CHAPTER XXI
THE GOLDEN HEART OF RHODA POLLY
I admit that I was gloomy and disappointed as I turned to walk back withRhoda Polly--disappointed in the turn things had taken, in the illsuccess of my cherished diplomacy, and especially disappointed in thedesertion of Jeanne, who had carried what ought at least to have been abroken heart, to the consolation of a newer and gayer place wheredoubtless young men abounded, as full of admiration and eagerness toplease as I had been--well, any time these last two years.
It did not strike me at the time that I was only a vain young fool,whose corns had been most deservedly trampled upon, and that here wasthe lesson which of all others would benefit me the most.
It was therefore in a most humbled and chastened frame of mind that Iopened out to Rhoda Polly the vexed and difficult problem of Alida.Perhaps it was well that I was still suffering from the rods with whichJeanne had chastised me. For, had I begun on the way towards theRestaurant Felix, when I was rampant and haughty of crest, I might nothave made my points so well.
But for once I forgot my silly self, and devoted all my energies topleading for Alida. I painted her solitary condition, and theunlikelihood that, if she (Rhoda Polly) refused to help her, she wouldfind any other friend of her rank in Aramon.
"Why, of course I will!" cried Rhoda Polly the golden-hearted; "why didit ever get into your stupid old noddle that I would not? And so willthe rest--specially mother, who will be the most useful of us all. Shehas never had any mother, really, this Alida of yours! Oh, of course,your Linn has done her best, but then, you see, she knew she was aprincess, and from early association Madame Keller would be little morethan a servant. Oh, I shall understand, never fear. Mother will be asgrand a dame as she is, and I--well, I shall be the daughter of theGreat Emir of the Aramon Small Arms Factory. I wish she had been comingto stay with us--but no, it is better as it is. The GardenCottage!--Think of it, what a Princess of the Sleeping Woods she willmake. We are too noisy. But why did Hugh never tell us? I should havethought he would simply have raved about such a marvel. But he has beenas silent as mumchance!"
"Forgive me. I wanted to tell you myself," I said, still humbly; "it wasvery good of Hugh, but I really could not let anyone else tell you, andit seemed so hard to get hold of you these days--I mean without yourfighting tail."
"The fighting tail have gone off to-day to rustle chiffons," cried RhodaPolly; "but never mind them! Tell me about this Princess from the East.I never thought I should see one, yet I once saw her father, a patch ofwhite on the high promenade at Amboise, the year that Dad took me withhim for company. He was bringing out a new carbine for the CavalrySchool at Saumur on the Loire. So it was from there that we went one dayto see the great man."
Then I told Rhoda Polly about the brown prince of the Khedival house,his visit and the answer he had carried back.
"Of course she could not," she cried, all on fire in a moment. "It wouldbe like imprisonment for life, only far more dreadful."
Rhoda Polly's eyes, unused to untimeous moisture, were at least vagueand misty, but that might only be because she was looking into the bluedistance towards the Alps of Mont Ventoux.
"Poor precious waif," she said, "if she is wayward and a littledifficult--who can wonder? We shall all try hard to make her happy. Wewill come and pay court to her in the garden."
I explained that a girl who had been a music mistress to the exigentSous-Prefectoral dames and other ladies of Autun, might not be sodifficult to deal with as she seemed to expect. It was only Keller Beyand Linn who, if spoiling had been possible, had spoilt her ever sinceshe came to them as a little child, the charge committed to them bytheir master, the battle Emir of the Atlas.
"Oh," cried Rhoda Polly, hardly able to curb her feet to a decent walk,"how mean it will be if they stop Keller Bey's money, and that wretch ofan old Emir getting so much from the Government. I wish I did not spendevery centime of my allowance without ever knowing where it goes to! Butat any rate I mean for the future to share with Alida if she will letme."
I explained how from what Keller had told me Alida would have enough tolive upon even if they never saw another sixpence of her father's money.Also I described what my father was doing to the Garden Cottage to fitit for their coming.
"Oh, do let me come and help. Ask your father. I should love to! And Ishould have far more idea than a man. I could get mother to come too,sometimes, though you know how loath she is to move far out of her ownhouse. Still, she could drive over."
Never was there so short a walk as that between the pier above MereFelix's and the gate of Chateau Schneider. Rhoda Polly was so eager thatshe would have gone right across the river there and then, and climbedthe hill to Garden Cottage, if I had not insisted on delivering her toher mother, and generally giving an account of my stewardship.
Before going in, however, I warned her that the secret of Alida thePrincess must be kept. It was only for herself. To the rest of thefamily she must be Mademoiselle Keller, the daughter of Keller Bey andhis wife Linn.
The need to keep so great a matter secret seemed to damp the girl'senthusiasm for a moment, but almost instantly she caught me by the handin her impulsive boyish way.
"I promise," she said, "and you are quite right. It was splendid of youto tell me. I am so grateful for that."
"Of course I told you, Rhoda Polly. Who else could I have told?"
She meditated a little, finger on lip before speaking.
"Do you know it is rather a pity not to tell mother," she said at last."She does not interfere, but she moderates and eases off the hardplaces. She has a great deal of influence in a quiet way--more thanany-one--and she would never tell a soul. I really think that it woulddo Alida more good than anything else to have mother on our side fromthe first. We are all trumpeters like father (except perhaps Hugh, whois not like any of our brood), but it is mother who tells the trumpetswhen to stop sounding."
I assured Rhoda Polly that she could do as she thought best in thematter. Mrs. Deventer was all she said and more. She possessed, besides,a pleasant quality of motherhood that glinted kindly through herspectacles. Then, of course, Rhoda Polly knew best. All that I wanted toavoid was having the secret which had been entrusted to me beingbattered about in the daily brawls of the Deventer family--still lessdid I wish that it should get abroad to set talking the commonplacegossips of the town.
"Ah, _mon ami_," said Rhoda Polly, "you need not fear my mother. Sheknows the secrets of every one of us, I think--except perhaps Hugh's,who is too young to have any--and yet when we girls come to confide sometremendous fact to each other, we are astonished to find that mother hasknown it all the time."