Christina

“ Christina stood still in the middle of the nursery, cogitating upon the momentous question, whilst Baba danced round her, holding the pink dressing-gown well above her pink slippered feet, and shaking her golden curls whilst she chanted again—
"Oh! Baba's pretty lady; Baba's pretty lady, oh!"
"Even though I am a nurse, I am a lady, too," Christina reflected; "and Lady Cicely has given me this beautiful frock, so that I may look my best downstairs, and, my pendant would be right with the white gown. ”

“ Christina stood at the door for a moment, watching the car turn up the lane, but when its brilliant lights were engulfed by the darkness, she turned back with a shiver into the garden, locking and bolting the door with trembling fingers, and running up the dark path as though all the powers of evil were at her heels. ”

“ Christina had seen too much, understood too much. She was a blight upon her love, a menace to her tragic memory of it. Under everything, deeper than anything else in her feeling about Christina, was a dim repulsion and dislike.
That Christina had submitted showed in her letters, for Milly, before many days had passed, wrote kindly and mildly, in the tone which, for the future, she intended to use towards Christina. Milly surprised herself with her own calm ruthlessness. She found that the gentle and the cowardly can, when roused, be more cruel than the harsh and fearless. ”

“ It was Christina's constant practice to remind you of the complexity of her character, of the subtlety of her mind, of her troublous faculty of seeing everything in a dozen different lights. Mary had never pretended not to be simple; but Rowland had a theory that she had really a finer sense of human things and had made more, for observation and for temper, of her scant material of experience, than Christina had ever made of the stuff of her wild weaving. ”

“ Christina was disgusted. She was quite sure that Mr. Baldwin had blushed on his last visit, and her hopes had run high. She returned to the easy-chair, and sat there, gloomily contemplating an incipient hole in the toe of her stocking, while now and then Mr. Baldwin's voice reached her ears in such phrases as "ninepence a dozen," "two and eleven the gross," "quite a novelty," and "I assure you, Miss Purvis, that the paint cannot be licked off."
"He loves her not!" ”

“ Miss Purvis spoke indignantly.
Christina regarded her more with sorrow than anger. "Eat yer cookies," she said at last, in a tone of utter despair, "eat yer cookies! But remember—remember I warned ye!" ”

“ And Christina, her self-command giving way, let out a loud, long, hysterical cackle. For a few moments there was a dead silence in the shop, and then Miss Purvis and Mr. Baldwin laughed far louder than before. Christina hid her hot, angry face against the back of the chair. People who could laugh like that could not possibly be in love. ”

“ And as he talked of her, his face grew vivid and tender, and he spoke like a poet, though he knew it not.
“She is that sweet, Christina, it is like kissing roses to kiss her. Her wee white hand on my red face is like a lily leaf. I saw it in the looking-glass, as we sat at tea. And the ring, with the shining stone, set it finely. I am the happiest man in the world, Christina!”
“I am glad with all my heart for you, Andrew, and for Sophy too. It is a grand thing to be loved as you love her.” ”

“ Baba said lovingly, pressing her golden head more closely against Christina's breast, and looking into the girl's face with adoring eyes, "just 'zactly like my pretty lady."
Christina laughed softly, running her hands through the child's curls, and bending down to kiss the uplifted face.
"You are a little monkey, Baba," she said, "and a flatterer. You mustn't call Christina a pretty lady. She isn't a bit pretty, and she's only just your nurse." ”

“ Christina put in gently.
"Oh! she loved him—she loved him far too much," Sir Arthur answered testily. "I cannot understand, I never shall be able to understand, how a woman can throw away all her heart and life, on a man who is totally unworthy of her." ”

“ With a friendly wave of her hand and a bright smile Christina skipped from the shop, whereupon Miss Purvis sighed heavily, and asked herself what on earth she was to do with her niece.
"I fear the child requires a stronger hand than mine," she said to herself. ”

“ Christina said patiently, walking slowly along the square, the child in her arms. "Try to remember your other name, my sweet; then I can take you safe home to mummy and nurse."
"Baba hasn't got no nurse, nurse's gone away. Mummy minds Baba now, and Baba can't remember her other name. She's got a bone in her head," quoth the baby, smiling deliciously into Christina's troubled face, and evidently paraphrasing some former servant's excuses. "Baba likes you—pretty lady—come home with Baba!" ”

“ Christina herself rode in a black velvet litter, drawn by four horses and attended by six footmen, and her ladies travelled in similar fashion, followed by twenty mules and three waggons with the baggage. Mary had taken care that the bride's trousseau was worthy of a daughter of the imperial house, and the chests were filled with sumptuous robes of cloth of gold and silver, of silk, satin, and velvet, costly furs, jewels and pearls, together with furniture and plate for her table and chapel, and liveries and trappings for her servants and horses. ”

“ The magnificence of the Duchess-mother's appearance on this occasion excited general admiration. Grief and anxiety had left their traces on her face, but, in spite of advancing years and sorrow, Christina was still a very handsome woman. Among all the royal ladies who met in the ancient city, none was more stately and distinguished-looking than Madame de Lorraine. As her chariot, draped with black velvet fringed with gold, and drawn by four superb white horses of Arab breed, drew up in front of the Cardinal's palace, a murmur of admiration ran through the crowd. ”

“ And you know Christina is my one lassie, and I am sore to lose her. But ‘lack a day! we cannot stop the clock. And marriage is like death—it is what we must all come to.”
“Well Janet, your Christina has been long spared from it. She’ll be past twenty, I’m thinking.”
“Christina has had her offers, Marget. But what will you? We must all wait for the right man, or go to the de’il with the wrong one.” ”

“ When the doctor's voice ceased, there was a strange, tense silence in the room for many minutes; and Christina, standing by the fireplace, felt as if she could almost see and hear the woman in the bed, gathering up her forces to meet this blow. Once the girl glanced at the white face and deep eyes, but she turned away her glance again, feeling it was not right that any other human being should gaze upon the tortured soul, that looked out of those eyes. Margaret herself first broke the silence. ”

“ Christina answered; "they seemed the fittest and most beautiful words for her."
"Love—never faileth," he quoted slowly, his thoughts going back to the white cross, upon which the words were engraved, "Love never faileth; yes, you could not have chosen a better epitaph for her. Her soul was built up of love, and her love never failed, never for a single moment. It is a wonderful thing—the love of such a woman. Perhaps, in all the world, there is nothing more wonderful than a woman's love." ”

“ I am not expecting anybody—to tea, Christina," slowly replied Miss Purvis, avoiding her niece's gaze. "What a beautiful afternoon it is," she added hastily. "Are you not going a walk this afternoon, Christina? The fine weather will soon be over, and you ought to take advantage of it. Really, you ought."
Christina eyed her aunt steadily, but said nothing.
"I don't know when I saw such a beautiful afternoon," the spinster continued nervously. "It is really remarkable for the time of year. It is almost a sin to waste it indoors. It is indeed! ”

“ It was a blissful winter, the happiest, in reality, that Christina had ever known, though she was not aware of this nor aware that it was the first time in her life that she was the recipient of as much devotion as she gave. They read and rode and walked and talked and carried on energetic reforms and charities in the village. Christina was full of ardent enthusiasms which infected Milly. In spite of her physical delicacy, for she had a weak heart, she showed an enterprise and endurance that Milly was not capable of. The winter went by and life was full of significance. ”

“ That maternal instinct which is innately part of every good woman's nature, was largely developed in Christina, and, involuntarily, Rupert had made an appeal to that instinct. He would have laughed to scorn the bare idea that he, a strong and self-reliant man of the world, could ever lean, or need to lean, upon a slip of a girl, whose youthfulness was written in every line of her face, and of her slight form. ”

“ With all her faults I had always rather liked Christina. She would have chopped Ernest or any one else into little pieces of mincemeat to gratify the slightest wish of her husband, but she would not have chopped him up for any one else, and so long as he did not cross her she was very fond of him. By nature she was of an even temper, more willing to be pleased than ruffled, very ready to do a good-natured action, provided it did not cost her much exertion, nor involve expense to Theobald. ”

“ Once her kitchen chimney had gone on fire; once she had fallen from the fourth step of the shop ladder along with a package containing a dozen doll's tea-sets. So far Christina's company had meant a good deal of anxiety and some irritation, but it had produced no episodes which could be described as stirring in the mildest meaning of the word.
"Yes," thought the spinster, absently dabbing at the baron with the rusty pen she had picked up, "I do believe it's excitement, even more than exercise, that I require." ”

“ She leant back in her chair, her book still upon her knee, her eyes seeing many pictures in the coals—pictures in which a man with a rugged face, and kind grey eyes, seemed to be continually walking beside a tall lady with a beautiful white face, and eyes of unfathomable sadness and mystery, until the pictures merged themselves into dreams, and Christina slept peacefully. ”

“ Cicely looked affectionately up at the girl, who stood on the hearth beside her; "you idealise everybody, don't you, Christina?"
"I don't know about idealising," Christina spoke thoughtfully, "but, when I care about people, I do see all the best in them——"
"And are blind to all the worst? Yes, I understand," Cicely laughed, "if you liked Cousin Arthur, you would even see him through rose-coloured spectacles?"
"He is a very good man," Christina answered sturdily; "there is something about that uncompromising puritan spirit that appeals to me. ”

“ What did it all mean—the secrecy, the isolation, and above all the trouble that had been written so plainly on that beautiful woman's face?
"I don't suppose I shall ever see her again," was Christina's final and regretful thought, as she rose to go to bed. "I wish people didn't have to be like 'ships that pass in the night'—only passing—not staying together for a little while." ”

“ In the Swedish ballad of "Little Christina," a lover rises from his grave, not to carry off his beloved, but simply to console her. One night Christina hears light fingers tapping at her door; she opens it, and her dead betrothed comes in. She washes his feet with pure wine, and for a long while they speak together. Then the cocks begin to crow, and the dead get them underground. The young girl puts on her shoes and follows her betrothed through the wide forest. When they reach the graveyard, the fair hair of the young man begins to disappear. ”

“ In a word, if you have a young housekeeper or servant you need look no further, for she is the guilty one!"
"Christina!" exclaimed the young men in one breath.
"Ah! so there is a Christina about the premises!" remarked M. Tricamp smilingly. "Well, then, Christina is guilty!"
VI
Both Cornelius and Balthazar were pale as death. Christina! Little Christina, so good, so kind, so pretty, a thief—nonsense! And then they remembered her origin and the manner in which she was adopted. She was only a Bohemian after all! ”

“ Sir Arthur said, smitten with sudden compunction. "I had no business to say a word against her; she was a good woman, but the thought of her wasted life hurts me."
"Not wasted," Christina said; "I don't think her life was wasted. Her influence can't die away, even now. It was such a wonderful influence—like herself, so beautiful."
"Yes," he repeated, "poor Margaret. She was a good woman, and it hurts me to think of all the trouble of her life. You are like her in many ways. God grant that your life may not hold the sorrows her life held." ”

“ Another smile broke over her face, and when she smiled, Christina's face was very sweet.
"It may be just some dreadful trap to catch a silly girl," she reflected sagely, "and if—if I did really think of answering it, I should have to be very careful what I said—and where I arranged to meet R.M. Of course I—shan't really answer it at all—only—if I did—and if he were nice—and if—it all came right—there wouldn't be any more of this dreadful struggle!" ”

“ At last Christina picked up the poker again, and laid it down without a sound.
"Onything for peace," she muttered. Then, catching sight of her aunt's countenance, which was more sad than angry, she repented. "Tell us what grammar is, auntie," she said respectfully.
The simple soul of Miss Purvis was at once touched and gratified.
"I'll tell you with pleasure, my dear," she said kindly. "And, Christina, you must not think that I am going to give you lessons just to give you trouble. It is for your own good. Don't you believe that?"
"Uh-ha," said Christina awkwardly. ”