CHAPTER II
WAS FANNY ELATED?
Mrs. Haddo slept very little that night. Miss Symes, who adored the headmistress, could not help noticing that something was the matter withher; but she knew Mrs. Haddo's nature far too well to make anyinquiries. The next day, however, Miss Symes was called into the headmistress's presence.
"I want to speak to you all alone," said Mrs. Haddo. "You realize, ofcourse, Emma, how fully I trust you?"
"You have always done so, dear Mrs. Haddo," replied the young teacher,her beautiful face flushing with pleasure.
"Well, now, I am going to trust you more fully still. You noticed, orperhaps you did not, that Sir John Crawford, Fanny's father, called tosee me yesterday?"
"Fanny herself told me," replied Miss Symes. "I found the poor, dearchild in floods of tears. Sir John Crawford is going to Indiaimmediately, and Fanny says she is not likely to see him again for ayear."
"We will cheer her up all we can," said Mrs. Haddo. "I have many schemesfor next Christmas which will, I am sure, give pleasure to the girls whoare obliged to stay here. But time enough for all that later on. Youknow, of course, Emma, that there are three vacancies in the upperschool?"
"Caused by the absence of the dear young Maitlands," replied Miss Symes."I cannot tell you how much we miss them."
"We do miss them," said Mrs. Haddo, who paused and looked attentively atMiss Symes. "I don't suppose," she continued, "that there is any teacherin the school who knows so much about the characters of the girls as youdo, my dear, good Emma."
"I think I know most of their characters," said Miss Symes; "charactersin the forming, as one must assuredly say, but forming well, dear Mrs.Haddo. And who can wonder at that, under your influence?"
Mrs. Haddo's face expressed a passing anxiety.
"Is anything wrong?" said Miss Symes.
"Why do you ask me, Emma? Have you--noticed anything?"
"Yes, certainly. I have noticed that you are troubled, dear friend; andMary Arundel has also observed the same."
"But the girls--the girls have said nothing about it?" inquired Mrs.Haddo.
"No; but young girls cannot see as far into character as older peoplecan."
"Well, now," said Mrs. Haddo, "I will be frank with you. What I say toyou, you can repeat to Mary Arundel. I feel proud to call you both myflag lieutenants, who always hold the banner of high principle andvirtue aloft, and I feel certain you will do so to the end. Emma, SirJohn Crawford came to see me yesterday on a very important matter; and,partly to oblige him, partly because of an old memory, partly alsobecause it seemed to me that I must trust and hope for the best incertain emergencies, I have agreed to do what I never didbefore--namely, to take three girls into the school--yes, into the upperschool, in place of the three Maitlands. These girls are called Betty,Sylvia, and Hester Vivian. They are the nieces of that dear woman,Beatrice Vivian, who was educated at this school years ago. I expectthem to arrive here on Monday next. In the meantime you must prepare theother girls for their appearance on the scene. Do not blame me, Emma,nor look on me with reproachful eyes. I quite understand what you arethinking, that I have broken a rule which I have always declared I wouldnever break--namely, I am taking these girls without having firstinterviewed them. Such is the case. Now, I want you, in particular, totell Fanny Crawford that they are coming. Fanny is their cousin. SirJohn is their guardian. Sir John knows nothing whatever about theirdisposition, but I gather from some conversation which I had with himlast night that Fanny is acquainted with them. Observe, dear, how shetakes the news of their coming. If dear Fanny looks quite happy aboutthem, it will certainly be a rest to my mind."
"Oh, I will talk to her," said Miss Symes, rising. "And now, please,dear Mrs. Haddo, don't be unhappy. You have done, in my opinion, theonly thing you could do; and girls with such high credentials must beall right."
"I hope they will prove to be all that is desirable," said Mrs. Haddo."You had better have a talk with Miss Ludlow with regard to the roomsthey are to occupy. Poor children! they are in great trouble, havingalready lost both their parents, and are now coming to me because theiraunt, Miss Vivian, has just died. It might comfort them to be in thatlarge room which is near Fanny's. It will hold three little beds and thenecessary furniture without any crowding."
"Yes, it would do splendidly," said Miss Symes. "I will speak to MissLudlow. I suppose, now, I ought to return to my school duties?"
Miss Symes was not at all uneasy at what Mrs. Haddo had told her. Herswas a gentle and triumphant sort of nature. She trusted most people. Shehad a sublime faith in the good, not the bad, of her fellow-creatures.Still, Mrs. Haddo had done a remarkable thing, and Miss Symes owned toherself that she was a little curious to see how Fanny Crawford wouldtake the news of the unexpected advent of her relatives.
It was arranged that the Vivians were to arrive at Haddo Court on thefollowing Monday. To-day was Wednesday, and a half-holiday.Half-holidays were always prized at Haddo Court; and the girls were nowin excellent spirits, full of all sorts of schemes and plans for theterm which had little more than begun, and during which they hoped toachieve so much. Fanny Crawford, in particular, was in earnestconversation with Susie Rushworth. They were forming a special plan forstrengthening what they called the bond of union in the upper school.Fresh girls were to be admitted, and all kinds of schemes were inprogress. Susie had a wonderfully bright face, and her eager words fellon Miss Symes's ears as she approached the two girls.
"It's all very fine for you, Susie," Fanny was heard to say; "but thisterm seems to me quite intolerable. You will be going home forChristmas, but I shall have to stay at the school. Oh, of course, I lovethe school; but we are all proud of our holidays, and father had all butpromised to take me to Switzerland in order to get some really goodskating. Now everything is knocked on the head; but I suppose I mustsubmit."
"I couldn't help overhearing you, Fanny," said Miss Symes, coming up tothe girls at that moment; "but you must look on the bright side, mylove, and reflect that a year won't be long in going by. I know, ofcourse, to what you were alluding--your dear father's sudden departurefor India."
"Yes, St. Cecilia," replied Fanny, looking up into Miss Symes's face;"and I am sure neither Susie nor I mind in the least your overhearingwhat we were talking about. Do we Susie?"
"No," replied Susie; "how could we? St. Cecilia, if you think you havebeen playing the spy, we will punish you by making you sing for usto-night."
Here Susie linked her hand lovingly through Miss Symes's arm. Miss Symesbent and kissed the girl's eager face.
"I will sing for you with pleasure, dear, if I have a moment of time tospare. But now I have come to fetch Fanny. I want to have a little talkwith her all by herself. Fan, will you come with me?"
Fanny Crawford raised her pretty, dark eyebrows in some surprise. Whatcould this portend? There was a sort of code of honor at the school thatthe girls were never to be disturbed by the teachers during thehalf-holiday hours.
"Come, Fanny," said Miss Symes; and the two walked away in anotherdirection for some little distance.
The day was a glorious one towards the end of September. Miss Symeschose an open bench in a part of the grounds where the forest land wasmore or less cleared away. She invited Fanny to seat herself, and took aplace by her side.
"Now, my dear," she said, "I have a piece of news for you which will, Ithink, please you very much."
"Oh, what can please me when father is going?" said Fanny, her eyesfilling with tears.
"Nevertheless, this may. You have, of course, heard of--indeed, I havebeen given to understand that you know--your cousins, the Vivians?"
Fanny's face flushed. It became a vivid crimson, then the color fadedslowly from her cheeks; and she looked at Miss Symes, amazement in herglance. "My cousins--the Vivians!" she exclaimed. "Do you meanBetty--Betty and her sisters?"
"Yes, I think Betty is the name of one of the girls."
"There are three," said Fanny. "There's Betty, who is abo
ut my age; andthen there are the twins, Sylvia and Hetty."
"Then, of course, you _do_ know them, dear?"
"Yes, I know them. I went to stay with them in Scotland for a weekduring last holidays. My cousin--their aunt, Miss Vivian--was very ill,however, and we had to keep things rather quiet. They lived at a placecalled Craigie Muir--quite beautiful, you know, but very, very wild."
"That doesn't matter, dear."
"Well, why are you speaking to me about them? They are my cousins, and Ispent a week with them not very long ago."
"You observed how ill Miss Vivian was?"
"I used to hear that she was ill; Sylvia used to tell me. Betty couldn'tstand anything sad or depressing, so I never spoke to her on thesubject."
"And you--you liked your cousins? You appreciated them, did you not,Fanny?"
"I didn't know them very well," said Fanny in a slightly evasive voice.
Miss Symes felt her heart sink within her. She knew Fanny Crawford well.She was the last girl to say a word against another; at the same timeshe was exceedingly truthful.
"Well, dear," said Miss Symes, "your father came here yesterday in orderto----"
"To see me, of course," interrupted Fanny; "to tell me that he was goingto India. Poor darling dad! It was a terrible blow!"
"Sir John came here on other business also, Fanny. He wanted to see Mrs.Haddo. You know that poor Miss Vivian is dead?"
"Oh, yes," said Fanny. Then she added impulsively, "Betty will be in aterrible state!"
"It may be in your power to comfort her, dear."
"To comfort Betty Vivian! What do you mean?"
"It has just been arranged between Mrs. Haddo and your father, who isnow the guardian of the girls, that they are all three to come here aspupils in the school. They will arrive here on Monday. You are glad, areyou not, Fan?"
Fanny started to her feet. She stood very still, staring straight beforeher.
"You are glad--of course, Fanny?"
Fanny then turned and faced her governess. "Do you want the truth,or--or--a lie?"
"Fanny, my dear, how can you speak to me in that tone? Of course I wantthe truth."
"Then I am not glad."
"But, my dear, consider. Those poor girls--they are orphans almost in adouble sense. They are practically alone in the world. They are yourcousins. You must have a very strong reason for saying what you havesaid--that you are not glad."
"I am not glad," repeated Fanny.
Miss Symes was silent. She felt greatly disturbed. After a minute shesaid, "Fanny, is there anything in connection with the Vivians which, inyour opinion, Mrs. Haddo ought to know?"
"I won't tell," said Fanny; and now her voice was full of agitation. Sheturned away and suddenly burst out crying.
"My dear child! my dear child! you are upset by the thought of yourfather's absence. Compose yourself, my love. Don't give way, Fanny,dear. Try to have that courage that we all strive to attain at HaddoCourt."
Fanny hastily dashed away her tears. Then she said, after a pause, "Isit fixed that they are to come?"
"Yes, it is quite fixed."
"Miss Symes, you took me at first by surprise, but when the Viviansarrive you will see that I shall treat them with the affection due tocousins of my own; also, that I will do my utmost to make them happy."
"I am sure of it, my love. You are a very plucky girl!"
"And you won't tell Mrs. Haddo that I seemed distressed at the thoughtof their coming?"
"Do you really wish me not to tell her?"
"I do, most earnestly."
"Now, Fanny, I am going to trust you. Mrs. Haddo has been more or lessdriven into a corner over this matter. Your dear, kind father has beensuddenly left in sole charge of those three young girls. He could nottake them to India with him, and he had no home to offer them in thiscountry. Mrs. Haddo, therefore, contrary to her wont, has agreed toreceive them without the personal interview which she has hithertothought essential."
Fanny smiled. "Oh, can I ever forget that interview when my turn came toreceive it? I was at once more frightened and more elated than Ibelieved it possible for any girl to be. I loved Mrs. Haddo on the spot,and yet I shook before her."
"But you don't fear her now, dear?"
"I should fear her most frightfully if I did anything wrong."
"Fanny, look down deep into your heart, and tell me if, in keepingsomething to yourself which you evidently know concerning your cousins,you are doing right or wrong."
"I will answer your question to-morrow," replied Fanny. "Now, may I goback to the others; they are waiting for me?"
"Yes, you may go, dear."
"The Vivians come here on Monday?" said Fanny as she rose.
"Yes, dear, on Monday. By the way, Miss Ludlow is arranging to give themthe blue room, next to yours. You don't object, do you?"
"No," said Fanny. The next minute the girl was out of sight.
Miss Symes sat very still. What was the matter? What was Fanny Crawfordtrying to conceal?
That evening Mrs. Haddo said to Miss Symes, "You have told Fanny thather cousins are coming?"
"Yes."
"And how did she take it?"
"Fanny is very much upset about her father's absence," was Miss Symes'sunexpected answer.
Mrs. Haddo looked attentively at the English teacher. Their eyes met,but neither uttered a single word.
The next day, after school, Fanny went up to Miss Symes. "I have beenthinking over everything," she said, "and my conscience is not going totrouble me; for I know, or believe I know, a way by which I may helpthem all."
"It is a grand thing to help those who are in sorrow, Fanny."
"I will do my best," said the girl.
That evening, to Miss Symes's great relief, she heard Fanny's merrylaugh in the school. The girls who formed the Specialities, as they werecalled, had met for a cheerful conference. Mary and Julia Bertram werein the highest spirits; and Margaret Grant, with her beautifulcomplexion and stately ways, had never been more agreeable. OliveRepton, the pet and darling of nearly the whole of the upper school, wasmaking the others scream with laughter.
"There can be nothing very bad," thought Miss Symes to herself. "My dearfriend will soon see that the charitable feeling which prompted her toreceive those girls into the house was really but another sign of hertrue nobility of character."
Meanwhile Fanny, who was told not to keep the coming of the Vivians inany way a secret, was being eagerly questioned with regard to them.
"So you really saw them at their funny home, Craigie Muir?" exclaimedOlive.
"Yes; I spent a week there," said Fanny.
"And had a jolly good time, I guess?" cried Julia Bertram.
"Not such a very good time," answered Fanny, "for Miss Vivian was ill,and we had to be very quiet."
"Oh! don't let's bother about the time Fanny spent in that remote partof Scotland," said Olive. "Do tell us about the girls themselves, Fan.It's so unusual for any girls to come straight into the upper school,and also to put in an appearance in the middle of term. Are they veryScotch, to begin with?"
"No, hardly at all," replied Fanny. "Miss Vivian only took the prettylittle cottage in which they live a year ago."
"I am glad they are not too Scotch," remarked Susie; "they will get intoour ways all the sooner if they are thoroughly English."
"I don't see that for a single moment," remarked Olive. "For my part, Ilove Scotch lassies; and as to Irish colleens, they're simply adorable."
"Well, well, go on with your description, Fan," exclaimed Julia.
"I can tell you they are quite remarkable-looking," replied Fanny."Betty is the eldest. She is a regular true sort of Betty, up to no endof larks and fun; but sometimes she gets very depressed. I think she israther dark, but I am not quite sure; she is also somewhat tall; and,oh, she is wonderfully pretty! She can whistle the note of every birdthat ever sang, and is devoted to wild creatures--the moor ponies andgreat Scotch collies and sheep-dogs. You'll be sure to lik
e BettyVivian."
"Your description does sound promising," remarked Susie; "but she willcertainly have to give up her wild ways at Haddo Court."
"What about the others?" asked Olive.
"Sylvia and Hetty? I think they are two years younger than Betty. Theyare not a bit like her. They are rather heavy-looking girls, but stillyou would call them handsome. They are twins, and wonderfully like eachother. Sylvia is very tender-hearted; but Hetty--I think Hetty has themost force of character. Now, really," continued Fanny, rising from herlow chair, where her chosen friends were surrounding her, "I can saynothing more about them until they come. You can't expect me, any ofyou, to overpraise my own relations, and, naturally, I shouldn't abusethem."
"Why, of course not, you dear old Fan!" exclaimed Olive.
"I must go and write a letter to father," said Fanny; and she wentacross the room to where her own little desk stood in a distant corner.
After she had left them, Olive bent forward, looked with her merry,twinkling eyes full into Susie Rushworth's face, and said, "Is the dearFan _altogether_ elated at the thought of her cousins' arrival? I put itto you, Susie, as the most observant of us all. Answer me truthfully, orfor ever hold your peace."
"Then I will hold my peace," replied Susie, "for I cannot possibly saywhether Fan is elated or not."
"Now, don't get notions in your head, Olive," said Mary Bertram. "Thatis one of your faults, you know. I expect those girls will be downrightjolly; and, of course, being Fan's relations, they will become membersof the Specialities. That goes without saying."
"It doesn't go without saying at all," remarked Olive. "TheSpecialities, as you know quite well, girls, have to stand certaintests."
"It is my opinion," said Susie, "that we are all getting too high andmighty for anything. Perhaps the Vivians will teach us to know our ownplaces."