CREAM.
The kitchen cat was a very gentle beastie, except in the matter of
killing birds and mice. She had the usual fascination of her species
where these small victims were concerned; and she enjoyed life in the
way cats do, eating when hungry, and sleeping the rest of her days.
She slept now with the greatest comfort under the silken eider-down
quilt. She rejoiced in the welcome warmth and purred softly to
herself, not even troubling to regard the saucer of cream until she had
had her snooze. By-and-by she would attack her cream, being partial to
that beverage; but for the present she would slumber on, a creature
without care, without fear; a gentle, admirable kitchen cat. She
brought up her families when they arrived with all a mother's rectitude
and propriety, and when they were old enough to leave her, got rid of
them as quickly as possible--which means that she took no further
notice of them. She regarded them no longer as hers; they were cats,
and she preferred them out of the way. At the present time she had
just reared and got rid of a large family, and was in that luxurious
state of bliss when the good things of life appealed to her. Her
purring went on for some time, then ceased, being followed by deep
slumber.
Meanwhile Hollyhock and her chosen companions were amusing themselves
in various ways downstairs. Supper would be to the minute at a quarter
to nine. Supper was a very simple meal, a stand-up affair, consisting
in winter of hot bread-and-milk, in summer of cold milk and biscuits.
The Lady Leucha thought her supper a very poor affair, but she was too
cold, after her vain attempts to light the fire in the Summer Parlour,
to resist the steaming-hot, delicious milk. She took it standing up
not far from Hollyhock. She resolved in her own mind to take no notice
whatever of Hollyhock. Jacko was to the Lady Leucha as one who did not
exist, but in her busy, vain little brain she was forming schemes for
the undoing of this impertinent Scots lass.
Lady Leucha was not specially clever, but she was what might be called
'cute,' and although during her first week at school she had had no
special desire to push herself forward in any way whatsoever, yet now
that Hollyhock--or, rather, Jack--had come, she was fully determined to
crush her, if not by guile, then by other means. She, a young lady of
distinction, could not stand such impudence; she, the daughter of the
Earl of Crossways, would _not_ be bullied by a mere nobody like Jacko.
But, unfortunately for herself, Leucha was not nearly so clever in
forming plans for the destruction of her enemy as was the dark-eyed,
flashing Hollyhock, who would dare and dare again until she showed by
her ways and devices that she was invincible.
'Come, girls, it is time for you to take your supper and be off to
bed,' said Miss Kent, who observed that Leucha was seated close to the
fire in the great sitting-room, shivering not a little, and that
Hollyhock, with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes, had established
herself at the far end of the large room, and was relating bogy tales
with great rapidity to her ever-increasing host of adorers. One by one
fresh girls crept up to join this group, and one by one, whatever their
nationality, they were heartily welcomed by Hollyhock, who called out
in her clear, sweet voice--for very clear and sweet it could
be--'Lassies, make room for the stranger. Be you English or Scots, my
lady dear, you are welcome to join my circle.'
Thus the circle began to grow very large, and the hushed, dramatic
voice of the narrator caused her listeners to hold their breath, until
occasionally they burst into fits of hearty laughter. But the hour had
come. The bowls of bread-and-milk smoked on the sideboard, and all the
girls hurried to begin and finish their food. After supper they went
to say good-night to Mrs Macintyre, who prayed God to bless them and
give them all 'a good and peaceful night.' Then, accompanied by Miss
Kent, whose office it was to see them to their rooms, they went
upstairs.
Leucha had slightly recovered her spirits, but not absolutely. As a
matter of fact, she was wild with jealousy. She had sat by the fire
with Dorothy and Barbara Fraser and Daisy Watson, but all the other
girls had gone over to the large circle, where the voice was so
mysterious and the eyes of the speaker so bright. In their heart of
hearts, the daughters of the Marquis of Killin were keenly anxious to
leave their dull friend Leucha, and join the merry, excited group at
the other end of the room. This, however, they dared not do, for their
mother would not have wished them to desert Leucha.
'Well, I'm glad this day is over,' exclaimed that young lady, as she
reached her bedroom. 'I shall be glad to get between the sheets and
forget that horrid, noisy Jack.'
'Ah, will you just?' thought Hollyhock, who overheard the word as she
turned into her own snug apartment. Her heart was beating hard and
fast. She was waiting for the _dénouement_.
Lady Barbara and Lady Dorothy Fraser bade Leucha good-night, and went
much farther along the corridor.
Leucha entered her room and turned on the light. The moment she did
this she began to sniff. What queer noise was this in the room? Was
there a clock anywhere, and had it gone wrong? She looked around her
and sniffed again.
Hollyhock, prepared for all events, kept her door a little ajar, and
wee Jean, being slightly, very slightly, disturbed by the noise in the
room and the light which penetrated faintly under her eider-down quilt,
purred in a louder and more satisfied manner than ever. She thought
she might rise a trifle and begin to lap her cream.
'What _can_ be the matter?' said Lady Leucha. This sharp and angry
tone slightly startled the kitchen cat, who raised herself slowly,
making a great heave as she did so of her own body and of the
eiderdown. The cream was close to her. The cream was sweet and
luscious; the cream would suit her to perfection.
Lap, lap, lap, went her little tongue. In a fury--a blind fury--Leucha
rushed to her bed, tore aside the eider-down, and tried to catch the
wicked cat in order to fling her out of the window; but Hollyhock stood
in the room.
'Don't,' she said. 'Poor beastie! I put her there for fun--for a bit
of a lark. I'll take her now. Don't you _touch_ my cat, or I 'll be
at you. I 'm sorry she has spilt the cream, but it hasn't had time to
get through to the blankets.--Here, come along, my pretty dear; come,
my angel Jean; you shall sleep along with your own mistress.--See,
Leuchy, the cream hasn't had time to get to the blankets, and it hasn't
touched the eider-down. I'll just whip off this white covering. Now
you see for yourself that you mustn't meddle with me. Best not. I 'm
all fire, I am; I 'm all glow, I am; I 'm all spirit, I am. There 's
no harm done, but would you like to hold the little cat while I remove
the sheet? Then you 'll be as tidy as possible, and you 'd best get to
bed, Leuchy. I 'll undress you after I have settled my cat. Here,
hold the small thing for a minute while I straighten things up.'
But Leucha, who at first was speechless with horror, now raised her
voice to a mighty roar of indignation.
'How dare you? How dare you? You wicked, ugly little girl! I can't
abide the sight of you! And to put a cat in my bed--a cat and cream,
forsooth! You don't get out of this scrape so easily as you think,
Miss _Jack_. I 'm going down this minute to speak to Mrs Macintyre.'
'All right,' said Holly. 'I think you might do worse. I was willing
to be friends with you, but you wouldn't have it, so now I 'm t' other
way round, and I 'm thinking that I 'll carry most of the lassies with
me. But go, Leuchy. I meant to vex you, and I 'm not denying it. I
would have been different, but your haughty spirit forbade it; so now I
'm your chosen enemy, and you 'll have to fight me along with those in
the school who like me better than you.'
But Leucha's fury had risen to its height. She dashed up to Hollyhock
and gave her a resounding smack on her right cheek. Hollyhock was
holding the cat, who, in the struggle, gave Leucha a savage scratch on
the hand, that lily-white hand of which she was so proud. It was a
great scratch going right across the back of the hand. In a moment
Leucha had fled from the room to seek Mrs Macintyre. Hollyhock flew
into her own chamber, put wee Jean carefully and tenderly into the
basket in which she had brought her from The Garden, stroked her for a
minute to cause her to purr again, cut a hole or two in the lid of the
basket to give the poor beast air, and then shoved cat and basket under
her bed.
Instantly she returned to Leucha's room, took off the injured white
covering, shoved it into the soiled clothes-basket, turned down the
sheets, made the room look perfectly nice and tidy, removed the saucer,
which she carried into her own room and hid, also under the bed.
She then sat and waited for events. They were not long in coming.
Leucha's anger was something prodigious. She forgot all about the
really frightful smack she had given Hollyhock on her rosy cheek. She
thought of nothing but her own indignities--the indignities committed
against an earl's daughter by a common Scots girl.
She found Mrs Macintyre in her study. The good lady looked up in
amazement when the girl burst in.
'My dear Leucha, whatever _is_ the matter? Why are you not in bed?'
'In bed, Mrs Macintyre! Is it likely that I should be in bed when a
nasty, mean Scotch girl puts a horrid, common cat into it, and also a
great saucer of cream, which the cat spilt, injuring my favourite
edition of the works of Charles Dickens, which was given me by my
father on my last birthday? Will you kindly, Mrs Macintyre, _expel_
that girl in the morning?'
'Oh, my dear, I suppose you are alluding to Hollyhock?'
'I 'm not; I 'm alluding to ugly Jack Lennox, beneath me in station,
beneath me in manners, beneath me in everything!'
'Well, as to that,' said Mrs Macintyre, 'I'm sorry you are annoyed,
Leucha, but another girl would take the matter as a good joke, and win
the friendship of Hollyhock by overlooking the whole affair.'
'I'm not that sort. I'm the daughter of the Earl of Crossways, and
she--she is nothing but a mischievous cad. She 'll ruin your school,
of course, Mrs Macintyre.'
'I don't think so, my dear. I'm delighted to have her. As she has
annoyed you, and you wish it, I _must_ punish her, of course; but
whatever I do, I shall destroy neither her beauty nor her high rank.'
'Her high rank, forsooth! What next?'
'Yes; her father is the Honourable George Lennox, whose wife was a
Cameron, a near relative of the Duke of Ardshiel. I don't think there
is much difference between you in blood, Leucha, except the other way
round. We think a great deal indeed of the Duke in our region.'
Leucha felt slightly stunned and more angry than ever. She knew well,
too well, that the Earl of Crossways was only the second earl of his
house, and that she had better not talk quite so loudly about her grand
lineage.
'Do you _wish_ me to punish Hollyhock?' said Mrs Macintyre, fixing her
grave, gentle eyes on the angry girl's face.
'Yes, of course I do--of course I do. Look at my hand!'
'Oh, the poor cat has scratched it. I 'm sorry. I shall send Miss
Kent to you presently with a little cold cream to rub on it. You had
better keep it bandaged to-night, and it will be quite well to-morrow.
You must have frightened the cat or she would not have treated you like
that.'
Leucha said nothing. She did not mention the fact that she had smacked
the cat's mistress.
'I wish that young person, whatever her rank, to be punished,' she said.
'Very well, my dear Leucha, come with me at once. I have now got to
hear _her_ side of the story.'
'But surely you believe me?'
'In a school like this, Leucha, I like to hear both sides. Whatever
happens among my girls, I must be impartial. Now come, for it is
getting late, and I myself must retire.'
They went first of all into Leucha's room, which looked perfectly snug
and comfortable, all trace of the cat having been removed.
'I see nothing wrong here,' said Mrs Macintyre.
'She is too cute; she has hidden everything,' said Leucha.
'Well, we 'll go to her room. Her room is next to yours. I thought,
being contrasts, you would be such friends.'
Leucha shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, then waited with a
furiously beating heart while Mrs Macintyre knocked at Holly's door.
'May I come in, my dear child?' she said gently.
'Yes.' Hollyhock flew to the door and flung it open. 'Yes, please do,
dear Mrs Macintyre. I know I am a bold, bad girl.--Come in, Leuchy; I
don't mind you a bit.'
'But how swollen your cheek is, my child!' said the head-mistress.
'Oh, that's less than nothing. Poor little Jean is sleeping under my
bed, and if we talk too loud we may disturb her. I did it for
mischief. I 'm not going to deny it. I wanted to be friends with
Leuchy, but she would not have it; so then the soul of mischief got
into me, and I ran home to The Garden and fetched the cat, and put her
into Leuchy's bed. Oh! I know it was wrong of me. I 'm a bad Scots
lassie. But I love you, and I love the school, if only Leuchy there
would be friendly.'
'Which I have no intention of being,' said Leucha. 'You see for
yourself, Mrs Macintyre, she denies nothing. She ran away without
leave to fetch that odious cat and put it in my bed.'
'How did her cheek get so swollen?' said Mrs Macintyre.
'Ah, well, we won't talk of that,' said Hollyhock. 'Girls that dare
must also endure. I 'm sorry Leuchy was so vexed and wouldn't make it
up.'
'You are going to punish her, Mrs Macintyre,' said Leucha, 'are you
not?'
'Yes, Leucha; but I 'm going to punish you too.-- Hollyhock, my
darling, you did wrong, and this your first day at school, too. The
punishment I am going to give you I 'm afraid you will feel. You may
take the kitchen cat back yourself to The Garden in the morning. You
had better start early, so as to be here again in time for breakfast,
and then you can tell your father that you will not return with your
sisters to The Garden on Saturday. I am sorry, my love; but order must
be maintained in the school. As to Leucha here, the story of the cat
will, I am sure, be known all over the school immediately; and Leucha,
when she shows her wounded hand, will have to explain _how_ she got
it--by slapping _you_ so violently on the cheek, thus rousing the
temper of the faithful cat. I shall insist on her publicly telling
what I know she did. Now, both girls, take your punishments like
gentlewomen and don't make a fuss. Good-night, good-night! I 'll send
Miss Kent to put a lotion on your cheek, Hollyhock, and to bind up your
hand, Leucha. Good-night! After prayers to-morrow the story of the
cat will be told, with, alas! Leucha's sad lack of forgiveness.'