"For the Lord's sake get up, missie," she said in a cheerful tone. "I
couldn't come near ye with others so bad, but we are in harbour, thank
the Lord, and all danger is over. Yes, we had a rough night, mighty
rough. I've never gone through a worse, but I couldn't stay along of
cowards. Here's your jacket, missie, I'll slip it on ye, and here's
your hat! You do look bad, but we are very late in, and if you want to
catch your train for London, ye'd best hurry up. Shall I get a porter
for your luggage, missie?"
Tilly answered "yes" in a meek sort of voice and then she gave the
stewardess who had done nothing for her all night a shilling out of
her scanty store. Presently she was on dry land and in the train. She
was not going to eat her supper with Davy Jones, she was going to live
after all; she had passed through a fearful night, but she was going to
live.
Everything was new and fresh to her now, and when a boy brought her a
cup of tea and a plate of bread and butter, she ate greedily and with
appetite. Then it occurred to her that she ought to wire to her father.
She had money enough for this, too. The Desmond had supplied her with
plenty of money.
Mr. Raynes was a coal merchant on a large scale, exceedingly well off.
He lived on Clapham Common. The house was ugly and without any pretence
to good looks. Tilly's stepmother met her in London, scolded her,
shook her, put her hat straight and asked her why in the world was she
coming home so soon.
Tilly felt all the old wicked feelings rising in her breast when her
stepmother began to harangue her. She immediately said that she was
only wasting time at Desmondstown and wanted to work very hard indeed,
so as to get to Arles one week before term began.
The stepmother went on scolding. Tilly hardly listened. She was feeling
wicked again, but she was thankful to be on dry land. They reached the
big, luxuriously furnished, vulgar-looking house on Clapham Common.
Tilly suddenly felt herself very sick; her stepmother was fairly kind
to her when she was really sick. She allowed her to go to bed and sent
Mary Ann, the house-parlourmaid, upstairs to look after her.
Mary Ann was a favourite with Tilly and listened with mouth wide open,
ears extended to their utmost, and eyes that looked as though they
were going to spring out of her head, to Tilly's account of the awful
storm at sea. She got the girl swiftly and quickly into bed and gave
her a very little hot tea and dry toast, and then Tilly forgot all her
miseries in sleep.
It may have been her fall off the back of Starlight, or it may have
been her fearful crossing, but, whatever the reason, for a few days
Matilda Raynes was really ill. She was feverish and the doctor was sent
for. During the whole of this time she was attended by Mary Ann and
very occasionally saw her stepmother, but never once her father.
The doctor said she must have got a very severe shock of some sort. He
told this to her father and also to her stepmother.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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