Then, amid bursts of tears and broken sobs, Queenie told her story from beginning to end—from Chateau des Fleurs down to Magnolia Park, where she had come to hide from all who had ever known her. Had Queenie tried, she could not have found a more sympathizing listener to her recital, and when it was finished, Mrs. Strong’s tears flowed almost as freely as her own, as she took the young girl in her arms, and kissing her lovingly, tried to comfort and reassure her, while at the same time she administered a little reproof.
“I think you should have staid with Margery,” she said; “but since you are here, we will do the best we can for you. And now you must go home with me and stay until some of these rooms are made comfortable for you.”
But to this Queenie objected. She had a great desire to see Jacksonville, she said, and was going there for two weeks or more.
“Jacksonville, and alone,” Mrs Strong repeated, and Queenie replied that Axie was going with her to see her settled, and then leave her with Pierre, while she returned to the Park to superintend the renovating process.
“There can be no harm in that, can there?” she asked, and Mrs. Strong replied:
“Oh, no, it is not an unheard-of thing for ladies to be at the hotel alone, but I think they usually have some acquaintances there, and you have none. If, however, you insist upon going, I shall write to the proprietor of the St. James to have a care over you, and also to some friends of mine, residents in town, whose attentions and friendship will be of great service to you, and shield you from the curious, gossiping ones who are to be found everywhere, and especially at large hotels. Cats, I call them, for they partake largely of the nature of that treacherous animal, smooth and purring if you stroke them the right way, but biting and scratching if you do not. There are plenty of them at the St. James, I dare say, but I think I can keep you from their claws, if you will go. Possibly the change may do you good. It will amuse you, at all events. But you must spend to-day and to-night with me; and to-morrow, if you still insist, you can take the train for Jacksonville.”
To this plan Queenie assented, and spent the day and night at Mrs. Strong’s, and the next morning started with Pierre and Axie for the St. James Hotel.
CHAPTER XLVI.
AT THE ST. JAMES.
It was too late in the season for guests to be coming from the North, but the increasing heat of the warm spring days was driving the people from points up the river, so that Jacksonville was full of visitors, and the St. James was crowded when Reinette arrived there in the train from Tallahassee.