"Let come what will, I mean to bear it out."
SHAKESPEARE.
"The hour for your music-lesson has arrived, Miss Raymond," announced
Miss Manton.
Rosie and Evelyn both looked entreatingly at Lulu; but scarcely raising
her eyes, she simply said, "I shall not take it to-day, Miss Diana."
"Very well; you will have to abide the consequences of your refusal,"
returned Miss Diana severely.
"Is it so very dreadful to live in this house with you?" queried saucy
Lulu.
"What do you mean by that impertinent question?" asked Miss Diana, facing
round angrily upon her.
"I only wanted to know in time," said Lulu. "What you said just now
sounded as if you thought so; for that is the consequence I'll have to
abide if I continue to refuse to take my music-lessons."
"It shall be about as unpleasant as I can well make it, in return for
your impudence," was the furious rejoinder. "Also, you will remain in
your seat during recess to-day."
"Oh, Lulu," whispered Evelyn at the first opportunity, "it was not
prudent to say what you did to Miss Diana; she will have it in her power
to make your life here very uncomfortable."
"Yes," Lulu said with indifference, "I expect to have to pay for the
pleasure of speaking my mind; but if she makes _me_ uncomfortable, I'll
manage to make _her_ so too."
As the hour drew near when the school would be dismissed for the day, a
servant came in with a message. She said a few words in a low tone to
Miss Diana, who at once turned to Lulu, saying,
"You are wanted in the parlor, Miss Raymond."
The child's heart beat fast as she rose and obeyed the summons, but
quieted when, on entering the parlor, she found Elsie and Violet its sole
occupants. They had always been gentle and kind to her, and she loved
without fearing them.
They made a place for her on the sofa between them, and taking her hand
in a kind clasp, Elsie said, "We have come to take you home, dear child,
if you are now ready to be good and obedient."
"I didn't take the lesson, Grandma Elsie, and I don't intend ever to do
it as long as I live," Lulu answered in even, steady tones. "It was very
kind in you and Mamma Vi to come for me, but I shall have to stay here
till Grandpa Dinsmore gives up asking such an unreasonable thing of me."
"Then, Violet," Elsie said, "nothing remains for us but to see that she
has comfortable accommodations, and leave her here."
At this moment Mrs. Manton came hurrying in with profuse apologies for
not having come sooner, but through the negligence of the servant she had
been until this moment kept in ignorance of their arrival.
"No, you must not blame the servant," Elsie said; "she acted by my
directions. We wished to see this little girl alone for a few minutes,
and not to disturb you; knowing that you are busy with your pupils at
this hour of the day."
"Ah! then perhaps I am intruding;" and Mrs. Manton drew herself up with
dignity.
"Oh no, not at all," Elsie returned pleasantly; "our private
interview with the child is at an end. She is now to be placed here as a
boarder--as you may perhaps know; and, if you please, we would like to
see the room she is to occupy."
"Certainly, Mrs. Travilla. She can have her choice of several--or you the
choice for her," Mrs. Manton replied, graciously leading the way as she
spoke.
"You would like to come too?" Elsie said inquiringly, holding out a hand
to Lulu.
"Yes, ma'am, thank you," Lulu answered, slipping hers into it.
They were shown several large rooms, intended and furnished for from four
to six occupants each; two others of somewhat smaller size, which Mrs.
Manton called double rooms; and one little one over the hall, which she
said Lulu could have to herself, if she liked that better than sharing a
larger one with a schoolmate.
To Lulu's eyes it looked uninviting enough: so small, furnished with only
one window, a single bed, one chair, bureau and wash-stand of very plain,
cheap material, somewhat the worse for wear, and just a strip or two of
carpet both faded and worn.
"I think this will hardly do," Violet said gently. "Have you nothing
better to offer, Mrs. Manton?"
"No room that the young girl can have to herself," was the cold,
half-offended reply. "Excuse me for saying so, but I think it is quite
good enough for so obstinate and rebellious a child as I have understood
she is."
"I am quite of your opinion, Mrs. Manton," said a familiar voice behind
them; and turning, they perceived that they had been joined by Mr.
Dinsmore, with Professor Manton bringing up the rear.
Lulu was growing very red and angry.
"But she is my husband's child, grandpa," urged Violet.
"And I am quite certain he would say she deserved nothing better while
she continues obstinate in her rebellion against lawful authority," he
answered.
Lulu flashed an angry glance at him.
"It is no matter," she said; "papa will set things right when he comes.
And, Mamma Vi, don't be troubled about it; I shall tell him it was no
fault of yours."
"No," Mr. Dinsmore said, smiling grimly. "I shall not share the
responsibility; my shoulders are quite broad enough to bear it all."
Violet drew Lulu aside when they had all gone down stairs again, and with
her arm about her waist pleaded tenderly, affectionately, with her to
give up her rebellion and go home with them.
"We will start in a few minutes now," she said; "and oh, dear child, I
don't want to leave you behind. I shall grieve very much to think of you
all alone in that miserable little room. Does it not seem a poor place
after those you have had at Ion and Viamede?"
"Yes, Mamma Vi, I have an idea that it's a good deal like a prison-cell;
but what do I care for that? I'd despise myself if I could give up just
for that."
"No, dear, not for that, but because it is right to do it."
"'Tisn't worth while for you to trouble yourself to urge me any more,
Mamma Vi," Lulu said loftily; "I am as fully resolved as ever not to
break my word."
"Then good-by," Violet said, with a sigh and a kiss. "You are not to be
ill-treated--I settled that question with grandpa before we came; and if
any one should attempt to ill-use you, let me know all about it at once."
Elsie, too, kissed Lulu in bidding her good-by; but Mr. Dinsmore simply
took her hand,--given with evident reluctance,--and said he was sorry to
be compelled to banish her from the family-circle; yet if she willed it
so, restoration to the comforts and privileges of home would not be long
delayed.
Lulu followed them out to the veranda, expecting to see the
family-carriage there with the other children, including her sister
Grace, but was sorely disappointed to perceive that it had already driven
away.
A smaller one, which had brought Mr. Dinsmore and the ladies, was still
there, and she saw them enter, and watched it drive away till it was lost
to sight among the trees.
Then a sudden sense of almost utter loneliness came over her, and rushing
away to a secluded part of the grounds, she gave vent to her feelings in
a storm of tears and sobs.
But by its very violence it soon spent itself; in a few moments she
became quite calm, did her best to remove the traces of her tears, and
went back to the house, reaching it just as her trunk arrived.
It was carried at once to her room, and she followed to unpack and
arrange her clothes in the drawers of the bureau and wash-stand.
There was no closet, and she found herself much cramped for room. It was
very disheartening, for she loved neatness and order, and perceived that
it would be no easy matter to maintain them here, where it was so
difficult to find a place for everything and keep it there.
The supper-bell rang, but she delayed obeying the summons in order to
finish the work in hand. She was hardly more than five minutes behind
time, yet received a sharp reprimand from Professor Manton, and a black
mark.
Of course she was angry and indignant, and plainly showed that she was;
not mending matters in the least thereby.
In sullen displeasure she took the seat assigned her, and glancing over
the table, was tempted to turn away in disgust.
The food provided was of the plainest, scant in quantity, inferior in
quality, and neither well prepared nor daintily served; in all which it
presented a striking contrast to the meals that Lulu had been accustomed
to sit down to at Ion and Viamede.
She ate but little; in fact, homesickness had nearly destroyed her
appetite.
"What a miserable supper!" she remarked to a school-mate, when they had
gone from the dining-room and were gathered on the veranda for the short
half-hour that intervened between the meal and the evening study-hour.
"It was quite as good as usual," was the rejoinder in a sneering tone.
"What did you expect? Do you suppose the Mantons don't want to make
anything off us as boarders?"
"I hadn't thought about that at all," Lulu said, with a look of surprise
and perplexity. Then after a moment's cogitation, "I suppose they do want
to make all they can out of us, and that would be the reason there was so
little on the table; but would it have cost any more to have it cooked
properly? The bread was both sour and heavy, and the butter so strong
that I'd rather go without than eat it."
"Rancid butter is cheaper than sweet, both as costing less and going
farther," answered her companion, "and good cooks are apt to be able to
command higher wages than poor ones; also, like butter, bread goes
farther if it is unpalatable."
"But it makes people sick?" Lulu said, half in assertion, half in
inquiry.
"Of course; but the Mantons don't pay our doctor bills, or support us in
invalidism if it comes to that."
The girl walked away, and Lulu stood leaning against a pillar, lost in
thought, and feeling more homesick than ever.
The boarding-scholars were all some years older than herself, and did not
seem to desire her companionship; in fact, they looked upon and treated
her as one in disgrace, shunned her society, and almost ignored her
existence.
The study-hour over, they gathered in groups, chatting together on such
themes as school-girls find most interesting, one or another now and then
looking askance at Lulu, who sat at a distance, lonely and forlorn,
watching them and half-envying their apparent gayety and
lightheartedness.
How she longed for Evelyn, Grace, Max; even Rosie and the grown up-people
at Viamede!
It was a long evening to her; she thought the hands of the clock had
never before moved so slowly.
At nine a bell called them all into Professor Manton's school-room, where
he read a chapter from the Bible, and made a long prayer in a dull,
monotonous tone, that set most of his hearers to nodding or indulging in
half-suppressed gapes and yawns.
It struck Lulu as a very different service as conducted by him, from what
she had been accustomed to under the lead of her father or Mr. Dinsmore.
They had always shown by tone and manner that they esteemed it a solemn
and a blessed thing to read the words of inspiration and draw near to God
in prayer; while this man went through it as a mere matter of form, of no
more interest than the calling of the roll at the opening of school.
The service was followed by a formal good-night, and the pupils scattered
to their rooms.
"The bell will tap in half an hour, Miss Raymond, and at the first sound
every light must be instantly extinguished," Miss Diana said harshly, as
she gave Lulu her candle.
"But what if I have not finished undressing?" Lulu asked in dismay.
"Then you will be obliged to finish in the dark."
"There won't be time to write in my diary, and I'll have to say my
prayers in the dark," Lulu said to herself as she hastened up the stairs
and into her closet-like apartment.
"What a forlorn bit of a place it is!" she grumbled half aloud; "oh, so
different from my pretty rooms at Ion and Viamede! Oh dear, oh dear! I
wish that horrid Signor Foresti was back in his own country. I'm glad he
doesn't live in this house, so I'd have to see him every day; it's bad
enough to have to stay here without that. But I don't mean to let Grandpa
Dinsmore find out how bad his punishment is; no, nor to be conquered by
it either."
She had set down her candle and was hurriedly making ready for bed.
On creeping in, having blown out her candle just as the signal sounded,
she discovered a new reason for regretting her change of residence; she
must sleep--if she could--on a hard pallet of straw, instead of the soft,
springy mattress she had been accustomed to rest upon at home.
She uttered an exclamation of disgust and impatience, fidgeted about in
the vain effort to find a comfortable spot, and sighed wearily over the
hard hills and hollows.
How Mamma Vi and Grandma Elsie too would pity her! Probably they would
say she must have a better bed, even if it had to be sent from Viamede.
But then Grandpa Dinsmore might put his veto upon that, saying, as he had
that day in regard to the room, that it was quite as good as she
deserved; and she would not give him the chance: she would put up with
the hard bed, as well as with all the other disagreeables of the
situation, nor give up in the very least about the music-lessons.
The situation seemed no brighter or cheerier the next morning; there was
no one to give her a smile, a kiss, or so much as a pleasant word;
breakfast was no improvement upon last night's supper; Mrs. Manton
scolded all through the meal--at her husband, daughters, pupils,
servants; the professor bore it meekly as regarded her, was captious and
irritable toward every one else; Miss Diana looked glum, Miss Emily timid
and ashamed.
The morning service in the schoolroom, that followed the meal, was very
like a repetition of that of the previous evening, and Lulu withdrew from
the room after it was over, feeling less respect and liking than ever for
the principal of the institution.
To her great joy the Viamede carriage drove up a full half-hour earlier
than usual; Grace alighted from it with the others, and running to her
said, "O Lulu, I'm so glad to see you! And I may stay till school-time;
mamma told me so. Grandma Elsie told Uncle Ben to bring us early, and
wait here for me till you go into school."
"It's very kind in them," returned Lulu, hugging and kissing her little
sister. "And I'm ever so delighted to see you all," she added to the
others who had gathered round her.
"And we to see you," Evelyn said, embracing her.
"What kind of a time have you had?" asked Rosie and Max in a breath.
"About such as I anticipated," answered Lulu, nonchalantly. "Of course
it's not like home; but I didn't expect that."
She afterward, under a promise of secrecy, let Evelyn more into her
confidence; described her bed, the meals, telling that she had learned
from one of the older boarders that those she had partaken of were of
average quality; and the unpleasant manners of Professor Manton, his
wife, and Miss Diana.
"O Lu, it is quite too bad that you should be exposed to such things!"
said Evelyn. "Do give up to Grandpa Dinsmore and go home with us
to-night!"
Lulu shook her head decidedly.
"Well then, at least let me tell your mamma, or Grandma Elsie about the
hard bed, and they will surely see that a better one is provided for
you."
But Lulu negatived that also. "I can stand it," she said, "and I wouldn't
for a great deal let Grandpa Dinsmore know what a hard time I am having.
He would triumph over me, and say it was just what I deserved."
So no complaint was made, and Evelyn was the only person at Viamede who
had any idea of the many discomforts Lulu was enduring for self-will's
sake.
Sunday morning came and Lulu made herself ready for church, all the time
fearing that she would have to go with the Mantons and sit with them and
their other boarding-scholars.
Great, then, was her joy on seeing Max drive up in a light two-seated
carriage, Violet and Grace on the back seat, a vacant space on the front
beside the young charioteer.
"Oh, they've come for me!" cried Lulu, half aloud, glancing from the
window of her room. "How nice is Mamma Vi to do it!" and she flew down to
the front door to greet them.
The professor was there before her, bowing, smirking, and asking in his
most obsequious tones if Mrs. Raymond would be pleased to alight and walk
into the parlor.
"Thank you, no," Violet said. "We have come merely to pick up Lulu and
take her to church with us. Come, dear," to the little girl; "the
professor will help you in, if you are quite ready to go."
"Yes, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered eagerly, and with the aid of the
professor's hand quickly climbed to her place.
"Mamma Vi, you are very good," she said, as the carriage rolled on again.
"Yes, isn't she?" said Max. "She says she isn't at all afraid to trust me
to drive her."
"No," said Violet, smiling affectionately on him; "you do great credit to
Uncle Ben's teaching. I think your father would be much pleased with your
proficiency."
"Were you expecting us, Lulu?" asked Grace.
"No, indeed! How should I, when nothing had been said about it? But oh, I
was so glad to see you coming."
The children seemed happy in being together again and chatted cheerily,
Violet occasionally joining in.
She had fully gained their respect and affection, yet they now never felt
her presence the slightest damper upon their enjoyment of each other's
society.
On their return, while yet at some little distance from the academy,
Violet asked,
"Lulu, dear, do you find yourself quite comfortable and happy at
Oakdale--so that you wish to continue there as a boarder?"
"I wish that rather than to go home again on Grandpa Dinsmore's
conditions," Lulu said with a frown, and with that the subject was
dropped.