Little Nell

“ Nell asked eagerly.
"Certainly, miss, there are not so many of us that we don't all know each other's faces, and houses too. The major lives on Walnut Street, but a step from where I shall land you. And yonder he comes," he added as the boat touched the bank and Romeo and Fairy bounded ashore.
Another moment and the girl was in her brother's arms, weeping for very joy, as if her heart would break, he soothing her with caresses and tender, loving words.
"There, there, Nell, darling, my sweet little sister, we're together at last, and don't mean to be parted ever again. ”

“ Drake looks up at the wind with a sailor's eye, and glances at Nell. He does not speak, but she understands, and she steers the Annie Laurie for the little piece of smooth beach which leads to the cave under the cliff. It is to this point they nearly always make; for was it not here that Drake Vernon told Nell Lorton of his love, and drew the confession of hers from her lips? To this place they always come alone, for it is sacred. ”

“ Lady Wolfer looked round the room, listened for a moment to the strains of the piano mingling with the squeals of the children in the house, the yells of those playing in the street, and scented the various odors floating in at the window. "No need! Oh, Nell! isn't it wicked to be so stubborn and so proud? And we knew nothing! We thought that you had enough——"
"So we have," said Nell. "They have been very good to Dick at the works, and he is earning wages, and there—there was some money left—a little—but enough." ”

“ No one of us can elect to love a little wisely, or unwisely and too well.
But there was no doubt, no misgiving, in Nell's mind that night. She had given herself to this man who had fallen at her feet in Shorne Mills, and she had given herself fully and unreservedly. His very presence was a joy to her. It was a subtle delight to reach out her hand and touch him, though with the tips of her fingers. The gates of paradise had opened and she had entered in.
How short the hour seemed during which they had sailed toward the jetty! She breathed a sigh, which Drake echoed. ”

“ She cares for Wolfer—her husband!"
"Yes, yes!" said Nell eagerly, anxiously. "I know it; I have seen her when she was most unhappy. I have heard the truth in her voice—I remember little things—the way she has behaved to him, spoken to him, when she was off her guard. Yes, it is true she cares for him as much as he cares for her; but they have hidden it from each other—and you—you have made it harder for them to show their love! ”

“ Hubbard, miss," she began, rather searchingly; but Nell's sweet face and smile melted her at once. "I shall be pleased to take you hover, miss," she commenced, a little less grumpily. "It's a big 'ouse, and not a heasy one to manage; but per'aps, your ladyship—I beg your pardon, miss—per'aps you have been used to a big 'ouse?"
"No, indeed," said Nell, whose native shrewdness told her that this was a woman who had to be conciliated. "I have never lived in anything bigger than a cottage, and I shall need all your help, Mrs. Hubbard. You will have to be very patient with me." ”

“ Nell approached her respectfully.
“You may like it better after supper, madame,” she suggested, mildly. “A good spread, sparkling wine and most congenial company have cast a halo o’er more time-begrimed rafters than these.”
“Who are you, madame?” inquired the Duchess, haughtily.
151“A fellow-passenger on the earth,” gently replied Nell, “and a lover of good company, and–some wine.”
“Yes?” said the Duchess, in a way that only a woman can ask and answer a question with a “yes” and with a look such as only a woman can give another woman when she asks and answers that little question with a “yes.” ”

“ Why do you wear it so short, Lady Wolfer?"
Lady Wolfer laughed—just a little wearily, so it struck Nell.
"Why? Oh, I don't know. All we advanced women get our hair cut. I imagine we have a right to do so, and that by going cropped we assert that right."
"I see," said Nell. "But isn't it—a pity?"
Lady Wolfer looked at her curiously, with an expression which Nell did not understand at that early period of their acquaintance.
"Does it matter?" she said. "We women have been dolls too long——"
"But there are short-haired dolls," said Nell, with her native shrewdness. ”

“ Nell, you cannot think how miserable some of them are; though they don’t half realise it, they get so dulled and weary. Oh, Nellie [97] dear, I do think he is the very best man in the world.” The young, sweet face was half hidden behind the deep cushion frill.
“Well, you are the very best woman,” Nell said very tenderly, and meant it indeed.
Pretty giddy little butterfly, that she was just now, she often paused in her flights to wish she could grow just as sweet and good and true and unselfish as Meg without any trouble. ”

“ The tiring-room door was open; and the little candles danced gleefully about the make-up mirror, for even candles seemed happy when Nell came near. The maid stood ready to assist her to a gown and wrap, that she might leave the theatre.
Nell turned. Hart still stood waiting. The spirit of kindness o’er-mastered her.
“Your hand, friend, your hand,” she said, taking the manager’s hand. “When next you try to win a woman’s love, don’t throw away her confidence; for you will never get it back again entire.” ”

“ Nell, who did not expect visitors, was sitting by the fire in her boudoir dreaming. It was the room in which she and Mary Abinger had often discussed such great questions as Woman, her Aims, her Influence; Man, his Instability, his Weakness, his Degeneration; the Poor, how are we to Help them; why Lady Lucy Gilding wears Pink when Blue is obviously her Colour.
Nell was tucked away in a soft arm-chair, in which her father never saw her without wondering that such a little thing should require eighteen yards for a dress. ”

“ You will wager ’tis her lip;
Nothing sweeter since the rise
Of wickedness in Paradise.
Buy oranges; buy oranges!
There were cries of “Brava!” “Another jig!” and “Hurrah for Nelly!” It was one of those bits of acting behind the scenes which are so rare and exquisite and which the audience never see.
“Marry, gallants, deny me after that, if you dare”; and Nell’s little foot came down firmly in the last step of a triumphant jig, indicating a determination that Moll’s oranges should be sold and quickly too. ”

“ He was a handsome man, too—as he passed Nell, she noticed his brawny neck and great rolling quiff of fair, curly hair; she also noticed that he looked at her in a way no other man had done. The lamplight fell becomingly on her pretty scared face, and suggested with soft orange lights and melting shadows the curves of her little breast. ”

“ Here, children, just drink this milk, and eat a piece of bread, and at tea-time, perhaps, we'll have better luck."
"I don't care," said Rob; "I ain't hungry a bit: it's all so horrid in here."
"Neither am I," said Nelly. "Can't we have a little room all to ourselves to-morrow, papa?"
"No, Nell," said her father: "no more little room for us on this journey; this car goes through to Denver. We can't change. But it is only one night and one day: we can stand it."
"I'm glad part of it is night," said Nelly; "we'll be by ourselves when we're in bed."
"Yes," said Mrs. March. ”

“ So together they journeyed to the peaceful village, where Nell and her grandfather were hidden, Kit carrying with him Nell's bird in his own cage. She would be glad to see it, he knew, but alas for Kit--they found sweet Nell in the sleep that knows no waking on this our earth.
There, upon her little bed, she lay at rest. The solemn stillness was no marvel now.
She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life; not one who had lived and suffered death. ”

“ How could any man resist such a woman as Lady Luce? She—Nell—was just an interlude in his life's story; he had thought himself in love with her; and, perhaps, if this beautiful creature, before whom all hearts seemed to go down, had not desired to lure him back, he would have remained faithful to the "little girl" whom he had chanced to meet at that "out-of-the-way place in Devonshire, don't you know." Nell could almost hear Lady Luce referring to the episode in these terms, if ever it should come to her ears. ”

“ There, as elsewhere, they had an interest in Nell. They would gather round her in the porch, before and after service; young children would cluster at her skirts; and aged men and women forsake their gossips, to give her kindly greeting. None of them, young or old, thought of passing the child without a friendly word. Many who came from three or four miles distant, brought her little presents; the humblest and rudest had good wishes to bestow.
She had sought out the young children whom she first saw playing in the churchyard. ”

“ The fat landlord made a hasty exit, for him, toward the street, in his desire to help the great lady. Charles supported her to the threshold.
“Call a leech, Sire,” cried Nell after 167 them, with mock sympathy. “Her grace has choked on a chicken-bone.”
“Be still, wench,” commanded the King. “Do not leave us, Louise; it breaks the sport.”
“Nay,” pleaded Nell also, “do not go because of this little merry-making, Duchess. I desire we may become better friends.”
Her voice revived the Duchess.
“Sans doute, we shall, madame,” Portsmouth replied, coldly. “À mon bal! Pas adieu, mais au revoir.” ”

“ But Nell was easily persuaded to attend the parson’s sister to the Wild Rose.
The two girls, who seemed to have so little in common, after all found much, besides the dressmaking plans, in each other to afford them interest. 181
It was Nell’s strangely sweet voice that pleased Betty most. Even when the Western girl said the rudest things, her voice caressed one’s ear. And Betty began to realize that Nell’s “rudeness” was born of frankness and a certain bashfulness. Most bashful people are abrupt, at times quite startling, in speech. ”

“ There was a wait at Lytton when they changed cars again; and afterwards, on the run to Bratley, Gertrude was wondering, with a little trepidation, how Nell would meet and greet her.
Nell was a dear good girl, of course; hard-working, devoted, and self-sacrificing to a most extraordinary degree. But she was not refined or elegant in her manners, and her fearful old clothes added to her awkwardness. Suppose she should rush out from the office with a loud impulsive greeting when the cars stopped, how Dr. Russell would stare and wonder! ”

“ Rob could not appreciate Nelly's feeling.
"Well, what makes you steal 'em, then?" he asked, in a satirical tone.
"God likes to have us pick them: I know he does," said Nelly, earnestly. "He gives them all to us for every summer as long as we live."
"Oh, pshaw, Nell!" said Rob. "He don't do any such thing. They just grow: that's all."
"Well, papa says that God makes them grow on purpose for us to see how pretty they are. They aren't of any other use: they aren't the same as potatoes. And don't you know the little verse,—
I'm always thinking of that. ”

“ Why do you not take the nosegay?” she asked, wonderingly; for she herself was so very happy that she could not see why Strings too should not be so.
“It will not feed my little ones, Mistress Nell,” he answered, sadly.
Nell’s heart was touched in an instant. “Too true!” she said, sympathetically, falling on her knee and lovingly gathering up the roses. “Flowers and Music feed naught but Love, and often then Love goes hungry–very hungry.” Her voice was so sweet and tender that it seemed as though the old viol had caught the notes. ”

“ They had walked nearly a mile when Nelly suddenly exclaimed: "Oh, Rob! we didn't say good-by to mamma! She won't know where we are."
"So we didn't!" said Rob. "What a shame! But we [Pg 147] can't go back now, Nell: it's too late; we've come miles and miles; we'd better keep on; she'll know we're all right; we always are. We're most there now."
It was the middle of the afternoon before Rob and Nelly got home. Mrs. March had been walking up and down the road anxiously for an hour, when she saw the two little figures coming down the very steepest of the hills. They walked very slowly ”

“ Lyttleton and Nell were in the gayest spirits that morning as they sped briskly onward through forest and over prairie, talking cheerily of the sweetness of the air, the beauty of the woods, and exchanging many a little harmless jest, no thought of danger troubling them.
They were several miles out from the town when they espied a small cloud of dust far ahead which seemed to be rapidly drawing nearer.
"What is it?" cried Nell, reining in her pony, while she sent an anxious gaze in the direction of the approaching cloud. "Ah, I see, it is a man riding as if for life." ”

“ Nell shook her head, coloring a little, as she said:
"No; I wanted to wear this one. I didn't want to appear in a grand frock as if I were a fashionable lady."
"Fine feathers do not always make a fine lady," observed Dick, addressing the ceiling. "No one would mistake you [Pg 329] for anything but—what you are, a simple ch-e-ild of Nachure."
"Don't tease her, Dick," remonstrated Falconer; but Nell laughed with enjoyment. ”

“ Not one, from the dairymaid to the duchess! Thank Heaven! my disillusionment has come before, instead of after, marriage. Yes, I've done with them. There is no girl alive, or to be born, who can make me feel another pang."
As he spoke, he heard a voice calling him: "Mr. Vernon! Mr. Vernon!" And there, in the garden, which stood out on the hill like a little terrace, was Nell. She had taken off her hat, and the faint breeze was stirring the soft tendrils on her forehead, and her eyes smiled joyously down at him.
"Tea is ready!" ”