has bought the Grange! How sweet of him! Now we shall have something
to look at. He is coming soon, you say--oh, what fun! We can watch the
furniture unload, and the family arrive. Who are they, and how many may
they be? Lots of girls, I hope--the right sort, with plenty of fun in
them, and pony-carriages of their own, in which they can drive us
about!"
"We don't know a single thing about them, and can't find out. The man
is called Vanburgh, which is all right so far as it goes, but whether he
is married or a bachelor--"
"Of course he is married! A bachelor would never dare to take a house
like the Grange. It would be downright wicked! He is a married man,
with a grey beard, and a fat wife, and four beauteous daughters. I see
them now before me, as in a mirror!" Kitty shut her eyes behind the
spectacles, and screwed up her face into a grimace which was meant to be
vague and visionary, but fell a long way short of success. She was fond
of indulging in flights of fancy, and her friends waited for her
utterances with smiling delight.
"Yes, yes, I see them all! Veronique, the eldest, is a stately beauty,
tall and slender, with lustrous Spanish eyes, and locks--"
"Black as the raven's wing." Chrissie's murmur seemed a fitting climax
to the description, but the Visionary objected to be interrupted, and
turning scornful eyes upon her, said icily--
"Quite the contrary. Bright as pure gold! She knows not the meaning of
fear, and rides an Arab charger, who knows every movement of her
mistress's hand. She is betrothed to the scion of a noble house, and
will shortly be led to the hymeneal altar, when we shall attend as maids
of honour, clad in the sheen of satin and glimmer of pearls. Gabriella,
the second, is _mignonne_ in stature, with a wee, winsome face--"
But at this point in the description Agatha spluttered with laughter,
and Christabel rose from her seat, and began banging down books on the
table with disdainful emphasis.
"I refuse to listen any longer to such uttah rubbish."--"Wee, winsome
face," repeated Kitty loudly, determined to finish the sentence or
perish in the attempt. "Eyes blue as the summer skies, and a skin of
snow and roses. She has a timorous, shrinking nature, and prefers a
milk-white charger to her sister's untamed steed. Evangeline, the
third, has tawny locks and a dimpling smile, and makes up by charm of
manner for what she lacks in regular beauty. Valentine, the fourth--"
But the characteristics of Miss Vanburgh number four were fated to
remain in obscurity, for at that moment a step was heard approaching the
schoolroom door, and the historian made a dash forward to collect her
books, and place them on the table, before the entrance of Miss Roberts,
the governess.
CHAPTER FIVE.
AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR.
During the next few weeks the workmen took possession of the Grange, and
each morning as Kit made her appearance in the schoolroom Christabel had
some fresh item of intelligence to unfold.
"A blue paper is going up in the bedroom--pale, pale blue, with loops of
roses tied with lovers' knots--s-imply sweet! ... Nothing but brown
paper in the little room over the door--nasty, common brown paper like
you use for parcels. Hideous! What can they be thinking of?"--and the
girls would stare together through the windows, watching every movement
of painters and paperers with breathless interest.
Later on a still more exciting period was reached, when vanloads of
furniture arrived, and their contents were spread about on the roadway.
Then the Rendell girls massed themselves in the porch-room, and while
they manufactured needle-books, and scattered bran over the floor in the
wholesale manufacture of pincushions, Lilias played the part of Sister
Anne, sitting with idle hands, reporting progress to the workers, and
sounding a bugle-note of warning when any object appeared which demanded
attention. The numberless packing-cases were baffling to feminine
curiosity, but the furniture itself was so unique that the most prosaic
articles assumed a surprising interest. There were no modern designs to
be seen here, no cream enamelled bedroom suites, no green wood chairs,
nor cosy corners. Everything belonging to the house was of a sombre
grandeur which belonged to another country than our own. Sideboards and
cabinets of carved Indian wood blocked up the roadway, and made black
patches against the oak-panelled walls; overmantels of the same dusky
hue stretched up to the ceilings, and Oriental rugs of priceless value,
but distressing shabbiness, were spread over the floors, while the lower
windows were covered with screens of carved wood, such as are to be seen
over the windows of Turkish harems.
Lilias, the worldly wise, was pleased to pronounce the equipments of the
house as in "a style of quiet magnificence," but her sisters were less
enthusiastic, and Nan screwed up her saucy nose in open disdain.
"Very grand and antique-y, and all that sort of thing, but my, how dull!
Fancy sitting in that oak-panelled room, with those black ghosts reared
up against the walls, and the light shut out by those carved screens. I
should go stark, staring mad! Give me something bright and cheerful,
and lots of sunshine. What worries me is that there is so little that
is feminine and frivolous. I haven't seen a single thing as yet that
looks suitable for a girl's room."
"But think of the cases! All those dozens and dozens of cases. You can
never tell what may be inside them. They may be stored with--"
"Treasures of buhl and ormolu!" sighed Kit softly. "That's what they
always say in books, though I haven't the slightest idea what it means.
Wouldn't it be a terrific blow if there were no girls after all?"
But such a possibility the Rendells absolutely refused to admit. The
prospect of finding friends of their own age in the deserted Grange had
taken such firm hold of their imagination, that Veronique, Evangeline,
and Ermyntrude had already become living companions who played a part in
their lives, and whose tastes had to be seriously considered in
arranging the future. They longed for the time to come when doubt would
be put at an end; but the Vanburghs seemed in no hurry to appear, and
meanwhile April was at hand, and, as was their custom, Mr and Mrs
Rendell prepared to leave home on a short holiday, leaving the girls
alone to battle with the terrors of spring-cleaning.
Mrs Rendell had strong ideas on the subject of domestic education, and
would allow no extra help to be engaged for this yearly upheaval. It
was timed to take place in the Easter holidays, and each girl was
expected to take a special task in hand, and to bring it to a
satisfactory conclusion. She herself frankly confessed that she had
come to a time of life when she was thankful to be spared fatigue and
discomfort; but her husband was not so willing to make the admission,
and talked about his proposed absence in an impersonal fashion, which
vastly amused his hearers.
"Mother has had to bear the burden of housekeeping for over twenty
years, and I think it quite time that some of you took it off her
shoulders. It is good training for girls to learn everything that has
to be done in connection with a house, so for your sakes as well as hers
I feel it a duty to take her away." So he spoke, and Nan rolled her
eyes at him in mischievous fashion, poking forward her head until her
face was but a few inches from his own.
"And--er, what about your own? You do not love the smell of soft soap,
do you, dear? I remember last year--"
Her father waved his arms helplessly.
"Everything tasted of it! Soup, fish, puddings, everything one ate
seemed saturated with soft soap; and there is something peculiarly
depressing about a house with no carpets on the floors. I feel as if I
were going to be sold up; and if there is one thing more aggravating
than another, it is to be obliged to sit in a fresh room every day, and
have all one's possessions stored carefully out of sight. Now,
remember, whoever dusts the books in the library is only to take out a
few at a time, and put them back--ex-actly where she found them!"
"Yes, father!"
"No servant is to touch them! I know what that means--every book piled
on the floor, and stuffed back into the shelves just as they come! You
girls are responsible, and must dust them yourselves."
"Mine own fair hands shall do the deed--in gloves, however, for I know
those books of old, and shall smother myself in sheets before I begin.
I don't object to a few days' charing for a change," said Nan briskly.
"I love rushing about in an apron, using my muscles instead of my brain,
gathering all the ornaments together, and washing them in a nice soapy
bath--"
"And watching the water get dirty! Isn't it lovely?" gushed Agatha
enthusiastically. "It isn't a bit interesting when they are only a
little bit soiled. I like figures and things with lots of creases where
the dust gets in, and you have to scrub away with a nail-brush, and the
water gets black--perfectly black! It's lovely!"
Every one laughed, even Mrs Rendell, though she felt in duty bound to
protest at the idea of anything being "black" in her well-kept house;
and the girls proceeded to sing the joys of spring-cleaning with
youthful fervour.
"What I like best are the picnic meals," said Chrissie. "We always have
the same things for lunch--a round of cold salt beef and beetroot, and
coffee, and bread and jam. It is all put on the table at once, and we
all carve for ourselves, and march about the room with aprons on, and
behave as badly as we like. Then we have tea about three, and cold meat
again for dinner, and fruit instead of pudding, and are all so stiff
that we can hardly move, and all fighting to have the first hot bath.
The water gets cold after the second, so it's a great thing to be first,
if you can."
"And there are such amusing _contretemps_!" said Maud, the good-natured.
"There seems to be a special imp of mischief abroad at these times, for
something is bound to go wrong. You can't guard against it, for it is
always the last thing you could expect, and it happens at the worst
moment, and in some extraordinary manner stops all the wheels of the
machinery. It is really excruciatingly funny--"
"You don't think so at the time! When Agatha knocked a nail into the
gas-pipe on Thursday afternoon, when the shops were closed, and all the
men had gone off to a beanfeast, you didn't think it much of a joke
then!" said Elsie darkly. "We tried leaving the nail in and smearing
the hole with soap, but the gas came out in gusts, and we had to turn it
off, and there were only two candles in the house. ... We sat all
evening in the dark, and undressed together in one room, because we were
obliged to give the servants one of the candles. It wasn't in the least
funny, and you didn't think so either."
"Oh, I don't know! It gave us a rest, which we wanted badly, and it is
amusing to think of afterwards. I've often thought of it, and laughed
to myself,"--and Maud laughed again, the happy, kindly laugh which was
the outward sign of a sweet-hearted nature.
Altogether it was a very cheerful little party of workers whom the
parents left behind when the hour for departure arrived. It was a
bright, inspiriting spring morning, just one of the days when it is
delightful to start off on the first holiday of the year, and Mr and
Mrs Rendell looked fully appreciative of the fact. He was attired in a
new suit, while his wife, not to be outdone, had provided herself with a
pretty blue coat and skirt, and a flowered toque which was perhaps a
trifle more summery than the season justified. After twenty-five years
of married life, it was still a delight to this husband and wife to
steal off for a holiday by themselves, and Mrs Rendell took the same
delight in her husband's approval as when she had first become his wife.
Every detail of her attire was daintily correct, and so pretty did she
look, so trig and smart, that her six big daughters stared at her in
admiration.
"Perfectly s-weet!" was Chrissie's verdict; then her eyes passed on to
her handsome, stalwart father, and a twinkle of amusement showed in her
eyes. "They both do! And so spick and span--everything new from head
to foot. They might be a newly-married couple--a trifle elderly, but
ve-ry well preserved! I shouldn't wonder if people thought they were.
How would it be if we hid a little rice?--"
"Happy thought! A most delicate attention. Keep them talking for a few
minutes while I pay a visit to the kitchen," cried Nan, deftly nipping
up the roll of umbrellas, and disappearing from the hall, to return with
the meekest of meek faces, and bid a fond adieu to the parents for whose
confusion she had been planning.
When the carriage drove off, the conspiracy was divulged to the other
girls, who fully appreciated the humour of the position, but were
unanimously eager to disclaim responsibility.
"I'd give worlds to be there when they open the straps!" cried Agatha.
"It will be too killingly funny. They will both jump and get red in the
face--father from laughter, and mother from rage. Oh-oh, it's lovely;
but I didn't do it, remember! I hadn't a suspicion of it until this
minute!"
"I couldn't have allowed it, if you had consulted me, but I'm glad you
didn't!" Maud declared. "It will be exciting hearing how it comes off.
They won't need rugs or umbrellas in the train, but crossing the
Channel mother is sure to feel chilly, as she will never sit in the
cabin. Father will settle her comfortably in a chair on deck and
proceed to unfasten the rugs. Every one will look on, for there is
nothing else to do on board ship but stare at your companions. Then
patter, patter, patter, down the rice will fall, and roll along the
deck. I can see it all! And the more they blush, the younger they will
look; and the angrier and more confused they are, the more natural it
will seem. Oh, I do hope and trust it comes off on the steamer!"
"It would be even better in the train!" said Lilias wisely. "If they
once get settled in the train to Paris, they would be stuck with the
same people for five mortal hours, whether they liked it or not, and
they would stare, and stare, and stare. Whatever father and mother
said, it would make no difference, for they would think they were only
pretending. Oh, Nan, I wouldn't be you! You will catch it!"
Nan shrugged her shoulders recklessly. "Time works wonders. If they
were coming home to-morrow I should tremble; but after ten days'
galumptious holiday it wouldn't be in human nature to come home and be
cross with a poor, hard-working Cinderella. Besides, why should they be
vexed? When I'm married you can use as much rice as you like. I don't
mind if I scatter it broadcast wherever I go. I shall just smile back
in the people's faces, and hang on to Adolphus for support. If I can
afford a little amusement to my fellow-creatures, I shall not be so
selfish as to object; and I must say that for my own part I do adore
finding out a bride and bridegroom, and staring at them with all my
eyes."
"I shall never marry; but if I do I shall wear my oldest clothes on my
honeymoon, and snap at my husband every time he opens his mouth. That's
the way to manage!" said Christabel with an air, and the two elder girls
exchanged smiles of amusement. Neither of them volunteered any
information as to how she herself would behave in the circumstances, for
the nearer such a possibility becomes, the less easy it is to discuss it
in indifferent fashion. Lilias dropped her lids in smiling modesty, and
Maud's eyes shone with a happy glow. She was twenty-three now, and for
the last four years a secret hope had dwelt in her heart, and invested
the future with charm. It had begun on a certain holiday time, when Jim
for the second or third time had brought home his friend Ned Talbot for
a visit, and Ned had caught his foot in a rabbit-hole, and sprained it
so severely that he was a prisoner at Thurston House for weeks, instead
of days. Lilias and Nan were away at school at that time, but Maud had
finished her education, and shared with her mother the task of amusing
the invalid. She read aloud to him; played on the piano; was demolished
at Halma; and, above all, talked to him on one topic after another,
growing ever more and more intimate, until at the end of the visit it
had seemed as if there was no secret which was held back from Ned
Talbot's knowledge. He had not said so much in return, but there was no
sense of chill in his reserve. He was naturally silent, and a word from
him meant more than many protestations from another. Maud knew that he
enjoyed her society by a hundred indefinable signs; and when they bade
each other good-bye, the glance of the dark eyes seemed to speak of a
warmer interest than that of friendship. Since then four years had
passed by, and twice a year at least Ned had contrived to pay a visit to
Waybourne.
Now that the other girls were at home there were no longer opportunities
for uninterrupted converse, for, as the eldest daughter of a large
household, Maud was often compelled to busy herself with household
duties, leaving the charge of entertainment to the younger girls; but
she felt sure that Ned understood, and no trace of dissatisfaction
clouded her gentle spirit. She calculated happily that four months had
passed since his last appearance, and felt her cheeks flush as she
remembered Jim's accounts of a recent prosperous change in his friend's
business. A great step upward had been taken during the last year, and
now, for the first time, Talbot was in a position to keep a wife! This
being so, who could tell what might happen next? The hour to which she
had looked forward to so long, when Ned would give her a right to love
him and to be his helpmeet in life, might be close at hand. Oh, it was
a good world, a beautiful world! Life was in its spring, and every
opening bud and flower in the green world without seemed to typify the
hope in her own heart!
The next few days witnessed a perfect rush of industry. It was no light
task to complete the cleaning of so large a house in ten days' time, but
many hands make light work; and while the servants scrubbed and scoured,
the girls performed the lighter duties, washing ornaments, polishing
pictures, turning faded draperies, sewing on new lengths of fringe,
until old bottles were, if not exactly converted into new, at least
assured a fresh lease of juvenility. There was always a rush to get the
work finished a day or two before the parents' return, for the time that
was over was legally the girls' own, to be employed in whatsoever manner
seemed most pleasing. Christabel stayed in bed to breakfast; Agatha ate
apples and read novels all day long; Elsie made copious entries in her
diary, and wore her hair in the picturesque confusion which she
considered becoming, and felt it cruel of her mother to forbid; Nan
worked in her studio, and came down to dinner in a flannel shirt; Lilias
wore her best clothes, and went up to town to see and be seen; and Maud
dreamt dreams at her ease, without the disturbing consciousness of work
undone.
By the end of the week the carpets were cleaned and ready to put down,
and it was decided that the drawing-room felting should be laid first of
all, because in itself it was a more lengthy task than the mere laying
of squares, and also because the after work of arranging pictures and
china would be greater here than elsewhere. The three maids shut
themselves in the room together for an hour or more, and at the end of
the time adjourned in a body to the library, where the young mistresses
were busy arranging books. They looked flushed and discouraged, and
each of the three had her own comments to make upon the situation. Cook
reported that "that there felting wouldn't come right nohow." Mary put
her hand to her heart, and said her inside ached with dragging the
tiresome thing; and bright-eyed Jane smiled cheerfully, and vowed that
"she didn't believe it never would meet no more." The girls adjourned
into the drawing-room to investigate the difficulty, and found the
felting neatly fastened at three sides, but steadily refusing to come
within inches of the fourth wall.
"Seems as if it's shrunk itself somehow in the cleaning," said cook
dolefully; but Maud only laughed, and went forward to the rescue in her
cheery, capable manner.
"Oh, nonsense, cook! If the cleaning did anything, it would stretch it
and make it bigger. It is purposely made rather a tight fit, or it
would go into wrinkles, which would never do. It only wants a little
coaxing. Nan and Agatha, you have the strongest arms, go over there and
pull as hard as you can, while Elsie and I push towards you."
No sooner said than done. Maud and Elsie went down on their knees, and
travelled slowly across the floor, pushing infinitesimal creases before
them, while the others pulled and strained to make the most of the
advantage thus given. It was a lengthy business, and the crawling
operation was repeated several times over before the first ring could be
induced to catch over its nail; but when this was done hope began to
revive, and the pushing and tugging was carried on with such vigour that
presently the last fastening was secured, and the workers rested from
their labours, weary, yet triumphant.
"My back!" groaned Elsie, straightening herself with a groan; "it's
broken in two. I feel as if I could never stand erect again."
"My hands!" groaned Agatha, stretching out her arms, and slowly
uncurling ten cramped-up fingers. "They ache. Whew! I never worked so
hard in my life. I shall be more careful about spilling crumbs on this
carpet in the future, now that I know what it means to have it cleaned.
How you ever got it up I can't think. It must have been even more
difficult than putting it down."
"Broke every nail I 'ave," said cook concisely. "It's not woman's work,
and that's the truth. We 'ad ought to 'ave 'ad a man to do it that 'ad
proper tools; but there, it's done, thank goodness, for another year,
and it's the worst in the house. Them squares is no trouble."
"No; I think you can manage the squares yourselves; but first of all we
will have the furniture brought in here. The house looks so forlorn
with the hall blocked up, and if we get one room tidy, we shall feel
that we are getting on," said Maud, who as yet had not risen from the
floor, but sat with feet stretched out, gathering resolution to begin
work afresh. She stretched out her hands and drew herself slowly along
towards the farther side of the room; but scarcely had she moved a
couple of feet when she gave an exclamation of dismay, and, stopping
short, passed her hand over the surface of the felting.
"Whatever is this? Something sticking up through the felting! Sharp
little points, here and there. Dozens of them all about! What can they
be?"
The others hastened to the spot, and gazed with horror-stricken eyes at
a number of minute molehills showing distinctly in the felting, and each
one presenting a sharp point when investigated by the touch.
"It's nails!" croaked Elsie deeply; and at that cook gave a groan of
dismay.
"It is, for sure! Them dratted tacks! Your Mar said we was to put in a
tack here and there between the rings, and there was a saucerful just
there. Somebody has knocked it over, I expect, and scattered them about
the floor."
Maud looked round with a despairing glance. The accident had happened
in the worst possible position, as such accidents are invariably
supposed to do, the nails being spilt a couple of yards from the wall,
in such a position that two sides of the carpet must be unfastened
before they could be removed. She stared at her sisters, and they
stared back in a long, sullen silence.
"We can't do it again, and we sha'n't!" said Nan recklessly. "Send for
a man, and let him break his fingers for a change. I need mine for
another purpose."
"Thursday afternoon, my dear. The shops are shut, and not a man to be
had."
"Never saw anything like it. It always is Thursday afternoon! Put a
table over the place then, and leave the tacks where they are. No one
will see them."
"Oh, Nan, as if a table could stay in the same place for a year.
Besides, the nails are bound to come out; if we don't take them away,
they'll work little holes for themselves, and then what would mother
say? There's no use shirking it. The carpet has to come up again, and
we shall have to do it."
"It's too disgusting! All this time wasted, and now to find ourselves
farther back than when we started. I could cry!" protested Elsie
dolefully; and Maud gave a little flop of impatience.