But that last adventure spoilt my dreams. I did indeed dream of Laurence; but I dreamt that I was carried away from him by burglars.
CHAPTER XV.
Laurence had promised to come for me early the next morning, saying that I should be wanted to help to arrange the stalls.
“I’ll bring two of the Manners boys, and say we’ve come for the benches Mr. Rayner offered to lend for the children’s tea,” said he.
“Then I’ll say Mrs. Manners begs you to come at once, and I’ll start off with the boys; and, when we get outside the gate, I’ll send them on with the benches and wait about for you.”
I wondered why he could not wait for me in the house as a matter of course; but he knew best, and I said nothing.
The next morning I put on a white frock that I had been busily making during all my spare time for the last fortnight, and a broad sash of the palest lemon and pink that I had been saving up for some great occasion. Then I slipped into the garden before breakfast—for there was no knowing how soon after he might come—to gather a flower to wear at my throat. I purposely chose rather a faded little rose, in the hope that Laurence might notice it and get me one himself to wear instead. I was going to put it in water until it was time to start, when Mr. Rayner met me at the window.
“Hallo, Miss Christie, stealing my roses! Well, since you had resolved to burden your conscience with a crime, you might have made it worth your while. But I am not going to permit you to spoil the effect of your pretty frock and destroy the reputation of my garden by wearing such a misshapen thing as that! Never! Come out again with me, and we’ll find something better.”
This was not what I wanted at all; but I was obliged to follow him, and to seem pleased when he gathered and gave me the loveliest little late tea-rose possible, and then found a beautiful bit of long soft moss to put round it. Laurence would never dare to suggest that this was not pretty enough to wear.
After breakfast, I went into the schoolroom with Haidee; but I was not in my usual soberly instructive mood; and, when I heard the front-door bell ring, I took the Child’s Guide to Knowledge from Haidee’s hand and gravely held it before me for some minutes until she said timidly—