Ten minutes later Peggy emerged from behind the cluster of palm-trees,
and laid her hand on Rob's arm to accompany him to the refreshment-room
below.
"You still retain your old weakness for ices, then?" he had asked her,
and the "I--do--so!" which came in reply was so emphatic that it evoked
a hearty laugh of approval. A group of people standing near at hand
turned round to stare with amused curiosity at the tall man and his
little partner who were on such good terms with each other, and one or
two of the men, recognising Rob, bowed to him with an air of surprise.
Then they passed into a second room, and Peggy was instantly aware that
something unusual was in the air, for every one seemed flocking together
in one corner and listening in charmed silence to the sound of one
flute-like voice. Peggy had hardly time to catch the sound of a
familiar lisp before there came a quick exclamation of surprise, and a
radiant vision, all pink and white and glitter of diamonds, glided
forward to meet her.
"It's Mawiquita! It is! Her own little self! A hundwed welcomes,
Peggy! I've just returned to town, and was coming to see you to-morrow,
the vewy first thing. Lady Norton--evewybody--please excuse me for
running away, but Miss Saville is my vewy deawest fwiend, and I have not
seen her for four whole years, so I really must take possession of her
at once." Rosalind flashed a glance round the group of deserted
admirers, and swept along by Peggy's side, smiling down from her
superior altitude, and indulging in a string of demonstrative welcomes,
at which Rob scowled with heavy eyebrows. As for Peggy, she could only
stare, and gasp, and stare again, and blink her eyes, to discover if
this vision were a veritable piece of flesh and blood, or some beautiful
princess out of a fairy-tale, who would suddenly vanish from her sight.
It was one thing to be told that Rosalind was a celebrated beauty, and
to summon up her features in cold mental survey; it was another and more
impressive experience to see the exquisite colouring of the lovely face,
and meet the beguiling glance of the deep blue eyes. Peggy's heart went
out towards the beautiful creature, and she felt a thrill of complacent
pride in the knowledge that Rosalind had left her other friends on
purpose to enjoy her own society. They sat down in a corner of the
refreshment-room and smiled at one another shyly, while Rob went in
search of ices, for though there was much to say, it was not easy to
know where to begin, and after four years' separation there is a certain
constraint between even the oldest of friends.
"So this is why Rob turned up to-night. I might have guessed as much!"
cried Rosalind, laughing. "But really, Peggy, I have been so accustomed
to thinking of you in India that I never gwasped the idea that you might
be here, till I looked up and saw you walking acwoss the woom with your
head in the air, and the old Mawiquita stwide. I can't tell you how
glad I am to see you. You must come and stay with me, dear, and I'll
tell you all my news, and we can go about together. When can you come?
We shall be in town for some weeks yet, so any time that suits you will
do for me."
"I'm afraid I can't make any promises at present, Rosalind, for we are
house-hunting, and when we find what we want we shall be busy getting
all in order. The only visit I mean to pay this summer is to Mrs
Asplin at the vicarage, and I am going there with Mellicent in ten days'
time. Mellicent is here to-night; she is staying with us at the hotel."
"You don't mean it! Mellicent Asplin here! How extwaordinary it
seems!" Rosalind gave a chilly little laugh, and tilted her chin in the
air. "You are vewy couwageous, Mawiquita. I should never have dared
such an experiment. The Asplins are charming in the country, but they
seem out of place in town. And your first season too! What possessed
you to saddle yourself with such a hopeless burden as poor fat
Mellicent?"
"Poor fat Mellicent is not hopeless at all; she is so much appreciated
to-night that I've not had a chance of a word with her for the last
hour. She is not fat, and looks far too bonnie to deserve any pity;
besides, I wanted to see her badly, and didn't care a bit about her
appearance. I love the Asplins, and would do anything I could to give
them pleasure. They were unspeakably good to Arthur and to me. I don't
know what we should have done without them all the time we were alone."
Rosalind's face sobered suddenly, and she gave a struggling sigh.
"You are just the same as ever, I can see, Mawiquita," she said slowly,
"not changed a bit. I'm so glad you have come home, for I want to speak
to you about--oh, lots of things! You don't know how often I have
thought of you, and said to myself, `I'll ask Peggy! I'll see what
Peggy says!' I've never had a girl fwiend that I cared for so much as
you, and I knew you would say just what you thought, however
disagweeable it might be. I think it's vewy bwave to say disagweeable
things, because even if people take your advice, they are always cwoss
with you for giving it. I like people to like me, so I find out what
they want to do, and tell them it is the vewy wisest plan, and they go
away more pleased with me than ever; but I knew you wouldn't do that,
unless you were vewy much changed. I wanted you to be the same, Peggy,
and I heard some things about you lately which set my mind at rest on
that point. You still use big words, I hear, and are vewy, vewy
dignified when any one ventures to contwadict you, but not too dignified
to pass your neighbour salt instead of sugar, or to pretend to arrange a
fwiend's sash, and then tie it in such a way that the poor thing dwagged
her chair with her when she twied to rise. Not too dignified to play
your old twicks still, Peggy Saville."
"Who has been telling tales about me?" cried Peggy wrathfully. "A
little bird, indeed! A great big bird, you mean. A big enough bird to
have kept his own counsel. It's a poor thing, if one can't have a
little innocent fun in mid-ocean without having it brought up in
judgment against one in a London drawing-room. I'm disgusted with
Hector! He might have kept silence out of gratitude, at least. I never
took any liberties with him."
"Perhaps he would have liked it better if you had," said Rosalind slyly,
and her eyes looked into Peggy's with a meaning glance. "It's a good
thing I am so fond of you, my dear, or I should have gwown pwetty tired
of your name during the last few weeks. It was extraordinary how every
conversation with Hector worked wound to Peggy Saville. We could not
even ask him to take a second cup of tea without being told how many
cups Peggy Saville drank, and what were her views about cweam and sugar.
I used to time him by my watch, and see how long it would be before he
managed to intwoduce the subject, and seven and a half minutes was the
wecord. The average was five."
"Very gratifying, I'm sure! Pleased to hear he has such good taste,"
laughed Peggy, trying to carry off her embarrassment by carelessness of
manner. She was by no means deaf to Rosalind's insinuation, and the
knowledge that haughty Hector had been so favourably impressed by her
fascinations could not fail to be agreeable to a girlish heart. Hector
prided himself on being the most supercilious of men, and it was a
triumph to have roused him out of his usual indifference. The love of
power was as strong as ever within Peggy's heart, and, it pleased her to
feel that she could influence this experienced man of the world. There
are many ways in which temptation comes to a young girl, and perhaps
none more subtle than this, for in the beginning it seems so innocent,
yet it leads so often to disastrous results. Peggy would have been
horrified if she had been accused of an intention to flirt with Hector
Darcy, and, to do her justice, she was entirely innocent of such a wish,
but she did distinctly hug the thought that it was "fun" to manage him,
and determined in her heart not to throw away the power which she had
gained.
At that moment Rob came back with the ices which he had managed to steer
safely across the room, and Peggy casting about in her mind for a change
of subject, was not at all grateful to Rosalind for repeating her last
remarks for her brother's benefit.
"I am just telling Mawiquita how incessantly Hector has talked about her
since his weturn. It seems strange that they should know each other so
well. Nearly two months you were together, weren't you, Peggy? Two
months is a long time, especially when you are travelling. It is as
good as two years at home. I dare say you feel as if you knew Hector
much better than you do Rob, for it is really six years now since you
two saw much of each other."
Rosalind spoke with a guileless sweetness of manner, and nothing could
have been more innocent than the expression of her eyes; nevertheless
Peggy suspected that a deliberate intention to annoy lurked behind the
amicable manner, for it was evident that there was no more sympathy than
of old between the brother and sister. She flushed indignantly, and was
about to make a heated reply, when two tall figures appeared in the
doorway, and waved an eager greeting. The older of the two was none
other than Hector Darcy himself--(Tiresome creature! to put in an
appearance at such an inopportune moment!)--and Arthur was his
companion, looking well, what Arthur always _did_ look in his sister's
eyes--the handsomest and most distinguished man in the room. Peggy had
seen him earlier in the evening, but through all the embarrassment of
meeting Hector with his sister's words still ringing in her ears, she
was acutely conscious of every detail of his meeting with Rosalind; her
little rustling movement of agitation, the flash in his eyes, above all,
the eloquent silence with which hand met hand. Alas, poor Arthur! no
need to wonder any longer if he cared, with that look on his face, that
tell-tale light in his eye! After the first quick glance his sister
averted her eyes, as from something sacred, and poured out a flood of
rapid, inconsequent talk to the new-comer. Hector was unaffectedly
delighted at the meeting, and became unusually lively, as he retailed
items of information about different passengers on board the steamer,
whom he had met since his return to England, while Peggy in her turn had
her own little histories to add to the store.
"You remember the old lady in the alpaca dress who called me a `restful
influence'? It appears she is the head of the millinery department in
one of the Calcutta shops, and was on her way to Paris to study
fashions. We ran across her in a restaurant there, and she told us all
about it, and offered to get my hats at wholesale prices. I thanked her
kindly, but taking note of the fact that she was wearing a purple toque
with trimmings of crimson and green, politely but firmly refused."
"I should think so, indeed! Terrible old person! How you ever endured
her as you did, I cannot understand. Remember young Chamberlain?
Handsome fellow with big nose and square shoulders. I met him the other
day in Piccadilly with a brand-new wife. Married the week he came back,
after seven years' engagement. Introduced me to his wife with as much
side as if no one had ever been married before!"
"How sweet of him! He was a really nice man. He always went into the
services on Sunday, and joined ira the hymns, instead of lolling about
at the other end of the deck, like many of the men. He had some friends
travelling second-class, too, and wasn't a bit ashamed of it, but used
to go and see them regularly. I hope he will be very, very happy. Was
she pretty?"
"Not an atom! Might have been once on a time, perhaps, in the
prehistoric ages, but she is too pale and faded nowadays. By no means
in her first bloom, I assure you."
"Well, she has lost it in waiting for him, so he would be a mean wretch
if he liked her any the worse. _Such_ a joke! You remember that fat
old man with the crimson face who was so furious with little Miss Muir
when she spoke against Gladstone? He jumped up and down like a Jack in
the Box, and said he was `surprised, madam, that any one of your
intelligence, madam, should be so blinded by prejudice, madam--' You
remember how we looked on from afar, and christened him `A Study in
Scarlet'? Well, two days ago, mother had a letter from Miss Muir
herself, and they are going to be married in August! It seems he never
rested until he converted her to his own views, and then he was so
pleased with her for agreeing with him that this is the result. She
seems so happy, poor old dear, and says that though hot-tempered he has
a warm and loving heart. I notice that people with especially violent
tempers always take refuge behind the plea of loving hearts! Whom else
have you seen?"
"I had an invitation to call upon the Shores, and went on Sunday week.
Miss Eveline was in greater form than ever. I am sure you would have
liked to see her."
Peggy shrugged her shoulders viciously.
"K-r-r-eature! Don't allude to her in my presence, please. No one
shall hear me breathe a word about a member of my own sex, but of all
the miserable, contemptible, mean little wretches that ever breathed,
she was the worst! I'll _never_ have anything to say to a girl who
snubs her own mother before strangers, and makes fun of her poor old
father, because he has given her a better education than he had himself.
One day he was talking to me about the view, and enjoying himself so
much--he really was a most affable old man--when she happened to come up
and overhear him say something about the `Hopen haspect!' She shrugged
her shoulders and smiled at me, and I turned a basilisk countenance upon
her and glared, lit-er-ally gl-ared with anger." Peggy turned her head
with a delighted remembrance of her own severity, then once more
softened into smiles.
"Any news of my _dear_ friend, General Andrews? You have seen him, of
course? Did he ask for my address?"
"I am afraid not. I really can't remember that he did."
Peggy sighed.
"He promised me a tiger skin," she said sorrowfully, "and a brass tray,
and some carved ivories, and a dressing-gown, and an elephant's foot!
The elephant's foot was to be mounted for me, and he gave me the choice
of how it was to be done, and said he would take it to a skilful man. I
think he must have killed a whole herd of elephants, for he promised a
foot to every girl on board. He was a most promising creature, and his
intentions were admirable. I am sure that at the time he meant all he
said, and I can't blame him for his forgetfulness, for my own memory is
at times sadly defective."
She glanced roguishly in Rob's face as she concluded, as if recalling
past mishaps, and he smiled in return, but in a strained, unnatural
fashion which she was quick to notice. Rob knew none of the people of
whom she had been talking with his brother, and could enter into none of
the jokes which were associated with their names. It was only natural,
therefore, that he should feel debarred from the conversation.
Peggy drew a long breath of dismay. What a strange world it was, and
how differently things turned out from what one expected! To think that
at this first meeting it should be _Rob_ who was left out in the cold,
and not Hector; Rob who stood aside and was silent, Hector who laughed
and talked with the ease of intimate friendship! It gave her a
miserable feeling of self-reproach that it should be so; and yet how was
she to blame? The situation had arisen naturally enough.
She gave a little movement of impatience, and her thoughts went off at a
tangent, while in appearance she was still listening attentively to
Hector's reminiscences.
Rosalind and Arthur were whispering together with longer pauses between
the sentences than is usual in the converse of friends. She was smiling
into his face in her sweetest, most winsome manner, but he did not look
happy. His face wore the same troubled, fighting expression which his
sister had noticed on the evening of her arrival in London.
Hector's complacent serenity stood out in soothing relief at once from
Arthur's strain and Rob's moody silence, for moody Rob looked indeed,
with his closed lips and heavy brows. A vivid remembrance flashed into
Peggy's mind of a schoolboy, raising his head from a microscope and
scowling darkly at some unhappy wight who had incurred his displeasure,
and with the remembrance a wild longing to be a school-girl again, in
short frocks and pigtail, a scrap of a school-girl who could swing
herself on to the table to pinch his arm, or mimic each gesture as it
came, pulling her own sleek locks into an imitation of his shaggy crop,
and scowling so darkly that, against his will, he was forced into
laughter. Many a time in the days gone by had she smoothed the "black
dog" off Rob's back in some such fashion; but now the age of propriety
had dawned, and it was not permitted to take such liberties.
"I'm a lady growed, and I'll act according," said Peggy to herself; "but
dear, dear me, what a handicap it is! He would enjoy it so much, and so
should I. Well, at least I can say I want to go upstairs, and then we
can have another nice talk. I haven't said half or a quarter of what is
in my mind."
She rose from her seat, turning towards Rob to claim his escort; but
before she had time to speak, Hector's arm was thrust forward, and
Hector's voice protested eagerly:
"Let me take you. I have so much to tell you yet. Take my arm, and let
me pilot you through the crowd."
Peggy stood hesitating and uncertain between the two tall brothers.
"But--" she began feebly, and then looked at Rob, waiting for him to
finish the sentence.
So far Rob had made no protest, but the moment he met that glance, there
came a sudden flash to the eye, a straightening to the back, which made
a startling transformation in the aspect of the dreamy student.
As he stood thus, he was as tall as Hector himself; the rugged strength
of his face made him an even more imposing figure.
"But Peggy came down with me," he said firmly, "and it is my place to
take her back."
"Nonsense, my dear boy. You have had your talk. It's my turn now.
Peggy and I have a great many things to say to each other, and--"
"Plenty of opportunities ahead in which to say them. To-night will not
be your only meeting. Take my arm, Peggy," said Rob sternly; and Peggy
gasped and took it, and marched away meek and blushing, conscious to the
very curls on her neck of the amazed disgust with which Hector watched
her retreat.
Outside, in the corridor, her eyes met Rob's, and she made a little
grimace of alarm.
"_Now_ you have done it! How furious he looked!"
"Serve him right," said Rob lightly. "And I'll do it again the very
next time he comes interfering between you and me! There are some
things, Mariquita, that a fellow can _not_ be expected to stand!"
Peggy gave a happy little trill of laughter. After all, there were some
good points about being grown-up. At that moment she had no hankering
whatever for the days of pigtails and pinafores!