CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
MOLLIE'S REVENGE.
Three weeks had passed by. May had begun--an old-fashioned, well-conducted May--which was really like a foretaste of summer, instead ofthe shivery disappointment which so often condemns us to fire and furs.Jack's ankle was still troublesome, and though he could limp a few stepswith the aid of a stick, his outdoor exercises were for the most partrestricted to peregrinations in the old bath-chair. According to hisaccount the period had been one of much tribulation, when patience andforbearance had been tried to their limits by the unnatural conduct ofMiss Mollie Farrell. Instead of behaving like the proverbialministering angel, Mollie proved uncertain, coy, and hard to please, andso full of mischievous pranks that Jack declared that his hair wasturning white, though, if the truth be told, he looked remarkably brightand happy.
One morning it happened that a chance remark of Jack's offended MissMollie's dignity, and she vowed that she would be revenged. It seemed,however, that she had forgotten her displeasure for when Ruth and Victorwent off to the village after lunch, she offered herself for the post ofchairman, and wheeled the invalid to his favourite position beneath aflowering chestnut in front of the house.
The ankle was comfortable, and Jack, having lunched well, felt at peacewith mankind and womankind into the bargain, and quite inclined to enjoya pleasant talk. No sooner was he settled, however, than Miss Molliedrew a book from her pocket, and sitting down on the grass at a fewyards' distance, deliberately turned her back upon him and began toread.
Jack watched these proceedings in silence, recognising both that he wasbeing punished for having annoyed his companion in the morning, and alsothat he could not better frustrate her intentions than by preserving anappearance of undisturbed complacency. Accordingly, he sat quietly,studying the pretty figure in the blue linen dress, and noticing withsatisfaction that the pages were flicked over more rapidly than wasconsistent with careful reading.
The book was evidently dull--so much the better! Miss Mollie might findher own punishment even heavier than his. He himself had nothing toread, but that did not distress him. A man is not to be pitied if hecannot make himself happy for an hour or so, even with a sprained ankle,when there is a charming landscape to gaze upon, of which a pretty girlmakes the foreground.
Jack smiled lazily to himself as he thrust his hand into the tail-pocketof his coat, but his expression changed tragically as his fingers gropedin vain for the bulky pouch which he had refilled just before leavingthe house. Now, what in the world had happened to that pouch? Could ithave fallen out of his pocket? Impossible! It was too securelyweighted down by its own size. It could not have fallen, but it couldeasily have been stolen by the hands of his mischievous charioteer asshe wheeled him across the grass. Jack had no doubt that that wasexactly what had happened, and he congratulated himself on havingsmothered an exclamation of dismay, as he saw Mollie's head liftedcautiously from the pages as if to listen for the expected explosion.
Jack smiled to himself, knowing full well that her patience would soonbe exhausted, and with it the limit of his punishment. It would be ajoke to pretend to be asleep when, at last, it pleased her ladyship toturn round! The little witch no doubt was fully aware how pretty shelooked, and fondly imagined that he was wrapt in admiration. It wouldbe a useful snub to find that he had forgotten all about her. So Jackrested his head against the cushions of his chair, folded his arms, andkept his eyes rigorously shut for the next few minutes. He feltdelightfully at ease, and the rays of the sun shining through thebranches were at once so subdued, and so comforting, that it came topass that what he had plotted in fun came about in earnest, and at theend of a few minutes his lids were tightly closed, and his breath camethrough his lips in long, regular respirations.
Mollie heard the sound, and smiled derisively.
"As if I should believe for one moment that he had gone to sleep!" saidshe to herself, with a tilt of the saucy head; but as the moments passedby, the perfection of the imitation began to disturb her equanimity; thelast breath, for example, approaching perilously near a snore! Sheturned cautiously, inch by inch, until a glimpse of the bath-chair couldbe obtained, with a fair head drooping upon the cushions. Jack wasasleep! Actually, and in very truth he had calmly slumbered off indefiance of her displeasure.
Mollie arose in her wrath, and stood over the unconscious figure,meditating upon the next step. If Jack Melland imagined for one momentthat she was going to mount guard over his slumbers, he would findhimself vastly mistaken; yet she dared not leave him unprotected, forthe ground sloped away from the tree, and a violent movement on the partof its occupant would be enough to send the chair racing down theincline. She stood and pondered, then, drawing a handkerchief from herpocket, crept on tip-toe to the back of the chair and tied the handle toa convenient bough. It would be almost impossible for Jack, crippled ashe was, to raise himself and turn round sufficiently to undo the knots;so, after testing their firmness a second time, Mollie took a circuitouspath to the house, there to amuse herself for an hour or more, until MrJack had time to awake and repent himself of his audacity.
The awaking came unexpectedly quickly. Perhaps Jack's slumbers had beendisturbed by Mollie's movements, quiet though they had been; certain itis that she was hardly out of sight before he stirred uneasily, blinkedonce or twice, and finally sat erect in a spasm of remembrance. He hadfallen asleep, not in pretence but in actual fact; for how long he hadslept he had no idea, but meantime the bird had flown, no doubt withfeathers much ruffled by wounded pride.
Jack did not believe that Mollie had gone out of sight; he pictured herstanding a few feet away, squeezed up against the branches of a tree,with blue skirts held tightly together lest a fold should betray herpresence. Anxiety for his safety would soon bring her rushing to hisside; so he threw himself back in the chair to set it a-going; failed tomake it move, jolted forward, and again found it immovable. Then hegrew suspicious, and craning over his shoulder beheld the tell-talehandkerchief with the tight little knots twisted purposely well out ofreach.
So this was Mollie's revenge, to leave him stranded in the middle of thepark until such time as it might please her to set him at liberty! Jackhardly knew whether to be more amused or indignant at the sense of hishelplessness. It seemed so preposterous that a chit of a girl should beable to keep him prisoner, that for a moment he seriously contemplatedgetting out of the chair and limping back to the house. How contriteshe would be when she returned to find the chair empty; how full ofcontrition, and anxiety about his welfare!
The prospect was not unpleasant; but after nearly a fortnight'sinvalidism, he dreaded doing anything to retard convalescence, and themore he measured with his eye the distance to the house the moreconvinced he became that it was beyond his power to accomplish. Itwould be ignominious, indeed, to have to give in half-way, and bediscovered by his tormentor sitting prone upon the ground waiting herarrival.
Jack determined to be wise in his generation and remain where he was;but it was dull work sitting alone, without paper or book to while awaythe time, and as his chair was turned away from the drive he had noteven the distraction of watching for the return of Ruth and Victor. Hetook out his pocket-book, searched through its contents for anything ofinterest, made a few calculations on an empty page, and thrust itimpatiently into his pocket. Then he studied his strong white hands,trying to imagine that they looked thin and delicate, carried out asystematic search through every one of his pockets, lest, perchance,anything at all interesting might have wandered into one of them bymistake; looked at his watch and groaned to find that it was still afull half-hour to tea-time. At last when patience was well-nighexhausted, the crunch of footsteps on the path delighted his ears, andhe called out a vociferous greeting--
"Hallo! are you back? Thank goodness for that. I was just looking outfor you."
No answer. The footsteps came to a momentary pause, then crunched onagain quicker than before. Jack cleared his throat and roare
d stilllouder--
"I say, I'm here! Don't go without me; I'm alone; I want to go up tothe house."
Silence still; another pause and then a deliberate walk onwards, whichroused Jack to veritable anger. This was evidently not Ruth but Mollie,and Mollie must be taught that there was a point when a joke ceased tobe a joke, and that, bound or free, Jack Melland must be obeyed. Whenhe spoke again his voice was not loud any longer, but cuttingly cold andsevere.
"Will you kindly come here and unloose my chair; I refuse to be kept aprisoner any longer."
The footsteps paused abruptly; the swish of a silken skirt came acrossthe grass, and a woman's clear, high-bred voice cried abruptly--
"A prisoner! Oh, what is the matter? Please tell me what I can do. Iwould have stopped at once, but I did not think you could possibly betalking to me."
Jack looked up in amaze, and beheld a tall girl clad in grey, a littlehead beautifully poised on an unusually long neck, and a pale, ovalface, out of which looked a pair of deep, violet eyes. The stranger wasnot beautiful, not even pretty, but in the way she spoke, in the way shemoved, in the way she stood looking at him, with the folds of her dressheld together in one slender hand, there was an air of distinction whichmarked her out from the ordinary run of womankind.
Jack felt overcome with embarrassment as he remembered his imperioussummons, and so much at a loss to explain his predicament that for a fewmoments he could not find words, but just lay back in his chair staringat her with horrified eyes.
The stranger evidently perceived his embarrassment, for she came a stepforwards and said tactfully--
"I think you must be Mr Melland. May I introduce myself? My name isMargot Blount I have been lunching at the vicarage, and took theopportunity of calling upon Miss Farrell before the carriage comes backfor me at five o'clock. I shall be so glad if I can be of any serviceto you _en route_."
"Thank you; you are very kind. I am awfully sorry that I should haveshouted at you in that threatening way," said Jack, smiling in his mostfascinating manner, and he could be remarkably fascinating uponoccasion. "The truth is I am a cripple at present with a sprainedankle, and my--er--attendant has chosen to run away, and leave me tiedup to this tree. I was getting tired and impatient, hence the summons."
"Ah," exclaimed Lady Margot, smiling, "I can guess who the attendantwas! Miss Mollie Farrell, was it not? I have heard so much of her fromMrs Thornton that I am quite longing to see her. Is she at home thisafternoon--and her sister?"
"I am not sure about Miss Farrell; she went out for a walk after lunch;but in any case she is sure to return very soon. Miss Mollie is--somewhere! It is impossible to be more explicit. Probably some of theservants will be able to find her for you."
"I hope so, but first what can I do for you? Shall I untie this nooseand set you free?"
"Thank you; I should be much obliged. Then, perhaps, you would kindlyask the butler to send someone to bring me in. I shall hope to see youlater on."
Lady Margot rustled to the back of the chair, and bent over the knottedhandkerchief. It was tied as if the knots were never intended to beundone, and presently she paused to take off her gloves before attackingit again, while Jack expostulated and apologised for the trouble he wasgiving. Finally, regardless of her light draperies, Lady Margot kneltdown on the ground so as to work more conveniently, and in the midst ofher efforts a saucy face peered suddenly round the corner of a tree afew yards distant, and Mollie hove into sight, with head thrown back andarms a-kimbo in would-be threatening attitude. From her position Jack'sbroad shoulders hid from view the grey figure behind the chair, and heguessed as much, and took a wicked delight in the thought.
"Well, Mr Melland, I hope you feel refreshed by your slumbers, and haveawakened in a better frame of mind," cried Mollie loftily. "Will yousay you are sorry, and be taken to have tea on the terrace, or beobstinate and stay here by your lonesome little self?"
"Neither, thank you; I have been fortunate enough to find a friend inneed, so am no longer dependent on your good offices. Allow me tointroduce you--Miss Mary Farrell--Lady Margot Blount!" said Jackdramatically.
Tableau!
Mollie's arms dropped to her sides and her face grew scarlet under thegarden-hat. So far from rising to her position as hostess, it was thevisitor who came forward to shake hands and speak the conventional wordsof greeting. It was, indeed, a cruel Fate which sent just this visitorat just this very time! Half a dozen times over during the lastfortnight had Mollie donned one of her grand London dresses and satprimly in the drawing-room, with intent to receive Lady Margot in style,and impress her with a sense of her own dignity and importance! Andthen to be discovered behaving like a mischievous school-girl, and betaken at such a disadvantage that she could not even find her voice! Itwas too annoying!
"Good-afternoon, Miss Farrell! I was coming up to the house to callupon you and your sister. I am so happy to have found you at home; and,do you know, I believe Mr Melland will have to fall back upon yourhelp, after all. My efforts have not been at all successful. You tiesuch good knots!" cried Lady Margot, in a tone of enthusiasm whichseemed to imply that the tying of knots was one of the rarest and mostvaluable of accomplishments. Looking into her face, Mollie'sembarrassment died a sudden death, and she found herself smiling backwith a delicious sense of comradeship and understanding.
"Oh, I know the trick. I can undo them in a moment, and then won't youcome and have tea with us on the terrace? It is all ready, and it seemsa sin to be indoors on this lovely day. My sister will be there waitingfor us; she was just coming up the path by the lake as I turned thecorner."
"Oh, that is nice!" said Lady Margot. She looked as if she were aboutto ask another question, but checked herself, and strolled along besidethe bath-chair, chatting alternately to Jack and Mollie with an ease andgrace which might have come from long years' acquaintanceship. As theyturned the corner of the terrace she was a step in advance, and Molliesaw her stop short for the fraction of a moment while the colour rushedinto her pale cheeks. She had surprised a pretty little tableau--atableau to which the inhabitants of the Court had grown accustomedduring the last few days--Ruth seated on her chair, her lovely headdrooped shyly forward, Victor leaning impressively towards her, his darkeyes bent on her face. They were too much engrossed to hear theapproaching footsteps, but the sound of the chair crunching over thegravel at last aroused their attention, when Victor turned round, andleapt to his feet, white and breathless.