“But Lena dear, it is quite impossible,” said Tessie. “Charlie is far away.”
“It was Charlie’s voice. First he called ‘Fred,’ and then ‘Lena, Lena.’”
The horses’ heads were turned, and they drove slowly along by the line of boys. There was noise enough, laughing, talking, and exclaiming, but no voice called ‘Fred’ or ‘Lena.’ When they had passed, they turned again, and waited as the boys moved on, and both Fred and Tessie eagerly scanned each face as it came near. There were all sorts of faces, dark and fair, handsome and ugly, bright, eager, laughing faces, and faces stupid, dull, and unhappy. But the face of Charlie was not among them.
“It was Charlie’s voice,” said Selina, and nothing could move her from that.
They went home full of wonder and anxiety. They told Miss Agnace about the voice that Selina had heard, but Miss Agnace said nothing. They told Madame Precoe, when she came in, and she expressed more surprise than she needed to have expressed, seeing she had already heard all about the incident from Louis the coachman, as indeed, she generally heard of the incidents, and even of the conversations, that attended their drives, when she was not with them.
By-and-by Mr Jerome came in, and he was interested too, but laughed a little at Selina’s fancy.
“You were thinking of your brother, and imagined the voice,” said he.
Selina said nothing.
“Or rather, you heard many voices, and the names were a fancy, or why should not your sisters have heard them also? It is nothing to look so grave about, my child.”
“It was Charlie’s voice,” said Selina.