Page:The Lark - E Nesbit, 1922.djvu/275

276 Lucilla turned startled eyes on the speaker. How could Jane know?

Miss Antrobus raised a brave but scarlet face. "Thank you," she said. "That is cards on the table. Now for mine. I used to be fond of Mrs. Rochester. When I was a girl I had a passing fancy for John Rochester, and Mrs. Rochester encouraged it. But the war knocked all that nonsense out of my head, and he never looked the same side of the road as I was—never!"

"But how horrible of Mrs. Rochester!" said Lucilla. "I didn't know there were people like that—out of books."

"Oh, well, it seems there are, a few," said Miss Antrobus drily. "She told me that her Jack had fallen into the toils of a designing girl, a sort of low-class siren, and asked me to come here and put a spoke in the siren's wheel—be a rescue-party, in fact. And for the sake of old times I agreed to come. Besides, I wanted to see a siren. But, of course, when I saw you two, and when I saw John Rochester with you, I understood—well, that Mrs. Rochester was trying it on again. Only I couldn't quite make out the aunt."

"But surely aunts do happen in most families. An aunt was quite probable."

"Oh yes, but not an imitation aunt. I could not think why you were acting that farce."

"Do you mean to say," cried Lucilla, all the actress in her outraged almost beyond endurance, "do you mean to say that you knew I wasn't a real aunt?"

"Of course I did—almost from the first."

"But you went on being so nice to me!"

"That was to try to make you do what you have done—own up."

"And when we wouldn't you tried frightening us?"

"Well, wasn't it fair? A sort of tit for tat? Pouf! how the atmosphere's cleared by a little plain speaking! I say, you two girls—let's be friends, shall we? I believe we shall get on awfully well together now there are no pretences and misrepresentations between us." And as she smiled at