by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER XII.
IN THE WOOD.
The little princess of Tower Hill and the child of the poor laundress wereboth pronounced out of danger. Death no longer with his terrible sicklehovered over these pretty flowers; they were to make beautiful the gardenof earth for the present.
Waters felt quite sure in her own heart that she, under God, had been themeans of saving Maggie's life, for Maggie had smiled so sweetly andcontentedly when Waters had brought her back the other child's message, andafter that she had ceased to speak about meeting Jo in heaven.
When the scales were turned and the children were pronounced out of danger,they both grew rapidly better, and at the end of a fortnight Maggie wasable to sit up for a few moments at a time, and almost to fatigue thoseabout her with her numerous inquiries about Jo.
Every day Waters went to the hospital, and came back with reports of thesick child, whose progress toward recovery was satisfactory, only not quiteso rapid as Maggie's.
At last the doctor gave Sir John and Lady Ascot permission to take theirlittle darling back to Tower Hill. Mrs. Grenville accompanied her brotherand sister and little niece; and of course in the country Maggie would havethe great happiness of meeting Ralph again.
Ralph by this time had taken the hearts of Miss Grey and the numerousservants at Tower Hill by storm. He was thoroughly at home and thoroughlyhappy, assumed a good deal the airs of a little autocrat, and had more orless his own way in everything. He was delighted to see Maggie, andimmediately drew her away from the rest to talk to her and consult her onvarious subjects.
HE PUT HIS ARM AROUND HIS LITTLE COUSIN.--Page 158.]
"You look rather white and peaky, Mag, but you'll soon brown up now you'vegot into the real country. You must run about a great deal, and forget thatyou were ever ill. You mustn't even mind being a little tottery upon yourlegs at first. I know you must be tottery, because I've been consultingMiss Grey about it, and she once had rheumatic fever, and she used tototter about after it awfully; but the great thing is not to be sentimentalover it, but to determine that you will get back your muscle. Now what doyou think I have found? Come round with me into the shrubbery and you shallsee."
Ralph's words were decidedly a little rough and tonicky, but his actionswere more considerate, for he put his arm round his little cousin and ledher quite gently away. Maggie found the sweet country air delicious; shewas also very happy to feel Ralph's arm round her waist, and she could nothelp giving his little brown hand a squeeze.
"I wish you'd kiss me, Ralph," she said. "I have thought of you so oftenwhen I was getting better; I know you must think me not much of aplayfellow, and I am so sorry that I began by vexing you about therabbits."
"I'll kiss you, of course, Mag," said Ralph. "I don't think kisses are atall interesting things myself, but I'd do a great deal more than that tomake you happy, for I was really, really sorry when you were ill. I don'tthink you're at all a bad sort of playfellow, Mag--I mean for a girl. Andas to the rabbits, why, that was the best deed you ever did. You are comingto see my dear bunnies now."
"Oh, Ralph, you don't mean Bianco and Lily?"
"Yes, I mean my darling white beauties that Jo gave me. I found them againin the wood, and they have grown as friendly as possible. I don't shut themup in any hutch; they live in the wood and they come to me when I callthem. Yesterday I found that they had made a nest, and the nest was full oflittle bunnies, all snow white, and with long hair like the father andmother. I'm going to show you the nest now."
At the thought of this delightful sight Maggie's cheeks became very pink,her blue eyes danced, and she forgot that her legs were without muscle, andeven tried to run in her excitement and pleasure.
"Don't be silly, Mag!" laughed her cousin; "the bunnies aren't going tohide themselves, and we'll find them all in good time. You may walk withthose tottery legs of yours, but you certainly cannot run. Here, now we'reat the entrance to the wood; now I'll help you over the stile."
The children found the nest of lovely white rabbits, and spent a very happyhalf-hour sitting on the ground gazing at them.
Then Maggie began to confide a little care, which rested on her heart aboutJo, to her cousin.
"She has got well again, you know, Ralph, and I promised she should meet mein the country somewhere where the grass is green, and yet I don't know howshe's to come. I have got no money, and Jo has got no money, and father andmother don't say any thing about it. It would be a dreadful thing for Jo tostay away from heaven--for she was very, very near going to heaven,Ralph--and then to find that I had broken my word to her, and that afterall we were never to see each other where the grass is green."
"It would be worse than dreadful," answered Ralph, "it would be downrightcruel and wicked. Dear little Jo! she'd like to come here and look at thebunnies, wouldn't she? Well, I've got no money either, and she can't be gotinto the country without money; that I do know. Perhaps I'd better speak tomother about it."
But Ralph, when he did question Mrs. Grenville on the subject, found herwonderfully silent, and in his opinion unsympathetic. She said that shecould not possibly interfere with Sir John and Lady Ascot in their ownplace, and that if she were Ralph she would let things alone, and trust tothe Ascots doing what was right in the matter.
But Ralph was not inclined to take this advice.
"I like Maggie for being good about Jo," he said, "and Jo shan't bedisappointed. I'll go myself to Uncle John; he probably only needs to havethe thing put plainly to him."
Sir John listened to the little boy's somewhat excited remarks with anamused twinkle in his eyes.
"So the princess has sent you to me, my lad?" he said. "You tell her tokeep her little mind tranquil, and to try to trust her old father."
Little Jo Aylmer came very slowly back to health and strength, but at lastthere arrived a day when the hospital nurse pronounced her cured, and whenher mother arrived in a cab to take her away.
The hospital nurse had tears in her eyes when she kissed Jo, and the othersick children in the ward were extremely sorry to say good-by to her, forlittle Jo, without making any extraordinary efforts, indeed without makingany efforts at all, had a wonderful faculty for inspiring love. No doubtshe was sympathetic, and no doubt also she was self-forgetful, and herready tact prevented her saying the words which might hurt or doing thedeeds which might annoy, and these apparently trivial traits in hercharacter may have helped to make her popular. On that particular sunshinyafternoon the preparations made by certain excited little people inPhilmer's Buildings were great. From the day Jo was pronounced out ofdanger Susy had begun to recover her spirits, and at any rate to forgiveherself for her conduct in the matter of the tambourine. She had not spentany of the seven shillings which the pawnbroker had given for poor Maggie'sbest hat; it had all been securely tucked away in her best white cottonpocket-handkerchief, and neither her mother nor the boys knew of itsexistence, for to purchase a tambourine while Jo was so ill, and Maggiesupposed to be dying was beyond even thoughtless Susy's desires.
After her own fashion, this rather heedless little girl had suffered a gooddeal during the past weeks, and suffering did her good, as it does allother creatures.
Now, while the boys were very busy getting the room into a festivecondition for Jo, Susy quietly and softly withdrew one shilling from hermysterious hoard, and went out to make purchases. A shilling means almostnothing to some people; they spend it on utter rubbish--they virtuallythrow it away. This was, however, by no means the case with Susy Aylmer;she knew a shilling's worth to the uttermost farthing, and it wassurprising with what a number of parcels she returned home.
"Now, Ben and Bob, we'll lay the tea-table," she said, addressing herexcited little brothers. "Yere, put the cloth straight, do--you know as Jocan't abide nothing crooked. Now then, out comes the fresh loaf as motherbought; pop it on the cracked plate, and put it here, a little to oneside--it looks more genteel--not right away in the very middle. Here goesthe teapot--oh, my! ain't it a pity as the spo
ut is cracked off?--andhere's the little yaller jug for the milk! Here's butter, too--Dosset, butnot bad. Now then, we begins on my purchases. A slice of 'am on this tinyplate for Jo; red herrings, which we'll toast up and make piping hotpresently; a nice little bundle of radishes, creases ditto. Oh, my heyes! Ido like creases, they're so nice and biting. Now then, what 'ave we'ere?--why, a big packet of lollipops; I got the second quality oflollipops, so I 'as quite a big parcel; and the man threw in two over,'cause I said they was for a gal just out of 'ospital. Shrimps is in this'ere bag. Now, boys, there ain't none of these 'ere for you, they're justfor mother and Jo, and no one else--don't you be greedy, Ben and Bob, foref you are, I'll give you something to remember. Yere's a real fresh egg,which must be boiled werry light--that's for Jo, of course--and 'ere's apenn'orth of dandy-o-lions to stick in the middle of the table. Yere theygoes into this old brown cracked jug, and don't they look fine? Well, I'msure I never see'd a more genteel board."
The boys thoroughly agreed with Susy on this point, and while they wereskipping and dancing about, and making many dives at the tempting eatables,and Susy was chasing them with loud whoops, half of anger, half of mirth,about the room, Mrs. Aylmer and the little pale, spiritual-looking sisterarrived.
At the sight of Jo the children felt their undue excitementsubsiding--their happiness became peace, as it always did in her blessedlittle presence.
There was no wrangling or quarreling over the tea-table--the look of prettyJo lying on her sofa once again kept the boys from being over-greedy, andreduced Susy's excitement to due bounds.
Mrs. Aylmer said several times, "I'm the werry happiest woman in London,"and her children seemed to think that they were the happiest children.
The pleasant tea-hour came, however, to an end at last, and Susy was justwashing up the cups and saucers and putting the remainder of the feast intothe cupboard, when the whole family were roused into a condition of mostalert attention by a sharp and somewhat imperative knock on the room door.
"Dear heart alive!" exclaimed Mrs. Aylmer. "Whoever can that be? It soundslike the landlord, only I paid my bit of rent yesterday."
"It's more likely to be some one after you as laundress, mother," remarkedpractical Susy; and then Ben flew across the room and, opening the doorwide, admitted no less a person than Sir John Ascot himself.
Mrs. Aylmer had never seen him, and of course did not know what animportant visitor was now coming into her humble little room. Susy,however, knew Maggie's father, and felt herself turning very white, andtook instant refuge behind Jo's sofa.
"Now, which is little Jo?" said Sir John, coming forward and peering roundhim. "I've come here specially to-day to see a child whom my own littlegirl loves very much. I've something to say to that child, and also to hermother. My name is Ascot, and I dare say you all, good folks, have heard ofmy dear little girl Maggie."
"Miss Maggie!" exclaimed Jo, a delicate pink coming into her face, and hersweet violet eyes becoming, not tearful, but misty. "Are you Miss Maggie'sfather, sir? I seems to be near to Miss Maggie somehow."
"So you are, little lassie," said the baronet; and then he glanced frompretty Jo to the other children, and from her again to her mother, asthough he could not quite account for such a fragile and pure little floweramong these plants of sturdy and common growth.
"My little Jo favors her father, Sir John," said Mrs. Aylmer, dropping aprofound courtesy and dusting a chair with her apron for the baronet. "Willyou be pleased to be seated, sir?" she went on. "We're all pleased to seeyou here--pleased and proud, and that's not saying a word too much. And howis the dear, beautiful little lady, Sir John, and Master Ralph, bless him?"
"My little girl is well again, thank God, Mrs. Aylmer, and Ralph is assturdy a little chap as any heart could desire. Yes, I will take a seatnear Jo, if you please. I've a little plan to propose, which I hope shewill like, and which you, Mrs. Aylmer, will also approve of. This is it."
Then Sir John unfolded a deep-laid plot, which threw the Aylmer family intoa state of unspeakable rapture. To describe their feelings would be beyondany ordinary pen.
