by L. T. Meade
They crossed the stone halltogether, and now passing through another baize door, found themselvesonce more in the handsome entrance-hall. They walked across this hallto a door carefully protected from all draughts by rich plush curtains,and Miss Danesbury, turning the handle, and going a step or two into theroom, said in her gentle voice--
"I have brought Hester Thornton to see you, Mrs Willis, according toyour wish."
Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured to raise her eyes andto look timidly at the head-mistress.
A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery white hair, cameinstantly to meet her, laid her two hands on the girl's shoulders, andthen, raising her shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
"Your mother was one of my earliest pupils, Hester," she said, "and youare--no--" after a pause, "you are not very like her. You are herchild, however, my dear, and as such you have a warm welcome from me.Now, come and sit by the fire, and let us talk."
Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with this graceful andgracious lady as she had done with her school-mates. The atmosphere ofthe room recalled her beloved mother's boudoir at home. The rich,dove-coloured satin dress, the cap made of Mechlin lace which softenedand shaded Mrs Willis's silvery hair, appeared homelike to the littlegirl, who had grown up accustomed to all the luxuries of wealth. Aboveall, the head-mistress's mention of her mother drew her heart toward thebeautiful face, and attracted her toward the rich, full tones of a voicewhich could be powerful and commanding at will. Mrs Willis,notwithstanding her white hair, had a youthful face, and Hester made thecomment which came first to her lips--
"I did not think you were old enough to have taught my mother."
"I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for thirty years. Yourmother was not the only pupil who sent her children to be taught by mewhen the time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the fire and tellme about your home. Your mother--ah, poor child, you would rather nottalk about her just yet. Helen's daughter must have strong feelings--ah, yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling, when you know me better.Now tell me about your little sister, and your father. You do not know,perhaps, that I am Nan's godmother?"
After this the head-mistress and the new pupil had a long conversation.Hester forgot her shyness; her whole heart had gone out instantly tothis beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and taught her mother.
"I will try to be good at school," she said at last; "but, oh, please,Mrs Willis, it does not seem to me to-night as if school-life could behappy."
"It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the noble girls often findthis time of discipline one of the best in their lives--good at thetime, very good to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniatureworld around you; you will be surrounded by temptations; and you willhave rare chances of proving whether your character can be strong andgreat and true. I think, as a rule, my girls are happy, and as a rulethey turn out well. The great motto of life here, Hester, isearnestness. We are earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. Ahalf-hearted girl has no chance at Lavender House. In play-time, laughwith the merriest, my child: in school-hours, study with the moststudious. Do you understand me?"
"I try to, a little," said Hester, "but it seems all very strange justnow."
"No doubt it does, and at first you will have to encounter manyperplexities and to fight many battles. Never mind, if you have theright spirit within you, you will come out on the winning side. Now,tell me, have you made any acquaintances as yet among the girls?"
"Yes--Cecil Temple has been kind to me."
"Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her friendship, Hester--she is honourable, she is sympathising. I am not afraid to say thatCecil has a great heart."
"There is another girl," continued Hester, "who has spoken to me. Ineed not make her my friend, need I?"
"Who is she, dear?"
"Miss Forest--I don't like her."
"What! our school favourite. You will change your mind, I expect--butthat is the gong for prayers. You shall come with me to chapel,to-night, and I will introduce you to Mr Everard."
CHAPTER SIX.
"I AM UNHAPPY."
Between forty and fifty young girls assembled night and morning forprayers in the pretty chapel which adjoined Lavender House. This chapelhad been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient priory, on the siteof which the house was built. The walls, and even the beautiful easternwindow, belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully rearedin accordance with the style of the east window, and the whole effectwas beautiful and impressive. Mrs Willis was particularly fond of herown chapel. Here she hoped the girls' best lessons might be learned,and here she had even once or twice brought a refractory pupil, andtried what a gentle word or two spoken in these old and sacred wallsmight effect. Here, on wet Sundays the girls assembled for service; andhere, every evening at nine o'clock, came the vicar of the large parishto which Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening prayers. He was anold man, and a great friend of Mrs Willis's, and he often told her thathe considered these young girls some of the most important members ofhis flock.
Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted whether in herconfusion, and in the strange loneliness which even Mrs Willis hadscarcely removed, she prayed much. It is certain she did not join inthe evening hymn, which, with the aid of an organ and some sweetgirl-voices, was beautifully and almost pathetically rendered. Afterevening prayers had come to an end, Mrs Willis took Hester's hand andled her up to the old, white-headed vicar.
"This is my new pupil, Mr Everard, or rather I should say, our newpupil. Her education depends as much on you as on me."
The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester's within them, and thendrew her forward to the light.
"This little face does not seem quite strange to me," he said. "Have Iever seen you before, my dear?"
"No, sir," replied Hester.
"You have seen her mother," said Mrs Willis--"Do you remember yourfavourite pupil, Helen Anstey, of long ago?"
"Ah! indeed--indeed! I shall never forget Helen. And are you herchild, little one?"
But Hester's face had grown white. The solemn service in the chapel,joined to all the excitement and anxieties of the day, had strung up hersensitive nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure. Suddenly, asthe vicar spoke to her, and Mrs Willis looked kindly down at her newpupil, the chapel seemed to reel round, the pupils one by onedisappeared, and the tired girl only saved herself from fainting by asudden burst of tears.
"Oh, I am unhappy," she sobbed, "without my mother! Please, please,don't talk to me about my mother."
She could scarcely take in the gentle words which her two friends saidto her, and she hardly noticed when Mrs Willis did such a wonderfulthing as to stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new pupil.
Finally she found herself consigned to Miss Danesbury's care, whohurried her off to her room, and helped her to undress and tucked herinto her little bed.
"Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No, not a word. You atelittle or no tea, to-night--I watched you from my distant table. Halfyour loneliness is caused by want of food--I know it, my love; I am avery practical person. Now, eat your gruel, and then shut your eyes andgo to sleep."
"You are very kind to me," said Hester, "and so is Mrs Willis, and sois Mr Everard, and I like Cecil Temple--but, oh. I wish Annie Forestwas not in the school!"
"Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me by these words. I amquite confident that Annie will be your best friend yet."
Hester's lips said nothing, but her eyes answered "Never" as plainly aseyes could speak.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
A DAY AT SCHOOL.
If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night under a sort of dreamy, hazyimpression that school was a place without a great deal of order, withmany kind and sympathising faces, and with some not so agreeable; if shewent to sleep under the impression that she had dropped into a sort ofmedley, that
she had found herself in a vast new world where certainpersonages exercised undoubtedly a strong moral influence, but where onthe whole a number of other people did pretty much what they pleased--she awoke in the morning to find her preconceived ideas scattered to thefour winds.
There was nothing of apparent liberty about the Lavender Housearrangements in the early morning hours. In the first, place, it seemedquite the middle of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud gong,which clanged through the house and caused her to sit up in bed in aconsiderable state of fright and perplexity. A moment or two later aneatly-dressed maid-servant came into the room with a can of hot water;she lit a pair of candles on the mantelpiece, and, with the remark thatthe second gong would sound in half