JUST A GIRL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9976, 13 November 1895, Page 3

JUST A GIRL.

BY CHARLES GARVICE, Author of "The Outcast of the' Family," "Queoil Kate,"" In Cupid's Chains," "Better! Than ■ life," "On Lore's Altar; or, A Fatal Fancy," "She Trusted Him."

CHAPTER VII. _ Esmeralda, as she took off her jacket and hat, looked round Lady Wyndoyer's dress-ing-room with amazed curiosity. She had never beon in or imagined such a room. Like Lady Wyndover, it was a marvel of artistic taste; the decorations and the sofb silk hangings were of the approved crushedstrawberry hue, the furniture of the daintiest kind, and in tone like that of a sparrow's egg, the chairs were of divan-like comfort, the carpet a thick Turkish pile. A satin tea-gown of the palesb blue hung over one of the chairs ; the dressing-tables were covered with scent bottles, ivory and silver backed brushes, silver pots containing some pink and red stuff, whose use Esmeralda was ignorant) of, and jewellery of an exquisite kind lay about amongsb the silver pots, bottles, and even on the chairs. Tho room overlooked the square, and Esmeralda gazod down at the carriages with their horses and liveried servants with intense interest. She was at last in the heart of thab London of which she had heard. She seemed to be in a dream. She opened tho door and wenb into the noxb room. Lady Wyndover was seated in a low chair beside the fire, with a dainty tea-service of silver and Sirrea before her, and she greeted Esmeralda with a smile, * and motionod her to draw up a chair on the other side of the fire.

You must be dying for your tea, my dear," she said, taking in all the points of Esmeralda's plain travelling-dress, and yet without even aeoming to glanco at her. " What a great deal we must have to toll each other," she continued, sweetly. " I really don't know whero to begin. By the way, Mr. Pinchook was obliged to hurry away, and asked me to say good-bye to you for him. He is a very nice old gentleman, don't you think ?" " Yes," said Esmeralda, with a fainb smile. "Ho has boon very kind to me, and I expect I have given him a greab deal of trouble."

" Oh, thab I am sure you haven't, my dear," said Lady Wyndover. "He must have boen only too delighted to chaperon a charming young girl." "Ha didn't seem vory delighted sometimes," said Esmeralda, in her downright fashion, 4 ; v !• : Lady Wyndover gracefully glided aWay from the subject. "And did you have a pleasant journey?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, very," said Esmeralda, "Ib was great fun on board tho ship." "It must have been," said Lady Wyndover, suavely, and with a little twitch of tho corners of her carmine lips as she remombered Mr. Pinchook's moaning. " And what do you think of London ? Bub how ridiculous of me; you've not seen ib yet 1" " No; only just as we drove through from the dock," said Esmeralda. "It seoms very big and lookod very dirty until we came hore. Aro the trees always black liko those outside, and is it always as smoky as this, or has there been a big fire somewhere near?"

Lady Wyndover leaned back and laughed, " How fresh you are .'"she said. " Yon will be delightful, too delightful, I can see." " Why ?" asked Esmeralda. Lady Wyndover laughed again, bub did nob explain. " I am sure we shall get on very well together," sho said. " They say lam one of the best-tempered womon in London, and I really am not bad, and I am certain that you aro perfectly sweet." " I don't know," said Esmeralda, looking rather doubtfully. " Won't you have some bread and buttor?" asked Lady Wyndover, " or perhaps you'd like some cako?" " I'll havo somo cako," said Esmeralda, and sho cut herself a hugo slice, so huge that Lady Wyndover had hard work to suppress a shudder. "I never thought to ask if you wore hungry, dear," she said. "Wo dine afi eight; will you havo something moremore substantial ?"

" No, thanks; this will do," said Esmeralda, looking at tho remainder of the cako. I'm nearly always hungry, They used to laugh at mo on board the ship, and the captain said that he was afraid he should have to put in somewhoro and lay in a fresh stock of provisions." There was a touch of envy in Lady Wyndover's eyci as sho watched her. " I hope you won't lose your appetite in London; it's a vory trying placo. And now tell me all about yourself. Of course 1 know how you have beon living in that placo with the curious name, and how Mr. Pinchook found you. Tell mo about your guardian and your friends; in fact, anything you can think of." Esmeralda munched her cako with her white, even teeth, and looked at the firo thoughtfully. Although she had left Three Star only so short a time aero, she had bogun to understand why Varley Howard had advised her nob to be too communicative about him or her past life; and although she was ashamed neither of him nor it, sho shrunk from speaking of him to this dainty lady, who would no doubt regard him unfavourably. "There's nothing to tell," she said. "Three Star was just a diggers' camp, and Varley, I mean Mr. Howard"—for she romembered thab Mr. Pinchook had told her to speak of Varley as " Mr. Howard"— "tookcaroof me. He was vory good to me, as good to me as any father could be," her long lashes quivered, " and so wore all the boys—l mean the men in tho camp—we call them boys; some of them are quite old, you know." "I see," said Lady Wyndover. "And had you no lady friend ?" " There was Mother Molinda,"said Esmeralda, " and Black-eyed Polly, and one or two others."

Lady Wyndover again tried nob to shuddor. " How strange ib must seem to you," she said. " What?" asked Esmeralda. "This sudden change in your circumstances, my dear; from a diggers' camp to London; from poverty—l beg your pardon, dear—l suppose you were poor ?" "I suppose so,' 1 said' Esmeralda, naively. "Sometimes there was plenty of money, and sometimes there wasn't; ib just depended on Varley's luck." "Oh!" said Lady Wyndovor, who, nob having been informed of Mr. Howard's profession, did nob understand in tho least. "Yes," said Esmeralda, "when bo was in luck we had plenty of things—fruib and wine from Melbourne, 'and now clothes— when he wasn't in luck, well, wo didn't." • " And now you are very rich," said Lady Wyndover, "and can havo wino and fruib and now clothes as often as you like. I suppose you don'b really understand how ricn you are ?" she said, looking ab Esmeralda curiously.

Esmeralda shook her head indifferently, and cut herself another huge slice of cake. Lady Wyndovor leaned back and laughed softly with a kind of comic despair. " Oh, you are ridiculously,wickedly rich," she said. " I don'b know how to make you understand, Woll, see here, dear, there's scarcely anything that you couldn't afford to buy." . " Yes, so Mr. Piucbook told me," said Esmeralda, coolly; so coolly that Lady Wyndover stared ab her speechlessly for a

moment. • ' " Don't you feel dying to spend some of this money?" Esmeralda laughed. "I don't know. I have spenb some. I bought some clothes at Melbourne. I had to, because I only brought one change with me in front of the saddle."

Lady Wyndover stared at her. "Lab us go and see them," alio said. " In front ot the saddle! Do you mean to say that/ you carried all your clothes in a bundle 1 Oh, I shall never understand it 1 Let us go and see what you've brought." She led the way to tho apartment set apart for Esmeralda; and Esmeralda, following hor, entered a room almost as dainty as that which she'd left. In a dressingroom adjoining they found a maid gazing in a kind of despairing astonishment at a huge wooden box clampod with iron. "This is your maid, dear," said Lady Wyndover. " I didn't) know whether you would bring one, so I engaged her. Barker, this is Miss Chetwynde." Esmeralda, with a smile, held out her jh&fld, Th? W9|u|ly- Bark«.W'iw-

soned. to the roots of her neatly-arranged hair, and looked appealingly at- Lady WyndoVer, who -shrugged her shoulders helplessly. ' , I Barker pretended nob to see the out* stretched hand, and knelb at the box as if looking for some means of opening it. ') Here's the key," said Esmeralda, who couldn't understand why the girl refused to shake hands.

_ Barker opened the box, and proceeded to disentomb its contents. _ Lady Wyndover glanced ab them, found it impossible this time to repress a shudder, and faintly dismissed Barker, who fled down to the servants' hall to recount her strange experiences of the new young lady. Lady Wyndover touched with the tips of her fingers the dresses which Esmeralda had purchased. "Very nice—very nice indeed, dear," she said, heroically. " Bui-bub nob quite suitable for 'London, or for a girl of your position." "No?" said Esmeralda, quito calmly. "I, thought they wore ratherptetty, . But yqu'd know, of course." 0 * '$•« I.'think I know," said Lady.-Wyn-dover. iff And I think we'd better go down to 'Madame Ceriso at once. - We might go this afternoon—thab is, if you are nob tired. Perhaps you'd like to go and lie down for a .little while ?" Esmeralda looked ab her in open-eyed surprise. i. ; "Tired? Why should I be tired? I haven't done anything except ride in a cab, and I never lie down till I go to bed. Is ib far, this place— many miles?" Miles said Lady Wyndover, faintly. " It's quito closo, my dear child." "All right," said Esmeralda, "I'm quite ready. Bub what shall we do with those things " We—we mighb give them to Barker," said Lady Wyndover, who knew full well that that remarkably dressed young woman would rather die than wear them.

" All right," said Esmeralda, cheerfully. *' She seems a very nico girl; though she's rather proud, isn't she? She wouldn't shake hands with me just now." Lady Wyndover almost groaned. "It's not-usual, in England, to shake hands with one's servants, dear," she said. " Bub you'll learn all that in time, and—other things. Go and pub your things on, and we'll go down to Madame Cerise's."

Esmeralda ran downstairs; aud Lady Wyndover, as she listened to her, sunk into a chair—collapsed, perhaps, would bo the better word—for a few minutes until she recovered from the series of shocks which Esmeralda had, all unconsciously, administered.

Esmeralda slipped on her hat and jacket, anji then Went into boudoir and Raited for' what seemed to her hours. At last Lady Wyndovor appeared in the latest of Worth's outdoor costumes; and Esmeralda, as she lookod at her, began to understand why the dresses she had bought in Melbourne were unsatisfactory. They went downstairs, where a perfectly appointed brougham awaited them. A footman stood at the bottom of the stairs, a porter held tho door open, another footman stood by the open door of the brougham, and touched his hat as tho ladies appoared. " I thought you said it wasn't far J" said Esmeralda, as they went off. " Nor is it," said Lady Wyndover. "Ib is only in tho nexb street—Mount-street." "Oh!" said Esmeralda, with puzzled surprise. " Then why did we want this carriage and these two men ?" "I don't know," said Lady Wyndover, helplessly. " Would you rather havo walked'! 1 never walk anywhore if I can help it." "Are you.lame? Is there anything the matter with you ?" asked Esmeralda. " No," said Lady Wyndover, faintly. The brougham pulled up ab what lookod like a private house; and they entered, and were shown into.a room on the ground floor. -■ Ib ' looked like an ordinary sittingroom, but for two or three dresses and costumes which lay about on tho chairß and sofas.

Madame Cerise entered, Ib is scarcely necessary to say thab she was an Englishwoman—or, rather, an Irishwoman. She was i-horb and fat, with a round, goodnatured face, and she and Lady Wyndover greeted each other almost as if they were friends.

,She looked at Esmeralda with intense interest and admiration; and when Lady Wyndover mentioned Esmeralda's name, Madame Cerise's interesb grew quite vivid, fof the story of Esmeralda's fortune had already pot into the society papers. Lady Wyndovor conferred with Madame Cerise for some time in whispers, during which raadame glanced ab Esmeralda and nodded intelligently. "She is superb— is magnificent!" sho exclaimed,"in hushed staccato. "She will do your ladyship credit. Ah, whab a sensation she will create 1 You leave ib to mo!"

She called an assistant), and they measured Esmeralda, and produced a variety of materials, the richness of which filled Esmeralda with amazement.

"I shall novor wear all these dresses," she said. <-

Lady Wyndover and Madame Cerise smiled indulgently. " Madame Ceriso knows," said Lady Wyndover. "We can trust ourselves to hor."

" You can trust yourself to me," said Madame Cerise, with a mixturo of French accent and Irish brogue. "I will see that Mies Chetwynde is proporly dressed. She is magnificent—superb!" she again whispered to Lady Wyndover, as the two ladies took their departure.

"Thore is time for a turn in the park," said Lady Wyndover. " Thab is, dear, if you are euro you're not tired ?" Esmeralda only laughed. She thoughb of the long tramps, the longer rides, over the hills abovo Three Star, and the idea of being tired amused Iter. Although the season was only jusb beginning, Lady Wyndover, as she leaned forward in her brougham, was recognised by numbers of her acquaintances; and as she bowed and smiled, Esmeralda said :i

"You seem to know a greab many people." " My dear, I know everybody," said Lady Wyndover, plaintively. "And so will you." " Shall I ?" said Esmeralda.

"Yes; you don'b undorstand. You aro now my ward; you are the rich Miss Chetwynde, and quito a personage; you are the great catch of this coming season." . ."Catch?" said.. Esmeralda. "I don'b understand."

"■ You will soon, very soon," said Lady Wyndover, ' } (To be continued on Satn next).