Page:The Lark - E Nesbit, 1922.djvu/237

238 forehead, complete with eyebrows and ear coverings, supplied by the genius of Mr. Hugo.

Mrs. Rochester was, obviously, wholly without suspicion and Jane had to go out of the room expressly to laugh at the success of the play. Perhaps, too, she wanted to shift the whole burden of the interview on to Lucilla's shoulders for a little while. Her own felt stiff with the weight of the afternoon. At any rate, she got away and crept round and sat down behind the library door to listen unashamed. This is what rewarded her: "Now we have a moment alone, dear Miss Lucas," Mrs. Rochester was saying, in the high, clear voice of one who wishes to be understood by the rather deaf, "I should like to make a little confidence. These delightful nieces of yours—so light-hearted and free from care! Yes, but you will understand. I am sure Miss Antrobus will have a real home with you. And I have a rather special reason for having the dear girl's welfare very much at heart. I must confess to you that I look upon Miss Antrobus as a daughter already."

"Indeed," said Aunt Harriet, almost too calmly; "one of your sons is engaged to the lady then?"

"My only son, " said Mrs. Rochester. "It's an old attachment—they were little lovers as children—but it's not announced yet, so, of course, not a word to either of them. You, who know my dear boy so well, will feel with me that Hilda Antrobus is a lucky girl, and when you know her you will feel that he's lucky too. Yes?"

"I cannot say that I know Mr. Rochester very well," said the spurious aunt. "He has called two or three times, I believe. But I daresay now Miss Antrobus is to be with us we shall see more of him."

"Well played, Lucy!" said Jane, behind the library door.

"I feel sure I may trust to your kind feeling to—to—well, to give the young people opportunities of being together—you understand? A little tact—a helpful blindness—a not too efficient chaperonage—a sort of je ne sais quoi;