Part 29 (2/2)
Yes, she certainly felt much, much better. The air was keen and crisp; she was no longer hungry-that gnawing pain in her side had absolutely ceased; she was warm, too, and she longed for exercise. A moment or two later, accompanied by Pilot, she was racing along the snow-covered roads. The splendid color in her cheeks could not but draw the attention of any chance pa.s.ser-by.
”What a handsome-what a very handsome girl!” more than one person said; and it so happened that as Sylvia was flying round a corner, her great mastiff gamboling in front of her, she came face to face with Lady Frances, who was driving to make some calls in the neighborhood.
Lady Frances Wynford was never proof against a pretty face, and she had seldom seen a more lovely vision than those dark eyes and glowing cheeks presented at that moment. She desired her coachman to stop, and bending forward, greeted Sylvia in quite an affectionate way.
”How do you do, Miss Leeson?” she said. ”You never came to see me after I invited you to do so. I meant to call on your mother, but you did not greet my proposal with enthusiasm. How is she, by the way?”
”Mother is dead,” replied Sylvia in a low tone. The rich color faded slowly from her cheeks, but she would not cry. She looked full up at Lady Frances.
”Poor child!” said that lady kindly; ”you must miss her. How old are you, Miss Leeson?”
”I am just sixteen,” was the reply.
”Would you like to come for a drive with me?”
”May I?” said the girl in an almost incredulous voice.
”You certainly may; I should like to have you.-Johnson, get down and open the carriage door for Miss Leeson.-But, oh, my dear, what is to be done with the dog?”
”Pilot will go home if I speak to him,” said Sylvia.-”Come here, Pilot.”
The mastiff strode slowly up.
”Go home, dear,” said Sylvia. ”Go, and knock as you know how at the gates, and father will let you in. Be quick, dear dog; go at once.”
Pilot put on a shrewd and wonderfully knowing expression, c.o.c.ked one ear a little, wagged his tail a trifle, glanced at Lady Frances, seemed on the whole to approve of her, and then turning on his heel, trotted off in the direction of The Priory.
”What a wonderfully intelligent dog, and how you have trained him!” said Lady Frances.
”Yes; he is almost human,” replied Sylvia. ”How nice this is!” she continued as the carriage began to roll smoothly away. She leant back against her comfortable cus.h.i.+ons.
”But you will soon be cold, my dear, in that very thin jacket,” said Lady Frances. ”Let me wrap this warm fur cloak round you. Oh, yes, I insist; it would never do for you to catch cold while driving with me.”
Sylvia submitted to the warm and comforting touch of the fur, and the smile on her young face grew brighter than ever.
”And now you must tell me all about yourself,” said Lady Frances. ”Do you know, I am quite curious about you-a girl like you living such a strange and lonely life!”
”Lady Frances,” said Sylvia.
”Yes my dear; what?”
”I am going to say something which may not be quite polite, but I am obliged to say it. I cannot answer any of your questions; I cannot tell you anything about myself.”
”Really?”
”Not because I mean to be rude, for in many ways I should like to confide in you; but it would not be honorable. Do you understand?”
”I certainly understand what honor means,” said Lady Frances; ”but whether a child like you is acting wisely in keeping up an unnecessary mystery is more than I can tell.”
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