Nell, of Shorne Mills Part 49

"Oh, yes; I gave it him, and he said----Well, he looked broken up over it; quite broken up. He said--let me see; I didn't pay very much attention because I thought he'd write to you and see you. They generally wind up that way, after a quarrel, don't they?"

"It does not matter. No, I have not seen or heard," said Nell.

"Well, he said: 'Tell her that it's quite true.' Dashed if I know what he meant! And that he wouldn't worry you, but would obey you and not write or see you. I think that was all."

It was enough. If the faintest spark of hope had been left to glow in Nell's bosom, Drake's message extinguished it.

Her head dropped for a moment, then she looked up bravely.

"It was what I expected, d.i.c.k. It--was like him. No, no; don't speak; don't say any more about it. And you'll stay, d.i.c.k? Lady Wolfer will be glad to see you. They are all so kind to me, and----"

"I'm so glad to hear that," said d.i.c.k; "because if they hadn't been I should have insisted upon your going home. But I suppose they really are kind, and don't starve you, though you are so thin."

"It's the London air, or want of air," said Nell. "And mamma, does she"--she faltered wistfully--"miss me?"

"We all miss you--especially the butcher and the baker," replied d.i.c.k diplomatically. "And now I'm off. And, Nell--oh, do mind my hat!--if you know Drake's address, I should like to write to him."

She shook her head.

"Strange," said d.i.c.k. "I wrote to the address in London to which I posted the letters when he was ill, and it came back 'Not known.' I--I think he must have gone abroad. Well, there, I won't say any more; but--'he was werry good to me,' as poor Joe says in the novel, you know, Nell."

Yes, it was well for Nell that she had no time to dwell upon her heart's loss; and yet she found some minutes for that "Sorrow's crown of sorrow," the remembrance of happier days, as she leaned over her black lace bodice that night when the great house was silent, and the quiet room was filled with visions of Shorne Mills--visions in which Drake, the lover who had left her for Lady Luce, was the princ.i.p.al figure.

On the night of the big dinner party, she, having had the last consultation with Mrs. Hubbard and the butler, went downstairs. The vast drawing-room was empty, and she was standing by the fire and looking at the clock rather anxiously--for it was quite on the cards that Lady Wolfer would be late, and that some of the guests would arrive before the hostess was ready to receive them--when the door opened and her ladys.h.i.+p entered. She was handsomely dressed, and wore the family diamonds, and Nell, who had not before seen her so richly attired and bejeweled, was about to express her admiration, when Lady Wolfer stopped short and surveyed the slim figure of her "housekeeper companion" with widely opened eyes and a smile of surprise and friendly approval.

"My dear child, how--how----Ahem! no, it's no use; I must speak my mind!

My dear Nell, if I were as vain as some women, and, like most, had a strong objection to being cut out in my own house by my own cousin, I should send you to bed! Where did you get that dress, and who made it?"

Nell laughed and blushed.

"I bought it in Regent Street--half of it--and made the rest; and please don't pretend that you like it."

"I won't," said Lady Wolfer succinctly. "My dear, you are too pretty for anything, and the dress is charming! Oh, mine! Mine is commonplace compared beside it, and smacks the modiste and the Louvre; while yours----Archie is right; you have more taste than Cerise herself----"

She broke off as the earl entered. "Don't you admire Nell's dress?" she said, but with her eyes fixed on one of her bracelets, which appeared to have come unfastened.

The earl looked at Nell--blus.h.i.+ng furiously now--with grave attention.

"I always admire Miss Lorton's dresses," he said, with a little bow.

Then his eyes wandered to the white arm and the open bracelet, and he made a step toward his wife; then he hesitated, and, before he could make up his mind to fasten it, she had snapped to the clasp.

"I tell her she will cause a sensation to-night," she said, moving away.

He looked at his wife gravely.

"Indeed, yes," he said absently. "Is it not time some of them arrived?"

As he spoke, the footman announced Lady Angleford.

She came forward, her train sweeping behind her, a pleasant smile on her mignonne face.

"Am I the first, Lady Wolfer? That is the punishment for American punctuality!"

"So good of you!" murmured Lady Wolfer. "And where is Lord Angleford?"

"I'm sorry, but he has the gout!"

Lady Wolfer expressed her regret.

"And Lord Selbie?" she asked. "Shall we see him?"

"Did you ask him?" asked Lady Angleford, her brow wrinkling eagerly. "Is he in England? Have you heard that he has returned?"

Another woman would have been embarra.s.sed, but Lady Wolfer was too accustomed to getting into sc.r.a.pes of this kind not to find a way out of them.

"Isn't that like me? Nell, dear--this is my cousin and our guardian angel, Miss Lorton--Lady Angleford! Did we ask Lord Selbie?"

Nell smiled and shook her head.

"N-o," she said; "his name was not on the list, I think."

Lady Angleford, who had been looking at her with interest, went up to her.

"It wouldn't have been any use," she said. "He is abroad--somewhere."

She stifled a sigh as she spoke.

"Then there is no need for us to feel overwhelmed with guilt, Nell,"

said Lady Wolfer. "Come and warm yourself, my dear. Oh, that gout! No wonder you won't join the 'Advance Movement!' You've quite enough to try you. Nell, come and tell Lady Angleford how hard I work."

Nell came forward to join in the conversation; but all the time they were talking she was wondering where she had heard Lord Selbie's name!

CHAPTER XXII.

Lord Selbie?--Lord Selbie? Nell worried her memory in vain. She had read extracts from the _Fas.h.i.+on Gazette_ so often, the aristocratic names had pa.s.sed out of her mind almost before she had p.r.o.nounced them, and it was not surprising that she should fail to recall this Lord Selbie's.

She had not much time or opportunity for reflection, for the other guests were arriving, and the party was almost complete. As she stood a little apart, she noticed the dresses, and smiled as she felt how incapable she would be of describing their magnificence to mamma. It was her first big dinner party, and she was amused and interested in watching the brilliant groups, and in listening to the small talk.

Lady Wolfer's clear voice could be heard distinctly; but though she talked and laughed with apparent ease and freedom, Nell fancied that her ladys.h.i.+p was not quite at her ease, that there was something forced in her gayety, and that her laugh now and again rang false. Nell saw, too, that Lady Wolfer's glance wandered from time to time to the door, as if she were waiting for some one.

The earl came up to Nell.

"Are we all here? It is late," he said, in his grave way, and glancing at the clock.

Nell looked around and counted.