"No, you can't, Mollie. I'm the eldest, and I've `barleyed' it already.
You can arrange the vases in the drawing-room, if you like."
"Thank you, ma'am!" said Mollie calmly. "Just as you like."
Judging from the fervour with which she had stated her intentions a
moment earlier, the listeners expected that she would dispute her
sister's mandate and hardly knew how to account for her unruffled
composure. But, in truth, Mollie was already reflecting that flowers
took a long time to arrange satisfactorily, and that it would be a bore
to saddle herself with a regular duty. Much more fun to let Ruth do it,
and criticise the results! She sniffed daintily at the heliotrope,
turning her head from side to side to examine the possibilities of the
conservatory.
"Well, anyway, I shall take this place in hand! It will make a lovely
little snuggery, with rugs on the floor and basket-chairs everywhere
about, and an odd table or two to hold books and work, and tea when we
like to have it here. I'll have a blind to the door, too, so that we
shan't be surprised if visitors are shown into the drawing-room. Is
there a door of escape, by the way? I hate to be penned up where I
can't run away to a place of safety." She peered inquiringly round the
trunk of the palm, whereupon Victor Druce slid down from his perch, and
walked to the further end of the floor.
"Yes, there's a door here. If you see anyone coming for whom you have a
special aversion you can get out, and hide in the shrubbery. I promise
not to tell. Perhaps I may come with you. I am not fond of afternoon
calls."
"Don't encourage her, please, Mr Druce," said Ruth quickly. "Mollie
talks a lot of nonsense which she doesn't mean; but if people are kind
enough to come here to see us, she must not be so rude as to refuse to
see them. I am sure Uncle Bernard would be very angry if we did not
receive them properly."
But Mollie was obstinate this time, and refused to be put down.
"How do you know?" she asked rebelliously. "He might be very pleased
with me for sharing his own retiring tastes! He said himself that he
approved of what other people would consider a fault. Perhaps he likes
unsociability. There's as much chance of that as anything else!"
Victor Druce came back from his tour of investigation, but instead of
taking his former seat, leant up against the stem of a huge palm-tree,
whose topmost leaves touched the glass roof, folded his arms and looked
down at the two girls with an intent, curious scrutiny.
"It's an odd position," he said slowly, "a very odd position for us all
to be plunged in at a moment's notice! None of us have any knowledge of
Mr Farrell's tastes, so any attempts to please him must be entirely
experimental. If we please him we may thank our good fortune; if we
offend, we can, at least, feel innocent of any bad intentions. It's
rather a disagreeable position, but I expect the poor old fellow shirks
being left to himself any longer, though he would die rather than
acknowledge it. It's dull work being left alone when one is ill.
Personally, it is extremely inconvenient for me to be away from home for
three months, but I shall manage it somehow. One can't refuse a request
from a man in his condition, and it would be a pleasure to cheer the
poor old fellow a bit, even at the cost of one's own comfort."
There was silence for a moment after he had ceased speaking. Jack
Melland stared at the ground, and swung his feet gently to and fro.
Ruth knitted her black brows, and Mollie looked puzzled and thoughtful.
It was a kind speech. She would have liked to admire it thoroughly,
but--did it ring quite true? Was there not something unnatural in the
avoidance of any reference by the speaker to his own possible gain?
"I'm afraid I didn't think much of Uncle Bernard; I was too busy
thinking of myself. I want to have a good time!" she said bluntly.
"It's a lovely, lovely house, and the grounds are lovely, and the spring
flowers are coming up, and we can live out of doors, and be as happy as
the day is long. I am not going to worry my head about the money, or
anything else. I'll be nice to Uncle Bernard in my own way, as nice as
he will let me; but he said that we could enjoy ourselves, and I am
going to take him at his word, and do every single thing I like. It's
an opportunity which may never occur again, as the shop people say in
their circulars, and it would be foolish not to make the most of it."
"I want the money!" said Ruth clearly. The pretty flush had faded from
her cheeks, and she looked suddenly wan and white. The hands which were
resting on her knee trembled visibly. She had evidently strung herself
up to what she considered a necessary confession, and her eyes turned to
one after another of her companions in wistful apology.
"I want it dreadfully! I have been poor all my life, and have longed to
be rich, and I would rather live here, in this house, than anywhere else
in the world. If we are going to live together and be friends we ought
to be honest with each other from the beginning. It's selfish, but it's
true! I want the money, and I mean to do every single thing in my power
to get it."
"Bravo!" cried a man's voice suddenly. Mollie was frowning and biting
her lips in obvious discomfort; Victor Druce's drooping lids once more
hid his eyes from sight as he stood with folded arms leaning against the
palm. It was Jack Melland who had spoken--Jack Melland, roused for once
to display unqualified approval and enthusiasm. He bent forward on his
seat, hands in his pockets, his tall, lithe figure swaying gently to and
fro as he faced Ruth with his bright blue eyes.
"Bravo, Miss Farrell! I admire your honesty, and wish you good luck.
You are perfectly justified in doing all you can to gain your point, and
I sincerely hope you may be successful. It is only right that a Farrell
should inherit the Court, and if you were the old man's grand-daughter,
you could not possibly be more like him."
Ruth flushed, but did not reply. Victor Druce's measured voice cut like
a sword across the silence.
"You are unselfish, Melland! Are you quite sure that you share the
honesty which you admire so much in Miss Farrell? Have you forgotten
how the question affects yourself?"
Jack Melland jumped lightly to the ground and straightened his long
back.
"Unselfish or not, it's the truth. The question does not affect me at
all. I am not going to stay!"