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You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: Cranford - -Author: Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - -Release Date: January, 1996 [EBook #394] -[This file was first posted on December 7, 1995] -[Most recently updated: August 18, 2002] - -Edition: 10 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CRANFORD *** - - - - -Transcribed from the 1907 J. M. Dent edition by David Price, email -ccx074@coventry.ac.uk. Extra proofing by Margaret Price. - - - - -CRANFORD - - - - -CHAPTER I--OUR SOCIETY - - - -In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all -the holders of houses above a certain rent are women. If a married -couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman -disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the -only man in the Cranford evening parties, or he is accounted for by -being with his regiment, his ship, or closely engaged in business -all the week in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble, -distant only twenty miles on a railroad. In short, whatever does -become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford. What could they -do if they were there? The surgeon has his round of thirty miles, -and sleeps at Cranford; but every man cannot be a surgeon. For -keeping the trim gardens full of choice flowers without a weed to -speck them; for frightening away little boys who look wistfully at -the said flowers through the railings; for rushing out at the geese -that occasionally venture in to the gardens if the gates are left -open; for deciding all questions of literature and politics without -troubling themselves with unnecessary reasons or arguments; for -obtaining clear and correct knowledge of everybody's affairs in the -parish; for keeping their neat maid-servants in admirable order; -for kindness (somewhat dictatorial) to the poor, and real tender -good offices to each other whenever they are in distress, the -ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient. "A man," as one of them -observed to me once, "is SO in the way in the house!" Although the -ladies of Cranford know all each other's proceedings, they are -exceedingly indifferent to each other's opinions. Indeed, as each -has her own individuality, not to say eccentricity, pretty strongly -developed, nothing is so easy as verbal retaliation; but, somehow, -good-will reigns among them to a considerable degree. - -The Cranford ladies have only an occasional little quarrel, -spirited out in a few peppery words and angry jerks of the head; -just enough to prevent the even tenor of their lives from becoming -too flat. Their dress is very independent of fashion; as they -observe, "What does it signify how we dress here at Cranford, where -everybody knows us?" And if they go from home, their reason is -equally cogent, "What does it signify how we dress here, where -nobody knows us?" The materials of their clothes are, in general, -good and plain, and most of them are nearly as scrupulous as Miss -Tyler, of cleanly memory; but I will answer for it, the last gigot, -the last tight and scanty petticoat in wear in England, was seen in -Cranford--and seen without a smile. - -I can testify to a magnificent family red silk umbrella, under -which a gentle little spinster, left alone of many brothers and -sisters, used to patter to church on rainy days. Have you any red -silk umbrellas in London? We had a tradition of the first that had -ever been seen in Cranford; and the little boys mobbed it, and -called it "a stick in petticoats." It might have been the very red -silk one I have described, held by a strong father over a troop of -little ones; the poor little lady--the survivor of all--could -scarcely carry it. - -Then there were rules and regulations for visiting and calls; and -they were announced to any young people who might be staying in the -town, with all the solemnity with which the old Manx laws were read -once a year on the Tinwald Mount. - -"Our friends have sent to inquire how you are after your journey -to-night, my dear" (fifteen miles in a gentleman's carriage); "they -will give you some rest to-morrow, but the next day, I have no -doubt, they will call; so be at liberty after twelve--from twelve -to three are our calling hours." - -Then, after they had called - - -"It is the third day; I dare say your mamma has told you, my dear, -never to let more than three days elapse between receiving a call -and returning it; and also, that you are never to stay longer than -a quarter of an hour." - -"But am I to look at my watch? How am I to find out when a quarter -of an hour has passed?" - -"You must keep thinking about the time, my dear, and not allow -yourself to forget it in conversation." - -As everybody had this rule in their minds, whether they received or -paid a call, of course no absorbing subject was ever spoken about. -We kept ourselves to short sentences of small talk, and were -punctual to our time. - -I imagine that a few of the gentlefolks of Cranford were poor, and -had some difficulty in making both ends meet; but they were like -the Spartans, and concealed their smart under a smiling face. We -none of us spoke of money, because that subject savoured of -commerce and trade, and though some might be poor, we were all -aristocratic. The Cranfordians had that kindly esprit de corps -which made them overlook all deficiencies in success when some -among them tried to conceal their poverty. When Mrs Forrester, for -instance, gave a party in her baby-house of a dwelling, and the -little maiden disturbed the ladies on the sofa by a request that -she might get the tea-tray out from underneath, everyone took this -novel proceeding as the most natural thing in the world, and talked -on about household forms and ceremonies as if we all believed that -our hostess had a regular servants' hall, second table, with -housekeeper and steward, instead of the one little charity-school -maiden, whose short ruddy arms could never have been strong enough -to carry the tray upstairs, if she had not been assisted in private -by her mistress, who now sat in state, pretending not to know what -cakes were sent up, though she knew, and we knew, and she knew that -we knew, and we knew that she knew that we knew, she had been busy -all the morning making tea-bread and sponge-cakes. - -There were one or two consequences arising from this general but -unacknowledged poverty, and this very much acknowledged gentility, -which were not amiss, and which might be introduced into many -circles of society to their great improvement. For instance, the -inhabitants of Cranford kept early hours, and clattered home in -their pattens, under the guidance of a lantern-bearer, about nine -o'clock at night; and the whole town was abed and asleep by half- -past ten. Moreover, it was considered "vulgar" (a tremendous word -in Cranford) to give anything expensive, in the way of eatable or -drinkable, at the evening entertainments. Wafer bread-and-butter -and sponge-biscuits were all that the Honourable Mrs Jamieson gave; -and she was sister-in-law to the late Earl of Glenmire, although -she did practise such "elegant economy." - -"Elegant economy!" How naturally one falls back into the -phraseology of Cranford! There, economy was always "elegant," and -money-spending always "vulgar and ostentatious"; a sort of sour- -grapeism which made us very peaceful and satisfied. I never shall -forget the dismay felt when a certain Captain Brown came to live at -Cranford, and openly spoke about his being poor--not in a whisper -to an intimate friend, the doors and windows being previously -closed, but in the public street! in a loud military voice! -alleging his poverty as a reason for not taking a particular house. -The ladies of Cranford were already rather moaning over the -invasion of their territories by a man and a gentleman. He was a -half-pay captain, and had obtained some situation on a neighbouring -railroad, which had been vehemently petitioned against by the -little town; and if, in addition to his masculine gender, and his -connection with the obnoxious railroad, he was so brazen as to talk -of being poor--why, then, indeed, he must be sent to Coventry. -Death was as true and as common as poverty; yet people never spoke -about that, loud out in the streets. It was a word not to be -mentioned to ears polite. We had tacitly agreed to ignore that any -with whom we associated on terms of visiting equality could ever be -prevented by poverty from doing anything that they wished. If we -walked to or from a party, it was because the night was SO fine, or -the air SO refreshing, not because sedan-chairs were expensive. If -we wore prints, instead of summer silks, it was because we -preferred a washing material; and so on, till we blinded ourselves -to the vulgar fact that we were, all of us, people of very moderate -means. Of course, then, we did not know what to make of a man who -could speak of poverty as if it was not a disgrace. Yet, somehow, -Captain Brown made himself respected in Cranford, and was called -upon, in spite of all resolutions to the contrary. I was surprised -to hear his opinions quoted as authority at a visit which I paid to -Cranford about a year after he had settled in the town. My own -friends had been among the bitterest opponents of any proposal to -visit the Captain and his daughters, only twelve months before; and -now he was even admitted in the tabooed hours before twelve. True, -it was to discover the cause of a smoking chimney, before the fire -was lighted; but still Captain Brown walked upstairs, nothing -daunted, spoke in a voice too large for the room, and joked quite -in the way of a tame man about the house. He had been blind to all -the small slights, and omissions of trivial ceremonies, with which -he had been received. He had been friendly, though the Cranford -ladies had been cool; he had answered small sarcastic compliments -in good faith; and with his manly frankness had overpowered all the -shrinking which met him as a man who was not ashamed to be poor. -And, at last, his excellent masculine common sense, and his -facility in devising expedients to overcome domestic dilemmas, had -gained him an extraordinary place as authority among the Cranford -ladies. He himself went on in his course, as unaware of his -popularity as he had been of the reverse; and I am sure he was -startled one day when he found his advice so highly esteemed as to -make some counsel which he had given in jest to be taken in sober, -serious earnest. - -It was on this subject: An old lady had an Alderney cow, which she -looked upon as a daughter. You could not pay the short quarter of -an hour call without being told of the wonderful milk or wonderful -intelligence of this animal. The whole town knew and kindly -regarded Miss Betsy Barker's Alderney; therefore great was the -sympathy and regret when, in an unguarded moment, the poor cow -tumbled into a lime-pit. She moaned so loudly that she was soon -heard and rescued; but meanwhile the poor beast had lost most of -her hair, and came out looking naked, cold, and miserable, in a -bare skin. Everybody pitied the animal, though a few could not -restrain their smiles at her droll appearance. Miss Betsy Barker -absolutely cried with sorrow and dismay; and it was said she -thought of trying a bath of oil. This remedy, perhaps, was -recommended by some one of the number whose advice she asked; but -the proposal, if ever it was made, was knocked on the head by -Captain Brown's decided "Get her a flannel waistcoat and flannel -drawers, ma'am, if you wish to keep her alive. But my advice is, -kill the poor creature at once." - -Miss Betsy Barker dried her eyes, and thanked the Captain heartily; -she set to work, and by-and-by all the town turned out to see the -Alderney meekly going to her pasture, clad in dark grey flannel. I -have watched her myself many a time. Do you ever see cows dressed -in grey flannel in London? - -Captain Brown had taken a small house on the outskirts of the town, -where he lived with his two daughters. He must have been upwards -of sixty at the time of the first visit I paid to Cranford after I -had left it as a residence. But he had a wiry, well-trained, -elastic figure, a stiff military throw-back of his head, and a -springing step, which made him appear much younger than he was. -His eldest daughter looked almost as old as himself, and betrayed -the fact that his real was more than his apparent age. Miss Brown -must have been forty; she had a sickly, pained, careworn expression -on her face, and looked as if the gaiety of youth had long faded -out of sight. Even when young she must have been plain and hard- -featured. Miss Jessie Brown was ten years younger than her sister, -and twenty shades prettier. Her face was round and dimpled. Miss -Jenkyns once said, in a passion against Captain Brown (the cause of -which I will tell you presently), "that she thought it was time for -Miss Jessie to leave off her dimples, and not always to be trying -to look like a child." It was true there was something childlike -in her face; and there will be, I think, till she dies, though she -should live to a hundred. Her eyes were large blue wondering eyes, -looking straight at you; her nose was unformed and snub, and her -lips were red and dewy; she wore her hair, too, in little rows of -curls, which heightened this appearance. I do not know whether she -was pretty or not; but I liked her face, and so did everybody, and -I do not think she could help her dimples. She had something of -her father's jauntiness of gait and manner; and any female observer -might detect a slight difference in the attire of the two sisters-- -that of Miss Jessie being about two pounds per annum more expensive -than Miss Brown's. Two pounds was a large sum in Captain Brown's -annual disbursements. - -Such was the impression made upon me by the Brown family when I -first saw them all together in Cranford Church. The Captain I had -met before--on the occasion of the smoky chimney, which he had -cured by some simple alteration in the flue. In church, he held -his double eye-glass to his eyes during the Morning Hymn, and then -lifted up his head erect and sang out loud and joyfully. He made -the responses louder than the clerk--an old man with a piping -feeble voice, who, I think, felt aggrieved at the Captain's -sonorous bass, and quivered higher and higher in consequence. - -On coming out of church, the brisk Captain paid the most gallant -attention to his two daughters. - -He nodded and smiled to his acquaintances; but he shook hands with -none until he had helped Miss Brown to unfurl her umbrella, had -relieved her of her prayer-book, and had waited patiently till she, -with trembling nervous hands, had taken up her gown to walk through -the wet roads. - -I wonder what the Cranford ladies did with Captain Brown at their -parties. We had often rejoiced, in former days, that there was no -gentleman to be attended to, and to find conversation for, at the -card-parties. We had congratulated ourselves upon the snugness of -the evenings; and, in our love for gentility, and distaste of -mankind, we had almost persuaded ourselves that to be a man was to -be "vulgar"; so that when I found my friend and hostess, Miss -Jenkyns, was going to have a party in my honour, and that Captain -and the Miss Browns were invited, I wondered much what would be the -course of the evening. Card-tables, with green baize tops, were -set out by daylight, just as usual; it was the third week in -November, so the evenings closed in about four. Candles, and clean -packs of cards, were arranged on each table. The fire was made up; -the neat maid-servant had received her last directions; and there -we stood, dressed in our best, each with a candle-lighter in our -hands, ready to dart at the candles as soon as the first knock -came. Parties in Cranford were solemn festivities, making the -ladies feel gravely elated as they sat together in their best -dresses. As soon as three had arrived, we sat down to -"Preference," I being the unlucky fourth. The next four comers -were put down immediately to another table; and presently the tea- -trays, which I had seen set out in the store-room as I passed in -the morning, were placed each on the middle of a card-table. The -china was delicate egg-shell; the old-fashioned silver glittered -with polishing; but the eatables were of the slightest description. -While the trays were yet on the tables, Captain and the Miss Browns -came in; and I could see that, somehow or other, the Captain was a -favourite with all the ladies present. Ruffled brows were -smoothed, sharp voices lowered at his approach. Miss Brown looked -ill, and depressed almost to gloom. Miss Jessie smiled as usual, -and seemed nearly as popular as her father. He immediately and -quietly assumed the man's place in the room; attended to every -one's wants, lessened the pretty maid-servant's labour by waiting -on empty cups and bread-and-butterless ladies; and yet did it all -in so easy and dignified a manner, and so much as if it were a -matter of course for the strong to attend to the weak, that he was -a true man throughout. He played for threepenny points with as -grave an interest as if they had been pounds; and yet, in all his -attention to strangers, he had an eye on his suffering daughter-- -for suffering I was sure she was, though to many eyes she might -only appear to be irritable. Miss Jessie could not play cards: -but she talked to the sitters-out, who, before her coming, had been -rather inclined to be cross. She sang, too, to an old cracked -piano, which I think had been a spinet in its youth. Miss Jessie -sang, "Jock of Hazeldean" a little out of tune; but we were none of -us musical, though Miss Jenkyns beat time, out of time, by way of -appearing to be so. - -It was very good of Miss Jenkyns to do this; for I had seen that, a -little before, she had been a good deal annoyed by Miss Jessie -Brown's unguarded admission (a propos of Shetland wool) that she -had an uncle, her mother's brother, who was a shop-keeper in -Edinburgh. Miss Jenkyns tried to drown this confession by a -terrible cough--for the Honourable Mrs Jamieson was sitting at a -card-table nearest Miss Jessie, and what would she say or think if -she found out she was in the same room with a shop-keeper's niece! -But Miss Jessie Brown (who had no tact, as we all agreed the next -morning) WOULD repeat the information, and assure Miss Pole she -could easily get her the identical Shetland wool required, "through -my uncle, who has the best assortment of Shetland goods of any one -in Edinbro'." It was to take the taste of this out of our mouths, -and the sound of this out of our ears, that Miss Jenkyns proposed -music; so I say again, it was very good of her to beat time to the -song. - -When the trays re-appeared with biscuits and wine, punctually at a -quarter to nine, there was conversation, comparing of cards, and -talking over tricks; but by-and-by Captain Brown sported a bit of -literature. - -"Have you seen any numbers of 'The Pickwick Papers'?" said he. -(They we're then publishing in parts.) "Capital thing!" - -Now Miss Jenkyns was daughter of a deceased rector of Cranford; -and, on the strength of a number of manuscript sermons, and a -pretty good library of divinity, considered herself literary, and -looked upon any conversation about books as a challenge to her. So -she answered and said, "Yes, she had seen them; indeed, she might -say she had read them." - -"And what do you think of them?" exclaimed Captain Brown. "Aren't -they famously good?" - -So urged Miss Jenkyns could not but speak. - -"I must say, I don't think they are by any means equal to Dr -Johnson. Still, perhaps, the author is young. Let him persevere, -and who knows what he may become if he will take the great Doctor -for his model?" This was evidently too much for Captain Brown to -take placidly; and I saw the words on the tip of his tongue before -Miss Jenkyns had finished her sentence. - -"It is quite a different sort of thing, my dear madam," he began. - -"I am quite aware of that," returned she. "And I make allowances, -Captain Brown." - -"Just allow me to read you a scene out of this month's number," -pleaded he. "I had it only this morning, and I don't think the -company can have read it yet." - -"As you please," said she, settling herself with an air of -resignation. He read the account of the "swarry" which Sam Weller -gave at Bath. Some of us laughed heartily. _I_ did not dare, -because I was staying in the house. Miss Jenkyns sat in patient -gravity. When it was ended, she turned to me, and said with mild -dignity - - -"Fetch me 'Rasselas,' my dear, out of the book-room." - -When I had brought it to her, she turned to Captain Brown - - -"Now allow me to read you a scene, and then the present company can -judge between your favourite, Mr Boz, and Dr Johnson." - -She read one of the conversations between Rasselas and Imlac, in a -high-pitched, majestic voice: and when she had ended, she said, "I -imagine I am now justified in my preference of Dr Johnson as a -writer of fiction." The Captain screwed his lips up, and drummed -on the table, but he did not speak. She thought she would give him -a finishing blow or two. - -"I consider it vulgar, and below the dignity of literature, to -publish in numbers." - -"How was the Rambler published, ma'am?" asked Captain Brown in a -low voice, which I think Miss Jenkyns could not have heard. - -"Dr Johnson's style is a model for young beginners. My father -recommended it to me when I began to write letters--I have formed -my own style upon it; I recommended it to your favourite." - -"I should be very sorry for him to exchange his style for any such -pompous writing," said Captain Brown. - -Miss Jenkyns felt this as a personal affront, in a way of which the -Captain had not dreamed. Epistolary writing she and her friends -considered as her forte. Many a copy of many a letter have I seen -written and corrected on the slate, before she "seized the half- -hour just previous to post-time to assure" her friends of this or -of that; and Dr Johnson was, as she said, her model in these -compositions. She drew herself up with dignity, and only replied -to Captain Brown's last remark by saying, with marked emphasis on -every syllable, "I prefer Dr Johnson to Mr Boz." - -It is said--I won't vouch for the fact--that Captain Brown was -heard to say, sotto voce, "D-n Dr Johnson!" If he did, he was -penitent afterwards, as he showed by going to stand near Miss -Jenkyns' arm-chair, and endeavouring to beguile her into -conversation on some more pleasing subject. But she was -inexorable. The next day she made the remark I have mentioned -about Miss Jessie's dimples. - - - -CHAPTER II--THE CAPTAIN - - - -It was impossible to live a month at Cranford and not know the -daily habits of each resident; and long before my visit was ended I -knew much concerning the whole Brown trio. There was nothing new -to be discovered respecting their poverty; for they had spoken -simply and openly about that from the very first. They made no -mystery of the necessity for their being economical. All that -remained to be discovered was the Captain's infinite kindness of -heart, and the various modes in which, unconsciously to himself, he -manifested it. Some little anecdotes were talked about for some -time after they occurred. As we did not read much, and as all the -ladies were pretty well suited with servants, there was a dearth of -subjects for conversation. We therefore discussed the circumstance -of the Captain taking a poor old woman's dinner out of her hands -one very slippery Sunday. He had met her returning from the -bakehouse as he came from church, and noticed her precarious -footing; and, with the grave dignity with which he did everything, -he relieved her of her burden, and steered along the street by her -side, carrying her baked mutton and potatoes safely home. This was -thought very eccentric; and it was rather expected that he would -pay a round of calls, on the Monday morning, to explain and -apologise to the Cranford sense of propriety: but he did no such -thing: and then it was decided that he was ashamed, and was -keeping out of sight. In a kindly pity for him, we began to say, -"After all, the Sunday morning's occurrence showed great goodness -of heart," and it was resolved that he should be comforted on his -next appearance amongst us; but, lo! he came down upon us, -untouched by any sense of shame, speaking loud and bass as ever, -his head thrown back, his wig as jaunty and well-curled as usual, -and we were obliged to conclude he had forgotten all about Sunday. - -Miss Pole and Miss Jessie Brown had set up a kind of intimacy on -the strength of the Shetland wool and the new knitting stitches; so -it happened that when I went to visit Miss Pole I saw more of the -Browns than I had done while staying with Miss Jenkyns, who had -never got over what she called Captain Brown's disparaging remarks -upon Dr Johnson as a writer of light and agreeable fiction. I -found that Miss Brown was seriously ill of some lingering, -incurable complaint, the pain occasioned by which gave the uneasy -expression to her face that I had taken for unmitigated crossness. -Cross, too, she was at times, when the nervous irritability -occasioned by her disease became past endurance. Miss Jessie bore -with her at these times, even more patiently than she did with the -bitter self-upbraidings by which they were invariably succeeded. -Miss Brown used to accuse herself, not merely of hasty and -irritable temper, but also of being the cause why her father and -sister were obliged to pinch, in order to allow her the small -luxuries which were necessaries in her condition. She would so -fain have made sacrifices for them, and have lightened their cares, -that the original generosity of her disposition added acerbity to -her temper. All this was borne by Miss Jessie and her father with -more than placidity--with absolute tenderness. I forgave Miss -Jessie her singing out of tune, and her juvenility of dress, when I -saw her at home. I came to perceive that Captain Brown's dark -Brutus wig and padded coat (alas! too often threadbare) were -remnants of the military smartness of his youth, which he now wore -unconsciously. He was a man of infinite resources, gained in his -barrack experience. As he confessed, no one could black his boots -to please him except himself; but, indeed, he was not above saving -the little maid-servant's labours in every way--knowing, most -likely, that his daughter's illness made the place a hard one. - -He endeavoured to make peace with Miss Jenkyns soon after the -memorable dispute I have named, by a present of a wooden fire- -shovel (his own making), having heard her say how much the grating -of an iron one annoyed her. She received the present with cool -gratitude, and thanked him formally. When he was gone, she bade me -put it away in the lumber-room; feeling, probably, that no present -from a man who preferred Mr Boz to Dr Johnson could be less jarring -than an iron fire-shovel. - -Such was the state of things when I left Cranford and went to -Drumble. I had, however, several correspondents, who kept me au -fait as to the proceedings of the dear little town. There was Miss -Pole, who was becoming as much absorbed in crochet as she had been -once in knitting, and the burden of whose letter was something -like, "But don't you forget the white worsted at Flint's" of the -old song; for at the end of every sentence of news came a fresh -direction as to some crochet commission which I was to execute for -her. Miss Matilda Jenkyns (who did not mind being called Miss -Matty, when Miss Jenkyns was not by) wrote nice, kind, rambling -letters, now and then venturing into an opinion of her own; but -suddenly pulling herself up, and either begging me not to name what -she had said, as Deborah thought differently, and SHE knew, or else -putting in a postscript to the effect that, since writing the -above, she had been talking over the subject with Deborah, and was -quite convinced that, etc.--(here probably followed a recantation -of every opinion she had given in the letter). Then came Miss -Jenkyns--Deborah, as she liked Miss Matty to call her, her father -having once said that the Hebrew name ought to be so pronounced. I -secretly think she took the Hebrew prophetess for a model in -character; and, indeed, she was not unlike the stern prophetess in -some ways, making allowance, of course, for modern customs and -difference in dress. Miss Jenkyns wore a cravat, and a little -bonnet like a jockey-cap, and altogether had the appearance of a -strong-minded woman; although she would have despised the modern -idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they -were superior. But to return to her letters. Everything in them -was stately and grand like herself. I have been looking them over -(dear Miss Jenkyns, how I honoured her!) and I will give an -extract, more especially because it relates to our friend Captain -Brown:- - -"The Honourable Mrs Jamieson has only just quitted me; and, in the -course of conversation, she communicated to me the intelligence -that she had yesterday received a call from her revered husband's -quondam friend, Lord Mauleverer. You will not easily conjecture -what brought his lordship within the precincts of our little town. -It was to see Captain Brown, with whom, it appears, his lordship -was acquainted in the 'plumed wars,' and who had the privilege of -averting destruction from his lordship's head when some great peril -was impending over it, off the misnomered Cape of Good Hope. You -know our friend the Honourable Mrs Jamieson's deficiency in the -spirit of innocent curiosity, and you will therefore not be so much -surprised when I tell you she was quite unable to disclose to me -the exact nature of the peril in question. I was anxious, I -confess, to ascertain in what manner Captain Brown, with his -limited establishment, could receive so distinguished a guest; and -I discovered that his lordship retired to rest, and, let us hope, -to refreshing slumbers, at the Angel Hotel; but shared the -Brunonian meals during the two days that he honoured Cranford with -his august presence. Mrs Johnson, our civil butcher's wife, -informs me that Miss Jessie purchased a leg of lamb; but, besides -this, I can hear of no preparation whatever to give a suitable -reception to so distinguished a visitor. Perhaps they entertained -him with 'the feast of reason and the flow of soul'; and to us, who -are acquainted with Captain Brown's sad want of relish for 'the -pure wells of English undefiled,' it may be matter for -congratulation that he has had the opportunity of improving his -taste by holding converse with an elegant and refined member of the -British aristocracy. But from some mundane failings who is -altogether free?" - -Miss Pole and Miss Matty wrote to me by the same post. Such a -piece of news as Lord Mauleverer's visit was not to be lost on the -Cranford letter-writers: they made the most of it. Miss Matty -humbly apologised for writing at the same time as her sister, who -was so much more capable than she to describe the honour done to -Cranford; but in spite of a little bad spelling, Miss Matty's -account gave me the best idea of the commotion occasioned by his -lordship's visit, after it had occurred; for, except the people at -the Angel, the Browns, Mrs Jamieson, and a little lad his lordship -had sworn at for driving a dirty hoop against the aristocratic -legs, I could not hear of any one with whom his lordship had held -conversation. - -My next visit to Cranford was in the summer. There had been -neither births, deaths, nor marriages since I was there last. -Everybody lived in the same house, and wore pretty nearly the same -well-preserved, old-fashioned clothes. The greatest event was, -that Miss Jenkyns had purchased a new carpet for the drawing-room. -Oh, the busy work Miss Matty and I had in chasing the sunbeams, as -they fell in an afternoon right down on this carpet through the -blindless window! We spread newspapers over the places and sat -down to our book or our work; and, lo! in a quarter of an hour the -sun had moved, and was blazing away on a fresh spot; and down again -we went on our knees to alter the position of the newspapers. We -were very busy, too, one whole morning, before Miss Jenkyns gave -her party, in following her directions, and in cutting out and -stitching together pieces of newspaper so as to form little paths -to every chair set for the expected visitors, lest their shoes -might dirty or defile the purity of the carpet. Do you make paper -paths for every guest to walk upon in London? - -Captain Brown and Miss Jenkyns were not very cordial to each other. -The literary dispute, of which I had seen the beginning, was a -"raw," the slightest touch on which made them wince. It was the -only difference of opinion they had ever had; but that difference -was enough. Miss Jenkyns could not refrain from talking at Captain -Brown; and, though he did not reply, he drummed with his fingers, -which action she felt and resented as very disparaging to Dr -Johnson. He was rather ostentatious in his preference of the -writings of Mr Boz; would walk through the streets so absorbed in -them that he all but ran against Miss Jenkyns; and though his -apologies were earnest and sincere, and though he did not, in fact, -do more than startle her and himself, she owned to me she had -rather he had knocked her down, if he had only been reading a -higher style of literature. The poor, brave Captain! he looked -older, and more worn, and his clothes were very threadbare. But he -seemed as bright and cheerful as ever, unless he was asked about -his daughter's health. - -"She suffers a great deal, and she must suffer more: we do what we -can to alleviate her pain;--God's will be done!" He took off his -hat at these last words. I found, from Miss Matty, that everything -had been done, in fact. A medical man, of high repute in that -country neighbourhood, had been sent for, and every injunction he -had given was attended to, regardless of expense. Miss Matty was -sure they denied themselves many things in order to make the -invalid comfortable; but they never spoke about it; and as for Miss -Jessie!--"I really think she's an angel," said poor Miss Matty, -quite overcome. "To see her way of bearing with Miss Brown's -crossness, and the bright face she puts on after she's been sitting -up a whole night and scolded above half of it, is quite beautiful. -Yet she looks as neat and as ready to welcome the Captain at -breakfast-time as if she had been asleep in the Queen's bed all -night. My dear! you could never laugh at her prim little curls or -her pink bows again if you saw her as I have done." I could only -feel very penitent, and greet Miss Jessie with double respect when -I met her next. She looked faded and pinched; and her lips began -to quiver, as if she was very weak, when she spoke of her sister. -But she brightened, and sent back the tears that were glittering in -her pretty eyes, as she said - - -"But, to be sure, what a town Cranford is for kindness! I don't -suppose any one has a better dinner than usual cooked but the best -part of all comes in a little covered basin for my sister. The -poor people will leave their earliest vegetables at our door for -her. They speak short and gruff, as if they were ashamed of it: -but I am sure it often goes to my heart to see their -thoughtfulness." The tears now came back and overflowed; but after -a minute or two she began to scold herself, and ended by going away -the same cheerful Miss Jessie as ever. - -"But why does not this Lord Mauleverer do something for the man who -saved his life?" said I. - -"Why, you see, unless Captain Brown has some reason for it, he -never speaks about being poor; and he walked along by his lordship -looking as happy and cheerful as a prince; and as they never called -attention to their dinner by apologies, and as Miss Brown was -better that day, and all seemed bright, I daresay his lordship -never knew how much care there was in the background. He did send -game in the winter pretty often, but now he is gone abroad." - -I had often occasion to notice the use that was made of fragments -and small opportunities in Cranford; the rose-leaves that were -gathered ere they fell to make into a potpourri for someone who had -no garden; the little bundles of lavender flowers sent to strew the -drawers of some town-dweller, or to burn in the chamber of some -invalid. Things that many would despise, and actions which it -seemed scarcely worth while to perform, were all attended to in -Cranford. Miss Jenkyns stuck an apple full of cloves, to be heated -and smell pleasantly in Miss Brown's room; and as she put in each -clove she uttered a Johnsonian sentence. Indeed, she never could -think of the Browns without talking Johnson; and, as they were -seldom absent from her thoughts just then, I heard many a rolling, -three-piled sentence. - -Captain Brown called one day to thank Mist Jenkyns for many little -kindnesses, which I did not know until then that she had rendered. -He had suddenly become like an old man; his deep bass voice had a -quavering in it, his eyes looked dim, and the lines on his face -were deep. He did not--could not--speak cheerfully of his -daughter's state, but he talked with manly, pious resignation, and -not much. Twice over he said, "What Jessie has been to us, God -only knows!" and after the second time, he got up hastily, shook -hands all round without speaking, and left the room. - -That afternoon we perceived little groups in the street, all -listening with faces aghast to some tale or other. Miss Jenkyns -wondered what could be the matter for some time before she took the -undignified step of sending Jenny out to inquire. - -Jenny came back with a white face of terror. "Oh, ma'am! Oh, Miss -Jenkyns, ma'am! Captain Brown is killed by them nasty cruel -railroads!" and she burst into tears. She, along with many others, -had experienced the poor Captain's kindness. - -"How?--where--where? Good God! Jenny, don't waste time in crying, -but tell us something." Miss Matty rushed out into the street at -once, and collared the man who was telling the tale. - -"Come in--come to my sister at once, Miss Jenkyns, the rector's -daughter. Oh, man, man! say it is not true," she cried, as she -brought the affrighted carter, sleeking down his hair, into the -drawing-room, where he stood with his wet boots on the new carpet, -and no one regarded it. - -"Please, mum, it is true. I seed it myself," and he shuddered at -the recollection. "The Captain was a-reading some new book as he -was deep in, a-waiting for the down train; and there was a little -lass as wanted to come to its mammy, and gave its sister the slip, -and came toddling across the line. And he looked up sudden, at the -sound of the train coming, and seed the child, and he darted on the -line and cotched it up, and his foot slipped, and the train came -over him in no time. O Lord, Lord! Mum, it's quite true, and -they've come over to tell his daughters. The child's safe, though, -with only a bang on its shoulder as he threw it to its mammy. Poor -Captain would be glad of that, mum, wouldn't he? God bless him!" -The great rough carter puckered up his manly face, and turned away -to hide his tears. I turned to Miss Jenkyns. She looked very ill, -as if she were going to faint, and signed to me to open the window. - -"Matilda, bring me my bonnet. I must go to those girls. God -pardon me, if ever I have spoken contemptuously to the Captain!" - -Miss Jenkyns arrayed herself to go out, telling Miss Matilda to -give the man a glass of wine. While she was away, Miss Matty and I -huddled over the fire, talking in a low and awe-struck voice. I -know we cried quietly all the time. - -Miss Jenkyns came home in a silent mood, and we durst not ask her -many questions. She told us that Miss Jessie had fainted, and that -she and Miss Pole had had some difficulty in bringing her round; -but that, as soon as she recovered, she begged one of them to go -and sit with her sister. - -"Mr Hoggins says she cannot live many days, and she shall be spared -this shock," said Miss Jessie, shivering with feelings to which she -dared not give way. - -"But how can you manage, my dear?" asked Miss Jenkyns; "you cannot -bear up, she must see your tears." - -"God will help me--I will not give way--she was asleep when the -news came; she may be asleep yet. She would be so utterly -miserable, not merely at my father's death, but to think of what -would become of me; she is so good to me." She looked up earnestly -in their faces with her soft true eyes, and Miss Pole told Miss -Jenkyns afterwards she could hardly bear it, knowing, as she did, -how Miss Brown treated her sister. - -However, it was settled according to Miss Jessie's wish. Miss -Brown was to be told her father had been summoned to take a short -journey on railway business. They had managed it in some way--Miss -Jenkyns could not exactly say how. Miss Pole was to stop with Miss -Jessie. Mrs Jamieson had sent to inquire. And this was all we -heard that night; and a sorrowful night it was. The next day a -full account of the fatal accident was in the county paper which -Miss Jenkyns took in. Her eyes were very weak, she said, and she -asked me to read it. When I came to the "gallant gentleman was -deeply engaged in the perusal of a number of 'Pickwick,' which he -had just received," Miss Jenkyns shook her head long and solemnly, -and then sighed out, "Poor, dear, infatuated man!" - -The corpse was to be taken from the station to the parish church, -there to be interred. Miss Jessie had set her heart on following -it to the grave; and no dissuasives could alter her resolve. Her -restraint upon herself made her almost obstinate; she resisted all -Miss Pole's entreaties and Miss Jenkyns' advice. At last Miss -Jenkyns gave up the point; and after a silence, which I feared -portended some deep displeasure against Miss Jessie, Miss Jenkyns -said she should accompany the latter to the funeral. - -"It is not fit for you to go alone. It would be against both -propriety and humanity were I to allow it." - -Miss Jessie seemed as if she did not half like this arrangement; -but her obstinacy, if she had any, had been exhausted in her -determination to go to the interment. She longed, poor thing, I -have no doubt, to cry alone over the grave of the dear father to -whom she had been all in all, and to give way, for one little half- -hour, uninterrupted by sympathy and unobserved by friendship. But -it was not to be. That afternoon Miss Jenkyns sent out for a yard -of black crape, and employed herself busily in trimming the little -black silk bonnet I have spoken about. When it was finished she -put it on, and looked at us for approbation--admiration she -despised. I was full of sorrow, but, by one of those whimsical -thoughts which come unbidden into our heads, in times of deepest -grief, I no sooner saw the bonnet than I was reminded of a helmet; -and in that hybrid bonnet, half helmet, half jockey-cap, did Miss -Jenkyns attend Captain Brown's funeral, and, I believe, supported -Miss Jessie with a tender, indulgent firmness which was invaluable, -allowing her to weep her passionate fill before they left. - -Miss Pole, Miss Matty, and I, meanwhile attended to Miss Brown: -and hard work we found it to relieve her querulous and never-ending -complaints. But if we were so weary and dispirited, what must Miss -Jessie have been! Yet she came back almost calm as if she had -gained a new strength. She put off her mourning dress, and came -in, looking pale and gentle, thanking us each with a soft long -pressure of the hand. She could even smile--a faint, sweet, wintry -smile--as if to reassure us of her power to endure; but her look -made our eyes fill suddenly with tears, more than if she had cried -outright. - -It was settled that Miss Pole was to remain with her all the -watching livelong night; and that Miss Matty and I were to return -in the morning to relieve them, and give Miss Jessie the -opportunity for a few hours of sleep. But when the morning came, -Miss Jenkyns appeared at the breakfast-table, equipped in her -helmet-bonnet, and ordered Miss Matty to stay at home, as she meant -to go and help to nurse. She was evidently in a state of great -friendly excitement, which she showed by eating her breakfast -standing, and scolding the household all round. - -No nursing--no energetic strong-minded woman could help Miss Brown -now. There was that in the room as we entered which was stronger -than us all, and made us shrink into solemn awestruck helplessness. -Miss Brown was dying. We hardly knew her voice, it was so devoid -of the complaining tone we had always associated with it. Miss -Jessie told me afterwards that it, and her face too, were just what -they had been formerly, when her mother's death left her the young -anxious head of the family, of whom only Miss Jessie survived. - -She was conscious of her sister's presence, though not, I think, of -ours. We stood a little behind the curtain: Miss Jessie knelt -with her face near her sister's, in order to catch the last soft -awful whispers. - -"Oh, Jessie! Jessie! How selfish I have been! God forgive me for -letting you sacrifice yourself for me as you did! I have so loved -you--and yet I have thought only of myself. God forgive me!" - -"Hush, love! hush!" said Miss Jessie, sobbing. - -"And my father, my dear, dear father! I will not complain now, if -God will give me strength to be patient. But, oh, Jessie! tell my -father how I longed and yearned to see him at last, and to ask his -forgiveness. He can never know now how I loved him--oh! if I might -but tell him, before I die! What a life of sorrow his has been, -and I have done so little to cheer him!" - -A light came into Miss Jessie's face. "Would it comfort you, -dearest, to think that he does know?--would it comfort you, love, -to know that his cares, his sorrows"--Her voice quivered, but she -steadied it into calmness--"Mary! he has gone before you to the -place where the weary are at rest. He knows now how you loved -him." - -A strange look, which was not distress, came over Miss Brown's -face. She did not speak for come time, but then we saw her lips -form the words, rather than heard the sound--"Father, mother, -Harry, Archy;"--then, as if it were a new idea throwing a filmy -shadow over her darkened mind--"But you will be alone, Jessie!" - -Miss Jessie had been feeling this all during the silence, I think; -for the tears rolled down her cheeks like rain, at these words, and -she could not answer at first. Then she put her hands together -tight, and lifted them up, and said--but not to us--"Though He slay -me, yet will I trust in Him." - -In a few moments more Miss Brown lay calm and still--never to -sorrow or murmur more. - -After this second funeral, Miss Jenkyns insisted that Miss Jessie -should come to stay with her rather than go back to the desolate -house, which, in fact, we learned from Miss Jessie, must now be -given up, as she had not wherewithal to maintain it. She had -something above twenty pounds a year, besides the interest of the -money for which the furniture would sell; but she could not live -upon that: and so we talked over her qualifications for earning -money. - -"I can sew neatly," said she, "and I like nursing. I think, too, I -could manage a house, if any one would try me as housekeeper; or I -would go into a shop as saleswoman, if they would have patience -with me at first." - -Miss Jenkyns declared, in an angry voice, that she should do no -such thing; and talked to herself about "some people having no idea -of their rank as a captain's daughter," nearly an hour afterwards, -when she brought Miss Jessie up a basin of delicately-made -arrowroot, and stood over her like a dragoon until the last -spoonful was finished: then she disappeared. Miss Jessie began to -tell me some more of the plans which had suggested themselves to -her, and insensibly fell into talking of the days that were past -and gone, and interested me so much I neither knew nor heeded how -time passed. We were both startled when Miss Jenkyns reappeared, -and caught us crying. I was afraid lest she would be displeased, -as she often said that crying hindered digestion, and I knew she -wanted Miss Jessie to get strong; but, instead, she looked queer -and excited, and fidgeted round us without saying anything. At -last she spoke. - -"I have been so much startled--no, I've not been at all startled-- -don't mind me, my dear Miss Jessie--I've been very much surprised-- -in fact, I've had a caller, whom you knew once, my dear Miss -Jessie" - - -Miss Jessie went very white, then flushed scarlet, and looked -eagerly at Miss Jenkyns. - -"A gentleman, my dear, who wants to know if you would see him." - -"Is it?--it is not"--stammered out Miss Jessie--and got no farther. - -"This is his card," said Miss Jenkyns, giving it to Miss Jessie; -and while her head was bent over it, Miss Jenkyns went through a -series of winks and odd faces to me, and formed her lips into a -long sentence, of which, of course, I could not understand a word. - -"May he come up?" asked Miss Jenkyns at last. - -"Oh, yes! certainly!" said Miss Jessie, as much as to say, this is -your house, you may show any visitor where you like. She took up -some knitting of Miss Matty's and began to be very busy, though I -could see how she trembled all over. - -Miss Jenkyns rang the bell, and told the servant who answered it to -show Major Gordon upstairs; and, presently, in walked a tall, fine, -frank-looking man of forty or upwards. He shook hands with Miss -Jessie; but he could not see her eyes, she kept them so fixed on -the ground. Miss Jenkyns asked me if I would come and help her to -tie up the preserves in the store-room; and though Miss Jessie -plucked at my gown, and even looked up at me with begging eye, I -durst not refuse to go where Miss Jenkyns asked. Instead of tying -up preserves in the store-room, however, we went to talk in the -dining-room; and there Miss Jenkyns told me what Major Gordon had -told her; how he had served in the same regiment with Captain -Brown, and had become acquainted with Miss Jessie, then a sweet- -looking, blooming girl of eighteen; how the acquaintance had grown -into love on his part, though it had been some years before he had -spoken; how, on becoming possessed, through the will of an uncle, -of a good estate in Scotland, he had offered and been refused, -though with so much agitation and evident distress that he was sure -she was not indifferent to him; and how he had discovered that the -obstacle was the fell disease which was, even then, too surely -threatening her sister. She had mentioned that the surgeons -foretold intense suffering; and there was no one but herself to -nurse her poor Mary, or cheer and comfort her father during the -time of illness. They had had long discussions; and on her refusal -to pledge herself to him as his wife when all should be over, he -had grown angry, and broken off entirely, and gone abroad, -believing that she was a cold-hearted person whom he would do well -to forget. - -He had been travelling in the East, and was on his return home -when, at Rome, he saw the account of Captain Brown's death in -Galignani. - -Just then Miss Matty, who had been out all the morning, and had -only lately returned to the house, burst in with a face of dismay -and outraged propriety. - -"Oh, goodness me!" she said. "Deborah, there's a gentleman sitting -in the drawing-room with his arm round Miss Jessie's waist!" Miss -Matty's eyes looked large with terror. - -Miss Jenkyns snubbed her down in an instant. - -"The most proper place in the world for his arm to be in. Go away, -Matilda, and mind your own business." This from her sister, who -had hitherto been a model of feminine decorum, was a blow for poor -Miss Matty, and with a double shock she left the room. - -The last time I ever saw poor Miss Jenkyns was many years after -this. Mrs Gordon had kept up a warm and affectionate intercourse -with all at Cranford. Miss Jenkyns, Miss Matty, and Miss Pole had -all been to visit her, and returned with wonderful accounts of her -house, her husband, her dress, and her looks. For, with happiness, -something of her early bloom returned; she had been a year or two -younger than we had taken her for. Her eyes were always lovely, -and, as Mrs Gordon, her dimples were not out of place. At the time -to which I have referred, when I last saw Miss Jenkyns, that lady -was old and feeble, and had lost something of her strong mind. -Little Flora Gordon was staying with the Misses Jenkyns, and when I -came in she was reading aloud to Miss Jenkyns, who lay feeble and -changed on the sofa. Flora put down the Rambler when I came in. - -"Ah!" said Miss Jenkyns, "you find me changed, my dear. If can't -see as I used to do. I Flora were not here to read to me, I hardly -know how I should get through the day. Did you ever read the -Rambler? It's a wonderful book--wonderful! and the most improving -reading for Flora" (which I daresay it would have been, if she -could have read half the words without spelling, and could have -understood the meaning of a third), "better than that strange old -book, with the queer name, poor Captain Brown was killed for -reading--that book by Mr Boz, you know--'Old Poz'; when I was a -girl--but that's a long time ago--I acted Lucy in 'Old Poz.'" She -babbled on long enough for Flora to get a good long spell at the -"Christmas Carol," which Miss Matty had left on the table. - - - -CHAPTER III--A LOVE AFFAIR OF LONG AGO - - - -I thought that probably my connection with Cranford would cease -after Miss Jenkyns's death; at least, that it would have to be kept -up by correspondence, which bears much the same relation to -personal intercourse that the books of dried plants I sometimes see -("Hortus Siccus," I think they call the thing) do to the living and -fresh flowers in the lines and meadows. I was pleasantly -surprised, therefore, by receiving a letter from Miss Pole (who had -always come in for a supplementary week after my annual visit to -Miss Jenkyns) proposing that I should go and stay with her; and -then, in a couple of days after my acceptance, came a note from -Miss Matty, in which, in a rather circuitous and very humble -manner, she told me how much pleasure I should confer if I could -spend a week or two with her, either before or after I had been at -Miss Pole's; "for," she said, "since my dear sister's death I am -well aware I have no attractions to offer; it is only to the -kindness of my friends that I can owe their company." - -Of course I promised to come to dear Miss Matty as soon as I had -ended my visit to Miss Pole; and the day after my arrival at -Cranford I went to see her, much wondering what the house would be -like without Miss Jenkyns, and rather dreading the changed aspect -of things. Miss Matty began to cry as soon as she saw me. She was -evidently nervous from having anticipated my call. I comforted her -as well as I could; and I found the best consolation I could give -was the honest praise that came from my heart as I spoke of the -deceased. Miss Matty slowly shook her head over each virtue as it -was named and attributed to her sister; and at last she could not -restrain the tears which had long been silently flowing, but hid -her face behind her handkerchief and sobbed aloud. - -"Dear Miss Matty," said I, taking her hand--for indeed I did not -know in what way to tell her how sorry I was for her, left deserted -in the world. She put down her handkerchief and said - - -"My dear, I'd rather you did not call me Matty. She did not like -it; but I did many a thing she did not like, I'm afraid--and now -she's gone! If you please, my love, will you call me Matilda?" - -I promised faithfully, and began to practise the new name with Miss -Pole that very day; and, by degrees, Miss Matilda's feeling on the -subject was known through Cranford, and we all tried to drop the -more familiar name, but with so little success that by-and-by we -gave up the attempt. - -My visit to Miss Pole was very quiet. Miss Jenkyns had so long -taken the lead in Cranford that now she was gone, they hardly knew -how to give a party. The Honourable Mrs Jamieson, to whom Miss -Jenkyns herself had always yielded the post of honour, was fat and -inert, and very much at the mercy of her old servants. If they -chose that she should give a party, they reminded her of the -necessity for so doing: if not, she let it alone. There was all -the more time for me to hear old-world stories from Miss Pole, -while she sat knitting, and I making my father's shirts. I always -took a quantity of plain sewing to Cranford; for, as we did not -read much, or walk much, I found it a capital time to get through -my work. One of Miss Pole's stories related to a shadow of a love -affair that was dimly perceived or suspected long years before. - -Presently, the time arrived when I was to remove to Miss Matilda's -house. I found her timid and anxious about the arrangements for my -comfort. Many a time, while I was unpacking, did she come -backwards and forwards to stir the fire which burned all the worse -for being so frequently poked. - -"Have you drawers enough, dear?" asked she. "I don't know exactly -how my sister used to arrange them. She had capital methods. I am -sure she would have trained a servant in a week to make a better -fire than this, and Fanny has been with me four months." - -This subject of servants was a standing grievance, and I could not -wonder much at it; for if gentlemen were scarce, and almost unheard -of in the "genteel society" of Cranford, they or their -counterparts--handsome young men--abounded in the lower classes. -The pretty neat servant-maids had their choice of desirable -"followers"; and their mistresses, without having the sort of -mysterious dread of men and matrimony that Miss Matilda had, might -well feel a little anxious lest the heads of their comely maids -should be turned by the joiner, or the butcher, or the gardener, -who were obliged, by their callings, to come to the house, and who, -as ill-luck would have it, were generally handsome and unmarried. -Fanny's lovers, if she had any--and Miss Matilda suspected her of -so many flirtations that, if she had not been very pretty, I should -have doubted her having one--were a constant anxiety to her -mistress. She was forbidden, by the articles of her engagement, to -have "followers"; and though she had answered, innocently enough, -doubling up the hem of her apron as she spoke, "Please, ma'am, I -never had more than one at a time," Miss Matty prohibited that one. -But a vision of a man seemed to haunt the kitchen. Fanny assured -me that it was all fancy, or else I should have said myself that I -had seen a man's coat-tails whisk into the scullery once, when I -went on an errand into the store-room at night; and another -evening, when, our watches having stopped, I went to look at the -clock, there was a very odd appearance, singularly like a young man -squeezed up between the clock and the back of the open kitchen- -door: and I thought Fanny snatched up the candle very hastily, so -as to throw the shadow on the clock face, while she very positively -told me the time half-an-hour too early, as we found out afterwards -by the church clock. But I did not add to Miss Matty's anxieties -by naming my suspicions, especially as Fanny said to me, the next -day, that it was such a queer kitchen for having odd shadows about -it, she really was almost afraid to stay; "for you know, miss," she -added, "I don't see a creature from six o'clock tea, till Missus -rings the bell for prayers at ten." - -However, it so fell out that Fanny had to leave and Miss Matilda -begged me to stay and "settle her" with the new maid; to which I -consented, after I had heard from my father that he did not want me -at home. The new servant was a rough, honest-looking, country -girl, who had only lived in a farm place before; but I liked her -looks when she came to be hired; and I promised Miss Matilda to put -her in the ways of the house. The said ways were religiously such -as Miss Matilda thought her sister would approve. Many a domestic -rule and regulation had been a subject of plaintive whispered -murmur to me during Miss Jenkyns's life; but now that she was gone, -I do not think that even I, who was a favourite, durst have -suggested an alteration. To give an instance: we constantly -adhered to the forms which were observed, at meal-times, in "my -father, the rector's house." Accordingly, we had always wine and -dessert; but the decanters were only filled when there was a party, -and what remained was seldom touched, though we had two wine- -glasses apiece every day after dinner, until the next festive -occasion arrived, when the state of the remainder wine was examined -into in a family council. The dregs were often given to the poor: -but occasionally, when a good deal had been left at the last party -(five months ago, it might be), it was added to some of a fresh -bottle, brought up from the cellar. I fancy poor Captain Brown did -not much like wine, for I noticed he never finished his first -glass, and most military men take several. Then, as to our -dessert, Miss Jenkyns used to gather currants and gooseberries for -it herself, which I sometimes thought would have tasted better -fresh from the trees; but then, as Miss Jenkyns observed, there -would have been nothing for dessert in summer-time. As it was, we -felt very genteel with our two glasses apiece, and a dish of -gooseberries at the top, of currants and biscuits at the sides, and -two decanters at the bottom. When oranges came in, a curious -proceeding was gone through. Miss Jenkyns did not like to cut the -fruit; for, as she observed, the juice all ran out nobody knew -where; sucking (only I think she used some more recondite word) was -in fact the only way of enjoying oranges; but then there was the -unpleasant association with a ceremony frequently gone through by -little babies; and so, after dessert, in orange season, Miss -Jenkyns and Miss Matty used to rise up, possess themselves each of -an orange in silence, and withdraw to the privacy of their own -rooms to indulge in sucking oranges. - -I had once or twice tried, on such occasions, to prevail on Miss -Matty to stay, and had succeeded in her sister's lifetime. I held -up a screen, and did not look, and, as she said, she tried not to -make the noise very offensive; but now that she was left alone, she -seemed quite horrified when I begged her to remain with me in the -warm dining-parlour, and enjoy her orange as she liked best. And -so it was in everything. Miss Jenkyns's rules were made more -stringent than ever, because the framer of them was gone where -there could be no appeal. In all things else Miss Matilda was meek -and undecided to a fault. I have heard Fanny turn her round twenty -times in a morning about dinner, just as the little hussy chose; -and I sometimes fancied she worked on Miss Matilda's weakness in -order to bewilder her, and to make her feel more in the power of -her clever servant. I determined that I would not leave her till I -had seen what sort of a person Martha was; and, if I found her -trustworthy, I would tell her not to trouble her mistress with -every little decision. - -Martha was blunt and plain-spoken to a fault; otherwise she was a -brisk, well-meaning, but very ignorant girl. She had not been with -us a week before Miss Matilda and I were astounded one morning by -the receipt of a letter from a cousin of hers, who had been twenty -or thirty years in India, and who had lately, as we had seen by the -"Army List," returned to England, bringing with him an invalid wife -who had never been introduced to her English relations. Major -Jenkyns wrote to propose that he and his wife should spend a night -at Cranford, on his way to Scotland--at the inn, if it did not suit -Miss Matilda to receive them into her house; in which case they -should hope to be with her as much as possible during the day. Of -course it MUST suit her, as she said; for all Cranford knew that -she had her sister's bedroom at liberty; but I am sure she wished -the Major had stopped in India and forgotten his cousins out and -out. - -"Oh! how must I manage?" asked she helplessly. "If Deborah had -been alive she would have known what to do with a gentleman- -visitor. Must I put razors in his dressing-room? Dear! dear! and -I've got none. Deborah would have had them. And slippers, and -coat-brushes?" I suggested that probably he would bring all these -things with him. "And after dinner, how am I to know when to get -up and leave him to his wine? Deborah would have done it so well; -she would have been quite in her element. Will he want coffee, do -you think?" I undertook the management of the coffee, and told her -I would instruct Martha in the art of waiting--in which it must be -owned she was terribly deficient--and that I had no doubt Major and -Mrs Jenkyns would understand the quiet mode in which a lady lived -by herself in a country town. But she was sadly fluttered. I made -her empty her decanters and bring up two fresh bottles of wine. I -wished I could have prevented her from being present at my -instructions to Martha, for she frequently cut in with some fresh -direction, muddling the poor girl's mind as she stood open-mouthed, -listening to us both. - -"Hand the vegetables round," said I (foolishly, I see now--for it -was aiming at more than we could accomplish with quietness and -simplicity); and then, seeing her look bewildered, I added, "take -the vegetables round to people, and let them help themselves." - -"And mind you go first to the ladies," put in Miss Matilda. -"Always go to the ladies before gentlemen when you are waiting." - -"I'll do it as you tell me, ma'am," said Martha; "but I like lads -best." - -We felt very uncomfortable and shocked at this speech of Martha's, -yet I don't think she meant any harm; and, on the whole, she -attended very well to our directions, except that she "nudged" the -Major when he did not help himself as soon as she expected to the -potatoes, while she was handing them round. - -The major and his wife were quiet unpretending people enough when -they did come; languid, as all East Indians are, I suppose. We -were rather dismayed at their bringing two servants with them, a -Hindoo body-servant for the Major, and a steady elderly maid for -his wife; but they slept at the inn, and took off a good deal of -the responsibility by attending carefully to their master's and -mistress's comfort. Martha, to be sure, had never ended her -staring at the East Indian's white turban and brown complexion, and -I saw that Miss Matilda shrunk away from him a little as he waited -at dinner. Indeed, she asked me, when they were gone, if he did -not remind me of Blue Beard? On the whole, the visit was most -satisfactory, and is a subject of conversation even now with Miss -Matilda; at the time it greatly excited Cranford, and even stirred -up the apathetic and Honourable Mrs Jamieson to some expression of -interest, when I went to call and thank her for the kind answers -she had vouchsafed to Miss Matilda's inquiries as to the -arrangement of a gentleman's dressing-room--answers which I must -confess she had given in the wearied manner of the Scandinavian -prophetess - - - -"Leave me, leave me to repose." - - -And NOW I come to the love affair. - -It seems that Miss Pole had a cousin, once or twice removed, who -had offered to Miss Matty long ago. Now this cousin lived four or -five miles from Cranford on his own estate; but his property was -not large enough to entitle him to rank higher than a yeoman; or -rather, with something of the "pride which apes humility," he had -refused to push himself on, as so many of his class had done, into -the ranks of the squires. He would not allow himself to be called -Thomas Holbrook, ESQ.; he even sent back letters with this address, -telling the post-mistress at Cranford that his name was MR Thomas -Holbrook, yeoman. He rejected all domestic innovations; he would -have the house door stand open in summer and shut in winter, -without knocker or bell to summon a servant. The closed fist or -the knob of a stick did this office for him if he found the door -locked. He despised every refinement which had not its root deep -down in humanity. If people were not ill, he saw no necessity for -moderating his voice. He spoke the dialect of the country in -perfection, and constantly used it in conversation; although Miss -Pole (who gave me these particulars) added, that he read aloud more -beautifully and with more feeling than any one she had ever heard, -except the late rector. - -"And how came Miss Matilda not to marry him?" asked I. - -"Oh, I don't know. She was willing enough, I think; but you know -Cousin Thomas would not have been enough of a gentleman for the -rector and Miss Jenkyns." - -"Well! but they were not to marry him," said I, impatiently. - -"No; but they did not like Miss Matty to marry below her rank. You -know she was the rector's daughter, and somehow they are related to -Sir Peter Arley: Miss Jenkyns thought a deal of that." - -"Poor Miss Matty!" said I. - -"Nay, now, I don't know anything more than that he offered and was -refused. Miss Matty might not like him--and Miss Jenkyns might -never have said a word--it is only a guess of mine." - -"Has she never seen him since?" I inquired. - -"No, I think not. You see Woodley, Cousin Thomas's house, lies -half-way between Cranford and Misselton; and I know he made -Misselton his market-town very soon after he had offered to Miss -Matty; and I don't think he has been into Cranford above once or -twice since--once, when I was walking with Miss Matty, in High -Street, and suddenly she darted from me, and went up Shire Lane. A -few minutes after I was startled by meeting Cousin Thomas." - -"How old is he?" I asked, after a pause of castle-building. - -"He must be about seventy, I think, my dear," said Miss Pole, -blowing up my castle, as if by gun-powder, into small fragments. - -Very soon after--at least during my long visit to Miss Matilda--I -had the opportunity of seeing Mr Holbrook; seeing, too, his first -encounter with his former love, after thirty or forty years' -separation. I was helping to decide whether any of the new -assortment of coloured silks which they had just received at the -shop would do to match a grey and black mousseline-delaine that -wanted a new breadth, when a tall, thin, Don Quixote-looking old -man came into the shop for some woollen gloves. I had never seen -the person (who was rather striking) before, and I watched him -rather attentively while Miss Matty listened to the shopman. The -stranger wore a blue coat with brass buttons, drab breeches, and -gaiters, and drummed with his fingers on the counter until he was -attended to. When he answered the shop-boy's question, "What can I -have the pleasure of showing you to-day, sir?" I saw Miss Matilda -start, and then suddenly sit down; and instantly I guessed who it -was. She had made some inquiry which had to be carried round to -the other shopman. - -"Miss Jenkyns wants the black sarsenet two-and-twopence the yard"; -and Mr Holbrook had caught the name, and was across the shop in two -strides. - -"Matty--Miss Matilda--Miss Jenkyns! God bless my soul! I should -not have known you. How are you? how are you?" He kept shaking -her hand in a way which proved the warmth of his friendship; but he -repeated so often, as if to himself, "I should not have known you!" -that any sentimental romance which I might be inclined to build was -quite done away with by his manner. - -However, he kept talking to us all the time we were in the shop; -and then waving the shopman with the unpurchased gloves on one -side, with "Another time, sir! another time!" he walked home with -us. I am happy to say my client, Miss Matilda, also left the shop -in an equally bewildered state, not having purchased either green -or red silk. Mr Holbrook was evidently full with honest loud- -spoken joy at meeting his old love again; he touched on the changes -that had taken place; he even spoke of Miss Jenkyns as "Your poor -sister! Well, well! we have all our faults"; and bade us good-bye -with many a hope that he should soon see Miss Matty again. She -went straight to her room, and never came back till our early tea- -time, when I thought she looked as if she had been crying. - - - -CHAPTER IV--A VISIT TO AN OLD BACHELOR - - - -A few days after, a note came from Mr Holbrook, asking us-- -impartially asking both of us--in a formal, old-fashioned style, to -spend a day at his house--a long June day--for it was June now. He -named that he had also invited his cousin, Miss Pole; so that we -might join in a fly, which could be put up at his house. - -I expected Miss Matty to jump at this invitation; but, no! Miss -Pole and I had the greatest difficulty in persuading her to go. -She thought it was improper; and was even half annoyed when we -utterly ignored the idea of any impropriety in her going with two -other ladies to see her old lover. Then came a more serious -difficulty. She did not think Deborah would have liked her to go. -This took us half a day's good hard talking to get over; but, at -the first sentence of relenting, I seized the opportunity, and -wrote and despatched an acceptance in her name--fixing day and -hour, that all might be decided and done with. - -The next morning she asked me if I would go down to the shop with -her; and there, after much hesitation, we chose out three caps to -be sent home and tried on, that the most becoming might be selected -to take with us on Thursday. - -She was in a state of silent agitation all the way to Woodley. She -had evidently never been there before; and, although she little -dreamt I knew anything of her early story, I could perceive she was -in a tremor at the thought of seeing the place which might have -been her home, and round which it is probable that many of her -innocent girlish imaginations had clustered. It was a long drive -there, through paved jolting lanes. Miss Matilda sat bolt upright, -and looked wistfully out of the windows as we drew near the end of -our journey. The aspect of the country was quiet and pastoral. -Woodley stood among fields; and there was an old-fashioned garden -where roses and currant-bushes touched each other, and where the -feathery asparagus formed a pretty background to the pinks and -gilly-flowers; there was no drive up to the door. We got out at a -little gate, and walked up a straight box-edged path. - -"My cousin might make a drive, I think," said Miss Pole, who was -afraid of ear-ache, and had only her cap on. - -"I think it is very pretty," said Miss Matty, with a soft -plaintiveness in her voice, and almost in a whisper, for just then -Mr Holbrook appeared at the door, rubbing his hands in very -effervescence of hospitality. He looked more like my idea of Don -Quixote than ever, and yet the likeness was only external. His -respectable housekeeper stood modestly at the door to bid us -welcome; and, while she led the elder ladies upstairs to a bedroom, -I begged to look about the garden. My request evidently pleased -the old gentleman, who took me all round the place and showed me -his six-and-twenty cows, named after the different letters of the -alphabet. As we went along, he surprised me occasionally by -repeating apt and beautiful quotations from the poets, ranging -easily from Shakespeare and George Herbert to those of our own day. -He did this as naturally as if he were thinking aloud, and their -true and beautiful words were the best expression he could find for -what he was thinking or feeling. To be sure he called Byron "my -Lord Byrron," and pronounced the name of Goethe strictly in -accordance with the English sound of the letters--"As Goethe says, -'Ye ever-verdant palaces,'" &c. Altogether, I never met with a -man, before or since, who had spent so long a life in a secluded -and not impressive country, with ever-increasing delight in the -daily and yearly change of season and beauty. - -When he and I went in, we found that dinner was nearly ready in the -kitchen--for so I suppose the room ought to be called, as there -were oak dressers and cupboards all round, all over by the side of -the fireplace, and only a small Turkey carpet in the middle of the -flag-floor. The room might have been easily made into a handsome -dark oak dining-parlour by removing the oven and a few other -appurtenances of a kitchen, which were evidently never used, the -real cooking-place being at some distance. The room in which we -were expected to sit was a stiffly-furnished, ugly apartment; but -that in which we did sit was what Mr Holbrook called the counting- -house, where he paid his labourers their weekly wages at a great -desk near the door. The rest of the pretty sitting-room--looking -into the orchard, and all covered over with dancing tree-shadows-- -was filled with books. They lay on the ground, they covered the -walls, they strewed the table. He was evidently half ashamed and -half proud of his extravagance in this respect. They were of all -kinds--poetry and wild weird tales prevailing. He evidently chose -his books in accordance with his own tastes, not because such and -such were classical or established favourites. - -"Ah!" he said, "we farmers ought not to have much time for reading; -yet somehow one can't help it." - -"What a pretty room!" said Miss Matty, sotto voce. - -"What a pleasant place!" said I, aloud, almost simultaneously. - -"Nay! if you like it," replied he; "but can you sit on these great, -black leather, three-cornered chairs? I like it better than the -best parlour; but I thought ladies would take that for the smarter -place." - -It was the smarter place, but, like most smart things, not at all -pretty, or pleasant, or home-like; so, while we were at dinner, the -servant-girl dusted and scrubbed the counting-house chairs, and we -sat there all the rest of the day. - -We had pudding before meat; and I thought Mr Holbrook was going to -make some apology for his old-fashioned ways, for he began - - -"I don't know whether you like newfangled ways." - -"Oh, not at all!" said Miss Matty. - -"No more do I," said he. "My house-keeper WILL have these in her -new fashion; or else I tell her that, when I was a young man, we -used to keep strictly to my father's rule, 'No broth, no ball; no -ball, no beef'; and always began dinner with broth. Then we had -suet puddings, boiled in the broth with the beef: and then the -meat itself. If we did not sup our broth, we had no ball, which we -liked a deal better; and the beef came last of all, and only those -had it who had done justice to the broth and the ball. Now folks -begin with sweet things, and turn their dinners topsy-turvy." - -When the ducks and green peas came, we looked at each other in -dismay; we had only two-pronged, black-handled forks. It is true -the steel was as bright as silver; but what were we to do? Miss -Matty picked up her peas, one by one, on the point of the prongs, -much as Amine ate her grains of rice after her previous feast with -the Ghoul. Miss Pole sighed over her delicate young peas as she -left them on one side of her plate untasted, for they WOULD drop -between the prongs. I looked at my host: the peas were going -wholesale into his capacious mouth, shovelled up by his large -round-ended knife. I saw, I imitated, I survived! My friends, in -spite of my precedent, could not muster up courage enough to do an -ungenteel thing; and, if Mr Holbrook had not been so heartily -hungry, he would probably have seen that the good peas went away -almost untouched. - -After dinner, a clay pipe was brought in, and a spittoon; and, -asking us to retire to another room, where he would soon join us, -if we disliked tobacco-smoke, he presented his pipe to Miss Matty, -and requested her to fill the bowl. This was a compliment to a -lady in his youth; but it was rather inappropriate to propose it as -an honour to Miss Matty, who had been trained by her sister to hold -smoking of every kind in utter abhorrence. But if it was a shock -to her refinement, it was also a gratification to her feelings to -be thus selected; so she daintily stuffed the strong tobacco into -the pipe, and then we withdrew. - -"It is very pleasant dining with a bachelor," said Miss Matty -softly, as we settled ourselves in the counting-house. "I only -hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!" - -"What a number of books he has!" said Miss Pole, looking round the -room. "And how dusty they are!" - -"I think it must be like one of the great Dr Johnson's rooms," said -Miss Matty. "What a superior man your cousin must be!" - -"Yes!" said Miss Pole, "he's a great reader; but I am afraid he has -got into very uncouth habits with living alone." - -"Oh! uncouth is too hard a word. I should call him eccentric; very -clever people always are!" replied Miss Matty. - -When Mr Holbrook returned, he proposed a walk in the fields; but -the two elder ladies were afraid of damp, and dirt, and had only -very unbecoming calashes to put on over their caps; so they -declined, and I was again his companion in a turn which he said he -was obliged to take to see after his men. He strode along, either -wholly forgetting my existence, or soothed into silence by his -pipe--and yet it was not silence exactly. He walked before me with -a stooping gait, his hands clasped behind him; and, as some tree or -cloud, or glimpse of distant upland pastures, struck him, he quoted -poetry to himself, saying it out loud in a grand sonorous voice, -with just the emphasis that true feeling and appreciation give. We -came upon an old cedar tree, which stood at one end of the house - - - -"The cedar spreads his dark-green layers of shade." - - -"Capital term--'layers!' Wonderful man!" I did not know whether -he was speaking to me or not; but I put in an assenting -"wonderful," although I knew nothing about it, just because I was -tired of being forgotten, and of being consequently silent. - -He turned sharp round. "Ay! you may say 'wonderful.' Why, when I -saw the review of his poems in Blackwood, I set off within an hour, -and walked seven miles to Misselton (for the horses were not in the -way) and ordered them. Now, what colour are ash-buds in March?" - -Is the man going mad? thought I. He is very like Don Quixote. - -"What colour are they, I say?" repeated he vehemently. - -"I am sure I don't know, sir," said I, with the meekness of -ignorance. - -"I knew you didn't. No more did I--an old fool that I am!--till -this young man comes and tells me. Black as ash-buds in March. -And I've lived all my life in the country; more shame for me not to -know. Black: they are jet-black, madam." And he went off again, -swinging along to the music of some rhyme he had got hold of. - -When we came back, nothing would serve him but he must read us the -poems he had been speaking of; and Miss Pole encouraged him in his -proposal, I thought, because she wished me to hear his beautiful -reading, of which she had boasted; but she afterwards said it was -because she had got to a difficult part of her crochet, and wanted -to count her stitches without having to talk. Whatever he had -proposed would have been right to Miss Matty; although she did fall -sound asleep within five minutes after he had begun a long poem, -called "Locksley Hall," and had a comfortable nap, unobserved, till -he ended; when the cessation of his voice wakened her up, and she -said, feeling that something was expected, and that Miss Pole was -counting - - -"What a pretty book!" - -"Pretty, madam! it's beautiful! Pretty, indeed!" - -"Oh yes! I meant beautiful" said she, fluttered at his disapproval -of her word. "It is so like that beautiful poem of Dr Johnson's my -sister used to read--I forget the name of it; what was it, my -dear?" turning to me. - -"Which do you mean, ma'am? What was it about?" - -"I don't remember what it was about, and I've quite forgotten what -the name of it was; but it was written by Dr Johnson, and was very -beautiful, and very like what Mr Holbrook has just been reading." - -"I don't remember it," said he reflectively. "But I don't know Dr -Johnson's poems well. I must read them." - -As we were getting into the fly to return, I heard Mr Holbrook say -he should call on the ladies soon, and inquire how they got home; -and this evidently pleased and fluttered Miss Matty at the time he -said it; but after we had lost sight of the old house among the -trees her sentiments towards the master of it were gradually -absorbed into a distressing wonder as to whether Martha had broken -her word, and seized on the opportunity of her mistress's absence -to have a "follower." Martha looked good, and steady, and composed -enough, as she came to help us out; she was always careful of Miss -Matty, and to-night she made use of this unlucky speech - - -"Eh! dear ma'am, to think of your going out in an evening in such a -thin shawl! It's no better than muslin. At your age, ma'am, you -should be careful." - -"My age!" said Miss Matty, almost speaking crossly, for her, for -she was usually gentle--"My age! Why, how old do you think I am, -that you talk about my age?" - -"Well, ma'am, I should say you were not far short of sixty: but -folks' looks is often against them--and I'm sure I meant no harm." - -"Martha, I'm not yet fifty-two!" said Miss Matty, with grave -emphasis; for probably the remembrance of her youth had come very -vividly before her this day, and she was annoyed at finding that -golden time so far away in the past. - -But she never spoke of any former and more intimate acquaintance -with Mr Holbrook. She had probably met with so little sympathy in -her early love, that she had shut it up close in her heart; and it -was only by a sort of watching, which I could hardly avoid since -Miss Pole's confidence, that I saw how faithful her poor heart had -been in its sorrow and its silence. - -She gave me some good reason for wearing her best cap every day, -and sat near the window, in spite of her rheumatism, in order to -see, without being seen, down into the street. - -He came. He put his open palms upon his knees, which were far -apart, as he sat with his head bent down, whistling, after we had -replied to his inquiries about our safe return. Suddenly he jumped -up - - -"Well, madam! have you any commands for Paris? I am going there in -a week or two." - -"To Paris!" we both exclaimed. - -"Yes, madam! I've never been there, and always had a wish to go; -and I think if I don't go soon, I mayn't go at all; so as soon as -the hay is got in I shall go, before harvest time." - -We were so much astonished that we had no commissions. - -Just as he was going out of the room, he turned back, with his -favourite exclamation - - -"God bless my soul, madam! but I nearly forgot half my errand. -Here are the poems for you you admired so much the other evening at -my house." He tugged away at a parcel in his coat-pocket. "Good- -bye, miss," said he; "good-bye, Matty! take care of yourself." And -he was gone. - -But he had given her a book, and he had called her Matty, just as -he used to do thirty years to. - -"I wish he would not go to Paris," said Miss Matilda anxiously. "I -don't believe frogs will agree with him; he used to have to be very -careful what he ate, which was curious in so strong-looking a young -man." - -Soon after this I took my leave, giving many an injunction to -Martha to look after her mistress, and to let me know if she -thought that Miss Matilda was not so well; in which case I would -volunteer a visit to my old friend, without noticing Martha's -intelligence to her. - -Accordingly I received a line or two from Martha every now and -then; and, about November I had a note to say her mistress was -"very low and sadly off her food"; and the account made me so -uneasy that, although Martha did not decidedly summon me, I packed -up my things and went. - -I received a warm welcome, in spite of the little flurry produced -by my impromptu visit, for I had only been able to give a day's -notice. Miss Matilda looked miserably ill; and I prepared to -comfort and cosset her. - -I went down to have a private talk with Martha. - -"How long has your mistress been so poorly?" I asked, as I stood by -the kitchen fire. - -"Well! I think its better than a fortnight; it is, I know; it was -one Tuesday, after Miss Pole had been, that she went into this -moping way. I thought she was tired, and it would go off with a -night's rest; but no! she has gone on and on ever since, till I -thought it my duty to write to you, ma'am." - -"You did quite right, Martha. It is a comfort to think she has so -faithful a servant about her. And I hope you find your place -comfortable?" - -"Well, ma'am, missus is very kind, and there's plenty to eat and -drink, and no more work but what I can do easily--but--" Martha -hesitated. - -"But what, Martha?" - -"Why, it seems so hard of missus not to let me have any followers; -there's such lots of young fellows in the town; and many a one has -as much as offered to keep company with me; and I may never be in -such a likely place again, and it's like wasting an opportunity. -Many a girl as I know would have 'em unbeknownst to missus; but -I've given my word, and I'll stick to it; or else this is just the -house for missus never to be the wiser if they did come: and it's -such a capable kitchen--there's such dark corners in it--I'd be -bound to hide any one. I counted up last Sunday night--for I'll -not deny I was crying because I had to shut the door in Jem Hearn's -face, and he's a steady young man, fit for any girl; only I had -given missus my word." Martha was all but crying again; and I had -little comfort to give her, for I knew, from old experience, of the -horror with which both the Miss Jenkynses looked upon "followers"; -and in Miss Matty's present nervous state this dread was not likely -to be lessened. - -I went to see Miss Pole the next day, and took her completely by -surprise, for she had not been to see Miss Matilda for two days. - -"And now I must go back with you, my dear, for I promised to let -her know how Thomas Holbrook went on; and, I'm sorry to say, his -housekeeper has sent me word to-day that he hasn't long to live. -Poor Thomas! that journey to Paris was quite too much for him. His -housekeeper says he has hardly ever been round his fields since, -but just sits with his hands on his knees in the counting-house, -not reading or anything, but only saying what a wonderful city -Paris was! Paris has much to answer for if it's killed my cousin -Thomas, for a better man never lived." - -"Does Miss Matilda know of his illness?" asked I--a new light as to -the cause of her indisposition dawning upon me. - -"Dear! to be sure, yes! Has not she told you? I let her know a -fortnight ago, or more, when first I heard of it. How odd she -shouldn't have told you!" - -Not at all, I thought; but I did not say anything. I felt almost -guilty of having spied too curiously into that tender heart, and I -was not going to speak of its secrets--hidden, Miss Matty believed, -from all the world. I ushered Miss Pole into Miss Matilda's little -drawing-room, and then left them alone. But I was not surprised -when Martha came to my bedroom door, to ask me to go down to dinner -alone, for that missus had one of her bad headaches. She came into -the drawing-room at tea-time, but it was evidently an effort to -her; and, as if to make up for some reproachful feeling against her -late sister, Miss Jenkyns, which had been troubling her all the -afternoon, and for which she now felt penitent, she kept telling me -how good and how clever Deborah was in her youth; how she used to -settle what gowns they were to wear at all the parties (faint, -ghostly ideas of grim parties, far away in the distance, when Miss -Matty and Miss Pole were young!); and how Deborah and her mother -had started the benefit society for the poor, and taught girls -cooking and plain sewing; and how Deborah had once danced with a -lord; and how she used to visit at Sir Peter Arley's, and tried to -remodel the quiet rectory establishment on the plans of Arley Hall, -where they kept thirty servants; and how she had nursed Miss Matty -through a long, long illness, of which I had never heard before, -but which I now dated in my own mind as following the dismissal of -the suit of Mr Holbrook. So we talked softly and quietly of old -times through the long November evening. - -The next day Miss Pole brought us word that Mr Holbrook was dead. -Miss Matty heard the news in silence; in fact, from the account of -the previous day, it was only what we had to expect. Miss Pole -kept calling upon us for some expression of regret, by asking if it -was not sad that he was gone, and saying - - -"To think of that pleasant day last June, when he seemed so well! -And he might have lived this dozen years if he had not gone to that -wicked Paris, where they are always having revolutions." - -She paused for some demonstration on our part. I saw Miss Matty -could not speak, she was trembling so nervously; so I said what I -really felt; and after a call of some duration--all the time of -which I have no doubt Miss Pole thought Miss Matty received the -news very calmly--our visitor took her leave. - -Miss Matty made a strong effort to conceal her feelings--a -concealment she practised even with me, for she has never alluded -to Mr Holbrook again, although the book he gave her lies with her -Bible on the little table by her bedside. She did not think I -heard her when she asked the little milliner of Cranford to make -her caps something like the Honourable Mrs Jamieson's, or that I -noticed the reply - - -"But she wears widows' caps, ma'am?" - -"Oh! I only meant something in that style; not widows', of course, -but rather like Mrs Jamieson's." - -This effort at concealment was the beginning of the tremulous -motion of head and hands which I have seen ever since in Miss -Matty. - -The evening of the day on which we heard of Mr Holbrook's death, -Miss Matilda was very silent and thoughtful; after prayers she -called Martha back and then she stood uncertain what to say. - -"Martha!" she said, at last, "you are young"--and then she made so -long a pause that Martha, to remind her of her half-finished -sentence, dropped a curtsey, and said - - -"Yes, please, ma'am; two-and-twenty last third of October, please, -ma'am." - -"And, perhaps, Martha, you may some time meet with a young man you -like, and who likes you. I did say you were not to have followers; -but if you meet with such a young man, and tell me, and I find he -is respectable, I have no objection to his coming to see you once a -week. God forbid!" said she in a low voice, "that I should grieve -any young hearts." She spoke as if she were providing for some -distant contingency, and was rather startled when Martha made her -ready eager answer - - -"Please, ma'am, there's Jem Hearn, and he's a joiner making three- -and-sixpence a-day, and six foot one in his stocking-feet, please, -ma'am; and if you'll ask about him to-morrow morning, every one -will give him a character for steadiness; and he'll be glad enough -to come to-morrow night, I'll be bound." - -Though Miss Matty was startled, she submitted to Fate and Love. - - - -CHAPTER V--OLD LETTERS - - - -I have often noticed that almost every one has his own individual -small economies--careful habits of saving fractions of pennies in -some one peculiar direction--any disturbance of which annoys him -more than spending shillings or pounds on some real extravagance. -An old gentleman of my acquaintance, who took the intelligence of -the failure of a Joint-Stock Bank, in which some of his money was -invested, with stoical mildness, worried his family all through a -long summer's day because one of them had torn (instead of cutting) -out the written leaves of his now useless bank-book; of course, the -corresponding pages at the other end came out as well, and this -little unnecessary waste of paper (his private economy) chafed him -more than all the loss of his money. Envelopes fretted his soul -terribly when they first came in; the only way in which he could -reconcile himself to such waste of his cherished article was by -patiently turning inside out all that were sent to him, and so -making them serve again. Even now, though tamed by age, I see him -casting wistful glances at his daughters when they send a whole -inside of a half-sheet of note paper, with the three lines of -acceptance to an invitation, written on only one of the sides. I -am not above owning that I have this human weakness myself. String -is my foible. My pockets get full of little hanks of it, picked up -and twisted together, ready for uses that never come. I am -seriously annoyed if any one cuts the string of a parcel instead of -patiently and faithfully undoing it fold by fold. How people can -bring themselves to use india-rubber rings, which are a sort of -deification of string, as lightly as they do, I cannot imagine. To -me an india-rubber ring is a precious treasure. I have one which -is not new--one that I picked up off the floor nearly six years -ago. I have really tried to use it, but my heart failed me, and I -could not commit the extravagance. - -Small pieces of butter grieve others. They cannot attend to -conversation because of the annoyance occasioned by the habit which -some people have of invariably taking more butter than they want. -Have you not seen the anxious look (almost mesmeric) which such -persons fix on the article? They would feel it a relief if they -might bury it out of their sight by popping it into their own -mouths and swallowing it down; and they are really made happy if -the person on whose plate it lies unused suddenly breaks off a -piece of toast (which he does not want at all) and eats up his -butter. They think that this is not waste. - -Now Miss Matty Jenkyns was chary of candles. We had many devices -to use as few as possible. In the winter afternoons she would sit -knitting for two or three hours--she could do this in the dark, or -by firelight--and when I asked if I might not ring for candles to -finish stitching my wristbands, she told me to "keep blind man's -holiday." They were usually brought in with tea; but we only burnt -one at a time. As we lived in constant preparation for a friend -who might come in any evening (but who never did), it required some -contrivance to keep our two candles of the same length, ready to be -lighted, and to look as if we burnt two always. The candles took -it in turns; and, whatever we might be talking about or doing, Miss -Matty's eyes were habitually fixed upon the candle, ready to jump -up and extinguish it and to light the other before they had become -too uneven in length to be restored to equality in the course of -the evening. - -One night, I remember this candle economy particularly annoyed me. -I had been very much tired of my compulsory "blind man's holiday," -especially as Miss Matty had fallen asleep, and I did not like to -stir the fire and run the risk of awakening her; so I could not -even sit on the rug, and scorch myself with sewing by firelight, -according to my usual custom. I fancied Miss Matty must be -dreaming of her early life; for she spoke one or two words in her -uneasy sleep bearing reference to persons who were dead long -before. When Martha brought in the lighted candle and tea, Miss -Matty started into wakefulness, with a strange, bewildered look -around, as if we were not the people she expected to see about her. -There was a little sad expression that shadowed her face as she -recognised me; but immediately afterwards she tried to give me her -usual smile. All through tea-time her talk ran upon the days of -her childhood and youth. Perhaps this reminded her of the -desirableness of looking over all the old family letters, and -destroying such as ought not to be allowed to fall into the hands -of strangers; for she had often spoken of the necessity of this -task, but had always shrunk from it, with a timid dread of -something painful. To-night, however, she rose up after tea and -went for them--in the dark; for she piqued herself on the precise -neatness of all her chamber arrangements, and used to look uneasily -at me when I lighted a bed-candle to go to another room for -anything. When she returned there was a faint, pleasant smell of -Tonquin beans in the room. I had always noticed this scent about -any of the things which had belonged to her mother; and many of the -letters were addressed to her--yellow bundles of love-letters, -sixty or seventy years old. - -Miss Matty undid the packet with a sigh; but she stifled it -directly, as if it were hardly right to regret the flight of time, -or of life either. We agreed to look them over separately, each -taking a different letter out of the same bundle and describing its -contents to the other before destroying it. I never knew what sad -work the reading of old-letters was before that evening, though I -could hardly tell why. The letters were as happy as letters could -be--at least those early letters were. There was in them a vivid -and intense sense of the present time, which seemed so strong and -full, as if it could never pass away, and as if the warm, living -hearts that so expressed themselves could never die, and be as -nothing to the sunny earth. I should have felt less melancholy, I -believe, if the letters had been more so. I saw the tears stealing -down the well-worn furrows of Miss Matty's cheeks, and her -spectacles often wanted wiping. I trusted at last that she would -light the other candle, for my own eyes were rather dim, and I -wanted more light to see the pale, faded ink; but no, even through -her tears, she saw and remembered her little economical ways. - -The earliest set of letters were two bundles tied together, and -ticketed (in Miss Jenkyns's handwriting) "Letters interchanged -between my ever-honoured father and my dearly-beloved mother, prior -to their marriage, in July 1774." I should guess that the rector -of Cranford was about twenty-seven years of age when he wrote those -letters; and Miss Matty told me that her mother was just eighteen -at the time of her wedding. With my idea of the rector derived -from a picture in the dining-parlour, stiff and stately, in a huge -full-bottomed wig, with gown, cassock, and bands, and his hand upon -a copy of the only sermon he ever published--it was strange to read -these letters. They were full of eager, passionate ardour; short -homely sentences, right fresh from the heart (very different from -the grand Latinised, Johnsonian style of the printed sermon -preached before some judge at assize time). His letters were a -curious contrast to those of his girl-bride. She was evidently -rather annoyed at his demands upon her for expressions of love, and -could not quite understand what he meant by repeating the same -thing over in so many different ways; but what she was quite clear -about was a longing for a white "Paduasoy"--whatever that might be; -and six or seven letters were principally occupied in asking her -lover to use his influence with her parents (who evidently kept her -in good order) to obtain this or that article of dress, more -especially the white "Paduasoy." He cared nothing how she was -dressed; she was always lovely enough for him, as he took pains to -assure her, when she begged him to express in his answers a -predilection for particular pieces of finery, in order that she -might show what he said to her parents. But at length he seemed to -find out that she would not be married till she had a "trousseau" -to her mind; and then he sent her a letter, which had evidently -accompanied a whole box full of finery, and in which he requested -that she might be dressed in everything her heart desired. This -was the first letter, ticketed in a frail, delicate hand, "From my -dearest John." Shortly afterwards they were married, I suppose, -from the intermission in their correspondence. - -"We must burn them, I think," said Miss Matty, looking doubtfully -at me. "No one will care for them when I am gone." And one by one -she dropped them into the middle of the fire, watching each blaze -up, die out, and rise away, in faint, white, ghostly semblance, up -the chimney, before she gave another to the same fate. The room -was light enough now; but I, like her, was fascinated into watching -the destruction of those letters, into which the honest warmth of a -manly heart had been poured forth. - -The next letter, likewise docketed by Miss Jenkyns, was endorsed, -"Letter of pious congratulation and exhortation from my venerable -grandfather to my beloved mother, on occasion of my own birth. -Also some practical remarks on the desirability of keeping warm the -extremities of infants, from my excellent grandmother." - -The first part was, indeed, a severe and forcible picture of the -responsibilities of mothers, and a warning against the evils that -were in the world, and lying in ghastly wait for the little baby of -two days old. His wife did not write, said the old gentleman, -because he had forbidden it, she being indisposed with a sprained -ankle, which (he said) quite incapacitated her from holding a pen. -However, at the foot of the page was a small "T.O.," and on turning -it over, sure enough, there was a letter to "my dear, dearest -Molly," begging her, when she left her room, whatever she did, to -go UP stairs before going DOWN: and telling her to wrap her baby's -feet up in flannel, and keep it warm by the fire, although it was -summer, for babies were so tender. - -It was pretty to see from the letters, which were evidently -exchanged with some frequency between the young mother and the -grandmother, how the girlish vanity was being weeded out of her -heart by love for her baby. The white "Paduasoy" figured again in -the letters, with almost as much vigour as before. In one, it was -being made into a christening cloak for the baby. It decked it -when it went with its parents to spend a day or two at Arley Hall. -It added to its charms, when it was "the prettiest little baby that -ever was seen. Dear mother, I wish you could see her! Without any -pershality, I do think she will grow up a regular bewty!" I -thought of Miss Jenkyns, grey, withered, and wrinkled, and I -wondered if her mother had known her in the courts of heaven: and -then I knew that she had, and that they stood there in angelic -guise. - -There was a great gap before any of the rector's letters appeared. -And then his wife had changed her mode of her endorsement. It was -no longer from, "My dearest John;" it was from "My Honoured -Husband." The letters were written on occasion of the publication -of the same sermon which was represented in the picture. The -preaching before "My Lord Judge," and the "publishing by request," -was evidently the culminating point--the event of his life. It had -been necessary for him to go up to London to superintend it through -the press. Many friends had to be called upon and consulted before -he could decide on any printer fit for so onerous a task; and at -length it was arranged that J. and J. Rivingtons were to have the -honourable responsibility. The worthy rector seemed to be strung -up by the occasion to a high literary pitch, for he could hardly -write a letter to his wife without cropping out into Latin. I -remember the end of one of his letters ran thus: "I shall ever -hold the virtuous qualities of my Molly in remembrance, dum memor -ipse mei, dum spiritus regit artus," which, considering that the -English of his correspondent was sometimes at fault in grammar, and -often in spelling, might be taken as a proof of how much he -"idealised his Molly;" and, as Miss Jenkyns used to say, "People -talk a great deal about idealising now-a-days, whatever that may -mean." But this was nothing to a fit of writing classical poetry -which soon seized him, in which his Molly figured away as "Maria." -The letter containing the carmen was endorsed by her, "Hebrew -verses sent me by my honoured husband. I thowt to have had a -letter about killing the pig, but must wait. Mem., to send the -poetry to Sir Peter Arley, as my husband desires." And in a post- -scriptum note in his handwriting it was stated that the Ode had -appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, December 1782. - -Her letters back to her husband (treasured as fondly by him as if -they had been M. T. Ciceronis Epistolae) were more satisfactory to -an absent husband and father than his could ever have been to her. -She told him how Deborah sewed her seam very neatly every day, and -read to her in the books he had set her; how she was a very -"forrard," good child, but would ask questions her mother could not -answer, but how she did not let herself down by saying she did not -know, but took to stirring the fire, or sending the "forrard" child -on an errand. Matty was now the mother's darling, and promised -(like her sister at her age), to be a great beauty. I was reading -this aloud to Miss Matty, who smiled and sighed a little at the -hope, so fondly expressed, that "little Matty might not be vain, -even if she were a bewty." - -"I had very pretty hair, my dear," said Mist Matilda; "and not a -bad mouth." And I saw her soon afterwards adjust her cap and draw -herself up. - -But to return to Mrs Jenkyns's letters. She told her husband about -the poor in the parish; what homely domestic medicines she had -administered; what kitchen physic she had sent. She had evidently -held his displeasure as a rod in pickle over the heads of all the -ne'er-do-wells. She asked for his directions about the cows and -pigs; and did not always obtain them, as I have shown before. - -The kind old grandmother was dead when a little boy was born, soon -after the publication of the sermon; but there was another letter -of exhortation from the grandfather, more stringent and admonitory -than ever, now that there was a boy to be guarded from the snares -of the world. He described all the various sins into which men -might fall, until I wondered how any man ever came to a natural -death. The gallows seemed as if it must have been the termination -of the lives of most of the grandfather's friends and acquaintance; -and I was not surprised at the way in which he spoke of this life -being "a vale of tears." - -It seemed curious that I should never have heard of this brother -before; but I concluded that he had died young, or else surely his -name would have been alluded to by his sisters. - -By-and-by we came to packets of Miss Jenkyns's letters. These Miss -Matty did regret to burn. She said all the others had been only -interesting to those who loved the writers, and that it seemed as -if it would have hurt her to allow them to fall into the hands of -strangers, who had not known her dear mother, and how good she was, -although she did not always spell, quite in the modern fashion; but -Deborah's letters were so very superior! Any one might profit by -reading them. It was a long time since she had read Mrs Chapone, -but she knew she used to think that Deborah could have said the -same things quite as well; and as for Mrs Carter! people thought a -deal of her letters, just because she had written "Epictetus," but -she was quite sure Deborah would never have made use of such a -common expression as "I canna be fashed!" - -Miss Matty did grudge burning these letters, it was evident. She -would not let them be carelessly passed over with any quiet -reading, and skipping, to myself. She took them from me, and even -lighted the second candle in order to read them aloud with a proper -emphasis, and without stumbling over the big words. Oh dear! how I -wanted facts instead of reflections, before those letters were -concluded! They lasted us two nights; and I won't deny that I made -use of the time to think of many other things, and yet I was always -at my post at the end of each sentence. - -The rector's letters, and those of his wife and mother-in-law, had -all been tolerably short and pithy, written in a straight hand, -with the lines very close together. Sometimes the whole letter was -contained on a mere scrap of paper. The paper was very yellow, and -the ink very brown; some of the sheets were (as Miss Matty made me -observe) the old original post, with the stamp in the corner -representing a post-boy riding for life and twanging his horn. The -letters of Mrs Jenkyns and her mother were fastened with a great -round red wafer; for it was before Miss Edgeworth's "patronage" had -banished wafers from polite society. It was evident, from the -tenor of what was said, that franks were in great request, and were -even used as a means of paying debts by needy members of -Parliament. The rector sealed his epistles with an immense coat of -arms, and showed by the care with which he had performed this -ceremony that he expected they should be cut open, not broken by -any thoughtless or impatient hand. Now, Miss Jenkyns's letters -were of a later date in form and writing. She wrote on the square -sheet which we have learned to call old-fashioned. Her hand was -admirably calculated, together with her use of many-syllabled -words, to fill up a sheet, and then came the pride and delight of -crossing. Poor Miss Matty got sadly puzzled with this, for the -words gathered size like snowballs, and towards the end of her -letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian. In one to -her father, slightly theological and controversial in its tone, she -had spoken of Herod, Tetrarch of Idumea. Miss Matty read it "Herod -Petrarch of Etruria," and was just as well pleased as if she had -been right. - -I can't quite remember the date, but I think it was in 1805 that -Miss Jenkyns wrote the longest series of letters--on occasion of -her absence on a visit to some friends near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. -These friends were intimate with the commandant of the garrison -there, and heard from him of all the preparations that were being -made to repel the invasion of Buonaparte, which some people -imagined might take place at the mouth of the Tyne. Miss Jenkyns -was evidently very much alarmed; and the first part of her letters -was often written in pretty intelligible English, conveying -particulars of the preparations which were made in the family with -whom she was residing against the dreaded event; the bundles of -clothes that were packed up ready for a flight to Alston Moor (a -wild hilly piece of ground between Northumberland and Cumberland); -the signal that was to be given for this flight, and for the -simultaneous turning out of the volunteers under arms--which said -signal was to consist (if I remember rightly) in ringing the church -bells in a particular and ominous manner. One day, when Miss -Jenkyns and her hosts were at a dinner-party in Newcastle, this -warning summons was actually given (not a very wise proceeding, if -there be any truth in the moral attached to the fable of the Boy -and the Wolf; but so it was), and Miss Jenkyns, hardly recovered -from her fright, wrote the next day to describe the sound, the -breathless shock, the hurry and alarm; and then, taking breath, she -added, "How trivial, my dear father, do all our apprehensions of -the last evening appear, at the present moment, to calm and -enquiring minds!" And here Miss Matty broke in with - - -"But, indeed, my dear, they were not at all trivial or trifling at -the time. I know I used to wake up in the night many a time and -think I heard the tramp of the French entering Cranford. Many -people talked of hiding themselves in the salt mines--and meat -would have kept capitally down there, only perhaps we should have -been thirsty. And my father preached a whole set of sermons on the -occasion; one set in the mornings, all about David and Goliath, to -spirit up the people to fighting with spades or bricks, if need -were; and the other set in the afternoons, proving that Napoleon -(that was another name for Bony, as we used to call him) was all -the same as an Apollyon and Abaddon. I remember my father rather -thought he should be asked to print this last set; but the parish -had, perhaps, had enough of them with hearing." - -Peter Marmaduke Arley Jenkyns ("poor Peter!" as Miss Matty began to -call him) was at school at Shrewsbury by this time. The rector -took up his pen, and rubbed up his Latin once more, to correspond -with his boy. It was very clear that the lad's were what are -called show letters. They were of a highly mental description, -giving an account of his studies, and his intellectual hopes of -various kinds, with an occasional quotation from the classics; but, -now and then, the animal nature broke out in such a little sentence -as this, evidently written in a trembling hurry, after the letter -had been inspected: "Mother dear, do send me a cake, and put -plenty of citron in." The "mother dear" probably answered her boy -in the form of cakes and "goody," for there were none of her -letters among this set; but a whole collection of the rector's, to -whom the Latin in his boy's letters was like a trumpet to the old -war-horse. I do not know much about Latin, certainly, and it is, -perhaps, an ornamental language, but not very useful, I think--at -least to judge from the bits I remember out of the rector's -letters. One was, "You have not got that town in your map of -Ireland; but Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia, as the Proverbia -say." Presently it became very evident that "poor Peter" got -himself into many scrapes. There were letters of stilted penitence -to his father, for some wrong-doing; and among them all was a -badly-written, badly-sealed, badly-directed, blotted note:- "My -dear, dear, dear, dearest mother, I will be a better boy; I will, -indeed; but don't, please, be ill for me; I am not worth it; but I -will be good, darling mother." - -Miss Matty could not speak for crying, after she had read this -note. She gave it to me in silence, and then got up and took it to -her sacred recesses in her own room, for fear, by any chance, it -might get burnt. "Poor Peter!" she said; "he was always in -scrapes; he was too easy. They led him wrong, and then left him in -the lurch. But he was too fond of mischief. He could never resist -a joke. Poor Peter!" - - - -CHAPTER VI--POOR PETER - - - -Poor Peter's career lay before him rather pleasantly mapped out by -kind friends, but Bonus Bernardus non videt omnia, in this map too. -He was to win honours at the Shrewsbury School, and carry them -thick to Cambridge, and after that, a living awaited him, the gift -of his godfather, Sir Peter Arley. Poor Peter! his lot in life was -very different to what his friends had hoped and planned. Miss -Matty told me all about it, and I think it was a relief when she -had done so. - -He was the darling of his mother, who seemed to dote on all her -children, though she was, perhaps, a little afraid of Deborah's -superior acquirements. Deborah was the favourite of her father, -and when Peter disappointed him, she became his pride. The sole -honour Peter brought away from Shrewsbury was the reputation of -being the best good fellow that ever was, and of being the captain -of the school in the art of practical joking. His father was -disappointed, but set about remedying the matter in a manly way. -He could not afford to send Peter to read with any tutor, but he -could read with him himself; and Miss Matty told me much of the -awful preparations in the way of dictionaries and lexicons that -were made in her father's study the morning Peter began. - -"My poor mother!" said she. "I remember how she used to stand in -the hall, just near enough the study-door, to catch the tone of my -father's voice. I could tell in a moment if all was going right, -by her face. And it did go right for a long time." - -"What went wrong at last?" said I. "That tiresome Latin, I dare -say." - -"No! it was not the Latin. Peter was in high favour with my -father, for he worked up well for him. But he seemed to think that -the Cranford people might be joked about, and made fun of, and they -did not like it; nobody does. He was always hoaxing them; -'hoaxing' is not a pretty word, my dear, and I hope you won't tell -your father I used it, for I should not like him to think that I -was not choice in my language, after living with such a woman as -Deborah. And be sure you never use it yourself. I don't know how -it slipped out of my mouth, except it was that I was thinking of -poor Peter and it was always his expression. But he was a very -gentlemanly boy in many things. He was like dear Captain Brown in -always being ready to help any old person or a child. Still, he -did like joking and making fun; and he seemed to think the old -ladies in Cranford would believe anything. There were many old -ladies living here then; we are principally ladies now, I know, but -we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl. I -could laugh to think of some of Peter's jokes. No, my dear, I -won't tell you of them, because they might not shock you as they -ought to do, and they were very shocking. He even took in my -father once, by dressing himself up as a lady that was passing -through the town and wished to see the Rector of Cranford, 'who had -published that admirable Assize Sermon.' Peter said he was awfully -frightened himself when he saw how my father took it all in, and -even offered to copy out all his Napoleon Buonaparte sermons for -her--him, I mean--no, her, for Peter was a lady then. He told me -he was more terrified than he ever was before, all the time my -father was speaking. He did not think my father would have -believed him; and yet if he had not, it would have been a sad thing -for Peter. As it was, he was none so glad of it, for my father -kept him hard at work copying out all those twelve Buonaparte -sermons for the lady--that was for Peter himself, you know. He was -the lady. And once when he wanted to go fishing, Peter said, -'Confound the woman!'--very bad language, my dear, but Peter was -not always so guarded as he should have been; my father was so -angry with him, it nearly frightened me out of my wits: and yet I -could hardly keep from laughing at the little curtseys Peter kept -making, quite slyly, whenever my father spoke of the lady's -excellent taste and sound discrimination." - -"Did Miss Jenkyns know of these tricks?" said I. - -"Oh, no! Deborah would have been too much shocked. No, no one -knew but me. I wish I had always known of Peter's plans; but -sometimes he did not tell me. He used to say the old ladies in the -town wanted something to talk about; but I don't think they did. -They had the St James's Chronicle three times a week, just as we -have now, and we have plenty to say; and I remember the clacking -noise there always was when some of the ladies got together. But, -probably, schoolboys talk more than ladies. At last there was a -terrible, sad thing happened." Miss Matty got up, went to the -door, and opened it; no one was there. She rang the bell for -Martha, and when Martha came, her mistress told her to go for eggs -to a farm at the other end of the town. - -"I will lock the door after you, Martha. You are not afraid to go, -are you?" - -"No, ma'am, not at all; Jem Hearn will be only too proud to go with -me." - -Miss Matty drew herself up, and as soon as we were alone, she -wished that Martha had more maidenly reserve. - -"We'll put out the candle, my dear. We can talk just as well by -firelight, you know. There! Well, you see, Deborah had gone from -home for a fortnight or so; it was a very still, quiet day, I -remember, overhead; and the lilacs were all in flower, so I suppose -it was spring. My father had gone out to see some sick people in -the parish; I recollect seeing him leave the house with his wig and -shovel-hat and cane. What possessed our poor Peter I don't know; -he had the sweetest temper, and yet he always seemed to like to -plague Deborah. She never laughed at his jokes, and thought him -ungenteel, and not careful enough about improving his mind; and -that vexed him. - -"Well! he went to her room, it seems, and dressed himself in her -old gown, and shawl, and bonnet; just the things she used to wear -in Cranford, and was known by everywhere; and he made the pillow -into a little--you are sure you locked the door, my dear, for I -should not like anyone to hear--into--into a little baby, with -white long clothes. It was only, as he told me afterwards, to make -something to talk about in the town; he never thought of it as -affecting Deborah. And he went and walked up and down in the -Filbert walk--just half-hidden by the rails, and half-seen; and he -cuddled his pillow, just like a baby, and talked to it all the -nonsense people do. Oh dear! and my father came stepping stately -up the street, as he always did; and what should he see but a -little black crowd of people--I daresay as many as twenty--all -peeping through his garden rails. So he thought, at first, they -were only looking at a new rhododendron that was in full bloom, and -that he was very proud of; and he walked slower, that they might -have more time to admire. And he wondered if he could make out a -sermon from the occasion, and thought, perhaps, there was some -relation between the rhododendrons and the lilies of the field. My -poor father! When he came nearer, he began to wonder that they did -not see him; but their heads were all so close together, peeping -and peeping! My father was amongst them, meaning, he said, to ask -them to walk into the garden with him, and admire the beautiful -vegetable production, when--oh, my dear, I tremble to think of it-- -he looked through the rails himself, and saw--I don't know what he -thought he saw, but old Clare told me his face went quite grey- -white with anger, and his eyes blazed out under his frowning black -brows; and he spoke out--oh, so terribly!--and bade them all stop -where they were--not one of them to go, not one of them to stir a -step; and, swift as light, he was in at the garden door, and down -the Filbert walk, and seized hold of poor Peter, and tore his -clothes off his back--bonnet, shawl, gown, and all--and threw the -pillow among the people over the railings: and then he was very, -very angry indeed, and before all the people he lifted up his cane -and flogged Peter! - -"My dear, that boy's trick, on that sunny day, when all seemed -going straight and well, broke my mother's heart, and changed my -father for life. It did, indeed. Old Clare said, Peter looked as -white as my father; and stood as still as a statue to be flogged; -and my father struck hard! When my father stopped to take breath, -Peter said, 'Have you done enough, sir?' quite hoarsely, and still -standing quite quiet. I don't know what my father said--or if he -said anything. But old Clare said, Peter turned to where the -people outside the railing were, and made them a low bow, as grand -and as grave as any gentleman; and then walked slowly into the -house. I was in the store-room helping my mother to make cowslip -wine. I cannot abide the wine now, nor the scent of the flowers; -they turn me sick and faint, as they did that day, when Peter came -in, looking as haughty as any man--indeed, looking like a man, not -like a boy. 'Mother!' he said, 'I am come to say, God bless you -for ever.' I saw his lips quiver as he spoke; and I think he durst -not say anything more loving, for the purpose that was in his -heart. She looked at him rather frightened, and wondering, and -asked him what was to do. He did not smile or speak, but put his -arms round her and kissed her as if he did not know how to leave -off; and before she could speak again, he was gone. We talked it -over, and could not understand it, and she bade me go and seek my -father, and ask what it was all about. I found him walking up and -down, looking very highly displeased. - -"'Tell your mother I have flogged Peter, and that he richly -deserved it.' - -"I durst not ask any more questions. When I told my mother, she -sat down, quite faint, for a minute. I remember, a few days after, -I saw the poor, withered cowslip flowers thrown out to the leaf -heap, to decay and die there. There was no making of cowslip wine -that year at the rectory--nor, indeed, ever after. - -"Presently my mother went to my father. I know I thought of Queen -Esther and King Ahasuerus; for my mother was very pretty and -delicate-looking, and my father looked as terrible as King -Ahasuerus. Some time after they came out together; and then my -mother told me what had happened, and that she was going up to -Peter's room at my father's desire--though she was not to tell -Peter this--to talk the matter over with him. But no Peter was -there. We looked over the house; no Peter was there! Even my -father, who had not liked to join in the search at first, helped us -before long. The rectory was a very old house--steps up into a -room, steps down into a room, all through. At first, my mother -went calling low and soft, as if to reassure the poor boy, 'Peter! -Peter, dear! it's only me;' but, by-and-by, as the servants came -back from the errands my father had sent them, in different -directions, to find where Peter was--as we found he was not in the -garden, nor the hayloft, nor anywhere about--my mother's cry grew -louder and wilder, Peter! Peter, my darling! where are you?' for -then she felt and understood that that long kiss meant some sad -kind of 'good-bye.' The afternoon went on--my mother never -resting, but seeking again and again in every possible place that -had been looked into twenty times before, nay, that she had looked -into over and over again herself. My father sat with his head in -his hands, not speaking except when his messengers came in, -bringing no tidings; then he lifted up his face, so strong and sad, -and told them to go again in some new direction. My mother kept -passing from room to room, in and out of the house, moving -noiselessly, but never ceasing. Neither she nor my father durst -leave the house, which was the meeting-place for all the -messengers. At last (and it was nearly dark), my father rose up. -He took hold of my mother's arm as she came with wild, sad pace -through one door, and quickly towards another. She started at the -touch of his hand, for she had forgotten all in the world but -Peter. - -"'Molly!' said he, 'I did not think all this would happen.' He -looked into her face for comfort--her poor face all wild and white; -for neither she nor my father had dared to acknowledge--much less -act upon--the terror that was in their hearts, lest Peter should -have made away with himself. My father saw no conscious look in -his wife's hot, dreary eyes, and he missed the sympathy that she -had always been ready to give him--strong man as he was, and at the -dumb despair in her face his tears began to flow. But when she saw -this, a gentle sorrow came over her countenance, and she said, -'Dearest John! don't cry; come with me, and we'll find him,' almost -as cheerfully as if she knew where he was. And she took my -father's great hand in her little soft one, and led him along, the -tears dropping as he walked on that same unceasing, weary walk, -from room to room, through house and garden. - -"Oh, how I wished for Deborah! I had no time for crying, for now -all seemed to depend on me. I wrote for Deborah to come home. I -sent a message privately to that same Mr Holbrook's house--poor Mr -Holbrook;--you know who I mean. I don't mean I sent a message to -him, but I sent one that I could trust to know if Peter was at his -house. For at one time Mr Holbrook was an occasional visitor at -the rectory--you know he was Miss Pole's cousin--and he had been -very kind to Peter, and taught him how to fish--he was very kind to -everybody, and I thought Peter might have gone off there. But Mr -Holbrook was from home, and Peter had never been seen. It was -night now; but the doors were all wide open, and my father and -mother walked on and on; it was more than an hour since he had -joined her, and I don't believe they had ever spoken all that time. -I was getting the parlour fire lighted, and one of the servants was -preparing tea, for I wanted them to have something to eat and drink -and warm them, when old Clare asked to speak to me. - -"'I have borrowed the nets from the weir, Miss Matty. Shall we -drag the ponds to-night, or wait for the morning?' - -"I remember staring in his face to gather his meaning; and when I -did, I laughed out loud. The horror of that new thought--our -bright, darling Peter, cold, and stark, and dead! I remember the -ring of my own laugh now. - -"The next day Deborah was at home before I was myself again. She -would not have been so weak as to give way as I had done; but my -screams (my horrible laughter had ended in crying) had roused my -sweet dear mother, whose poor wandering wits were called back and -collected as soon as a child needed her care. She and Deborah sat -by my bedside; I knew by the looks of each that there had been no -news of Peter--no awful, ghastly news, which was what I most had -dreaded in my dull state between sleeping and waking. - -"The same result of all the searching had brought something of the -same relief to my mother, to whom, I am sure, the thought that -Peter might even then be hanging dead in some of the familiar home -places had caused that never-ending walk of yesterday. Her soft -eyes never were the same again after that; they had always a -restless, craving look, as if seeking for what they could not find. -Oh! it was an awful time; coming down like a thunder-bolt on the -still sunny day when the lilacs were all in bloom." - -"Where was Mr Peter?" said I. - -"He had made his way to Liverpool; and there was war then; and some -of the king's ships lay off the mouth of the Mersey; and they were -only too glad to have a fine likely boy such as him (five foot nine -he was), come to offer himself. The captain wrote to my father, -and Peter wrote to my mother. Stay! those letters will be -somewhere here." - -We lighted the candle, and found the captain's letter and Peter's -too. And we also found a little simple begging letter from Mrs -Jenkyns to Peter, addressed to him at the house of an old -schoolfellow whither she fancied he might have gone. They had -returned it unopened; and unopened it had remained ever since, -having been inadvertently put by among the other letters of that -time. This is it:- - - -"MY DEAREST PETER,--You did not think we should be so sorry as we -are, I know, or you would never have gone away. You are too good. -Your father sits and sighs till my heart aches to hear him. He -cannot hold up his head for grief; and yet he only did what he -thought was right. Perhaps he has been too severe, and perhaps I -have not been kind enough; but God knows how we love you, my dear -only boy. Don looks so sorry you are gone. Come back, and make us -happy, who love you so much. I know you will come back." - - -But Peter did not come back. That spring day was the last time he -ever saw his mother's face. The writer of the letter--the last-- -the only person who had ever seen what was written in it, was dead -long ago; and I, a stranger, not born at the time when this -occurrence took place, was the one to open it. - -The captain's letter summoned the father and mother to Liverpool -instantly, if they wished to see their boy; and, by some of the -wild chances of life, the captain's letter had been detained -somewhere, somehow. - -Miss Matty went on, "And it was racetime, and all the post-horses -at Cranford were gone to the races; but my father and mother set -off in our own gig--and oh! my dear, they were too late--the ship -was gone! And now read Peter's letter to my mother!" - -It was full of love, and sorrow, and pride in his new profession, -and a sore sense of his disgrace in the eyes of the people at -Cranford; but ending with a passionate entreaty that she would come -and see him before he left the Mersey: "Mother; we may go into -battle. I hope we shall, and lick those French: but I must see -you again before that time." - -"And she was too late," said Miss Matty; "too late!" - -We sat in silence, pondering on the full meaning of those sad, sad -words. At length I asked Miss Matty to tell me how her mother bore -it. - -"Oh!" she said, "she was patience itself. She had never been -strong, and this weakened her terribly. My father used to sit -looking at her: far more sad than she was. He seemed as if he -could look at nothing else when she was by; and he was so humble-- -so very gentle now. He would, perhaps, speak in his old way-- -laying down the law, as it were--and then, in a minute or two, he -would come round and put his hand on our shoulders, and ask us in a -low voice, if he had said anything to hurt us. I did not wonder at -his speaking so to Deborah, for she was so clever; but I could not -bear to hear him talking so to me. - -"But, you see, he saw what we did not--that it was killing my -mother. Yes! killing her (put out the candle, my dear; I can talk -better in the dark), for she was but a frail woman, and ill-fitted -to stand the fright and shock she had gone through; and she would -smile at him and comfort him, not in words, but in her looks and -tones, which were always cheerful when he was there. And she would -speak of how she thought Peter stood a good chance of being admiral -very soon--he was so brave and clever; and how she thought of -seeing him in his navy uniform, and what sort of hats admirals -wore; and how much more fit he was to be a sailor than a clergyman; -and all in that way, just to make my father think she was quite -glad of what came of that unlucky morning's work, and the flogging -which was always in his mind, as we all knew. But oh, my dear! the -bitter, bitter crying she had when she was alone; and at last, as -she grew weaker, she could not keep her tears in when Deborah or me -was by, and would give us message after message for Peter (his ship -had gone to the Mediterranean, or somewhere down there, and then he -was ordered off to India, and there was no overland route then); -but she still said that no one knew where their death lay in wait, -and that we were not to think hers was near. We did not think it, -but we knew it, as we saw her fading away. - -"Well, my dear, it's very foolish of me, I know, when in all -likelihood I am so near seeing her again. - -"And only think, love! the very day after her death--for she did -not live quite a twelvemonth after Peter went away--the very day -after--came a parcel for her from India--from her poor boy. It was -a large, soft, white Indian shawl, with just a little narrow border -all round; just what my mother would have liked. - -"We thought it might rouse my father, for he had sat with her hand -in his all night long; so Deborah took it in to him, and Peter's -letter to her, and all. At first, he took no notice; and we tried -to make a kind of light careless talk about the shawl, opening it -out and admiring it. Then, suddenly, he got up, and spoke: 'She -shall be buried in it,' he said; 'Peter shall have that comfort; -and she would have liked it.' - -"Well, perhaps it was not reasonable, but what could we do or say? -One gives people in grief their own way. He took it up and felt -it: 'It is just such a shawl as she wished for when she was -married, and her mother did not give it her. I did not know of it -till after, or she should have had it--she should; but she shall -have it now.' - -"My mother looked so lovely in her death! She was always pretty, -and now she looked fair, and waxen, and young--younger than -Deborah, as she stood trembling and shivering by her. We decked -her in the long soft folds; she lay smiling, as if pleased; and -people came--all Cranford came--to beg to see her, for they had -loved her dearly, as well they might; and the countrywomen brought -posies; old Clare's wife brought some white violets and begged they -might lie on her breast. - -"Deborah said to me, the day of my mother's funeral, that if she -had a hundred offers she never would marry and leave my father. It -was not very likely she would have so many--I don't know that she -had one; but it was not less to her credit to say so. She was such -a daughter to my father as I think there never was before or since. -His eyes failed him, and she read book after book, and wrote, and -copied, and was always at his service in any parish business. She -could do many more things than my poor mother could; she even once -wrote a letter to the bishop for my father. But he missed my -mother sorely; the whole parish noticed it. Not that he was less -active; I think he was more so, and more patient in helping every -one. I did all I could to set Deborah at liberty to be with him; -for I knew I was good for little, and that my best work in the -world was to do odd jobs quietly, and set others at liberty. But -my father was a changed man." - -"Did Mr Peter ever come home?" - -"Yes, once. He came home a lieutenant; he did not get to be -admiral. And he and my father were such friends! My father took -him into every house in the parish, he was so proud of him. He -never walked out without Peter's arm to lean upon. Deborah used to -smile (I don't think we ever laughed again after my mother's -death), and say she was quite put in a corner. Not but what my -father always wanted her when there was letter-writing or reading -to be done, or anything to be settled." - -"And then?" said I, after a pause. - -"Then Peter went to sea again; and, by-and-by, my father died, -blessing us both, and thanking Deborah for all she had been to him; -and, of course, our circumstances were changed; and, instead of -living at the rectory, and keeping three maids and a man, we had to -come to this small house, and be content with a servant-of-all- -work; but, as Deborah used to say, we have always lived genteelly, -even if circumstances have compelled us to simplicity. Poor -Deborah!" - -"And Mr Peter?" asked I. - -"Oh, there was some great war in India--I forget what they call it- --and we have never heard of Peter since then. I believe he is dead -myself; and it sometimes fidgets me that we have never put on -mourning for him. And then again, when I sit by myself, and all -the house is still, I think I hear his step coming up the street, -and my heart begins to flutter and beat; but the sound always goes -past--and Peter never comes. - -"That's Martha back? No! I'LL go, my dear; I can always find my -way in the dark, you know. And a blow of fresh air at the door -will do my head good, and it's rather got a trick of aching." - -So she pattered off. I had lighted the candle, to give the room a -cheerful appearance against her return. - -"Was it Martha?" asked I. - -"Yes. And I am rather uncomfortable, for I heard such a strange -noise, just as I was opening the door." - -"Where?' I asked, for her eyes were round with affright. - -"In the street--just outside--it sounded like" - - -"Talking?" I put in, as she hesitated a little. - -"No! kissing" - - - - -CHAPTER VII--VISITING - - - -One morning, as Miss Matty and I sat at our work--it was before -twelve o'clock, and Miss Matty had not changed the cap with yellow -ribbons that had been Miss Jenkyns's best, and which Miss Matty was -now wearing out in private, putting on the one made in imitation of -Mrs Jamieson's at all times when she expected to be seen--Martha -came up, and asked if Miss Betty Barker might speak to her -mistress. Miss Matty assented, and quickly disappeared to change -the yellow ribbons, while Miss Barker came upstairs; but, as she -had forgotten her spectacles, and was rather flurried by the -unusual time of the visit, I was not surprised to see her return -with one cap on the top of the other. She was quite unconscious of -it herself, and looked at us, with bland satisfaction. Nor do I -think Miss Barker perceived it; for, putting aside the little -circumstance that she was not so young as she had been, she was -very much absorbed in her errand, which she delivered herself of -with an oppressive modesty that found vent in endless apologies. - -Miss Betty Barker was the daughter of the old clerk at Cranford who -had officiated in Mr Jenkyns's time. She and her sister had had -pretty good situations as ladies' maids, and had saved money enough -to set up a milliner's shop, which had been patronised by the -ladies in the neighbourhood. Lady Arley, for instance, would -occasionally give Miss Barkers the pattern of an old cap of hers, -which they immediately copied and circulated among the elite of -Cranford. I say the elite, for Miss Barkers had caught the trick -of the place, and piqued themselves upon their "aristocratic -connection." They would not sell their caps and ribbons to anyone -without a pedigree. Many a farmer's wife or daughter turned away -huffed from Miss Barkers' select millinery, and went rather to the -universal shop, where the profits of brown soap and moist sugar -enabled the proprietor to go straight to (Paris, he said, until he -found his customers too patriotic and John Bullish to wear what the -Mounseers wore) London, where, as he often told his customers, -Queen Adelaide had appeared, only the very week before, in a cap -exactly like the one he showed them, trimmed with yellow and blue -ribbons, and had been complimented by King William on the becoming -nature of her head-dress. - -Miss Barkers, who confined themselves to truth, and did not approve -of miscellaneous customers, throve notwithstanding. They were -self-denying, good people. Many a time have I seen the eldest of -them (she that had been maid to Mrs Jamieson) carrying out some -delicate mess to a poor person. They only aped their betters in -having "nothing to do" with the class immediately below theirs. -And when Miss Barker died, their profits and income were found to -be such that Miss Betty was justified in shutting up shop and -retiring from business. She also (as I think I have before said) -set up her cow; a mark of respectability in Cranford almost as -decided as setting up a gig is among some people. She dressed -finer than any lady in Cranford; and we did not wonder at it; for -it was understood that she was wearing out all the bonnets and caps -and outrageous ribbons which had once formed her stock-in-trade. -It was five or six years since she had given up shop, so in any -other place than Cranford her dress might have been considered -passee. - -And now Miss Betty Barker had called to invite Miss Matty to tea at -her house on the following Tuesday. She gave me also an impromptu -invitation, as I happened to be a visitor--though I could see she -had a little fear lest, since my father had gone to live in -Drumble, he might have engaged in that "horrid cotton trade," and -so dragged his family down out of "aristocratic society." She -prefaced this invitation with so many apologies that she quite -excited my curiosity. "Her presumption" was to be excused. What -had she been doing? She seemed so over-powered by it I could only -think that she had been writing to Queen Adelaide to ask for a -receipt for washing lace; but the act which she so characterised -was only an invitation she had carried to her sister's former -mistress, Mrs Jamieson. "Her former occupation considered, could -Miss Matty excuse the liberty?" Ah! thought I, she has found out -that double cap, and is going to rectify Miss Matty's head-dress. -No! it was simply to extend her invitation to Miss Matty and to me. -Miss Matty bowed acceptance; and I wondered that, in the graceful -action, she did not feel the unusual weight and extraordinary -height of her head-dress. But I do not think she did, for she -recovered her balance, and went on talking to Miss Betty in a kind, -condescending manner, very different from the fidgety way she would -have had if she had suspected how singular her appearance was. -"Mrs Jamieson is coming, I think you said?" asked Miss Matty. - -"Yes. Mrs Jamieson most kindly and condescendingly said she would -be happy to come. One little stipulation she made, that she should -bring Carlo. I told her that if I had a weakness, it was for -dogs." - -"And Miss Pole?" questioned Miss Matty, who was thinking of her -pool at Preference, in which Carlo would not be available as a -partner. - -"I am going to ask Miss Pole. Of course, I could not think of -asking her until I had asked you, madam--the rector's daughter, -madam. Believe me, I do not forget the situation my father held -under yours." - -"And Mrs Forrester, of course?" - -"And Mrs Forrester. I thought, in fact, of going to her before I -went to Miss Pole. Although her circumstances are changed, madam, -she was born at Tyrrell, and we can never forget her alliance to -the Bigges, of Bigelow Hall." - -Miss Matty cared much more for the little circumstance of her being -a very good card-player. - -"Mrs Fitz-Adam--I suppose" - - -"No, madam. I must draw a line somewhere. Mrs Jamieson would not, -I think, like to meet Mrs Fitz-Adam. I have the greatest respect -for Mrs Fitz-Adam--but I cannot think her fit society for such -ladies as Mrs Jamieson and Miss Matilda Jenkyns." - -Miss Betty Barker bowed low to Miss Matty, and pursed up her mouth. -She looked at me with sidelong dignity, as much as to say, although -a retired milliner, she was no democrat, and understood the -difference of ranks. - -"May I beg you to come as near half-past six to my little dwelling, -as possible, Miss Matilda? Mrs Jamieson dines at five, but has -kindly promised not to delay her visit beyond that time--half-past -six." And with a swimming curtsey Miss Betty Barker took her -leave. - -My prophetic soul foretold a visit that afternoon from Miss Pole, -who usually came to call on Miss Matilda after any event--or indeed -in sight of any event--to talk it over with her. - -"Miss Betty told me it was to be a choice and select few," said -Miss Pole, as she and Miss Matty compared notes. - -"Yes, so she said. Not even Mrs Fitz-Adam." - -Now Mrs Fitz-Adam was the widowed sister of the Cranford surgeon, -whom I have named before. Their parents were respectable farmers, -content with their station. The name of these good people was -Hoggins. Mr Hoggins was the Cranford doctor now; we disliked the -name and considered it coarse; but, as Miss Jenkyns said, if he -changed it to Piggins it would not be much better. We had hoped to -discover a relationship between him and that Marchioness of Exeter -whose name was Molly Hoggins; but the man, careless of his own -interests, utterly ignored and denied any such relationship, -although, as dear Miss Jenkyns had said, he had a sister called -Mary, and the same Christian names were very apt to run in -families. - -Soon after Miss Mary Hoggins married Mr Fitz-Adam, she disappeared -from the neighbourhood for many years. She did not move in a -sphere in Cranford society sufficiently high to make any of us care -to know what Mr Fitz-Adam was. He died and was gathered to his -fathers without our ever having thought about him at all. And then -Mrs Fitz-Adam reappeared in Cranford ("as bold as a lion," Miss -Pole said), a well-to-do widow, dressed in rustling black silk, so -soon after her husband's death that poor Miss Jenkyns was justified -in the remark she made, that "bombazine would have shown a deeper -sense of her loss." - -I remember the convocation of ladies who assembled to decide -whether or not Mrs Fitz-Adam should be called upon by the old blue- -blooded inhabitants of Cranford. She had taken a large rambling -house, which had been usually considered to confer a patent of -gentility upon its tenant, because, once upon a time, seventy or -eighty years before, the spinster daughter of an earl had resided -in it. I am not sure if the inhabiting this house was not also -believed to convey some unusual power of intellect; for the earl's -daughter, Lady Jane, had a sister, Lady Anne, who had married a -general officer in the time of the American war, and this general -officer had written one or two comedies, which were still acted on -the London boards, and which, when we saw them advertised, made us -all draw up, and feel that Drury Lane was paying a very pretty -compliment to Cranford. Still, it was not at all a settled thing -that Mrs Fitz-Adam was to be visited, when dear Miss Jenkyns died; -and, with her, something of the clear knowledge of the strict code -of gentility went out too. As Miss Pole observed, "As most of the -ladies of good family in Cranford were elderly spinsters, or widows -without children, if we did not relax a little, and become less -exclusive, by-and-by we should have no society at all." - -Mrs Forrester continued on the same side. - -"She had always understood that Fitz meant something aristocratic; -there was Fitz-Roy--she thought that some of the King's children -had been called Fitz-Roy; and there was Fitz-Clarence, now--they -were the children of dear good King William the Fourth. Fitz- -Adam!--it was a pretty name, and she thought it very probably meant -'Child of Adam.' No one, who had not some good blood in their -veins, would dare to be called Fitz; there was a deal in a name-- -she had had a cousin who spelt his name with two little ffs-- -ffoulkes--and he always looked down upon capital letters and said -they belonged to lately-invented families. She had been afraid he -would die a bachelor, he was so very choice. When he met with a -Mrs ffarringdon, at a watering-place, he took to her immediately; -and a very pretty genteel woman she was--a widow, with a very good -fortune; and 'my cousin,' Mr ffoulkes, married her; and it was all -owing to her two little ffs." - -Mrs Fitz-Adam did not stand a chance of meeting with a Mr Fitz- -anything in Cranford, so that could not have been her motive for -settling there. Miss Matty thought it might have been the hope of -being admitted into the society of the place, which would certainly -be a very agreeable rise for ci-devant Miss Hoggins; and if this -had been her hope it would be cruel to disappoint her. - -So everybody called upon Mrs Fitz-Adam--everybody but Mrs Jamieson, -who used to show how honourable she was by never seeing Mrs Fitz- -Adam when they met at the Cranford parties. There would be only -eight or ten ladies in the room, and Mrs Fitz-Adam was the largest -of all, and she invariably used to stand up when Mrs Jamieson came -in, and curtsey very low to her whenever she turned in her -direction--so low, in fact, that I think Mrs Jamieson must have -looked at the wall above her, for she never moved a muscle of her -face, no more than if she had not seen her. Still Mrs Fitz-Adam -persevered. - -The spring evenings were getting bright and long when three or four -ladies in calashes met at Miss Barker's door. Do you know what a -calash is? It is a covering worn over caps, not unlike the heads -fastened on old-fashioned gigs; but sometimes it is not quite so -large. This kind of head-gear always made an awful impression on -the children in Cranford; and now two or three left off their play -in the quiet sunny little street, and gathered in wondering silence -round Miss Pole, Miss Matty, and myself. We were silent too, so -that we could hear loud, suppressed whispers inside Miss Barker's -house: "Wait, Peggy! wait till I've run upstairs and washed my -hands. When I cough, open the door; I'll not be a minute." - -And, true enough it was not a minute before we heard a noise, -between a sneeze and a crow; on which the door flew open. Behind -it stood a round-eyed maiden, all aghast at the honourable company -of calashes, who marched in without a word. She recovered presence -of mind enough to usher us into a small room, which had been the -shop, but was now converted into a temporary dressing-room. There -we unpinned and shook ourselves, and arranged our features before -the glass into a sweet and gracious company-face; and then, bowing -backwards with "After you, ma'am," we allowed Mrs Forrester to take -precedence up the narrow staircase that led to Miss Barker's -drawing-room. There she sat, as stately and composed as though we -had never heard that odd-sounding cough, from which her throat must -have been even then sore and rough. Kind, gentle, shabbily-dressed -Mrs Forrester was immediately conducted to the second place of -honour--a seat arranged something like Prince Albert's near the -Queen's--good, but not so good. The place of pre-eminence was, of -course, reserved for the Honourable Mrs Jamieson, who presently -came panting up the stairs--Carlo rushing round her on her -progress, as if he meant to trip her up. - -And now Miss Betty Barker was a proud and happy woman! She stirred -the fire, and shut the door, and sat as near to it as she could, -quite on the edge of her chair. When Peggy came in, tottering -under the weight of the tea-tray, I noticed that Miss Barker was -sadly afraid lest Peggy should not keep her distance sufficiently. -She and her mistress were on very familiar terms in their every-day -intercourse, and Peggy wanted now to make several little -confidences to her, which Miss Barker was on thorns to hear, but -which she thought it her duty, as a lady, to repress. So she -turned away from all Peggy's asides and signs; but she made one or -two very malapropos answers to what was said; and at last, seized -with a bright idea, she exclaimed, "Poor, sweet Carlo! I'm -forgetting him. Come downstairs with me, poor ittie doggie, and it -shall have its tea, it shall!" - -In a few minutes she returned, bland and benignant as before; but I -thought she had forgotten to give the "poor ittie doggie" anything -to eat, judging by the avidity with which he swallowed down chance -pieces of cake. The tea-tray was abundantly loaded--I was pleased -to see it, I was so hungry; but I was afraid the ladies present -might think it vulgarly heaped up. I know they would have done at -their own houses; but somehow the heaps disappeared here. I saw -Mrs Jamieson eating seed-cake, slowly and considerately, as she did -everything; and I was rather surprised, for I knew she had told us, -on the occasion of her last party, that she never had it in her -house, it reminded her so much of scented soap. She always gave us -Savoy biscuits. However, Mrs Jamieson was kindly indulgent to Miss -Barker's want of knowledge of the customs of high life; and, to -spare her feelings, ate three large pieces of seed-cake, with a -placid, ruminating expression of countenance, not unlike a cow's. - -After tea there was some little demur and difficulty. We were six -in number; four could play at Preference, and for the other two -there was Cribbage. But all, except myself (I was rather afraid of -the Cranford ladies at cards, for it was the most earnest and -serious business they ever engaged in), were anxious to be of the -"pool." Even Miss Barker, while declaring she did not know -Spadille from Manille, was evidently hankering to take a hand. The -dilemma was soon put an end to by a singular kind of noise. If a -baron's daughter-in-law could ever be supposed to snore, I should -have said Mrs Jamieson did so then; for, overcome by the heat of -the room, and inclined to doze by nature, the temptation of that -very comfortable arm-chair had been too much for her, and Mrs -Jamieson was nodding. Once or twice she opened her eyes with an -effort, and calmly but unconsciously smiled upon us; but by-and-by, -even her benevolence was not equal to this exertion, and she was -sound asleep. - -"It is very gratifying to me," whispered Miss Barker at the card- -table to her three opponents, whom, notwithstanding her ignorance -of the game, she was "basting" most unmercifully--"very gratifying -indeed, to see how completely Mrs Jamieson feels at home in my poor -little dwelling; she could not have paid me a greater compliment." - -Miss Barker provided me with some literature in the shape of three -or four handsomely-bound fashion-books ten or twelve years old, -observing, as she put a little table and a candle for my especial -benefit, that she knew young people liked to look at pictures. -Carlo lay and snorted, and started at his mistress's feet. He, -too, was quite at home. - -The card-table was an animated scene to watch; four ladies' heads, -with niddle-noddling caps, all nearly meeting over the middle of -the table in their eagerness to whisper quick enough and loud -enough: and every now and then came Miss Barker's "Hush, ladies! -if you please, hush! Mrs Jamieson is asleep." - -It was very difficult to steer clear between Mrs Forrester's -deafness and Mrs Jamieson's sleepiness. But Miss Barker managed -her arduous task well. She repeated the whisper to Mrs Forrester, -distorting her face considerably, in order to show, by the motions -of her lips, what was said; and then she smiled kindly all round at -us, and murmured to herself, "Very gratifying, indeed; I wish my -poor sister had been alive to see this day." - -Presently the door was thrown wide open; Carlo started to his feet, -with a loud snapping bark, and Mrs Jamieson awoke: or, perhaps, -she had not been asleep--as she said almost directly, the room had -been so light she had been glad to keep her eyes shut, but had been -listening with great interest to all our amusing and agreeable -conversation. Peggy came in once more, red with importance. -Another tray! "Oh, gentility!" thought I, "can yon endure this -last shock?" For Miss Barker had ordered (nay, I doubt not, -prepared, although she did say, "Why, Peggy, what have you brought -us?" and looked pleasantly surprised at the unexpected pleasure) -all sorts of good things for supper--scalloped oysters, potted -lobsters, jelly, a dish called "little Cupids" (which was in great -favour with the Cranford ladies, although too expensive to be -given, except on solemn and state occasions--macaroons sopped in -brandy, I should have called it, if I had not known its more -refined and classical name). In short, we were evidently to be -feasted with all that was sweetest and best; and we thought it -better to submit graciously, even at the cost of our gentility-- -which never ate suppers in general, but which, like most non- -supper-eaters, was particularly hungry on all special occasions. - -Miss Barker, in her former sphere, had, I daresay, been made -acquainted with the beverage they call cherry-brandy. We none of -us had ever seen such a thing, and rather shrank back when she -proffered it us--"just a little, leetle glass, ladies; after the -oysters and lobsters, you know. Shell-fish are sometimes thought -not very wholesome." We all shook our heads like female mandarins; -but, at last, Mrs Jamieson suffered herself to be persuaded, and we -followed her lead. It was not exactly unpalatable, though so hot -and so strong that we thought ourselves bound to give evidence that -we were not accustomed to such things by coughing terribly--almost -as strangely as Miss Barker had done, before we were admitted by -Peggy. - -"It's very strong," said Miss Pole, as she put down her empty -glass; "I do believe there's spirit in it." - -"Only a little drop--just necessary to make it keep," said Miss -Barker. "You know we put brandy-pepper over our preserves to make -them keep. I often feel tipsy myself from eating damson tart." - -I question whether damson tart would have opened Mrs Jamieson's -heart as the cherry-brandy did; but she told us of a coming event, -respecting which she had been quite silent till that moment. - -"My sister-in-law, Lady Glenmire, is coming to stay with me." - -There was a chorus of "Indeed!" and then a pause. Each one rapidly -reviewed her wardrobe, as to its fitness to appear in the presence -of a baron's widow; for, of course, a series of small festivals -were always held in Cranford on the arrival of a visitor at any of -our friends' houses. We felt very pleasantly excited on the -present occasion. - -Not long after this the maids and the lanterns were announced. Mrs -Jamieson had the sedan-chair, which had squeezed itself into Miss -Barker's narrow lobby with some difficulty, and most literally -"stopped the way." It required some skilful manoeuvring on the -part of the old chairmen (shoemakers by day, but when summoned to -carry the sedan dressed up in a strange old livery--long great- -coats, with small capes, coeval with the sedan, and similar to the -dress of the class in Hogarth's pictures) to edge, and back, and -try at it again, and finally to succeed in carrying their burden -out of Miss Barker's front door. Then we heard their quick pit-a- -pat along the quiet little street as we put on our calashes and -pinned up our gowns; Miss Barker hovering about us with offers of -help, which, if she had not remembered her former occupation, and -wished us to forget it, would have been much more pressing. - - - -CHAPTER VIII--"YOUR LADYSHIP" - - - -Early the next morning--directly after twelve--Miss Pole made her -appearance at Miss Matty's. Some very trifling piece of business -was alleged as a reason for the call; but there was evidently -something behind. At last out it came. - -"By the way, you'll think I'm strangely ignorant; but, do you -really know, I am puzzled how we ought to address Lady Glenmire. -Do you say, 'Your Ladyship,' where you would say 'you' to a common -person? I have been puzzling all morning; and are we to say 'My -Lady,' instead of 'Ma'am?' Now you knew Lady Arley--will you -kindly tell me the most correct way of speaking to the peerage?" - -Poor Miss Matty! she took off her spectacles and she put them on -again--but how Lady Arley was addressed, she could not remember. - -"It is so long ago," she said. "Dear! dear! how stupid I am! I -don't think I ever saw her more than twice. I know we used to call -Sir Peter, 'Sir Peter'--but he came much oftener to see us than -Lady Arley did. Deborah would have known in a minute. 'My lady'-- -'your ladyship.' It sounds very strange, and as if it was not -natural. I never thought of it before; but, now you have named it, -I am all in a puzzle." - -It was very certain Miss Pole would obtain no wise decision from -Miss Matty, who got more bewildered every moment, and more -perplexed as to etiquettes of address. - -"Well, I really think," said Miss Pole, "I had better just go and -tell Mrs Forrester about our little difficulty. One sometimes -grows nervous; and yet one would not have Lady Glenmire think we -were quite ignorant of the etiquettes of high life in Cranford." - -"And will you just step in here, dear Miss Pole, as you come back, -please, and tell me what you decide upon? Whatever you and Mrs -Forrester fix upon, will be quite right, I'm sure. 'Lady Arley,' -'Sir Peter,'" said Miss Matty to herself, trying to recall the old -forms of words. - -"Who is Lady Glenmire?" asked I. - -"Oh, she's the widow of Mr Jamieson--that's Mrs Jamieson's late -husband, you know--widow of his eldest brother. Mrs Jamieson was a -Miss Walker, daughter of Governor Walker. 'Your ladyship.' My -dear, if they fix on that way of speaking, you must just let me -practice a little on you first, for I shall feel so foolish and hot -saying it the first time to Lady Glenmire." - -It was really a relief to Miss Matty when Mrs Jamieson came on a -very unpolite errand. I notice that apathetic people have more -quiet impertinence than others; and Mrs Jamieson came now to -insinuate pretty plainly that she did not particularly wish that -the Cranford ladies should call upon her sister-in-law. I can -hardly say how she made this clear; for I grew very indignant and -warm, while with slow deliberation she was explaining her wishes to -Miss Matty, who, a true lady herself, could hardly understand the -feeling which made Mrs Jamieson wish to appear to her noble sister- -in-law as if she only visited "county" families. Miss Matty -remained puzzled and perplexed long after I had found out the -object of Mrs Jamieson's visit. - -When she did understand the drift of the honourable lady's call, it -was pretty to see with what quiet dignity she received the -intimation thus uncourteously given. She was not in the least -hurt--she was of too gentle a spirit for that; nor was she exactly -conscious of disapproving of Mrs Jamieson's conduct; but there was -something of this feeling in her mind, I am sure, which made her -pass from the subject to others in a less flurried and more -composed manner than usual. Mrs Jamieson was, indeed, the more -flurried of the two, and I could see she was glad to take her -leave. - -A little while afterwards Miss Pole returned, red and indignant. -"Well! to be sure! You've had Mrs Jamieson here, I find from -Martha; and we are not to call on Lady Glenmire. Yes! I met Mrs -Jamieson, half-way between here and Mrs Forrester's, and she told -me; she took me so by surprise, I had nothing to say. I wish I had -thought of something very sharp and sarcastic; I dare say I shall -to-night. And Lady Glenmire is but the widow of a Scotch baron -after all! I went on to look at Mrs Forrester's Peerage, to see -who this lady was, that is to be kept under a glass case: widow of -a Scotch peer--never sat in the House of Lords--and as poor as job, -I dare say; and she--fifth daughter of some Mr Campbell or other. -You are the daughter of a rector, at any rate, and related to the -Arleys; and Sir Peter might have been Viscount Arley, every one -says." - -Miss Matty tried to soothe Miss Pole, but in vain. That lady, -usually so kind and good-humoured, was now in a full flow of anger. - -"And I went and ordered a cap this morning, to be quite ready," -said she at last, letting out the secret which gave sting to Mrs -Jamieson's intimation. "Mrs Jamieson shall see if it is so easy to -get me to make fourth at a pool when she has none of her fine -Scotch relations with her!" - -In coming out of church, the first Sunday on which Lady Glenmire -appeared in Cranford, we sedulously talked together, and turned our -backs on Mrs Jamieson and her guest. If we might not call on her, -we would not even look at her, though we were dying with curiosity -to know what she was like. We had the comfort of questioning -Martha in the afternoon. Martha did not belong to a sphere of -society whose observation could be an implied compliment to Lady -Glenmire, and Martha had made good use of her eyes. - -"Well, ma'am! is it the little lady with Mrs Jamieson, you mean? I -thought you would like more to know how young Mrs Smith was -dressed; her being a bride." (Mrs Smith was the butcher's wife). - -Miss Pole said, "Good gracious me! as if we cared about a Mrs -Smith;" but was silent as Martha resumed her speech. - -"The little lady in Mrs Jamieson's pew had on, ma'am, rather an old -black silk, and a shepherd's plaid cloak, ma'am, and very bright -black eyes she had, ma'am, and a pleasant, sharp face; not over -young, ma'am, but yet, I should guess, younger than Mrs Jamieson -herself. She looked up and down the church, like a bird, and -nipped up her petticoats, when she came out, as quick and sharp as -ever I see. I'll tell you what, ma'am, she's more like Mrs Deacon, -at the 'Coach and Horses,' nor any one." - -"Hush, Martha!" said Miss Matty, "that's not respectful." - -"Isn't it, ma'am? I beg pardon, I'm sure; but Jem Hearn said so as -well. He said, she was just such a sharp, stirring sort of a body" -- - -"Lady," said Miss Pole. - -"Lady--as Mrs Deacon." - -Another Sunday passed away, and we still averted our eyes from Mrs -Jamieson and her guest, and made remarks to ourselves that we -thought were very severe--almost too much so. Miss Matty was -evidently uneasy at our sarcastic manner of speaking. - -Perhaps by this time Lady Glenmire had found out that Mrs -Jamieson's was not the gayest, liveliest house in the world; -perhaps Mrs Jamieson had found out that most of the county families -were in London, and that those who remained in the country were not -so alive as they might have been to the circumstance of Lady -Glenmire being in their neighbourhood. Great events spring out of -small causes; so I will not pretend to say what induced Mrs -Jamieson to alter her determination of excluding the Cranford -ladies, and send notes of invitation all round for a small party on -the following Tuesday. Mr Mulliner himself brought them round. He -WOULD always ignore the fact of there being a back-door to any -house, and gave a louder rat-tat than his mistress, Mrs Jamieson. -He had three little notes, which he carried in a large basket, in -order to impress his mistress with an idea of their great weight, -though they might easily have gone into his waistcoat pocket. - -Miss Matty and I quietly decided that we would have a previous -engagement at home: it was the evening on which Miss Matty usually -made candle-lighters of all the notes and letters of the week; for -on Mondays her accounts were always made straight--not a penny -owing from the week before; so, by a natural arrangement, making -candle-lighters fell upon a Tuesday evening, and gave us a -legitimate excuse for declining Mrs Jamieson's invitation. But -before our answer was written, in came Miss Pole, with an open note -in her hand. - -"So!" she said. "Ah! I see you have got your note, too. Better -late than never. I could have told my Lady Glenmire she would be -glad enough of our society before a fortnight was over." - -"Yes," said Miss Matty, "we're asked for Tuesday evening. And -perhaps you would just kindly bring your work across and drink tea -with us that night. It is my usual regular time for looking over -the last week's bills, and notes, and letters, and making candle- -lighters of them; but that does not seem quite reason enough for -saying I have a previous engagement at home, though I meant to make -it do. Now, if you would come, my conscience would be quite at -ease, and luckily the note is not written yet." - -I saw Miss Pole's countenance change while Miss Matty was speaking. - -"Don't you mean to go then?" asked she. - -"Oh, no!" said, Miss Matty quietly. "You don't either, I suppose?" - -"I don't know," replied Miss Pole. "Yes, I think I do," said she, -rather briskly; and on seeing Miss Matty look surprised, she added, -"You see, one would not like Mrs Jamieson to think that anything -she could do, or say, was of consequence enough to give offence; it -would be a kind of letting down of ourselves, that I, for one, -should not like. It would be too flattering to Mrs Jamieson if we -allowed her to suppose that what she had said affected us a week, -nay ten days afterwards." - -"Well! I suppose it is wrong to be hurt and annoyed so long about -anything; and, perhaps, after all, she did not mean to vex us. But -I must say, I could not have brought myself to say the things Mrs -Jamieson did about our not calling. I really don't think I shall -go." - -"Oh, come! Miss Matty, you must go; you know our friend Mrs -Jamieson is much more phlegmatic than most people, and does not -enter into the little delicacies of feeling which you possess in so -remarkable a degree." - -"I thought you possessed them, too, that day Mrs Jamieson called to -tell us not to go," said Miss Matty innocently. - -But Miss Pole, in addition to her delicacies of feeling, possessed -a very smart cap, which she was anxious to show to an admiring -world; and so she seemed to forget all her angry words uttered not -a fortnight before, and to be ready to act on what she called the -great Christian principle of "Forgive and forget"; and she lectured -dear Miss Matty so long on this head that she absolutely ended by -assuring her it was her duty, as a deceased rector's daughter, to -buy a new cap and go to the party at Mrs Jamieson's. So "we were -most happy to accept," instead of "regretting that we were obliged -to decline." - -The expenditure on dress in Cranford was principally in that one -article referred to. If the heads were buried in smart new caps, -the ladies were like ostriches, and cared not what became of their -bodies. Old gowns, white and venerable collars, any number of -brooches, up and down and everywhere (some with dogs' eyes painted -in them; some that were like small picture-frames with mausoleums -and weeping-willows neatly executed in hair inside; some, again, -with miniatures of ladies and gentlemen sweetly smiling out of a -nest of stiff muslin), old brooches for a permanent ornament, and -new caps to suit the fashion of the day--the ladies of Cranford -always dressed with chaste elegance and propriety, as Miss Barker -once prettily expressed it. - -And with three new caps, and a greater array of brooches than had -ever been seen together at one time since Cranford was a town, did -Mrs Forrester, and Miss Matty, and Miss Pole appear on that -memorable Tuesday evening. I counted seven brooches myself on Miss -Pole's dress. Two were fixed negligently in her cap (one was a -butterfly made of Scotch pebbles, which a vivid imagination might -believe to be the real insect); one fastened her net neckerchief; -one her collar; one ornamented the front of her gown, midway -between her throat and waist; and another adorned the point of her -stomacher. Where the seventh was I have forgotten, but it was -somewhere about her, I am sure. - -But I am getting on too fast, in describing the dresses of the -company. I should first relate the gathering on the way to Mrs -Jamieson's. That lady lived in a large house just outside the -town. A road which had known what it was to be a street ran right -before the house, which opened out upon it without any intervening -garden or court. Whatever the sun was about, he never shone on the -front of that house. To be sure, the living-rooms were at the -back, looking on to a pleasant garden; the front windows only -belonged to kitchens and housekeepers' rooms, and pantries, and in -one of them Mr Mulliner was reported to sit. Indeed, looking -askance, we often saw the back of a head covered with hair powder, -which also extended itself over his coat-collar down to his very -waist; and this imposing back was always engaged in reading the St -James's Chronicle, opened wide, which, in some degree, accounted -for the length of time the said newspaper was in reaching us--equal -subscribers with Mrs Jamieson, though, in right of her -honourableness, she always had the reading of it first. This very -Tuesday, the delay in forwarding the last number had been -particularly aggravating; just when both Miss Pole and Miss Matty, -the former more especially, had been wanting to see it, in order to -coach up the Court news ready for the evening's interview with -aristocracy. Miss Pole told us she had absolutely taken time by -the forelock, and been dressed by five o'clock, in order to be -ready if the St James's Chronicle should come in at the last -moment--the very St James's Chronicle which the powdered head was -tranquilly and composedly reading as we passed the accustomed -window this evening. - -"The impudence of the man!" said Miss Pole, in a low indignant -whisper. "I should like to ask him whether his mistress pays her -quarter-share for his exclusive use." - -We looked at her in admiration of the courage of her thought; for -Mr Mulliner was an object of great awe to all of us. He seemed -never to have forgotten his condescension in coming to live at -Cranford. Miss Jenkyns, at times, had stood forth as the undaunted -champion of her sex, and spoken to him on terms of equality; but -even Miss Jenkyns could get no higher. In his pleasantest and most -gracious moods he looked like a sulky cockatoo. He did not speak -except in gruff monosyllables. He would wait in the hall when we -begged him not to wait, and then look deeply offended because we -had kept him there, while, with trembling, hasty hands we prepared -ourselves for appearing in company. - -Miss Pole ventured on a small joke as we went upstairs, intended, -though addressed to us, to afford Mr Mulliner some slight -amusement. We all smiled, in order to seem as if we felt at our -ease, and timidly looked for Mr Mulliner's sympathy. Not a muscle -of that wooden face had relaxed; and we were grave in an instant. - -Mrs Jamieson's drawing-room was cheerful; the evening sun came -streaming into it, and the large square window was clustered round -with flowers. The furniture was white and gold; not the later -style, Louis Quatorze, I think they call it, all shells and twirls; -no, Mrs Jamieson's chairs and tables had not a curve or bend about -them. The chair and table legs diminished as they neared the -ground, and were straight and square in all their corners. The -chairs were all a-row against the walls, with the exception of four -or five which stood in a circle round the fire. They were railed -with white bars across the back and knobbed with gold; neither the -railings nor the knobs invited to ease. There was a japanned table -devoted to literature, on which lay a Bible, a Peerage, and a -Prayer-Book. There was another square Pembroke table dedicated to -the Fine Arts, on which were a kaleidoscope, conversation-cards, -puzzle-cards (tied together to an interminable length with faded -pink satin ribbon), and a box painted in fond imitation of the -drawings which decorate tea-chests. Carlo lay on the worsted- -worked rug, and ungraciously barked at us as we entered. Mrs -Jamieson stood up, giving us each a torpid smile of welcome, and -looking helplessly beyond us at Mr Mulliner, as if she hoped he -would place us in chairs, for, if he did not, she never could. I -suppose he thought we could find our way to the circle round the -fire, which reminded me of Stonehenge, I don't know why. Lady -Glenmire came to the rescue of our hostess, and, somehow or other, -we found ourselves for the first time placed agreeably, and not -formally, in Mrs Jamieson's house. Lady Glenmire, now we had time -to look at her, proved to be a bright little woman of middle age, -who had been very pretty in the days of her youth, and who was even -yet very pleasant-looking. I saw Miss Pole appraising her dress in -the first five minutes, and I take her word when she said the next -day - - -"My dear! ten pounds would have purchased every stitch she had on-- -lace and all." - -It was pleasant to suspect that a peeress could be poor, and partly -reconciled us to the fact that her husband had never sat in the -House of Lords; which, when we first heard of it, seemed a kind of -swindling us out of our prospects on false pretences; a sort of "A -Lord and No Lord" business. - -We were all very silent at first. We were thinking what we could -talk about, that should be high enough to interest My Lady. There -had been a rise in the price of sugar, which, as preserving-time -was near, was a piece of intelligence to all our house-keeping -hearts, and would have been the natural topic if Lady Glenmire had -not been by. But we were not sure if the peerage ate preserves-- -much less knew how they were made. At last, Miss Pole, who had -always a great deal of courage and savoir faire, spoke to Lady -Glenmire, who on her part had seemed just as much puzzled to know -how to break the silence as we were. - -"Has your ladyship been to Court lately?" asked she; and then gave -a little glance round at us, half timid and half triumphant, as -much as to say, "See how judiciously I have chosen a subject -befitting the rank of the stranger." - -"I never was there in my life," said Lady Glenmire, with a broad -Scotch accent, but in a very sweet voice. And then, as if she had -been too abrupt, she added: "We very seldom went to London--only -twice, in fact, during all my married life; and before I was -married my father had far too large a family" (fifth daughter of Mr -Campbell was in all our minds, I am sure) "to take us often from -our home, even to Edinburgh. Ye'll have been in Edinburgh, maybe?" -said she, suddenly brightening up with the hope of a common -interest. We had none of us been there; but Miss Pole had an uncle -who once had passed a night there, which was very pleasant. - -Mrs Jamieson, meanwhile, was absorbed in wonder why Mr Mulliner did -not bring the tea; and at length the wonder oozed out of her mouth. - -"I had better ring the bell, my dear, had not I?" said Lady -Glenmire briskly. - -"No--I think not--Mulliner does not like to be hurried." - -We should have liked our tea, for we dined at an earlier hour than -Mrs Jamieson. I suspect Mr Mulliner had to finish the St James's -Chronicle before he chose to trouble himself about tea. His -mistress fidgeted and fidgeted, and kept saying, I can't think why -Mulliner does not bring tea. I can't think what he can be about." -And Lady Glenmire at last grew quite impatient, but it was a pretty -kind of impatience after all; and she rang the bell rather sharply, -on receiving a half-permission from her sister-in-law to do so. Mr -Mulliner appeared in dignified surprise. "Oh!" said Mrs Jamieson, -"Lady Glenmire rang the bell; I believe it was for tea." - -In a few minutes tea was brought. Very delicate was the china, -very old the plate, very thin the bread and butter, and very small -the lumps of sugar. Sugar was evidently Mrs Jamieson's favourite -economy. I question if the little filigree sugar-tongs, made -something like scissors, could have opened themselves wide enough -to take up an honest, vulgar good-sized piece; and when I tried to -seize two little minnikin pieces at once, so as not to be detected -in too many returns to the sugar-basin, they absolutely dropped -one, with a little sharp clatter, quite in a malicious and -unnatural manner. But before this happened we had had a slight -disappointment. In the little silver jug was cream, in the larger -one was milk. As soon as Mr Mulliner came in, Carlo began to beg, -which was a thing our manners forebade us to do, though I am sure -we were just as hungry; and Mrs Jamieson said she was certain we -would excuse her if she gave her poor dumb Carlo his tea first. -She accordingly mixed a saucerful for him, and put it down for him -to lap; and then she told us how intelligent and sensible the dear -little fellow was; he knew cream quite well, and constantly refused -tea with only milk in it: so the milk was left for us; but we -silently thought we were quite as intelligent and sensible as -Carlo, and felt as if insult were added to injury when we were -called upon to admire the gratitude evinced by his wagging his tail -for the cream which should have been ours. - -After tea we thawed down into common-life subjects. We were -thankful to Lady Glenmire for having proposed some more bread and -butter, and this mutual want made us better acquainted with her -than we should ever have been with talking about the Court, though -Miss Pole did say she had hoped to know how the dear Queen was from -some one who had seen her. - -The friendship begun over bread and butter extended on to cards. -Lady Glenmire played Preference to admiration, and was a complete -authority as to Ombre and Quadrille. Even Miss Pole quite forgot -to say "my lady," and "your ladyship," and said "Basto! ma'am"; -"you have Spadille, I believe," just as quietly as if we had never -held the great Cranford Parliament on the subject of the proper -mode of addressing a peeress. - -As a proof of how thoroughly we had forgotten that we were in the -presence of one who might have sat down to tea with a coronet, -instead of a cap, on her head, Mrs Forrester related a curious -little fact to Lady Glenmire--an anecdote known to the circle of -her intimate friends, but of which even Mrs Jamieson was not aware. -It related to some fine old lace, the sole relic of better days, -which Lady Glenmire was admiring on Mrs Forrester's collar. - -"Yes," said that lady, "such lace cannot be got now for either love -or money; made by the nuns abroad, they tell me. They say that -they can't make it now even there. But perhaps they can, now -they've passed the Catholic Emancipation Bill. I should not -wonder. But, in the meantime, I treasure up my lace very much. I -daren't even trust the washing of it to my maid" (the little -charity school-girl I have named before, but who sounded well as -"my maid"). "I always wash it myself. And once it had a narrow -escape. Of course, your ladyship knows that such lace must never -be starched or ironed. Some people wash it in sugar and water, and -some in coffee, to make it the right yellow colour; but I myself -have a very good receipt for washing it in milk, which stiffens it -enough, and gives it a very good creamy colour. Well, ma'am, I had -tacked it together (and the beauty of this fine lace is that, when -it is wet, it goes into a very little space), and put it to soak in -milk, when, unfortunately, I left the room; on my return, I found -pussy on the table, looking very like a thief, but gulping very -uncomfortably, as if she was half-chocked with something she wanted -to swallow and could not. And, would you believe it? At first I -pitied her, and said 'Poor pussy! poor pussy!' till, all at once, I -looked and saw the cup of milk empty--cleaned out! 'You naughty -cat!' said I, and I believe I was provoked enough to give her a -slap, which did no good, but only helped the lace down--just as one -slaps a choking child on the back. I could have cried, I was so -vexed; but I determined I would not give the lace up without a -struggle for it. I hoped the lace might disagree with her, at any -rate; but it would have been too much for Job, if he had seen, as I -did, that cat come in, quite placid and purring, not a quarter of -an hour after, and almost expecting to be stroked. 'No, pussy!' -said I, 'if you have any conscience you ought not to expect that!' -And then a thought struck me; and I rang the bell for my maid, and -sent her to Mr Hoggins, with my compliments, and would he be kind -enough to lend me one of his top-boots for an hour? I did not -think there was anything odd in the message; but Jenny said the -young men in the surgery laughed as if they would be ill at my -wanting a top-boot. When it came, Jenny and I put pussy in, with -her forefeet straight down, so that they were fastened, and could -not scratch, and we gave her a teaspoonful of current-jelly in -which (your ladyship must excuse me) I had mixed some tartar -emetic. I shall never forget how anxious I was for the next half- -hour. I took pussy to my own room, and spread a clean towel on the -floor. I could have kissed her when she returned the lace to -sight, very much as it had gone down. Jenny had boiling water -ready, and we soaked it and soaked it, and spread it on a lavender- -bush in the sun before I could touch it again, even to put it in -milk. But now your ladyship would never guess that it had been in -pussy's inside." - -We found out, in the course of the evening, that Lady Glenmire was -going to pay Mrs Jamieson a long visit, as she had given up her -apartments in Edinburgh, and had no ties to take her back there in -a hurry. On the whole, we were rather glad to hear this, for she -had made a pleasant impression upon us; and it was also very -comfortable to find, from things which dropped out in the course of -conversation, that, in addition to many other genteel qualities, -she was far removed from the "vulgarity of wealth." - -"Don't you find it very unpleasant walking?" asked Mrs Jamieson, as -our respective servants were announced. It was a pretty regular -question from Mrs Jamieson, who had her own carriage in the coach- -house, and always went out in a sedan-chair to the very shortest -distances. The answers were nearly as much a matter of course. - -"Oh dear, no! it is so pleasant and still at night!" "Such a -refreshment after the excitement of a party!" "The stars are so -beautiful!" This last was from Miss Matty. - -"Are you fond of astronomy?" Lady Glenmire asked. - -"Not very," replied Miss Matty, rather confused at the moment to -remember which was astronomy and which was astrology--but the -answer was true under either circumstance, for she read, and was -slightly alarmed at Francis Moore's astrological predictions; and, -as to astronomy, in a private and confidential conversation, she -had told me she never could believe that the earth was moving -constantly, and that she would not believe it if she could, it made -her feel so tired and dizzy whenever she thought about it. - -In our pattens we picked our way home with extra care that night, -so refined and delicate were our perceptions after drinking tea -with "my lady." - - - -CHAPTER IX--SIGNOR BRUNONI - - - -Soon after the events of which I gave an account in my last paper, -I was summoned home by my father's illness; and for a time I -forgot, in anxiety about him, to wonder how my dear friends at -Cranford were getting on, or how Lady Glenmire could reconcile -herself to the dulness of the long visit which she was still paying -to her sister-in-law, Mrs Jamieson. When my father grew a little -stronger I accompanied him to the seaside, so that altogether I -seemed banished from Cranford, and was deprived of the opportunity -of hearing any chance intelligence of the dear little town for the -greater part of that year. - -Late in November--when we had returned home again, and my father -was once more in good health--I received a letter from Miss Matty; -and a very mysterious letter it was. She began many sentences -without ending them, running them one into another, in much the -same confused sort of way in which written words run together on -blotting-paper. All I could make out was that, if my father was -better (which she hoped he was), and would take warning and wear a -great-coat from Michaelmas to Lady-day, if turbans were in fashion, -could I tell her? Such a piece of gaiety was going to happen as -had not been seen or known of since Wombwell's lions came, when one -of them ate a little child's arm; and she was, perhaps, too old to -care about dress, but a new cap she must have; and, having heard -that turbans were worn, and some of the county families likely to -come, she would like to look tidy, if I would bring her a cap from -the milliner I employed; and oh, dear! how careless of her to -forget that she wrote to beg I would come and pay her a visit next -Tuesday; when she hoped to have something to offer me in the way of -amusement, which she would not now more particularly describe, only -sea-green was her favourite colour. So she ended her letter; but -in a P.S. she added, she thought she might as well tell me what was -the peculiar attraction to Cranford just now; Signor Brunoni was -going to exhibit his wonderful magic in the Cranford Assembly Rooms -on Wednesday and Friday evening in the following week. - -I was very glad to accept the invitation from my dear Miss Matty, -independently of the conjuror, and most particularly anxious to -prevent her from disfiguring her small, gentle, mousey face with a -great Saracen's head turban; and accordingly, I bought her a -pretty, neat, middle-aged cap, which, however, was rather a -disappointment to her when, on my arrival, she followed me into my -bedroom, ostensibly to poke the fire, but in reality, I do believe, -to see if the sea-green turban was not inside the cap-box with -which I had travelled. It was in vain that I twirled the cap round -on my hand to exhibit back and side fronts: her heart had been set -upon a turban, and all she could do was to say, with resignation in -her look and voice - - -"I am sure you did your best, my dear. It is just like the caps -all the ladies in Cranford are wearing, and they have had theirs -for a year, I dare say. I should have liked something newer, I -confess--something more like the turbans Miss Betty Barker tells me -Queen Adelaide wears; but it is very pretty, my dear. And I dare -say lavender will wear better than sea-green. Well, after all, -what is dress, that we should care anything about it? You'll tell -me if you want anything, my dear. Here is the bell. I suppose -turbans have not got down to Drumble yet?" - -So saying, the dear old lady gently bemoaned herself out of the -room, leaving me to dress for the evening, when, as she informed -me, she expected Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester, and she hoped I -should not feel myself too much tired to join the party. Of course -I should not; and I made some haste to unpack and arrange my dress; -but, with all my speed, I heard the arrivals and the buzz of -conversation in the next room before I was ready. Just as I opened -the door, I caught the words, "I was foolish to expect anything -very genteel out of the Drumble shops; poor girl! she did her best, -I've no doubt." But, for all that, I had rather that she blamed -Drumble and me than disfigured herself with a turban. - -Miss Pole was always the person, in the trio of Cranford ladies now -assembled, to have had adventures. She was in the habit of -spending the morning in rambling from shop to shop, not to purchase -anything (except an occasional reel of cotton or a piece of tape), -but to see the new articles and report upon them, and to collect -all the stray pieces of intelligence in the town. She had a way, -too, of demurely popping hither and thither into all sorts of -places to gratify her curiosity on any point--a way which, if she -had not looked so very genteel and prim, might have been considered -impertinent. And now, by the expressive way in which she cleared -her throat, and waited for all minor subjects (such as caps and -turbans) to be cleared off the course, we knew she had something -very particular to relate, when the due pause came--and I defy any -people possessed of common modesty to keep up a conversation long, -where one among them sits up aloft in silence, looking down upon -all the things they chance to say as trivial and contemptible -compared to what they could disclose, if properly entreated. Miss -Pole began - - -"As I was stepping out of Gordon's shop to-day, I chanced to go -into the 'George' (my Betty has a second-cousin who is chambermaid -there, and I thought Betty would like to hear how she was), and, -not seeing anyone about, I strolled up the staircase, and found -myself in the passage leading to the Assembly Room (you and I -remember the Assembly Room, I am sure, Miss Matty! and the minuets -de la cour!); so I went on, not thinking of what I was about, when, -all at once, I perceived that I was in the middle of the -preparations for to-morrow night--the room being divided with great -clothes-maids, over which Crosby's men were tacking red flannel; -very dark and odd it seemed; it quite bewildered me, and I was -going on behind the screens, in my absence of mind, when a -gentleman (quite the gentleman, I can assure you) stepped forwards -and asked if I had any business he could arrange for me. He spoke -such pretty broken English, I could not help thinking of Thaddeus -of Warsaw, and the Hungarian Brothers, and Santo Sebastiani; and -while I was busy picturing his past life to myself, he had bowed me -out of the room. But wait a minute! You have not heard half my -story yet! I was going downstairs, when who should I meet but -Betty's second-cousin. So, of course, I stopped to speak to her -for Betty's sake; and she told me that I had really seen the -conjuror--the gentleman who spoke broken English was Signor Brunoni -himself. Just at this moment he passed us on the stairs, making -such a graceful bow! in reply to which I dropped a curtsey--all -foreigners have such polite manners, one catches something of it. -But when he had gone downstairs, I bethought me that I had dropped -my glove in the Assembly Room (it was safe in my muff all the time, -but I never found it till afterwards); so I went back, and, just as -I was creeping up the passage left on one side of the great screen -that goes nearly across the room, who should I see but the very -same gentleman that had met me before, and passed me on the stairs, -coming now forwards from the inner part of the room, to which there -is no entrance--you remember, Miss Matty--and just repeating, in -his pretty broken English, the inquiry if I had any business there- --I don't mean that he put it quite so bluntly, but he seemed very -determined that I should not pass the screen--so, of course, I -explained about my glove, which, curiously enough, I found at that -very moment." - -Miss Pole, then, had seen the conjuror--the real, live conjuror! -and numerous were the questions we all asked her. "Had he a -beard?" "Was he young, or old?" "Fair, or dark?" "Did he look"-- -(unable to shape my question prudently, I put it in another form)-- -"How did he look?" In short, Miss Pole was the heroine of the -evening, owing to her morning's encounter. If she was not the rose -(that is to say the conjuror) she had been near it. - -Conjuration, sleight of hand, magic, witchcraft, were the subjects -of the evening. Miss Pole was slightly sceptical, and inclined to -think there might be a scientific solution found for even the -proceedings of the Witch of Endor. Mrs Forrester believed -everything, from ghosts to death-watches. Miss Matty ranged -between the two--always convinced by the last speaker. I think she -was naturally more inclined to Mrs Forrester's side, but a desire -of proving herself a worthy sister to Miss Jenkyns kept her equally -balanced--Miss Jenkyns, who would never allow a servant to call the -little rolls of tallow that formed themselves round candles -"winding-sheets," but insisted on their being spoken of as "roley- -poleys!" A sister of hers to be superstitious! It would never do. - -After tea, I was despatched downstairs into the dining-parlour for -that volume of the old Encyclopaedia which contained the nouns -beginning with C, in order that Miss Pole might prime herself with -scientific explanations for the tricks of the following evening. -It spoilt the pool at Preference which Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester -had been looking forward to, for Miss Pole became so much absorbed -in her subject, and the plates by which it was illustrated, that we -felt it would be cruel to disturb her otherwise than by one or two -well-timed yawns, which I threw in now and then, for I was really -touched by the meek way in which the two ladies were bearing their -disappointment. But Miss Pole only read the more zealously, -imparting to us no more information than this - - -"Ah! I see; I comprehend perfectly. A represents the ball. Put A -between B and D--no! between C and F, and turn the second joint of -the third finger of your left hand over the wrist of your right H. -Very clear indeed! My dear Mrs Forrester, conjuring and witchcraft -is a mere affair of the alphabet. Do let me read you this one -passage?" - -Mrs Forrester implored Miss Pole to spare her, saying, from a child -upwards, she never could understand being read aloud to; and I -dropped the pack of cards, which I had been shuffling very audibly, -and by this discreet movement I obliged Miss Pole to perceive that -Preference was to have been the order of the evening, and to -propose, rather unwillingly, that the pool should commence. The -pleasant brightness that stole over the other two ladies' faces on -this! Miss Matty had one or two twinges of self-reproach for -having interrupted Miss Pole in her studies: and did not remember -her cards well, or give her full attention to the game, until she -had soothed her conscience by offering to lend the volume of the -Encyclopaedia to Miss Pole, who accepted it thankfully, and said -Betty should take it home when she came with the lantern. - -The next evening we were all in a little gentle flutter at the idea -of the gaiety before us. Miss Matty went up to dress betimes, and -hurried me until I was ready, when we found we had an hour-and-a- -half to wait before the "doors opened at seven precisely." And we -had only twenty yards to go! However, as Miss Matty said, it would -not do to get too much absorbed in anything, and forget the time; -so she thought we had better sit quietly, without lighting the -candles, till five minutes to seven. So Miss Matty dozed, and I -knitted. - -At length we set off; and at the door under the carriage-way at the -"George," we met Mrs Forrester and Miss Pole: the latter was -discussing the subject of the evening with more vehemence than -ever, and throwing X's and B's at our heads like hailstones. She -had even copied one or two of the "receipts"--as she called them-- -for the different tricks, on backs of letters, ready to explain and -to detect Signor Brunoni's arts. - -We went into the cloak-room adjoining the Assembly Room; Miss Matty -gave a sigh or two to her departed youth, and the remembrance of -the last time she had been there, as she adjusted her pretty new -cap before the strange, quaint old mirror in the cloak-room. The -Assembly Room had been added to the inn, about a hundred years -before, by the different county families, who met together there -once a month during the winter to dance and play at cards. Many a -county beauty had first swung through the minuet that she -afterwards danced before Queen Charlotte in this very room. It was -said that one of the Gunnings had graced the apartment with her -beauty; it was certain that a rich and beautiful widow, Lady -Williams, had here been smitten with the noble figure of a young -artist, who was staying with some family in the neighbourhood for -professional purposes, and accompanied his patrons to the Cranford -Assembly. And a pretty bargain poor Lady Williams had of her -handsome husband, if all tales were true. Now, no beauty blushed -and dimpled along the sides of the Cranford Assembly Room; no -handsome artist won hearts by his bow, chapeau bras in hand; the -old room was dingy; the salmon-coloured paint had faded into a -drab; great pieces of plaster had chipped off from the fine wreaths -and festoons on its walls; but still a mouldy odour of aristocracy -lingered about the place, and a dusty recollection of the days that -were gone made Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester bridle up as they -entered, and walk mincingly up the room, as if there were a number -of genteel observers, instead of two little boys with a stick of -toffee between them with which to beguile the time. - -We stopped short at the second front row; I could hardly understand -why, until I heard Miss Pole ask a stray waiter if any of the -county families were expected; and when he shook his head, and -believed not, Mrs Forrester and Miss Matty moved forwards, and our -party represented a conversational square. The front row was soon -augmented and enriched by Lady Glenmire and Mrs Jamieson. We six -occupied the two front rows, and our aristocratic seclusion was -respected by the groups of shop-keepers who strayed in from time to -time and huddled together on the back benches. At least I -conjectured so, from the noise they made, and the sonorous bumps -they gave in sitting down; but when, in weariness of the obstinate -green curtain that would not draw up, but would stare at me with -two odd eyes, seen through holes, as in the old tapestry story, I -would fain have looked round at the merry chattering people behind -me, Miss Pole clutched my arm, and begged me not to turn, for "it -was not the thing." What "the thing" was, I never could find out, -but it must have been something eminently dull and tiresome. -However, we all sat eyes right, square front, gazing at the -tantalising curtain, and hardly speaking intelligibly, we were so -afraid of being caught in the vulgarity of making any noise in a -place of public amusement. Mrs Jamieson was the most fortunate, -for she fell asleep. - -At length the eyes disappeared--the curtain quivered--one side went -up before the other, which stuck fast; it was dropped again, and, -with a fresh effort, and a vigorous pull from some unseen hand, it -flew up, revealing to our sight a magnificent gentleman in the -Turkish costume, seated before a little table, gazing at us (I -should have said with the same eyes that I had last seen through -the hole in the curtain) with calm and condescending dignity, "like -a being of another sphere," as I heard a sentimental voice -ejaculate behind me. - -"That's not Signor Brunoni!" said Miss Pole decidedly; and so -audibly that I am sure he heard, for he glanced down over his -flowing beard at our party with an air of mute reproach. "Signor -Brunoni had no beard--but perhaps he'll come soon." So she lulled -herself into patience. Meanwhile, Miss Matty had reconnoitred -through her eye-glass, wiped it, and looked again. Then she turned -round, and said to me, in a kind, mild, sorrowful tone - - -"You see, my dear, turbans ARE worn." - -But we had no time for more conversation. The Grand Turk, as Miss -Pole chose to call him, arose and announced himself as Signor -Brunoni. - -"I don't believe him!" exclaimed Miss Pole, in a defiant manner. -He looked at her again, with the same dignified upbraiding in his -countenance. "I don't!" she repeated more positively than ever. -"Signor Brunoni had not got that muffy sort of thing about his -chin, but looked like a close-shaved Christian gentleman." - -Miss Pole's energetic speeches had the good effect of wakening up -Mrs Jamieson, who opened her eyes wide, in sign of the deepest -attention--a proceeding which silenced Miss Pole and encouraged the -Grand Turk to proceed, which he did in very broken English--so -broken that there was no cohesion between the parts of his -sentences; a fact which he himself perceived at last, and so left -off speaking and proceeded to action. - -Now we WERE astonished. How he did his tricks I could not imagine; -no, not even when Miss Pole pulled out her pieces of paper and -began reading aloud--or at least in a very audible whisper--the -separate "receipts" for the most common of his tricks. If ever I -saw a man frown and look enraged, I saw the Grand Turk frown at -Miss Pole; but, as she said, what could be expected but unchristian -looks from a Mussulman? If Miss Pole were sceptical, and more -engrossed with her receipts and diagrams than with his tricks, Miss -Matty and Mrs Forrester were mystified and perplexed to the highest -degree. Mrs Jamieson kept taking her spectacles off and wiping -them, as if she thought it was something defective in them which -made the legerdemain; and Lady Glenmire, who had seen many curious -sights in Edinburgh, was very much struck with the tricks, and -would not at all agree with Miss Pole, who declared that anybody -could do them with a little practice, and that she would, herself, -undertake to do all he did, with two hours given to study the -Encyclopaedia and make her third finger flexible. - -At last Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester became perfectly awestricken. -They whispered together. I sat just behind them, so I could not -help hearing what they were saying. Miss Matty asked Mrs Forrester -"if she thought it was quite right to have come to see such things? -She could not help fearing they were lending encouragement to -something that was not quite"-- A little shake of the head filled -up the blank. Mrs Forrester replied, that the same thought had -crossed her mind; she too was feeling very uncomfortable, it was so -very strange. She was quite certain that it was her pocket- -handkerchief which was in that loaf just now; and it had been in -her own hand not five minutes before. She wondered who had -furnished the bread? She was sure it could not be Dakin, because -he was the churchwarden. Suddenly Miss Matty half-turned towards -me - - -"Will you look, my dear--you are a stranger in the town, and it -won't give rise to unpleasant reports--will you just look round and -see if the rector is here? If he is, I think we may conclude that -this wonderful man is sanctioned by the Church, and that will be a -great relief to my mind. - -I looked, and I saw the tall, thin, dry, dusty rector, sitting -surrounded by National School boys, guarded by troops of his own -sex from any approach of the many Cranford spinsters. His kind -face was all agape with broad smiles, and the boys around him were -in chinks of laughing. I told Miss Matty that the Church was -smiling approval, which set her mind at ease. - -I have never named Mr Hayter, the rector, because I, as a well-to- -do and happy young woman, never came in contact with him. He was -an old bachelor, but as afraid of matrimonial reports getting -abroad about him as any girl of eighteen: and he would rush into a -shop or dive down an entry, sooner than encounter any of the -Cranford ladies in the street; and, as for the Preference parties, -I did not wonder at his not accepting invitations to them. To tell -the truth, I always suspected Miss Pole of having given very -vigorous chase to Mr Hayter when he first came to Cranford; and not -the less, because now she appeared to share so vividly in his dread -lest her name should ever be coupled with his. He found all his -interests among the poor and helpless; he had treated the National -School boys this very night to the performance; and virtue was for -once its own reward, for they guarded him right and left, and clung -round him as if he had been the queen-bee and they the swarm. He -felt so safe in their environment that he could even afford to give -our party a bow as we filed out. Miss Pole ignored his presence, -and pretended to be absorbed in convincing us that we had been -cheated, and had not seen Signor Brunoni after all. - - - -CHAPTER X--THE PANIC - - - -I think a series of circumstances dated from Signor Brunoni's visit -to Cranford, which seemed at the time connected in our minds with -him, though I don't know that he had anything really to do with -them. All at once all sorts of uncomfortable rumours got afloat in -the town. There were one or two robberies--real bona fide -robberies; men had up before the magistrates and committed for -trial--and that seemed to make us all afraid of being robbed; and -for a long time, at Miss Matty's, I know, we used to make a regular -expedition all round the kitchens and cellars every night, Miss -Matty leading the way, armed with the poker, I following with the -hearth-brush, and Martha carrying the shovel and fire-irons with -which to sound the alarm; and by the accidental hitting together of -them she often frightened us so much that we bolted ourselves up, -all three together, in the back-kitchen, or store-room, or wherever -we happened to be, till, when our affright was over, we recollected -ourselves and set out afresh with double valiance. By day we heard -strange stories from the shopkeepers and cottagers, of carts that -went about in the dead of night, drawn by horses shod with felt, -and guarded by men in dark clothes, going round the town, no doubt -in search of some unwatched house or some unfastened door. - -Miss Pole, who affected great bravery herself, was the principal -person to collect and arrange these reports so as to make them -assume their most fearful aspect. But we discovered that she had -begged one of Mr Hoggins's worn-out hats to hang up in her lobby, -and we (at least I) had doubts as to whether she really would enjoy -the little adventure of having her house broken into, as she -protested she should. Miss Matty made no secret of being an arrant -coward, but she went regularly through her housekeeper's duty of -inspection--only the hour for this became earlier and earlier, till -at last we went the rounds at half-past six, and Miss Matty -adjourned to bed soon after seven, "in order to get the night over -the sooner." - -Cranford had so long piqued itself on being an honest and moral -town that it had grown to fancy itself too genteel and well-bred to -be otherwise, and felt the stain upon its character at this time -doubly. But we comforted ourselves with the assurance which we -gave to each other that the robberies could never have been -committed by any Cranford person; it must have been a stranger or -strangers who brought this disgrace upon the town, and occasioned -as many precautions as if we were living among the Red Indians or -the French. - -This last comparison of our nightly state of defence and -fortification was made by Mrs Forrester, whose father had served -under General Burgoyne in the American war, and whose husband had -fought the French in Spain. She indeed inclined to the idea that, -in some way, the French were connected with the small thefts, which -were ascertained facts, and the burglaries and highway robberies, -which were rumours. She had been deeply impressed with the idea of -French spies at some time in her life; and the notion could never -be fairly eradicated, but sprang up again from time to time. And -now her theory was this:- The Cranford people respected themselves -too much, and were too grateful to the aristocracy who were so kind -as to live near the town, ever to disgrace their bringing up by -being dishonest or immoral; therefore, we must believe that the -robbers were strangers--if strangers, why not foreigners?--if -foreigners, who so likely as the French? Signor Brunoni spoke -broken English like a Frenchman; and, though he wore a turban like -a Turk, Mrs Forrester had seen a print of Madame de Stael with a -turban on, and another of Mr Denon in just such a dress as that in -which the conjuror had made his appearance, showing clearly that -the French, as well as the Turks, wore turbans. There could be no -doubt Signor Brunoni was a Frenchman--a French spy come to discover -the weak and undefended places of England, and doubtless he had his -accomplices. For her part, she, Mrs Forrester, had always had her -own opinion of Miss Pole's adventure at the "George Inn"--seeing -two men where only one was believed to be. French people had ways -and means which, she was thankful to say, the English knew nothing -about; and she had never felt quite easy in her mind about going to -see that conjuror--it was rather too much like a forbidden thing, -though the rector was there. In short, Mrs Forrester grew more -excited than we had ever known her before, and, being an officer's -daughter and widow, we looked up to her opinion, of course. - -Really I do not know how much was true or false in the reports -which flew about like wildfire just at this time; but it seemed to -me then that there was every reason to believe that at Mardon (a -small town about eight miles from Cranford) houses and shops were -entered by holes made in the walls, the bricks being silently -carried away in the dead of the night, and all done so quietly that -no sound was heard either in or out of the house. Miss Matty gave -it up in despair when she heard of this. "What was the use," said -she, "of locks and bolts, and bells to the windows, and going round -the house every night? That last trick was fit for a conjuror. -Now she did believe that Signor Brunoni was at the bottom of it." - -One afternoon, about five o'clock, we were startled by a hasty -knock at the door. Miss Matty bade me run and tell Martha on no -account to open the door till she (Miss Matty) had reconnoitred -through the window; and she armed herself with a footstool to drop -down on the head of the visitor, in case he should show a face -covered with black crape, as he looked up in answer to her inquiry -of who was there. But it was nobody but Miss Pole and Betty. The -former came upstairs, carrying a little hand-basket, and she was -evidently in a state of great agitation. - -"Take care of that!" said she to me, as I offered to relieve her of -her basket. "It's my plate. I am sure there is a plan to rob my -house to-night. I am come to throw myself on your hospitality, -Miss Matty. Betty is going to sleep with her cousin at the -'George.' I can sit up here all night if you will allow me; but my -house is so far from any neighbours, and I don't believe we could -be heard if we screamed ever so!" - -"But," said Miss Matty, "what has alarmed you so much? Have you -seen any men lurking about the house?" - -"Oh, yes!" answered Miss Pole. "Two very bad-looking men have gone -three times past the house, very slowly; and an Irish beggar-woman -came not half-an-hour ago, and all but forced herself in past -Betty, saying her children were starving, and she must speak to the -mistress. You see, she said 'mistress,' though there was a hat -hanging up in the hall, and it would have been more natural to have -said 'master.' But Betty shut the door in her face, and came up to -me, and we got the spoons together, and sat in the parlour-window -watching till we saw Thomas Jones going from his work, when we -called to him and asked him to take care of us into the town." - -We might have triumphed over Miss Pole, who had professed such -bravery until she was frightened; but we were too glad to perceive -that she shared in the weaknesses of humanity to exult over her; -and I gave up my room to her very willingly, and shared Miss -Matty's bed for the night. But before we retired, the two ladies -rummaged up, out of the recesses of their memory, such horrid -stories of robbery and murder that I quite quaked in my shoes. -Miss Pole was evidently anxious to prove that such terrible events -had occurred within her experience that she was justified in her -sudden panic; and Miss Matty did not like to be outdone, and capped -every story with one yet more horrible, till it reminded me oddly -enough, of an old story I had read somewhere, of a nightingale and -a musician, who strove one against the other which could produce -the most admirable music, till poor Philomel dropped down dead. - -One of the stories that haunted me for a long time afterwards was -of a girl who was left in charge of a great house in Cumberland on -some particular fair-day, when the other servants all went off to -the gaieties. The family were away in London, and a pedlar came -by, and asked to leave his large and heavy pack in the kitchen, -saying he would call for it again at night; and the girl (a -gamekeeper's daughter), roaming about in search of amusement, -chanced to hit upon a gun hanging up in the hall, and took it down -to look at the chasing; and it went off through the open kitchen -door, hit the pack, and a slow dark thread of blood came oozing -out. (How Miss Pole enjoyed this part of the story, dwelling on -each word as if she loved it!) She rather hurried over the further -account of the girl's bravery, and I have but a confused idea that, -somehow, she baffled the robbers with Italian irons, heated red- -hot, and then restored to blackness by being dipped in grease. - -We parted for the night with an awe-stricken wonder as to what we -should hear of in the morning--and, on my part, with a vehement -desire for the night to be over and gone: I was so afraid lest the -robbers should have seen, from some dark lurking-place, that Miss -Pole had carried off her plate, and thus have a double motive for -attacking our house. - -But until Lady Glenmire came to call next day we heard of nothing -unusual. The kitchen fire-irons were in exactly the same position -against the back door as when Martha and I had skilfully piled them -up, like spillikins, ready to fall with an awful clatter if only a -cat had touched the outside panels. I had wondered what we should -all do if thus awakened and alarmed, and had proposed to Miss Matty -that we should cover up our faces under the bedclothes so that -there should be no danger of the robbers thinking that we could -identify them; but Miss Matty, who was trembling very much, scouted -this idea, and said we owed it to society to apprehend them, and -that she should certainly do her best to lay hold of them and lock -them up in the garret till morning. - -When Lady Glenmire came, we almost felt jealous of her. Mrs -Jamieson's house had really been attacked; at least there were -men's footsteps to be seen on the flower borders, underneath the -kitchen windows, "where nae men should be;" and Carlo had barked -all through the night as if strangers were abroad. Mrs Jamieson -had been awakened by Lady Glenmire, and they had rung the bell -which communicated with Mr Mulliner's room in the third storey, and -when his night-capped head had appeared over the bannisters, in -answer to the summons, they had told him of their alarm, and the -reasons for it; whereupon he retreated into his bedroom, and locked -the door (for fear of draughts, as he informed them in the -morning), and opened the window, and called out valiantly to say, -if the supposed robbers would come to him he would fight them; but, -as Lady Glenmire observed, that was but poor comfort, since they -would have to pass by Mrs Jamieson's room and her own before they -could reach him, and must be of a very pugnacious disposition -indeed if they neglected the opportunities of robbery presented by -the unguarded lower storeys, to go up to a garret, and there force -a door in order to get at the champion of the house. Lady -Glenmire, after waiting and listening for some time in the drawing- -room, had proposed to Mrs Jamieson that they should go to bed; but -that lady said she should not feel comfortable unless she sat up -and watched; and, accordingly, she packed herself warmly up on the -sofa, where she was found by the housemaid, when she came into the -room at six o'clock, fast asleep; but Lady Glenmire went to bed, -and kept awake all night. - -When Miss Pole heard of this, she nodded her head in great -satisfaction. She had been sure we should hear of something -happening in Cranford that night; and we had heard. It was clear -enough they had first proposed to attack her house; but when they -saw that she and Betty were on their guard, and had carried off the -plate, they had changed their tactics and gone to Mrs Jamieson's, -and no one knew what might have happened if Carlo had not barked, -like a good dog as he was! - -Poor Carlo! his barking days were nearly over. Whether the gang -who infested the neighbourhood were afraid of him, or whether they -were revengeful enough, for the way in which he had baffled them on -the night in question, to poison him; or whether, as some among the -more uneducated people thought, he died of apoplexy, brought on by -too much feeding and too little exercise; at any rate, it is -certain that, two days after this eventful night, Carlo was found -dead, with his poor legs stretched out stiff in the attitude of -running, as if by such unusual exertion he could escape the sure -pursuer, Death. - -We were all sorry for Carlo, the old familiar friend who had -snapped at us for so many years; and the mysterious mode of his -death made us very uncomfortable. Could Signor Brunoni be at the -bottom of this? He had apparently killed a canary with only a word -of command; his will seemed of deadly force; who knew but what he -might yet be lingering in the neighbourhood willing all sorts of -awful things! - -We whispered these fancies among ourselves in the evenings; but in -the mornings our courage came back with the daylight, and in a -week's time we had got over the shock of Carlo's death; all but Mrs -Jamieson. She, poor thing, felt it as she had felt no event since -her husband's death; indeed, Miss Pole said, that as the Honourable -Mr Jamieson drank a good deal, and occasioned her much uneasiness, -it was possible that Carlo's death might be the greater affliction. -But there was always a tinge of cynicism in Miss Pole's remarks. -However, one thing was clear and certain--it was necessary for Mrs -Jamieson to have some change of scene; and Mr Mulliner was very -impressive on this point, shaking his head whenever we inquired -after his mistress, and speaking of her loss of appetite and bad -nights very ominously; and with justice too, for if she had two -characteristics in her natural state of health they were a facility -of eating and sleeping. If she could neither eat nor sleep, she -must be indeed out of spirits and out of health. - -Lady Glenmire (who had evidently taken very kindly to Cranford) did -not like the idea of Mrs Jamieson's going to Cheltenham, and more -than once insinuated pretty plainly that it was Mr Mulliner's -doing, who had been much alarmed on the occasion of the house being -attacked, and since had said, more than once, that he felt it a -very responsible charge to have to defend so many women. Be that -as it might, Mrs Jamieson went to Cheltenham, escorted by Mr -Mulliner; and Lady Glenmire remained in possession of the house, -her ostensible office being to take care that the maid-servants did -not pick up followers. She made a very pleasant-looking dragon; -and, as soon as it was arranged for her stay in Cranford, she found -out that Mrs Jamieson's visit to Cheltenham was just the best thing -in the world. She had let her house in Edinburgh, and was for the -time house-less, so the charge of her sister-in-law's comfortable -abode was very convenient and acceptable. - -Miss Pole was very much inclined to instal herself as a heroine, -because of the decided steps she had taken in flying from the two -men and one woman, whom she entitled "that murderous gang." She -described their appearance in glowing colours, and I noticed that -every time she went over the story some fresh trait of villainy was -added to their appearance. One was tall--he grew to be gigantic in -height before we had done with him; he of course had black hair-- -and by-and-by it hung in elf-locks over his forehead and down his -back. The other was short and broad--and a hump sprouted out on -his shoulder before we heard the last of him; he had red hair-- -which deepened into carroty; and she was almost sure he had a cast -in the eye--a decided squint. As for the woman, her eyes glared, -and she was masculine-looking--a perfect virago; most probably a -man dressed in woman's clothes; afterwards, we heard of a beard on -her chin, and a manly voice and a stride. - -If Miss Pole was delighted to recount the events of that afternoon -to all inquirers, others were not so proud of their adventures in -the robbery line. Mr Hoggins, the surgeon, had been attacked at -his own door by two ruffians, who were concealed in the shadow of -the porch, and so effectually silenced him that he was robbed in -the interval between ringing his bell and the servant's answering -it. Miss Pole was sure it would turn out that this robbery had -been commited by "her men," and went the very day she heard the -report to have her teeth examined, and to question Mr Hoggins. She -came to us afterwards; so we heard what she had heard, straight and -direct from the source, while we were yet in the excitement and -flutter of the agitation caused by the first intelligence; for the -event had only occurred the night before. - -"Well!" said Miss Pole, sitting down with the decision of a person -who has made up her mind as to the nature of life and the world -(and such people never tread lightly, or seat themselves without a -bump), "well, Miss Matty! men will be men. Every mother's son of -them wishes to be considered Samson and Solomon rolled into one-- -too strong ever to be beaten or discomfited--too wise ever to be -outwitted. If you will notice, they have always foreseen events, -though they never tell one for one's warning before the events -happen. My father was a man, and I know the sex pretty well." - -She had talked herself out of breath, and we should have been very -glad to fill up the necessary pause as chorus, but we did not -exactly know what to say, or which man had suggested this diatribe -against the sex; so we only joined in generally, with a grave shake -of the head, and a soft murmur of "They are very incomprehensible, -certainly!" - -"Now, only think," said she. "There, I have undergone the risk of -having one of my remaining teeth drawn (for one is terribly at the -mercy of any surgeon-dentist; and I, for one, always speak them -fair till I have got my mouth out of their clutches), and, after -all, Mr Hoggins is too much of a man to own that he was robbed last -night." - -"Not robbed!" exclaimed the chorus. - -"Don't tell me!" Miss Pole exclaimed, angry that we could be for a -moment imposed upon. "I believe he was robbed, just as Betty told -me, and he is ashamed to own it; and, to be sure, it was very silly -of him to be robbed just at his own door; I daresay he feels that -such a thing won't raise him in the eyes of Cranford society, and -is anxious to conceal it--but he need not have tried to impose upon -me, by saying I must have heard an exaggerated account of some -petty theft of a neck of mutton, which, it seems, was stolen out of -the safe in his yard last week; he had the impertinence to add, he -believed that that was taken by the cat. I have no doubt, if I -could get at the bottom of it, it was that Irishman dressed up in -woman's clothes, who came spying about my house, with the story -about the starving children." - -After we had duly condemned the want of candour which Mr Hoggins -had evinced, and abused men in general, taking him for the -representative and type, we got round to the subject about which we -had been talking when Miss Pole came in; namely, how far, in the -present disturbed state of the country, we could venture to accept -an invitation which Miss Matty had just received from Mrs -Forrester, to come as usual and keep the anniversary of her -wedding-day by drinking tea with her at five o'clock, and playing a -quiet pool afterwards. Mrs Forrester had said that she asked us -with some diffidence, because the roads were, she feared, very -unsafe. But she suggested that perhaps one of us would not object -to take the sedan, and that the others, by walking briskly, might -keep up with the long trot of the chairmen, and so we might all -arrive safely at Over Place, a suburb of the town. (No; that is -too large an expression: a small cluster of houses separated from -Cranford by about two hundred yards of a dark and lonely lane.) -There was no doubt but that a similar note was awaiting Miss Pole -at home; so her call was a very fortunate affair, as it enabled us -to consult together. We would all much rather have declined this -invitation; but we felt that it would not be quite kind to Mrs -Forrester, who would otherwise be left to a solitary retrospect of -her not very happy or fortunate life. Miss Matty and Miss Pole had -been visitors on this occasion for many years, and now they -gallantly determined to nail their colours to the mast, and to go -through Darkness Lane rather than fail in loyalty to their friend. - -But when the evening came, Miss Matty (for it was she who was voted -into the chair, as she had a cold), before being shut down in the -sedan, like jack-in-a-box, implored the chairmen, whatever might -befall, not to run away and leave her fastened up there, to be -murdered; and even after they had promised, I saw her tighten her -features into the stern determination of a martyr, and she gave me -a melancholy and ominous shake of the head through the glass. -However, we got there safely, only rather out of breath, for it was -who could trot hardest through Darkness Lane, and I am afraid poor -Miss Matty was sadly jolted. - -Mrs Forrester had made extra preparations, in acknowledgment of our -exertion in coming to see her through such dangers. The usual -forms of genteel ignorance as to what her servants might send up -were all gone through; and harmony and Preference seemed likely to -be the order of the evening, but for an interesting conversation -that began I don't know how, but which had relation, of course, to -the robbers who infested the neighbourhood of Cranford. - -Having braved the dangers of Darkness Lane, and thus having a -little stock of reputation for courage to fall back upon; and also, -I daresay, desirous of proving ourselves superior to men (videlicet -Mr Hoggins) in the article of candour, we began to relate our -individual fears, and the private precautions we each of us took. -I owned that my pet apprehension was eyes--eyes looking at me, and -watching me, glittering out from some dull, flat, wooden surface; -and that if I dared to go up to my looking-glass when I was panic- -stricken, I should certainly turn it round, with its back towards -me, for fear of seeing eyes behind me looking out of the darkness. -I saw Miss Matty nerving herself up for a confession; and at last -out it came. She owned that, ever since she had been a girl, she -had dreaded being caught by her last leg, just as she was getting -into bed, by some one concealed under it. She said, when she was -younger and more active, she used to take a flying leap from a -distance, and so bring both her legs up safely into bed at once; -but that this had always annoyed Deborah, who piqued herself upon -getting into bed gracefully, and she had given it up in -consequence. But now the old terror would often come over her, -especially since Miss Pole's house had been attacked (we had got -quite to believe in the fact of the attack having taken place), and -yet it was very unpleasant to think of looking under a bed, and -seeing a man concealed, with a great, fierce face staring out at -you; so she had bethought herself of something--perhaps I had -noticed that she had told Martha to buy her a penny ball, such as -children play with--and now she rolled this ball under the bed -every night: if it came out on the other side, well and good; if -not she always took care to have her hand on the bell-rope, and -meant to call out John and Harry, just as if she expected men- -servants to answer her ring. - -We all applauded this ingenious contrivance, and Miss Matty sank -back into satisfied silence, with a look at Mrs Forrester as if to -ask for HER private weakness. - -Mrs Forrester looked askance at Miss Pole, and tried to change the -subject a little by telling us that she had borrowed a boy from one -of the neighbouring cottages and promised his parents a -hundredweight of coals at Christmas, and his supper every evening, -for the loan of him at nights. She had instructed him in his -possible duties when he first came; and, finding him sensible, she -had given him the Major's sword (the Major was her late husband), -and desired him to put it very carefully behind his pillow at -night, turning the edge towards the head of the pillow. He was a -sharp lad, she was sure; for, spying out the Major's cocked hat, he -had said, if he might have that to wear, he was sure he could -frighten two Englishmen, or four Frenchmen any day. But she had -impressed upon him anew that he was to lose no time in putting on -hats or anything else; but, if he heard any noise, he was to run at -it with his drawn sword. On my suggesting that some accident might -occur from such slaughterous and indiscriminate directions, and -that he might rush on Jenny getting up to wash, and have spitted -her before he had discovered that she was not a Frenchman, Mrs -Forrester said she did not think that that was likely, for he was a -very sound sleeper, and generally had to be well shaken or cold- -pigged in a morning before they could rouse him. She sometimes -thought such dead sleep must be owing to the hearty suppers the -poor lad ate, for he was half-starved at home, and she told Jenny -to see that he got a good meal at night. - -Still this was no confession of Mrs Forrester's peculiar timidity, -and we urged her to tell us what she thought would frighten her -more than anything. She paused, and stirred the fire, and snuffed -the candles, and then she said, in a sounding whisper - - -"Ghosts!" - -She looked at Miss Pole, as much as to say, she had declared it, -and would stand by it. Such a look was a challenge in itself. -Miss Pole came down upon her with indigestion, spectral illusions, -optical delusions, and a great deal out of Dr Ferrier and Dr -Hibbert besides. Miss Matty had rather a leaning to ghosts, as I -have mentioned before, and what little she did say was all on Mrs -Forrester's side, who, emboldened by sympathy, protested that -ghosts were a part of her religion; that surely she, the widow of a -major in the army, knew what to be frightened at, and what not; in -short, I never saw Mrs Forrester so warm either before or since, -for she was a gentle, meek, enduring old lady in most things. Not -all the elder-wine that ever was mulled could this night wash out -the remembrance of this difference between Miss Pole and her -hostess. Indeed, when the elder-wine was brought in, it gave rise -to a new burst of discussion; for Jenny, the little maiden who -staggered under the tray, had to give evidence of having seen a -ghost with her own eyes, not so many nights ago, in Darkness Lane, -the very lane we were to go through on our way home. - -In spite of the uncomfortable feeling which this last consideration -gave me, I could not help being amused at Jenny's position, which -was exceedingly like that of a witness being examined and cross- -examined by two counsel who are not at all scrupulous about asking -leading questions. The conclusion I arrived at was, that Jenny had -certainly seen something beyond what a fit of indigestion would -have caused. A lady all in white, and without her head, was what -she deposed and adhered to, supported by a consciousness of the -secret sympathy of her mistress under the withering scorn with -which Miss Pole regarded her. And not only she, but many others, -had seen this headless lady, who sat by the roadside wringing her -hands as in deep grief. Mrs Forrester looked at us from time to -time with an air of conscious triumph; but then she had not to pass -through Darkness Lane before she could bury herself beneath her own -familiar bed-clothes. - -We preserved a discreet silence as to the headless lady while we -were putting on our things to go home, for there was no knowing how -near the ghostly head and ears might be, or what spiritual -connection they might be keeping up with the unhappy body in -Darkness Lane; and, therefore, even Miss Pole felt that it was as -well not to speak lightly on such subjects, for fear of vexing or -insulting that woebegone trunk. At least, so I conjecture; for, -instead of the busy clatter usual in the operation, we tied on our -cloaks as sadly as mutes at a funeral. Miss Matty drew the -curtains round the windows of the chair to shut out disagreeable -sights, and the men (either because they were in spirits that their -labours were so nearly ended, or because they were going down -hill), set off at such a round and merry pace, that it was all Miss -Pole and I could do to keep up with them. She had breath for -nothing beyond an imploring "Don't leave me!" uttered as she -clutched my arm so tightly that I could not have quitted her, ghost -or no ghost. What a relief it was when the men, weary of their -burden and their quick trot, stopped just where Headingley Causeway -branches off from Darkness Lane! Miss Pole unloosed me and caught -at one of the men - - -"Could not you--could not you take Miss Matty round by Headingley -Causeway?--the pavement in Darkness Lane jolts so, and she is not -very strong." - -A smothered voice was heard from the inside of the chair - - -"Oh! pray go on! What is the matter? What is the matter? I will -give you sixpence more to go on very fast; pray don't stop here." - -"And I'll give you a shilling," said Miss Pole, with tremulous -dignity, "if you'll go by Headingley Causeway." - -The two men grunted acquiescence and took up the chair, and went -along the causeway, which certainly answered Miss Pole's kind -purpose of saving Miss Matty's bones; for it was covered with soft, -thick mud, and even a fall there would have been easy till the -getting-up came, when there might have been some difficulty in -extrication. - - - -CHAPTER XI--SAMUEL BROWN - - - -The next morning I met Lady Glenmire and Miss Pole setting out on a -long walk to find some old woman who was famous in the -neighbourhood for her skill in knitting woollen stockings. Miss -Pole said to me, with a smile half-kindly and half-contemptuous -upon her countenance, "I have been just telling Lady Glenmire of -our poor friend Mrs Forrester, and her terror of ghosts. It comes -from living so much alone, and listening to the bug-a-boo stories -of that Jenny of hers." She was so calm and so much above -superstitious fears herself that I was almost ashamed to say how -glad I had been of her Headingley Causeway proposition the night -before, and turned off the conversation to something else. - -In the afternoon Miss Pole called on Miss Matty to tell her of the -adventure--the real adventure they had met with on their morning's -walk. They had been perplexed about the exact path which they were -to take across the fields in order to find the knitting old woman, -and had stopped to inquire at a little wayside public-house, -standing on the high road to London, about three miles from -Cranford. The good woman had asked them to sit down and rest -themselves while she fetched her husband, who could direct them -better than she could; and, while they were sitting in the sanded -parlour, a little girl came in. They thought that she belonged to -the landlady, and began some trifling conversation with her; but, -on Mrs Roberts's return, she told them that the little thing was -the only child of a couple who were staying in the house. And then -she began a long story, out of which Lady Glenmire and Miss Pole -could only gather one or two decided facts, which were that, about -six weeks ago, a light spring-cart had broken down just before -their door, in which there were two men, one woman, and this child. -One of the men was seriously hurt--no bones broken, only "shaken," -the landlady called it; but he had probably sustained some severe -internal injury, for he had languished in their house ever since, -attended by his wife, the mother of this little girl. Miss Pole -had asked what he was, what he looked like. And Mrs Roberts had -made answer that he was not like a gentleman, nor yet like a common -person; if it had not been that he and his wife were such decent, -quiet people, she could almost have thought he was a mountebank, or -something of that kind, for they had a great box in the cart, full -of she did not know what. She had helped to unpack it, and take -out their linen and clothes, when the other man--his twin-brother, -she believed he was--had gone off with the horse and cart. - -Miss Pole had begun to have her suspicions at this point, and -expressed her idea that it was rather strange that the box and cart -and horse and all should have disappeared; but good Mrs Roberts -seemed to have become quite indignant at Miss Pole's implied -suggestion; in fact, Miss Pole said she was as angry as if Miss -Pole had told her that she herself was a swindler. As the best way -of convincing the ladies, she bethought her of begging them to see -the wife; and, as Miss Pole said, there was no doubting the honest, -worn, bronzed face of the woman, who at the first tender word from -Lady Glenmire, burst into tears, which she was too weak to check -until some word from the landlady made her swallow down her sobs, -in order that she might testify to the Christian kindness shown by -Mr and Mrs Roberts. Miss Pole came round with a swing to as -vehement a belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical -before; and, as a proof of this, her energy in the poor sufferer's -behalf was nothing daunted when she found out that he, and no -other, was our Signor Brunoni, to whom all Cranford had been -attributing all manner of evil this six weeks past! Yes! his wife -said his proper name was Samuel Brown--"Sam," she called him--but -to the last we preferred calling him "the Signor"; it sounded so -much better. - -The end of their conversation with the Signora Brunoni was that it -was agreed that he should be placed under medical advice, and for -any expense incurred in procuring this Lady Glenmire promised to -hold herself responsible, and had accordingly gone to Mr Hoggins to -beg him to ride over to the "Rising Sun" that very afternoon, and -examine into the signor's real state; and, as Miss Pole said, if it -was desirable to remove him to Cranford to be more immediately -under Mr Hoggins's eye, she would undertake to see for lodgings and -arrange about the rent. Mrs Roberts had been as kind as could be -all throughout, but it was evident that their long residence there -had been a slight inconvenience. - -Before Miss Pole left us, Miss Matty and I were as full of the -morning's adventure as she was. We talked about it all the -evening, turning it in every possible light, and we went to bed -anxious for the morning, when we should surely hear from someone -what Mr Hoggins thought and recommended; for, as Miss Matty -observed, though Mr Hoggins did say "Jack's up," "a fig for his -heels," and called Preference "Pref." she believed he was a very -worthy man and a very clever surgeon. Indeed, we were rather proud -of our doctor at Cranford, as a doctor. We often wished, when we -heard of Queen Adelaide or the Duke of Wellington being ill, that -they would send for Mr Hoggins; but, on consideration, we were -rather glad they did not, for, if we were ailing, what should we do -if Mr Hoggins had been appointed physician-in-ordinary to the Royal -Family? As a surgeon we were proud of him; but as a man--or -rather, I should say, as a gentleman--we could only shake our heads -over his name and himself, and wished that he had read Lord -Chesterfield's Letters in the days when his manners were -susceptible of improvement. Nevertheless, we all regarded his -dictum in the signor's case as infallible, and when he said that -with care and attention he might rally, we had no more fear for -him. - -But, although we had no more fear, everybody did as much as if -there was great cause for anxiety--as indeed there was until Mr -Hoggins took charge of him. Miss Pole looked out clean and -comfortable, if homely, lodgings; Miss Matty sent the sedan-chair -for him, and Martha and I aired it well before it left Cranford by -holding a warming-pan full of red-hot coals in it, and then -shutting it up close, smoke and all, until the time when he should -get into it at the "Rising Sun." Lady Glenmire undertook the -medical department under Mr Hoggins's directions, and rummaged up -all Mrs Jamieson's medicine glasses, and spoons, and bed-tables, in -a free-and-easy way, that made Miss Matty feel a little anxious as -to what that lady and Mr Mulliner might say, if they knew. Mrs -Forrester made some of the bread-jelly, for which she was so -famous, to have ready as a refreshment in the lodgings when he -should arrive. A present of this bread-jelly was the highest mark -of favour dear Mrs Forrester could confer. Miss Pole had once -asked her for the receipt, but she had met with a very decided -rebuff; that lady told her that she could not part with it to any -one during her life, and that after her death it was bequeathed, as -her executors would find, to Miss Matty. What Miss Matty, or, as -Mrs Forrester called her (remembering the clause in her will and -the dignity of the occasion), Miss Matilda Jenkyns--might choose to -do with the receipt when it came into her possession--whether to -make it public, or to hand it down as an heirloom--she did not -know, nor would she dictate. And a mould of this admirable, -digestible, unique bread-jelly was sent by Mrs Forrester to our -poor sick conjuror. Who says that the aristocracy are proud? Here -was a lady by birth a Tyrrell, and descended from the great Sir -Walter that shot King Rufus, and in whose veins ran the blood of -him who murdered the little princes in the Tower, going every day -to see what dainty dishes she could prepare for Samuel Brown, a -mountebank! But, indeed, it was wonderful to see what kind -feelings were called out by this poor man's coming amongst us. And -also wonderful to see how the great Cranford panic, which had been -occasioned by his first coming in his Turkish dress, melted away -into thin air on his second coming--pale and feeble, and with his -heavy, filmy eyes, that only brightened a very little when they -fell upon the countenance of his faithful wife, or their pale and -sorrowful little girl. - -Somehow we all forgot to be afraid. I daresay it was that finding -out that he, who had first excited our love of the marvellous by -his unprecedented arts, had not sufficient every-day gifts to -manage a shying horse, made us feel as if we were ourselves again. -Miss Pole came with her little basket at all hours of the evening, -as if her lonely house and the unfrequented road to it had never -been infested by that "murderous gang"; Mrs Forrester said she -thought that neither Jenny nor she need mind the headless lady who -wept and wailed in Darkness Lane, for surely the power was never -given to such beings to harm those who went about to try to do what -little good was in their power, to which Jenny tremblingly -assented; but the mistress's theory had little effect on the maid's -practice until she had sewn two pieces of red flannel in the shape -of a cross on her inner garment. - -I found Miss Matty covering her penny ball--the ball that she used -to roll under her bed--with gay-coloured worsted in rainbow -stripes. - -"My dear," said she, "my heart is sad for that little careworn -child. Although her father is a conjuror, she looks as if she had -never had a good game of play in her life. I used to make very -pretty balls in this way when I was a girl, and I thought I would -try if I could not make this one smart and take it to Phoebe this -afternoon. I think 'the gang' must have left the neighbourhood, -for one does not hear any more of their violence and robbery now." - -We were all of us far too full of the signor's precarious state to -talk either about robbers or ghosts. Indeed, Lady Glenmire said -she never had heard of any actual robberies, except that two little -boys had stolen some apples from Farmer Benson's orchard, and that -some eggs had been missed on a market-day off Widow Hayward's -stall. But that was expecting too much of us; we could not -acknowledge that we had only had this small foundation for all our -panic. Miss Pole drew herself up at this remark of Lady -Glenmire's, and said "that she wished she could agree with her as -to the very small reason we had had for alarm, but with the -recollection of a man disguised as a woman who had endeavoured to -force himself into her house while his confederates waited outside; -with the knowledge gained from Lady Glenmire herself, of the -footprints seen on Mrs Jamieson's flower borders; with the fact -before her of the audacious robbery committed on Mr Hoggins at his -own door"--But here Lady Glenmire broke in with a very strong -expression of doubt as to whether this last story was not an entire -fabrication founded upon the theft of a cat; she grew so red while -she was saying all this that I was not surprised at Miss Pole's -manner of bridling up, and I am certain, if Lady Glenmire had not -been "her ladyship," we should have had a more emphatic -contradiction than the "Well, to be sure!" and similar fragmentary -ejaculations, which were all that she ventured upon in my lady's -presence. But when she was gone Miss Pole began a long -congratulation to Miss Matty that so far they had escaped marriage, -which she noticed always made people credulous to the last degree; -indeed, she thought it argued great natural credulity in a woman if -she could not keep herself from being married; and in what Lady -Glenmire had said about Mr Hoggins's robbery we had a specimen of -what people came to if they gave way to such a weakness; evidently -Lady Glenmire would swallow anything if she could believe the poor -vamped-up story about a neck of mutton and a pussy with which he -had tried to impose on Miss Pole, only she had always been on her -guard against believing too much of what men said. - -We were thankful, as Miss Pole desired us to be, that we had never -been married; but I think, of the two, we were even more thankful -that the robbers had left Cranford; at least I judge so from a -speech of Miss Matty's that evening, as we sat over the fire, in -which she evidently looked upon a husband as a great protector -against thieves, burglars, and ghosts; and said that she did not -think that she should dare to be always warning young people -against matrimony, as Miss Pole did continually; to be sure, -marriage was a risk, as she saw, now she had had some experience; -but she remembered the time when she had looked forward to being -married as much as any one. - -"Not to any particular person, my dear," said she, hastily checking -herself up, as if she were afraid of having admitted too much; -"only the old story, you know, of ladies always saying, 'WHEN I -marry,' and gentlemen, 'IF I marry.'" It was a joke spoken in -rather a sad tone, and I doubt if either of us smiled; but I could -not see Miss Matty's face by the flickering fire-light. In a -little while she continued - - -"But, after all, I have not told you the truth. It is so long ago, -and no one ever knew how much I thought of it at the time, unless, -indeed, my dear mother guessed; but I may say that there was a time -when I did not think I should have been only Miss Matty Jenkyns all -my life; for even if I did meet with any one who wished to marry me -now (and, as Miss Pole says, one is never too safe), I could not -take him--I hope he would not take it too much to heart, but I -could NOT take him--or any one but the person I once thought I -should be married to; and he is dead and gone, and he never knew -how it all came about that I said 'No,' when I had thought many and -many a time--Well, it's no matter what I thought. God ordains it -all, and I am very happy, my dear. No one has such kind friends as -I," continued she, taking my hand and holding it in hers. - -If I had never known of Mr Holbrook, I could have said something in -this pause, but as I had, I could not think of anything that would -come in naturally, and so we both kept silence for a little time. - -"My father once made us," she began, "keep a diary, in two columns; -on one side we were to put down in the morning what we thought -would be the course and events of the coming day, and at night we -were to put down on the other side what really had happened. It -would be to some people rather a sad way of telling their lives," -(a tear dropped upon my hand at these words)--"I don't mean that -mine has been sad, only so very different to what I expected. I -remember, one winter's evening, sitting over our bedroom fire with -Deborah--I remember it as if it were yesterday--and we were -planning our future lives, both of us were planning, though only -she talked about it. She said she should like to marry an -archdeacon, and write his charges; and you know, my dear, she never -was married, and, for aught I know, she never spoke to an unmarried -archdeacon in her life. I never was ambitious, nor could I have -written charges, but I thought I could manage a house (my mother -used to call me her right hand), and I was always so fond of little -children--the shyest babies would stretch out their little arms to -come to me; when I was a girl, I was half my leisure time nursing -in the neighbouring cottages; but I don't know how it was, when I -grew sad and grave--which I did a year or two after this time--the -little things drew back from me, and I am afraid I lost the knack, -though I am just as fond of children as ever, and have a strange -yearning at my heart whenever I see a mother with her baby in her -arms. Nay, my dear" (and by a sudden blaze which sprang up from a -fall of the unstirred coals, I saw that her eyes were full of -tears--gazing intently on some vision of what might have been), "do -you know I dream sometimes that I have a little child--always the -same--a little girl of about two years old; she never grows older, -though I have dreamt about her for many years. I don't think I -ever dream of any words or sound she makes; she is very noiseless -and still, but she comes to me when she is very sorry or very glad, -and I have wakened with the clasp of her dear little arms round my -neck. Only last night--perhaps because I had gone to sleep -thinking of this ball for Phoebe--my little darling came in my -dream, and put up her mouth to be kissed, just as I have seen real -babies do to real mothers before going to bed. But all this is -nonsense, dear! only don't be frightened by Miss Pole from being -married. I can fancy it may be a very happy state, and a little -credulity helps one on through life very smoothly--better than -always doubting and doubting and seeing difficulties and -disagreeables in everything." - -If I had been inclined to be daunted from matrimony, it would not -have been Miss Pole to do it; it would have been the lot of poor -Signor Brunoni and his wife. And yet again, it was an -encouragement to see how, through all their cares and sorrows, they -thought of each other and not of themselves; and how keen were -their joys, if they only passed through each other, or through the -little Phoebe. - -The signora told me, one day, a good deal about their lives up to -this period. It began by my asking her whether Miss Pole's story -of the twin-brothers were true; it sounded so wonderful a likeness, -that I should have had my doubts, if Miss Pole had not been -unmarried. But the signora, or (as we found out she preferred to -be called) Mrs Brown, said it was quite true; that her brother-in- -law was by many taken for her husband, which was of great -assistance to them in their profession; "though," she continued, -"how people can mistake Thomas for the real Signor Brunoni, I can't -conceive; but he says they do; so I suppose I must believe him. -Not but what he is a very good man; I am sure I don't know how we -should have paid our bill at the 'Rising Sun' but for the money he -sends; but people must know very little about art if they can take -him for my husband. Why, Miss, in the ball trick, where my husband -spreads his fingers wide, and throws out his little finger with -quite an air and a grace, Thomas just clumps up his hand like a -fist, and might have ever so many balls hidden in it. Besides, he -has never been in India, and knows nothing of the proper sit of a -turban." - -"Have you been in India?" said I, rather astonished. - -"Oh, yes! many a year, ma'am. Sam was a sergeant in the 31st; and -when the regiment was ordered to India, I drew a lot to go, and I -was more thankful than I can tell; for it seemed as if it would -only be a slow death to me to part from my husband. But, indeed, -ma'am, if I had known all, I don't know whether I would not rather -have died there and then than gone through what I have done since. -To be sure, I've been able to comfort Sam, and to be with him; but, -ma'am, I've lost six children," said she, looking up at me with -those strange eyes that I've never noticed but in mothers of dead -children--with a kind of wild look in them, as if seeking for what -they never more might find. "Yes! Six children died off, like -little buds nipped untimely, in that cruel India. I thought, as -each died, I never could--I never would--love a child again; and -when the next came, it had not only its own love, but the deeper -love that came from the thoughts of its little dead brothers and -sisters. And when Phoebe was coming, I said to my husband, 'Sam, -when the child is born, and I am strong, I shall leave you; it will -cut my heart cruel; but if this baby dies too, I shall go mad; the -madness is in me now; but if you let me go down to Calcutta, -carrying my baby step by step, it will, maybe, work itself off; and -I will save, and I will hoard, and I will beg--and I will die, to -get a passage home to England, where our baby may live?' God bless -him! he said I might go; and he saved up his pay, and I saved every -pice I could get for washing or any way; and when Phoebe came, and -I grew strong again, I set off. It was very lonely; through the -thick forests, dark again with their heavy trees--along by the -river's side (but I had been brought up near the Avon in -Warwickshire, so that flowing noise sounded like home)--from -station to station, from Indian village to village, I went along, -carrying my child. I had seen one of the officer's ladies with a -little picture, ma'am--done by a Catholic foreigner, ma'am--of the -Virgin and the little Saviour, ma'am. She had him on her arm, and -her form was softly curled round him, and their cheeks touched. -Well, when I went to bid good-bye to this lady, for whom I had -washed, she cried sadly; for she, too, had lost her children, but -she had not another to save, like me; and I was bold enough to ask -her would she give me that print. And she cried the more, and said -her children were with that little blessed Jesus; and gave it me, -and told me that she had heard it had been painted on the bottom of -a cask, which made it have that round shape. And when my body was -very weary, and my heart was sick (for there were times when I -misdoubted if I could ever reach my home, and there were times when -I thought of my husband, and one time when I thought my baby was -dying), I took out that picture and looked at it, till I could have -thought the mother spoke to me, and comforted me. And the natives -were very kind. We could not understand one another; but they saw -my baby on my breast, and they came out to me, and brought me rice -and milk, and sometimes flowers--I have got some of the flowers -dried. Then, the next morning, I was so tired; and they wanted me -to stay with them--I could tell that--and tried to frighten me from -going into the deep woods, which, indeed, looked very strange and -dark; but it seemed to me as if Death was following me to take my -baby away from me; and as if I must go on, and on--and I thought -how God had cared for mothers ever since the world was made, and -would care for me; so I bade them good-bye, and set off afresh. -And once when my baby was ill, and both she and I needed rest, He -led me to a place where I found a kind Englishman lived, right in -the midst of the natives." - -"And you reached Calcutta safely at last?" - -"Yes, safely! Oh! when I knew I had only two days' journey more -before me, I could not help it, ma'am--it might be idolatry, I -cannot tell--but I was near one of the native temples, and I went -into it with my baby to thank God for His great mercy; for it -seemed to me that where others had prayed before to their God, in -their joy or in their agony, was of itself a sacred place. And I -got as servant to an invalid lady, who grew quite fond of my baby -aboard-ship; and, in two years' time, Sam earned his discharge, and -came home to me, and to our child. Then he had to fix on a trade; -but he knew of none; and once, once upon a time, he had learnt some -tricks from an Indian juggler; so he set up conjuring, and it -answered so well that he took Thomas to help him--as his man, you -know, not as another conjuror, though Thomas has set it up now on -his own hook. But it has been a great help to us that likeness -between the twins, and made a good many tricks go off well that -they made up together. And Thomas is a good brother, only he has -not the fine carriage of my husband, so that I can't think how he -can be taken for Signor Brunoni himself, as he says he is." - -"Poor little Phoebe!" said I, my thoughts going back to the baby -she carried all those hundred miles. - -"Ah! you may say so! I never thought I should have reared her, -though, when she fell ill at Chunderabaddad; but that good, kind -Aga Jenkyns took us in, which I believe was the very saving of -her." - -"Jenkyns!" said I. - -"Yes, Jenkyns. I shall think all people of that name are kind; for -here is that nice old lady who comes every day to take Phoebe a -walk!" - -But an idea had flashed through my head; could the Aga Jenkyns be -the lost Peter? True he was reported by many to be dead. But, -equally true, some had said that he had arrived at the dignity of -Great Lama of Thibet. Miss Matty thought he was alive. I would -make further inquiry. - - - -CHAPTER XII--ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED - - - -Was the "poor Peter" of Cranford the Aga Jenkyns of Chunderabaddad, -or was he not? As somebody says, that was the question. - -In my own home, whenever people had nothing else to do, they blamed -me for want of discretion. Indiscretion was my bug-bear fault. -Everybody has a bug-bear fault, a sort of standing characteristic-- -a piece de resistance for their friends to cut at; and in general -they cut and come again. I was tired of being called indiscreet -and incautious; and I determined for once to prove myself a model -of prudence and wisdom. I would not even hint my suspicions -respecting the Aga. I would collect evidence and carry it home to -lay before my father, as the family friend of the two Miss -Jenkynses. - -In my search after facts, I was often reminded of a description my -father had once given of a ladies' committee that he had had to -preside over. He said he could not help thinking of a passage in -Dickens, which spoke of a chorus in which every man took the tune -he knew best, and sang it to his own satisfaction. So, at this -charitable committee, every lady took the subject uppermost in her -mind, and talked about it to her own great contentment, but not -much to the advancement of the subject they had met to discuss. -But even that committee could have been nothing to the Cranford -ladies when I attempted to gain some clear and definite information -as to poor Peter's height, appearance, and when and where he was -seen and heard of last. For instance, I remember asking Miss Pole -(and I thought the question was very opportune, for I put it when I -met her at a call at Mrs Forrester's, and both the ladies had known -Peter, and I imagined that they might refresh each other's -memories)--I asked Miss Pole what was the very last thing they had -ever heard about him; and then she named the absurd report to which -I have alluded, about his having been elected Great Lama of Thibet; -and this was a signal for each lady to go off on her separate idea. -Mrs Forrester's start was made on the veiled prophet in Lalla -Rookh--whether I thought he was meant for the Great Lama, though -Peter was not so ugly, indeed rather handsome, if he had not been -freckled. I was thankful to see her double upon Peter; but, in a -moment, the delusive lady was off upon Rowland's Kalydor, and the -merits of cosmetics and hair oils in general, and holding forth so -fluently that I turned to listen to Miss Pole, who (through the -llamas, the beasts of burden) had got to Peruvian bonds, and the -share market, and her poor opinion of joint-stock banks in general, -and of that one in particular in which Miss Matty's money was -invested. In vain I put in "When was it--in what year was it that -you heard that Mr Peter was the Great Lama?" They only joined -issue to dispute whether llamas were carnivorous animals or not; in -which dispute they were not quite on fair grounds, as Mrs Forrester -(after they had grown warm and cool again) acknowledged that she -always confused carnivorous and graminivorous together, just as she -did horizontal and perpendicular; but then she apologised for it -very prettily, by saying that in her day the only use people made -of four-syllabled words was to teach how they should be spelt. - -The only fact I gained from this conversation was that certainly -Peter had last been heard of in India, "or that neighbourhood"; and -that this scanty intelligence of his whereabouts had reached -Cranford in the year when Miss Pole had brought her Indian muslin -gown, long since worn out (we washed it and mended it, and traced -its decline and fall into a window-blind before we could go on); -and in a year when Wombwell came to Cranford, because Miss Matty -had wanted to see an elephant in order that she might the better -imagine Peter riding on one; and had seen a boa-constrictor too, -which was more than she wished to imagine in her fancy-pictures of -Peter's locality; and in a year when Miss Jenkyns had learnt some -piece of poetry off by heart, and used to say, at all the Cranford -parties, how Peter was "surveying mankind from China to Peru," -which everybody had thought very grand, and rather appropriate, -because India was between China and Peru, if you took care to turn -the globe to the left instead of the right. - -I suppose all these inquiries of mine, and the consequent curiosity -excited in the minds of my friends, made us blind and deaf to what -was going on around us. It seemed to me as if the sun rose and -shone, and as if the rain rained on Cranford, just as usual, and I -did not notice any sign of the times that could be considered as a -prognostic of any uncommon event; and, to the best of my belief, -not only Miss Matty and Mrs Forrester, but even Miss Pole herself, -whom we looked upon as a kind of prophetess, from the knack she had -of foreseeing things before they came to pass--although she did not -like to disturb her friends by telling them her foreknowledge--even -Miss Pole herself was breathless with astonishment when she came to -tell us of the astounding piece of news. But I must recover -myself; the contemplation of it, even at this distance of time, has -taken away my breath and my grammar, and unless I subdue my -emotion, my spelling will go too. - -We were sitting--Miss Matty and I--much as usual, she in the blue -chintz easy-chair, with her back to the light, and her knitting in -her hand, I reading aloud the St James's Chronicle. A few minutes -more, and we should have gone to make the little alterations in -dress usual before calling-time (twelve o'clock) in Cranford. I -remember the scene and the date well. We had been talking of the -signor's rapid recovery since the warmer weather had set in, and -praising Mr Hoggins's skill, and lamenting his want of refinement -and manner (it seems a curious coincidence that this should have -been our subject, but so it was), when a knock was heard--a -caller's knock--three distinct taps--and we were flying (that is to -say, Miss Matty could not walk very fast, having had a touch of -rheumatism) to our rooms, to change cap and collars, when Miss Pole -arrested us by calling out, as she came up the stairs, "Don't go--I -can't wait--it is not twelve, I know--but never mind your dress--I -must speak to you." We did our best to look as if it was not we -who had made the hurried movement, the sound of which she had -heard; for, of course, we did not like to have it supposed that we -had any old clothes that it was convenient to wear out in the -"sanctuary of home," as Miss Jenkyns once prettily called the back -parlour, where she was tying up preserves. So we threw our -gentility with double force into our manners, and very genteel we -were for two minutes while Miss Pole recovered breath, and excited -our curiosity strongly by lifting up her hands in amazement, and -bringing them down in silence, as if what she had to say was too -big for words, and could only be expressed by pantomime. - -"What do you think, Miss Matty? What DO you think? Lady Glenmire -is to marry--is to be married, I mean--Lady Glenmire--Mr Hoggins-- -Mr Hoggins is going to marry Lady Glenmire!" - -"Marry!" said we. "Marry! Madness!" - -"Marry!" said Miss Pole, with the decision that belonged to her -character. "_I_ said marry! as you do; and I also said, 'What a -fool my lady is going to make of herself!' I could have said -'Madness!' but I controlled myself, for it was in a public shop -that I heard of it. Where feminine delicacy is gone to, I don't -know! You and I, Miss Matty, would have been ashamed to have known -that our marriage was spoken of in a grocer's shop, in the hearing -of shopmen!" - -"But," said Miss Matty, sighing as one recovering from a blow, -"perhaps it is not true. Perhaps we are doing her injustice." - -"No," said Miss Pole. "I have taken care to ascertain that. I -went straight to Mrs Fitz-Adam, to borrow a cookery-book which I -knew she had; and I introduced my congratulations a propos of the -difficulty gentlemen must have in house-keeping; and Mrs Fitz-Adam -bridled up, and said that she believed it was true, though how and -where I could have heard it she did not know. She said her brother -and Lady Glenmire had come to an understanding at last. -'Understanding!' such a coarse word! But my lady will have to come -down to many a want of refinement. I have reason to believe Mr -Hoggins sups on bread-and-cheese and beer every night. - -"Marry!" said Miss Matty once again. "Well! I never thought of -it. Two people that we know going to be married. It's coming very -near!" - -"So near that my heart stopped beating when I heard of it, while -you might have counted twelve," said Miss Pole. - -"One does not know whose turn may come next. Here, in Cranford, -poor Lady Glenmire might have thought herself safe," said Miss -Matty, with a gentle pity in her tones. - -"Bah!" said Miss Pole, with a toss of her head. "Don't you -remember poor dear Captain Brown's song 'Tibbie Fowler,' and the -line - - - -'Set her on the Tintock tap, -The wind will blaw a man till her.'" - - -"That was because 'Tibbie Fowler' was rich, I think." - -"Well! there was a kind of attraction about Lady Glenmire that I, -for one, should be ashamed to have." - -I put in my wonder. "But how can she have fancied Mr Hoggins? I -am not surprised that Mr Hoggins has liked her." - -"Oh! I don't know. Mr Hoggins is rich, and very pleasant- -looking," said Miss Matty, "and very good-tempered and kind- -hearted." - -"She has married for an establishment, that's it. I suppose she -takes the surgery with it," said Miss Pole, with a little dry laugh -at her own joke. But, like many people who think they have made a -severe and sarcastic speech, which yet is clever of its kind, she -began to relax in her grimness from the moment when she made this -allusion to the surgery; and we turned to speculate on the way in -which Mrs Jamieson would receive the news. The person whom she had -left in charge of her house to keep off followers from her maids to -set up a follower of her own! And that follower a man whom Mrs -Jamieson had tabooed as vulgar, and inadmissible to Cranford -society, not merely on account of his name, but because of his -voice, his complexion, his boots, smelling of the stable, and -himself, smelling of drugs. Had he ever been to see Lady Glenmire -at Mrs Jamieson's? Chloride of lime would not purify the house in -its owner's estimation if he had. Or had their interviews been -confined to the occasional meetings in the chamber of the poor sick -conjuror, to whom, with all our sense of the mesalliance, we could -not help allowing that they had both been exceedingly kind? And -now it turned out that a servant of Mrs Jamieson's had been ill, -and Mr Hoggins had been attending her for some weeks. So the wolf -had got into the fold, and now he was carrying off the shepherdess. -What would Mrs Jamieson say? We looked into the darkness of -futurity as a child gazes after a rocket up in the cloudy sky, full -of wondering expectation of the rattle, the discharge, and the -brilliant shower of sparks and light. Then we brought ourselves -down to earth and the present time by questioning each other (being -all equally ignorant, and all equally without the slightest data to -build any conclusions upon) as to when IT would take place? Where? -How much a year Mr Hoggins had? Whether she would drop her title? -And how Martha and the other correct servants in Cranford would -ever be brought to announce a married couple as Lady Glenmire and -Mr Hoggins? But would they be visited? Would Mrs Jamieson let us? -Or must we choose between the Honourable Mrs Jamieson and the -degraded Lady Glenmire? We all liked Lady Glenmire the best. She -was bright, and kind, and sociable, and agreeable; and Mrs Jamieson -was dull, and inert, and pompous, and tiresome. But we had -acknowledged the sway of the latter so long, that it seemed like a -kind of disloyalty now even to meditate disobedience to the -prohibition we anticipated. - -Mrs Forrester surprised us in our darned caps and patched collars; -and we forgot all about them in our eagerness to see how she would -bear the information, which we honourably left to Miss Pole, to -impart, although, if we had been inclined to take unfair advantage, -we might have rushed in ourselves, for she had a most out-of-place -fit of coughing for five minutes after Mrs Forrester entered the -room. I shall never forget the imploring expression of her eyes, -as she looked at us over her pocket-handkerchief. They said, as -plain as words could speak, "Don't let Nature deprive me of the -treasure which is mine, although for a time I can make no use of -it." And we did not. - -Mrs Forrester's surprise was equal to ours; and her sense of injury -rather greater, because she had to feel for her Order, and saw more -fully than we could do how such conduct brought stains on the -aristocracy. - -When she and Miss Pole left us we endeavoured to subside into -calmness; but Miss Matty was really upset by the intelligence she -had heard. She reckoned it up, and it was more than fifteen years -since she had heard of any of her acquaintance going to be married, -with the one exception of Miss Jessie Brown; and, as she said, it -gave her quite a shock, and made her feel as if she could not think -what would happen next. - -I don't know whether it is a fancy of mine, or a real fact, but I -have noticed that, just after the announcement of an engagement in -any set, the unmarried ladies in that set flutter out in an unusual -gaiety and newness of dress, as much as to say, in a tacit and -unconscious manner, "We also are spinsters." Miss Matty and Miss -Pole talked and thought more about bonnets, gowns, caps, and -shawls, during the fortnight that succeeded this call, than I had -known them do for years before. But it might be the spring -weather, for it was a warm and pleasant March; and merinoes and -beavers, and woollen materials of all sorts were but ungracious -receptacles of the bright sun's glancing rays. It had not been -Lady Glenmire's dress that had won Mr Hoggins's heart, for she went -about on her errands of kindness more shabby than ever. Although -in the hurried glimpses I caught of her at church or elsewhere she -appeared rather to shun meeting any of her friends, her face seemed -to have almost something of the flush of youth in it; her lips -looked redder and more trembling full than in their old compressed -state, and her eyes dwelt on all things with a lingering light, as -if she was learning to love Cranford and its belongings. Mr -Hoggins looked broad and radiant, and creaked up the middle aisle -at church in a brand-new pair of top-boots--an audible, as well as -visible, sign of his purposed change of state; for the tradition -went, that the boots he had worn till now were the identical pair -in which he first set out on his rounds in Cranford twenty-five -years ago; only they had been new-pieced, high and low, top and -bottom, heel and sole, black leather and brown leather, more times -than any one could tell. - -None of the ladies in Cranford chose to sanction the marriage by -congratulating either of the parties. We wished to ignore the -whole affair until our liege lady, Mrs Jamieson, returned. Till -she came back to give us our cue, we felt that it would be better -to consider the engagement in the same light as the Queen of -Spain's legs--facts which certainly existed, but the less said -about the better. This restraint upon our tongues--for you see if -we did not speak about it to any of the parties concerned, how -could we get answers to the questions that we longed to ask?--was -beginning to be irksome, and our idea of the dignity of silence was -paling before our curiosity, when another direction was given to -our thoughts, by an announcement on the part of the principal -shopkeeper of Cranford, who ranged the trades from grocer and -cheesemonger to man-milliner, as occasion required, that the spring -fashions were arrived, and would be exhibited on the following -Tuesday at his rooms in High Street. Now Miss Matty had been only -waiting for this before buying herself a new silk gown. I had -offered, it is true, to send to Drumble for patterns, but she had -rejected my proposal, gently implying that she had not forgotten -her disappointment about the sea-green turban. I was thankful that -I was on the spot now, to counteract the dazzling fascination of -any yellow or scarlet silk. - -I must say a word or two here about myself. I have spoken of my -father's old friendship for the Jenkyns family; indeed, I am not -sure if there was not some distant relationship. He had willingly -allowed me to remain all the winter at Cranford, in consideration -of a letter which Miss Matty had written to him about the time of -the panic, in which I suspect she had exaggerated my powers and my -bravery as a defender of the house. But now that the days were -longer and more cheerful, he was beginning to urge the necessity of -my return; and I only delayed in a sort of odd forlorn hope that if -I could obtain any clear information, I might make the account -given by the signora of the Aga Jenkyns tally with that of "poor -Peter," his appearance and disappearance, which I had winnowed out -of the conversation of Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester. - - - -CHAPTER XIII--STOPPED PAYMENT - - - -The very Tuesday morning on which Mr Johnson was going to show the -fashions, the post-woman brought two letters to the house. I say -the post-woman, but I should say the postman's wife. He was a lame -shoemaker, a very clean, honest man, much respected in the town; -but he never brought the letters round except on unusual occasions, -such as Christmas Day or Good Friday; and on those days the -letters, which should have been delivered at eight in the morning, -did not make their appearance until two or three in the afternoon, -for every one liked poor Thomas, and gave him a welcome on these -festive occasions. He used to say, "He was welly stawed wi' -eating, for there were three or four houses where nowt would serve -'em but he must share in their breakfast;" and by the time he had -done his last breakfast, he came to some other friend who was -beginning dinner; but come what might in the way of temptation, Tom -was always sober, civil, and smiling; and, as Miss Jenkyns used to -say, it was a lesson in patience, that she doubted not would call -out that precious quality in some minds, where, but for Thomas, it -might have lain dormant and undiscovered. Patience was certainly -very dormant in Miss Jenkyns's mind. She was always expecting -letters, and always drumming on the table till the post-woman had -called or gone past. On Christmas Day and Good Friday she drummed -from breakfast till church, from church-time till two o'clock-- -unless when the fire wanted stirring, when she invariably knocked -down the fire-irons, and scolded Miss Matty for it. But equally -certain was the hearty welcome and the good dinner for Thomas; Miss -Jenkyns standing over him like a bold dragoon, questioning him as -to his children--what they were doing--what school they went to; -upbraiding him if another was likely to make its appearance, but -sending even the little babies the shilling and the mince-pie which -was her gift to all the children, with half-a-crown in addition for -both father and mother. The post was not half of so much -consequence to dear Miss Matty; but not for the world would she -have diminished Thomas's welcome and his dole, though I could see -that she felt rather shy over the ceremony, which had been regarded -by Miss Jenkyns as a glorious opportunity for giving advice and -benefiting her fellow-creatures. Miss Matty would steal the money -all in a lump into his hand, as if she were ashamed of herself. -Miss Jenkyns gave him each individual coin separate, with a "There! -that's for yourself; that's for Jenny," etc. Miss Matty would even -beckon Martha out of the kitchen while he ate his food: and once, -to my knowledge, winked at its rapid disappearance into a blue -cotton pocket-handkerchief. Miss Jenkyns almost scolded him if he -did not leave a clean plate, however heaped it might have been, and -gave an injunction with every mouthful. - -I have wandered a long way from the two letters that awaited us on -the breakfast-table that Tuesday morning. Mine was from my father. -Miss Matty's was printed. My father's was just a man's letter; I -mean it was very dull, and gave no information beyond that he was -well, that they had had a good deal of rain, that trade was very -stagnant, and there were many disagreeable rumours afloat. He then -asked me if I knew whether Miss Matty still retained her shares in -the Town and County Bank, as there were very unpleasant reports -about it; though nothing more than he had always foreseen, and had -prophesied to Miss Jenkyns years ago, when she would invest their -little property in it--the only unwise step that clever woman had -ever taken, to his knowledge (the only time she ever acted against -his advice, I knew). However, if anything had gone wrong, of -course I was not to think of leaving Miss Matty while I could be of -any use, etc. - -"Who is your letter from, my dear? Mine is a very civil -invitation, signed 'Edwin Wilson,' asking me to attend an important -meeting of the shareholders of the Town and County Bank, to be held -in Drumble, on Thursday the twenty-first. I am sure, it is very -attentive of them to remember me." - -I did not like to hear of this "important meeting," for, though I -did not know much about business, I feared it confirmed what my -father said: however, I thought, ill news always came fast enough, -so I resolved to say nothing about my alarm, and merely told her -that my father was well, and sent his kind regards to her. She -kept turning over and admiring her letter. At last she spoke - - -"I remember their sending one to Deborah just like this; but that I -did not wonder at, for everybody knew she was so clear-headed. I -am afraid I could not help them much; indeed, if they came to -accounts, I should be quite in the way, for I never could do sums -in my head. Deborah, I know, rather wished to go, and went so far -as to order a new bonnet for the occasion: but when the time came -she had a bad cold; so they sent her a very polite account of what -they had done. Chosen a director, I think it was. Do you think -they want me to help them to choose a director? I am sure I should -choose your father at once!' - -"My father has no shares in the bank," said I. - -"Oh, no! I remember. He objected very much to Deborah's buying -any, I believe. But she was quite the woman of business, and -always judged for herself; and here, you see, they have paid eight -per cent. all these years." - -It was a very uncomfortable subject to me, with my half-knowledge; -so I thought I would change the conversation, and I asked at what -time she thought we had better go and see the fashions. "Well, my -dear," she said, "the thing is this: it is not etiquette to go -till after twelve; but then, you see, all Cranford will be there, -and one does not like to be too curious about dress and trimmings -and caps with all the world looking on. It is never genteel to be -over-curious on these occasions. Deborah had the knack of always -looking as if the latest fashion was nothing new to her; a manner -she had caught from Lady Arley, who did see all the new modes in -London, you know. So I thought we would just slip down--for I do -want this morning, soon after breakfast half-a-pound of tea--and -then we could go up and examine the things at our leisure, and see -exactly how my new silk gown must be made; and then, after twelve, -we could go with our minds disengaged, and free from thoughts of -dress." - -We began to talk of Miss Matty's new silk gown. I discovered that -it would be really the first time in her life that she had had to -choose anything of consequence for herself: for Miss Jenkyns had -always been the more decided character, whatever her taste might -have been; and it is astonishing how such people carry the world -before them by the mere force of will. Miss Matty anticipated the -sight of the glossy folds with as much delight as if the five -sovereigns, set apart for the purchase, could buy all the silks in -the shop; and (remembering my own loss of two hours in a toyshop -before I could tell on what wonder to spend a silver threepence) I -was very glad that we were going early, that dear Miss Matty might -have leisure for the delights of perplexity. - -If a happy sea-green could be met with, the gown was to be sea- -green: if not, she inclined to maize, and I to silver gray; and we -discussed the requisite number of breadths until we arrived at the -shop-door. We were to buy the tea, select the silk, and then -clamber up the iron corkscrew stairs that led into what was once a -loft, though now a fashion show-room. - -The young men at Mr Johnson's had on their best looks; and their -best cravats, and pivoted themselves over the counter with -surprising activity. They wanted to show us upstairs at once; but -on the principle of business first and pleasure afterwards, we -stayed to purchase the tea. Here Miss Matty's absence of mind -betrayed itself. If she was made aware that she had been drinking -green tea at any time, she always thought it her duty to lie awake -half through the night afterward (I have known her take it in -ignorance many a time without such effects), and consequently green -tea was prohibited the house; yet to-day she herself asked for the -obnoxious article, under the impression that she was talking about -the silk. However, the mistake was soon rectified; and then the -silks were unrolled in good truth. By this time the shop was -pretty well filled, for it was Cranford market-day, and many of the -farmers and country people from the neighbourhood round came in, -sleeking down their hair, and glancing shyly about, from under -their eyelids, as anxious to take back some notion of the unusual -gaiety to the mistress or the lasses at home, and yet feeling that -they were out of place among the smart shopmen and gay shawls and -summer prints. One honest-looking man, however, made his way up to -the counter at which we stood, and boldly asked to look at a shawl -or two. The other country folk confined themselves to the grocery -side; but our neighbour was evidently too full of some kind -intention towards mistress, wife or daughter, to be shy; and it -soon became a question with me, whether he or Miss Matty would keep -their shopmen the longest time. He thought each shawl more -beautiful than the last; and, as for Miss Matty, she smiled and -sighed over each fresh bale that was brought out; one colour set -off another, and the heap together would, as she said, make even -the rainbow look poor. - -"I am afraid," said she, hesitating, "Whichever I choose I shall -wish I had taken another. Look at this lovely crimson! it would be -so warm in winter. But spring is coming on, you know. I wish I -could have a gown for every season," said she, dropping her voice-- -as we all did in Cranford whenever we talked of anything we wished -for but could not afford. "However," she continued in a louder and -more cheerful tone, "it would give me a great deal of trouble to -take care of them if I had them; so, I think, I'll only take one. -But which must it be, my dear?" - -And now she hovered over a lilac with yellow spots, while I pulled -out a quiet sage-green that had faded into insignificance under the -more brilliant colours, but which was nevertheless a good silk in -its humble way. Our attention was called off to our neighbour. He -had chosen a shawl of about thirty shillings' value; and his face -looked broadly happy, under the anticipation, no doubt, of the -pleasant surprise he would give to some Molly or Jenny at home; he -had tugged a leathern purse out of his breeches-pocket, and had -offered a five-pound note in payment for the shawl, and for some -parcels which had been brought round to him from the grocery -counter; and it was just at this point that he attracted our -notice. The shopman was examining the note with a puzzled, -doubtful air. - -"Town and County Bank! I am not sure, sir, but I believe we have -received a warning against notes issued by this bank only this -morning. I will just step and ask Mr Johnson, sir; but I'm afraid -I must trouble you for payment in cash, or in a note of a different -bank." - -I never saw a man's countenance fall so suddenly into dismay and -bewilderment. It was almost piteous to see the rapid change. - -"Dang it!" said he, striking his fist down on the table, as if to -try which was the harder, "the chap talks as if notes and gold were -to be had for the picking up." - -Miss Matty had forgotten her silk gown in her interest for the man. -I don't think she had caught the name of the bank, and in my -nervous cowardice I was anxious that she should not; and so I began -admiring the yellow-spotted lilac gown that I had been utterly -condemning only a minute before. But it was of no use. - -"What bank was it? I mean, what bank did your note belong to?" - -"Town and County Bank." - -"Let me see it," said she quietly to the shopman, gently taking it -out of his hand, as he brought it back to return it to the farmer. - -Mr Johnson was very sorry, but, from information he had received, -the notes issued by that bank were little better than waste paper. - -"I don't understand it," said Miss Matty to me in a low voice. -"That is our bank, is it not?--the Town and County Bank?" - -"Yes," said I. "This lilac silk will just match the ribbons in -your new cap, I believe," I continued, holding up the folds so as -to catch the light, and wishing that the man would make haste and -be gone, and yet having a new wonder, that had only just sprung up, -how far it was wise or right in me to allow Miss Matty to make this -expensive purchase, if the affairs of the bank were really so bad -as the refusal of the note implied. - -But Miss Matty put on the soft dignified manner, peculiar to her, -rarely used, and yet which became her so well, and laying her hand -gently on mine, she said - - -"Never mind the silks for a few minutes, dear. I don't understand -you, sir," turning now to the shopman, who had been attending to -the farmer. "Is this a forged note?" - -"Oh, no, ma'am. It is a true note of its kind; but you see, ma'am, -it is a joint-stock bank, and there are reports out that it is -likely to break. Mr Johnson is only doing his duty, ma'am, as I am -sure Mr Dobson knows." - -But Mr Dobson could not respond to the appealing bow by any -answering smile. He was turning the note absently over in his -fingers, looking gloomily enough at the parcel containing the -lately-chosen shawl. - -"It's hard upon a poor man," said he, "as earns every farthing with -the sweat of his brow. However, there's no help for it. You must -take back your shawl, my man; Lizzle must go on with her cloak for -a while. And yon figs for the little ones--I promised them to 'em- --I'll take them; but the 'bacco, and the other things" - - -"I will give you five sovereigns for your note, my good man," said -Miss Matty. "I think there is some great mistake about it, for I -am one of the shareholders, and I'm sure they would have told me if -things had not been going on right." - -The shopman whispered a word or two across the table to Miss Matty. -She looked at him with a dubious air. - -"Perhaps so," said she. "But I don't pretend to understand -business; I only know that if it is going to fail, and if honest -people are to lose their money because they have taken our notes--I -can't explain myself," said she, suddenly becoming aware that she -had got into a long sentence with four people for audience; "only I -would rather exchange my gold for the note, if you please," turning -to the farmer, "and then you can take your wife the shawl. It is -only going without my gown a few days longer," she continued, -speaking to me. "Then, I have no doubt, everything will be cleared -up." - -"But if it is cleared up the wrong way?" said I. - -"Why, then it will only have been common honesty in me, as a -shareholder, to have given this good man the money. I am quite -clear about it in my own mind; but, you know, I can never speak -quite as comprehensibly as others can, only you must give me your -note, Mr Dobson, if you please, and go on with your purchases with -these sovereigns." - -The man looked at her with silent gratitude--too awkward to put his -thanks into words; but he hung back for a minute or two, fumbling -with his note. - -"I'm loth to make another one lose instead of me, if it is a loss; -but, you see, five pounds is a deal of money to a man with a -family; and, as you say, ten to one in a day or two the note will -be as good as gold again." - -"No hope of that, my friend," said the shopman. - -"The more reason why I should take it," said Miss Matty quietly. -She pushed her sovereigns towards the man, who slowly laid his note -down in exchange. "Thank you. I will wait a day or two before I -purchase any of these silks; perhaps you will then have a greater -choice. My dear, will you come upstairs?" - -We inspected the fashions with as minute and curious an interest as -if the gown to be made after them had been bought. I could not see -that the little event in the shop below had in the least damped -Miss Matty's curiosity as to the make of sleeves or the sit of -skirts. She once or twice exchanged congratulations with me on our -private and leisurely view of the bonnets and shawls; but I was, -all the time, not so sure that our examination was so utterly -private, for I caught glimpses of a figure dodging behind the -cloaks and mantles; and, by a dexterous move, I came face to face -with Miss Pole, also in morning costume (the principal feature of -which was her being without teeth, and wearing a veil to conceal -the deficiency), come on the same errand as ourselves. But she -quickly took her departure, because, as she said, she had a bad -headache, and did not feel herself up to conversation. - -As we came down through the shop, the civil Mr Johnson was awaiting -us; he had been informed of the exchange of the note for gold, and -with much good feeling and real kindness, but with a little want of -tact, he wished to condole with Miss Matty, and impress upon her -the true state of the case. I could only hope that he had heard an -exaggerated rumour for he said that her shares were worse than -nothing, and that the bank could not pay a shilling in the pound. -I was glad that Miss Matty seemed still a little incredulous; but I -could not tell how much of this was real or assumed, with that -self-control which seemed habitual to ladies of Miss Matty's -standing in Cranford, who would have thought their dignity -compromised by the slightest expression of surprise, dismay, or any -similar feeling to an inferior in station, or in a public shop. -However, we walked home very silently. I am ashamed to say, I -believe I was rather vexed and annoyed at Miss Matty's conduct in -taking the note to herself so decidedly. I had so set my heart -upon her having a new silk gown, which she wanted sadly; in general -she was so undecided anybody might turn her round; in this case I -had felt that it was no use attempting it, but I was not the less -put out at the result. - -Somehow, after twelve o'clock, we both acknowledged to a sated -curiosity about the fashions, and to a certain fatigue of body -(which was, in fact, depression of mind) that indisposed us to go -out again. But still we never spoke of the note; till, all at -once, something possessed me to ask Miss Matty if she would think -it her duty to offer sovereigns for all the notes of the Town and -County Bank she met with? I could have bitten my tongue out the -minute I had said it. She looked up rather sadly, and as if I had -thrown a new perplexity into her already distressed mind; and for a -minute or two she did not speak. Then she said--my own dear Miss -Matty--without a shade of reproach in her voice - - -"My dear, I never feel as if my mind was what people call very -strong; and it's often hard enough work for me to settle what I -ought to do with the case right before me. I was very thankful to- --I was very thankful, that I saw my duty this morning, with the -poor man standing by me; but its rather a strain upon me to keep -thinking and thinking what I should do if such and such a thing -happened; and, I believe, I had rather wait and see what really -does come; and I don't doubt I shall be helped then if I don't -fidget myself, and get too anxious beforehand. You know, love, I'm -not like Deborah. If Deborah had lived, I've no doubt she would -have seen after them, before they had got themselves into this -state." - -We had neither of us much appetite for dinner, though we tried to -talk cheerfully about indifferent things. When we returned into -the drawing-room, Miss Matty unlocked her desk and began to look -over her account-books. I was so penitent for what I had said in -the morning, that I did not choose to take upon myself the -presumption to suppose that I could assist her; I rather left her -alone, as, with puzzled brow, her eye followed her pen up and down -the ruled page. By-and-by she shut the book, locked the desk, and -came and drew a chair to mine, where I sat in moody sorrow over the -fire. I stole my hand into hers; she clasped it, but did not speak -a word. At last she said, with forced composure in her voice, "If -that bank goes wrong, I shall lose one hundred and forty-nine -pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence a year; I shall only have -thirteen pounds a year left." I squeezed her hand hard and tight. -I did not know what to say. Presently (it was too dark to see her -face) I felt her fingers work convulsively in my grasp; and I knew -she was going to speak again. I heard the sobs in her voice as she -said, "I hope it's not wrong--not wicked--but, oh! I am so glad -poor Deborah is spared this. She could not have borne to come down -in the world--she had such a noble, lofty spirit." - -This was all she said about the sister who had insisted upon -investing their little property in that unlucky bank. We were -later in lighting the candle than usual that night, and until that -light shamed us into speaking, we sat together very silently and -sadly. - -However, we took to our work after tea with a kind of forced -cheerfulness (which soon became real as far as it went), talking of -that never-ending wonder, Lady Glenmire's engagement. Miss Matty -was almost coming round to think it a good thing. - -"I don't mean to deny that men are troublesome in a house. I don't -judge from my own experience, for my father was neatness itself, -and wiped his shoes on coming in as carefully as any woman; but -still a man has a sort of knowledge of what should be done in -difficulties, that it is very pleasant to have one at hand ready to -lean upon. Now, Lady Glenmire, instead of being tossed about, and -wondering where she is to settle, will be certain of a home among -pleasant and kind people, such as our good Miss Pole and Mrs -Forrester. And Mr Hoggins is really a very personable man; and as -for his manners, why, if they are not very polished, I have known -people with very good hearts and very clever minds too, who were -not what some people reckoned refined, but who were both true and -tender." - -She fell off into a soft reverie about Mr Holbrook, and I did not -interrupt her, I was so busy maturing a plan I had had in my mind -for some days, but which this threatened failure of the bank had -brought to a crisis. That night, after Miss Matty went to bed, I -treacherously lighted the candle again, and sat down in the -drawing-room to compose a letter to the Aga Jenkyns, a letter which -should affect him if he were Peter, and yet seem a mere statement -of dry facts if he were a stranger. The church clock pealed out -two before I had done. - -The next morning news came, both official and otherwise, that the -Town and County Bank had stopped payment. Miss Matty was ruined. - -She tried to speak quietly to me; but when she came to the actual -fact that she would have but about five shillings a week to live -upon, she could not restrain a few tears. - -"I am not crying for myself, dear," said she, wiping them away; "I -believe I am crying for the very silly thought of how my mother -would grieve if she could know; she always cared for us so much -more than for herself. But many a poor person has less, and I am -not very extravagant, and, thank God, when the neck of mutton, and -Martha's wages, and the rent are paid, I have not a farthing owing. -Poor Martha! I think she'll be sorry to leave me." - -Miss Matty smiled at me through her tears, and she would fain have -had me see only the smile, not the tears. - - - -CHAPTER XIV--FRIENDS IN NEED - - - -It was an example to me, and I fancy it might be to many others, to -see how immediately Miss Matty set about the retrenchment which she -knew to be right under her altered circumstances. While she went -down to speak to Martha, and break the intelligence to her, I stole -out with my letter to the Aga Jenkyns, and went to the signor's -lodgings to obtain the exact address. I bound the signora to -secrecy; and indeed her military manners had a degree of shortness -and reserve in them which made her always say as little as -possible, except when under the pressure of strong excitement. -Moreover (which made my secret doubly sure), the signor was now so -far recovered as to be looking forward to travelling and conjuring -again in the space of a few days, when he, his wife, and little -Phoebe would leave Cranford. Indeed, I found him looking over a -great black and red placard, in which the Signor Brunoni's -accomplishments were set forth, and to which only the name of the -town where he would next display them was wanting. He and his wife -were so much absorbed in deciding where the red letters would come -in with most effect (it might have been the Rubric for that -matter), that it was some time before I could get my question asked -privately, and not before I had given several decisions, the which -I questioned afterwards with equal wisdom of sincerity as soon as -the signor threw in his doubts and reasons on the important -subject. At last I got the address, spelt by sound, and very queer -it looked. I dropped it in the post on my way home, and then for a -minute I stood looking at the wooden pane with a gaping slit which -divided me from the letter but a moment ago in my hand. It was -gone from me like life, never to be recalled. It would get tossed -about on the sea, and stained with sea-waves perhaps, and be -carried among palm-trees, and scented with all tropical fragrance; -the little piece of paper, but an hour ago so familiar and -commonplace, had set out on its race to the strange wild countries -beyond the Ganges! But I could not afford to lose much time on -this speculation. I hastened home, that Miss Matty might not miss -me. Martha opened the door to me, her face swollen with crying. -As soon as she saw me she burst out afresh, and taking hold of my -arm she pulled me in, and banged the door to, in order to ask me if -indeed it was all true that Miss Matty had been saying. - -"I'll never leave her! No; I won't. I telled her so, and said I -could not think how she could find in her heart to give me warning. -I could not have had the face to do it, if I'd been her. I might -ha' been just as good for nothing as Mrs Fitz-Adam's Rosy, who -struck for wages after living seven years and a half in one place. -I said I was not one to go and serve Mammon at that rate; that I -knew when I'd got a good missus, if she didn't know when she'd got -a good servant" - - -"But, Martha," said I, cutting in while she wiped her eyes. - -"Don't, 'but Martha' me," she replied to my deprecatory tone. - -"Listen to reason" - - -"I'll not listen to reason," she said, now in full possession of -her voice, which had been rather choked with sobbing. "Reason -always means what someone else has got to say. Now I think what -I've got to say is good enough reason; but reason or not, I'll say -it, and I'll stick to it. I've money in the Savings Bank, and I've -a good stock of clothes, and I'm not going to leave Miss Matty. -No, not if she gives me warning every hour in the day!" - -She put her arms akimbo, as much as to say she defied me; and, -indeed, I could hardly tell how to begin to remonstrate with her, -so much did I feel that Miss Matty, in her increasing infirmity, -needed the attendance of this kind and faithful woman. - -"Well"--said I at last. - -"I'm thankful you begin with 'well!' If you'd have begun with -'but,' as you did afore, I'd not ha' listened to you. Now you may -go on." - -"I know you would be a great loss to Miss Matty, Martha" - - -"I telled her so. A loss she'd never cease to be sorry for," broke -in Martha triumphantly. - -"Still, she will have so little--so very little--to live upon, that -I don't see just now how she could find you food--she will even be -pressed for her own. I tell you this, Martha, because I feel you -are like a friend to dear Miss Matty, but you know she might not -like to have it spoken about." - -Apparently this was even a blacker view of the subject than Miss -Matty had presented to her, for Martha just sat down on the first -chair that came to hand, and cried out loud (we had been standing -in the kitchen). - -At last she put her apron down, and looking me earnestly in the -face, asked, "Was that the reason Miss Matty wouldn't order a -pudding to-day? She said she had no great fancy for sweet things, -and you and she would just have a mutton chop. But I'll be up to -her. Never you tell, but I'll make her a pudding, and a pudding -she'll like, too, and I'll pay for it myself; so mind you see she -eats it. Many a one has been comforted in their sorrow by seeing a -good dish come upon the table." - -I was rather glad that Martha's energy had taken the immediate and -practical direction of pudding-making, for it staved off the -quarrelsome discussion as to whether she should or should not leave -Miss Matty's service. She began to tie on a clean apron, and -otherwise prepare herself for going to the shop for the butter, -eggs, and what else she might require. She would not use a scrap -of the articles already in the house for her cookery, but went to -an old tea-pot in which her private store of money was deposited, -and took out what she wanted. - -I found Miss Matty very quiet, and not a little sad; but by-and-by -she tried to smile for my sake. It was settled that I was to write -to my father, and ask him to come over and hold a consultation, and -as soon as this letter was despatched we began to talk over future -plans. Miss Matty's idea was to take a single room, and retain as -much of her furniture as would be necessary to fit up this, and -sell the rest, and there to quietly exist upon what would remain -after paying the rent. For my part, I was more ambitious and less -contented. I thought of all the things by which a woman, past -middle age, and with the education common to ladies fifty years -ago, could earn or add to a living without materially losing caste; -but at length I put even this last clause on one side, and wondered -what in the world Miss Matty could do. - -Teaching was, of course, the first thing that suggested itself. If -Miss Matty could teach children anything, it would throw her among -the little elves in whom her soul delighted. I ran over her -accomplishments. Once upon a time I had heard her say she could -play "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman?" on the piano, but that was long, -long ago; that faint shadow of musical acquirement had died out -years before. She had also once been able to trace out patterns -very nicely for muslin embroidery, by dint of placing a piece of -silver paper over the design to be copied, and holding both against -the window-pane while she marked the scollop and eyelet-holes. But -that was her nearest approach to the accomplishment of drawing, and -I did not think it would go very far. Then again, as to the -branches of a solid English education--fancy work and the use of -the globes--such as the mistress of the Ladies' Seminary, to which -all the tradespeople in Cranford sent their daughters, professed to -teach. Miss Matty's eyes were failing her, and I doubted if she -could discover the number of threads in a worsted-work pattern, or -rightly appreciate the different shades required for Queen -Adelaide's face in the loyal wool-work now fashionable in Cranford. -As for the use of the globes, I had never been able to find it out -myself, so perhaps I was not a good judge of Miss Matty's -capability of instructing in this branch of education; but it -struck me that equators and tropics, and such mystical circles, -were very imaginary lines indeed to her, and that she looked upon -the signs of the Zodiac as so many remnants of the Black Art. - -What she piqued herself upon, as arts in which she excelled, was -making candle-lighters, or "spills" (as she preferred calling -them), of coloured paper, cut so as to resemble feathers, and -knitting garters in a variety of dainty stitches. I had once said, -on receiving a present of an elaborate pair, that I should feel -quite tempted to drop one of them in the street, in order to have -it admired; but I found this little joke (and it was a very little -one) was such a distress to her sense of propriety, and was taken -with such anxious, earnest alarm, lest the temptation might some -day prove too strong for me, that I quite regretted having ventured -upon it. A present of these delicately-wrought garters, a bunch of -gay "spills," or a set of cards on which sewing-silk was wound in a -mystical manner, were the well-known tokens of Miss Matty's favour. -But would any one pay to have their children taught these arts? or, -indeed, would Miss Matty sell, for filthy lucre, the knack and the -skill with which she made trifles of value to those who loved her? - -I had to come down to reading, writing, and arithmetic; and, in -reading the chapter every morning, she always coughed before coming -to long words. I doubted her power of getting through a -genealogical chapter, with any number of coughs. Writing she did -well and delicately--but spelling! She seemed to think that the -more out-of-the-way this was, and the more trouble it cost her, the -greater the compliment she paid to her correspondent; and words -that she would spell quite correctly in her letters to me became -perfect enigmas when she wrote to my father. - -No! there was nothing she could teach to the rising generation of -Cranford, unless they had been quick learners and ready imitators -of her patience, her humility, her sweetness, her quiet contentment -with all that she could not do. I pondered and pondered until -dinner was announced by Martha, with a face all blubbered and -swollen with crying. - -Miss Matty had a few little peculiarities which Martha was apt to -regard as whims below her attention, and appeared to consider as -childish fancies of which an old lady of fifty-eight should try and -cure herself. But to-day everything was attended to with the most -careful regard. The bread was cut to the imaginary pattern of -excellence that existed in Miss Matty's mind, as being the way -which her mother had preferred, the curtain was drawn so as to -exclude the dead brick wall of a neighbour's stable, and yet left -so as to show every tender leaf of the poplar which was bursting -into spring beauty. Martha's tone to Miss Matty was just such as -that good, rough-spoken servant usually kept sacred for little -children, and which I had never heard her use to any grown-up -person. - -I had forgotten to tell Miss Matty about the pudding, and I was -afraid she might not do justice to it, for she had evidently very -little appetite this day; so I seized the opportunity of letting -her into the secret while Martha took away the meat. Miss Matty's -eyes filled with tears, and she could not speak, either to express -surprise or delight, when Martha returned bearing it aloft, made in -the most wonderful representation of a lion couchant that ever was -moulded. Martha's face gleamed with triumph as she set it down -before Miss Matty with an exultant "There!" Miss Matty wanted to -speak her thanks, but could not; so she took Martha's hand and -shook it warmly, which set Martha off crying, and I myself could -hardly keep up the necessary composure. Martha burst out of the -room, and Miss Matty had to clear her voice once or twice before -she could speak. At last she said, "I should like to keep this -pudding under a glass shade, my dear!" and the notion of the lion -couchant, with his currant eyes, being hoisted up to the place of -honour on a mantelpiece, tickled my hysterical fancy, and I began -to laugh, which rather surprised Miss Matty. - -"I am sure, dear, I have seen uglier things under a glass shade -before now," said she. - -So had I, many a time and oft, and I accordingly composed my -countenance (and now I could hardly keep from crying), and we both -fell to upon the pudding, which was indeed excellent--only every -morsel seemed to choke us, our hearts were so full. - -We had too much to think about to talk much that afternoon. It -passed over very tranquilly. But when the tea-urn was brought in a -new thought came into my head. Why should not Miss Matty sell tea- --be an agent to the East India Tea Company which then existed? I -could see no objections to this plan, while the advantages were -many--always supposing that Miss Matty could get over the -degradation of condescending to anything like trade. Tea was -neither greasy nor sticky--grease and stickiness being two of the -qualities which Miss Matty could not endure. No shop-window would -be required. A small, genteel notification of her being licensed -to sell tea would, it is true, be necessary, but I hoped that it -could be placed where no one would see it. Neither was tea a heavy -article, so as to tax Miss Matty's fragile strength. The only -thing against my plan was the buying and selling involved. - -While I was giving but absent answers to the questions Miss Matty -was putting--almost as absently--we heard a clumping sound on the -stairs, and a whispering outside the door, which indeed once opened -and shut as if by some invisible agency. After a little while -Martha came in, dragging after her a great tall young man, all -crimson with shyness, and finding his only relief in perpetually -sleeking down his hair. - -"Please, ma'am, he's only Jem Hearn," said Martha, by way of an -introduction; and so out of breath was she that I imagine she had -had some bodily struggle before she could overcome his reluctance -to be presented on the courtly scene of Miss Matilda Jenkyns's -drawing-room. - -"And please, ma'am, he wants to marry me off-hand. And please, -ma'am, we want to take a lodger--just one quiet lodger, to make our -two ends meet; and we'd take any house conformable; and, oh dear -Miss Matty, if I may be so bold, would you have any objections to -lodging with us? Jem wants it as much as I do." [To Jem ]--"You -great oaf! why can't you back me!--But he does want it all the -same, very bad--don't you, Jem?--only, you see, he's dazed at being -called on to speak before quality." - -"It's not that," broke in Jem. "It's that you've taken me all on a -sudden, and I didn't think for to get married so soon--and such -quick words does flabbergast a man. It's not that I'm against it, -ma'am" (addressing Miss Matty), "only Martha has such quick ways -with her when once she takes a thing into her head; and marriage, -ma'am--marriage nails a man, as one may say. I dare say I shan't -mind it after it's once over." - -"Please, ma'am," said Martha--who had plucked at his sleeve, and -nudged him with her elbow, and otherwise tried to interrupt him all -the time he had been speaking--"don't mind him, he'll come to; -'twas only last night he was an-axing me, and an-axing me, and all -the more because I said I could not think of it for years to come, -and now he's only taken aback with the suddenness of the joy; but -you know, Jem, you are just as full as me about wanting a lodger." -(Another great nudge.) - -"Ay! if Miss Matty would lodge with us--otherwise I've no mind to -be cumbered with strange folk in the house," said Jem, with a want -of tact which I could see enraged Martha, who was trying to -represent a lodger as the great object they wished to obtain, and -that, in fact, Miss Matty would be smoothing their path and -conferring a favour, if she would only come and live with them. - -Miss Matty herself was bewildered by the pair; their, or rather -Martha's sudden resolution in favour of matrimony staggered her, -and stood between her and the contemplation of the plan which -Martha had at heart. Miss Matty began - - -"Marriage is a very solemn thing, Martha." - -"It is indeed, ma'am," quoth Jem. "Not that I've no objections to -Martha." - -"You've never let me a-be for asking me for to fix when I would be -married," said Martha--her face all a-fire, and ready to cry with -vexation--"and now you're shaming me before my missus and all." - -"Nay, now! Martha don't ee! don't ee! only a man likes to have -breathing-time," said Jem, trying to possess himself of her hand, -but in vain. Then seeing that she was more seriously hurt than he -had imagined, he seemed to try to rally his scattered faculties, -and with more straightforward dignity than, ten minutes before, I -should have thought it possible for him to assume, he turned to -Miss Matty, and said, "I hope, ma'am, you know that I am bound to -respect every one who has been kind to Martha. I always looked on -her as to be my wife--some time; and she has often and often spoken -of you as the kindest lady that ever was; and though the plain -truth is, I would not like to be troubled with lodgers of the -common run, yet if, ma'am, you'd honour us by living with us, I'm -sure Martha would do her best to make you comfortable; and I'd keep -out of your way as much as I could, which I reckon would be the -best kindness such an awkward chap as me could do." - -Miss Matty had been very busy with taking off her spectacles, -wiping them, and replacing them; but all she could say was, "Don't -let any thought of me hurry you into marriage: pray don't. -Marriage is such a very solemn thing!" - -"But Miss Matilda will think of your plan, Martha," said I, struck -with the advantages that it offered, and unwilling to lose the -opportunity of considering about it. "And I'm sure neither she nor -I can ever forget your kindness; nor your's either, Jem." - -"Why, yes, ma'am! I'm sure I mean kindly, though I'm a bit -fluttered by being pushed straight ahead into matrimony, as it -were, and mayn't express myself conformable. But I'm sure I'm -willing enough, and give me time to get accustomed; so, Martha, -wench, what's the use of crying so, and slapping me if I come -near?" - -This last was sotto voce, and had the effect of making Martha -bounce out of the room, to be followed and soothed by her lover. -Whereupon Miss Matty sat down and cried very heartily, and -accounted for it by saying that the thought of Martha being married -so soon gave her quite a shock, and that she should never forgive -herself if she thought she was hurrying the poor creature. I think -my pity was more for Jem, of the two; but both Miss Matty and I -appreciated to the full the kindness of the honest couple, although -we said little about this, and a good deal about the chances and -dangers of matrimony. - -The next morning, very early, I received a note from Miss Pole, so -mysteriously wrapped up, and with so many seals on it to secure -secrecy, that I had to tear the paper before I could unfold it. -And when I came to the writing I could hardly understand the -meaning, it was so involved and oracular. I made out, however, -that I was to go to Miss Pole's at eleven o'clock; the number -ELEVEN being written in full length as well as in numerals, and -A.M. twice dashed under, as if I were very likely to come at eleven -at night, when all Cranford was usually a-bed and asleep by ten. -There was no signature except Miss Pole's initials reversed, P.E.; -but as Martha had given me the note, "with Miss Pole's kind -regards," it needed no wizard to find out who sent it; and if the -writer's name was to be kept secret, it was very well that I was -alone when Martha delivered it. - -I went as requested to Miss Pole's. The door was opened to me by -her little maid Lizzy in Sunday trim, as if some grand event was -impending over this work-day. And the drawing-room upstairs was -arranged in accordance with this idea. The table was set out with -the best green card-cloth, and writing materials upon it. On the -little chiffonier was a tray with a newly-decanted bottle of -cowslip wine, and some ladies'-finger biscuits. Miss Pole herself -was in solemn array, as if to receive visitors, although it was -only eleven o'clock. Mrs Forrester was there, crying quietly and -sadly, and my arrival seemed only to call forth fresh tears. -Before we had finished our greetings, performed with lugubrious -mystery of demeanour, there was another rat-tat-tat, and Mrs Fitz- -Adam appeared, crimson with walking and excitement. It seemed as -if this was all the company expected; for now Miss Pole made -several demonstrations of being about to open the business of the -meeting, by stirring the fire, opening and shutting the door, and -coughing and blowing her nose. Then she arranged us all round the -table, taking care to place me opposite to her; and last of all, -she inquired of me if the sad report was true, as she feared it -was, that Miss Matty had lost all her fortune? - -Of course, I had but one answer to make; and I never saw more -unaffected sorrow depicted on any countenances than I did there on -the three before me. - -I wish Mrs Jamieson was here!" said Mrs Forrester at last; but to -judge from Mrs Fitz-Adam's face, she could not second the wish. - -"But without Mrs Jamieson," said Miss Pole, with just a sound of -offended merit in her voice, "we, the ladies of Cranford, in my -drawing-room assembled, can resolve upon something. I imagine we -are none of us what may be called rich, though we all possess a -genteel competency, sufficient for tastes that are elegant and -refined, and would not, if they could, be vulgarly ostentatious." -(Here I observed Miss Pole refer to a small card concealed in her -hand, on which I imagine she had put down a few notes.) - -"Miss Smith," she continued, addressing me (familiarly known as -"Mary" to all the company assembled, but this was a state -occasion), "I have conversed in private--I made it my business to -do so yesterday afternoon--with these ladies on the misfortune -which has happened to our friend, and one and all of us have agreed -that while we have a superfluity, it is not only a duty, but a -pleasure--a true pleasure, Mary!"--her voice was rather choked just -here, and she had to wipe her spectacles before she could go on-- -"to give what we can to assist her--Miss Matilda Jenkyns. Only in -consideration of the feelings of delicate independence existing in -the mind of every refined female"--I was sure she had got back to -the card now--"we wish to contribute our mites in a secret and -concealed manner, so as not to hurt the feelings I have referred -to. And our object in requesting you to meet us this morning is -that, believing you are the daughter--that your father is, in fact, -her confidential adviser, in all pecuniary matters, we imagined -that, by consulting with him, you might devise some mode in which -our contribution could be made to appear the legal due which Miss -Matilda Jenkyns ought to receive from-- Probably your father, -knowing her investments, can fill up the blank." - -Miss Pole concluded her address, and looked round for approval and -agreement. - -"I have expressed your meaning, ladies, have I not? And while Miss -Smith considers what reply to make, allow me to offer you some -little refreshment." - -I had no great reply to make: I had more thankfulness at my heart -for their kind thoughts than I cared to put into words; and so I -only mumbled out something to the effect "that I would name what -Miss Pole had said to my father, and that if anything could be -arranged for dear Miss Matty,"--and here I broke down utterly, and -had to be refreshed with a glass of cowslip wine before I could -check the crying which had been repressed for the last two or three -days. The worst was, all the ladies cried in concert. Even Miss -Pole cried, who had said a hundred times that to betray emotion -before any one was a sign of weakness and want of self-control. -She recovered herself into a slight degree of impatient anger, -directed against me, as having set them all off; and, moreover, I -think she was vexed that I could not make a speech back in return -for hers; and if I had known beforehand what was to be said, and -had a card on which to express the probable feelings that would -rise in my heart, I would have tried to gratify her. As it was, -Mrs Forrester was the person to speak when we had recovered our -composure. - -"I don't mind, among friends, stating that I--no! I'm not poor -exactly, but I don't think I'm what you may call rich; I wish I -were, for dear Miss Matty's sake--but, if you please, I'll write -down in a sealed paper what I can give. I only wish it was more; -my dear Mary, I do indeed." - -Now I saw why paper, pens, and ink were provided. Every lady wrote -down the sum she could give annually, signed the paper, and sealed -it mysteriously. If their proposal was acceded to, my father was -to be allowed to open the papers, under pledge of secrecy. If not, -they were to be returned to their writers. - -When the ceremony had been gone through, I rose to depart; but each -lady seemed to wish to have a private conference with me. Miss -Pole kept me in the drawing-room to explain why, in Mrs Jamieson's -absence, she had taken the lead in this "movement," as she was -pleased to call it, and also to inform me that she had heard from -good sources that Mrs Jamieson was coming home directly in a state -of high displeasure against her sister-in-law, who was forthwith to -leave her house, and was, she believed, to return to Edinburgh that -very afternoon. Of course this piece of intelligence could not be -communicated before Mrs Fitz-Adam, more especially as Miss Pole was -inclined to think that Lady Glenmire's engagement to Mr Hoggins -could not possibly hold against the blaze of Mrs Jamieson's -displeasure. A few hearty inquiries after Miss Matty's health -concluded my interview with Miss Pole. - -On coming downstairs I found Mrs Forrester waiting for me at the -entrance to the dining-parlour; she drew me in, and when the door -was shut, she tried two or three times to begin on some subject, -which was so unapproachable apparently, that I began to despair of -our ever getting to a clear understanding. At last out it came; -the poor old lady trembling all the time as if it were a great -crime which she was exposing to daylight, in telling me how very, -very little she had to live upon; a confession which she was -brought to make from a dread lest we should think that the small -contribution named in her paper bore any proportion to her love and -regard for Miss Matty. And yet that sum which she so eagerly -relinquished was, in truth, more than a twentieth part of what she -had to live upon, and keep house, and a little serving-maid, all as -became one born a Tyrrell. And when the whole income does not -nearly amount to a hundred pounds, to give up a twentieth of it -will necessitate many careful economies, and many pieces of self- -denial, small and insignificant in the world's account, but bearing -a different value in another account-book that I have heard of. -She did so wish she was rich, she said, and this wish she kept -repeating, with no thought of herself in it, only with a longing, -yearning desire to be able to heap up Miss Matty's measure of -comforts. - -It was some time before I could console her enough to leave her; -and then, on quitting the house, I was waylaid by Mrs Fitz-Adam, -who had also her confidence to make of pretty nearly the opposite -description. She had not liked to put down all that she could -afford and was ready to give. She told me she thought she never -could look Miss Matty in the face again if she presumed to be -giving her so much as she should like to do. "Miss Matty!" -continued she, "that I thought was such a fine young lady when I -was nothing but a country girl, coming to market with eggs and -butter and such like things. For my father, though well-to-do, -would always make me go on as my mother had done before me, and I -had to come into Cranford every Saturday, and see after sales, and -prices, and what not. And one day, I remember, I met Miss Matty in -the lane that leads to Combehurst; she was walking on the footpath, -which, you know, is raised a good way above the road, and a -gentleman rode beside her, and was talking to her, and she was -looking down at some primroses she had gathered, and pulling them -all to pieces, and I do believe she was crying. But after she had -passed, she turned round and ran after me to ask--oh, so kindly-- -about my poor mother, who lay on her death-bed; and when I cried -she took hold of my hand to comfort me--and the gentleman waiting -for her all the time--and her poor heart very full of something, I -am sure; and I thought it such an honour to be spoken to in that -pretty way by the rector's daughter, who visited at Arley Hall. I -have loved her ever since, though perhaps I'd no right to do it; -but if you can think of any way in which I might be allowed to give -a little more without any one knowing it, I should be so much -obliged to you, my dear. And my brother would be delighted to -doctor her for nothing--medicines, leeches, and all. I know that -he and her ladyship (my dear, I little thought in the days I was -telling you of that I should ever come to be sister-in-law to a -ladyship!) would do anything for her. We all would." - -I told her I was quite sure of it, and promised all sorts of things -in my anxiety to get home to Miss Matty, who might well be -wondering what had become of me--absent from her two hours without -being able to account for it. She had taken very little note of -time, however, as she had been occupied in numberless little -arrangements preparatory to the great step of giving up her house. -It was evidently a relief to her to be doing something in the way -of retrenchment, for, as she said, whenever she paused to think, -the recollection of the poor fellow with his bad five-pound note -came over her, and she felt quite dishonest; only if it made her so -uncomfortable, what must it not be doing to the directors of the -bank, who must know so much more of the misery consequent upon this -failure? She almost made me angry by dividing her sympathy between -these directors (whom she imagined overwhelmed by self-reproach for -the mismanagement of other people's affairs) and those who were -suffering like her. Indeed, of the two, she seemed to think -poverty a lighter burden than self-reproach; but I privately -doubted if the directors would agree with her. - -Old hoards were taken out and examined as to their money value -which luckily was small, or else I don't know how Miss Matty would -have prevailed upon herself to part with such things as her -mother's wedding-ring, the strange, uncouth brooch with which her -father had disfigured his shirt-frill, &c. However, we arranged -things a little in order as to their pecuniary estimation, and were -all ready for my father when he came the next morning. - -I am not going to weary you with the details of all the business we -went through; and one reason for not telling about them is, that I -did not understand what we were doing at the time, and cannot -recollect it now. Miss Matty and I sat assenting to accounts, and -schemes, and reports, and documents, of which I do not believe we -either of us understood a word; for my father was clear-headed and -decisive, and a capital man of business, and if we made the -slightest inquiry, or expressed the slightest want of -comprehension, he had a sharp way of saying, "Eh? eh? it's as dear -as daylight. What's your objection?" And as we had not -comprehended anything of what he had proposed, we found it rather -difficult to shape our objections; in fact, we never were sure if -we had any. So presently Miss Matty got into a nervously -acquiescent state, and said "Yes," and "Certainly," at every pause, -whether required or not; but when I once joined in as chorus to a -"Decidedly," pronounced by Miss Matty in a tremblingly dubious -tone, my father fired round at me and asked me "What there was to -decide?" And I am sure to this day I have never known. But, in -justice to him, I must say he had come over from Drumble to help -Miss Matty when he could ill spare the time, and when his own -affairs were in a very anxious state. - -While Miss Matty was out of the room giving orders for luncheon-- -and sadly perplexed between her desire of honouring my father by a -delicate, dainty meal, and her conviction that she had no right, -now that all her money was gone, to indulge this desire--I told him -of the meeting of the Cranford ladies at Miss Pole's the day -before. He kept brushing his hand before his eyes as I spoke--and -when I went back to Martha's offer the evening before, of receiving -Miss Matty as a lodger, he fairly walked away from me to the -window, and began drumming with his fingers upon it. Then he -turned abruptly round, and said, "See, Mary, how a good, innocent -life makes friends all around. Confound it! I could make a good -lesson out of it if I were a parson; but, as it is, I can't get a -tail to my sentences--only I'm sure you feel what I want to say. -You and I will have a walk after lunch and talk a bit more about -these plans." - -The lunch--a hot savoury mutton-chop, and a little of the cold loin -sliced and fried--was now brought in. Every morsel of this last -dish was finished, to Martha's great gratification. Then my father -bluntly told Miss Matty he wanted to talk to me alone, and that he -would stroll out and see some of the old places, and then I could -tell her what plan we thought desirable. Just before we went out, -she called me back and said, "Remember, dear, I'm the only one -left--I mean, there's no one to be hurt by what I do. I'm willing -to do anything that's right and honest; and I don't think, if -Deborah knows where she is, she'll care so very much if I'm not -genteel; because, you see, she'll know all, dear. Only let me see -what I can do, and pay the poor people as far as I'm able." - -I gave her a hearty kiss, and ran after my father. The result of -our conversation was this. If all parties were agreeable, Martha -and Jem were to be married with as little delay as possible, and -they were to live on in Miss Matty's present abode; the sum which -the Cranford ladies had agreed to contribute annually being -sufficient to meet the greater part of the rent, and leaving Martha -free to appropriate what Miss Matty should pay for her lodgings to -any little extra comforts required. About the sale, my father was -dubious at first. He said the old rectory furniture, however -carefully used and reverently treated, would fetch very little; and -that little would be but as a drop in the sea of the debts of the -Town and County Bank. But when I represented how Miss Matty's -tender conscience would be soothed by feeling that she had done -what she could, he gave way; especially after I had told him the -five-pound note adventure, and he had scolded me well for allowing -it. I then alluded to my idea that she might add to her small -income by selling tea; and, to my surprise (for I had nearly given -up the plan), my father grasped at it with all the energy of a -tradesman. I think he reckoned his chickens before they were -hatched, for he immediately ran up the profits of the sales that -she could effect in Cranford to more than twenty pounds a year. -The small dining-parlour was to be converted into a shop, without -any of its degrading characteristics; a table was to be the -counter; one window was to be retained unaltered, and the other -changed into a glass door. I evidently rose in his estimation for -having made this bright suggestion. I only hoped we should not -both fall in Miss Matty's. - -But she was patient and content with all our arrangements. She -knew, she said, that we should do the best we could for her; and -she only hoped, only stipulated, that she should pay every farthing -that she could be said to owe, for her father's sake, who had been -so respected in Cranford. My father and I had agreed to say as -little as possible about the bank, indeed never to mention it -again, if it could be helped. Some of the plans were evidently a -little perplexing to her; but she had seen me sufficiently snubbed -in the morning for want of comprehension to venture on too many -inquiries now; and all passed over well with a hope on her part -that no one would be hurried into marriage on her account. When we -came to the proposal that she should sell tea, I could see it was -rather a shock to her; not on account of any personal loss of -gentility involved, but only because she distrusted her own powers -of action in a new line of life, and would timidly have preferred a -little more privation to any exertion for which she feared she was -unfitted. However, when she saw my father was bent upon it, she -sighed, and said she would try; and if she did not do well, of -course she might give it up. One good thing about it was, she did -not think men ever bought tea; and it was of men particularly she -was afraid. They had such sharp loud ways with them; and did up -accounts, and counted their change so quickly! Now, if she might -only sell comfits to children, she was sure she could please them! - - - -CHAPTER XV--A HAPPY RETURN - - - -Before I left Miss Matty at Cranford everything had been -comfortably arranged for her. Even Mrs Jamieson's approval of her -selling tea had been gained. That oracle had taken a few days to -consider whether by so doing Miss Matty would forfeit her right to -the privileges of society in Cranford. I think she had some little -idea of mortifying Lady Glenmire by the decision she gave at last; -which was to this effect: that whereas a married woman takes her -husband's rank by the strict laws of precedence, an unmarried woman -retains the station her father occupied. So Cranford was allowed -to visit Miss Matty; and, whether allowed or not, it intended to -visit Lady Glenmire. - -But what was our surprise--our dismay--when we learnt that Mr and -MRS HOGGINS were returning on the following Tuesday! Mrs Hoggins! -Had she absolutely dropped her title, and so, in a spirit of -bravado, cut the aristocracy to become a Hoggins! She, who might -have been called Lady Glenmire to her dying day! Mrs Jamieson was -pleased. She said it only convinced her of what she had known from -the first, that the creature had a low taste. But "the creature" -looked very happy on Sunday at church; nor did we see it necessary -to keep our veils down on that side of our bonnets on which Mr and -Mrs Hoggins sat, as Mrs Jamieson did; thereby missing all the -smiling glory of his face, and all the becoming blushes of hers. I -am not sure if Martha and Jem looked more radiant in the afternoon, -when they, too, made their first appearance. Mrs Jamieson soothed -the turbulence of her soul by having the blinds of her windows -drawn down, as if for a funeral, on the day when Mr and Mrs Hoggins -received callers; and it was with some difficulty that she was -prevailed upon to continue the St James's Chronicle, so indignant -was she with its having inserted the announcement of the marriage. - -Miss Matty's sale went off famously. She retained the furniture of -her sitting-room and bedroom; the former of which she was to occupy -till Martha could meet with a lodger who might wish to take it; and -into this sitting-room and bedroom she had to cram all sorts of -things, which were (the auctioneer assured her) bought in for her -at the sale by an unknown friend. I always suspected Mrs Fitz-Adam -of this; but she must have had an accessory, who knew what articles -were particularly regarded by Miss Matty on account of their -associations with her early days. The rest of the house looked -rather bare, to be sure; all except one tiny bedroom, of which my -father allowed me to purchase the furniture for my occasional use -in case of Miss Matty's illness. - -I had expended my own small store in buying all manner of comfits -and lozenges, in order to tempt the little people whom Miss Matty -loved so much to come about her. Tea in bright green canisters, -and comfits in tumblers--Miss Matty and I felt quite proud as we -looked round us on the evening before the shop was to be opened. -Martha had scoured the boarded floor to a white cleanness, and it -was adorned with a brilliant piece of oil-cloth, on which customers -were to stand before the table-counter. The wholesome smell of -plaster and whitewash pervaded the apartment. A very small -"Matilda Jenkyns, licensed to sell tea," was hidden under the -lintel of the new door, and two boxes of tea, with cabalistic -inscriptions all over them, stood ready to disgorge their contents -into the canisters. - -Miss Matty, as I ought to have mentioned before, had had some -scruples of conscience at selling tea when there was already Mr -Johnson in the town, who included it among his numerous -commodities; and, before she could quite reconcile herself to the -adoption of her new business, she had trotted down to his shop, -unknown to me, to tell him of the project that was entertained, and -to inquire if it was likely to injure his business. My father -called this idea of hers "great nonsense," and "wondered how -tradespeople were to get on if there was to be a continual -consulting of each other's interests, which would put a stop to all -competition directly." And, perhaps, it would not have done in -Drumble, but in Cranford it answered very well; for not only did Mr -Johnson kindly put at rest all Miss Matty's scruples and fear of -injuring his business, but I have reason to know he repeatedly sent -customers to her, saying that the teas he kept were of a common -kind, but that Miss Jenkyns had all the choice sorts. And -expensive tea is a very favourite luxury with well-to-do -tradespeople and rich farmers' wives, who turn up their noses at -the Congou and Souchong prevalent at many tables of gentility, and -will have nothing else than Gunpowder and Pekoe for themselves. - -But to return to Miss Matty. It was really very pleasant to see -how her unselfishness and simple sense of justice called out the -same good qualities in others. She never seemed to think any one -would impose upon her, because she should be so grieved to do it to -them. I have heard her put a stop to the asseverations of the man -who brought her coals by quietly saying, "I am sure you would be -sorry to bring me wrong weight;" and if the coals were short -measure that time, I don't believe they ever were again. People -would have felt as much ashamed of presuming on her good faith as -they would have done on that of a child. But my father says "such -simplicity might be very well in Cranford, but would never do in -the world." And I fancy the world must be very bad, for with all -my father's suspicion of every one with whom he has dealings, and -in spite of all his many precautions, he lost upwards of a thousand -pounds by roguery only last year. - -I just stayed long enough to establish Miss Matty in her new mode -of life, and to pack up the library, which the rector had -purchased. He had written a very kind letter to Miss Matty, saying -"how glad he should be to take a library, so well selected as he -knew that the late Mr Jenkyns's must have been, at any valuation -put upon them." And when she agreed to this, with a touch of -sorrowful gladness that they would go back to the rectory and be -arranged on the accustomed walls once more, he sent word that he -feared that he had not room for them all, and perhaps Miss Matty -would kindly allow him to leave some volumes on her shelves. But -Miss Matty said that she had her Bible and "Johnson's Dictionary," -and should not have much time for reading, she was afraid; still, I -retained a few books out of consideration for the rector's -kindness. - -The money which he had paid, and that produced by the sale, was -partly expended in the stock of tea, and part of it was invested -against a rainy day--i.e. old age or illness. It was but a small -sum, it is true; and it occasioned a few evasions of truth and -white lies (all of which I think very wrong indeed--in theory--and -would rather not put them in practice), for we knew Miss Matty -would be perplexed as to her duty if she were aware of any little -reserve--fund being made for her while the debts of the bank -remained unpaid. Moreover, she had never been told of the way in -which her friends were contributing to pay the rent. I should have -liked to tell her this, but the mystery of the affair gave a -piquancy to their deed of kindness which the ladies were unwilling -to give up; and at first Martha had to shirk many a perplexed -question as to her ways and means of living in such a house, but -by-and-by Miss Matty's prudent uneasiness sank down into -acquiescence with the existing arrangement. - -I left Miss Matty with a good heart. Her sales of tea during the -first two days had surpassed my most sanguine expectations. The -whole country round seemed to be all out of tea at once. The only -alteration I could have desired in Miss Matty's way of doing -business was, that she should not have so plaintively entreated -some of her customers not to buy green tea--running it down as a -slow poison, sure to destroy the nerves, and produce all manner of -evil. Their pertinacity in taking it, in spite of all her -warnings, distressed her so much that I really thought she would -relinquish the sale of it, and so lose half her custom; and I was -driven to my wits' end for instances of longevity entirely -attributable to a persevering use of green tea. But the final -argument, which settled the question, was a happy reference of mine -to the train-oil and tallow candles which the Esquimaux not only -enjoy but digest. After that she acknowledged that "one man's meat -might be another man's poison," and contented herself thence- -forward with an occasional remonstrance when she thought the -purchaser was too young and innocent to be acquainted with the evil -effects green tea produced on some constitutions, and an habitual -sigh when people old enough to choose more wisely would prefer it. - -I went over from Drumble once a quarter at least to settle the -accounts, and see after the necessary business letters. And, -speaking of letters, I began to be very much ashamed of remembering -my letter to the Aga Jenkyns, and very glad I had never named my -writing to any one. I only hoped the letter was lost. No answer -came. No sign was made. - -About a year after Miss Matty set up shop, I received one of -Martha's hieroglyphics, begging me to come to Cranford very soon. -I was afraid that Miss Matty was ill, and went off that very -afternoon, and took Martha by surprise when she saw me on opening -the door. We went into the kitchen as usual, to have our -confidential conference, and then Martha told me she was expecting -her confinement very soon--in a week or two; and she did not think -Miss Matty was aware of it, and she wanted me to break the news to -her, "for indeed, miss," continued Martha, crying hysterically, -"I'm afraid she won't approve of it, and I'm sure I don't know who -is to take care of her as she should be taken care of when I am -laid up." - -I comforted Martha by telling her I would remain till she was about -again, and only wished she had told me her reason for this sudden -summons, as then I would have brought the requisite stock of -clothes. But Martha was so tearful and tender-spirited, and unlike -her usual self, that I said as little as possible about myself, and -endeavoured rather to comfort Martha under all the probable and -possible misfortunes which came crowding upon her imagination. - -I then stole out of the house-door, and made my appearance as if I -were a customer in the shop, just to take Miss Matty by surprise, -and gain an idea of how she looked in her new situation. It was -warm May weather, so only the little half-door was closed; and Miss -Matty sat behind the counter, knitting an elaborate pair of -garters; elaborate they seemed to me, but the difficult stitch was -no weight upon her mind, for she was singing in a low voice to -herself as her needles went rapidly in and out. I call it singing, -but I dare say a musician would not use that word to the tuneless -yet sweet humming of the low worn voice. I found out from the -words, far more than from the attempt at the tune, that it was the -Old Hundredth she was crooning to herself; but the quiet continuous -sound told of content, and gave me a pleasant feeling, as I stood -in the street just outside the door, quite in harmony with that -soft May morning. I went in. At first she did not catch who it -was, and stood up as if to serve me; but in another minute watchful -pussy had clutched her knitting, which was dropped in eager joy at -seeing me. I found, after we had had a little conversation, that -it was as Martha said, and that Miss Matty had no idea of the -approaching household event. So I thought I would let things take -their course, secure that when I went to her with the baby in my -arms, I should obtain that forgiveness for Martha which she was -needlessly frightening herself into believing that Miss Matty would -withhold, under some notion that the new claimant would require -attentions from its mother that it would be faithless treason to -Miss Matty to render. - -But I was right. I think that must be an hereditary quality, for -my father says he is scarcely ever wrong. One morning, within a -week after I arrived, I went to call Miss Matty, with a little -bundle of flannel in my arms. She was very much awe-struck when I -showed her what it was, and asked for her spectacles off the -dressing-table, and looked at it curiously, with a sort of tender -wonder at its small perfection of parts. She could not banish the -thought of the surprise all day, but went about on tiptoe, and was -very silent. But she stole up to see Martha and they both cried -with joy, and she got into a complimentary speech to Jem, and did -not know how to get out of it again, and was only extricated from -her dilemma by the sound of the shop-bell, which was an equal -relief to the shy, proud, honest Jem, who shook my hand so -vigorously when I congratulated him, that I think I feel the pain -of it yet. - -I had a busy life while Martha was laid up. I attended on Miss -Matty, and prepared her meals; I cast up her accounts, and examined -into the state of her canisters and tumblers. I helped her, too, -occasionally, in the shop; and it gave me no small amusement, and -sometimes a little uneasiness, to watch her ways there. If a -little child came in to ask for an ounce of almond-comfits (and -four of the large kind which Miss Matty sold weighed that much), -she always added one more by "way of make-weight," as she called -it, although the scale was handsomely turned before; and when I -remonstrated against this, her reply was, "The little things like -it so much!" There was no use in telling her that the fifth comfit -weighed a quarter of an ounce, and made every sale into a loss to -her pocket. So I remembered the green tea, and winged my shaft -with a feather out of her own plumage. I told her how unwholesome -almond-comfits were, and how ill excess in them might make the -little children. This argument produced some effect; for, -henceforward, instead of the fifth comfit, she always told them to -hold out their tiny palms, into which she shook either peppermint -or ginger lozenges, as a preventive to the dangers that might arise -from the previous sale. Altogether the lozenge trade, conducted on -these principles, did not promise to be remunerative; but I was -happy to find she had made more than twenty pounds during the last -year by her sales of tea; and, moreover, that now she was -accustomed to it, she did not dislike the employment, which brought -her into kindly intercourse with many of the people round about. -If she gave them good weight, they, in their turn, brought many a -little country present to the "old rector's daughter"; a cream -cheese, a few new-laid eggs, a little fresh ripe fruit, a bunch of -flowers. The counter was quite loaded with these offerings -sometimes, as she told me. - -As for Cranford in general, it was going on much as usual. The -Jamieson and Hoggins feud still raged, if a feud it could be -called, when only one side cared much about it. Mr and Mrs Hoggins -were very happy together, and, like most very happy people, quite -ready to be friendly; indeed, Mrs Hoggins was really desirous to be -restored to Mrs Jamieson's good graces, because of the former -intimacy. But Mrs Jamieson considered their very happiness an -insult to the Glenmire family, to which she had still the honour to -belong, and she doggedly refused and rejected every advance. Mr -Mulliner, like a faithful clansman, espoused his mistress' side -with ardour. If he saw either Mr or Mrs Hoggins, he would cross -the street, and appear absorbed in the contemplation of life in -general, and his own path in particular, until he had passed them -by. Miss Pole used to amuse herself with wondering what in the -world Mrs Jamieson would do, if either she, or Mr Mulliner, or any -other member of her household was taken ill; she could hardly have -the face to call in Mr Hoggins after the way she had behaved to -them. Miss Pole grew quite impatient for some indisposition or -accident to befall Mrs Jamieson or her dependents, in order that -Cranford might see how she would act under the perplexing -circumstances. - -Martha was beginning to go about again, and I had already fixed a -limit, not very far distant, to my visit, when one afternoon, as I -was sitting in the shop-parlour with Miss Matty--I remember the -weather was colder now than it had been in May, three weeks before, -and we had a fire and kept the door fully closed--we saw a -gentleman go slowly past the window, and then stand opposite to the -door, as if looking out for the name which we had so carefully -hidden. He took out a double eyeglass and peered about for some -time before he could discover it. Then he came in. And, all on a -sudden, it flashed across me that it was the Aga himself! For his -clothes had an out-of-the-way foreign cut about them, and his face -was deep brown, as if tanned and re-tanned by the sun. His -complexion contrasted oddly with his plentiful snow-white hair, his -eyes were dark and piercing, and he had an odd way of contracting -them and puckering up his cheeks into innumerable wrinkles when he -looked earnestly at objects. He did so to Miss Matty when he first -came in. His glance had first caught and lingered a little upon -me, but then turned, with the peculiar searching look I have -described, to Miss Matty. She was a little fluttered and nervous, -but no more so than she always was when any man came into her shop. -She thought that he would probably have a note, or a sovereign at -least, for which she would have to give change, which was an -operation she very much disliked to perform. But the present -customer stood opposite to her, without asking for anything, only -looking fixedly at her as he drummed upon the table with his -fingers, just for all the world as Miss Jenkyns used to do. Miss -Matty was on the point of asking him what he wanted (as she told me -afterwards), when he turned sharp to me: "Is your name Mary -Smith?" - -"Yes!" said I. - -All my doubts as to his identity were set at rest, and I only -wondered what he would say or do next, and how Miss Matty would -stand the joyful shock of what he had to reveal. Apparently he was -at a loss how to announce himself, for he looked round at last in -search of something to buy, so as to gain time, and, as it -happened, his eye caught on the almond-comfits, and he boldly asked -for a pound of "those things." I doubt if Miss Matty had a whole -pound in the shop, and, besides the unusual magnitude of the order, -she was distressed with the idea of the indigestion they would -produce, taken in such unlimited quantities. She looked up to -remonstrate. Something of tender relaxation in his face struck -home to her heart. She said, "It is--oh, sir! can you be Peter?" -and trembled from head to foot. In a moment he was round the table -and had her in his arms, sobbing the tearless cries of old age. I -brought her a glass of wine, for indeed her colour had changed so -as to alarm me and Mr Peter too. He kept saying, "I have been too -sudden for you, Matty--I have, my little girl." - -I proposed that she should go at once up into the drawing-room and -lie down on the sofa there. She looked wistfully at her brother, -whose hand she had held tight, even when nearly fainting; but on -his assuring her that he would not leave her, she allowed him to -carry her upstairs. - -I thought that the best I could do was to run and put the kettle on -the fire for early tea, and then to attend to the shop, leaving the -brother and sister to exchange some of the many thousand things -they must have to say. I had also to break the news to Martha, who -received it with a burst of tears which nearly infected me. She -kept recovering herself to ask if I was sure it was indeed Miss -Matty's brother, for I had mentioned that he had grey hair, and she -had always heard that he was a very handsome young man. Something -of the same kind perplexed Miss Matty at tea-time, when she was -installed in the great easy-chair opposite to Mr Jenkyns in order -to gaze her fill. She could hardly drink for looking at him, and -as for eating, that was out of the question. - -"I suppose hot climates age people very quickly," said she, almost -to herself. "When you left Cranford you had not a grey hair in -your head." - -"But how many years ago is that?" said Mr Peter, smiling. - -"Ah, true! yes, I suppose you and I are getting old. But still I -did not think we were so very old! But white hair is very becoming -to you, Peter," she continued--a little afraid lest she had hurt -him by revealing how his appearance had impressed her. - -"I suppose I forgot dates too, Matty, for what do you think I have -brought for you from India? I have an Indian muslin gown and a -pearl necklace for you somewhere in my chest at Portsmouth." He -smiled as if amused at the idea of the incongruity of his presents -with the appearance of his sister; but this did not strike her all -at once, while the elegance of the articles did. I could see that -for a moment her imagination dwelt complacently on the idea of -herself thus attired; and instinctively she put her hand up to her -throat--that little delicate throat which (as Miss Pole had told -me) had been one of her youthful charms; but the hand met the touch -of folds of soft muslin in which she was always swathed up to her -chin, and the sensation recalled a sense of the unsuitableness of a -pearl necklace to her age. She said, "I'm afraid I'm too old; but -it was very kind of you to think of it. They are just what I -should have liked years ago--when I was young." - -"So I thought, my little Matty. I remembered your tastes; they -were so like my dear mother's." At the mention of that name the -brother and sister clasped each other's hands yet more fondly, and, -although they were perfectly silent, I fancied they might have -something to say if they were unchecked by my presence, and I got -up to arrange my room for Mr Peter's occupation that night, -intending myself to share Miss Matty's bed. But at my movement, he -started up. "I must go and settle about a room at the 'George.' -My carpet-bag is there too." - -"No!" said Miss Matty, in great distress--"you must not go; please, -dear Peter--pray, Mary--oh! you must not go!" - -She was so much agitated that we both promised everything she -wished. Peter sat down again and gave her his hand, which for -better security she held in both of hers, and I left the room to -accomplish my arrangements. - -Long, long into the night, far, far into the morning, did Miss -Matty and I talk. She had much to tell me of her brother's life -and adventures, which he had communicated to her as they had sat -alone. She said all was thoroughly clear to her; but I never quite -understood the whole story; and when in after days I lost my awe of -Mr Peter enough to question him myself, he laughed at my curiosity, -and told me stories that sounded so very much like Baron -Munchausen's, that I was sure he was making fun of me. What I -heard from Miss Matty was that he had been a volunteer at the siege -of Rangoon; had been taken prisoner by the Burmese; and somehow -obtained favour and eventual freedom from knowing how to bleed the -chief of the small tribe in some case of dangerous illness; that on -his release from years of captivity he had had his letters returned -from England with the ominous word "Dead" marked upon them; and, -believing himself to be the last of his race, he had settled down -as an indigo planter, and had proposed to spend the remainder of -his life in the country to whose inhabitants and modes of life he -had become habituated, when my letter had reached him; and, with -the odd vehemence which characterised him in age as it had done in -youth, he had sold his land and all his possessions to the first -purchaser, and come home to the poor old sister, who was more glad -and rich than any princess when she looked at him. She talked me -to sleep at last, and then I was awakened by a slight sound at the -door, for which she begged my pardon as she crept penitently into -bed; but it seems that when I could no longer confirm her belief -that the long-lost was really here--under the same roof--she had -begun to fear lest it was only a waking dream of hers; that there -never had been a Peter sitting by her all that blessed evening--but -that the real Peter lay dead far away beneath some wild sea-wave, -or under some strange eastern tree. And so strong had this nervous -feeling of hers become, that she was fain to get up and go and -convince herself that he was really there by listening through the -door to his even, regular breathing--I don't like to call it -snoring, but I heard it myself through two closed doors--and by- -and-by it soothed Miss Matty to sleep. - -I don't believe Mr Peter came home from India as rich as a nabob; -he even considered himself poor, but neither he nor Miss Matty -cared much about that. At any rate, he had enough to live upon -"very genteelly" at Cranford; he and Miss Matty together. And a -day or two after his arrival, the shop was closed, while troops of -little urchins gleefully awaited the shower of comfits and lozenges -that came from time to time down upon their faces as they stood up- -gazing at Miss Matty's drawing-room windows. Occasionally Miss -Matty would say to them (half-hidden behind the curtains), "My dear -children, don't make yourselves ill;" but a strong arm pulled her -back, and a more rattling shower than ever succeeded. A part of -the tea was sent in presents to the Cranford ladies; and some of it -was distributed among the old people who remembered Mr Peter in the -days of his frolicsome youth. The Indian muslin gown was reserved -for darling Flora Gordon (Miss Jessie Brown's daughter). The -Gordons had been on the Continent for the last few years, but were -now expected to return very soon; and Miss Matty, in her sisterly -pride, anticipated great delight in the joy of showing them Mr -Peter. The pearl necklace disappeared; and about that time many -handsome and useful presents made their appearance in the -households of Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester; and some rare and -delicate Indian ornaments graced the drawing-rooms of Mrs Jamieson -and Mrs Fitz-Adam. I myself was not forgotten. Among other -things, I had the handsomest-bound and best edition of Dr Johnson's -works that could be procured; and dear Miss Matty, with tears in -her eyes, begged me to consider it as a present from her sister as -well as herself. In short, no one was forgotten; and, what was -more, every one, however insignificant, who had shown kindness to -Miss Matty at any time, was sure of Mr Peter's cordial regard. - - - -CHAPTER XVI--PEACE TO CRANFORD - - - -It was not surprising that Mr Peter became such a favourite at -Cranford. The ladies vied with each other who should admire him -most; and no wonder, for their quiet lives were astonishingly -stirred up by the arrival from India--especially as the person -arrived told more wonderful stories than Sindbad the Sailor; and, -as Miss Pole said, was quite as good as an Arabian Night any -evening. For my own part, I had vibrated all my life between -Drumble and Cranford, and I thought it was quite possible that all -Mr Peter's stories might be true, although wonderful; but when I -found that, if we swallowed an anecdote of tolerable magnitude one -week, we had the dose considerably increased the next, I began to -have my doubts; especially as I noticed that when his sister was -present the accounts of Indian life were comparatively tame; not -that she knew more than we did, perhaps less. I noticed also that -when the rector came to call, Mr Peter talked in a different way -about the countries he had been in. But I don't think the ladies -in Cranford would have considered him such a wonderful traveller if -they had only heard him talk in the quiet way he did to him. They -liked him the better, indeed, for being what they called "so very -Oriental." - -One day, at a select party in his honour, which Miss Pole gave, and -from which, as Mrs Jamieson honoured it with her presence, and had -even offered to send Mr Mulliner to wait, Mr and Mrs Hoggins and -Mrs Fitz-Adam were necessarily--excluded one day at Miss Pole's, Mr -Peter said he was tired of sitting upright against the hard-backed -uneasy chairs, and asked if he might not indulge himself in sitting -cross-legged. Miss Pole's consent was eagerly given, and down he -went with the utmost gravity. But when Miss Pole asked me, in an -audible whisper, "if he did not remind me of the Father of the -Faithful?" I could not help thinking of poor Simon Jones, the lame -tailor, and while Mrs Jamieson slowly commented on the elegance and -convenience of the attitude, I remembered how we had all followed -that lady's lead in condemning Mr Hoggins for vulgarity because he -simply crossed his legs as he sat still on his chair. Many of Mr -Peter's ways of eating were a little strange amongst such ladies as -Miss Pole, and Miss Matty, and Mrs Jamieson, especially when I -recollected the untasted green peas and two-pronged forks at poor -Mr Holbrook's dinner. - -The mention of that gentleman's name recalls to my mind a -conversation between Mr Peter and Miss Matty one evening in the -summer after he returned to Cranford. The day had been very hot, -and Miss Matty had been much oppressed by the weather, in the heat -of which her brother revelled. I remember that she had been unable -to nurse Martha's baby, which had become her favourite employment -of late, and which was as much at home in her arms as in its -mother's, as long as it remained a light-weight, portable by one so -fragile as Miss Matty. This day to which I refer, Miss Matty had -seemed more than usually feeble and languid, and only revived when -the sun went down, and her sofa was wheeled to the open window, -through which, although it looked into the principal street of -Cranford, the fragrant smell of the neighbouring hayfields came in -every now and then, borne by the soft breezes that stirred the dull -air of the summer twilight, and then died away. The silence of the -sultry atmosphere was lost in the murmuring noises which came in -from many an open window and door; even the children were abroad in -the street, late as it was (between ten and eleven), enjoying the -game of play for which they had not had spirits during the heat of -the day. It was a source of satisfaction to Miss Matty to see how -few candles were lighted, even in the apartments of those houses -from which issued the greatest signs of life. Mr Peter, Miss -Matty, and I had all been quiet, each with a separate reverie, for -some little time, when Mr Peter broke in - - -"Do you know, little Matty, I could have sworn you were on the high -road to matrimony when I left England that last time! If anybody -had told me you would have lived and died an old maid then, I -should have laughed in their faces." - -Miss Matty made no reply, and I tried in vain to think of some -subject which should effectually turn the conversation; but I was -very stupid; and before I spoke he went on - - -"It was Holbrook, that fine manly fellow who lived at Woodley, that -I used to think would carry off my little Matty. You would not -think it now, I dare say, Mary; but this sister of mine was once a -very pretty girl--at least, I thought so, and so I've a notion did -poor Holbrook. What business had he to die before I came home to -thank him for all his kindness to a good-for-nothing cub as I was? -It was that that made me first think he cared for you; for in all -our fishing expeditions it was Matty, Matty, we talked about. Poor -Deborah! What a lecture she read me on having asked him home to -lunch one day, when she had seen the Arley carriage in the town, -and thought that my lady might call. Well, that's long years ago; -more than half a life-time, and yet it seems like yesterday! I -don't know a fellow I should have liked better as a brother-in-law. -You must have played your cards badly, my little Matty, somehow or -another--wanted your brother to be a good go-between, eh, little -one?" said he, putting out his hand to take hold of hers as she lay -on the sofa. "Why, what's this? you're shivering and shaking, -Matty, with that confounded open window. Shut it, Mary, this -minute!" - -I did so, and then stooped down to kiss Miss Matty, and see if she -really were chilled. She caught at my hand, and gave it a hard -squeeze--but unconsciously, I think--for in a minute or two she -spoke to us quite in her usual voice, and smiled our uneasiness -away, although she patiently submitted to the prescriptions we -enforced of a warm bed and a glass of weak negus. I was to leave -Cranford the next day, and before I went I saw that all the effects -of the open window had quite vanished. I had superintended most of -the alterations necessary in the house and household during the -latter weeks of my stay. The shop was once more a parlour: the -empty resounding rooms again furnished up to the very garrets. - -There had been some talk of establishing Martha and Jem in another -house, but Miss Matty would not hear of this. Indeed, I never saw -her so much roused as when Miss Pole had assumed it to be the most -desirable arrangement. As long as Martha would remain with Miss -Matty, Miss Matty was only too thankful to have her about her; yes, -and Jem too, who was a very pleasant man to have in the house, for -she never saw him from week's end to week's end. And as for the -probable children, if they would all turn out such little darlings -as her god-daughter, Matilda, she should not mind the number, if -Martha didn't. Besides, the next was to be called Deborah--a point -which Miss Matty had reluctantly yielded to Martha's stubborn -determination that her first-born was to be Matilda. So Miss Pole -had to lower her colours, and even her voice, as she said to me -that, as Mr and Mrs Hearn were still to go on living in the same -house with Miss Matty, we had certainly done a wise thing in hiring -Martha's niece as an auxiliary. - -I left Miss Matty and Mr Peter most comfortable and contented; the -only subject for regret to the tender heart of the one, and the -social friendly nature of the other, being the unfortunate quarrel -between Mrs Jamieson and the plebeian Hogginses and their -following. In joke, I prophesied one day that this would only last -until Mrs Jamieson or Mr Mulliner were ill, in which case they -would only be too glad to be friends with Mr Hoggins; but Miss -Matty did not like my looking forward to anything like illness in -so light a manner, and before the year was out all had come round -in a far more satisfactory way. - -I received two Cranford letters on one auspicious October morning. -Both Miss Pole and Miss Matty wrote to ask me to come over and meet -the Gordons, who had returned to England alive and well with their -two children, now almost grown up. Dear Jessie Brown had kept her -old kind nature, although she had changed her name and station; and -she wrote to say that she and Major Gordon expected to be in -Cranford on the fourteenth, and she hoped and begged to be -remembered to Mrs Jamieson (named first, as became her honourable -station), Miss Pole and Miss Matty--could she ever forget their -kindness to her poor father and sister?--Mrs Forrester, Mr Hoggins -(and here again came in an allusion to kindness shown to the dead -long ago), his new wife, who as such must allow Mrs Gordon to -desire to make her acquaintance, and who was, moreover, an old -Scotch friend of her husband's. In short, every one was named, -from the rector--who had been appointed to Cranford in the interim -between Captain Brown's death and Miss Jessie's marriage, and was -now associated with the latter event--down to Miss Betty Barker. -All were asked to the luncheon; all except Mrs Fitz-Adam, who had -come to live in Cranford since Miss Jessie Brown's days, and whom I -found rather moping on account of the omission. People wondered at -Miss Betty Barker's being included in the honourable list; but, -then, as Miss Pole said, we must remember the disregard of the -genteel proprieties of life in which the poor captain had educated -his girls, and for his sake we swallowed our pride. Indeed, Mrs -Jamieson rather took it as a compliment, as putting Miss Betty -(formerly HER maid) on a level with "those Hogginses." - -But when I arrived in Cranford, nothing was as yet ascertained of -Mrs Jamieson's own intentions; would the honourable lady go, or -would she not? Mr Peter declared that she should and she would; -Miss Pole shook her head and desponded. But Mr Peter was a man of -resources. In the first place, he persuaded Miss Matty to write to -Mrs Gordon, and to tell her of Mrs Fitz-Adam's existence, and to -beg that one so kind, and cordial, and generous, might be included -in the pleasant invitation. An answer came back by return of post, -with a pretty little note for Mrs Fitz-Adam, and a request that -Miss Matty would deliver it herself and explain the previous -omission. Mrs Fitz-Adam was as pleased as could be, and thanked -Miss Matty over and over again. Mr Peter had said, "Leave Mrs -Jamieson to me;" so we did; especially as we knew nothing that we -could do to alter her determination if once formed. - -I did not know, nor did Miss Matty, how things were going on, until -Miss Pole asked me, just the day before Mrs Gordon came, if I -thought there was anything between Mr Peter and Mrs Jamieson in the -matrimonial line, for that Mrs Jamieson was really going to the -lunch at the "George." She had sent Mr Mulliner down to desire -that there might be a footstool put to the warmest seat in the -room, as she meant to come, and knew that their chairs were very -high. Miss Pole had picked this piece of news up, and from it she -conjectured all sorts of things, and bemoaned yet more. "If Peter -should marry, what would become of poor dear Miss Matty? And Mrs -Jamieson, of all people!" Miss Pole seemed to think there were -other ladies in Cranford who would have done more credit to his -choice, and I think she must have had someone who was unmarried in -her head, for she kept saying, "It was so wanting in delicacy in a -widow to think of such a thing." - -When I got back to Miss Matty's I really did begin to think that Mr -Peter might be thinking of Mrs Jamieson for a wife, and I was as -unhappy as Miss Pole about it. He had the proof sheet of a great -placard in his hand. "Signor Brunoni, Magician to the King of -Delhi, the Rajah of Oude, and the great Lama of Thibet," &c. &c., -was going to "perform in Cranford for one night only," the very -next night; and Miss Matty, exultant, showed me a letter from the -Gordons, promising to remain over this gaiety, which Miss Matty -said was entirely Peter's doing. He had written to ask the signor -to come, and was to be at all the expenses of the affair. Tickets -were to be sent gratis to as many as the room would hold. In -short, Miss Matty was charmed with the plan, and said that to- -morrow Cranford would remind her of the Preston Guild, to which she -had been in her youth--a luncheon at the "George," with the dear -Gordons, and the signor in the Assembly Room in the evening. But -I--I looked only at the fatal words:- - - -"UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE HONOURABLE MRS JAMIESON." - - -She, then, was chosen to preside over this entertainment of Mr -Peter's; she was perhaps going to displace my dear Miss Matty in -his heart, and make her life lonely once more! I could not look -forward to the morrow with any pleasure; and every innocent -anticipation of Miss Matty's only served to add to my annoyance. - -So, angry and irritated, and exaggerating every little incident -which could add to my irritation, I went on till we were all -assembled in the great parlour at the "George." Major and Mrs -Gordon and pretty Flora and Mr Ludovic were all as bright and -handsome and friendly as could be; but I could hardly attend to -them for watching Mr Peter, and I saw that Miss Pole was equally -busy. I had never seen Mrs Jamieson so roused and animated before; -her face looked full of interest in what Mr Peter was saying. I -drew near to listen. My relief was great when I caught that his -words were not words of love, but that, for all his grave face, he -was at his old tricks. He was telling her of his travels in India, -and describing the wonderful height of the Himalaya mountains: one -touch after another added to their size, and each exceeded the -former in absurdity; but Mrs Jamieson really enjoyed all in perfect -good faith. I suppose she required strong stimulants to excite her -to come out of her apathy. Mr Peter wound up his account by saying -that, of course, at that altitude there were none of the animals to -be found that existed in the lower regions; the game,--everything -was different. Firing one day at some flying creature, he was very -much dismayed when it fell, to find that he had shot a cherubim! -Mr Peter caught my eye at this moment, and gave me such a funny -twinkle, that I felt sure he had no thoughts of Mrs Jamieson as a -wife from that time. She looked uncomfortably amazed - - -"But, Mr Peter, shooting a cherubim--don't you think--I am afraid -that was sacrilege!" - -Mr Peter composed his countenance in a moment, and appeared shocked -at the idea, which, as he said truly enough, was now presented to -him for the first time; but then Mrs Jamieson must remember that he -had been living for a long time among savages--all of whom were -heathens--some of them, he was afraid, were downright Dissenters. -Then, seeing Miss Matty draw near, he hastily changed the -conversation, and after a little while, turning to me, he said, -"Don't be shocked, prim little Mary, at all my wonderful stories. -I consider Mrs Jamieson fair game, and besides I am bent on -propitiating her, and the first step towards it is keeping her well -awake. I bribed her here by asking her to let me have her name as -patroness for my poor conjuror this evening; and I don't want to -give her time enough to get up her rancour against the Hogginses, -who are just coming in. I want everybody to be friends, for it -harasses Matty so much to hear of these quarrels. I shall go at it -again by-and-by, so you need not look shocked. I intend to enter -the Assembly Room to-night with Mrs Jamieson on one side, and my -lady, Mrs Hoggins, on the other. You see if I don't." - -Somehow or another he did; and fairly got them into conversation -together. Major and Mrs Gordon helped at the good work with their -perfect ignorance of any existing coolness between any of the -inhabitants of Cranford. - -Ever since that day there has been the old friendly sociability in -Cranford society; which I am thankful for, because of my dear Miss -Matty's love of peace and kindliness. 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