_A RIDE IN THE PARK._
ONE result of Blanche Clifford's visit to the pantomime-fairy's home was
a bad cold, which showed itself next morning. The maid immediately
explained its probable cause to Miss Prosser, taking the sole blame on
herself for having allowed the visit. But Blanche presently gave her
account of the matter, which represented herself as the sole culprit; so
the governess felt doubtful who she should blame, and finally ended by
scolding nobody. She listened with interest to the sequel of the
pantomime scene, as Blanche gave some passages from her visit to the
poor child, pleading that Grant might be sent with some needful comforts
to the wretched home. Miss Prosser readily consented; she also set about
making arrangements to have the child taken to the Sick Children's
Hospital, and commissioned Grant to try to find the mother, and gain her
consent to having her removed.
Blanche felt rather reproached when she remembered how quickly she had
concluded that her governess would not sympathize with her interest in
the lame fairy, after she found how heartily she entered into all her
plans for helping her.
Throughout the day she was kept a prisoner in her room because of her
cold--a state of matters which she generally resented greatly; but
to-day she felt quite happy and busy, as she helped to fill a box which
was to be taken by Grant to the fairy's home. Blanche did not forget the
special request which the fairy begged to have made for her, though
neither dress nor boots were sent in the box that morning. And before
she went to bed that night, Blanche smiled as she drew out her own
private purse to see how much pocket-money was left, for she thought she
knew what she would like to do with it.
"How much does it cost to buy cloth for a dress, Grant--not a silk
dress, you know, or anything of that kind, but some nice warm cloth?"
asked Blanche, nervously handling the two gold pieces which were left in
her purse.
"Well, that depends, Miss Clifford. Of course it takes more for a
grown-up person than for a child," replied the maid, who stood brushing
Blanche's long curls.
"I wish I hadn't bought those love-birds, Grant. I shall get no more
money till Christmas, you see; and I do so want to buy a nice warm dress
for the poor fairy."
"But I daresay Miss Prosser will allow you to give her one of your own
old dresses, Miss Blanche. I am sure there are plenty of them folded
away up-stairs that you will never wear again."
"Oh yes, I daresay; and perhaps, afterwards, she may get some of them.
But this once I should like to get her quite a new dress--bought and
made all for herself, you know. You would shape it, would you not,
Grant? And, do you know, I want to sew it all myself--every bit of it,"
added Blanche, in a confidential tone. "I daresay I might have it
finished before the poor fairy is able to be out again, if I were only
to work very hard. Don't you think so, Grant?"
Next day Miss Prosser was consulted and gave her consent, though she
thought it seemed rather an odd idea; and laughingly remarked to the
maid that she might quite count upon having to finish the garment, as
Miss Clifford had never been known to hem half a pocket-handkerchief in
her life. But it might amuse her while her cold lasted; so Grant was
commissioned to get a selection of suitable patterns of cloth, from
which Blanche selected a warm blue woollen serge. Then she was all
impatience till the initiatory stages of shaping should be gone through,
and she should begin to sew.
Such a diligent little woman she looked, as she sat stitching away, her
fingers all stained with the blue dye, and, all the while, planning a
similar garment for Morag, as a Christmas present. She was still
confined to her room because of her cold; and there she sat, hour after
hour, with her head bent over her work, sewing so unweariedly that Miss
Prosser felt obliged at length to remonstrate, suggesting that she
should betake herself to some amusement now, while commending her for
her diligence. Knowing well Blanche's dislike to sewing of any kind, her
governess was surprised to see such devotion to a piece of needle-work
which did not seem very necessary, and looked most unattractive; for
Blanche had not explained why she was so anxious that the fairy should
receive quite a new dress, made all for herself.
But as Miss Prosser looked at the flushed, eager little face, bending
over the rough piece of work with such diligence and interest, it gave
her a key to her pupil which had been missing before; and she recognized
a motive power which might prove a better thing than a love for fancy
work, and could transform the impulsive, pleasure-loving Blanche into a
brave, ministering woman.
The next day Blanche received the delightful and unexpected tidings that
her father would return home on the following evening. She had not seen
him since that eventful morning on which she left Glen Eagle, and he had
stood waving a cheerful farewell in the old court-yard of the castle
when she was so very sorrowful.
Mr. Clifford intended to have followed his daughter shortly afterwards,
but changing his plans, he went on a tour abroad with some friends. He
had not meant to return to London till spring, so his coming was a
delightful surprise for Blanche.
Her father so rarely lived for any length of time at home, that she had
become so far accustomed to his absence; but to have him for a little
while was an intense pleasure--to be made the most of while the visit
lasted; and Blanche built many castles in the air about the pleasant
Christmas time there could not fail to be when her papa was to be with
her. But instead of flitting about in a state of absolute idleness,
which Miss Prosser described as her usual practice, when there was any
pleasant event in prospect, Blanche stitched her happy thoughts into the
fairy's half finished garment, which grew rapidly under her diligent
fingers; only laying it aside in time to prepare to welcome her father.
"Why, pussy, how brilliant you look; not even the breezes of Stratheagle
gave you peonies like these," said Mr. Clifford, as he looked fondly at
his little daughter, who clung to his arm with a radiant face, as they
mounted the broad staircase to the drawing-room together, after he had
divested himself of his travelling wraps.
"How do you do, Miss Prosser? I must really congratulate you on your
pupil's appearance," said the master of the house, as he walked into the
drawing-room, and shook hands with the governess.
Blanche presently darted off to inform Grant that her papa was really
come, and was at this moment talking to Miss Prosser in the
drawing-room, where it might be possible to have a peep at him through
the open door. She looked upon it as a great privation for Grant never
to have seen her papa, and took for granted that her maid would be full
of impatience to do so.
"Why, Blanche, how you've grown, my child!" exclaimed Mr. Clifford,
surveying her as she re-entered the room, while he stood warming himself
by the fire. "I declare you will soon arrive at the blissful long-dress
period that has been your ambition for so long. Now come and tell me
what mischief you have been about since I saw you last, pussy! Let me
see, where was that? Ah yes, I remember--not since that morning you and
Miss Prosser left Glen Eagle. And have you quite forgotten that little
wild woman of the woods--what's her name, eh, Blanchie?"
Mr. Clifford noticed that the peony cheek flushed even a deeper red as
Blanche replied, "No, papa; I shall never forget Morag as long as I
live. I don't see how I ever could. We shall go back again to Glen Eagle
next autumn, shan't we, papa?"
"Oh yes; of course. I have taken the shooting for three years. It's a
first-rate place. And so you would actually like to go back to Glen
Eagle, Blanchie? Did you not find it very dull sometimes away among the
hills--confess now?"
"Oh no, papa; indeed I didn't find it dull--not near so dull as here. I
don't see how I could ever feel dull at Glen Eagle," said Blanche,
decidedly; and then she added, "Well, perhaps if Kirsty and Morag were
both away from the Glen, and Shag could not be found to ride about on,
then it might be rather sad; because, you see, the fir-wood and all the
other places would remind me of them. It would be too sad to see the hut
without Morag living there," said Blanche, dreamily, as she thought of
the empty room which she saw on the morning she left the Glen, and of
how eagerly she had searched for her missing friend. "And how Kirsty's
cottage would look without her, I cannot imagine. But do you know, papa,
I actually dreamt last night that I went to see her, and she was not to
be found, and her old arm-chair was empty,--and the nice, cheery fire
cold and black. It was so nice to wake and find it was only a dream,
after all!" added Blanche, with a sigh of relief.
"Well, I don't think either of your friends have migratory habits; so
you are likely to find them among their native heather next year. By the
way, Blanchie, you must send a Christmas box of presents to your friends
there. You may fill it with whatever you like best; but only do keep a
corner for me. I want to send some present to the boy who fished you
out of the loch--Kenneth--isn't that his name? Do you remember that
adventure, and how you frightened us all, you troublesome young person?
By the way, I arranged before I left Glen Eagle that Dingwall is to
train the boy for a gamekeeper,--seeing that appears to be what he has
set his heart on."
Before many minutes had elapsed, Blanche's lively imagination had filled
a box of such probable dimensions that her father laughingly assured her
it would be much too heavy to be carried up the hill to the little
shieling among the crags.
Presently the little girl fell into one of her meditative moods, saying
at last, with a sigh, "Well, papa, I daresay Morag and Kirsty will be
very pleased to get the box of things, and think it very kind--and all
that; but though Kirsty and Morag are so poor, I really do not think
they ever seem to be anxious for anything they have not got. I was just
remembering how Kirsty one day said to me, in that nice, queer accent of
hers, 'Bairn,'--she often called me that--'a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things he has.' I can't remember exactly what we
were talking about at the time."
"Upon my word she must be quite a philosopher, this wonderful Kirsty!"
said Mr. Clifford, laughingly, as he stroked Blanche's curls.
"No, papa; I don't fancy she is learned enough for that; but I am sure
she is a Christian,--and is that not better, papa?"
"Ah, I'm afraid we are getting beyond our depth now, pussy. Come, little
kittens should not look grave," he added, for Blanche had a dreamy look
in her eyes which he did not care to see.
She was thinking of the poor fairy who was so greedy as well as so
needy; and presently she began to tell her papa a little about her, and
how she had gone to see her in her wretched home. She told him, too,
that she was making a dress for her--really of her own sewing; and,
taking for granted that her papa would be much interested in the
garment, she brought it for his inspection. But she did not tell him why
she was so very anxious to make it for her, nor that it was meant to be,
perhaps, the first token recognized by the poor fairy's dark soul of
that Love which "passeth knowledge."
The father and daughter spent some very happy hours together on this
first evening of their reunion. And as Mr. Clifford walked up and down
the drawing-room, after Blanche had left for the night, his thoughts
dwelt with a new joy and hope on the only child of his house, whose
birth had left his home so desolate. He remembered with what a sad heart
he took for the first time the motherless babe into his arms, and what a
sorrowful welcome he could only give to her. And now he thought with
pride of what a sweet child-woman she had grown, how much she seemed to
have deepened lately, and what a beautiful woman she promised to be! Mr.
Clifford smiled to think of the time when her school-room days would be
at an end, and she would make her entrance into society to be his
companion; and he felt as if life were opening pleasanter vistas before
his eyes than it had done for many a day.
The next morning was bright and pleasant for December; and, to Blanche's
great delight, Mr. Clifford proposed that she should have a holiday in
honor of his return, and go somewhere with him. After some deliberation,
Blanche decided that the most pleasant way to spend the morning would be
to go for a ride in the Park with her papa.
The stately bay stood at the door at the hour appointed, but instead of
the little brown Shag, the pretty white pony Neige awaited his mistress.
Blanche had not felt so happy since she left the Highland strath as she
did when she found herself riding by her father's side. The yellow fogs
had quite withdrawn themselves; the air was keen and bracing now, and
the sun shone brightly on the winter landscape. The "Row" was gay with
riders and the drive with carriages, taking advantage of this rare
December day, and the horses' hoofs rattled pleasantly along the crisp,
frosty ground.
More than one passer-by glanced at the pleasant-looking pair of riders
as they cantered along in the sunshine--Blanche prattling to her papa
with gay, upturned face, her long fair curls floating about, and her
pretty blue habit forming a contrast to Neige's snowy back, while her
father glanced down at her with fondness and pride reflected on his
handsome face.
On they rode, fast and far; for the day was bright and their spirits
were high. At last Mr. Clifford reined his horse, and suggested that
they should turn homewards.
"Now, pussy, you do purr so delightfully, and we have had such a
pleasant ride, that I think we shall beg Miss Prosser for a holiday
every bright day. Wouldn't that be a delightful arrangement, Blanchie?"
"It would be very nice, papa. But, perhaps, there may be no more bright
days as long as winter lasts," said Blanche, taking a more desponding
view of things than she generally was apt to do.
They had now reached home. Mr. Clifford dismounted, and lifted his
little daughter from her saddle.
"You are looking tired, Blanche, darling. I am afraid we have rather
overdone it to-day. I quite forgot that it was so long since you had
ridden before. How pale you are, child! what is the matter?" said Mr.
Clifford in a startled tone, as he looked at Blanche.
"I do feel rather queer, papa," replied Blanche, faintly, as she
staggered and leaned against her father for support.
Lifting her in his arms, Mr. Clifford carried her up the broad stone
steps to the hall door, and hurrying into the library, laid her gently
down on one of the couches.
Hardly had he laid her there when she became deathly pale, and presently
a sudden crimson flow came from her white lips, staining her blanched
cheek and fair clustering curls, and Blanche Clifford fainted away!