"'But it amuses him, and he gets so bored down here,' began stupid
little Bella. 'Don't be shy or proud, Jean, but come and entertain the
poor old fellow.' "'No, thank you. I engaged to teach Miss Coventry, not to amuse Mr.
Coventry' was all the answer she got.
"'You amuse Ned, why not Gerald? Are you afraid of him?' asked Bella.
"Miss Muir laughed, such a scornful laugh, and said, in that
peculiar tone of hers, 'I cannot fancy anyone being afraid of your
elder brother.' "'I am, very often, and so would you be, if you ever saw him angry,' And
Bella looked as if I'd beaten her.
"'Does he ever wake up enough to be angry?' asked that girl, with an air
of surprise. Here Ned broke into a fit of laughter, and they are at it
now, I fancy, by the sound."
"Their foolish gossip is not worth getting excited about, but I
certainly would send Ned away. It's no use trying to get rid of 'that
girl,' as you say, for my aunt is as deluded about her as Ned and Bella,
and she really does get the child along splendidly. Dispatch Ned, and
then she can do no harm," said Lucia, watching Coventry's altered face
as he stood in the moonlight, just outside the window where she sat.
"Have you no fears for me?" he asked smiling, as if ashamed of his
momentary petulance.
"No, have you for yourself?" And a shade of anxiety passed over her
face.
"I defy the Scotch witch to enchant me, except with her music," he
added, moving down the terrace again, for Jean was singing like a
nightingale.
As the song ended, he put aside the curtain, and said, abruptly, "Has
anyone any commands for London? I am going there tomorrow."
"A pleasant trip to you," said Ned carelessly, though usually his
brother's movements interested him extremely.
"I want quantities of things, but I must ask Mamma first." And Bella
began to make a list.
"May I trouble you with a letter, Mr. Coventry?"
Jean Muir turned around on the music stool and looked at him with the
cold keen glance which always puzzled him.
He bowed, saying, as if to them all, "I shall be off by the early train,
so you must give me your orders tonight."
"Then come away, Ned, and leave Jean to write her letter."
And Bella took her reluctant brother from the room.
"I will give you the letter in the morning," said Miss Muir, with a
curious quiver in her voice, and the look of one who forcibly suppressed
some strong emotion.
"As you please." And Coventry went back to Lucia, wondering who Miss
Muir was going to write to. He said nothing to his brother of the
purpose which took him to town, lest a word should produce the
catastrophe which he hoped to prevent; and Ned, who now lived in a sort
of dream, seemed to forget Gerald's existence altogether.