The Little Princess of Tower Hill Page 8

  CHAPTER VIII.

  CHOOSING HER COLORS.

  Maggie had found it very delightful to talk to Susy on the doorstep of heraunt's house. The little mystery of the whole proceeding fascinated her,and as she was in reality a very romantic and imaginative child, shethought nothing could be finer than going off privately with Susy, andsacrificing her best hat for the benefit of this young person. She had alsoa decidedly mixed and perhaps somewhat naughty desire to out-do Ralph inthis matter, and to be herself the person who was to rescue poor Susy andher family from the depths of starvation. When Susy went away, she creptupstairs and went softly into her little room, no one having heard hereither leave it or return to it.

  There was one part, however, of the programme marked out by Susy which wasnot quite so agreeable to little Miss Ascot. Susy had adjured her, withabsolute tears starting to her black eyes, to keep the whole thing asecret. Maggie had not the smallest difficulty in promising this at themoment, but she had no sooner reached her little bedroom than she becamepossessed with a frantic desire to tell her little adventure to some one.She was not yet eight years old; she had never kept a secret in her life,and the moment she possessed this one it began to worry her. Little Maggie,however, was not without a certain code of morals; she knew that it wouldbe very wrong indeed to tell a lie. She had given her word to Susy; shemust keep her poor little secret at any cost.

  Miss Grey, who of course knew nothing of all that had transpired, came inat her accustomed hour to assist her little pupil at her toilet. Maggiecapered about and seemed in excellent spirits while she was being dressed.She had no idea of betraying her secret, but she liked, so to speak, toplay with it, to show little peeps of it, and certainly fully to acquaintthose she was with, with the fact that she was the happy possessor of sucha treasure. She remembered Waters' remarks of the night before. Waters hadsaid how very faithfully she preserved anything told to her in confidence.Waters kept her secrets in violet. Maggie did not quite understand thedouble meaning of this expression; but, as she was being dressed, shebecame violently enamored of what she called the "secret" color.

  "No, no, I won't have my pink sash this morning, please, Miss Grey; I don'tlike pink; I mean it isn't the fit color for me to wear to-day. You don'tknow why; you'll never of course guess why, but pink isn't my color to-dayanyhow."

  "Well, Maggie, you need not wear it," replied the patient governess; "hereis a very pretty blue sash, dear; it will go quite nicely with your whitefrock; let me tie it on in a hurry, dear, for the breakfast gong hassounded."

  But Maggie would not be satisfied with the blue sash, nor yet with thetartan, nor even with the pale gold.

  "I want a violet sash," she said; "I'll have nothing but a violet sash; I'mkeeping something in violet; you'll never, never guess what."

  The breakfast gong here sounded a second time, and of course Miss Greycould not find any violet ribbons in Maggie's box; fortunately she had apiece of the desired color among her own stores; so when the littleprincess was decked in it, she went downstairs, feeling very happy andproud.

  Miss Grey's violet sash did not happen to be of a pretty shade; it was anold ribbon, of a dark tint of color, and was a great deal too short for itspresent purpose.

  "What a hideous thing you have round your waist," whispered Ralph to hislittle cousin; but here he caught his mother's eye; she did not allow himto make personal remarks, and although she herself was considerablysurprised at Lady Ascot's allowing such a ribbon into Maggie's wardrobe,nothing further was said on the subject. Even the wearing of the violetsash, however, could scarcely keep the secret from bubbling to Maggie'slips. Mrs. Grenville began to form her plans for the day. Maggie and Ralphwere to employ themselves over their lessons until twelve o'clock and thenMrs. Grenville would take them both out with her, first to MadameTussaud's, and later on for a drive in the park.

  "To-morrow," she continued, "you are both going with me to a children'sgarden party. Mrs. Somerville--you know Mrs. Somerville, Ralph, and whatnice children hers are--happened to hear that you and Maggie were coming tome for a short time, and she sent an invitation for you both last night. Weshall not return until quite late, as it will be Hugh Somerville'sbirthday; and they are going to have fireworks in the evening, and even alittle dance."

  Ralph rubbed his hands together with delight.

  "Won't Maggie jump when she hears the fireworks?" he said. "You never sawfireworks, did you, Mag? Oh, I say, what a jolly time we are going tohave!"

  Maggie felt her cheeks flushing, more particularly as she had seen a fewrockets, and even some Catharine wheels, and in consequence she hadhitherto believed herself rather knowing on the subject of fireworks; butwhen Ralph proceeded to enlighten her with regard to the style of fireworkslikely to be exhibited at Mrs. Somerville's garden party; when he spokeabout the fairy fountains, and the electric lights, and the golden showersof fire-drops, and last, but not least, the bouquet which was to end theentertainment, she felt she had better keep silent with regard to therockets and Catharine wheels which her father had once displayed for theamusement of the villagers.

  Mrs. Grenville here began to speak earnestly to Miss Grey.

  "I want Maggie's dress to be quite suitable. Is there anything we ought toget for her, Miss Grey?"

  "I think not," replied Miss Grey. "She has just had a beautifully workedIndian muslin frock from Perrett's, in Bond Street, which she has not yetworn; and I don't think anything could be more dressy than her new hat withthe ostrich feathers."

  "Oh, yes, it is a charming hat," replied Mrs. Grenville. "Of course shemust wear it to-day when she drives with me in the carriage, but that won'tinjure it for to-morrow. Then I need not trouble about your wardrobe, mydarling; you will accompany me to-morrow, quite the little princess yourfather is so fond of calling you."

  During this brief conversation, Maggie's little face had been changingcolor.

  "I think," she said suddenly, "that perhaps I'd better have a new hat."

  "Why so, my love? your hat is quite new and charming. It came fromPerrett's, too, did it not, Miss Grey?"

  "Yes, Mrs. Grenville; it was sent in the same box as the muslin costume."

  "Oh, it will answer admirably, Maggie, dear. Why, what is the matter, mychild?"

  Maggie's lips were quivering, and her eyes were fixed on her violet sash.

  "Only perhaps--perhaps the new hat might get lost or something," shemuttered incoherently.

  Mrs. Grenville looked at her for a moment, but as her remark was not veryintelligible, she dismissed it from her mind.

  The rest of the day passed happily enough. In half an hour Maggie ceased tofret about her hat. She comforted herself with the thought that her plainbrown straw garden-hat, trimmed with a neat band of brown velvet, and a fewdaisies, would be after all just the thing for a garden party, and that inany case it did not greatly matter what she wore. What was of much moreconsequence was, that to-morrow Susy would be capering about with hertambourine, and that pennies would be pouring in for the Aylmer children,and for Jo in particular. She was obliged to wear her best hat when shewent out that afternoon, and she certainly was remarkably careful as to howshe put it on, and she quite astonished Miss Grey, when she came home inthe evening, by the extreme care with which she herself placed it back inits box.

  "Waters," she said that night, when she suddenly met Mrs. Grenville's maid,"I am quite happy again; I have done just as you do, and I have kept it inviolet all day long."

  "What, my darling?" asked the surprised servant.

  "Oh, my secret; I have got such a darling secret. It would be very wrong ofme to tell it, wouldn't it, Waters?"

  Waters looked dubious.

  "I don't approve of secrets for a little lady."

  "But, Waters, how queer you are! You always keep your own secrets inviolet, don't you?"

  "Oh, yes, dear; yes. But I haven't many. They're sort of burdensome things;at least, I find them so. And in no case do I approve of secrets for littleladies, Miss Maggie; i
n no single case."

  Maggie knit her brows, looked exceedingly perplexed, felt a great longingto pour the whole affair into Waters' sympathizing ears, then rememberedSusy and refrained.

  "But I promised not to tell," she said; "I promised most solemn not totell."

  "Well, well; I s'pose it's something between you and Master Ralph,"remarked the servant, who felt worried she scarcely knew why.

  Maggie jumped softly up and down.

  "It isn't Ralph's secret, but it's about Ralph. He needn't save up hispennies no more. It's about Ralph's pennies and the half-crown. I know whatit is; I'll tell you exactly what it is, Waters, and yet I know you won'tnever guess. It's add sixteen to fourteen makes thirty. My secret's thesixteen. You'll never, never, never guess, will you, Waters?"

  Here Waters had to confess herself bamboozled, and Maggie skipped off tobed with a very light heart. She had kept her secret all day long, and nowall she had to do was to wake up quite early in the morning, and go offwith Susy to the pawnbroker's.