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Pixie O'Shaughnessy

<h3>Chapter Twenty Nine.</h3> <h4>The Sisters’ Visit.</h4> Pixie did not go home for the Easter holidays, for everything at the Castle was so sad and unsettled that Bridgie felt it advisable that she should stay away a little longer, and an invitation from Mr and Mrs Vane came as a happy alternative. On the whole she spent a happy three weeks, thoroughly enjoying the luxury of her surroundings and the attention lavished upon her by every member of the household. Mr Vane still remained grey and serious, but he was unfailingly kind; while his wife belonged to the type designated by schoolgirls as “simple darlings,” and seemed to find no greater pleasure in life than in making young people happy. It was evident that they were both devoted to their only remaining child, though there was a reserve in their manner which seemed to Irish Pixie perilously allied to coldness. She was all unconscious that her own fearless intimacy of manner made a precedent for little demonstrations of affection which had hitherto been unknown in the household; but so it was, and her host and hostess felt that they owed her a second debt of gratitude, whenever Lottie volunteered a caress, or added a second kiss to the morning greeting. Perhaps, in their determination to overcome their daughter’s faults, they had erred on the side of firmness, and so brought about another temptation in the girl’s terror of discovery; and if this were so, what better instrument could have been found to draw them together than fearless, loving, audacious Pixie? When the time came to return to school, she received many pressing invitations to return to a home where she would always be welcome, and was able truthfully to assure the girls at Holly House that Lottie had been “an angel” to her throughout the holidays. After that the ordinary routine went on for a few weeks, broken by nothing more exciting than the weekly letters from home; then came an episode of thrilling interest, when Geoffrey Hilliard was shown into the drawing-room, and Miss O’Shaughnessy summoned from her class and sent upstairs to brush her hair, before going to interview him. He was leaning against the mantelpiece as she entered, looking very tall and handsome in his long frock coat, and he was smiling to himself with a curious shiny look in his eyes, which at once arrested Pixie’s attention. “How are you, Pixie? How are you, dear little girl?” he cried gushingly. Pixie remarked that she was in excellent health, privately not a little taken aback by his fervour. “He seems mighty fond of me, all of a sudden. Over at Bally William he didn’t care half so much. I suppose he missed me, after I’d gone!” She smiled at him encouragingly. “And you are looking very well yourself. I’m pleased to see you!” “I am very well, Pixie. Happiness agrees with me. I’m very happy—the happiest man in the world! Do you know why? I am going to be married. I came on purpose to tell you. Can you guess who ‘She’ is?” “How could I guess? I don’t know your friends. There’s no one at all that it could be, unless, perhaps—” Pixie stopped short suddenly, as certain memories darted into her mind. The extraordinary manner in which Mr Hilliard was always appearing at Knock Castle during the Christmas holidays; his interest in everything Esmeralda did and said; the fixity of his gaze upon the beautiful face. She gasped and blinked with surprise. “Not—not Esmeralda?” “Yes, yes, yes! Esmeralda, of course! Clever girl to guess so well! It was settled only last Wednesday, and she sent me across to tell you first thing, and ask your consent, as she couldn’t be properly engaged without it. You see this is an important matter for me, so you really must be kind, for I can’t give up Esmeralda, after waiting for her so long. Will you have me for another brother, and let me do all I can to make you happy?” “I’m glad it isn’t Bridgie,” sighed Pixie irrelevantly; then, fearing that she had failed in politeness, “But Esmeralda is nice too,” she added quickly. “She can’t help having a temper, but she won’t show it to you, like she did to her brothers and sisters. And she is beautiful! I’ve seen photographs of people they call beautiful here, and they are frights compared with her. I suppose I can have her room after she’s married! It’s got one of the turret windows, and I always wanted it because of the view. I hope you will be happy, Mr Hilliard. It was very kind of you to come and tell me. I’ll write and ask Esmeralda if I may be a bridesmaid.” Hilliard laughed, and muttered something about “sisterly candour.” He did not seem in the least alarmed at the thought of Esmeralda’s temper, and settled the bridesmaid question there and then with the utmost confidence. “Of course you shall be bridesmaid. The wedding will be in the summer holidays, but you will see your sisters before then. You knew, of course, that they were trying to let the Castle for a few years, until Jack makes his fortune, and goes back to live there himself. Well, I am glad to say a tenant has been found through a lawyer, and that everything is satisfactorily arranged. He takes possession on the first of September, and Bridgie is coming to live in London with Jack and the boys, in a nice little flat, where you can spend your holidays. She said I was to tell you that, and to say that you were not to fret for the Castle, for you would see much more of each other than if she had remained over there. She is coming to town in summer to look for the flat, and Esmeralda is coming too, to buy fineries for the wedding, and then we will all return to Ireland and have a quiet little wedding, and you shall keep Bridgie company when I carry Esmeralda away. That’s the summer programme. I hope you approve!” “I hate the man who’s coming to Knock,” said Pixie sadly; “but I am glad Bridgie will be near, and it will be lovely on holidays. It must feel strange to live in a flat; like being in a cage. I am sorry for the people beneath, when the boys get romping round. If I were Bridgie, I’d take a house, and then we could make as much noise as we liked. It’s no use pretending that we are a quiet family, because we’re not. You might think it was an army, to hear us tramp downstairs!” “I—I think myself that a house would be more suitable!” said Hilliard, smiling his humorous twisted smile; then he asked to see Mademoiselle, and when he said to her in her turn that he had a piece of news to impart, she nodded her head gaily, and cried, “So, so! I ’ope you will be very ’appy!” and could not be induced to say that she was in the least surprised. Pixie hoped that none of the girls would ask about the new brother’s business; for, after boasting of possible dukes, it was really rather humiliating to come down to glue! What a comfort that Lottie had turned over a new leaf, and abandoned her snobbish, inquisitive questionings! After that it was a case of counting the days until the arrival of the sisters, and Pixie’s companions were almost as excited as herself at the prospect of seeing the much-talked-of Bridgie and Esmeralda in the flesh. Miss Joan announced her intention of taking advantage of the July sales to buy her trousseau—a delightful arrangement, for by the time that dressmakers had done their work the holidays would begin, so that the girls could be present at the great breaking-up festival, and afterwards act as companions on the journey home. Pixie’s elastic spirits went up with a bound, and every week they grew higher and higher, until at last it became a question of days, and Bridgie’s letter must needs be addressed to Jack’s lodgings instead of Knock Castle, for by the time it was delivered the dear visitors would have arrived in town. “Please come to see me soon,” ran the letter, “and be sure to look your nicest, because of the girls! They all want to see you, and I’ve told them such lots about you. Please ask Miss Phipps to let me come out often. Wednesday is the best day, because it’s half-holiday, only I should like other days better, because I should get off prep. Please wear your best clothes!” The two sisters laughed heartily over this missive, but Pixie’s word was law, and as usual they obeyed her instructions to the letter. A telegram was sent off next morning to announce the hour in the afternoon at which they hoped to call, and the morning was spent to such good purpose that two most elegant and fashionable-looking young ladies drove up to Holly House shortly before four o’clock. The third-form girls were, to a man, peeping through the curtains of their classroom; Ethel had left her music in the drawing-room, and rushed downstairs to reclaim it the moment the door-bell rang; Kate suddenly felt it impossible to live without a clean handkerchief, and on her way upstairs waited round the corner of the hall until she could meet the visitors face to face; Flora peeped through the banisters, and snored so loudly in her excitement that she was in instant danger of discovery; and Pixie rushed like a whirlwind from the top of the house, and flung herself into Bridgie’s arms. They hugged and kissed, and kissed and hugged again, and fell apart to gaze with eyes that suddenly brimmed with tears. No need to ask the cause! The remembrance of the Major was in each heart, but Bridgie dried her eyes, and said, as if answering the unspoken lament— “But we have so much to be thankful for! Such a splendid let for the Castle, and Jack so good, trying to find work for the boys, and Geoffrey like another brother, and Esmeralda so happy.” No question about that! Esmeralda was radiant, more beautiful than ever, and astonishingly grand. So was Bridgie! The little sister gazed from one to the other with kindling eyes. Black dresses with tails to them; fluffy gauze boas with ends floating to the knees; hats that were not hats, but crinkled, brimless things like the Surbiton ladies wore in the afternoons, and so light and gauzy that they might have been blown away with a breath. “You are fine!” she gasped, and the girls laughed and cried merrily. “We had our instructions, you see! We dared not come down until we had bought new hats and gloves; and we put on our very best clothes for the girls’ benefit.” “And jewellery!” added Esmeralda; and Pixie looked at her with an even more critical scrutiny. There was a little diamond brooch sparkling among the laces at her throat. “Geoffrey gave me that!” There was a gold bangle round her wrist, with a heart-shaped locket dangling from the clasp. “Geoffrey gave me that!” There was a dainty little watch pinned on to her dress. “Geoffrey gave me that!” “Deary me,” quoth Pixie at last, “it must be rather nice being engaged.” “It is, my dear. Quite nice! And he gave us these boas too,—insisted upon buying them when he came shopping with us this morning. He said boas were the fashionable thing, and he really dared not allow us to face ‘the girls’ without them. He is very extravagant, but he says he will only be engaged once, and after we are married he will be as careful as I like. It was through his lawyer that we found our tenant. Geoffrey told him about the place, and it seemed that it was just exactly what a client had been wanting. We have not seen him yet, but he is tremendously interested in old places, and is going to spend a lot of money putting things into repair, which, of course, is a very good thing for us. He has taken it for ten years, and by the end of the lease Jack hopes he may be able to go back himself, for part of the year, at any rate. It is hard to leave Knock, but not so hard as we expected, for I am to be married, and the rest of you will be together, and able to enjoy seeing the sights, and all the fun and bustle of town life.” “And it will be so good for the boys! They were idling away their time, but now they will have to set to work in earnest to make their way in the world. It will be the making of them, so even if we do feel homesick at times it will be a light price to pay for their good,” said Bridgie hastily, for the tears were beginning to rise again in Pixie’s eyes at the thought of leaving the dear old home. “Dear me, I am longing to see ‘the girls’! Aren’t we going to see ‘the girls’? What is the use of our dressing up like this if we are not to see ‘the girls’?” “Come along! Come along! Miss Phipps said I was to take you round before she came in to give you tea. Come along, and see them now,” cried Pixie, prancing to the door with eager steps, and forgetting everything else in the excitement of the coming introduction, as it had been intended that she should do. Bridgie and Joan followed close behind, smiling in anticipation; but it was rather an embarrassing occasion, when the door of the big classroom was thrown open, and fifteen girls rose to their feet and stood staring with unblinking eyes, while Fraulein smiled and bowed from the end of the long table. Bridgie wanted to say something graceful and appropriate, but could only blush, and smile, and stammer feebly. “Oh–h! How do you do? Is there anyone here that I know by name? Flora—Margaret—Kate? Are any of your special friends here, Pixie? Please introduce me.” “That’s Flora!” said Pixie, pointing barefacedly across the room. “The fat one. Kate is next to Fraulein—with specs. Margaret is having her music lesson. That’s Ethel in the middle, with the frizzy hair. This is my sister Bridgie that I’ve told you about.” The faces of the girls thus singled out for special notice were wooden in stolidity. Not a flicker of animation lit up their features; they stood like pokers staring blankly before them, as if they had heard no word of what was passing, and poor Bridgie murmured more disconnected nothings, while Esmeralda looked from one to the other with her haughty, patronising smile. It was quite a relief when the door was shut, and the presence of Mademoiselle in classroom number two insured one listener at least who would speak in reply. The greeting was a warm one on both sides, but conversation was deferred until tea-time, when Mademoiselle had been asked to join the party in the drawing-room, and after just a minute’s wait a move was made upstairs to the room where Pixie slept. Here there were photographs to exhibit, and a number of tiny ornaments which had been gifts from other girls. “Ethel gave me that the day that I was ill.—Fanny bought me that when she went out for the day. It cost threepence. Wasn’t it dear? Dora Ellis and Vera Knowles clubbed together and bought me that at the bazaar. It’s supposed to be for matches. I am going to give it to Jack at Christmas. That’s Ethel’s mother! She is really awfully nice, though you wouldn’t think so. That’s Flora’s little brother. Isn’t he like Mellin’s Food? Ethel has silver brushes. I wish I might have silver things. She is awfully proud of her dressing-table. If I stand on my pillow I can just see over the curtain between our beds. I painted eyes on my forehead one night, and tied my hair round it. It looked lovely,—just like a monkey! and then I crept up quietly, and put it over for Ethel to see. She did howl! Shall we go downstairs now? You’ll have a scrumptious tea. Visitors always do. That’s one reason why it’s so nice having them coming to see you.” Miss Phipps and Mademoiselle were waiting in the drawing-room, and, to the amusement of her sisters, Pixie became a model of decorum the moment she entered their presence, and handed about cake and tea in the most staid and deliberate fashion. To see her stand with her heels drawn neatly together in the first position; to hear her demure, “Yes, Miss Phipps!” “No, Miss Phipps!” was almost too much for Esmeralda’s composure, and she was glad to leave the house with the promise of having Pixie to spend a long day in town at the beginning of the following week, while that young lady herself was so eager to return to her companions and hear their criticisms on her visitors that she bore the parting with wonderful resignation. Fortunately for all, approval was unanimous, and the girls declared in a breath that never, no never, had they seen anyone so “simply sweet” as Bridgie, so “frightfully pretty” as Esmeralda. Bridgie was a darling; her eyes were so kind and loving and sorry for you, and didn’t she look an angel when she smiled? Esmeralda was like a queen; they could quite imagine that she had a temper, but when she laughed she had the sweetest dimples! Did her hair curl naturally? Fancy! She was really and truly like a picture, and not a bit like a person who was alive. Didn’t they look ducks together—one so fair, and one so dark? So on, and so on, until Pixie was one big beam of joy and contentment. During the next fortnight Pixie spent no less than three days with her sisters, and had the felicity of helping to choose the little house in which they were to begin the new life. After an inspection of various flats Bridgie was quite of one mind with her youngest sister in believing that either they themselves or every other tenant in the building would have to give notice within a week of their arrival. It was so preposterous to think of creeping on tiptoe in consideration for your neighbours below, and speaking in hushed tones because of your neighbours above, while, in spite of high rents, the passages seemed so cramped, oh, so painfully cramped and narrow! Even a little house was a castle, comparatively speaking; and in due time one was found which promised to be healthy and convenient, and was put in the hands of painters and paper-hangers to be ready for the removal in autumn. <hr> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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