The Girls of St. Wode's

by L. T. Meade

  CHAPTER XV

  BELLE'S ROOM AT ST. WODE'S.

  Eileen and Marjory had found their way to Belle's hall. They werestanding in the attic which she had described to them so graphically.

  "I cannot imagine how you managed to furnish it in this extraordinaryway," began Eileen. "I have heard from one or two of the girls here thatthe furniture is put in by the heads of the college. Now, our rooms, forinstance, are quite decently furnished."

  "Too much furniture," interrupted Belle. She uttered a groan as shespoke.

  "The rooms certainly possess the necessary comforts of civilized life,"pursued Eileen, "and for my part I cannot say that I am sorry. We haveno luxuries; but the furniture in the room is good and neat. We have achest of drawers each, and proper washhand-stands of course, and snuglittle sofa-beds, and carpets, and curtains to the windows, and----"

  "Need you quote any further from that tiresome list?" said Belle again.She was standing by her small attic window with her back to the view.

  "One thing is delightful in this room," said Eileen, running up to thewindow as she spoke. "You have a splendid view--much better than ours. Dostep aside, Belle, and let me look out."

  "If you wish to," said Belle drearily.

  "Wish to! I always love scenery. Surely, Belle, you cannot think itwrong to look out at this lovely view?"

  "No, not wrong exactly," said Belle; "not wrong; but I have little heartto admire anything to-day. I am disappointed, and I must own it."

  "Now, what have we done to annoy you?" said Marjorie.

  "Much," replied Belle. She looked fixedly from one sister to the other."I had hoped a great deal before you arrived; but already the keenestsense of disillusionment is mine. You are neither of you beginning yourcollege life as I could have hoped. There are two attics on the samefloor with this, which you might have got had you given me themanagement of your affairs. I should have gone to Miss Lauderdale andrepresented the case to her. I believe she would have been very glad tolet them to you. The college is overfull at present, and yet no girlswish to use the attics. These attics are at present unfurnished, and thecollege would, doubtless, when the matter was properly represented,allow you to have them as bare as you pleased. They did so in my case. Irepresented that it would be a saving. I managed the thing somehow, andhere I am. It is true that I dread the governors visiting my room andordering some of those useless articles which the other girls weakentheir characters by using. But you did not put the matter into my hands,your old friend; and now you are accommodated with some of the nicestrooms in college."

  "Oh, never mind; don't worry any more about the furniture," said Eileen."It seems to me that one can waste time in trying to lead the existenceof the anchorite as well as in endeavoring to surround one's self withluxuries."

  "One thing, at least, we will promise you, Belle--we are not going in forany extras--no pictures nor knick-knacks for us."

  "Thank Heaven!" said Belle, with a deep sigh. "Had you done so, I musthave cut you."

  "Don't you think that would have been rather narrow of you?" saidMarjorie.

  "Narrow or not, I should have felt it my duty to do it. I have myeccentricities--I own to the fact--and I will cling to them through thickand thin. What you said just now was quite right, Eileen; we will dropthe subject of furniture. After all, what does it matter whether one hasa chest of drawers or not, whether one has a suitable washhand-stand ornot? Are these the things we live at St. Wode's for? What about theintellect, what about the development of the brain? Your brows arecapable of expansion, your eyes are capable of acquiring depth, your----"

  "Hear! hear!" said Eileen.

  "Do not interrupt me with that senseless remark. I speak to you from mysoul. You come here to study, to forget yourselves in the great richesof the past. You are like two miners come to dig out the gold. You haveheard of that awful place, Klondike, where people go mad over earthlygold. Yours is the intellectual, the spiritual, the gold which istreasured in the great storehouses of the past."

  As Belle spoke she paced up and down the room. Her dress was veryuntidy, and there was a great rent behind. While she was speaking therecame a soft tap at the door. She did not hear it. Eileen went and openedit. Lettie stood without.

  "Dear me, Lettie, do come in," said Eileen. "We have not seen you forquite a long time--nearly twenty-four hours."

  She kissed her cousin as she spoke.

  "How are you getting on?"

  "Capitally," said Lettie. "I went to your rooms in North Hall and heardthat you were here. You did not visit me, so I thought Belle might beengrossing your society. How are you, Belle?"

  "Well, thank you," replied Belle, in an absent voice. "By the way, areyou?--oh, yes! I remember now; you are--the girl who ought never to havecome to St. Wode's."

  "You are quite mistaken," replied Letitia with spirit. "I am a girl whowill be very much benefited by the pleasant life which I see openingbefore me. By the way, Eileen and Marjory, I am going to the Broad now.There are a lot of things I require for my room. I thought perhaps youwould like to come too. You will want shelves for your books and a fewknick-knacks and----"

  "If you go with that young person----" said Belle, making a step forward.She approached Eileen and almost glared into her face.

  Eileen laughed.

  "Dear Belle, do finish your sentence," she said. "What is to happen tome if I dare to go to the Broad with poor Lettie?"

  "You make my soul sink in despair," said Belle. "I scarcely know what Ifeel; my heart is wrung. Oh! how you disappoint me!"

  "Whether you buy things or not, Eileen, do come with me," said Lettie."I don't know my way to the Broad at present, and would rather be withyou than alone. Whatever you may do in the future, please remember thatI am your first cousin, almost your sister, and we have lived togetherall our lives."

  "Of course, dear Lettie, we will both come," said Eileen. "Belle, wewill visit you another day; we are only interrupting your work now."

  "I was resting when you arrived," said Belle. She threw herselftragically back against one of the hard-bottomed chairs. "Go--yes go; Idon't expect to see much of any of you. It is the fate of those whowould explore, who would delve in the mines of the past, to bring updiamonds alone; we are solitary in our labor. I had a hope, it is true,when I saw you in London; but never mind. Go, all of you; there is thedoor--go!"

  "I wish you'd let me mend your dress first," said Lettie, whipping aneat little housewife out of her pocket and preparing to thread aneedle.

  "Mend my dress?" said Belle. "What do you mean?"

  "If you will just stand with your back to the light, you can go onthinking and talking; I won't be a minute sewing up that awful rent. Youare not respectable as you are. Now, do let me."

  "Yes, do, Belle; don't be a goose," said Marjorie.

  Belle's eyes flashed. Lettie was already attacking her with needle andthread. The rent was presently sewn up.

  "I tell you what it is," said Lettie good-humoredly, "I'm not half sucha bad soul as you make me out. Now that I happen to be in the samehall----"

  Belle shivered.

  "I'll run up to this desolate attic, now and then, and look after yourwardrobe."

  "You won't; for I shan't admit you," said Belle.

  "Yes, I will. I shall take opportunities of coming in when you areabsent. You are a friend of Marjorie and Eileen; and, for the sake oftheir respectability, you must not go about in absolute rags. Now, come,girls, and leave her in peace."

  Belle approached her attic window. She stood now with her back to thegirls and her face to the view; but it is to be doubted if she saw it.Her dress, a dirty serge, trailed along the floor, one wisp of her thinhair had escaped from the little knot at the back of her head, and waslying on her shoulder.

  "Poor Belle," said Eileen, with a sigh.

  "I tell you what it is, girls," said Lettie, as she went downstairs."Belle is such an oddity that, if something is not done to save her, shewill soon lose her senses. I mean to hunt her u
p. I was wondering lastnight what my mission in this place could be. I little thought that Iwas to be inflicted with Belle Acheson."

  "She certainly doesn't wish for you, Lettie, so you needn't take her upunless you like," said Eileen.

  "Oh, I must do something," said Lettie; "that fact has been well bornein upon me--it is to be Belle Acheson or nothing. No trial could well begreater. I hope I shall benefit by it. But come now; I want to order mythings."

  "Must you order them to-day?"

  "Of course I must. My room is disgracefully bare; and as I have plentyof money I mean to make it as pretty and cheerful as possible, and aslike a dream."

  "Have your lectures been decided for you yet?" said Eileen, in awould-be stern voice.

  "Yes; I saw Miss Browning after breakfast. I am going to work a littlebit at literature."

  "A little bit at literature! Lettie, you are perfectly awful."

  "Well, I'm not going to kill myself, darling, if that's what you mean.Of course I shall work for so many hours a day; but I don't think Ishall take honors. If I get through my pass exam., I shall consider thatI am doing admirably. Now do come, girls; hurry up. You must have teawith me to-morrow in my room. I expect I shall know all the nicest girlsin the place; they are going to call on me most likely this evening. Oh,I shall make my room perfectly sweet. You will all love to come to me;and if I can wheedle that poor old Belle out of her den, I shall feelthat I have achieved a triumph. But tell me now, girls, how you are bothgetting on?"

  "Very well, indeed," said Eileen.

  "And you are not going to buy pretty things for your rooms?"

  "No."

  "At least let me recommend you to provide yourselves with a tea-serviceeach; because if other girls invite you to tea you must return thecompliment. Then they give endless cocoa parties here, and you will beexpected to take your share."

  "I don't see that at all," replied Eileen. "If we are bound to entertaina great deal at St. Wode's, we may just as well stay with mother inLondon. I mean to ask Miss Frere about the poor; surely we can visitthem if we like?"

  "I don't know anything about that," said Letitia. "To quote your ownwords, you have come here to study. Surely you can visit the poor whenyou college life is over?"

  "We can at least make clothes for them; that is a good idea," saidMarjorie.

  "Much better than visiting them," cried Letitia. "You can buy yards ofholland and any other stiff, disagreeable, pricky material you like, andwork away in your leisure hours when the rest of us are having fun. Bythe way, have you seen Miss Gilroy this morning?"

  "Two or three times. Poor girl, I rather pity her. She is in a room witha dreadful creature of the name of Annie Colchester."

  "How pretty Miss Gilroy is," said Lettie. "Might we not call and ask herto come to the Broad with us? She is sure to want things for her room."

  "Just as you please," said Eileen. "I'll run up to Miss Colchester'sroom and find out if she is in."

  Lettie and Marjorie remained on the sweep of gravel outside the hall.Eileen ran into the house. In a few minutes she returned, accompanied byLeslie.

  "This is really kind of you," said Leslie. "I was wondering how I couldget to the Broad, for I don't know many girls yet; but I am told thatsome of the students will call on me to-night."

  "They are to call on us, too," said Eileen. "It is rather formidable, isit not?"

  "But, Miss Gilroy, don't you want to buy things for your room?"

  "A few things I must have," said Leslie, "but I rather despair of makinga room shared with Miss Colchester pretty; all the same, I will do mybest."

  The girls visited Hunt's well-known shop in the Broad and gave theirorders. Lettie's were extensive. She must have pictures. Burne-Jones'"Love among the Ruins," "The Happy Warrior" by Watts, "St. Cecilia and aChoir of Angels" by Van Eyck, and other treasures were secured.Knick-knacks also were bought by the young lady, who had a keen eye toeffect. She bought big jars of dark-blue china, a few cups and saucers,two or three plates, a fan or two, a couple of screens, a fewaesthetic-looking tablecloths, and a piano-cloth to cover the back of herchest of drawers. A pretty little tea-service, a brass kettle, and atea-table which could fold up and be put out of the way when not neededfor use, were also secured. Finally she treated herself to a great bunchof flowers and some flowering plants.

  Her purchases took time, and in spite of themselves Eileen and Marjoriewere interested. After a great deal of persuasion they were induced tobuy a table and some very plain cups and saucers.

  "We will not get any more; it is downright sinful waste," said Marjorie,frowning as she spoke.

  "All right," said Lettie. "I am not going to influence you. You are atpresent under the awful eye of Belle Acheson. By and by you will see foryourselves that it is the height of nonsense not to live in comfort whenyou can. Now, look at Miss Gilroy; she has more sense than to makeherself miserable when she need not."

  "I certainly do not intend to make myself miserable," said Leslie."There are several useful purchases that I must make. I have themisfortune," she continued, glancing from one girl to the other, "tosleep in the room with a genius, and must provide accordingly."

  "It is such a pity you cannot have a room to yourself," said Eileen. "Itrust the annoyance won't last long."

  "I hope not," said Leslie. "Yes, I must have one of those pretty arttable-cloths, and then I want to go to a grocer's where I can buy cocoaand biscuits and tinned milk."

  After a good deal of time spent in making their various purchases, thegirls returned to the college well laden. They met several of theircompanions, who nodded to them kindly.

  "I consider that we are now settled in college and that our real lifebegins to-morrow," said Leslie. "I have arranged about my work, and meanto study hard after dinner to-night."

  "You won't have much chance of that," said a merry voice, and JaneHeriot came up.

  "Why so?" asked Leslie.

  "How do you do?" said Jane, nodding to the two Chetwynd girls. She thenturned to Leslie.

  "I will tell you why you won't have any chance, Miss Gilroy. A wholeparty are coming to visit you in your rooms this evening; it is thecustom, and you must submit. You will see half of us to-night and halfof us to-morrow; but after that you will be left in peace. If you likeour society you can have it; if you don't--why, you can keep as lonely asyou like. But this evening and to-morrow you must put up with us; it isthe fate of all freshers."