A Fluttered Dovecote

by George Manville Fenn

slippedbehind the great green blind in the corner, I heard an exclamation inFrench. There was a great splash, followed by a noise as of some largebody snorting and floundering in the great tank; and my blood ran cold,as I wanted to run out, but felt chained to the spot where I wasconcealed.

  "I have murdered him, I know!" I gasped.

  At the very same moment there was a fearful scream from poor Clara, asthe light of half-a-dozen candles shone upon her smutty face, wherethere was the mark of a hand all down one cheek. And, frightened thoughI was, I seemed to notice everything, as if my senses were allsharpened; and, at one and the same time, I saw my own trouble, Clara,and my poor Achille drowning in the great tank.

  Poor Clara covered her face in an instant, and a loud rustling of theivy on the edge of the cistern, the sound of a body falling, and thencame retreating feet along the gravel.

  "Escaped," I muttered; and then a sigh came with a great gasp, as Iexclaimed, "Oh! if Clara will only not betray me, I shall be safe, too."

  But, oh, what a tableau was there!--night-caps, dressing-gowns, flannelgarments, every token of hurried half-dressing; while the light fromcandle after candle streamed down upon poor Clara, prone upon the whitestones of the conservatory.

  "Good heavens!" I heard Mrs Blunt exclaim, "that it should have cometo this!--that my establishment should be debased by the presence ofsuch a creature. Abandoned, lost girl, what will become of you?"

  Oh, how my poor teeth did chatter!

  "Dreadful!" squeaked Miss Furness.

  "Shocking!" echoed Miss Sloman.

  "_Ach ten, bad madchen_" croaked the Fraulein; while Miss Murray and thepupils present sighed in concert.

  "Lost one!" began Mrs Blunt again.

  Crish! crash! crash! came the sound of breaking glass upon the leads;the girls shrieked, and, in an agony of fear, the whole party dashedback to the drawing-room door; while, in the dim light given by a fallencandle, I saw poor Clara slowly raise her head and look towards the openwindow--our window.

  But there was no other sound; and at last, after quite five minutes'pause, came the lady principal's voice from the drawing-room, in awfultones--

  "Miss Fitzacre; come in directly, and close the window after you."

  "For goodness' sake, don't fasten it," I whispered; "and oh, Clara, pet,don't--pray, don't--betray me!"

  "Hush!" whispered the poor darling, rising up like a pale ghost.

  And as I stood, squeezed up in the corner, trembling ever so, she closedthe conservatory window, looking out as she did so; then entered thedrawing-room, clattered the shutters to; and then, by the sound, I knewthat they had all entered the breakfast-room, so I stole out of myhiding-place, and tried the window.

  At first my heart sank, for I thought it was fastened; but, no, ityielded to my touch, and as I pushed, the shutters slowly swung open, toshow me the room all in darkness. Stepping quickly in, I closed windowand shutters, and then stole over to reach the door where I could hearthe buzz of voices, and Mrs Blunt scolding fearfully.

  I crossed the room as quietly as I could, feeling my way along in thedarkness--for Clara had trampled out the fallen candle--when all at onceI gave myself up for lost I had knocked over one of the wretched littledrawing-room chairs; and I stood trembling and stooping down, meaning tocreep under the large ottoman if I heard any one coming.

  But they did not hear the noise; and, after waiting awhile, I venturedto open the door, when I could hear plainly poor Clara sobbing bitterlyin the breakfast-room; and I was filled with remorse, as I felt how thatI ought to be there to take my share of the blame. But I could not--no,I could not, I must own--summon up courage enough to go in and avow myfault.

  I had hardly closed the drawing-room door, when I heard a hand rattlethe door of the breakfast-room, as if some one was about to open it, soI bounded along the hall to the back staircase; and hardly in time, forthe breakfast-room door opened just as I was out of sight, and I heardMrs Blunt's voice, in loud tones, to the teachers, I suppose--

  "Ladies, be kind enough to see that the drawing-room window is properlysecured."

  Up I darted to reach my own room, and it was well that I made for theback staircase; for there, regularly fringing the balustrade of the beststaircase, were all the younger pupils and the servants looking down andlistening; while I could hear the sounds coming up from the hall, as myLady Blunt and the teachers began again to storm at the poor silentgirl, who never, that I could hear, answered them one single word, andin the act of slipping into my room, I nearly brushed the dress of oneof the pupils.

  And now, if Clara would only be a martyr, I felt safe, as I stood insideour room, and listened for a few moments to the words which came upquite plainly in the still night.

  "Once more, I insist upon knowing who it was," shrieked Mrs Blunt,while her satellites added their feeble echoes.

  "Tell, directly!" screamed Miss Sloman.

  "Bad gell--bad gell!" croaked the Fraulein.

  "You must confess," cried Miss Furness, in shrill, treble tones.

  "Who was it, Miss Fitzacre?" cried Mrs Blunt.

  And then there was a stamp upon the floor, but not a word from Clara;and I dared stay for no more, but closed the door, listened to Pattysnoring more loudly and ever, and then dashed to the washstand,recalling poor Clara's smutty face, and sponged my own quickly. Then Islipped on my _bonnet de nuit_, and undressed quicker than I ever beforedid in my life. Then just as I had finished, I heard them coming up thestairs--scuffling of feet and shutting of doors as the pupils hurriedinto their rooms, some skirmishing at a terrible rate past my door; so Islipped into bed with my head turned towards the window, and lay therewith my heart beating tumultuously.

  "Now, if they only did not come here first, I'm safe," I muttered.

  I felt how exceedingly fortunate it was for me that Patty slept sosoundly: for not only had she not seen me enter, but if she had sleptall through the disturbance, and had not heard Clara go, why should Inot have done the same? And I felt that it would help to removesuspicion from me.

  They seemed a terribly long time coming, but I kept telling myself thatClara would not betray me; and I recalled with delight now that I hadsuffered punishment for her trick, when she moved the lady principal'schair to her fall.

  "But there," I said to myself, "they shall tear me in pieces before theyknow anything I don't, want to tell. But, oh, did poor Achille escape?and what was that fearful crash? I do hope it was the Signor, for poorAchille's sake. But how wet whoever it was must have been!"

  "And you will prepare your things for leaving early in the morning, MissFitzacre," exclaimed Mrs Blunt, angrily, as she opened the door of thebedroom, and the light shone in. "Now, go to bed immediately. Is MissBozerne here?"

  "Yes, ma'am," I replied, just raising my head from the pillow.

  "Oh! that is right," said her ladyship; "and Miss Smith?"

  There was no answer.

  "Miss Smith! where is Miss Smith?" shrieked Lady Blunt from the door,evidently thinking that poor Patty was in the plot. "Miss Smith! MissSmith!" she shrieked again.

  "D-o-o-o-n't--Be quiet!" muttered the sleepy-headed little thing.

  "Oh! that will do," said Mrs Blunt. "Don't wake her. Miss Bozerne,you must excuse me for locking you in during the rest of the night; butif you object, perhaps Fraulein Liebeskinden will allow you to sleepwith--"

  "Oh no, thank you, ma'am," I said, hastily; "I shall not mind."

  "Good night, then, Miss Bozerne," she said, very shortly; while I feltsuch a hypocrite that I hardly knew what to do. "Lost girl!" shecontinued, as she shut the door, and turned the key, which she took awaywith her, leaving poor Clara standing, pale and motionless, in thecentre of the room; but no sooner had the light disappeared, and shoneno more in beneath the crack at the bottom of the door, than she gaveone great sob--

  "Oh! Laura," she exclaimed; and then, throwing herself into my arms,she cried and sobbed so wildly and hysterically, that I was quitefrightened.

 
; For she was now giving vent to the pent-up feelings of the last quarterof an hour; but after awhile she calmed down, and with only a sob nowand then to interrupt us--for, of course, I too could not help crying--we quietly talked the matter over.

  "No; not a word," said the poor girl, in answer to a question of mine--which, of course, you can guess--"not a word; they may send me away andpunish me as they like, but not a word will I ever say about it."

  "Then they know nothing at all about me, or--" I stammered and stopped.

  "You ought to have more confidence in me than to ask such a thing,"cried Clara, passionately, as she began to sob again. "You would nothave betrayed me if you had been in my position; now, would