Chapter 14. The Fire That Will Not Light

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_ CHAPTER XIV. THE FIRE THAT WILL NOT LIGHT

The Lady Leucha Villiers and her cousins, the daughters of the Marquis of Killin, assisted by their chosen companions, tried in vain to relight the fire in the Summer Parlour; but, alas! although even the kitchen cat might have understood so simple a job, being at least acquainted with something of the system, it was quite outside the powers of these ladies of high degree.

Naughty Hollyhock's last effort before she left the Parlour had been to pour a small jug of water over the fast-expiring coals.

'I 'm thinking this will settle matters,' she said to her adoring companions. 'Let them try their hardest now if they like, but we 'll find our own cubby hole and light our fire somewhere else.'

No sooner said than done, for Hollyhock was an adept at small manual jobs. She had observed in her rambles over the Palace of the Kings a small neglected hut, said to be haunted by the ghost from the neighbouring loch. As Hollyhock had not a scrap of fear of the ghost, knowing only too well that he did not appear, and knowing also that she could use him as a valuable weapon, she entered the hut, sent Gentian flying for some fresh faggots, and with the aid of Margaret Drummond and her own sisters, Mary Barton, Nancy Greenfield, Isabella Macneale, and Jane Calvert, she soon had a glowing fire. They put by in one corner a pile of faggots to place on the fire when tea was over, after which they would have quite an hour to work out their conspiracy. At tea, which was served on long tables in a beautiful old room, Hollyhock looked more brilliant and more beautiful than ever. Leucha, on the contrary, had a pale face and seemed chilled to the bone.

'Did you leave your fire burning well, Leucha, my hearty?' inquired Hollyhock.

Leucha, of course, refused to reply. She sat looking down at her plate, hardly eating the good things before her, but making up her mind to punish that horrible Jack, even if she herself died in the effort.

'Couldn't you find a small hut by the burnside; couldn't you now?' continued Hollyhock in a coaxing tone. 'The Summer Parlour's grate is hard to light up--it has an artful way with it--but a small hut now, with you sitting by the fire, could be easily managed. I 'd bring you some faggots, if you said the word.'

'No, thank you. I don't choose you to help me in any way.'

'All right! I 'm not wanting to,' said Hollyhock. 'I'm very happy without you, my Lady Leucha.'

'Girls,' said one of the English mistresses, who felt quite certain there was mischief ahead, 'I think you ought to take your tea, and be quick about it. You will lose your recreation afterwards if you stop to wrangle.'

'What's wrangle, Miss Kent, dear?' asked Hollyhock in her sweetest tones. 'I like well to hear your pure English words. We Scots talk very differently, no doubt, but we are always willing to learn. So, please, what's wrangle? And will you pass me a fresh scone, Miss Kent, dear, for my appetite is far more than ordinary?'

'Vulgar little glutton,' muttered Leucha to Dorothy Fraser.

'She really is attractive, all the same,' answered Dorothy.

'Oh Dolly, you are not going round to her? That would be the final straw.'

'No, I 'm not, of course; but I can't help admiring her funny ways and her beautiful, noble sort of face.'

'Noble!' cried Lady Leucha.

'Yes, it is noble, although it is full of mischief too. You could have had her as a great friend, Leucha, and that girl is worth making a friend of. I never saw her like before. She really haunts me.'

'What haunts you, lassie?' cried Hollyhock. 'Is it my eyes so black, or my cheeks so rosy-red, or my hair so curly, and black as the blackest night? I 'm at your service. I'm willing to forgive and forget this blessed minute if you'll all hold out the paws of forgiveness.'

Both Dorothy and Barbara longed to do so, but Lady Leucha put the final extinguisher on their hopes by saying, 'No, never! Why, you are not even a lady!'

'Let's eat,' said Hollyhock. 'I waved the flag of peace, as the great Ardshiel did once; but never again--don't you fear, lassies. No lady, indeed! We 'll see who's the lady!'

In vain Miss Kent tried to stop the angry torrent of words, but this was the hour when the girls were allowed to talk freely. Mrs Macintyre was not present, and all eyes in the room were fixed with admiration on Hollyhock.

'First, we 'd like to know--just for a diversion--what makes a lady,' continued the obstreperous lass. ''Tisn't birth--my certie! no. It must be a sort of civilisation. It must be, to my way of thinking, a give and a take. It must belong to the sort of person who has the courage of her race, and will even wipe the hair of a ghost when he comes to you in his trouble. That's what I call a lady. Others may differ from me.'

'They do,' said Leucha. 'Liars are not ladies!'

'You 'd better not call me that.'

'But I do. You never wiped the hair of a ghost.'

'Let's drop the subject,' said Hollyhock. 'My sisters and I, and Mrs Constable, and my father, and my five cousins, the Precious Stones, have views that differ from yours entirely. I know your sort of lady. I have read of her in books, but I never came across her till I met you, Leucha.'

'I 'd thank you to call me Lady Leucha.'

'I won't, then. You are only Leucha to me in this school. I have described what I call a lady. She's bountiful to the poor, and kindness sits in her bonnie eyes, and love shimmers round her lips, and her heart--why, it's pure gold; and she's all-forgiving, and all for making up. There 's never a quarrel that a real lady would nurse; but mayhap there's a different sort in England. They walk what you might call mincingly, and they drop their words slow, and there's no flash in their eyes, and no courage in them, and no daring in them. No doubt they are very respectable, and they are very proud of their family. Then they make their little curtsy, when their education is quite finished, to the Sovereign on the throne; and they go to many a party, and they dress like all the other girls--no individuality anywhere. That would not be thought right for such an English lady. She marries when she can get a man to have her. Many a time he's as old as her father; but that doesn't count with her, she being what she is, looking out for respectability. Ah, well! I 'm all for the Scots lady. I don't care for grand parties or grand dresses; but I want my bit of adventure, and I'll have it, too. Good-bye, Leuchy. I think I have explained myself.--Come along, girls; we have our work cut out for us. It would not do for that poor Leuchy to be cold this night. She must have a living, warming thing to comfort her, poor Leuchy! Come along; there's no time to spare.'

The girls, headed by Hollyhock, left the room in a group, but for some reason Jasmine remained behind. She was very much distressed by her sister's manner of going on, and what followed would not have taken place had she gone to the ghost's hut and joined in the 'conspiracy;' but the other girls were now fairly mad with excitement, and Margaret Drummond, a Scots girl, was so much in love with Hollyhock that she would have done anything on earth for her.

'You are splendid, lassie!' she cried.

The fire was quite out in the Summer Parlour, but it glowed warmly in the ghost's hut.

'It's here I dry his hair, poor fellow,' said Hollyhock, who was now nearly beside herself with delight. 'Listen to me, girls. You are a goodly group, and true to the heart's core, true to the soul of the thing; but I 'm not going to be ruled over by Leuchy, though I don't mind Barbara, or Dorothy, or that weak little Daisy looking on. It's Leuchy who 'll get a fright this very night. Now, then, we haven't long to lose, for the hours for pure enjoyment are few in number. I am much deceived if we don't find many impediments in our path. Now, lassies, I 'll show you on the spot what we have got to do. One of us must go to The Garden, my home, to fetch wee Jean, the kitchen cat; and another has to beg, borrow, or steal a saucer of cream for the little beastie. That's about all. I 'll start off at once for the cat; and you, Gentian, had best get the cream. I have been looking round the house--don't I know every stone of it?--and you have got to get into the larder. You know your way to the larder, don't you, Gentian?'

'Yes,' said Gentian, who looked rather frightened.

'Well, never mind, my lass. You have got to do it, and one of these girls will help you. You were always nimble-witted, and you won't fail your own sister-born in a conspiracy so innocent and so amusing. While I 'm off alone for the cat, you other girls will find out the number of Leuchy's room, and have the nice rich cream ready for poor Jean. She can sleep with me afterwards. Well, then, off I go! Good-bye, lassies; good-bye! Oh, I can tell you bogy stories that 'll make your hair stand up straight; but this is the night for wee Jean.'

Hollyhock, her head in the air, rushed quickly down the avenue. There was plenty of time still, for the gates would not be locked before nine o'clock. She went out, therefore, boldly, and reached the dear old Garden. She wrapped her cloak well about her, so as to disguise herself as much as possible, and went straight to the kitchen regions, where the housekeeper, having very little to do now that all the girls were out and the master was dining with Lord Ian Douglas, was sound asleep by the kitchen fire.

On her lap reposed Jean, also in profound slumber. Hollyhock whisked her up in a hurry, petting and cuddling her all the time. A row of baskets hung just outside the kitchen door. Hollyhock chose one, placed a warm bit of felt at the bottom, put in a lump of butter for Jean to lick, fastened her down securely in the basket, and was off and away, back to Ardshiel.

By that time the other girls had fully carried out the commands of their liege lady. The cream had been secured by Gentian, who had scraped her shins a little in climbing in at the window. She had put the cream into a small jug, and had further procured a saucer.

'That'll do fine,' said Hollyhock. 'Poor Jean, poor beastie, we mustn't frighten her, or she 'll be off like a flash. Have you got the number of the English lady's room?'

Yes, Leucha Villiers's room had been discovered. Hollyhock went boldly upstairs. The little room looked most luxurious. There were eider-down quilts on every bed in the house, and a particularly pretty silk one was on the bed of Leucha. Under the eiderdown was a snowy light counterpane. The room had been already arranged for the night, and would not be touched again by any one. Although the weather was beginning to get cold, Mrs Macintyre did not consider it necessary to have fires in the bedrooms just yet; but wee Jean, cuddled up in Hollyhock's arms, purred into Hollyhock's face, and presently lay contentedly down just under the eider-down.

It did not take her long to fall into a deep sleep, and, this done, Hollyhock placed the saucer brimfull of cream also under the eider-down, but she slightly raised the latter by means of a little pile of Lady Leucha's favourite books. When the cat awoke she would drink her cream, and then sleep on until she was disturbed.

Hollyhock was rejoiced to find that Lady Leucha's room was close to her own; in fact, it was next door. She could, therefore, be on the qui vive, and meant to be.

The 'conspiracy' had begun, and she had no idea of shifting any blame from her own shoulders. She wished to punish Leucha, and punish her she would. Yes, the 'conspiracy' had begun.

She went softly downstairs, followed by a trail of tittering girls, who hardly knew how to restrain themselves.

'Whist, can't you? Whist!' said Hollyhock. 'Do you want to spoil the whole thing by unseemly mirth? Now, then, mum's the word. Wee Jeanie shall sleep in my room to-night; but I somehow fancy that I have shown Leuchy who means to be head of the school.' _

Read next: Chapter 15. Cream

Read previous: Chapter 13. The Summer Parlour

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