Great Britain -- Juvenile fiction; Love stories; Sisters -- Juvenile fiction
Mrs. Morrison smiled at her; they all called her nursie now, even Doreen
had been allowed this privilege, and that was not the only privilege she
had been allowed, for, to her amazement, she had been invited to be a
bridesmaid to her goddess of beauty at the quiet wedding at a West-End
church. Perhaps Vava was as surprised as Doreen; Amy and Eva she
understood, but Doreen she had not expected to be asked, although the
Stella of the last three months had been a Stella she had not known
before.
Stella had explained it very simply. 'I should like to have those who
have been good to me in my days of adversity,' she said, 'and among
these were the Hackneys.'
And the four fashionably dressed girls were Stella's four bridesmaids,
for Mr. James had begged for an early wedding; and when Stella demurred
because of the new responsibilities she had taken upon her with the new
house, Mrs. Morrison had come to the rescue, and offered to keep house
for Amy and Eva.
'But, nursie,' Stella had said, 'we want you at Lomore; your rooms are
there waiting for you, and why should you stay down here away from your
home when there is no need?'
'There is need, Miss Stella; they need me, and I could not leave them
just now. Your first duty is to your husband; mine is dead, and I am of
use here; but I'll come up home for a holiday in the summer when my
young leddies take theirs.'
Then Vava stoutly announced that if nursie stayed at No. 2 Heather Road
so should she; and if she had not quite meant it, for Lomore was home to
her too, the gleam of joy in Mrs. Morrison's eye at the suggestion
decided her.
At this Stella protested still more strongly; but it was really a way
out of a difficulty, for Vava was very happy at school and with Mrs.
Morrison, and she would spend the long summer holidays at Lomore, and in
the autumn Stella would be at her town house, and Vava could be
constantly with her.
And so the tangled skein straightened itself out, and the little
household at No. 2 Heather Road went on very happily.
Eva was acting up to her suggested motto of 'Save' to such good purpose
that, thanks to overtime and rigid self-denial, encouraged by Mrs.
Morrison, she had paid off half her debt.
'Fancy, fifteen pounds in three months! At that rate I shall soon be
able to look the whole world in the face!' she cried as she handed the
last instalment of the fifteen pounds to the kindly creditor.
Mrs. Morrison was as pleased as the girl; not that she was anxious to
have the money back, but that she wanted Eva to be out of debt.
Stella, whom her short spell of poverty had made thoughtful on such
matters, gave the bridesmaids their dresses, which meant best
summer-frocks and hats for them all, and saved Eva that expense; and of
pleasures they had no lack, for Mr. Montague Jones's car was always
running down to Blackstead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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