By JESSIE MANSERGH (Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey), Author of "A Girl in Springtime," "Sisters Three," etc.
CHAPTER II.
The school-room was a long, bare apartment running along one side of the house, and boasting three tall windows, through which the sun poured in on a shabby carpet and ink-stained tables. Everything looked well worn and, to a certain extent, dilapidated, yet there was an air of cheerful comfort about the whole which is not often found in rooms of the kind. Mrs. Asplin revelled in beautiful colours, and would tolerate no drab and saffron papers in her house; so the walls were covered with a rich soft blue; the cushions on the wicker chairs rang the changes from rose to yellow. A brilliant Japanese screen stood in one corner, and a wire stand before the open grate held a number of flowering plants. A young fellow of seventeen or eighteen was seated at one end of the table employed in arranging a selection of foreign stamps. This was Maxwell, the Vicar's eldest surviving son, who was to go up to Oxford at the beginning of the year, and was at present reading under his father's supervision. His sister Mellicent, was perched on the table itself, watching his movements, and vouchsafing scraps of advice. Her suggestions were received with sniffs of scornful superiority, but Mellicent prattled on unperturbed, being a plump, placid person, with flaxen hair, blue eyes, and somewhat obtuse sensibilities. The elder girl was sitting reading by the window, leaning her head on her hand, and showing a long, thin face, comically like her father's, with the same deep, straight lines running down her cheeks. She was neither so pretty nor so even-tempered as her sister, but she had twice the character, and was a young person who made her individuality felt in the house, while Maxwell was the beauty of the family, with his mother's crisp, dark locks, grey eyes, and rich brunette colouring.
These three young people were the Vicar's only surviving children, but there were two more occupants of the room, the two lads who were being coached to enter the University at the same time as his own son. Number one was a fair, dandified-looking youth, who sat astride a cane deck chair, with his trousers hitched up so as to display long, narrow feet, shod in scarlet silk socks and patent leather slippers. He had fair hair, curling over his forehead; large, bold, blue eyes, an aquiline nose, and an air of being very well satisfied with the world in general and himself in particular. This was Oswald Elliston, the son of a country squire, who had heard of the successes of Mr. Asplin's pupils, and was storing up disappointment for himself in expecting similar exploits from his own handsome, but by no means over-brilliant son. The second pupil had a small microscope in his hand, and was pouring over a collection of "specimens," with his shoulders hitched up to his ears, in a position the reverse of elegant. Every now and then he would bend his head to write down a few notes on the paper beside him, showing a square-chinned face, with heavy eyebrows and strong, roughly-marked features. His clothes were well-worn, his cuffs invisible, and his hair ruffled into wild confusion by the unconscious rubbings of his hands, and this was the Honourable Robert Darcy, third son of Lord Darcy, a member of the Cabinet, and a politician of world-wide fame.
The servants at the vicarage were fond of remarking, apropos of the Honourable Robert, that he "didn't look it," which remark would have been a subject of sincere gratification to the lad himself had it been overheard, for there was no surer way of annoying him than by referring to his position, or giving him the prefix to which he was entitled.
The young folks looked up inquiringly as Mr. and Mrs. Asplin entered the room, for the hour after tea was set apart for recreation, and the elders were usually only too glad to remain in their own quiet little sanctum. Oswald, the gallant, sprang to his feet and brought forward a chair for Mrs. Asplin, but she waved him aside, and broke impetuously into words.
"Children! we have news for you. You are going to have a new companion. Father has had a letter this afternoon about another pupil——"
Mellicent yawned, and Esther looked calmly uninterested, but the three lads were full of interest. Their faces turned towards the Vicar with expressions of eager curiosity.
"A new fellow! This term! From what school, sir?"