"THE WAY OF TRANSGRESSORS."
The week that followed passed all too quickly. There was no hitch
whatever in the girls' plans. Mrs. Lorrimer wrote to Molly to express
her complete satisfaction with the arrangement proposed by Hester. The
workwomen who had now taken up their abode at the Grange were both
efficient and clever. With Annie's help the different dresses began to
assume form and completion with marvellous rapidity. Annie was the life
and soul of the dressmaking. She sketched pictures of the proposed
toilettes; she coloured these sketches; then she tried on and cut out,
and basted, and tacked. She helped to hang draperies and to arrange the
wings of the fairies. The women became interested themselves in such an
artistic assistant, and did everything in their power to help her. At
the Towers the ball-room began to show its noble proportions to the best
advantage. Hester and Annie and Nan and Molly went backwards and
forwards at all hours of the day. By Monday evening, the ball-room was
in complete order. Every possible direction was given with regard to the
different refreshments, and the last stitch in the pretty fancy dresses
had been done. The news of Nan's fancy ball had spread far and wide.
Almost every invitation met with an acceptance, and the Thornton and
Lorrimer households were borne forward just at present on a full tide of
victorious excitement. Even Molly felt herself obliged to enter into
the full spirit of the fun. Not a murmur of anxiety from her father and
mother in London reached her. Mrs. Lorrimer, in writing to Molly, had
assumed as cheerful a tone as possible; she had alluded to no possible
care, had hinted at no canker root of possible trouble. She had said, it
is true, that it was rather unlikely that she and the Squire would
return in time for the ball; but if this could not be managed, she hoped
the children would enjoy themselves to the full in their absence; and
finally, she said how heartily she rejoiced in the thought of their
having such a delightful time. Hester also forgot the small worrying
thought which came to her now and again about her father, in this week
of rush and pleasure. Hester was by nature a very quiet-mannered girl,
but she became nearly as lively now as Annie; she laughed, and joked,
and danced, and skipped until Mrs. Martin, who watched her from the
nursery window, began to shake her head gravely, and to say that such
mirth was not "fey" as she expressed it, and that it surely forbode a
season of gloom by-and-by.
Annie's high spirits being natural to her, no one specially noticed
them, and according to her custom, she put dull care aside and was as
lively as she looked.
It is true that she had been obliged to ignore Mrs. Willis's letter; it
is true that the ring was still being jealously guarded by that dreadful
Mrs. Myrtle, for Annie had not the courage to ask Mrs. Martin for it.
The whole situation was now quite plain; Mrs. Martin had never gone near
the pawnbroker's, but had lent Annie the money herself. Why she had
parted with the ring under these circumstances was a problem which poor
Annie could not attempt to fathom. All she could do now was to abide the
issue of events as patiently as possible. All her life long she had
found that, somehow or other, matters did right themselves for her, and
she trusted to her usual good luck on this occasion.
The preparations were almost all completed for the fancy ball by Monday
night. Nan's birthday would be on Wednesday. No second letter had
arrived from Sir John Thornton, and Hester wondered whether he would be
present on the birthday or not. The day was to be one long scene of
triumph for the young birthday queen. Annie and Hester both stole out of
bed at an early hour that morning, and going out into the garden, they
picked baskets full of flowers with the dew on them, with which they
made wreaths to decorate the breakfast table, and to cover the piles of
presents which lay not only on Nan's plate, but all round it.
As soon as Nan appeared in the breakfast-room, Annie tripped up to her,
bent on one knee as if to a liege lady, told her that she was her lawful
sovereign for that entire day, and then begged leave to crown the
birthday queen with flowers. Nan's cheeks were flushed already, and her
eyes bright with excitement. Molly came in by-and-by, and Nora, who was
now much better, was wheeled into the room on her sofa. She wore the
white cambric dress which Annie had made for her. Her dark hair was
swept back from her pretty, low forehead, her cheeks had roses in them,
and her eyes sparkled.
"Molly, Molly," she exclaimed, "look at me, look at me. Now you know the
secret of the locked door. Annie made me this frock; she had some bits
of cambric over from dresses of her own, and she made this and a blue
one, and a pink one also; I have the other two in my drawer; I know they
are all sweetly becoming, aren't they? It's nearly as good as having a
_trousseau_. Oh, do kiss me and congratulate me, Molly; you know how I
have always longed for pretty dresses. Was not it perfectly _darling_ of
Annie to make them for me?"
Before Molly could reply a loud exclamation from Hester turned all eyes
in her direction.
"What do you think?" she exclaimed. "The crowning bliss of our day is
come. Nan, you will never guess. Annie, dear, how charmed you will be.
Here is a letter from Mrs. Willis; she expects to reach Nortonbury by
the mid-day train, and asks me to send to meet her. Oh, dear, this is
lovely. I have not seen my dear Mrs. Willis for over a year. What a rest
and comfort it will be to talk to her again. Molly, you will delight in
her; she is just the woman to captivate you completely. Nora, you will
lose your heart to her, too. I don't know what wonderful thing there is
about her; she is so strong, so noble, so gentle, that she wins all
hearts; it is impossible for anybody to be naughty when Mrs. Willis is
in the house. Nan, the arrival of Mrs. Willis on your birthday is the
happiest possible omen for the whole year. Oh, how truly rejoiced I am!"
"Yes, it's awfully jolly of her to come," said Nan. "Of course I'm very
fond of her, but I hope she won't remind me of my holiday task, for,
frankly, I have not looked at it yet, and I don't mean to do so until
the last week of the holidays. Now, do let's all begin breakfast; even
though I am queen, I happen to have an appetite. Annie, what are you in
a brown study about? Why, you look quite pale!"
"I expect Annie is so glad about Mrs. Willis that she can scarcely
speak," said Hester, glancing at her friend in an affectionate manner.
"Yes, we had better get breakfast through. I shall give Mrs. Willis the
maple room, with that lovely west view. There is a little sitting-room
which goes with it, where she can be quiet whenever she wants to be
quiet. How glad nursey will be when she hears that dear Mrs. Willis is
coming."
Hester began to perform the duties of tea-maker in a rather abstracted
manner. As she kept on filling up cups of tea, she also glanced from
time to time at the letter which gave her such delight.
"It is such a surprise," she said; "perhaps that is half the pleasure."
"Please don't put any more sugar into my tea," exclaimed Annie in an
almost cross voice; "you know I never touch sugar, and that is the
fourth lump."
"Oh, I am sorry," exclaimed Hester; "I'll take that cup and you shall
have mine."
"You put five lumps into your own cup, I watched you; oh, dear, it
doesn't matter, of course."
"No, it doesn't matter," said Hester, still reading her letter. "Molly,
will you pass the tea on, please. Oh, yes, I'll have some honey; you can
put a piece on my plate if you like."
"The only plate you have before you at present contains eggs and bacon,"
exclaimed Molly. "I think I won't help the honey for a few minutes."
"This is a delightful surprise," murmured Hester; "but, dear me, it is
rather strange, Mrs. Willis says she wrote to you last week, Annie, and
said that she would try to give us a couple of days at the Grange on her
way back to Lavender House. How was it you never mentioned it?"
There was just a pause long enough to be noticed before Annie replied.
"I did not get the letter," she said then, in a steady voice.
She hated herself the moment she had uttered the words. She felt as if
she had fallen from a height, and was lying maimed and bruised, bleeding
and ugly in some dismal abyss; but all the time her eyes looked bright
and her face was cheerful.
Hester exclaimed, "How strange! what a pity! How could the letter have
gone astray?" but other thoughts soon chased this one from her mind.
Breakfast being over the young housekeeper had much to attend to.
Nora held out her hand to Annie, who stooped down and kissed her
affectionately.
"Are you really glad that she is coming?" asked Nora.
"Of course I am, Nonie; she is--" a stab went through Annie's
heart--"she is my best friend."
"Is she really as good as Hester says she is?" continued Nora.
"Yes, yes, better; no one quite knows how good she is."
"I shall be afraid of her," said Nora shuddering. "I hate such perfectly
good people; they make me feel small and mean."
Annie took up a basket of flowers, and began deftly to form them into
wreaths for the further decoration of the ball-room.
"It's dreadful to feel mean," she said almost in a whisper.
"You can't surely know what it means," replied Nora.
"Oh, can't I though; don't let's talk of it any more. I like you in
white, Nora. White, toned with lace and coloured ribbons, makes a
charming dress for you. You have such a pretty face. It is so full of
_esprit_--so _piquant_. Some day you will be a beautiful woman."
"As beautiful as you are?" asked Nora. "I don't desire to be more
beautiful than you."
"In some ways you will be more beautiful," replied Annie. "I don't
pretend that I am not pretty, I know I am; but in some ways you will be
superior to me. You will have a greater air of distinction. _Noblesse
oblige_ will be abundantly manifested in you. Oh, yes," continued Annie,
"it is all very fine for us _parvenus_ to despise race. We don't really
despise it; we adore it, we envy it; we can never, never, never get what
race confers."
"How excitedly you talk," said Nora; "you seem angry about something."
"I am angry with myself," said Annie; "my low ways and my meanness.
_Noblesse oblige_ has nothing to do with me. Now, look here, Nora,
forget all this rubbishy talk; be thankful that you are a beautiful girl
of good family, who could not do a shabby action. I must leave you now,
for Mrs. Willis is coming, and I should like to go into Nortonbury to
meet her."
Annie ran off to find Hester.
"Hester," she exclaimed, "may I go in the carriage to Nortonbury to meet
Mrs. Willis?"
"That is an excellent idea," said Hester; "take Molly with you, the
drive will do her good. I am so busy this morning that I can scarcely be
spared from home. Yes, that is an excellent idea. I was wondering who
would go to meet her."
Molly was very pleased to accompany Annie to Nortonbury, and Annie was
glad of her company. Molly would be a sort of shield to her; not that it
really mattered, for she had already quite made up her mind how to act.
The girls enjoyed their pleasant drive together. Mrs. Willis's train was
punctual, and she was soon driving back to the Grange, Molly seated by
her side and Annie on the seat facing her.
Mrs. Willis had the knack of making all girls perfectly at home with
her. Molly felt sure that a certain feeling of restraint would come over
her when she sat by the side of this excellent and adorable woman; but
the moment she looked into Mrs. Willis's kind eyes, and Mrs. Willis
returned her glance, and said in that full, rich, motherly voice of
hers, "Oh, I have heard of you; you are Molly Lorrimer, you live at the
Towers, and you have a great many brothers and sisters, and your
schoolroom is reached by a spiral stair, and is somewhere up in the
clouds. I have heard all about you many times from Nan." Then Molly
laughed, and felt at home. She felt more than at home, for her heart
gave a strange flutter, and then a curious sense of peace pervaded it.
It was something like being near her mother, and yet it was something
different. The magnetic influence of a good and great spirit was already
making itself felt.
Annie sat opposite to the two with dancing eyes.
"How well you look my love," said Mrs. Willis. "I am delighted to see
that the change has done you so much good."
Annie drooped her long lashes for a moment.
"I am as well as well can be," she said, "and as jolly as jolly can be,
and you have just come in the nick of time to make everything perfect.
Molly, do tell Mrs. Willis about our fancy ball to-night."
"I will listen to you in a moment, Molly," said Mrs. Willis; "but first
of all I want to ask Annie a question. I hope you did not send the ring
to Paris, Annie, for, if you did, I never received it."
"What ring?" asked Annie, looking up in pretended amazement. "Do you
mean my mother's ring, Mrs. Willis, the--the one you lent me?"
"Yes, dear. I wrote to you last week about it. I was surprised at never
hearing from you, for my letter was quite urgent. I wanted the ring for
a special object, and was disappointed at its never coming."
"That must have been the letter you never got, Annie," exclaimed Molly.
"You never got my letter?" exclaimed Mrs. Willis. "How very, very
strange! But I posted it myself, and I know I put the right address on
it. I am relieved, of course, that you did not send the ring when it was
too late; but it is odd about the letter."
"No, I didn't send the ring," said Annie in a light voice. "How could
I?"
"Certainly not, dear, if you did not know that I wanted it."
"Hester was surprised this morning," continued Molly, taking up the
thread of the narrative, and unconsciously giving Annie immense
assistance. "You said, in your letter to her, that you had told Annie a
week ago that you were coming. Then Annie said that she had never got
your letter."
"It is very queer," said Mrs. Willis. "I must write to the post office
in Paris and make inquiries. Well, I am glad the ring is safe."
"Of course, it is as safe as possible," said Annie. "It is too bad about
the letter," she continued. "Did you want the ring very badly?"
"Yes, very badly; but it is not too late yet to manage matters. I want
to have the ring copied as a wedding present for Margaret Cecil, but I
have already spoken to a jeweller about it, and if I send him the ring
to-day or to-morrow he will have it in time. Don't forget to give it to
me, Annie, dear, when we get home."
"Oh, no," said Annie, "I won't forget."
A few moments later they arrived at the Grange, where Mrs. Willis was
received with a kind of trembling joy by Hester, who took her into the
house and showered every imaginable attention which her love could
suggest upon her.
"Time, time," muttered Annie to herself as she rushed away. "Something
must happen between now and to-morrow. I'll keep out of her way to-day,
and in the fuss and excitement she'll forget about the ring. I have told
one big lie about it, and I have insinuated a dozen more, and I vow and
declare one thing--that I will not be discovered now. I'll go on to the
bitter end now, come what will. Heigh-ho, is that you, Nan? What are you
doing? Don't you know that Mrs. Willis has come? What is that you have
in your hand?"
"It's a letter of yours," said Nan; "I found it in the garden under a
rose bush; it's in Mrs. Willis's handwriting; didn't you say that you did
not hear from her last week?"
"No more I did; give me that letter; it's quite an old one." Annie
stretched out her hand, snatched the letter from Nan, and pushed it into
her pocket.
"You didn't read it?" she asked.
"No, I'm not so mean; what is the matter with you?"
"I hate to have my letters read."
"They're not read by girls like me; you needn't be afraid."
Nan rushed off in a huff, and Annie walked slowly down the corridor. Her
heart felt like lead. She fully believed that Nan had not read the
letter, but Nan's eyes might have happened to glance at the postmark on
it. That postmark contained a date only one week old. Nan was the last
child to whom Annie felt she could confide her guilty secret.
"Oh, dear, dear," she murmured under her breath, "what a true saying it
is, that 'the way of transgressors is hard.' I am a mean, low sort, not
a doubt of that. Why, if the Lorrimers and Thorntons really knew me as I
am, they wouldn't speak to me. Well, there's nothing for it now but to
carry matters with a high hand, and to let nothing out. If Nan does
happen to have noticed the date on the letter, I'll tell her she was
mistaken. How could I have been so mad as to carry this letter about in
my pocket? Well, to make all things sure, I'll destroy it now."
"Annie, Annie, we're just going to lunch," called out Hester; "what are
you running into the garden for?"
"I'll be back in a minute," shouted Annie.
She ran quickly out of the house and down the broad grass walk which led
to the arbour at the farther end. By the side of the arbour lay a basket
of tools. Annie snatched up a small trowel, and going to the back of the
arbour, dug a hole for her letter. She tore it then into fragments and
buried it, looked round her eagerly, saw that there was not a soul in
sight, and then, with a certain sense of relief, hurried back to the
house.