'A DELIGHTFUL TIME.'
When Miss Robsart came the next morning she found her pupils in a great
state of excitement, and she seemed quite as interested as they were in
their news.
'I wish I could give you a holiday,' she said; 'and I should like one
myself, but it wouldn't be right, so we'll set to work and get lessons
done as quickly as possible, and then you'll be ready for your uncle if
he comes again.'
'And,' suggested Bobby earnestly, 'you'll put down a nice short little
sum for me to do, mostly twos and fours; me and Nobbles does not like
the figures past six, they want such a lot of finking about.'
Miss Robsart laughed, but promised she would do the best she could, and
lessons went very smoothly on the whole. When they were finished she
said a little wistfully:
'I was hoping you would come to tea with me this afternoon, my sister
wants to see you; but now your uncle and this Lady Isobel has arrived,
you will be occupied with them.'
'I expecks we shall have tea with them today,' said Bobby.
'Will you ask us another day?' asked True. 'Isn't it funny? Yesterday
we were quite miserable because nothing nice was happening, and to-day
we're too full. But Bobby and I want to come to tea with you very
much, we reely do, and we'll ask if you may come to the wedding.'
She jumped up from her chair and gave Miss Robsart a loving hug as she
spoke, and Bobby forthwith followed her example. Miss Robsart went
away from them with a cheerful face.
Margot dressed them in their best clothes directly their dinner was
over. It was in honour of Lady Isobel's expected visit.
'We haven't had a lady of title to the house since we've been in
England,' said Margot reflectively. I can't say I've run up much
against them, but I believe they're pretty much the same as other
folks; still a lady is a lady, and I wants her to see you looking like
your dear mother would have you, and you just sit still, now you're
clean, and don't dirty yourselves up with playing about.'
'It's like the story mother told us of the two little girls with their
clean frocks,' said True.
'Yes,' responded Bobby; 'I wonder how our inside frocks are to-day,
True.'
True shook her head doubtfully.
'I s'pose God has such _very_ good eyes He always sees spots and
stains; but I don't think mine is very bad to-day. I can't remember
anything just now.'
'Oh, I can. You stamped when the comb pulled your hair!'
'A stamp wouldn't make a very black mark,' said True. 'You were
beating the sofa with Nobbles this morning, and Mrs. Dodds would be
awful angry if she knew.'
'That was Nobbles.'
'Ah, that's another spot on your dress; you're making 'scuses, and
blaming Nobbles when it was reely you.'
Bobby hastily changed the conversation, and then there was a knock and
ring at the hall door, and in another moment Mr. Egerton and Lady
Isobel were in the room, and Bobby was in the arms of his friend. She
looked younger and prettier than when he saw her last. She was in a
long white coat and black hat. A big bunch of violets was in her
button-hole.
'Oh, Bobby, you darling, how glad I am to see you again! I can hardly
believe I may one day be your aunt.'
'That day will very soon be here,' said Mr. Egerton.
She laughed, and a pink colour stole into her cheeks.
Bobby's arms were tightly clasped round her neck.
'I never did forget you,' he assured her, 'not before your letter came;
and my picsher is lovelly.'
'And who is this little girl? Is she your little step-sister? How
delightful to have a playfellow. May I have a kiss, dear?'
True willingly submitted to be embraced.
This sweet looking lady won her heart at once.
Then Nobbles was brought forward, and Lady Isobel kissed his little
ugly face.
'Oh, how often have I thought of you and Nobbles when I was so far away
from you!' she said, sitting down and drawing Bobby to her. 'And do
you know, I think it was you who brought your uncle to me. He wanted
to hear about you----'
'Oh, come,' interrupted Mr. Egerton, 'we were old friends; you stole my
best caterpillar when you were a girl. I remember to this day my wrath
when you made your confession.'
'Yes,' said Lady Isobel laughing; 'and I remember why I did it.
Because you tied my best doll round the neck of our old gander, and he
drowned her in a pond.'
The children were enchanted at these reminiscences, but a shadow almost
immediately fell on Lady Isobel's face.
'Ah,' she said with a little sigh, 'that was many years ago. I have
been through a good deal since then.'
'And are you reely going to live in grandmother's house?' questioned
Bobby.
'Your uncle wants to,' said Lady Isobel softly, looking across at Mr.
Egerton as she spoke. 'It is his old home, Bobby; he played in your
nursery many years ago.'
'Yes, I know,' said Bobby. 'Tom said "Master Mortimer be a merry young
gentleman."'
'Ah,' said Mr. Egerton, knitting his brows fiercely, 'wait till I catch
Tom cutting some of my shrubs, he won't find me very merry then.'
'Don't you think you will like to pay us a visit one day, Bobby?'
'I mustn't leave father,' said Bobby promptly. 'May he come too?'
'If he likes; we shall be delighted to see him,' said Mr. Egerton.
'How I wish he was here. Does he have a big beard, Bobby?'
'No, not a little bit of one.'
'But that is quite wrong. You always told me he would wear a beard and
carry an axe and pistol in his belt.'
'Yes,' said Bobby; 'me and Nobbles finked quite wrong about him; only
he's nicer and better and gooder than anybody else. And we sometimes
finks'--he dropped his voice and spoke in a hushed whisper--'that he is
nearly as kind as my Father--God.'
No one spoke for a moment. Lady Isobel bent down and kissed the curly
head.
'My little Bobby,' she said; 'how happy your father must be to have you
with him!'
They talked for some time, and then the children were told that they
were going to be driven round to the hotel where Lady Isobel was
staying, and have tea with her.
'I want you to know my great friend who has come all the way from India
just to see me married,' she said to Bobby with a laugh and blush. We
have often talked about you, so you must not feel her a stranger.'
It was a delightful afternoon, and True enjoyed it as much as Bobby.
Lady Isobel's friend was a sweet-faced grey-haired lady who was very
fond of children, and knew how to talk to them. They had tea in a
private sitting-room, and came home laden with chocolates and sweets.
'Margot, just listen! Bobby and I are going to be bride's-maid and
bride's-groom, and we shall walk up the church after the bride.'
'I'm sure Master Bobby won't be the bridegroom,' said Margot.
'No, she said a page,' corrected Bobby. 'What's that, Margot? I
thought it was a leaf of a book.'
'We shall be all in white,' said True.
'Like angels,' said Bobby.
And so they chattered on, the only regret being the absence of their
father.
The next day they had another excitement. They went to tea with Miss
Robsart.
For some time past they had looked forward to this, and truth to tell,
Miss Robsart was quite as eager as they were for the treat.
She called for them at four o'clock, and they walked to the house in
which she and her sister lodged. It was a quiet little street leading
out of Kensington High Street. She took them upstairs to a very pretty
sitting-room with three large windows in it, one of which was filled
with flowers and plants. By the fireside in an invalid chair was Miss
Robsart's sister. The children felt shy of her at first, but she had
such a bright smile and voice that they soon became at ease with her.
'I have heard so much about you from my little sister Daisy that I feel
I know you already. Do you wonder that I call her little? I am ten
years older than she is, and she always seems a little girl to me.'
'Now Kathleen, respect my office, and don't be giving me away to my
pupils. Bobby, show my sister your wonderful Nobbles, and tell her
about him while I get tea ready.'
True was looking with admiring eyes round the room. On the walls hung
numbers of beautiful water-colour sketches; there was a piano, two
little love birds in a cage, some old carved furniture, and numbers of
pretty foreign curiosities.
'I wish we had a room like this,' she said admiringly.
'Ah! but you see this is our own furniture, and that makes such a
difference,' said their Miss Robsart. 'We took two unfurnished rooms
and put our own furniture into them, so of course it looks homey. And
all those pretty pictures were painted by my sister. Before she met
with her accident she used to go down to the country and sketch. She
longs to do it now, but we cannot manage it. Now would you like to
help me get out some cakes and jam from that cupboard for tea?'
True was only too delighted to do something. Whilst Bobby chatted with
the elder sister she helped the younger to lay the tea.
And then Miss Robsart was wheeled in her chair to the table, and Bobby
and True began to enjoy the jam and cakes provided for them. They
talked a good deal about Mr. Egerton and Lady Isobel, and the eldest
Miss Robsart asked Bobby about his grandmother's house in the country.
'What a happy little boy you must have been,' she said, 'to have
enjoyed a country life! I used to live in the country when I was a
little girl, and I have never forgotten it.'
'Why don't you live in the country now?' asked True.
'Ah!' said Daisy, 'we mean to one day, when our ship comes in. If only
that time would come soon! And then, Kathleen, you would be able to
make some sketches again, and get a sale for them!'
Her sister laughed.
'People would say I could sketch in London if I chose, and perhaps if I
were not such a cripple I could.'
'I've seed a cripple do lovelly picshers on the path,' said Bobby
eagerly; 'he did them all in red and blue and yellow! How did you get
a cripple?'
Daisy looked at her sister anxiously, but she smiled at her.
'I was run over by an omnibus only four years ago, Bobby. It was a
frosty day, and I was crossing the road in a hurry and slipped under
the horses' feet. I don't think I could sit on the pavement and paint
pictures, so I must hope that some day I may be able to get to my
beloved hills and trees and water again. Those are what I paint best,
and I cannot get them in London.'
'Lady Is'bel can paint picshers of gates and angels and heaven,' said
Bobby.
And then he began to describe the golden gates, and Miss Robsart
listened with amused interest. After tea they had games of different
sorts, and then at seven o'clock they were taken home, having
thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
When Mr. Allonby returned to them a few days later there was a great
deal to tell him. He took the children more than once to see Lady
Isobel at her hotel, and Mr. Egerton got into the way of coming round
in the evening to have a smoke with him. Bobby and True thought this
winter was a delightful time altogether, and when the wedding-day drew
near they could hardly contain themselves for excitement.
It was to be a very quiet one, and the guests were few in number. Miss
Robsart was to be one of them. Lady Isobel had met her by this time
and took a great liking to her; she went to see her sister, not once
only, but a good many times, and when she came round to see Bobby and
True the day before the wedding, she said to them, 'Do you know I have
my head full of plans for you all? I will not tell you now, but
perhaps when the spring comes you shall hear.'
'Father is going away from us in the spring,' said Bobby sorrowfully.
Then a twinkle came into his brown eyes: 'Me and Nobbles makes up plans
too in bed; we runned after father once, we hided from him in his
motor, and then he had to keep us.'
'Yes, but you aren't going to do that again,' said True, looking at him
severely. 'Dad is going across the sea; you couldn't follow him there.'
'I could follow him anywheres!' said Bobby earnestly.
'Ah! but you wouldn't like to displease your father by doing so,' said
Lady Isobel. 'He wants you to stay at home and learn as fast as you
can, and grow as fast as you can. And then when you get quite big and
clever you will be able to go about with him.'
'Mother said I was to be his kerpanion,' said Bobby. 'I don't want to
go to school.'
'Ah! my plan is better than school,' said Lady Isobel.
She would say no more, and Mr. Egerton, happening to come into the room
and hear her, turned the whole thing into a joke at once.
'Yes, Bobby, I'll whisper some of her plans for you. She is going to
start a school on new principles. It's a school for grown-ups; you are
to be the schoolmaster and True the mistress. You will have to teach
the old men how to slide banisters and play hide-and-seek. There will
be a class for those who don't know how to make up stories in bed; they
must be taught how to do it. Another class will have to learn how to
see robbers and Indians when it's getting dusk. It only needs a little
explanation and then it is quite easy. True will have to teach the
fine ladies to make daisy-chains and drink tea out of thimbles. There
is a lot that grown-ups have learnt and forgotten, and a lot they have
never learnt at all. And of course Nobbles will give them a rap over
the knuckles for every mistake they make.'
Bobby laughed delightedly.
'Go on! Tell us more!'
'I can't. My brain is so frightened at all it has to do to-morrow that
it has stopped working. I want to give it a rest to-day, poor thing.
It is never very bright. You ask Lady Isobel what she feels like.'
'What do you feel like?' asked Bobby promptly, turning to her.
'Very much inclined to shut myself in my room and not come to church at
all to-morrow,' she replied with sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks.
Mr. Egerton shook his head at her.
'If you play me false,' he said, 'Bobby will have to fill his bath full
of water, and I will come and drown myself in it!'
'Do!' cried True; 'and then we will take you out and hang you up to
dry!'
'We won't be too silly,' said Lady Isobel.
'And a wedding is a very solemn thing, isn't it?' said Bobby. 'Mrs.
Dodd telled Margot that she cried more at weddings than funerals.'
'I shan't cry,' said True, 'because I would spoil my white frock.'
She was delighted with her white costume, which Lady Isobel had
insisted upon providing. Margot at first shook her head over it.
''Tis too soon after the dear mistress's death to put off her black,'
she said; but True had retorted instantly:
'Mother wouldn't mind, I know. She's in a white dress herself now; she
doesn't wear black, so why should I?' And Margot was silenced.
Bobby was to wear his best white sailor suit. He had coaxed Margot to
buy him a white piece of ribbon with which Nobbles was to be decorated,
and he and True spent quite half an hour in arranging it in the form of
a rosette.
Mr. Allonby was the only one in the house who did not seem impressed by
the excitement and stir about the important event. His face was a
shade graver than usual when Bobby went to wish him good-night.
'I am going to cut and run to-morrow, sonny. Your uncle understands.
I can't be with you. I shall be out of town.'
Bobby's face fell tremendously.
'Oh, father, I did think you'd come with us. Shall True and I have to
walk up the church all alone?'
'There won't be many people there, my boy. And they will send a
carriage for you. You won't miss me. Don't look so doleful.'
'Shall I stay with you, father? I would like to 'stremely.'
'No, my boy; I'm going out of town for the day.'
'Do take me with you. Are you going to picnic somewhere?'
Mr. Allonby was silent for a minute, then he said:
'I am going to see mother's grave, sonny. I want to put a stone over
it. Can you think of a text she would like written upon it?'
Bobby's face was a picture of sweet seriousness.
'She loved my tex', father. Would it be too long? She made me say it
to her before she went away.'
'What was it?'
'"Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that
they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates
into the City."'
Mr. Allonby's face lit up with a smile.
'Thank you, sonny; that will do beautifully. I will have it put over
her grave.'
Bobby stole up to bed in an exalted frame of mind. When Margot came to
wish him good night, he looked up at her with big eyes.
'You go to sleep, Master Bobby, or you will never be ready to get up
to-morrow.'
'It's a most wunnerful day coming,' said Bobby, 'but I wish I could cut
myself in halves. The wedding will be lovelly, but seeing my very own
tex' being written on mother's grave by father himself would be almost
lovelier still. He's going down to do it, Margot; he told me so.'
Margot left him, muttering to herself:
'Such a jumble children do make of things! Weddings and graves be all
the same to them; they speak of it in one breath, and would as soon be
at one as the other! And of all queer children, Master Bobby be the
queerest, though I love him with all my heart! That text of his be all
the world to him.'
Downstairs a tired, sad man was gazing into the fire and repeating
softly to himself the text that was going to be as precious to him as
to his little son:
'"Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that
they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates
into the City."'