"This affair may prove of some serious inconvenience to Miss Colwyn, I suppose?"
"Oh, you may depend upon it, she won"t be the loser," said Mr. Adair, hastily. "We"ll see about that. Of course she will not suffer any injury through my daughter"s friendship for her."
Sir Philip was not so sure about it. In spite of his intense admiration for Margaret"s beauty, it occurred to him that the romantic partisanship of the girl with beauty, position, and wealth for her less fortunate sister had not been attended with very brilliant results. No doubt Miss Adair, reared in luxury and indulgence, did not in the least realize the harm done to the poor governess-pupil"s future by her summary dismissal from Miss Polehampton"s boarding-school. To Margaret, anything that the schoolmistress chose to say or do mattered little; to Janetta Colwyn, it might some day mean prosperity or adversity of a very serious kind. Sir Philip did not quite believe in the compensation so easily promised by Mr. Adair. He made a mental note of Miss Colwyn"s condition and prospects, and said to himself that he would not forget her. And this meant a good deal from a busy man like Sir Philip Ashley.
Meanwhile there had been another conversation going on in the drawing-room between the three ladies. Margaret put her arm affectionately round Janetta"s waist as they stood by the hearthrug, and looked at her mother with a smile. Lady Caroline sank into an easy-chair on the other side of the fireplace, and contemplated the two girls.
"This is better than Claremont House, is it not, Janet?" said Margaret.
"Indeed it is," Janetta answered, gratefully.
"You found the way to papa"s heart by your talk about music--did she not, mamma? And does not this dress suit her beautifully?"
"It wants a little alteration in the sleeve," said Lady Caroline, with the placidity which Janetta had always attributed to Margaret as a special virtue, but which she now found was merely characteristic of the house and family in general, "but Markham can do that to-morrow. There are some people coming in the evening, and the sleeve will look better shortened."
The remark sounded a little inconsequent in Janetta"s ear, but Margaret understood and a.s.sented. It meant that Lady Caroline was on the whole pleased with Janetta, and did not object to introducing her to her friends. Margaret gave her mother a little smile over Janetta"s head, while that young person was gathering up her courage in two hands, so to speak, before addressing Lady Caroline.
"I am very much obliged to you," she said at last, with a thrill of grat.i.tude in her sweet voice which was very pleasant to the ear. "But--I was thinking--what time would be the most convenient for me to go home to-morrow?"
"Home? To Beaminster?" said Margaret. "But you need not go, dear; you can write a note and tell them that you are staying here."
"Yes, my dear; I am sure Margaret cannot part with you yet," said Lady Caroline, amiably.
"Thank you; it is most kind of you," Janetta answered, her voice shaking. "But I must ask my father whether I can stay--and hear what he says; Miss Polehampton will have written to him, and----"
"And he will be very glad that we have rescued you from her clutches,"
said Margaret, with a soft triumphant little laugh. "My poor Janetta!
What we suffered at her hands!"
Lady Caroline lying back in her easy chair, with the candle light gleaming upon her silvery grey and white brocade with its touches of soft pink, and the diamonds flashing on her white hands, so calmly crossed upon the handle of her ivory fan, did not feel quite so tranquil as she looked. It crossed her mind that Margaret was acting inconsiderately. This little Miss Colwyn had her living to earn; it would be no kindness to unfit her for her profession. So, when she spoke it was with a shade more decision than usual in her tones.
"We will drive you over to Beaminster to-morrow, my dear Miss Colwyn, and you can then see your family, and ask your father if you may spend a few days with Margaret. I do not think that Mr. Colwyn will refuse us,"
she said, graciously. "I wonder when those men are coming, Margaret.
Suppose you open the piano and let us have a little music. You sing, do you not?"
"Yes, a little," said Janetta.
"A little!" exclaimed Margaret, with contempt. "She has a delightful voice, mamma. Come and sing at once, Janetta, darling, and astonish mamma."
Lady Caroline smiled. She had heard a great many singers in her day, and did not expect to be astonished. A little governess-pupil, an under-teacher in a boarding-school! Dear Margaret"s enthusiasm certainly carried her away.
But when Janetta sang, Lady Caroline was, after all, rather surprised.
The girl had a remarkably sweet and rich contralto voice, and it had been well trained; and, moreover, she sang with feeling and pa.s.sion which were somewhat unusual in one so young. It seemed as if some hidden power, some latent characteristic came out in her singing because it found no other way of expressing itself. Neither Lady Caroline nor Margaret understood why Janetta"s voice moved them so much; Sir Philip, who came in with his host while the music was going on, heard and was charmed also without quite knowing why; it was Mr. Adair alone whose musical knowledge and experience of the world enabled him, feather-headed as in some respects he was, to lay his finger directly on the salient features of Janetta"s singing.
"It"s not her voice altogether, you know," he said afterwards to Philip Ashley, in a moment of confidence; "it"s soul. She"s got more of that commodity than is good for a woman. It makes her singing lovely, you know--brings tears into one"s eyes, and all that sort of thing--but upon my honor I"m thankful that Margaret hasn"t got a voice like that! It"s women of that kind that are either heroines of virtue--or go to the devil. They are always in extremes."
"Then we may promise ourselves some excitement in watching Miss Colwyn"s career," said Sir Philip, dryly.
After Janetta, Margaret sang; she had a sweet mezzo-soprano voice, of no great strength or compa.s.s, but perfectly trained and very pleasing to the ear. The sort of voice, Sir Philip thought, that would be soothing to the nerves of a tired man in his own house. Whereas, Janetta"s singing had something impa.s.sioned in it which disturbed and excited instead of soothing. But he was quite ready to admire when Margaret called on him for admiration. They were sitting together on a sofa, and Janetta, who had just finished one of her songs, was talking to, or being talked to, by Mr. Adair. Lady Caroline had taken up a review.
"Is not Miss Colwyn"s voice perfectly lovely?" Margaret asked, with shining eyes.
"It is very sweet."
"Don"t you think she looks very nice?"--Margaret was hungering for admiration of her friend.
"She is a very pretty girl. You are very fond of each other?"
"Oh, yes, devoted. I am so glad I succeeded!" said the girl, with a great sigh.
"In getting her away from the school?"
"Yes."
"You think it was for her good?"
Margaret opened her lovely eyes.
"For her good?--to come here instead of staying in that close uncomfortable house to give music lessons, and bear Miss Polehampton"s snubs?----" It had evidently never occurred to her that the change could be anything but beneficial to Janetta.
"It is very pleasant for her, no doubt," said Sir Philip, smiling in spite of his disapproval. "I only wondered whether it was a good preparation for the life of hard work which probably lies before her."
He saw that Margaret colored, and wondered whether she would be offended by his suggestion. After a moment"s pause, she answered, gravely, but quite gently--
"I never thought of it in that way before, exactly. I want to keep her here, so that she should never have to work hard at all."
"Would she consent to that?"
"Why not?" said Margaret.
Sir Philip smiled and said no more. It was curious, he said to himself, to see how little conception Margaret had of lives unlike and outside her own. And Janetta"s brave but sensitive little face, with its resolute brows and lips and brilliant eyes, gave promise of a determination and an originality which, he felt convinced, would never allow her to become a mere plaything or appendage of a wealthy household, as Margaret Adair seemed to expect. But his words had made an impression. At night, when Lady Caroline and her daughter were standing in the charming little room which had always been appropriated to Margaret"s use, she spoke, with the unconscious habit of saying frankly anything that had occurred to her, of Sir Philip"s remarks.
"It was so odd," she said; "Sir Philip seemed to think that it would be bad for Janetta to stay here, mamma. Why should it be bad for her, mamma, dear?"
"I don"t think it will be at all bad for her to spend a day or two with us, darling," said Lady Caroline, keeping somewhat careful watch on Margaret"s face as she spoke. "But perhaps it had better be by-and-bye.
You know she wants to go home to-morrow, and we must not keep her away from her duties or her own sphere of life."
"No," Margaret answered, "but her duties will not always keep her at home, you know, mamma, dear."
"I suppose not, my dearest," said Lady Caroline, vaguely, but in the caressing tone to which Margaret was accustomed. "Go to bed, my sweetest one, and we will talk of all these things to-morrow."
Meanwhile Janetta was wondering at the luxury of the room which had been allotted to her, and thinking over the events of the past day. When a tap at the door announced Margaret"s appearance to say good-night, Janetta was standing before the long looking-gla.s.s, apparently inspecting herself by the light of the rose-tinted wax candles in silver sconces which were fixed on either side of the mirror. She was in her dressing-gown, and her long and abundant hair fell over her shoulder in a great curly ma.s.s.
"Oh, Miss Vanity!" cried Margaret, with more gaiety of tone than was usual with her, "are you admiring your pretty hair?"
"I was thinking," said Janetta, with the intensity which often characterized her speech, "that _now_ I understood you--now I know why you were so different from other girls, so sweet, so calm and beautiful!
You have lived in this lovely place all your life! It is like a fairy palace--a dream-house--to me; and you are the queen of it, Margaret--a princess of dreams!"
"I hope I shall have something more than dreams to reign over some day,"