The Little Princess Angel. A story for children of all ages

Part I. The Sleeping Palace, And The Princess Who Awakened It

CHAPTER rAC-K I. Great-grandpapa ... ... ... ... 3 II. The Arrival ... ... ... ... 15 III. The Niche Filled ... ... ... ... 28 IV. Mrs. Adam's Baby ... ... ... 42 V. A Real Princess ... ... ... ... 61 VI. Christopher ... ... ... ... 67 VII. Two Weddings ... ... ... ... 80 VIII. The Silver Wedding ... ... ... 97

Part II

A TRAVELLING CIRCUS, AND A KNIGHT-ERRANT IN LOW LIFE. I. The White Thorn II. An Unequal Division III. The Beryl Stone H7 125 Contents. CHAPTER page IV. The Seamy Side ... ... ... ••• 1S2- V. A Posy of Roses... ... ... ••• lf>2 VI. An Old and Young Master ... ... ... 1 77 VII. Three Christmas Days ... ... ... I9& VIII. Beyond the Stars ... ... ... •■■ 218

Part III. The Answer To Beau's Petition, And The Missis's Gift

I. In the Doorway ... ... ... ... 237 II. Yellow Crocuses — and Notable ... 252 III. The Conspiracy ... ... ... ... 267 IV. The Crystal Heart ... ... ...

Chapter I. Great-grandpapa

A King prepares a rough greeting for a small Princess — And Mr. Dallas receives a letter that brings him unlookedfor tidings. As this story treats of a Princess, albeit a very little one, it is fitting it should open in a Royal Palace where a King is holding his Court, and his subjects are making their bows before him and doing him homage. The sky, though it is still early in the afternoon, is black with heavy clouds, and the darkness of night is fast coming on ; the trees raise their bare and naked arms as they bend their heads before the monarch who governs them ; the ponds lift their icy faces as they give him greeting ; the hailstones, as he passes over the frost-bound earth, dance merrily before him ; and the wind as it wails and moans and sobs is the music that he loves. His throne is as soft as the fallen leaves can make it ; his crown is of scarlet berries of the holly, and icicles glisten like diamonds on his beard ; his royal mantle is whiter far than ermine, for it is fashioned of the driven snow ; and his feet are shod with iron shoes that carry him swift as the lightning wherever he wishes to go.

Few there are who like him or welcome him, and many there are who fear and dread his coming, but he cares nothing for love or hatred as he lifts his ice-cold hand, and his subjects hasten to do his bidding. You know his name, this mighty monarch of whom I write ! He is the King of the Frost and Snow, his Palace is this Island of England, in the depth of winter, and the time in which this story opens is some eighteen years ago. But the little Princess is not here yet : she is still in her own home, waiting for the summons to come to cross the unquiet sea. We shall hear more about her if we go to Rath- Great-Grandpapa. 5 grove and enter a very long, low-ceilinged room, filled with shadows caused by the darkened skies and the noisy clatter of the hailstones as they dash against the window-panes.

It would be dreary and depressing if it were not that at the furthest end some Japanese screens are so arranged that they form a cosy inner room, lighted by a splendid fire of pine-logs, with beautiful pictures of castles, mountains, leaping water, sunset-skies, and mock ing faces in their grey and scarlet depths. But it is not of the pictures in the fire the gentleman in the comfortable arm-chair beside it is thinking, though he is looking straight into its glowing heart : his thoughts are with a letter he holds in his hand, and which he has read over so often that he knows it nearly word by word. The clock upon a cabinet close by has chimed the quarter and the half-hour, and the silence in the room is unbroken — save by the slight sound the wood makes as it falls into fresh positions, the sharp crack of hailstones against the glass, the howling of the wind as it dashes round the house — when the door opens and a butler enters with lights, passing so noiselessly over the thick soft carpet that the gentleman does not hear him, until he puts candles upon a table and prepares to light others in brackets upon the wall.

Then Mr. Dallas, for that is the gentleman's name, roused himself. " When you have shut the shutters, Peters, and drawn the curtains, I wish to speak to you." " Yes, sir," answered Peters. And in a few minutes he stood before his master, waiting motion less for the news that was to come. " I have had a letter to-day, Peters, that has given me a great surprise." " Yes, sir," replied Peters, for his master paused. "Nothing, I hope, sir, of an — an — unpleasant nature." " Unpleasant ? Well, no ; one can hardly call it that" said Mr. Dallas, taking up his double eye glasses to glance at the letter before him. "Though I am certainly astonished, and — well — yes — I may say as much as this — I would very much rather matters had been otherwise arranged. However, as there is no way out of the difficulty, I had better tell you what it is.

Between six and seven weeks ago, if you remember, Peters, I heard of Great-Grandpapa. 7 the death of the Prince Cammadio, who married my granddaughter?" " Yes, sir," replied Peters. " He was thrown from his horse, sir, I believe you said ? " "Yes; and after lingering for a month, died. He leaves one little girl, my great-granddaughter. Her mother died a few hours after her birth, so the poor little soul has never known a mother's care ; but this letter tells me the father was de voted to her, and, from the time she could walk, she has hardly ever left his side. The Prince lingered long after his accident, and suffered not much pain, so that he was able to make all arrangements. This he has done, and he has also left very minute and particular directions." " It is very sad for the little lady, sir — very sad indeed," said Peters.

" Yes," replied Mr. Dallas, with a sigh, " it is indeed sad. This letter is from a Captain Crofton, who was a great friend of the Prince's, and was with him when he died, and it is to him — who, with me, is left joint guardian of my great-granddaughter — that the carrying out of the Prince's directions is entrusted." Here Mr. Dallas paused and looked dreamily into the fire. For a minute he had forgotten he was not alone, then he gave a start, and again fingered the letter as it lay upon his knee. "Prince Cammadio was very rich," he said, "and, before his death, he applied for, and ob tained, the required permission that his little daughter, to whom his money goes, should take rank as if she were a son, and if she grows up and marries, her husband will bear her name. So she is a Princess in her own right, and her Christian name is an uncommon one — in England at least — Angel.

The Princess Angel Cammadio." " And, sir," said Peters, " if I may make so bold as to ask, is it a usual thing for the title to be passed on in the female line, sir ? " "It is not customary," said Mr. Dallas, "but once now and then it is done. The Prince came of an old Roman family, and permission, in his case, was easily gained, as it was thought desirable the name and title should be kept, if possible. There are many other details in the letter, but the part which concerns us at present is, that her father desired that the little Princess should remain Great-Grandpapa. 9 with Captain Crofton's sister, who is in Rome, for two months, until the first sharpness of her grief had worn off, and then Captain Crofton was to write to me and tell me that the Prince's dying wish was that his little daughter should come to Rathgrove and live with me until she attains her twenty-first year.

There are other arrangements made in case of my not living so long ; and, of course, at my age, that is more possible than probable." " Oh, sir," said Peters, " you married when you were so young, sir, that you forget that you are not really old. If you will excuse me, sir, you are not more than sixty-four." " Fast getting on for the threescore years and ten, Peters," said Mr. Dallas. " Well, you cer tainly ought to remember my age, for you came here when I, at twenty years old, brought my bride home : a long time of faithful service, which changes you into a valued friend. And now I come to the point that troubles me. Since my dear wife died, I have lived a solitary life, and I really do not feel equal to the charge of so young a child. We Dallases, as you know, Peters, have never been people of large families ; and since my only child married, and her little girl came to stay here, I have had nothing to do with children and know nothing about them, and I really feel quite unequal to cope with this one.

My quiet life will be turned upside down. It has made me very uncomfortable." "I suppose, sir " answered Peters, and hesi tated, not liking to put his thoughts into words. " No," replied Mr. Dallas, who guessed what he would have said, " I cannot refuse to have the little Princess. A dying person's wishes are sacred." " How old is the Princess, sir ? " inquired Peters. " I believe she is six years old, or thereabouts. Captain Crofton does not say, but that must be about her age." " She will be a good deal with her nurse, then, sir," said Peters, hopefully. "Yes," replied Mr. Dallas, ruffling his thick, iron-grey hair, a habit of his when he was worried ; " but I suppose she will outgrow a nurse in time, and want educating. There are complications, too : Captain Crofton says, ' The Prince hoped you will not think the little Princess spoilt, but he was Great-Grandpapa. 11 so fond of her, she was always with him, and you will, he hoped, make allowance for her peculiar up bringing.' Captain Crofton writes that he was quoting what the Prince told him to say.

Now, to have a child here at my age is bad enough, but a spoilt child ! I have a dread of spoilt children. I am sure my daughter Janie was never spoilt, nor her child, my grandchild, little Ella. You remember them, of course, Peters ? " Peters remembered perfectly, and both Miss Janie and Miss Ella were everything young ladies ought to be. " Then, again," said Mr. Dallas, reading from the letter, with its several sheets of closely written foreign paper, that he still held in his hand, " Captain Crofton says that ' Prince Cammadio was afraid I shall think the little Princess delicate ; he always called her his " little white Lily ; " but she is not really delicate, and has never had any illness, only her brain is very active, too much so for a young child, and she is not to be allowed to learn lessons, not even to read or write, until she is eight years old.' She is very intelligent, Captain Crofton says.

But, dear me ! Peters, this adds to my perplexities and anxieties about her very much. What rosy, healthy, happy children Miss Janie and Miss Ella were ! " Peters was silent ; he did not like to point out to his master that both these had died young— the latter, the Princess Cammadio, before she was twenty. Mr. Dallas continued: "When the weather is fine the little Princess is to be as much as possible out of doors, and for that she certainly could not come to a better place than Rathgrove. There are the gardens and the park ; and, as you say, Peters, she will be in the nursery with her nurse when she is not out, so perhaps we may get on better than I expect. But it is a great responsi bility at my time of life." And Mr. Dallas ruffled his hair and sighed. It is indeed, sir," said Peters, sympathetically.

" Then to-morrow I will consult your wife as to the rooms that she considers the best and healthiest for the Princess's nurseries. That is all at present, Peters. I will rest now before I dress for dinner." When Peters had gone as noiselessly as he had come, Mr. Dallas took a book and tried to read, but he could not fix his thoughts upon any other Great-Grandpapa. 13 subject than the one of which the fateful letter was filled from the beginning to the end. It certainly was a great change for him. His wife had died nearly nineteen years ago, and since then he had lived a solitary, peaceful life, quite happy in his own way. He was on friendly terms with all his neighbours, rich and poor ; but he did not care to visit, nor did he entertain, so those of his own rank almost forgot his existence unless they met him riding or driving.

He was active, and attended to his own affairs, rode round his farms and saw that all was in order, and was con sulted by his steward in every particular. He was fond of reading, and had a very good and splendid library, so that he was never dull. Life at Rath grove moved by clockwork, and the servants were of the same order as himself, and disliked change quite as much as their master. It was said in the neighbourhood that no servant who entered Mr. Dallas's employ ever left it, except to be pensioned off; and there was much truth in the saying. Thus it will be foreseen that the news of the arrival of the little Princess Angel, when it was dis cussed at tea that afternoon in the servants' hall, was received with gloom and distrust. It would turn the house topsy-turvy to have a child in it ; it would not be like the same place— meal-times and all would be upset; and then a spoilt child, too !

That brought forward several anecdotes of spoilt children that some of them had heard about : how one lay on the floor and kicked and screamed if what she desired was not brought to her the very minute she asked for it ; how another cried herself into a fit because she could not get anybody to fetch a ladder and climb up into the sky and bring down one of the stars that she had set her fancy upon. And in this strain the talk went on. But the youngest of the party — the rosy cheeked scullery-maid Maggie — ventured a timid word for the poor little stranger. " I am afraid it will be very dull for the little Princess," she said. The looks of astonishment cast upon her made Maggie blush and hang her head. " She was only a scullery-maid, but she ought to have learnt better manners," Mrs. Peters remarked severely. However, Maggie, though crushed, was not dis mayed, for underneath that outward air of stern ness she knew Mrs. Peters had a kind heart. ( is )

Chapter II

the arrival. Mrs. Peters, it will be seen, proves herself equal to the occasion — And great-grandpapa receives the little Princess. As Mr. Dallas had decided that the wishes of the dying Prince could not in honour be set aside, he lost no time in writing to Captain Crofton to say that he should be ready to receive the little Princess whenever it was considered advisable for her to travel. Then in less than a fortnight from the date of Captain Crofton's first letter the little Princess Angel was due at her new home. She was a child, and the household resented her coming, for their master's sake and for their own ; their master him self had resented it as an intrusion upon the peace and quiet he had hoped to enjoy for the remainder of his life. Still, she belonged to him — she was of his own flesh and blood, and she was moreover a Princess in her own right ; and Mrs. Peters deter mined that nothing should be left undone to give her the welcome it was fitting she should receive.

The house was a very large one, and it was easy to assign to the Princess a suite of rooms for her special use. Mrs. Peters chose those her grand mother had had when she was a few years older than the little Princess. There upon the walls were book-cases, in which were the books she used to read — Miss Edgeworth's stories of " Rosamond and her Brother and Sister," " Eyes and No Eyes," " Happy because Good," " Little Harry and his Bearer," "Sandford and Merton," and many others. These Mrs. Peters left ; but the furniture in many cases was heavy and old-fashioned, and this she replaced by lighter, prettier, and more attractive articles. However, a few days before the date upon which the Princess herself was expected several huge packages arrived, also a note from Captain Crofton, explaining ' they were a few pictures and treasures of the little Princess Angel's that she did not like to leave behind.' And as Mrs. Peters silently regarded these enormous boxes, she came to the conclusion that some of her new purchases would have to be swept away.

At present she did not alter the arrangement of the rooms, for the packages were not to be opened until the little Princess came. The vans bringing the furniture, the coming and going of men, the general bustle attendant upon the whole household, could not altogether escape the notice of Mr. Dallas, and as he sat by the fire on those cold and stormy afternoons, he ruffled his hair and gave many a sigh to the quietness no longer to be his. This was only the beginning of what was always to be ; ' but it is Janie's grandchild, and my dear wife would have wished it, and therefore I must make the best of it,' he would think as he took up a book or a newspaper and tried to forget. ' They look cheerful and comfortable enough even for a Princess,' was Mrs. Peters' comment to the housemaids, as she walked through 'the nurseries,' as she called them, giving the finishing touches, and looking carefully in corners and out of-the-way places, to make sure that no dust was left.

Fires of blazing logs of wood burnt in every grate — no coal was used at Rathgrove except in the servants' part — a fancy of the master's — and C roared, and crackled, and threw dancing lights upon the polished floors, and did their very best to make people forget that in the outside world the King of the Frost and the Snow had matters all his own way. He had moved rather more quietly the last day or two, and Captain Crofton and the little Princess had been able to cross the sea and to get to London. Captain Crofton was obliged to rejoin his regi ment at once, and could only escort Princess Angel and her maid — a Welsh young woman named Evans — as far as the nearest junction. Two foot men had been sent to meet them there, and Mrs. Peters, when she had satisfied herself that no dust was to be found, and everything was as it should be, glanced anxiously from the windows. <j Hitherto the day, if cold, had been still, and snow had tried at intervals to fall ; but great flakes were coming down in real earnest at last, and the ominous rustle of the tree-tops and the moaning around the house told that the wind was rising, and the end of the day would be rude and rough.

Faster fell the white flakes, shriller in cry was the voice of the wind, and Mrs. Peters, standing at one of the windows, shook her head. ' If only it had kept off a few hours longer,' she said. ' Ten miles to drive from the station for that delicate little thing on an afternoon like this ! Anyway, there are plenty of wraps and hot-bottles ; we have done all we can.' And with a few parting directions to the house maids she went to her own room. Two hours later, when the carriage might be ex pected in ten minutes or even less, if the train were very punctual, Mrs. Peters, who was too restless to settle to anything, was talking to the cook, Mrs. Cray. This latter was a comfortable motherly sort of person, slow in manner, in movement, and in speech ; she seemed most at ease when she was seated, as she was now, in a roomy arm-chair, and she looked as if she would gladly be spared the trouble of ever getting out of it again.

Upon the table was a tray covered with the finest and whitest of damask cloths, a crystal bowl set on it caught the lights and sparkled as if encrusted with diamonds ; a gold spoon reflected the red flames of fire ; a plate to match the bowl held a freshly baked roll ; a sponge-cake with a golden-brown crust spoke of unsparing use of new-laid eggs ; while a jug of milk from the afternoon's milking had just been brought in by the dairymaid and stood beside the tray. There had been sjlence for a few seconds, and the cook was the first to break it ; she had evidently been reflecting upon something, and she gave relief to it in words. " Do you think," she said, with a slow yet doubtful nod in the direction of the tray, " that the little Princess will have been used to that sort of food ? " Mrs. Peters mistook her meaning ; she turned swiftly round to see if anything was wrong, and then as quickly turned back again to face the fire.

" I am sure she won't have been used to anything so good in those foreign places," she said. " Why, you are famous for your cakes as you are for the rest of your cooking, Mrs. Cray ; and as for the milk ! — thin, poor, half-water stuff is what the little Princess has had. If she had been brought up on the Rathgrove milk she would be as plump and rosy as was her grandmother, bless her little heart ! " Mrs. Cray's smile, like all else about her, was slow, but it came at last in answer to Mrs. Peters' testimony to her powers of cooking. " The milk is good," she replied ; " none better in this country-side, at any rate. The Duke's cow man came over t'other day to ask what our cows were fed on ; says they haven't such milk at the castle." "Ah!" said Mrs. Peters, in a gratified tone. Then, as a fresh shriek was heard as the wind tore round the house, she moved uneasily.

"What a day for a delicate child to travel, to be sure ! " she said. " I will go and tell Ann to get the warming-pan and warm the bed, and the little Princess had better be undressed at once, and she can get her bread-and-milk tucked cosily up between the sheets. Let the milk be put on to boil directly you hear them come, Mrs. Cray." Mrs. Peters' orders to Ann, however, were never given, for the loud peal of a bell made her hasten her steps to the front of the house, lest she should not be in time to greet the new arrival. Two large fires — one at the upper, the other at the lower, end of the hall — burnt their brightest ; the swing lamps, hanging on brass chains from the oak beams crossing and recrossing each other on the ceiling, were all alight, and the front door was open just long enough to give a glimpse of bare branches tossing to and fro, of great falling flakes of feathery snow swirling hither and thither at the mercy of the wind, when Peters entered, and, passing across the hall, put down the burden that he carried at the entrance of the room in which Mr. Dallas was sitting awaiting his grandchild.

Mrs. Peters, who was close at hand, quickly un fastened the cloak and hood of black velvet lined and trimmed with chinchilla fur, and the little Princess Angel stood revealed to view. She was a slender child, very delicately made, and her clinging black dress made her seem yet more slender. Her fair hair, of the shade known as auburn, fell in natural curls to her waist, hef face was oval in shape, her complexion quite colourless but clear and soft, and her two small lips closing so firmly one over the other were as red as perfect health could make them. Her eye brows and lashes were much darker than her hair, and, for this reason, her eyes looked at first sight black ; only when the light shone upon them you saw that they were a deep dark blue. Mr. Dallas came forward from the upper end of the room, one hand held out, the other opening and shutting his double eye-glass.

If the Prince and Princess of Wales had honoured him with a visit he would have been perfectly at his ease, and would have known the right thing to do and say ; yet here, in the presence of this little maiden of six years old, he felt nervous and awkward and almost shy. Little Princess Angel, on the contrary, was quite at home, and she walked quietly and quickly to meet her great-grandpapa, her head held well up ; and when he put out his hand to take hers, she raised her face and said, " You are my great-grandpapa ; Captain Jack said I was to kiss you." Mr. Dallas sat down upon the nearest chair, lifted her upon his knee, and kissed her. But the little Princess did not seem satisfied ; she looked at him with her large dark eyes gravely, and even — so Mr. Dallas thought, though he could not tell why — reproachfully.

He cleared his throat and stroked her hair, still the little Princess' eyes never left his face. Then something stirred within his heart, some thing that had not moved there for many a long year, and that set it beating rapidly ; while a pulse within his throat beat in unison, and a mist came before his eyes, and even while he wondered what these tokens meant, he found himself drawing closely to him the tiny figure upon his knees, and pressing kisses upon the upturned face, and in a voice, tremulous and husky, and not at all like his usual one, bidding her 'welcome to Rathgrove.' Little Princess Angel leaned her head against his shoulder, as if quite content, and then her eyes strayed down the room until they rested upon the figures of Peters and Mrs. Peters, who were just upon the edge of the threshold.

" There is somebody there, great-grandpapa ? " she said, as if asking a question. " Of course ! " said Mr. Dallas. " Why, my dear, I quite forgot. Those are my very great friends, Peters the butler, and Mrs. Peters the housekeeper. Peters was with me in your great-grandmother's time, and Mrs. Peters knew both your grand mother and mamma." The Princess slid from her great-grandpapa's knee and walked down the room until she reached the door. " I am very glad to see you," she said, holding out her hand. Mrs. Peters curtseyed low, and the tears came into her eyes as she took Princess Angel's hand and murmured something almost inaudibly about " hoping to live to see the little Princess grow up." Then when she had found her full voice again, she looked at Mr. Dallas, who had followed the little Princess, and said — " I am afraid the little Princess is very tired after her cold' journey, sir. Shall I order her supper to be served ? and perhaps she would like it in bed ?

" " I am not at all tired, thank you," little Princess Angel answered for herself. " But if you will show me to my room and send Evans to me, I will change my dress, to be ready to have dinner with great-grandpapa." " Certainly, my darling, certainly," said Mr. Dallas, hastily. " Peters " But Peters had already gone to send one foot man to the conservatories for more flowers for the table, and another for extra lights, while he himself altered the arrangements of the table from a dinner for one to a dinner for two. It was a long time, very many years, since Mr. Dallas had had a companion to dine with him, and he lost his appetite for his soup that evening, for his eyes and thoughts strayed constantly to the little figure beside him in her white dress with its black ribbons. He would not have been surprised to wake up and find that he had been dreaming, but in the mean time he found himself talking to the child as if she were a little old lady he had known all his life.