The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls

by L. T. Meade

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

  Miss Slowcum was right in saying that she was very particular withregard to her company. She prided herself on having select taste. Shethought it well to assume distant airs to the other inmates ofPenelope Mansion--Mrs. Dredge she thought quite beneath her notice,Mrs. Mortlock was slightly more tolerated, but Miss Slowcum neverreally unbent to either of these ladies. As she said to herself, shecould never forget that she came of the Slowcums of ----shire that herfather had been Captain Slowcum of the Royal Navy, and that, allthings considered, her true position in society was with the countyfolk. What, therefore, could a lady of such patrician birth have incommon with a Mrs. Mortlock or a Mrs. Dredge? Alas! however, MissSlowcum was poor--she was very poor, and she was a great deal toogenteel to work. The terms at Penelope Mansion were by no means high,and in order to live she was obliged to put up with uncongenialcompany. She was a very tall and angular person--her face was long andthin, her eyes small, her mouth undecided, but in her heart of heartsshe was by no means wanting in good nature; and when, the nightbefore, Jasmine, with her charming little face, offered her some ofthe country flowers, she began to take an interest in the fresh girlswho had come to the rather antiquated house in Wright Street.

  It was really good-natured of Miss Slowcum to offer to accompany thegirls on their first walk in London. She had the greatest horror ofever appearing remarkable and she felt really alarmed at the thoughtof taking four unsophisticated country lasses abroad. It was badenough to offer to escort the Mainwarings, who, however _gauche_ theymight appear, were undoubtedly ladies, but to take Poppy, _alias_Sarah, as well, was really trying. Without Poppy, however, the girlsrefused to stir. There was no help for it, and Miss Slowcum onlytrusted that their first walk might be short and uneventful.

  "It is an unpleasant arrangement, but I do not see any help for it,"she said, addressing her little party as they assembled in the hall;"we must sally forth as though we were a school. You, Miss Jasmine,will have the goodness to walk in front with me. Miss Mainwaring andher youngest sister can immediately follow us, and Sarah, you willplease to keep behind."

  "Oh, lor!" ejaculated Poppy, "I thought me and Miss Jasmine was tostay together--it's what I has been looking forward to through all thetoils of the work, and the smuts and the Sarah Janes, and the SarahMarys this morning. It is another biting. Well, London seems to bemade up of them. All right, Miss Slowcum, I'll keep behind. I supposethere's nobody to forbid me gazing well into the shop windows. I hopeyou'll take us into a gay street, miss, where there are lots of newbonnets and hats to be seen."

  "I'm going to walk with you, Poppy," said Jasmine; "Miss Slowcum isvery kind, but I should not think of walking with any one else.Please, Miss Slowcum will you go in front, with Primrose and Daisy,and Poppy and I will promise to behave very well behind."

  In this order the little party did set out, and in an incredibly shortspace of time they left the dull region of Penelope Mansion farbehind, and found themselves in Oxford Street, and then in BondStreet, and finally walking along Piccadilly towards the Park.

  Primrose could always restrain her emotions, but Jasmine and Poppy,notwithstanding their promise to behave well, were certainly guilty ofmany extravagant exclamations. Jasmine became nearly as excited overthe new bonnets as her companion. The picture-shops were marvels ofwonder and delight to her, and poor Miss Slowcum was obliged to drawup short on many occasions, or she would have lost the littleloiterers, as they stood still to gaze. At last she made a propositionwhich nearly took her own breath away with the magnitude of itsgenerosity. She would treat the entire party to a drive in the omnibusto St. Paul's Cathedral. Poppy earnestly begged to be allowed to gowith Jasmine on the roof, but this the good lady negatived withhorror. She finally ushered her young charges into the seclusion of anomnibus going citywards, and then was conscious of breathing a sigh ofrelief. Inwardly she made a vow that never again should hergood-nature lead her into such a troublesome adventure.

  "We must be solemn here, Poppy," said Jasmine, as they were enteringthe cathedral; "we must forget the beautiful bonnets, and those dearlittle tight-fitting jackets, and those muslin dresses. We must forgetthe little story we made up of imagining ourselves rich enough to buyall these things. Perhaps we may think a very little of one or two ofthe pictures, but we must forget the vanities now. It has always beenone of my dreams to come in here--oh! oh!--Poppy." Jasmine clasped hercompanion's hand, and her excitable little face grew white--themagnitude of the great cathedral, the solemn hush, and quiet, andsense of rest after the rushing noise outside, was too much forher--her eyes filled with tears, and she was very nearly guilty ofcommitting the offence which would have obliged her to learn some ofButler's "Analogy" by heart. The rest of the party wandered about thecathedral, and looked at the monuments, and presently went up into theWhispering Gallery, but Jasmine felt suddenly tired and disinclined tomove about.

  "Go on with Daisy, Poppy," she said to her companion; "I will resthere for a little;" then she seated herself on one of the chairs, andin a moment or two went down on her knees and covered her childishface with her hands.

  Not at all long was Jasmine's prayer, but somehow it was very fervent,and it certainly reached a Presence which gives strength and peace.She was no longer oppressed by St. Paul's--she was comforted andstrengthened.

  "I do hope God will help us," she said to herself. "Oh! was it very,very rash of us to come up here?--and yet, what else could we do? Itwas Primrose's thought, too, and she is always so wise, and sogrown-up."

  Jasmine looked round the cathedral, hoping to see her party--theywere, of course, nowhere within sight, and the little girl began towalk about by herself, hoping soon to rejoin them. She dropped herumbrella, and a gentleman who had been watching her for some time withinterest stooped to pick it up. He was a young man of aboutsix-and-twenty, with a bright and pleasant face.

  "This is your first visit here?" he said, looking kindly at the child.

  "Oh, yes," said Jasmine. Then feeling that she had a sympatheticlistener, she continued--"It is so beautiful here!"

  "Yes," answered her companion; then he added, with a second glance atthe forlorn little figure, "Are you alone, or have you lost yourparty?"

  Jasmine half laughed.

  "I cannot find my party at the present moment," she said; "but I am byno means alone--my two sisters have come here also to-day for thefirst time, and a friend is with us, and a lady has very kindlybrought us here."

  "I see," said the stranger. "Well, it is a curious coincidence, butneither am I alone--I have brought a little lad here to show him thecathedral--he has gone into the Whispering Gallery, and I am waitingfor him. Perhaps your friends have also gone into the gallery. Whilewe are both waiting, shall we look round this delightful place? andmay I tell you a little of what I know about it?"

  It was in this manner, and apparently quite by accident, that Jasminemade the acquaintance of Arthur Noel, who turned out to be one of thebest friends the girls were to make in London. Mr. Noel had taken afancy to Jasmine's sweet little face, and Jasmine, when she met with asympathetic listener, could be only too communicative. Before MissSlowcum and her sisters and Poppy joined them Mr. Noel knew somethingof Jasmine's ambitions and of Primrose's modest hopes. Jasmine hadeven confided to him the brave resolve the three sisters had made notto sigh, or grumble, or wear themselves out with useless tears. He wasvery kind, although he could not be persuaded to say that he thoughtPrimrose's scheme a wise one, but this chance encounter might neverhave led to anything further but for a little coincidence which showswhat a small place the world is, after all. When Primrose and Daisy,Poppy and the sedate Miss Slowcum, joined Jasmine, as she stood withher companion examining Nelson's monument, they were accompanied by ahandsome, bright-faced boy, who ran up to Mr. Noel, and linked hishand within his arm. This boy turned out to be young Frank Ellsworthy,and, as the girls all exclaimed on hearing the name, Mr. Noel assuredthem that the Ellsworthys were his gr
eatest friends--that he lovedMrs. Ellsworthy almost as if she were his own mother.

  "I felt that I must speak to you," he said to Jasmine. "I cannot tellyou why nor wherefore, but your face seemed familiar--I did not thinkyou would turn out to be an absolute stranger."

  Thus the girls made a very valuable acquaintance; nevertheless, owingto circumstances, it was many a long day before they met Arthur Noelagain.