Mr Connor joined in the general satisfaction at the invitation which had been given to his step-daughters, and, though mildly surprised to hear that any fresh equipments would be required, took his wife"s word for the need, and produced two five-pound notes from his cash-box, which she was deputed to use as she thought fit.
"If you don"t need it all, you can give me back whatever is over," said the innocent male, little reckoning that three feminine heads would lie restless on their pillows that night, striving in vain to solve the problem of making ten pounds do duty for fifty.
Next morning, pencils and paper were in requisition to check mental additions, while Ruth drew up a list of usefuls, and Mollie one of fineries which seemed equally essential. At a most modest estimate it seemed possible to purchase the whole for something under thirty pounds.
A painful curtailment brought it down to twenty, but by no persuasion could that sum be halved.
"Unless we play Box and c.o.x!" cried Mollie, in desperation. "One rain cloak, and an understanding that one of us invariably feels chilly, and stays at home on wet days. One white dress, to be worn in turn on special occasions, while the other languishes in bed with a headache.
One evening cloak, ditto. Ditto gloves and sundries. It is the only way I can see out of the difficulty."
"Don"t be absurd, Mollie! We shall _both_ have to stay in bed if anything special takes place, for we can"t afford any extras. I remember once asking Eleanor Drummond"s advice about spending my allowance, and she said, "Wear a shabby dress, if you must; wear a shabby hat, if you have not taste and ingenuity to trim one for yourself out of next to nothing; but never, never, never condescend to a shabby petticoat or shoes down at the heel!" I thought it splendid advice, and have always acted upon it, as far as I could. Let us buy really nice boots and slippers and petticoats before we do anything else!"
"I"ll have a silk one, then, and rustle for once, if I die for it!"
cried Mollie recklessly. "And the boots shall be thin, not thick, with a nice, curved sole to show off my patrician instep. If I have to content myself with usefuls, they shall be as ornamental as possible.
Don"t you think we might possibly squeeze out net over-skirts to wear with the black silks, sometimes, so as to make them look like two dresses instead of one?"
"Oh, my dear, I like luxuries as much as you do! It"s only grim necessity which makes me prudent. The black net is really an inspiration, and if we make it up ourselves we can manage quite well, and have enough money left for gloves and ribbons, and one fresh blouse a-piece."
For the next week all was bustle and excitement. The girls paid two long shopping expeditions to town, and returned laden with interesting parcels, the contents of which were displayed to an admiring audience in the drawing-room, and then taken upstairs to Attica, which was transformed into a dressmaker"s work-room, barriers being for once ignored in consideration of the importance of the occasion.
The five-pound notes became wonderfully elastic, and even after they were expended little offerings came in from friends and members of the family to swell the great sum total. One sent a pretty tie, another a belt, a third a lace handkerchief. Trix supplied a most stylish collection of pens, pencils, and indiarubbers, reposing in her very best box; and Betty, not to be outdone, rummaged among her various collections for a suitable offering. Eventually she discovered a half- emptied bottle of eau-de-Cologne, which had been presented to her the Christmas before, filled it up with water, and presented it to her sisters for mutual use, unperturbed by the fact that the transparent hue of the scent had changed to a milky white.
On the morning of the fifth day Ruth had a conviction that she was sickening with a dire disease; on the sixth, she antic.i.p.ated a disabling accident; on the seventh, she waited hourly for a telegram from Uncle Bernard, retracting his invitation; on the eighth, she wanted to know what would happen if there was a cab strike in the city; and on the ninth, talked vaguely of blizzards and earthquakes. Something it seemed _must_ happen to prevent this long-dreamed-of journey; it did not seem possible that the stars should run placidly in their courses, while Ruth and Mollie Farrell were going a-visiting with a box full of fineries!
Yet the day did break, an ordinary, grey morning, with no sign to distinguish it from another. Looking out of the window, men and women could be seen going calmly about their duties. The postman and newspaper-boy arrived at their accustomed time. No one outside the household seemed to realise that the day was big with fate.
At eleven o"clock a cab drove up to the door; the boxes were piled on the roof; and the heroines of the hour made their appearance in the doorway, immaculately trim and tidy in travelling array. The brothers and sisters were absent at school, so there was only the little mother to say adieu, and stand waving her hand until the cab had disappeared from view.
Once, she too had been young and fair, and life had stretched before her like an empty page, on which the most marvellous happenings might be enrolled. Now, she was old and hara.s.sed and poor, and there seemed little ahead but work and worry; yet she could not call life a failure.
"I have had the best thing," she said to herself, as she shut the door and re-entered the empty house--"plenty of dear ones to love, and to love me in return. G.o.d bless my two girls, and give them the same sweet gift."
CHAPTER SIX.
AT THE COURT.
The girl whose lot has been cast in narrow places, and whose youth has known few relaxations, should take heart at the thought of the future.
There is a good time coming! However long be the lane, the turning must eventually be reached; and then--ah, then, what zest of delight, what whole-hearted, unqualified enjoyment!
If Ruth and Mollie Farrell had been in the habit of paying half a dozen visits a year,--if, indeed, they had even once before started off together on pleasure bent, would they have hailed every incident of the journey with the delight which they experienced to-day? Not a bit of it!
They would have grumbled at the wait on the platform, at the stoppages of the train at country stations, at the draught from the window, the banging of the door, the constant requests for tickets. They would have yawned and lolled back in their corners, and eventually shut their eyes and fallen asleep, regardless of the scenes through which they were pa.s.sing.
As it was, every fresh stop was a delight. They beamed at the porter who collected their luggage, paid for return tickets with the complacence of millionaires, and thought it lucky that there were ten minutes to spare before the arrival of the train. They tried each other"s weight, to the delight of the onlookers; put a penny in every available slot, and made a reckless expenditure in penny magazines.
Last, and greatest luxury of all, Ruth actually ordered a tea-basket to be handed into the carriage at a half-way station; one basket to do duty for two, but still a deliberate extravagance, when refreshments had been provided from home; and oh, dear me, how delicious it was to be extravagant for once!
When the train came in, one porter dashed forward to secure window-seats in an empty carriage, another hurried up with rugs and handbags; groups of people standing upon the platform looked after the two girls with kindly glances; everybody seemed kind and interested, as though understanding the nature of their expedition, and wishing them good- speed.
They sat opposite to each other, gazing out of their respective windows, or making an affectation of reading the magazines which lay littered about the seat; but the end was always the same, their eyes met in irrepressible smiles, and they began to talk once more.
Real life was so much more interesting than romance!
"I feel so very Lucille-y!" Mollie declared "Travelling on pleasure, with a tea-basket coming to meet me! It was an inspiration of yours to order it, Ruth! I shall be grateful to you to the end of my life!
Let"s talk about what we shall do to-night... Let"s guess who will be there, and what they will be like. The lady chaperon, now! Should you think that the presence of a chaperon implied that there would be young men in the party? I hope there are."
"So do I," a.s.sented Ruth frankly. "But I fancy that they are more likely to be old. Some nieces and nephews of Aunt Edna"s, about mother"s age, perhaps--middle-aged couples, with caps and spectacles.
How will you feel if we are the only young people there?"
"I refuse to imagine anything so ghastly! The couples may have children, mayn"t they? I imagine a charming girl who has no sisters, and who will adopt us as her dearest friends, and ask us to stay with her. I rather think she will be dark, and wear eyegla.s.ses, and have a brother who is musical, and has a tenor voice. Then there will be another man--Sir Somebody or other, who has a big estate in the county.
He will be very superior at first, and take no notice of us, but in the end he will be conquered by our modest charms and become a devoted admirer. Perhaps there may be some couples, but they will be young and festive, and the chaperon will be a dear old thing with side-ringlets, who will let us do as we like, and take our part with the old man. That sounds about the right thing, doesn"t it?"
Ruth smiled happily.
"Ah, well! whoever we meet, I am going to enjoy myself. A change, a change--that"s what I wanted. Everything will be different, and there"s a world of refreshment in that alone. How thankful I am that Uncle Bernard asked us both, Mollie! It"s half the fun to talk things over together."
She lay back in her corner, and gazed out of the window once more, smiling dreamily as a whirl of thoughts flew through her mind. What would have happened before she travelled once more past these flying landmarks? What new friendships would be formed--what experiences undergone--what matters of importance revealed?
Life seemed all to lie ahead; yet from time to time her thoughts drifted back unconsciously to Donald Maclure, and lingered on the memory. She had not seen him since the eventful afternoon, but Eleanor had conveyed his good wishes for a happy visit, and her manner showed she was in ignorance of what had occurred.
Ruth was grateful for a silence which left her friendship untouched, and her thoughts of the doctor were gentle and kindly.
"But I couldn"t--I couldn"t!" she said to herself excusingly. "I don"t want to marry anyone yet. I just want to be young and happy, and have a good time!"
At the half-way station the tea-basket made its appearance, and the girls sat side by side taking turns at the cup, and nibbling at bread- and-b.u.t.ter and plum-cake like two happy children out for a holiday, which in good truth they were.
They made a pretty picture, and more than one of the pa.s.sengers upon the platform cast admiring glances as they pa.s.sed by. So far, the carriage had been empty, except for themselves; but, just as the train was preparing to leave the junction, a young man turned the handle of the door, threw a bag on the seat, and leapt in after it. He was on the point of seating himself in the place which Ruth had just vacated, but, seeing the scattered papers, checked himself, and took possession of the further corner, while the sisters studied him furtively from time to time.
He was tall, he was handsome, he was probably about thirty years of age, and he looked thoroughly bored and out of temper. After one casual glance at the pretty sisters, he unfolded a newspaper, and turned from page to page seeking for some item of interest. His eyes were blue, he was clean-shaven, his nose was aquiline, and his nostrils were arched, and had a trick of dilation.
"Like a high-bred horse, who wouldn"t like the bridle a single bit," was Mollie"s comment, as she turned back to the window; for, after all, the unknown landscape through which the train was now pa.s.sing was more absorbing than the appearance of a stranger who took so little interest in herself.
She gazed and whispered, and dreamed afresh, until at last the name of a familiar station gave warning that the journey was nearing its end. In another ten minutes the train was due to reach Nosely, and in the interval there was much to be done. Ruth solemnly lifted down the aged dressing-bag, which dated from her mother"s youth, and, with a furtive glance at the stranger in the corner, took out a looking-gla.s.s and carefully surveyed her hair, pulling it out here, tucking it in there, patting it into position with those deft little touches which come naturally to a girl, but which seem so mysterious to a masculine observer.
The young man in the corner glanced across the carriage with an expression of lordly amus.e.m.e.nt at the foibles of a member of the weaker s.e.x; and there was even worse to come, for when Mollie, in her turn, had arranged her hair, a cloth brush was produced to remove the dust of travel, and two pairs of well-worn dogskin gloves were thrown into the bag, and replaced by others immaculately new.
Mollie was absolutely without embarra.s.sment in these attentions to her toilet, but it required a little resolution on Ruth"s part to ignore the stranger"s presence. Only the reflection, "We will never see him again!" supported her through the critical moments during which she trained a fascinating little curl into position on her temple, conscious meantime of a steady scrutiny from behind the newspaper.
It was something of a shock to see the stranger rise from his seat a moment later, and begin making those preparations which showed that he also was approaching his destination; but, although he alighted at Nosely Station, he had disappeared from sight while the girls were still looking after their luggage, and when they took their seats in the carriage which was waiting to convey them to the Court there was no sign of him on platform or road.
"That"s a comfort!" remarked Mollie thankfully. "I am glad he did not see where we were going. How superior he looked when we were prinking, Ruth! I don"t like him a bit--do you?"
"Oh, I don"t know--I can"t think! I"m Berengaria, Mollie! I never _was_ a poor girl travelling third-cla.s.s, and changing her gloves at the last moment! I must have been a d.u.c.h.ess in my last incarnation, for I feel so thoroughly at home in an atmosphere of luxury!" sighed Ruth, leaning back against the cushions, and glancing languidly from side to side. "Our luggage is following behind in the cart. I hope it will arrive soon, for I want to change my blouse. I suppose we shall have tea in the hall with the rest of the house-party, as they do in books, but I hope they won"t be a.s.sembled when we enter. I should feel awful walking in, and knowing that they were all staring and criticising our appearance, wouldn"t you?"
Mollie laughed gaily.
"Not a bit. I"d criticise, too, and shake hands high up--like this--and be pleasant and condescending. We are Uncle Bernard"s nearest relations remember, and the guests of honour... Now, we are beginning to go up the hill! You remember mother said there was a long, winding hill, and at the top to the left stood the lodge gates. Don"t talk! I don"t want to miss a single thing."
So each girl stared steadily out of her window as the horses slowly mounted the hill path. For the first few hundred yards there were hedges on either side, and beyond them a wide, uneven landscape; then came a little village, grouped round a square "green," with all the picturesque accessories of church, ivy-covered parsonage, thatched roofs, and duck-pond, which travellers look for in a well-conducted English village. This pa.s.sed, there was another climb upwards, a wider view of the valley beneath, and finally a sharp turn to the left, and a long drive leading to the greystone Court, whose beauties photographs had made familiar.