by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER L.
A DAZZLING DAY.
Mrs. Ellsworthy felt very much excited when Miss Egerton left her. Shepaced up and down her pretty boudoir, her cheeks were flushed and herpretty eyes bore traces of tears. Miss Egerton had told the goodlittle lady for the first time the sad story of Daisy's terribleadventure with Mr. Dove. All the poor little child's terror, and herfinal flight into the country, were graphically described by the goodwoman.
"She went to find me, little darling, little darling," repeated Mrs.Ellsworthy, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, my dear little girl!to think of her being turned away from my very gates."
When Miss Egerton at last took her leave Mrs. Ellsworthy felt too muchexcited to stay quiet; and when her husband came into the room hefound her much perturbed.
"Joseph," she said, running up to him, "I have such a story for you,"and then she once again repeated little Daisy's adventure.
"And Joseph," she added, "Miss Egerton and I have quite agreed thatyou and I are to educate the girls; and, Joseph, the dear goodcreature is resolved that they shall stay with her in town, and thatyou and I are only to have the pleasure of spending any amount ofmoney on them; but I will not have it. Joseph, I am resolved that theyshall come to us at Shortlands, and have the instructions of the verybest governess I can procure for them, and then in the spring thedarlings shall come up to town, and have masters for every conceivablesort of accomplishment. Oh, Joseph, we shall have our Jasmine yet, asour very own."
Mr. Ellsworthy smiled, kissed his wife, patted her on the cheek, toldher to do just what she liked, and went downstairs to his belovedbooks. But Mrs. Ellsworthy's excitement kept her on thorns for thegreater part of the evening.
That night she dreamt of the Mainwarings; dreamt that she saw Daisy'spiteous little face when she was turned away from her gates; dreamtagain a brighter dream, that Jasmine had her arms round her neck, andwas calling her mother; that Primrose, with none of her sweet dignityabated, was smiling at her, and saying gratefully, "I accept yourkindness; I will gladly take your money; I will come and live with youat Shortlands, and be to you as a daughter." And Daisy was saying, inthat funny little sententious voice of hers which she sometimes used,"Weren't we all naughty, and aren't we good now, and is it not a goodthing that our pride should have a fall?"
Mrs. Ellsworthy sighed deeply when she awoke from this beautifuldream.
"It was but a dream," she said to herself, and she went downstairssadly and soberly to her breakfast.
Mr. Ellsworthy had breakfasted at a much earlier hour, and the littlelady had her beautifully-appointed table to herself.
"Now, if the girls were all here," she thought, "how pleasant andcheerful it would be! Primrose should sit just opposite to me, andpour out the coffee; she would do it very nicely and deftly, and wouldlook so sweet and daughterly. And Jasmine--little witch!--I do notsuppose she would keep the same seat two mornings running, and Ishould have to tell her over and over not to jump up every moment torush to the window. Daisy would sit near me, and, of course, I shouldhave to have a special chair made for that funny kitten of hers. Iwould dress the three girls in white--white is so sweet for girls--andhow Jasmine and Daisy would chatter; their voices are very sweet intone, and they never talk too fast, so as to make one's head ache. Ioften fancy I hear Jasmine talking to me now, her voice is sobright--and--oh, dear! is not that very like her voice? Who is thatasking for me in the hall? Surely, surely, it must be JasmineMainwaring. No other voice that I know has such a ring about it."
Mrs. Ellsworthy half rose from her seat, half sat down again, and thecolor of eager anticipation flushed her cheeks.
The eager voice outside came nearer, light steps sounded in the hall,and the next moment Jasmine had her arms round her friend's neck, andwas kissing her, while both woman and girl wept.
"I had to come to you," said Jasmine, while she wiped some brightfalling tears away. "I have not come to stay, nor to give you ouraddress, nor to do anything of which Primrose would not approve; butafter Miss Egerton told me last night all that you wanted to do forus, and how you still loved us, I just had to run round and thank youand kiss you. Primrose and Daisy are still in the country, and Daisyis better. Aren't you glad she will be all right again soon?"
"Have breakfast with me, Jasmine," said Mrs. Ellsworthy. "I wasthinking so much about you, and so longing to see you, and to have youin the room seems like a beautiful dream realized. Sit down now andhave some breakfast with me."
"I did not have any at home, so I will," answered Jasmine. "I stayedawake half the night thinking about you. Oh, you are a real, realfriend!"
"And I spent the greater part of the night dreaming about you threegirls," said Mrs. Ellsworthy. "Have some buttered toast, Jasmine, andsome of this apricot preserve."
"Did you dream about us last night?" asked Jasmine. "Did you really?You must love us very much."
"I believe I do. Now, Jasmine, I will not ask you for your address. Iwill do nothing more to really help you until we get Primrose'sletter, but I want you all the same to spend this whole long day withme."
Jasmine smiled, and her cheeks flushed.
"It would be very luxurious," she said, "and such a change from ourattics, although Daisy does call them a Palace Beautiful. Will youtake me for a drive, if I stay, Mrs. Ellsworthy, and will you let meimagine myself quite a rich little girl all day long? You must notgive me any presents, you know, for Primrose would not like that; butI can imagine I have got all kinds of things, and I wonder, oh! Iwonder, if we might call to see Poppy this afternoon?"
"We will take her too for a drive in the Park," said Mrs. Ellsworthy."I have heard a great deal of that Poppy of yours, and I think she isquite a splendid kind of girl."
Thus a very delightful programme was unexpectedly realized by twolittle hard-working London girls, for Mrs. Ellsworthy gave herself upto be enchanting, and took Poppy away from her work of drudgery, andfrom the astonished ladies of the boarding-house.
Poppy, in her dazzlingly brilliant hat, and with her cheeks quiteflaming with excitement, stepped into the carriage, and drove away,facing Mrs. Ellsworthy and Jasmine, to the great scandal of thefootman, who was obliged, sorely against his will, to assist her toher place.
Mrs. Ellsworthy took the girls all round the Park, and then to a placeof amusement, and finally she presented Poppy with a very neat browndress and jacket, and hat to match, saying, as she did so, that reallyJasmine, even though she forbade her to offer her any presents, couldnot lay a like embargo with regard to her friends.
"It's of all the dazzlings, the most blindingly beautiful," wasPoppy's oft-reiterated comment. "Oh! won't I have something to tellthem ladies about bye-and-bye! Oh, my! Miss Jasmine, what a neat hat,miss! I don't mind denuding this one now, for I has got a 'at from aWest End shop what beats anything that Miss Slowcum wears forgentility."
Finally, Jasmine and Poppy both returned to their respective homes,tired, but wonderfully happy little girls.
Mrs. Ellsworthy also laid her head that night on her pillow with awonderful sense of satisfaction.
"Even if they do not come to me--although they must come," shesoliloquized, "I am glad--I shall all my life be glad that I gaveJasmine a happy day."
