The Little Secret Read Online Free Page A

noticed that some of the stories made Staffa frown. Perhaps she was embarrassed because her mother was making things up.
    On the other hand, it was obvious that Lady Matilda and Staffa came from nowhere ordinary. Jane couldn’t have said exactly why or how, but she knew they were not ordinary people. It was quite easy to imagine them dancing through the night in grand ballrooms, wearing silks dyed to look like the wings of butterflies.
    â€œAll this talk of dancing makes me thirsty,” said Lady Matilda. “I need another cup of tea.” She held out her enormous cup.
    Staffa (who wasn’t eating anything) took the cup. She filled it from the huge, pear-shaped brass teapot. There was a strong smell of orange peel and gasoline. The tea was such a dark purple that it looked almost black.
    Jane was looking curiously around the room. Most of the furniture was comfortable and boring, and obviously belonged to the hotel. But Lady Matilda’s throne-like chair was surrounded by all kinds of strange objects, which she must have brought from her home. On the low table, beside the big brass teapot, there was a large picture in a gold frame, of a handsome young man in some kind of uniform — Jane wondered if he was Staffa’s brother. Next to the picture was a huge and hideous brass spider, upon which was carved the word “Tornado.”
    The strangest and most beautiful thing in the room was a box that stood on a table at her ladyship’s side. It was about the size of a small bedside cabinet, perfectly square and covered all over with paintings so wonderful that Jane felt she could have stared at them forever — castles, mountains, deep forests bathed in sunlight. The colors were so rich and bright that it almost hurt to look at them.
    Lady Matilda smiled broadly (with her mouth full of doughnut). “Ah, you’re looking at my box. Do you like it?”
    Jane said, truthfully, “I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
    â€œWhat good taste you have,” Lady Matilda said. “It’s an old family treasure, made by our people many hundreds of years ago. I simply can’t travel without it. I must have my comforts around me. My gold teapot, for instance — you must always brew Haw-haw in a teapot of solid gold.”
    â€œGold?” Jane was fascinated. “I thought it was made of brass!”
    â€œCertainly not — that would ruin the flavor.”
    Jane saw now that the yellow metal of the teapot was far too beautiful to be brass. She tried to remember whether solid gold was softer or harder than brass. Wouldn’t the flame of the gaslight melt it? She decided to ask Mom, who was good at science. “What about the spider?” she asked. “Is that solid gold too?”
    Lady Matilda patted the large and hideous spider. “Oh, yes. Only gold was good enough for him.” She leaned across the table. “His name was Tornado. He was a racing spider. I had this little statue made when he won the Queen’s Cup for the tenth time.”
    â€œOh,” Jane said. She had not known there was any such thing as a racing spider.
    â€œPoor Tornado died shortly afterwards,” Lady Matilda said. “Four of his legs were broken. He had to be shot.”
    â€œOh.” Jane looked uneasily at Staffa. This sounded crazy. What kind of gun would be tiny enough to shoot a spider? Wouldn’t it have been simpler just to step on it?
    Staffa jumped up. “I think Jane has to go home now.”
    â€œOh, what a shame,” said Lady Matilda. “It’s been a delight to meet you, Jane.” She rose from her throne. She was very tall, and she loomed over Jane like a great blue satin cliff. “Staffa, find a big bag and fill it up with cakes for Jane’s brothers.”
    â€œGood idea,” said Staffa. “And can I go to have tea at the Boy Garden tomorrow?”
    â€œYes, dear. I don’t see