by Oliver Optic
IX
A MYSTERIOUS MANSION
At the corner nearly opposite Miss Crawdon's school stood a large,old-fashioned mansion of brick painted light brown. It was a detachedhouse almost surrounded by a high wall. In the wall was a pillaredgateway, and each pillar was surmounted by two large balls that lookedas if they had dropped from the mouth of a great cannon. Behind thefence and close to the house were two little garden beds, and there werethree or four trees in the yard back of the house. It was said that themansion had once been surrounded with extensive grounds that sloped downhill almost to the river. But new streets and houses had graduallyencroached on these grounds until hardly a trace of them remained. Therewas never a sign of life seen about the old house. Windows and doorswere always closed. Even the blinds were seldom drawn up, though once ina while at an upper window, some of the schoolgirls said that they hadseen a woman's figure seated behind the lace curtains. Occasionally,too, on sunny days they had noticed a large, old-fashioned carriagedrive up under the porte-cochere, while an old lady very much wrappedup, and attended evidently by a maid, entered it. In taking their walksat recess the girls always passed this house, and, as schoolgirls, theynaturally felt much curiosity about the lady who occupied it, since sheseemed to be surrounded by an air of mystery.
They knew, of course, her name--Madame du Launy--and some of the girlshad heard more about her from their parents.
"My mother," said Frances Pounder, "says that my grandmother told herthat Mme. du Launy was a very beautiful girl. She married a Frenchmanwhom her family despised, and she stayed in Europe until after herfather's death."
"Was the Frenchman rich?" asked Edith, in rather an awe-stricken voice,for the story sounded very romantic. The girls at this moment happenedto be seated on the steps leading to the school, and Frances was in herelement when she had an interested group hanging on her words.
"Oh, dear, no, he wasn't rich at all. He was a cook, or a hair-dresser,or something like that, only very good looking. But when Mme. du Launy'sfather died, she had three little children, and her father was soproud--he was a Holtom--he couldn't bear to think of her coming to want,so he left her all his fortune just the same as if she hadn't marriedbeneath her."
"That was right," said Nora approvingly. "I think it's ridiculous forfathers to cut their children off with a penny, the way they used to."
"Well," responded Frances, "I think it's a great deal more ridiculousfor people to marry beneath them."
"Of course you'd think that, Frances," interposed Belle.
"There, there, don't begin to quarrel, children," said Nora. "Go on withthe story, Frances. What did Mme. du Launy do when she got her money?"
"Oh, she brought her Frenchman and her children to Boston, and she livedat a hotel while she began to build this house. Some people went to seeher, but the Frenchman was a terribly ill-mannered little thing, andnobody liked him because he was so familiar. Mme. du Launy and he werehardly ever invited anywhere, and they spent most of their time drivingabout in a great carriage which held the whole family, and a maid andgoverness."
"I should think they would have stopped building the house."
"Oh, no," said Edith, "they kept on, and after a while they went toEurope to buy things for it. They had more than a ship-load, and theysay that everything was perfectly beautiful,--foreign rugs, andtapestry, and glass, and gilt furniture."
"Dear me, I should love to have seen it."
"Well, it's all there in the house now, but you'd have to be a good dealsmarter than any one I know to see it."
"Why Frances, do you mean that no one ever goes there?" asked Julia.
"Yes, that's just what I mean. I don't suppose any one in Boston exceptthe doctor, and two or three very old people, have ever been inside thatdoor."
"Yes, that's true," added Edith. "I've heard my mother speak of it. Mme.du Launy is terribly peculiar."
"I should think she'd be lonely," said Julia.
"I dare say she is," replied Frances, "but it's awfully selfish to shutup a great house like that."
"Why does she do it?"
"Oh, I believe, when she came back from Europe the second time she setout to give a great ball. She sent invitations to every one, no matterwhether people had called on her or not. Of course very few people went,only her relations and a few others. This made her so angry that shevowed she'd have nothing more to do with people in Boston. Not longafterward her husband died, then her children died or turned out badly,and she has just lived alone ever since."
"It sounds rather sad," said Julia, when Frances had finished.
"Nonsense, Julia," said Brenda, "you're so sentimental."
"No, she isn't at all," cried Edith, "it is really sad. I wonder whatbecame of the children."
Here Belle spoke up. "I've heard that the boys all died. One of them ranaway to sea and was drowned. But I believe the girl married some one hermother didn't like, and so she disinherited her. She may be livingsomewhere, but she must be an old woman herself, for my grandmother saysthat Mme. du Launy is about eighty."
As the girls looked toward the house they saw a figure standing behindthe curtains of the window over the front door.
"There she is now," the girls cried.
"Wouldn't you like to go inside?" said Nora to Edith.
"I don't know that I'm really anxious to," replied the latter.
"Oh, I am," said Nora, and a moment later she cried out to Frances,"Frances, you are rather clever, can't you suggest some way by which Ican find my way inside that house? Wouldn't one of your great aunts giveme an introduction to Mme. du Launy? I'm just dying to see what isinside those brick walls."
"No," responded Frances, rather scornfully; "if they could theywouldn't, but I'm sure they haven't kept up any acquaintance with Mme.du Launy."
"Well," replied Nora, "I'll find a way. Mark my words, before thepresent crescent moon is old I shall have at least a speakingacquaintance with Mme. du Launy. Poor thing, she must be very lonely."
"I don't believe she'd appreciate your society particularly, Nora, forone thing you're pretty young," said Edith.
"No matter, I'm going to know her. Come, Brenda, I'll confide in you."
So Brenda and Nora walked down the street, leaving the other girls towonder what they were planning. This was by no means the first time thatthe girls at Miss Crawdon's school had discussed Mme. du Launy and heraffairs. Indeed, each set of girls had wondered about her and herbeautiful furniture, and her music box that played a hundred airs, andall her foreign treasures, and her possessions lost nothing in splendoras the girls told what they had heard about them.
Of the four friends, Belle and Edith were most indifferent to the houseacross the way. But a number of others among the schoolgirls seemedinclined to join Nora and Brenda in whatever they were planning. One dayas they walked about at recess they saw the old lady leave the house andenter her carriage. They were too polite to stand and gaze at her, butsome of them could not resist the temptation of staring at the carriageas it rolled by.
The next day Nora and Brenda were seen to be very much interested inplaying ball. They tossed it from one to the other, and occasionally asthey passed the brick mansion they let it roll within the gateway on thegravelled walks. There were half a dozen girls walking in front of theold house and tossing the ball. As they played, the ball rose higher andhigher. Nora and Brenda were standing almost inside the gateway, whensuddenly the ball seemed to fling itself against one of the windows, andthe crash of breaking glass was heard. Some of the girls lookedfrightened and hurried across the street toward the school. Brenda too,started to go, but Nora took her by the hand. "Remember your promise,"she said, so loudly that two of the other girls who were crossing thestreet, turned about and joined them. Just at that moment theschool-bell rang, and rather reluctantly the girls turned back toschool. Nora and Brenda paid very little attention to their lessons therest of the morning. Some of their friends who had witnessed themischief done by the ball were also excited.
They all more than halfexpected to see Mme. du Launy's aged servant-man make his appearance tocomplain of the injury done to the window. As it drew near two o'clockand nothing of the kind had happened, they were really disappointed.
"We're not going home with you," cried Nora, as she and Brenda and thetwo other conspirators walked down the steps of the school.
"Why not?" asked Edith from the dressing-room.
"Oh, we have something to attend to," replied Nora.
"Well," said Edith, "luncheon is the most important thing that I have toattend to just now."
"What shall I say to your mother?" asked Julia, as she saw Brendapreparing to turn in the opposite direction from home.
"Don't say anything, Julia. I'm not a baby to need looking after."
Julia had no answer for this inconsiderate speech, for indeed she hadbecome only too well accustomed to Brenda's little rudenesses.
"Let's wait and see what they are going to do," suggested Edith, lookingtoward Nora and Brenda and the two or three others who had joined them.
"I must go on," answered Julia. "I ought to be at----"
"I'll wait," spoke up Belle. "Come, you can stay, Edith."
So the two friends waited near the school while Brenda and Nora and theothers crossed the street to Mme. du Launy's mansion. They weresurprised to see them ring the bell, and after a moment, when the doorwas opened, to see them step inside.
Not many minutes later they saw the door reopen, as the girls, lookingsomewhat crestfallen, turned away from the house.
"What in the world were you up to?" called Belle, rather excitedly asthey turned homeward.
"Wait till we get out of sight of the house," said Nora, "and I'll tellyou. It was this way, I had just made up my mind that I'd see the insideof that house. Frances Pounder seemed so sure I couldn't. So I thoughtand thought, and to-day when we were playing ball you see we broke thewindow."
"On purpose! I do believe. Why, Nora, I should think you'd be ashamed!"
"Well, I had the money in my pocket to pay for it. That was what we wentfor after school. But that queer old butler,--really I almost laughed inhis face. However, I managed to say, 'I'm extremely sorry, but I broke apane of glass in the window over the front door when I was playing ballthis morning.' 'We hadn't discovered it, miss,' he said, as solemn ascould be. 'Then you might go and look,' I replied, 'and if you willplease tell Mme. du Launy that I'd like to pay for it, I'll be greatlyobliged.' I thought that while he was looking at the glass and talkingto the old lady, he'd at least ask us into the reception-room, ordrawing-room. But not a bit of it. There's a little vestibule justbeyond the front door, and there he left us. He asked us to sit down,and we did sit down on the edge of two great black settles there in themarble vestibule. When he came back I felt sure he was going to take usstraight up to Mme. du Launy. Instead of that he merely said: 'Mme. duLauny presents her compliments, and is greatly obliged to you fortelling her about the window. She couldn't think of letting you pay forit, as an apology is quite enough.'"
"And you didn't see anything in the house?"
"No, not a thing; though as he opened the door into the hall we caught aglimpse of a big gilded table and an enormous piece of tapestry over thestairs. Wasn't it mean, after all our efforts?"
"Who has won the bet, you or Frances?" asked Belle.
"I'm not sure. I have been in the house and I haven't," replied Nora.
"I should think you'd have been frightened to death. What would you havedone if you had seen the old lady?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. There were so many of us we shouldn't have beenfrightened," and Nora looked at Brenda and the other girl who werevehemently describing the adventure.