"You read very nicely," complimented the old gentleman. "I enjoy listening to you. I shall give you the privilege of reading all my papers aloud every forenoon."
Jessie looked helplessly at him. The strain had been so great that her throat pained her terribly; but she made no demur. How could she?
At that moment the door swung slowly open, and a tall, beautiful girl entered.
Jessie knew her at the first startled glance. It was the lovely girl whom she had heard talking to her maid about her, but a little while before.
She took the seat at the end of the table without so much as deigning to glance at the new-comer.
"My dear, let me present you to Miss Bain-- Miss Bain, my husband"s _protegee_, Rosamond Lee," exclaimed Mrs. Ba.s.sett.
Jessie bowed wistfully, shyly; Miss Rosamond barely lifted her eyebrows in acknowledgment of the presentation.
The old gentleman and his wife screamed at each other on the main topics of the day, Miss Rosamond looked exceedingly bored, while Jessie had great difficulty in swallowing, her throat ached so severely.
CHAPTER XXIV.
"OH, TO SLEEP MY LIFE AWAY, AND BE WITH THEE AT REST!"
Rosamond Lee completely ignored the lovely young stranger seated at the table opposite her; but Jessie had the uncomfortable feeling that she was watching her.
The conversation had ceased, when suddenly Mr. Ba.s.sett announced: "I have just received a letter from my grandson. He will be with us a week from to-day. He will remain with us a month."
During the next few days the household was quite upset, so great were the preparations made for the coming stranger. Most of the forenoons had been spent by Jessie in reading the daily papers to the old couple in the library. One morning Rosamond Lee came to her quite excitedly, just as she was about to begin her duties.
"Miss Bain," she said, arching her eyebrows haughtily, "I do not think my guardian has thought to mention the subject to you, but for the next few weeks you are to exchange places with my maid, Janet; she has hurt her hand, but that will not hinder her from reading the papers and attending to Mrs. Ba.s.sett"s wants. During that time, while you are performing the services of maid to me, you will remember that your place is not in the library, but in my own suite of rooms. I must also mention to you that you will be excused from joining us at the table."
Jessie flushed and then paled. It was not so much on account of the menial position to which she was a.s.signed, as the manner in which the change had been made known to her.
"You may as well commence your duties at once," said Rosamond, imperiously, "and make the change to my apartments without further delay."
"I have a letter to write for Mrs. Ba.s.sett, to her grandson, I believe,"
said Jessie, in a low voice. "Shall I not remain in the library until after that is done? Mrs. Ba.s.sett told me to remind her of it to-day."
"Never mind about it," said Rosamond Lee, hurriedly, "I will attend to it. I always write the letters to her grandson for her. I am amazed that she should call upon you. You must come with me at once to my rooms."
Jessie put down the paper she was reading and followed her.
As Jessie Bain entered Rosamond"s room, she was surprised at the array of dresses lying on the sofa, the chair-backs, and every conceivable place.
"I want these all overhauled at once," began the beauty. "They must be finished by the end of the week."
Jessie looked around at the dresses, surprised at the great amount of work which Miss Lee was so confident she could accomplish in so short a time.
Jessie was sure that she saw Rosamond Lee"s maid busily st.i.tching away when she had first entered the room, but she rose hastily and went into an inner apartment, and a moment later returned with her hand done up and her arm in a sling.
Rosamond Lee said to herself that it had been a wise stratagem on her part to make her maid exchange places with Jessie Bain until after the handsome young man should come and go.
The tasks that Rosamond Lee laid out for Jessie were cruelly hard. She would say to her each morning, as she laid out this or that bit of work:
"This must be finished by to-morrow morning."
As soon as the clock struck nine, Rosamond would seek her downy couch.
Not for anything in the world would she have lost the few hours of beauty-sleep before midnight, so essential to young girl"s good looks.
But there must be no beauty-sleep for the tired young girl who plied her needle.
"How dare you!" Rosamond cried. "What do you mean by loitering in this manner?"
Miss Rosamond insisted that while she was performing the duties of maid to her, Jessie must take her meals up in her room, declaring that it really took too much time for her to go and come to the dining-room to her meals.
On the third afternoon of her banishment she heard the sound of carriage-wheels, followed by the servants in the corridor crying out excitedly:
"He has come at last! Now the old gentleman and his wife will be in the seventh heaven!"
It mattered little to Jessie Bain. She cared not who came or went. She knew that some young man was expected; but she had not taken interest enough to listen when the maid, who had come in to do up their rooms that morning, had broached the subject concerning him.
"Miss Rosamond is very much in love with him," commented the girl, in a significant whisper, after taking a swift glance over her shoulder to make sure they were quite alone. "Well, it"s no wonder, either, for a handsome-looking gentleman he is--tall, broad-shouldered, and kindly. He will inherit an enormous fortune from old Mr. and Mrs. Ba.s.sett, for they just idolize him. His mother was their only child. He always came here once a year, ever since he was a little lad, they say, and all the old servants love him."
The maid had scarcely finished her recital, concerning the coming of the handsome heir, when the door was suddenly flung open, and Rosamond Lee, breathless and flushed with excitement, sprung into the room.
"Where"s my pale-blue dress with the black velvet bows? Get it for me, somebody--anybody! I want to put it on at once!" she fairly cried.
"The pale-blue dress is not finished yet," Jessie answered, falteringly.
"You know you changed your mind about having it altered the next moment after you had laid it out, and told me not to touch it until you decided fully just how you wanted it done. I have been sewing on the rose-pink cashmere--"
"You horrid creature!" screamed Rosamond Lee. "I can scarcely keep my hands off you! You didn"t want to see me looking well in my pale-blue dress, and delayed fixing it on purpose. Oh, you horrid, horrid creature!" and with this she seized Jessie Bain by the shoulders and shook her until the girl"s slender form bent like a reed in the storm.
The maid, who watched this proceeding, was fairly speechless with terror. She would have flung herself between Jessie Bain and the infuriated beauty had she dared, but she knew that would mean instant dismissal, and despite her intense indignation, she was obliged to stand there and coolly witness it all.
"There," cried Rosamond Lee, fairly out of breath, "I hope I have taught you that I won"t be trifled with. Now help me get on the rose cashmere as quick as you can."
Jessie Bain never knew how she managed to fasten the dress on the irate beauty.
The maid came to her rescue, noting that Jessie Bain was by far too nervous to do the heiress"s bidding.
The look of thankfulness she gave her amply repaid her.
A moment later Miss Rosamond flounced out of the room. The door had scarcely closed after her ere Jessie Bain"s strength gave way entirely, and she sank to the floor in a swoon.
"Poor thing!" cried the maid, bending over her, "I shall advise her to leave this place at once. But, after all, maybe it is with her as it is with me--she would have no home to go to if she left here, and her next mistress might be as cruel, though she couldn"t be any worse."
Her diligent efforts were soon rewarded by seeing Jessie Bain open her eyes.
"You are faint and weak. Come to the window and get a breath of air. A breath of the cool, crisp air will do you a world of good."