CHAPTER FOUR.
GOOD-BYE, MARIQUITA!
For four long days had Mariquita Saville dwelt beneath Mr Asplin'sroof, and her companions still gazed upon her with fear and trembling,as a mysterious and extraordinary creature whom they altogether failedto understand. She talked like a book; she behaved like awell-conducted old lady of seventy, and she sat with folded hands gazingaround, with a curious, dancing light in her hazel eyes, which seemed toimply that there was some tremendous joke on hand, the secret of whichwas known only to herself. Esther and Mellicent had confided theirimpressions to their mother; but in Mrs Asplin's presence Peggy wasjust a quiet, modest girl, a trifle shy, as was natural under thecircumstances, but with no marked peculiarity of any kind. She answeredto the name of "Peggy," to which address she was at other timespersistently deaf, and sat with neat little feet crossed before her, thepicture of a demure, well-behaved young schoolgirl. The sisters assuredtheir mother that Mariquita was a very different person in theschoolroom, but when she inquired as to the nature of the difference, itwas not easy to explain.
She talked so grandly, and used such great big words!--"A good thing,too," Mrs Asplin averred. She wished the rest would follow herexample, and not use so much foolish, meaningless slang.--Her eyeslooked so bright and mocking, as if she were laughing at something allthe time.--Poor, dear child! could she not talk as she liked? It was agreat blessing she _could_ be bright, poor lamb, with such a partingbefore her!--She was so grown-up, and patronising, and superior!--Tut!tut! Nonsense! Peggy had come from a boarding-school, and her wayswere different from theirs--that was all. They must not take stupidnotions, but be kind and friendly, and make the poor girl feel at home.
Fraulein on her side reported that her new pupil was docile andobedient, and anxious to get on with her studies, though not so faradvanced as might have been expected. Esther was far ahead of her inmost subjects, and Mellicent learned with pained surprise that she knewnothing whatever about decimal fractions.
"Circumstances, dear," she explained, "circumstances over which I had nocontrol prevented an acquaintance, but no doubt I shall soon know allabout them, and then I shall be pleased to give you the promised help;"and Mellicent found herself saying, "Thank you," in a meek andsubmissive manner, instead of indulging in a well-merited rebuke.
No amount of ignorance seemed to daunt Mariquita, or to shake her beliefin herself. When Maxwell came to grief in a Latin essay, she looked upand said, "Can I assist you?" and when Robert read aloud a passage fromCarlyle, she laid her head on one side and said, "Now, do you know, I amnot altogether sure that I am with him on that point!" with an assurancewhich paralysed the hearers.
Esther and Mellicent discussed seriously together as to whether theyliked, or disliked, this extraordinary creature, and had greatdifficulty in coming to a conclusion. She teased, puzzled, aggravated,and provoked them; therefore, if they had any claim to be logical, theyshould dislike her cordially, yet somehow or other they could not bringthemselves to say that they disliked Mariquita. There were moments whenthey came perilously near loving the aggravating creature. Already itgave them quite a shock to look back upon the time when there was noPeggy Saville to occupy their thoughts, and life without the interest ofher presence would have seemed unspeakably flat and uninteresting. Shewas a bundle of mystery. Even her looks seemed to exercise an uncannyfascination. On the evening of her arrival the unanimous opinion hadbeen that she was decidedly plain, but there was something about thepale little face which always seemed to invite a second glance, and themore closely you gazed, the more complete was the feeling ofsatisfaction.
"Her face is so _neat_," Mellicent said to herself; and the adjectivewas not inappropriate, for Peggy's small features looked as though theyhad been modelled by the hand of a fastidious artist, and the air ofdainty finish extended to her hands and feet and slight, gracefulfigure.
The subject came up for discussion on the third evening after Peggy'sarrival, when she had been called out of the room to speak to MrsAsplin for a few minutes. Esther gazed after her as she walked acrossthe floor with her dignified tread, and when the door was closed shesaid slowly--
"I don't think Mariquita is as plain now as I did at first; do you,Oswald?"
"N-no! I don't think I do. I should not call her exactly plain. Sheis a funny little thing, but there's something nice about her face."
"Very nice!"
"Last night in the pink dress she looked almost pretty."
"Y-es!"
"Quite pretty!"
"Y-es! really quite pretty."
"We shall think her lovely in another week," said Mellicent tragically."Those awful Savilles! They are all alike--there is something Indianabout them. Indian people have a lot of secrets that we know nothingabout; they use spells, and poisons, and incantations that no Englishperson can understand, and they can charm snakes. I've read about it inbooks. Arthur and Peggy were born in India, and it's my opinion thatthey are bewitched. Perhaps the ayahs did it when they were in theircradles. I don't say it is their own fault, but they are not like otherpeople, and they use their charms on us, as there are no snakes inEngland. Look at Arthur! He was the naughtiest boy--always hurtinghimself, and spilling things, and getting into trouble, and yet everyonein the house bowed down before him, and did what he wanted.--Now mark mywords, Peggy will be the same!"
Mellicent's companions were not in the habit of "marking her words," buton this occasion they looked thoughtful, for there was no denying thatthey were already more or less under the spell of the remorselessstranger.
On the afternoon of the fourth day Miss Peggy came down to tea with herpigtail smoother and more glossy than ever, and the light of war shiningin her eyes. She drew her chair to the table, and looked blandly ateach of her companions in turn.
"I have been thinking," she said sweetly, and the listeners quaked atthe thought of what was coming. "The thought has been weighing on mymind that we neglect many valuable and precious opportunities. Thishour, which is given to us for our own use, might be turned to profitand advantage, instead of being idly frittered away--
"`In work, in work, in work alway, Let my young days be spent.'
"It was the estimable Dr Watts, I think, who wrote those immortallines! I think it would be a desirable thing to carry on allconversation at this table in the French language for the future._Passez-moi le beurre, s'il vous plait_, Mellicent, _ma tres chere.J'aime beaucoup le beurre, quand il est frais. Est-ce que vous aimez lebeurre plus de la_,--I forget at the moment how you translate _jam, ilfait tres beau, ce apres-midi, n'est pas_?"
She was so absolutely, imperturbably grave that no one dared to laugh.Mellicent, who took everything in deadly earnest, summoned up courage togive a mild little squeak of a reply. "_Wee_--_mais hier soir, ilpleut_;" and in the silence that followed Robert was visited with amischievous inspiration. He had had French nursery governesses in hischildhood, and had, moreover, spent two years abroad, so that Frenchcame as naturally to him as his own mother-tongue. The temptation todiscompose Miss Peggy was too strong to be resisted. He raised hisdark, square-chinned face, looked straight into her eyes, and rattledoff a breathless sentence to the effect that there was nothing sonecessary as conversation, if one wished to master a foreign language;that he had talked French in the nursery; and that the same Marie whohad nursed him as a baby was still in his father's service, acting asmaid to his sister. She was getting old now, but was a most faithfulcreature, devoted to the family, though she had never overcome herprejudices against England and English ways. He rattled on until he wasfairly out of breath, and Peggy leant her little chin on her hand, andstared at him with an expression of absorbing attention. Esther feltconvinced that she did not understand a word of what was being said, butthe moment that Robert stopped, she threw back her head, clasped herhands together, and exclaimed--
"_Mais certainement, avec_ pleasure!" with such vivacity and Frenchinessof manner that she was forced into unwilling a
dmiration.
"Has no one else a remark to make?" continued this terrible girl,collapsing suddenly into English, and looking inquiringly round thetable. "Perhaps there is some other language which you would prefer toFrench. It is all the same to me. We ought to strive to becomeproficient in foreign tongues. At the school where I was at Brightonthere was a little girl in the fourth form who could write, and evenspeak, Greek with admirable fluency. It impressed me very much, for Imyself knew so little of the language. And she was only six--"
"Six!" The boys straightened themselves at that, roused into eagerprotest. "Six years old! And spoke Greek! And wrote Greek!Impossible!"
"I have heard her talking for half an hour at a time. I have known thegirls in the first form ask her to help them with their exercises. Sheknew more than anyone in the school."
"Then she is a human prodigy. She ought to be exhibited. Six yearsold! Oh, I say--that child ought to turn out something great when shegrows up. What did you say her name was, by the bye?"
Peggy lowered her eyelids, and pursed up her lips. "AndromedaMichaelides," she said slowly. "She was six last Christmas. Her fatheris Greek Consul in Manchester."
There was a pause of stunned surprise; and then, suddenly, anextraordinary thing happened. Mariquita bounded from her seat, andbegan flying wildly round and round the table. Her pigtail flew outbehind her; her arms waved like the sails of a windmill, and as sheraced along she seized upon every loose article which she could reach,and tossed it upon the floor. Cushions from chairs and sofa went flyinginto the window; books were knocked off the table with one rapid sweepof the hand; magazines went tossing up in the air, and were kicked aboutlike so many footballs. Round and round she went, faster and faster,while the five beholders gasped and stared, with visions of madhouses,strait-jackets, and padded rooms, rushing through their bewilderedbrains. Her pale cheeks glowed with colour; her eyes shone; she gave awild shriek of laughter, and threw herself, panting, into a chair by thefireside.
"Three cheers for Mariquita! Ho! ho! he! Didn't I do it well? If youcould have _seen_ your faces!"
"P-P-P-eggy! Do you mean to say you have been pretending all this time?What do you mean? Have you been putting on all those airs and gracesfor a joke?" asked Esther severely; and Peggy gave a feeble splutter oflaughter.
"W-wanted to see what you were like! Oh, my heart! Ho! ho! ho! wasn'tit lovely? Can't keep it up any longer! Good-bye, Mariquita! I'mPeggy now, my dears.--Give me some more tea!"