CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
FIRE!
It was fully half an hour later when Peggy crept along the passage, andtook advantage of a quiet moment to slip into the room and seat herselfin a sheltered corner. Quick as she was, however, somebody's eyes wereeven quicker, for a tall figure stepped before her, and an aggrievedvoice cried loudly--
"Well, I hope you are smart enough to satisfy yourself, now that you_are_ ready! You have taken long enough, I must say. What about thatfirst waltz that you promised to have with me?"
Peggy drew in her breath with a gasp of dismay.
"Oh, Rob, I am sorry! I forgot all about it. I've been so perturbed.Something awful has occurred. You heard about it, of course--"
"No, I didn't? What on earth," began the boy anxiously; but so soon ashe heard the two words "Rosalind's dress!" he shrugged his shoulders incontemptuous indifference. "Oh, that! I heard something about it, butI didn't take much notice. Spilt some ink, didn't you? What's the oddsif you did? Accidents will happen, and she has a dozen others to choosefrom. I don't see anything wrong with the dress. It looks decentenough."
Peggy followed the direction of his eyes, and caught a glimpse ofRosalind floating past on the arm of a tall soldierly youth. She wassparkling with smiles, and looking as fresh and spotless as on themoment when she had stepped across the threshold of her own room.Neither face nor dress bore any trace of the misfortune of an hourbefore, and Peggy heaved a sigh of relief as she watched her to and fro.
"Jolly enough, isn't she? There's nothing for you to fret about, yousee," said Rob consolingly. "She has forgotten all about it, and thebest thing you can do is to follow her example. What would you think ofsome light refreshment? Let's go to the dining-room and drown oursorrows in strawberry ice. Then we can have a waltz, and try avanilla--and a polka, and some lemonade! That's, my idea of enjoyingmyself. Come along, while you get the chance!--"
"Oh, Rob, you _are_ greedy!" protested Peggy; nevertheless she roseblithely enough, and her eyes began to sparkle with some of their wontedvivacity. There was something strong and reassuring about Robert'spresence; he looked upon things in such an eminently sensible,matter-of-fact way, that one was ashamed to give way to moods and tensesin his company.
Peggy began to feel that there was still some possibility of happinessin life, and on her way to the door she came face to face with LadyDarcy, who reassured her still further by smiling as amiably as ifnothing had happened.
"Well, dear, enjoying yourself? Got plenty of partners?" Then in awhispered aside, "The dress looks all right! Such a clever suggestionof yours. Dear, dear, what a fright we had!" and she swept away,leaving an impression of beauty, grace, and affability which the girlwas powerless to resist. When Lady Darcy chose to show herself at herbest, there was a charm about her which subjugated all hearts, and, fromthe moment that the sweet tired eyes smiled into hers, Peggy Savilleforgot her troubles and tripped away to eat strawberry ices, and danceover the polished floor with a heart as light as her heels.
One party is very much like another. The room may be larger or smaller,the supper more or less substantial, but the programme is the same inboth cases, and there is little to be told about even the grandest ofits kind. Somebody wore pink; somebody wore blue; somebody fell down onthe floor in the middle of the lancers, which are no longer the statelyand dignified dance of yore, but an ungainly romp more befitting akitchen than a ballroom; somebody went in to supper twice over, andsomebody never went at all, but blushed unseen in a corner, thinkinglongingly of turkey, trifle, and crackers; and then the carriages beganto roll up to the door, brothers and sisters paired demurely together,stammered out a bashful "Enjoyed myself so much! Thanks for a pleasantevening," and raced upstairs for coats and shawls.
By half-past twelve all the guests had departed except the vicarageparty, and the sons and daughters of the old squire who lived close by,who had been pressed to stay behind for that last half-hour which isoften the most enjoyable of the whole evening.
Lord and Lady Darcy and the grown-up visitors retired into thedrawing-room to regale themselves with sandwiches and ices, and theyoung people stormed the supper-room, interrupted the servants in theirwork of clearing away the good things, seated themselvesindiscriminately on floor, chair, or table, and despatched a secondsupper with undiminished appetite. Then Esther mounted the platformwhere the band had been seated, and played a last waltz, and a very lastwaltz, and "really the last waltz of all." The squire's son played apolka with two fingers, and a great deal of loud pedal, and the fun grewfaster and more uproarious with every moment. Even Rosalind threw asideyoung ladylike affectations and pranced about without thinking ofappearances, and when at last the others left the room to prepare forthe drive home she seized Peggy's arm in eager excitement.
"Peggy! Peggy! Such a joke! I told them to come back to say good-bye,and I am going to play a twick! I'm going to be a ghost, and glide outfrom behind the shwubs, and fwighten them. I can do it beautifully.See!" She turned down the gas as she spoke, threw her light gauze skirtover her head, and came creeping across the room with stealthy tread,and arms outstretched, while Peggy clapped her hands in delight.
"Lovely! Lovely! It looks exactly like wings. It makes me quitecreepy. Don't come out if Mellicent is alone, whatever you do. Shewould be scared out of her seven senses. Just float gently along towardthem, and keep your hands forward so as to hide your face. They willrecognise you if you don't."
"Oh, if you can see my face, we must have less light. There are toomany candles, I'll put out the ones on the mantelpiece. Stay where youare, and tell me when it is wight," Rosalind cried gaily, and ran acrossthe room on her tiny pink silk slippers.
So long as she lived Peggy Saville remembered the next minutes; to thelast day of her life she had only to shut her eyes and the scene rose upbefore her, clear and vivid as in a picture. The stretch of empty room,with its fragrant banks of flowers; the graceful figure flitting acrossthe floor, its outline swathed in folds of misty white; the glimpse of alovely, laughing face as Rosalind stretched out her arm to reach thesilver candelabra, the sudden flare of light which caught the robe ofgauze, and swept it into flame. It all happened within the space of aminute, but it was one of those minutes the memory of which no years candestroy. She had hardly time to realise the terror of the situationbefore Rosalind was rushing towards her with outstretched hands, callingaloud in accents of frenzied appeal--
"Peggy! Peggy! Oh, save me, Peggy! I'm burning! Save me! Save me!"