CHAPTER IX
Diamond cut Diamond
Honor was both amazed and indignant at Vivian's stern rebuke. Sheappealed to Janie in self-justification.
"I don't understand it," she declared. "I only screwed up my face, andsaid ghosts glided. I stopped at once when Vivian asked me. How couldEvelyn have been so fearfully frightened just at that?"
"I can't imagine," said Janie, "except that she's such an extremelynervous girl."
"It's too bad to blame me on that account."
"Vivian is generally very severe."
"She's always down on me! I'm continually in hot water, and half thetime I don't know exactly why."
It was not until the next afternoon that Honor learnt of the practicaljoke that had been practised upon her schoolfellow. As she was washingher hands in the dressing-room she chanced to overhear a few remarksbetween two or three girls who were discussing the affair, and at oncequestioned them about it.
"Of course Meta knew it was you, Honor!" said Ruth Latimer, ratherreproachfully.
"Why of course?" asked Honor.
"Because it couldn't be anyone else. You're always playing tricks uponsomeone."
"It's a case of 'give a dog a bad name', then. I'm innocent for once."
"But the ghost ran up the steps to No. 8!"
"That's only 'circumstantial evidence'. I certainly didn't do it. Janiecan tell you that I never left the bedroom."
"Yes, I could take my oath in a law court, as a reliable witness,"vouched Janie.
"Then who was it?"
Honor shook her head.
"Ask me a harder!" she said briefly.
Flossie, who was standing near, looked rather conscious, butvolunteered no explanation.
"It's a most peculiar thing," said Ruth. "Somebody must have been theghost, I suppose."
"Unless it were a real one!" suggested Flossie. "It might----"
"What nonsense! Nobody believes in ghosts, except, perhaps, Evelyn,"interrupted Ruth scornfully. "Of course, it was a girl playing a trick.The only question is, who?"
"Could it be May or Trissie Turner?" suggested Flossie.
"Impossible! Evelyn's own cousins--and in the Sixth Form, too!"
"It's very extraordinary!"
"It ought to be properly cleared up," said Lettice Talbot.
"Suppose we ask every girl in the house if she knows anything,"proposed Dorothy Arkwright.
"No; Meta begged us to let the matter drop," replied Ruth. "She saysEvelyn is extremely sensitive about it, and can't bear the subjectalluded to."
"Evelyn looked very ill this morning," observed Dorothy.
"Yes; Meta says she has had a severe shock, and the least reference toit might upset her again."
"So it will have to remain unexplained?"
"I suppose so," said Flossie. "It seems a complete mystery."
"Why, Flossie!" exclaimed Maisie Talbot suddenly, "didn't I hear youget up last night, after Vivian had gone downstairs and we had marchedoff to bed again? I remember I called out to you, but I was too sleepyto wake up properly. I verily believe it must have been you whofrightened Evelyn. Honestly now, was it?"
Flossie turned very red. She would have continued to shield herself atHonor's expense if it had been any longer possible, but she was notprepared to tell a direct falsehood. There was no way out of it but toconfess.
"What a storm in a teacup!" she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "It'sabsurd if one can't play the least joke without a monitress interferingand making a ridiculous fuss. It was only meant for fun; I should havelaughed if anybody had done it to me."
"It's no laughing matter," said Maisie gravely. "In the first place,though Evelyn may be silly, you had no right to frighten her; and inthe second place, you deliberately let the blame rest on Honor'sshoulders."
"Vivian ought to be told of this," declared Dorothy.
"Yes, she must know at once," added Ruth.
"Oh, please don't go sneaking to the monitress on my account!"interposed Honor. "If Meta wants the affair to drop, it shall. Both sheand Vivian took it for granted last night that I had acted the ghost inNo. 4; they never asked me, or gave me a chance of denying it, so Ishan't trouble to undeceive them. If Vivian has such a poor opinion ofme already, she shan't think me a tell-tale in addition. As forFlossie, she's not worth noticing."
"But telling a monitress isn't like telling a teacher," objected Ruth.
"It savours of sneaking, and I prefer to leave it alone. What does itmatter? I don't care about anybody's opinion!"
Honor was on her high horse. She had been much hurt by Vivian'sinjustice, and all the Fitzgerald pride was roused within her.Notwithstanding the girls' remonstrances, she would not allow herselfto be cleared of the false charge.
"The whole thing is altogether beneath me," she remarked, as shestalked haughtily away.
"It's no good trying to persuade her," said Lettice. "When she putsthat set look on her face, arguments are absolutely useless."
"On the whole, I think I rather admire her for saying nothing,"commented Maisie. "It's more dignified than making a fuss. I can'ttolerate tale-bearing myself. It would have got Flossie into a terrificscrape with Vivian, and probably with Miss Maitland as well."
"Flossie doesn't deserve to go scot-free," said Ruth, with a glance atthe flaxen head that was discreetly disappearing through the door.
"She won't!" asserted Lettice. "Honor is the most contrary, queer,impossible, perverse girl I've ever met. She'll let Flossie off easilynow, but she'll make her pay for it in some other way. I could see itin her eye. She was as cool as a cucumber outside, but I'm sure thatwas only the crust over the crater, and that there was the usualvolcano inside. It's bound to find a safety-valve, so Flossie hadbetter look out for squalls!"
Lettice was right. Honor was certainly in a most unenviable frame ofmind. She considered that Vivian had treated her unfairly in assumingher to be guilty without making any proper investigation.
"It's the first time a Fitzgerald has ever been called a coward!" shesaid to Janie.
The word rankled in her memory even more than the monitress'shigh-handed manner.
"Then you must use every opportunity of showing that you're thereverse," replied Janie. "You'll have to live the thing down. I expectthe truth will come round to Vivian's ears in course of time, and I'msure that she'll think far better of you than if we had gone at once toher with a long accusation against Flossie. If Flossie herself hadoffered to tell, that would have been different; but she didn't rise tosuch a pitch of heroism."
"One wouldn't expect it from Flossie Taylor!" said Honorcontemptuously, as she hurried off to her music lesson.
I am afraid Honor's scales that day were anything but a satisfaction toFraeulein Bernhardt, the piano teacher. Her mind was so abstracted thatshe kept continually playing wrong fingering, or even an occasionalwrong note in the harmonic minors. Her study was little better, and herpiece a dead failure. The mistress, with characteristic Germanpatience, set her to work to try to conquer a couple of difficultphrases, through which Honor stumbled again and again, each time withthe same old mistakes, until the end of the half-hour.
"I find you not yet fit to take share in ze evening pairformance!"sighed poor Fraeulein, whose musical ear had been much distressed bythis mangling of her favourite tarantella. "Zere must be more ofimprovement before ve render ze piece to Mees Maitland. You say you notvish to play in publique? Ach, so! Zat is vat zey all say; but it isgood to begin young to get over ze fear--vat you call ze 'shyness'--isit not so?"
Fraeulein Bernhardt was an excellent teacher--patient, conscientious,and enthusiastic. She tried to inspire all her pupils with her own lovefor music, and with some indeed she succeeded, though with others itproved a more difficult task.
"I'm almost impossible!" avowed Lettice Talbot. "I believe I'm nearlyas bad as the old fellow who declared he only knew two tunes--one was'God Save the King', and the other wasn't."
"You certainly have a particularly leaden tou
ch," agreed DorothyArkwright. "The way you hammer out Mendelssohn is enough to try mynerves, so I'm sure it must be an offence to Fraeulein."
"I think it's stupid to be obliged to learn the piano when you'veabsolutely no taste for it," yawned Lettice. "I'm going to ask Fatherto let me give it up next term."
"Don't!" interposed Vivian Holmes, who happened to overhear Lettice'sremark. "I went through that same phase myself, when I was fourteen. Iimplored my mother to allow me to stop music, and she had nearlyconsented when I met a lady who advised me most strongly to go on. Shesaid she couldn't play herself, and regretted it immensely now she wasgrown-up, and would be thankful if she could manage even a hymn tune.So I did go on, and now I'm very glad. I'm certain you'll like itbetter, Lettice, when you've got over more of the drudgery."
"Perhaps it will never be anything but drudgery for me!"
"Oh, yes, it will! We shall have you taking part in the 'Friday firsts'yet."
On the first Friday in every month Miss Maitland held a "MutualImprovement Evening", at which all who were sufficiently advanced wereexpected to contribute by playing, singing, or reciting. These werequite informal gatherings, only Chaddites being present. Miss Cavendishconsidered it good for teachers and pupils to meet thus socially, and asimilar arrangement obtained at each house. To many of the girls,however, it was more of an ordeal to be obliged to perform before theirschoolfellows than it would have been to play to strangers.
"I'm always nervous, in any case," said Pauline Reynolds; "butstrangers don't criticize one openly afterwards, whatever they maythink in private. I feel it's perfectly dreadful to have Fraeulein andMiss Maitland and Miss Parkinson sitting on one side, and all of you ina row on the other!"
"But we're very polite," urged Lettice. "We say, 'Thank you!'"
Honor had not yet been considered proficient enough to take an activepart in the monthly entertainment, but Flossie's name was one of thefirst on the list. She played the violin remarkably well, better thanalmost anybody else at Chessington; and as she was seldom nervous, herpieces were generally very successful. The day following EvelynFletcher's fright happened to be "Mutual Improvement Friday". The girlsonly spent a short time at preparation, and then went upstairs tochange their dresses. The meetings were always held in thedrawing-room, and were rather festive in character. Miss Maitland triedto make them as much as possible like ordinary parties; she receivedthe girls as guests, encouraged them to converse with herself and theother teachers, and had coffee served to them during the evening.
On this particular occasion Flossie made a very careful toilet, and shecertainly looked nice in her pretty, embroidered white muslin dress,her fair hair tied with big bows of palest blue ribbon. She took a lastglance at herself in the looking-glass, then, seizing her violin, whichshe had brought to her cubicle, she prepared to go downstairs.
In passing Miss Maitland's bedroom on the lower landing, she noticedthat the door stood open, and that no one was within. There was a largemirror in the wardrobe, and, catching a glimpse of her own reflectionas she went by, she stopped suddenly, and could not resist thetemptation to run in for a moment and take a full-length view ofherself as she would appear when she was playing her piece. She raisedher violin and struck a suitable attitude, and was immensely pleasedwith the result that faced her--the dainty dress, the blue bows, thecoral cheeks, flaxen hair, and bright eyes all made a charming picture,and the position in which she held her instrument was particularlygraceful. She drew her bow gently over the strings, to observe thecurve of her slender wrist and well-shaped arm. It was gratifying toknow that she would make such a good appearance before herschoolfellows. Once again she played a few notes, for the sheersatisfaction of watching her slim, white fingers in the glass.
Alas for Flossie! That single bar of Schubert's Serenade was herundoing. Honor chanced to be passing the door at the identical moment,and, hearing the strain of music, peeped inside. She grasped thesituation at a glance.
"Oho, Miss Flossie! So I've caught you prinking!" she said to herself."You're evidently practising your very best company smile for thisevening. What a disappointment it would be to you, now, if you were notable to play that piece after all!"
Honor had a resourceful mind. Very gently she put her hand inside thedoor and abstracted the key, which, with equal caution, she fitted intothe keyhole on the outside; then, quickly shutting the door, she lockedit, and ran away before Flossie had even discovered that anybody Wasthere. The latter naturally noticed the slight noise and turned round,but she was too late; and though she rattled the handle, and knockedand called, it was of no avail. Honor, as it happened, had been thelast girl to go downstairs, and there was nobody left on either landingto hear even the most frantic thumps. Flossie rushed to the electricbell, hoping to bring a servant to her assistance; but it was out oforder, and would not ring. She was in a terrible dilemma: if she madetoo much noise one of the teachers, or even Miss Maitland herself,might come upstairs to see what was the matter; on the other hand,there she was locked up fast and secure, missing the "evening", andwith an equal chance of being found out in the end, and asked to givesome explanation of her presence in the mistress's room.
In the meantime, Honor went downstairs chuckling. She entered thedrawing-room in the highest of spirits, paid her respects to MissMaitland, and found a seat close to the door. The musical part of theperformance, she ascertained, was to come first, and after coffee therewere to be recitations, and a dialogue in French. A neat programme hadbeen written out and was laid on the top of the piano, so that it couldbe referred to by Vivian Holmes, who was conductress of the ceremonies.
It was late already, and the proceedings began immediately. The roomwas crowded, and amongst the forty girls nobody seemed to haveparticularly remarked Flossie's absence, and no enquiry was made forher, until the close of the song that preceded her violin solo.
"Where is Flossie Taylor?" whispered Vivian then, with a look of markedannoyance on her face. "Her _Serenade_ comes next. She ought to bestanding by the piano. Has anybody seen her? Please pass the questionon."
She paused a moment or two in great impatience; then, as no Flossie putin an appearance, she turned to Meta Fletcher and May Turner, whofollowed on the programme, and asked them to begin their duet.
"I can't wait for anybody," she remarked. "If Flossie isn't ready, Imust simply miss her out. We've almost too many pieces to get throughin the time."
The rest of the music went off successfully. Nobody broke down, or evenmade a bad stumble, a subject of much self-congratulation to severalnervous performers and of great relief to Vivian, who, as monitress ofthe house, always arranged the little concerts as a surprise for MissMaitland, the latter preferring that the girls should settle alldetails amongst themselves, instead of leaving matters to a teacher.
Coffee was brought in at eight o'clock, after which the recitationsbegan immediately. At this state of the entertainment Honor feltmagnanimous. She did not want to involve Flossie in serious trouble,so, slipping quietly away, she ran upstairs, unlocked the door of MissMaitland's bedroom, and released her prisoner.
The disappointed violinist emerged looking decidedly glum.
"It's a nasty, mean trick you've played me, Honor Fitzgerald!" sheburst out.
"No meaner than you played on Evelyn Fletcher--not half so bad, in myopinion. I'm sorry to say you're too late for your solo. The music'sover long ago, and they're hard at work reciting Shakespeare atpresent."
"Just what I expected! And it's all your fault!"
"You're very ungrateful! You ought to be most relieved to be let outbefore Miss Maitland caught you," retorted Honor. "What an opportunityto point a moral on the fatal consequences of vanity!" Then, as Flossieflounced angrily away: "You've never thanked me for unlocking this dooryet. I thought we were supposed to cultivate manners at St. Chad's. IfVivian asks where you've been, I suppose you'll tell her?"
"I certainly shan't! And you'll be a sneak if you do."
"All right, all right! Keep
your little temper! You may make your mindeasy; I don't intend to do anything of the sort," called Honor,watching Flossie's back as her victim hurried out of earshot down thepassage. "It has been a delightful evening," she continued to herself;"really quite the jolliest since I came to Chessington. I'm afraid I'vehad the lion's share of the enjoyment, but that couldn't be helped. Itcertainly is a most immense satisfaction to feel that Flossie Taylorand I are now exactly quits!"