hester thornton and annie forest had been educated at the same school—the well-known lavender house. the fame of this school, the noble character of its mistress, the excellent training which each girl who went there received, formed a recommendation for each young student in after life. hester and annie had gone through severe storms in these early days. their friendship had been cemented under the influence of great trouble. it was exactly a year now since hester had been suddenly sent for from her busy and happy school life to take care of her father through a dangerous illness. he found her company so sweet, her skill and tact in managing his house so great, that he resolved not to allow her to go back to school again. annie forest was now, therefore, the head girl at lavender house. she was mrs. willis's right hand; her help and support in every way. annie was as great a favourite as of old, and [pg 17]as love and kindness had developed all the best side of her character, she was no longer the tomboy of the school, nor the one who was invariably the ringleader when mischief was afloat. she was still impulsive, however—eager, impatient—for such a nature as hers must fight on to the end of the chapter. she did not possess hester thornton's steady principles, and would always be influenced, whether for good or evil, by her companions. she was only to spend one more term at school; the future, after that, was practically unknown to her.
"i wish you'd tell me about nan," said hester, on the first evening of annie's visit to the grange. "i don't know why, but i feel a little anxious about her."
"you need not be," replied annie. "she is a dear, jolly little pet, and as open as the day."
"she seems to get wilder and wilder," replied hester. "you must have noticed, annie, how she irritates my father."
"of course i did," replied annie. "do you know, het, that i had the unbounded cheek to give him a piece of my mind this evening?"
annie was seated on the side of hester's bed. she was in a blue dressing-gown, and her dark hair, in a mass of rebellious curls, was falling about her shoulders.
"i forgot that nan was in the room," she said, putting her finger to her lips and glancing in the direction of nan's small bed. "the little monkey may be awake, and i don't want her to hear my nonsense."
"she is sound asleep," replied hester. "if she were awake, she would soon acquaint us with the fact."
[pg 18]
"shall i tell you what i really said to your father?" continued annie.
"i don't know that i want to hear. i hope you did not shock him, for he is prepared to like you very much."
"i am prepared to like him. i think he is a delightful host; but, oh, how i should hate him for a father."
"annie!"
hester's delicate face flushed crimson, her eyes flashed an angry light.
annie jumped off the bed and ran to her friend's side.
"now you are angry with me," she said; "but if i told him the truth, i may surely tell you. i know you are as good as an angel, but i am quite certain that he ruffles you up the wrong way."
"don't, annie," said hester, in a voice of pain.
she walked to the window as she spoke, drew up the blind, and looked out. the night was dark, but innumerable stars could be seen in the deep, unfathomable vault of the sky. hester clenched one of her hands tightly together. annie stood and watched her.
"i would not hurt you for the world," she said. "i am sorry, very sorry; the fact is, i love you with all my heart, but i don't understand you."
"yes you do, too well," replied hester; "but there are some things i cannot and will not talk about even to you. now let me take you to your room, the hour is very late."
annie's pretty room was just on the other side of the passage. hester took her to it, saw that she had every comfort, and wished her good-night. she then [pg 19]stood for a moment, with a look of irresolution on her face, in the corridor.
"i don't believe nurse is in bed; i will go and speak to her," she said to herself. "i thought the day when i welcomed nan back from school, and when annie came to visit me, would be quite the happiest day of my life, but it would never do to make my father's home uncomfortable for him." she reached the baize door, opened it, and soon found herself in the old nursery. she was right, nurse was not yet in bed.
"well, now, my deary!" exclaimed the old woman, "and why are you losing your beauty sleep in this fashion? when i was young things used to be very different. girls had to be in bed by ten o'clock sharp to keep away the wrinkles, but now they're all agog to burn the candle at both ends. it don't pay, miss hetty, my pet, it don't pay."
"i'm all right, nursey," replied hester. "i'm the quietest and most jog-trot girl in the world as a rule. of course i'm excited to-night, because nan has come back."
"bless her dear heart!" ejaculated nurse; "but i'm not to say satisfied about her hair, miss hetty. i don't believe it's pointed often enough. i found a lot of split ends when i was combing it out to-night."
"oh, i think nan is all right in every way," replied hester. "no one could be kinder to her than mrs. willis, and she is very happy at school. nurse, i've just come here for a moment to ask you to be very careful what you say to nan about my father. you see, the object of my life is to make him happy, and to be a good daughter to him, and, in short, to try to take my mother's place."
[pg 20]
"eh, dear, we all know that," replied nurse, "and a sweeter young mistress there couldn't be. why, there isn't a servant in the house who wouldn't do anything in the world for you, miss hetty; and everything in apple-pie order, and the meals served regular and beautiful, and inside and out perfect order, and all because there's an old head on young shoulders. there, perhaps it isn't a compliment i'm paying you, my dearie, but in one sense it is."
"do you really think i manage well?" asked the girl, an anxious tone in her voice.
"manage well? you manage beautiful. your own mother, if she were alive, couldn't do better."
"i can never forget my mother," replied hester, tears rising to her eyes. "well, nurse, you will be very careful what you say to nan. the object of my life is to make my father happy. if i can do that, i am content."
"you do, you do," replied the old woman. "no mortal can do more than their best, and you do that. now, good-night, miss hester."
hester took up her candle and went away. nurse stood and watched the pretty young figure as it disappeared down the corridor.
"there," she said to herself as she began to prepare for her own bed. "there's another victim. don't i know what my mistress was, and don't i know that sir john's coldness and sharpness and no-heartedness just hurried her into her grave? never a bit of real hearty love could he give to anyone. just as just could be—righteous as righteous could be, but hard as a flint. my mistress drooped and faded and died, and miss hester will follow in her footsteps if i don't look [pg 21]after her. sometimes i wish the master would marry again, and that he'd get a tartar of a wife. he might think of another wife if things were a bit uncomfortable here, but that they never will be while miss hetty is at the helm. she's a born manager, bless her, with her gentle ways and her firm words and her pretty little dignity. miss nan's business in life, it seems to me, is to set places all in a muddle, and miss hetty's to smooth them out again. of course it's due to miss hetty to be mistress of the grange, but sometimes i fear the life is too much for her, and she'll fret and fade like her mother before her; if i really thought that, i'd set my wits to work, old as i am, to get a real selfish wife for the master, who'd teach him a thing or two, for that's what he wants."
at this stage in her meditations, nurse laid her head on her pillow and was soon fast asleep.
the next morning promised a perfect day, and hester, annie, and nan met in high spirits in the breakfast-room. the post had not yet arrived, but a letter was lying on hester's plate.
"that's in dad's writing," said nan, going up and examining it critically; "now what's up?"
hester took the letter and opened it. it contained a few brief words. she read them with a sinking of heart which she could not account for—
"my dear hetty,—your young companions will make the house quite gay for you. i shall, therefore, take the opportunity of going from home for a few days. i will send you a line to let you know when you may expect me back.—your affectionate father, john thornton.
"p.s.—i shall have left before you are down in the morning. give my love to nan, and wish miss forest good-bye for me. by the way, she is interested in australia, so will you show her where henry kingsley's novels are to be found in the library?"
[pg 22]
nan, who had been peeping over hester's shoulder while she was reading, now suddenly clapped her hands, shouted "hurrah" at the top of her voice, and, running up to annie, began to waltz round and round the breakfast-table with her.
"oh, oh!" she exclaimed, "then little girls may be heard as well as seen. annie, there are two proverbs which are the bane of my life. i wonder dad has not had them both illuminated and framed and hung up in my nursery. one of them is: 'little girls should be seen and not heard.' what a detestable old prig the person must have been who invented that proverb! i ask you, annie, what would life be without little girls and their chatter? the other proverb is nearly as objectionable. this is it: 'make a page of your own age.' according to dad, that only applies to little girls, and it means that they must always be fagging round, hunting for slippers and spectacles and newspapers and books for the older people who are past the age for paging, and that no one is ever to wait on them, however tired or however disinclined to stir they may happen to be. now there'll be no one to make me page, and no one to keep me silent. oh, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! what a dear old dad to absent himself in this obliging manner."
"for my part, i am very sorry," said annie, for hester had passed her on the letter to read.
hester said nothing, and breakfast began, nan wasting as usual a prodigal amount of energy and spirits even over the operation of eating, hester looking a little pale and a little thoughtful, annie in a state of suppressed high spirits, which a slight awe which she still felt at times for hester thornton kept rather in check.
