CHAPTER III.
THE WHITE LADY OF FERNLEY.
Margaret was waked the next morning by the cheerful and persistent songof a robin, which had perched on a twig just outside her window. She hadgone to bed in a discouraged frame of mind, and dreamed that her twocousins had turned into lionesses, and were fighting together over herprostrate body; but with the morning light everything seemed tobrighten, and the robin's song was a good omen.
"Thank you, Robin dear," she said aloud, as she brushed her long hair."I dare say everything will go well after a while, but just now, Robin,I do assure you, things have a kittle look."
She was down first, as the night before; but Peggy soon appeared,rubbing her eyes and looking still half asleep.
Breakfast was ready, and Peggy, at sight of the omelette and muffins,was about to fling herself headlong into her chair; but Margaret heldher back a moment.
"Elizabeth," she said, hesitating, "is Mrs. Cheriton--is she not here? Isee you have put me at the head of the table again."
"Mrs. Cheriton seldom leaves her own rooms, miss," replied Elizabeth."She asked me to say that she would be glad to see the young ladiesafter breakfast. And shall I call the other young lady, Miss Montfort?"
Before Margaret could reply, a clear voice was heard calling from above,in impatient tones:
"Elizabeth! somebody! come here this moment!"
Elizabeth obeyed the imperious summons, and as she reached the foot ofthe stairs, Rita's voice broke out again.
"Why has no coffee been brought to me? I never saw such carelessness.There is no bell in my room, either, and I have been calling till I amhoarse."
"I am very sorry, miss!" replied Elizabeth quietly. "We supposed youwould come down to breakfast with the other young ladies. Shall I bringyou a cup of tea now? There is no coffee in the house, as Mr. Montfortnever drinks it."
"_No coffee!_" cried Rita. "I _have_ come to a wilderness! Well--bringthe tea! and have it strong, do you hear?" And the young Cuban sweptback into her room, and shut the door with more vehemence than goodbreeding strictly allowed.
Margaret listened in distressed silence to this colloquy. Peggy giggledand chuckled. "Aha!" she said, "I'm so glad she didn't get the coffee.Greedy thing! Please hand me the muffins, Margaret. How small they are!The idea of her having her breakfast in bed!" and Peggy sniffed, andhelped herself largely to marmalade.
"Perhaps her head aches still," said peace-loving Margaret.
"Don't believe a word of it!" cried Peggy. "She's used to being waitedon by darkeys, and she thinks it will be just the same here. That'sall!"
Margaret thought this was probably true, but she did not say so,preferring the safer remark that it was a delightful day.
"When you have finished your breakfast," she said, "we will go out intothe garden. I can see a bit of it from here, and it looks lovely. Oh! Ican just catch a glimpse of the swing. I wonder if it is the same oldone. I love to swing, don't you?"
"I like shinning better!" said Peggy, putting half a muffin in hermouth. "Can you shin?"
"Shin! what--oh! up a tree, you mean. I'm afraid not."
"I can!" said Peggy triumphantly. "I can beat most of the boys at it,only Ma won't let me do it, on account of my clothes. Says I'm too old,too; bother! I'm not going to be a primmy, just because I am fifteen.How old are you, Margaret?"
"Seventeen; and as two years make a great difference, you know, Peggy, Ishall put on all the airs of an elder sister. You know the ElderSister's part,--
"Good advice and counsel sage, And 'I never did so when I was your age!'"
"All right!" said Peggy. "I'll call you elder sister. Ma always says Iought to have had one, instead of being one."
"Well, first comes something that we must both do; that is, go and seeMrs. Cheriton; and if you will let me, dear, I am going to tie yournecktie for you."
Peggy submitted meekly, while Margaret pulled the crumpled white tieround to the front, re-tied, patted, and poked it. Then her hair must becoaxed a little--or not so very little!--and then--
"What have you done to your frock, child? it is buttoned all crooked!Why, isn't there a looking-glass in your room?"
"Oh, yes!" said Peggy. "But I hate to look in the glass! There's sure tobe something the matter, and I do despise fussing over clothes."
By this time Margaret had rebuttoned the dress, with a sigh over thefact that the buttons did not match it, and that one sleeve was put inwrong. Now she declared that they must go without more delay, andElizabeth came to show them the way.
Peggy hung back, muttering that she never knew what to say to strangers;but Margaret took her hand firmly, and drew her along.
Perhaps Margaret may have felt a little nervous herself about thisstrange lady, who never left her rooms, and yet was to entertain andcare for them, as her uncle's note had said. Both girls followed insilence, as Elizabeth led them through the hall, past a door, then downthree steps and along a little passage to another door, at which sheknocked.
"Come in!" said a pleasant voice. Elizabeth opened the door and motionedthe girls to enter.
"The young ladies, ma'am!" she said; and then shut the door and wentaway.
The sudden change from the dark passage to the white room was dazzling.It was a small room, and it seemed to be all white: walls, floor(covered with a white India matting), furniture, and all. The strangelady sat in a great white armchair. She wore a gown of soft whitecashmere, and her hair, and her cap, her hands, and her face, were alldifferent shades of white, each softer than the other. Only her eyeswere brown; and as she looked kindly at the girls and smiled, theythought they had never seen anything so beautiful in their lives.
"Why, children," she said; "do you think I am a ghost? Come here, dears,and let me look at you! I am real, I assure you." She laughed, thesoftest little laugh, hardly more than a rustle, and held out her hand.Margaret came forward at once, still dragging Peggy after her,--Peggy,whose eyes were so wide open, it looked as if she might never be able toshut them again.
Mrs. Cheriton took a hand of each, and looked earnestly from one to theother.
"How are you called?" she asked. "I know that you have the same name."
"We thought I had better be Margaret," was the timid reply from the girlwho was able to speak, "and this is Peggy."
"I see!" said the old lady, putting her hand on Peggy's flaxen mane."You look like Peggy, little one! I used to call my sister Peggy. Andwhere is the third Margaret?"
"She has not come down yet; she had a headache last night," saidMargaret, losing all shyness before the kindly glance of those softbrown eyes. "She is called Rita, and she is very beautiful."
AUNT FAITH'S ROOM.]
"That is pleasant!" said Mrs. Cheriton. "I like pretty people, when theyare good as well. You are a Montfort, Margaret! You have the Montfortmouth, and chin; but this child must look like her mother." Peggynodded, but could not yet find speech.
"And now," the old lady went on, "I am sure you are longing to know whoI am, and why I live here by myself, like an old fairy godmother. Sitdown, my dears, and be comfortable! Here, Margaret, the littlerocking-chair is pleasant; Peggy, child, take the footstool! So! now youlook more at home.
"Well, children, the truth is, I am very old. When my next birthdaycomes, I shall be ninety years old; a very great age, my dears! Yourgrandfather was my cousin; and when, five years ago, I was left alone inthe world by the death of my dear only son, John Montfort, your uncle,like the good lad he is, found me out and brought me home with him tolive. He is my godson, and I loved him very much when he was a littlechild; so now, when I am old and helpless, he makes return by lovingme."
She paused to wipe her eyes; then went on.
"When one is nearly ninety years old, one does not care to move aboutmuch, even if one is perfectly well, as I am. John knew this (he knowsa great deal), and he fitted up these pleasant rooms, in the warmest andquietest corner of the house, and here he put me, with my little maid,and my books, and my
cat, and my parrot; and here I live, my dears, verycheerfully and happily. On pleasant days I go out in my garden, and situnder the trees. Look out of the window, girls, and see my greenparlour. Is it not pretty?"
The girls knelt on the broad window-seat, and looked out. Before themwas a square, grassy place, smooth and green as an emerald. The houseenclosed it on two sides; the other two were screened by a hedge ofNorway fir, twenty feet high, and solid as a wall. Over this thesunbeams poured in, flecking the green with gold. In one corner stood alaburnum-tree, covered with yellow blossoms; under a tall elm near bywas a rustic seat.
"How do you like my kingdom?" asked the old lady, smiling at their eagerfaces.
"It is like a fairy place!" said Margaret. "You are quite sure you arereal, Mrs. Cheriton?" They smiled at each other, feeling friendsalready.
"'Mrs. Cheriton' will never do, if we are to see each other every day,as I hope we are. How would you like to call me Aunt Faith?"
"Oh, the lovely name!" cried Margaret. "Thank you so much! Now we reallybelong to some one, and we shall not feel strange any more; shall we,Peggy?"
"I--s'pose not!" stammered Peggy. "I shall like it ever so much."
The girls sat a little longer, chatting and listening. Mrs. Cheritontold them of her parrot, who was old too, and who spoke Spanish andFrench, and did not like English; she showed them her books, many ofwhich were bound in white vellum or parchment. "It is a fancy ofJohn's," she said, "to have all my belongings white. I think he stillremembers his Aunt Phoebe. Do you know about your Great-aunt Phoebe?"
The girls said no, and begged to hear, but Mrs. Cheriton said that mustbe for another time.
"I must not keep you too long," she said, "for I want you to come often.I will call Janet, and she shall show you the way through my greenparlour to the garden. The Fernley garden is the pleasantest in theworld, I think."
She touched the bell, and told the pretty rosy-cheeked maid who appearedto take the young ladies by the back way, and introduce them toChiquito; and they took their leave regretfully, begging that they mightcome every day to the white chamber.
Chiquito's cage hung in the porch, and Chiquito was hanging in it upsidedown. He swore frightfully at the sight of strangers, and bit Peggy'sfinger when she tried to stroke him; but at a word from Janet he wasquiet, and said, "_Me gustan todas!_" in a plaintive tone, with his headon one side.
"What does that mean?" asked Peggy. "He's horrid, isn't he?"
Janet's feeling were hurt. "He doesn't mean it!" she said. "And healways wants to be pleasant when he says that. Something out of aSpanish song, Mrs. Cheriton says it is, and means that he likes folks.You do like folks when they like you, don't you, poor Chico?"
"_En general!_" said the bird, cocking his yellow eye at Peggy. "_Megustan todas en general!_"
"Well, I never!" said Peggy. "I think he's a witch, Margaret."
They went through a low door cut in the green wall, and found themselvesin the great shady garden, a place of wonder and mystery. The trees andplants had been growing for two hundred years, ever since James Montforthad left the court of Charles II. in disgust, and come out to build hishome and make his garden in the new country, where freedom waited forher children.
The great oaks and elms and chestnuts were green with moss and hoarywith lichens, but the flower-beds lay out in broad sunshine, and herewere no signs of age, only of careful tending and renewal. Margaret wasenchanted with the flowers, for her home had been in a town, and sheknew little of country joys. Peggy glanced carelessly at the geraniumsand heliotropes, and told Margaret that she should see a field ofpoppies in bloom.
They came across the gardener, who straightened himself at sight ofthem, and greeted them with grave politeness. He was a tall, stronglymade man, with, grizzled hair and bright, dark eyes.
"May we pick a few flowers?" asked Margaret in her pleasant way.
"Surely, miss; any, and all you like, except these beds of young slipshere, which I am nursing carefully. I hope you will be often in thegarden, young ladies!" and he saluted again, in military fashion, as thegirls walked away.
"What a remarkable-looking man!" said Margaret. "I wonder if I can haveseen him anywhere. There is something about his face--"
"Oh, there is the swing!" cried Peggy. "Come along, Margaret; I'll raceyou to that big chestnut-tree!" and away flew the two girls over thesmooth green turf.