Grace Harlowes Junior Year at High School | Page 6

eyes and the combination of white skin and black hair that go to
make an Irish beauty. She returned his love, and after a brief
engagement they were married, much against the wishes of Margaret,
who thought them both too young and impressionable to know their
own minds."
"And did they live happy ever after?" asked Grace eagerly.
"That is the sad part of my story," said Mrs. Gray, sighing. "They were
anything but happy. They both had too much of the artistic
temperament to live peaceably. Besides, Guido Savelli was thoroughly
selfish at heart. Next to himself, his music was the only thing in the
world that he really cared for. When they had been married for about a
year and a half he played before the king, and soon became the man of
the hour. He neglected his beautiful young wife, who, in spite of their
frequent quarrels, loved him with a pure and disinterested affection.
"Finally he went on a concert tour through the principal European cities,
and she never saw him again. She wrote him repeatedly, but he never
answered her letters, and she was too proud to follow him. She had one
child, a baby girl, named Eleanor, who was the sole comfort of the
heartbroken mother."
At this juncture Anne and Grace exchanged significant glances.
"When Eleanor was about a year old, the mother wrote Guido Savelli
once more, begging him to come to her, if only for the sake of his child,
but either he never received the letter or else paid no attention to it, for
she received no reply. She relapsed into a dull, apathetic state, from
which the repeated efforts of her sister failed to arouse her. The

following winter she contracted pneumonia and died, leaving her sister
the sole guardian of Eleanor."
"How long ago did all this happen, dear Mrs. Gray?" queried Nora
eagerly, "and is little Eleanor living?"
"It was sixteen years ago, my dear," replied Mrs. Gray, "and the reason
that I have told you this long tale is because the baby girl is almost a
woman now, and----"
"The girl is Eleanor Savell and we met her the other day," broke in
Grace excitedly, forgetting for an instant that she had interrupted Mrs.
Gray. "She is going to live at 'Heartsease' and---- oh, Mrs. Gray, please
pardon me for interrupting you, I was so excited that I didn't realize my
own rudeness."
"Granted, my dear," smiled the old lady. "But how did you happen to
meet Eleanor? They arrived only a few days ago."
Grace rapidly narrated their meeting and conversation with Eleanor,
while Mrs. Gray listened without comment. When Grace repeated
Eleanor's remark about having made up her mind, the old lady looked a
little troubled. Then her face cleared and she said softly:
"My dear Christmas children, I am very anxious that for her own sake
you should become well acquainted with Eleanor. Her aunt was here
yesterday, and we had a long talk regarding her. Eleanor is an
uncommon girl in many respects. She has remarkable beauty and talent,
but she is frightfully self-willed. Her aunt has spoiled her, and realizes
too late the damage she has done by having allowed her to grow up on
the continent. They have lived in France, Germany, Italy and Spain,
with an occasional visit to America, and Eleanor has always done just
as she pleased. For years her aunt has obeyed her slightest whim, but as
she grows older she grows more like her father, and her aunt wants her
to have some steadying influence that will put a curb on her
unconventional tendencies.
"When she wrote me of Eleanor, I wrote her about my girls, and

offered her 'Heartsease.' She was delighted with the whole thing and
lost no time in getting here. So now you understand why I have told
you all this. I want you to promise me that you will do what you can for
this motherless girl."
"But we felt sure we should like her when we saw her the other day,"
said Nora. "She seemed so sweet and winning."
"So she is. She has her father's winning personality, and a good deal of
his selfishness, too," replied Mrs. Gray. "You won't find her at all
disagreeable. But she is reckless, self-willed, defiant of public opinion
and exceedingly impulsive. I look to you girls to keep her out of
mischief."
"Well, we'll try, but I never did pride myself on being a first-class
reformer," said Grace, laughing.
"Where is her father now?" asked Anne. "Is it possible that he is the
great Savelli who toured America two years ago?"
"He is the man," said Mrs. Gray. "He is a wonderful musician. I heard
him in New York City. I shall never forget