‘They call that a perron,i I believe, don’t they?’ she asked. But the only answer she obtained was a simultaneous ‘hush.’ It was very awful, as Molly thought, and she half wished herself at home again. But she lost all consciousness of herself by and by when the party strolled out into the beautiful grounds, the like of which she had never even imagined. Green velvet lawns, bathed in sunshine, stretched away on every side into the finely wooded park; if there were divisions and ha-has between the soft sunny sweeps of grass, and the dark gloom of the forest-trees beyond, Molly did not see them; and the melting away of exquisite cultivation into the wilderness had an inexplicable charm to her. Near the house there were walls and fences; but they were covered with climbing roses, and rare honeysuckles and other creepers just bursting into bloom. There were flower-beds, too, scarlet, crimson, blue, orange; masses of blossom lying on the greensward. Molly held Miss Browning’s hand very tight as they loitered about in company with several other ladies, and marshalled by a daughter of the Towers, who seemed half amused at the voluble admiration showered down upon every possible thing and place. Molly said nothing, as became her age and position, but every now and then she relieved her full heart by drawing a deep breath, almost like a sigh. Presently they came to the long glittering range of greenhouses and hothouses, and an attendant gardener was there to admit the party. Molly did not care for this half so much as for the flowers in the open air; but Lady Agnes had a more scientific taste,1 she expatiated on the rarity of this plant, and the mode of cultivation required by that, till Molly began to feel very tired, and then very faint. She was too shy to speak for some time; but at length, afraid of making a greater sensation if she began to cry, or if she fell against the stands of precious flowers, she caught at Miss Browning’s hand, and gasped out—
‘May I go back, out into the garden? I can’t breathe here!’
‘Oh, yes, to be sure, love; I dare say it’s hard understanding for you, love; but it’s very fine and instructive, and a deal of Latin in it too.’
She turned hastily round not to lose another word of Lady Agnes’s lecture on orchids, and Molly turned back and passed out of the heated atmosphere. She felt better in fresh air; and unobserved, and at liberty, went from one lovely spot to another, now in the open park, now in some shut-in flower-garden, where the song of the birds, and the drip of the central fountain, were the only sounds, and the tree-tops made an enclosing circle in the blue June sky; she went along without more thought as to her whereabouts than a butterfly has, as it skims from flower to flower, till at length she grew very weary, and wished to return to the house, but did not know how, and felt afraid of encountering all the strangers who would be there, unprotected by either of the Miss Brownings. The hot sun told upon her head, and it began to ache. She saw a great wide-spreading cedar-tree upon a burst of lawn towards which she was advancing, and the black repose beneath its branches lured her thither. There was a rustic seat in the shadow, and weary Molly sat down there, and presently fell asleep.
She was startled from her slumbers after a time, and jumped to her feet. Two ladies were standing by her, talking about her. They were perfect strangers to her, and with a vague conviction that she had done something wrong, and also because she was worn-out with hunger, fatigue, and the morning’s excitement, she began to cry.
‘Poor little woman! She has lost herself; she belongs to some of the people from Hollingford, I have no doubt,’ said the oldest-looking of the two ladies; she who appeared to be about forty, though she did not really number more than thirty years. She was plain-featured, and had rather a severe expression on her face; her dress was as rich as any morning dress could be; her voice deep and unmodulated,—what in a lower rank of life would have been called gruff; but that was not a word to apply to Lady Cuxhaven, the eldest daughter of the earl and countess. The other lady looked much younger, but she was in fact some years the elder; at first sight Molly thought she was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, and she was certainly a very lovely woman. Her voice, too, was soft and plaintive, as she replied to Lady Cuxhaven—
‘Poor little darling! she is overcome by the heat, I have no doubt—such a heavy straw bonnet, too. Let me untie it for you, my dear.’
Molly now found voice to say—‘I am Molly Gibson, please. I came here with the Miss Brownings;’ for her great fear was that she should be taken for an unauthorized intruder.
‘Miss Brownings?’ said Lady Cuxhaven to her companion, as if inquiringly.
‘I think they were the two tall large young women that Lady Agnes was talking about.’
‘Oh, I dare say. I saw she had a number of people in tow;’ then, looking again at Molly, she said, ‘Have you had anything to eat, child, since you came? You look a very white little thing; or is it the heat?’
‘I have had nothing to eat,’ said Molly, rather piteously; for, indeed, before she fell asleep she had been very hungry.
The two ladies spoke to each other in a low voice; then the elder said in a voice of authority, which, indeed, she had always used in speaking to the other, ‘Sit still here, my dear; we are going to the house, and Clare shall bring you something to eat before you try to walk back; it must be a quarter of a mile at least.’ So they went away, and Molly sat upright, waiting for the promised messenger. She did not know who Clare might be, and she did not care much for food now; but she felt as if she could not walk without some help. At length she saw the pretty lady coming back, followed by a footman with a small tray.
‘Look how kind Lady Cuxhaven is,’ said she who was called Clare. ‘She chose you out this little lunch herself; and now you must try and eat it, and you’ll be quite right when you’ve had some food, darling—You need not stop, Edwards; I will bring the tray back with me.’
There was some bread, and some cold chicken, and some jelly, and a glass of wine, and a bottle of sparkling water, and a bunch of grapes. Molly put out her trembling little hand for the water; but she was too faint to hold it. Clare put it to her mouth, and she took a long draught and was refreshed. But she could not eat; she tried, but she could not; her headache was too bad. Clare looked bewildered. ‘Take some grapes, they will be the best for you; you must try and eat something, or I don’t know how I shall get you to the house.’
‘My head aches so,’ said Molly, lifting her heavy eyes wistfully.