Silverbeach Manor by Margaret S. Haycraft Read Free Book Online Page B

office; and none at Silverbeach is aware that it is returned
to the Dead Letter Office with the inscription, "Gone away --
address not known."

Chapter
6
    Pansy's Predicament.
    THE months that
follow are full of what Pansy Adair once looked upon in vision as
pursuits most delightful and bewitching. Mrs. Adair has some secret
notion that Cyril Langdale's marriage may have had something to do
with Pansy's indisposition, and she resolves to divert the mind of
her adopted child who has become very dear to her, by a round of
pleasure in its most brilliant aspects.
    Dances, fetes, fancy bazaars,
theatre-going -- in this way she endeavours to secure the girl's
happiness. She herself was wearied of these things long ago
herself, but for Pansy's sake she plunges anew into a vortex of
excitement, and is rewarded by seeing her charge on all sides
courted and admired. As time goes on, proposals of marriage which
Mrs. Adair considers very flattering, are made to Pansy. A nobleman
well known on the horse racing scene would fain share with her his
title and his wealth; an aged and much respected member of
Parliament aspires to make her his second wife; a young dramatist,
making money fast, and quite a lion in society, is one of her most
devoted cavaliers.
    Pansy is cool
as concerns her admirers, and Mrs. Adair says indulgently, "I shall
not hurry your choice, my dear. I should prefer to keep you at my
side for many a long year to come. When you are tired of London
society, we might take a long yachting cruise together. Many people
have given us an open invitation. Or perhaps we might settle down
in Italy for two or three years. The air suits me better than this
foggy climate. I should be sorry to lose you so soon, and there is
no need whatever, with your prospects, for you to make a hasty or
loveless marriage."
    Pansy thinks
she detects a glance accompanying these words in the direction of a
large oil-painting of Mr. Adair in civic robes -- a very
fretful-looking old gentleman, whose bad-tempered eyes seem to be
following her about all over the room.
    For a time the
theatre seems very charming to Pansy, but before long the sameness
and monotony of her theatre-going life make her restless and weary.
The plays seem all alike; the rich dresses, the decorations, the
music seem to conspire to tire her. The idea of seeing a play night
after night would once have been enchanting to Pansy Piper, but the
fashionable Miss Pansy Adair is secretly weary of footlights, stage
scenery, dramatic attitudes, and actors and actresses.
    One of their
neighbours at Silverbeach, Miss Mabel Bromley, has recently become
a nurse, and Pansy visits her one day in the midst of her duties at
the small hospital to which she belongs. Sister Mabel, as she is
called, directs Pansy's attention to a poor sufferer from lung
disease, a girl about their own age, and asks her softly if she
recognizes her.
    "No,
poor creature," says Pansy compassionately. "I am no district
visitor, you know, Mabel. Mrs. Adair would not let me run the risk
of infection, though sometimes the feeling comes over me that
I would like to do something for other
people. I get all the comfort and pleasure I can, and give nothing in return. I wish my life were half
as useful as yours."
    "Oh, Pansy
dear, you have not the nerves for a sick-nurse! But if only Mrs.
Adair would allow it, a quiet tune on your violin in the
convalescent wards would be a most helpful ministry. Our patients
are so fond of music. We have a nurse here who sings hymns for them
in the evening, and they seem to calm and soothe the sick people
wonderfully."
    "I am not
religious," says Pansy, bluntly. "I never sing hymns except at
church. But if I may really come and play here sometimes, it will
be the best use to which I ever put my violin. But, Mabel, who is
that poor, thin creature of whom you spoke just now?"
    "Her name is
Elsie Smith, but she is called Miss Genevieve Marechal, of the
theatre. A few months ago she was most popular.