatever but make the world worse. You have never, so far as I can tell, been kind to your mother. You have made the servants most unhappy. You have done your utmost to render your governesses" position impossible."
"Because I hate them, and don"t want to learn."
"Not want to learn," said Rosamund, "with that forehead so full, so intelligent? Why, you could learn in a flash. You could get knowledge with the utmost ease, and you would love it when once you began. If I am to be your friend you have got to turn over a new leaf. There, I have said enough about yourself for the present. Just let us walk about until tea-time."
"No; I want to go in the boat."
"We won"t go in the boat till after tea. I want to talk to you."
"I wonder why I am obeying you?" said Irene, slipping her hand inside Rosamund"s.
"Because I mean you to."
"I wonder why I"m not hating you?"
"Because if you did I should leave you."
"I couldn"t let you go. It seems to me the whole world is different since I got you. But do tell me, you are not very good yourself?"
"I am not at all so good. Ask the people at Sunnyside what they think of me. There is my dearest friend lying at death"s door--that is not my fault, of course; but when I can smile at all when I remember her, you must see for yourself that there is a great deal that is very far from good in me. But there, now, I want to talk about Miss Frost."
"Now, why?" said Irene. "That horror! That dreadful stick-in-the-mud!
Oh, she is detestable! I cannot tell you how I loathe her."
"You do, because you don"t understand her."
"And pray do you?"
"I understand her more than you do; and in any case I could not be cruel to her."
"But she is so old, and so ugly."
"I thought you didn"t mind about people"s appearance. You said so a minute ago."
"Well, I didn"t; but it seems to me that you have opened my eyes. If I am so beautiful I ought to be with beautiful people, like you, Rosamund; for, now I come to look at you, you are very beautiful."
"It is by no means necessary that you should be with beautiful people; but you should give pleasure to people who are not beautiful, because they would like to look at you, and hear your voice, and be refreshed by your kind actions."
"Good gracious me! Kind actions!" said Irene.
"In future I believe they will be kind. Now, please understand you have been exceedingly cruel to Miss Frost."
"I want her to go."
"She is not going."
"How do you know? I did think those wood-lice would finish her. I thought and thought, and the happy idea came to me this morning. I was quite certain she"d give notice, just as Carter did. They could take her on at the Merrimans". It seems to me that my governesses always find a berth near, so as to spread the fame of my dreadful character."
"Well, she is not going. She can"t go. She has a little brother and sister, and she has got to provide for them."
"What do you mean by that?"
"She has got to feed and clothe them, and to put them to school, and do everything for them. If she left your mother"s house she would have no money, and might find it difficult to get another post. So she is not going. I asked her to stay, and she is going to teach me as well as you."
"Dear me!"
"Yes; and we are going to make it exceedingly interesting. I mean you to learn a lot. I a.s.sure you, if I come here and give up the next few months of my life to you, I don"t mean to do nothing in the time. I want to work hard, and you will have to work hard too. I am not bound to stay with you for a single hour. The moment your pranks begin, the moment I hear of any more toads being put into the bread-pan, or wasps and caterpillars descending on poor James"s head, or spiders put down the housemaids" backs, or leeches being allowed to run about your bedroom, I shall just go off. If you want me you must refrain from that sort of thing."
"But won"t I have any outlet?"
"Indeed you will have plenty."
"Of what sort?"
"You will see. But there is the tea-bell; let us go in."