Part 1 (2/2)
”Oh, dear! How lovely it would be to be a bird--cheep, cheep! If I only had wings I should just feel like one this minute, perched up so high,” she said with a merry laugh, as she jumped and wriggled about on the branch.
But she quite forgot that the nursery window overlooked the lawn, and that Sophie was sure to be sitting there at her work. In a moment, however, this fact was recalled to her mind by the sound of a wild shriek from the terrified maid.
”Mademoiselle! Miss Bunny, you want to kill yourself, or tear your sweet frock. Ah! naughty child, get down this instants, or I will tell monsieur your papa.”
This was the one threat that had any power to move Miss Bunny, so down she scrambled and ran away as fast as she could over the gra.s.s.
There was still no sign of Miss Kerr, so the child wandered about, wondering what was keeping her governess, and wis.h.i.+ng she had something to do, when all at once her eyes fell on a beautiful rose-tree, almost weighed down with the quant.i.ty of its flowers, and she flew at it in delight and began to pull off the lovely blossoms and pin one of them into the front of her frock. But like most foolish children she broke them off so short that there was no stalk left with which to fasten them, and so the poor rose fell upon the ground, and the little girl impatiently s.n.a.t.c.hed at another and dragged it ruthlessly from the branch. This went on for some time, and would probably have gone on until not a flower remained upon the bush, had not Sophie again made herself heard from the nursery window.
”Miss Bunny, how can you derange the beautiful roses?” she cried indignantly. ”There will be not one left to give to your papa when he comes home, and you know he loves those sweet flowers so much.”
”Oh, I am so sorry,” cried Bunny. ”But there are some dear little buds, and I will just leave them for papa. Who knows perhaps they may be roses by to-morrow evening!” and away she flitted like a white-winged b.u.t.terfly in search of some other sweet flowers that she might make her own, without fear of further interruption from sharp-tongued Sophie.
At last, when she had such a large bouquet that her little hands could scarcely hold it, she wearied of her occupation, and stepping softly to the drawing-room window, she peeped in just to see what Miss Kerr and her mama could be doing that kept them shut up there for so long together.
”I'll take mama these flowers,” she said to herself, ”and I am sure they will make her headache better. I'll just tap gently at the window and Miss Kerr will let me in, and I'll be so good and quiet that mama will not mind me being with her while she talks.”
Bunny waited for some minutes, hoping to be admitted to the room, but no notice was taken of her knocking--for the ladies were too much absorbed in their own affairs to trouble themselves about her.
Mrs. Dashwood lay on the sofa, and her face had a flushed anxious expression, as she listened to Miss Kerr, who was seated on a stool by her side, and seemed to be talking very earnestly, but her voice was low, and as the window was shut Bunny could not hear a word she said.
”Oh dear, what a lot Miss Kerr has got to say!” cried the little girl impatiently. ”She seems as if she had forgotten all about me. I am tired of being out here all alone, so I'll just run in and play with my dollies.”
Now the nearest way into the house was up a flight of steps and in by the dining-room window, which was like a large gla.s.s door, and always lay open in the most tempting manner possible.
So up these steps went Miss Bunny, her hands full of flowers and her mind bent on mischief, if she could only meet with anything to do that would amuse her and give her some fun.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BUTLER SURPRISES BUNNY.]
The room into which she stepped was a very pretty one. It was very nearly round, with many high windows looking out upon the pleasant grounds and blue sparkling sea. Upon the walls were pictures of fine thoroughbred horses, some of them with their little foals beside them, others with a surly-looking old dog or a tiny kitten, their favourite stable companion and friend. Bunny loved these pictures and had given the horses pet names of her own, by which she insisted on calling them, although their own well-known names were printed under them, for they were all horses that had won a great number of races during their lives, and so had become celebrated.
The round table in the middle of the room was laid ready for dinner, and looked very inviting with its prettily arranged flowers, handsome silver, and s.h.i.+ning gla.s.s.
”Dear me, how nice it all looks!” said Bunny, as she marched round the table on tip-toe. ”One, two, three, four places. Why, it must be for company. Well, I hope there will be somebody nice to talk to me.
I must get Sophie to put on my pretty new frock. But oh, dear, what fun it would be just to put a tiny, little drop of water into every gla.s.s! Wouldn't old Ashton wonder--just when he thinks everything is nice for dinner? I will! I'll do it! It will be such fun! Oh, I'd like to see his face; won't he be horribly angry?”
Throwing her flowers on the floor, Bunny sprang to the side-board, and seizing a water-jug she climbed up on each chair in turn and poured a few drops of water into every gla.s.s all round the dinner-table.
Just as she came to the last wine-gla.s.s and held the jug ready to let the water fall into it, the door opened suddenly and the solemn-looking old butler entered the room.
”Miss Bunny!” he exclaimed, and he looked so stern and angry that the little girl felt frightened, and dropping the jug, scrambled off the chair, seized her flowers, and ran out of his sight as fast as she could.
”I only did it for fun, Ashton,” she called back from the door. ”It is clean water, so it won't do any harm.”
”Harm, indeed!” grumbled Ashton; ”just as I thought I had everything done until dinner time. Now I must begin and rub up all this gla.s.s again;” and he began at once to remove the gla.s.ses from the table.
”Little himp that she is, that Miss Bunny! A perfect himp, and if I had the governessing of her for sometime I'd--I'd--bah! there's that bell again! Some folks is in a mighty hurry,” and full of anger and indignation against the little girl whom he could not punish for her naughty trick, Ashton hurried to the hall door, longing for something upon which he could vent his wrath.
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