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"Oh, if I had Alice here, wouldn't I give it to her?" she said to herself. "If I had that detestable Miss Ravenscroft here, wouldn't I give her a piece of my mind? How dare she order me about? Am I not Kathleen O'Hara of Carrigrohane? Is not my father a sort of king in old Ireland? And what is she? I'll prove to her that I defy her. I will go to see Aunt Katie O'Flynn; nothing shall keep me back."
No one need be dull who has the privilege of listening to two Irishwomen who have been parted for some time talking their hearts out to each other. Kathleen and her aunt were no exception to the universal rule. Kathleen had never been from home before, and Aunt Katie had things to tell her about every person, man and woman, old and young, on the Carrigrohane estate.
You think it is beneath me, perhaps; but I am a lady from a castle, and at Carrigrohane Castle we often do this sort of thing when the hands of the poor maids are full to overflowing." The cook, a sandy-haired and sour-looking woman, began by scowling at Kathleen; but soon the girl's pretty face and merry eyes appeased her.
She was not Kathleen O'Hara of Carrigrohane Castle for nothing. "Come here, Miss O'Hara," said the voice of Miss Ravenscroft at that moment. Kathleen obeyed at once. She found a seat on the front bench, dropped into it, and at the same moment encountered the almost malicious glance of Alice Tennant. She turned away from Alice. That look seemed suddenly to steady her nerves.
This was a great deal from Alice, who had made up her mind never to be friends with the Irish girl. Then she got into bed and fell asleep. The next morning, quite early, Kathleen was up. She was accustomed to getting up almost at cock-crow at Carrigrohane, and when Alice opened her eyes, it was to see an empty bed and an empty room. "I wonder if she's up to mischief?" she thought.
Now I want a good bit of money; not a pound or even five pounds, but more than that. Can you send me a ten-pound note, daddy mine, and say nothing whatever about it to the mother or the retainers at Carrigrohane? And can you let me have it as quick as quick can be? Maybe I will want more before the term is up, or maybe I won't. Anyhow, we will let that lie in the future.
"It is very silly to talk about ghosts. Nobody believes in them," said Alice. "I'll ask father if I may have you at Carrigrohane in the summer, and then see if you don't believe. She wears white." "I am going out now, Kathleen; aren't you coming with me?" "No, thank you, my love." "You ought to, Kathleen. I am busy preparing for my scholarship examination or I would stay and argue with you.
What do you say to Carrigrohane in the summer, and a gun all to yourself? I'll teach you how to shoot rabbits and to bring down a bird on the wing." She brushed her lips against his cheek, and ran lightly upstairs. She escaped the treacherous second step, and entered her bedroom without waking Alice.
I don't mind Miss Spicer so much; she's the music teacher. As to Miss Ravenscroft, I have never even seen her." "And who is she, darling?" "The head-mistress, and no end of a toff." "What's a toff, dear?" "It's a slang word they use in stupid old England." "I don't admire it, my love. Don't you demean yourself by bringing words of that sort home to Carrigrohane."
"I should think they would like it. Who wouldn't like it? It's a very great honor for an old lady to be entertained to her tea in a castle. And so you live in a castle, my bonny young lady?" "Yes; my father owns Carrigrohane Castle." "Eh, love! it is a mouthful of a word for me to get round my lips. But never mind; it is but to look at you to see how beautiful and good you are."
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