“Then how on earth can I possibly—”
“It isn’t necessary to know the person. No one knows him yet, but we soon shall. He is coming to—to—can’t you guess? Think of the empty houses near here!”
“The Grange!” cried Kit, and clapped her hands with delight. “Some one has bought the Grange! How sweet of him! Now we shall have something to look at. He is coming soon, you say—oh, what fun! We can watch the furniture unload, and the family arrive. Who are they, and how many may they be? Lots of girls, I hope—the right sort, with plenty of fun in them, and pony-carriages of their own, in which they can drive us about!”
“We don’t know a single thing about them, and can’t find out. The man is called Vanburgh, which is all right so far as it goes, but whether he is married or a bachelor—”
“Of course he is married! A bachelor would never dare to take a house like the Grange. It would be downright wicked! He is a married man, with a grey beard, and a fat wife, and four beauteous daughters. I see them now before me, as in a mirror!” Kitty shut her eyes behind the spectacles, and screwed up her face into a grimace which was meant to be vague and visionary, but fell a long way short of success. She was fond of indulging in flights of fancy, and her friends waited for her utterances with smiling delight.
“Yes, yes, I see them all! Véronique, the eldest, is a stately beauty, tall and slender, with lustrous Spanish eyes, and locks—”
“Black as the raven’s wing.” Chrissie’s murmur seemed a fitting climax to the description, but the Visionary objected to be interrupted, and turning scornful eyes upon her, said icily—
“Quite the contrary. Bright as pure gold! She knows not the meaning of fear, and rides an Arab charger, who knows every movement of her mistress’s hand. She is betrothed to the scion of a noble house, and will shortly be led to the hymeneal altar, when we shall attend as maids of honour, clad in the sheen of satin and glimmer of pearls. Gabriella, the second, is mignonne in stature, with a wee, winsome face—”
But at this point in the description Agatha spluttered with laughter, and Christabel rose from her seat, and began banging down books on the table with disdainful emphasis.
“I refuse to listen any longer to such uttah rubbish.”—“Wee, winsome face,” repeated Kitty loudly, determined to finish the sentence or perish in the attempt. “Eyes blue as the summer skies, and a skin of snow and roses. She has a timorous, shrinking nature, and prefers a milk-white charger to her sister’s untamed steed. Evangeline, the third, has tawny locks and a dimpling smile, and makes up by charm of manner for what she lacks in regular beauty. Valentine, the fourth—”