“COME, NOW, I CALL THAT HARD.”
Phillis was unusually silent during the remainder of the evening; but, as she bade Nan good-night at the door of her little room, she lingered a moment, shading the flame of her candle with her hand.
“Do you think Mattie will bring her sister round to see us, to-morrow?” she asked, in a very low tone.
“Oh, yes,—I am sure I hope so,” returned Nan, sleepily, not noticing the restrained eagerness of Phillis’s manner. “We can hardly call first, under our present circumstances. Mr. Drummond knows that.” And Phillis withdrew, as though she were satisfied with the answer.
Nothing more was said on the subject; and they settled themselves to their work as usual on the following morning, Dulce chattering and singing snatches of songs,—for she was a most merry little soul,—Nan cheerful and ready for conversation with any one; but Phillis withdrew herself to the farthest window and stitched away in grave silence. And, seeing such was her mood, her sisters wisely forbore to disturb her.
At twelve o’clock the gate-bell sounded, and Dulce, who 308 hailed any interruption as a joyful reprieve, announced delightedly that Mattie and a tall young lady were coming up the flagged walk; and in an instant Phillis’s work lay untouched on her lap.
“Are you all here? Oh, dear, I am so glad,” exclaimed Mattie, bustling into the room with a radiant face. “I have brought Grace to see you; she arrived last night.” And in a moment the young stranger was surrounded and welcomed most cordially.
Phillis looked at her curiously for a moment: indeed, during the whole visit her eyes rested upon Grace’s face from time to time, as though she were studying her. She had heard so much of this girl that she had almost feared to be disappointed in her; but every moment her interest increased.
Grace Drummond was not a pretty girl,—with the exception of Isabel and the boys, the Drummond family had not the slightest pretension to beauty,—but she was fair and tranquil-looking, and her expression was gentle and full of character. She had very soft clear eyes, with a trace of sadness in them; but her lips were thin—like her mother’s—and closed firmly, and the chin was a little massively cut for a woman.
In looking at the lower part of this girl’s face, a keen observer would read the tenacity of a strong will; but the eyes had the appealing softness that one sees in some dumb creatures.