'Her life had many a hope and aim,
Duties enough, and little cares.'
This story is so much about Peggy and her satellite Bobby that we have rather neglected Lilian, and she deserves a chapter all to herself; for she was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most unselfish of girls, who filled a quiet niche2 in the little world of her home which would have been sadly empty without her.
If anyone had asked Lilian what was her favourite study she would promptly3 have replied: 'Music.' She practised away patiently at the old piano, much to the delight of her German teacher, who was wont4 to hold her up as his pattern pupil.
'Mees Vaughan, she take pains, ver' great,' he would say to Miss Martin. 'As for ze ozer yong ladies, zey have no more musique in zem zan an old hurdy-gurdy. All zat vill please zem is a tune5 to make dance, but for ze vorks of ze best composers zey have no heart at all.'
Lilian's secret ambition was to go to Germany to study at the Leipzig Conservatoire, which Herr Frankenburg always described as the very home and abode6 of the spirit of music, and made her sadly envious7 with accounts of the wonderful concerts and[52] operas which might be enjoyed in that favoured city, where the very street vendors8 would not be tolerated if they cried their wares9 out of tune.
Lilian's experience of concerts was confined to an occasional afternoon performance in the Warford Assembly Rooms, or the military band in the Spa gardens; but she bravely hid her longings10 for better things, for she knew that a musical education would be an utter impossibility in the family circumstances, and that Father had strained a point already to allow her to learn from Herr Frankenburg, who was the most expensive teacher in the school.
She had a sweet, true voice, though not of any great volume, and would sing away with much delight when she got the Rose Parlour all to herself, often composing little things of her own, which were really quite pretty, though she was generally too modest to own to them.
One Saturday towards the end of May six of Lilian's most particular school-friends had been invited to spend the afternoon, and there were great preparations at the Abbey. Rollo had been newly washed and combed, the rabbits' hutch had been scrubbed, the arbour swept out, the museum tidied, and Nancy had baked a supply of cakes and tarts11 calculated to provide for the healthiest appetites.
'Here they are!' cried Bobby, who, perched on the archway that surmounted12 the gate, could command a view of the distant prospect13, and report progress, like Sister Anne in the story of Bluebeard.
'All of them?' asked Lilian, hurriedly tying a pink ribbon round the neck of the pet lamb, whose toilet had been forgotten among the many arrangements.
'Yes; I can see six bicycles coming along the road. One girl's got red hair, so I'm sure it's Evelyn Proctor, and the two in the blue hats will be Susie and Mary.[53] Oh, it is really, for they're turning up from the village over the bridge, and waving their hands.'
And Bobby climbed down quickly from his point of vantage, so as not to miss the interesting arrival.
They were a very jolly set of schoolgirls whom Aunt Helen came out on to the front steps to welcome. Kathleen O'Riley was a bright Irish girl, with the prettiest suspicion of a brogue imaginable, and that winning manner which seems specially14 to belong to the children of the Emerald Isle15. Susie and Mary Hirst were the daughters of a rising Warford physician, and were pleasant and amusing, though they had not the racy humour of Dorothy Gower. Evelyn Proctor was full of high spirits, while shy Lucy Thorburn was perhaps Lilian's favourite among them all.
'It must be stunning16 to have a bicycle,' said Bobby, regarding with envious eye the row of bright machines neatly17 stacked against the wall, and spinning the pedals with a not too gentle hand.
'Yes, it is pretty good fun,' said Susie Hirst, good-naturedly giving him a ride round the carriage sweep. 'But, you see, you have Pixie instead, and I think a pony's really nicer.'
'She can't go so fast,' complained Bobby, determined18 not to be consoled.
'Perhaps not, but you couldn't bike to school in the pouring rain or snow. It's no joke to get a side-slip, I can tell you.'
'Come along, girls,' cried Lilian; 'I have such heaps to show you.'
It was the first visit that some of the guests had paid to Gorswen, so they were delighted to make a tour of inspection19 round the garden, farmyard, and ruins. They duly admired the pet lamb, laughed at Jack20, stroked the rabbits, declared Rollo to be a[54] black-and-tan angel, and screamed with horror at Toby, a harmless grass snake, which was the very latest addition to the menagerie.
Tea was a lively meal, for Father was full of jokes and funny stories, and Aunt Helen enjoyed schoolgirls' society almost as much as the children themselves, while Nancy's delicacies21 melted away like snow in summer.
'Let us come to the Rose Parlour,' said Lilian, when cups were emptied for the last time, and 'No, thank you's' began to be responded to invitations to more cake and pastry22.
Peggy followed, feeling very grand and grown-up among so many elder girls, and shut the door sternly in Bobby's face.
'We don't want little boys in here,' she said crushingly.
'I don't care,' shouted the indignant youth through the keyhole. 'I don't want to play with a lot of stupid girls—so there! I shall go and talk to Joe.'
The museum proved a great fund of interest, for nearly every article had a history, and the guests wandered round the room examining the maps and various specimens23 of art which adorned24 the walls. Dorothy was trying the piano, for she played well, though her touch had not half the firmness of Lilian's.
'What's this?' asked Mary, hunting through a pile of old music inside the ottoman, and fishing out a manuscript page in Lilian's neat hand.
'Oh, don't!' cried Lilian, blushing hotly. 'Let me have that, Mary, please. I didn't know I had left it there.'
'What is it?' exclaimed all the girls, whose curiosity was naturally aroused. 'Peggy, you tell!'
[55]But for once Peggy turned tell-tale, and disclosed the secret.
'Oh, do sing it!' cried Susie. 'I couldn't write a note of music if I tried for a year.'
'Yes, yes, you must!' echoed the others.
Thus urged, the unwilling26 composer was hauled to the piano and pressed on to the music-stool, where, with many protestations and much bashfulness, she sang the following song:
'It's lovely!' cried the admiring girls. 'Did you make up the words too?'
'Of course she did,' said Peggy, who was proud of her sister's talents. 'She has made lots of others, too. Lil, do let me find "Dinah's Baby" and "Stealin' Melons 'neath de Moon"!'
'No, no,' said Lilian; 'I've shown off quite enough for one day. It's somebody else's turn now. Come along, Dorothy!'
But Dorothy declared she had played everything she knew, with the exception of scales or five-finger exercises, and none of the others could remember any[57]thing without their notes, so the piano was closed and the music put away.
'There's your little brother outside, tapping on the glass,' said Susie. 'What a cherub28 he looks, with his pink cheeks and little tight brown curls!'
'Sure, I'll let him in, the darlint!' said Kathleen O'Riley, running to open the French window and admit the smiling Bobby, who entered with an expression of such angelic innocence29 that Peggy's suspicions were instantly aroused.
'I thought you might like some chocolates,' he said winningly, handing a noble box to Mary Hirst with an air of much generosity30.
'Dear little fellow! How sweet of him!' murmured the girls as they collected round with pleased anticipation31.
Mary opened the box, but dropped it with a howl of dismay, for in place of the tempting32 sweetmeats she had expected lay a writhing33 mass of fat green caterpillars34, newly picked from the gooseberry-bushes, a subtle revenge on Bobby's part for his expulsion from the sanctum.
'You wretch35!' cried Lilian, endeavouring to catch and chastise36 the rejoicing offender37, who was off through the window and over the wall long before the girls had finished screaming and shaking their skirts.
'He's a broth27 of a boy!' laughed Kathleen, who rather enjoyed the joke. 'Get out the fire-shovel, Peggy mavourneen, and we'll be after sweeping38 them up from the carpet. They're too soft and juicy to be treading under foot.'
'What shall we do now?' asked Susie, sinking back luxuriously39 into the basket-chair, when the contents of the chocolate-box had been successfully removed.
[58]'Suppose we play at nonsense verses,' said Lilian, tearing a few pages from an exercise-book, and hunting out a supply of pencils. 'You all know the famous one about the lady of Riga:
"There was a young lady of Riga,
Who smiled as she rode on the tiger;
They came home from their ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger."
Well, the game is this. We each write down the name of a person we all know on a slip of paper; they are folded up and shuffled40, and everybody draws one, and you must write a nonsense rhyme about the person whose name you find upon your particular slip. Then we elect a president and read them out.'
'It sounds dreadfully difficult,' sighed Lucy. 'I'm not at all clever at poetry.'
'Oh, never mind, do try;' said Peggy, dealing41 out the pencils. 'It's ever such fun when once you begin.'
The names were written out, the papers shuffled and drawn42, and for ten minutes or more the girls sat knitting their brows and biting their pencils in all the agonies of composition. When everyone had finished the slips were folded up and placed in a basket, and Lilian, who had been chosen to read the effusions, shut her eyes and drew one out at a venture. The name was 'Mademoiselle,' and the lines ran as follows:
'There once was a French mademoiselle
Who thought she knew English quite well.
When she meant "I am happy,"
She said "I am snappy,"
Which made us all laugh, I can tell.'
[59]The girls tittered, for Mademoiselle's mistakes in English were a by-word all over the school.
'I wonder who wrote that!' said Susie, with an innocent air.
'Don't give yourself away, my dear,' answered Evelyn. 'We can all guess now.'
The next paper was headed 'Mary Hirst.'
'There was a wild schoolgirl named Hirst,
Who of all the bad pupils was worst,
For the Cambridge exam.,
And, to everyone's surprise, came out first.'
'I hope that's a true prophecy,' laughed Mary, who was studying hard for the Senior Local.
'This writing is not very clear,' said Lilian, unfolding another slip and reading: 'Peggy.'
'There was a young lady named Peg,
Who was terribly strong in the leg:
With the boys in a race
She could set her own pace;
But pray do not name it, I beg.'
'That's your own, Lilian,' said the astute44 Kathleen, 'for you said the writing was hard to make out, and yet you read it straight off, quite glibly45.'
'You may guess as you like, but I shan't tell,' replied the president sternly.
The fourth paper was described 'Herr Frühl.'
'There was an old German named Frühl,
Who a respirator wore as a rule.
When the weather was bad,
Oh, his temper was sad,
This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Frühl, the German master, was famous for his bronchitis and his[60] bad temper, and the general opinion ascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge her laurels47.
'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.'
'There once lived a maid named Kathleen,
Who never a boat-race had seen;
When they brought her a bow
Of bright red, she said "No,
My national colour is green!"'
The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen. When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin, she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grand boat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry. Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favours were freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up to Kathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet48 bow of the Grammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill49 towards the heroes of the town.
'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquired the indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant50, bad cess to it! and don't suit me complexion51 neither. Sure it's nothing but green favours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.'
'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem.
'A teacher there was called Miss James,
When she passed by their places,
All the girls made bad faces;
But she never found out, all the same!'
'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn.
'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began[61] poor Lucy, then stopped in much embarrassment53 at having betrayed herself.
'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of the best. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"?
Could never eat anything sour;
To plain biscuits or bread
A "No, thank you," she said,
'It's a slander56!' cried Dorothy. 'A vile57 slander! And if I discover the authorship, I'll bring an action for libel. Go on, Lilian dear, and give us the last.'
The final effort was on the theme of 'Joe.'
'There was a young fellow named Joe:
Who gave him that name I don't know,
But I do know that he
Gave a puppy to me,
And that's why I take to him so!'
'That's Peggy's!' cried the girls in chorus. 'It couldn't belong to anyone else. Well done, Peggy! You will have to show that to Joe; he'll be quite flattered.'
They sat laughing over the rhymes and chattering58 as only schoolgirls know how until Aunt Helen came in to announce that a light repast of cake and lemonade awaited them in the dining-room, and to gently hint that, if Warford were to be reached before darkness had fallen, it was getting time for the six bicycles to be set in motion. So there was a grand collecting of hats and gloves, and pumping of tyres, and many 'good-byes' and 'thank you's,' and the merry party at last started off on their homeward way, ringing their bells as a parting salute59, and declaring they would not soon forget their afternoon at the Abbey.
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1
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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8
vendors
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| n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方 | |
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wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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tarts
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| n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞 | |
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12
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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14
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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15
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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16
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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17
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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18
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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19
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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20
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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21
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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23
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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24
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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25
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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26
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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27
broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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28
cherub
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| n.小天使，胖娃娃 | |
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29
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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30
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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31
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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32
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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33
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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34
caterpillars
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| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
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35
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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36
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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37
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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38
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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39
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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40
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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41
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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42
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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43
cram
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| v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习 | |
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44
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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45
glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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46
muzzled
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| 给（狗等）戴口套( muzzle的过去式和过去分词 )； 使缄默，钳制…言论 | |
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47
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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48
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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49
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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50
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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51
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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52
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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53
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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54
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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55
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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56
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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57
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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58
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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59
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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