III

'And to think,' said Alice, 'that this is the very last evening we shall

ever pass here!'

'I don't see why you should be so very sorry for that,' replied May; 'I

should have thought that you must have had enough of the place. Why, you

have been here nearly ten years! I never would have consented to remain

so long as that.'

'I didn't mind; we have been very happy here, and to say good-bye, and

for ever, to friends we have known so long, and who have been so good to

us, seems very sad--at least, it does to me.'

'It is all very well for you,' said Olive; 'I dare say you have been

happy here, you have always been the petted and spoilt child of the

school. Nothing was ever too good for Alice; no matter who was wrong or

what was done, Alice was sure to be right.'

'I never knew anyone so unreasonable,' said Cecilia. 'You grumble at

everything, and you are always dying of jealousy of your sister.'

'That's not true, and you haven't much to talk of; after beating your

brains out you only just got the prize for composition. Besides, if you

like the convent as much as I dare say you do, although you aren't a

Catholic, you had better stop here with my sister.'

'Oh, Olive! how can you speak to Cecilia in that horrid way? I am

ashamed of you.'

'So you are going to turn against me, Alice; but that's your way. I

shan't stay here.'

The retreating figure of the young girl stood out in beautiful

distinctness in the pale light; behind her the soft evening swept the

sea, effacing with azure the brown sails of the fishing-boats; in front

of her the dresses of the girls flitted white through the sombre green

of the garden.

'I am sorry,' said Cecilia, 'you spoke to her. She is put out because

she didn't get a prize, and Sister Agnes told her that she nearly spoilt

the play by the stupid way she played the Princess.'

'She will find that that temper of hers will stand in her way if she

doesn't learn to control it,' Violet said; 'but, now she is gone, tell

me, Alice, how do you think she played her part? As far as I can judge

she didn't seem to put any life into it. You meant the Princess to be a

sharp, cunning woman of the world, didn't you?'

'No, not exactly; but I agree with you that Olive didn't put life into

it.'

'Well, anyhow, the play was a great success, and you got, dear Alice,

the handsomest prize that has ever been given in the school.'

'And how do you think I did the King? Did I make him look like a man? I

tried to walk just as Fred Scully does when he goes down to the

stables.'

'You did the part very well, May; but I think I should like him to have

been more sentimental.'

'I don't think men are sentimental--at least, not as you think they are.

I tried to copy Fred Scully.'

'My part was a mere nothing. You must write me a something, Alice, one

of these days--a coquettish girl, you know, who could twist a man round

her fingers. A lot of _bavardage_ in it.'

'I suppose you'll never be able to speak English again, now you've got

the prize for French conversation.'

'Sour grapes! You would like to have got it yourself. I worked hard for

it. I was determined to get it, for ma says it is of great advantage in

society for a girl to speak French well.'

'Jealous! I should like to know why I should be jealous. Of what? I got

all I tried for. Besides, the truth about your French prize is that you

may consider yourself very fortunate, for if' (she mentioned the name of

one of her schoolfellows) 'hadn't been so shy and timid, you'd have come

off second best.'

The rudeness of this retort drew a sharp answer from Violet; and then,

in turn, but more often simultaneously, the girls discussed the justice

of the distribution. The names of an infinite number of girls were

mentioned; but when, in the babbling flow of convent-gossip, a favourite

nun was spoken of, one of the chatterers would sigh, and for a moment be

silent.

The violet waters of the bay had darkened, and, like the separating

banners of a homeward-moving procession, the colours of the sky went

east and west. The girdle of rubies had melted, had become the pale red

lining of a falling mantle; the large spaces of gold grew dim; orange

and yellow streamers blended; lilac and blue pennons faded to deep

greys; dark hoods and dark veils were drawn closer; purple was gathered

like garments about the loins; the night fell, and the sky, now

decorated with a crescent moon and a few stars, was filled with

stillness and adoration. The day's death was exquisite, even human; and

as she gazed on the beautiful corpse lowered amid the fumes of a

thousand censers into an under-world, even Violet's egotism began to

dream.

'The evening is lovely. I am glad; it is the last we shall pass here,'

said the girl pensively, 'and all good-byes are sad.'

'Yes, we have been happy,' said May, 'and I too am sorry to leave; but

then we couldn't spend our lives here. There are plenty of things to be

done at home; and I suppose we shall all get married one of these days?

And there will be balls and parties before we get married. I don't think

that I'd care to get married all at once. Would you, Violet?'

'I don't know. Perhaps not, unless it was to someone very grand indeed.'

'Oh, would you do that? I don't think I could marry a man unless I loved

him,' said May.

'Yes, but you might love someone who was very grand as well as someone

who wasn't.'

'That's true enough; but then--' and May stopped, striving to readjust

her ideas, which Violet's remark had suddenly disarranged. After a pause

she said:

'But does your mother intend to bring you to Dublin for the season? Are

you going to be presented this year?'

'I hope so. Mamma said I should be, last vacation.'

'I shall take good care that I am. The best part of the hunting will be

over, and I wouldn't miss the Castle balls for anything. Do you like

officers?'

The crudity of the question startled Alice, and it was with difficulty

she answered she didn't know--that she had not thought about the matter.

May and Violet continued the conversation; and over the lingering waste

of yellow, all that remained to tell where the sun had set, the night

fell like a heavy, blinding dust, sadly and regretfully, as the last

handful of earth thrown upon a young girl's grave.