by L. T. Meade
L'Estrange. But Cara Burtshook her head.
"Nobody knows Honora well, do they?" she said, in a semi-whisper to hercompanion.
"Perhaps not," replied Mary; "and yet, she has been in the school foryears."
"I consider her exceedingly conceited," remarked Cara again, droppingher voice. "But, oh! here comes Deborah--dear old Deborah--and noHonora, as I am alive! Now I wonder what is going to happen."
Deborah Duke was the English teacher and general factotum in the school.All the girls adored her. It was not necessary to worship her. Shewas the sort of person round whose neck you could hang, whose waist youcould clasp, whose cheeks you could kiss, whom you could shake, if youliked, if she were in a bad humour--but, then, Deborah was never in abad humour--whom you could go to in all sorts of troubles and get tointercede for you. She was plain, and dumpy, and freckled.Nevertheless, she was Deborah, the darling of the school. As to herknowledge of English, it is very much to be doubted whether it wasspecially extensive; but, at any rate, she knew how to coddle a girl whowas not quite well and how to put a bad-tempered girl into a goodhumour, and how, on all and every occasion, to come between Mrs Hazlittand the children whom she taught. The girls all owned that they couldbe afraid of Mrs Hazlitt, but of Deborah--never.
"Here you are, Deborah!" called out Cara. "Take this seat, won't you?There is plenty of room between Mary and me. Sit down, and tell us whenHelen of Troy intends to put in her appearance."
"Why does not Honora Beverley come when I request her presence?" saidMrs Hazlitt, speaking in that tone of majesty which always impressedthe girls.
"Honora is coming in one minute, Mrs Hazlitt, and she will explainmatters to you herself. I am very sorry," continued poor littleDeborah, whispering her latter remark to Mary and Cara. "She must havea bee in her bonnet; no one else could object to represent Tennyson'sbeautiful lines."
Just at that moment there came a slow step down the centre walk of theElizabethan garden. Its edges of box, which were clipped very close andthick, slightly rustled as a white dress trailed against them, and thena very slim girl, with the fairest of fair faces and a head of thick andvery pale golden hair stood in their midst. She was taller than all theother girls, and slimmer, and there was a wonderful darkness in hereyes. She was out of the common, for the soft brown of her eyes wasrare to find in so fair a face.
"You have sent for me, Mrs Hazlitt," said Honora, "and I have come."
"You have been very slow in obeying my summons, Honora," said MrsHazlitt, in her gentlest tones.
"I am sorry," replied Nora.
She came a step nearer, and stood before her mistress. She slightlylowered her eyes. The girls, who looked on in extreme wonder andinterest, hardly breathed while waiting for the conversation which theyknew was about to ensue.
"I am very sorry, indeed," repeated Honora, "but I was detained. I hadmade up my own mind, but your messenger sought to unmake it."
"Well, Honora," said Mrs Hazlitt, briskly, "you know, dear, that wehave decided, amongst the other interesting events of the eighth ofJuly, that Tennyson's `Dream of Fair Women' shall be recited by myself,and that, in order to give meaning and depth to the wonderful poem, Imean to present a series of tableaux to our guests. This will benothing more nor less than that the `fair women' who are represented inthe poem shall appear just when their names are mentioned, and,surrounded by limelight and suitably dressed in character, shall givepoint to my recitation. By unanimous consent, you, Honora, are electedto take the part of Helen of Troy. I have sent for you, dear, to tellyou this. I shall study the dress of the period and will write to-nightto a friend of mine at the British Museum, in order to be sure of goodand suitable costumes. You will have nothing to do but simply to standbefore the audience for a few minutes. I think I have got all the othercharacters, and I have sent for you mainly to express my desire. You,Honora, will be Helen, you understand?"
"I understand what you wish," replied Honora.
There was a question in her voice, which caused the other girls to lookat her attentively. Mrs Hazlitt paused; she did not speak at all for aminute; then she rose slowly.
"Being my scholar," she said then, "is but to know and to obey. Youwill be Helen of Troy. Now, girls, I think our pleasant meeting cancome to an end, and it is supper time. Deborah, go into the house andsee if supper is prepared in the north parlour. Good-night, girls; Imay not see any of you again this evening." But, before Mrs Hazlittcould retire, Honora came a step forward and laid her hand on her arm.
"You are mistaken," she said. "You must listen. Another girl must befound to take the part of Helen of Troy, for I refuse to act."
The light was growing dim, for it was getting on to nine o'clock, butagain the girls perceived that Mrs Hazlitt's cheek was flushed, andthat her eyes looked almost angry.
"What do you mean?" she said, coldly.
"I don't like the character, and I won't appear in the tableau as thecharacter, that is all."
"But, when I desire you to be the character--"
"I don't think you will force me against my conscience. This is a caseof conscience: I will not be Helen of Troy."
"Do you quite know what you are saying?"
"Quite."
"She spoke to me very explicitly," said Deborah. "It is, I think, amatter of conscience."
"She gave me her mind, also," called out Cara. "Hush, Deborah. Cara;when it is time for you to speak, I will call upon you to do so. Do youclearly understand, Honora, what this means?"
"I don't know what it means, except that I will not be Helen of Troy."
"Then who is to be Helen of Troy?"
"Anybody who is sufficiently indifferent to take the part."
"I want to put things quite clearly before you, Honora. You understandthat, on the day when the parents of my pupils arrive here to see theirchildren, when relations and friends cluster in the old garden, it mustbe a member of the school who takes part in all the tableaux and all thedifferent events."
"Yes, I understand that."
"Will you have the goodness to point out to me amongst my thirty girlswho else could be Helen, `divinely tall, and most divinely fair'?"
Honora's dark eyes seemed to sweep her companions for a moment. Thenshe said, slowly:
"That is for you to discover; not for me."
"It means this, then," said Mrs Hazlitt, very slowly. "That becauseyou pretend to know more than I know, we are to give up the tableauxaltogether, for there is no one else in the school to take the part."
Honora shrugged her shoulders.
"I am sorry," she said.
"You won't yield?"
"I will not."
"You have displeased me extremely. You talk of this as a case ofconscience. I declare that it is nothing of the sort. Helen of Troywas the symbol of all that is beautiful in woman. Her name has comedown through the ages because of her loveliness and gracious character.When a schoolgirl like you attempts to override her mistress' maturerjudgment, she acts with wilfulness and ungraciousness, to say the leastof it."
"I am sorry," said Honora.
She turned aside. There was a lump in her throat. After a minute, shecontinued:
"But I will not act Helen of Troy."
"That being the case, girls," said Mrs Hazlitt, who had quite resumedher usual calm of manner, "we must forego the tableaux--that is unless asuitable Helen of Troy can be found within twenty-four hours. I willnow wish you good-night. I am disappointed in you, Honora, very muchdisappointed."
CHAPTER TWO.
FOR HELEN OF TROY.
The excitement of the school knew no bounds. Hazlitt Chase was not ahouse divided against itself. All the girls loved all the other girls.Hitherto, there had never been a split in the camp. This was partlycaused by the fact that there were no really very young girls in theschool. A girl must have passed her fourteenth birthday before she wasadmitted. Thus it was easy to enlist the sympathies, to ensure thedevotion of the young scholars. They worke
d for an aim; that aim was toplease Mrs Hazlitt. She wanted to prepare them for the larger schoolof life. She took pains to assure them that the sole and real object ofeducation was this. Mere accomplishments were nothing in her eyes, butshe desired her girls to find a place among the good women of thefuture. They must not be slatternly; they must not be vain,worldly-minded, but they must be beautiful--that is, as beautiful ascircumstances would permit. Each gift was to be polished like a weaponfor use in the combat which lay before them; for the battle they had tofight was this: they had, in their day and generation, to resist theevil and choose the good.
Now, Mrs Hazlitt very