the day following the secret meeting of the[283] mafia was one of those devoted to home correspondence. the girls were alloted forty minutes during school hours: they brought their writing-cases into the class-room, and scribbled off as many letters as possible during the brief time allowed. on this particular wednesday dulcie was much in arrears; she wrote three letters to sicily, one to an aunt in london, a short scrawl to everard, and was beginning "my dear cousin clare," when miss hardy entered the room in a hurry.
"jones has to leave half an hour earlier," she announced, "and he wants to take the post-bag now. be quick, girls, and give me your letters!"
a general scramble of finishing and stamping ensued. dulcie, who had not addressed her envelopes, folded her loose sheets anyhow, and trusted to luck that the foreign letters were not over-weight.
"i can't help it if they have to pay extra on[284] them," she confided to carmel. "they look rather heavy, certainly, but i hadn't any thin note paper, you see."
"douglas will pay up cheerfully, i'm sure!"
"how do you know that his was a heavy one?"
"oh, i can guess!"
"i was only answering a number of questions he asked me. it's very unkind not to answer people's questions!"
"most decidedly! i quite agree with you!" laughed carmel.
the letters were posted in glazebrook that evening by the factotum jones, and dulcie, though her thoughts might possibly follow the particular heavy envelope addressed to montalesso, dismissed her other items of correspondence completely from her mind. she was taking a run round the garden the next morning at eleven o'clock "break," when to her immense surprise she heard a trotting of horse's hoofs on the drive, and who should appear but everard, riding rajah. the rules at chilcombe hall were strict. no visits were allowed, even from brothers, without special permission from miss walters. hitherto everard had come over only by express invitation from the head-mistress, and this had been given sparingly, at discreet intervals, and always for the afternoon. surely some most unusual circumstance must have brought him to[285] school at the early hour of eleven in the morning? dulcie flew across the lawn, calling his name. at the sight of his sister everard dismounted, and greeted her eagerly.
"hello! how are you? how's carmel?" he began. "i say, you know, this has been a shocking business! you look better than i expected" (scanning her face narrowly). "it's a mercy you aren't all under the daisies! is carmel really lame? what about those fits? i came directly i read your letter. a specialist must be sent for at once! i can't understand miss walters taking it so lightly. we ought to have been told at once, directly it happened."
as everard poured forth these remarks, dulcie's expression underwent several quick changes, and passed from astonishment to sudden comprehension and mirth.
"we're better, thanks!" she choked. "and carmel can hobble about quite well on her crutches, and her face isn't very black now, not like it was at first, though of course she still has the fits pretty regularly, and the doctor says——"
but at that moment her mendacious statement was contradicted by carmel herself, who came running over the lawn with an agility that put crutches out of all question, and a complexion that was certainly in no way spoilt.
[286]it was everard's turn to look amazed. he glanced in much perplexity from his cousin, radiant and apparently in the best of health, to his sister, who was almost speechless with laughter.
"you never actually believed my letter about the rat poison?" exploded dulcie. "i explained that it was written for our literary evening. i told you, everard, i only sent it on for you to read because it sounded so funny, and i was rather proud of it!"
"you told me nothing of the sort!"
"oh, but i did indeed! unless—" (suddenly sobering down), "unless i forgot to put my other letter into the envelope, and only sent you the rat-poison one! i was in such a hurry! oh, good-night! isn't it just like me! poor old everard, i never meant to give you such a scare! i'm frightfully sorry! umpteen apologies!"
"then is the whole business fiction?" demanded her brother, with knitted brows.
"oh, everard, don't be angry!" implored carmel. "dulcie didn't mean to rag you! we were having a jolly evening, and each of us had to write something—the funnier the better—and that was dulcie's contribution. she said she was going to send it to you to make you laugh, but of course she meant to put in her other letter to explain that this was only nonsense. but miss hardy came in such a hurry, and whisked all our[287] letters off before we had time to read them over, or hardly to put them in the right envelopes. so you know it was just an accident."
"i rode over at once to see what was the matter!"
everard's voice still sounded offended, though slightly mollified.
"i know you did, and it was ever so kind of you. i'm only sorry you should have all the trouble. it's been nice to see you, though, and we do thank you for coming."
"it must be a relief to find we don't squint or hobble on crutches," added dulcie naughtily. "how shall we explain to miss walters if she catches you?"
"i'd better be going!" declared everard. "isn't that your school-bell ringing? well, i'm glad at any rate to find you all right. shan't dare to believe any of your letters in future, dulcie!
"'matilda told such awful lies,
it made you gasp and stretch your eyes.
her aunt, who from her earliest youth
had kept a strict regard for truth,
attempted to believe matilda—
the effort very nearly killed her.'
"good-by, carmel! keep my bad young sister in order if you can. she needs some one to look after her." and everard, with a hand on rajah's[288] bridle, nodded smilingly after the girls as they ran towards the house in response to the clanging school-bell.
the rest of the summer term at chilcombe hall seemed to pass very rapidly away, and the space in this book is not enough to tell all that the girls did during those weeks of june sunshine and july heat. there were tennis tournaments and archery contests, cricket matches, picnics and strawberry feasts, as well as the more sober business of lessons, examinations, and a concert to which parents were invited. to carmel it was the pleasantest term she had spent at school, for she had settled down now into english ways, and did not so continually feel the call of her sicilian home. the "hostage," as dulcie still sometimes laughingly called her, if she pined for the casa bianca, had contrived to make herself happy in her northern surroundings, and had won favor with everybody. school girls do not often make a fuss, but, when breaking-up day arrived, and the ingletons drove away in their car, a chorus of cheers followed them from the doorstep, and, though the hoorays were given to all three without discrimination, there is no doubt that they were mainly intended for carmel.
"she's a sport!" said gowan, waving in reply to the white handkerchief that fluttered a farewell. "i don't know any chum i like better. she[289] always plays the game somehow, doesn't she?"
"rather!" agreed noreen. "i think the way she's taken her place at cheverley chase without cuckooing all that family out, or making them jealous, is just marvelous. if anybody deserves her kingdom, it's princess carmel; it's only one in a thousand who could have done what she has."
carmel, indeed, though an unacknowledged sovereign, had managed to win all hearts at the chase. even lilias did not now resent the ownership of one who so rarely urged her own claims; insensibly she had grown fond of her cousin, and liked her company.
the summer holiday promised to be as pleasant as that of last christmas. mr. stacey, who had taken his vacation in june and july, had returned to cheverley in time to greet roland, bevis, and clifford, a welcome state of affairs to cousin clare, for the three lively boys were almost beyond her management, and needed the kindly authority which the tutor knew so well how to wield without friction. all sorts of plans for enjoyment were in the air, a visit to the sea, a motor tour, a garden party, a tennis tournament, a cricket match, even a dance at the chase, when one day something quite unexpected occurred, something which changed the entire course of events, and threw the thoughts of the holiday makers into a new channel. like many extraordinary happenings,[290] it came about in quite an ordinary way.
carmel had left her despatch case at school—a small matter, indeed, but fraught with big consequences. as she wanted some convenient safe spot in which to deposit note paper, old letters, sealing wax, stamps, and other such treasures, cousin clare allowed her to take possession of a writing-desk which stood on the study table. it had belonged to old mr. ingleton, and he had indeed used it till the day before his death, but it had been emptied of its contents by mr. bowden, and was now placed merely as an ornament in the window. it was a large, old-fashioned desk of rosewood, handsomely inlaid with brass, and lined with purple velvet. carmel seized upon it joyfully, and began to transfer some of her many belongings to its hospitable depths. it was well fitted, for there was an ink-pot with a silver top, and a pen-box containing a seal and a silver pen. mr. bowden had left these when he removed the papers, probably considering them as part and parcel of the desk. carmel lifted out the ink-pot to admire its cover, but, though it came out fairly easily, it was a difficult matter to fit it in again. in pushing it back into its place she pulled heavily upon the small wooden division between its socket and the pen-box. to her utter surprise, her action released a spring, a long narrow panel below the pen-box fell away, and revealed a quite[291] unsuspected secret drawer. she opened it in much excitement. inside lay a folded sheet of foolscap paper. her exclamation had called lilias and dulcie from the other side of the room, and all three girls admired and wondered at the contrivance of the secret drawer. together they took out the sheet of paper, unfolded it, and bent their heads over it.
"why, it's grandfather's writing!" exclaimed lilias as she read the first words:—
"this is the last will and testament of me leslie ingleton of cheverley chase near balderton."
"it's surely not another will?" fluttered dulcie.
carmel said nothing; her eyes were devouring the contents of the paper. she read it through carefully to the end, then she asked:
"what was the date of the will in which grandfather left the chase to me? was it not some time in january? well, this is certainly a later date. it must have been signed the very day before he died!"
"does it make any difference?" inquired dulcie breathlessly.
carmel had taken the paper away from her cousins, and stood in the window mastering the meaning of the legal language. she read a certain passage over and over again carefully before she answered. then she looked out through the[292] study window—that window with its wonderful view over the whole range of the ingleton property—she gazed at the gardens and woods and fields that for more than a year had been hers, and hers alone, the estate which to claim as heiress she had been brought from her sicilian home.
"all the difference in the world," she said quietly. "grandfather changed his mind at the last, and left the chase to everard after all!"
"to everard?"
"oh, carmel!"
"are you certain?"
"can there be any mistake?"
"is the will properly signed? let me look! yes, it seems signed and witnessed, as far as i can tell!"
"what are you going to do?"
"shall i ring up mr. bowden?"
"not yet, please," begged carmel. "leave me a moment!"
she was still standing gazing out through the window over the english woods and meadows that she had grown to love so dearly, those wide acres of which any one might have been proud. at last she turned round and answered:
"i am going now to tell the news to the rightful owner of the chase."
everard was sitting in the stone summer-house in the garden, struggling with a difficult problem[293] in mathematics, when suddenly through the ivy-framed doorway danced princess carmel, an excited vision, with carnation cheeks, and dark eyes twinkling like stars. she stopped on the threshold and dropped him a pretty curtsey, then a great generous light seemed to shine in her face as she announced:
"signor everard, allow me to hand you back your inheritance!"
it was the triumph of her life.
mr. bowden, on being sent for to examine the will, found all in perfect order. the legacies to friends and to the other grandchildren were exactly the same as in the former will, the only difference being that the positions of the two cousins were reversed, carmel receiving a handsome sum of money, and everard inheriting the property. there was no doubt that the impetuous old squire had repented his hasty decision, but not liking to confess such weakness to the family lawyer, had drawn up his own will and hidden it in the secret drawer of his desk. possibly he himself was not sure which of the two documents he wished to stand, and had kept this in reserve while he vacillated. fate, for a year and a half, had decided in favor of carmel, then the eternal balance had swung slowly back.
"it seems such a pity that the desk wasn't[294] searched properly at first," said lilias to cousin clare. "think of all the trouble it would have prevented if we had only known about that secret drawer. poor everard! how much he would have been saved!"
"and how immensely much he would have lost!" said cousin clare. "this testing-time of character has been everard's salvation. he is very different now from the thoughtless, self-important boy who looked at everything from his own point of view. he has learnt some of life's stern lessons, and will make a far better owner of the chase than would have been possible without passing through these experiences. i think he realizes that for himself, and would not wish to change anything that has happened."
now that the new will was proved, and cheverley chase was no longer her property, arose the immediate question of carmel's future. she settled it at once for herself, and in spite of all entreaties to remain in england, decided to return to her sicilian home.
"i told you long ago, everard, that i would not keep your inheritance, and i am only too glad to hand it back," she said to her cousin. "you're going to do all the splendid things that i prophesied—take your degree, be a model landowner, get into parliament, and help your country!"
"but i can't do it alone! a kingdom needs a[295] queen as well as a king, carmel! the chase would simply be an empty casket without you! you're the very heart and soul of it all. i will let you go now, dear, for i see you're quite determined, but carmel! carmel! some day in the far future, if you think i have grown into anything like what you wish me to be, then i shall tell you that your throne is waiting for you here in old england—the land of primroses and sweetbriar and true hearts, carmel! and i shall ask you to leave your sicilian flowers and scented orange groves, and come back to claim your kingdom!"
