Suddenly Mrs. Ward's hand was taken by Maggie and covered with kisses.
"Oh, I will try!" she said; "I will try hard to be really good! And,"
she added, "I will take any punishment you give me."
Mrs. Ward looked at her with sparkling eyes. She was a very keen observer of character. She put her hand under the girl's chin and looked into her downcast face.
"My dear," she said, "full and absolute forgiveness means the doing away with punishment. You have suffered sorely; I will not add to your suffering in any way. Now, go and prepare for to-morrow's entertainment.--Aneta, you will stay with me for a few minutes."
Maggie left the room, but in a short time she returned. She carried in her arms the two tin boxes which contained her father's treasures.
"I want you to keep these for me, or to sell them, or to do what you like with them," said Maggie. She then immediately left the room.
Mrs. Ward and Aneta bent over the treasures. Mrs. Ward gave a start of great surprise when she saw them.
"Why, these," she said, "are a fortune in themselves."
"I thought so," said Aneta, her eyes sparkling. "I felt sure of it. We must get that brooch back from Pearce."
"Yes, Aneta; I will send Miss Johnson round for it at once. What did you say he gave Maggie for it?"
"Five pounds, Mrs. Ward."
"It is very honest of him to offer to restore it to her. Ring the bell, dear, and Lucy Johnson will come."
Miss Johnson was very much interested when she saw the sparkling treasures.
"Maggie's!" she exclaimed. "I am glad she has given them to you to take care of for her. I was always terrified at her keeping such priceless things in her drawer."
Mrs. Ward gave the girl some directions and the necessary money; she went off to fulfill her errand in considerable amazement. Lucy returned in less than half-an-hour with the lovely little brooch, which was immediately added to the collection.
"The best person to see these, as you suggested, Aneta," said Mrs.
Ward, "is Sir Charles Lysle. They are really no good to Maggie, but ought to be sold for their utmost value for her benefit. She has many fine points, and considerable strength of character; and if you take her up, dear, I feel certain that she will be saved from all those things which would ruin a nature like hers."
"I mean to take her up," said Aneta with spirit.
"Well," said Mrs. Ward, "the first thing to do is to get to-morrow over. I have no doubt it will be a success. Meanwhile, will you write a line to your uncle, Sir Charles, and ask him if he can call here to see these treasures?"
"Yes, I will write to him at once," said Aneta. "He spends most of his time at the British Museum. Couldn't I send him a wire, Mrs. Ward, and then he would come to-night?"
"Yes, that is a very good idea. Do so, my love."
The girls had a very spirited rehearsal, and Maggie was her old vivacious, daring, clever self once more. That inward change which no doubt had taken place brought an added charm to her always expressive face.
Between seven and eight that evening Aneta's uncle, Sir Charles, arrived. He and Mrs. Ward had a long consultation. His opinion was that the bracelets and other curios were worth at least seven thousand pounds, and that such a sum could easily be obtained for them.
"In fact, I myself would buy them for that figure," said Sir Charles.
"It is not only that there are in this collection some unique and valuable stones; but the history, the setting, and the make of these ancient relics would induce the British Museum to buy many of them.
Doubtless, however, Miss Howland will get the biggest price of all for them if they are auctioned at Christie's."
Before she went to bed that night Aneta told Maggie that she was by no means a penniless girl, and that if she would consent to having her father's treasures sold she would have sufficient money to be well educated, and have a nice nest-egg in the future to start in any profession she fancied.
"Oh Aneta, it is all too wonderful!" said poor Maggie--"to think of me as I am to-night, and of me as I felt last night when I wanted to lose myself in the London fog. Aneta, I can never love you enough!"
"You want a good long sleep," she said. "Think of to-morrow and all the excitement which lies before us!"
Maggie did sleep soundly that night, for she was quite worn out, and when Saturday arrived she awoke without a fear and with a wonderful lightness of heart. The day of the festival and rejoining passed without a hitch. The supper was delightful. The tableaux vivants were the best the school had ever seen. The games, the fun, made the Cardews at least think that they had entered into a new world.
But perhaps the best scene of all came at the end when Aneta went up to Maggie and took her hand, and, still holding it, turned and faced the assembled school.
"Maggie and I don't mean to be rival queens any longer," she said. "We are joint-queens. All Maggie's subjects are my subjects and all my subjects are Maggie's. Any girl who disapproves of this, will she hold down her hand? Any girl who approves, will she hold her hand up in the air?"
Instantly all the pairs of hands were raised, and there was such a clapping and so many cheers for the queens who were no longer rival queens that mademoiselle was heard to exclaim, "But it is charming. It makes the heart to bound. I do love the English manner, and Mademoiselle Aneta, _si jolie, si elegante_; and Mademoiselle Maggie, who has a large charm. I do make homage to them as the two queens. I would," she continued, turning and clasping Miss Johnson's hands, "be a schoolgirl myself to be a subject of them."
A few words will suffice to end this story. Lady Lysle might be proud and perhaps somewhat disdainful, but she was at least as good as her word, and in a very short time Martin the grocer thought it worth his while to open a very smart-looking shop in the West End. This shop Lady Lysle took a curious interest in and recommended to her friends, so that Martin began to do as sound a business in the neighborhood of Eaton Square as he did in Shepherd's Bush. Of all things in the world, he liked best to make money, and he was quite glad to be rid of Maggie when his own prospects became golden owing to her absence from his premises.
As to Mrs. Martin, she was content to see her daughter occasionally.
Maggie's curios were all sold, except the little brooch (which she kept for herself in memory of her father), for a sufficiently large sum to pay for her education and to leave her enough money to do well for herself by-and-by. Having no longer anything to conceal, and under the beautiful, brave influence of Aneta, she became quite a different girl. That strength of character and that strange fascination which were her special powers were now turned into useful channels. Maggie could never be beautiful, but her talents were above the average, and her moral nature now received every stimulus in the right direction.
Merry Cardew could love her, and gain good, not harm, from her influence. But, strange to say--although perhaps not strange--Aneta was her special friend. It was with Aneta that Maggie mostly spent her holidays. It was Aneta's least word that Maggie obeyed. It was for Aneta's approval that Maggie lived.
Queens of the school they still remain, each exercising her influence in her own way, and yet both working in perfect harmony.
"Have they not both the characters beautiful?" said mademoiselle. "I think there is no girl like the English girl."
Doubtless she is right.
THE END