Thomas Cobb

“ Evangeline flourished the whip, the sun shone, and the dogs ran barking beside the carriage.
'Where are the streets?' asked Mary a few minutes later. 'Oh!' she exclaimed, 'look at the stars on the ground!'
'Stars!' said Sister Agatha.
'Aren't they stars?' asked Mary.
'Why, of course not——'
'Then I know what they are,' said Mary; 'they're the magic counters you give to people when you want them to do things.'
'I'm afraid those don't grow by the roadside,' answered Evangeline; 'these are primroses, Mary.'
'What are primroses?' asked Mary with wondering eyes. ”

“ Bridget walked a few yards along Piccadilly in silence.
"You have been extraordinarily unfortunate," she said rather gravely, "although you ought to be pitied rather than blamed."
"Not since I met you the other afternoon. Do you see much of old
Faversham?" he asked, for the colonel's admiration had been manifest at
Grandison Square.
"He has always been very kind to me," she faltered.
"Surely you meet with kindness everywhere," said Jimmy.
"Except from Fate!" answered Bridget, with a sigh.
"Wait and see!" he exclaimed. "The better part of life is before you." ”

“ Mary felt delighted with everything, but especially with the outdoor jacket, because it showed that she was to go out again some day.
'I shall go out again!' she cried, as the woman strapped up the box. 'But I shan't go to William Street!' she pleaded, looking up into Evangeline's face.
'William Street!' answered Sister Agatha, 'certainly not. Who wants to go to William Street, indeed. You will go to the loveliest place in the world. You are going to stay in the country.'
'What is the country?' asked Mary, for she had never been a mile away from William Street in her life. ”

“ He dodged the horse, however, and running towards the opposite pavement, he knocked against an old woman with a basket. The basket grazed his left arm, and to judge by what she said he must have hurt the woman a good deal. But Jimmy did not wait to hear all she had to say; he only thought of getting away from Coote, and ran on and on without the slightest notion where he was going. Up one street and down another the boy ran, often looking behind to see whether he was being followed, and at last stopping altogether, simply because he could not run any farther. ”

“ She remembered that odious ideas had flashed unbidden across her mind—ideas which now appeared as unworthy of herself as of Mark.
Still, after making every allowance, her disillusioning remained complete. How could a man feel an interest in the precise colour of her own eyes one day and kiss the lips of another woman the next? She knew that her wish had been father to the thought, and she felt exceedingly bitter against Miss Bridget Rosser, who appeared still to have three men dangling at her heels.
One of these was becoming impatient. Colonel Faversham had reached the end of his tether. ”

“ How does she make other people do things?' she asked.
'She gives them some of her magic counters, you know.'
'Magic counters!' cried Mary, opening her eyes more widely.
'Yes,' said Sister Agatha; 'I don't know whether you have ever seen a magic counter. But they're little round, flat things, very hard and bright yellow. And when she gives them to people they generally do whatever she tells them to do. Now, doesn't that seem very wonderful?'
'Very!' murmured Mary. 'But I shouldn't want her to give them to me. I should do what she told me when she looked at me, like the prince, you know. ”

“ But the train was beginning to move; the butler stepped back and took out his pocket-handkerchief and waved it, but it was to dry his eyes that Jimmy took out his; for when the train glided away and he could not see Jones any more Jimmy felt very much alone, especially as the old gentleman opposite kept lowering his paper and looking down at his trousers and then frowning at him. ”

“ I am quite able to help myself. I never depend on other people. Give me independence," he added, standing upright though the effort made him wince.
"Yet you ask me to sacrifice mine!" said Bridget. "But what would Mr.
Lawrence Faversham have to say?"
"Upon my soul I can't imagine," was the answer.
"I believe you are thoroughly afraid of him and Carrissima. Well, so am I," she admitted.
Colonel Faversham had never held Lawrence in greater awe than at this moment when he believed that happiness lay within his grasp. ”

“ It seemed exactly the same as last night, when she first saw Evangeline's wings. The bright light dazzled her, although it was not very long before she knew that she must be really in fairy-land, as Sister Agatha had said.
In front of her were a lot of men in light blue uniforms, with silver lace on their coats, playing all manner of curious instruments. Beyond the band and a little lower, Mary saw an enormous room with no carpet on the floor, and each fresh person astonished her more than the last. ”

“ You can't be too careful of a man like Jimmy Clynesworth. For my part, I very seldom know what he is talking about; I question whether he knows himself. I am a plain, straightforward man—but there! I didn't come to talk about Jimmy."
"I thought you did," said Bridget.
"No, no," he replied; "I want you to fix the day for our marriage. Upon my word, I don't feel quite certain that frankness isn't the best in the long run—far the best."
The effect of this expression of opinion surprised Colonel Faversham. He had never seen Bridget so greatly excited. ”

“ Everything is wonderful, you know; only we become so accustomed to things we see every day that they don't seem wonderful any longer. Now there's nothing more wonderful than a little girl, unless it is a big girl.'
'Oh, I think there is!' said Mary. 'I think ships are much more wonderful, and the sea, and the ponies, and primroses, and Evangeline, and——'
'And tea!' exclaimed Sister Agatha. ”

“ We shall be fortunate if he doesn't end by marrying her."
"Who is jumping to a conclusion now?" said Carrissima.
"Lawrence dear," suggested Phoebe, quite humbly, "I understood you were afraid she might marry Mark. After all, she can't very well make victims of both him and your father."
"No, but she may like to have two strings to her bow. She may prefer a bird in the hand, and if he should escape, there's Mark to fall back upon."
"After all," said Carrissima, "you have not even seen Bridget. You don't know she has the slightest desire to marry anybody." ”

“ Supposing that I refuse to marry the colonel, what is to become of me?"
"There are your aunts at Sandbay!"
"Oh yes, my dear little Dresden china aunts! And, you know, Mark, there's the River Thames. I would as soon plunge into the one as take a train to the others."
"What is to prevent you from staying here?" he asked. "If you are tired of London, try Paris again. You can surely go where you please."
"How few are lucky enough for that!"
"I thought," said Mark, "you had the world before you."
"More likely the workhouse," answered Bridget.
"You don't mean to say you're—you're hard up!" ”

“ They passed through a wide hall with animals' heads hanging on the walls, and there was a large table with a green top and red and white balls on it.
'Where are their bodies?' asked Mary, as she walked upstairs with Sister Agatha.
'Whose bodies?'
'Belonging to the great heads downstairs?' said Mary.
'Oh!' answered Sister Agatha, 'I daresay their bodies have been turned into men.'
'I never heard of animals' bodies being turned into men before,' said Mary. 'Did Evangeline do that?' she asked; but before Sister Agatha answered she led Mary into a pretty room with two beds in it. ”

“ There was quite a small crowd of people waiting there, but what pleased Mary the most was a little brown carriage with four cream-coloured ponies. Beside the ponies stood two boys with bright buttons on their coats, whilst three rough, brown dogs jumped up at Evangeline as if they wanted to lick her face. Evangeline drove the ponies, and Mary sat wedged in between her and Sister Agatha. ”

“ Bridget continued, "I quite understand that most people
believe Jimmy sacrificed a great deal more than that! Your brother
Lawrence, for instance! Oh dear, I can imagine exactly what he says!
Carrissima, there's one thing which makes me angry!"
"Only one?" said Carrissima.
"The want of discrimination in the human mind. I dare say that even yours is tainted! It's of no use to pretend you can't understand. In a moment of self-denying effusiveness I admitted that I deliberately angled for a husband: first for Mark Driver, then for Colonel Faversham. ”

“ You told Sybil that Mark had lied to you, and acted goodness knows how horridly concerning me, and the truth was he had merely lost his head for a single instant, and what was it after all? Carrissima, I have taken myself to pieces just to convince you I am sincere for once in a way! I see the possibility of danger ahead . . . danger that Mark is too much hurt to come forward again, and what a pity! Take my advice and don't let things rest. What does it matter who eats humble pie if you're going to dine together for the remainder of your lives? Do something at once! ”