02 Jo of the Chalet School (30 page)

‘
I
wasn’t zere,’ said the Robin reproachfully.

Madge smiled at her. ‘No; I know you weren’t. But Joey remembers.’

‘Rather!’ said that young lady. ‘Is he going up there?’

‘Yes. They are building a huge place-a sanatorium-up there in the little village on the Sonnalpe, and Dr Jem is going to take charge of it. He wont’ live there: he’s going to have a chalet built above the village, where he will live.’

‘Coo! Won’t he be lonely?’ queried Jo with interest.

A little smile edged Madge’s lips. ‘At first he may. But it won’t be for long. You see, he’s going to be married.’

Joey stood stock-still in the middle of the path. ‘
Married!
Who to? Oh! How absolutely
rotten
of him!’

‘Joey!’ Madge fairly gasped.

‘Well, it is! Oh, he
is
a mean! I just hate him!’ And Joey turned and walked on, frowning heavily.

‘Joey!’ Madge’s voice was sharp with dismay. ‘Why, I thought you liked him so much!’

‘I
did
! I don’t now! I think he’s a pig! I’ll never speak to him again!’

‘But Joey, why?’ Madge was so much upset that she forgot to scold Jo for unparliamentary language.

‘To go and get
married
! To a beastly stranger!’

The elder girl’s face relaxed. ‘
Oh!
But-but-it
isn’t
a stranger, Joey dear!’

Jo looked up sharply. Then the slow colour flushed her face. ‘Madge!’

‘Yes, Joey!’ Madge’s eyes were starry, and she looked lovely as she smiled at her little sister. ‘You won’t hate him, Joey dear, when he is-your brother!’

Joey’s answer was to fling her arms round her sister, nearly upsetting the pair of them into the lake, and hug her vehemently. ‘Oh, Madge! Really, truly? Oh, I
am
so glad! I’ve wanted it for ages! He’s such a dear-nearly nice enough for you!’

The whistle of the engine interrupted them then, and they had to tear cross to the train, and only just got in in time. There were very few passengers, and no one but themselves in their carriage, so Madge finished her story on the way down.

‘We sha’n't be married for a year at leats, Joey. Probably it will be two years. I want to see the school well begun, and he has to establish his sanatorium. And I’m young yet; so I shall be Head of the Chalet School for some time yet. When we are married, you and the Robin will live with us till you have homes of your own; for, Robin, your father is leaving Russia, and coming to be Jem’s secretary up here. Isn’t that splendid?’

The Robin snuggled closer. ‘I am
so
glad, Tante Marguerite! And
Monsieur le docteur
, he will be my Oncle Zem,
n’est-ce pas
? And Papa and Zoe, too?-Zoe, you shall call my papa “Oncle,” too! Oh, it will be nice!’

‘Nice!’ Joey repeated her words rapturously. ‘It’ll be gorgeous!-Oh, Madge, it’s jus the very nicest and splendidest of all our adventures!’

Madge looked down at the slender ring on her left had, where a sapphire glowed in the sunshine, blue as the waters of the Tiern See under summer skies, and smiled softly to herself. ‘I think so, too!’ she said.