Page:All the Year Round - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/487

Charles Dickens] their beautiful abode was a new delight to Geraldine. Proud of her position as mistress of such a mansion, busy as fifty bees, she devoted herself entirely to her household cares, and with these and her father, whom she adored, would have been fully content. But the colonel liked society; society liked him—would have him; and, in effect, a period of five or six months saw him and his daughter established as chief favourites in the district of which "Mon Désir" was the centre; while the fame of Miss Fonnereau's beauty knew no limits short of those of the Golden Isle itself.

Among the Golden Islanders no institution enjoys a greater popularity than the "pic-nic." It was on their return from one of these that the father and daughter sat talking over the incidents of the day, and exchanging confidences as to their mutual impressions. These were, as usual, tolerably harmonious; Geraldine being, however, especially frank in her praises of a certain old Admiral Brunton, who had, it must be owned, availed himself of his seventy summers to flirt, in the most open and unscrupulous manner, with his beautiful young neighbour.

"By the way," remarked the colonel, "there was another of the cloth—tall, curly-headed fellow—Hal—Hul—Huddleman."

Hal-di-mand, said his daughter, distinctly.

"If he had broken his neck in getting at those orchids," observed the colonel, calmly, "it would have been a kind of treason. The lives and energies of the royal navy are not intended for the supply of a girl's 'hortus siccus.' You should have stopped him, pussy."

"I tried, indeed, papa; but—but he would"

She checked herself, as if conscious of the slight colour that had mounted to her cheeks.

"Hey?" said the colonel, looking at her.

But Geraldine laughed lightly, and her father forgot the blush. Moreover, the next moment he found himself on the defensive.

"By the way, dear," said Geraldine, slyly, laying her golden head on her father's arm and looking up in his face, "there was also a lady present—tall, slender, long dark ringlets, greenish eyes—Min—Mar—what was her name? Papa, don't pretend; you must know; you talked together for two hours."

"For two hours, say twenty minutes, and that by snatches," said the colonel. "She was pretty—she was certainly pretty. I am not sure whether I like her or not. Do I?" (with an expression as if really seeking information). "At all events, she puzzled me. I returned to her again and again, as to a riddle one must guess or be haunted with. Whence did she come? Who invited her? In short, who the deuce is she?"

"Don't say deuce, papa," said Geraldine, holding up a warning finger. "Now, what will you give me to tell you?"

"A pledge that she shall become my pussy's friend."

Geraldine lifted her head.

"Hush, papa. Don't say that, even in joke." Her pale face showed that she at least was in earnest.

"Geraldine, my darling! What is the matter?" asked her father, anxiously.

"Nothing—nothing, dear. I—I cannot explain what I said, or meant to say. Only, I would rather not have this lady for a friend."

"But who and what is she, my child?" persisted the colonel, his curiosity excited. "Who told you about her?"

"Nobody—that is, Admiral Brunton," replied the young lady.

"Complimentary," observed her sire.

"I mean, papa, I heard him talking of her; and you know he does not speak in whispers. He might have been on his own quarter-deck, hailing somebody, 'Ahoy! maintop there! It's Mrs. Magniac—Mrs. Melusina Magniac. She hails from Mon Port in the Dell; and a very pretty haven it is for a sweet little buccaneer, armed and fitted for a cruise, to lie in wait in. Let the single craft look about them.' That's what he said, or roared; and you might have heard him too, dear; but you were in action with the suspected vessel itself."

"Humph!" said the colonel, thoughtfully. "Magniac. I don't remember the name. Well, well, enough of the lady. But she is a stranger, my love; and we must always be on our guard"

"Yes—yes, papa!"

"Against unfounded prejudices, I was about to say," observed her father, gravely.

Geraldine got up, and placed herself before him.

"Papa, dear, answer. Are we not happy together?"

"As love-birds, pussy," laughed her father, touching her dimpled cheek. "So we intend to be, until the time—a long way off, I hope—when some thief will