AVERIL AT HOME.
The next two or three days passed quickly and pleasantly to Annette;
"the dear Fairy Order," as Lottie had called her playfully, during
their first morning's work together, was already exercising her
beneficent sway on her companion's behalf--tasks that would have
entailed hours of labor on Lottie were now finished long before the
luncheon-bell rang. After Annette's long, solitary days passed in that
dark room in the Rue St. Joseph, these two or three hours spent with
Lottie, listening to her broken French, and interspersing laughing
corrections, seemed merely playtime to Annette.
"Do you know Averil is fitting up a room for us?" remarked Lottie,
on the morning of the eventful Tuesday when Averil was to hold her
reception, and about a hundred and fifty people had accepted her
invitation to come and be bored. "She does not like the idea of our
sitting in my bedroom. There is a room that is never used at the end
of the corridor, and she is having it repapered, and has chosen such a
pretty carpet for it; it is to be half workroom and half study; and the
piano that is in Rodney's room is to be taken up there for your use.
You see, Averil is so thoughtful, she never forgets anything, and she
says it will never do for you to annoy people with practicing scales
and beginner's exercises down in the morning-room."
"Oh, that is wise, I have thought much of this difficulty, Lottie. You
are very outspoken--ought you to have told me all this? Did not my
cousin mean to give me this little surprise?"
Lottie laughed, but she had the grace to look ashamed of herself.
"My dear Fairy Order," she said, "I never can hold my tongue. Averil
thinks I must talk even in my sleep. Well, it was naughty of me to
betray Averil's nice little scheme. You must just pretend to be
surprised when she shows you the room. You must open your eyes widely,
and say--"
"But that would be deceitful," returned Annette, gravely. "You are a
funny little person, Lottie; you would even recommend me to deceive.
Ah! it is your joke," as Lottie only laughed again. "You are always so
ready with your joke, you will not make me believe you. When Averil
shows me the room, I shall thank her with all my heart, but I will not
be surprised--not one little bit."
"You are very provoking," returned Lottie, pouting. "If you had not
darned Maud's white silk stockings so beautifully, I would not forgive
you so easily. But you are such a dear old fairy. Ah! here comes Averil
with Motley's 'Dutch Republic;' she is going to read to us for half an
hour;" for after this pleasant, desultory fashion Lottie's education
was carried on; but it agreed with her wondrously well--she sipped
knowledge as sweetly as a bee sips honey.
Annette felt unusually gay that morning; she found it a little
difficult to concentrate her attention on the reading. Down-stairs the
rooms were decked with flowers, as though for a fête; her new dress
had come home, and she was longing to try it on. She wondered how
Averil could sit there reading so quietly, as though no hundred and
fifty people were coming. "It must be that she wishes to shut out the
thought of them all," Annette said to herself; and her shrewd surmise
certainly grazed the truth. Averil was nervously dreading the ordeal;
with all her passionate desire for human sympathy, her very real love
of human kind, these vapid interchanges of compliments, that passed
under the name of receptions or At Homes, were singularly distasteful
to her. How could conversation be carried on in a crowd? How could one
enjoy one's friends when civilities had to be exchanged with strangers?
Averil's world was not theirs; her ardent and earnest temperament could
only expand in a higher temperature. She had not the graceful art of
saying nothings; the trifling coinage of society, its passwords, its
gay bandinage, were unknown to her. Without being awkward--Averil was
never awkward--she was at once too grave and too reserved to make a
popular hostess; and though her gatherings were successful, and people
liked to come to Redfern House, they were more at their ease with Mrs.
Willmot and her daughters. "Such a charming, well-bred woman!" was the
universal verdict. "Such a model stepmother!"
Averil could scarcely eat the luncheon that was served, for the sake
of convenience, in Rodney's snug little den. The other rooms, with the
exception of Averil's, were thrown open _en suite_--tea and ices and
strawberries were to be served in the dining-room; the drawing and
morning-rooms were for the reception; there were tent-like awnings from
the windows; the lawn was dotted over with red-cushioned chairs and
Japanese umbrellas; and the grand piano was ready for the professionals.
Annette had put on her pretty black summer dress, and was regarding
herself with a grave, satisfied air when Averil entered. She had a
little case in her hand, and a tiny bouquet of creamy rosebuds and
maiden-hair.
"I have come to put the finishing touches to my _débutante_," she said,
smiling. "You must have a few flowers to light up your black dress, and
I think this will also suit you;" and she clasped a little collar of
sparkling jet round Annette's throat.
"Is this for me? It is beautiful, beautiful! Never have I possessed
an ornament. But you are unadorned, my cousin!" looking at the little
child-like figure. Averil's soft black silk was unrelieved by anything
except the delicate lace at the throat and wrists; she always dressed
very simply, but to-day there was something almost severe in the
absence of anything like ornament.
"Do not look at me," she said, hastily. "Unwin always does her best for
me, but she has a thankless task, Annette. You look very nice. If you
keep near me, I will introduce some people whom I think you will like.
Ah, there goes Lottie!" as a white dress floated down the staircase.
"We must go down, too."
Mrs. Willmot and her daughters were already in the drawing-room, and
Rodney was strumming with one hand on the grand piano. Mrs. Willmot
put up her eyeglass in rather a puzzled manner as Averil entered with
her cousin.
"Who is that distinguished-looking girl in black, Maud?" she asked, in
a whisper.
Her daughter broke into a scornful laugh.
"Distinguished! My dear mother, are you blind! It is only Miss Ramsay.
I suppose Averil has given her a decent frock for the first time in
her life. But I can see no such wonderful transformation; she is very
plain, poor girl! with her sallow skin and big eyes;" and Maud turned
her long neck and regarded herself in the glass that hung near them.
Her dress fitted to perfection, and was really very tasteful and
becoming. True, it was not paid for, and she knew that her mother would
treat her to an angry lecture on extravagance; but Maud was quite used
to these lectures. She hummed a little air, and moved through the room
with that haughty insouciance that was considered her style.
It was Lottie who tripped up to Annette, with her girlish, outspoken
admiration. Lottie was looking exceedingly pretty: her fresh bloom and
bright expression were infinitely more attractive than Maud's cold
perfection of feature.
"Does not she look nice?" she whispered, in Averil's ear; "there is
something very graceful about her. If she were not quite so thin, I
think she would look almost pretty."
But Averil had no time to answer, as two or three guests entered
the room that moment. The rooms filled after this. Annette, who had
disregarded Averil's request, and had withdrawn into a quiet corner,
looked on, well amused. What a gay scene! what a hubbub of voices and
light laughter! She could scarcely see Averil's little figure near the
door, with her stepmother's portly form behind her, as she received one
guest after another.
Lottie was on the lawn in the midst of a bevy of girls; Maud was
standing near her, talking to a white-haired officer, and Georgina was
bandying jests with two young men; neither of them took any notice of
her. Presently a stout man with a sandy mustache pushed his way to the
piano, and drew off his gloves. There was an instant's silence when he
first struck the keys, but after a few minutes the hubbub began again.
Very few people listened; only two or three edged their way nearer to
the piano, and hemmed in the performer.
Annette stood among them; the sweet sounds had beguiled her from her
corner. She stood motionless, entranced, without noticing that Averil
was standing just behind her.
"Thank you so much, Herr Faber," observed Averil, gently, as the last
crashing chord had been played; but Herr Faber only bowed stiffly as
he rose; his small blue eyes looked irritable, and he drew his brows
together.
"It is all in the day's work," Annette heard him mutter to a friend.
"To make music for those who do not listen. Bah! It is thankless work.
Come, my Hermann, we will at least make ourselves scarce until these
Goths require us again:" which was hardly civil of the professor, since
more than one pair of ears had listened patiently to every note.
"Herr Faber is put out, Frank," observed Averil, in a vexed voice: she
was addressing a young man who stood beside her. Annette had looked at
him more than once. She had never seen him before, she did not know his
name, but she seemed to recognize his face. "We must manage better next
time. What shall we do to silence these people? Herr Faber certainly
feels himself insulted."
"Shall I stand on a chair and cry 'Silence!' at intervals? I think it
would have an effect. Do let me, Averil."
"You absurd boy! No; we must try other means before my favorite signora
sings. She has the voice of a lark and the temper of--please find me
a simile." But the young man only laughed and shook his head. He had a
pleasant face, without being strictly good-looking. And again Annette
was tormented by some vague resemblance that seemed to elude her before
she could grasp it.
At this moment Averil turned her head and saw her.
"Why, Annette, you were just the person I wanted! Where have you been
hiding all this time? Frank, I want you to give my cousin, Miss Ramsay,
an ice or some strawberries. Annette, this is Mr. Frank Harland. You
remember our kind old friend, do you not?"
"Do you mean monsieur?" with a quick flush. "How is it possible that I
should ever forget him, my cousin? And you are his son? Ah! that is the
likeness, then," looking up at the young man a little shyly.
"Oh, I remember; you made my father's acquaintance at Dinan. Yes, I am
his son and heir. I only wish I were half as good--eh, Averil?" with a
merry glance. "Now, Miss Ramsay, I am to obey orders. Will you allow
me to pilot you through this crowd?--it is almost as intricate as a
lawyer's brief." And as Annette did not seem quite to understand him,
he took her hand and placed it under his arm, and guided her skillfully
through the various groups.
"But what a crowd!" were her first words, as he found a seat for her,
and ascertained her opinion on the respective merits of vanilla,
coffee, and strawberry ice.
"Ah, yes, I do so love this sort of entertainment--don't you?" he
returned, as he brought her the ice. "People do look so cool and
comfortable, penned up like sheep, on a warm summer afternoon. Just
standing room, don't you know, and not a seat to be had, except for
the dowagers. If I had a wife--but, you see, there is not a Mrs. Frank
Harland at present--I should insist on her seeing her friends in
detachments, and not _en masse_, in this heathenish way. As it is, my
mother's tea-parties are worth a hundred of these."
"Ah! you have a mother"--with a quick sigh, that made the young man
glance first at her and then at her black dress.
"Yes; and I am the happy possessor of four sisters and three young
torments of brothers. So you and my father are old acquaintances, Miss
Ramsay?"
"Monsieur? But, yes, he was my first friend. Never shall I forget his
kindness, his consideration. If I had been a duchess instead of a poor
little lace-mender he could not have treated me with greater courtesy.
He is what you call an English gentleman."
"Dear old boy, so he is!" and Mr. Frank looked as though he had himself
received a compliment.
"Old boy! That is surely not the name for him," she returned, in a
rebuking tone, that greatly amused her hearer. "I do not like monsieur
to be called thus."
"That is because you are a stranger to our English ways," replied the
young man, trying hard to restrain his inward mirth. "Fellows of my age
often use these sort of terms. They mean no disrespect. A man like my
father never gets old. I believe he has the secret of perpetual youth.
He is as young as any of us. It does one good to see his freshness. If
I were only half as good!" finished Mr. Frank, in his cordial, hearty
way.
Annette looked at him with interest. This eulogy entirely mollified
her. "When you are as old as monsieur some one may call you 'dear old
boy,' too," she said, sedately.
There was no help for it. If Frank must have died for it, he could not
have helped laughing. He had never met any one so original as this
grave, dark-eyed girl. Her very freshness and absence of coquetry were
refreshing contrasts to many girls that he knew.
Coquetry was not in Annette's vocabulary. She had no acquaintance with
men, either young or otherwise. A civil word from the English consul
when he saw her in his wife's room; a little friendly conversation with
her kind old chaplain--these were her only opportunities. True, there
was Clotilde's priest--a thin, brown-faced man, who took snuff, and
gave her his blessing. But he was very different from this lively Mr.
Frank, with his droll speeches and his merry laugh, and his "old boy."
The young people grew quite friendly and confidential in their snug
little corner, fenced in by the blossoming plants. Annette was so well
amused that she was almost sorry when her companion suggested that they
should go back to the drawing-room.
"We have lost the signora's song, and there is Herr Faber crashing
among the keys again. There are lots of people I know, and to whom I
must make myself agreeable. One must not be selfish, Miss Ramsay."
But it may be doubted if Annette understood the implied compliment.