“I’m sorry to be late; but I overlooked the time. I was at the works, seeing Oscar and the people there. I hope you haven’t waited! Effie sent me off to have a ride, and it’s so delightful having Shamrock again! I did so enjoy it!”
Mrs. Cossart said not a word but turned again to the dining-room. The servants were about, and she had no intention of saying what was in her mind before them.
Mr. Cossart shook his head and said reprovingly—
“You have made us very seriously uneasy, Sheila. You ought not to have gone off like that without leave—and alone, too. We want you to be happy; but you must not be a modern unladylike girl, galloping alone over the country, and into the town too. I hope nobody saw you who would know you. What would they have thought of such proceedings?”
“I don’t know—probably nothing. I used to ride about everywhere at home,” answered Sheila, feeling rather aggrieved at the way her very small escapade was being treated. She took her seat at table; Effie’s was vacant.
Mr. Cossart asked if she were not coming down. “Was she not so well to-day?”
“Effie has been upset!” said Mrs. Cossart coldly. “She is not well enough to come down!” And she gave a look at Sheila which sent the blood into her cheeks. She knew very well that she was in disgrace; but her spirit rose against what seemed to her to be injustice; and she talked on gaily all through the meal, not apparently heeding the silence of her elders.
When she rose from table her aunt summoned her to the little boudoir sacred to her own use; and once within the door, the storm broke over her head.
Mrs. Cossart did not profess to know what had passed between the girls; but she knew that Sheila had said unkind things to Effie, and had reduced her to tears and made her very unhappy and agitated. That sort of thing could not and must not be. Effie was in no state to be upset. Probably she would have a return of the asthma and a succession of bad nights. Sheila must remember that ill-health was a terrible trial, and she must be kindly and gentle and unselfish. In vain Sheila strove to explain how very little it was she had said, and that she had apologised afterwards. Mrs. Cossart was rather like her daughter in one way; she liked to keep the ball of conversation in her own hands. She wanted to talk, not to listen. In the end Sheila grew angry. She was not used to being found fault with. She felt she was being unjustly treated, about Effie, about her ride, about her lateness for lunch. She had done nothing wrong. No harm had happened. It was horrid of her aunt to make such a to-do. The penitence she had felt at the outset was quickly gone, and when she finally flew up to her own room, it was to shed a tempest of angry tears and resolve that she would never, never care one bit for Effie, and that her aunt was a hard, unjust woman, whom she could never care to please.
“I shall never be happy here, and I’ll tell Uncle Tom so. I’ll tell Cyril how they treat me. I’ll get away and live somewhere with Oscar. I’ve never been scolded so before, and I won’t stand it. If I’d done wrong, I should be sorry, but to tell Effie she talked about herself too much, and to take a ride on Shamrock!—no, I won’t be sorry about that! I won’t, I won’t!”