Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/394

 386 LADY MOEGAN. she could, her pink silk shoes glancing over the icy pave- ment, and her muslin ball dress fluttering in the wind — and reached the stage just as the grumbling driver was preparing to go on without her. At Kinigad, where she arrived late at night very tired and sleepy, she retired at once to her room in the inn, too confused to remember her baggage, and sure that she would have plenty of time to change her dress in the morn- ing, before the carriage from Bracklin came to her. But what washer dismay when she rose and asked for her bag, to find that it had gone on with the stage ! She could but resign herself to the inevitable, and towards noon, after a long drive, she presented herself in the drawing-room of the Castle, " pinched, cold, confused, and miserable," to claim her new position. The whole family was assem- bled, and a general titter greeted her appearance, Mr. Featherstone alone regarding her fantastic attire with severe disapproval. For a moment she was daunted, but her native courage soon revived, and she told her story with such vividness and spirit, that her audience were completely overcome with mingled mirth and com- passion for her sad plight, and as soon as she had con- cluded she was born off in a gale of laughter by the two girls, who ransacked their wardrobes to find her some- thing to wear. Nor was this all. At dinner, Mrs. Featherstone intro- duced her to two tutors, the parish priest, and the Protestant curate of the neighboring village, and she kept the table in a roar during the whole meal, while the servants who waited nearly choked themselves by stuff- ing napkins in their mouths, in a vain attempt to refrain from laughing. So pleased were her companions, that at dessert the priest, Father Murphy, arose with a glass of port wine in his hand to drink her health. After a polite bow and a " By your leave, Madame," to the hostess, he turned to the new governess, exclaiming :