The Palace Beautiful: A Story for GirlsMeade, L. T.
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The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls
Meade, L. T.
England -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction; Sisters -- Juvenile fiction; Young women -- Juvenile fiction
"We are to go to another house not far from this," she said, "indeed,
only a stone's throw away. It is so close that we will walk it. Come,
Daisy, I see a number of questions in your eyes, but they shall all be
answered presently. Take my hand now, and let us lead the way. The
other house is very pretty, but it is smaller than mine."
The other house was quite close to Mrs. Ellsworthy's luxurious
mansion. It was built more in the cottage shape, was much smaller, and
had a charming little garden and grounds round it. The hall door
opened into a porch, which was covered with roses, so that though the
house was really in London, the effect was quite that of the country.
Standing in the porch, and looking extremely pretty in its flickering
light and shade, stood Poppy Jenkins, in the neatest of handmaiden's
attire, and as the girls all came into the shade of the cool porch,
Noel himself, looking somewhat pale, and with a curious agitation in
his manner, came out to meet them.
"This is my house," he said, "and Poppy is engaged as one of the
servants. I thought we might all meet here to discuss the new plans.
Poppy, will you take the young ladies to their room? I've had a room
prepared," he continued, blushing slightly, "for I thought Daisy might
like to rest a little."
Poppy instantly tripped forward, and in quite a demure manner took
the girls up some broad stairs, and into a long, rather low-ceilinged
room on the first floor. There were three little white beds in the
room, and three toilet tables, and, in short, three sets of
everything. It was the prettiest, the brightest, the most lovely room
the girls had ever seen. It contained luxury, and neatness, and
comfort, and refinement, for beautiful pictures were placed on the
walls, and flowers peeped in at the windows, and the furniture was of
that sort which can best accommodate girls' pretty dresses and
knick-knacks.
"What a room!" said Jasmine. "Why, it's just like a girls' room! Any
one would suppose Mr. Noel had sisters."
Daisy began to skip about, and to poke her little fingers amongst the
curiosities and treasures which were scattered broadcast. Primrose
became silent, and walked over to one of the windows, and Poppy,
suddenly dropping her demure air, said in a voice of ecstasy--
"He's a lovely young man, and I'm engaged here permanent, and it's no
more Sarah Ann, nor Sarah Jane, but Poppy I'm to be from this time and
for ever. Oh, Miss Primrose, don't it make you real happy even to take
off your bonnet in a room like this?"
"I do feel happy," said Primrose, in that slow voice of hers. "I feel
happy, and I can't tell why. I am just going to give up my
independence, and I ought to be miserable, but at the present moment I
have a peculiar sense of rejoicing."
"And so have I," said Jasmine, "I could skip all day long; and as to
Eyebright, she looks fit to dance this very moment."
"I'm happy because I'm with the Prince," said Daisy; "that's always
quite enough for me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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