CHAPTER XVI.
BELLE"S NEW FRIEND.
"How soon the bitter follows on the sweet!
Could I not chain your fancy"s flying feet?
Could I not hold your soul to make you play To-morrow in the key of yesterday?"
Isobel found Belle on the Parade next morning in the midst of quite a group of fashionable strangers. She was wearing one of her smartest frocks, and was hanging affectionately on the arm of a girl slightly taller than herself, a showy-looking child, with hazel eyes and a high colour, dressed in a very fantastic costume of red and white, with a scarlet fez on her thick frizzy brown hair, and a tall silver-k.n.o.bbed cane, ornamented with ribbons, in her hand. Belle appeared to find her company so entrancing that at first she did not notice Isobel, and it was only when the latter spoke to her that she seemed to realize her presence, and said "Good-morning."
"We"re just off to the island," said Isobel. "Charlie has got a fresh coil of rope, and the boys are going to try and make a new raft. The Rokebys are bringing some eggs, and we mean to fry pancakes and toss them, as if it were Shrove Tuesday. Are you coming?"
"Well, not this morning, I think," replied Belle. "I"ve promised Blanche to show her the old town. She doesn"t know Silversands at all."
"Would she like to go with us to the hut?" suggested Isobel, looking towards the newcomer, who stood playing with the loops of ribbon on her cane, and humming a tune to herself in a jaunty, self-confident manner.
"Oh, I don"t think so," replied Belle. "It"s too far. She hasn"t seen the beach or the quay yet. We"re going now to buy fruit in the market, and then we shall have a stroll round the shops. You can take Micky with you to the island if you like. I"ll put on his leash, so that he won"t follow me."
"No, thanks; I should be afraid of losing him," replied Isobel. "I"d really rather not. Shall I see you this afternoon?"
"Blanche has asked me to play tennis in their garden," said Belle, drawing Isobel aside. "But I shall be home about six, because the Oppenheims dine at seven, and Blanche always has to dress. I"ll come for a walk then, if you"ll call for me. I must go now; the others are waiting."
Isobel went away with a rather blank feeling of disappointment. She had grown so accustomed to Belle that it seemed quite strange to be without her, and the morning pa.s.sed slowly, in spite of the pancakes which she helped Letty and Winnie to mix and toss over the fire. She felt she was only giving half her attention to the raft that the boys kept calling her to admire, and that her thoughts were continually with Belle, trying to imagine what she was doing, and wondering if she were enjoying herself. Mrs. Stewart had found the walk to the White Coppice such a strain on her weak ankle that she would not dare to venture any great exertion for several days, so her intended expedition to the island to sketch the runic cross had perforce to be put off. She and Isobel carried their tea to the beach close by that afternoon, and drank it under the shade of a rock; but though it was pleasant sitting close to the lapping waves, and Mrs. Stewart had brought a new book to read aloud, Isobel"s mind would wander away to the garden near the woods where Belle was playing tennis, and she would recall herself with a start, realizing that she had not taken in a single word of the story.
She went round, according to her promise, soon after six o"clock, to find Mrs. Stuart and her friend deep in patterns of dress materials, price lists, catalogues, and copies of the _Queen_, and other ladies"
newspapers.
"The Oppenheims are giving a garden-party next Tuesday," explained Belle. "They have a great many friends staying in the neighbourhood who will drive over. They"ve asked me, and I haven"t a thing fit to go in.
My white silk"s too short, the pink c.r.a.pe"s quite crushed, the blue muslin won"t look nice after it"s washed, and my merino"s hardly smart enough. I must have a new dress somehow."
"I don"t generally like you in ready-made clothes, Belle," said Mrs.
Stuart, "but really this embroidered silk in the advertis.e.m.e.nt looks very pretty, and Peter Robinson"s is a good shop. I think I shall risk it. There will be just time, if I catch this post. Would you rather have the blue or the pink?"
"The blue," said Belle promptly, "because of my best hat. You"d better write for some more forget-me-nots at the same time; the ones in the front are rather dashed. I can wear my blue chain and the turquoise bracelet, and I have a pair of long white gloves not touched yet. But oh, mother, my parasol! It"s dreadfully bleached with the sun. Do, please, send for another. There"s a picture of one here with little frills all round, just what I want."
Belle"s mind was so absorbed by the arrangement of her costume for the coming party that, until the letters were written and finally dispatched to the post, she could give no attention to Isobel, and in the short walk which they took afterwards on the beach her whole conversation was of the Oppenheims and the delightful afternoon she had spent at their house.
"Blanche has five bracelets," she confided, "and four rings, and a dressing-case full of lockets and chains and brooches. She took me upstairs and showed them to me. She"s brought her pony with her, and some morning she"s promised to borrow her sister"s riding-skirt for me, and the coachman is to take us on to the common to ride in turns. Won"t it be glorious? She"s _such_ an amusing girl! She knows all the latest songs, and you should just hear her take people off: it makes you die with laughing. She"s been a year at a jolly school near London, where the girls are taken to _matinees_ at the theatre, and have a splendid time. I mean to ask mother to send me there. It"s dreadfully expensive, but I know she wouldn"t mind that."
"We missed you at the island to-day," said Isobel. "The pancakes were delicious. We ate them with sugar and lemons."
"Did you?" said Belle inattentively. "Perhaps I may come to-morrow, if I have time."
"To-morrow"s the cricket match at the old playground," said Isobel. "We always have it on Sat.u.r.day, you know. Had you forgotten?"
"I suppose I had," replied Belle. "I"ll bring Blanche, if she cares about coming. I don"t know whether she plays cricket."
On Sat.u.r.day morning Isobel called early at No. 12, only to find that Belle had already gone to the Oppenheims, and would not return until lunch.
"I"m sorry she"s not in, dear," said Mrs. Stuart kindly, noticing Isobel"s look of disappointment; "but she expects to see you in the afternoon, I"m sure. She told me she would be meeting all her friends upon the sh.o.r.e, so some of the others will no doubt know what has been arranged, if you ask them. I believe I saw the Rokebys pa.s.s a moment ago; you could soon overtake them if you were to run."
The matches on the small green common which had been their first playground were still an inst.i.tution of the Sea Urchins" Club, and Isobel looked forward to them with considerable pleasure. She had not sufficient strength of arm to gain credit as a batsman, but she was a splendid fielder, and Charlie declared that no one made a better long-stop. This afternoon both boys and girls had a.s.sembled in full force punctually at the appointed time, and the game was nearly halfway through before Belle and her new friend came sauntering leisurely up to the pitch.
"Oh! we don"t want to play, thank you," said Belle, "only to look on.
Please don"t stop on our account. We"re just going to sit down and watch you."
The pair retired to the old boat, where they settled themselves under the shade of Blanche"s parasol, and, to judge from their giggling mirth, found great entertainment in making merry at the expense of the others.
Isobel, who was fielding, had not a chance to speak to Belle until the opposite side was out, but Arthur Wright having sent a catch at last, she was free until her own innings. She ran up with her accustomed eagerness, expecting her friend to kiss her as usual, and to make room for her upon the boat. To-day, however, Belle did nothing of the sort.
"That you, Isobel?" she said carelessly. "I should think you"re hot. I don"t know how you can tear about so. Blanche said your legs looked like a pair of compa.s.ses when you flew after the ball."
"Aren"t you going to play?" asked Isobel. "We want one more on each side."
"No, thanks. I hate racing up and down in the sun. It takes one"s hair out of curl."
"Oh, I don"t think it would," replied Isobel.
"People with rats" tails can"t judge," said Blanche, twisting one of Belle"s light locks and her own dark ones together as she spoke, and looking at the combination with a critical eye. "If my brother were here, he"d be in fits over this cricket. I never saw such a game. That big boy holds his bat in the most clumsy way."
"He"s a very good player," said Isobel. "He gets more runs than anybody else, and it"s terribly hard to put him out."
"Jermyn would bowl him first ball!" returned Blanche scornfully.
"Perhaps you"ve never seen Eton boys play? I always go to Lord"s to watch the match with Harrow: it"s as different from this as a first-cla.s.s theatre is from a troupe of n.i.g.g.e.rs."
"Why, but this is only a children"s mixed team," said Isobel. "Of course some of the little ones scarcely know how to play at all. We just send them very easy b.a.l.l.s, and let them try.--You"re surely not going, Belle.
Tea will be ready in a quarter of an hour. Mrs. Rokeby"s boiling the kettle on a spirit lamp over by the rocks."
"We don"t want any, thank you," said Belle, rising from the boat and brushing some sand off her dress. "Mrs. Oppenheim is going to take us to tea at the new cafe. I hear they"ve capital ices and a band. The Wilsons were telling me about it yesterday. They say you meet everybody there from four to five o"clock."
"Shall I see you on the Parade this evening?" called Isobel, as Belle strolled away in the direction of Silversands, her arm closely locked in Blanche"s.
"I don"t think so," replied Belle, without turning her head, and saying something in a whisper to Blanche, which evidently caused the latter much amus.e.m.e.nt, for she broke into a suppressed peal of laughter, and glancing round at Isobel, went along shaking her shoulders with mirth.
Isobel stood looking after the retreating couple with a lump in her throat and a curious sick sensation in her heart. She could not yet quite realize that Belle did not desire her companionship--only that somehow Blanche had carried off her friend, and that everything was completely spoilt. Between Blanche and herself she recognized there was an instinctive hostility. Blanche had been so openly rude, and had treated both her and the Sea Urchins with such evident contempt, that Isobel, not usually a quarrelsome child, had felt all her spirit rise up within her in pa.s.sionate indignation.
"Why does she come here to make fun of us?" she asked herself hotly. "We had such jolly times before. None of the others were ever nasty like this--not even Aggie Wright or Hugh Rokeby. Why can"t she keep with her own family? And why, oh, why does Belle seem to like her so much?"
Next day being Sunday, Isobel only saw her friend at a distance in church, Mrs. Stewart, who had a suspicion of what was happening, suggesting that they should pa.s.s the afternoon with their books on the cliffs, thinking it would be better to leave Belle severely alone, and give no opportunity for a meeting. On this account she spent Monday in Ferndale, asking Hilda Chester to accompany them, and taking the two children to hear the band play on the pier, and to an entertainment afterwards in the pavilion. The Rokebys came on Tuesday morning, inviting Isobel to join them in a boating excursion, from which they did not return until late in the evening, so that for the first time since the beginning of their acquaintance the namesakes had not spoken to each other for three whole days. Isobel had borne the separation as well as she could, but she longed to see Belle again with the full force of her loving nature. She invented many excuses for the conduct of the latter, who, she thought, was no doubt regretting her coldness, and would be as delighted as ever to meet. If only she could get Belle to herself, without Blanche, all would surely be right between them, and the friendship as warm as it had been before.
"May I ask her to tea, mother?" she begged, with so wistful a look in her gray eyes, and such a suspicious little quiver at the corners of her mouth, that Mrs. Stewart consented, somewhat against her better judgment.
Finding Belle on the cricket-ground next morning, Isobel broached the subject of the invitation at once.
"To-day?" said Belle. "I"m going to the Oppenheims". I haven"t told you yet about their garden-party. It was _such_ a swell affair! They had waiters from the Belle Vue Hotel at Ferndale, and the Grenadier band from the pier. I never saw lovelier dresses in my life. My blue silk came just in time, and it really looked very nice, and the parasol is sweet. You can"t think how much I enjoyed myself."
"Would to-morrow do?" suggested Isobel, "if you can"t come to-day?"
"To tea? At your lodgings?" replied Belle, with a rather blank expression on her face.