exactly what I mean to do," said Annie. "First of all I have toget you out of your present scrape, and then I shall go boldly toPriscie and find out her pent-up thoughts, and if they are in thedirection I am fearing, I shall soon find means to protect ourselvesfrom her and her conscience. But perhaps that is enough about her. Onthe present occasion we have got to think of you and Mrs Priestley."
"Oh, indeed, yes! Oh, I am terrified!"
"Listen to me. But for my management at lunch to-day, Lady Lushingtonwas so indignant that she would have blurted out the whole thing andasked you what you meant by running up such an outrageous bill. Youwould have given yourself away on the spot, for you have no presence ofmind in an emergency. Now I am preparing you. Lady Lushington willspeak to you to-morrow, and you are faithfully to describe the dressesthat I have, told her you possess. Oh, I know you have not got them atall, but that does not matter; I will give you a list of them in themorning, and you are to hold to that list. But now, listen. This isthe main point. At the same time you are to assure your aunt that MrsPriestley has made a mistake and put down some one else's dresses toyou, for you are positive your bill is nearer forty pounds thanseventy."
"Then how in the world am I to pay the thirty pounds to Mrs Priestley?"
"I am coming to that. There is a lovely, lovely necklace in one ofthose shops full of articles of _vertu_ in the town. It is worth, Iknow for a fact from fifty to sixty pounds; but I think your aunt couldget it for forty. Now I want you to coax her to give it to you."
"Oh Annie, what _is_ the use? Is it likely that Aunt Henrietta, whenshe is so furious with me about a bill at my dressmaker's, would spendforty pounds on one necklace just for me?"
"She is absolutely certain to do it if you manage her rightly; and Iwill help you. The necklace is a great bargain even at forty pounds.It is of real old pearls in a wonderful silver setting. Now a beautifulold necklace, once the property of a French marquise, which can bebought for forty pounds is a bargain. Lady Lushington loves makingbargains. You must secure it."
"Well, Annie, even if I do get it--and I am sure I do not care a bit forthe old thing at the present moment--what am I to do with it?"
"You are a stupid, May; you really are. Your aunt, Lady Lushington,will go with you, and probably with me, to the shop. We must take herthere early for fear that some one else snaps up the bargain. She willbuy the necklace and give it to you. She will tell you to be careful ofit, and then, according to her way, she will forget all about it."
"Yes, perhaps so; but still, I do not see daylight."
"Well, I do," said Annie. "We will sell the necklace at another shopfor thirty pounds, and send the money immediately to Mrs Priestley. Atthe same time I will write her a long letter and tell her that she musttake thirty pounds off her bill, and apologise for having, owing to apress of customers, put some one else's account to yours. Thus all willbe right. Your aunt Hennie will not object to paying forty pounds foryour school dresses, so that will be settled; and we may be able to geta little more than thirty pounds for the pearl necklace, and thus havesome funds in hand towards Mrs Lyttelton's Christmas school bill."
"Oh," said Mabel, "it is awful--awful! Really, I sometimes think myhead will give way under the strain. Of course it may succeed; butthere are so many `ifs.' Suppose the man to whom we are selling thenecklace shows it in his window the next day; what will Aunt Henriettasay then?"
"You goose!" replied Annie. "We shall be in Zermatt by then; and I willmake an arrangement with the shopman to keep the necklace out of thewindow until we are off. Now I have everything as clear as daylight.You must coax and coax as you know how for the beautiful necklace, andyou must get your aunt Henrietta, if possible, to pay forty pounds forit. That is the only thing to be done, but it just needs tact andresource. I shall be present with my tact and resource. I will allowyou to be alone with your aunt to-morrow morning, and then, when I thinkshe has scolded you long enough, I will come innocently into the room,and you must start the subject of the necklace; then trust to me for therest. Mrs Priestley is asked in this letter, which will never go--forthe one with the thirty pounds will take its place--to send the fullitems of her account to Zermatt. She will do so; and your aunt will beso much in love with you for your economy, and so full of remorse athaving accused you of extravagance, that she will probably give youanother necklace when there, which one you can keep. The main thing,however, is to get through this little business to-morrow. Now go tobed and to sleep, May Flower, and never say again that your Annie doesnot help you out of scrapes."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
DAWN AT INTERLAKEN.
The next day dawned, fresh, clear, and beautiful, with that exquisitequality in the air which so characterises Interlaken. Priscilla, whenshe opened her eyes in the tiny bedroom which was close to Annie's andjust as much under the roof--although no one thought her unselfish forselecting it--sprang out of bed and approached the window. The gloriousscene which lay before her with the majestic Jung Frau caused her toclasp her hands in a perfect ecstasy of happiness. The pure delight ofliving was over her at that moment. It was permeating her young being.For a time she forgot her present ignoble position--the sin she hadsinned, the deceit in which she had had such an important share. Sheforgot everything but just that she herself was a little unit in God'sgreat world, a speck in His universe, and that God Himself was over all.
The girl fell on her knees, clasped her hands, and uttered a prayer ofsilent rapture. Then more soberly she returned to her bed and lay downwhere she could look at the ever-changing panorama of mountain and lake.
They were going on to Zermatt on the following day; and Zermatt would bestill more beautiful--a little higher up, a little nearer thosemountains which are as the Delectable Mountains in Bunyan's _Pilgrim'sProgress_, past the power of man to describe. Priscie owned to herself,as she lay in bed, that she was glad she had come.
"It was not going to be nice at first," she thought. "But this repayseverything. I shall remember it all for the rest of my days. I am nota bit good, I know; I have put goodness from me. I have chosenambition, and the acquiring of knowledge, and the life of the student,and by-and-by an appointment of some worth where I can enjoy thosethings which I thirst for. But whatever is before me, I am never goingto forget this scene. I am never going to forget this time. It iswonderfully good of God to give it to me, for I am such a wicked girl.Annie and Mabel are wicked too, but they could never have done what theydid without my help. I am, therefore, worse than they--much worse."
A servant knocked at the door and brought in Priscilla's firstbreakfast. The man laid the coffee and rolls on a little table by thegirl's bedside, and Priscilla sat up and enjoyed her simple meal, eatingit with appetite When she had come to the last crumb a sudden thoughtforced itself on her mind: "What is the matter with Annie? Howstrangely Annie looked at me last night! Why has she taken each aviolent antipathy to me? What have I done to annoy her?"
The thought had scarcely come to Priscilla when she heard a light tap ather door, and in reply to her "Come in," Annie entered.
"I thought you would be awake and having your breakfast, Priscie."
Annie tripped lightly forward. She seated herself on Priscie's bed.
"Isn't it a glorious morning?" said Priscie. "Isn't the view lovely?"
"I suppose so," replied Annie in an indifferent tone. "But, to tell thetruth," she added, "I have not had time either to think of the beauty ofthe morning or the beauty of the view."
"You surprise me," said Priscilla. "I can never think of anything else.Why, we are just here for that," she continued, fixing her greatdark-grey eyes on Annie's face.
"Just here for that?" laughed Annie. "Oh, you oddity! we are not herefor anything of the kind. We are staying at Interlaken because LadyLushington thinks it fashionable and correct to spend a little time herein the autumn. From Zermatt, I understand, we are going to Lucerne, andthen presently to the Italian lakes; that is, Mabel and Lady
Lushingtonare going to the Italian lakes. Of course, you and I will have to goback to the dreary school."
"Oh, but the school is not dreary," said Priscilla.
"I am glad you find it agreeable; it is more than I do."
"But I thought you loved your school."
"It is better than my home--that is all I can say; but as to loving it,"Annie cried, "I love the world, and the ways of the world, and I shouldlike some day to be a great, fine lady with magnificent clothes, andmen, in especial, bowing down to me and making love to me! That is myidea of true happiness."
"Well, it is not mine," said Priscilla. She moved restlessly.
"How