Girls New and Old

The door opened behind. Cecil turned eagerly; the parlor-maid had again entered the room; she carried a little tea tray in her hands.

"Will you please help yourself to some tea, miss?" she said. "Mrs. Lavender begs that you will do so. When you have quite finished, will you kindly ring this bell, and I will come and take you to your room? My mistress says she will be glad to see you in her own boudoir at six o'clock, miss."

"Thank you," replied Cecil.

The maid left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

"What a quiet, hushed sort of feeling I have!" thought Cecil to herself. "At home, doors bang everywhere; don't the boys make a clatter, even when they move! Even Miss Marshall is not the quietest of souls. Yes, everything is restless at home, and here there is peace. I believe I could study here – or no, perhaps instead of studying I should go to sleep. I might become a lotos-eater, there's no saying. Well, there is no chance of my lot falling to me in this quiet place, and perhaps I am glad; but, at any rate, a little rest is delightful, and this tea looks delicious."

Cecil helped herself, pouring the tea into the dainty china, dropping in tiny lumps of sugar, and pouring cream out of a little embossed jug of old silver. She was very thirsty, and ended by drinking all the tea which the little teapot contained, and finishing the wafer-like bread and butter, which was scarcely a sufficient meal for her healthy young appetite.

When she had finished, the maid reappeared to take her to a pretty little room, which, she told her with a smile, belonged to Miss Lavender.

Cecil hastily washed her hands and smoothed her hair, and punctual to the hour returned to the drawing room. A moment or two later she was ushered into Mrs. Lavender's presence.

The boudoir, as it was called, adjoined the drawing room. It was a quaint little room, furnished in the early French style. Everything about it was extremely delicate. Most of the chairs had high backs, the many small, tables were of finished workmanship, and there was a great deal of old china about. There was a very thick carpet on the floor, and heavy velvet curtains hung from the windows and covered the entrance door. There was a hushed sort of feel in the room, which made Cecil inclined to speak in a whisper the very moment she entered. Mrs. Lavender sat in a high-backed chair by the fire. She was a tiny woman, dressed in the period of sixty years ago. She wore lace mittens on her little hands; her dress was of dull black silk, a white muslin kerchief was crossed over her bosom, and a cap of the finest white lace adorned her snow-white hair.

"How do you do, my dear?" she said, when Cecil came in. "Sit down, pray sit down. Anne," – here Mrs. Lavender turned to the servant, – "please be careful to shut the door quietly, and don't come in on any pretext until I ring for you. Now, my dear Cecil, you will wonder why I have sent for you in this hurry. I have done so because an idea has come to me, and suspense at my age is bad and disquieting. I have an idea about you, Cecil. Before I tell it to you, however, I want to know if you are willing to be a sensible girl, and to do exactly, and without any fuss, what I tell you?"

"Yes, I will do anything," replied Cecil. A flush of color rushed into her pale face. "Your letter has excited me dreadfully," she said, looking full at the old lady as she spoke.

Mrs. Lavender sighed. She had a delicate sort of complexion, which belongs to certain temperaments. Her face resembled old china, it was transparently pink and white; her eyes were bright blue. She looked old, but very pretty. All her surroundings seemed in touch with her fragile and chic appearance. As Cecil looked at her, she felt suddenly quite out of harmony with everything which surrounded her.

"How big I am!" thought poor Cecil. "I hardly dare to rest on this chair; I am certain if I lean back it will break. As to my hands, they look quite enormous. I dread touching anything. The fact is, there is not room for me in this boudoir. I feel just like a bull in a china shop. Oh, dear, dear! This is not the first time I have seen dear Mrs. Lavender. Why do I feel so nervous before her now?"

The pretty little old lady sat very still while these thoughts were rushing through Cecil's mind.

"There is not the least hurry, my love," she said. "I have long passed the stage of being excited about things. I can give you from six to seven for this little interview. At seven I dine alone. At eight o'clock we will meet in the drawing room, where, perhaps, you will be kind enough to read some of the Times articles for me. At nine o'clock I go to bed. You can sit up as long as you like. You will find novels, and improving books, if you prefer them, in one of the bookcases in the drawing room. I lead a very precise life, but I do not require anyone else to follow it. When Molly is here, she always does exactly as she likes, and I never interfere with her. You must copy Molly while you are in this house, my dear. Now, are you feeling composed, and is your excitement dying down? I will tell you why I have sent for you, if you can assure me this is the case."

"I am quite composed now, Mrs. Lavender," said Cecil. Then she added, with an irrepressible sort of eagerness: "But you don't know how good it is to be excited; how it lifts one out of one's self, at least when one is young, as I am. I was feeling very bad this morning, and now I am full of hope. I am very grateful to you, very, very grateful, for giving me such an exciting, joyous day."

Mrs. Lavender raised one of her fragile little hands. Her manner was deprecatory.

"Don't, my love!" she said. "Believe me, I can quite understand your gratitude, but I really would prefer your not expressing it. I suffer from a weak heart, and the least emotion is bad for me. It is quite possible that the plan which I am about to divulge to you will excite you, as you are of an excitable temperament. If this be the case, Cecil, I must beg of you to leave the room. Express your excitement in any way in the drawing room. There are such thick curtains between this room and that that I shall not hear you, whatever you do. You may dance, if you like, in there, provided you don't knock anything over. Now, can you promise to be calm in my presence?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lavender."

Cecil locked her hands tightly together. She wondered that anyone could live, that any heart could continue to beat, in such a death-in-life sort of state as Mrs. Lavender's.

The old lady gave her a fixed stare.

"The girl I am fondest of in all the world," she said, "is my granddaughter, Molly. Molly is very fond of you."

"She is my dearest friend," interrupted Cecil.

"I beg of you, Cecil, to hear me out without remark."

"Yes," answered Cecil.

"I had a letter from Molly, in which she entreats me to write to my son, who is, as you know, a judge in the Rampoor Settlement. She entreats me to write to him describing you as a sensible, respectable, well-brought-up girl – a girl who does not in any sense of the word belong to those odious creatures who call themselves 'new women'; in short, a girl who would put no silly thoughts into his daughter's head. You are doubtless aware, Cecil, of the reason why Molly wants me to write this letter?"

"Yes; I know all about it," replied Cecil. Her face was crimson. "Molly wants her father to lend me money to enable me to join her at Redgarth. Her father fears I am not womanly enough. Perhaps you don't think I am womanly enough, Mrs. Lavender. Oh, if that is so, I beg of you – "

"Hush, my dear, hush! Exclaim presently in the drawing room, but do keep down your emotion while you are with me. I shall have a spasm if you don't; I really shall."

"I will try hard to be quiet," answered Cecil.

A great sigh rose to her lips, but she managed to suppress it.

"Mrs. Lavender is a dear old lady," she said to herself, "but I really fear she will soon ask me not to breathe in her presence. I never felt so horribly restrained in my life. I must make a rush for that drawing room if she doesn't soon unburden her mind."

"I have not yet written to my son," continued the old lady.

"Oh, dear, and the Indian mail has gone!" answered Cecil.

"May I ask you, Cecil Ross," continued Mrs. Lavender, "if you have the pleasure of knowing my son, Judge Lavender?"

"No, madam, of course not. I did not get to know Molly until years after her father had left England."

"I thought as much," said Mrs. Lavender, nodding her head sagely. "Now, may I ask if the idea has ever occurred to you, that by borrowing money from a total stranger you are putting yourself under a rather unpleasant obligation to him?"

"But not to Molly's father – and I can pay it back," replied Cecil anxiously.

"Allow me to finish what I was going to say, my love. You want that money very badly?"

"In one sense, dreadfully; although, if I had it, I don't know that I could use it."

"Pray don't get confused, Cecil, or my heart will never stand the strain of having to talk to you. In replying to my questions, confine yourself as much as possible to 'yes' and 'no.' Do you want this money badly?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Why repeat it three times? Is not one 'yes' sufficient? You want the money. Why?"

"Because I shall not be able to do what I promised mother to do without it. There are the four boys, all of them young, Maurice only fourteen, and we have such a very little income; and, Mrs. Lavender, I am not certificated, and they won't give any posts to girls now who are not; and oh, I know I have brains, and oh, it's dreadful – oh, it's dreadful! Oh, I wish I could half tell you what I feel about it!"

Cecil stood up as she spoke.

"Sit down at once, Cecil, or go into the drawing room," replied Mrs. Lavender.

"Yes, I will sit down if you wish me to. I am dreadfully afraid, by your tone, you do not intend to write to Judge Lavender. If this is the case, all is lost."

"How impatient you are, little girl!" said Mrs. Lavender, in a kindly voice. "Do you suppose I asked you to come all the way from Hazlewick if I had nothing to suggest? Cecil, my dear, I have long taken an interest in you. I don't love you as I love Molly. Of course that could not be expected of me, but I have a very sincere regard for you. I am a rich woman. My son is a very rich man. Most of my money goes to him and Molly, but there is some – some that I can leave just as I please. On the whole, I am a lonely woman. At my age money has very few attractions for me. All I ask of life now is to be allowed great peace, great and absolute stillness."

"I should think so," muttered Cecil.

"Great and perfect quiet. I am going away soon to the everlasting rest. The life which excites you so much is all behind me. I don't need much money, and when I die, I have no one to leave it to except Molly and her father, and they have more money already than they know what to do with."

Cecil opened her lips to utter an exclamation.

"Don't!" said Mrs. Lavender. "I know by the shape of your mouth that you are going to say something violent, and I simply can't listen to it. Now, I will tell you briefly why I sent for you. I take an interest in girls like you. Once, long, long ago, I was excitable like you. I was full of spirits; I thought I could never make enough out of life, I was as poor in those days as I am rich now. On the whole, I was much happier while I was poor. It is a great mistake to imagine that money means happiness. I have made a curious will, Cecil Ross. In that will, I am leaving the money which does not rightly belong to Molly and her father in small sums to several girls whom I have heard or know about. When this will was signed, your name was included."

"Mine?" said Cecil.

"My dear, the drawing room!"

"Oh, I will be good! I won't say another word. Do go on!"

"Your name was mentioned in the will, Cecil. In that will I leave you at my death five hundred pounds. Now, it has occurred to me, after reading Molly's letter, that it would be much kinder, and more useful to you, to have the use of the money now. You are a clever girl. My dear, don't get so red, or you will have an apoplectic seizure. You are a clever girl, Cecil, but you are not half educated according to the modern craze. Five hundred pounds will educate you well. Afterward you will be able to support yourself, and to help your young brothers. Your mother was an excellent woman. I took a great fancy to her when I met her two years ago. My proposal, then, my dear, is simply this – don't borrow money. Borrowed money is a curse, and a weight round the neck of anyone. Don't put yourself under an obligation to my son. Allow me to pay your expenses at Redgarth, and to give you ten pounds a term for pocket-money. Now, don't speak! Think over what I say, and give me your decision after dinner."

"Oh," said Cecil, "oh, I – I must go into the drawing room for a minute, please."

"Do, dear child, do; go at once. Draw back that curtain; open the door; pray shut it noiselessly."

"She's gone; what a relief! Poor little creature, if she'd let out what she's feeling, she would have killed me on the spot," murmured Mrs. Lavender, sinking back on her high-backed chair with, a gentle and satisfied sigh.

CHAPTER VII.

AN OUTRAGEOUS PROPOSAL

"HOW interested you look, Cecil!" said Maurice.

The four boys were all waiting at the little station of Hazlewick when Cecil alighted on the platform.

"You look jolly well," interrupted Jimmy.

"Yes, I feel as well as possible," said Cecil.

"Then give us a hug, do," said Teddy.

He flung his arms roughly round his sister's neck, pushing her hat crooked and disarranging her black necktie.

"Oh, I say, how red your cheeks are!" said Charlie. "London must be a jolly healthy place; you were as white as a sheet when you went there, and now you've come back with your eyes shining, and your cheeks like apples. I say, had you lots of fun? What sort is the old lady? Did she give you a good time, and have you brought us back anything?"

"Yes; I have a parcel here," said Cecil.

"I say! gimini! crikey! golluptious!" burst from Teddy's lips. He instantly began to dance a hornpipe, and Jimmy rushed down the platform, head over heels, to the distress and agony of several passengers.

"Oh, do come out of this, boys!" said Cecil. "How can I say anything to you in the midst of all this noise? Yes, I have news. I'm afraid it's rather selfish news – I mean it is very good for me; but – but you may not like it at present. Whether anything can come of it or not rather depends on the way you take it. Oh, I will tell you after tea; you must have patience till then – you really must."

"When is that parcel to be opened?" asked Charlie. "We can wait for the news, if you will only open the parcel. I say, let's sit by the hedge and get that part done. The news will keep, if you let us see what you've brought us, Cecil. Oh, I say, do have pity on a fellow! My skull will burst if I'm exposed to suspense another moment."

"Nonsense, boy!" said Maurice. He gave a quick glance at his sister, who, under all her excitement, looked tired. "It was awfully good of Ceci to bring anything back, and you're not even to smell the contents of this parcel until she wishes it opened. Come, you know me, you three rascals – so no more words."

Jimmy made a face, Teddy gave a heart-rending sigh, and Charlie danced in front of the rest of the party.

"Oh, I'll be good!" said Charlie; "I'll be as good as gold, and Ceci will have mercy then; won't you, Ceci? I do hope you've brought me a knife, Cecil – a knife with two blades, and a corkscrew, and one of those things for picking stones out of horses' feet; that's the sort of knife I want. Ben Lester has a knife of that sort, and I bet him sixpence I'd have one before the month was out. You've got me a knife, haven't you, Cecil?"

"Shut up!" growled Maurice. "Take my arm, Cecil. Now, boys, you can run on in front. Tell Miss Marshall that Cecil is back, and ask her to make the tea; and hark, don't you make a row, or I'll punch your ears. Now, off the whole three of you!"

The younger boys rushed on, and Cecil was alone with Maurice.

He was tall for his age; he had broad shoulders and an upright carriage. Cecil found his young, strong arm full of support. She leaned on it gladly, but while she did so, a thrill of pain went through her heart. Had she any right to leave the boys? Could she leave them? Was she not selfish in putting this great chance, which was so unexpectedly offered her, before her duty to the boys? Cecil's mind had been tormented with doubts all the way home, and now, as she leaned on Maurice and walked toward Miss Marshall's lodgings, these doubts seemed to get worse than ever.

"You don't look so well as you did five minutes ago," said Maurice, glancing at her.

"I am very happy, and yet I am very much worried," she said. "Mrs. Lavender sent for me to make a most astounding proposal. I will tell you frankly, Maurice, that it took my breath away yesterday; and I could think of nothing but myself, and the delight of the whole thing. But to-day, and especially since I have seen your dear old face, I fear – I greatly fear – that I shall only be a selfish girl if I think of it."

"No; that I'm sure you won't," said Maurice heartily. "Just tell me what it is before you talk to the other boys. We needn't discuss it, but I may as well think it over while we are having tea."

"You're such an old brick, Maurice," said his sister. "I do declare you've got an old head on young shoulders."

"I'd need to have," said Maurice, with a sigh; "those boys are enough to worry any fellow sometimes – oh, not that I mean to complain; it is nothing at all to what you have to bear. Now, out with your news, Cecil."

"I don't see how it's to be done," said Cecil, turning pale.

Maurice stopped abruptly.

"Out with it before we go a step farther," he said. "Now, then. Why, Cecil, you're trembling, old girl!"

"I am," said Cecil, tears suddenly filling her eyes. "It means so much, and I'm tempted."

"Those young rascals will be back if you're not quick, Ceci."

"Well, here it is then, Maurice; here's the subtle temptation. Mrs. Lavender wants to make me a present of five hundred pounds."

"I say!" exclaimed Maurice.

"Yes – five hundred pounds; she wants to give it to me now for my education. She wants me to go to Redgarth, where Molly is, you know, Maurice. She wants me to join Molly at St. Dorothy's. She will pay all my expenses out of this sum of money, and will allow me ten pounds a term for pocket-money. That is the proposal, Maurice, and it dazzles me – and I'm weak, and I long to take it; but – but, – oh, Maurice, darling, don't look at me with your grave eyes like that, – do you think I'll desert you? No, no – never, never!"

"Stuff!" said Maurice abruptly. He turned his head away; he didn't speak at all for a moment.

"You are angry with me, Maurice, for even speaking about it," said Cecil; "but I promise – yes, I promise! the look on your face is enough. Don't think of it again, dearest, and the younger boys need never know."

"Stuff and nonsense!" said Maurice. "You will forgive me for being a little bit stunned, just for a minute, Cecil. I never thought of life without you just at present, but if you think I'm going to be such a brute as to stand in your way – Oh, I say, Cecil, don't talk to the boys to-night. Let us wait until the morning. I must arrange my ideas. Why, the whole thing is just splendid, Cecil! Think of you, educated as you ought to be! Why, we none of us have talents like you."

"Oh, yes! you have, Maurice."

"No, I haven't; not a bit of it. Oh, I don't pretend I'm stupid, or any humbug of that sort, but I'm not like you. Give you advantages and you'd set the Thames on fire. Yes, now, that's the very word. Listen to me now, Cecil; don't say a word to the other fellows until you and I have had a conference and put this thing straight. Promise – we're just home."

"Maurice, you're the dearest fellow in all the world."

"Not a bit of it, only I've got common sense, and I know when a good thing is offered to us all. Now, here we are. Well, you lads, is the tea ready?"

Tea was a very joyous and exciting meal. Even the knowledge that Mrs. Rogers was in the house could not keep the boys from shouting with laughter, and expending their wit on that crooked and bulging brown paper parcel which Cecil had brought back from London with her. Maurice was one of the gayest of the group. When Maurice gave himself away, as the other boys phrased it, they felt that the cords of discipline were thoroughly relaxed; they were almost too excited to eat, and Cecil, in spite of herself, could not help joining in their mirth.

Immediately after tea, however, Maurice got up and prepared to leave the room.

"Where are you off to?" said Jimmy. "She'll open the parcel now. What in the world are you going away for?"

"Oh, I'll be back soon," said Maurice. "You can give the boys those things, Cecil. If you have thought of me, keep it. I will see what it is when I come back."

"Well, of all the rum starts – " began Teddy.

But Maurice slammed the door behind him, and a moment later was seen marching down the street. He walked quickly, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his cap pulled over his eyes. Presently he reached an ugly and very unpretentious house, which stood a little back from the Grammar School. He rang the bell vigorously. His summons was attended to by a little man with a shock of red hair and a freckled face. The little man had humorous blue eyes, a stern mouth, lantern jaws, and a chin which testified to the extreme obstinacy of his character.

"Now, what have you come about, Ross?" he said. "I really can't be bothered at this hour. I've been working with you boys all day, and it's monstrous to have a man's time taken up out of school hours. No; if you want me to tell you anything about your Latin translation, or that passage in Homer which you made such a mess of this morning, I won't; so there!"

"I want nothing of the kind," said Maurice. "You can scold me when I make you angry, Mr. Danvers. I want to speak to you for a moment. May I come in?"

Mr. Danvers had only opened his door from four to five inches while he was expostulating with Maurice. Now he flung it open with a sort of snarl, and said:

"Come in, if you wish to; come in, if you insist. This is my parlor, bedroom, kitchen, all in one. A pretty cheerful-looking apartment, is it not?"

"It's all right," said Maurice. "I haven't come to see your room, but to see you."

"Well, well; find a chair if you can, lad. I was frizzling bacon when you came in. Do you mind if I go on with it?"

"Let me help," said Maurice.

"Preserve us, no! I like my bacon done to a turn. Hands off, youngster! You can talk to me while I am eating my supper."

Maurice lounged against the window-sill. There was literally not a disengaged seat in the room. Mr. Danvers had described it as kitchen, bedroom, parlor, but it was also, and above all these things, library. Books on the floor, books crowding the bookcases, books in heaps on the windowsill, books on the bed, books on every table and every chair, marked all too vividly the tastes of John Danvers, the classical master of the Grammar School, the most hard-headed, soft-hearted, irascible-tempered, touchiest, most generous man in the whole of Hazlewick.

"Now, then, Ross, you can state your business," said Danvers, as he munched his bacon with appetite. "Do you see that pile of exercise books there? I've got to look through them all between now and ten o'clock. They are every one of them the choice productions of idiotic asses, so you may imagine the treat which lies before me. Now then, Ross, speak out."

"I'd best plump it," said Maurice. "I want to know, Mr. Danvers, if you'll board me and my three brothers? Don't say 'no,' till you think it over. We won't be any trouble, and you've heaps of room in this house."

When Maurice made this astounding proposal, Mr. Danvers' face became a study. His mouth opened until it formed itself into a round O; his blue eyes twinkled with the queerest mixture of anger and uncontrollable mirth. He was in the act of helping himself to a delicious morsel of frizzled bacon; he kept his fork suspended in mid air.

"Please don't speak for a minute," said Maurice, whose face was crimson. "I knew you'd funk it; I knew you'd hate it; I know perfectly well it would be beastly for you. All the same, I want you to do it; it will be beastly for us too, but I want you to do it. Yes, you shall do it, because – because – "