"I?" said little Agnes, in amazement.
"Yes, you, Aggie--you; for you loved her, and you helped her to be good by simply trusting her, and by clinging to her and thinking her all that is good and beautiful. Between us--you and me--we were softening her, and she will be a splendid woman some day, not a poor, miserable wretch, half-wild, but good and true and n.o.ble."
"I like women of that sort," said little Agnes, in a fervor of enthusiasm.
"And that is what your own Irene will be, provided that you do not give her up."
"I give her up?" said little Agnes. "But I never will."
"You gave her up to-night when you refused to sleep in the room with her. She is in my room now, trembling all over, terrified, grieved, amazed. Oh, Aggie, why did you do it?"
"I was frightened," whispered Agnes. "I suppose I am a coward."
"You certainly are a very great coward, and I am surprised at you, for Irene would no more hurt you than a mother would her own little child.
You have got to come back to her in my arms, and you have got to tell her that you love her more than ever, and that you trust her more than ever. Now, will you or will you not? If you will not, I believe that all our efforts will be fruitless, and Irene will become just as bad as ever. But if you do, you will have done a brave and n.o.ble act. You are not a coward, Agnes; you are a girl with a good deal of character, when all is said and done, and you ought to exercise it now for your friend.
Just think what she has done for you. Think what she has done for your sister, and"----
"It was to Emmie that she gave the awful wood-lice," said Agnes.
"She did it as an ignorant girl, not in the least knowing the danger and the naughtiness of her own trick. I do not pretend to defend her; but she would not do such a thing now to anybody, and certainly not to you.
And yet, because you hear a few bad stories about her, you give up the girl who has sheltered and loved and petted you; who has influenced Lady Jane to make your brother a gentleman, not a shopman; who will help you all through your life, as you, darling, are helping her. Oh! I know you are a little girl, and cannot understand perhaps all that I say; but if you give Irene up to-night I shall be in despair."
Tears came to Rosamund"s bright eyes. She sat quite still, looking at the child.
"I won"t give her up! I won"t be frightened at all. I will run back to her now."
"There"s a darling! Go this very second. Where are your slippers? Here is your little blue dressing-gown. You will find her in my room. I won"t go back for a minute or two, for I will explain to Frosty. Now, off with you, and remember that I am close to you; but you needn"t even think of that, for Irene herself would fight the fiercest and most savage creature to shield and protect you, little Agnes."
It seemed to little Agnes as Rosamund spoke that the terrors that Lucy"s words had inspired rolled away as though they had never existed. The brightness came back to her pretty dark eyes. She put her small feet into her little felt slippers, wrapped herself round with her little blue dressing-gown, and ran down the corridor. It was too late for any of the girls to be up, and the corridor was deserted. Lucy had gone to bed, to wrestle and cry and wonder by what possible means she could revenge herself on Rosamund Cunliffe.
Irene was sitting in Rosamund"s room, feeling more and more that wild living thing inside her--that wild thing that would not be subdued, that would rise up and urge her to desperate actions. Then all of a sudden there came the patter of small feet, and those feet stopped, not at Rosamund"s door, but at her own. It was opened and a little face peeped in. Irene, in Rosamund"s room, could not see the face, but she heard the sound, and her heart seemed to stand still. She rose softly, opened the door of communication between the two rooms, and peeped in.
With a cry, Agnes flew to her side.
"Oh, Irene! I have come back. I couldn"t sleep in Frosty"s bed. I thought--I did think--oh, don"t ask me any questions! Just let me sleep with you to-night. And oh, Irene, don"t be angry with me!"
"I angry with you?" said Irene, melted on the spot. "No, I won"t ask a single question, you sweet, you dear, you treasure! Yes, we will sleep together. Yes, little Agnes, I love you with all my heart for ever and for ever."
CHAPTER XXV.
REVENGE.
After this incident there was peace in the school for some time; Lucy was defeated. Agnes was more Irene"s chosen chum and adored little friend than ever. The child seemed to have completely lost her terrors, and she gave Miss Frost rather less than more of her society. Rosamund watched in silent trepidation. If only Lucy would not interfere! But she did not trust Lucy, nor did she trust another girl in the school, Phyllis Flower, who--small, thin, plain, but clever--had suddenly become Lucy"s right-hand. At first Phyllis had rather shrunk away from Lucy, but now she was invariably with her. They talked a good deal, and in low tones, as though they had a great many secrets which they shared each with the other. On one occasion, towards mid-term, when all the girls had settled comfortably to their tasks and life seemed smooth and harmonious once more, even Irene being no longer regarded with dislike and terror by the rest of the girls, Lucy Merriman and Phyllis Flower took a walk together.
"I am very glad we have this chance of being alone," said Lucy, "for I want to speak to you."
"What do you want to say?" asked Phyllis. She was flattered by Lucy"s confidence, for some of the girls admired this prim though rather handsome girl very much. Besides, was she not the daughter of their own master and mistress? Had she not a sort of position in the school which the rest of them would have envied a good deal? Lucy was beginning to exercise her power in more than one direction, and she and Rosamund between them really headed two parties in the small school. Of course, Phyllis Flower belonged altogether to Lucy"s party.
"Well, what is it?" she said. "What do you want to say to me?"
"It is this," said Lucy. "I am quite determined to have my revenge on that horrid Rosamund and that odious Irene."
"I wish you wouldn"t think so much about them. They are quite happy now, and don"t do anybody any special harm."
"But that is just it. Rosamund ought never to have been readmitted to the school, and Irene is not the sort of girl who should have come here."
"Well, she seems a very nice sort--not that I know much about her."
"You had better not say that again in my presence, Phyllis--that is, if you wish me to remain your friend."
"Then I won"t, dear," said Phyllis, "for certainly I do wish you to be my friend."
"I hate Irene," said Lucy, "and I hate Rosamund, and I hate that little sneak Agnes Frost, who tries to worm herself into everybody"s good favor."
"Oh, no, she doesn"t! She thinks of no one in all the world but Irene."
"I am surprised at that," said Lucy. "I imagined I had put a spoke in that wheel. I was very much amazed when I saw them thicker than ever the very next day. She is the sort of child who would tell tales out of school. I know the sort--detestable! She is a little pitcher with long ears. She is all that is vulgar and second-rate."
"Perhaps she is," said Phyllis, "although I never thought so. I thought her a pretty, sweet little creature. I think she is really fond of Irene, and Irene is sincerely devoted to her."
"Well, Phyllis, I will confide in you. A few weeks ago, when Rosamund and Irene took themselves off to The Follies to spend the afternoon, I took the opportunity of having a chat with little Miss Agnes Frost, and there and then I enlightened her with regard to certain stories which I knew for a fact to be true. I can tell you I frightened her a good bit.
She is rather timid--I never knew any one more so. Her face got as white as death. Of course, I told her she was not to tell any one, but I didn"t greatly care. I know for a fact she was nervous for the rest of the day, and that evening she asked poor old Frosty to let her sleep in her bed."
"But she didn"t sleep with her, all the same," said Phyllis, "for I happened to see her running back to her own room quite late, after the rest of us were supposed to be in bed. And the next day she was greater friends than ever with Irene."
"What a nuisance things are!" said Lucy. "But now I am absolutely determined to punish Irene and Rosamund in the only way in which I can punish them. Rosamund is conceited enough to believe that she has made a reformation in Irene"s character. I know better. I know that Irene is a perfectly horrid girl. If you could only have heard Miss Carter talk about her when she first went to the Singletons"! And we had a servant once from their house, and she told us some most ghastly tales. It is impossible to suppose for a second that Irene is a nice girl; but between Rosamund--who, I must own, is very plucky--and this mite Agnes, who is devoted to her, she is quite quiet and amenable, and she is no doubt pa.s.sionately fond of that stupid, inane little Agnes. Now, I mean to get Agnes from her. You must help me, Phyllis. How are we to manage it?"
"It seems hardly worth while," said Phyllis.
"All right, Phyllis, you can please yourself. There are others who would help me--Agnes Sparkes, for instance."
"Oh! if you must have some one, I am quite as good as another," said Phyllis Flower.
"Well, you know that promise of mine that we should go to London together. My dear aunt, Mrs. Brett, is going to town, and she says that she will take me and any special friend I like as my companion, and she will show me all over the place: the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul"s, and all the rest. And I mean to go to a theatre. Were you ever at a really big theatre in the whole course of your life, Phyllis?"
"Never," said Phyllis, "for you know I have lived all my life in the country."
"Well, you can"t possibly imagine what it is like: the dresses and the lights, and the actors and the stage effects, as they call them, and the way the people talk--it moves you so. I went once, and I cried two handkerchiefs into wet mops, and I could have cried into a third, only I didn"t happen to have it. Oh, it was lovely!"
"It seems to be rather melancholy from your description," said Phyllis.
"Oh! it is the sort of melancholy that you can enjoy," said Lucy. "At least I enjoyed it, and I am a very matter-of-fact girl. But there, we can go to a laughing theatre. Some theatres make you laugh so much that you can scarcely stop. You get almost into hysterics. Anyhow, I mean to go, because Aunt Susan has promised to take me, either to a merry or a sad play. And then you are fond of music. I dare say I could squeeze in a concert. Think of a whole week, and not a penny to come out of your pocket; for Aunt Susan has a little sum put by, and she means to give me and whichever of my school-fellows I like best a real treat. So now you understand."
"Yes, I understand," said Phyllis.