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THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL.
A STORY FOR GIRLS.
BY
L.T. MEADE,
_Author of "A World of Girls," "Scamp and I," "Daddy's Boy," &c., &c._
NEW YORK:
WM. L. ALLISON CO., PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
I. Early Days
II. The First Month of their Trouble
III. Miss Martineau
IV. To the Rescue
V. The Contents of the Cabinet
VI. Many Visitors
VII. Shortlands
VIII. Thirty Pounds a Year
IX. A Strange Letter and a Proposed Visit to London
X. Ways and Means of Earning a Living
XI. Bread and Butter
XII. They Would Not be Parted
XIII. Mrs. Ellsworthy's Letter
XIV. Quite Contrary
XV. In Spite of Opposition
XVI. Penelope Mansion
XVII. Escorted by Miss Slowcum
XVIII. In St. Paul's Cathedral
XIX. A Bright Day
XX. Getting Lost
XXI. How to Paint China and How to Form Style
XXII. Cross Purposes
XXIII. Dark Days
XXIV. Dove's Joke
XXV. Daisy's Promise
XXVI. A Delightful Plan
XXVII. The Poor Doves
XXVIII. A Startling Discovery
XXIX. A Blessing
XXX. Voice of the Prince
XXXI. A "Continual Reader"
XXXII. Jasmine Begins to Soar
XXXIII. Visiting the Publishers
XXXIV. A Plan
XXXV. Their Quarter's Allowance
XXXVI. _The Joy-Bell_
XXXVII. Endorsing a Cheque
XXXVIII. Daisy's Request
XXXIX. The Journey
XL. A Bitter Disappointment
XLI. Mrs. Dredge to the Rescue
XLII. A New Employment
XLIII. In the Field
XLIV. Too Much for Dove
XLV. The Prince to the Rescue
XLVI. Delivered from the Ogre
XLVII. Almost Defeated
XLVIII. One Shoe Off and One Shoe On
XLIX. Spanish Lace
L. A Dazzling Day
LI. A Letter
LII. "I Love Mrs. Ellsworthy"
LIII. Telegraph Wires
LIV. A Discovery
LV. An Invitation for the Ladies of Penelope Mansion
LVI. A Palace Beautiful
THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL.
_A STORY FOR GIRLS._
CHAPTER I.
EARLY DAYS.
The three girls were called after flowers. This is how it came about:
When Primrose opened her eyes on the world she brought back a little
bit of spring to her mother's heart.
Mrs. Mainwaring had gone through a terrible trouble--a trouble so dark
and mysterious, so impossible to feel reconciled to, that her health
had been almost shattered, and she had almost said good-bye to hope.
The baby came in the spring-time, and the soft, velvety touch of the
little face, and the sight of the round baby limbs, had made Mrs.
Mainwaring smile: had caused her to pluck up heart, and to determine
resolutely to take this new blessing, and to begin to live again.
The baby came in the month of March, just when the primroses were
beginning to open their pale and yet bright blossoms. Mrs. Mainwaring
said that the child was a symbol of spring to her, and she called her
Primrose.
The next girl was born in Italy, in the middle of a rich and brilliant
summer. Flowers were everywhere, and the baby, a black-haired,
dark-eyed little mite, had a starry look about her. She was called
Jasmine, and the name from the very first suited her exactly.
The third and youngest of the sisters also came in the summer, but she
was born in an English cottage. Her mother, who had been rich when
Jasmine was born, was now poor; that is, she was poor as far as money
is concerned, but the three little daughters made her feel rich. She
called the child from the first her little country wild flower, and
allowed Primrose and Jasmine to select her name. They brought in
handfuls of field daisies, and begged to have the baby called after
them.
The three girls grew up in the little country cottage. Their father
was in India, in a very unhealthy part of the country. He wrote home
by every mail, and in each letter expressed a hope that the Government
under which he served would allow him to return to England and to his
wife and children. Death, however, came first to the gallant captain.
When Primrose was ten years old, and Daisy was little more than a
baby, Mrs. Mainwaring found herself in the humble position of an
officer's widow, with very little to live on besides her pension.
In the Devonshire village, however, things were cheap, rents were low,
and the manners of life deliciously fresh and primitive.
Primrose, Jasmine, and Daisy grew up something like the flowers,
taking no thought for the morrow, and happy in the grand facts that
they were alive, that they were perfectly healthy, and that the sun
shone and the sweet fresh breezes blew for them. They were as
primitive as the little place where they lived, and cared nothing at
all for fashionably-cut dresses; or for what people who think
themselves wiser would have called the necessary enjoyments of life.
Mrs. Mainwaring, who had gone through a terrible trouble before the
birth of her eldest girl, had her nerves shattered a second time by
her husband's death; from that moment she was more ruled by her girls
than a ruler to them. They did pretty much what they pleased, and she
was content that they should make themselves happy in their own way.
It was lucky for the girls that they were amiable, and had strength of
character.
Primrose was delightfully matter-of-fact. When she saw that her mother
allowed them to learn their lessons anyhow she made little rules for
herself and her sisters--the rules were so playful and so light that
the others, for mere fun, followed them--thus they insisted on their
mother hearing them their daily tasks; they insisted on going
regularly twice a week to a certain old Miss Martineau, who gave them
lessons on an antiquated piano, and taught them obsolete French.
Primrose was considered by her sisters very wise indeed but Primrose
also thought Jasmine wise, and wise with a wisdom which she could
appreciate without touching; for Jasmine had got some gifts from a
fairy wand, she was touched with the spirit of Romance, and had a
beautiful way of looking at life which her sisters loved to encourage.
Daisy was the acknowledged baby of the family--she was very pretty,
and not very strong, was everybody's darling, and was, of course,
something of a spoilt child.
Primrose had a face which harmonized very well with her quaint, sweet
name; her hair was soft, straight, and yellow, her eyes were light
brown, her skin was fair, and her expression extremely calm, gentle,
and placid. To look at Primrose was to feel soothed--she had a
somewhat slow way of speaking, and she never wasted her words. Jasmine
was in all particulars her opposite. She was dark, with very bright
and lovely eyes; her movements were quick, her expression full of
animation, and when excited--and she was generally in a state of
excitement--her words tumbled out almost too quickly for coherence.
Her cheeks would burn, and her eyes sparkle, over such trivial
circumstances as a walk down a country lane, as blackberry-hunting, as
strawberry-picking--a new story-book kept her awake half the
night--she was, in short, a constant little volcano in this quiet
home, and would have been an intolerable child but for the great
sweetness of her temper, and also for the fact that every one more or
less yielded to her.
Daisy was very pretty and fair--her hair was as yellow as Primrose's,
but it curled, and was more or less always in a state of friz; her
eyes were wide open and blue, and she was just a charming little
child, partaking slightly of the qualities of both her elder sisters.
These girls had never had a care or an anxiety--when they were hungry
they could eat, when they were tired sleep could lull them into
dreamless rest--they had never seen any world but the narrow world of
Rosebury, the name of the village where they lived. Even romantic
Jasmine thought that life at Rosebury, with perhaps a few more books
and a few more adventures must form the sum and substance of her
existence. Of course there was a large world outside, but even Jasmine
had not begun to long for it.
Primrose was sixteen, Jasmine between thirteen and fourteen, and Daisy
ten, when a sudden break came to all this quiet and happy routine.
Mrs. Mainwaring without any warning or any leave-taking, suddenly
died.