"I suppose I must," she said in a martyrised tone. "You do scurry one so, Jacinth." And then when, having borne this certainly unmerited reproach in silence, Jacinth with relief heard the door close on her sister and began to hope she was going to have a little peace, it was opened again sufficiently to admit Frances"s fluffy head, while she asked, in a half-grumbling, half-conciliatory tone, if she might take Eugene.
"Of course," said Jacinth; "a little fresh air in the morning is always good for him."
She heard no more except, ten minutes or so later, the closing of the front-door, and the next three-quarters of an hour pa.s.sed, rapidly, so absorbed was she in her own work, till the old church clock striking twelve--for St Blaise"s in the Market Square was but a stone"s-throw from Miss Mildmay"s house--made her look up suddenly, and at that moment came a rushing of eager feet across the stone-tiled hall, quickly followed by Frances"s voice in great excitement.
"Jacinth, Ja.s.s!" she exclaimed, and almost before the elder girl had time to say to herself, "I do hope nothing has gone wrong," her sister"s bright face rea.s.sured her.
Frances was like a veritable April day--gloom and sparkle, tears and laughter, succeeded each other with her as swiftly as the clouds rushing before the wind alternately veil and reveal the sun"s bright face, though underneath all this fitfulness and caprice lay a st.u.r.dy foundation of principle and loyalty which circ.u.mstances, so far, had scarcely brought out, and which Jacinth certainly did not as yet realise or appreciate.
"Oh Ja.s.s," exclaimed the little girl, "I am so glad I went. _Such_ a nice thing has happened! I saw Miss Marcia--I asked for her at the door, and she was crossing the hall; wasn"t it lucky? She _was_ so kind about the book, and she took me herself to the big schoolroom to fetch it.
None of the girls were there--it looked so funny all empty, you can"t think--they were out in the garden. And Ja.s.s, to-day they "re going to have their last out-of-doors tea for this year, you know, as it"s getting cold. They have tea in the garden every fortnight all through the fine weather. And she invited _me_, Ja.s.s--just fancy! She said she was sure you wouldn"t mind, as it"s quite an extra thing to invite a day-scholar, you see, and"----
Here Frances was forced to take breath, and Jacinth got a chance of putting in a word.
"Of course I don"t mind," she said. "I"m very glad indeed, _very_ glad for you to have a little fun. And we couldn"t have gone much of a walk this afternoon, as Eugene is still tired with yesterday."
"And you think Aunt Alison will let me go?" said Frances.
"Oh yes, I"m sure she will. If you will get on with your lessons now, Frances, so as to be able to say at dinner that you have quite finished, I will go down-stairs and watch for Aunt Alison. She will be in by one, to-day, and I"ll ask her for you."
"Oh thank you, Ja.s.s," said Frances gratefully. "Yes, I"ll hurry up.
But--Ja.s.s"----
"Well?"
Francie"s face grew very grave.
"It"s about my things, Ja.s.s. What do you think I should wear? I"m so afraid Aunt Alison will be vexed if I put on my best things--and of course black frocks do get spoilt if one runs about much--and yet my every-day frock is so shabby now, and--I don"t want the girls to think we"re never properly dressed."
Jacinth considered. They were still in deep mourning, for Miss Mildmay"s ideas on such subjects were "old-fashioned," and she quite recognised that the late Mrs Denison"s memory should be treated with the fullest respect. But Jacinth sympathised with Frances"s feelings.
"I was looking at our dark-gray frocks with Phebe the other day," she said. "The ones we had new just before--before our mourning. You know they were got for half-mourning because of old Sir George Mildmay"s--papa"s uncle"s--death, and they look quite fresh and nice. I don"t think you"ve grown much, Francie--and oh, by-the-bye, I believe there"s a tuck that could be let down."
"Yes," said Frances, "there are little tucks--a lot--above the hem."
"Then I"ll run up and tell Phebe to get them out, yours at least. I"ll explain to Aunt Alison; and if I lend you my wide black sash, I"m sure it will look quite mourning enough."
"Oh Ja.s.s," exclaimed Frances, "_how_ good of you!"
The honour and glory of Jacinth"s best black sash was almost too much for her.
"Really, I should never be cross to Ja.s.s. She is so very, very kind and unselfish," thought the grateful little girl.
The gray frock was looked out and soon got ready. It was lying on a chair in the girls" room when Jacinth, a little before half-past one, at last heard her aunt"s step in the hall, and ran forward to meet her, primed with her request.
Miss Mildmay was still in a somewhat conciliatory mood, and she listened to Jacinth"s story with as much kindliness as was in her nature to show.
"Yes," she said, "I suppose she may as well go, though you know, my dear, I cannot encourage any schoolgirl friendships. It would be impossible for me to invite other children here, and yet I could not accept attentions for you which I could not return."
"But this is different, being at Miss Scarlett"s, where we go to school.
You didn"t mind our going to the breaking-up party before the midsummer holiday," said Jacinth, trembling a little at the irresolution in her aunt"s face.
"Oh, I don"t mean to stop her going," said Miss Mildmay. "It is very nice of you to be so eager for Frances to have the little pleasure. But just warn her, if you can, not to get too intimate with the other girls.
It will only cause trouble and annoyance. Frances is an impulsive little creature, but she is old enough to understand that she should be discreet. The worst of any girls" school, even the best, is the chatter and gossip that go on."
"I have often warned Frances about that kind of thing," said Jacinth.
"The girls are all very nice and lady-like, but of course we don"t see very much of them; it is not as if we were boarders. Francie is more sensible about making friends than she was at first. The only two she really likes _very_ much are the Harpers--Bessie and Margaret Harper--the girls she was speaking of to you."
"They are nice girls, I believe," said Miss Mildmay. "Miss Scarlett told me about them. I don"t think we need discourage her friendship with them. After all, any gossip one would dislike is more probable with the other day-scholars, and you have not much to do with them, I think."
"There are so few compared with the boarders," said Jacinth, "and they"re all great friends together. I don"t think any of them are particularly interesting. Thank you so much, Aunt Alison, for letting Frances go. I"ll run and tell her, she will be so delighted."
And so she was, delighted and grateful, so that she took in good part the little lecture Jacinth proceeded to give her in accordance with her aunt"s wish.
"I _am_ careful, I really am, Ja.s.s," she maintained. "I don"t care a bit for any of the day-scholars. They are rather common just because they think they"re not, and they do _so_ look down on Miss Green"s scholars.
It"s quite absurd. The only girls I really care for are the Harpers, and--well, a little for Prissy Beckingham, though she"s rather silly."
"It"s the day-scholars Aunt Alison doesn"t want you to be great friends with," said Jacinth. "In a little place like this, there"s always a lot of chatter. She knows the Harpers are nice girls."
"Well, that"s all I want," said Frances, with satisfaction. "I don"t want a lot of friends. Bessie and Margaret are quite enough for me--and you, Ja.s.s. If I hadn"t any one but you I should be content, especially when you"re so very kind to me as you"ve been to-day."
And at the appointed time, Frances made her appearance dressed for her garden party, in great spirits, very conscious of the grand effect of her sister"s best black silk sash.
"And what are you going to do with yourself, Jacinth?" inquired her aunt, who happened to be crossing the hall at the moment that the two girls came running down--Frances ready to start. "Are you and Eugene going a walk? or have you lessons to do still?"
"No, I finished them all this morning, and Eugene is tired. I don"t quite know what I"m going to do," said Jacinth.
She was not the least of a complaining nature; she had no thought of complaining just then, but as Miss Mildmay"s glance fell on the young figure standing there so interested in her sister"s pleasure, it struck her almost for the first time, in any thorough way, that the life with her here at Thetford was somewhat lonely for her nieces, and that it was not by any means every girl of Jacinth"s age who would accommodate herself to it so contentedly.
"It is always a pity when parents and children have to be separated,"
she said to herself. "It is unnatural. It should not have to be. From the effects of such a separation in my childhood, I believe I have suffered ever since. It made me hard and unable to understand family life as I might have done."
And her tone was unusually kind and gentle when she spoke again.
"Would you care"----she began. "I scarcely think you would, but would you care to come with me for once in a way to our girls" club? I shall be there all the afternoon giving out the lending-library books, and a good many volumes need re-covering. I could find you plenty to do, and we can have a cup of tea there."
"Oh, I should like to come--very much," said Jacinth, eagerly.
Miss Mildmay seemed pleased.
"Well, I think I had better make sure of you while I can have you for this one Sat.u.r.day afternoon," she said. "In future I shall not be surprised if you spend Sat.u.r.days often with your old lady at Robin Redbreast. I have written to her, Jacinth. I am just going to post the letter."
"Oh, thank you," said the girl.--"Good-bye, Francie; you see I shall not be dull without you," and the two kissed each other affectionately.
Then Frances, escorted by Phebe, set off, and Jacinth ran up-stairs to get ready for her expedition with her aunt.