“How are you, Pixie? How are you, dear little girl?” he cried gushingly.
Pixie remarked that she was in excellent health, privately not a little taken aback by his fervour. “He seems mighty fond of me, all of a sudden. Over at Bally William he didn’t care half so much. I suppose he missed me, after I’d gone!” She smiled at him encouragingly. “And you are looking very well yourself. I’m pleased to see you!”
“I am very well, Pixie. Happiness agrees with me. I’m very happy—the happiest man in the world! Do you know why? I am going to be married. I came on purpose to tell you. Can you guess who ‘She’ is?”
“How could I guess? I don’t know your friends. There’s no one at all that it could be, unless, perhaps—”
Pixie stopped short suddenly, as certain memories darted into her mind. The extraordinary manner in which Mr Hilliard was always appearing at Knock Castle during the Christmas holidays; his interest in everything Esmeralda did and said; the fixity of his gaze upon the beautiful face. She gasped and blinked with surprise. “Not—not Esmeralda?”
“Yes, yes, yes! Esmeralda, of course! Clever girl to guess so well! It was settled only last Wednesday, and she sent me across to tell you first thing, and ask your consent, as she couldn’t be properly engaged without it. You see this is an important matter for me, so you really must be kind, for I can’t give up Esmeralda, after waiting for her so long. Will you have me for another brother, and let me do all I can to make you happy?”
“I’m glad it isn’t Bridgie,” sighed Pixie irrelevantly; then, fearing that she had failed in politeness, “But Esmeralda is nice too,” she added quickly. “She can’t help having a temper, but she won’t show it to you, like she did to her brothers and sisters. And she is beautiful! I’ve seen photographs of people they call beautiful here, and they are frights compared with her. I suppose I can have her room after she’s married! It’s got one of the turret windows, and I always wanted it because of the view. I hope you will be happy, Mr Hilliard. It was very kind of you to come and tell me. I’ll write and ask Esmeralda if I may be a bridesmaid.”
Hilliard laughed, and muttered something about “sisterly candour.” He did not seem in the least alarmed at the thought of Esmeralda’s temper, and settled the bridesmaid question there and then with the utmost confidence.
“Of course you shall be bridesmaid. The wedding will be in the summer holidays, but you will see your sisters before then. You knew, of course, that they were trying to let the Castle for a few years, until Jack makes his fortune, and goes back to live there himself. Well, I am glad to say a tenant has been found through a lawyer, and that everything is satisfactorily arranged. He takes possession on the first of September, and Bridgie is coming to live in London with Jack and the boys, in a nice little flat, where you can spend your holidays. She said I was to tell you that, and to say that you were not to fret for the Castle, for you would see much more of each other than if she had remained over there. She is coming to town in summer to look for the flat, and Esmeralda is coming too, to buy fineries for the wedding, and then we will all return to Ireland and have a quiet little wedding, and you shall keep Bridgie company when I carry Esmeralda away. That’s the summer programme. I hope you approve!”
“I hate the man who’s coming to Knock,” said Pixie sadly; “but I am glad Bridgie will be near, and it will be lovely on holidays. It must feel strange to live in a flat; like being in a cage. I am sorry for the people beneath, when the boys get romping round. If I were Bridgie, I’d take a house, and then we could make as much noise as we liked. It’s no use pretending that we are a quiet family, because we’re not. You might think it was an army, to hear us tramp downstairs!”