Part 45 (1/2)
”You have, child.”
”Oh! am I not happy again!” said she, throwing back her long hair upon her neck, and turning towards him her eyes beaming with grat.i.tude, and bright with triumph. ”I have spent two nights of misery, but they are well repaid by the joy I feel now.”
”There. You look like yourself already,” said he. ”Come, and we'll search for them.”
”What am I thinking of!” cried she, suddenly. ”I was forgetting these;”
and she unclasped the necklace, and took off the brooch, depositing them carefully in their places.
”You shall wear them again one of these days, Kate,” said he, with a look of pensive meaning.
”They only served me to build castles with,” said she, gaily, ”and the words you have spoken will help me to raise much finer ones. I am ready now, Sir.”
”Of all the days of your life,” whispered Ada to Kate, as they drove home that evening, ”was this the happiest?”
”It was,” said the other, thoughtfully.
”And mine, too. I had not one dark thought till I saw evening coming on, and felt how soon it was to end. But I have such happy news for you, dear Kate, only I am not at liberty to tell it--something that is going to happen--somewhere we are about to go.”
”Do not tell me more, or I shall become too curious to hear all.”
”But you would be so glad, so overjoyed to hear it.”
”One can always wait patiently for good tidings, the wise people say.
Where did you get your violets in mid-winter?”
”Where _you_ got your roses, Kate,” said the other, laughing. ”I never saw such pink cheeks as you had when you came into the garden.”
”I had fallen asleep,” said Kate, blus.h.i.+ng slightly. ”Whenever I am very, very happy, I grow sleepy.”
CHAPTER XXIX. MR. M'KINLAY IS PUZZLED.
Mr. M'Kinlay was at his breakfast the next day when he received the following letter from Sir Gervais Vyner:
”Rome, Palazzo Altieri.
”My dear M'Kinlay,--Lady Vyner's mother insists on seeing Ada out here, and will not listen to anything, either on the score of the season or the long journey. I cannot myself venture to be absent for more than a few days at a time; and I must entreat of you to give Mademoiselle and my daughter a safe convoy as far as Ma.r.s.eilles, where I shall meet you.
I know well how very inconvenient it may prove to you, just as term is about to open, so pray make me deeply your debtor for the service _in all ways_. My sister-in-law informs me--but so vaguely that I cannot appreciate the reasons--that Mademoiselle H. does not advise Miss O'Hara should accompany them. It will be for you to learn the grounds of this counsel, and, if you concur with them, to make a suitable arrangement for that young lady's maintenance and education in England, unless, indeed, her friends require her to return home. To whatever you decide, let money be no obstacle. There are good schools at Brighton, I believe.
If her friends prefer a French education, Madame Gosselin's, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris, is well spoken of. See Sir Within Wardle on the subject, who, besides being her guardian, is well qualified to direct your steps.
”I cannot tell you how much I am provoked by what I must call this failure in a favourite project, nor is my annoyance the less that I am not permitted to know how, when, or why the failure has been occasioned.
All that Miss Courtenay will tell me is, 'She must not come out to Italy,' and that I shall be the first to agree to the wisdom of this decision when I shall hear the reasons for it. Of course all this is between ourselves, and with Sir Within you will limit yourself to the fact that her education will be more carefully provided for by remaining north of the Alps--a truth he will, I am certain, recognise.
”Be sure, however, to get to the bottom of this, I may call it--mystery, for up to this I have regarded Ada's progress in learning, and great improvement in spirits, as entirely owing to this very companions.h.i.+p.
”Drop me a line to say if you can start on Monday or Tuesday, and at the Pavilion Hotel you will either find me on your arrival, or a note to say when to expect me. Tell Sir Within from me, that I will accept any trouble he shall take with Miss O'H. as a direct personal favour. I am not at all satisfied with the part we are taking towards this girl; nor shall I be easy until I hear from you that all is arranged to her own liking, and the perfect satisfaction of her family. I think, indeed, you should write to Mr. L., at Arran; his concurrence ought to be secured, as a formality; and he'll not refuse it, if not linked to something troublesome or inconvenient.
”I shall be curious to hear your personal report of Miss O'Hara, so take care to fit yourself for a very searching cross-examination from