THE ENGLISH GIRLS AT THE SCHOOL OF LA PRINCESSE.
Margot was the sort of girl who invariably and without any doubt kept
her word, but, being of that somewhat rare species, she expected those
about her to keep their words also. Accordingly Madame la Comtesse
was forced to send _la petite_ Comtesse St. Juste to her friend _la_
Princesse de Fleury, having made arrangements beforehand with that good
woman, that the child should go to her every day for _déjeuner_. After
that she was to devote herself to the learning of French and that music
which charms even the savage breast.
Little Margot was satisfied with this arrangement, and her grandfather,
M. le Comte, little guessed that she was not at school all day long,
but devoted the early hours of her day to selling hats innumerable for
Madame la Comtesse.
Little Margot kept her word to the letter. She had a real taste for
millinery, acquired no one quite knew how, and it soon became the rage
in the _établissement_ that M'selle _la petite_ Comtesse should serve
the customers, for had she not the taste _magnifique_! At school, too,
little Margot was perfectly happy. Her morning hours were hours of duty
rather than pleasure, but the rest of her days were full of pleasure.
She delighted beyond anything in acquiring knowledge, and very soon
discovered to her intense delight that there were several English girls
at the school of la Princesse de Fleury.
There was, in particular, Lady Dorothy Duncan. She was living with a
French uncle at Arles and went every day to the school of la Princesse.
She was a fair, pretty, thoroughly English girl, and, although she was
quite three years older than the little Comtesse, she took to the child
with the dark bright eyes at once. The child, in her turn, took to Lady
Dorothy. She was allowed for the good of her manners, according to la
Princesse, to speak English with Lady Dorothy, and many beyond ordinary
words were the confidences that each young girl made to the other.
Margot grew tall and graceful for her age; Dorothy was small and
very slim. Things went on well both at the school and at the
_établissement_, until one day Dorothy Duncan invited her most favoured
friend to lunch in the château of _mon oncle_.
"Is it very, very French?" asked little Margot.
"Oh, no, not any more than anything else here," said Dorothy. "You will
enjoy it and you must come. As for me, I am overcome with raptures. My
eldest sister--she is just seventeen--has come to us all the way from
Rome. She will soon he likely to meet someone whom she can marry. She
will be absorbed in getting her trousseau, partly from Paris and partly
from that great _établissement_ here, kept by Madame Marcelle!" Margot
felt herself colouring slightly.
"What is your sister like to look at, Dorothy?" she asked.
"Behold, understand!" exclaimed Dorothy, putting on all the French
manners she could acquire. "I think that some day I shall be beautiful
but not like Hébé. Hébé is almost as beautiful as you, _ma petite_
Comtesse, only of course she is very much older. They say that the
establishment of Ninon Lecoles cannot be beaten even in Paris, that
city of all the delights. She has sold it now to Madame Marcelle. Ah,
but my sister will make a grand marriage and _l'oncle_ Gustave will
give her a _dot_ worthy of her."
"I am to have a _dot_, too," said little Margot, "but, behold, I care
not for it! It is--it is less than of no use at all. What I want is to
have my heart brimful of love."
"Eh, but you are a darling," said Lady Dorothy. "I know you will love
my sister."
"I am sure I shall," said little Margot. "Go on, describe her to me,
Dorothy."
"We are very proud in England," began Dorothy, "very proud indeed. Ah,
but our pride is immense. It is like a mushroom, standing up higher
than our heads and the top of it covering us and shutting out the
world. Of all my sisters there is none so proud as Hébé, and _l'oncle_
Gustave says she will make a very great marriage indeed. She is like
me, but she has dark eyes, whereas mine are blue like bits of sky,
_n'est-ce pas_?"
Margot made no reply.
"When am I going to see your sister, Dorothy?"
"Shall we arrange for to-morrow? You may perhaps see one of the many
_prétendants_ to her hand. Not that she looks at them. Ah _non, non_.
She abides her time. There is one called Maurice de Croix. He is a
man of the world with an air superb and distinguished, but my sister,
she will not regard him. But there, I must not speak any more on such
matters. There is, _peut-être_ one in England. I guess--but I dare not
say. You will come to-morrow, little Margot, straight from school and
be introduced to _ma belle soeur_."
Margot gave a little sigh, said that she must ask grandpère, and would
let her friend know the following day.
Grandpère was highly pleased that his little cabbage should have tea in
the true French style with _le pauvre_ Gustave.
"He was once a very great man," said grandpère, "but he lived through
his fortune and now--now he subsists on his pride. It is a great
possession, the pride, _ma très belle_ Margot, but it produces the
hunger. I took care to do otherwise. I married my Ninon and since then,
behold, I live in luxury, and can give thee a glorious _dot_, _ma
petite_!"
While Margot and her grandfather were talking, Madame la Comtesse
entered the room. She was dressed in a pale shade of green with
quantities of sequins of the same colour arranged on the front of her
dress. Her little collar was of the best Honiton lace. Her dress was
short, coming barely to her ankles. She wore open-work silk stockings
of the same shade and little green kid shoes _en suite_. She looked
very charming and young, and no one could tell from her appearance what
her age could possibly be.
She rushed up now to "_mon_ Alphonse," arranged his down pillows,
settled his soft rug of crimson plush and said, "Ah, behold, art thou
not full of comfort, my adored one? And what has _la petite_ been
saying to thee?"
"Good news, my Ninon," replied grandpère. "Gustave, the present Marquis
de Serrègnon, wants this _bébé_ to have tea with his nieces Hébé and
Dorothy to-morrow evening. Ah, but I fear the food will be poor, but
the Marquis is the Marquis, and we must not despise him. This little
Margot, this _chère petite_, loves dearly his English niece, Lady
Dorothy Duncan, but it is the sister whom Lady Dorothy wishes her to
meet."
A cloud, very imperceptible, but undoubtedly there, swept over the face
of Madame la Comtesse.
"All shall be as thou dost wish, my most adorable Alphonse," she
remarked, and she kissed the old man first on the hand, then on the
brow, then on each cheek and then, by an almost imperceptible wave of
her own small white hand, motioned Margot to follow her out of the room.
"Answer me, and answer me truly, _mon enfant_," she said. "Hast thou
seen the Lady Hébé Duncan in my _établissement_? Hast thou perchance
served her, _ma petite_?"
"I have seen her and I have served her," said Margot. "I helped her to
choose chapeaux yesterday."
"Then she will know thee again when thou dost go to that place of
desolation where le Marquis de Serrègnon lives."
"Yes, _ma_ grand'mère," replied Margot, looking full into the face of
the little shop-keeper.
"And yet thou must go," said Madame. "It would offend thy grandpère
else. It does not do to offend the old. _Tiens!_ The heart beats too
slow, it must not receive the shock, _n'est-ce pas_?"
"I never wanted to serve in your shop, grand'mère," exclaimed little
Margot.
"Ah, but silence, my little beautiful! We have to make the francs to
secure the proper _dot_ for thee, _mon enfant_. Now, let me consider.
Thou wilt not go to my _établissement_ to-morrow, and I will dress thee
different. I will not even send thee to the school of la Princesse, but
I will myself take thee in my motor car to the château of the Marquis.
There I will dispose of thee for one short hour. During that hour thou
must play the _rôle_ of _la malade_. Thou must appear worn and pale
and ill. Ah, but I am clever enough to manage, and behold assuredly it
shall be done. Thou shalt wear the dress of _la malade_, and thou must
speak low and soft and refuse the food which is offered to thee and
which in truth is not worth thy accepting. Now see, behold, be guided
by me, thy _belle_ grand'mère, and _mon_ Alphonse will guess nothing."
Little Margot, not being in the least disturbed or annoyed, readily
agreed. She returned to sit with her grandfather and kept him in fits
of laughter with accounts of her schoolfellows. Meanwhile, Madame was
very busy. She wrote two letters, one to the Marquis de Serrègnon, the
other to la Princesse, and she kept Margot away from the shop that
day. Margot was undoubtedly making the said shop pay, but that did not
matter at all, if only the adorable Alphonse was kept composed and
happy in his mind.
When the hour approached for little Margot to visit the Duncans in
the tumble-down old château, she was dressed very carefully by her
grand'mère. In some curious manner the natural colour seemed to depart
from her rosy cheeks, her eyes, so dark and brilliant, looked a trifle
dull. She wore her school frock of course, but taking her all round,
she had a sort of extinguished appearance.
Madame la Comtesse taught her carefully what she had to say.
"'I have _mal à la tête_,' Thou wilt not say more; thou wilt not
say less. The Marquis will be scared for fear thou dost carry the
infection. Oh, la, la! It is a good idea, and they will not think of
the bright little Comtesse when they see the sad looking _malade_ who
cannot eat or say much. Thou must keep all the particulars about the
_établissement_ close to thy breast. Thou must not allude to Madame
Marcelle. Thou wilt go to her to-morrow morning again as arranged and,
behold, I will have refreshments the most enticing for thee on thy
return to-day! Now then, my Ma'm'selle, come along! The Lady Hébé will
not notice the drooping child, who served her with so many chapeaux and
at so great a price. See now, thou wilt he thy old self to-morrow and
no one will ever guess our little strategy."
Accordingly Margot, accompanied by grand'mère, arrived at the ancient
castle of the Marquis de Serrègnon. Dorothy rushed out to meet her.
Margot scrambled weakly out of the motor car, which was closed and
which was to call for her again in an hour and a half.
Margot felt terribly inclined to laugh. She longed to say "I am
a little shopwoman and this is all nonsense," but if she did so,
according to grand'mère, she would destroy the life of that adorable
one, Alphonse St. Juste. Accordingly she went languidly into the house
and when Dorothy asked her in some surprise what ailed her and why she
looked so white and good-for-nothing, Margot said in a voice _très
douce_,
"I have _mal à la tête_, Dorothy."
"Ah, but what a pity that is," said Dorothy, "and we are all so gay,
so very, very gay. A whole lot of chapeaux have been sent to us from
Madame Marcelle--for Hébé, of course. I have told Hébé that you are
beautiful, Comtesse, but you don't look beautiful to-day."
"It is _mal à la tête_," repeated Margot, trying to make her voice
sound as weary as possible.
"Ah, _pauvre petite_," said Lady Dorothy. "You must lie on the sofa in
this salon. _Mon oncle_ Gustave will not come in, because we will ask
him not, but you must see Hébé, for I long much to know your opinion of
her."
Hébé Duncan at that moment bounded into the room. There was nothing
whatever French about her. She was a laughing, highly coloured,
rollicking English girl. Her age might have been eighteen--it might
have been more, it might have been less. She stared hard for a minute
out of her bright eyes at the little Comtesse and then said, "Oh, la,
la!" and afterwards went off into fits of laughter.
The little Comtesse murmured, "It is _la mal à la tête_."
Dorothy put soft cushions under the head that did not ache and a rug
over the little feet that pined to scamper about. As soon as ever she
had done this, Hébé pulled her out of the room.
Then began a violent conversation on the wide landing outside the
Marquis' salon.
Dorothy said, "Impossible!"
Hébé said, "It is true, a certainty!"
Then she re-appeared holding several huge bandboxes in her hands.
"I bought these," she said, "from a _très petite_ Comtesse at the
_établissement_ of la Madame Marcelle. Would you like to look at them?"
"No," said Margot, and she suddenly began to cry. "I hate
_établissements_, I hate deceit. I have _not_ got _mal à la tête_. Is
there any cold water near?"
Lady Dorothy stared and Lady Hébé frowned. But Margot was only thinking
of Uncle Jacko, dear Uncle Jacko, and of grand-dad The Desmond.
"Take me where I can find some water, some icy cold water, please," she
said to Dorothy.
Dorothy obeyed in a sort of bewilderment. She took Margot to her own
room and soon the whitening process was removed from the little cheeks
and the brilliant and lovely colour returned. Margot's eyes sparkled as
of old.
"Now you look like yourself," said Dorothy. "You have no _mal à la
tête_."
"None, none, none," cried Margot. "Never had."
"Ah, but how strange," said Lady Dorothy.
"But never mind. Hébé will soon love you. Behold, Hébé, behold! This is
my little friend."
"And my little shop-keeper," said Hébé in an angry voice.
Margot's big eyes blazed with a kind of fury.
"And are you really, really going to tell the Marquis?" said the child,
her eyes blazing. "Take your chapeaux then, here, and here, and here. I
have repented of my lie--I have confessed to you both--but--but----"
She pulled the hats out of their bandboxes and flung them in Hébé's
face.
"Now I despise you," she said. "I did what I did to help _ma belle_
grand'mère and she keeps M. le Comte in all luxury and does everything
for me. No, I don't want your tea; I don't want your _gâteaux_. I am
not ashamed of helping _ma belle_ grand'mère. I help her a little,
and she helps me much, but I will never choose a hat for you again.
Understand! You can go to Madame Marcelle and you can spread the news,
if you like, that I help a little one who helps me much. Behold, our
château! It is neat, it is clean, it is white. It is full of things
most beautiful and _mon_ grandpère eats of the best and lives in the
best style and he is happy. I will go on helping _ma belle_ grand'mère
and you can do as you please, but I will never choose a hat for
you, Lady Hébé. See, I am off home now. I can easily get back to my
comfortable home."
"Oh, but no, Margot, no," exclaimed Dorothy. "Do not be so silly."
"I will not be silly, I will be wise," said Margot. "This is worse than
being young-old and old-young. Good-bye, for the present, I do not
choose to be a guest and be looked down on. It is not the Irish way,
and I did not think until now that it was the French way."
She wrapped her pretty little coat round her shoulders and marched down
the avenue with the air of a small duchess.
Nevertheless when Margot got back, which she did before the motor-car
had time to call for her, she was met by a singularly discontented
_belle grand'mère_.
"Why, my pretty, why dost thou come so soon?" she exclaimed.
"Because I couldn't act a lie, grand'mère, and I had to tell the truth,
grand'mère," said Margot. "The Lady Hébé is no lady. She calls herself
one, but she is not, and I will never, never sell her another hat."
"Ah, _ma petite_, what mischief hast thou done!" said _la_ grand'mère.
"I care not, I care not at all," said little Margot. "I will not act
the lie even for thee, grand'mère. I wish that thou wouldst let me go
no more to the shop."
"Ah, but thou must--thou art the fortune of the _établissement_, _ma
petite_," said grand'mère. "And think what fun it will be selling
chapeaux to others and never to the proud Comtesse. We will get someone
else for her and thou needst not serve her."
"_Très bien_," answered little Margot and she entered her grandfather's
presence with a toss of her pretty head.
But the next day at school things did not go so well with the little
Comtesse. It was quite evident that much as Dorothy had admired her the
day before, Hébé had brought her round to the impossibility of having
anything to do with a girl who sold hats at a shop. Dorothy not only
came round to Hébé's view of the question, but she enlightened her
school-fellows with the true status of the little Comtesse.
"She's all a sham," said Dorothy. "I won't speak to her any more, no,
not me!"
Margot was beginning to get rather fond of Dorothy, but she took her
English friend's desertion very coolly. She thought out matters in her
acute little brain. She let the French girls alone, but there were,
including herself and Dorothy, sixteen English girls in the school.
These girls were all very much about the same age as Margot. She got
them into one of the very small _salons_, which abounded in the old
palace, now converted into a school. They all looked askance at her,
but it was difficult to keep from smiling back into those smiling and
beautiful dark eyes and it was still more difficult to resist the
dimples that played round the lips and cheeks of the little Comtesse.
"See, behold, listen!" she exclaimed. "Dorothy Duncan does not like me
because I help Madame Marcelle in her _magasin_. She pretends I am not
a lady--that is not true. I am a lady and my Irish grandfather has a
title higher up than the stars. What do we think of Comtes in Ireland
when we have 'The's' of the most ancient! _Ma belle_ grand'mère has
asked me to help Madame Marcelle a little bit. _Ma belle_ grand'mère
does great things for me and for _mon bon_ grandpère. She is a woman
oh, of the noblest, and there is not a château greater or better than
ours at Arles. Now, behold, listen! What sort of château does the
Marquis keep? Is it tidy, is it neat? Are there good things to eat
therein? I guess not. Now, if you English girls will take my part I
will take you to the _établissement_ of Madame Marcelle and get you a
hat each at cost price. You will have to pay ever so much less than
the Lady Hébé paid when I flung her chapeaux back into her face."
"Ah, but didst thou, indeed, little one?" said Agnes Martin.
Jane Raynor burst into a fit of laughter. All the English girls with
the exception of Dorothy were brought over to Margot in a body and on
the following morning she had a tremendous sale of hats, which she gave
by Madame la Comtesse's express wish to the bevy of English schoolgirls.
She chose the hats with great care and exquisite taste. Having done
this, she went back to _la belle_ grand'mère and told her that she did
not wish to continue at the school with Lady Dorothy.
"I like those who are faithful," said Margot. "She is not faithful and
I will have none of her. I will attend in the shop every morning, _ma_
grandmère, and you and grandpère can teach me in the afternoon until
the happy, happy day when I return to Ireland."
"And dost thou wish to leave us, _ma petite_?" asked the Comtesse.
"Ah, _oui, oui_, The Desmond is so very noble," said little Margot.
"Thou must abide with us thy full time. Thou canst not leave until
September," said _la_ Comtesse.
Tears filled the little Comtesse's black eyes.
"I know," she said, "I know. Uncle Jacko will call for me on that day.
Ah, but my heart will rejoice, it will sing! But indeed thou art kind,
_ma belle_ Comtesse, and so is grandpère, but thou hast never seen The
Desmond. I will go to him for three months and come back again to thee
and will serve for a little time each day in the shop, and hearken,
Comtesse, thou wilt get me masters and mistresses next time, for I must
learn--yes, I must learn! I will not be an ignorant Comtesse of France,
and nothing will persuade me to disgrace The Desmond of Desmondstown."