A DAZZLING DAY.
Mrs. Ellsworthy felt very much excited when Miss Egerton left her. She
paced up and down her pretty boudoir, her cheeks were flushed and her
pretty eyes bore traces of tears. Miss Egerton had told the good
little lady for the first time the sad story of Daisy's terrible
adventure with Mr. Dove. All the poor little child's terror, and her
final flight into the country, were graphically described by the good
woman.
"She went to find me, little darling, little darling," repeated Mrs.
Ellsworthy, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, my dear little girl!
to think of her being turned away from my very gates."
When Miss Egerton at last took her leave Mrs. Ellsworthy felt too much
excited to stay quiet; and when her husband came into the room he
found her much perturbed.
"Joseph," she said, running up to him, "I have such a story for you,"
and then she once again repeated little Daisy's adventure.
"And Joseph," she added, "Miss Egerton and I have quite agreed that
you and I are to educate the girls; and, Joseph, the dear good
creature is resolved that they shall stay with her in town, and that
you and I are only to have the pleasure of spending any amount of
money on them; but I will not have it. Joseph, I am resolved that they
shall come to us at Shortlands, and have the instructions of the very
best governess I can procure for them, and then in the spring the
darlings shall come up to town, and have masters for every conceivable
sort of accomplishment. Oh, Joseph, we shall have our Jasmine yet, as
our very own."
Mr. Ellsworthy smiled, kissed his wife, patted her on the cheek, told
her to do just what she liked, and went downstairs to his beloved
books. But Mrs. Ellsworthy's excitement kept her on thorns for the
greater part of the evening.
That night she dreamt of the Mainwarings; dreamt that she saw Daisy's
piteous little face when she was turned away from her gates; dreamt
again a brighter dream, that Jasmine had her arms round her neck, and
was calling her mother; that Primrose, with none of her sweet dignity
abated, was smiling at her, and saying gratefully, "I accept your
kindness; I will gladly take your money; I will come and live with you
at Shortlands, and be to you as a daughter." And Daisy was saying, in
that funny little sententious voice of hers which she sometimes used,
"Weren't we all naughty, and aren't we good now, and is it not a good
thing that our pride should have a fall?"
Mrs. Ellsworthy sighed deeply when she awoke from this beautiful
dream.
"It was but a dream," she said to herself, and she went downstairs
sadly and soberly to her breakfast.
Mr. Ellsworthy had breakfasted at a much earlier hour, and the little
lady had her beautifully-appointed table to herself.
"Now, if the girls were all here," she thought, "how pleasant and
cheerful it would be! Primrose should sit just opposite to me, and
pour out the coffee; she would do it very nicely and deftly, and would
look so sweet and daughterly. And Jasmine--little witch!--I do not
suppose she would keep the same seat two mornings running, and I
should have to tell her over and over not to jump up every moment to
rush to the window. Daisy would sit near me, and, of course, I should
have to have a special chair made for that funny kitten of hers. I
would dress the three girls in white--white is so sweet for girls--and
how Jasmine and Daisy would chatter; their voices are very sweet in
tone, and they never talk too fast, so as to make one's head ache. I
often fancy I hear Jasmine talking to me now, her voice is so
bright--and--oh, dear! is not that very like her voice? Who is that
asking for me in the hall? Surely, surely, it must be Jasmine
Mainwaring. No other voice that I know has such a ring about it."
Mrs. Ellsworthy half rose from her seat, half sat down again, and the
color of eager anticipation flushed her cheeks.
The eager voice outside came nearer, light steps sounded in the hall,
and the next moment Jasmine had her arms round her friend's neck, and
was kissing her, while both woman and girl wept.
"I had to come to you," said Jasmine, while she wiped some bright
falling tears away. "I have not come to stay, nor to give you our
address, nor to do anything of which Primrose would not approve; but
after Miss Egerton told me last night all that you wanted to do for
us, and how you still loved us, I just had to run round and thank you
and kiss you. Primrose and Daisy are still in the country, and Daisy
is better. Aren't you glad she will be all right again soon?"
"Have breakfast with me, Jasmine," said Mrs. Ellsworthy. "I was
thinking so much about you, and so longing to see you, and to have you
in the room seems like a beautiful dream realized. Sit down now and
have some breakfast with me."
"I did not have any at home, so I will," answered Jasmine. "I stayed
awake half the night thinking about you. Oh, you are a real, real
friend!"
"And I spent the greater part of the night dreaming about you three
girls," said Mrs. Ellsworthy. "Have some buttered toast, Jasmine, and
some of this apricot preserve."
"Did you dream about us last night?" asked Jasmine. "Did you really?
You must love us very much."
"I believe I do. Now, Jasmine, I will not ask you for your address. I
will do nothing more to really help you until we get Primrose's
letter, but I want you all the same to spend this whole long day with
me."
Jasmine smiled, and her cheeks flushed.
"It would be very luxurious," she said, "and such a change from our
attics, although Daisy does call them a Palace Beautiful. Will you
take me for a drive, if I stay, Mrs. Ellsworthy, and will you let me
imagine myself quite a rich little girl all day long? You must not
give me any presents, you know, for Primrose would not like that; but
I can imagine I have got all kinds of things, and I wonder, oh! I
wonder, if we might call to see Poppy this afternoon?"
"We will take her too for a drive in the Park," said Mrs. Ellsworthy.
"I have heard a great deal of that Poppy of yours, and I think she is
quite a splendid kind of girl."
Thus a very delightful programme was unexpectedly realized by two
little hard-working London girls, for Mrs. Ellsworthy gave herself up
to be enchanting, and took Poppy away from her work of drudgery, and
from the astonished ladies of the boarding-house.
Poppy, in her dazzlingly brilliant hat, and with her cheeks quite
flaming with excitement, stepped into the carriage, and drove away,
facing Mrs. Ellsworthy and Jasmine, to the great scandal of the
footman, who was obliged, sorely against his will, to assist her to
her place.
Mrs. Ellsworthy took the girls all round the Park, and then to a place
of amusement, and finally she presented Poppy with a very neat brown
dress and jacket, and hat to match, saying, as she did so, that really
Jasmine, even though she forbade her to offer her any presents, could
not lay a like embargo with regard to her friends.
"It's of all the dazzlings, the most blindingly beautiful," was
Poppy's oft-reiterated comment. "Oh! won't I have something to tell
them ladies about bye-and-bye! Oh, my! Miss Jasmine, what a neat hat,
miss! I don't mind denuding this one now, for I has got a 'at from a
West End shop what beats anything that Miss Slowcum wears for
gentility."
Finally, Jasmine and Poppy both returned to their respective homes,
tired, but wonderfully happy little girls.
Mrs. Ellsworthy also laid her head that night on her pillow with a
wonderful sense of satisfaction.
"Even if they do not come to me--although they must come," she
soliloquized, "I am glad--I shall all my life be glad that I gave
Jasmine a happy day."