Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly—
“I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs with little Nan, and Nan had her arms round her neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content to go with Annie.”
“I did not say I was anxious,” replied Hester in a cold voice. “How very beautiful that avenue of beech trees is, Cecil!”
“But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were to take Nan,” persisted Julia Morris. “She could not but have noticed it, for you did flush up so, Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw anyone more in earnest about a trifle in my life; it was impossible for Annie not to have heard.”
“The great thing is that Nan is happy,” said Hester in a fretted voice. “Do let us change the subject, girls.”
Cecil instantly began talking about the coming plays, and soon the conversation became of an absorbing character, and Hester’s voice was heard oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently than her companions.
For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did not fail to observe that when Hester got to the place of meeting at Burn Castle she looked around her with a quick and eager glance. Then the colour faded from her face, and her eyes grew dim.
That look of pain on Hester’s face was quite enough for kind-hearted Cecil. She had thrown herself on the grass with an exclamation of delight, but in an instant she was on her feet.
“Now, of course, the first thing is to find little Nan,” she said; “she’ll be missing you dreadful, Hetty.”
Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with her through the wood, but, to her surprise, Hester drew back.