CHAPTER VI.
A NEW WORLD.
I could read aloud well, unusually well, I think, for mamma had taken great pains with my p.r.o.nunciation. She was especially anxious that both Haddie and I should speak well, and not catch the Great Mexington accent, which was both peculiar and ugly.
But the book which Miss Broom had put before me was hardly a fair test.
I don"t remember what it was--some very dry history, I think, bristling with long words, and in very small print. I did not take in the sense of what I was reading in the very least, and so, of course, I read badly, tumbling over the long words, and putting no intelligence into my tone.
I think, too, my teacher was annoyed at the purity of my accent, for no one could possibly have mistaken _her_ for anything but what she was--a native of Middleshire. She corrected me once or twice, then shut the book impatiently.
"Very bad," she said, "very bad indeed for eleven years old."
"I am not eleven, Miss Broom," I said. "I am only nine past."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "LITTLE GIRLS MUST NOT CONTRADICT, AND MUST NOT BE RUDE."]
"Little girls must not contradict, and must not be rude," was the reply.
What had I said that could be called rude? I tried to think, thereby bringing on myself a reprimand for inattention, which did not have the effect of brightening my wits, I fear.
I think I was put through a sort of examination as to all my acquirements. I know I came out of it very badly, for Miss Broom p.r.o.nounced me so backward that there was no cla.s.s, not even the youngest, in the school, which I was really fit for. There was nothing for it, however, but to put me into this lowest cla.s.s, and she said I must do extra work in play hours to make up to my companions.
Even my French, which I now _know_ must have been good, was found fault with by Miss Broom, who said my accent was extraordinary. And certainly, if hers was Parisian, mine must have been worse than that of Stratford-le-Bow!
Still, I was not unhappy. I thought it must be always like that at school, and I said to myself I really would work hard to make up to the others, who were so much, much cleverer than I. And I sat contentedly enough in my place, doing my best to learn a page of English grammar by heart, from time to time peeping round the table, till, to my great satisfaction and delight, I caught sight of the rosy-cheeked damsel at the farther end of the table.
I was so pleased that I wonder I did not jump up from my place and run round to speak to her, forgetful that though I had thought so much of her, she had probably never noticed me at all the only other time of our meeting, or rather pa.s.sing each other.
But I felt Miss Broom"s eye upon me, and sat still. I acquitted myself pretty fairly of my page of grammar, leading to the dry remark from the governess that it was plain I "could learn if I chose." As this was the first thing I had been given to learn, the implied reproach was not exactly called for. But none of Miss Broom"s speeches were remarkable for being appropriate. They depended much more on the mood she happened to be in herself than upon anything else.
I can clearly remember most of that day. I have a vision of a long dining-table, long at least it seemed to me, and a plateful of roast mutton and potatoes which I could not manage to finish, followed by rice pudding with which I succeeded better, though I was not the least hungry. Miss Aspinall was at one end of the table, Miss Broom at the other, and Miss Fenmore, who seemed always to be jumping up to ring the bell or hand the governesses something or other that had been forgotten by the servant, sat somewhere in the middle.
No one spoke unless spoken to by one of the teachers. Miss Aspinall shot out little remarks from time to time about the weather, and replied graciously enough to one or two of the older girls who ventured to ask if Miss Ledbury"s cold, or headache, was better.
Then came the grace, followed by a shoving back of forms, and a march in order of age, or place in cla.s.s rather, to the door, and thence down the pa.s.sage to what was called the big schoolroom--a room on the ground floor, placed where by rights the kitchen should have been, I fancy. It was the only large room in the house, and I think it must have been built out beyond the original walls on purpose.
And then--there re-echo on my ears even now the sudden bursting out of noise, the loosening of a score and a half of tongues, girls" tongues too, forcibly restrained since the morning. For this was the recreation hour, and on a wet day, to make up for not going a walk, the "young ladies" were allowed from two to three to chatter as much as they liked--in English instead of in the fearful and wonderful jargon yclept "French."
I stood in a corner by myself, staring, no doubt. I felt profoundly interested. This was a _little_ more like what I had pictured to myself, though I had not imagined it would be quite so noisy and bewildering.
But some of the girls seemed very merry, and their laughter and chatter fascinated me--if only I were one of them, able to laugh and chatter too! Should I ever be admitted to share their fun?
The elder girls did not interest me. They seemed to me quite grown-up.
Yet it was from their ranks that came the first token of interest in me--of notice that I was there at all.
"What"s your name?" said a tall thin girl with fair curls, which one could see she was very proud of. She was considered a beauty in the school. She was silly, but very good-natured. She spoke with a sort of lisp, and very slowly, so her question did not strike me as rude. Nor was it meant to be so. It was a mixture of curiosity and amiability.
"My name," I repeated, rather stupidly. I was startled by being spoken to.
"Yes, your name. Didn"t Miss Lardner say what"s your name? Dear me--don"t stand gaping there like a monkey on a barrel-organ," said another girl.
By this time a little group had gathered round me. The girls composing it all laughed, and though it does not sound very witty--to begin with, I never heard of a monkey "gaping"--I have often thought since that there was some excuse for the laughter. I was small and thin, and I had a trick of s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up my eyes which made them look smaller than they really were. And my frock was crimson merino with several rows of black velvet above the hem of the skirt.
I was not offended. But I did not laugh. The girl who had spoken last was something of a tomboy, and looked upon also as a wit. Her name was Josephine Mellor, and her intimate friends called her Joe. She had very fuzzy red hair, and rather good brown eyes.
"I say," she went on again, "what _is_ your name? And are you going to stay to dinner every day, or only when it rains, like Lizzie Burt?"
Who was Lizzie Burt? That question nearly set my ideas adrift again. But the consciousness of my superior position fortunately kept me to the point.
"I am going to be at dinner always," I said proudly. "I am a boarder."
The girls drew a little nearer, with evidently increased interest.
"A boarder," repeated Josephine. "Then Harriet Smith"ll have to give up being baby. You"re ever so much younger than her, I"m sure."
"What are you saying about me?" said Harriet, who had caught the sound of her own name, as one often does.
"Only that that pretty snub nose of yours is going to be put out of joint," said Miss Mellor mischievously.
Harriet came rushing forward. She was my rosy-cheeked girl! Her face was redder than usual. I felt very vexed with Miss Mellor, even though I did not quite understand her.
"What are you saying?" the child called out. "I"m not going to have any of your teasing, Joe."
"It"s not teasing--it"s truth," said the elder girl. "You"re not the baby any more. _She_," and she pointed to me, "she"s younger than you."
"How old are you?" said Harriet roughly.
"Nine past," I said. "Nine and a half."
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted Harriet. "I"m only nine and a month. I"m still the baby, Miss Joe."
She was half a head at least taller than I, and broad in proportion.
"What a mite you are, to be sure," said Miss Mellor, "nine and a half and no bigger than that."
I felt myself getting red. I think one or two of the girls must have had perception enough to feel a little sorry for me, for one of them--I fancy it was Miss Lardner--said in a good-natured patronising way,
"You haven"t told us your name yet, after all."
"It"s Geraldine," I said. "That"s my first name, and I"m always called it."
"Geraldine what?" said the red-haired girl.
"Geraldine Theresa Le Marchant--that"s all my names."
"My goodness," said Miss Mellor, "how grand we are! Great Mexington"s growing quite aristocratic. I didn"t know monkeys had such fine names."