A TRUE FRIEND.

A NOVEL.

BY Ahmad baloch

A TRUE FRIEND

CHAPTER I.

"AN UNSUITABLE FRIENDSHIP"

Janetta was the music governess—a brown little thing of no particular importance, and

Margaret Adair was a beauty and an heiress, and the only daughter of people who

thought themselves very distinguished indeed; so that the two had not, you might think,

very much in common, and were not likely to be attracted one to the other. Yet, in spite

of differing circumstances, they were close friends and allies; and had been such ever

since they were together at the same fashionable school where Miss Adair was the

petted favorite of all, and Janetta Colwyn was the pupil-teacher in the shabbiest of

frocks, who got all the snubbing and did most of the hard work. And great offence was

given in several directions by Miss Adair's attachment to poor little Janetta.

"It is an unsuitable friendship," Miss Polehampton, the principal of the school, observed

on more than one occasion, "and I am sure I do not know how Lady Caroline will like

it."

Lady Caroline was, of course, Margaret Adair's mamma.

Miss Polehampton felt her responsibility so keenly in the matter that at last she resolved

to speak "very seriously" to her dear Margaret. She always talked of "her dear

Margaret," Janetta used to say, when she was going to make herself particularly

disagreeable. For "her dear Margaret" was the pet pupil, the show pupil of the

establishment: her air of perfect breeding gave distinction, Miss Polehampton thought,

to the whole school; and her refinement, her exemplary behavior, her industry, and her

talent formed the theme of many a lecture to less accomplished and less decorous pupils.

For, contrary to all conventional expectations, Margaret Adair was not stupid, although

she was beautiful and well-behaved. She was an exceedingly intelligent girl; she had an

aptitude for several arts and accomplishments, and she was remarkable for the delicacy

of her taste and the exquisite discrimination of which she sometimes showed herself

capable. At the same time she was not as clever—("not as glaringly clever," a friend of

hers once expressed it)—as little Janetta Colwyn, whose nimble wits gathered

knowledge as a bee collects honey under the most unfavorable circumstances. Janetta

had to learn her lessons when the other girls had gone to bed, in a little room under the

roof; a room which was like an ice-house in winter and an oven in summer; she was

never able to be in time for her classes, and she often missed them altogether; but, in

spite of these disadvantages, she generally proved herself the most advanced pupil in

her division, and if pupil-teachers had been allowed to take prizes, would have carried

off every first prize in the school. This, to be sure, was not allowed. It would not have been "the thing" for the little governess-pupil to take away the prizes from the girls

whose parents paid between two and three hundred a year for their tuition (the fees were

high, because Miss Polehampton's school was so exceedingly fashionable); therefore,

Janetta's marks were not counted, and her exercises were put aside and did not come

into competition with those of the other girls, and it was generally understood amongst

the teachers that, if you wished to stand well with Miss Polehampton, it would be better

not to praise Miss Colwyn, but rather to put forward the merits of some charming Lady

Mary or Honorable Adeliza, and leave Janetta in the obscurity from which (according

to Miss Polehampton) she was fated never to emerge.

Unfortunately for the purposes of the mistress of the school, Janetta was rather a favorite

with the girls. She was not adored, like Margaret; she was not looked up to and

respected, as was the Honorable Edith Gore; she was nobody's pet, as the little Ladies

Blanche and Rose Amberley had been ever since they set foot in the school; but she

was everybody's friend and comrade, the recipient of everybody's confidences, the

sharer in everybody's joys or woes. The fact was that Janetta had the inestimable gift of

sympathy; she understood the difficulties of people around her better than many women

of twice her age would have done; and she was so bright and sunny-tempered and quickwitted that her very presence in a room was enough to dispel gloom and ill-temper. She

was, therefore, deservedly popular, and did more to keep up the character of Miss

Polehampton's school for comfort and cheerfulness than Miss Polehampton herself was

ever likely to be aware. And the girl most devoted to Janetta was Margaret Adair.

"Remain for a few moments, Margaret; I wish to speak to you," said Miss Polehampton,

majestically, when one evening, directly after prayers, the show pupil advanced to bid

her teachers good-night.

The girls all sat round the room on wooden chairs, and Miss Polehampton occupied a

high-backed, cushioned seat at a centre table while she read the portion of Scripture

with which the day's work concluded. Near her sat the governesses, English, French

and German, with little Janetta bringing up the rear in the draughtiest place and the most

uncomfortable chair. After prayers, Miss Polehampton and the teachers rose, and their

pupils came to bid them good-night, offering hand and cheek to each in turn. There was

always a great deal of kissing to be got through on these occasions. Miss Polehampton

blandly insisted on kissing all her thirty pupils every evening; it made them feel more

as if they were at home, she used to say; and her example was, of course, followed by

the teachers and the girls.

Margaret Adair, as one of the oldest and tallest girls in the school, generally came

forward first for that evening salute. When Miss Polehampton made the observation

just recorded, she stepped back to a position beside her teacher's chair in the demure

attitude of a well-behaved schoolgirl—hands crossed over the wrists, feet in position,

head and shoulders carefully erect, and eyes gently lowered towards the carpet. Thus standing, she was yet perfectly well aware that Janetta Colwyn gave her an odd, impish

little look of mingled fun and anxiety behind Miss Polehampton's back; for it was

generally known that a lecture was impending when one of the girls was detained after

prayers, and it was very unusual for Margaret to be lectured! Miss Adair did not,

however, look discomposed. A momentary smile flitted across her face at Janetta's tiny

grimace, but it was instantly succeeded by the look of simple gravity becoming to the

occasion.

When the last of the pupils and the last also of the teachers had filed out of the room,

Miss Polehampton turned and surveyed the waiting girl with some uncertainty. She was

really fond of Margaret Adair. Not only did she bring credit to the school, but she was

a good, nice, lady-like girl (such were Miss Polehampton's epithets), and very fair to

look upon. Margaret was tall, slender, and exceedingly graceful in her movements; she

was delicately fair, and had hair of the silkiest texture and palest gold; her eyes,

however, were not blue, as one would have expected them to be; they were hazel brown,

and veiled by long brown lashes—eyes of melting softness and dreaminess, peculiarly

sweet in expression. Her features were a very little too long and thin for perfect beauty;

but they gave her a Madonna-like look of peace and calm which many were ready

enthusiastically to admire. And there was no want of expression in her face; its faint

rose bloom varied almost at a word, and the thin curved lips were as sensitive to feeling

as could be desired. What was wanting in the face was what gave it its peculiar maidenly

charm—a lack of passion, a little lack, perhaps, of strength. But at seventeen we look

less for these characteristics than for the sweetness and docility which Margaret

certainly possessed. Her dress of soft, white muslin was quite simple—the ideal dress

for a young girl—and yet it was so beautifully made, so perfectly finished in every

detail, that Miss Polehampton never looked at it without an uneasy feeling that she

was too well-dressed for a schoolgirl. Others wore muslin dresses of apparently the

same cut and texture; but what the casual eye might fail to observe, the schoolmistress

was perfectly well aware of, namely, that the tiny frills at neck and wrists were of the

costliest Mechlin lace, that the hem of the dress was bordered with the same material,

as if it had been the commonest of things; that the embroidered white ribbons with

which it was trimmed had been woven in France especially for Miss Adair, and that the

little silver buckles at her waist and on her shoes were so ancient and beautiful as to be

of almost historic importance. The effect was that of simplicity; but it was the costly

simplicity of absolute perfection. Margaret's mother was never content unless her child

was clothed from head to foot in materials of the softest, finest and best. It was a sort

of outward symbol of what she desired for the girl in all relations of life.

This it was that disturbed Miss Polehampton's mind as she stood and looked uneasily

for a moment at Margaret Adair. Then she took the girl by the hand.

"Sit down, my dear," she said, in a kind voice, "and let me talk to you for a few

moments. I hope you are not tired with standing so long."

"Oh, no, thank you; not at all," Margaret answered, blushing slightly as she took a seat

at Miss Polehampton's left hand. She was more intimidated by this unwonted kindness

of address than by any imaginable severity. The schoolmistress was tall and imposing

in appearance: her manner was usually a little pompous, and it did not seem quite natural

to Margaret that she should speak so gently.

"My dear," said Miss Polehampton, "when your dear mamma gave you into my charge,

I am sure she considered me responsible for the influences under which you were

brought, and the friendships that you made under my roof."

"Mamma knew that I could not be hurt by any friendship that I made here," said

Margaret, with the softest flattery. She was quite sincere: it was natural to her to say

"pretty things" to people.

"Quite so," the schoolmistress admitted. "Quite so, dear Margaret, if you keep within

your own grade in society. There is no pupil in this establishment, I am thankful to say,

who is not of suitable family and prospects to become your friend. You are young yet,

and do not understand the complications in which people sometimes involve themselves

by making friendships out of their own sphere. But I understand, and I wish to caution

you."

"I am not aware that I have made any unsuitable friendships," said Margaret, with a

rather proud look in her hazel eyes.

"Well—no, I hope not," said Miss Polehampton with a hesitating little cough. "You

understand, my dear, that in an establishment like mine, persons must be employed to

do certain work who are not quite equal in position to—to—ourselves. Persons of

inferior birth and station, I mean, to whom the care of the younger girls, and certain

menial duties, must be committed. These persons, my dear, with whom you must

necessarily be brought in contact, and whom I hope you will always treat with perfect

courtesy and consideration, need not, at the same time, be made your intimate friends."

"I have never made friends with any of the servants," said Margaret, quietly. Miss

Polehampton was somewhat irritated by this remark.

"I do not allude to the servants," she said with momentary sharpness. "I do not consider

Miss Colwyn a servant, or I should not, of course, allow her to sit at the same table with

you. But there is a sort of familiarity of which I do not altogether approve——"

She paused, and Margaret drew up her head and spoke with unusual decision.

"Miss Colwyn is my greatest friend."

"Yes, my dear, that is what I complain of. Could you not find a friend in your own rank

of life without making one of Miss Colwyn?"

"She is quite as good as I am," cried Margaret, indignantly. "Quite as good, far more

so, and a great deal cleverer!"

"She has capabilities," said the schoolmistress, with the air of one making a concession;

"and I hope that they will be useful to her in her calling. She will probably become a

nursery governess, or companion to some lady of superior position. But I cannot

believe, my dear that dear Lady Caroline would approve of your singling her out as

your especial and particular friend."

"I am sure mamma always likes people who are good and clever," said Margaret. She

did not fly into a rage as some girls would have done, but her face flushed, and her

breath came more quickly than usual—signs of great excitement on her part, which

Miss Polehampton was not slow to observe.

"She likes them in their proper station, my dear. This friendship is not improving for

you, nor for Miss Colwyn. Your positions in life are so different that your notice of her

can but cause discontent and ill-feeling in her mind. It is exceedingly injudicious, and I

cannot think that your dear mamma would approve of it if she knew the circumstances."

"But Janetta's family is not at all badly connected," said Margaret, with some eagerness.

"There are cousins of hers living close to us—the next property belongs to them——"

"Do you know them, my dear?"

"I know about them," answered Margaret, suddenly coloring very deeply, and looking

uncomfortable, "but I don't think I have ever seen them, they are so much away from

home——"

"I know about them, too," said Miss Polehampton, grimly; "and I do not think that you

will ever advance Miss Colwyn's interests by mentioning her connection with that

family. I have heard Lady Caroline speak of Mrs. Brand and her children. They are not

people, my dear Margaret, whom it is desirable for you to know."

"But Janetta's own people live quite near us," said Margaret, reduced to a very pleading

tone. "I know them at home; they live at Beaminster—not three miles off."

"And may I ask if Lady Caroline visits them, my dear?" asked Miss Polehampton, with

mild sarcasm, which brought the color again to Margaret's fair face. The girl could not

answer; she knew well enough that Janetta's stepmother was not at all the sort of person

whom Lady Caroline Adair would willingly speak to, and yet she did not like to say

that her acquaintance with Janetta had only been made at a Beaminster dancing class.

Probably Miss Polehampton divined the fact. "Under the circumstances," she said, "I

think I should be justified in writing to Lady Caroline and asking her to remonstrate a

little with you, my dear Margaret. Probably she would be better able to make you

understand the impropriety of your behavior than I can do."The tears rose to Margaret's eyes. She was not used to being rebuked in this manner.

"But—I don't know, Miss Polehampton, what you want me to do," she said, more

nervously than usual. "I can't give up Janetta; I can't possibly avoid speaking to her, you

know, even if I wanted to——"

"I desire nothing of the sort, Margaret. Be kind and polite to her, as usual. But let me

suggest that you do not make a companion of her in the garden so constantly—that you

do not try to sit beside her in class or look over the same book. I will speak to Miss

Colwyn herself about it. I think I can make her understand."

"Oh, please do not speak to Janetta! I quite understand already," said Margaret, growing

pale with distress. "You do not know how kind and good she has always been to me—

—"

Sobs choked her utterance, rather to Miss Polehampton's alarm. She did not like to see

her girls cry—least of all, Margaret Adair.

"My dear, you have no need to excite yourself. Janetta Colwyn has always been treated,

I hope, with justice and kindness in this house. If you will endeavor only to make her

position in life less instead of more difficult, you will be doing her the greatest favor in

your power. I do not at all mean that I wish you to be unkind to her. A little more

reserve, a little more caution, in your demeanor, and you will be all that I have ever

wished you to be—a credit to your parents and to the school which has educated you!"

This sentiment was so effusive that it stopped Margaret's tears out of sheer amazement;

and when she had said good-night and gone to bed, Miss Polehampton stood for a

moment or two quite still, as if to recover from the unwonted exertion of expressing an

affectionate emotion. It was perhaps a reaction against it that caused her almost

immediately to ring the bell a trifle sharply, and to say—still sharply—to the maid who

appeared in answer.

"Send Miss Colwyn to me."

Five minutes elapsed before Miss Colwyn came, however, and the schoolmistress had

had time to grow impatient.

"Why did you not come at once when I sent for you?" she said, severely, as soon as

Janetta presented herself.

"I was going to bed," said the girl, quickly; "and I had to dress myself again."

The short, decided accents grated on Miss Polehampton's ear. Miss Colwyn did not

speak half so "nicely," she said to herself, as did dear Margaret Adair.