It was mid-January, and at home in England the ground was white with
snow, but the sun shone down with brazen glare on the blue waters of the
Bay of Bengal, along which a P and O steamer was gliding on its homeward
way. An awning was hoisted over the deck, but not a breath of wind
fluttered its borders, and the passengers lay back in their deck-chairs
too limp and idle to do more than flick over the pages of the books
which they were pretending to read. It was only twenty-four hours since
they had left Calcutta, and they were still in that early stage of
journeying when they looked askance at their fellows, decided that
never, no, never had Fate placed them in the midst of such uninteresting
companions, and determined to keep severely to themselves during the
rest of the voyage.
The stout lady in the white _pique_ stared stonily at the thin lady in
drill, and decided that she was an "Impossible Person," blissfully
unconscious of the fact that before Aden was reached she would pour all
her inmost secrets into the "Impossible Person's" ear, and weep salt
tears at parting from her at Marseilles. The mother of the sickly
little girls in muslin swept them away to the other end of the deck when
she discovered them playing with the children who inhabited the next
state-room, and the men stared at one another stolidly across the
smoking-room. The more experienced travellers knew that ere a week had
passed the scene would be changed, that a laughing babel of voices would
succeed the silence, and deck sports and other entertainments take the
place of inaction; but the younger members of the party saw no such
alleviation ahead, and resigned themselves to a month of frosty
solitude.
The ladies dozed amongst their cushions, but the men strolled up and
down the deck smoking their cigars with that air of resigned dejection
which seems to be the monopoly of Englishmen of the upper classes. The
quick movements, animated gestures, and sparkling eyes of the Southerner
were all lacking in these strongly built, well-dressed, well-set-up men,
who managed to conceal all signs of animation so successfully that no
one looking at them could have believed that one was the wit of his
regiment, another celebrated throughout an Indian province for his
courage and daring, and a third an expectant bridegroom!
About eleven o'clock a diversion was made on the upper deck by the
appearance of two more travellers--an elegant-looking woman accompanied
by her husband, who came forward in search of the deck-chairs which had
been placed in readiness for their use. They were not a young couple by
any means, yet the eyes of the passengers followed their movements with
interest, for they were not only exceedingly good to look upon, but had
an air of enjoyment in their surroundings and in each other's society
which is unfortunately not universal among middle-aged couples. The man
was tall and slight, with the weather-beaten, dried-up skin which tells
of a long residence under burning suns, and he had a long nose, and eyes
which appeared almost startlingly blue against the brown of his skin.
They were curious eyes, with a kind of latent fierceness in their good
humour, but just now they shone in holiday mood, and softened into
tenderness as he waited on his wife.
No sooner had this interesting couple seated themselves in their chairs
than a chirrup of welcome sounded in their ears, and a beaming little
figure in grey alpaca darted forward to greet them. Though the majority
of passengers in an ocean-going boat may be unsociably inclined at the
start, there are always one or two exceptions to the rule to be found,
in the shape of ultra-friendly souls, who, willy-nilly, insist upon
playing the part of devoted friends to some unresponsive stranger, and
the old lady in question was one of these exceptions. She had begun
operations the night before by quarrelling violently over the possession
of a cabin, had then proceeded to borrow half-a-dozen necessities of the
toilet which she had forgotten, and had advanced to the length of terms
of endearment before the bell sounded for dinner. It was only natural
then that she should exhibit a breathless anxiety to know how her new
friend had fared during the night, and the invalid braced herself to
bear the attack with composure.
"So glad to see you up this morning, dear!" she cried. "I was afraid
you might be ill, but I asked your daughter about you, and was so
relieved to hear good news. We met on deck before breakfast, and had a
nice, long talk. Such a sweet creature! So different from the fast,
loud-voiced specimens one meets nowadays. Quite an old-world girl, I
declare; sweet, and mild, and gentle... `A violet by a mossy dell,
half-hidden from the eye'--as dear old What's-his-name has it! It does
me good to be with her, and feel her restful influence. You are to be
congratulated on owning such a daughter!"
"Thank you!" said the mild girl's mother softly. She dropped her
eyelids, and twisted the rings round and round on her slender fingers,
as if for some reason she did not wish to meet the speaker's eye, while
her husband rose suddenly and walked to the end of the deck. When he
came back, five minutes later, he remarked to his wife that there was no
depending on weather signals nowadays; at which innocent remark she
laughed so heartily that the friendly old lady instantly put down
hysterics as the probable explanation of her delicate appearance, and
felt a chilling of sympathy. In a few minutes she took herself off to
some other friends, and the husband and wife whispered smilingly
together, and, after the invariable custom on shipboard, fell to
criticising their companions.
Perhaps the most striking figure which met their eyes was that of a
young man some thirty years of age, whose walk and carriage plainly
marked him out as an officer in the army. A certain pallor showing
through his tanned skin made it seem possible that he was returning home
on sick-leave, but he was a handsome fellow all the same with aquiline
features and a heavy moustache, and he scanned the scene around him with
an air of languid patronage, as one who felt that the P and O Company
might feel themselves honoured to have the privilege of accommodating
his noble self, and expected that even the ocean should show its best
aspect for his benefit. Of the passengers by whom he was surrounded the
lordly stranger appeared entirely oblivious, not deigning to throw even
a glance in their direction; and so strange a thing is human nature that
the feminine portion, at least, felt their interest heightened by this
indifference, and were increasingly anxious to make his acquaintance.
It did not seem likely that their desire would be granted on this
occasion, at least, for as the morning wore on and the heat of the sun
grew ever stronger and stronger, the object of their admiration took
counsel with himself, and decided that it would be wisdom to retire
within the shelter of the reading-room, and pass the hour before lunch
in the company of a novel which he had brought on board with his
effects. He had carried the book upstairs earlier in the morning, and
placed it in a corner of the room where he believed it would be safe
from alien hands; but, alas! the best-laid plans "gang aft a-gley," and
when he went in search, he met with a shock of disappointment. The book
had been appropriated, and the thief was seated in the very corner which
he had destined for himself, bending over the pages with every
appearance of absorption. Her face was hidden from view, and all that
could be seen was a trim little figure in a trim white gown, a pair of
trim little feet, a sleek brown head, and a well-rounded cheek. No one
could deny that it was a pleasing figure, but the lordly stranger was
too much ruffled in his feelings to be influenced by appearances. His
manner was perhaps a trifle less haughty than it would have been, had
the thief taken the shape of an elderly gentleman, but he never wavered
in his intention, and only stopped for an imperceptible moment in his
progress up the room to demand a return of the volume.
"Excuse me. Ah! _My_ book, I think! Sorry to interrupt you, but--"
The young lady laid down the book and lifted her face to his. A flicker
as of mingled surprise and pleasure passed over her features as she saw
who it was that stood before her, but she showed not the slightest sign
of discomfiture.
"I beg a thousand pardons!" she said, and inclined her head in such a
bow as an empress might bestow on a blundering and ignorant supplicant.
It was such a very grand air for such a small person that the big
officer drew a breath of surprise, and gazed down with a startled
interest. The girl's features were delicately modelled; the brows might
have been drawn with a pencil, so clear and perfect was the arch which
they described, and the brilliant hazel eyes met his with a mocking
glance. For almost the first time in his life a spasm of discomfiture
seized him, a struggling suspicion that his conduct had not been
altogether above reproach. He stood with the book in his hand,
hesitating, uncertain.
"If you would care to read it, pray keep it! I shall be most happy to
lend it to you."
The girl waved her hand with a gracious patronage.
"Not for the world, until you have finished! When you have no more use
for it yourself, perhaps you will be good enough to renew the offer.
Meantime, there are plenty of other books. The library seems very
large."
"I make a point of never reading the ship's books. You never--aw--know
who has had them last!" drawled the stranger, sweeping a scathing glance
over the well-filled shelves; "and, as a rule, they are in such shocking
condition. People seem to take a malign satisfaction in tearing out the
most important pages, so that, after wading through a whole volume, you
are left in uncertainty as to what really happened."
"But sometimes that is a blessing in disguise, for by exercising a
little imagination you can make the story end as you like, and spare
yourself the pain of disappointment. I rarely read a book without
reflecting how much better I could have finished it myself," remarked
the young lady, with an assurance which evoked a smile on the officer's
impassive countenance.
"You don't look much like an authoress," he said, surveying the dainty
little figure approvingly, and calling up a mental picture of the
spectacled and cadaverous female invariably associated with a literary
career in the masculine mind. "I am afraid my imagination will hardly
stand such a strain; but books are the only refuge for the destitute on
a voyage, especially during the first few days, when you find yourself
shut up with a herd of strangers whom you have never met before in the
course of your life. There is only one thing to do under the
circumstances, and that is to lie low, and speak to no one until you
have found your bearings and discovered who is who. If you go about
talking to strangers, you can never tell in what sort of a set you may
land yourself."
"You can't, indeed! It's appalling to think of!" agreed the young lady,
with a dramatic gesture of dismay which brought her little ringed hands
together in decided emphasis. "For my own part I get on well enough,"
she proceeded, contradicting herself with unruffled composure, "for I
can find something interesting in all of my fellow-creatures; but I feel
it for my maid! The couriers and valets are so _very_ exclusive that
she has been snubbed more than once because of our inferior station.
Naturally she feels it keenly. I observe that those people are most
sensitive about their position who have the least claim to distinction;
but as she does my hair better than any one else, and is an admirable
dressmaker, I am, of course, anxious to keep her happy."
The big man looked down with a suspicious glance. Through his not very
keen sensibilities there had penetrated the suspicion that the small
person in the white frock was daring to smile at him and amuse herself
at his expense; but his suspicion died at once before the glance of
infantile sweetness which met his own. Pretty little thing! there was
something marvellously taking in her appearance. For one moment, as she
had spoken of inferior station, he had had an uneasy fear lest he had
made the acquaintance of some vulgar upstart, with whom he could not
possibly associate. But no! If ever the signs of race and breeding
were distinguishable in personal appearance, they were so in the case of
the girl before him. A glance at the head in its graceful setting, the
delicate features, the dainty hands and feet, was sufficient to settle
the question in the mind of a man who prided himself on being an adept
in such matters. To his own surprise, he found himself floundering
through a complimentary denial of her own estimate of herself, and being
rescued from a breakdown by a gracious acknowledgment.
"Praise," murmured the young lady sweetly--"praise from Major Darcy is
praise indeed! When `Haughty Hector' deigns to approve--"
The big man jumped as if he had been shot, and turned a flushed, excited
face upon her.
"Wh-at?" he gasped. "What do you say? You know me--you know my old
home name! Who are you, then? Who can you be?"
The girl rose to her feet and stood before him. The top of her smooth
little head barely reached his shoulders, but she held herself with an
air of dignity which gave an appearance of far greater height. For one
long minute they stared at one another in silence; then she stretched
out her hand and laid it frankly in his own.
"Why, I'm Peggy!" she cried. "Don't you remember me? I'm Peggy
Saville!"