CHAPTER TWENTY.
AT THE LARCHES.
The next morning, immediately after breakfast, Peggy went up to her ownroom to pack for her visit to the Larches. The long dress-box, whichhad been stored away ever since its arrival, was brought out, and itscontents displayed to an admiring audience, consisting of Mrs Asplin,Esther, Mellicent, and Mary the housemaid.
Everything was there that the heart of girl could desire, and a mother'sforethought provide for her darling's use when she was far-away. Adress of cobweb Indian muslin embroidered in silk, a fan of curlingfeathers, a dear little satin pocket in which to keep the lacehandkerchief, rolls of ribbons, dainty white shoes, with straggly silkstockings rolled into the toes.
Peggy displayed one article after another, while Mellicent groaned andgurgled with delight; Mary exclaimed, "My, Miss Peggy, but you will besmart!" and Mrs Asplin stifled a sigh at the thought of her owninferior preparations.
Punctually at ten o'clock the carriage drove up to the door, and offPeggy drove, not altogether unwillingly, now that it had come to thepinch, for after all it _is_ pleasant to be appreciated, and, when agreat excitement is taking place in the neighbourhood, it is only humanto wish to be in the thick of the fray.
Lady Darcy welcomed her guest with gracious kindness, and, as soon asshe had taken off her hat and jacket in the dressing-room which wasallotted to her use, she was taken straight away to the chief room,where the work of decoration was being carried briskly forward. Thevillage joiner was fitting mirrors into the corners and hammering withdeafening persistence, a couple of gardeners were arranging banks offlowers and palms, and Rosalind stood in the midst of a bower ofgreenery, covered from head to foot in a smock of blue linen, and with apair of gardening gloves drawn over her hands.
She gave a little cry of relief and satisfaction as Peggy entered.
"Oh, Mawiquita, so glad you have come! Mother is so busy that she can'tbe with me at all, and these wretched bwanches pwick my fingers! Dolook wound, and say how it looks! This is weally the servants' hall,you know, as we have not a pwoper ballroom, and it is so square and highthat it is perfectly dweadful to decowate! A long, narrow woom is somuch better!"
Peggy thought the arrangements tasteful and pretty; but she could notgush over the effect, which, in truth, was in no way original orstriking. There seemed little to be done in the room itself, so shesuggested an adjournment into the outer hall, which seemed to offerunique opportunities.
"That space underneath the staircase!" she cried eagerly. "Oh,Rosalind, we could make it look perfectly sweet with all the beautifulEastern things that you have brought home from your travels! Let usmake a little harem, with cushions to sit on, and hanging lamps, andOriental curtains for drapery. We could do it while the men arefinishing this room, and be ready to come back to it after lunch."
"Oh, what a sweet idea! Mawiquita, you are quite too clever!" criedRosalind, aglow with pleasure. "Let us begin at once. It will be everso much more intewesting than hanging about here."
She thrust her hand through Peggy's arm as she spoke, and the two girlswent off on a tour through the house to select the most suitablearticles for their decoration of the "harem." There was no lack ofchoice, for the long suite of reception-rooms was full of treasures, andPeggy stopped every few minutes to point with a small forefinger andsay, "That screen, please! That table! That stool!" to the servantswho had been summoned in attendance. The smaller things, such asornaments, table-cloths, and lamps she carried herself, while Rosalindmurmured sweetly, "Oh, don't twouble! You mustn't, weally! Let me helpyou!" and stood with her arms hanging by her side, without showing thefaintest sign of giving the offered help.
As the morning passed away, Peggy found indeed that the Honourable MissDarcy was a broken reed to lean upon in the way of assistance. She saton a stool and looked on while the other workers hammered and pinned andstitched--so that Peggy's prophecy as to her own subordinate positionwas exactly reversed, and the work of supervision was given entirelyinto her hands.
It took nearly two hours to complete the decorations of the "harem," butwhen all was finished the big ugly space beneath the staircase wastransformed into as charming a nook as it is possible to imagine.Pieces of brilliant flag embroidery from Cairo draped the farther wall,a screen of carved work shut out the end of the passage, gauzy curtainsof gold and blue depended in festoons from the ascending staircase, andstopped just in time to leave a safe place for a hanging lamp of wroughtiron and richly coloured glass. On the floor were spread valuable rugsand piles of bright silken cushions, while on an inlaid table stood areal Turkish hookah and a brass tray with the little egg-shaped cups outof which travellers in the East are accustomed to sip the strong blackcoffee of the natives.
Peggy lifted the ends of her apron in her hands and executed a dance oftriumph on her own account when all was finished, and Rosalind said,"Weally, we have been clever! I think we may be proud of ourselves!" inamiable effusion.
The two girls went off to luncheon in a state of halcyon amiabilitywhich was new indeed in the history of their acquaintance, and LadyDarcy listened with an amused smile to their rhapsodies on the subjectof the morning's work, promising faithfully not to look at anythinguntil the right moment should arrive, and she should be summoned to gazeand admire.
By the time that the workers were ready to return to the room, the menhad finished the arrangements at which they had been at work beforelunch, and were beginning to tack festoons of evergreens along thewalls, the dull paper of which had been covered with fluting of softpink muslin. The effect was heavy and clumsy in the extreme, andRosalind stamped her foot with an outburst of fretful anger.
"Stop putting up those wreaths! Stop at once! They are simply hideous!It weminds me of a penny weading in the village schoolwoom! You mightas well put up `God save the Queen' and `A Mewwy Chwistmas' at once!Take them down this minute, Jackson! I won't have them!"
The man touched his forehead, and began pulling out the nails inhalf-hearted fashion.
"Very well, miss, as you wish. Seems a pity, though, not to use 'em,for it took me all yesterday to put 'em together. It's a sin to throw'em away."
"I won't have them in the house, if they took you a week!" Rosalindreplied sharply, and she turned on her heel and looked appealingly inPeggy's face. "It's a howwid failure! The woom looks so stiff andstwaight--like a pink box with nothing in it! Mother won't like it abit. What can we do to make it better?"
Peggy scowled, pursed up her lips, pressed her hand to her forehead, andstrode up and down the room, rolling her eyes from side to side, andgoing through all the grimaces of one in search of inspiration.Rosalind was right: unless some device were found by which the shape ofthe room could be disguised, the decorations must be pronounced more orless a failure. She craned her head to the ceiling, and suddenly beamedin triumph.
"I have it! The very thing! We will fasten the garlands to that middlebeam, and loop up the ends at intervals all round the walls. That willbreak the squareness, and make the room look like a tent, with a ceilingof flowers."
"Ah-h!" cried Rosalind; and clasped her hands with a gesture of relief."Of course! The vewy thing! We ought to have thought of it at thebeginning. Get the ladder at once, Jackson, and put in a hook or wing,or something to hold the ends; and be sure that it is strong enough.What a good thing that the weaths are weady! You see, your work willnot be wasted after all."
She was quite gracious in her satisfaction, and for the next two hoursshe and Peggy were busily occupied superintending the hanging of theevergreen wreaths and in arranging bunches of flowers to be placed ateach point where the wreaths were fastened to the wall. At the end ofthis time, Rosalind was summoned to welcome the distinguished visitorswho had arrived by the afternoon train. She invited Peggy to accompanyher to the drawing-room, but in a hesitating fashion, and with a glanceround the disordered room, which said, as plainly as words could do,that she would be disappointed if the invitation were accepted;
andPeggy, transformed in a moment into a poker of pride and dignity,declared that she would prefer to remain where she was until all wasfinished.
"Well, it weally would be better, wouldn't it? I will have a tway sentin to you here, and do, Mawiquita, see that evewything is swept up andmade tidy at once, for I shall bring them in to look wound diwectlyafter tea, and we must have the wooms tidy!"
Rosalind tripped away, and Peggy was left to herself for a lonely andtroublesome hour. The tea-tray was brought in, and she was just seatingherself before an impromptu table, when up came a gardener to say thatone of "these 'ere wreaths seemed to hang uncommon near the gas-bracket.It didn't seem safe like." And off she went in a panic ofconsternation to see what could be done. There was nothing for it butto move the wreath some inches farther away, which involved moving thenext also, and the next, and the next, so as to equalise the distancesas much as possible; and by the time that they were settled to Peggy'ssatisfaction, lo, table and tray had been whisked out of sight by somebusy pair of hands, and only a bare space met her eyes. This was blownumber one, for, after working hard all afternoon, tea and cake come asa refreshment which one would not readily miss. She cheered herself,however, by putting dainty finishing touches here and there, seeing thatthe lamp was lighted in the "harem" outside, and was busy placing fairylamps among the shrubs which were to screen the band, when a babel ofvoices from outside warned her that the visitors were approaching.Footsteps came nearer and nearer, and a chorus of exclamations greetedthe sight of the "harem." The door stood open, Peggy waited forRosalind's voice to call and bid her share the honours, but no summonscame. She heard Lady Darcy's exclamation, and the quick, strong tonesof the strange countess.
"Charming, charming; quite a stroke of genius! I never saw a moreartistic little nook. What made you think of it, my dear?"
"Ha!" said Peggy to herself, and took a step forward, only to draw backin dismay, as a light laugh reached her ear, followed by Rosalind'scareless--
"Oh, I don't know; I wanted to make it pwetty, don't you know; it was sodweadfully bare, and there seemed no other way."
Then there was a rustle of silk skirts, and the two ladies entered theroom, followed by their respective daughters, Rosalind beautiful andradiant, and the Ladies Berkhampton with their chins poked forward, andtheir elbows thrust out in ungainly fashion. They paused on thethreshold, and every eye travelled up to the wreath-decked ceiling. Aflush of pleasure came into Lady Darcy's pale cheeks, and she listenedto the countess's compliments with sparkling eyes.
"It is all the work of this clever child," she said, laying her handfondly on Rosalind's shoulder. "I have had practically nothing to dowith the decorations. This is the first time I have been in the roomto-day, and I had no idea that the garlands were to be used in this way.I thought they were for the walls."
"I congratulate you, Rosalind! You are certainly very happy in yourarrangements," said the countess cordially. Then she put up hereyeglass and stared inquiringly at Peggy, who stood by with her hairfastened back in its usual pigtail, and a big white apron pinned overher dress.
"She thinks I am the kitchen-maid!" said Peggy savagely to herself; butthere was little fear of such a mistake, and, the moment that Lady Darcynoticed the girl's presence, she introduced her kindly enough, if withsomewhat of a condescending air.
"This is a little friend of Rosalind's who has come up to help. She isfond of this sort of work," she said; then, before any of the strangershad time to acknowledge the introduction, she added hastily, "And now Iam sure you must all be tired after your journey, and will be glad to goto your rooms and rest. It is quite wicked of me to keep you standing.Let me take you upstairs at once!"
They sailed away with the same rustle of garments, the same babel ofhigh-toned voices, and Peggy stood alone in the middle of the desertedroom. No one had asked her to rest, or suggested that she might betired; she had been overlooked and forgotten in the presence of thedistinguished visitor. She was only a little girl who was "fond" ofthis sort of work, and, it might be supposed, was only too thankful tobe allowed to help! The house sank into silence. She waited for halfan hour longer, in the hope that someone would remember her presence,and then, tired, hungry, and burning with repressed anger, creptupstairs to her own little room and fell asleep upon the couch.