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RED ROSE AND
TIGER LILY
Or, In a Wider World
By
MRS. L. T. MEADE
AUTHOR OF
A BUNCH OF CHERRIES, A RING OF RUBIES,
BAD LITTLE HANNAH, ETC.
"Nothing is required but to set the right way to work,
but of course the really important thing is to succeed."
--_Story of the Poor Tailor._
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY
THE CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
[Illustration: NAN AND ANNIE ARRIVE. _Red Rose and Tiger Lily._
_Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 4.)]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. NAN'S GOLDEN MANE 1
II. CRUSHED 8
III. TWO PROVERBS 16
IV. THE COLTS--ROBIN AND JOE 23
V. NOT MISSED 32
VI. FRIAR'S WOOD 42
VII. THE STORY BOOK LADY 53
VIII. ALONE IN THE WOOD 63
IX. "I BROKE MY WORD," SAID ANNIE 70
X. AN AWFULLY FRIVOLOUS GIRL 79
XI. THE DIAMOND RING 88
XII. THE LAND OF PERHAPS 97
XIII. THE FANCY BALL 113
XIV. POOR MRS. MYRTLE 124
XV. "THE WAY OF TRANSGRESSORS" 132
XVI. PERHAPS 143
XVII. FAIRY AND BROWNIE 152
XVIII. THE LORRIMERS OF THE TOWERS 161
XIX. TOPSY-TURVEY 171
XX. THE NEW OWNERS 179
XXI. HESTER SPEAKS HER MIND 194
XXII. ANTONIA'S GIFT 207
XXIII. TRUTH AND FIDELITY 215
XXIV. A WET SPONGE 222
XXV. MOLLY'S SORROW 234
XXVI. PLOT THICKENS 245
XXVII. NELL IS IN TROUBLE 252
XXVIII. THE LION AND MOUSE 262
XXIX. GOD BLESS ANTONIA 274
RED ROSE AND TIGER LILY
OR
IN A WIDER WORLD
CHAPTER I.
NAN'S GOLDEN MANE.
It was a perfect summer's evening. The sun had just set, and purple,
gold, violet, rose colour still filled the sky in the west. There was a
tender new moon, looking like a silver bow, also to be seen; before long
the evening star would be visible.
Hester Thornton stepped out of the drawing-room at the Grange, and,
walking a little way down the broad gravel sweep, began to listen
intently. Hester was about seventeen--a slender girl for her age. Her
eyes were dark, her eyebrows somewhat strongly marked, her abundant
hair, of a much lighter shade of brown, was coiled in close folds round
her well-shaped head. Her lips were slightly compressed, her chin showed
determination. Hester had not been beautiful as a child, and she was not
beautiful as a girl, but her face was pleasant to look at, very bright
when animated, very steadfast and sweet when in repose. The air was like
nectar to her cheeks. She was naturally a pale girl, but a faint rose
colour was now discernible in her complexion, and the look of
expectation in her dark eyes made them charming.
A step was heard on the gravel behind, and she turned quickly.
"Is that you, father?" she exclaimed.
"Yes. Are not you very imprudent to come out at this hour in your thin
house shoes, and with nothing on your head? There is a very heavy dew
falling."
"Oh, I never take cold," replied Hester with a smile, which showed her
even and pretty white teeth; "and I certainly shan't to-night," she
continued, "for I am feeling far too excited."
Sir John Thornton was considered by most of his acquaintances (he could
boast of scarcely any friends) as a reserved and almost repellent
person, but now, as his eyes rested on his young daughter, something
seemed to soften their expression; he took her slight hand and drew it
affectionately through his arm.
"It takes a small thing to excite you, my love," he said; "but you
always were of a turbulent disposition--just your poor mother over
again."
Hester sighed faintly when Sir John spoke of his wife, then she quickly
cheered up and said in an eager voice--
"You don't call it a little thing, father, to know that in a minute or
two I shall welcome Nan back from school? Nan comes to-night--Annie
Forest to-morrow. It would be difficult for any girl to want more to
make her perfectly happy."
Sir John raised his brows.
"I only know Miss Forest by hearsay," he said, "so I will reserve my
judgment upon her; but I do know Nan. She will upset the entire _regime_
of the house. I like order, and she likes disorder. I like quiet meals,
she likes uproarious ones. I hate shocks and she adores them. I am glad,
of course, to welcome the child home, but at the same time I dread her
arrival. I cannot possibly understand how it is that Mrs. Willis, who is
supposed to be such a splendid instructor of youth, should not have
brought Nan a little better into control. Now, you, my dear Hetty, are
very different. You have passions and feelings--no one has them more
strongly--but you keep them in check. Your reticence and your reserve
please me much. In short, Hester, no father could have a more admirable
daughter to live with him. I am pleased with you, my dear; the
experiment of having you home from school to look after my house has
turned out well. There is nothing I would not do to please you, and
while your friend Miss Forest is here, I will do my best to render her
visit a success. The only discordant element will be Nan. I cannot
understand why Mrs. Willis has not got Nan into the same control she had
you in."
"You forget," said Hester, "that I am seventeen and Nan only eight. No
one ever yet could say 'No' to Nan. Father, don't you hear the carriage
wheels? She is coming--I know she is coming. Please forgive me, I must
run to meet her."
Sir John released his daughter's hand, and Hester flew with the speed of
an arrow from a bow up the long avenue. She was not mistaken. Her keen
ears had detected the smooth roll of wheels. A landau drawn by a pair of
horses had even now entered the lodge gates. Hester, looking up, heard
some gay voices, some childish laughter. Then an imperious voice
shouted to the coachman to pull up the horses and Nan Thornton and
another girl sprang out of the carriage and ran to Hester's side.
Confused utterances, sundry embraces, the quick intermingling of
ejaculations, kisses, commands, explanatory remarks--all rose on the
sweet night air.
"Hetty, you look quite grown up. Please, Jenkins, you can drive on to
the house. I'm not getting in again. Aren't you glad to see me, Het? I
have come back a greater tease and torment than ever."
"Yes, Nan, delighted--more than delighted. Oh! you sweet, how nice it is
to feel you kissing me! Why, Annie, how did you happen to come to-night?
I didn't expect you until to-morrow. I was wondering how I could endure
the next twenty-four hours of expectation, even with Nan to keep me
company, and now you are here. Oh, how very, very glad I am."
"Kiss me, Hester," said Annie. "Nan and I concocted this little plan. We
thought we'd take you by surprise. Oh dear, oh dear, I feel so wild and
excited that I'm sure I shall be just as troublesome as I used to be
before you tamed me down at school. Now then, Nan, you are not to have
all the kisses. Hester, dear, how sweet and gracious and prim and
lady-of-the-manorish you do look!"
"I don't care what I look like, I only know what I feel," replied
Hester: "about the happiest girl in England. But don't let us stand here
talking any longer, or father will take it into his head that I am
catching cold in the night air. Here, Nan, take my arm. Annie, my other
side is at your disposal. Now, do let us come to the house."
The girls began to move slowly down the long winding avenue. Nan had the
pretty, soft dark eyes which used to characterise her as a little
child. Her abundant fluffy golden hair hung below her waist. Her baby
lips and sweet little face looked as charming as of old. She was a very
pretty child, and promised to be a beautiful woman by-and-by. Her
beauty, however, was nothing at all beside the radiant sort of
loveliness which Annie Forest possessed. She was a creature all moods,
all expression, all life, all movement. She had early given promise of
remarkable beauty, and this had been more than fulfilled. Hester glanced
at her now and again in the most loving admiration.
"It is good to have you back, Nan," she said, "and it is delightful to
know that you have come at last to pay your long, long promised visit,"
she continued, looking at Annie. "Well, here we are at home. Nan, you
must go up and show yourself to nurse this minute. Annie, let me take
you to your room."
"Dear old nursey," said Nan; she rushed up the stairs, shouting her old
nurse's name as she went; her quick footsteps flew down the long
corridor, she pushed open the baize door which separated the nurseries
from the rest of the house, and in a moment found herself in the old
room.
Nan's nurse was a cherry-cheeked old woman of between sixty and seventy
years of age.
"Eh, my darling, and how did you get back without me hearing the sound
of the carriage wheels!" she exclaimed. "Eh dear, eh dear, I meant to be
down on the front steps to greet you, Miss Nan. Eh, but you look bonny,
and let me examine your hair, dear--I hope they cut the points regular.
If they don't, it will break away and not keep even."
"Oh, don't bother about my hair now," said Nan. "What does hair signify
when a child has just got home, and when she wants a kiss more than
anything else in the world? Now, nursey, sit down in that low armchair
and let us have a real hug. _That's_ better; and how are you? You look
as jolly as ever."
"So I am, my pet; I'm as happy as the day is long since Miss Hetty has
come home and took the housekeeping over. I was in a mortal fret before,
with her at school and you at school, but now I think the danger is
past."
"What danger?" asked Nan; "you always were a dear old croak, you know,
nurse."
"Yes, pet, perhaps so; but I didn't fret without reason, you may be
quite sure of that."
"Well, what were you afraid of? You know I'm an awfully curious girl, so
you must tell me."
"It's a sin to be too curious, Miss Nan--it leads people into untold
mischief. Curiosity was the sin of Eve, and it's best to nip it in the
bud while you're young. Now let me brush out your hair, my darling, and
get you ready for supper."
"Yes, in a minute," said Nan. She pushed back the shady hat in which she
had traveled, and seated herself afresh on her nurse's knee.
"How do my kisses feel?" she asked, breathing a very soft one on each of
the old woman's cheeks.
"Eh, dear," said the nurse, "they're like fresh cream and strawberries."
"Well, you shall have six more if you tell me what your fears were."
Nurse looked admiringly back at Nan.
"You're just the audacious, contrary, troublesome bit of a thing you
always were," she said; "but somehow I can't resist you. There's no
fear now of anything happening, so you needn't be in a taking; but what
did put me out was this: I thought your father, Sir John, might be
bringing a new mistress here."
"What! a new mistress?--A housekeeper, do you mean?" Nan's brown eyes
were open at their widest.
"No, dearie, no, a wife--someone to take the head of the house. Men like
Sir John must have their comforts, and a house without a mistress isn't
as it ought to be. But there, Miss Hetty is here now, and that makes
everything right."
"But a new mistress," repeated Nan--"a new wife for father. Why,
she--she'd be a _stepmother_. Oh, how I'd hate her."
"Well, darling, there's not going to be any such person; it was only an
idle fear of your poor old nurse's that will never come to anything.
Forget that I said it to you, Miss Nan. Oh, my word! and there's the
gong, so supper is ready, and Sir John won't like to be kept waiting.
Let me brush out your hair, I won't be a minute. Now, there's my pretty.
It's good to have you back again, Miss Nancy. Only I misdoubt me that
you'll turn the house topsy-turvey, as you always and ever did."
While nurse was speaking, she was deftly and quickly changing Nan's
travel-stained frock for a white one, and was tying a coral pink sash
round her waist.
"Now you're ready," she said, giving the little figure a final pat.
Nan shook out her golden mane and went demurely downstairs--more
demurely than was her wont. The dawning of possible trouble filled her
sweet eyes. A new wife--a possible stepmother! Oh, no, by no
possibility could such a horror be coming; nevertheless, her full cup of
happiness was vaguely troubled by the thought.