The Tapestry Room | Page 7

eyes were very sweet and gentle, and,
tired though he was, Jeanne could see that he was trying to smile and
look pleased. But he was very tired and very shy. That was all that was
the matter. And his shyness made Jeanne feel shy too.
"Are you very tired, my cousin?" she said at last.
"Not very, thank you," said Hugh. "I am rather tired, but I am not very
hungry," he added, glancing at a side-table where a little supper had
been laid out for him. "I am not very hungry, but I think Nibble is.
Might I have a little milk for Nibble, please?"
As he spoke he held up for Jeanne to see the small box he was carrying,
and she gave a little scream of pleasure when, through the bars, she
caught sight of the guinea-pig's soft nose, poking out, saying as plainly
almost as if he had spoken, "I want my supper; please to see at once
about my supper, little girl."
"Neeble," cried Jeanne, "O my cousin, is Neeble your pet? Why, he is a
'cochon de Barbarie!' O the dear little fellow! We could not--at least
papa and mamma could not--read what he was. And have you brought
him all the way, my cousin, and do you love him very much?
Marcelline, Marcelline, oh, do give us some milk for the cochon de
Barbarie--oh, see, Marcelline, how sweet he is!"

Once set free, her tongue ran on so fast that sometimes Hugh had
difficulty to understand her. But the ice was broken any way, and when,
an hour or two later, Jeanne's mother told her she might take Hugh up
to show him his room, the two trotted off, hand-in-hand, as if they had
been close companions for years.
"I hope you will like your room, chéri," said Jeanne, with a tiny tone of
patronising. "It is not very far from mine, and mamma says we can
keep all our toys and books together in my big cupboard in the
passage."
Hugh looked at Jeanne for a moment without speaking. "What was that
name you called me just now, Jeanne?" he asked, after a little pause.
Jeanne thought for a minute.
"'Mon cousin,' was it that?" she said. "Oh no, I remember, it was 'chéri.'
I cannot say your name--I have tried all these days. I cannot say it
better than 'Ee-ou,' which is not pretty."
She screwed her rosy little mouth into the funniest shape as she tried to
manage "Hugh." Hugh could hardly help laughing.
"Never mind," he said. "I like 'chéri' ever so much better. I like it better
than 'mon cousin' or any name, because, do you know," he added,
dropping his voice a little, "I remember now, though I had forgotten till
you said it--that was the name mamma called me by."
"Chéri!" repeated Jeanne, stopping half-way up the staircase to throw
her arms round Hugh's neck at the greatest risk to the equilibrium of the
whole party, including the guinea-pig--"_Chéri!_ I shall always call
you so, then. You shall be my Prince Chéri. Don't you love fairy stories,
mon cousin?"
"Awfully," said Hugh, from the bottom of his soul.
[Illustration: 'ISN'T IT A FUNNY ROOM, CHÉRI?'--p. 25]

"I knew you would," said Jeanne triumphantly. "And oh, so do I!
Marcelline says, Chéri, that the tapestry room--that's the room you're
going to have--is full of fairy stories. I wonder if you'll find out any of
them. You must tell me if you do."
"The tapestry room?" repeated Hugh; "I don't think I ever saw a
tapestry room. Oh," he added, as a sudden recollection struck him, "is it
like what that queen long ago worked about the battles and all that? I
mean all about William the Conqueror."
"No," said Jeanne, "it's quite different from that work. I've seen that, so
I know. It isn't pretty at all. It's just long strips of linen with
queer-shaped horses and things worked on. Not at all pretty. And I
think the pictures on the walls of your room are pretty. Here it is. Isn't
it a funny room, Chéri?"
She opened the door of the tapestry room as she spoke, for while
chattering they had mounted the staircase and made their way along the
corridor. Hugh followed his little cousin into the room, and stood
gazing round him with curious surprise and pleasure. The walls were
well lighted up, for Marcelline had carried a lamp upstairs and set it
down on the table, and a bright fire was burning in the wide
old-fashioned hearth.
"Jeanne," said Hugh, after a minute's silence, "Jeanne, it is very funny,
but, do you know, I am sure I have seen this room before. I seem to
know the pictures on the walls. Oh, how nice