“jill, do you know where my green check blouse has gone? i can’t find it anywhere.”
“how should i know? i haven’t taken it—wouldn’t be seen in the horrid old thing! why are you worrying if it has disappeared? i thought you said the other day that it was too shabby to wear any more?”
“so i did, but i want the buttons to put on a new blouse. it was hanging up in my cupboard last week.”
“i expect it’s there still, only you can’t see it because it’s hidden away behind your dresses. what is far more important is my umbrella. somebody has eaten it, i believe—it’s simply gone!”
“you have left it at school again. you are always losing your umbrellas.”
“people steal them, i suppose, because they are so beautiful! alpaca—three and eleven! mother says it’s no use giving me a silk because i’m not careful. that’s bad reasoning! i should be careful if i had a silk. but it’s not my fault this time. i know i brought it home, because there was an apple inside it which norah gave me in prep. i ate it last night, and this morning the brolley has vanished. it’s hard lines, for i shall get a rowing if it doesn’t turn up, and it isn’t my fault a bit.”
“oh, i expect you’ll find it all right. it’s so tiresome, because the buttons exactly match this blouse, and i want it for saturday,” returned betty, too much absorbed in her own affairs to have any sympathy to spare for jill’s loss. all the week long she lived in the thought of saturday, and when at long last the day arrived she could hardly wait until three o’clock, so anxious was she to be at her post.
mrs vanburgh came to meet her at the door of the dining-room, looking flushed and excited.
“come in here!” she said. “we are beginning to set out the table, so you are just in time. i want to have everything ready by the half-hour.”
“who are ‘we,’ i wonder?” was betty’s mental question as she crossed the threshold, and the next moment brought with it a shock of surprise, for, standing in the middle of the room, her hair shining like an aureola round her head, stood no less a person than the pampered pet herself. a plate of cakes was held in one hand, and a plate of bread-and-butter in the other, and she stood stock still, staring at the new-comer, apparently as much surprised to recognise betty as betty was to recognise herself.
“this is my friend cynthia alliot; this is my friend betty trevor!” cried mrs vanburgh, introducing the two girls with an easy wave of the hand. “she can’t shake hands, poor dear, so you’ll have to take the will for the deed. where shall we put those plates? there doesn’t seem much room left.”
there did not, indeed! betty stared in amazement at the noble feast which had been provided for the expected guests. the dining-table was profusely decorated with flowers, which looked especially beautiful at this dull, wintry season. dishes of cold fowls, ham, and tongue, were flanked by every imaginable description of cakes, both small and large. different sorts of jam were dotted here and there among the larger dishes; tea and coffee cups were ranged at the farther end. it was, in fact, a north country high-tea of the most complete and tempting description.
“light refreshments are to be served in the drawing-room. this is for those who can stay on for several hours. my husband is going to dine at his club, so we can keep the dear things as long as they are happy,” said nan with a gush, while the two girls smiled at each other with shy friendliness.
“now i shall get to know them! now they may get to like me, and ask me to sit with them in their schoolroom,” thought lonely cynthia longingly.
“the pet herself! she is pretty! miles would admire her more than ever; and oh, what a blouse, and i thought mine was quite nice!” sighed betty dolorously.
both mrs vanburgh and her friend were very simply attired, but with a dainty finish and elegance from which betty’s home-made garment was very far removed. she felt plain and dowdy beside them, and her spirits suffered in consequence. superior people may despise her for so doing, but they don’t understand how a girl feels, so their opinion is not worth having. at seventeen it takes real grace to be a contented cinderella, and poor betty did not at all enjoy the position.
it was difficult, however, for any companions of nan vanburgh to be depressed for long together, so bright was she, so radiant, so brisk, friendly, and confidential. the girls were sent flying hither and thither until all the preparations were finished, then—
“let’s go out into the hall, and pretend to be governesses, and walk in again, to see how the effect strikes us,” she cried; and out they rushed, like a trio of merry schoolgirls, drawing their faces into expressions of abnormal gravity, to march back again solemn and slow.
“pray be seated. you must be exhausted after your long walk. to what can i assist you?”
“the breast of a fowl, please, and a portion of ham; a cup of tea and a few hot muffins— goodness me, are you going to talk to the poor creatures like that? they will be daunted!” replied cynthia, all in a breath. she was not at all proper, betty was glad to see, but as full of fun as an ordinary commonplace girl. “what are you going to talk to them about?” she demanded of her hostess, who shook her head in somewhat helpless fashion, and replied—
“i don’t know! i’m hoping for inspiration at the last moment, and eating is a grand resource! ply them well with muffins till the ice is broken—”
at this moment the conversation was interrupted by the sound of an electric bell, upon hearing which mrs vanburgh uttered a sharp exclamation of dismay, and rushed for the hall. her two assistants followed, but even they in their schoolgirl stage could not keep up with the pace at which she literally flew up the staircase. her feet seemed hardly to touch the ground; she sprang up two steps at a time, crying continuously, “quick, quick!” until, just as the head of the staircase was reached, cr–r–r–ur! came the sounds of ripping seams, and a long dangle of silk flounce showed underneath her skirt.
“just my luck!” she cried disconsolately. “it never seems as if i could get upstairs like anyone else. now they’ll think i’m an untidy wretch, and it will all be spoiled. what’s the use of silk flounces anyway? i’ll never have another—i vow i won’t! there! i’ll pin it up with a brooch till they’ve gone. we must be in the drawing-room ready to receive. cynthia, sit over there, and pretend to be reading. miss trevor, you might be casually poking the fire. whatever we do, we mustn’t alarm the poor dears by looking formal.”
“i am a great deal more alarmed of the poor dears than they will be of me! my sister jill pretended to swoon at the idea of a room full of governesses. she said it was more like a nightmare than a piece of real life.”
“hush!” whispered mrs vanburgh tragically. “they come!” for footsteps were heard ascending the staircase, and the assistants flew to their posts, while the hostess endeavoured to hum a tune in a light and jaunty manner.
another moment and the door was thrown open to disclose—a servant, bearing a note upon a silver salver. it was not a governess after all!
the two girls came forward into the room, divided between relief and disappointment.
mrs vanburgh tossed the note impatiently aside, and said resignedly—
“ah, well, it gives us all the longer to prepare! i’ll run into my room and mend this horrid dress, and you might arrange these books of photographs. they are really awfully interesting, and of almost every country you can imagine. old mr vanburgh collected them on his travels, so you have only to find out which country interests your special governess most, and—there you are! it will save no end of exertion!”
she ran out of the room, and the two girls stood together, seized with a sudden shyness at finding themselves alone.
“i—i think we know each other very well by sight,” said cynthia, and betty blushed and blinked, remembering the crowded schoolroom window and her own scathing criticisms.
“yes—i’m afraid we have stared a great deal. we are so interested in our neighbours, but they are almost all old—you were the only young one like ourselves. we were frightfully anxious to know all about you.”
cynthia gave a pathetic little sigh.
“there’s so little to know! there’s just mother and me—and father at the other end of the world. it isn’t half so exciting as having brothers and sisters, and going to school, and having good times all together. i have envied you so!”
“me!” cried betty, aghast. “you envied me! how extraordinary! i’ve perfectly ached with envying you sometimes.”
“oh, why?” asked cynthia; and as betty looked into her wide earnest eyes she felt of a sudden shamed and silenced. how could she acknowledge that she had envied the greater luxury, the cosy fire in the bedroom, the pink evening dress, the monopoly of attention, she who was so rich in the dear human companionship which the other lacked!
“there are drawbacks to a large family, you know,” she exclaimed. “we don’t always have good times. sometimes we all get cross together and quarrel like cats, and then it feels as if it would be so nice and peaceful to be the only one. you have no one to quarrel with.”
“i have myself. i quarrel fearfully with myself,” said cynthia.
she perched herself on the arm of a high chair and stared at betty with her grave grey eyes. she wore an enamel buckle on her belt, a gold bangle encircled her wrist, her shoes, her stockings, her ribbons were all in the perfection of taste. betty felt another twinge of envy at the sight, and wondered what in the world such a lucky person could find to quarrel about! in manner cynthia was as simple and direct as pam herself. a pet she might be, but there was nothing pampered or self-satisfied for the most carping critic to discover.
“i do get so bored with myself,” she said plaintively. “my mother has stayed in england on purpose to look after me and my education, and it is always a case of ‘this would be good for cynthia,’ ‘that would be bad for cynthia,’ ‘what would be best for cynthia?’—there is altogether too much cynthia in my life, and i am sick of her. in a big family one would have so many people to think of that there would be no room for self.”
“no—o!” said betty doubtfully. her conscience told her that despite father and mother, and miles and jack, and jill and pamela, betty loomed very large on her own horizon, but she was ashamed to confess the fact in so many words, and it was a relief when mrs vanburgh came bustling back in her quick energetic fashion.
“there!” she cried. “i’ve put in a row of safety-pins. i couldn’t spare the time to sew it up just now. it’s half-past three, and they may be arriving any moment. i’ll talk to each one as she comes in, and artlessly find out how long she can stay, then i’ll hand her over to you to be treated accordingly. tea and cake if it’s a call, photographs and light conversation if it’s a visit. sister anne, sister anne, do you see anyone coming?”
cynthia looked round from the window and shook her head.
“nary a governess! they wouldn’t like to come exactly at the hour you mention. perhaps they are prowling round the square, whiling away the time until it is polite to appear.”
“oh dear, i wish they wouldn’t! i like things to happen at once! i get fidgety and nervous if i have to wait,” cried mrs vanburgh, poking the fire with such violence that the ashes were strewn all over the grate.
“let’s pretend that you are the first-comers, and rehearse the conversation! now then, go out of the room and come in, and i’ll welcome you.”
cynthia and betty dutifully retreated to the hall, whence came a sound of subdued giggling and whispering, lasting for several minutes, at the expiration of which the door was thrown open and “miss perks” announced in a voice shaken by laughter, whereupon cynthia bounced into the room, transformed almost out of recognition by a few touches accomplished by betty’s nimble fingers.
her long mane of hair was twisted into an exaggerated “door-knocker,” at the top of which, with all the appearance of a very fly-away toque, was perched one of the frilled pink shades which covered the electric lights; a piece of eastern drapery was folded scarf-like round her shoulders. perk by name and perk by nature did she appear as she minced across the room, while hostess and maid alike looked on in helpless convulsions of laughter. no rehearsal was possible under the circumstances, though cynthia persisted in acting her part, and sat on the edge of the sofa tossing her head, and delivering herself of staccato little sentences in reply to imaginary questions suitable to the occasion.
“oh, really! no indeed! unusually cold for the time of year. most kind of you, i’m sure. charming opportunity?”
“you impertinent girl; go and put back those things this minute! how dare you make fun of me and spoil the look of my hall!” cried nan, wiping the tears from her eyes; then she turned towards the clock, and her face fell.
“ten minutes to four! they ought to be coming! why don’t they come?—now then, i told you how it would be! there’s the bell, and everything upset!”
with a bound miss perks was in the middle of the floor, tearing the scarf from her shoulders, and shaking her hair loose from its fastenings. betty jumped on a chair to put the shade back in its place, nan threw the drapery over the easel, which being done, all three rushed to the head of the staircase, and peered curiously into the hall beneath.
once more disappointment awaited them, for a brown-paper parcel was the nearest approach to a governess which met their gaze, and the return to the drawing-room was conducted in a much more leisurely and dignified manner than the exit. for the first time the awful possibility of failure seemed to dawn on the hostess’s heart.
“suppose,” she said blankly, “suppose nobody comes! it would be a terrible disappointment, but the worst of all would be gervase—my husband! he laughed so at the preparations. i’ve provided enough for twenty. he would tease me to death if it were all left.”
“it won’t be!” cried betty stoutly. “if the worst comes to the worst, i shall be so ravenous with disappointment and nervous strain by six o’clock, that i shall be able to demolish enough for ten.”
“and you can’t say you have had nobody. you have had miss perks,” added cynthia slyly; but mrs vanburgh refused to be comforted, and wandered disconsolately up and down the room, peering out of each of the three windows in succession, and watching the clock with anxious dismay.
“half-past four, and not one here! what can it mean? three big homes i went to, and there must have been at least a score of inmates in each; it isn’t possible that nobody will come!”
“in all the length and breadth of this great city, is there not one governess who will take pity upon a hospitable lady!” quoted cynthia mischievously. it was evident that she also knew the source from which had sprung the inspiration of these saturday gatherings; but though nan laughed, it was with a somewhat uncertain sound, and her brown eyes looked suspiciously moist. the two girls were quick to realise that it was not a time for teasing, and hastened to give a safer turn to the conversation.
in truth, nan’s heart was very deeply in her enterprise. hers was one of those sweet, generous natures which expand, instead of shrivelling under the influence of prosperity. just in proportion as her own life was beautiful and hedged round with all the sweet fences of love, so did she yearn more and more over her sisters whose lots were cast in such different places—which is the true spirit of christ, who left the very heavens for our sakes. she had woven many happy dreams about these afternoon meetings, seeing the radiance of her own happiness lighting up dark places, and the power of love and sympathy cheering starved and lonely lives, and was it all to end like this—in a joke for her husband and these two girls? would gervase come home, and laugh his tender, happy laugh, and stroke her hair, and call her “poor little pet!” as if she, and not the missing guests, was the real object of compassion?
nan blinked the tears from her eyes, but they rose again and again—tears of bitter disappointment; and then, just as the clock was about to strike the quarter, there came another quick whirr of the electric bell, and cynthia, running out into the hall, came back aglow with excitement.
“it is! it is!” she hissed in an excited whisper. “i saw her. she’s coming upstairs. quick! quick! to your posts!”
betty rushed to the fire, nan stood in the middle of the floor radiant with expectation. the servant threw open the door, and announced in solemn tones—
“miss beveridge.”
the first governess had arrived!
