by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER X.
JANE IN DANGER.
Rosamund was awakened from her slumbers by Laura Everett, who shook herlightly by the shoulder.
"Why, Rose," she said, "I wish you'd wake up. We are all in such a stateof confusion and anxiety. Have you the least idea what the hour is?"
"No. Where am I?" said Rosamund, sitting up in bed and pushing back herhair.
"Well, it is close on nine o'clock. We had breakfast anyhow thismorning, for nothing is in order. I cannot even explain how bad thingsare."
"Try and tell me, Laura; don't keep me in suspense."
"It's Jane, of course."
"My friend Jane?"
"You heard last night that she was very ill. Lucy told you. Lucy hasbeen talking about you. She said you were very queer when she came inhere last night, and didn't show a scrap of feeling. But I am sure youare sorry for her. She is in great danger, Rosamund."
"Jane in danger!"
Rosamund had always been fond of Jane, but she had never thought her ofthe slightest importance. She had always thought of her as just a goodsort to have as a friend; but all the admiration must be on the friend'sside, who must do all that Rosamund wished--for she, Rosamund, would notput herself out for her friend. But now things were changed. Jane Dentonwas the heroine of the hour. No one else in the whole of that house wasthought of in comparison with Jane. For the symptoms of the nightbefore had developed in a most aggravating way. She had grown worse andworse; in short, she was so alarmingly ill that when Lucy came into theroom Mrs. Merriman had decided to send for the doctor from Dartford. Hewas obliged to drive over, there being no train so late at night. Whenhe saw her he pronounced her illness to be diphtheria. How she had gotit nobody knew; but diphtheria Jane had, and of the most malignant type.
"What is it?" said Rosamund, now turning to Laura, who sat down on theedge of her bed. "You think I have no heart, but you are mistaken."
Her bright eyes filled with tears, and Laura was softened at once.
"I knew you had a heart, dear," she said. "But the fact is, you neverunderstood Lucy. I like Lucy, and you don't--there lies the differencebetween us. Lucy misunderstood you. She said that, instead of going tobed, you were making a most awful noise, reciting poetry to yourself intwo distinct voices, and that an extraordinary noise came from under thebed, and you declared it was rats. But she thinks you are a sort ofventriloquist, and can throw your voice anywhere you like. She wasabsolutely frightened, and rushed out of the room."
"Well, the doctor arrived about two o'clock in the morning, and hestayed until early morning; and now the whole school knows, and what isto be done is more than I can tell. The doctor wants us all to leave thehouse."
"I shan't go," said Rosamund stoutly.
"What do you mean, Rose? You mustn't think of yourself at a moment likethis."
"I shall stay and nurse Jane. She is my friend. Don't keep me, please,Laura. What a horrible creature I have been! Oh, dear! oh, dear! Do youknow where the Professor is, Laura?"
"I believe he is out, but I don't know. Mrs. Merriman is looking afterJane at present. But, Rose, you won't be allowed to see her. The doctorhas forbidden any single individual except Mrs. Merriman to go into herroom, or to have anything whatever to do with her. You mustn't disobeyorders. A trained nurse is coming, and will be here in a very shorttime. Perhaps there will be two nurses. They are going to try that newtreatment--antitoxin. Poor Jane's room is not so very far from where Isleep, and I heard her groaning in the night. To think of our all beingso happy yesterday, and now this coming!"
"I know," said Rosamund in a low tone. She had never expressed herselfso before. There was a lump in her throat.
Laura went away and soon entered the schoolroom, where Lucy and theother girls, all looking pale and anxious, were standing about. Laurawent straight up to Lucy.
"Well," said Lucy, "is that thoughtless, heartless creature awake yet?Is she thinking of any one but herself?"
"Oh, yes, I woke her. She isn't heartless. I wish just at present, whenwe are in such anxiety, you would try to be kinder, Lucy, and"----
Laura's voice suddenly broke.
Rosamund presently came downstairs. She wanted to find the Professor.She wanted she knew not what. As a matter of fact, he was not to befound, for he had gone by the very earliest train to Dartford to see Mr.and Mrs. Brett.
The upshot of this visit was that soon Mrs. Brett's large, pale face,with its light-blue eyes and gentle smile, was seen passing the window.The Professor was with her. All the girls rushed out with a suddensense of relief to greet her.
"Oh, Aunt Susan, we are so glad you have come!" said Lucy, her ownlittle face quivering with sudden emotion.
"My dear, dear children," said Mrs. Brett, "I have come to take you awaywith me--that is, all of you who can come. My husband and I are achildless couple, and we have plenty of room in our house. You must justpack your things and come along. That is what I have come for. There isa nurse coming to look after the poor girl who is so dreadfullyill.--Lucy, dear, your father is particularly anxious that you shouldcome--yes, and all the rest of you, for that matter. I can squeeze youall in; but I cannot manage the governesses, that is the only thing. Allthe rest--every single one of you--must come. Rosamund, you, of course;and, Laura, you also. Annie Millar--yes, certainly--and Phyllis Flower,and Agnes Sparkes--every single one of you shall come back with me. Itwill be Poverty Castle, my loves, and we'll have to stint and scrape andcontrive; but at any rate we'll be merry when we can be merry, and we'llforget our troubles in doing good to others."
Nothing could exceed the heartiness of Mrs. Brett's manner. Her verysmile brought sunshine with it, and her firm voice confidence. It seemedin a minute to those agitated and unhappy girls that a ray of sunlighthad fallen upon them, and that the world was not quite so miserableafter all.
They were still standing talking eagerly in the hall when a fly drew upat the door and Dr. Marshall stepped out. He had, in fact, followed Mrs.Brett and the Professor up from the station. He saw Rosamund, andrecognized her as the girl he had seen some hours before walking alonealong the high-road. He went up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you one of the young ladies who live here?"
"Yes," she replied, glancing at him in surprise, for so lost had shebeen in her own thoughts that she had positively hardly observed himwhen he swiftly passed her in the early morning.
"Then I congratulate you upon your powers of early rising."
Rosamund colored. Lucy's eyes were fixed on her face.
"My dear Miss Lucy," said the doctor, "your friend, Miss"----
"My name is Rosamund Cunliffe," said Rosamund.
"Your friend Miss Cunliffe has put all the rest of you young ladies toshame. She was walking abroad this morning between four and five o'clockat some distance from here."
Lucy's eyes flashed fire. Rosamund found herself turning pale. TheProfessor looked at her. Suddenly Rosamund went up to the Professor andtook his hand.
"I want to speak to you, and alone," she said.
"In a moment, my dear," he answered.
He then turned to the doctor.
"Mrs. Brett, my kind sister-in-law, has promised to take all my youngpeople to her house in Dartford," he said. "She proposes that theyshould return with her immediately. Then the house will be quite quietfor the invalid, and there will be no danger of the disease spreading."
"If it does spread I shall be on the spot to grapple with it," said Dr.Marshall.--"What an excellent plan, Mrs. Brett, and how exactly likeyou!--Now then, young ladies, the sooner you pack up the better. Youneedn't take a great many things; they can be sent to you afterwards.The great thing is to get away. It may be in the air; it may be--wecannot tell what; but the sooner all of you young people are out ofSunnyside the safer it will be."
"It would not be fair," said the Professor, "to ask the Singletons totake any of them in. We did think of that at first. We know howparticularly kind Mr. Singleton is. But there are h
is own children to bethought of; and as he is the rector of the parish he has also toconsider his parishioners."
"I am the woman who has to act in this emergency," said Mrs. Brett; "andnow the sooner we drop the subject of whys and wherefores thebetter.--Run upstairs, my dears, and get ready.--I will not even see mydear sister, Mrs. Merriman, for fear of infection; but you will knowwhere to find me if you want my help."
"I don't think we shall need it," said the doctor. "Two excellent nursesare coming by the next train, and I shall leave full directions, and myassistant will come out to see the patient this evening.--Now, if youwill kindly allow me to pass, young ladies, I will go and see theinvalid, and I will not see any of you again afterwards. It is safernot."
There was a look on his face which startled and brought back some of thenervousness of most of the girls. But Mrs. Brett, or Aunt Susan, as Lucycalled her, was all smiles and benediction.
"My dears," she said in her motherly way, "there is room enough and tospare in my house for every one of you--room enough and to spare. Youshall have the heartiest welcome."
Here Mrs. Brett went up to Rosamund, and, rather to the surprise of theothers, elected her for a resounding kiss on the cheek.
"My dear, a girl who can go out and take a walk at so early an hour inthe morning is quite after my own heart."
"But, Aunt Susan," interrupted Lucy, "do you really approve of a girlwho burns the candle at both ends? It so happens that I was obliged toinvade Rosamund's room last night, and I heard her reciting poetry intwo voices, and then I heard her throw her voice into a distant part ofthe room, so that you might almost imagine that she was a ventriloquist.It was nearly eleven o'clock, and the doctor said he saw her walkingalong the high-road between four and five this morning. Don't you thinkit is too much for her strength?"
"Never mind, dear," said Mrs. Brett, who was as kind in heart as herface appeared. "I admire energy; but the energy of the young issometimes misdirected. When dear Rosamund comes to stay with me I willshow her one or two things.--You won't mind getting a wrinkle or twofrom an old woman, will you, Rose?"
"No," said Rosamund, who was absolutely torn in the midst of manyconflicting emotions: her anxiety for her friend, her knowledge of whathad happened the night before, her ever-increasing dislike to Lucy--and,in fact, the whole false position in which she found herself--alldistressed her beyond measure.
Again she touched the Professor on the arm.
"I want to say something," she remarked, and she turned and faced theother girls.--"Before I decide to go with Mrs. Brett I must speak toProfessor Merriman."
"But there is no time, my dear," said Mrs. Brett. "Our train leaves inthree-quarters of an hour. Each girl will please pack a small bag, ifshe possesses such a useful commodity, and we must walk as fast as everwe can to the station, for my poor dear husband has no end of things forme to attend to to-day, and the moment we get to Dartford we shall haveto bustle about, I can tell you. There'll be no time for whims andfancies, or even for lessons; for there is to be an enormous tea-fight,as I call it, for the young folk of the parish in the schoolhouse thisafternoon, and games afterwards, and recitations; and if you, Rosamund,can recite as well as Lucy has described, why, you will be invaluable."
"But I can't recite. Lucy is mistaken," said Rosamund.--"Professor, mayI speak to you?--Mrs. Brett, if you are in a hurry, I will follow you bya later train, if it is decided that I am to go to you."
Here the determined girl took the Professor by the arm, and leading himinto the study, shut the door behind them, and turned and faced him.
"I have been exceedingly naughty. I have broken my word of honor."
Now, the Professor, who was always extremely dreamy, had nearlyforgotten Rosamund's transgression of the previous Sunday. He did notspeak at all for a minute, but looked at her in puzzled astonishment.
"You have broken your word of honor?" he said. "We are in great trouble.I hope you are not now beginning to be taken up with whims and fancies.If so, please transfer them to a more convenient season. I am harassedabout my books, my--my dear wife, and that poor girl. By the way, she isyour friend, too. I can quite understand that you are grieved on heraccount."
"I am terribly grieved. I do not wish to leave. I should like to stayand help to look after her."
"But that cannot be permitted. That would be an act of the greatestselfishness. What we require you to do is to leave the house before youare infected--you even more than the others, for you have been in thesame room with her."
"I do not think I am infected. I cannot imagine how Jane caughtdiphtheria. I did see her bending down over a drain the other day. Shehad dropped her pencil and was trying to find it. I told her not to doit, and even dragged her away. I am sure I am all right, and I shouldnot allow her to breathe on me, and I think I could help."
"It is generous of you, my dear, but it cannot possibly be permitted,"said the Professor. "I will relate that little circumstance to my wife.Not that it matters, after all, how we get our diseases; the thing is tocure them when we have acquired them. However, I will mention thecircumstance to my dear wife."
"Please do. Now, I have something to confess. You heard what Lucy said:that I was reciting poetry, that I was using two voices, that I was asort of ventriloquist. You heard what Dr. Marshall said: that he saw meon the high-road at a very early hour this morning. Now, I was notreciting last night; I was talking to another girl, and no less a girlthan that one I had promised you to have no communication with for awhole week--Irene Ashleigh. Please hear me out before you speak. I didnot ask her to come to me. She came on her own account. I did mean tokeep my word of honor; but Irene, poor little girl! had taken a likingto me. I had managed, I don't know how, to touch something sympatheticin her heart, and she was hungering for me, and you had forbidden me togo to her. So last night, after I came to bed, she was in my room. Shehad got in by the window. Oh, don't look at me with those startled eyes!I do not wish her to be blamed, and I was not to blame when I found herthere, for I did mean to keep my word of honor. She begged of me to lockthe door, but I refused; and I think I was almost inducing her to leavethe house, and to go home, when Lucy burst into the room. Lucy came tofetch something for Mrs. Merriman--something that Jane wanted--and Irenewas under the bed like a flash. It was she who made that noise that Lucyattributed to me. Then afterwards I felt reckless, and I did lock thedoor, and I did go out by the open window, and I spent the night in thesummer-house with little Irene, and this morning I walked back with herto The Follies. Now you know what I am. You see I am not worth saving;and I want to tell you that if you will not have me here, then I will goto Lady Jane, and tell her the entire story, and ask her if I may staywith her--at least until the time of infection is over. That is what Iwish to do; but I will not go in the dark. I have told you how naughty Ihave been, and you can punish me by expelling me from the school. But,please, quite understand that your daughter has provoked me a greatdeal, and that I did make an effort--at least at first--to keep my wordof honor."
Rosamund's voice dropped. In truth, the emotions of the previous day,the night before, and this morning had been too many for her. Shetrembled, and finally, to the great astonishment of the Professor, burstinto tears. Now, no one ever had higher principles than ProfessorMerriman, but no man ever had a greater horror of tears. He could notbear what Rosamund had told him; he could not understand how, under anyprovocation, a girl could act as Rosamund had done; and yet, at the sametime, her tears so maddened him that he would have done anything to getrid of her.
"You bewilder me," he said. "Of course, you did wrong. Do you wish to gowith Mrs. Brett? I will see you presently and speak to you."
"If you will not have me here, I will not go with Mrs. Brett. I will goto Lady Jane; for there is one person who wants me, although you willnot believe it!"
"Then please yourself; but I grieve to tell you that after your recentconduct I cannot receive you again at the school."
Rosamund left the room with a proud ste
p, but there was something in herheart which danced.
