Hollyhock: A Spirit of Mischief

by L. T. Meade

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.