Pride and jealousy were her predominant pa.s.sions; you could see them in the haughty poise of her superb little head, in the dusky fire smoldering in her glittering black eyes, in the scornful, curling upper lip, in the erect carriage and proud step. In spite of her beauty no one seemed to like Minnette, and she liked no one.
Among her schoolmates her superior talents won their admiration, but her eagle ambition to surpa.s.s them all soon turned admiration into dislike.
But Minnette went haughtily on her way, living in the unknown world of her dark, sullen thoughts, despising both them and the love she might have won.
A week had pa.s.sed since the coming of Celeste. Miss Hagar, feeling she was not competent to undertake the instruction of such a shy, sensitive little creature, wished to send her to school. The school to which Minnette and Gipsy went (sometimes) was two miles distant, and taught by the Sisters of Charity. Miss Hagar would have sent her there, but there was no one she could go with. She mentioned this difficulty to her brother.
"Can"t she go with Minnette?" said the latter, impatiently.
"No, she sha"n"t," said the amiable Minnette. "I"ll have no such whimpering cry-baby tagging after me. Let Madam Hagar go with her darling herself if she likes."
"Just what I expected from you," said Miss Hagar, looking gloomingly in the sullen face before her. "If the Lord doesn"t punish you one day for your hatred and hard-heartedness, it"ll be because some of his creatures will do it for him. Take my word for it."
"I don"t care for you or your threats," said Minnette, angrily; "and I _do_ hate your pet, old Miss Hagar, and I"ll make everybody else hate her if I can, too."
"Minnette, hold your tongue," called her father, angry at being interrupted in his reading.
Minnette left the room, first casting a glance full of dislike and contempt on Celeste, who sat in a remote corner, her hands over her face, while the tears she struggled bravely to suppress fell in bright drops through her taper fingers. Sob after sob swelled the bosom of the sensitive child, on whose gentle heart the cruel words of Minnette had fallen with crushing weight. Dr. Wiseman, after a few moments, too, left the room, and Celeste, in her dark corner, wept unseen and uncared for.
Suddenly a light footstep entering the room startled her. Her hands were gently removed from her tear-stained face, while a spirited voice exclaimed:
"Hallo! Sissy! what"s the matter? Has that kite-heart, Minnette, been mocking you?"
"No-o-o!" faltered Celeste, looking up through her tears into the bright face of Archie Rivers.
"What"s the case, then? Something"s wrong, I know. Tell me, like a good little girl, and I"ll see if I can"t help you," said Archie, resolutely retaining the hands with which she struggled to cover her face.
"Miss Hagar wants to send me to school, and I"ve no one to go with.
Minnette doesn"t like to be troubled with----"
"Oh, I see it all! Minnette"s been showing her angelic temper, and won"t let you go with her, eh?"
"Ye-e-es," sobbed Celeste, trying bravely not to cry.
"Well, never mind, birdie! I have to pa.s.s the Sisters" school every day on my way to the academy, and I"ll take care of you, if you"ll go with me. Will you?" he said, looking doubtfully into her little, shrinking face.
"I--I think so," said Celeste, rather hesitatingly. "I will be a trouble, though, I"m afraid."
"Not you!" exclaimed Archie, gayly. "I"ll be your true knight and champion now, and by and by you"ll be my little wife. Won"t you?"
"No-o-o, I don"t like to," said Celeste, timidly.
Archie seemed to think this answer so remarkably funny that he gave way to a perfect shout of laughter. Then, perceiving the sensitive little creature on the verge of crying again, he stopped short by an effort, and said, apologetically:
"There! don"t cry, sis: I wasn"t laughing at you. I say, Miss Hagar," he added, springing abruptly to his feet as that ancient lady entered, "mayn"t I bring Celeste to school? I"ll "tend to her as carefully as if she was my daughter. See if I don"t."
A grim sort of smile relaxed the rigid muscles of Miss Hagar"s iron face as she glanced benignly at his merry, thoughtless face over the top of her spectacles.
"Yes, she may go with you, and the Lord will bless you for your good, kind heart," she said, laying her hand fondly on his curly head.
Archie, throwing up his cap in the exuberance of his glee, said:
"Run and get ready, sis, and come along."
"No; wait until to-morrow," said Miss Hagar. "She cannot go to-day."
"All right; to-morrow, then, you"ve to make your _debut_ in the school of St. Mark"s. I say, Miss Hagar, what shall we call her? not your name--Dedley"s too dismal."
"No; call her Pearl--she _is_ a pearl," said Miss Hagar, while her voice became as gentle as _such_ a voice could.
"Very well, Celeste. Pearl then be it. And so, Celeste, be ready bright and early to-morrow morning, and we"ll go by Sunset Hall, and call for Gipsy and Louis. By the way, you haven"t seen Louis yet, have you?"
"No," said Celeste.
"Oh, then, you must see him, decidedly, to-morrow. But mind, you mustn"t go and like him better than you do me, because he"s better-looking. I tell you what, little sis, he"s a capital fellow, and _so_ clever; he"s ahead of every fellow in the academy, and beats _me_ all to smash, because I"m not clever at anything except riding and shooting, and I"m his equal in those branches. So now I"m off--good-bye!"
And with a spring and a jump, Archie was out of the room and dashing along the road at a tremendous rate.
The next morning Celeste, with a beating heart, set out with Archie for school. How pretty she looked in her white muslin dress, her white sunbonnet covering her golden curls--a perfect little pearl!
Archie, having paid her a shower of compliments, took her by the hand and set out with her for Sunset Hall. At the gate Celeste halted, and no persuasions could induce her to enter.
"No, no; I"ll wait here until you come back. Please let me," she said, pleadingly.
"Oh, well, then, I won"t be long," said Archie, rushing frantically up the lawn and bursting like a whirlwind into the hall door.
In a few moments he reappeared, accompanied by Louis.
"Look, old fellow! there she is at the gate. Isn"t she a beauty?" said Archie.
Louis stopped and gazed, transfixed by the radiant vision before him. In her floating, snowy robes, golden hair, her sweet, angel-like face, on which the morning sunshine rested like a glory, she was indeed lovely, bewildering, dazzling.
"How beautiful! how radiant! how splendid! Archie, she is as pretty as an angel!" burst forth Louis, impetuously.
"Ha, ha ha! a decided case of love at first sight. Come along and I"ll introduce you," exclaimed Archie.
Having presented the admiring Louis to Celeste, who, after the first shy glance, never raised her eyes, he informed her that Gipsy had gone out riding early in the morning, and they were forced to go without her.
"Celeste, you must sit to me for your portrait," said Louis, impulsively, as they walked along.
"I don"t know," said Celeste, shrinking closer to Archie, whom she had learned to trust in like an old friend.
"I"m sketching the "Madonna in the Temple" for Sister Mary, and your sweet, holy, calm face will do exactly for a model," said Louis.
"That"s a compliment, sis," said Archie, pinching her cheek; "you"d better sit. Hallo! if that isn"t Gipsy"s bugle! And here she comes, as usual, flying like the wind. If she doesn"t break her neck some day, it will be a wonder."
As he spoke, the clear, sweet notes of a bugle resounded musically among the hills above them; and the next moment the spirited little Arabian, Mignonne, came dashing at a break-neck pace down the rocks, with Gipsy on his back, a fowling-piece slung over her shoulder, and sitting her horse as easily as though she were in an easy-chair. With a wild "tally-ho!" she cleared a yawning chasm at a bound, and reined her horse in so suddenly that he nearly fell back on his haunches. The next instant she was beside them, laughing at Celeste, who clung, pale with fear, to Archie.
"What luck this morning, Diana?" exclaimed Archie.