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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beechcroft at Rockstone, by Charlotte M. Yonge
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Beechcroft at Rockstone
+
+Author: Charlotte M. Yonge
+
+Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5156]
+Last Updated: August 10, 2012
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEECHCROFT AT ROCKSTONE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sandra Laythorpe
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BEECHCROFT AT ROCKSTONE
+
+By Charlotte M Yonge
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. -- A DISPERSION
+
+
+
+'A telegram! Make haste and open it, Jane; they always make me so
+nervous! I believe that is the reason Reginald always _will_ telegraph
+when he is coming,' said Miss Adeline Mohun, a very pretty, well
+preserved, though delicate-looking lady of some age about forty, as her
+elder sister, brisk and lively and some years older, came into the room.
+
+'No, it is not Reggie. It is from Lily. Poor Lily!
+Jasper--accident--Come.'
+
+'Poor dear Lily! Is it young Jasper or old Jasper, I wonder?'
+
+'If it were young Jasper she would have put Japs. I am afraid it is her
+husband. If so, she will be going off to him. I must catch the 11.20
+train. Will you come, Ada?'
+
+'Oh no; I should be knocked up, and on your hands. The suspense is bad
+enough at home.'
+
+'If it is old Jasper, we shall see in the paper to-day. I will send it
+down to you from the station. Supposing it is Sir Jasper, and she wants
+to go out to him, we must take in some of the children.'
+
+'Oh! Dear little Primrose would be nice enough, but what should we do
+with that Halfpenny woman? If we had the other girls, I suppose they
+would be at school all day; but surely some might go to Beechcroft. And
+mind, Jane, I will not have you overtasking yourself! Do not take any of
+them without having Gillian to help you. That I stipulate.'
+
+Jane Mohun seemed as if she did not hear as these sentences were uttered
+at intervals, while she stood dashing off postcards at her davenport.
+Then she said, on her way to the door--
+
+'Don't expect me to-night. I will send Fanny to ask one of the Wellands
+to come in to you, and telegraph if I bring any one home with me.'
+
+'But, Jane dear--'
+
+However, the door was shut, and by the time Miss Adeline had reached her
+sister's room, the ever-ready bag was nearly packed.
+
+'I only wanted to say, dear Jane, that you must give my love to dear
+Lily. I am grieved--grieved for her; but indeed you must not undertake
+anything rash.' (A shake of the head, as the shoes went into their neat
+bag.) 'Do not let her persuade you to stay at Silverfold in her absence.
+You cannot give up everything here.'
+
+'Yes, yes, Ada, I know it does not suit you. Never fear.'
+
+'It is not that, but you are much too useful here to drop everything,
+especially now every one is away. I would willingly sacrifice myself,
+but--'
+
+'Yes, I know, Ada dear. Now, good-bye, and take care of yourself, and
+don't be nervous. It may mean only that young Japs has twisted his
+little finger.'
+
+And with a kiss, Miss Mohun ran downstairs as fast and lightly as if
+her years had been half their amount, and accomplished her orders to
+Fanny--otherwise Mrs. Mount--a Beechcroft native, who, on being left
+a widow, had returned to her former mistresses, bringing with her a
+daughter, who had grown up into an efficient housemaid. After a few
+words with her, Miss Mohun sped on, finding time at the station
+to purchase a morning paper just come down, and to read among the
+telegrams--
+
+
+
+'COLOMBO, Sept. 3rd.
+
+'Lieutenant-General Sir Jasper Merrifield, G.C.B., has been thrown from
+his horse, and received severe injuries.'
+
+
+She despatched this paper to her sister by a special messenger, whom she
+had captured by the way, and was soon after in the train, knitting and
+pondering.
+
+At Silverton station she saw the pony carriage, and in it her niece
+Gillian, a girl not quite seventeen, with brown eyes showing traces of
+tears.
+
+'Mamma knew you would come,' she said.
+
+'You have heard direct, of course.'
+
+'Yes; Claude telegraphed. The horse fell over a precipice. Papa's leg
+and three ribs are broken. Not dangerous. That is all it says; and mamma
+is going out to him directly.'
+
+'I was quite sure she would. Well, Gillian, we must do the best we can.
+Has she any plans?'
+
+'I think she waited for you to settle them. Hal is come; he wanted to go
+with her, but she says it will cost too much, and besides, there is his
+Ordination in Advent.'
+
+'Has she telegraphed to your uncles?'
+
+'To Beechcroft and to Stokesley; but we don't quite know where Uncle
+Reginald is. Perhaps he will see the paper.'
+
+Gillian's tears were flowing again, and her aunt said--
+
+'Come, my dear, you must not give way; you must do all you can to make
+it better for your mother.'
+
+'I know,' she answered. 'Indeed, I didn't cry till I sat waiting, and it
+all came over me. Poor papa! and what a journey mamma will have, and
+how dreadful it will be without her! But I know that it is horrid of me,
+when papa and my sisters must want her so much more.'
+
+'That's right--quite right to keep up before her. It does not sound to
+me so bad, after all; perhaps they will telegraph again to stop her. Did
+Claude ask her to come out?'
+
+'Oh no! There were only those few words.'
+
+No more could be learnt till the pony stopped at the door, and Hal ran
+out to hand out his aunt, and beg her privately to persuade his mother
+to take him, or, if she would not consent to that, at least to have
+Macrae, the old soldier-servant, with her--it was not fit for her to
+travel alone.
+
+Lady Merrifield looked very pale, and squeezed her sister close in her
+arms as she said--
+
+'You are my great help, Jenny.'
+
+'And must you go?'
+
+'Yes, certainly.'
+
+'Without waiting to hear more?'
+
+'There is no use in losing time. I cannot cross from Folkestone till the
+day after to-morrow, at night. I must go to London to-morrow, and sleep
+at Mrs. Merrifield's.'
+
+'But this does not seem to me so very bad.'
+
+'Oh, no, no! but when I get there in three weeks' time, it will be just
+when I shall be most wanted. The nursing will have told on the girls,
+and Jasper will be feeling weary of being laid up, and wanting to take
+liberties.'
+
+'And what will you be after such a journey?'
+
+'Just up to keeping him in order. Come, you have too much sense to
+expostulate, Jenny.'
+
+'No; you would wear yourself to fiddle-strings if you stayed at home. I
+only want you to take Hal, or Macrae.'
+
+'Hal is out of the question, I would not interfere with his preparation
+on any account. Macrae would be a very costly article; and, moreover, I
+want him to act major-domo here, unless you would, and that I don't dare
+to hope for.'
+
+'No, you must not, Lily; Ada never feels well here, nor always at
+Brighton, and Emily would be too nervous to have her without me. But we
+will take as many children as you please, or we have room for.'
+
+'That is like you, Jenny. I know William will offer to take them in at
+home, but I cannot send them without Miss Vincent; and she cannot leave
+her mother, who has had a sort of stroke. Otherwise I should try leaving
+them here while I am away, but the poor old lady is in no state for
+it--in fact, I doubt her living long.'
+
+'I know; you have been governess by yourself these last weeks; it will
+be well to relieve her. The best way will be for us to take Mysie and
+Valetta, and let them go to the High School; and there is a capital
+day-school for little boys, close to St. Andrew's, for Fergus, and
+Gillian can go there too, or join classes in whatever she pleases.'
+
+'My Brownie! Have you really room for all those?'
+
+'Oh yes! The three girls in the spare room and dressing-room, and Fergus
+in the little room over the porch. I will write to Fanny; I gave her a
+hint.'
+
+'And I have no doubt that Primrose will be a delight to her aunt
+Alethea, poor little dear! Yes, that makes it all easy, for in the
+holidays I know the boys are sure of a welcome at the dear old home, or
+Hal might have one or two of them at his Curacy.'
+
+The gong sounded for the melancholy dinner that had to go on all the
+same, and in the midst all were startled by the arrival of a telegram,
+which Macrae, looking awestruck, actually delivered to Harry instead of
+to his mistress; but it was not from Ceylon. It was from Colonel Mohun,
+from Beechcroft: 'Coming 6.30. Going with you. Send children here.'
+
+Never were twenty words, including addresses, more satisfactory.
+The tears came, for the first time, to Lady Merrifield's eyes at the
+kindness of her brothers, and Harry was quite satisfied that his uncle
+would be a far better escort than himself or Macrae. Aunt Jane went
+off to send her telegram home and write some needful letters, and Lady
+Merrifield announced her arrangements to those whom they concerned.
+
+'Oh! mamma, don't,' exclaimed Valetta; 'all the guinea-pigs will die.'
+
+'I thought,' said Gillian, 'that we might stay here with Miss Vincent to
+look after us.'
+
+'That will not do in her mother's state. Mrs. Vincent cannot be moved up
+here, and I could not lay such a burthen on them.'
+
+'We would be very good,' said Val.
+
+'That, I hope, you will be any way; but I think it will be easier at
+Rockstone, and I am quite sure that papa and I shall be better satisfied
+about you.'
+
+'Mayn't we take Quiz!' asked Fergus.
+
+'And Rigdum Funnidos?' cried Valetta.
+
+'And Ruff and Ring?' chimed in Mysie.
+
+'My dear children, I don't see how Aunt Jane can be troubled with any
+more animals than your four selves. You must ask her, only do not be
+surprised or put out if she refuses, for I don't believe you can keep
+anything there.'
+
+Off the three younger ones went, Gillian observing, 'I don't see how
+they can, unless it was Quiz; but, mamma, don't you think I might go to
+Beechcroft with Primrose? I should be so much quieter working for the
+examination there, and I could send my exercises to Miss Vincent; and
+then I should keep up Prim's lessons.'
+
+'Your aunt Alethea will, I know, like doing that, my dear; and I am
+afraid to turn those creatures loose on the aunts without some one to
+look after them and their clothes. Fanny will be very helpful; but it
+will not do to throw too much on her.'
+
+'Oh! I thought they would have Lois--'
+
+'There would not be room for her; besides that, I don't think it
+would suit your aunts. You and Mysie ought to do all the mending for
+yourselves and Fergus, and what Valetta cannot manage. I know you would
+rather be at Beechcroft, my dear; but in this distress and difficulty,
+some individual likings must be given up.'
+
+'Yes, mamma.'
+
+Lady Merrifield looked rather dubiously at her daughter. She had
+very little time, and did not want to have an argument, nor to elicit
+murmurs, yet it might be better to see what was in Gillian's mind before
+it was too late. Mothers, very fond of their own sisters, cannot always
+understand why it is not the same with their daughters, who inherit
+another element of inherited character, and of another generation,
+and who have not been welded together with the aunts in childhood. 'My
+dear,' she said, 'you know I am quite ready to hear if you have any real
+reasonable objection to this arrangement.'
+
+'No, mamma, I don't think I have,' said Gillian thoughtfully. 'The not
+liking always meeting a lot of strangers, nor the general bustle, is all
+nonsense, I know quite well. I see it is best for the children, but I
+should like to know exactly who is to be in authority over them.'
+
+'Certainly Aunt Jane,' replied Lady Merrifield. 'She must be the
+ultimate authority. Of course you will check the younger ones in
+anything going wrong, as you would here, and very likely there will be
+more restrictions. Aunt Ada has to be considered, and it will be a town
+life; but remember that your aunt is mistress of the house, and that
+even if you do think her arrangements uncalled for, it is your duty to
+help the others to submit cheerfully. Say anything you please fully and
+freely in your letters to me, but don't let there be any collisions
+of authority. Jane will listen kindly, I know, in private to any
+representation you may like to make, but to say before the children,
+"Mamma always lets them," would be most mischievous.'
+
+'I see,' said Gillian. 'Indeed, I will do my best, mamma, and it will
+not be for very long.'
+
+'I hope and trust not, my dear child. Perhaps we shall all meet by
+Easter--papa, and all; but you must not make too sure. There may be
+delays. Now I must see Halfpenny. I cannot talk to you any more, my
+Gillyflower, though I am leaving volumes unsaid.
+
+Gillian found Aunt Jane emerging from her room, and beset by her three
+future guests.
+
+'Aunt Jane, may we bring Quiz?'
+
+'And Rigdum Funnidos and Lady Rigdum?'
+
+'And Ruff and Ring? They are the sweetest doves in the world.'
+
+'Doves! Oh, Mysie, they would drive your aunt Ada distracted, with
+coo-roo-roo at four o'clock in the morning, just as she goes off to
+sleep.'
+
+'The Rigdums make no noise but a dear little chirp,' triumphantly
+exclaimed Valetta.
+
+'Do you mean the kittens? We have a vacancy for one cat, you know.'
+
+Oh yes, we want you to choose between Artaxerxes and the Sofy. But the
+Rigdums are the eldest pair of guinea-pigs. They are so fond of me, that
+I know poor old Funnidos will die of grief if I go away and leave him.'
+
+'I sincerely hope not, Valetta, for, indeed, there is no place to put
+him in.'
+
+'I don't think he would mind living in the cellar if he only saw me once
+a day,' piteously pleaded Valetta.
+
+'Indeed, Val, the dark and damp would surely kill the poor thing, in
+spite of your attentions. You must make up your mind to separation from
+your pets, excepting the kitten.'
+
+Valetta burst out crying at this last drop that made the bucket
+overflow, but Fergus exclaimed: 'Quiz! Aunt Jane! He always goes about
+with us, and always behaves like a gentleman, don't you, Quizzy?' and
+the little Maltese, who perfectly well understood that there was trouble
+in the air, sat straight up, crossed his paws, and looked touchingly
+wistful.
+
+'Poor dear little fellow!' said Aunt Jane; 'yes, I knew he would be
+good, but Kunz would be horribly, jealous, you see; he is an only dog,
+and can't bear to have his premises invaded.'
+
+'He ought to be taught better,' said Fergus gravely.
+
+'So he ought,' Aunt Jane confessed; 'but he is too old to begin
+learning, and Aunt Ada and Mrs. Mount would never bear to see him
+disturbed. Besides, I really do not think Quiz would be half so well off
+there as among his own friends and places here, with Macrae to take
+care of him.' Then as Fergus began to pucker his face, she added, 'I am
+really very sorry to be so disagreeable.'
+
+'The children must not be unreasonable,' said Gillian sagely, as she
+came up.
+
+'And I am to choose between Xerxes and Artaxerxes, is it?' said Aunt
+Jane.
+
+'No, the Sofy,' said Mysie. 'A Sofy is a Persian philosopher, and this
+kitten has got the wisest face.'
+
+'Run and fetch them,' suggested her aunt, 'and then we can choose.
+Oh,' she added, with some relief at the thought, 'if it is an object to
+dispose of Cockie, we could manage him.'
+
+The two younger ones were gratified, but Gillian and Mysie both
+exclaimed that Cockie's exclusive affections were devoted to Macrae, and
+that they could not answer for his temper under the separation. To break
+up such a household was decidedly the Goose, Fox, and Cabbage problem.
+As Mysie observed, in the course of the search for the kittens, in the
+make-the-best-of-it tone, 'It was not so bad as the former moves, when
+they were leaving a place for good and all.'
+
+'Ah, but no place was ever so good as this,' said poor Valetta.
+
+'Don't be such a little donkey,' said Fergus consequentially. 'Don't you
+know we are going to school, and I am three years younger than Wilfred
+was?'
+
+'It is only a petticoat school,' said Val, 'kept by ladies.'
+
+'It isn't.'
+
+'It is; I heard Harry say so.'
+
+'And yours is all butchers and bakers and candlestick makers.'
+
+On which they fell on each other, each with a howl of defiance. Fergus
+grabbed at Val's pigtail, and she was buffeting him vehemently when
+Harry came out, held them apart, and demanded if this were the way to
+make their mother easy in leaving them.
+
+'She said it was a pet-pet-petticoat school,' sobbed Fergus.
+
+'And so it ought to be, for boys that fight with girls.'
+
+'And he said mine was all butchers and bakers and candlestick makers,'
+whined Valetta.
+
+'Then you'd better learn manners, or they'll take you for a tramp,'
+observed Harry; but at that moment Mysie broke in with a shout at having
+discovered the kittens making a plaything of the best library pen-wiper,
+their mother, the sleek Begum, abetting them, and they were borne off to
+display the coming glories of their deep fur to Aunt Jane.
+
+Her choice fell upon the Sofy, as much because of the convenience of the
+name as because of the preternatural wisdom of expression imparted by
+the sweep of the black lines on the gray visage. Mr. Pollock's landlady
+was to be the happy possessor of Artaxerxes, and the turbulent portion
+of the Household was disposed of to bear him thither, and to beg Miss
+Hacket to give Buff and Ring the run of her cage, whence they had
+originally come, also to deliver various messages and notes.
+
+By the time they returned, Colonel Mohun was met in the hall by his
+sister. 'Oh, Reggie, it is too good in you!' were the words that came
+with her fervent kiss. 'Remember how many years I have been seasoned to
+being "cockit up on a baggage waggon." Ought not such an old soldier as
+I to be able to take care of myself?'
+
+'And what would your husband say to you when you got there? And should
+not I catch it from William? Well, are you packing up the youthful
+family for Beechcroft, except that at Rotherwood they are shrieking for
+Mysie?'
+
+'I know how good William and Alethea would be. This child,' pointing to
+Primrose, who had been hanging on her all day in silence, 'is to go to
+them; but as I can't send Miss Vincent, educational advantages, as
+the advertisements say, lie on the side of Rockstone; so Jenny here
+undertakes to be troubled with the rabble.'
+
+'But Mysie? Rotherwood met me at the station and begged me to obtain her
+from you. They really wish it.'
+
+'He does, I have no doubt.'
+
+'So does Madame la Marquise. They have been anxious about little Phyllis
+all the summer. She was languid and off her feed in London, and did
+not pick up at home as they expected. My belief is that it is too much
+governess and too little play, and that a fortnight here would set
+her up again. Rotherwood himself thinks so, and Victoria has some such
+inkling. At any rate, they are urgent to have Mysie with the child, as
+the next best thing.'
+
+'Poor dear little Fly!' ejaculated Lady Merrifield; 'but I am afraid
+Mysie was not very happy there last year.'
+
+'And what would be the effect of all the overdoing?' said Miss Mohun.
+
+'Mysie is tougher than that sprite, and I suppose there is some
+relaxation,' said Lady Merrifield.
+
+'Yes; the doctors have frightened them sufficiently for the present.
+
+'I suppose Mysie is a prescription, poor child,' said her aunt, in a
+tone that evoked from her brother--
+
+'Jealous, Jenny?'
+
+'Well, Jane,' said Lady Merrifield, 'you know how thankful I am to
+you and Ada, but I am inclined to let it depend on the letters I get
+to-morrow, and the way Victoria takes it. If it is really an earnest
+wish on that dear little Fly's account, I could not withstand old
+Rotherwood, and though Mysie might be less happy than she would be with
+you, I do not think any harm will be done. Everything there is sound and
+conscientious, and if she picks up a little polish, it won't hurt her.'
+
+'Shall you give her the choice?'
+
+'I see no good in rending the poor child's mind between two affections,
+especially as there will be a very short time to decide in, for I shall
+certainly not send her if Victoria's is a mere duty letter.'
+
+'You are quite right there, Lily,' said the Colonel. 'The less choice
+the greater comfort.'
+
+'Well done, sir soldier,' said his sister Jane. 'I say quite right too;
+only, for my own sake, I wish it had been Valetta.'
+
+'So no doubt does she,' said the mother; 'but unluckily it isn't. And,
+indeed, I don't think I wish it. Val is safer with you. As Gillian
+expressed it the other day, "Val does right when she likes it; Mysie
+does right when she knows it."'
+
+'You have the compliment after all, Jane,' said the Colonel. 'Lily
+trusts you with the child she doesn't trust!'
+
+There was no doubt the next morning, for Lady Rotherwood wrote an
+earnest, affectionate letter, begging for Mysie, who, she said, had won
+such golden opinions in her former visit that it would be a real benefit
+to Phyllis, as much morally as physically, to have her companionship. It
+was the tenderest letter that either of the sisters had ever seen from
+the judicious and excellent Marchioness, full of warm sympathy for Lady
+Merrifield's anxiety for her husband, and betraying much solicitude for
+her little girl.
+
+'It has done her good,' said Jane Mohun. 'I did not think she had such a
+soft spot.'
+
+'Poor Victoria,' said Lady Merrifield, 'that is a shame. You know she is
+an excellent mother.'
+
+'Too excellent, that's the very thing,' muttered Aunt Jane. 'Well,
+Mysie's fate is settled, and I dare say it will turn out for the best.'
+
+So Mysie was to go with Mrs. Halfpenny and Primrose to Beechcroft,
+whence the Rotherwoods would fetch her. If the lady's letter had been
+much less urgent, who could have withstood her lord's postscript: 'If
+you could see the little pale face light up at the bare notion of seeing
+Mysie, you would know how grateful we shall be for her.'
+
+Mysie herself heard her destiny without much elation, though she was
+very fond of Lady Phyllis, and the tears came into her eyes at the
+thought of her being unwell and wanting her.
+
+'Mamma said we must not grumble,' she said to Gillian; 'but I shall
+feel so lost without you and Val. It is so unhomish, and there's that
+dreadful German Fraulein, who was not at home last time.'
+
+'If you told mamma, perhaps she would let you stay,' returned Gillian.
+'I know I should hate it, worse than I do going to Rockstone and without
+you.'
+
+'That would be unkind to poor Fly,' said Mysie. 'Besides, mamma said
+she could not have settling and unsettling for ever. And I shall see
+Primrose sometimes; besides, I do love Fly. It's marching orders, you
+know.'
+
+It was Valetta who made the most objection. She declared that it was not
+fair that Mysie, who had been to the ball at Rotherwood, should go again
+to live with lords and ladies, while she went to a nasty day-school
+with butchers' and bakers' daughters. She hoped she should grow horridly
+vulgar, and if mamma did not like it, it would be her own fault!
+
+Mrs. Halfpenny, who did not like to have to separate Mysie's clothes
+from the rest after they were packed, rather favoured this naughtiness
+by observing: 'The old blue merino might stay at home. Miss Mysie would
+be too set up to wear that among her fine folk. Set her up, that she
+should have all the treats, while her own Miss Gillian was turned over
+to the auld aunties!'
+
+'Nonsense, nurse,' said Gillian. 'I'm much better pleased to go and be
+of some use! Val, you naughty child, how dare you make such a fuss?' for
+Valetta was crying again.
+
+'I hate school, and I hate Rockstone, and I don't see why Mysie should
+always go everywhere, and wear new frocks, and I go to the butchers and
+bakers and wear horrid old ones.'
+
+'I wish you could come too,' said Mysie; 'but indeed old frocks are the
+nicest, because one is not bothered to take so much care of them; and
+lords and ladies aren't a bit better to play with than, other people. In
+fact, Ivy is what Japs calls a muff and a stick.'
+
+Valetta, however, cried on, and Mysie went the length of repairing to
+her mother, in the midst of her last notes and packings, to entreat to
+change with Val, who followed on tip-toe.
+
+'Certainly not,' was the answer from Lady Merrifield, who was being
+worried on all sides, 'Valetta is not asked, and she is not behaving so
+that I could accept for her if she were.'
+
+And Val had to turn away in floods of tears, which redoubled on being
+told by the united voices of her brothers and sisters that they were
+ashamed of her for being so selfish as to cry for herself when all were
+in so much trouble about papa.
+
+Lady Merrifield caught some of the last words. 'No, my dear,' she said.
+'That is not quite just or kind. It is being unhappy that makes poor
+Val so ready to cry about her own grievances. Only, Val, come here, and
+remember that fretting is not the way to meet such things. There is a
+better way, my child, and I think you know what I mean. Now, to help you
+through the time in an outer way, suppose you each set yourself some one
+thing to improve in while I am away. Don't tell me what it is, but let
+me find out when I come home.' With that she obeyed an urgent summons to
+speak to the gardener.
+
+'I shall! I shall,' cried little Primrose, 'write a whole copy-book in
+single lines! And won't mamma be pleased? What shall you do, Fergus? and
+Val? and Mysie?'
+
+'I shall get to spin my peg-top so as it will never tumble down, and
+will turn an engine for drawing water,' was the prompt answer of Fergus.
+
+'What nonsense!' said Val; 'you'd better settle to get your long
+division sums right.'
+
+'That s girls' stuff,' replied Fergus; 'you'd better settle to leave off
+crying for nothing.'
+
+'That you had!' said several voices, and Val very nearly cried again as
+she exclaimed: 'Don't be all so tiresome. I shall make mamma a beautiful
+crewel cushion, with all the battles in history on it. And won't she be
+surprised!'
+
+'I think mamma meant more than that,' said Mysie.
+
+'Oh, Mysie, what shall you do?' asked Primrose.
+
+'I did think of getting to translate one of mamma's favourite German
+stories quite through to her without wanting the dictionary or stumbling
+one bit,' said Mysie; 'but I am sure she meant something better and
+better, and I'm thinking what it is--Perhaps it is making all little
+Flossie Maddin's clothes, a whole suit all oneself--Or perhaps it is
+manners. What do you think, Gill?'
+
+'I should say most likely it was manners for you,' volunteered Harry,
+'and the extra you are most likely to acquire at Rotherwood.'
+
+'I'm so glad,' said Mysie.
+
+'And you, Gill,' inquired Primrose, 'what will you do? Mine is a
+copy-book, and Fergus's is the spinning-top-engines, and rule of three;
+and Val's is a crewel battle cushion and not crying; and Mysie's is
+German stories and manners; and what's yours, Gill?'
+
+'Gill is so grown up, she is too good to want an inside thing' announced
+Primrose.
+
+'Oh, Prim, you dear little thing,' cried both elder brother and sister,
+as they thought with a sort of pang of the child's opinion of grown-up
+impeccability.
+
+'Harry is grown up more,' put in Fergus; 'why don't you ask him?'
+
+'Because I know,' said Primrose, with a pretty shyness, and as they
+pressed her, she whispered, 'He is going to be a clergyman.'
+
+There was a call for Mysie and Val from upstairs, and as the younger
+population scampered off, Gillian said to her brother--
+
+'Is not it like "occupy till I come"?'
+
+'So I was thinking,' said Harry gravely. 'But one must be as young
+as Mysie to throw one's "inside things" into the general stock of
+resolutions.'
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian, with uplifted eyes. 'I do--I do hope to do
+something.'
+
+Some great thing was her unspoken thought--some great and excellent
+achievement to be laid before her mother on her return. There was a tale
+begun in imitation of Bessie Merrifield, called "Hilda's Experiences".
+Suppose that was finished, printed, published, splendidly reviewed.
+Would not that be a great thing? But alas, she was under a tacit
+engagement never to touch it in the hours of study.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. -- ROCKQUAY
+
+
+
+The actual moment of a parting is often softened by the confusion of
+departure. That of the Merrifield family took place at the junction,
+where Lady Merrifield with her brother remained in the train, to be
+carried on to London.
+
+Gillian, Valetta, and Fergus, with their aunt, changed into a train for
+Rockstone, and Harry was to return to his theological college, after
+seeing Mysie and Primrose off with nurse on their way to the ancestral
+Beechcroft, whence Mysie was to be fetched to Rotherwood. The last thing
+that met Lady Merrifield's eyes was Mrs. Halfpenny gesticulating wildly,
+under the impression that Mysie's box was going off to London.
+
+And Gillian's tears were choked in the scurry to avoid a
+smoking-carriage, while Harry could not help thinking--half blaming
+himself for so doing--that Mysie expended more feeling in parting with
+Sofy, the kitten, than with her sisters, not perceiving that pussy was
+the safety-valve for the poor child's demonstrations of all the sorrow
+that was oppressing her.
+
+Gillian, in the corner of a Rockstone carriage, had time for the full
+heart-sickness and tumult of fear that causes such acute suffering to
+young hearts. It is quite a mistake to say that youth suffers less from
+apprehension than does age; indeed, the very inexperience and novelty
+add to the alarms, where there is no background of anxieties that have
+ended happily, only a crowd of examples of other people's misfortunes.
+The difference is in the greater elasticity and power of being
+distracted by outward circumstances; and thus lookers-on never guess
+at the terrific possibilities that have scared the imagination, and the
+secret ejaculations that have met them. How many times on that brief
+journey had not Gillian seen her father dying, her sisters in despair,
+her mother crushed in the train, wrecked in the steamer, perishing of
+the climate, or arriving to find all over and dying of the shock; yet
+all was varied by speculations on the great thing that was to offer
+itself to be done, and the delight it would give, and when the train
+slackened, anxieties were merged in the care for bags, baskets, and
+umbrellas.
+
+Rockstone and Rockquay had once been separate places--a little village
+perched on a cliff of a promontory, and a small fishing hamlet within
+the bay, but these had become merged in one, since fashion had chosen
+them as a winter resort. Speculators blasted away such of the rocks as
+they had not covered with lodging-houses and desirable residences. The
+inhabitants of the two places had their separate churches, and knew
+their own bounds perfectly well; but to the casual observer, the chief
+distinction between them was that Rockstone was the more fashionable,
+Rockquay the more commercial, although the one had its shops, the other
+its handsome crescents and villas. The station was at Rockquay, and
+there was an uphill drive to reach Rockstone, where the two Miss Mohuns
+had been early inhabitants--had named their cottage Beechcroft after
+their native home, and, to justify the title, had flanked the gate with
+two copper beeches, which had attained a fair growth, in spite of sea
+winds, perhaps because sheltered by the house on the other side.
+
+The garden reached out to the verge of the cliff, or rather to a low
+wall, with iron rails and spikes at the top, and a narrow, rather giddy
+path beyond. There was a gate in the wall, the key of which Aunt Jane
+kept in her own pocket, as it gave near access to certain rocky steps,
+about one hundred and thirty in number, by which, when in haste, the
+inhabitants of Rockstone could descend to the lower regions of the Quay.
+
+There was a most beautiful sea-view from the house, which compensated
+for difficulties in gardening in such a situation, though a very slight
+slope inwards from the verge of the cliff gave some protection to the
+flower-beds; and there was not only a little conservatory attached to
+the drawing-room at the end, but the verandah had glass shutters, which
+served the purpose of protecting tender plants, and also the windows,
+from the full blast of the winter storms. Miss Mohun was very proud
+of these shutters, which made a winter garden of the verandah for Miss
+Adeline to take exercise in. The house was their own, and, though it
+aimed at no particular beauty, had grown pleasant and pretty looking by
+force of being lived in and made comfortable.
+
+It was a contrast to its neighbours on either side of its pink and gray
+limestone wall. On one side began the grounds of the Great Rockstone
+Hotel; on the other was Cliff House, the big and seldom-inhabited house
+of one of the chief partners in the marble works, which went on on the
+other side of the promontory, and some people said would one day consume
+Rockstone altogether. It was a very fine house, and the gardens were
+reported to be beautifully kept up, but the owner was almost always in
+Italy, and had so seldom been at Rockstone that it was understood that
+all this was the ostentation of a man who did not know what to do with
+his money.
+
+Aunt Adeline met the travellers at the door with her charming welcome.
+Kunz, all snowy white, wagged his tight-curled tail amid his barks, at
+sight of Aunt Jane, but capered wildly about the Sofy's basket, much
+to Valetta's agony; while growls, as thunderous as a small kitten could
+produce, proceeded therefrom.
+
+'Kunz, be quiet,' said Aunt Jane, in a solemn, to-be-minded voice, and
+he crouched, blinking up with his dark eye.
+
+'Give me the basket. Now, Kunz, this is our cat. Do you hear? You are
+not to meddle with her.'
+
+Did Kunz really wink assent--a very unwilling assent?
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane!' from Val, as her aunt's fingers undid the cover of the
+basket.
+
+'Once for all!' said Aunt Jane.
+
+'M-m-m-m-ps-pss-psss!' from the Sofy, two screams from Val and Fergus, a
+buffeting of paws, a couple of wild bounds, first on a chair-back, then
+on the mantelpiece, where, between the bronze candlestick and the vase,
+the Persian philosopher stood hissing and swearing, while Kunz danced
+about and barked.
+
+'Take her down, Gillian,' said Aunt Jane; and Gillian, who had some
+presence of mind, accomplished it with soothing words, and, thanks to
+her gloves, only one scratch.
+
+Meantime Miss Mohun caught up Kunz, held up her finger to him, stopped
+his barks; and then, in spite of the 'Oh, don'ts,' and even the tears of
+Valetta, the two were held up--black nose to pink nose, with a resolute
+'Now, you are to behave well to each other, from Aunt Jane.
+
+Kunz sniffed, the Sofy hissed; but her claws were captive. The dog was
+the elder and more rational, and when set down again took no more
+notice of his enemy, whom Valetta was advised to carry into Mrs. Mount's
+quarters to be comforted and made at home there; the united voice of the
+household declaring that the honour of the Spitz was as spotless as his
+coat!
+
+Such was the first arrival at Rockstone, preceding even Aunt Adeline's
+inquiries after Mysie, and the full explanation of the particulars of
+the family dispersion. Aunt Ada's welcome was not at all like that of
+Kunz. She was very tender and caressing, and rejoiced that her sister
+could trust her children to her. They should all get on most happily
+together, she had no doubt.
+
+True-hearted as Gillian was, there was something hopeful and refreshing
+in the sight of that fair, smiling face, and the touch of the soft hand,
+in the room that was by no means unfamiliar, though she had never slept
+in the house before. It was growing dark, and the little fire lighted
+it up in a friendly manner. Wherever Aunt Jane was, everything was neat;
+wherever Aunt Adeline was, everything was graceful. Gillian was old
+enough to like the general prettiness; but it somewhat awed Val and
+Fergus, who stood straight and shy till they were taken upstairs. The
+two girls had a very pretty room and dressing-room--the guest chamber,
+in fact; and Fergus was not far off, in a small apartment which, as Val
+said, 'stood on legs,' and formed the shelter of the porch.
+
+'But, oh dear! oh dear!' sighed Val, as Gillian unpacked their evening
+garments, 'Isn't there any nice place at all where one can make a mess?'
+
+'I don't know whether the aunts will ever let us make a mess,' said
+Gillian; 'they don't look like it.'
+
+At which Valetta's face puckered up in the way only too familiar to her
+friends.
+
+'Come, don't be silly, Val. You won't have much time, you know; you will
+go to school, and get some friends to play with, and not want to make
+messes here.'
+
+'I hate friends!'
+
+'Oh, Val!'
+
+'All but Fly, and Mysie is gone to her. I want Mysie.'
+
+So in truth did Gillian, almost as much as her mother. Her heart sank
+as she thought of having Val and Fergus to save from scrapes without
+Mysie's readiness and good humour. If Mysie were but there she should
+be free for her 'great thing.' And oh! above all, Val's hair--the brown
+bush that Val had a delusion that she 'did' herself, but which her
+'doing' left looking rather worse than it did before, and which was not
+permitted in public to be in the convenient tail. Gillian advanced on
+her with the brush, but she tossed it and declared it all right!
+
+However, at that moment there was a knock. Mrs. Mount's kindly face and
+stout form appeared. She had dressed Miss Ada and came to see what she
+could do for the young people, being of that delightful class of old
+servants who are charmed to have anything young in the house, especially
+a boy. She took Valetta's refractory mane in hand, tied her sash,
+inspected Fergus's hands, which had succeeded in getting dirty in their
+inevitable fashion, and undertook all the unpacking and arranging. To
+Val's inquiry whether there was any place for making 'a dear delightful
+mess' she replied with a curious little friendly smile, and wonder that
+a young lady should want such a thing.
+
+'I'm afraid we are all rather strange specimens of young ladies,'
+replied Gillian; 'very untidy, I mean.'
+
+'And I'm sure I don't know what Miss Mohun and Miss Ada will say' said
+good Mrs. Mount.
+
+'What's that? What am I to say?' asked Aunt Jane, coming into the room.
+
+But, after all, Aunt Jane proved to have more sympathy with 'messes'
+than any of the others. She knew very well that the children would be
+far less troublesome if they had a place to themselves, and she said,
+'Well, Val, you shall have the boxroom in the attics. And mind, you must
+keep all your goods there, both of you. If I find them about the house,
+I shall--'
+
+'Oh, what, Aunt Jane?'
+
+'Confiscate them,' was the reply, in a very awful voice, which impressed
+Fergus the more because he did not understand the word.
+
+'You need not look so much alarmed, Fergus,' said Gillian; 'you are not
+at all the likely one to transgress.'
+
+'No,' said Valetta gravely. 'Fergus is what Lois calls a regular old
+battledore.'
+
+'I won't be called names,' exclaimed Fergus.
+
+'Well, Lois said so--when you were so cross because the poker had got
+on the same side as the tongs! She said she never saw such an old
+battledore, and you know how all the others took it up.'
+
+'Shuttlecock yourself then!' angrily responded Fergus, while both aunt
+and sister were laughing too much to interfere.
+
+'I shall call you a little Uncle Maurice instead,' said Aunt Jane. 'How
+things come round! Perhaps you would not believe, Gill, that Aunt Ada
+was once in a scrape, when she was our Mrs. Malaprop, for applying that
+same epithet on hearsay to Maurice.'
+
+This laugh made Gillian feel more at home with her aunt, and they went
+up happily together for the introduction to the lumber-room, not a very
+spacious place, and with a window leading out to the leads. Aunt Jane
+proceeded to put the children on their word of honour not to attempt to
+make an exit thereby, which Gillian thought unnecessary, since this pair
+were not enterprising.
+
+The evening went off happily. Aunt Jane produced one of the old games
+which had been played at the elder Beechcroft, and had a certain
+historic character in the eyes of the young people. It was one of those
+variations of the Game of the Goose that were once held to be improving,
+and their mother had often told them how the family had agreed to prove
+whether honesty is really the best policy, and how it had been agreed
+that all should cheat as desperately as possible, except 'honest Phyl,'
+who _couldn't_; and how, by some extraordinary combination, good for
+their morals, she actually was the winner. It was immensely interesting
+to see the identical much-worn sheet of dilapidated pictures with the
+padlock, almost close to the goal, sending the counter back almost
+to the beginning in search of the key. Still more interesting was the
+imitation, in very wonderful drawing, devised by mamma, of the career
+of a true knight--from pagedom upwards--in pale watery Prussian-blue
+armour, a crimson scarf, vermilion plume, gamboge spurs, and very
+peculiar arms and legs. But, as Valetta observed, it must have been much
+more interesting to draw such things as that than stupid freehand lines
+and twists with no sense at all in them.
+
+Aunt Ada, being subject to asthmatic nights, never came down to
+breakfast, and, indeed, it was at an hour that Gillian thought fearfully
+early; but her Aunt Jane was used to making every hour of the day
+available, and later rising would have prevented the two children from
+being in time for the schools, to which they were to go on the Monday.
+Some of Aunt Jane's many occupations on Saturday consisted in arranging
+with the two heads of their respective schools, and likewise for the
+mathematical class Gillian was to join at the High School two mornings
+in the week, and for her lessons on the organ, which were to be at St.
+Andrew's Church. Somehow Gillian felt as if she were as entirely in her
+aunt's hands as Kunz and the Sofy had been!
+
+After the early dinner, which suited the invalid's health, Aunt Jane
+said she would take Valetta and Fergus to go down to the beach with the
+little Varleys, while she went to her district, leaving Gillian to read
+to Aunt Ada for half an hour, and then to walk with her for a quiet turn
+on the beach.
+
+It was an amusing article in a review that Gillian was set to read, and
+she did it so pleasantly that her aunt declared that she looked forward
+to many such afternoon pastimes, and then, by an easier way than
+the hundred and a half steps, they proceeded down the hill, the aunt
+explaining a great deal to the niece in a manner very gratifying to a
+girl beginning to be admitted to an equality with grown-up people.
+
+'There is our old church,' said Aunt Ada, as they had a glimpse of a
+gray tower with a curious dumpy steeple.
+
+'Do you go to church there!'
+
+'I do--always. I could not undertake the hill on Sundays; but Jane takes
+the school-children to the St. Andrew's service in the afternoon.'
+
+'But which is the parish church?'
+
+'In point of fact, my dear; it is all one parish. Good morning, Mr.
+Hablot. My niece, Miss Gillian Merrifield. Yes, my sister is come
+home. I think she will be at the High School. He is the vicar of St.
+Andrew's,' as the clergyman went off in the direction of the steps.
+
+'I thought you said it was all one parish.'
+
+'St. Andrew's is only a district. Ah, it was all before your time, my
+dear.'
+
+'I know dear Uncle Claude was the clergyman here, and got St. Andrew's
+built.'
+
+'Yes, my dear. It was the great work and thought with him and Lord
+Rotherwood in those days that look so bright now,' said Aunt Ada. 'Yes,
+and with us all.'
+
+'Do tell me all about it,' entreated Gillian; and her aunt, nothing
+loth, went on.
+
+'Dear Claude was only five-and-twenty when he had the living. Nobody
+would take it, it was such a neglected place. All Rockquay down there
+had grown up with only the old church, and nobody going to it. It was
+a great deal through Rotherwood. Some property here came to him, and
+he was shocked at the state of things. Then we all thought the climate
+might be good for dear Claude, and Jane came to live with him and help
+him, and look after him. You see there were a great many of us, and
+Jane--well, she didn't quite get on with Alethea, and Claude thought she
+wanted a sphere of her own, and that is the way she comes to have more
+influence than any one else here. And as I am always better in this
+air than anywhere else, I came soon after--even before my dear fathers
+death. And oh! what an eager, hopeful time it was, setting everything
+going, and making St. Andrew's all we could wish! We were obliged to
+be cautious at the old church, you know, because of not alarming the
+old-fashioned people. And so we are still--'
+
+'Is that St. Andrew's? Oh, it is beautiful. May I look in?'
+
+'Not now, my dear. You will see it another time.'
+
+'I wish it were our church.'
+
+'You will find the convenience of having one so near. And our services
+are very nice with our present rector, Mr. Ellesmere, an excellent
+active man, but his wife is such an invalid that all the work falls on
+Jane. I am so glad you are here to help her a little. St. Andrew's has a
+separate district, and Mr. Hablot is the vicar; but as it is very poor,
+we keep the charities all in one. Rotherwood built splendid schools,
+so we only have an infant school for the Rockstone children. On Sunday,
+Jane assembles the older children there and takes them to church; but
+in the afternoon they all go to the National Schools, and then to
+a children's service at St. Andrew's. She gets on so well with Mr.
+Hablot--he was dear Claude's curate, you see, and little Mrs. Hablot was
+quite a pupil of ours. What do you think little Gerald Hablot said--he
+is only five--"Isn't Miss Mohun the most consultedest woman in
+Rockquay?"'
+
+'I suppose it is true,' said Gillian, laughing, but rather awestruck.
+
+'I declare it makes me quite giddy to count up all she has on her
+hands. Nobody can do anything without her. There are so few permanent
+inhabitants, and when people begin good works, they go away, or marry,
+or grow tired, and then we can't let them drop!'
+
+'Oh! what's that pretty spire, on the rise of the other hill?'
+
+'My dear, that was the Kennel Mission Chapel, a horrid little hideous
+iron thing, but Lady Flight mistook and called it St. Kenelm's, and St.
+Kenelm's it will be to the end of the chapter.' And as she exchanged
+bows with a personage in a carriage, 'There she is, my dear.'
+
+'Who? Did she build that church?'
+
+'It is not consecrated. It really is only a mission chapel, and he is
+nothing but a curate of Mr. Hablot's,' said Aunt Ada, Gillian thought a
+little venomously.
+
+She asked, 'Who?'
+
+'The Reverend Augustine Flight, my dear. I ought not to say anything
+against them, I am sure, for they mean to be very good; but she is some
+City man's widow, and he is an only son, and they have more money than
+their brains can carry. They have made that little place very beautiful,
+quite oppressed with ornament--City taste, you know, and they have all
+manner of odd doings there, which Mr. Hablot allows, because he says he
+does not like to crush zeal, and he thinks interference would do more
+harm than good. Jane thinks he ought not to stand so much, but--'
+
+Gillian somehow felt a certain amusement and satisfaction in finding
+that Aunt Jane had one disobedient subject, but they were interrupted
+by two ladies eagerly asking where to find Miss Mohun, and a few steps
+farther on a young clergyman accosted them, and begged that Miss Mohun
+might be told the hour of some meeting. Also that 'the Bellevue Church
+people would not co-operate in the coal club.'
+
+Then it was explained that Bellevue Church was within the bounds of
+another parish, and had been built by, and for, people who did not like
+the doctrine at the services of St. Andrew's.
+
+By this time aunt and niece had descended to the Marine esplanade, a
+broad road, on one side of which there was a low sea wall, and then the
+sands and rocks stretched out to the sea, on the other a broad space
+of short grass, where there was a cricket ground, and a lawn-tennis
+ground, and the volunteers could exercise, and the band played twice a
+week round a Russian gun that stood by the flagstaff.
+
+The band was playing now, and the notes seemed to work on Gillian's
+feet, and yet to bring her heart into her throat, for the last time she
+had heard that march was from the band of her father's old regiment,
+when they were all together!
+
+Her aunt was very kind, and talked to her affectionately and
+encouragingly of the hopes that her mother would find her father
+recovering, and that it would turn out after all quite an expedition of
+pleasure and refreshment. Then she said how much she rejoiced to have
+Gillian with her, as a companion to herself, while her sister was so
+busy, and she was necessarily so much left alone.
+
+'We will read together, and draw, and play duets, and have quite a good
+account of our employment to give,' she said, smiling.
+
+'I shall like it very much,' said Gillian heartily.
+
+'Dear child, the only difficulty will be that you will spoil me, and I
+shall never be able to part with you. Besides, you will be such a help
+to my dear Jane. She never spares herself, you know, and no one ever
+spares her, and I can do so little to help her, except with my head.'
+
+'Surely here are plenty of people,' said Gillian, for they were in the
+midst of well-dressed folks, and Aunt Ada had more than once exchanged
+nods and greetings.
+
+'Quite true, my dear; but when there is anything to be done, then there
+is a sifting! But now we have you, with all our own Lily's spirit, I
+shall be happy about Jane for this winter at least.
+
+They were again interrupted by meeting a gentleman and lady, to whom
+Gillian was introduced, and who walked on with her aunt conversing. They
+had been often in India, and made so light of the journey that Gillian
+was much cheered. Moreover, she presently came in sight of Val and
+Fergus supremely happy over a castle on the beach, and evidently
+indoctrinating the two little Varleys with some of the dramatic sports
+of Silverfold.
+
+Aunt Ada found another acquaintance, a white moustached old gentleman,
+who rose from a green bench in a sunny corner, saying, 'Ah, Miss Mohun,
+I have been guarding your seat for you.'
+
+'Thank you, Major Dennis. My niece, Miss Merrifield.'
+
+He seemed to be a very courteous old gentleman, for he bowed, and made
+some polite speech about Sir Jasper, and, as he was military, Gillian
+hoped to have heard some more about the journey when they sat down,
+and room was made for her; but instead of that he and her aunt began a
+discussion of the comings and goings of people she had never heard of,
+and the letting or not letting of half the villas in Rockstone; and she
+found it so dull that she had a great mind to go and join the siege of
+Sandcastle. Only her shoes and her dress were fitter for the esplanade
+than the shore with the tide coming in; and when one has just begun to
+buy one's own clothes, that is a consideration.
+
+At last she saw Aunt Jane's trim little figure come out on the sands
+and make as straight for the children as she could, amid greetings and
+consultations, so with an exclamation, she jumped up and went over
+the shingle to meet them, finding an endeavour going on to make them
+tolerably respectable for the walk home, by shaking off the sand, and
+advising Val to give up her intention of dragging home a broad brown
+ribbon of weed with a frilled edge, all polished and shiny with wet.
+She was not likely to regard it as such a curiosity after a few days'
+experience of Rockquay, as her new friends told her.
+
+Kitty Varley went to the High School, which greatly modified Valetta's
+disgust to it, for the little girls had already vowed to be the greatest
+chums in the world, and would have gone home with arms entwined, if Aunt
+Jane had not declared that such things could not be done in the street,
+and Clem Varley, with still more effect, threatened that if they were
+such a pair of ninnies, he should squirt at them with the dirtiest water
+he could find.
+
+Valetta had declared that she infinitely preferred Kitty to Fly, and
+Kitty was so flattered at being adopted by the second cousin of a Lady
+Phyllis, and the daughter of a knight, that she exalted Val above
+all the Popsys and Mopsys of her present acquaintance, and at parting
+bestowed on her a chocolate cream, which tasted about equally of salt
+water and hot hand--at least if one did not feel it a testimonial of
+ardent friendship.
+
+Fergus and Clement had, on the contrary, been so much inclined to punch
+and buffet one another, that Miss Mohun had to make them walk before
+her to keep the peace, and was by no means sorry when the gate of 'The
+Tamarisks' was reached, and the Varleys could be disposed of.
+
+However, the battery must have been amicable, for Fergus was crazy to
+go in and see Clement's little pump, which he declared 'would do
+it'--an enigmatical phrase supposed to refer to the great
+peg-top-perpetual-motion invention. He was dragged away with difficulty
+on the plea of its being too late by Aunt Jane, who could not quite turn
+two unexpected children in on Mrs. Varley, and had to effect a cruel
+severance of Val and Kitty in the midst of their kisses.
+
+'Sudden friendships,' said Gillian, from the superiority of her age.
+
+'I do not think you are given that way,' said Aunt Jane.
+
+'Does the large family suffice for all of you? People are so different,'
+added Aunt Ada.
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian. 'We have never been in the way of caring for any
+outsider. I don't reckon Bessie Merrifield so--nor Fly Devereux, nor
+Dolores, because they are cousins.'
+
+'Cousins may be everything or nothing,' asserted Miss Mohun. 'You have
+been about so much that you have hardly had time to form intimacies. But
+had you no friends in the officers' families?'
+
+'People always retired before their children grew up to be
+companionable, said Gillian. 'There was nobody except the Whites. And
+that wasn't exactly friendship.'
+
+'Who were they?' said Aunt Jane, who always liked to know all about
+everybody.
+
+'He rose from the ranks,' said Gillian. 'He was very much respected, and
+nobody would have known that he was not a gentleman to begin with. But
+his wife was half a Greek. Papa said she had been very pretty; but, oh!
+she had grown so awfully fat. We used to call her the Queen of the White
+Ants. Then Kally--her name was really Kalliope--was very nice, and mamma
+got them to send her to a good day-school at Dublin, and Alethea and
+Phyllis used to have her in to try to make a lady of her. There used to
+be a great deal of fun about their Muse, I remember; Claude thought her
+very pretty, and always stood up for her, and Alethea was very fond of
+her. But soon after we went to Belfast, Mr. White was made to retire
+with the rank of captain. I think papa tried to get something for him
+to do; but I am not sure whether he succeeded, and I don't know any more
+about them.'
+
+'Not exactly friendship, certainly,' said Aunt Jane, smiling. 'After
+all, Gillian, in your short life, you have had wider experiences than
+have befallen your old aunts!'
+
+'Wider, perhaps, not deeper, Jane,' suggested Miss Adeline.
+
+And Gillian thought--though she felt it would be too sentimental to
+say--that in her life, persons and scenes outside her own family had
+seemed to 'come like shadows and so depart'; and there was a general
+sense of depression at the partings, the anxiety, and the being
+unsettled again when she was just beginning to have a home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. -- PERPETUAL MOTION
+
+
+
+If Fergus had not yet discovered the secret of perpetual motion,
+Gillian felt as if Aunt Jane had done so, and moreover that the greater
+proportion of parish matters were one vast machine, of which she was the
+moving power.
+
+As she was a small spare woman, able to do with a very moderate
+amount of sleep, her day lasted from 6 A.M. to some unnamed time after
+midnight; and as she was also very methodical, she got through an
+appalling amount of business, and with such regularity that those who
+knew her habits could tell with tolerable certainty, within reasonable
+limits, where she would be found and what she would be doing at any hour
+of the seven days of the week. Everything she influenced seemed to recur
+as regularly as the motions of the great ruthless-looking engines that
+Gillian had seen at work at Belfast; the only loose cog being apparently
+her sister Adeline, who quietly took her own way, seldom came downstairs
+before eleven o'clock, went out and came in, made visits or received
+them, wrote letters, read and worked at her own sweet will. Only two
+undertakings seemed to belong to her--a mission working party, and an
+Italian class of young ladies; and even the presidency of these often
+lapsed upon her sister, when she had had one of those 'bad nights'
+of asthma, which were equally sleepless to both sisters. She was
+principally useful by her exquisite needlework, both in church
+embroidery and for sales; and likewise as the recipient of all the
+messages left for Miss Mohun, which she never forgot, besides that,
+having a clear sensible head, she was useful in consultation.
+
+She was thoroughly interested in all her sister's doings, and always
+spoke of herself as the invalid, precluded from all service except that
+of being a pivot for Jane, the stationary leg of the compasses, as she
+sometimes called herself. This repose, together with her prettiness and
+sweetness of manner, was very attractive; especially to Gillian, who
+had begun to feel herself in the grip of the great engine which bore her
+along without power of independent volition, and with very little time
+for 'Hilda's Experiences'.
+
+At home she had gone on harmoniously in full acquiescence with household
+arrangements; but before the end of the week the very same sensations
+came over her which had impelled her and Jasper into rebellion and
+disgrace, during the brief reign of a very strict daily governess, long
+ago at Dublin. Her reason and sense approved of all that was set before
+her, and much of it was pleasant and amusing; but this was the more
+provoking by depriving her of the chance of resistance or the solace of
+complaint. Moreover, with all her time at Aunt Jane's disposal, how
+was she to do her great thing? Valetta's crewel battle cushion had been
+reduced to a delicious design of the battle of the frogs and mice, drawn
+by Aunt Ada, and which she delighted in calling at full length 'the
+Batrachyomachia,' sparing none of the syllables which she was to work
+below. And it was to be worked at regularly for half an hour before
+bed-time. Trust Aunt Jane for seeing that any one under her dominion
+did what had been undertaken! Only thus the spontaneity seemed to have
+departed, and the work became a task. Fergus meanwhile had set his
+affections on a big Japanese top he had seen in a window, and was
+eagerly awaiting his weekly threepence, to be able to complete the
+purchase, though no one but Valetta was supposed to understand what it
+had to do with his 'great thing.'
+
+It was quite pleasant to Gillian to have a legitimate cause of
+opposition when Miss Mohun made known that she intended Gillian to take
+a class at the afternoon Sunday-school, while the two children went to
+Mrs. Hablot's drawing-room class at St. Andrew's Vicarage, all meeting
+afterwards at church.
+
+'Did mamma wish it?' asked Gillian.
+
+'There was no time to mention it, but I knew she would.'
+
+'I don't think so,' said Gillian. 'We don't teach on Sundays, unless
+some regular person fails. Mamma likes to have us all at home to do our
+Sunday work with her.'
+
+'Alas, I am not mamma! Nor could I give you the time.'
+
+'I have brought the books to go on with Val and Ferg. I always do some
+of their work with them, and I am sure mamma would not wish them to be
+turned over to a stranger.'
+
+'The fact is, that young ladies have got beyond Sunday-schools!'
+
+'No, no, Jane,' said her sister; 'Gillian is quite willing to help you;
+but it is very nice in her to wish to take charge of the children.'
+
+'They would be much better with Mrs. Hablot than dawdling about here and
+amusing themselves in the new Sunday fashion. Mind, I am not going to
+have them racketing about the house and garden, disturbing you, and
+worrying the maids.'
+
+'Aunt Jane!' cried Gillian indignantly, 'you don't think that is the way
+mamma brought us up to spend Sunday?'
+
+'We shall see,' said Aunt Jane; then more kindly, 'My dear, you are
+right to use your best judgment, and you are welcome to do so, as long
+as the children are orderly and learn what they ought.'
+
+It was more of a concession than Gillian expected, though she little
+knew the effort it cost, since Miss Mohun had been at much pains to set
+Mrs. Hablot's class on foot, and felt it a slight and a bad example that
+her niece and nephew should be defaulters. The motive might have worked
+on Gillian, but it was a lower one, therefore mentioned.
+
+She had seen Mrs. Hablot at the Italian class, and thought her a mere
+girl, and an absolute subject of Aunt Jane's stumbling pitifully,
+moreover, in a speech of Adelchi's; therefore evidently not at all
+likely to teach Sunday subjects half so well as herself!
+
+Nor was there anything amiss on that first Sunday. The lessons were as
+well and quietly gone through as if with mamma, and there was a pleasant
+little walk on the esplanade before the children's service at St.
+Andrew's; after which there was a delightful introduction to some of the
+old books mamma had told them of.
+
+They were all rather subdued by the strangeness and newness of their
+surroundings, as well as by anxiety. If the younger ones were less
+anxious about their parents than was their sister, each had a plunge to
+make on the morrow into a very new world, and the Varleys' information
+had not been altogether reassuring. Valetta had learnt how many marks
+might be lost by whispering or bad spelling, and how ferociously cross
+Fraulein Adler looked at a mistake in a German verb; while Fergus had
+heard a dreadful account of the ordeals to which Burfield and Stebbing
+made new boys submit, and which would be all the worse for him, because
+he had a 'rum' Christian name, and his father was a swell.
+
+Gillian had some experience through her elder brothers, and suspected
+Master Varley of being guilty of heightening the horrors; so she assured
+Fergus that most boys had the same sort of Christian names, but were
+afraid to confess them to one another, and so called each other Bill and
+Jack. She advised him to call himself by his surname, not to mention his
+father's title if he could help it, and, above all, not to seem to mind
+anything.
+
+Her own spirits were much exhilarated the next morning by a note from
+Harry, the recipient of all telegrams, with tidings that the doctors
+were quite satisfied with Sir Jasper, and that Lady Merrifield had
+reached Brindisi.
+
+There was great excitement at sight of a wet morning, for it appeared
+that an omnibus came round on such occasions to pick up the scholars;
+and Valetta thought this so delightful that she danced about exclaiming,
+'What fun!' and only wishing for Mysie to share it. She would have
+rushed down to the gate umbrellaless if Aunt Jane had not caught and
+conducted her, while Gillian followed with Fergus. Aunt Jane looked down
+the vista of young faces--five girls and three boys--nodding to them,
+and saying to the senior, a tall damsel of fifteen,
+
+'Here are my children, Emma. You will take care of them, please. You are
+keeping order here, I suppose?'
+
+There was a smile and bow in answer as the door closed, and the omnibus
+jerked away its ponderous length.
+
+'I'm sorry to see that Stebbing there,' observed the aunt, as she went
+back; 'but Emma Norton ought to be able to keep him in order. It is well
+you have no lessons out of the house to-day, Gillian.'
+
+'Are you going out then?'
+
+'Oh yes!' said Miss Mohun, running upstairs, and presently coming back
+with a school-bag and a crackling waterproof cloak, but pausing as she
+saw Gillian at the window, nursing the Sofy, and gazing at the gray
+cloud over the gray sea. 'You are not at a loss for something to do,'
+she said, 'you said you meant to write to your mother.'
+
+'Oh yes!' said Gillian, suddenly fretted, and with a sense of being
+hunted, 'I have plenty to do.'
+
+'I see,' said Miss Mohun, turning over the books that lay on the
+little table that had been appropriated to her niece, in a way that,
+unreasonably or not, unspeakably worried the girl, 'Brachet's French
+Grammar--that's right. Colenso's Algebra--I don't think they use that at
+the High School. Julius Caesar--you should read that up in Merivale.'
+
+'I did,' said Gillian, in a voice that very nearly said, 'Do let them
+alone.'
+
+'Well, you have materials for a very useful, sensible morning's work,
+and when Ada comes down, very likely she will like to be read to.'
+
+Off went the aunt, leaving the niece stirred into an absolute desire,
+instead of spending the sensible morning, to take up 'Near Neighbours',
+and throw herself into an easy-chair; and when she had conscientiously
+resisted that temptation, her pen would hover over 'Hilda's
+Experiences', even when she had actually written 'Dearest Mamma.' She
+found she was in no frame to write such a letter as would be a comfort
+to her mother, so she gave that up, and made her sole assertion of
+liberty the working out of a tough double equation in Colenso, which
+actually came right, and put her in such good humour that she was no
+longer afraid of drumming the poor piano to death and Aunt Ada upstairs
+to distraction, but ventured on learning one of the Lieder ohne Worte;
+and when her Aunt Ada came down and complimented her on the sounds that
+had ascended, she was complacent enough to write a very cheerful letter,
+whilst her aunt was busied with her own. She described the Sunday-school
+question that had arisen, and felt sure that her father would pronounce
+his Gill to be a sensible young woman. Afterwards Miss Adeline betook
+herself to a beautiful lily of church embroidery, observing, as Gillian
+sat down to read to her Alphonse Karr's Voyage autour de mon Jardin,
+that it was a real pleasure to listen to such prettily-pronounced
+French. Kunz lay at her feet, the Sofy nestled in Gillian's lap, and
+there was a general sense of being rubbed down the right way.
+
+By and by there loomed through the rain two dripping shiny forms under
+umbrellas strongly inclined to fly away from them--Miss Mohun and Mr.
+Grant, the junior curate, whom she had brought home to luncheon. Both
+were full of the irregularities of the two churches of Bellevue and St.
+Kenelm's on the recent harvest-thanksgiving Sunday. It was hard to tell
+which was most reprobated, what St. Kenelm's did or what Bellevue did
+not do. If the one blew trumpets in procession, the other collected the
+offertory in a warming-pan. Gillian had already begun to find that these
+misdoings supplied much conversation at Beechcroft Cottage, and began
+to get half weary, half curious to judge for herself of all these
+enormities; nor did she feel more interested in the discussion of who
+had missed church or school, and who needed tickets for meat, or to be
+stirred up to pay for their coal club.
+
+At last she heard, 'Well, I think you might read to her, Gillian! Oh!
+were not you listening? A very nice girl near here, a pupil teacher, who
+has developed a hip complaint, poor child. She will enjoy having visits
+from you, a young thing like herself.'
+
+Gillian did not like it at all, but she knew that it would be wrong to
+refuse, and answered, 'Very well,' with no alacrity--hoping that it was
+not an immediate matter, and that something might happen to prevent it.
+But at that moment the sun came out, the rain had ceased, and there were
+glistening drops all over the garden; the weather quarter was clear,
+and after half an hours rest after dinner Aunt Jane jumped up, decreeing
+that it was time to go out, and that she would introduce Gillian to
+Lilian Giles before going on to the rest of her district.
+
+She gathered a few delicate flowers in the little conservatory, and put
+them in a basket with a peach from the dessert, then took down a couple
+of books from the shelf. Gillian could not but acquiesce, though she was
+surprised to find that the one given to her was a translation of Undine.
+
+'The child is not badly off,' explained Miss Mohun. 'Her father is a
+superior workman. She does not exactly want comforts, but she is sadly
+depressed and disappointed at not being able to go on with her work,
+and the great need is to keep her from fretting over her troubles, and
+interested in something.'
+
+Gillian began to think of one of the graceful hectic invalids of whom
+she had read, and to grow more interested as she followed Aunt Jane past
+the old church with the stout square steeple, constructed to hold, on a
+small side turret window, a light for the benefit of ships at sea. Then
+the street descended towards the marble works. There was a great quarry,
+all red and raw with recent blasting, and above, below, and around, rows
+of new little stuccoed, slated houses, for the work-people, and a large
+range of workshops and offices fronting the sea. This was Miss Mohun's
+district, and at a better-looking house she stopped and used the
+knocker.
+
+That was no distinction; all had doors with knockers and sash windows,
+but this was a little larger, and the tiny strip of garden was well
+kept, while a beautiful myrtle and pelargonium peeped over the muslin
+blind; and it was a very nice-looking woman who opened the door, though
+she might have been the better for a cap. Aunt Jane shook hands with
+her, rather to Gillian's surprise, and heard that Lily was much the
+same.
+
+'It is her spirits are so bad, you see, Miss Mohun,' she added, as
+she ushered them into a somewhat stuffy little parlour, carpeted and
+bedecked with all manner of knick-knacks, photographs, and framed
+certificates of various societies of temperance and providence on the
+gaily-papered walls. The girl lay on a couch near the fire, a sallow
+creature, with a big overhanging brow, made heavier by a dark fringe,
+and an expression that Gillian not unjustly decided was fretful, though
+she smiled, and lighted up a little when she saw Miss Mohun.
+
+There was a good deal said about her bad nights, and her appetite,
+and how the doctor wanted her to take as much as she could, and how
+everything went against her--even lardy cake and roly-poly pudding with
+bacon in it!
+
+Miss Mohun put the flowers on the little table near the girl, who smiled
+a little, and thanked her in a languid dreary manner. Finding that she
+had freshly been visited by the rector, Miss Mohun would not stop for
+any serious reading, but would leave Miss Merrifield to read a story to
+her.
+
+'And you ought to get on together,' she said, smiling. 'You are just
+about the same age, and your names rhyme--Gillian and Lilian. And
+Gillians mother is a Lily too.'
+
+This the young lady lid not like, for she was already feeling it a
+sort of presumption in the girl to bear a name so nearly resembling her
+mother's. She had seen a little cottage poverty, and had had a class of
+little maidservants; but this level of life which is in no want, keeps a
+best parlour, and does not say ma'am, was quite new to her, and she
+did not fancy it. When the girls were left together, while Mrs. Giles
+returned to her ironing, Gillian was the shyer of the two, and began
+rather awkwardly and reluctantly--
+
+'Miss Mohun thought you would like to hear this. It is a sort of German
+fairy tale.'
+
+Lilian said, 'Yes, Miss Merrifield' in a short dry tone, completing
+Gillian's distaste, and she began to read, not quite at her best, and
+was heartily glad when at the end of half an hour Mrs. Giles was heard
+in parley with another visitor, so that she had an excuse for going away
+without attempting conversation. She was overtaken by the children on
+their way home from their schools, where they had dined. They rushed
+upon her, together with the two Varleys, who wanted to take them home to
+tea; and Gillian giving her ready consent, Fergus dashed home to fetch
+his beloved humming-top, which was to be introduced to Clement Varley's
+pump, and in a few minutes they were off, hardly vouchsafing an answer
+to such comparatively trifling inquiries as how they were placed at
+their schools.
+
+Gillian found, however, that neither of her aunts was pleased at her
+having consented to the children's going out without reference to their
+authority. How did she suppose they were to come home?
+
+'I did not think, can't they be fetched?' said Gillian, startled.
+
+'It is not far,' said Adeline, pitying her. 'One of the maids--'
+
+'My dear Ada!' exclaimed Aunt Jane. 'You know that Fanny cannot go out
+at night with her throat, and I never will send out those young girls on
+any account.'
+
+'Can't I go?' said Gillian desperately.
+
+'Are not you a young girl? I must go myself.'
+
+And go she did at a quarter to eight, and brought home the children,
+looking much injured. Gillian went upstairs with them, and there was an
+outburst.
+
+'It was horrid to be fetched home so soon, just as there was a chance of
+something nice; when all the tiresome big ones had gone to dress, and we
+could have had some real fun,' said Valetta.
+
+'Real fun! Real sense!' said Fergus.
+
+'But what had you been about all this time?'
+
+'Why, their sisters and a man that was there _would_ come and drink tea
+in the nursery, where nobody wanted them, and make us play their play.
+
+'Wasn't that nice? You are always crying out for Harry and me to come
+and play with you.'
+
+'Oh, it wasn't like that,' said Val, 'you play with us, and they only
+pretended, and played with each other. It wasn't nice.'
+
+'Clem said it was--forking,' said Fergus.
+
+'No, spooning,' said Val. 'The dish ran after the spoon, you know.'
+
+'Well, but you haven't told me about the schools,' said Gillian, in
+elder sisterly propriety, thinking the subject had better be abandoned.
+
+'Jolly, jolly, scrumptious!' cried Fergus.
+
+'Oh! Fergus, mamma doesn't like slang words. Jasper doesn't say them.'
+
+'Not at home, but men say what they like at school, and the 'bus was
+scrumptious and splendiferous!'
+
+'I'm sure it wasn't,' said Valetta; 'I can't bear being boxed up with
+horrid rude boys.'
+
+'Because you are only a girl!'
+
+'Now, Gill, they shot with--'
+
+'Val, if you tell--'
+
+'Telling Gill isn't telling. Is it, Gill?'
+
+She assented.
+
+'They did, Gill. They shot at us with pea-shooters,' sighed the girl.
+
+'Oh! it was jolly, jolly, jolly!' cried the boy. 'Stebbing hit the girl
+who made the sour face on her cheeks, and they all squealed, and the cad
+looked in and tried to jaw us.'
+
+'But that dreadful boy shot right into his mouth,' said Val, while
+Fergus went into an ecstasy of laughter. 'Wasn't it a shame, Gill?'
+
+'Indeed it was' said Gillian. 'Such ungentlemanly boys ought not to be
+allowed in the omnibus.'
+
+'Girls shouldn't be allowed in the 'bus, they are so stupid,' said
+Fergus. 'That one--as cross as old Halfpenny--who was she, Val?'
+
+'Emma Norton! Up in the highest form!'
+
+'Well, she is a prig, and a tell-tale-tit besides; only Stebbing said if
+she did, her junior would catch it.'
+
+'What a dreadful bully he must be!' exclaimed Gillian.
+
+I'll tell you what,' said Fergus, in a tone of profound admiration, 'no
+one can hold a candle to him at batting! He snowballed all the Kennel
+choir into fits, and he can brosier old Tilly's stall, and go on just
+the same.'
+
+'What a greedy boy!' exclaimed Val.
+
+'Disgusting,' added Gillian.
+
+'You're girls,' responded Fergus, lengthening the syllable with infinite
+contempt; but Valetta had spirit enough to reply, 'Much better be a girl
+than rude and greedy.'
+
+'Exactly,' said Gillian; 'it is only little silly boys who think such
+things fine. Claude doesn't, nor Harry, nor Japs.'
+
+'You know nothing about it,' said Fergus.
+
+'Well, but you've never told me about school--how you are placed, and
+whom you are under.'
+
+'Oh! I'm in middle form, under Miss Edgar. Disgusting! It's only the
+third form that go up to Smiler. She knows it is no use to try to take
+Stebbing and Burfield.'
+
+'And, Gill,' added Val, 'I'm in second class too, and I took three
+places for knowing where Teheran was, and got above Kitty Varley and a
+girl there two years older than I am, and her name is Maura.'
+
+'Maura, how very odd! I never heard of any one called Maura but one of
+the Whites,' said Gillian. 'What was her surname?'
+
+This Valetta could not tell, and at the moment Mrs. Mount came up with
+intent to brush Miss Valetta's hair, and to expedite the going to bed.
+
+Gillian, not very happy about the revelations she had heard, went
+downstairs, and found her younger aunt alone, Miss Mohun having been
+summoned to a conference with one of her clients in the parish room. In
+her absence Gillian always felt more free and communicative, and she had
+soon told whatever she did not feel as a sort of confidence, including
+Valetta's derivation of spooning, and when Miss Mohun returned it was
+repeated to her.
+
+'Yes,' was her comment, 'children's play is a convenient cover to the
+present form of flirtation. No doubt Bee Varley and Mr. Marlowe believe
+themselves to have been most good-natured.'
+
+'Who is he, and will it come to anything?' asked Aunt Ada, taking her
+sister's information for granted.
+
+'Oh no, it is nothing. A civil service man, second cousin's
+brother-in-law's stepson. That's quite enough in these days to justify
+fraternal romping.'
+
+'I thought Beatrice Varley a nice girl.'
+
+'So she is, my dear. It is only the spirit of the age, and, after all,
+this deponent saith not which was the dish and which was the spoon. Have
+the children made any other acquaintances, I wonder? And how did George
+Stebbing comport himself in the omnibus? I was sorry to see him there; I
+don't trust that boy.'
+
+'I wonder they didn't send him in solitary grandeur in the brougham,'
+said Miss Ada.
+
+Gillian held the history of the pea-shooting as a confidence, even
+though Aunt Jane seemed to have been able to see through the omnibus, so
+she contented herself with asking who George Stebbing was.
+
+'The son of the manager of the marble works; partner, I believe.'
+
+'Yes,' said Aunt Ada. 'the Co. means Stebbing primarily.'
+
+'Is he a gentleman?'
+
+'Well, as much as old Mr. White himself, I suppose. He is come up
+here--more's the pity--to the aristocratic quarter, if you please,' said
+Aunt Jane, smiling, 'and if garden parties are not over, Mr. Stebbing
+may show you what they can be.'
+
+'That boy ought to be at a public school,' said her sister. 'I hope he
+doesn't bully poor little Fergus.'
+
+'I don't think he does,' said Gillian. 'Fergus seemed rather to admire
+him.'
+
+'I had rather hear of bullying than patronage in that quarter,' said
+Miss Mohun. 'But, Gillian, we must impress on the children that they are
+to go to no one's house without express leave. That will avoid offence,
+and I should prefer their enjoying the society of even the Varleys in
+this house.'
+
+Did Aunt Jane repent of her decision on the Thursday half-holiday
+granted to Mrs. Edgar's pupils, when, in the midst of the working party
+round the dining-room table, in a pause of the reading, some one said,
+'What's that!'--and a humming, accompanied by a drip, drop, drip, drop,
+became audible?
+
+Up jumped Miss Mohun, and so did Gillian, half in consternation, half to
+shield the boy from her wrath. In a few moments they beheld a puddle on
+the mat at the bottom of the oak stairs, while a stream was descending
+somewhat as the water comes down at Lodore, while Fergus's voice could
+be heard above--
+
+'Don't, Varley! You see how it will act. The string of the humming-top
+moves the pump handle, and that spins. Oh!'
+
+'Master Fergus! Oh--h, you bad boy!'
+
+The shriek was caused by the avenging furies who had rushed up the back
+stairs just as Miss Mohun had darted up the front, so as to behold, on
+the landing between the two, the boys, one spinning the top, the other
+working the pump which stood in its own trough of water, receiving a
+reckless supply from the tap in the passage. The maid's scream of 'What
+will your aunt say?' was answered by her appearance, and rush to turn
+the cock.
+
+'Don't, don't, Aunt Jane,' shouted Fergus; 'I've almost done it!
+Perpetual motion.' He seemed quite unconscious that the motion was
+kept up by his own hands, and even dismay could not turn him from being
+triumphant.
+
+'Oh! Miss Jane,' cried Mrs. Mount, 'if I had thought what they boys was
+after.'
+
+'Mop it up, Alice,' said Aunt Jane to the younger girl. 'No don't come
+up, Ada; it is too wet for you. It is only a misdirected experiment in
+hydraulics.'
+
+'I told him not,' said Clement Varley, thinking affairs serious.
+
+'Fergus, I am shocked at you,' said Gillian sternly. 'You are
+frightfully wet. You must be sent to bed.'
+
+'You must go and change,' said Aunt Jane, preventing the howl about to
+break forth. 'My dear boy, that tap must be let alone. We can't have
+cataracts on the stairs.'
+
+'I didn't mean it, Aunt Jane; I thought it was an invention,' said
+Fergus.
+
+'I know; but another time come and ask me where to try your experiments.
+Go and take off those clothes; and you, Clement, you are soaking too.
+Run home at once.'
+
+Gillian, much scandalised, broke out--
+
+'It is very naughty. At home, he would be sent to bed at once.'
+
+'I am not Mrs. Halfpenny, Gillian,' said Aunt Jane coldly.
+
+'Jane has a soft spot for inventions, for Maurice's sake,' said her
+sister.
+
+'I can't confound ingenuity and enterprise with wanton mischief, or
+crush it out for want of sympathy,' said Miss Mohun. 'Come, we must
+return to our needles.'
+
+If Aunt Jane had gone into the state of wrath to be naturally expected,
+Gillian would have risen in arms on her brother's behalf, and that would
+have been much pleasanter than the leniency which made her views of
+justice appear like unkindness.
+
+This did not dispose her to be the better pleased at an entreaty from
+the two children to be allowed to join Mrs. Hablot's class on Sunday. It
+appeared that they had asked Aunt Jane, and she had told them that their
+sister knew what their mother would like.
+
+'But I am sure she would not mind,' said Valetta. 'Only think, she has
+got a portfolio with pictures of everything all through the Bible!'
+
+'Yes,' added Fergus, 'Clem told me. There are the dogs eating Jezebel,
+and such a jolly picture of the lion killing the prophet. I do want to
+see them! Varley told me!'
+
+'And Kitty told me,' added Valetta. 'She is reading such a book to them.
+It is called The Beautiful Face, and is all about two children in a
+wood, and a horrid old grandmother and a dear old hermit, and a wicked
+baron in a castle! Do let us go, Gillyflower.
+
+'Yes,' said Fergus; 'it would be ever so much better fun than poking
+here.'
+
+'You don't want fun on Sunday.'
+
+'Not fun exactly, but it is nicer.'
+
+'To leave me, the last bit of home, and mamma's own lessons.'
+
+'They ain't mamma's,' protested Fergus; but Valetta was touched by the
+tears in Gillian's eyes, kissed her, and declared, 'Not that.'
+
+Whether it were on purpose or not, the next Sunday was eminently
+unsuccessful; the Collects were imperfect, the answers in the Catechism
+recurred to disused babyish blunders; Fergus twisted himself into
+preternatural attitudes, and Valetta teased the Sofy to scratching
+point, they yawned ferociously at The Birthday, and would not be
+interested even in the pony's death. Then when they went out walking,
+they would not hear of the sober Rockstone lane, but insisted on the
+esplanade, where they fell in with the redoubtable Stebbing, who chose
+to patronise instead of bullying 'little Merry'--and took him off to the
+tide mark--to the agony of his sisters, when they heard the St. Andrew's
+bell.
+
+At last, when the tempter had gone off to higher game, Fergus's Sunday
+boots and stockings were such a mass of black mud that Gillian had to
+drag him home in disgrace, sending Valetta into church alone. She would
+have put him to bed on her own responsibility, but she could not master
+him; he tumbled about the room, declaring Aunt Jane would do no such
+thing, rolled up his stockings in a ball, and threw them in his sister's
+face.
+
+Gillian retired in tears, which she let no one see, not even Aunt Ada,
+and proceeded to record in her letter to India that those dreadful boys
+were quite ruining Fergus, and Aunt Jane was spoiling him.
+
+However, Aunt Jane, having heard what had become of the youth, met
+him in no spoiling mood; and though she never knew of his tussle with
+Gillian, she spoke to him very seriously, shut him into his own room, to
+learn thoroughly what he had neglected in the morning, and allowed him
+no jam at tea. She said nothing to Gillian, but there were inferences.
+
+The lessons went no better on the following Sunday; Gillian could
+neither enforce her authority nor interest the children. She avoided
+the esplanade, thinking she had found a nice country walk to the common
+beyond the marble works; but, behold, there was an outbreak of drums
+and trumpets and wild singing. The Salvation Army was marching that way,
+and, what was worse, yells and cat-calls behind showed that the Skeleton
+Army was on its way to meet them. Gillian, frightened almost out of her
+wits, managed to fly over an impracticable-looking gate into a field
+with her children, but Fergus wanted to follow the drum. After that she
+gave in. The children went to Mrs. Hablot, and Gillian thought she saw
+'I told you so' in the corners of Aunt Jane's eyes.
+
+It was a further offence that her aunt strongly recommended her going
+regularly to the High School instead of only attending certain classes.
+It would give her far more chance of success at the examination to work
+with others and her presence would be good for Valetta. But to reduce
+her to a schoolgirl was to be resented on Miss Vincent's account as well
+as her own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. -- THE QUEEN OF THE WHITE ANTS
+
+
+
+The High School was very large. It stood at present at the end of a
+budding branch of Rockquay, where the managers, assisted by the funds
+advanced by Lord Rotherwood and that great invisible potentate, the head
+of the marble works, had secured and adapted a suitable house, and a
+space round it well walled in.
+
+The various classes of students did not see much of each other, except
+those who were day boarders and spent the midday recreation time
+together. Even those in the same form were only together in school, as
+the dressing-room of those who dined there was separate from that of the
+others, and they did not come in and out at the same time. Valetta had
+thus only really made friends with two or three more Rockstone girls of
+about her own age besides Kitty Yarley, with whom she went backwards and
+forwards every day, under the escort provided in turn by the families of
+the young ladies.
+
+Gillian's studies were for three hours in the week at the High School,
+and on two afternoons she learnt from the old organist at Rockstone
+Church. She went and came alone, except when Miss Mohun happened to
+join her, and that was not often, 'For,' said that lady to her sister,
+'Gillian always looks as if she thought I was acting spy upon her. I
+wish I could get on with that girl; I begin to feel almost as poor Lily
+did with Dolores.'
+
+'She is a very good girl,' said Miss Adeline.
+
+'So she is; and that makes it all the more trying to be treated like the
+Grand Inquisitor.'
+
+'Shall I speak to her? She is always as pleasant as possible with me.'
+
+'Oh no, don't. It would only make it worse, and prevent you from having
+her confidence.'
+
+'Ah, Jane, I have often thought your one want was gentleness,' said Miss
+Ada, with the gesture of her childhood--her head a little on one side.
+'And, besides, don't you know what Reggie used to call your ferret look?
+Well, I suppose you can't help it, but when you want to know a thing and
+are refraining from asking questions, you always have it more or less.'
+
+'Thank you, Ada. There's nothing like brothers and sisters for telling
+one home-truths. I suppose it is the penalty of having been a regular
+Paul Pry in my childhood, in spite of poor Eleanor making me learn
+"Meddlesome Matty" as soon as I could speak. I always _do_ and always
+_shall_ have ringing in my ears--
+
+
+          '"Oh! what a pretty box is this,
+            I'll open it," said little Miss.'
+
+
+'Well, you know you always do know or find out everything about
+everybody, and it is very useful.'
+
+'Useful as a bloodhound is, eh?'
+
+'Oh no, not that, Jenny.'
+
+'As a ferret, or a terrier, perhaps. I suppose I cannot help that,
+though,' she added, rather sadly. 'I have tried hard to cure the slander
+and gossip that goes with curiosity. I am sorry it results in repulsion
+with that girl; but I suppose I can only go on and let her find out that
+my bark, or my eye, is worse than my bite.'
+
+'You are so good, so everything, Jenny,' said Adeline, 'that I am sure
+you will have her confidence in time, if only you won't poke after it.'
+
+Which made Miss Mohun laugh, though her heart was heavy, for she had
+looked forward to having a friend and companion in the young generation.
+
+Gillian meantime went her way.
+
+One morning, after her mathematical class was over, she was delayed
+for about ten minutes by the head mistress, to whom she had brought a
+message from her aunt, and thus did not come out at noon at the same
+time as the day scholars. On issuing into the street, where as yet there
+was hardly any traffic, except what was connected with the two schools,
+she perceived that a party of boys were besetting a little girl who was
+trying to turn down the cross road to Bellevue, barring her way, and
+executing a derisive war-dance around her, and when she, almost crying,
+made an attempt to dash by, pulling at her plaited tail, with
+derisive shouts, even Gillian's call, 'Boys, boys, how can you be so
+disgraceful!' did not check them. One made a face and put his tongue
+out, while the biggest called out, 'Thank you, teacher,' and Gillian
+perceived to her horror, that they were no street boys, but Mrs.
+Edgar's, and that Fergus was one of them. That he cried in dismay,
+'Don't, Stebbing! It's my sister,' was no consolation, as she charged in
+among them, catching hold of her brother, as she said,
+
+'I could not believe that you could behave in such a disgraceful
+manner!'
+
+All the other tormentors rushed away headlong, except Stebbing, who, in
+some compunction, said--
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Merrifield, I had no notion it was you.'
+
+'You are making it no better,' said Gillian. 'The gentlemen I am used
+to know how to behave properly to any woman or girl. My father would be
+very sorry that my brother has been thrown into such company.'
+
+And she walked away with her head extremely high, having certainly given
+Master Stebbing a good lesson. Fergus ran after her. 'Gill, Gill, you
+won't tell.'
+
+'I don't think I ever was more shocked in my life,' returned Gillian.
+
+'But, Gill, she's a nasty, stuck-up, conceited little ape, that Maura
+White, or whatever her ridiculous name is. They pretend her father was
+an officer, but he was really a bad cousin of old Mr. White's that ran
+away; and her mother is not a lady--a great fat disgusting woman, half a
+nigger; and Mr. White let her brother and sister be in the marble works
+out of charity, because they have no father, and she hasn't any business
+to be at the High School.'
+
+'White, did you say? Maura White!' exclaimed Gillian. 'Captain White
+dead! Oh, Fergus! it must be Captain White. He was in the dear old Royal
+Wardours, and papa thought so much of him! To think of your going and
+treating his daughter in that shocking way!'
+
+'It was what Stebbing said,' gruffly answered Fergus.
+
+'If you let yourself be led by these horrid cads--'
+
+'He is no such thing! He is the crack bat of Edgar's--'
+
+'A boy is a cad who can't behave himself to a girl because she is poor.
+I really think the apology to me was the worst part or the matter. He
+only treats people well when he sees they can take care of themselves.'
+
+'I'll tell him about Captain White,' said Fergus, a little abashed.
+
+'Yes. And I will get the aunts to call on Mrs. White, and that may help
+them to a better level among these vulgar folk.'
+
+'But you won't--' said Fergus, with an expressive pause.
+
+'I won't get you into trouble, for I think you are sorry you treated one
+of our own in such a manner.'
+
+'I wouldn't, indeed, if I had known.'
+
+'I shall only explain that I have found out whom Maura belongs to. I
+should go and see them at once, only I must make Val find out where she
+lives.'
+
+So Gillian returned home, communicating the intelligence with some
+excitement that she had discovered that Valetta's schoolmate, Maura
+White, was none other than the daughter of her father's old
+fellow-soldier, whose death shocked her greatly, and she requested to go
+and call on Mrs. White as soon as she could learn her abode.
+
+However, it seemed to be impossible that any one should live in
+Rockstone unknown to Aunt Jane.
+
+'White?' she said. 'It can't be the Whites down by Cliffside. No;
+there's a father there, though he generally only comes down for Sunday.'
+
+'I am sure there are some Whites on the Library list,' said Miss Ada.
+
+'Oh yes; but she washes! I know who they must be. I know in Bellevue
+there are some; but they go to the Kennel Church. Didn't you come home,
+Ada, from that function you went to with Florence, raving about the
+handsome youth in the choir?'
+
+'Oh yes, we thought it such an uncommon, foreign face, and he looked
+quite inspired when he was singing his solo.'
+
+'Yes; I found out that his name was White, a clerk or something in the
+marble works, and that he had a mother and sister living at Bellevue. I
+did see the sister when I went to get the marble girls into the G.F.S.,
+but she said something foolish about her mother not liking it.'
+
+'Yes; nobody under the St. Kenelm influence ever will come into the
+G.F.S.'
+
+'But what is she doing?' asked Gillian. 'Do you mean Kalliope?'
+
+'I suppose I do. I saw a rather nice-looking young woman in the
+department where they make Florentine mosaic, and I believe they said
+she was Miss White, but she cut me off very short with her mother, so I
+had no more to do with her.'
+
+'I am sure mamma would wish me to call on Mrs. White,' said Gillian.
+
+'There's no reason against it,' said Aunt Jane. 'I will go with you the
+first day I can.'
+
+When would that be, wondered Gillian. She told Valetta to talk to
+Maura and learn the name of the house; and this was ascertained to be 3
+Ivinghoe Terrace, Bellevue Road, but Val had very little opportunity of
+cultivating the acquaintance of town girls, who did not stay to dinner,
+as she had to go home immediately after school, under Emma Norton's
+escort, and perhaps she was not very ardent in the cause, for Kitty
+Varley and her other friends did not like the child, and she was more
+swayed by them than perhaps she liked to confess to her sister.
+
+Each morning at breakfast Gillian hoped that Aunt Jane would lay out her
+day so as to call on Mrs. White; but first there was the working party,
+then came the mothers' meeting, followed by afternoon tea at Mrs.
+Hablot's for some parish council. On the third day, which might have
+been clear, 'a miserable creature,' as Gillian mentally called her,
+wrote to beg the Misses Mohun to bring themselves and her niece to
+make up a lawn-tennis set, since some one had failed. Gillian vainly
+protested that she did not care about lawn tennis, and could not play
+unless Jasper was her partner; and Aunt Jane so far sided with her as to
+say it was very inconvenient, and on such short notice they ought not to
+be expected. But Aunt Ada clearly wanted to go; and so they went. It was
+a beautiful place, but Gillian could not enjoy herself, partly because
+she knew so few of the people, but more because she was vexed and
+displeased about the Whites. She played very badly; but Aunt Jane, when
+pressed into the service, skipped about with her little light figure and
+proved herself such a splendid player, doing it so entirely con amore,
+that Gillian could not but say to herself, 'She was bent on going; it
+was all humbug her pretending to want to refuse.'
+
+That afternoon's dissipation had made it needful to do double work the
+next day, and Gillian was again disappointed. Then came Saturday, when
+Miss Mohun was never available, nor was she on Monday; and when it
+appeared that she had to go to a meeting at the Cathedral town on
+Tuesday, Gillian grew desperate, and at her tete-a-tete meal with Aunt
+Ada, related the whole history of the Whites, and her great desire to
+show kindness to her father's old brother-officer's family, and how much
+she was disappointed.
+
+Miss Adeline was touched, and indeed, fond as she was of her sister, she
+could not help being flattered by Gillian's preference and confidence.
+
+'Well, my deal, this is a nice day, not too hot or too cold; I do not
+see why I should not walk down with you and call. If I find it too far,
+we can take a cab to go back.'
+
+'Oh, thank you, Aunt Ada; it is very very kind of you, and there is no
+knowing when Aunt Jane may be able to go. I don't like to close up my
+Indian letter till I can say I have seen them.'
+
+Gillian fidgeted a good deal lest, before her aunt's postprandial repose
+was over, visitors should come and put a stop to everything, and she
+looked ready to cut the throat of a poor lady in a mushroom hat, who
+came up to leave a message for Miss Mohun about a possible situation for
+one of her class of boys.
+
+However, at last they started, Kunz and all, Miss Adeline quite infected
+by Gillian's excitement.
+
+'So your father and mother were very fond of them.'
+
+'Papa thought very highly of him, and was very sorry he had to return,'
+said Gillian.
+
+'And she was a beautiful Greek.'
+
+Gillian began to be quite afraid of what she might have said.
+
+'I don't think she is more than half Greek,' she said. 'I believe her
+mother was a Gorfiote, but her father was English or Irish. I believe he
+kept a shop in Malta.'
+
+'Quite a mixture of nationalities then, and no wonder she is beautiful.
+That youth had a very striking profile; it quite reminded me of a gem as
+I saw it against the dark pillar.'
+
+'I did not say she was very beautiful now,' said Gillian, feeling a
+qualm as she recollected the Queen of the White Ants, and rather oddly
+divided between truthfulness, fear of alarming her aunt into turning
+back, and desire of giving her a little preparation.
+
+'Ah! those southern beauties soon go on. Some one told me that Lord
+Byron's "Maid of Athens," whose portrait I used to think the loveliest
+thing in the world, became a great stout woman, but was quite a mother
+to all the young Englishmen about. I remember I used to try to hold my
+head and keep my eyelids down like the engraving in an old book that had
+been my mother's.'
+
+'Oh! I think I have seen it at Beechcroft,' said Gillian, very much
+amused, for she now perceived whence arose Aunt Ada's peculiar turn of
+the head and droop of the eyelashes, and how the conscious affectation
+of childhood had become unconsciously crystallised.
+
+She grew more and more anxious as they found some difficulty in making
+out Ivinghoe Terrace, and found it at last to be a row of rather
+dilapidated little houses, apparently built of lath and stucco, and
+of that peculiar meanness only attained by the modern suburb. Aunt Ada
+evidently did not like it at all, and owned herself almost ready to
+turn back, being sure that Valetta must have made some mistake. Gillian
+repeated that she had always said the Whites were very poor, but she
+began to feel that her impatience had misled her, and that she would
+have been better off with the aunt who was used to such places, and
+whose trim browns and crimsons were always appropriate everywhere,
+rather than this dainty figure in delicate hues that looked only fit for
+the Esplanade or the kettledrum, and who was becoming seriously uneasy,
+as Kunz, in his fresh snowiness, was disposed to make researches among
+vulgar remains of crabs and hakes, and was with difficulty restrained
+from disputing them with a very ignoble and spiteful yellow cur of low
+degree.
+
+No. 3, with its blistered wall and rusty rail, was attained, Kunz was
+brought within the enclosure, and Gillian knocked as sharply and fast as
+she could, in the fear that her aunt might yet turn about and escape.
+
+The door was opened with a rapidity that gave the impression that they
+had been watched, but it was by a very untidy-looking small maid, and
+the parlour into which they were turned had most manifestly been lately
+used as the family dining-room, and was redolent of a mixture of onion,
+cabbage, and other indescribable odours.
+
+Nobody was there, except a black and white cat, who showed symptoms of
+flying at Kunz, but thought better of it, and escaped by the window,
+which fortunately was open, though the little maid would have shut it,
+but for Miss Adeline's gasping and peremptory entreaty to the contrary.
+She sat on the faded sofa, looking as if she just existed by the help of
+her fan and scent-bottle, and when Gillian directed her attention to
+the case of clasps and medals and the photograph of the fine-looking
+officer, she could only sigh out, 'Oh, my dear!'
+
+There was a certain air of taste in the arrangement of the few
+chimney-piece ornaments, and Gillian was pleased to see the two large
+photographs of her father and mother which Captain White had so much
+valued as parting gifts. A few drawings reminded her of the School of
+Art at Belfast, and there was a vase of wild flowers and ferns prettily
+arranged, but otherwise everything was wretchedly faded and dreary.
+
+Then came the opening of the door, and into the room rolled, rather than
+advanced, something of stupendous breadth, which almost took Gillian's
+breath away, as she durst not look to see the effect on her aunt. If
+the Queen of the White Ants had been stout before, what was she now?
+Whatever her appearance had been in the days of comparative prosperity,
+with a husband to keep her up to the mark, and a desire to rank with the
+officers' wives, she had let everything go in widowhood, poverty, and
+neglect; and as she stood panting in her old shiny black alpaca, the
+only thing Gillian recalled about her like old times was the black
+lace veil thrown mantilla fashion over her head; but now it was over
+a widow's cap, and a great deal rustier than of old. Of the lovely
+foreigner nothing else remained except the dark eyes, and that sort of
+pasty sallow whiteness that looks at if for generations past cold water
+and fresh air had been unknown. There was no accent more interesting in
+her voice than a soupcon of her Irish father as she began, 'I am sorry
+to have kept the lady so long waiting. Was it about the girl's character
+that you came?'
+
+'Oh no, Mrs. White, interrupted Gillian, her shyness overpowered by the
+necessity of throwing herself into the breach. 'Don't you remember me? I
+am Gillian Merrifield, and this is my aunt, Miss Adeline Mohun.'
+
+The puffy features lighted up into warmth. 'Little Miss Gillian! And I
+am proud to see you! My little Maura did tell me that Miss Valetta was
+in her class at the High School; but I thought there was no one now
+who would come near the poor widow. And is your dear mamma here, Miss
+Gillian, and are she and your papa quite well?'
+
+Gillian could hardly believe in such dense remoteness that her father's
+accident should be unknown, but she explained all, and met with abundant
+sympathy, the dark eyes filled with tears, and the voice broke into
+sobs, as Mrs. White declared that Sir Jasper and Lady Merrifield had
+been the best friends she ever had in her life.
+
+But oh! that the handkerchief had been less grimy with which she mopped
+her eyes, as she spoke of the happy days that were gone! Gillian saw
+that poor Aunt Ada was in an agony to get away, and hurried out her
+questions for fear of being stopped. 'How was Kalliope--was she at
+home?'
+
+'Oh no, poor Kally, she is the best girl in the world. I always say
+that, with all my sorrows, no one ever was more blest in their children
+than poor little me. Richard, my eldest, is in a lawyer's office at
+Leeds. Kally is employed in the art department, just as a compliment to
+her relation, Mr. White. Quite genteel, superior work, though I must say
+he does not do as much for us as he might. Such a youth as my Alexis now
+was surely worthy of the position of a gentleman.'
+
+The good lady was quite disposed to talk; but there was no making out,
+through her cloud of confused complaints, what her son and daughter were
+actually doing; and Aunt Ada, while preserving her courtesy, was very
+anxious to be gone, and rose to take leave at the first moment possible,
+though after she was on her feet Mrs. White detained her for some time
+with apologies about not returning her visit. She was in such weak
+health, so unequal to walking up the cliff, that she was sure Miss Mohun
+would excuse her, though Alexis and Kally would be perfectly delighted
+to hear of Miss Gillian's kindness.
+
+Gillian had not made out half what she wanted to know, nor effected
+any arrangement for seeing Kalliope, when she found herself out in the
+street, and her aunt panting with relief. 'My dear, that woman! You
+don't mean that your mother was fond of her.'
+
+'I never said mamma was fond of her.'
+
+'My dear, excuse me. It was the only reason for letting you drag me
+here. I was almost stifled. What a night I shall have!'
+
+'I am very sorry, Aunt Ada, but, indeed, I never said that mamma was
+fond of her, only that papa thought very highly of her husband, and
+wished us to be kind to her.'
+
+'Well, you gave me that impression, whether you wished it or not! Such a
+hole; and I'm sure she drinks gin!'
+
+'Oh no, aunt!'
+
+'I can't be mistaken! I really was afraid she was going to kiss you!'
+
+'I do wish I could have made out about Alexis and Kalliope.'
+
+'Oh, my dear, just working like all the lot, though she shuffled about
+it. I see what they are like, and the less you see of them the better.
+I declare I am more tired than if I had walked a mile. How am I ever to
+get up the hill again?'
+
+'I am sorry, aunt,' said Gillian. 'Will you take my arm? Perhaps we may
+meet Kalliope, if the marble people come out at four or five. What's
+that bell?' as a little tinkle was heard.
+
+'That's St. Kenelm's! Oh! you would like to go there, and it would rest
+me; only there's Kunz.'
+
+'I should like to see it very much,' said Gillian.
+
+'Well,' said Aunt Ada, who certainly seemed to have something of the
+'cat's away' feeling about her, and, moreover, trusted to avoid meeting
+Kalliope. 'Just round the corner here is Mrs. Webb's, who used to live
+with us before she married, Kunz will be happy with her. Won't he, my
+doggie, like to go and see his old Jessie?'
+
+So Kunz was disposed of with a very pleasant, neat-looking woman, who
+begged Miss Adeline to come and have some tea after the service.
+
+It was really a beautiful little church--'a little gem' was exactly the
+term that suggested itself--very ornate, and the chief lack being of
+repose, for there seemed not an inch devoid of colour or carving. There
+was a choir of boys in short surplices and blue cassocks, and a very
+musical service, in the course of which it was discovered to be the
+Feast of St. Remigius, for after the Lesson a short discourse was given
+on the Conversion of Clovis, not forgetting the sacred ampulla.
+
+There were about five ladies present and six old women, belonging to
+a home maintained by Lady Flight. The young priest, her son, had a
+beautiful voice, and Gillian enjoyed all very much, and thought the St.
+Andrew's people very hard and unjust; but all this went out of her
+head in the porch, for while Lady Flight was greeting Miss Mohun with
+empressement, and inviting her to come in to tea, Gillian had seen a
+young woman who had come in late and had been kneeling behind them.
+
+Turning back and holding out her hands, she exclaimed--
+
+'Kalliope! I so wanted to see you.'
+
+'Miss Gillian Merrifield,' was the response. 'Maura told me you were
+here, but I hardly hoped to see you.'
+
+'How can I see you? Where are you? Busy?'
+
+'I am at the marble works all day--in the mosaic department. Oh, Miss
+Gillian, I owe it all to Miss Merrifield's encouraging me to go to the
+School of Art. How is she? And I hope you have good accounts of Sir
+Jasper?'
+
+'He is better, and I hope my mother is just arriving. That's why we are
+here; and Alethea and Phyllis are out there. They will want to know all
+about you.'
+
+At that moment Aunt Adeline looked round, having succeeded in persuading
+Lady Flight that she had another engagement. She saw a young woman in
+a shabby black dress, with a bag in her hand, and a dark fringe over
+a complexion of clear brown, straight features, to whom Gillian was
+eagerly talking.
+
+'Ah!' she said, as Mr. Flight now came up from the vestry; 'do you know
+anything of that girl?'
+
+'Second-rate people, somewhere in Bellevue,' said the lady.
+
+'The brother is my best tenor,' said Mr. Flight. 'She is very often at
+St. Kenelm's, but I do not know any more of her. The mother either goes
+to Bellevue or nowhere. They are in Bellevue Parish.'
+
+This was quite sufficient answer, for any interference with parochial
+visiting in the Bellevue district was forbidden.
+
+Aunt Ada called to Gillian, and when she eagerly said, 'This is
+Kalliope, aunt,' only responded with a stiff bow.
+
+'I do not know what these people might have been, Gillian,' she said, as
+they pursued their way to Mrs. Webb's; 'but--they must have sunk so low
+that I do not think your mother can wish you to have anything to do with
+them.
+
+'Oh, Aunt Ada! Kalliope was always such a good girl!'
+
+'She has a fringe. And she would not belong to the G.F.S.,' said Aunt
+Ada. 'No, my dear, I see exactly the sort of people they are. Your aunt
+Jane might be useful to them, if they would let her, but they are not at
+all fit for you to associate with.'
+
+Gillian chafed inwardly, but she was beginning to learn that Aunt Ada
+was more impenetrable than Aunt Jane, and, what was worse, Aunt Jane
+always stood by her sister's decision, whether she would have herself
+originated it or not.
+
+When the elder aunt came home, and heard the history of their day, and
+Gillian tried to put in a word, she said--
+
+'My dear, we all know that rising from the ranks puts a man's family
+in a false position, and they generally fall back again. All this is
+unlucky, for they do not seem to be people it is possible to get at,
+and now you have paid your kind act of attention, there is no more to be
+done till you can hear from Ceylon about them.'
+
+Gillian was silenced by the united forces of the aunts.
+
+'It really was a horrid place,' said Aunt Ada, when alone with her
+sister; 'and such a porpoise of a woman! Gillian should not have
+represented her as a favourite.'
+
+'I do not remember that she did so,' returned Aunt Jane. 'I wish she
+had waited for me. I have seen more of the kind of thing than you have,
+Ada.'
+
+'I am sure I wish she had. I don't know when I shall get over the
+stifling of that den; but it was just as if they were her dearest
+friends.'
+
+'Girls will be silly! And there's a feeling about the old regiment too.
+I can excuse her, though I wish she had not been so impatient. I fancy
+that eldest daughter is really a good girl and the mainstay of the
+family.'
+
+'But she would have nothing to do with you or the G.F.S.'
+
+'If I had known that her father had been an officer, I might have
+approached her differently. However, I will ask Lily about their
+antecedents, and in six weeks we shall know what is to be done about
+them.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. -- MARBLES
+
+
+
+Six weeks seem a great deal longer to sixteen than to six-and-forty,
+and Gillian groaned and sighed to herself as she wrote her letters, and
+assured herself that so far from her having done enough in the way of
+attention to the old soldier's family, she had simply done enough to
+mark her neglect and disdain.
+
+'Grizzling' (to use an effective family phrase) under opposition is a
+grand magnifier; and it was not difficult to erect poor Captain White
+into a hero, his wife into a patient sufferer, and Alethea's kindness
+to his daughter into a bosom friendship; while the aunts seemed to be
+absurdly fastidious and prejudiced. 'I don't wonder at Aunt Ada,' she
+said to herself; 'I know she has always been kept under a glass case;
+but I thought better things of Aunt Jane. It is all because Kalliope
+goes to St. Kenelm's, and won't be in the G.F.S.'
+
+And all the time Gillian was perfectly unaware of her own family
+likeness to Dolores. Other matters conduced to a certain spirit of
+opposition to Aunt Jane. That the children should have to use the back
+instead of the front stair when coming in with dusty or muddy shoes,
+and that their possessions should be confiscated for the rest of the day
+when left about in the sitting-rooms and hall, were contingencies she
+could accept as natural, though they irritated her; but she agreed with
+Valetta that it was hard to insist on half an hour's regular work at
+the cushion, which was not a lesson, but play. She was angered when
+Aunt Jane put a stop to some sportive passes and chatter on the stairs
+between Valetta and Alice Mount, and still more so when her aunt took
+away Adam Bede from the former, as not desirable reading at eleven years
+old.
+
+It was only the remembrance of her mother's positive orders that
+withheld Gillian from the declaration that mamma always let them read
+George Eliot; and in a cooler moment of reflection she was glad she
+had abstained, for she recollected that _always_ was limited to mamma's
+having read most of Romola aloud to her and Mysie, and to her having had
+Silas Marner to read when she was unwell in lodgings, and there was a
+scarcity of books.
+
+Such miffs about her little sister were in the natural order of things,
+and really it was the 'all pervadingness,' as she called it in her own
+mind, of Aunt Jane that chiefly worried her, the way that the little
+lady knew everything that was done, and everything that was touched in
+the house; but as long as Valetta took refuge with herself, and grumbled
+to her, it was bearable.
+
+It was different with Fergus. There had been offences certainly; Aunt
+Jane had routed him out of preparing his lessons in Mrs. Mount's room,
+where he diversified them with teaching the Sofy to beg, and inventing
+new modes of tying down jam pots. Moreover, she had declared that
+Gillian's exemplary patience was wasted and harmful when she found that
+they had taken three-quarters of an hour over three tenses of a Greek
+verb, and that he said it worse on the seventh repetition than on the
+first. After an evening, when Gillian had gone to a musical party with
+Aunt Ada, and Fergus did his lessons under Aunt Jane's superintendence,
+he utterly cast off his sister's aid. There was something in Miss
+Mohun's briskness that he found inspiring, and she put in apt words or
+illustrations, instead of only rousing herself from a book to listen,
+prompt, and sigh. He found that he did his tasks more thoroughly in half
+the time, and rose in his class; and busy as his aunt was, she made the
+time not only for this, but for looking over with him those plates of
+mechanics in the Encyclopaedia, which were a mere maze to Gillian, but
+of which she knew every detail, from ancient studies with her brother
+Maurice. As Fergus wrote to his mother, 'Aunt Jane is the only woman who
+has any natural _scence_.'
+
+Gillian could not but see this as she prepared the letters for the post,
+and whatever the ambiguous word might be meant for, she had rather not
+have seen it, for she really was ashamed of her secret annoyance at
+Fergus's devotion to Aunt Jane, knowing how well it was that Stebbing
+should have a rival in his affections. Yet she could not help being
+provoked when the boy followed his aunt to the doors of her cottages
+like a little dog, and waited outside whenever she would let him, for
+the sake of holding forth to her about something which wheels and plugs
+and screws were to do. Was it possible that Miss Mohun followed it all?
+His great desire was to go over the marble works, and she had promised
+to take him when it could be done; but, unfortunately, his half-holiday
+was on Saturday, when the workmen struck off early, and when also Aunt
+Jane always had the pupil-teachers for something between instruction and
+amusement.
+
+Gillian felt lonely, for though she got on better with her younger than
+her elder aunt, and had plenty of surface intercourse of a pleasant kind
+with both, it was a very poor substitute for her mother, or her elder
+sisters, and Valetta was very far from being a Mysie.
+
+The worst time was Sunday, when the children had deserted her for Mrs.
+Hablot, and Aunt Ada was always lying down in her own room to rest after
+morning service. She might have been at the Sunday-school, but she
+did not love teaching, nor do it well, and she did not fancy the town
+children, or else there was something of opposition to Aunt Jane.
+
+It was a beautiful afternoon, of the first Sunday in October, and she
+betook herself to the garden with the 'Lyra Innocentium' in her hand,
+meaning to learn the poem for the day. She wandered up to the rail above
+the cliff, looking out to the sea. Here, beyond the belt of tamarisks
+and other hardy low-growing shrubs which gave a little protection from
+the winds, the wall dividing the garden of Beechcroft Cottage from that
+of Cliff House became low, with only the iron-spiked railing on the
+top, as perhaps there was a desire not to overload the cliff. The sea
+was of a lovely colour that day, soft blue, and with exquisite purple
+shadows of clouds, with ripples of golden sparkles here and there near
+the sun, and Gillian stood leaning against the rail, gazing out on it,
+with a longing, yearning feeling towards the dear ones who had gone
+out upon it, when she became conscious that some one was in the other
+garden, which she had hitherto thought quite deserted, and looking
+round, she saw a figure in black near the rail. Their eyes met, and both
+together exclaimed--
+
+'Kalliope!'--'Miss Gillian! Oh, I beg your pardon!'
+
+'How did you come here? I thought nobody did!'
+
+'Mr. White's gardener lets us walk here. It is so nice and quiet. Alexis
+has taken the younger ones for a walk, but I was too much tired. But I
+will not disturb you--'
+
+'Oh! don't go away. Nobody will disturb us, and I do so want to know
+about you all. I had no notion, nor mamma either, that you were living
+here, or--'
+
+'Or of my dear father's death!' said Kalliope, as Gillian stopped short,
+confused. 'I did write to Miss Merrifield, but the letter was returned.'
+
+'But where did you write?'
+
+'To Swanage, where she had written to me last.'
+
+'Oh! we were only there for six weeks, while we were looking for houses;
+I suppose it was just as the Wardours were gone to Natal too?'
+
+'Yes, we knew they were out of reach.'
+
+'But do tell me about it, if you do not mind. My father will want to
+hear.'
+
+Kalliope told all in a calm, matter-of-fact way, but with a strain of
+deep suppressed feeling. She was about twenty-three, a girl with a fine
+outline of features, beautiful dark eyes, and a clear brown skin, who
+would have been very handsome if she had looked better fed and less
+hardworked. Her Sunday dress showed wear and adaptation, but she was
+altogether ladylike, and even the fringe that had startled Aunt Ada only
+consisted of little wavy curls on the temples, increasing her classical
+look.
+
+'It was fever--at Leeds. My father was just going into a situation in
+the police that we had been waiting for ever so long, and there were
+good schools, and Richard had got into a lawyer's office, when there
+began a terrible fever in our street--the drains were to blame, they
+said--and every one of us had it, except mother and Richard, who did not
+sleep at home. We lost poor little Mary first, and then papa seemed to
+be getting better; but he was anxious about expense, and there was no
+persuading him to take nourishment enough. I do believe it was that. And
+he had a relapse--and--'
+
+'Oh, poor Kalliope! And we never heard of it!'
+
+'I did feel broken down when the letter to Miss Merrifield came back,'
+said Kalliope. 'But my father had made me write to Mr. James White--not
+that we had any idea that he had grown so rich. He and my father were
+first cousins, sons of two brothers who were builders; but there was
+some dispute, and it ended by my father going away and enlisting. There
+was nobody nearer to him, and he never heard any more of his home; but
+when he was so ill, he thought he would like to be reconciled to "Jem,"
+as he said, so he made me write from his dictation. Such a beautiful
+letter it was, and he added a line at the end himself. Then at last,
+when it was almost too late, Mr. White answered. I believe it was a mere
+chance--or rather Providence--that he ever knew it was meant for him,
+but there were kind words enough to cheer up my father at the last. I
+believe then the clergyman wrote to him.'
+
+'Did not he come near you?'
+
+'No, I have never seen him; but there was a correspondence between him
+and Mr. Moore, the clergyman, and Richard, and he said he was willing
+to put us in the way of working for ourselves, if--if--we were not too
+proud.'
+
+'Then he did it in an unkind way,' said Gillian.
+
+'I try to think he did not mean to be otherwise than good to us. I told
+Mr. Moore that I was not fit to be a governess, and I did not think they
+could get on without me at home, but that I could draw better than I
+would do anything else, and perhaps I might get Christmas cards to do,
+or something like that. Mr. Moore sent a card or two of my designing,
+and then Mr. White said he could find work for me in the mosaic
+department here; and something for my brothers, if we did not give
+ourselves airs. So we came.'
+
+'Not Richard?' said Gillian, who remembered dimly that Richard had not
+been held in great esteem by her own brothers.
+
+'No; Richard is in a good situation, so it was settled that he should
+stay on there.'
+
+'And you--'
+
+'I am in the mosaic department. Oh, Miss Gillian, I am so grateful to
+Miss Merrifield. Don't you remember her looking at my little attempts,
+and persuading Lady Merrifield to get mother to let me go to the School
+of Art? I began only as the girls do who are mere hands, and now I have
+to prepare all the designs for them, and have a nice little office of my
+own for it. Sometimes I get one of my own designs taken, and then I am
+paid extra.'
+
+'Then do you maintain them all?'
+
+'Oh no; we have lodgers, the organist and his wife,' said Kalliope,
+laughing, 'and Alexis is in the telegraph office, at the works; besides,
+it turned out that this house and two more belong to us, and we do very
+well when the tenants pay their rents.'
+
+'But Maura is not the youngest of you,' said Gillian, who was rather
+hazy about the family.
+
+'No, there are the two little boys. We let them go to the National
+School for the present. It is a great trial to my poor mother, but they
+do learn well there, and we may be able to do something better for them
+by the time they are old enough for further education.'
+
+Just then the sound of a bell coming up from the town below was
+a warning to both that the conversation must be broken off. A few
+words--'I am so glad to have seen you,' and 'It has been such a
+pleasure'--passed, and then each hastened down her separate garden path.
+
+'Must I tell of this meeting?' Gillian asked herself. 'I shall write it
+all to mamma and Alethea, of course. How delightful that those lessons
+that Kalliope had have come to be of so much use! How pleased Alethea
+will be! Poor dear thing! How much she has gone through! But can there
+be any need to tell the aunts? Would it not just make Aunt Ada nervous
+about any one looking through her sweet and lovely wall? And as to Aunt
+Jane, I really don't see that I am bound to gratify her passion for
+knowing everything. I am not accountable to her, but to my own mother.
+My people know all about Kalliope, and she is prejudiced. Why should I
+be unkind and neglectful of an old fellow-soldier's family, because she
+cannot or will not understand what they really are? It would not be
+the slightest use to tell her the real story. Mrs. White is fat, and
+Kalliope has a fringe, goes to St. Kenelm's, and won't be in the G.F.S.,
+and that's enough to make her say she does not believe a word of it, or
+else to make it a fresh ground for poking and prying, in the way that
+drives one distracted! It really is quite a satis-faction to have
+something that she can't find out, and it is not underhand while I write
+every word of it to mamma.'
+
+So Gillian made her conscience easy, and she did write a long and full
+account of the Whites and their troubles, and of her conversation with
+Kalliope.
+
+In the course of that week Fergus had a holiday, asked for by some
+good-natured visitor of Mrs. Edgar's. He rushed home on the previous
+day with the news, to claim Aunt Jane's promise; and she undertook so
+to arrange matters as to be ready to go with him to the marble works at
+three o'clock. Valetta could not go, as she had her music lesson at that
+time, and she did not regret it, for she had an idea that blasting with
+powder or dynamite was always going on there. Gillian was not quite
+happy about the dynamite, but she did not like to forego the chance of
+seeing what the work of Kalliope and Alexis really was, so she expressed
+her willingness to join the party, and in the meantime did her best to
+prevent Aunt Ada from being driven distracted by Fergus's impatience,
+which began at half-past two.
+
+Miss Mohun had darted out as soon as dinner was over, and he was quite
+certain some horrible cad would detain her till four o'clock, and then
+going would be of no use. Nevertheless he was miserable till Gillian had
+put on her hat, and then she could do nothing that would content him and
+keep him out of Aunt Ada's way, but walk him up and down in the little
+front court with the copper beeches, while she thought they must present
+to the neighbours a lively tableau of a couple of leopards in a cage.
+
+However, precisely as the clock struck three, Aunt Jane walked up to
+the iron gate. She had secured an order from Mr. Stebbing, the managing
+partner, without which they would not have penetrated beyond the gate
+where 'No admittance except on business' was painted.
+
+Mr. Stebbing himself, a man with what Valetta was wont to call a grisly
+beard, met them a little within the gate, and did the honours of the
+place with great politeness. He answered all the boy's questions, and
+seemed much pleased with his intelligence and interest, letting him see
+what he wished, and even having the machinery slacked to enable him
+to perceive how it acted, and most delightful of all, in the eyes of
+Fergus, letting him behold some dynamite, and explaining its downward
+explosion. He evidently had a great respect for Miss Mohun, because she
+entered into it all, put pertinent questions, and helped her nephew if
+he did not understand.
+
+It was all dull work to Gillian, all that blasting and hewing and
+polishing, which made the place as busy as a hive. She only wished she
+could have seen the cove as once it was, with the weather-beaten rocks
+descending to the sea, overhung with wild thrift and bramble, and with
+the shore, the peaceful haunts of the white sea-birds; whereas now the
+fresh-cut rock looked red and wounded, and all below was full of ugly
+slated or iron-roofed sheds, rough workmen, and gratings and screeches
+of machinery.
+
+It was the Whites whom she wanted to see, and she never came upon the
+brother at all, nor on the sister, till Mr. Stebbing, perhaps observing
+her listless looks, said that they were coming to what would be more
+interesting to Miss Merrifield, and took them into the workrooms, where
+a number of young women were busy over the very beautiful work by
+which flowers and other devices were represented by inlaying different
+coloured marbles and semi-precious stones in black and white, so as to
+make tables, slabs, and letter-weights, and brooches for those who could
+not aspire to the most splendid and costly productions.
+
+Miss Mohun shook hands with 'the young ladies' within the magic circle
+of the G.F.S., and showed herself on friendly terms of interest with
+all. From a little inner office Miss White was summoned, came out, and
+met an eager greeting from Gillian, but blushed a little, and perhaps
+had rather not have had her unusual Christian name proclaimed by the
+explanation--
+
+'This is Kalliope White, Aunt Jane.'
+
+Miss Mohun shook hands with her, and said her niece had been much
+pleased at the meeting, and her sister would be glad to hear of her,
+explaining to Mr. Stebbing that Captain White had been a
+brother-officer of Sir Jasper Merrifield.
+
+Kalliope had a very prettily-shaped head, with short hair in little
+curls and rings all over it. Her whole manner was very quiet and
+unassuming, as she explained and showed whatever Mr. Stebbing wished.
+It was her business to make the working drawings for the others, and
+to select the stones used, and there could be no doubt that she was a
+capable and valuable worker.
+
+Gillian asked her to show something designed by herself, and she
+produced an exquisite table-weight, bearing a spray of sweet peas.
+Gillian longed to secure it for her mother, but it was very expensive,
+owing to the uncommon stones used in giving the tints, and Mr. Stebbing
+evidently did not regard it with so much favour as the jessamines and
+snowdrops, which, being of commoner marbles, could be sold at a rate
+fitter for the popular purse. Several beautiful drawings in her office
+had been laid aside as impracticable, 'unless we had a carte blanche
+wedding order,' he said, with what Gillian thought a sneer.
+
+She would gladly have lingered longer, but this was a very dull room
+in Fergus's estimation, and perhaps Aunt Jane did not desire a long
+continuance of the conversation under Mr. Stebbing's eyes, so Gillian
+found herself hurried on.
+
+Mr. Stebbing begged Miss Mohun to come in to his wife, who would have
+tea ready, and this could not be avoided without manifest incivility.
+Fergus hoped to have been introduced to the haunts of his hero, but
+Master George was gone off in attendance on his brother, who was
+fishing, and there was nothing to relieve the polite circle of the
+drawing-room--a place most aesthetically correct, from cornice to
+the little rugs on the slippery floor. The little teacups and the
+low Turkish table were a perfect study to those who did not--like
+Fergus--think more of the dainty doll's muffins on the stand, or the
+long-backed Dachshund who looked for them beseechingly.
+
+Mrs. Stebbing was quite in accordance with the rest, with a little row
+of curls over her forehead, a terra-cotta dress, and a chain of watch
+cocks, altogether rather youthful for the mother of a grown-up son,
+engaged in his father's business.
+
+She was extremely civil and polite, and everything went well except for
+a certain stiffness. By and by the subject of the Whites came up, and
+Mr. Stebbing observed that Miss Merrifield seemed to know Miss White.
+
+'Oh yes,' said Gillian eagerly; 'her father was in my father's regiment,
+the Royal Wardours.'
+
+'A non-commissioned officer, I suppose,' said Mrs. Stebbing.
+
+'Not for a good many years,' said Gillian. 'He was lieutenant for six
+years, and retired with the rank of captain.'
+
+'I know they said he was a captain,' said Mrs. Stebbing; 'but it is very
+easy to be called so.'
+
+'Captain White was a real one,' said Gillian, with a tone of offence.
+'Every one in the Royal Wardours thought very highly of him.'
+
+'I am sure no one would have supposed it from his family,' said Mrs.
+Stebbing. 'You are aware, Miss Mohun, that it was under disgraceful
+circumstances that he ran away and enlisted.'
+
+'Many a youth who gets into a scrape becomes an excellent soldier, even
+an officer,' said Miss Mohun.
+
+'Exactly so,' said Mr. Stebbing. 'Those high-spirited lads are the
+better for discipline, and often turn out well under it. But their
+promotion is an awkward thing for their families, who have not been
+educated up to the mark.'
+
+'It is an anomalous position, and I have a great pity for them,' said
+Miss Mohun. 'Miss White must be a very clever girl.'
+
+'Talented, yes,' said Mr. Stebbing. 'She is useful in her department.
+
+'That may be,' said Mrs. Stebbing; 'but it won't do to encourage her.
+She is an artful, designing girl, I know very well--'
+
+'Do you know anything against her?' asked Miss Mohun, looking volumes of
+repression at Gillian, whose brown eyes showed symptoms of glaring like
+a cat's, under her hat.
+
+'I do not speak without warrant, Miss Mohun. She is one of those demure,
+proper-behaved sort that are really the worst flirts of all, if you'll
+excuse me.'
+
+Most thankful was Miss Mohun that the door opened at that moment to
+admit some more visitors, for she saw that Gillian might at any moment
+explode.
+
+'Aunt Jane,' she exclaimed, as soon as they had accomplished their
+departure, 'you don't believe it?'
+
+'I do not think Miss White looks like it,' said Miss Mohun. 'She seemed
+a quiet, simple girl.'
+
+'And you don't believe all that about poor Captain White?'
+
+'Not the more for Mrs. Stebbing's saying so.'
+
+'But you will find out and refute her. There must be people who know.'
+
+'My dear, you had better not try to rake up such things. You know that
+the man bore an excellent character for many years in the army, and you
+had better be satisfied with that,' said Miss Jane for once in her life,
+as if to provoke Gillian, not on the side of curiosity.
+
+'Then you do believe it!' went on Gillian, feeling much injured for her
+hero's sake, and wearing what looked like a pertinacious pout.
+
+'Truth compels me to say, Gillian, that the sons of men, even in a
+small way of business, are not apt to run away and enlist without some
+reason.'
+
+'And I am quite sure it was all that horrid old White's fault.'
+
+'You had better content yourself with that belief.'
+
+Gillian felt greatly affronted, but Fergus, who thought all this very
+tiresome, broke in, after a third attempt--
+
+'Aunt Jane, if the pulley of that crane--'
+
+And all the way home they discussed machinery, and Gillian's heart
+swelled.
+
+'I am afraid Gillian was greatly displeased with me,' said Miss Mohun
+that evening, talking it over with her sister. 'But her captain might
+have a fall if she went poking into all the gossip of the place about
+him.'
+
+'Most likely whatever he did would be greatly exaggerated,' said
+Adeline.
+
+'No doubt of it! Besides, those young men who are meant by nature for
+heroes are apt to show some Beserkerwuth in their youth, like Hereward
+le Wake.'
+
+'But what did you think of the girl?'
+
+'I liked her looks very much. I have seen her singing in the choruses
+at the choral society concert, and thought how nice her manner was. She
+does justice to her classical extraction, and is modest and ladylike
+besides. Mrs. Stebbing is spiteful! I wonder whether it is jealousy.
+She calls her artful and designing, which sounds to me very much as if
+Master Frank might admire the damsel. I have a great mind to have the
+two girls to tea, and see what they are made of.'
+
+'We had much better wait till we hear from Lily. We cannot in the least
+tell whether she would wish the acquaintance to be kept up. And if
+there is anything going on with young Stebbing, nothing could be more
+unadvisable than for Gillian to be mixed up in any nonsense of that
+sort.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. -- SINGLE MISFORTUNES NEVER COME ALONE
+
+
+
+On Sunday, Gillian's feet found their way to the top of the garden,
+where she paced meditatively up and down, hoping to see Kalliope; and
+just as she was giving up the expectation, the slender black figure
+appeared on the other side of the railings.
+
+'Oh, Miss Gillian, how kind!'
+
+'Kally, I am glad!'
+
+Wherewith they got into talk at once, for Lady Merrifield's safe arrival
+and Sir Jasper's improvement had just been telegraphed, and there was
+much rejoicing over the good news. Gillian had nearly made up her mind
+to confute the enemy by asking why Captain White had left Rockquay; but
+somehow when it came to the point, she durst not make the venture, and
+they skimmed upon more surface subjects.
+
+The one point of union between the parishes of Rockstone and Rockquay
+was a choral society, whereof Mr. Flight of St. Kenelm's was a
+distinguished light, and which gave periodical concerts in the Masonic
+Hall. It being musical, Miss Mohun had nothing to do with it except
+the feeling it needful to give her presence to the performances. One
+of these was to take place in the course of the week, and there were
+programmes in all the shops, 'Mr. Alexis White' being set down for more
+than one solo, and as a voice in the glees.
+
+'Shall not you sing?' asked Gillian, remembering that her sisters had
+thought Kalliope had a good ear and a pretty voice.
+
+'I? Oh, no!'
+
+'I thought you used to sing.'
+
+'Yes; but I have no time to keep it up.'
+
+'Not even in the choruses?'
+
+'No, I cannot manage it'--and there was a little glow in the clear brown
+cheek.
+
+'Does your designing take up so much time?'
+
+'It is not that, but there is a great deal to do at home in after hours.
+My mother is not strong, and we cannot keep a really efficient servant.'
+
+'Oh! but you must be terribly hard-worked to have no time for
+relaxation.'
+
+'Not quite that, but--it seems to me,' burst out poor Kalliope,
+'that relaxation does nothing but bring a girl into difficulties--an
+unprotected girl, I mean.'
+
+'What do you mean?' cried Gillian, quite excited; but Kalliope had
+caught herself up.
+
+'Never mind, Miss Gillian; you have nothing to do with that kind of
+thing.'
+
+'But do tell me, Kally; I do want to be your friend,' said Gillian,
+trying to put her hand through.
+
+'There's nothing to tell,' said Kalliope, smiling and evidently touched,
+but still somewhat red, 'only you know when a girl has nobody to look
+after her, she has to look after herself.'
+
+'Doesn't Alexis look after you?' said Gillian, not at all satisfied to
+be put off with this truism.
+
+'Poor Alex! He is younger, you know, and he has quite enough to do. Oh,
+Miss Gillian, he is such a very dear, good boy.'
+
+'He has a most beautiful voice, Aunt Ada said.'
+
+'Yes, poor fellow, though he almost wishes he had not. Oh dear I there's
+the little bell! Good-bye, Miss Merrifield, I must run, or Mrs. Smithson
+will be gone to church, and I shall be locked in.'
+
+So Gillian was left to the enigma why Alexis should regret the beauty
+of his own voice, and what Kalliope could mean by the scrapes of
+unprotected girls. It did not occur to her that Miss White was her elder
+by six or seven years, and possibly might not rely on her judgment and
+discretion as much as she might have done on those of Alethea.
+
+Meantime the concert was coming on. It was not an amusement that Aunt
+Ada could attempt, but Miss Mohun took both her nieces, to the extreme
+pride and delight of Valetta, who had never been, as she said, 'to
+any evening thing but just stupid childish things, only trees and
+magic-lanterns'; and would not quite believe Gillian, who assured her in
+a sage tone that she would find this far less entertaining than either,
+judging by the manner in which she was wont to vituperate her music
+lesson.
+
+'Oh! but that's only scales, and everybody hates them! And I do love a
+German band.'
+
+'Especially in the middle of lesson-time,' said Gillian.
+
+However, Fergus was to spend the evening with Clement Varley; and Kitty
+was to go with her mother and sister, the latter of whom was to be one
+of the performers; but it was decreed by the cruel authorities that the
+two bosom friends would have their tongues in better order if they were
+some chairs apart; and therefore, though the members of the two families
+at Beechcroft and the Tamarisks were consecutive, Valetta was quartered
+between her aunt and Gillian, with Mrs. Varley on the other side of
+Miss Mohun, and Major Dennis flanking Miss Merrifield. When he had duly
+inquired after Sir Jasper, and heard of Lady Merrifield's arrival,
+he had no more conversation for the young lady; and Valetta, having
+perceived by force of example that in this waiting-time it was not
+like being in church, poured out her observations and inquiries on her
+sister.
+
+'What a funny room! And oh! do look at the pictures! Why has that man
+got on a blue apron? Freemasons! What are Freemasons? Do they work in
+embroidered blue satin aprons because they are gentlemen? I'll tell
+Fergus that is what he ought to be; he is so fond of making things--only
+I am sure he would spoil his apron. What's that curtain for? Will they
+sing up there? Oh, there's Emma Norton just come in! That must be her
+father. That's Alice Gidding, she comes to our Sunday class, and do you
+know, she thought it was Joseph who was put into the den of lions. Has
+not her mother got a funny head?'
+
+'Hush now, Val. Here they come,' as the whole chorus trooped in and
+began the 'Men of Harlech.'
+
+Val was reduced to silence, but there was a long instrumental
+performance afterwards, during which bad examples of chattering
+emboldened her to whisper--
+
+'Did you see Beatrice Varley? And Miss Berry, our singing-mistress--and
+Alexis White? Maura says--'
+
+Aunt Jane gave a touch and a frown which reduced Valetta to silence at
+this critical moment; and she sat still through a good deal, only giving
+a little jump when Alexis White, with various others, came to sing a
+glee.
+
+Gillian could study the youth, who certainly was, as Aunt Ada said,
+remarkable for the cameo-like cutting of his profile, though perhaps no
+one without an eye for art would have remarked it, as he had the callow
+unformed air of a lad of seventeen or eighteen, and looked shy and
+grave; but his voice was a fine one, and was heard to more advantage in
+the solos to a hunting song which shortly followed.
+
+Valetta had been rather alarmed at the applause at first, but she soon
+found out what an opportunity it gave for conversation, and after a good
+deal of popping her head about, she took advantage of the encores to
+excuse herself by saying, 'I wanted to see if Maura White was there. She
+was to go if Mrs. Lee--that's the lodger--would take her. She says Kally
+won't go, or sing, or anything, because--'
+
+How tantalising! the singers reappeared, and Valetta was reduced to
+silence. Nor could the subject be renewed in the interval between the
+parts, for Major Dennis came and stood in front, and talked to Miss
+Mohun; and after that Valetta grew sleepy, and nothing was to be got
+out of her till all was over, when she awoke into extra animation, and
+chattered so vehemently all the way home that her aunt advised Gillian
+to get her to bed as quietly as possible, or she would not sleep all
+night, and would be good for nothing the next day.
+
+Gillian, however, being given to think for herself in all cases of
+counsel from Aunt Jane, thought it could do no harm to beguile the
+brushing of the child's hair by asking why Kalliope would not come to
+the concert.
+
+'Oh, it's a great secret, but Maura told me in the cloakroom. It
+is because Mr. Frank wants to be her--to be her--her admirer,' said
+Valetta, cocking her head on one side, and adding to the already crimson
+colour of her cheeks.
+
+'Nonsense, Val, what do you and Maura know of such things?'
+
+'We aren't babies, Gill, and it is very unkind of you, when you told me
+I was to make friends with Maura White; and Kitty Varley is quite cross
+with me about it.'
+
+'I told you to be kind to Maura, but not to talk about such foolish
+things.'
+
+'I don't see why they should be foolish. It is what we all must come to.
+Grown-up people do, as Lois says. I heard Aunt Ada going on ever so long
+about Beatrice Varley and that gentleman.'
+
+'It is just the disadvantage of that kind of school that girls talk that
+sort of undesirable stuff. Gillian said to herself; but curiosity, or
+interest in the Whites, prompted her to add, 'What did she tell you?'
+
+'If you are so cross, I shan't tell you. You hurt my head, I say.'
+
+'Come, Val, I ought to know.'
+
+'It's a secret.'
+
+'Then you should not have told me so much.'
+
+Val laughed triumphantly, and called her sister Mrs. Curiosity, and at
+that moment Aunt Jane knocked at the door, and said Val was not to talk.
+
+Val made an impatient face and began to whisper, but Gillian had too
+much proper feeling to allow this flat disobedience, and would not
+listen, much as she longed to do so. She heard her little sister
+rolling and tossing about a good deal, but made herself hard-hearted on
+principle, and acted sleep. On her own judgment, she would not waken the
+child in the morning, and Aunt Jane said she was quite right, it would
+be better to let Val have her sleep out, than send her to school fretful
+and half alive. 'But you ought not to have let her talk last night.'
+
+As usual, reproof was unpleasing, and silenced Gillian. She hoped to
+extract the rest of the story in the course of the day. But before
+breakfast was over Valetta rushed in with her hat on, having scrambled
+into her clothes in a hurry, and consuming her breakfast in great haste,
+for she had no notion either of losing her place in the class, or of
+missing the discussion of the entertainment with Kitty, from whom she
+had been so cruelly parted.
+
+Tete-a-tetes were not so easy as might have been expected between two
+sisters occupying the same room, for Valetta went to bed and to sleep
+long before Gillian, and the morning toilette was a hurry; besides,
+Gillian had scruples, partly out of pride and partly out of
+conscientiousness, about encouraging Valetta in gossip or showing her
+curiosity about it. Could she make anything out from Kalliope herself?
+However, fortune favoured her, for she came out of her class only a few
+steps behind little Maura; and as some of Mr. Edgar's boys were about,
+the child naturally regarded her as a protector.
+
+Maura was quite as pretty as her elders, and had more of a southern
+look. Perhaps she was proportionably precocious, for she returned
+Gillian's greeting without embarrassment, and was quite ready to enter
+into conversation and show her gratification at compliments upon her
+brother's voice.
+
+'And does not Kalliope sing? I think she used to sing very nicely in the
+old times.'
+
+'Oh yes,' said Maura; 'but she doesn't now.'
+
+'Why not? Has not she time?'
+
+'That's not all' said Maura, looking significant, and an interrogative
+sound sufficed to bring out--'It is because of Mr. Frank.'
+
+'Mr. Frank Stebbing?'
+
+'Yes. He was always after her, and would walk home with her after the
+practices, though Alexis was always there. I know that was the reason
+for I heard la mamma mia trying to persuade her to go on with the
+society, and she was determined, and would not. Alex said she was quite
+right, and it is very tiresome of him, for now she never walks with us
+on Sunday, and he used to come and give us bonbons and crackers.'
+
+'Then she does not like him?'
+
+'She says it is not right or fitting, because Mr. and Mrs. Stebbing
+would be against it; but mamma said he would get over them, if she would
+not be so stupid, and he could make her quite a lady, like an officer's
+daughter, as we are. Is it not a pity she won't, Miss Gillian?'
+
+'I do not know. I think she is very good,' said Gillian.
+
+'Oh! but if she would, we might all be well off again,' said little
+worldly-minded Maura; 'and I should not have to help her make the beds,
+and darn, and iron, and all sorts of horrid things, but we could live
+properly, like ladies.'
+
+'I think it is more ladylike to act uprightly,' said Gillian.
+
+Wherewith, having made the discovery, and escorted Maura beyond the
+reach of her enemies, she parted with the child, and turned homewards.
+Gillian was at the stage in which sensible maidens have a certain
+repugnance and contempt for the idea of love and lovers as an
+interruption to the higher aims of life and destruction to family
+joys. Romance in her eyes was the exaltation of woman out of reach, and
+Maura's communications inclined her to glorify Kalliope as a heroine,
+molested by a very inconvenient person, 'Spighted by a fool, spighted
+and angered both,' as she quoted Imogen to herself.
+
+It would be a grand history to tell Alethea of her friend, when she
+should have learnt a little more about it, as she intended to do on
+Sunday from Kalliope herself, who surely would be grateful for some
+sympathy and friendship. Withal she recollected that it was Indian-mail
+day, and hurried home to see whether the midday post had brought any
+letters. Her two aunts were talking eagerly, but suddenly broke off as
+she opened the door.
+
+'Well, Gillian--' began Aunt Ada.
+
+'No, no, let her see for herself,' said Aunt Jane.
+
+'Oh! I hope nothing is the matter?' she exclaimed, seeing a letter to
+herself on the table.
+
+'No; rather the reverse.'
+
+A horrible suspicion, as she afterwards called it, came over Gillian as
+she tore open the letter. There were two small notes. The first was--
+
+
+'DEAR LITTLE GILL--I am going to give you a new brother. Mother will
+tell you all.--Your loving sister,
+
+'P. E. M.'
+
+
+She gasped, and looked at the other.
+
+
+'DEAREST GILLIAN--After all you have heard about Frank, perhaps you
+will know that I am very happy. You cannot guess how happy, and it is
+so delightful that mamma is charmed with him. He has got two medals and
+three clasps. There are so many to write to, I can only give my poor
+darling this little word. She will find it is only having another to be
+as fond of her as her old Alley.'
+
+
+Gillian looked up in a bewildered state, and gasped 'Both!'
+
+Aunt Jane could not help smiling a little, and saying, 'Yes, both at one
+fell swoop.'
+
+'It's dreadful,' said Gillian.
+
+'My dear, if you want to keep your sisters to yourself, you should not
+let them go to India, said Aunt Ada.
+
+'They said they wouldn't! They were quite angry at the notion of being
+so commonplace,' said Gillian.
+
+'Oh, no one knows till her time comes!' said Aunt Jane.
+
+Gillian now applied herself to her mother's letter, which was also
+short.
+
+
+'MY DEAREST GILLYFLOWER--I know this will be a great blow to you, as
+indeed it was to me; but we must not be selfish, and must remember that
+the sisters' happiness and welfare is the great point. I wish I could
+write to you more at length; but time will not let me, scattered as are
+all my poor flock at home. So I must leave you to learn the bare public
+facts from Aunt Jane, and only say my especial private words to you. You
+are used to being brevet eldest daughter to me, now you will have to be
+so to papa, who is mending fast, but, I think, will come home with me.
+Isn't that news?
+
+'Your loving mother.'
+
+
+'They have told you all about it, Aunt Jane!' said Gillian.
+
+'Yes; they have been so cruel as not even to tell you the names of these
+robbers? Well, I dare say you had rather read my letter than hear it.'
+
+'Thank you very much, Aunt Jane! May I take it upstairs with me?'
+
+Consent was readily given, and Gillian had just time for her first
+cursory reading before luncheon.
+
+
+'DEAREST JENNY--Fancy what burst upon me only the day after my
+coming--though really we ought to be very thankful. You might perhaps
+have divined what was brewing from the letters. Jasper knew of one and
+suspected the other before the accident, and he says it prevented him
+from telegraphing to stop me, for he was sure one or both the girls
+would want their mother. Phyllis began it. Hers is a young merchant
+just taken into the great Underwood firm. Bernard Underwood, a very nice
+fellow, brother to the husband of one of Harry May's sisters--very much
+liked and respected, and, by the way, an uncommonly handsome man. That
+was imminent before Jasper's accident, and the letter to prepare me must
+be reposing in Harry's care. Mr. Underwood came down with Claude to
+meet me when I landed, and I scented danger in his eye. But it is all
+right--only his income is entirely professional, and they will have to
+live out here for some time to come.
+
+'The other only spoke yesterday, having abstained from worrying his
+General. He is Lord Francis Somerville, son to Lord Liddesdale, and a
+captain in the Glen Lorn Highlanders, who have not above a couple of
+years to stay in these parts. He was with the riding party when Jasper
+fell, and was the first to lift him; indeed, he held him all the time
+of waiting, for poor Claude trembled too much. He was an immense help
+through the nursing, and they came to know and depend on him as nothing
+else would have made them do; and they proved how sincerely right-minded
+and good he is. There is some connection with the Underwoods, though I
+have not quite fathomed it. There is no fear about home consent, for it
+seems that he is given to outpourings to his mother, and had heard that
+if he thought of Sir Jasper Merrifield's daughter his parents would
+welcome her, knowing what Sir J. is. There's for you! considering
+that we have next to nothing to give the child, and Frank has not much
+fortune, but Alethea is trained to the soldierly life, and they will be
+better off than Jasper and I were.
+
+'The worst of it is leaving them behind; and as neither of the gentlemen
+can afford a journey home, we mean to have the double wedding before
+Lent. As to outfit, the native tailors must be chiefly trusted to, or
+the stores at Calcutta, and I must send out the rest when I come home.
+Only please send by post my wedding veil (Gillian knows where it is),
+together with another as like it as may be. Any slight lace decorations
+to make us respectable which suggest themselves to you and her might
+come; I can't recollect or mention them now. I wish Reginald could come
+and tell you all, but the poor fellow has to go home full pelt about
+those Irish. Jasper is writing to William, and you must get business
+particulars from him, and let Gillian and the little ones hear, for
+there is hardly any time to write. Phyllis, being used to the idea,
+is very quiet and matter-of-fact about it. She hoped, indeed, that I
+guessed nothing till I was satisfied about papa, and had had time to
+rest. Alethea is in a much more April condition, and I am glad Frank
+waited till I was here on her account and on her father's. He is going
+on well, but must keep still. He declares that being nursed by two pair
+of lovers is highly amusing. However, such homes being found for two
+of the tribe is a great relief to his mind. I suppose it is to one's
+rational mind, though it is a terrible tug at one's heart-strings. You
+shall hear again by the next mail. A brown creature waits to take this
+to be posted.--
+
+Your loving sister,
+
+L. M.'
+
+
+Gillian came down to dinner quite pale, and to Aunt Ada's kind 'Well,
+Gillian?' she could only repeat, 'It is horrid.'
+
+'It is hard to lose all the pretty double wedding,' said Aunt Ada.
+
+'Gillian does not mean that,' hastily put in Miss Mohun.
+
+'Oh no,' said Gillian; 'that would be worse than anything.'
+
+'So you think,' said Aunt Jane; 'but believe those who have gone through
+it all, my dear, when the wrench is over, one feels the benefit.'
+
+Gillian shook her head, and drank water. Her aunts went on talking, for
+they thought it better that she should get accustomed to the prospect;
+and, moreover, they were so much excited that they could hardly have
+spoken of anything else. Aunt Jane wondered if Phyllis's betrothed were
+a brother of Mr. Underwood of St. Matthew's, Whittingtown, with whom she
+had corresponded about the consumptive home; and Aunt Ada regretted the
+not having called on Lady Liddesdale when she had spent some weeks at
+Rockstone, and consoled herself by recollecting that Lord Rotherwood
+would know all about the family. She had already looked it out in the
+Peerage, and discovered that Lord Francis Cunningham Somerville was the
+only younger son, that his age was twenty-nine, and that he had three
+sisters, all married, as well as his elder brother, who had children
+enough to make it improbable that Alethea would ever be Lady Liddesdale.
+She would have shown Gillian the record, but received the ungracious
+answer, 'I hate swells.'
+
+'Let her alone, Ada,' said Aunt Jane; 'it is a very sore business. She
+will be better by and by.'
+
+There ensued a little discussion how the veil at Silverfold was to be
+hunted up, or if Gillian and her aunt must go to do so.
+
+'Can you direct Miss Vincent?' asked Miss Mohun.
+
+'No, I don't think I could; besides, I don't like to set any one to poke
+and meddle in mamma's drawers.'
+
+'And she could hardly judge what could be available,' added Miss Ada.
+
+'Gillian must go to find it,' said Aunt Jane; 'and let me see, when have
+I a day? Saturday is never free, and Monday--I could ask Mrs. Hablot to
+take the cutting out, and then I could look up Lily's Brussels--'
+
+There she caught a sight of Gillian's face. Perhaps one cause of the
+alienation the girl felt for her aunt was, that there was a certain
+kindred likeness between them which enabled each to divine the other's
+inquiring disposition, though it had different effects on the elder and
+younger character. Jane Mohun suspected that she had on her ferret look,
+and guessed that Gillian's disgusted air meant that the idea of her
+turning over Lady Merrifield's drawers was almost as distasteful as that
+of the governess's doing it.
+
+'Suppose Gillian goes down on Monday with Fanny,' she said. 'She could
+manage very well, I am sure.'
+
+Gillian cleared up a little. There is much consolation in being of a
+little importance, and she liked the notion of a day at home, a quiet
+day, as she hoped in her present mood, of speaking to nobody. Her aunt
+let her have her own way, and only sent a card to Macrae to provide for
+meeting and for food, not even letting Miss Vincent know that she
+was coming. That feeling of not being able to talk about it or be
+congratulated would wear off, Aunt Jane said, if she was not worried or
+argued with, in which case it might become perverse affectation.
+
+It certainly was not shared by the children. Sisters unseen for three
+years could hardly be very prominent in their minds. Fergus hoped that
+they would ride to the wedding upon elephants, and Valetta thought it
+very hard to miss the being a bridesmaid, when Kitty Varley had already
+enjoyed the honour. However, she soon began to glorify herself on the
+beauty of Alethea's future title.
+
+'What will Kitty Varley and all say?' was her cry.
+
+'Nothing, unless they are snobs, as girls always are,' said Fergus.
+
+'It is not a nice word,' said Miss Adeline.
+
+'But there's nothing else that expresses it, Aunt Ada,' returned
+Gillian.
+
+'I agree to a certain degree,' said Miss Mohun; 'but still I am not sure
+what it does express.'
+
+'Just what girls of that sort are,' said Gillian. 'Mere worshippers of
+any sort of handle to one's name.'
+
+'Gillian, Gillian, you are not going in for levelling,' cried Aunt
+Adeline.
+
+'No,' said Gillian; 'but I call it snobbish to make more fuss about
+Alethea's concern than Phyllis's--just because he calls himself Lord--'
+
+'That is to a certain degree true,' said Miss Mohun. 'The worth of the
+individual man stands first of all, and nothing can be sillier or in
+worse taste than to parade one's grand relations.'
+
+'To parade, yes,' said Aunt Adeline; 'but there is no doubt that good
+connections are a great advantage.'
+
+'Assuredly,' said Miss Mohun. 'Good birth and an ancestry above shame
+are really a blessing, though it has come to be the fashion to sneer
+at them. I do not mean merely in the eyes of the world, though it
+is something to have a name that answers for your relations being
+respectable. But there are such things as hereditary qualities, and
+thus testimony to the existence of a distinguished forefather is worth
+having.'
+
+'Lily's dear old Sir Maurice de Mohun to wit,' said Miss Adeline. 'You
+know she used to tease Florence by saying the Barons of Beechcroft had a
+better pedigree than the Devereuxes.'
+
+'I'd rather belong to the man who made himself,' said Gillian.
+
+'Well done, Gill! But though your father won his own spurs, you can't
+get rid of his respectable Merrifield ancestry wherewith he started in
+life.'
+
+'I don't want to. I had rather have them than horrid robber Borderers,
+such as no doubt these Liddesdale people were.'
+
+There was a little laughing at this; but Gillian was saying in her own
+mind that it was a fine thing to be one's own Rodolf of Hapsburg, and
+in that light she held Captain White, who, in her present state of mind,
+she held to have been a superior being to all the Somervilles--perhaps
+to all the Devereuxes who ever existed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. -- AN EMPTY NEST
+
+
+
+There had been no injunctions of secrecy, and though neither Miss Mohun
+nor Gillian had publicly mentioned the subject, all Rockquay who cared
+for the news knew by Sunday morning that Lady Merrifield's two elder
+daughters were engaged.
+
+Gillian, in the course of writing her letters, had become somewhat
+familiarised with the idea, and really looked forward to talking it over
+with Kalliope. Though that young person could hardly be termed Alethea's
+best friend, it was certain that Alethea stood foremost with her, and
+that her interest in the matter would be very loving.
+
+Accordingly, Kalliope was at the place of meeting even before Gillian,
+and anxiously she looked as she said--
+
+'May I venture--may I ask if it is true?'
+
+'True? Oh yes, Kally, I knew you would care.'
+
+'Indeed, I well may. There is no expressing how much I owe to dear Miss
+Alethea and Lady Merrifield, and it is such a delight to hear of them.'
+
+Accordingly, Gillian communicated the facts as she knew them, and
+offered to give any message.
+
+'Only my dear love and congratulations,' said Kalliope, with a little
+sigh. 'I should like to have written, but--'
+
+'But why don't you, then?'
+
+'Oh no; she would be too much engaged to think of us, and it would only
+worry her to be asked for her advice.'
+
+'I think I know what it is about,' said Gillian.
+
+'How? Oh, how do you know? Did Mr. Flight say anything?'
+
+'Mr. Flight?' exclaimed Gillian. 'What has he to do with it?'
+
+'It was foolish, perhaps; but I did hope he might have helped Alexis,
+and now he seems only to care for his music.'
+
+'Helped him! How?'
+
+'Perhaps it was unreasonable, but Alexis has always been to good
+schools. He was getting on beautifully at Leeds, and we thought he would
+have gained a scholarship and gone on to be a clergyman. That was what
+his mind has always been fixed upon. You cannot think how good and
+devoted he is,' said Kalliope with a low trembling voice; 'and my father
+wished it very much too. But when the break-up came, Mr. White made our
+not being too fine, as he said, to work, a sort of condition of doing
+anything for us. Mr. Moore did tell him what Alexis is, but I believe he
+thought it all nonsense, and there was nothing to be done. Alexis--dear
+fellow--took it so nicely, said he was thankful to be able to help
+mother, and if it was his duty and God's will, it was sure to come
+right; and he has been plodding away at the marble works ever since,
+quite patiently and resolutely, but trying to keep up his studies in the
+evening, only now he has worked through all his old school-books.'
+
+'And does not Mr. Flight know that I will help him?'
+
+'Well, Mr. Flight means to be kind, and sometimes seems to think much of
+him; but it is all for his music, I am afraid. He is always wanting new
+things to be learnt and practised, and those take up so much time; and
+though he does lend us books, they are of no use for study, though they
+only make the dear boy long and long the more to get on.'
+
+'Does not Mr. Flight know?'
+
+'I am not sure. I think he does; but in his ardour for music he seems
+to forget all about it. It does seem such a pity that all Alexis's time
+should be wasted in this drudgery. If I could only be sure of more extra
+work for my designs, I could set him free; and if Sir Jasper were
+only at home, I am sure he would put the boy in the way of earning his
+education. If it were only as a pupil teacher, he would be glad, but
+then he says he ought not to throw all on me.'
+
+'Oh, he must be very good!' exclaimed Gillian. 'I am sure papa will help
+him! I wish I could. Oh!'--with a sudden recollection--'I wonder what
+books he wants most. I am going to Silverfold to-morrow, and there are
+lots of old school-books there of the boys', doing nothing, that I know
+he might have.'
+
+'Oh, Miss Gillian, how good of you! How delighted he would be!'
+
+'Do you know what he wants most?'
+
+'A Greek grammar and lexicon most of all,' was the ready answer. 'He has
+been trying to find them at the second-hand shop ever so long, but I am
+afraid there is no hope of a lexicon. They are so large and expensive.'
+
+'I think there is an old one of Jasper's, if he would not mind its back
+being off, and lots of blots.'
+
+'He would mind nothing. Oh, Miss Gillian, you can't think how happy he
+will be.
+
+'If there is anything else he wants very much, how could he let me
+know?' mused Gillian. 'Oh, I see! What time are you at the works?'
+
+'Alex is there at seven; I don't go till nine.'
+
+'I am to be at the station at 8.40. Could you or Maura meet me there and
+tell me?'
+
+To this Kalliope agreed, for she said she could be sure of getting to
+her post in time afterwards, and she seemed quite overjoyed. No one
+could look at her without perceiving that Alexis was the prime thought
+of her heart, and Gillian delighted her by repeating Aunt Adeline's
+admiration of his profile, and the general opinion of his singing.
+
+'I am so sorry you have had to give it up,' she added.
+
+'It can't be helped,' Kalliope said; 'and I really have no time.'
+
+'But that's not all,' said Gillian, beginning to blush herself.
+
+'Oh! I hope there's no gossip or nonsense about _that_,' cried Kalliope,
+her cheeks flaming.
+
+'Only--'
+
+'Not Maura? Naughty little girl, I did not think she knew anything. Not
+that there is anything to tell,' said Kalliope, much distressed; 'but it
+is dreadful that there should be such talk.'
+
+'I thought it was _that_ you meant when you said you wanted advice.'
+
+'No one could advise me, I am afraid,' said the girl. 'If we could only
+go away from this place! But that's impossible, and I dare say the fancy
+will soon go off!'
+
+'Then you don't care for him?'
+
+'My dear Miss Gillian, when I have seen _gentlemen_!' said Kalliope, in
+a tone that might have cured her admirer.
+
+They had, however, talked longer than usual, and the notes of the
+warning bell came up, just when Gillian had many more questions to ask,
+and she had to run down the garden all in a glow with eagerness and
+excitement, so that Aunt Ada asked if she had been standing in the sea
+wind. Her affirmative was true enough, and yet she was almost ashamed of
+it, as not the whole truth, and there was a consciousness about her all
+the afternoon which made her soon regret that conversation was chiefly
+absorbed by the younger one's lamentations that they were not to
+accompany her to Silverfold, and by their commissions. Fergus wanted a
+formidable amount of precious tools, and inchoate machines, which Mrs.
+Halfpenny had regarded as 'mess,' and utterly refused to let his aunts
+be 'fashed' with; while Valetta's orders were chiefly for the visiting
+all the creatures, so as to bring an exact account of the health and
+spirits of Rigdum Funnidos, etc., also for some favourite story-books
+which she wished to lend to Kitty Varley and Maura White.
+
+'For do you know, Gill, Maura has never had a new story-book since mamma
+gave her Little Alice and her Sister, when she was seven years old! Do
+bring her Stories They Tell Me, and On Angel's Wings.'
+
+'But is not that Mysie's?'
+
+'Oh yes, but I know Mysie would let her have it. Mysie always let Maura
+have everything of hers, because the boys teased her.'
+
+'I will bring it; but I think Mysie ought to be written to before it is
+lent.'
+
+'That is right, Gillian,' said Miss Mohun; 'it is always wiser to be
+above-board when dealing with other people's things, even in trifles.'
+
+Why did this sound like a reproach, and as if it implied suspicion that
+Gillian was not acting on that principle? She resented the feeling. She
+knew she might do as she liked with the boys' old books, for which they
+certainly had no affection, and which indeed her mother had talked of
+offering to some of those charities which have a miscellaneous appetite,
+and wonderful power of adaptation of the disused. Besides, though no one
+could have the least objection to their being bestowed on the Whites,
+the very fact of this being her third secret meeting with Kalliope was
+beginning to occasion an awkwardness in accounting for her knowledge of
+their needs. It was obvious to ask why she had not mentioned the first
+meeting, and this her pride would not endure. She had told her parents
+by letter. What more could be desired?
+
+Again, when she would not promise to see either Miss Vincent or the Miss
+Hackets, because 'she did not want to have a fuss,' Aunt Jane said she
+thought it a pity, with regard at least to the governess, who might
+feel herself hurt at the neglect, 'and needless secrets are always
+unadvisable.'
+
+Gillian could hardly repress a wriggle, but her Aunt Ada laughed,
+saying, 'Especially with you about, Jenny, for you always find them
+out.'
+
+At present, however, Miss Mohun certainly had no suspicion. Gillian was
+very much afraid she would think proper to come to the station in
+the morning; but she was far too busy, and Gillian started off in
+the omnibus alone with Mrs. Mount in handsome black silk trim, to be
+presented to Mr. Macrae, and much enjoying the trip, having been well
+instructed by Fergus and Valetta in air that she was to see.
+
+Kalliope was descried as the omnibus stopped, and in a few seconds
+Gillian had shaken hands with her, received the note, and heard the
+ardent thanks sent from Alexis, and which the tattered books--even if
+they proved to be right--would scarcely deserve. He would come with
+his sister to receive the parcel at the station on Gillian's return--at
+5.29, an offer which obviated any further difficulties as to conveyance.
+
+Mrs. Mount was intent upon the right moment to run the gauntlet for the
+tickets; and had it been otherwise, would have seen nothing remarkable
+in her charge being accosted by a nice-looking ladylike girl. So on they
+rushed upon their way, Gillian's spirits rising in a curious sense of
+liberty and holiday-making.
+
+In due time they arrived, and were received by Macrae with the pony
+carriage, while the trees of Silverfold looked exquisite in their autumn
+red, gold, and brown.
+
+But the dreariness of the deserted house, with no one on the steps but
+Quiz, and all the furniture muffled in sheets, struck Gillian more than
+she had expected, though the schoolroom had been wakened up for her, a
+bright fire on the hearth, and the cockatoo highly conversational,
+the cats so affectionate that it was difficult to take a step without
+stumbling over one of them.
+
+When the business had all been despatched, the wedding veil disinterred,
+and the best Brussels and Honiton safely disposed in a box, when an
+extremely dilapidated and much-inked collection of school-books had been
+routed out of the backstairs cupboard (commonly called Erebus) and duly
+packed, when a selection of lighter literature had been made with a view
+both to Valetta and Lilian; when Gillian had shown all she could to
+Mrs. Mount, visited all the animals, gone round the garden, and made two
+beautiful posies of autumn flowers, one for her little sister and the
+other for Kalliope, discovered that Fergus's precious machine had been
+ruthlessly made away with, but secured his tools,--she found eating
+partridge in solitary grandeur rather dreary work, though she had all
+the bread-sauce to herself, and cream to her apple tart, to say nothing
+of Macrae, waiting upon her as if she had been a duchess, and conversing
+in high exultation upon the marriages, only regretting that one
+gentleman should be a civilian; he had always augured that all his young
+ladies would be in the Service, and begging that he might be made aware
+of the wedding-day, so as to have the bells rung.
+
+To express her own feelings to the butler was not possible, and his glee
+almost infected her. She was quite sorry when, having placed a choice
+of pears and October peaches before her, he went off to entertain Mrs.
+Mount; and after packing a substratum of the fruit in the basket for the
+Whites, she began almost to repent of having insisted on not returning
+to Rockstone till the four o'clock train, feeling her solitary liberty
+oppressive; and finally she found herself walking down the drive in
+search of Miss Vincent.
+
+She had to confess to herself that her aunt was quite right, and that
+the omission would have been a real unkindness, when she saw how worn
+and tired the governess looked, and the brightness that flashed over the
+pale face at sight of her. Mrs. Vincent had been much worse, and though
+slightly better for the present was evidently in a critical state, very
+exhausting to her daughter.
+
+Good Miss Hacket at that moment came in to sit with her, and send the
+daughter out for some air; and it was well that Gillian had had some
+practice in telling her story not too disconsolately, for it was
+received with all the delight that the mere notion of a marriage
+seems to inspire, though Phyllis and Alethea had scarcely been seen at
+Silverfold before they had gone to India with their father.
+
+Miss Hacket had to be content with the names before she hastened up
+to the patient; but Miss Vincent walked back through the paddock with
+Gillian, talking over what was more personally interesting to the
+governess, the success of her own pupils, scattered as they were, and
+comparing notes upon Mysie's letters. One of these Miss Vincent had just
+received by the second post, having been written to announce the great
+news, and it continued in true Mysie fashion:--
+
+
+'Cousin Rotherwood knows all about them, and says they will have a
+famous set of belongings. He will take me to see some of them if we go
+to London before mamma comes home. Bernard Underwood's sister is married
+to Mr. Grinstead, the sculptor who did the statue of Mercy at the
+Gate that Harry gave a photograph of to mamma, and she paints pictures
+herself. I want to see them; but I do not know whether we shall stay in
+London, for they do not think it agrees with Fly. I do more lessons than
+she does now, and I have read through all Autour de mon Jardin. I have
+a letter from Dolores too, and she thinks that Aunt Phyllis and all
+are coming home to make a visit in England for Uncle Harry to see his
+father, and she wishes very much that they would bring her; but it is
+not to be talked about for fear they should be hindered, and old Dr. May
+hear of it and be disappointed; but you won't see any one to tell.'
+
+
+'There, what have I done?' exclaimed Miss Vincent in dismay. 'But I had
+only just got the letter, and had barely glanced through it.'
+
+'Besides, who would have thought of Mysie having any secrets?' said
+Gillian.
+
+'After all, I suppose no harm is done; for you can't have any other
+connection with these Mays.'
+
+'Oh yes, there will be; for I believe a brother of this man of Phyllis's
+married one of the Miss Mays, and I suppose we shall have to get mixed
+up with the whole lot. How I do hate strangers! But I'll take care, Miss
+Vincent, indeed I will. One is not bound to tell one's aunts everything
+like one's mother.'
+
+'No,' said Miss Vincent decidedly, 'especially when it is another
+person's secret betrayed through inadvertence.' Perhaps she thought
+Gillian looked dangerously gratified, for she added: 'However, you know
+poor Dolores did not find secrecy answer.'
+
+'Oh, there are secrets and secrets, and aunts and aunts!' said Gillian.
+'Dolores had no mother.'
+
+'It makes a difference,' said Miss Vincent. 'I should never ask you to
+conceal anything from Lady Merrifield. Besides, this is not a matter of
+conduct, only a report.'
+
+Gillian would not pursue the subject. Perhaps she was a little
+disingenuous with her conscience, for she wanted to carry off the
+impression that Miss Vincent had pronounced concealment from her aunts
+to be justifiable; and she knew at the bottom of her heart that her
+governess would condemn a habit of secret intimacy with any one being
+carried on without the knowledge of her hostess and guardian for the
+time being,--above all when it was only a matter, of waiting.
+
+It is a fine thing for self-satisfaction to get an opinion without
+telling the whole of the facts of the case, and Gillian went home in
+high spirits, considerably encumbered with parcels, and surprising Mrs.
+Mount by insisting that two separate packages should be made of the
+books.
+
+Kalliope and Alexis were both awaiting her at the station, their
+gratitude unbounded, and finding useful vent by the latter fetching a
+cab and handing in the goods.
+
+It was worth something to see how happy the brother and sister looked,
+as they went off in the gaslight, the one with the big brown paper
+parcel, the other with the basket of fruit and flowers; and Gillian's
+explanation to Mrs. Mount that they were old friends of her soldiering
+days was quite satisfactory.
+
+There was a grand unpacking. Aunt Ada was pleased with the late roses,
+and Aunt Jane that there had been a recollection of Lilian Giles, to
+whom she had thought her niece far too indifferent. Valetta fondled the
+flowers, and was gratified to hear of the ardent affection of the Begum
+and the health of Rigdum, though Gillian was forced to confess that she
+had not transferred to him the kiss that she had been commissioned
+to convey. Nobody was disappointed except Fergus, who could not
+but vituperate the housemaids for the destruction of his new patent
+guillotine for mice, which was to have been introduced to Clement
+Varley. To be sure it would hardly ever act, and had never cut off
+the head of anything save a dandelion, but that was a trifling
+consideration.
+
+A letter from Mysie was awaiting Gillian, not lengthy, for there was
+a long interval between Mysie's brains and her pen, and saying nothing
+about the New Zealand report. The selection of lace was much approved,
+and the next day there was to be an expedition to endeavour to get the
+veil matched as nearly as possible. The only dangerous moment was at
+breakfast the next day, when Miss Mohun said--
+
+'Fanny was delighted with Silverfold. Macrae seems to have been the pink
+of politeness to her.'
+
+'She must come when the house is alive again,' said Gillian. 'What would
+she think of it then!'
+
+'Oh, that would be perfectly delicious,' cried Valetta. 'She would see
+Begum and Rigdum--'
+
+'And I could show her how to work the lawn cutter,' added Fergus.
+
+'By the bye,' said Aunt Jane, 'whom have you been lending books to?'
+
+'Oh, to the Whites,' said Gillian, colouring, as she felt more than she
+could wish. 'There were some old school-books that I thought would
+be useful to them, and I was sure mamma would like them to have some
+flowers and fruit.'
+
+She felt herself very candid, but why would Aunt Jane look at those
+tell-tale cheeks.
+
+Sunday was wet, or rather 'misty moisty,' with a raw sea-fog overhanging
+everything--not bad enough, however, to keep any one except Aunt
+Ada from church or school, though she decidedly remonstrated against
+Gillian's going out for her wandering in the garden in such weather;
+and, if she had been like the other aunt, might almost have been
+convinced that such determination must be for an object. However,
+Gillian encountered the fog in vain, though she walked up and down the
+path till her clothes were quite limp and flabby with damp. All the view
+that rewarded her was the outline of the shrubs looming through the mist
+like distant forests as mountains. Moreover, she got a scolding
+from Aunt Ada, who met her coming in, and was horrified at the misty
+atmosphere which she was said to have brought in, and insisted on her
+going at once to change her dress, and staying by the fireside all the
+rest of the afternoon.
+
+'I cannot think what makes her so eager about going out in the
+afternoon,' said the younger aunt to the elder. 'It is impossible that
+she can have any reason for it.'
+
+'Only Sunday restlessness,' said Miss Mohun, 'added to the reckless
+folly of the "Bachfisch" about health.'
+
+'That's true,' said Adeline, 'girls must be either so delicate that they
+are quite helpless, or so strong as to be absolutely weather-proof.'
+
+Fortune, however, favoured Gillian when next she went to Lily Giles. She
+had never succeeded in taking real interest in the girl, who seemed
+to her to be so silly and sentimental that an impulse to answer drily
+instantly closed up all inclination to effusions of confidence.
+Gillian had not yet learnt breadth of charity enough to understand that
+everybody does not feel, or express feeling, after the same pattern;
+that gush is not always either folly or insincerity; and that girls of
+Lily's class are about at the same stage of culture as the young ladies
+of whom her namesake in the Inheritance is the type. When Lily showed
+her in some little magazine the weakest of poetry, and called it so
+sweet, just like 'dear Mr. Grant's lovely sermon, the last she had
+heard. Did he not look so like a saint in his surplice and white stole,
+with his holy face and beautiful blue eyes; it was enough to make any
+one feel good to look at him,' Gillian simply replied, 'Oh, _I_ never
+think of the clergyman's looks,' and hurried to her book, feeling
+infinitely disgusted and contemptuous, never guessing that these poor
+verses, and the curate's sermons and devotional appearance were, to the
+young girl's heart, the symbols of all that was sacred, and all that was
+refined, and that the thought of them was the solace of her lonely and
+suffering hours. Tolerant sympathy is one of the latest lessons of life,
+and perhaps it is well that only
+
+
+          'The calm temper of our age should be
+           Like the high leaves upon the holly-tree,'
+
+
+for the character in course of formation needs to be guarded by
+prickles.
+
+However, on this day Undine was to be finished, for Gillian was in
+haste to begin Katharine Ashton, which would, she thought, be much more
+wholesome reality, so she went on later than usual, and came away at
+last, leaving her auditor dissolved in tears over poor Undine's act of
+justice.
+
+As Mrs. Giles, full of thanks, opened the little garden-gate just as
+twilight was falling, Gillian beheld Kalliope and Alexis White coming up
+together from the works, and eagerly met and shook hands with them.
+The dark days were making them close earlier, they explained, and as
+Kalliope happened to have nothing to finish or purchase, she was able to
+come home with her brother.
+
+Therewith Alexis began to express, with the diffidence of extreme
+gratitude, his warm thanks for the benefaction of books, which were
+exactly what he had wanted and longed for. His foreign birth enabled him
+to do this much more prettily and less clumsily than an English boy, and
+Gillian was pleased, though she told him that her brother's old ill-used
+books were far from worthy of such thanks.
+
+'Ah, you cannot guess how precious they are to me!' said Alexis. 'They
+are the restoration of hope.'
+
+'And can you get on by yourself?' asked Gillian. 'Is it not very
+difficult without any teacher?'
+
+'People have taught themselves before,' returned the youth, 'so I hope
+to do so myself; but of course there are many questions I long to ask.'
+
+'Perhaps I could answer some,' said Gillian; 'I have done some classics
+with a tutor.'
+
+'Oh, thank you, Miss Merrifield,' he said eagerly. 'If you could make me
+understand the force of the aorist.
+
+It so happened that Gillian had the explanation at her tongue's end, and
+it was followed by another, and another, till one occurred which could
+hardly be comprehended without reference to the passage, upon which
+Alexis pulled a Greek Testament out of his pocket, and his sister could
+not help exclaiming--
+
+'Oh, Alexis, you can't ask Miss Merrifield to do Greek with you out in
+the street.'
+
+Certainly it was awkward, the more so as Mrs. Stebbing just then drove
+by in her carriage.
+
+'What a pity!' exclaimed Gillian. 'But if you would set down any
+difficulties, you could send them to me by Kalliope on Sunday.'
+
+'Oh, Miss Merrifield, how very good of you!' exclaimed Alexis, his face
+lighting up with joy.
+
+But Kalliope looked doubtful, and began a hesitating 'But--'
+
+'I'll tell you of a better way!' exclaimed Gillian. 'I always go once
+a week to read to this Lilian Giles, and if I come down afterwards to
+Kalliope's office after you have struck work, I could see to anything
+you wanted to ask.'
+
+Alexis broke out into the most eager thanks. Kalliope said hardly
+anything, and as they had reached the place where the roads diverged,
+they bade one another good-evening.
+
+Gillian looked after the brother and sister just as the gas was being
+lighted, and could almost guess what Alexis was saying, by his gestures
+of delight. She did not hear, and did not guess how Kalliope answered,
+'Don't set your heart on it too much, dear fellow, for I should greatly
+doubt whether Miss Gillian's aunts will consent. Oh yes, of course, if
+they permit her, it will be all right.
+
+So Gillian went her way feeling that she had found her 'great thing.'
+Training a minister for the Church! Was not that a 'great thing'?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. -- GILLIAN'S PUPIL
+
+
+
+Gillian was not yet seventeen, and had lived a home life totally removed
+from gossip, so that she had no notion that she was doing a more awkward
+or remarkable thing than if she had been teaching a drummer-boy. She
+even deliberated whether she should mention her undertaking to her
+mother, or produce the grand achievement of Alexis White, prepared for
+college, on the return from India; but a sense that she had promised to
+tell everything, and that, while she did so, she could defy any other
+interference, led her to write the design in a letter to Ceylon, and
+then she felt ready to defy any censure or obstructions from other
+Quarters.
+
+Mystery has a certain charm. Infinite knowledge of human nature was
+shown in the text, 'Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in
+secret is pleasant'; and it would be hard to define how much Gillian's
+satisfaction was owing to the sense of benevolence, or to the pleasure
+of eluding Aunt Jane, when, after going through her chapter of Katharine
+Ashton, in a somewhat perfunctory manner, she hastened away to Miss
+White's office. This, being connected with the showroom, could be
+entered without passing through the gate with the inscription--'No
+admittance except on business.' Indeed, the office had a private door,
+which, at Gillian's signal, was always opened to her. There, on the
+drawing-desk, lay a Greek exercise and a translation, with queries upon
+the difficulties for Gillian to correct, or answer in writing. Kalliope
+had managed to make that little room a pleasant place, bare as it was,
+by pinning a few of her designs on the walls, and always keeping a
+terracotta vase of flowers or coloured leaves upon the table. The lower
+part of the window she had blocked with transparencies delicately
+cut and tinted in cardboard--done, as she told Gillian, by her little
+brother Theodore, who learnt to draw at the National School, and had
+the same turn for art as herself. Altogether, the perfect neatness
+and simplicity of the little room gave it an air of refinement, which
+rendered it by no means an unfit setting for the grave beauty of
+Kalliope's countenance and figure.
+
+The enjoyment of the meeting was great on both sides, partly from the
+savour of old times, and partly because there was really much that was
+uncommon and remarkable about Kalliope herself. Her father's promotion
+had come exactly when she and her next brother were at the time of life
+when the changes it brought would tell most on their minds and manners.
+They had both been sent to schools where they had associated with
+young people of gentle breeding, which perhaps their partly foreign
+extraction, and southern birth and childhood, made it easier for them to
+assimilate. Their beauty and brightness had led to a good deal of kindly
+notice from the officers and ladies of the regiment, and they had thus
+acquired the habits and ways of the class to which they had been raised.
+Their father, likewise, had been a man of a chivalrous nature, whose
+youthful mistakes had been the outcome of high spirit and romance, and
+who, under discipline, danger, suffering, and responsibility, had become
+earnestly religious. There had besides been his Colonel's influence on
+him, and on his children that of Lady Merrifield and Alethea.
+
+It had then been a piteous change and darkening of life when, after the
+crushing grief of his death, the young people found themselves in such
+an entirely different stratum of society. They were ready to work, but
+they could not help feeling the mortification of being relegated below
+the mysterious line of gentry, as they found themselves at Rockquay, and
+viewed as on a level with the clerks and shop-girls of the place. Still
+more, as time went on, did they miss the companionship and intercourse
+to which they had been used. Mr. Flight, the only person in a higher
+rank who took notice of them, and perceived that there was more in them
+than was usual, was after all only a patron--not a friend, and perhaps
+was not essentially enough of a gentleman to be free from all airs of
+condescension even with Alexis, while he might be wise in not making too
+much of an approach to so beautiful a girl as Kalliope. Besides, after
+a fit of eagerness, and something very like promises, he had apparently
+let Alexis drop, only using him for his musical services, and not doing
+anything to promote the studies for which the young man thirsted, nor
+proposing anything for the younger boys, who would soon outgrow the
+National School.
+
+Alexis had made a few semi-friends among the musical youth of the place;
+but there was no one to sympathise with him in his studious tastes, and
+there was much in his appearance and manners to cause the accusation of
+being 'stuck-up'--music being really the only point of contact with most
+of his fellows of the lower professional class.
+
+Kalliope had less time, but she had, on principle, cultivated kindly
+terms with the young women employed under her. Her severe style of
+beauty removed her from any jealousy of her as a rival, and she was
+admired--almost worshipped--by them as the glory of the workshop.
+They felt her superiority, and owned her ability; but nobody there was
+capable of being a companion to her. Thus the sister and brother had
+almost wholly depended upon one another; and it was like a breath from
+what now seemed the golden age of their lives when Gillian Merrifield
+walked into the office, treating Kalliope with all the freedom of an
+equal and the affection of an old friend. There was not very much time
+to spare after Gillian had looked at the exercises, noted and
+corrected the errors, and explained the difficulties or mistakes in the
+translation from Testament and Delectus, feeling all the time how much
+more mastery of the subject her pupil had than Mr. Pollock's at home had
+ever attained to.
+
+However, Kalliope always walked home with her as far as the opening of
+Church Cliff Road, and they talked of the cleverness and goodness of the
+brothers, except Richard at Leeds, who never seemed to be mentioned; how
+Theodore kept at the head of the school, and had hopes of the drawing
+prize, and how little Petros devoured tales of battles, and would hear
+of nothing but being a soldier. Now and then, too, there was a castle in
+the air of a home for little Maura at Alexis's future curacy. Kalliope
+seemed to look to working for life for poor mother, while Theodore
+should cultivate his art. Oftener the two recalled old adventures and
+scenes of their regimental days, and discussed the weddings of the two
+Indian sisters.
+
+Once, however, Kalliope was obliged to suggest, with a blushing apology,
+that she feared Gillian must go home alone, she was not ready.
+
+'Can't I help you? what have you to do?'
+
+Kalliope attempted some excuse of putting away designs, but presently
+peeped from the window, and Gillian, with excited curiosity, imitated
+her, and beheld, lingering about, a young man in the pink of fashion,
+with a tea-rose in his buttonhole and a cane in his hand.
+
+'Oh, Kally,' she cried, 'does he often hang about like this waiting for
+you?'
+
+'Not often, happily. There! old Mr. Stebbing has come out, and they are
+walking away together. We can go now.'
+
+'So he besets you, and you have to keep out of his way,' exclaimed
+Gillian, much excited. 'Is that the reason you come to the garden all
+alone on Sunday?'
+
+'Yes, though I little guessed what awaited me there,' returned Kalliope;
+'but we had better make haste, for it is late for you to be returning.'
+
+It was disappointing that Kalliope would not discuss such an interesting
+affair; but Gillian was sensible of the danger of being so late as to
+cause questions, and she allowed herself to be hurried on too fast for
+conversation, and passing the two Stebbings, who, no doubt, took her for
+a 'hand.'
+
+'Does this often happen?' asked Gillian.
+
+'No; Alec walks home with me, and the boys often come and meet me. Oh,
+did I tell you that the master wants Theodore to be a pupil-teacher? I
+wish I knew what was best for him.'
+
+'Could not he be an artist?'
+
+'I should like some one to tell me whether he really has talent
+worth cultivating, dear boy, or if he would be safer and better in an
+honourable occupation like a school-master.'
+
+'Do you call it honourable?'
+
+'Oh yes, to be sure. I put it next to a clergyman's or a doctor's life.'
+
+'Not a soldier's?'
+
+'That depends,' said Kalliope.
+
+'On the service he is sent upon, you mean? But that is his sovereign's
+look-out. He "only has to obey, to do or die."'
+
+'Yes, it is the putting away of self, and possible peril of life, that
+makes all those grandest,' said Kalliope, 'and I think the schoolmaster
+is next in opportunities of doing good.'
+
+Gillian could not help thinking that none of all these could put away
+self more entirely than the girl beside her, toiling away her beauty and
+her youth in this dull round of toil, not able to exercise the instincts
+of her art to the utmost, and with no change from the monotonous round
+of mosaics, which were forced to be second rate, to the commonest
+household works, and the company of the Queen of the White Ants.
+
+Gillian perceived enough of the nobleness of such a life to fill
+her with a certain enthusiasm, and make her feel a day blank and
+uninteresting if she could not make her way to the little office.
+
+One evening, towards the end of the first fortnight, Alexis himself came
+in with a passage that he wanted to have explained. His sister
+looked uneasy all the time, and hurried to put on her hat, and stand
+demonstratively waiting, telling Gillian that they must go, the moment
+the lesson began to tend to discursive talk, and making a most decided
+sign of prohibition to her brother when he showed a disposition to
+accompany them.
+
+'I think you are frightfully particular, Kally,' said Gillian, when they
+were on their way up the hill. 'Such an old friend, and you there, too.'
+
+'It would never do here! It would be wrong,' answered Kalliope, with the
+authority of an older woman. 'He must not come to the office.'
+
+'Oh, but how could I ever explain to him? One can't do everything in
+writing. I might as well give up the lessons as never speak to him about
+them.'
+
+There was truth in this, and perhaps Alexis used some such arguments on
+his side, for at about every third visit of Gillian's he dropped in with
+some important inquiry necessary to his progress, which was rapid enough
+to compel Gillian to devote some time to preparation, in order to keep
+ahead of him.
+
+Kalliope kept diligent guard, and watched against lengthening the
+lessons into gossip, and they were always after hours when the hands had
+gone away. The fear of being detected kept Gillian ready to shorten the
+time.
+
+'How late you are!' were the first words she heard one October evening
+on entering Beechcroft Cottage; but they were followed by 'Here's a
+pleasure for you!'
+
+'It's from papa himself! Open it! Open it quick,' cried Valetta, dancing
+round her in full appreciation of the honour and delight.
+
+Sir Jasper said that his daughter must put up with him for a
+correspondent, since two brides at once were as much as any mother could
+be supposed to undertake. Indeed, as mamma would not leave him, Phyllis
+was actually going to Calcutta, chaperoned by one of the matrons of the
+station, to make purchases for both outfits, since Alethea would not
+stir from under the maternal wing sooner than she could help.
+
+At the end came, 'We are much shocked at poor White's death. He was an
+excellent officer, and a good and sensible man, though much hampered
+with his family. I am afraid his wife must be a very helpless being. He
+used to talk about the good promise of one of his sons--the second, I
+think. We will see whether anything can be done for the children when
+we come home. I say we, for I find I shall have to be invalided before
+I can be entirely patched up, so that mamma and I shall have a sort of
+postponed silver wedding tour, a new variety for the old folks "from
+home."'
+
+'Oh, is papa coming home?' cried Valetta.
+
+'For good! Oh, I hope it will be for good,' added Gillian.
+
+'Then we shall live at dear Silverfold all the days of our life,' added
+Fergus.
+
+'And I shall get back to Rigdum.'
+
+'And I shall make a telephone down to the stables,' were the cries of
+the children.
+
+The transcendent news quite swallowed up everything else for some time;
+but at last Gillian recurred to her father's testimony as to the White
+family.
+
+'Is the second son the musical one?' she was asked, and on her
+affirmative, Aunt Jane remarked, 'Well, though the Rev. Augustine Flight
+is not on a pinnacle of human wisdom, his choir practices, etc., will
+keep the lad well out of harm's way till your father can see about him.'
+
+This would have been an opportunity of explaining the youth's aims and
+hopes, and her own share in forwarding them; but it had become difficult
+to avow the extent of her intercourse with the brother and sister, so
+entirely without the knowledge of her aunts. Even Miss Mohun, acute as
+she was, had no suspicions, and only thought with much satisfaction that
+her niece was growing more attentive to poor Lilian Giles, even to the
+point of lingering.
+
+'I really think, she said, in consultation with Miss Adeline, 'that we
+might gratify that damsel by having the White girls to drink tea.'
+
+'Well, we can add them to your winter party of young ladies in
+business.'
+
+'Hardly. These stand on different ground, and I don't want to hurt their
+feelings or Gillian's by mixing them up with the shopocracy.'
+
+'Have you seen the Queen of the White Ants?'
+
+'Not yet; but I mean to reconnoitre, and if I see no cause to the
+contrary, I shall invite them for next Tuesday.'
+
+'The mother? You might as well ask her namesake.'
+
+'Probably; but I shall be better able to judge when I have seen her.'
+
+So Miss Mohun trotted off, made her visit, and thus reported, 'Poor
+woman! she certainly is not lovely now, whatever she may have been;
+but I should think there was no harm in her, and she is effusive in
+her gratitude to all the Merrifield family. It is plain that the absent
+eldest son is the favourite, far more so than the two useful children
+at the marble works; and Mr. White is spoken of as a sort of tyrant,
+whereas I should think they owed a good deal to his kindness in giving
+them employment.'
+
+'I always thought he was an old hunks.'
+
+'The town thinks so because he does not come and spend freely here; but
+I have my doubts whether they are right. He is always ready to do his
+part in subscriptions; and the employing these young people as he does
+is true kindness.'
+
+'Unappreciated.'
+
+'Yes, by the mother who would expect to be kept like a lady in idleness,
+but perhaps not so by her daughter. From all I can pick up, I think
+she must be a very worthy person, so I have asked her and the little
+schoolgirl for Tuesday evening, and I hope it will not be a great
+nuisance to you, Ada.'
+
+'Oh no,' said Miss Adeline, good humouredly, 'it will please Gillian,
+and I shall be interested in seeing the species, or rather the variety.'
+
+'Var Musa Groeca Hibernica Militaris,' laughed Aunt Jane.
+
+'By the bye, I further found out what made the Captain enlist.'
+
+'Trust you for doing that!' laughed her sister.
+
+'Really it was not on purpose, but old Zack Skilly was indulging me with
+some of his ancient smuggling experiences, in what he evidently views as
+the heroic age of Rockquay. "Men was men, then," he says. "Now they be
+good for nought, but to row out the gentlefolks when the water is as
+smooth as glass." You should hear the contempt in his voice. Well, a
+promising young hero of his was Dick White, what used to work for his
+uncle, but liked a bit of a lark, and at last hit one of the coastguard
+men in a fight, and ran away, and folks said he had gone for a soldier.
+Skilly had heard he was dead, and his wife had come to live in these
+parts, but there was no knowing what was true and what wasn't. Folks
+would talk! Dick was a likely chap, with more life about him than his
+cousin Jem, as was a great man now, and owned all the marble works, and
+a goodish bit of the town. There was a talk as how the two lads had
+both been a courting of the same maid, that was Betsy Polwhele, and had
+fallen out about her, but how that might be he could not tell. Anyhow,
+she was not wed to one nor t'other of them, but went into a waste and
+died.'
+
+'I wonder if it was for Dick's sake. So Jem was not constant either.'
+
+'Except to his second love. That was a piteous little story too.'
+
+'You mean his young wife's health failing as soon as he brought her to
+that house which he was building for her, and then his taking her to
+Italy, and never enduring to come back here again after she and her
+child died. But he made a good thing of it with his quarries in the
+mountains.'
+
+'You sordid person, do you think that was all he cared for!'
+
+'Well, I always thought of him as a great, stout, monied man, quite
+incapable of romance and sensitiveness.'
+
+'If so, don't you think he would have let that house instead of keeping
+it up in empty state! There is a good deal of character in those
+Whites.'
+
+'The Captain is certainly the most marked man, except Jasper, in that
+group of officers in Gillian's photograph-book.'
+
+'Partly from the fact that a herd of young officers always look so
+exactly alike--at least in the eyes of elderly spinsters.'
+
+'Jane!'
+
+'Let us hope so, now that it is all over. This same Dick must have had
+something remarkable about him, to judge by the impression he seems
+to have left on all who came in his way, and I shall like to see his
+children.'
+
+'You always do like queer people.'
+
+'It is plain that we ought to take notice of them,' said Miss Mohun,
+'and it is not wholesome for Gillian to think us backward in kindness to
+friends about whom she plainly has a little romance.'
+
+She refrained from uttering a suspicion inspired by her visit that there
+had been more 'kindnesses' on her niece's part than she could quite
+account for. Yet she believed that she knew how all the girl's days
+were spent; was certain that the Sunday wanderings never went beyond the
+garden, and, moreover, she implicitly trusted Lily's daughter.
+
+Gillian did not manifest as much delight and gratitude at the invitation
+as her aunts expected. In point of fact, she resented Aunt Jane's making
+a visit of investigation without telling her, and she was uneasy lest
+there should have been or yet should be a disclosure that should make
+her proceedings appear clandestine. 'And they are not!' said she to
+herself with vehemence. 'Do I not write them all to my own mother? And
+did not Miss Vincent allow that one is not bound to treat aunts like
+parents?'
+
+Even the discovery of Captain White's antecedents was almost an offence,
+for if her aunt would not let her inquire, why should she do so herself,
+save to preserve the choice morceau for her own superior intelligence?
+Thus all the reply that Gillian deigned was, 'Of course I knew that
+Captain White could never have done anything to be ashamed of.'
+
+The weather was too wet for any previous meetings, and it was on a
+wild stormy evening that the two sisters appeared at seven o'clock at
+Beechcroft Cottage. While hats and waterproofs were being taken off
+upstairs, Gillian found opportunity to give a warning against mentioning
+the Greek lessons. It was received with consternation.
+
+'Oh, Miss Merrifield, do not your aunts know?'
+
+'No. Why should they? Mamma does.'
+
+'Not yet. And she is so far off! I wish Miss Mohun knew! I made sure
+that she did,' said Kalliope, much distressed.
+
+'But why? It would only make a fuss.'
+
+'I should be much happier about it.'
+
+'And perhaps have it all upset.'
+
+'That is the point. I felt that it must be all right as long as Miss
+Mohun sanctioned it; but I could not bear that we should be the means of
+bringing you into a scrape, by doing what she might disapprove while you
+are under her care.'
+
+'Don't you think you can trust me to know my own relations?' said
+Gillian somewhat haughtily.
+
+'Indeed, I did not mean that we are not infinitely obliged to you,' said
+Kalliope. 'It has made Alexis another creature to have some hope, and
+feel himself making progress.'
+
+'Then why do you want to have a fuss, and a bother, and a chatter? If my
+father and mother don't approve, they can telegraph.'
+
+With which argument she appeased or rather silenced Kalliope, who could
+not but feel the task of objecting alike ungracious and ungrateful
+towards the instructor, and absolutely cruel and unkind towards her
+brother, and who spoke only from a sense of the treachery of allowing a
+younger girl to transgress in ignorance. Still she was conscious of not
+understanding on what terms the niece and aunts might be, and the
+St. Kenelm's estimate of the Beechcroft ladies was naturally somewhat
+different from that of the St. Andrew's congregation. Miss Mohun was
+popularly regarded in those quarters as an intolerable busybody, and
+Miss Adeline as a hypochondriacal fine lady, so that Gillian might
+perhaps reasonably object to put herself into absolute subjection; so,
+though Kalliope might have a presentiment of breakers ahead, she could
+say no more, and Gillian, feeling that she had been cross, changed the
+subject by admiring the pretty short curly hair that was being tied back
+at the glass.
+
+'I wish it would grow long,' said Kalliope. 'But it always was rather
+short and troublesome, and ever since it was cut short in the fever, I
+have been obliged to keep it like this.'
+
+'But it suits you,' said Gillian. 'And it is exactly the thing now.'
+
+'That is the worst of it. It looks as if I wore it so on purpose.
+However, all our hands know that I cannot help it, and so does Lady
+Flight.'
+
+The girl looked exceedingly well, though little Alice, the maid, would
+not have gone out to tea in such an ancient black dress, with no relief
+save a rim of white at neck and hands, and a tiny silver Maltese cross
+at the throat. Maura had a comparatively new gray dress, picked out with
+black. She was a pretty creature, the Irish beauty predominating over
+the Greek, in her great long-lashed brown eyes, which looked radiant
+with shy happiness. Miss Adeline was perfectly taken by surprise at the
+entrance of two such uncommon forms and faces, and the quiet dignity
+of the elder made her for a moment suppose that her sister must have
+invited some additional guest of undoubted station.
+
+Valetta, who had grown fond of Maura in their school life, and who
+dearly loved patronising, pounced upon her guest to show her all manner
+of treasures and curiosities, at which she looked in great delight; and
+Fergus was so well satisfied with her comprehension of the principles
+of the letter balance, that he would have taken her upstairs to be
+introduced to all his mechanical inventions, if the total darkness and
+cold of his den had not been prohibitory.
+
+Kalliope looked to perfection, but was more silent than her sister,
+though, as Miss Mohun's keen eye noted, it was not the shyness of a
+conscious inferior in an unaccustomed world, but rather that of a grave,
+reserved nature, not chattering for the sake of mere talk.
+
+Gillian's photograph-book was well looked over, with all the brothers
+and sisters at different stages, and the group of officers. Miss Mohun
+noted the talk that passed over these, as they were identified one by
+one, sometimes with little reminiscences, childishly full on Gillian's
+part, betraying on Kalliope's side friendly acquaintance, but all in as
+entirely ladylike terms as would have befitted Phyllis or Alethea. She
+could well believe in the words with which Miss White rather hastened
+the turning of the page, 'Those were happy days--I dare not dwell on
+them too much!'
+
+'Oh, I like to do so!' cried Gillian. 'I don't want the little ones ever
+to forget them.'
+
+'Yes--you! But with you it would not be repining.'
+
+This was for Gillian's ear alone, as at that moment both the aunts were,
+at the children's solicitation, engaged on the exhibition of a
+wonderful musical-box--Aunt Adeline's share of her mother's wedding
+presents--containing a bird that hovered and sung, the mechanical
+contrivance of which was the chief merit in Fergus's eyes, and which had
+fascinated generations of young people for the last sixty years. Aunt
+Jane, however, could hear through anything--even through the winding-up
+of what the family called 'Aunt Ada's Jackdaw,' and she drew her
+conclusions, with increasing respect and pity for the young girl over
+whose life such a change had come.
+
+But it was not this, but what she called common humanity, which prompted
+her, on hearing a heavy gust of rain against the windows, to go into the
+lower regions in quest of a messenger boy to order a brougham to take
+the guests home at the end of the evening.
+
+The meal went off pleasantly on the whole, though there loomed a storm
+as to the ritual of St. Kenelm's; but this chiefly was owing to the
+younger division of the company, when Valetta broke into an unnecessary
+inquiry why they did not have as many lights on the altar at
+St. Andrew's as at St. Kenelm's, and Fergus put her down with
+unceremoniously declaring that Stebbing said Flight was a donkey.
+
+Gillian came down with what she meant for a crushing rebuke, and the
+indignant colour rose in the cheeks of the guests; but Fergus persisted,
+'But he makes a guy of himself and a mountebank.'
+
+Aunt Jane thought it time to interfere. 'Fergus,' she said, 'you had
+better not repeat improper sayings, especially about a clergyman.'
+
+Fergus wriggled.
+
+'And,' added Aunt Ada, with equal severity, 'you know Mr. Flight is a
+very kind friend to little Maura and her sister.'
+
+'Indeed he is,' said Kalliope earnestly; and Maura, feeling herself
+addressed, added, 'Nobody but he ever called on poor mamma, till Miss
+Mohun did; no, not Lady Flight.'
+
+'We are very grateful for his kindness,' put in Kalliope, in a
+repressive tone.
+
+'But,' said Gillian, 'I thought you said he had seemed to care less of
+late.'
+
+'I do not know,' said Miss White, blushing; 'music seems to be his chief
+interest, and there has not been anything fresh to get up since the
+concert.'
+
+'I suppose there will be for the winter,' said Miss Mohun, and therewith
+the conversation was safely conducted away to musical subjects, in which
+some of the sisters' pride and affection for their brothers peeped out;
+but Gillian was conscious all the time that Kalliope was speaking with
+some constraint when she mentioned Alexis, and that she was glad rather
+to dwell on little Theodore, who had good hopes of the drawing prize,
+and she seriously consulted Miss Mohun on the pupil-teachership for him,
+as after he had passed the seventh standard he could not otherwise go
+on with his education, though she did not think he had much time for
+teaching.
+
+'Would not Mr. White help him further?' asked Miss Mohun.
+
+'I do not know. I had much rather not ask,' said Kalliope. 'We are too
+many to throw ourselves on a person who is no near relation, and he has
+not seemed greatly disposed to help.'
+
+'Your elder brother?'
+
+'Oh, poor Richard, he is not earning anything yet. I can't ask him. If
+I only knew of some school I could be sure was safe and good and not
+too costly, Alexis and I would try to manage for Theodore after the
+examination in the spring.'
+
+The Woodward schools were a new light to her, and she was eagerly
+interested in Miss Mohun's explanations and in the scale of terms.
+
+Meantime Miss Adeline got on excellently with the younger ones, and when
+the others were free, proposed for their benefit a spelling game. All
+sat round the table, made words, and abstracted one another's with
+increasing animation, scarcely heeding the roaring of the wind outside,
+till there was a ring at the bell.
+
+'My brother has come for us,' said Kalliope.
+
+'Oh, but it is not fit for you to walk home,' said Miss Mohun. 'The
+brougham is coming by and by; ask Mr. White to come in,' she added, as
+the maid appeared with the message that he was come for his sisters.
+
+There was a confusion of acknowledgments and disclaimers, and word was
+brought back that Mr. White was too wet to come in. Miss Mohun, who
+was not playing, but prompting Fergus, jumped up and went out to
+investigate, when she found a form in an ancient military cloak, trying
+to keep himself from dripping where wet could do mischief. She had to
+explain her regret at his having had such a walk in vain; but she had
+taken alarm on finding that rain was setting in for the night, and
+had sent word by the muffin-boy that the brougham would be wanted,
+contriving to convey that it was not to be paid for.
+
+Nothing remained to be said except thanks, and Alexis emerged from
+the cloak, which looked as if it had gone through all his father's
+campaigns, took off his gaiters, did his best for his boots, and,
+though not in evening costume, looked very gentleman-like and remarkably
+handsome in the drawing-room, with no token of awkward embarrassment
+save a becoming blush.
+
+Gillian began to tremble inwardly again, but the game had just ended
+in her favour, owing to Fergus having lost all his advantages in Aunt
+Jane's absence, besides signalising himself by capturing Maura's 'bury,'
+under the impression that an additional R would combine that and straw
+into a fruit.
+
+So the coast being cleared, Miss Adeline greatly relieved her niece's
+mind by begging, as a personal favour, to hear the song whose renown
+at the concert had reached her; and thus the time was safely spent in
+singing till the carriage was announced, and good-nights exchanged.
+
+Maura's eyes grew round with delight, and she jumped for joy at the
+preferment.
+
+'Oh!' she said, as she fervently kissed Valetta, 'it is the most
+delightful evening I ever spent in the whole course of my life, except
+at Lady Merrifield's Christmas-tree! And now to go home in a carriage! I
+never went in one since I can remember!'
+
+And Kalliope's 'Thank you, we have enjoyed ourselves very much,' was
+very fervent.
+
+'Those young people are very superior to what I expected,' said Aunt
+Adeline. 'What fine creatures, all so handsome; and that little Maura is
+a perfect darling.'
+
+'The Muse herself is very superior,' said Miss Mohun. 'One of those home
+heroines who do the work of Atlas without knowing it. I do not wonder
+that the marble girls speak of her so enthusiastically.'
+
+How Gillian might have enjoyed all this, and yet she could not, except
+so far that she told herself that thus there could be no reasonable
+objection made by her aunts to intercourse with those whom they so much
+admired.
+
+Yet perhaps even then she would have told all, but that, after having
+bound over Kalliope to secrecy, it would be awkward to confess that she
+had told all. It would be like owning herself in the wrong, and for that
+she was not prepared. Besides, where would be the secrecy of her 'great
+thing'?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. -- GAUGING AJEE
+
+
+
+Without exactly practising to deceive, Gillian began to find that
+concealment involved her in a tangled web; all the more since Aunt Jane
+had become thoroughly interested in the Whites, and was inquiring right
+and left about schools and scholarships for the little boys.
+
+She asked their master about them, and heard that they were among his
+best scholars, and that their home lessons had always been carefully
+attended to by their elder brother and sister. In fact, he was most
+anxious to retain Theodore, to be trained for a pupil-teacher, the
+best testimony to his value! Aunt Jane came home full of the subject,
+relating what the master said of Alexis White, and that he had begun
+by working with him at Latin and mathematics; but that they had not had
+time to go on with what needed so much study and preparation.
+
+'In fact, said Miss Mohun, 'I have a suspicion that if a certificated
+schoolmaster could own any such thing, the pupil knew more than the
+teacher. When your father comes home, I hope he will find some way of
+helping that lad.'
+
+Gillian began to crimson, but bethought herself of the grandeur of its
+being found that she was the youth's helper. 'I am glad you have been
+lending him books,' added Aunt Jane.
+
+What business had she to know what had not been told her? The sense of
+offence drove back any disposition to consult her. Yet to teach Alexis
+was no slight task, for, though he had not gone far in Greek, his
+inquiries were searching, and explaining to him was a different thing
+from satisfying even Mr. Pollock. Besides, Gillian had her own studies
+on hand. The Cambridge examinations were beginning to assume larger
+proportions in the Rockquay mind, and 'the General Screw Company,' as
+Mr. Grant observed, was prevailing.
+
+Gillian's knowledge was rather discursive, and the concentration
+required by an examination was hard work to her, and the time for it
+was shortened by the necessity of doing all Alexis's Greek exercises and
+translations beforehand, and of being able to satisfy him why an error
+was not right, for, in all politeness, he always would know why it did
+not look right. And there was Valetta, twisting and groaning. The screw
+was on her form, who, unless especially exempted, were to compete for a
+prize for language examination.
+
+Valetta had begun by despising Kitty Varley for being excepted by her
+mother's desire and for not learning Latin; but now she envied any one
+who had not to work double tides at the book of Caesar that was to be
+taken up, and Vercingetorix and his Arverni got vituperated in a way
+that would have made the hair of her hero-worshipping mother fairly
+stand on end.
+
+But then Lilias Mohun had studied him for love of himself, not for dread
+of failure.
+
+Gillian had been displeased when Fergus deserted her for Aunt Jane as an
+assistant, but she would not have been sorry if Valetta had been off
+her hands, when she was interrupted in researches after an idiom in St.
+John's Gospel by the sigh that this abominable dictionary had no verb
+oblo, or in the intricacies of a double equation by despair at this
+horrid Caesar always hiding away his nominatives out of spite.
+
+Valetta, like the American child, evidently regarded the Great Julius
+in no other light than as writer of a book for beginners in Latin, and,
+moreover, a very unkind one; and she fully reciprocated the sentiment
+that it was no wonder that the Romans conquered the world, since they
+knew the Latin grammar by nature.
+
+Nor was Gillian's hasty and sometimes petulant assistance very
+satisfactory to the poor child, since it often involved hearing 'Wait a
+minute,' and a very long one, 'How can you be so stupid?' 'I told you
+so long ago'; and sometimes consisted of a gabbling translation,
+with rapidly pointed finger, very hard to follow, and not quite so
+painstaking as when Alexis deferentially and politely pointed out the
+difficulties, with a strong sense of the favour that she was doing him.
+
+Not that these personal lessons often took place. Kalliope never
+permitted them without dire necessity, and besides, there was always an
+uncertainty when Gillian might come down, or when Alexis might be able
+to come in.
+
+One day when Aunt Jane had come home with a story of how one of her
+'business girls' had confessed to Miss White's counsel having only just
+saved her from an act of folly, it occurred to Aunt Adeline to say--
+
+'It is a great pity you have not her help in the G.F.S.'
+
+'I did not understand enough about her before, and mixed her up with the
+ordinary class of business girls. I had rather have her a member for the
+sake of example; but if not, she would be a valuable associate. Could
+not you explain this to her without hurting her feelings, as I am afraid
+I did, Gill? I did not understand enough about her when I spoke to her
+before.'
+
+Gillian started. The conversation that should have been so pleasant to
+her was making her strangely uncomfortable.
+
+'I do not see how Gill is to get at her,' objected the other aunt. 'It
+would be of no great use to call on her in the nest of the Queen of the
+White Ants. I can't help recollecting the name, it was so descriptive.'
+
+'Yes; it was on her mother's account that she refused, and of course her
+office must not be invaded in business hours.'
+
+'I might call on her there before she goes home,' suggested Gillian,
+seeing daylight.
+
+'You cannot be walking down there at dusk, just as the workmen come
+away' exclaimed Aunt Ada, making the colour so rush into Gillian's
+cheeks that she was glad to catch up a screen.
+
+'No,' said Miss Mohun emphatically; 'but I could leave her there at five
+o'clock, and go to Tideshole to take old Jemmy Burnet his jersey, and
+call for her on the way back.'
+
+'Or she could walk home with me,' murmured the voice behind the screen.
+
+Gillian felt with dismay that all these precautions as to her escort
+would render her friend more scrupulous than ever as to her visits. To
+have said, 'I have several times been at the office,' would have been a
+happy clearance of the ground, but her pride would not bend to possible
+blame, nor would she run the risk of a prohibition. 'It would be the
+ruin of hope to Alexis, and mamma knows all,' said she to herself.
+
+It was decided that she should trust to Kalliope to go back with her,
+for when once Aunt Jane get into the very fishy hamlet of Tideshole,
+which lay beyond the quarries, there was no knowing when she might get
+away, since
+
+
+          'Alike to her were time and tide,
+           November's snow or July's pride.'
+
+
+So after a few days, too wet and tempestuous for any expedition, they
+set forth accompanied by Fergus, who rushed in from school in time to
+treat his aunt as a peripatetic 'Joyce's scientific dialogues.' Valetta
+had not arrived, and Gillian was in haste to elude her, knowing that her
+aunt would certainly not take her on to Tideshole, and that there would
+be no comfort in talking before her; but it was a new thing to have to
+regard her little sister in the light of a spy, and again she had to
+reason down a sense of guiltiness. However, her aunt wanted Valetta as
+little as she did; and she had never so rejoiced in Fergus's monologue,
+'Then this small fly-wheel catches into the Targe one, and so--Don't you
+see?'--only pausing for a sound of assent.
+
+Unacquainted with the private door, Miss Mohun entered the office
+through the showroom, exchanging greetings with the young saleswomen,
+and finding Miss White putting away her materials.
+
+Shaking hands, Miss Mohun said--
+
+'I have brought your friend to make a visit to you while I go on to
+Tideshole. She tells me that you will be kind enough to see her on her
+way home, if you are going back at the same time.'
+
+'I shall be delighted,' said Kalliope, with eyes as well as tongue,
+and no sooner were she and Gillian alone together than she joyfully
+exclaimed--
+
+'Then Miss Mohun knows! You have told her.
+
+'No--'
+
+'Oh!' and there were volumes in the intonation. 'I was alarmed when she
+came in, and then so glad if it was all over. Dear Miss Merrifield--'
+
+'Call me Gillian; I have told you to do so before! Phyllis is
+Miss Merrifield, and I won't be so before my time,' said Gillian,
+interrupting in a tone more cross than affectionate.
+
+'I was going to say,' pursued Kalliope, 'that the shock her entrance
+gave to me proved all the more that we cannot be treating her properly.
+
+'Never mind that! I did not come about that. She is quite taken with
+you, Kally, and wants you more than ever to be a Friendly Girl, because
+she thinks it would be so good for the others who are under you.'
+
+'They have told me something about it,' said Kalliope thoughtfully.
+
+'She fancied' added Gillian, 'that perhaps she did not make you
+understand the rights of it, not knowing that you were different from
+the others.'
+
+'Oh no, it was not that,' said Kalliope. 'Indeed, I hope there is
+no such nonsense in me. It was what my dear father always warned us
+against; only poor mamma always gets vexed if she does not think we are
+keeping ourselves up, and she had just been annoyed at--something, and
+we did not know then that it was Lady Merrifield's sister.'
+
+This was contradictory, but it was evident that, while Kalliope disowned
+conceit of station for herself, she could not always cross her mother's
+wishes. It was further elicited that if Lady Flight had taken up the
+matter there would have been no difficulty. Half a year ago the Flights
+had seemed to the young Whites angelic and infallible, and perhaps
+expectations had been founded on their patronage; but there had since
+been a shadow of disappointment, and altogether Kalliope was less
+disposed to believe that my Lady was correct in pronouncing Miss Mohun's
+cherished society as 'dissentish,' and only calculated for low servant
+girls and ladies who wished to meddle in families.
+
+Clanship made Gillian's indignation almost bring down the office, and
+her eloquence was scarcely needed, since Kalliope had seen the value to
+some of her 'hands' from the class, the library, the recreation-room,
+and the influence of the ladies, above all, the showing them that it
+was possible to have variety and amusement free from vulgar and perilous
+dissipation; but still she hesitated. She had no time, she said; she
+could not attend classes, and she was absolutely necessary at home in
+the evenings; but Gillian assured her that nothing was expected from
+her but a certain influence in the right direction, and the showing the
+younger and giddier that she did not think the Society beneath her.
+
+'I see all that,' said Kalliope; 'I wish I had not been mistaken at
+first; but, Miss Mer--Gillian, I do not see how I can join it now.'
+
+'Why not? What do you mean?'
+
+Kalliope was very unwilling to speak, but at last it came.
+
+'How can I do this to please your aunt, who thinks better of me than I
+deserve, when--Oh! excuse me--I know it is all your kindness--but when I
+am allowing you to deceive her--almost, I mean--'
+
+'Deceive! I never spoke an untrue word to my aunt in my life,' said
+Gillian, in proud anger; 'but if you think so, Miss White, I had better
+have no more to do with it.'
+
+'I feel,' said Kalliope, with tears in her eyes, 'as if it might be
+better so, unless Miss Mohun knew all about it.'
+
+'Well, if you think so, and like to upset all your brother's hopes--'
+
+'It would be a terrible grief to him, I know, and I don't undervalue
+your kindness, indeed I don't; but I cannot be happy about it while Miss
+Mohun does not know. I don't understand why you do not tell her.'
+
+'Because I know there would be a worry and a fuss. Either she would say
+we must wait for letters from mamma, or else that Alexis must come to
+Beechcroft, and all the comfort would be over, and it would be gossiped
+about all over the place. Can't you trust me, when I tell you I have
+written it all to my own father and mother, and surely I know my own
+family best?'
+
+Kalliope looked half convinced, but she persisted--
+
+'I suppose you do; only please, till there is a letter from Lady
+Merrifield, I had rather not go into this Society.'
+
+'But, Kally, you don't consider. What am I to say to my aunt? What will
+she think of you?'
+
+'I can't help that! I cannot do this while she could feel I was
+conniving at what she might not like. Indeed, I cannot. I beg your
+pardon, but it goes against me. When shall you be able to hear from Lady
+Merrifield?'
+
+'I wrote three weeks ago. I suppose I shall hear about half-way through
+December, and you know they could telegraph if they wanted to stop it,
+so I think you might be satisfied.'
+
+Still Kalliope could not be persuaded, and finally, as a sort of
+compromise, Gillian decided on saying that she would think about it and
+give her answer at Christmas; to which she gave a reluctant assent, with
+one more protest that if there were no objection to the lessons, she
+could not see why Miss Mohun should not know of them.
+
+Peace was barely restored before voices were heard, and in came Fergus,
+bringing Alexis with him. They had met on the beach road in front of the
+works, and Fergus, being as usual full of questions about a crane that
+was swinging blocks of stone into a vessel close to the little pier,
+his aunt had allowed him to stay to see the work finished, after which
+Alexis would take him to join his sister.
+
+So it came about that they all walked home together very cheerfully,
+though Gillian was still much vexed under the surface at Kalliope's
+old-maidish particularity.
+
+However, the aunts were not as annoyed at the delay as she expected.
+Miss Mohun said she would look out some papers that would be convincing
+and persuasive, and that it might be as well not to enrol Miss White too
+immediately before the Christmas festivities, but to wait till the
+books were begun next year. Plans began to prevail for the Christmas
+diversions and entertainments, but the young Merrifields expected to
+have nothing to do with these, as they were to meet the rest of the
+family at their eldest uncle's house at Beechcroft; all except Harry,
+who was to be ordained in the Advent Ember week, and at once begin work
+with his cousin David Merrifield in the Black Country. Their aunts would
+not go with them, as Beechcroft breezes, though her native air, were too
+cold for Adeline in the winter, and Jane could leave neither her, nor
+her various occupations, and the festivities of all Rockstone.
+
+It is not easy to say which Gillian most looked forward to: Mysie's
+presence, or the absence of the supervision which she imagined herself
+to suffer from, because she had set herself to shirk it. She knew she
+should feel more free. But behold! a sudden change, produced by one
+morning's letters.
+
+'It is a beastly shame!'
+
+'Oh, Fergus! That's not a thing to say,' cried Valetta.
+
+'I don't care! It is a beastly shame not to go to Beechcroft, and be
+poked up here all the holidays.'
+
+'But you can't when Primrose has got the whooping-cough.'
+
+'Bother the whooping-cough.'
+
+'And welcome; but you would find it bother you, I believe.'
+
+'I shouldn't catch it. I want Wilfred, and to ride the pony, and see the
+sluice that Uncle Maurice made.'
+
+'You couldn't if you had the cough.'
+
+'Then I should stay there instead of coming back to school! I say it is
+horrid, and beastly, and abominable, and--'
+
+'Come, come, Fergus,' here put in Gillian, 'that is very wrong.'
+
+'You don't hear Gill and me fly out in that way,' added Valetta, 'though
+we are so sorry about Mysie and Fly.'
+
+'Oh, you are girls, and don't know what is worth doing. I _will_ say it
+is beast--'
+
+'Now don't, Fergus; it is very rude and ungrateful to the aunts. None
+of us like having to stay here and lose our holiday; but it is very
+improper to say so in their own house, and I thought you were so fond of
+Aunt Jane.'
+
+'Aunt Jane knows a thing or two, but she isn't Wilfred.'
+
+'And Wilfred is always teasing you.'
+
+'Fergus is quite right,' said Miss Mohun, who had been taking off
+her galoshes in the vestibule while this colloquy was ending in the
+dining-room; 'it is much better to be bullied by a brother than made
+much of by an aunt, and you know I am very sorry for you all under the
+infliction.'
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, we know you are very kind, and--' began Gillian.
+
+'Never mind, my dear; I know you are making the best of us, and I
+am very much obliged to you for standing up for us. It is a great
+disappointment, but I was going to give Fergus a note that I think will
+console him.'
+
+And out of an envelope which she had just taken from the letter-box
+she handed him a note, which he pulled open and then burst out, 'Cousin
+David! Hurrah! Scrumptious!' commencing a war-dance at the same moment.
+
+'What is it? Has David asked you?' demanded both his sisters at the same
+moment.
+
+'Hurrah! Yes, it is from him. "My dear Fergus, I hope"--hurrah--"Harry,
+mm--mm--mm--brothers, 20th mm--mm. Your affectionate cousin, David
+Merrifield."'
+
+'Let me read it to you,' volunteered Gillian.
+
+'Wouldn't you like it?'
+
+'How can you be so silly, Ferg? You can't read it yourself. You don't
+know whether he really asks you.'
+
+Fergus made a face, and bolted upstairs to gloat, and perhaps peruse
+the letter, while Valetta rushed after him, whether to be teased or
+permitted to assist might be doubtful.
+
+'He really does ask him,' said Aunt Jane. 'Your cousin David, I mean. He
+says that he and Harry can put up all the three boys between them, and
+that they will be very useful in the Christmas festivities of Coalham.'
+
+'It is very kind of him,' said Gillian in a depressed tone.
+
+'Fergus will be very happy.'
+
+'I only hope he will not be bent on finding a coal mine in the garden
+when he comes back,' said Aunt Jane, smiling; 'but it is rather dreary
+for you, my dear. I had been hoping to have Jasper here for at least a
+few days. Could he not come and fetch Fergus?'
+
+Gillian's eyes sparkled at the notion; but they fell at once, for Jasper
+would be detained by examinations until so late that he would only just
+be able to reach Coalham before Christmas Day. Harry was to be ordained
+in a fortnight's time to work under his cousin, Mr. David Merrifield,
+and his young brothers were to meet him immediately after.
+
+'I wish I could go too,' sighed Gillian, as a hungry yearning for Jasper
+or for Mysie took possession of her.
+
+'I wish you could,' said Miss Mohun sympathetically; 'but I am afraid
+you must resign yourself to helping us instead.'
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, I did not mean to grumble. It can't be helped, and you
+are very kind.'
+
+'Oh, dear!' said poor Miss Jane afterwards in private to her sister,
+'how I hate being told I am very kind! It just means, "You are a not
+quite intolerable jailor and despot," with fairly good intentions.'
+
+'I am sure you are kindness itself, dear Jenny,' responded Miss Adeline.
+'I am glad they own it! But it is very inconvenient and unlucky that
+that unjustifiable mother should have sent her child to the party
+to carry the whooping-cough to poor little Primrose, and Mysie, and
+Phyllis.'
+
+'All at one fell swoop! As for Primrose, the worthy Halfpenny is quite
+enough for her, and Lily is well out of it; but Fly is a little shrimp,
+overdone all round, and I don't like the notion of it for her.'
+
+'And Rotherwood is so wrapped up in her. Poor dear fellow, I hope all
+will go well with her.'
+
+'There is no reason it should not. Delicate children often have it the
+most lightly. But I am sorry for Gillian, though, if she would let us, I
+think we could make her happy.'
+
+Gillian meantime, after her first fit of sick longing for her brother
+and sister, and sense of disappointment, was finding some consolation
+in the reflection that had Jasper discovered her instructions to Alexis
+White, he would certainly have 'made no end of a row about it,' and
+have laughed to scorn the bare notion of her teaching Greek to a
+counting-house clerk! But then Jasper was wont to grumble and chafe
+at all employments--especially beneficent ones--that interfered with
+devotion to his lordly self, and on the whole, perhaps he was safer
+out of the way, as he might have set on the aunts to put a stop to her
+proceedings. Of Mysie's sympathy she was sure, yet she would have
+her scruples about the aunts, and she was a sturdy person, hard to
+answer--poor Mysie, whooping away helplessly in the schoolroom at
+Rotherwood! Gillian felt herself heroically good-humoured and resigned.
+Moreover, here was the Indian letter so long looked for, likely by its
+date to be an answer to the information as to Alexis White's studies.
+Behold, it did not appear to touch on the subject at all! It was
+all about preparations for the double wedding, written in scraps by
+different hands, at different times, evidently snatched from many
+avocations and much interruption. Of mamma there was really least of
+all; but squeezed into a corner, scarcely legible, Gillian read, 'As
+to lessons, if At. J. approves.' It was evidently an afterthought;
+and Gillian _could_, and chose to refer it to a certain inquiry about
+learning the violin, which had never been answered--for the confusion
+that reigned at Columbo was plainly unfavourable to attending to minute
+details in home letters.
+
+The longest portions of the despatch were papa's, since he was still
+unable to move about. He wrote:--'Our two "young men" think it probable
+you will have invitations from their kith and kin. If this comes to
+pass, you had better accept them, though you will not like to break up
+the Christmas party at Beechcroft Court.'
+
+There being no Christmas party at Beechcroft Court, Gillian, in spite of
+her distaste to new people, was not altogether sorry to receive a
+couple of notes by the same post, the first enclosed in the second, both
+forwarded from thence.
+
+
+
+'VALE LESTON PRIORY,
+
+'9th December.
+
+'MY DEAR MISS MERRIFIELD--We are very anxious to make acquaintance
+with my brother Bernard's new belongings, since we cannot greet our new
+sister Phyllis ourselves. We always have a family gathering at Christmas
+between this house and the Vicarage, and we much hope that you and your
+brother will join it. Could you not meet my sister, Mrs. Grinstead, in
+London, and travel down with her on the 23rd? I am sending this note
+to her, as I think she has some such proposal to make.--Yours very
+sincerely,
+
+'WILMET U. HAREWOOD.'
+
+
+The other letter was thus--
+
+
+'BROMPTON, 10th December.
+
+'MY DEAR GILLIAN--It is more natural to call you thus, as you are
+becoming a sort of relation--very unwillingly, I dare say--for "in this
+storm I too have lost a brother." However, we will make the best of it,
+and please don't hate us more than you can help. Since your own home is
+dispersed for the present, it seems less outrageous to ask you to spend
+a Christmas Day among new people, and I hope we may make you feel at
+home with us, and that you will enjoy our beautiful church at Vale
+Leston. We are so many that we may be less alarming if you take us by
+driblets, so perhaps it will be the best way if you will come up to us
+on the 18th or 19th, and go down with us on the 23rd. You will find no
+one with us but my nephew--almost son--Gerald Underwood, and my niece,
+Anna Vanderkist, who will be delighted to make friends with your brother
+Jasper, who might perhaps meet you here. You must tell me all about
+Phyllis, and what she would like best for her Cingalese home.--Yours
+affectionately,
+
+                                           GERALDINE GRINSTEAD.
+
+
+Thus then affairs shaped themselves. Gillian was to take Fergus to
+London, where Jasper would meet them at the station, and put the little
+boy into the train for Coalham, whither his brother Wilfred had preceded
+him by a day or two.
+
+Jasper and Gillian would then repair to Brompton for two or three days
+before going down with Mr. and Mrs. Grinstead to Vale Leston, and they
+were to take care to pay their respects to old Mrs. Merrifield, who had
+become too infirm to spend Christmas at Stokesley.
+
+What was to happen later was uncertain, whether they were to go to
+Stokesley, or whether Jasper would join his brothers at Coalham, or come
+down to Rockstone with his sister for the rest of the holidays. Valetta
+must remain there, and it did not seem greatly to distress her; and
+whereas nothing had been said about children, she was better satisfied
+to stay within reach of Kitty and mamma, and the Christmas-trees that
+began to dawn on the horizon, than to be carried into an unknown region
+of 'grown-ups.'
+
+While Gillian was not only delighted at the prospect of meeting Jasper,
+her own especial brother, but was heartily glad to make a change, and
+defer the entire question of lessons, confessions, and G.F.S. for six
+whole weeks. She might get a more definite answer from her parents,
+or something might happen to make explanation to her aunt either
+unnecessary or much more easy--and she was safe from discovery. But
+examinations had yet to be passed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. -- AUT CAESAR AUT NIHIL
+
+
+
+Examinations were the great autumn excitement. Gillian was going up
+for the higher Cambridge, and Valetta's form was under preparation for
+competition for a prize in languages. The great Mr. White, on being
+asked to patronise the High School at its first start, four years ago,
+had endowed it with prizes for each of the four forms for the most
+proficient in two tongues.
+
+As the preparation became more absorbing, brows were puckered and looks
+were anxious, and the aunts were doubtful as to the effect upon the
+girls' minds or bodies. It was too late, however, to withdraw them, and
+Miss Mohun could only insist on air and exercise, and permit no work
+after the seven-o'clock tea.
+
+She was endeavouring to chase cobwebs from the brains of the students
+by the humours of Mrs. Nickleby, when a message was brought that Miss
+Leverett, the head-mistress of the High School, wished to speak to her
+in the dining-room. This was no unusual occurrence, as Miss Mohun was
+secretary to the managing committee of the High School. But on the
+announcement Valetta began to fidget, and presently said that she was
+tired and would go to bed. The most ordinary effect of fatigue upon this
+young lady was to make her resemble the hero of the nursery poem--
+
+
+          'I do not want to go to bed,
+           Sleepy little Harry said.'
+
+
+Nevertheless, this willingness excited no suspicion, till Miss Mohun
+came to the door to summon Valetta.
+
+'Is there anything wrong!' exclaimed sister and niece together.
+
+'Gone to bed! Oh! I'll tell you presently. Don't you come, Gillian.'
+
+She vanished again, leaving Gillian in no small alarm and vexation.
+
+'I wonder what it can be,' mused Aunt Ada.
+
+'I shall go and find out!' said Gillian, jumping up, as she heard a door
+shut upstairs.
+
+'No, don't,' said Aunt Ada, 'you had much better not interfere.'
+
+'It is my business to see after my own sister,' returned Gillian
+haughtily.
+
+'I see what you mean, my dear,' said her aunt, stretching out her hand,
+kindly; 'but I do not think you can do any good. If she is in a scrape,
+you have nothing to do with the High School management, and for you to
+burst in would only annoy Miss Leverett and confuse the affair. Oh, I
+know your impulse of defence, dear Gillian; but the time has not come
+yet, and you can't have any reasonable doubt that Jane will be just, nor
+that your mother would wish that you should be quiet about it.'
+
+'But suppose there is some horrid accusation against her!' said Gillian
+hotly.
+
+'But, dear child, if you don't know anything about it, how can you
+defend her?'
+
+'I ought to know!'
+
+'So you will in time; but the more people there are present, the more
+confusion there is, and the greater difficulty in getting at the rights
+of anything.''
+
+More by her caressing tone of sympathy than by actual arguments, Adeline
+did succeed in keeping Gillian in the drawing-room, though not in
+pacifying her, till doors were heard again, and something so like
+Valetta crying as she went upstairs, that Gillian was neither to have
+nor to hold, and made a dash out of the room, only to find her aunt
+and the head-mistress exchanging last words in the hall, and as she was
+going to brush past them, Aunt Jane caught her hand, and said--
+
+'Wait a moment, Gillian; I want to speak to you.'
+
+There was no getting away, but she was very indignant. She tugged at
+her aunt's hand more than perhaps she knew, and there was something of a
+flouncing as she flung into the drawing-room and demanded--
+
+'Well, what have you been doing to poor little Val?'
+
+'We have done nothing,' said Miss Mohun quietly. 'Miss Leverett wanted
+to ask her some questions. Sit down, Gillian. You had better hear what
+I have to say before going to her. Well, it appears that there has been
+some amount of cribbing in the third form.'
+
+'I'm sure Val never would,' broke out Gillian. And her aunt answered--
+
+'So was I; but--'
+
+'Oh--'
+
+'My dear, do hush,' pleaded Adeline. 'You must let yourself listen.'
+
+Gillian gave a desperate twist, but let her aunt smooth her hand.
+
+'All the class--almost--seem to have done it in some telegraphic way,
+hard to understand,' proceeded Aunt Jane. 'There must have been some
+stupidity on the part of the class-mistress, Miss Mellon, or it could
+not have gone on; but there has of late been a strong suspicion of
+cribbing in Caesar in Valetta's class. They had got rather behindhand,
+and have been working up somewhat too hard and fast to get through the
+portion for examination. Some of them translated too well--used terms
+for the idioms that were neither literal, nor could have been forged by
+their small brains; so there was an examination, and Georgie Purvis was
+detected reading off from the marks on the margin of her notebook.'
+
+'But what has that to do with Val?'
+
+'Georgie, being had up to Miss Leverett, made the sort of confession
+that implicates everybody.'
+
+'Then why believe her?' muttered Gillian. But her aunt went on--
+
+'She said that four or five of them did it, from the notes that Valetta
+Merrifield brought to school.'
+
+'Never!' interjected Gillian.
+
+'She said,' continued Miss Mohun, 'it was first that they saw her
+helping Maura White, and they thought that was not fair, and insisted on
+her doing the same for them.'
+
+'It can't be true! Oh, don't believe it!' cried the sister.
+
+'I grieve to remind you that I showed you in the drawer in the
+dining-room chiffonier a translation of that very book of Caesar
+that your mother and I made years ago, when she was crazy upon
+Vercingetorix.'
+
+'But was that reason enough for laying it upon poor Val?'
+
+'She owned it.'
+
+There was a silence, and then Gillian said--
+
+'She must have been frightened, and not known what she was saying.'
+
+'She was frightened, but she was very straightforward, and told without
+any shuffling. She saw the old copy-books when I was showing you those
+other remnants of our old times, and one day it seems she was in a great
+puzzle over her lessons, and could get no help or advice, because none
+of us had come in. I suppose you were with Lilian, and she thought she
+might just look at the passage. She found Maura in the same difficulty,
+and helped her; and then Georgie Purvis and Nelly Black found them out,
+and threatened to tell unless she showed them her notes; but the copying
+whole phrases was only done quite of late in the general over-hurry.'
+
+'She must have been bullied into it,' cried Gillian. 'I shall go and see
+about her.'
+
+Aunt Ada made a gesture as of deprecation; but Aunt Jane let her go
+without remonstrance, merely saying as the door closed--
+
+'Poor child! Esprit de famille!'
+
+'Will it not be very bad for Valetta to be petted and pitied?'
+
+'I don't know. At any rate, we cannot separate them at night, so it is
+only beginning it a little sooner; and whatever I say only exasperates
+Gillian the more. Poor little Val, she had not a formed character enough
+to be turned loose into a High School without Mysie to keep her in
+order.'
+
+'Or Gillian.'
+
+'I am not so sure of Gillian. There's something amiss, though I can't
+make out whether it is merely that I rub her down the wrong way. I
+wonder whether this holiday time will do us good or harm! At any rate, I
+know how Lily felt about Dolores.'
+
+'It must have been that class-mistress's fault.'
+
+'To a great degree; but Miss Leverett has just discovered that
+her cleverness does not compensate for a general lack of sense and
+discipline. Poor little Val--perhaps it is her turning-point!'
+
+Gillian, rushing up in a boiling state of indignation against everybody,
+felt the family shame most acutely of all; and though, as a Merrifield,
+she defended her sister below stairs, on the other hand she was much
+more personally shocked and angered at the disgrace than were her aunts,
+and far less willing to perceive any excuse for the culprit.
+
+There was certainly no petting or pitying in her tone as she stood over
+the little iron bed, where the victim was hiding her head on her pillow.
+
+'Oh, Valetta, how could you do such a thing? The Merrifields have never
+been so disgraced before!'
+
+'Oh, don't, Gill! Aunt Jane and Miss Leverett were--not so angry--when I
+said--I was sorry.'
+
+'But what will papa and mamma say?'
+
+'Must they--must they hear?'
+
+'You would not think of deceiving them, I hope.'
+
+'Not deceiving, only not telling.'
+
+'That comes to much the same.'
+
+'You can't say anything, Gill, for you are always down at Kal's office,
+and nobody knows.'
+
+This gave Gillian a great shock, but she rallied, and said with dignity,
+'Do you think I do not write to mamma everything I do?'
+
+It sufficed for the immediate purpose of annihilating Valetta, who had
+just been begging off from letting mamma hear of her proceedings; but
+it left Gillian very uneasy as to how much the child might know or
+tell, and this made her proceed less violently, and more persuasively,
+'Whatever I do, I write to mamma; and besides, it is different with a
+little thing like you, and your school work. Come, tell me how you got
+into this scrape.'
+
+'Oh, Gill, it was so hard! All about those tiresome Gauls, and there
+were bits when the nominative case would go and hide itself, and those
+nasty tenses one doesn't know how to look out, and I knew I was making
+nonsense, and you were out of the way, and there was nobody to help; and
+I knew mamma's own book was there--the very part too--because Aunt Jane
+had shown it to us, so I did not think there was any harm in letting her
+help me out of the muddle.'
+
+'Ah! that was the beginning.'
+
+'If you had been in, I would not have done it. You know Aunt Jane said
+there was no harm in giving a clue, and this was mamma.'
+
+'But that was not all.'
+
+'Well, then, there was Maura first, as much puzzled, and her brother is
+so busy he hasn't as much time for her as he used to have, and it does
+signify to her, for perhaps if she does not pass, Mr. White may not let
+her go on at the High School, and that would be too dreadful, for you
+know you said I was to do all I could for Maura. So I marked down things
+for her and she copied them off, and then Georgie and Nelly found it
+out, and, oh! they were dreadful! I never knew it was wrong till they
+went at me. And they were horrid to Maura, and said she was a Greek and
+I a Maltese, and so we were both false, and cheaty, and sly, and they
+should tell Miss Leverett unless I would help them.'
+
+'Oh! Valetta, why didn't you tell me?'
+
+'I never get to speak to you, said Val. 'I did think I would that first
+time, and ask you what to do, but then you came in late, and when I
+began something, you said you had your Greek to do, and told me to hold
+my tongue.'
+
+'I am very sorry,' said Gillian, feeling convicted of having neglected
+her little sister in the stress of her own work and of the preparation
+for that of her pupil, who was treading on her heels; 'but indeed, Val,
+if you had told me it was important, I should have listened.'
+
+'Ah I but when one is half-frightened, and you are always in a hurry,'
+sighed the child. And, indeed, I did do my best over my own work before
+ever I looked; only those two are so lazy and stupid, they would have
+ever so much more help than Maura or I ever wanted; and at last I was so
+worried and hurried with my French and all the rest, that I did scramble
+a whole lot down, and that was the way it was found out. And I am glad
+now it is over, whatever happens.'
+
+'Yes, that is right,' said Gillian, 'and I am glad you told no stories;
+but I wonder Emma Norton did not see what was going on.'
+
+'Oh, she is frightfully busy about her own.'
+
+'And Kitty Varley?'
+
+'Kitty is only going up for French and German. Miss Leverett is so
+angry. What do you think she will do to me, Gill? Expel me?'
+
+'I don't know--I can't guess. I don't know High School ways.'
+
+It would be so dreadful for papa and mamma and the boys to know,' sobbed
+Valetta. 'And Mysie! oh, if Mysie was but here!'
+
+'Mysie would have been a better sister to her,' said Gillian's
+conscience, and her voice said, 'You would never have done it if Mysie
+had been here.'
+
+'And Mysie would be nice,' said the poor child, who longed after her
+companion sister as much for comfort as for conscience. 'Is Aunt Jane
+very very angry?' she went on; 'do you think I shall be punished?'
+
+'I can't tell. If it were I, I should think you were punished enough by
+having disgraced the name of Merrifield by such a dishonourable action.'
+
+'I--I didn't know it was dishonourable.'
+
+'Well,' said Gillian, perhaps a little tired of the scene, or mayhap
+dreading another push into her own quarters, 'I have been saying what
+I could for you, and I should think they would feel that no one but our
+father and mother had a real right to punish you, but I can't tell
+what the School may do. Now, hush, it is of no use to talk any more.
+Good-night; I hope I shall find you asleep when I come to bed.'
+
+Valetta would have detained her, but off she went, with a consciousness
+that she had been poor comfort to her little sister, and had not helped
+her to the right kind of repentance. But then that highest ground--the
+strict rule of perfect conscientious uprightness--was just what she
+shrank from bringing home to herself, in spite of those privileges of
+seniority by which she had impressed poor Valetta.
+
+The worst thing further that was said that night, when she had reported
+as much of Valetta's confidence as she thought might soften displeasure,
+was Aunt Ada's observation: 'Maura! That's the White child, is it not?
+No doubt it was the Greek blood.'
+
+'The English girls were much worse,' hastily said Gillian, with a flush
+of alarm, as she thought of her own friends being suspected.
+
+'Yes; but it began with the little Greek,' said Aunt Ada. 'What a pity,
+for she is such an engaging child! I would take the child away from
+the High School, except that it would have the appearance of her being
+dismissed.
+
+'We must consider of that,' said Aunt Jane. 'There will hardly be time
+to hear from Lilias before the next term begins. Indeed, it will not be
+so very long to wait before the happy return, I hope.'
+
+'Only two months,' said Gillian; 'but it would be happier but for this.'
+
+'No,' said Aunt Jane. 'If we made poor little Val write her confession,
+and I do the same for not having looked after her better, it will be off
+our minds, and need not cloud the meeting.'
+
+'The disgrace!' sighed Gillian; 'the public disgrace!'
+
+'My dear, I don't want to make you think lightly of such a thing. It was
+very wrong in a child brought up as you have all been, with a sense of
+honour and uprightness; but where there has been no such training, the
+attempt to copy is common enough, for it is not to be looked on as an
+extraordinary and indelible disgrace. Do you remember Primrose saying
+she had broken mamma's heart when she had knocked down a china vase? You
+need not be in that state of mind over what was a childish fault, made
+worse by those bullying girls. It is of no use to exaggerate. The sin is
+the thing--not the outward shame.'
+
+'And Valetta told at once when asked,' added Aunt Ada.
+
+'That makes a great difference.'
+
+'In fact, she was relieved to have it out,' said Miss Mohun. 'It is not
+at all as if she were in the habit of doing things underhand.'
+
+Everything struck on Gillian like a covert reproach. It was pain and
+shame to her that a Merrifield should have lowered herself to the common
+herd so as to need these excuses of her aunts, and then in the midst of
+that indignation came that throb of self-conviction which she was always
+confuting with the recollection of her letter to her mother.
+
+She was glad to bid good-night and rest her head.
+
+The aunts ended by agreeing that it was needful to withdraw Valetta
+from the competition. It would seem like punishment to her, but it would
+remove her from the strain that certainly was not good for her. Indeed,
+they had serious thoughts of taking her from the school altogether, but
+the holidays would not long be ended before her parents' return.
+
+'I am sorry we ever let her try for the prize,' said Ada.
+
+'Yes,' said Aunt Jane, 'I suppose it was weakness; but having opposed
+the acceptance of the system of prizes by competition at first, I
+thought it would look sullen if I refused to let Valetta try. Stimulus
+is all very well, but competition leads to emulation, wrath, strife, and
+a good deal besides.'
+
+'Valetta wished it too, and she knew so much Latin to begin with that I
+thought she would easily get it, and certainly she ought not to get into
+difficulties.'
+
+'After the silken rein and easy amble of Silverfold, the spur and the
+race have come severely.'
+
+'It is, I suppose, the same with Gillian, though there it is not
+competition. Do you expect her to succeed?'
+
+'No. She has plenty of intelligence, and a certain sort of diligence,
+but does not work to a point. She wants a real hand over her! She will
+fail, and it will be very good for her.'
+
+'I should say the work was overmuch for her, and had led her to neglect
+Valetta.'
+
+'Work becomes overmuch when people don't know how to set about it,
+and resent being told--No, not in words, but by looks and shoulders.
+Besides, I am not sure that it is her proper work that oppresses her. I
+think she has some other undertaking in hand, probably for Christmas, or
+for her mother's return; but as secrecy is the very soul of such things,
+I shut my eyes.'
+
+'Somehow, Jane, I think you have become so much afraid of giving way to
+curiosity that you sometimes shut your eyes rather too much.'
+
+'Well, perhaps in one's old age one suffers from the reaction of one's
+bad qualities. I will think about it, Ada. I certainly never before
+realised how very different school supervision of young folks is from
+looking after them all round. Moreover, Gillian has been much more
+attentive to poor Lily Giles of late, in spite of her avocations.'
+
+Valetta was not at first heartbroken on hearing that she was not to
+go in for the language examination. It was such a relief from the
+oppression of the task, and she had so long given up hopes of having the
+prize to show to her mother, that she was scarcely grieved, though Aunt
+Jane was very grave while walking down to school with her in the morning
+to see Miss Leverett, and explain the withdrawal.
+
+That lady came to her private room as soon as she had opened the school.
+From one point of view, she said, she agreed with Miss Mohun that it
+would be better that her niece should not go up for the examination.
+
+'But,' she said, 'it may be considered as a stigma upon her, since none
+of the others are to give up.'
+
+'Indeed! I had almost thought it a matter of course.'
+
+'On the contrary, two of the mothers seem to think nothing at all of the
+matter. Mrs. Black--'
+
+'The Surveyor's wife, isn't she?'
+
+'Yes, she writes a note saying that all children copy, if they can, and
+she wonders that I should be so severe upon such a frequent occurrence,
+which reflects more discredit on the governesses than the scholars.'
+
+'Polite that! And Mrs. Purvis? At least, she is a lady!'
+
+'She is more polite, but evidently has no desire to be troubled. She
+hopes that if her daughter has committed a breach of school discipline,
+I will act as I think best.'
+
+'No feeling of the real evil in either! How about Maura White?'
+
+'That is very different. It is her sister who writes, and so nicely that
+I must show it to you.'
+
+
+'MY DEAR MADAM--I am exceedingly grieved that Maura should have acted in
+a dishonourable manner, though she was not fully aware how wrongly she
+was behaving. We have been talking to her, and we think she is so truly
+sorry as not to be likely to fall into the same temptation again. As far
+as we can make out, she has generally taken pains with her tasks, and
+only obtained assistance in unusually difficult passages, so that we
+think that she is really not ill-prepared. If it is thought right that
+all the pupils concerned should abstain from the competition, we would
+of course readily acquiesce in the justice of the sentence; but to miss
+it this year might make so serious a difference to her prospects, that
+I hope it will not be thought a necessary act of discipline, though we
+know that we have no right to plead for any exemption for her. With
+many thanks for the consideration you have shown for her, I remain,
+faithfully yours,
+
+                                                    K. WHITE.'
+
+
+'A very different tone indeed, and it quite agrees with Valetta's
+account,' said Miss Mohun.
+
+'Yes, the other two girls were by far the most guilty.'
+
+'And morally, perhaps, Maura the least; but I retain my view that,
+irrespective of the others, Valetta's parents had rather she missed this
+examination, considering all things.'
+
+Valetta came home much more grieved when she had found she was the only
+one left out, and declared it was unjust.
+
+No,' said Gillian, 'for you began it all. None of the others would have
+got into the scrape but for you.'
+
+'It was all your fault for not minding me!'
+
+'As if I made you do sly things.'
+
+'You made me. You were so cross if I only asked a question,' and Val
+prepared to cry.
+
+'I thought people had to do their own work and not other folks'! Don't
+be so foolish.'
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear! how unkind you are! I wish--I wish Mysie was here;
+every one is grown cross! Oh, if mamma would but come home!'
+
+'Now, Val, don't be such a baby! Stop that!'
+
+And Valetta went into one of her old agonies of crying and sobbing,
+which brought Aunt Jane in to see what was the matter. She instantly
+stopped the scolding with which Gillian was trying to check the
+outburst, and which only added to its violence.
+
+'It is the only thing to stop those fits,' said Gillian. 'She can if she
+will! It is all temper.'
+
+'Leave her to me!' commanded Aunt Jane. 'Go!'
+
+Gillian went away, muttering that it was not the way mamma or Nurse
+Halfpenny treated Val, and quite amazed that Aunt Jane, of all people,
+should have the naughty child on her lap and in her arms, soothing her
+tenderly.
+
+The cries died away, and the long heaving sobs began to subside, and
+at last a broken voice said, on Aunt Jane's shoulder, 'It's--a--little
+bit--like mamma.'
+
+For Aunt Jane's voice had a ring in it like mamma's, and this little bit
+of tenderness was inexpressibly comforting.
+
+'My poor dear child,' she said, 'mamma will soon come home, and then you
+will be all right.'
+
+'I shouldn't have done it if mamma had been there!'
+
+'No, and now you are sorry.'
+
+'Will mamma be very angry?'
+
+'She will be grieved that you could not hold out when you were tempted;
+but I am sure she will forgive you if you write it all to her. And, Val,
+you know you can have God's forgiveness at once if you tell Him.'
+
+'Yes,' said Valetta gravely; then, 'I did not before, because I thought
+every one made so much of it, and were so cross. And Georgie and Nellie
+don't care at all.'
+
+'Nor Maura?'
+
+'Oh, Maura does, because of Kalliope.'
+
+'How do you mean?'
+
+Valetta sat up on her aunt's lap, and told.
+
+'Maura told me! She said Kally and Alec both were at her, but her mamma
+was vexed with them, and said she would not have her scolded at home as
+well as at school about nothing; and she told Theodore to go and buy
+her a tart to make up to her, but Theodore wouldn't, for he said he was
+ashamed of her. So she sent the maid. But when Maura had gone to bed and
+to sleep, she woke up, and there was Kally crying over her prayers, and
+whispering half aloud, "Is she going too? My poor child! Oh, save her!
+Give her the Spirit of truth--"'
+
+'Poor Kalliope! She is a good sister.'
+
+'Yes; Maura says Kally is awfully afraid of their telling stories
+because of Richard--the eldest, you know. He does it dreadfully. I
+remember nurse used to tell us not to fib like Dick White. Maura said he
+used to tell his father stories about being late and getting money,
+and their mother never let him be punished. He was her pet. And Maura
+remembers being carried in to see poor Captain White just before he
+died, when she was getting better, but could not stand, and he said,
+"Truth before all, children. Be true to God and man." Captain White did
+care so much, but Mrs. White doesn't. Isn't that very odd, for she isn't
+a Roman Catholic?' ended Valetta, obviously believing that falsehood
+was inherent in Romanists, and pouring out all this as soon as her tears
+were assuaged, as if, having heard it, she must tell.
+
+'Mrs. White is half a Greek, you know,' said Aunt Jane, 'and the Greeks
+are said not to think enough about truth.'
+
+'Epaminondas did,' said Valetta, who had picked up a good deal from the
+home atmosphere, 'but Ulysses didn't.'
+
+'No; and the Greeks have been enslaved and oppressed for a great many
+years, and that is apt to make people get cowardly and false. But that
+is not our concern, Val, and I think with such a recollection of her
+good father, and such a sister to help her, Maura will not fall into the
+fault again. And, my dear, I quite see that neither you nor she entirely
+realised that what you did was deception, though you never spoke a word
+of untruth.'
+
+'No, we did not,' said Valetta.
+
+'And so, my dear child, I do forgive you, quite and entirely, as we used
+to say, though I have settled with Miss Leverett that you had better not
+go up for the examination, since you cannot be properly up to it. And
+you must write the whole history to your mother. Yes; I know it will be
+very sad work, but it will be much better to have it out and done with,
+instead of having it on your mind when she comes home.'
+
+'Shall you tell her!'
+
+'Yes, certainly,' said the aunt, well knowing that this would clench the
+matter. 'But I shall tell her how sorry you are, and that I really think
+you did not quite understand what you were about at first. And I shall
+write to Miss White, and try to comfort her about her sister.'
+
+'You won't say I told!'
+
+'Oh no; but I shall have quite reason enough for writing in telling her
+that I am sorry my little niece led her sister into crooked paths.'
+
+Gillian knew that this letter was written and sent, and it did not make
+her more eager for a meeting with Kalliope. So that she was not sorry
+that the weather was a valid hindrance, though a few weeks ago she
+would have disregarded such considerations. Besides, there was her own
+examination, which for two days was like a fever, and kept her at her
+little table, thinking of nothing but those questions, and dreaming and
+waking over them at night.
+
+It was over; and she was counselled on all sides to think no more about
+it till she should hear of success or failure. But this was easier said
+than done, and she was left in her tired state with a general sense of
+being on a wrong tack, and of going on amiss, whether due to her aunt's
+want of assimilation to herself, or to her mother's absence, she did
+not know, and with the further sense that she had not been the motherly
+sister she had figured to herself, but that both the children should
+show a greater trust and reliance on Aunt Jane than on herself
+grieved her, not exactly with jealousy, but with sense of failure
+and dissatisfaction with herself. She had a universal distaste to her
+surroundings, and something very like dread of the Whites, and she
+rejoiced in the prospect of quitting Rockstone for the present.
+
+She felt bound to run down to the office to wish Kalliope good-bye.
+There she found an accumulation of exercises and translations waiting
+for her.
+
+'Oh, what a quantity! It shows how long it is since I have been here.'
+
+'And indeed,' began Kalliope, 'since your aunt has been so very kind
+about poor little Maura--'
+
+'Oh, please don't talk to me! There's such a lot to do, and I have no
+time. Wait till I have done.'
+
+And she nervously began reading out the Greek exercise, so as
+effectually to stop Kalliope's mouth. Moreover, either her own uneasy
+mind, or the difficulty of the Greek, brought her into a dilemma. She
+saw that Alexis's phrase was wrong, but she did not clearly perceive
+what the sentence ought to be, and she perplexed herself over it till he
+came in, whether to her satisfaction or not she could not have told, for
+she had not wanted to see him on the one hand, though, on the other, it
+silenced Kalliope.
+
+She tried to clear her perceptions by explanations to him, but he
+did not seem to give his mind to the grammar half as much as to the
+cessation of the lessons and her absence.
+
+'You must do the best you can,' she said, 'and I shall find you gone
+quite beyond me.'
+
+'I shall never do that, Miss Merrifield.'
+
+'Nonsense!' she said, laughing uncomfortably 'a pretty clergyman you
+would be if you could not pass a girl. There! good-bye. Make a list of
+your puzzles and I will do my best with them when I come back.'
+
+'Thank you,' and he wrung her hand with an earnestness that gave her a
+sense of uneasiness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. -- LADY MERRIFIELD'S CHRISTMAS LETTER-BAG
+
+
+
+                         (PRIMROSE.)
+
+'MY DEAR MAMMA--I wish you a merry Christmas, and papa and sisters and
+Claude too. I only hooped once to-day, and Nurse says I may go out when
+it gets fine. Fly is better. She sent me her dolls' house in a big box
+in a cart, and Mysie sent a new frock of her own making for Liliana,
+and Uncle William gave me a lovely doll, with waxen arms and legs, that
+shuts her eyes and squeals, and says Mamma; but I do not want anything
+but my own dear mamma, and all the rest. I am mamma's own little
+PRIMROSE.'
+
+
+                         (FERGUS.)
+
+
+'COALHAM.
+
+'MY DEAR MAMMA--I wish you and papa, and all, a happy Crismas, and I
+send a plan of the great coal mine for a card. It is much jollier here
+than at Rockquay, for it is all black with cinders, and there are little
+fires all night, and there are lots of oars and oxhide and fossils and
+ferns and real curiozitys, and nobody minds noises nor muddy boots, and
+they aren't at one to wash your hands, for they can't be clean ever; and
+there was a real row in the street last night just outside. We are to
+go down a mine some day when Cousin David has time. I mean to be a great
+jeologist and get lots of specimens, and please bring me home all the
+minerals in Ceylon. Harry gave me a hammer.--I am, your affectionate
+son,                                                FERGUS MERRIFIELD.'
+
+
+                         (VALETTA.)
+
+'MY DEAREST MAMMA--I hope you will like my card. Aunt Ada did none of
+it, only showed me how, and Aunt Jane says I may tell you I am really
+trying to be good. I am helping her gild fir-cones for a Christmas-tree
+for the quire, and they will sing carols. Macrae brought some for us the
+day before yesterday, and a famous lot of holly and ivy and mistletoe
+and flowers, and three turkeys and some hams and pheasants and
+partridges. Aunt Jane sent the biggest turkey and ham in a basket
+covered up with holly to Mrs. White, and another to Mrs. Hablot, and
+they are doing the church with the holly and ivy. We are to eat the
+other the day after to-morrow, and Mr. Grant and Miss Burne, who teaches
+the youngest form, are coming. It was only cold beef to-day, to let Mrs.
+Mount go to church; but we had mince pies, and I am going to Kitty's
+Christmas party to-morrow, and we shall dance--so Aunt Ada has given
+me a new white frock and a lovely Roman sash of her own. Poor old Mrs.
+Vincent is dead, and Fergus's great black rabbit, and poor little Mary
+Brown with dip--(blot). I can't spell it, and nobody is here to tell me
+how, but the thing in people's throats, and poor Anne has got it, and
+Dr. Ellis says it was a mercy we were all away from home, for we should
+have had it too, and that would have been ever so much worse than the
+whooping-cough.
+
+'I have lots of cards, but my presents are waiting for my birthday, when
+Maura is to come to tea. It is much nicer than I thought the holidays
+would be. Maura White has got the prize for French and Latin. It is a
+lovely Shakespeare. I wish I had been good, for I think I should have
+got it. Only she does want more help than I do--so perhaps it is lucky
+I did not. No, I don't mean lucky either.--
+
+Your affectionate little daughter,
+
+VAL.'
+
+
+                         (WILFRED.)
+
+'DEAR MOTHER--Fergus is such a little ape that he will send you that
+disgusting coal mine on his card, as if you would care for it. I know
+you will like mine much better--that old buffer skating into a hole
+in the ice. I don't mind being here, for though Harry and Davy get up
+frightfully early to go to church, they don't want us down till they
+come back, and we can have fun all day, except when Harry screws me down
+to my holiday task, which is a disgusting one, about the Wars of the
+Roses. Harry does look so rum now that he is got up for a parson that we
+did not know him when he met us at the station. There was an awful row
+outside here last night between two sets of Waits. David went out and
+parted them, and I thought he would have got a black eye. All the choir
+had supper here, for there was a service in the middle of the night; but
+they did not want us at it, and on Tuesday we are to have a Christmas
+ship, and a magic-lantern, and Rollo and Mr. Bowater are coming to
+help--he is the clergyman at the next place--and no end of fun, and the
+biggest dog you ever saw. Fergus has got one of his crazes worse than
+ever about old stones, and is always in the coal hole, poking after
+ferns and things. Wishing you a merry Christmas.--Your affectionate son,
+
+'WILFRED MERRIFIELD.'
+
+
+                         (MYSIE.)
+
+
+'ROTHERWOOD, Christmas Day.
+
+'MY OWN DEAREST MAMMA--A very happy Christmas to you, and papa and
+Claude and my sisters, and here are the cards, which Miss Elbury helped
+me about so kindly that I think they are better than usual: I mean that
+she advised me, for no one touched them but myself. You will like your
+text, I hope, I chose it because it is so nice to think we are all one,
+though we are in so many different places. I did one with the same for
+poor Dolores in New Zealand. Uncle William was here yesterday, and
+he said dear little Primrose is almost quite well. Fly is much better
+to-day; her eyes look quite bright, and she is to sit up a little while
+in the afternoon, but I may not talk to her for fear of making her
+cough; but she slept all night without one whoop, and will soon be well
+now. Cousin Rotherwood was so glad that he was quite funny this morning,
+and he gave me the loveliest writing-case you ever saw, with a good lock
+and gold key, and gold tops to everything, and my three M's engraved on
+them all. I have so many presents and cards that I will write out a
+list when I have finished my letter. I shall have plenty of time, for
+everybody is gone to church except Cousin Florence, who went early.
+
+'I am to dine at the late dinner, which will be early, because of the
+church singers, and Cousin Rotherwood says he and I will do snapdragon,
+if I will promise not to whoop.
+
+'4.30.--I had to stop again because of the doctor. He says he does not
+want to have any more to do with me, and that I may go out the first
+fine day, and that Fly is much better. And only think! He says Rockquay
+is the very place for Fly, and as soon as we are not catching, we are
+all to go there. Cousin Rotherwood told me so for a great secret, but
+he said I might tell you, and that he would ask Aunt Alethea to let
+Primrose come too. It does warm one up to think of it, and it is much
+easier to feel thankful and glad about all the rest of the right sort of
+Christmas happiness, now I am so near having Gill and Val again.--Your
+very loving child,
+
+M. M. MERRIFIELD.'
+
+
+                         (JASPER.)
+
+
+'VALE LESTON PRIORY,
+
+'25th December.
+
+'DEAREST MOTHER--Here are my Christmas wishes that we may all be right
+again at home this year, and that you could see the brace of pheasants I
+killed. However, Gill and I are in uncommonly nice quarters. I shall let
+her tell the long story about who is who, for there is such a swarm of
+cousins, and uncles, and aunts, and when you think you have hold of
+the right one, it turns out to be the other lot. There are three houses
+choke full of them, and more floating about, and all running in and out,
+till it gets like the little pig that could not be counted, it ran about
+so fast. They are all Underwood or Harewood, more or less, except the
+Vanderkists, who are all girls except a little fellow in knickerbockers.
+Poor little chap, his father was a great man on the turf, and ruined
+him horse and foot before he was born, and then died of D. T., and
+his mother is a great invalid, and very badly off, with no end of
+daughters--the most stunning girls you ever saw--real beauties, and no
+mistake, especially Emily, who is great fun besides. She is to be
+Helena when we act Midsummer Night's Dream on Twelfth Night for all the
+natives, and I am Demetrius, dirty cad that he is! She lives with the
+Grinsteads, and Anna with the Travis Underwoods, Phyllis's young man's
+bosses. If he makes as good a thing of it as they have done, she will be
+no end of a swell. Mr. Travis Underwood has brought down his hunters
+and gives me a mount. Claude would go stark staring mad to see his
+Campeador.
+
+'They are awfully musical here, and are always at carols or something,
+and that's the only thing against them. As to Gill, she is in clover,
+in raptures with every one, especially Mrs. Grinstead, and I think it is
+doing her good.--Your affectionate son,                                                     J. R. M.'
+
+
+                         (GILLIAN.)
+
+'DEAREST MAMMA--All Christmas love, and a message to Phyllis that I
+almost forgive her desertion for the sake of the set of connections
+she has brought us, like the nearest and dearest relations or more, but
+Geraldine--for so she told me to call her--is still the choicest of all.
+It is so pretty to see her husband--the great sculptor--wait on her, as
+if she was a queen and he her knight! Anna told me that he had been
+in love with her ever so long, and she refused him once; but after
+the eldest brother died, and she was living at St. Wulstan's, he tried
+again, and she could not hold out. I told you of her charming house, so
+full of lovely things, and about Gerald, all cleverness and spirit,
+but too delicate for a public school. He is such a contrast to Edward
+Harewood, a great sturdy, red-haired fellow, who is always about with
+Jasper, except when he--Japs, I mean--is with Emily Vanderkist. She is
+the prettiest of the Vanderkists. There are eight of them besides little
+Sir Adrian. Mary always stays to look after her mother, who is in very
+bad health, and has weak eyes. They call Mary invaluable and so very
+good, but she is like a homely little Dutchwoman, and nobody would think
+she was only twenty. Sophy, the next to her, calls herself pupil-teacher
+to Mrs. William Harewood, and together they manage the schoolroom
+for all the younger sisters the two little girls at the Vicarage, and
+Wilmet, the only girl here at the Priory; but, of course, no lessons
+are going on now, only learning and rehearsing the parts, and making the
+dresses, painting the scenes, and learning songs. They all do care so
+much about music here that I find I really know hardly anything about
+it, and Jasper says it is their only failing.
+
+'They say Mr. Lancelot Underwood sings and plays better than any of
+them; but he is at Stoneborough. However, he is coming over with all
+the Mays for our play, old Dr. May and all. I was very much surprised
+to find he was an organist and a bookseller, but Geraldine told me about
+it, and how it was for the sake of the eldest brother--"my brother,"
+they all say; and somehow it seems as if the house was still his, though
+it is so many years since he died. And yet they are all such happy,
+merry people. I wish I could let you know how delightful it all is.
+Sometimes I feel as if I did not deserve to have such a pleasant time.
+I can't quite explain, but to be with Geraldine Grinstead makes one feel
+one's self to be of a ruder, more selfish mould, and I know I have not
+been all I ought to be at Rockstone; but I don't mind telling you, now
+you are so soon to be at home, Aunt Jane seems to worry me--I can't tell
+how, exactly--while there is something about Geraldine that soothes and
+brightens, and all the time makes one long to be better.
+
+'I never heard such sermons as Mr. Harewood's either; it seems as if I
+had never listened before, but these go right down into one. I cannot
+leave off thinking about the one last Sunday, about "making manifest the
+counsels of all hearts." I see now that I was not as much justified in
+not consulting Aunt Jane about Kalliope and Alexis as I thought I was,
+and that the concealment was wrong. It came over me before the beautiful
+early Celebration this morning, and I could not feel as if I ought to
+be there till I had made a resolution to tell her all about it, though I
+should like it not to be till you are come home, and can tell her that
+I am not really like Dolores, as she will be sure to think me, for I
+really did it, not out of silliness and opposition, but because I knew
+how good they were, and I did tell you. Honestly, perhaps there was some
+opposition in the spirit of it; but I mean to make a fresh start when I
+come back, and you will be near at hand then, and that will help me.
+
+'26th.--The afternoon service of song began and I was called off. I
+never heard anything so lovely, and we had a delightful evening. I
+can't tell you about it now, for I am snatching a moment when I am not
+rehearsing, as this must go to-day. Dr. and Miss May, and the Lances,
+as they call them, are just come. The Doctor is a beautiful old man. All
+the children were round him directly, and he kissed me, and said that he
+was proud to meet the daughter of such a distinguished man.
+
+'This must go.--Your loving daughter,
+
+'JULIANA MERRIFIELD.'
+
+
+                         (HARRY.)
+
+
+'COALHAM, Christmas Day.
+
+'It is nearly St. Stephen's Day, for, dear mother, I have not had a
+minute before to send you or my father my Christmas greeting. We have
+had most joyous services, unusually well attended, David tells me, and
+that makes up for the demonstration we had outside the door last night.
+David is the right fellow for this place, though we are disapproved of
+as south country folk. The boys are well and amused, Wilfred much more
+comfortable for being treated more as a man, and Fergus greatly come
+on, and never any trouble, being always dead-set on some pursuit. It is
+geology, or rather mineralogy, at present, and if he carries home all
+the stones he has accumulated in the back yard, he will have a tolerable
+charge for extra luggage. David says there is the making of a great
+man in him, I think it is of an Uncle Maurice. Macrae writes to me in
+a state of despair about the drains at Silverfold; scarlet fever and
+diphtheria abound at the town, so that he says you cannot come back
+there till something has been done, and he wants me to come and look at
+them; but I do not see how I can leave David at present, as we are in
+the thick of classes for Baptism and Confirmation in Lent, and I suspect
+Aunt Jane knows more about the matter than I do.
+
+'Gillian and Jasper seem to be in a state of great felicity at Vale
+Leston--and Mysie getting better, but poor little Phyllis Devereux has
+been seriously ill.--Your affectionate son, H. MERRIFIELD.'
+
+
+                 (AUNT JANE AND AUNT ADELINE.)
+
+
+'11.30, Christmas Eve.
+'MY DEAREST LILY--This will be a joint letter, for Ada will finish it
+to-morrow, and I must make the most of my time while waiting for the
+Waits to dwell on unsavoury business. Macrae came over here with a
+convoy of all sorts of "delicacies of the season," for which thank you
+heartily in the name of Whites, Hablots, and others who partook thereof,
+according, no doubt, to your kind intention. He was greatly perturbed,
+poor man, for your cook has been very ill with diphtheria, and the
+scarlet fever is severe all round; there have been some deaths, and the
+gardener's child was in great danger. The doctor has analysed the water,
+and finds it in a very bad state, so that your absence this autumn is
+providential. If you are in haste, telegraph to me, and I will meet your
+landlord there, and the sanitary inspector, and see what can be done,
+without waiting for Jasper. At any rate, you cannot go back there at
+once. Shall I secure a furnished house for you here? The Rotherwoods are
+coming to the hotel next door to us, as soon as Phyllis is fit to move
+and infection over. Victoria will stay there with the children, and
+he go back and forwards. If Harry and Phyllis May should come home, I
+suppose their headquarters will be at Stoneborough; but still this would
+be the best place for a family gathering. Moreover, Fergus gets on very
+nicely at Mrs. Edgar's, and it would be a pity to disturb him. On the
+other hand, I am not sure of the influences of the place upon the--
+
+'Christmas Day, 3 P.M.--There came the Waits I suppose, and Jane had to
+stop and leave me to take up the thread. Poor dear Jenny, the festival
+days are no days of rest to her, but I am not sure that she would enjoy
+repose, or that it would not be the worse possible penance to her. She
+is gone down now to the workhouse with Valetta to take cards and tea
+and tobacco to the old people, not sending them, because she says a few
+personal wishes and the sight of a bright child will be worth something
+to the old bodies. Then comes tea for the choir-boys, before Evensong
+and carols, and after that my turn may come for what remains of the
+evening. I must say the church is lovely, thanks to your arums and
+camellias, which Macrae brought us just in time. It is very unfortunate
+that Silverfold should be in such a state, but delightful for us if it
+sends you here; and this brings me to Jenny's broken thread, which I
+must spin on, though I tell her to take warning by you, when you so
+repented having brought Maurice home by premature wails about Dolores.
+Perhaps impatience is a danger to all of us, and I believe there is such
+a thing as over-candour.
+
+'What Jane was going to say was that she did not think the place had
+been good for either of the girls; but all that would be obviated by
+your presence. If poor Miss Vincent joins you, now that she is free, you
+would have your own schoolroom again, and the locality would not make
+much difference. Indeed, if the Rotherwood party come by the end of the
+holidays, I have very little doubt that Victoria will allow Valetta to
+join Phyllis and Mysie in the schoolroom, and that would prevent any
+talk about her removal from the High School. The poor little thing has
+behaved as well as possible ever since, and is an excellent companion;
+Jane is sure that it has been a lesson that will last her for life, and
+I am convinced that she was under an influence that you can put an end
+to--I mean that White family. Jane thinks well of the eldest daughter,
+in spite of her fringe and of her refusal to enter the G.F.S.; but I
+have good reason for knowing that she holds assignations in Mr. White's
+garden on Sunday afternoons with young Stebbing, whose mother knows her
+to be a most artful and dangerous girl, though she is so clever at
+the mosaic work that there is no getting her discharged. Mrs. Stebbing
+called to warn us against her, and, as I was the only person at home,
+told me how she had learnt from Mr. White's housekeeper that this girl
+comes every Sunday alone to walk in the gardens--she was sure it must be
+to meet somebody, and they are quite accessible to an active young man
+on the side towards the sea. He is going in a few days to join the other
+partner at the Italian quarries, greatly in order that the connection
+may be broken off. It is very odd that Jane, generally so acute, should
+be so blind here. All she said was, "That's just the time Gillian is so
+bent on mooning in the garden." It is a mere absurdity; Gillian always
+goes to the children's service, and besides, she was absent last Sunday,
+when Miss White was certainly there. But Gillian lends the girl books,
+and altogether patronises her in a manner which is somewhat perplexing
+to us; though, as it cannot last long, Jane thinks it better not to
+interfere before your return to judge for yourself. These young people
+are members of the Kennel Church congregation, and I had an opportunity
+of talking to Mr. Flight about them. He says he had a high opinion of
+the brother, and hoped to help him to some higher education, with a view
+perhaps to Holy Orders; but that it was so clearly the youth's duty to
+support his mother, and it was so impossible for her to get on without
+his earnings, that he (Mr. Flight, I mean) had decided to let him alone
+that his stability might be proved, or till some opening offered; and
+of late there had been reason for disappointment, tokens of being
+unsettled, and reports of meetings with some young woman at his sister's
+office. It is always the way when one tries to be interested in those
+half-and-half people,--the essential vulgarity is sure to break out,
+generally in the spirit of flirtation conducted in an underhand manner.
+And oh! that mother! I write all this because you had better be aware
+of the state of things before your return. I am afraid, however, that
+between us we have not written you a very cheering Christmas letter.
+
+'There is a great question about a supply of water to the town. Much
+excitement is caused by the expectation of Rotherwood's visit, and it is
+even said that he is to be met here by the great White himself, whom
+I have always regarded as a sort of mythical personage, not to say a
+harpy, always snatching away every promising family of Jane's to the
+Italian quarries.
+
+'You will have parted with the dear girls by this time, and be feeling
+very sad and solitary; but it is altogether a good connection, and a
+great advantage. I have just addressed to Gillian, at Vale Leston, a
+coroneted envelope, which must be an invitation from Lady Liddesdale.
+I am very glad of it. Nothing is so likely as such society to raise her
+above the tone of these Whites.--Your loving A. M.'
+
+
+'10.30 P.M.--These Whites! Really I don't think it as bad as Ada
+supposes, so don't be uneasy, though it is a pity she has told you so
+much of the gossip respecting them. I do not believe any harm of that
+girl Kalliope; she has such an honest, modest pair of eyes. I dare say
+she is persecuted by that young Stebbing, for she is very handsome, and
+he is an odious puppy. But as to her assignations in the garden, if they
+are with any one, it is with Gillian, and I see no harm in them, except
+that we might have been told--only that would have robbed the entire
+story of its flavour, I suppose. Besides, I greatly disbelieve the
+entire story, so don't be worried about it! There--as if we had not been
+doing our best to worry you! But come home, dearest old Lily. Gather
+your chicks under your wing, and when you cluck them together again,
+all will be well. I don't think you will find Valetta disimproved by
+her crisis. It is curious to hear how she and Gillian both declare that
+Mysie would have prevented it, as if naughtiness or deceit shrank from
+that child's very face.
+
+'It has been a very happy, successful Christmas Day, full of rejoicing.
+May you be feeling the same; that joy has made us one in many a time of
+separation.--Your faithful old Brownie,
+
+J. MOHUN.'
+
+
+                         (GILLIAN AGAIN.)
+
+
+'ROWTHORPE, 20th January.
+
+'DEAREST MAMMA--This is a Sunday letter. I am writing it in a beautiful
+place, more like a drawing-room than a bed-room, and it is all very
+grand; such long galleries, such quantities of servants, so many people
+staying in the house, that I should feel quite lost but for Geraldine.
+We came so late last night that there was only just time to dress for
+dinner at eight o'clock. I never dined with so many people before, and
+they are all staying in the house. I have not learnt half of them yet,
+though Lady Liddesdale, who is a nice, merry old lady, with gray hair,
+called her eldest granddaughter, Kitty Somerville, and told her to take
+care of me, and tell me who they all were. One of them is that Lord
+Ormersfield, whom Mysie ran against at Rotherwood, and, do you know, I
+very nearly did the same; for there is early Celebration at the little
+church just across the garden. Kitty talked of calling for me, but I did
+not make sure, because I heard some one say she was not to go if she had
+a cold; and, when I heard the bell, I grew anxious and started off, and
+I lost my way, and thought I should never get to the stairs; but just as
+I was turning back, out came Lord and Lady Ormersfield. He looks quite
+young, though he is rather lame--I shall like all lame people, for the
+sake of Geraldine--and Lady Ormersfield has such a motherly face. He
+laughed, and said I was not the first person who had lost my way in the
+labyrinths of passages, so I went on with them, and after all Kitty was
+hunting for me! I sat next him at breakfast, and, do you know, he asked
+me whether I was the sister of a little downright damsel he met at
+Rotherwood two years ago, and said he had used her truthfulness about
+the umbrella for a favourite example to his small youngest!
+
+'When I hear of truthfulness I feel a sort of shock. "Oh, if you knew!"
+I am ready to say, and I grow quite hot. That is what I am really
+writing about to-day. I never had time after that Christmas Day at Vale
+Leston to do more than keep you up to all the doings; but I did think:
+and there were Mr. Harewood's sermons, which had a real sting in them,
+and a great sweetness besides. I have tried to set some down for you,
+and that is one reason I did not say more. But to-day, after luncheon,
+it is very quiet, for Kitty and Constance are gone to their Sunday
+classes, and the gentlemen and boys are out walking, except Lord
+Somerville, who has a men's class of his own, and all the old ladies are
+either in their rooms, or talking in pairs. So I can tell you that I see
+now that I did not go on in a right spirit with Aunt Jane, and that I
+did poor Val harm by my example, and went very near deception, for I
+did not choose to believe that when you said "If Aunt J. approves," you
+meant about Alexis White's lessons; so I never told her or Kalliope, and
+I perceive now that it was not right towards either; for Kally was very
+unhappy about her not knowing. I am very sorry; I see that I was
+wrong all round, and that I should have understood it before, if I had
+examined myself in the way Mr. Harewood dwelt upon in his last Sunday in
+Advent sermon, and never gone on in such a way.
+
+'I am not going to wait for you now, but shall confess it all to Aunt
+Jane as soon as I go home, and try to take it as my punishment if she
+asks a terrible number of questions. Perhaps I shall write it, but it
+would take such a quantity of explanation, and I don't want Aunt Ada to
+open the letter, as she does any that come while Aunt Jane is out.
+
+'Please kiss my words and forgive me, as you read this, dear mamma; I
+never guessed I was going to be so like Dolores.
+
+'Kitty has come to my door to ask if I should like to come and read
+something nice and Sundayish with them in her grandmamma's
+dressing-room.--So no more from your loving GILL.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. -- TRANSFORMATION
+
+
+
+'Well, now for the second stage of our guardianship!' said Aunt Ada, as
+the two sisters sat over the fire after Valetta had gone to bed. 'Fergus
+comes back to-morrow, and Gillian--when?'
+
+'She does not seem quite certain, for there is to be a day or two
+at Brompton with this delightful Geraldine, so that she may see her
+grandmother--also Mr. Clement Underwood's church, and the Merchant of
+Venice--an odd mixture of ecclesiastics and dissipations.'
+
+'I wonder whether she will be set up by it.'
+
+'So do I! They are all remarkably good people; but then good people do
+sometimes spoil the most of all, for they are too unselfish to snub. And
+on the other hand, seeing the world sometimes has the wholesome effect
+of making one feel small--'
+
+'My dear Jenny!'
+
+'Oh! I did not mean you, who are never easily effaced; but I was
+thinking of youthful bumptiousness, fostered by country life and elder
+sistership.'
+
+'Certainly, though Valetta is really much improved, Gillian has not
+been as pleasant as I expected, especially during the latter part of the
+time.'
+
+'Query, was it her fault or mine, or the worry of the examination, or
+all three?'
+
+'Perhaps you did superintend a little too much at first. More than
+modern independence was prepared for, though I should not have expected
+recalcitration in a young Lily; but I think there was more ruffling of
+temper and more reserve than I can quite understand.'
+
+'It has not been a success. As dear old Lily would have said, "My dream
+has vanished," of a friend in the younger generation, and now it remains
+to do the best I can for her in the few weeks that are left, before we
+have her dear mother again.'
+
+'At any rate, you have no cause to be troubled about the other two.
+Valetta is really the better for her experience, and you have always got
+on well with the boy.'
+
+Fergus was the first of the travellers to appear at Rockstone. Miss
+Mohun, who went to meet him at the station, beheld a small figure
+lustily pulling at a great canvas bag, which came bumping down the step,
+assisted by a shove from the other passengers, and threatening for a
+moment to drag him down between platform and carriages.
+
+'Fergus, Fergus, what have you got there? Give it to me. How heavy!'
+
+'It's a few of my mineralogical specimens,' replied Fergus. 'Harry
+wouldn't let me put any more into my portmanteau--but the peacock and
+the dendrum are there.'
+
+Already, without special regard to peacock or dendrum, whatever that
+article might be, Miss Mohun was claiming the little old military
+portmanteau, with a great M and 110th painted on it, that held Fergus's
+garments.
+
+He would scarcely endure to deposit the precious bag in the omnibus,
+and as he walked home his talk was all of tertiary formations, and coal
+measures, and limestones, as he extracted a hammer from his pocket, and
+looked perilously disposed to use it on the vein of crystals in a great
+pink stone in a garden wall. His aunt was obliged to begin by insisting
+that the walls should be safe from geological investigations.
+
+'But it is such waste, Aunt Jane. Only think of building up such
+beautiful specimens in a stupid old wall.'
+
+Aunt Jane did not debate the question of waste, but assured him that
+equally precious specimens could be honestly come by; while she felt
+renewed amusement and pleasure at anything so like the brother Maurice
+of thirty odd years ago being beside her.
+
+It made her endure the contents of the bag being turned out like a
+miniature rockery for her inspection on the floor of the glazed
+verandah outside the drawing-room, and also try to pacify Mrs. Mount's
+indignation at finding the more valuable specimens, or, as she called
+them, 'nasty stones' and bits of dirty coal, within his socks.
+
+Much more information as to mines, coal, or copper, was to be gained
+from him than as to Cousin David, or Harry, or Jasper, who had spent the
+last ten days of his holidays at Coalham, which had procured for Fergus
+the felicity of a second underground expedition. It was left to his
+maturer judgment and the next move to decide how many of his specimens
+were absolutely worthless; it was only stipulated that he and Valetta
+should carry them, all and sundry, up to the lumber-room, and there
+arrange them as he chose;--Aunt Jane routing out for him a very dull
+little manual of mineralogy, and likewise a book of Maria Hack's, long
+since out of print, but wherein 'Harry Beaufoy' is instructed in the
+chief outlines of geology in a manner only perhaps inferior to that of
+"Madame How and Lady Why," which she reserved for a birthday present.
+Meantime Rockstone and its quarries were almost as excellent a field of
+research as the mines of Coalham, and in a different line.
+
+'How much nicer it is to be a boy than a girl!' sighed Valetta, as
+she beheld her junior marching off with all the dignity of hammer and
+knapsack to look up Alexis White and obtain access to the heaps of
+rubbish, which in his eyes held as infinite possibilities as the diamond
+fields of Kimberley. And Alexis was only delighted to bestow on him any
+space of daylight when both were free from school or from work, and kept
+a look-out for the treasures he desired. Of course, out of gratitude to
+his parents--or was it out of gratitude to his sister? Perhaps Fergus
+could have told, if he had paid the slightest attention to such a
+trifle, how anxiously Alexis inquired when Miss Gillian was expected
+to return. Moreover, he might have told that his other model, Stebbing,
+pronounced old Dick White a beast and a screw, with whom his brother
+Frank was not going to stop.
+
+Gillian came back a fortnight later, having been kept at Rowthorpe,
+together with Mrs. Grinstead, for a family festival over the double
+marriage in Ceylon, after which she spent a few days in London, so as to
+see her grandmother, Mrs. Merrifield, who was too infirm for an actual
+visit to be welcome, since her attendant grandchild, Bessie Merrifield,
+was so entirely occupied with her as to have no time to bestow upon a
+guest of more than an hour or two. Gillian was met at the station by
+her aunt, and when all her belongings had been duly extracted, proving a
+good deal larger in bulk than when she had left Rockstone, and both were
+seated in the fly to drive home through a dismal February Fill-dyke day,
+the first words that were spoken were,
+
+'Aunt Jane, I ought to tell you something.'
+
+Hastily revolving conjectures as to the subject of the coming
+confession, Miss Mohun put herself at her niece's service.
+
+'Aunt Jane, I know I ought to have told you how much I was seeing of the
+Whites last autumn.'
+
+'Indeed, I know you wished to do what you could for them.'
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian, finding it easier than she expected. 'You know
+Alexis wants very much to be prepared for Holy Orders, and he could
+not get on by himself, so I have been running down to Kalliope's office
+after reading to Lily Giles, to look over his Greek exercises.'
+
+'Meeting him?'
+
+'Only sometimes. But Kally did not like it. She said you ought to know,
+and that was the reason she would not come into the G.F.S. She is so
+good and honourable, Aunt Jane.'
+
+'I am sure she is a very excellent girl,' said Aunt Jane warmly. 'But
+certainly it would have been better to have these lessons in our house.
+Does your mother know?'
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian, 'I wrote to her all I was doing, and how I have
+been talking to Kally on Sunday afternoons through the rails of Mr.
+White's garden. I thought she could telegraph if she did not approve,
+but she does not seem to have noticed it in my letters, only saying
+something I could not make out--about "if you approved."'
+
+'And is that the reason you have told me?'
+
+'Partly, but I got the letter before the holidays. I think it has worked
+itself up, Aunt Jane, into a sense that it was not the thing. There was
+Kally, and there was poor Valetta's mess, and her justifying herself by
+saying I did more for the Whites than you knew, and altogether, I grew
+sorry I had begun it, for I was sure it was not acting honestly towards
+you, Aunt Jane, and I hope you will forgive me.'
+
+Miss Mohun put her arm round the girl and kissed her heartily.
+
+'My dear Gill, I am glad you have told me! I dare say I seemed to worry
+you, and that you felt as if you were watched; I will do my very best to
+help you, if you have got into a scrape. I only want to ask you not
+to do anything more till I can see Kally, and settle with her the most
+suitable way of helping the youth.'
+
+But do you think there is a scrape, aunt? I never thought of that, if
+you forgave me.'
+
+'My dear, I see you did not; and that you told me because you are my
+Lily's daughter, and have her honest heart. I do not know that there is
+anything amiss, but I am afraid young ladies can't do--well, impulsive
+things without a few vexations in consequence. Don't be so dismayed,
+I don't know of anything, and I cannot tell you how glad I am of your
+having spoken out in this way.'
+
+'I feel as if a load were off my back!' said Gillian.
+
+And a bar between her and her aunt seemed to have vanished, as they
+drove up the now familiar slope, and under the leafless copper beeches.
+Blood is thinker than water, and what five months ago had seemed to be
+exile, had become the first step towards home, if not home itself, for
+now, like Valetta, she welcomed the sound of her mother's voice in her
+aunt's. And there were Valetta and Fergus rushing out, almost under the
+wheels to fly at her, and Aunt Ada's soft embraces in the hall.
+
+The first voice that came out of the melee was Valetta's. 'Gill is grown
+quite a lady!'
+
+'How much improved!' exclaimed Aunt Ada.
+
+'The Bachfisch has swum into the river,' was Aunt Jane's comment.
+
+'She'll never be good for anything jolly--no scrambling!' grumbled
+Fergus.
+
+'Now Fergus! didn't Kitty Somerville and I scramble when we found the
+gate locked, and thought we saw the spiteful stag, and that he was going
+to run at us?'
+
+'I'm afraid that was rather on compulsion, Gill.'
+
+'It wasn't the spiteful stag after all, but we had such a long way to
+come home, and got over the park wall at last by the help of the limb of
+a tree. We had been taking a bit of wedding-cake to Frank Somerville's
+old nurse, and Kitty told her I was her maiden aunt, and we had such
+fun--her uncle's wife's sister, you know.'
+
+'We sent a great piece of our wedding-cake to the Whites,' put in
+Valetta. 'Fergus and I took it on Saturday afternoon, but nobody was at
+home but Mrs. White, and she is fatter than ever.'
+
+'I say, Gill, which is the best formation, Vale Leston or Rowthorpe?'
+
+'Oh, nobody is equal to Geraldine; but Kitty is a dear thing.'
+
+'I didn't mean that stuff, but which had the best strata and specimens?'
+
+'Geological, he means--not of society,' interposed Aunt Jane.
+
+'Oh yes! Harry said he had gone geology mad, and I really did get you
+a bit of something at Vale Leston, Fergus, that Mr. Harewood said was
+worth having. Was it an encrinite? I know it was a stone-lily.'
+
+'An encrinite! Oh, scrumptious!'
+
+Then ensued such an unpacking as only falls to the lot of home-comers
+from London, within the later precincts of Christmas, gifts of
+marvellous contrivance and novelty, as well as cheapness, for all and
+sundry, those reserved for others almost as charming to the beholders as
+those which fell to their own lot. The box, divided into compartments,
+transported Fergus as much as the encrinite; Valetta had a
+photograph-book, and, more diffidently, Gillian presented Aunt Ada
+with a graceful little statuette in Parian, and Aunt Jane with the last
+novelty in baskets. There were appropriate keepsakes for the maids,
+and likewise for Kalliope and Maura. Aunt Jane was glad to see that
+discretion had prevailed so as to confine these gifts to the female part
+of the White family. There were other precious articles in reserve for
+the absent; and the display of Gillian's own garments was not without
+interest, as she had been to her first ball, under the chaperonage
+of Lady Somerville, and Mrs. Grinstead had made her white tarletan
+available by painting it and its ribbons with exquisite blue nemophilas,
+too lovely for anything so fleeting.
+
+Mrs. Grinstead and her maid had taken charge of the damsel's toilette at
+Rowthorpe, had perhaps touched up her dresses, and had certainly taught
+her how to put them on, and how to manage her hair, so that though it
+had not broken out into fringes or tousles, as if it were desirable to
+imitate savages 'with foreheads marvellous low,' the effect was greatly
+improved. The young brown-skinned, dark-eyed face, and rather tall
+figure were the same, even the clothes the very same chosen under her
+aunt Ada's superintendence, but there was an indescribable change, not
+so much that of fashion as of distinction, and something of the same
+inward growth might be gathered from her conversation.
+
+All the evening there was a delightful outpouring. Gillian had been
+extremely happy, and considerably reconciled to her sisters' marriages;
+but she had been away from home and kin long enough to make her feel her
+nearness to her aunts, and to appreciate the pleasure of describing
+her enjoyment without restraint, and of being with those whose personal
+family interests were her own, not only sympathetic, like her dear
+Geraldine's. They were ready for any amount of description, though, on
+the whole, Miss Mohun preferred to hear of the Vale Leston charities and
+church details, and Miss Adeline of the Rowthorpe grandees and gaieties,
+after the children had supped full of the diversions of their own
+kind at both places, and the deeply interesting political scraps and
+descriptions of great men had been given.
+
+It had been, said Aunt Jane, a bit of education. Gillian had indeed
+spent her life with thoughtful, cultivated, and superior people; but
+the circumstances of her family had confined her to a schoolroom sort
+of existence ever since she had reached appreciative years, retarding,
+though not perhaps injuring, her development; nor did Rockquay society
+afford much that was elevating, beyond the Bureau de Charite that
+Beechcroft Cottage had become. Details were so much in hand that breadth
+of principle might be obscured.
+
+At Vale Leston, however, there was a strong ecclesiastical atmosphere;
+but while practical parish detail was thoroughly kept up, there was a
+wider outlook, and constant conversation and discussion among superior
+men, such as the Harewood brothers, Lancelot Underwood, Mr. Grinstead,
+and Dr. May, on the great principles and issues of Church and State
+matters, religion, and morals, together with matters of art, music, and
+literature, opening new vistas to her, and which she could afterwards go
+over with Mrs. Grinstead and Emily and Anna Vanderkist with enthusiasm
+and comprehension. It was something different from grumbling over the
+number of candles at St. Kenelm's, or the defective washing of the St.
+Andrew's surplices.
+
+At Rowthorpe she had seen and heard people with great historic names,
+champions in the actual battle. There had been a constant coming and
+going of guests during her three weeks' visit, political meetings,
+entertainments to high and low, the opening of a public institute in
+the next town, the exhibition of tableaux in which she had an important
+share, parties in the evenings, and her first ball. The length of her
+visit and her connection with the family had made her share the part of
+hostess with Lady Constance and Lady Katharine Somerville, and she had
+been closely associated with their intimates, the daughters of these men
+of great names. Of course there had been plenty of girlish chatter
+and merry trifling, perhaps some sharp satirical criticism, and the
+revelations she had heard had been a good deal of the domestic comedy of
+political and aristocratic life; but throughout there had been a view of
+conscientious goodness, for the young girls who gave a tone to the
+rest had been carefully brought up, and were earnest and right-minded,
+accepting representation, gaiety, and hospitality as part of the duty of
+their position, often involving self-denial, though there was likewise
+plenty of enjoyment.
+
+Such glimpses of life had taught Gillian more than she yet realised. As
+has been seen, the atmosphere of Vale Leston had deepened her spiritual
+life, and the sermons had touched her heart to the quick, and
+caused self-examination, which had revealed to her the secret of her
+dissatisfaction with herself, and her perception was the clearer through
+her intercourse on entirely equal terms with persons of a high tone of
+refinement.
+
+The immediate fret of sense of supervision and opposition being removed,
+she had seen things more justly, and a distaste had grown on her for
+stolen expeditions to the office, and for the corrections of her pupil's
+exercises. She recoiled from the idea that this was the consequence
+either of having swell friends, or of getting out of her depth in her
+instructions; but reluctance recurred, while advance in knowledge of
+the world made her aware that Alexis White, after hours, in his
+sister's office, might justly be regarded by her mother and aunts as an
+undesirable scholar for her, and that his sister's remonstrances ought
+not to have been scouted. She had done the thing in her simplicity, but
+it was through her own wilful secretiveness that her ignorance had not
+been guarded.
+
+Thus she had, as a matter of truth, conscience, and repentance, made the
+confession which had been so kindly received as to warm her heart with
+gratitude to her aunt, and she awoke the next morning to feel freer,
+happier, and more at home than she had ever yet done at Rockstone.
+
+When the morning letters were opened, they contained the startling news
+that Mysie might be expected that very evening, with Fly, the governess,
+and Lady Rotherwood,--at least that was the order of precedence in which
+the party represented itself to the minds of the young Merrifields.
+Primrose had caught a fresh cold, and her uncle and aunt would not part
+with her till her mother's return, but the infection was over with the
+other two, and sea air was recommended as soon as possible for Lady
+Phyllis; so, as the wing of the hotel, which was almost a mansion in
+itself, had been already engaged, the journey was to be made at once,
+and the arrival would take place in the afternoon. The tidings were most
+rapturously received; Valetta jumped on and off all the chairs in the
+room unchidden, while Fergus shouted, 'Hurrah for Mysie and Fly!' and
+Gillian's heart felt free to leap.
+
+This made it a very busy day, since Lady Rotherwood had begged to have
+some commissions executed for her beforehand, small in themselves, but,
+with a scrupulously thorough person, occupying all the time left from
+other needful engagements; so that there was no chance of the promised
+conversation with Kalliope, nor did Gillian trouble herself much
+about it in her eagerness, and hardly heard Fergus announce that Frank
+Stebbing had come home, and the old boss was coming, 'bad luck to him.'
+
+All the three young people were greatly disappointed that their aunts
+would not consent to their being on the platform nor in front of the
+hotel, nor even in what its mistress termed the reception-room, to meet
+the travellers.
+
+'There was nothing Lady Rotherwood would dislike more than a rush of you
+all,' said Aunt Adeline, and they had to submit, though Valetta nearly
+cried when she was dragged in from demonstratively watching at the gate
+in a Scotch mist.
+
+However, in about a quarter of an hour there was a ring at the door, and
+in another moment Mysie and Gillian were hugging one smother, Valetta
+hanging round Mysie's neck, Fergus pulling down her arm. The four
+creatures seemed all wreathed into one like fabulous snakes for some
+seconds, and when they unfolded enough for Mysie to recollect and kiss
+her aunts, there certainly was a taller, better-equipped figure, but
+just the same round, good-humoured countenance, and the first thing,
+beyond happy ejaculations, that she was heard in a dutiful voice to say
+was, 'Miss Elbury brought me to the door. I may stay as long as my aunts
+like to have me this evening, if you will be so kind as to send some one
+to see me back.'
+
+Great was the jubilation, and many the inquiries after Primrose, who had
+once been nearly well, but had fallen back again, and Fly, who, Mysie
+said, was quite well and as comical as ever when she was well, but
+quickly tired. She had set out in high spirits, but had been dreadfully
+weary all the latter part of the journey, and was to go to bed at once.
+She still coughed, but Mysie was bent on disproving Nurse Halfpenny's
+assurance that the recovery would not be complete till May, nor was
+there any doubt of her own air of perfect health.
+
+It was an evening of felicitous chatter, of showing off Christmas cards,
+of exchanging of news, of building of schemes, the most prominent being
+that Valetta should be in the constant companionship of Mysie and
+Fly until her own schoolroom should be re-established. This had been
+proposed by Lord Rotherwood, and was what the aunts would have found
+convenient; but apparently this had been settled by Lord Rotherwood and
+the two little girls, but Lady Rotherwood had not said anything about
+it, and quoth Mysie, 'Somehow things don't happen till Lady Rotherwood
+settles them, and then they always do.'
+
+'And shall I like Miss Elbury?' asked Valetta.
+
+'Yes, if--if you take pains,' said Mysie; 'but you mustn't bother
+her with questions in the middle of a lesson, or she tells you not to
+chatter. She likes to have them all kept for the end; and then, if they
+aren't foolish, she will take lots of trouble.'
+
+'Oh, I hate that!' said Valetta. 'I shouldn't remember them, and I like
+to have done with it. Then she is not like Miss Vincent?'
+
+'Oh no! She couldn't be dear Miss Vincent; but, indeed, she is very kind
+and nice.'
+
+'How did you get on altogether, Mysie! Wasn't it horrid?' asked Gillian.
+
+'I was afraid it was going to be horrid,' said Mysie. 'You see, it
+wasn't like going in holiday time as it was before. We had to be almost
+always in the schoolroom; and there were lots of lessons--more for me
+than Fly.'
+
+'Just like a horrid old governess to slake her thirst on you,' put in
+Fergus; and though his aunts shook their heads at him, they did not
+correct him.
+
+'And one had to sit bolt upright all the time, and never twist one's
+ankles,' continued Mysie; 'and not speak except French and German--good,
+mind! It wouldn't do to say, "La jambe du table est sur mon exercise?"'
+
+
+'Oh, oh! No wonder Fly got ill!'
+
+'Fly didn't mind one bit. French and German come as naturally to her as
+the days of the week, and they really begin to come to me in the morning
+now when I see Miss Elbury.'
+
+'But have you to go on all day?' asked Valetta disconsolately.
+
+'Oh no! Not after one o'clock.'
+
+'And you didn't say that mamma thinks it only leads to slovenly bad
+grammar!' said Gillian.
+
+'That would have been impertinent,' said Mysie; 'and no one would have
+minded either.'
+
+'Did you never play?'
+
+'We might play after our walk--and after tea; but it had to be quiet
+play, not real good games, even before Fly was ill--at least we did have
+some real games when Primrose came over, or when Cousin Rotherwood had
+us down in his study or in the hall; but Fly got tired, and knocked up
+very soon even then. Miss Elbury wanted us always to play battledore and
+shuttlecock, or Les Graces, if we couldn't go out.'
+
+'Horrid woman!' said Valetta.
+
+'No, she isn't horrid,' said Mysie stoutly; 'I only fancied her so when
+she used to say, "Vos coudes, mademoiselle," or "Redresses-vous," and
+when she would not let us whisper; but really and truly she was
+very, very kind, and I came to like her very much and see she was not
+cross--only thought it right.'
+
+'And redressez-vous has been useful, Mysie,' said Aunt Ada; 'you are as
+much improved as Gillian.'
+
+'I thought it would be dreadful,' continued Mysie, 'when the grown-ups
+went out on a round of visits, and we had no drawing-room, and no Cousin
+Rotherwood; but Cousin Florence came every day, and once she had us to
+dinner, and that was nice; and once she took us to Beechcroft to see
+Primrose, and if it was not fine enough for Fly to go out, she came for
+me, and I went to her cottages with her. Oh, I did like that! And when
+the whooping-cough came, you can't think how very kind she was, and Miss
+Elbury too. They both seemed only to think how to make me happy, though
+I didn't feel ill a bit, except when I whooped, but they seemed so sorry
+for me, and so pleased that I didn't make more fuss. I couldn't, you
+know, when poor Fly was so ill. And when she grew better, we were all
+so glad that somehow it made us all like a sort of a kind of a home
+together, though it could not be that.'
+
+Mysie's English had scarcely improved, whatever her French had done; but
+Gillian gathered that she had had far more grievances to overcome, and
+had met them in a very different spirit from herself.
+
+As to the schoolroom arrangements, which would have been so convenient
+to the aunts, it was evident that the matter had not yet been decisively
+settled, though the children took it for granted. It was pretty to see
+how Mysie was almost devoured by Fergus and Valetta, hanging on either
+side of her as she sat, and Gillian, as near as they would allow, while
+the four tongues went on unceasingly.
+
+It was only horrid, Valetta said, that Mysie should sleep in a different
+house; but almost as much of her company was vouchsafed on the ensuing
+day, Sunday, for Miss Elbury had relations at Rockquay, and was released
+for the entire day; and Fly was still so tired in the morning that she
+was not allowed to get up early in the day.
+
+Her mother, however, came in to go to church with Adeline Mohun, and
+Gillian, who had heard so much of the great Marchioness, was surprised
+to see a small slight woman, not handsome, and worn-looking about the
+eyes. At the first glance, she was plainly dressed; but the eye of a
+connoisseur like Aunt Ada could detect the exquisiteness of the material
+and the taste, and the slow soft tone of her voice; and every gesture
+and phrase showed that she had all her life been in the habit
+of condescending--in fact, thought Gillian, revolving her recent
+experience, though Lady Liddesdale and all her set are taller,
+finer-looking people, they are not one bit so grand--no, not that--but
+so unapproachable, as I am sure she is. She is gracious, while they are
+just good-natured!
+
+Aunt Ada was evidently pleased with the graciousness, and highly
+delighted to have to take this distinguished personage to church. Mysie
+was with her sisters, Valetta was extremely anxious to take her to the
+Sunday drawing-room class--whether for the sake of showing her to Mrs.
+Hablot, or Mrs. Hablot to her, did not appear.
+
+Gillian was glad to be asked to sit with Fly in the meantime. It was a
+sufficient reason for not repairing to the garden, and she hoped that
+Kalliope was unaware of her return, little knowing of the replies by
+which Fergus repaid Alexis for his assistance in mineral hunting.
+She had no desire to transgress Miss Mohun's desire that no further
+intercourse should take place till she herself had spoken with Kalliope.
+
+She found little Phyllis Devereux a great deal taller and thinner than
+the droll childish being who had been so amusing two years before at
+Silverfold, but eagerly throwing herself into her arms with the same
+affectionate delight. All the table was spread with pretty books and
+outlined illuminations waiting to be painted, and some really beautiful
+illustrated Sunday books; but as Gillian touched the first, Fly cried
+out, 'Oh, don't! I am so tired of all those things! And this is such
+a stupid window. I thought at least I should see the people going
+to church, and this looks at nothing but the old sea and a tiresome
+garden.'
+
+'That is thought a special advantage,' said Gillian, smiling.
+
+'Then I wish some one had it who liked it!'
+
+'You would not be so near us.'
+
+'No, and that is nice, and very nice for Mysie. How are all the dear
+beasts at Silverfold--Begum, and all?'
+
+'I am afraid I do not know more about them than Mysie does. Aunt Jane
+heard this morning that she must go down there to-morrow to meet the
+health-man and see what he says; but she won't take any of us because of
+the diphtheria and the scarlet fever being about.'
+
+'Oh dear, how horrid those catching things are! I've not seen Ivinghoe
+all this winter! Ah! but they are good sometimes! If it had not been
+for the measles, I should never have had that most delicious time at
+Silverfold, nor known Mysie. Now, please tell me all about where you
+have been, and what you have been doing.'
+
+Fly knew some of the younger party that Gillian had met at Rowthorpe;
+but she was more interested in the revels at Vale Leston, and required
+a precise description of the theatricals, or still better, of the
+rehearsals. Never was there a more appreciative audience, of how it all
+began from Kit Harewood, the young sailor, having sent home a lion's
+skin from Africa, which had already served for tableaux of Androcles and
+of Una--how the boy element had insisted on fun, and the child element
+on fairies, and how Mrs. William Harewood had suggested Midsummer
+Night's Dream as the only combination of the three essentials, lion,
+fun, and fairy, and pronounced that education had progressed far enough
+for the representation to be 'understanded of the people,' at least by
+the 6th and 7th standards. On the whole, however, comprehension seemed
+to have been bounded by intense admiration of the little girl fairies,
+whom the old women appeared to have taken for angels, for one had
+declared that to hear little Miss Cherry and Miss Katie singing their
+hymns like the angels they was, was just like Heaven. She must have had
+an odd notion of 'Spotted snakes with double tongues.' Moreover, effect
+was added to the said hymns by Uncle Lance behind the scenes.
+
+Then there was the account of how it had been at first intended that
+Oberon should be represented by little Sir Adrian, with his Bexley
+cousin, Pearl Underwood, for his Titania; but though she was fairy
+enough for anything, he turned out so stolid, and uttered 'Well met by
+moonlight, proud Titania,' the only lines he ever learnt, exactly like
+a lesson, besides crying whenever asked to study his part, that the
+attempt had to be given up, and the fairy sovereigns had to be of large
+size, Mr. Grinstead pronouncing that probably this was intended by
+Shakespeare, as Titania was a name of Diana, and he combined Grecian
+nymphs with English fairies. So Gerald Underwood had to combine the part
+of Peter Quince (including Thisbe) with that of Oberon, and the queen
+was offered to Gillian.
+
+'But I had learnt Hermia,' she said, 'and I saw it was politeness, so
+I wouldn't, and Anna Vanderkist is ever so much prettier, besides being
+used to acting with Gerald. She did look perfectly lovely, asleep on
+the moss in the scene Mrs. Grinstead painted and devised for her! There
+was--'
+
+'Oh! not only the prettiness, I don't care for that. One gets enough of
+the artistic, but the fun--the dear fun.'
+
+'There was fun enough, I am sure,' said Gillian. 'Puck was
+Felix--Pearl's brother, you know--eleven years old, so clever, and an
+awful imp--and he was Moon besides; but the worst of it was that his
+dog--it was a funny rough terrier at the Vicarage--was so furious at the
+lion, when Adrian was roaring under the skin, that nobody could hear,
+and Adrian got frightened, as well he might, and crept out from under
+it, screaming, and there fell the lion, collapsing flat in the middle of
+the place. Even Theseus--Major Harewood, you know, who had tried to be
+as grave as a judge, and so polite to the actors--could not stand that
+interpolation, as he called it, of "the man in the moon--not to say the
+dog," came down too soon--Why, Fly--'
+
+For Fly was in such a paroxysm of laughter as to end in a violent fit of
+coughing, and to bring Lady Rotherwood in, vexed and anxious.
+
+'Oh, mother! it was only--it was only the lion's skin--' and off went
+Fly, laughing and coughing again.
+
+'I was telling her about the acting or Midsummer Night's Dream at Vale
+Leston,' explained Gillian.
+
+'I should not have thought that a suitable subject for the day,' said
+the Marchioness gravely, and Fly's endeavour to say it was her fault
+for asking about it was silenced by choking; and Gillian found herself
+courteously dismissed in polite disgrace, and, as she felt, not entirely
+without justice.
+
+It was a great disappointment that Aunt Jane did not think it well to
+take any of the young people to their home with her. As she said, she
+did not believe that they would catch anything; but it was better to be
+on the safe side, and she fully expected that they would spend most of
+the day with Mysie and Fly.
+
+'I wish I could go and talk to Kalliope, my dear,' she said to Gillian;
+'but I am afraid it must wait another day.'
+
+'Oh, never mind,' said Gillian, as they bade each other good-night at
+their doors; 'they don't know that I am come home, so they will not
+expect me.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. -- ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
+
+
+
+Miss Mohun came back in the dark after a long day, for once in her life
+quite jaded, and explaining that the health-officer and the landlord had
+been by no means agreed, and that nothing could be done till Sir Jasper
+came home and decided whether to retain the house or not.
+
+All that she was clear about, and which she had telegraphed to Aden,
+was, that there must be no going back to Silverfold for the present,
+and she was prepared to begin lodging-hunting as soon as she received an
+answer.
+
+'And how have you got on?' she asked, thinking all looked rather blank.
+
+'We haven't been to see Fly,' broke out Valetta, 'though she went out on
+the beach, and Mysie must not stay out after dark, for fear she should
+cough.'
+
+'Mysie says they are afraid of excitement,' said Gillian gloomily.
+
+'Then you have seen nothing of the others?'
+
+'Yes, I have seen Victoria, said Aunt Adeline, with a meaning smile.
+
+Miss Mohun went up to take off her things, and Gillian followed her,
+shutting the door with ominous carefulness, and colouring all over.
+
+'Aunt Jane, I ought to tell you. A dreadful thing has happened!'
+
+'Indeed, my dear! What?'
+
+'I have had a valentine.'
+
+'Oh!' repressing a certain inclination to laugh at the bathos from the
+look of horror and shame in the girl's eyes.
+
+'It is from that miserable Alexis! Oh, I know I brought it on myself,
+and I have been so wretched and so ashamed all day.'
+
+'Was it so very shocking! Let me see--'
+
+'Oh! I sent it back at once by the post, in an envelope, saying, "Sent
+by mistake."'
+
+'But what was it like? Surely it was not one of the common shop things?'
+
+'Oh no; there was rather a pretty outline of a nymph or muse, or
+something of that sort, at the top--drawn, I mean--and verses written
+below, something about my showing a lodestar of hope, but I barely
+glanced at it. I hated it too much.'
+
+'I am sorry you were in such a hurry,' said Aunt Jane. 'No doubt it
+was a shock; but I am afraid you have given more pain than it quite
+deserved.'
+
+'It was so impertinent!' cried Gillian, in astonished, shame-stricken
+indignation.
+
+'So it seems to you,' said her aunt, 'and it was very bad taste; but you
+should remember that this poor lad has grown up in a stratum of society
+where he may have come to regard this as a suitable opportunity of
+evincing his gratitude, and perhaps it may be very hard upon him to have
+this work of his treated as an insult.'
+
+'But you would not have had me keep it and tolerate it?' exclaimed
+Gillian.
+
+'I can hardly tell without having seen it; but you might have done the
+thing more civilly, through his sister, or have let me give it back to
+him. However, it is too late now; I will make a point of seeing Kalliope
+to-morrow, but in the meantime you really need not be so horribly
+disgusted and ashamed.'
+
+'I thought he was quite a different sort!'
+
+'Perhaps, after all, your thoughts were not wrong; and he only fancied,
+poor boy, that he had found a pretty way of thanking you.'
+
+This did not greatly comfort Gillian, who might prefer feeling that she
+was insulted rather than that she had been cruelly unkind, and might
+like to blame Alexis rather than herself. And, indeed, in any case, she
+had sense enough to perceive that this very unacceptable compliment
+was the consequence of her own act of independence of more experienced
+heads.
+
+The next person Miss Mohun met was Fergus, lugging upstairs, step by
+step, a monstrous lump of stone, into which he required her to look and
+behold a fascinating crevice full of glittering spar.
+
+'Where did you get that, Fergus?'
+
+'Up off the cliff over the quarry.'
+
+'Are you sure that you may have it?'
+
+'Oh yes; White said I might. It's so jolly, auntie! Frank Stebbing is
+gone away to the other shop in the Apennines, where the old boss lives.
+What splendiferous specimens he must have the run of! Our Stebbing says
+'tis because Kally White makes eyes at him; but any way, White has got
+to do his work while he's away, and go all the rounds to see that things
+are right, so I go after him, and he lets me have just what I like--such
+jolly crystals.'
+
+'I am sure I hope it is all right.'
+
+'Oh yes, I always ask him, as you told me; but he is awfully slow and
+mopy and down in the mouth to-day. Stebbing says he is sweet upon
+Gill; but I told him that couldn't be, White knew better. A general's
+daughter, indeed! and Will remembers his father a sergeant.'
+
+'It is very foolish, Fergus. Say no more about it, for it is not nice
+talk about your sister.'
+
+'I'll lick any one who does,' said Fergus, bumping his stone up another
+step.
+
+Poor Aunt Jane! There was more to fall on her as soon as the door was
+finally shut on the two rooms communicating with one another, which the
+sisters called their own. Mrs. Mount's manipulations of Miss Adeline's
+rich brown hair were endured with some impatience, while Miss Mohun
+leant back in her chair in her shawl-patterned dressing-gown, watching,
+with a sort of curious wonder and foreboding, the restlessness that
+proved that something was in store, and meantime somewhat lazily
+brushing out her own thinner darker locks.
+
+'You are tired, Miss Jane,' said the old servant, using the pet name in
+private moments. 'You had better let me do your hair.'
+
+'No, thank you, Fanny; I have very nearly done,' she said, marking the
+signs of eagerness on her sister's part. 'Oh, by the bye, did that hot
+bottle go down to Lilian Giles?'
+
+'Yes, ma'am; Mrs. Giles came up for it.'
+
+'Did she say whether Lily was well enough to see Miss Gillian?'
+
+Mrs. Mount coughed a peculiar cough that her mistresses well knew to
+signify that she could tell them something they would not like to hear,
+if they chose to ask her, and it was the younger who put the question--
+
+'Fanny, did she say anything?'
+
+'Well, Miss Ada, I told her she must be mistaken, but she stuck to it,
+though she said she never would have breathed a word if Miss Gillian had
+not come back again, but she thought you should know it.'
+
+'Know what?' demanded Jane.
+
+'Well, Miss Jane, she should say 'tis the talk that Miss Gillian, when
+you have thought her reading to the poor girl, has been running down to
+the works--and 'tis only the ignorance of them that will talk, but they
+say it is to meet a young man. She says, Mrs. Giles do, that she never
+would have noticed such talk, but that the young lady did always seem in
+a hurry, only just reading a chapter, and never stopping to talk to
+poor Lily after it; and she has seen her herself going down towards the
+works, instead of towards home, ma'am. And she said she could not bear
+that reading to her girl should be made a colour for such doings.'
+
+'Certainly not, if it were as she supposes,' said Miss Mohun, sitting
+very upright, and beating her own head vigorously with a very prickly
+brush; 'but you may tell her, Fanny, that I know all about it, and that
+her friend is Miss White, who you remember spent an evening here.'
+
+Fanny's good-humoured face cleared up. 'Yes, ma'am, I told her that I
+was quite sure that Miss Gillian would not go for to do anything wrong,
+and that it could be easy explained; but people has tongues, you see.'
+
+'You were quite right to tell us, Fanny. Good-night.'
+
+'People has tongues!' repeated Adeline, when that excellent person had
+disappeared. 'Yes, indeed, they have. But, Jenny, do you really mean to
+say that you know all about this?'
+
+'Yes, I believe so.'
+
+'Oh, I wish you had been at home to-day when Victoria came in. It really
+is a serious business.'
+
+'Victoria! What has she to do with it? I should have thought her
+Marchioness-ship quite out of the region of gossip, though, for that
+matter, grandees like it quite as much as other people.'
+
+'Don't, Jane, you know it does concern her through companionship for
+Phyllis, and she was very kind.'
+
+'Oh yes, I can see her sailing in, magnificently kind from her
+elevation. But how in the world did she manage to pick up all this in
+the time?' said poor Jane, tired and pestered into the sharpness of her
+early youth.
+
+'Dear Jenny, I wish I had said nothing to-night. Do wait till you are
+rested.'
+
+'I am not in the least tired, and if I were, do you think I could sleep
+with this half told?'
+
+'You said you knew.'
+
+'Then it is only about Gillian being so silly as to go down to Miss
+White's office at the works to look over the boy's Greek exercises.'
+
+'You don't mean that you allowed it!'
+
+'No, Gillian's impulsiveness, just like her mother's, began it, as a
+little assertion of modern independence; but while she was away that
+little step from brook to river brought her to the sense that she had
+been a goose, and had used me rather unfairly, and so she came and
+confessed it all to me on the way home from the station the first
+morning after her return. She says she had written it all to her mother
+from the first.'
+
+'I wonder Lily did not telegraph to put a stop to it.'
+
+'Do you suppose any mother, our poor old Lily especially, can marry a
+couple of daughters without being slightly frantic! Ten to one she never
+realised that this precious pupil was bigger than Fergus. But do tell me
+what my Lady had heard, and how she heard it.'
+
+'You remember that her governess, Miss Elbury, has connections in the
+place.'
+
+'"The most excellent creature in the world." Oh yes, and she spent
+Sunday with them. So that was the conductor.'
+
+'I can hardly say that Miss Elbury was to be blamed, considering that
+she had heard the proposal about Valetta! It seems that that High School
+class-mistress, Miss Mellon, who had the poor child under her, is her
+cousin.'
+
+'Oh dear!'
+
+'It is exactly what I was afraid of when we decided on keeping Valetta
+at home. Miss Mellon told all the Caesar story in plainly the worst
+light for poor Val, and naturally deduced from her removal that she was
+the most to blame.'
+
+'Whereas it was Miss Mellon herself! But nobody could expect Victoria
+to see that, and no doubt she is quite justified in not wishing for the
+child in her schoolroom! But, after all, Valetta is only a child; it
+won't hurt her to have this natural recoil of consequences, and her
+mother will be at home in three weeks' time. It signifies much more
+about Gillian. Did I understand you that the gossip about her had
+reached those august ears?'
+
+'Oh yes, Jane, and it is ever so much worse. That horrid Miss Mellon
+seems to have told Miss Elbury that Gillian has a passion for low
+company, that she is always running after the Whites at the works, and
+has secret meetings with the young man in the garden on Sunday, while
+his sister carries on her underhand flirtation with another youth, Frank
+Stebbing, I suppose. It really was too preposterous, and Victoria said
+she had no doubt from the first that there was exaggeration, and had
+told Miss Elbury so; but still she thought Gillian must have been to
+blame. She was very nice about it, and listened to all my explanation
+most kindly, as to Gillian's interest in the Whites, and its having been
+only the sister that she met, but plainly she is not half convinced.
+I heard something about a letter being left for Gillian, and really, I
+don't know whether there may not be more discoveries to come. I never
+felt before the force of our dear father's saying, apropos of Rotherwood
+himself, that no one knows what it is to lose a father except those who
+have the care of his children.'
+
+'Whatever Gillian did was innocent and ladylike, and nothing to be
+ashamed of,' said Aunt Jane stoutly; 'of that I am sure. But I should
+like to be equally sure that she has not turned the head of that poor
+foolish young man, without in the least knowing what she was about. You
+should have seen her state of mind at his sending her a valentine, which
+she returned to him, perfectly ferociously, at once, and that was all
+the correspondence somebody seems to have smelt out.'
+
+'A valentine! Gillian must have behaved very ill to have brought that
+upon herself! Oh dear! I wish she had never come here; I wish Lily could
+have stayed at home, instead of scattering her children about the world.
+The Rotherwoods will never get over it.'
+
+'That's the least part of the grievance, in my eyes,' said her
+sister. 'It won't make a fraction of difference to the dear old cousin
+Rotherwood; and as to my Lady, it is always a liking from the teeth
+outwards.'
+
+'How can you say so! I am sure she has always been most cordial.'
+
+'Most correct, if you please. Oh, did she say anything about Mysie?'
+
+'She said nothing but good of Mysie; called her delightful, and
+perfectly good and trustworthy, said they could never have got so well
+through Phyllis's illness without her, and that they only wished to keep
+her altogether.'
+
+'I dare say, to be humble companion to my little lady, out of the way of
+her wicked sisters.'
+
+'Jane!'
+
+'My dear, I don't think I can stand any more defence of her just now!
+No, she is an admirable woman, I know. That's enough. I really must go
+to bed, and consider which is to be faced first, she or Kalliope.'
+
+It was lucky that Miss Mohun could exist without much sleep, for she was
+far too much worried for any length of slumber to visit her that night,
+though she was afoot as early as usual. She thought it best to tell
+Gillian that Lady Rotherwood had heard some foolish reports, and that
+she was going to try to clear them up, and she extracted an explicit
+account as to what the extent of her intercourse with the Whites had
+been, which was given willingly, Gillian being in a very humble frame,
+and convinced that she had acted foolishly. It surprised her likewise
+that Aunt Adeline, whom she had liked the best, and thought the most
+good-natured, was so much more angry with her than Aunt Jane, who, as
+she felt, forgave her thoroughly, and was only anxious to help her out
+of the scrape she had made for herself.
+
+Miss Mohun thought her best time for seeing Kalliope would be in the
+dinner-hour, and started accordingly in the direction of the marble
+works. Not far from them she met that young person walking quickly with
+one of her little brothers.
+
+'I was coming to see you,' Miss Mohun said. 'I did not know that you
+went home in the middle of the day.'
+
+'My mother has been so unwell of late that I do not like to be entirely
+out of reach all day,' returned Kalliope, who certainly looked worn and
+sorrowful; 'so I manage to run home, though it is but for a quarter of
+an hour.'
+
+'I will not delay you, I will walk with you,' and when Petros had been
+dismissed, 'I am afraid my niece has not been quite the friend to you
+that she intended.'
+
+'Oh, Miss Mohun, do you know all about it? It is such a relief! I have
+felt so guilty towards you, and yet I did not know what to do.'
+
+'I have never thought that the concealment was your fault,' said Jane.
+
+'I did think at first that you knew,' said Kalliope, 'and when I found
+that was not the case, I suppose I should have insisted on your being
+told; but I could not bear to seem ungrateful, and my brother took
+such extreme delight in his lessons and Miss Merrifield's kindness,
+that--that I could not bear to do what might prevent them. And now,
+poor fellow, it shows how wrong it was, since he has ventured on that
+unfortunate act of presumption, which has so offended her. Oh, Miss
+Mohun, he is quite broken-hearted.'
+
+'I am afraid Gillian was very discourteous. I was out, or it should
+not have been done so unkindly. Indeed, in the shock, Gillian did not
+recollect that she might be giving pain.'
+
+'Yes, yes! Poor Alexis! He has not had any opportunity of understanding
+how different things are in your class of life, and he thought it would
+show his gratitude and--and--Oh, he is so miserable!' and she was forced
+to stop to wipe away her tears.
+
+'Poor fellow! But it was one of those young men's mistakes that are got
+over and outgrown, so you need not grieve over it so much, my dear. My
+brother-in-law is on his way home, and I know he means to see what can
+be done for Alexis, for your father's sake.'
+
+'Oh, Miss Mohun, how good you are! I thought you could never forgive us.
+And people do say such shocking things.'
+
+'I know they do, and therefore I am going to ask you to tell me exactly
+what intercourse there has been with Gillian.'
+
+Kalliope did so, and Miss Mohun was struck with the complete accordance
+of the two accounts, and likewise by the total absence of all attempt
+at self-justification on Miss White's part. If she had in any way
+been weak, it had been against her will, and her position had been an
+exceedingly difficult one. She spoke in as guarded a manner as possible;
+but to such acute and experienced ears as those of her auditor, it
+was impossible not to perceive that, while Gillian had been absolutely
+simple, and unconscious of all but a kind act of patronage, the youth's
+imagination had taken fire, and he had become her ardent worshipper;
+with calf-love, no doubt, but with a distant, humble adoration, which
+had, whether fortunately or unfortunately, for once found expression in
+the valentine so summarily rejected. The drawing and the composition
+had been the work of many days, and so much against his sister's protest
+that it had been sent without her knowledge, after she had thought
+it given up. She had only extracted the confession through his
+uncontrollable despair, which made him almost unfit to attend to his
+increased work, perhaps by his southern nature exaggerated.
+
+'The stronger at first, the sooner over,' thought Miss Mohun; but she
+knew that consolation betraying her comprehension would not be safe.
+
+One further discovery she made, namely, that on Sunday, Alexis, foolish
+lad, had been so wildly impatient at their having had no notice from
+Gillian since her return, that he had gone to the garden to explain, as
+he said, his sister's non-appearance there, since she was detained by
+her mother's illness. It was the only time he had ever been there,
+and he had met no one; but Miss Mohun felt a sinking of heart at the
+foreboding that the mauvaises langues would get hold of it.
+
+The only thing to be decided on was that there must be a suspension
+of intercourse, at any rate, till Lady Merrifield's arrival; not in
+unkindness, but as best for all. And, indeed, Kalliope had no time to
+spare from her mother, whose bloated appearance, poor woman, was the
+effect of long-standing disease.
+
+The daughter's heart was very full of her, and evidently it would have
+been a comfort to discuss her condition with this kind friend; but no
+more delay was possible; and Miss Mohun had to speed home, in a quandary
+how much or how little about Alexis's hopeless passion should be
+communicated to its object, and finally deciding that Gillian had better
+only be informed that he had been greatly mortified by the rude manner
+of rejection, but that the act itself proved that she must abstain from
+all renewal of the intercourse till her parents should return.
+
+But that was not all the worry of the day. Miss Mohun had still to
+confront Lady Rotherwood, and, going as soon as the early dinner was
+over, found the Marchioness resting after an inspection of houses in
+Rockquay. She did not like hotels, she said, and she thought the top of
+the cliff too bleak for Phyllis, so that they must move nearer the sea
+if the place agreed with her at all, which was doubtful. Miss Mohun was
+pretty well convinced that the true objection was the neighbourhood of
+Beechcroft Cottage. She said she had come to give some explanation of
+what had been said to her sister yesterday.
+
+'Oh, my dear Jane, Adeline told me all about it yesterday. I am very
+sorry for you to have had such a charge, but what could you expect of
+girls cast about as they have been, always with a marching regiment?'
+
+'I do not think Mysie has given you any reason to think her ill brought
+up.'
+
+'A little uncouth at first, but that was all. Oh, no! Mysie is a dear
+little girl. I should be very glad to have her with Phyllis altogether,
+and so would Rotherwood. But she was very young when Sir Jasper
+retired.'
+
+'And Valetta was younger. Poor little girl! She was naughty, but I do
+not think she understood the harm of what she was doing.'
+
+Lady Rotherwood smiled.
+
+'Perhaps not; but she must have been deeply involved, since she was the
+one amongst all the guilty to be expelled.'
+
+'Oh, Victoria! Was that what you heard?'
+
+'Miss Elbury heard it from the governess she was under. Surely she was
+the only one not permitted to go up for the examination and removed.'
+
+'True, but that was our doing--no decree of the High School. Her own
+governess is free now, and her mother on her way, and we thought she had
+better not begin another term. Yes, Victoria, I quite see that you might
+doubt her fitness to be much with Phyllis. I am not asking for that--I
+shall try to get her own governess to come at once; but for the child's
+sake and her mother's I should like to get this cleared up. May I see
+Miss Elbury?'
+
+'Certainly; but I do not think you will find that she has exaggerated,
+though of course her informant may have done so.
+
+Miss Elbury was of the older generation of governesses, motherly, kind,
+but rather prim and precise, the accomplished element being supplied
+with diplomaed foreigners, who, since Lady Phyllis's failure in health,
+had been dispensed with. She was a good and sensible woman, as Jane
+could see, in spite of the annoyance her report had occasioned, and it
+was impossible not to assent when she said she had felt obliged, under
+the circumstances, to mention to Lady Rotherwood what her cousin had
+told her.
+
+'About both my nieces,' said Jane. 'Yes, I quite understand. But, though
+of course the little one's affair is the least important, we had better
+get to the bottom of that first, and I should like to tell you what
+really happened.'
+
+She told her story, and how Valetta had been tempted and then bullied
+into going beyond the first peeps, and finding she did not produce the
+impression she wished, she begged Miss Elbury to talk it over with the
+head-mistress. It was all in the telling. Miss Elbury's young cousin,
+Miss Mellon, had been brought under rebuke, and into great danger of
+dismissal, through Valetta Merrifield's lapse; and it was no wonder
+that she had warned her kinswoman against 'the horrid little deceitful
+thing,' who had done so much harm to the whole class. 'Miss Mohun was
+running about over the whole place, but not knowing what went on in her
+own house!' And as to Miss White, Miss Elbury mentioned at last, though
+with some reluctance, that it was believed that she had been on the
+point of a private marriage, and of going to Italy with young Stebbing,
+when her machinations were detected, and he was forced to set off
+without her.
+
+With this in her mind, the governess could not be expected to accept as
+satisfactory what was not entire confutation or contradiction, and Miss
+Mohun saw that, politely as she was listened to, it was all only treated
+as excuse; since there could be no denial of Gillian's folly, and it was
+only a question of degree.
+
+And, provoking as it was, the disappointment might work well for
+Valetta. The allegations against Gillian were a far more serious affair,
+but much more of these could be absolutely disproved and contradicted;
+in fact, all that Miss Mohun herself thought very serious, i.e. the
+flirtation element, was shown to be absolutely false, both as regarded
+Gillian and Kalliope; but it was quite another thing to convince people
+who knew none of the parties, when there was the residuum of truth
+undeniable, that there had been secret meetings not only with the girl,
+but the youth. To acquit Gillian of all but modern independence and
+imprudent philanthropy was not easy to any one who did not understand
+her character, and though Lady Rotherwood said nothing more in the form
+of censure, it was evident that she was unconvinced that Gillian was not
+a fast and flighty girl, and that she did not desire more contact than
+was necessary.
+
+No doubt she wished herself farther off! Lord Rotherwood, she said,
+was coming down in a day or two, when he could get away, and then they
+should decide whether to take a house or to go abroad, which, after all,
+might be the best thing for Phyllis.
+
+'He will make all the difference,' said Miss Adeline, when the
+unsatisfactory conversation was reported to her.
+
+'I don't know! But even if he did, and I don't think he will, I won't
+have Valetta waiting for his decision and admitted on sufferance.'
+
+'Shall you send her back to school?'
+
+'No. Poor Miss Vincent is free, and quite ready to come here. Fergus
+shall go and sleep among his fossils in the lumber-room, and I will
+write to her at once. She will be much better here than waiting at
+Silverton, though the Hacketts are very kind to her.'
+
+'Yes, it will be better to be independent. But all this is very
+unfortunate. However, Victoria will see for herself what the children
+are. She has asked me to take a drive with her to-morrow if it is not
+too cold.'
+
+'Oh yes, she is not going to make an estrangement. You need not fear
+that, Ada. She does not think it your fault.'
+
+Aunt Jane pondered a little as to what to say to the two girls, and
+finally resolved that Valetta had better be told that she was not to
+do lessons with Fly, as her behaviour had made Lady Rotherwood doubt
+whether she was a good companion. Valetta stamped and cried, and said
+it was very hard and cross when she had been so sorry and every one had
+forgiven her; but Gillian joined heartily with Aunt Jane in trying
+to make the child understand that consequences often come in spite of
+pardon and repentance. To Gillian herself, Aunt Jane said as little
+as possible, not liking even to give the veriest hint of the foolish
+gossip, or of the extent of poor Alexis White's admiration; for it was
+enough for the girl to know that concealment had brought her under a
+cloud, and she was chiefly concerned as to how her mother would look
+on it. She had something of Aunt Jane's impatience of patronage, and
+perhaps thought it snobbish to seem concerned at the great lady's
+displeasure.
+
+Mysie was free to run in and out to her sisters, but was still to do
+her lessons with Miss Elbury, and Fly took up more of her time than the
+sisters liked. Neither she nor Fly were formally told why their
+castles vanished into empty air, but there certainly was a continual
+disappointment and fret on both sides, which Fly could not bear as well
+as when she was in high health, and poor Mysie's loving heart often
+found it hard to decide between her urgent claims and those of Valetta!
+
+But was not mamma coming? and papa? Would not all be well then? Yes,
+hearts might bound at the thought. But where was Gillian's great thing?'
+
+Miss Vincent's coming was really like a beginning of home, in spite
+of her mourning and depressed look. It was a great consolation to the
+lonely woman to find how all her pupils flew at her, with infinite
+delight. She had taken pains to bring a report of all the animals for
+Valetta, and she duly admired all Fergus's geological specimens, and
+even undertook to print labels for them.
+
+Mysie would have liked to begin lessons again with her; but this would
+have been hard on Fly, and besides, her mother had committed her to the
+Rotherwoods, and it was better still to leave her with them.
+
+The aunts were ready with any amount of kindness and sympathy for the
+governess's bereavement, and her presence was a considerable relief in
+the various perplexities.
+
+Even Lady Rotherwood and Miss Elbury had been convinced, and by no means
+unwillingly, that Gillian had been less indiscreet than had been their
+first impression; but she had been a young lady of the period in her
+independence, and was therefore to be dreaded. No more garden trystes
+would have been possible under any circumstances, for the house and
+garden were in full preparation for the master, who was to meet Lord
+Rotherwood to consult about the proposed water-works and other designs
+for the benefit of the town where they were the chief landowners.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. -- THE PARTNER
+
+
+
+The expected telegram arrived two days later, requesting Miss Mohun to
+find a lodging at Rockstone sufficient to contain Sir Jasper and Lady
+Merrifield, and a certain amount of sons and daughters, while they
+considered what was to be done about Silverfold.
+
+'So you and I will go out house-hunting, Gillian?' said Aunt Jane, when
+she had opened it, and the exclamations were over.
+
+'I am afraid there is no house large enough up here,' said her sister.
+
+'No, it is an unlucky time, in the thick of the season.'
+
+'Victoria said she had been looking at some houses in Bellevue.'
+
+'I am afraid she will have raised the prices of them.'
+
+'But, oh, Aunt Jane, we couldn't go to Bellevue Church!' cried Gillian.
+
+'Your mother would like to be so near the daily services at the Kennel,'
+said Miss Mohun. 'Yes, we must begin with those houses. There's nothing
+up here but Sorrento, and I have heard enough of its deficiencies!'
+
+At that moment in came a basket of game, grapes, and flowers, with Lady
+Rotherwood's compliments.
+
+'Solid pudding,' muttered Miss Mohun. 'In this case, I should almost
+prefer empty praise. Look here, Ada, what a hamper they must have had
+from home! I think I shall, as I am going that way, take a pheasant and
+some grapes to the poor Queen of the White Ants; I believe she is really
+ill, and it will show that we do not want to neglect them.'
+
+'Oh, thank you, Aunt Jane!' cried Gillian, the colour rising in her
+face, and she was the willing bearer of the basket as she walked down
+the steps with her aunt, and along the esplanade, only pausing to
+review the notices of palatial, rural, and desirable villas in the
+house-agent's window, and to consider in what proportion their claims to
+perfection might be reduced.
+
+As they turned down Ivinghoe Terrace, and were approaching the rusty
+garden-gate, they overtook Mrs. Lee, the wife of the organist of St.
+Kenelm's, who lodged at Mrs. White's. In former times, before her
+marriage, Mrs. Lee had been a Sunday-school teacher at St. Andrew's, and
+though party spirit considered her to have gone over to the enemy, there
+were old habits of friendly confidence between her and Miss Mohun, and
+there was an exchange of friendly greetings and inquiries. When she
+understood their errand she rejoiced in it, saying that poor Mrs. White
+was very poorly, and rather fractious, and that this supply would be
+most welcome both to her and her daughter.
+
+'Ah, I am afraid that poor girl goes through a great deal!'
+
+'Indeed she does, Miss Mohun; and a better girl never lived. I cannot
+think how she can bear up as she does; there she is at the office
+all day with her work, except when she runs home in the middle of the
+day--all that distance to dish up something her mother can taste, for
+there's no dependence on the girl, nor on little Maura neither. Then she
+is slaving early and late to keep the house in order as well as she can,
+when her mother is fretting for her attention; and I believe she loses
+more than half her night's rest over the old lady. How she bears up, I
+cannot guess; and never a cross word to her mother, who is such a trial,
+nor to the boys, but looking after their clothes and their lessons, and
+keeping them as good and nice as can be. I often say to my husband, I am
+sure it is a lesson to live in the house with her.'
+
+'I am sure she is an excellent girl,' said Miss Mohun. 'I wish we could
+do anything to help her.'
+
+'I know you are a real friend, Miss Mohun, and never was there any young
+person who was in greater need of kindness; though it is none of her
+fault. She can't help her face, poor dear; and she has never given any
+occasion, I am sure, but has been as guarded and correct as possible.'
+
+'Oh, I was in hopes that annoyance was suspended at least for a time!'
+
+'You are aware of it then, Miss Mohun? Yes, the young gentleman is come
+back, not a bit daunted. Yesterday evening what does he do but drive up
+in a cab with a great bouquet, and a basketful of grapes, and what
+not! Poor Kally, she ran in to me, and begged me as a favour to come
+downstairs with her, and I could do no less. And I assure you, Miss
+Mohun, no queen could be more dignified, nor more modest than she was
+in rejecting his gifts, and keeping him in check. Poor dear, when he was
+gone she burst out crying--a thing I never knew of her before; not that
+she cared for him, but she felt it a cruel wrong to her poor mother to
+send away the grapes she longed after; and so she will feel these just a
+providence.'
+
+'Then is Mrs. White confined to her room?'
+
+'For more than a fortnight. For that matter the thing was easier, for
+she had encouraged the young man as far as in her lay, poor thing,
+though my husband and young Alexis both told her what they knew of him,
+and that it would not be for Kally's happiness, let alone the offence to
+his father.'
+
+'Then it really went as far as that?'
+
+'Miss Mohun, I would be silent as the grave if I did not know that the
+old lady went talking here and there, never thinking of the harm she was
+doing. She was so carried away by the idea of making a lady of Kally.
+She says she was a beauty herself, though you would not think it now,
+and she is perfectly puffed up about Kally. So she actually lent an ear
+when the young man came persuading Kally to get married and go off to
+Italy with him, where he made sure he could come over Mr. White with her
+beauty and relationship and all--among the myrtle groves--that was his
+expression--where she would have an association worthy of her. I don't
+quite know how he meant it to be brought about, but he is one who would
+stick at nothing, and of course Kally would not hear of it, and answered
+him so as one would think he would never have had the face to address
+her again, but poor Mrs. White has done nothing but fret over it, and
+blame her daughter for undutifulness, and missing the chance of making
+all their fortunes--breaking her heart and her health, and I don't know
+what besides. She is half a foreigner, you see, and does not understand,
+and she is worse than no one to that poor girl.'
+
+'And you say he is come back as bad as ever.'
+
+'Or worse, you may say, Miss Mohun; absence seems only to have set him
+the more upon her, and I am afraid that Mrs. White's talk, though it may
+not have been to many, has been enough to set it about the place; and
+in cases like that, it is always the poor young woman as gets the
+blame--especially with the gentleman's own people.'
+
+'I am afraid so.'
+
+'And you see she is in a manner at his mercy, being son to one of the
+heads of the firm, and in a situation of authority.'
+
+'What can she do all day at the office?'
+
+'She keeps one or two of the other young ladies working with her,' said
+Mrs. Lee; 'but if any change could be made, it would be very happy for
+her; though, after all, I do not see how she could leave this place, the
+house being family property, and Mr. White their relation, besides that
+Mrs. White is in no state to move; but, on the other hand, Mr. and Mrs.
+Stebbing know their son is after her, and the lady would not stick at
+believing or saying anything against her, though I will always bear
+witness, and so will Mr. Lee, that never was there a more good,
+right-minded young woman, or more prudent and guarded.'
+
+'So would Mr. Flight and his mother, I have no doubt.'
+
+'Mr. Flight would, Miss Mohun, but'--with an odd look--'I fancy my lady
+thinks poor Kally too handsome for it to be good for a young clergyman
+to have much to say to her. They have not been so cordial to them of
+late, but that is partly owing to poor Mrs. White's foolish talk, and in
+part to young Alexis having been desultory and mopy of late--not taking
+the interest in his music he did. Mr. Lee says he is sure some young
+woman is at the bottom of it.'
+
+Miss Mohun saw her niece's ears crimson under her hat, and was afraid
+Mrs. Lee would likewise see them. They had reached the front of the
+house, and she made haste to take out a visiting-card and to beg Mrs.
+Lee kindly to give it with the basket, saying that she would not give
+trouble by coming to the door.
+
+And then she turned back with Gillian, who was in a strange tumult of
+shame and consternation, yet withal, feeling that first strange thrill
+of young womanhood at finding itself capable of stirring emotion, and
+too much overcome by these strange sensations--above all by the shock of
+shame--to be able to utter a word.
+
+I must make light of it, but not too light, thought Miss Mohun, and she
+broke the ice by saying, 'Poor foolish boy--'
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, what shall I do?'
+
+'Let it alone, my dear.'
+
+'But that I should have done so much harm and upset him so'--in a voice
+betraying a certain sense of being flattered. 'Can't I do anything to
+undo it?'
+
+'Certainly not. To be perfectly quiet and do nothing is all you can do.
+My dear, boys and young men have such foolish fits--more in that station
+than in ours, because they have none of the public school and college
+life which keeps people out of it. You were the first lady this poor
+fellow was brought into contact with, and--well, you were rather a
+goose, and he has been a greater one; but if he is let alone, he will
+recover and come to his senses. I could tell you of men who have had
+dozens of such fits. I am much more interested about his sister. What a
+noble girl she is!'
+
+'Oh, isn't she, Aunt Jane. Quite a real heroine! And now mamma is
+coming, she will know what to do for her!'
+
+'I hope she will, but it is a most perplexing case altogether.'
+
+'And that horrid young Stebbing is come back too. I am glad she has that
+nice Mrs. Lee to help her.'
+
+'And to defend her,' added Miss Mohun. 'Her testimony is worth a great
+deal, and I am glad to know where to lay my hand upon it. And here is
+our first house, "Les Rochers." For Madame de Sevigne's sake, I hope it
+will do!'
+
+But it didn't! Miss Mohun got no farther than the hall before she
+detected a scent of gas; and they had to betake themselves to the next
+vacant abode. The investigating nature had full scope in the various
+researches that she made into parlour, kitchen, and hall, desperately
+wearisome to Gillian, whose powers were limited to considering how the
+family could sit at ease in the downstairs rooms, how they could be
+stowed away in the bedrooms, and where there were the prettiest views
+of the bay. Aunt Jane, becoming afraid that while she was literally
+'ferreting' in the offices Gillian might be meditating on her conquest,
+picked up the first cheap book that looked innocently sensational, and
+left her to study it on various sofas. And when daylight failed for
+inspections, Gillian still had reason to rejoice in the pastime devised
+for her, since there was an endless discussion at the agent's, over the
+only two abodes that could be made available, as to prices, repairs,
+time, and terms. They did not get away till it was quite dark and
+the gas lighted, and Miss Mohun did not think the ascent of the steps
+desirable, so that they went round by the street.
+
+'I declare,' exclaimed Miss Mohun, 'there's Mr. White's house lighted
+up. He must be come!'
+
+'I wonder whether he will do anything for Kalliope,' sighed Gillian.
+
+'Oh, Jenny,' exclaimed Miss Adeline, as the two entered the
+drawing-room. 'You have had such a loss; Rotherwood has been here
+waiting to see you for an hour, and such an agreeable man he brought
+with him!'
+
+'Who could it have been?'
+
+'I didn't catch his name--Rotherwood was mumbling in his quick
+way--indeed, I am not sure he did not think I knew him. A
+distinguished-looking man, like a picture, with a fine white beard, and
+he was fresh from Italy; told me all about the Carnival and the curious
+ceremonies in the country villages.'
+
+'From Italy? It can't have been Mr. White.'
+
+'Mr. White! My dear Jane! this was a gentleman--quite a grand-looking
+man. He might have been an Italian nobleman, only he spoke English
+too well for that, though I believe those diplomates can speak all
+languages. However, you will see, for we are to go and dine with them at
+eight o'clock--you, and I, and Gillian.'
+
+'You, Ada!'
+
+'Oh! I have ordered the chair round; it won't hurt me with the glasses
+up. Gillian, my dear, you must put on the white dress that Mrs.
+Grinstead's maid did up for you--it is quite simple, and I should like
+you to look nice! Well--oh, how tired you both look! Ring for some fresh
+tea, Gillian. Have you found a house?'
+
+So excited and occupied was Adeline that the house-hunting seemed to
+have assumed quite a subordinate place in her mind. It really was an
+extraordinary thing for her to dine out, though this was only a family
+party next door; and she soon sailed away to hold counsel with Mrs.
+Mount on dresses and wraps, and to get her very beautiful hair dressed.
+She made by far the most imposing appearance of the three when they
+shook themselves out in the ante-room at the hotel, in her softly-tinted
+sheeny pale-gray dress, with pearls in her hair, and two beautiful blush
+roses in her bosom; while her sister, in black satin and coral, somehow
+seemed smaller than ever, probably from being tired, and from the same
+cause Gillian had dark marks under her brown eyes, and a much more limp
+and languid look than was her wont.
+
+Fly was seated on her father's knee, looking many degrees better and
+brighter, as if his presence were an elixir of life, and when he put her
+down to greet the arrivals, both she and Mysie sprang to Gillian to ask
+the result of the quest of houses. The distinguished friend was there,
+and was talking to Lady Rotherwood about Italian progress, and there was
+only time for an inquiry and reply as to the success of the search for a
+house before dinner was announced--the little girls disappeared, and the
+Marquess gave his arm to his eldest cousin.
+
+'Grand specimen of marble, isn't he!' he muttered.
+
+'Ada hasn't the least idea who he is. She thinks him a great diplomate,'
+communicated Jane in return, and her arm received an ecstatic squeeze.
+
+It was amusing to Jane Mohun to see how much like a dinner at Rotherwood
+this contrived to be, with my lady's own footman, and my lord's valet
+waiting in state. She agreed mentally with her sister that the other
+guest was a very fine-looking man, with a picturesque head, and he did
+not seem at all out of place or ill-at-ease in the company in which
+he found himself. Lord Rotherwood, with a view, perhaps, to prolonging
+Adeline's mystification, turned the conversation to Italian politics,
+and the present condition and the industries of the people, on all of
+which subjects much ready information was given in fluent, good English,
+with perhaps rather unnecessarily fine words. It was only towards the
+end of the dinner that a personal experience was mentioned about the
+impossibility of getting work done on great feast days, or of knowing
+which were the greater--and the great dislike of the peasant mind to new
+methods.
+
+When it came to 'At first, I had to superintend every blasting with
+gelatine,' the initiated were amused at the expression of Adeline's
+countenance, and the suppressed start of frightful conviction that
+quivered on her eyelids and the corners of her mouth, though kept
+in check by good breeding, and then smoothed out into a resolute
+complacency, which convinced her sister that having inadvertently
+exalted the individual into the category of the distinguished, she meant
+to abide staunchly by her first impression.
+
+Lady Rotherwood, like most great ladies in public life, was perfectly
+well accustomed to have all sorts of people brought home to dinner, and
+would have been far less astonished than her cousins at sitting down
+with her grocer; but she gave the signal rather early, and on reaching
+the sitting-room, where Miss Elworthy was awaiting them, said--
+
+'We will leave them to discuss their water-works at their ease.
+Certainly residence abroad is an excellent education.'
+
+'A very superior man,' said Adeline.
+
+'Those self-made men always are.'
+
+'In the nature of things, added Miss Mohun, 'or they would not have
+mounted.'
+
+'It is the appendages that are distressing,' said Lady Rotherwood, 'and
+they seldom come in one's way. Has this man left any in Italy?'
+
+'Oh no, none alive. He took his wife there for her health, and that was
+the way he came to set up his Italian quarries; but she and his child
+both died there long ago, and he has never come back to this place
+since,' explained Ada.
+
+'But he has relations here,' said Jane. 'His cousin was an officer in
+Jasper Merrifield's regiment.'
+
+She hoped to have been saying a word in the cause of the young people,
+but she regretted her attempt, for Lady Rotherwood replied--
+
+'I have heard of them. A very undeserving family, are they not?'
+
+Gillian, whom Miss Elworthy was trying to entertain, heard, and could
+not help colouring all over, face, neck, and ears, all the more for so
+much hating the flush and feeling it observed.
+
+Miss Mohun's was a very decided, 'I should have said quite the reverse.'
+
+'Indeed! Well, I heard the connection lamented, for his sake, by--what
+was her name? Mrs. Stirling--or--'
+
+'Mrs. Stebbing,' said Adeline. 'You don't mean that she has actually
+called on you?'
+
+'Is there any objection to her?' asked Lady Rotherwood, with a glance to
+see whether the girl was listening.
+
+'Oh no, no! only he is a mere mason--or quarryman, who has grown rich,'
+said Adeline.
+
+The hostess gave a little dry laugh.
+
+'Is that all? I thought you had some reason for disapproving of her. I
+thought her rather sensible and pleasing.'
+
+Cringing and flattering, thought Jane; and that is just what these
+magnificent ladies like in the wide field of inferiors. But aloud she
+could not help saying, 'My principal objection to Mrs. Stebbing is that
+I have always thought her rather a gossip--on the scandalous side.'
+Then, bethinking herself that it would not be well to pursue the subject
+in Gillian's presence, she explained where the Stebbings lived, and
+asked how long Lord Rotherwood could stay.
+
+'Only over Sunday. He is going to look over the place to-morrow, and
+next day there is to be a public meeting about it. I am not sure that we
+shall not go with him. I do not think the place agrees with Phyllis.'
+
+The last words were spoken just as the two gentlemen had come in from
+the dining-room, rather sooner than was expected, and they were taken
+up.
+
+'Agrees with Phyllis! She looks pounds--nay, hundred-weights better than
+when we left home. I mean to have her down to-morrow on the beach for a
+lark--castle-building, paddling--with Mysie and Val, and Fergus and all.
+That's what would set her up best, wouldn't it, Jane?'
+
+Jane gave a laughing assent, wondering how much of this would indeed
+prove castle-building, though adding that Fergus was at school, and that
+it was not exactly the time of year for paddling.
+
+'Oh, ah, eh! Well, perhaps not--forestalling sweet St.
+Valentine--stepping into their nests they paddled. Though St. Valentine
+is past, and I thought our fortunes had been made, Mr. White, by calling
+this the English Naples, and what not.'
+
+'Those are the puffs, my lord. There is a good deal of difference even
+between this and Rocca Marina, which is some way up the mountain.'
+
+'It must be very beautiful,' said Miss Ada.
+
+'Well, Miss Mohun, people do say it is striking.' And he was drawn into
+describing the old Italian mansion, purchased on the extinction of an
+ancient family of nobles, perched up on the side of a mountain, whose
+feet the sea laved, with a terrace whence there was a splendid view of
+the Gulf of Genoa, and fine slopes above and below of chestnut-trees
+and vineyards; and therewith he gave a hearty invitation to the company
+present to visit him there if ever they went to Italy, when he would
+have great pleasure in showing them many bits of scenery, and curious
+remains that did not fall in the way of ordinary tourists.
+
+Lady Rotherwood gratefully said she should remember the invitation if
+they went to the south, as perhaps they should do that very spring.
+
+'And,' said Ada, 'you are not to be expected to remain long in this
+climate when you have a home like that awaiting you.'
+
+'Don't call it home, Miss Mohun,' he said. 'I have not had that these
+many years; but I declare, the first sound of our county dialect, when
+I got out at the station, made my heart leap into my mouth. I could have
+shaken hands with the fellow.'
+
+'Then I hope you will remain here for some time. There is much wanting
+to be set going,' said Jane.
+
+'So I thought of doing, and I had out a young fellow, who I thought
+might take my place--my partner's son, young Stebbing. They wrote that
+he had been learning Italian, with a view to being useful to me, and so
+on; but when he came out, what was he but a fine gentleman--never had
+put his hand to a pick, nor a blasting-iron; and as to his Italian, he
+told me it was the Italian of Alfieri and Leopardi. Leopardi's Italian
+it might be, for it was a very mottled or motley tongue, but he might
+as well have talked English or Double-Dutch to our hands, or better, for
+they had picked up the meaning of some orders from me before I got used
+to their lingo. And then he says 'tis office work and superintendence
+he understands. How can you superintend, I told him, what you don't know
+yourself? No, no; go home and bring a pair of hands fit for a quarryman,
+before I make you overlooker.'
+
+This was rather delightful, and it further appeared that he could
+answer all Jane's inquiries after her beloved promising lads whom he had
+deported to the Rocca Marina quarries.
+
+They were evidently kindly looked after, and she began to perceive that
+it was not such a bad place after all for them, more especially as he
+was in the act of building them a chapel, and one of his objects in
+coming to England was to find a chaplain; and as Lord Rotherwood said,
+he had come to the right shop, since Rockquay in the spring was likely
+to afford a choice of clergy with weak chests, or better still, with
+weak-chested wives, to whom light work in a genial climate would be the
+greatest possible boon.
+
+Altogether the evening was very pleasant, only too short. It was a
+curious study for Jane Mohun how far Lady Rotherwood would give way to
+her husband. She always seemed to give way, but generally accomplished
+her own will in the end, and it was little likely that she would allow
+the establishment to await the influx of Merrifields, though certainly
+Gillian had done nothing displeasing all that evening except that
+terrible blushing, for which piece of ingenuousness her aunt loved her
+all the better.
+
+At half-past ten next morning, however, Lord Rotherwood burst in to
+borrow Valetta for a donkey-ride, for which his lady had compounded
+instead of the paddling and castle-building, and certainly poor Val
+could not do much to corrupt Fly on donkey back, and in his presence. He
+further routed out Gillian, nothing loth, from her algebra, bidding her
+put on her seven-leagued boots, and not get bent double--and he would
+fain have seized on his cousin Jane, but she was already gone off for an
+interview with the landlord of the most eligible of the two houses.
+
+Gillian and Valetta came back very rosy, and in fits of merriment. Lord
+Rotherwood had paid the donkey-boys to stay at home, and let him and
+Gillian take their place. They had gone out on the common above the
+town, with most amusing rivalries as to which drove the beast worst,
+making Mysie umpire. Then having attained a delightfully lonely place,
+Fly had begged for a race with Valetta, which failed, partly because
+Val's donkey would not stir, and partly because Fly could not bear the
+shaking; and then Lord Rotherwood himself insisted on riding the donkey
+that wouldn't go, and racing Gillian on the donkey that would--and he
+made his go so effectually that it ran away with him, and he pulled it
+up at last only just in time to save himself from being ignominiously
+stopped by an old fishwoman!
+
+He had, as Aunt Jane said, regularly dipped Gill back into childhood,
+and she looked, spoke, and moved all the better for it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. -- THE ROCKS OF ROCKSTONE
+
+
+
+Lord Rotherwood came in to try to wile his cousin to share in the
+survey of the country; but she declared it to be impossible, as all
+her avocations had fallen into arrear, and she had to find a couple of
+servants as well as a house for the Merrifields. This took her in the
+direction of the works, and Gillian proposed to go with her as far as
+the Giles's, there to sit a little while with Lilian, for whom she had a
+new book.
+
+'My dear, surely you must be tired out!' exclaimed the stay-at-home
+aunt.
+
+'Oh no, Aunt Ada! Quite freshened by that blow on the common.'
+
+And Miss Mohun was not sorry, thinking that to leave Gillian free to
+come home by herself would be the best refutation of Mrs. Mount's doubts
+of her.
+
+They had not, however, gone far on their way--on the walk rather
+unfrequented at this time of day--before Gillian exclaimed, 'Is that
+Kally? Oh! and who is that with her?' For there certainly was a figure
+in somewhat close proximity, the ulster and pork-pie hat being such as
+to make the gender doubtful.
+
+'How late she is! I am afraid her mother is worse,' said Miss Mohun,
+quickening her steps a little, and, at the angle of the road, the
+pair in front perceived them. Kalliope turned towards them; the
+companion--about whom there was no doubt by that time--gave a petulant
+motion and hastened out of sight.
+
+In another moment they were beside Kalliope, who looked shaken and
+trembling, with tears in her eyes, which sprang forth at the warm
+pressure of her hand.
+
+'I am afraid Mrs. White is not so well,' said Miss Mohun kindly.
+
+'She is no worse, I think, thank you, but I was delayed. Are you going
+this way? May I walk with you?'
+
+'I will come with you to the office,' said Miss Mohun, perceiving that
+she was in great need of an escort and protector.
+
+'Oh, thank you, thank you, if it is not too much out of your way.'
+
+A few more words passed about Mrs. White's illness and what advice she
+was having. Miss Mohun could not help thinking that the daughter did not
+quite realise the extent of the illness, for she added--
+
+'It was a good deal on the nerves and mind. She was so anxious about Mr.
+James White's arrival.'
+
+'Have you not seen him?'
+
+'Oh no! Not yet.'
+
+'I think you will be agreeably surprised,' said Gillian. And here they
+left her at Mrs. Giles's door.
+
+'Yes,' added Miss Mohun, 'he gave me the idea of a kind, just man.'
+
+'Miss Mohun,' said the poor girl, as soon as they were tete-a-tete, 'I
+know you are very good. Will you tell me what I ought to do? You saw
+just now--'
+
+'I did; and I have heard.'
+
+Her face was all in a flame and her voice choked. 'He says--Mr. Frank
+does--that his mother has found out, and that she will tell her own
+story to Mr. White; and--and we shall all get the sack, as he calls it;
+and it will be utter misery, and he will not stir a finger to vindicate
+me; but if I will listen to him, he will speak to Mr. White, and bear
+me through; but I can't--I can't. I know he is a bad man; I know how he
+treated poor Edith Vane. I never can; and how shall I keep out of his
+way?'
+
+'My poor child,' said Miss Mohun, 'it is a terrible position for you;
+but you are doing quite right. I do not believe Mr. White would go much
+by what that young man says, for I know he does not think highly of
+him.'
+
+'But he does go altogether by Mr. Stebbing--altogether, and I know
+he--Mr. Stebbing, I mean--can't bear us, and would not keep us on if
+he could help it. He has been writing for another designer--an
+artist--instead of me.'
+
+'Still, you would be glad to have the connection severed?'
+
+'Oh yes, I should be glad enough to be away; but what would become of my
+mother and the children?'
+
+'Remember your oldest friends are on their way home; and I will try to
+speak to Mr. White myself.'
+
+They had reached the little door of Kalliope's office, which she could
+open with a latch-key, and Miss Mohun was just about to say some parting
+words, when there was a sudden frightful rumbling sound, something
+between a clap of thunder and the carting of stones, and the ground
+shook under their feet, while a cry went up--loud, horror-struck men
+and women's voices raised in dismay.
+
+Jane had heard that sound once before. It was the fall of part of the
+precipitous cliff, much of which had been quarried away. But in spite
+of all precautions, frost and rain were in danger of loosening the
+remainder, and wire fences were continually needing to be placed to
+prevent the walking above on edges that might be perilous.
+
+Where was it? What had it done? was the instant thought. Kalliope turned
+as pale as death; the girls came screaming and thronging out of their
+workshop, the men from their sheds, the women from the cottages, as all
+thronged to the more open space beyond the buildings where they could
+see, while Miss Mohun found herself clasped by her trembling niece.
+
+Others were rushing up from the wharf. One moment's glance showed all
+familiar with the place that a projecting point, forming a sort of cusp
+in the curve of the bay, had gone, and it lay, a great shattered mass,
+fragments spreading far and wide, having crashed through the roof of a
+stable that stood below.
+
+There was a general crowding forward to the spot, and crying and
+exclamation, and a shouting of 'All right' from above and below. Had
+any one come down with it? A double horror seized Miss Mohun as
+she remembered that her cousin was to inspect those parts that very
+afternoon.
+
+She caught at the arm of a man and demanded, 'Was any one up there?'
+
+'Master's there, and some gentlemen; but they hain't brought down with
+it,' said the man. 'Don't be afraid, miss. Thank the Lord, no one was
+under the rock--horses even out at work.'
+
+'Thank God, indeed!' exclaimed Miss Mohun, daring now to look up, and
+seeing, not very distinctly, some figures of men, who, however, were
+too high up and keeping too far from the dangerous broken edge for
+recognition.
+
+Room was made for the two ladies, by the men who knew Miss Mohun, to
+push forward, so as to have a clearer view of the broken wall and
+roof of the stable, and the great ruddy blue and white veined mass of
+limestone rock, turf, and bush adhering to what had been the top.
+
+There was a moment's silence through the crowd, a kind of awe at the
+spectacle and the possibilities that had been mercifully averted.
+
+Then one of the men said--
+
+'That was how it was. I saw one of them above--not Stebbing--No--coming
+out to the brow; and after this last frost, not a doubt but that must
+have been enough to bring it down.'
+
+'Not railed off, eh?' said the voice of young Stebbing from among the
+crowd.
+
+'Well, it were marked with big stones where the rail should go,' said
+another. 'I know, for I laid 'em myself; but there weren't no orders
+given.'
+
+'There weren't no stones either. Some one been and took 'em away,' added
+the first speaker.
+
+'I see how it is,' Frank Stebbing's metallic voice could plainly be
+heard, flavoured with an oath. 'This is your neglect, White, droning,
+stuck-up sneak as you always were and will be! I shall report this.
+Damage to property, and maybe life, all along of your confounded
+idleness.'
+
+And there were worse imprecations, which made Miss Mohun break out in a
+tone of shocked reproof--
+
+'Mr. Stebbing!'
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Mohun; I was not aware of your presence--'
+
+'Nor of a Higher One,' she could not help interposing, while he went on
+justifying himself.
+
+'It is the only way to speak to these fellows; and it is enough to drive
+one mad to see what comes of the neglect of a conceited young ass above
+his business. Life and property--'
+
+'But life is safe, is it not?' she interrupted with a shudder.
+
+'Ay, ay, ma'am,' said the voice of the workman, 'or we should know it by
+this time.'
+
+But at that moment a faint, gasping cry caught Jane's ear.
+
+Others heard it too. It was a child's voice, and grew stronger after a
+moment. It came from the corner of the shed outside the stable.
+
+'Oh, oh!' cried the women, pressing forward, 'the poor little Fields!'
+
+Then it was recollected that Mrs. Field--one of those impracticable
+women on whom the shafts of school officers were lost, and who was
+always wandering in the town--had been seen going out, leaving two small
+children playing about, the younger under the charge of the elder. The
+father was a carter, and had been sent on some errand with the horses.
+
+This passed while anxious hands were struggling with stones and earth,
+foremost among them Alexis White. The utmost care was needful to prevent
+the superincumbent weight from falling in and crushing the life there
+certainly was beneath, happily not the rock from above, but some of the
+debris of the stable. Frank Stebbing and the foreman had to drive back
+anxious crowds, and keep a clear space.
+
+Then came running, shrieking, pushing her way through the men, the poor
+mother, who had to be forcibly withheld by Miss Mohun and one of the
+men from precipitating herself on the pile of rubbish where her children
+were buried, and so shaking it as to make their destruction certain.
+
+Those were terrible moments; but when the mother's voice penetrated to
+the children, a voice answered--
+
+'Mammy, mammy get us out, there's a stone on Tommy,'--at least so the
+poor woman understood the lispings, almost stifled; and she shrieked
+again, 'Mammy's coming, darlings!'
+
+The time seemed endless, though it was probably only a few minutes
+before it was found that the children were against the angle of the
+shed, where the wall and a beam had protected the younger, a little girl
+of five, who seemed to be unhurt. But, alas! though the boy's limbs were
+not crushed, a heavy stone had fallen on his temple.
+
+The poor woman would not believe that life was gone. She disregarded the
+little one, who screamed for mammy and clutched her skirts, in spite of
+the attempts of the women to lift her up and comfort her; and gathering
+the poor lifeless boy in her arms, she alternately screamed for the
+doctor and uttered coaxing, caressing calls to the child.
+
+She neither heard nor heeded Miss Mohun, with whom, indeed, her
+relations had not been agreeable; and as a young surgeon, sniffing the
+accident from afar, had appeared on the scene, and had, at the first
+glance, made an all too significant gesture, Jane thought it safe
+to leave the field to him and a kind, motherly, good neighbour, who
+promised her to send up to Beechcroft Cottage in case there was anything
+to be done for the unhappy woman or the poor father. Mr. Hablot, who now
+found his way to the spot, promised to walk on and prepare him: he was
+gone with a marble cross to a churchyard some five miles off.
+
+Gillian had not spoken a word all this time. She felt perfectly stunned
+and bewildered, as if it was a dream, and she could not understand it.
+Only for a moment did she see the bleeding face and prone limbs of the
+poor boy, and that sent a shuddering horror over her, so that she felt
+like fainting; but she had so much recollection and self-consciousness,
+that horror of causing a sensation and giving trouble sent the blood
+back to her heart, and she kept her feet by holding hard to her aunt's
+arm and presently Miss Mohun felt how tight and trembling was the grasp,
+and then saw how white she was.
+
+'My dear, we must get home directly,' she said kindly. 'Lean on
+me--there.'
+
+There was leisure now, as they turned away, for others to see the young
+lady's deadly paleness, and there were invitations to houses and offers
+of all succours at hand, but the dread of 'a fuss' further revived
+Gillian, and all that was accepted was a seat for a few moments and a
+glass of water, which Aunt Jane needed almost as much as she did.
+
+Though the girl's colour was coming back, and she said she could walk
+quite well, both had such aching knees and such shaken limbs that they
+were glad to hold by each other as they mounted the sloping road, and
+half-way up Gillian came to a sudden stop.
+
+'Aunt Jane,' she said, panting and turning pale again, 'you heard that
+dreadful man. Oh! do you think it was true? Fergus's bit of spar--Alexis
+not minding. Oh! then it is all our doing!'
+
+'I can't tell. Don't you think about it now,' said Aunt Jane, feeling as
+if the girl were going to swoon on the spot in the shock. 'Consequences
+are not in our hands. Whatever it came from, and very sad it was, there
+was great mercy, and we have only to thank God it was no worse.'
+
+When at last aunt and niece reached home, they had no sooner opened the
+front door than Adeline came almost rushing out of the drawing-room.
+
+'Oh! my dearest Jane,' she cried, clasping and kissing her sister,
+'wasn't it dreadful? Where were you? Mr. White knows no one was hurt
+below, but I could not be easy till you came in.'
+
+'Mr. White!'
+
+'Yes; Mr. White was so kind as to come and tell me--and about
+Rotherwood.'
+
+'What about Rotherwood?' exclaimed Miss Mohun, advancing into the
+drawing-room, where Mr. White had risen from his seat.
+
+'Nothing to be alarmed about. Indeed, I assure you, his extraordinary
+presence of mind and agility--'
+
+'What was it?' as she and Gillian each sank into a chair, the one
+breathless, the other with the faintness renewed by the fresh shock, but
+able to listen as Mr. White told first briefly, then with more detail,
+how--as the surveying party proceeded along the path at the top of the
+cliffs, he and Lord Rotherwood comparing recollections of the former
+outline, now much changed by quarrying--the Marquis had stepped out to
+a slightly projecting point; Mr. Stebbing had uttered a note of warning,
+knowing how liable these promontories were to break away in the end of
+winter, and happily Lord Rotherwood had turned and made a step or two
+back, when the rock began to give way under his feet, so that, being a
+slight and active man, a spring and bound forward had actually carried
+him safely to the firm ground, and the others, who had started back in
+self-preservation, then in horror, fully believing him borne down to
+destruction, saw him the next instant lying on his face on the path
+before them. When on his feet, he had declared himself unhurt, and
+solely anxious as to what the fall of rock might have done beneath; but
+he was reassured by those cries of 'All right' which were uttered before
+the poor little Fields were discovered; and then, when the party were
+going to make their way down to inspect the effects of the catastrophe,
+he had found that he had not escaped entirely unhurt. Of course he had
+been forced to leap with utter want of heed, only as far and wide as
+he could, and thus, though he had lighted on his feet, he had fallen
+against a stone, and pain and stiffness of shoulder made themselves
+apparent; though he would accept no help in walking back to the hotel,
+and was only anxious not to frighten his wife and daughter, and desired
+Mr. White, who had volunteered to go, to tell the ladies next door that
+he was convinced it was nothing, or, if anything, only a trifle of a
+collar-bone. Mr. White had, since the arrival of the surgeon, made
+an expedition of inquiry, and heard this verdict confirmed, with the
+further assurance that there was no cause for anxiety. The account
+of the damage and disaster below was new to him, as his partner had
+declared the stables to be certain to be empty, and moreover in need of
+being rebuilt; and he departed to find Mr. Stebbing and make inquiries.
+
+Miss Mohun, going to the hotel, saw the governess, and heard that all
+was going on well, and that Lord Rotherwood insisted that nothing was
+the matter, and would not hear of going to bed, but was lying on the
+sofa in the sitting-room. Her ladyship presently came out, and confirmed
+the account; but Jane agreed with her that, if possible, the knowledge
+of the poor child's death should be kept from him that night, lest the
+shock should make him feverish. However, in that very moment when she
+was off guard, the communication had been made by his valet, only too
+proud to have something to tell, and with the pleasing addition that
+Miss Mohun had had a narrow escape. Whereupon ensued an urgent message
+to Miss Mohun to come and tell him all about it.
+
+Wife and cousin exchanged glances of consternation, and perhaps each
+knew she might be thankful that he did not come himself instead
+of sending, and yet feared that the abstinence was a proof more of
+incapacity than of submission.
+
+Lying there in a dressing-gown over a strapped shoulder, he showed his
+agitation by being more than usually unable to finish a sentence.
+
+'Jenny, Jenny--you are--are you all safe? not frightened?'
+
+'Oh no, no, I was a great way off; I only heard the noise, and I did not
+know you were there.'
+
+'Ah! there must be--something must be meant for me to do. Heaven must
+mean--thank Him! But is it true--a poor child? Can't one ever be foolish
+without hurting more than one's self?'
+
+Jane told him the truth calmly and quietly, explaining that the survivor
+was entirely unhurt, and the poor little victim could not have suffered;
+adding with all her heart, 'The whole thing was full of mercy, and I
+do not think you need blame yourself for heedlessness, for it was an
+accident that the place was not marked.'
+
+'Shameful neglect' said Lady Rotherwood.
+
+'The partner--what's-his-name--Stebbing--said something about his
+son being away. An untrustworthy substitute, wasn't there?' said Lord
+Rotherwood.
+
+'The son was the proficient in Leopardine Italian we heard of last
+night,' said Jane. 'I don't know what he may be as an overlooker here.
+He certainly fell furiously on the substitute, a poor cousin of Mr.
+White's own, but I am much afraid the origin of the mischief was nearer
+home--Master Fergus's geological researches.'
+
+'Fergus! Why, he is a mite.'
+
+'Yes, but Maurice encore. However, I must find out from him whether this
+is only a foreboding of my prophetic soul!'
+
+'Curious cattle,' observed Lord Rotherwood.
+
+'Well,' put in his wife, 'I do not think Ivinghoe has ever given us
+cause for anxiety.'
+
+'Exactly the reason that I am always expecting him to break out in some
+unexpected place! No, Victoria,' he added, seeing that she did not like
+this, 'I am quite ready to allow that we have a model son, and I only
+pity him for not having a model father.'
+
+'Well, I am not going to stay and incite you to talk nonsense,' said
+Jane, rising to depart; 'I will let you know my discoveries.'
+
+She found Fergus watching for her at the gate, with the appeal, 'Aunt
+Jane, there's been a great downfall of cliff, and I want to see what
+formations it has brought to light, but they won't let me through to
+look at it, though I told them White always did.'
+
+'I do not suppose that they will allow any one to meddle with it at
+present,' said Aunt Jane; then, as Fergus made an impatient exclamation,
+she added, 'Do you know that a poor little boy was killed, and Cousin
+Rotherwood a good deal hurt?'
+
+'Yes,' said Fergus, 'Big Blake said so.'
+
+'And now, Fergus, I want to know where you took that large stone from
+that you showed me with the crack of spar.'
+
+'With the micaceous crystals,' corrected Fergus. 'It was off the top of
+that very cliff that fell down, so I am sure there must be more in it;
+and some one else will get them if they won't let me go and see for
+them.'
+
+'And Alexis White gave you leave to take it?'
+
+'Oh yes, I always ask him.'
+
+'Were you at the place when you asked him, Fergus?'
+
+'At the place on the cliff? No. For I couldn't find him for a long time,
+and I carried it all the way down the steps.'
+
+'And you did not tell him where it came from?'
+
+'He didn't ask. Indeed, Aunt Jane, I always did show him what I took,
+and he would have let me in now, only he was not at the office; and the
+man at the gate, Big Blake, was as savage as a bear, and slammed the
+door on me, and said they wouldn't have no idle boys loafing
+about there. And when I said I wasn't an idle boy but a scientific
+mineralogist, and that Mr. Alexis White always let me in, he laughed in
+my face, and said Mr. Alexis had better look out for himself. I shall
+tell Stebbing how cheeky he was.'
+
+'My dear Fergus, there was good reason for keeping you out. You did not
+know it, nor Alexis; but those stones were put to show that the cliff
+was getting dangerous, and to mark where to put an iron fence; and it
+was the greatest of mercies that Rotherwood's life was saved.'
+
+The boy looked a little sobered, but his aunt had rather that his next
+question had not been: 'Do you think they will let me go there again!'
+
+However, she knew very well that conviction must slowly soak in, and
+that nothing would be gained by frightening him, so that all she did
+that night was to send a note by Mysie to her cousin, explaining her
+discovery; and she made up her mind to take Fergus to the inquest
+the next day, since his evidence would exonerate Alexis from the most
+culpable form of carelessness.
+
+Only, however, in the morning, when she had ascertained the hour of the
+inquest, did she write a note to Mrs. Edgar to explain Fergus's absence
+from school, or inform the boy of what she intended. On the whole he
+was rather elated at being so important as to be able to defend Alexis
+White, and he was quite above believing that scientific research could
+be reckoned by any one as mischief.
+
+Just as Miss Mohun had gone up to get ready, Mysie ran in to say that
+Cousin Rotherwood would be at the door in a moment to take Fergus down.
+
+'Lady Rotherwood can't bear his going,' said Mysie, 'and Mr. White and
+Mr. Stebbing say that he need not; but he is quite determined, though he
+has got his arm in a sling, for he says it was all his fault for going
+where he ought not. And he won't have the carriage, for he says it would
+shake his bones ever so much more than Shank's mare.'
+
+'Just like him,' said Aunt Jane. 'Has Dr. Dagger given him leave?'
+
+'Yes; he said it wouldn't hurt him; but Lady Rotherwood told Miss Elbury
+she was sure he persuaded him.'
+
+Mysie's confused pronouns were cut short by Lord Rotherwood's own
+appearance.
+
+'You need not go, Jane,' he said. 'I can take care of this little
+chap. They'll not chop off his head in the presence of one of the
+Legislature.'
+
+'Nice care to begin by chaffing him out of his wits,' she retorted. 'The
+question is, whether you ought to go.'
+
+'Yes, Jenny, I must go. It can't damage me; and besides, to tell the
+truth, it strikes me that things will go hard with that unlucky young
+fellow if some one is not there to stand up for him and elicit Fergus's
+evidence.'
+
+'Alexis White!'
+
+'White--ay, a cousin or something of the exemplary boss. He's been
+dining with his partners--the old White, I mean--and they've been
+cramming him--I imagine with a view to scapegoat treatment--jealousy,
+and all the rest of it. If there is not a dismissal, there's a hovering
+on the verge.'
+
+'Exactly what I was afraid of,' said Jane. 'Oh, Rotherwood, I could
+tell you volumes. But may I not come down with you? Could not I do
+something?'
+
+'Well, on the whole, you are better away, Jenny. Consider William's
+feelings. Womankind, even Brownies, are better out of it. Prejudice
+against proteges, whether of petticoats or cassocks--begging your
+pardon. I can fight battles better as an unsophisticated stranger coming
+down fresh, though I don't expect any one from the barony of Beechcroft
+to believe it, and maybe the less I know of your volumes the better till
+after--
+
+'Oh, Rotherwood, as if I wasn't too thankful to have you to send for
+me!'
+
+'There! I've kept the firm out there waiting an unconscionable time.
+They'll think you are poisoning my mind. Come along, you imp of science.
+Trust me, I'll not bully him, though it's highly tempting to make the
+chien chasser de race.'
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, won't you go?' exclaimed Gillian in despair, as her
+cousin waved a farewell at the gate.
+
+'No, my dear; it is not for want of wishing, but he is quite right. He
+can do much better than I could.'
+
+'But is he in earnest, aunt?'
+
+'Oh yes, most entirely, and I quite see that he is right--indeed I do,
+Gillian. People pretend to defer to a lady, but they really don't like
+her poking her nose in, and, after all, I could have no right to say
+anything. My only excuse for going was to take care of Fergus.'
+
+A further token of Lord Rotherwood's earnestness in the cause was the
+arrival of his servant, who was to bring down the large stone which
+Master Merrifield had moved, and who conveyed it in a cab, being much
+too grand to carry it through the streets.
+
+Gillian was very unhappy and restless, unable to settle to anything, and
+linking cause and effect together disconsolately in a manner Mysie, whom
+she admitted to her confidence, failed to understand.
+
+'It was a great pity Fergus did not show Alexis where the stone came
+from, but I don't see what your not giving him his lessons had to do
+with it. Made him unhappy? Oh! Gilly dear, you don't mean any one would
+be too unhappy to mind his business for such nonsense as that! I am sure
+none of us would be so stupid if Mr. Pollock forgot our Greek lessons.'
+
+'Certainly not,' said Gillian, almost laughing; 'but you don't
+understand, Mysie. It was the taking him up and letting him down, and I
+could not explain it, and it looked so nasty and capricious.'
+
+'Well, I suppose you ought to have asked Aunt Jane's leave; but I do
+think he must be a ridiculous young man if he could not attend to his
+proper work because you did not go after him when you were only just
+come home.'
+
+'Ah, Mysie, you don't understand!'
+
+Mysie opened a round pair of brown eyes, and said, 'Oh! I did think
+people were never so silly out of poetry. There was Wilfrid in Hokeby,
+to be sure. He was stupid enough about Matilda; but do you mean that he
+is like that!'
+
+'Don't, don't, you dreadful child; I wish I had never spoken to you,'
+cried Gillian, overwhelmed with confusion. 'You must never say a word to
+any living creature.'
+
+'I am sure I shan't,' said Mysie composedly; 'for, as far as I can see,
+it is all stuff. This Alexis never found out what Fergus was about with
+the stone, and so the mark was gone, and Cousin Rotherwood trod on it,
+and the poor little boy was killed; but as to the rest, Nurse Halfpenny
+would say it was all conceited maggots; and how you can make so much
+more fuss about that than about the poor child being crushed, I can't
+make out.'
+
+'But if I think it all my fault?'
+
+'That's maggots,' returned Mysie with uncompromising common-sense. 'You
+aren't old enough, nor pretty enough, for any of that kind of stuff,
+Gill!'
+
+And Gillian found that either she must go without comprehension, or have
+a great deal more implied, if she turned for sympathy to any one save
+Aunt Jane, who seemed to know exactly how the land lay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. -- VANISHED
+
+
+
+It seemed to be a very long time before the inquest was over, and Aunt
+Jane had almost yielded to her niece's impatience and her own, and
+consented to walk down to meet the intelligence, when Fergus
+came tearing in, 'I've seen the rock, and there is a flaw of
+crystallisation in it! And the coroner-man called me an incipient
+geologist.'
+
+'But the verdict?'
+
+'They said it was accidental death, and something about more care being
+taken and valuable lives endangered.'
+
+'And Alexis White--'
+
+'Oh! there was a great bother about his not being there. They said it
+looked very bad; but they could not find him.'
+
+'Not find him! Oh! Where is Cousin Rotherwood?'
+
+'He is coming home, and he said I might run on, and tell you that if you
+had time to come in to the hotel he would tell you about it.'
+
+With which invitation Miss Mohun hastened to comply; Gillian was ardent
+to come too, and it seemed cruel to prevent her; but, besides that Jane
+thought that her cousin might be tired enough to make his wife wish him
+to see as few people as possible, she was not sure that Gillian might
+not show suspicious agitation, and speech and action would not be free
+in her presence. So the poor girl was left to extract what she could
+from her little brother, which did not amount to much.
+
+It was a propitious moment, for Jane met Lord Rotherwood at the door of
+the hotel, parting with Mr. White; she entered with him, and his wife,
+after satisfying herself that he was not the worse for his exertions,
+was not sorry that he should have his cousin to keep him quiet in his
+easy-chair while she went off to answer a pile of letters which had just
+been forwarded from home.
+
+'Well, Jenny,' he said, 'I am afraid your protege does not come out of
+it very well; that is, if he is your protege. He must be an uncommonly
+foolish young man.'
+
+'I reserve myself on that point. But is it true that he never appeared?'
+
+'Quite true.'
+
+'Didn't they send for him?'
+
+'Yes; but he could not be found, either at the works or at home.
+However, the first might be so far accounted for, since he met at his
+desk a notice of dismissal from White and Stebbing.'
+
+'No! Really. Concocted at that unlucky dinner yesterday! But, of course,
+it was not immediate.'
+
+'Of course not, and perhaps something might have been done for him; but
+a man who disappears condemns himself.'
+
+'But what for? I hope Fergus explained that the stone was not near the
+spot when he showed it.'
+
+'Yes; Fergus spoke up like a little man, and got more credit than he
+deserved. If they had known that of all varieties of boys the scientific
+is the worst imp of mischief! It all went in order due--surgeon
+explained injuries to poor little being--men how the stone came down and
+they dug him out--poor little baby-sister made out her sad little
+story. That was the worst part of all. Something must be done for that
+child--orphanage or something--only unluckily there's the father and
+mother. Poor father! he is the one to be pitied. I mean to get at him
+without the woman. Well, then came my turn, and how I am afflicted with
+the habit of going where I ought not, and, only by a wonderful mercy,
+was saved from being part of the general average below. Then we got
+to the inquiry, Were not dangerous places railed off? Yes, Stebbing
+explained that it was the rule of the firm to have the rocks regularly
+inspected once a month, and once a fortnight in winter and spring, when
+the danger is greater. If they were ticklish, the place was marked
+at the moment with big stones, reported, and railed off. An old
+foreman-sort of fellow swore to having detected the danger, and put
+stones. He had reported it. To whom? To Mr. Frank. Yes, he thought it
+was Mr. Frank, just before he went away. It was this fellow's business
+to report it and send the order, it seems, and in his absence Alexander
+White, or whatever they call him, took his work. Well, the old man
+doesn't seem to know whether he mentioned the thing to young White or
+not, which made his absence more unlucky; but, anyway, the presence of
+the stones was supposed to be a sufficient indication of the need of the
+rail, or to any passenger to avoid the place. In fact, if Master White
+had been energetic, he would have seen to the thing. I fancy that is the
+long and short of it. But when the question came how the stones came to
+be removed, I put Fergus forward. The foreman luckily could identify his
+stone by the precious crack of spar; and the boy explained how he
+had lugged it down, and showed it to his friend far away from its
+place--had, in fact, turned over and displaced all the lot.'
+
+'Depend upon it, Alexis has gone out of the way to avoid accusing
+Fergus!'
+
+'Don't make me start, it hurts; but do you really believe that,
+Jane--you, the common-sense female of the family?'
+
+'Indeed I do, he is a romantic, sensitive sort of fellow, who would not
+defend himself at the boy's expense.'
+
+'Whew! He might have stood still and let Fergus defend him, then,
+instead of giving up his own cause.'
+
+'And how did it end?'
+
+'Accidental death, of course; couldn't be otherwise; but censure on the
+delay and neglect of precaution, which the common opinion of the Court
+naturally concentrated on the absent; though, no doubt, the first
+omission was young Stebbing's; but owing to the hurry of his start for
+Italy, that was easily excused. And even granting that Fergus did the
+last bit of mischief, your friend may be romantically generous, if you
+please; but he must have been very slack in his work.'
+
+'Poor fellow--yes. Now before I tell you what I know about him, I should
+like to hear how Mr. Stebbing represents him. You know his father was a
+lieutenant in the Royal Wardours.'
+
+'Risen from the ranks, a runaway cousin of White's. Yes, and there's a
+son in a lawyer's office always writing to White for money.'
+
+'Oh! I never had much notion of that eldest--'
+
+'They have no particular claim on White; but when the father died he
+wrote to Stebbing to give those that were old enough occupation at the
+works, and see that the young ones got educated.'
+
+'So he lets the little boys go to the National School, though there's no
+great harm in that as yet.'
+
+'He meant to come and see after them himself, and find out what they
+are made of. But meantime this youth, who did well at first, is always
+running after music and nonsense of all kinds, thinking himself above
+his business, neglecting right and left; while as to the sister, she is
+said to be very clever at designing--both ways in fact--so determined to
+draw young Stebbing in, that, having got proof of it at last, they have
+dismissed her too. And, Jane, I hardly like to tell you, but somehow
+they mix Gillian up in the business. They ate it up again when I cut
+them short by saying she was my cousin, her mother and you like my
+sisters. I am certain it is all nonsense, but had you any notion of any
+such thing? It is insulting you, though, to suppose you had not,' he
+added, as he saw her air of acquiescence; 'so, of course, it is all
+right.'
+
+'It is not all right, but not so wrong as all that. Oh no! and I know
+all about it from poor Gill herself and the girl. Happily they are
+both too good girls to need prying. Well, the case is this. There was
+a quarrel about a love story between the two original Whites, who must
+both have had a good deal of stuff in them. Dick ran away, enlisted,
+rose, and was respected by Jasper, etc., but was married to a
+Greco-Hibernian wife, traditionally very beautiful, poor woman, though
+rather the reverse at present. Lily and her girls did their best for the
+young people with good effect on the eldest girl, who really in looks
+and ways is worthy of her Muse's name, Kalliope. Father had to retire
+with rank of captain, and died shortly after. Letters failed to reach
+the Merrifields, who were on the move. This Quarry cousin was written
+to, and gave the help he described to you. Perhaps it was just, but
+it disappointed them, and while the father lived, Alexis had been
+encouraged to look to getting to the University and Holy Orders. He has
+a good voice, and the young curate at the Kennel patronised him, perhaps
+a little capriciously, but I am not quite sure. All this was unknown
+to me till the Merrifield children came, and Gillian, discovering these
+Whites, flew upon them in the true enthusiastic Lily-fashion, added to
+the independence of the modern maiden mistrustful of old cats of aunts.
+Like a little goose, she held trystes with Kalliope, through the rails
+at the top of the garden on Sunday afternoons.'
+
+'Only Kalliope!'
+
+'Cela va sans dire. The brother was walking the young ones on the cliffs
+whence she had been driven by the attentions of Master Frank Stebbing.
+Poor thing, she is really beautiful enough to be a misfortune to her,
+and so is the youth--Maid of Athens, Irish eyes, plus intellect. Gill
+lent books, and by and by volunteered to help the lad with his Greek.'
+
+'Whew--'
+
+'Just as she would teach a night-school class. She used to give him
+lessons at his sister's office. I find that as soon as Kalliope found it
+was unknown to me she protested, and did all in her power to prevent it,
+but Gillian had written all to her mother, and thought that sufficient.'
+
+'And Lily--? Victoria would have gone crazy--supposing such a thing
+possible,' he added, sotto voce.
+
+'Lily was probably crazy already between her sick husband and her bridal
+daughters, for she answered nothing intelligible. However, absence gave
+time for reflection, and Gillian came home after her visits convinced by
+her own good sense and principle that she had not acted fairly towards
+us, so that, of her own accord, the first thing she did was to tell me
+the whole, and how much the sister had always objected. She was quite
+willing that I should talk it over with Kalliope before she went near
+them again, but I have never been able really to do so.'
+
+'Then it was all Greek and--"Lilyism!" Lily's grammar over again, eh!'
+
+'On her side, purely so--but I am afraid she did upset the boy's mind.
+He seems to have been bitterly disappointed at what must have appeared
+like neglect and offence--and oh! you know how silly youths can be--and
+he had Southern blood too, poor fellow, and he went mooning and moping
+about, I am afraid really not attending to his business; and instead
+of taking advantage of the opening young Stebbing's absence gave him of
+showing his abilities, absolutely gave them the advantage against him,
+by letting them show him up as an idle fellow.'
+
+'Or worse. Stebbing talked of examining the accounts, to see if there
+were any deficiency.'
+
+'That can be only for the sake of prejudicing Mr. White--they cannot
+really suspect him.'
+
+'If not, it was very good acting, and Stebbing appears to me just the
+man to suspect a parson's pet, and a lady's--as he called this unlucky
+fellow.'
+
+'Ask any of the workmen--ask Mr. Flight.'
+
+'Well, I wish he had come to the front. It looks bad for him, and your
+plea, Jenny, is more like Lily than yourself.'
+
+'Thank you; I had rather be like Lily than myself.'
+
+'And you are equally sure that the sister is maligned?'
+
+'Quite sure--on good evidence--the thing is how to lay it all before Mr.
+White, for you see these Stebbings evidently want to prevent him from
+taking to his own kindred--you must help me, Rotherwood.'
+
+'When I am convinced,' he said. 'My dear Jenny, I beg your pardon--I
+have an infinite respect for your sagacity, but allow me to observe,
+though your theory holds together, still it has rather an ancient and
+fish-like smell.'
+
+'I only ask you to investigate, and make him do so. Listen to any one
+who knows, to any one but the Stebbings, and you will find what an
+admirable girl the sister is, and that the poor boy is perfectly
+blameless of anything but being forced into a position for which he was
+never intended, and of all his instincts rebelling.'
+
+They were interrupted by the arrival of the doctor, whom Lady Rotherwood
+had bound over to come and see whether her husband was the worse for his
+exertions. He came in apologising most unnecessarily for his tardiness.
+And in the midst of Miss Mohun's mingled greeting and farewell, she
+stood still to hear him say that he had been delayed by being called
+in to that poor woman, Mrs. White, who had had a fit on hearing the
+policeman inquiring for that young scamp, her son.
+
+'The policeman!' ejaculated Jane in consternation.
+
+'It was only to summon him to attend the inquest,' explained Dr. Dagger,
+'but there was no one in the house with her but a little maid, and the
+shock was dreadful. If he has really absconded, it looks exceedingly ill
+for him.'
+
+'I believe he has only been inattentive,' said Jane firmly, knowing that
+she ought to go, and yet feeling constrained to wait long enough to ask
+what was the state of the poor mother, and if her daughter were with
+her.
+
+'The daughter was sent for, and seems to be an effective
+person--uncommonly handsome, by the bye. The attack was hysteria, but
+there is evidently serious disease about her, which may be accelerated.'
+
+'I thought so. I am afraid she has had no advice.'
+
+'No; I promised the daughter to come and examine her to-morrow when she
+is calmer, and if that son is good for anything, he may have returned.'
+
+And therewith Jane was forced to go away, to carry this wretched news to
+poor Gillian.
+
+Aunt and niece went as soon as the mid-day meal was over to inquire for
+poor Mrs. White, and see what could be done. She was sleeping under an
+opiate, and Kalliope came down, pale as marble, but tearless. She
+knew nothing of her brother since she had given him his breakfast that
+morning. He had looked white and haggard, and had not slept, neither did
+he eat. She caught at the theory that had occurred to Miss Mohun, that
+he did not like to accuse Fergus, for even to her he had not mentioned
+who had removed the stone. In that case he might return at night. Yet
+it was possible that he did not know even now whence the stone had come,
+and it was certain that he had been at his office that morning, and
+opened the letter announcing his dismissal. Kalliope, going later, had
+found the like notice, but had had little time to dwell on it before
+she had been summoned home to her mother. Poor Mrs. White had been much
+shaken by the first reports of yesterday's accident, which had been so
+told to her as to alarm her for both her children; and when her little
+maid rushed in to say that 'the pelis was come after Mr. Alec,' it was
+no wonder that her terror threw her into a most alarming state, which
+made good Mrs. Lee despatch her husband to bring home Kalliope; and
+as the attack would not yield to the soothing of the women or to their
+domestic remedies, but became more and more delirious and convulsive,
+the nearest doctor was sent for, and Dr. Dagger, otherwise a higher
+flight than would have been attempted, was caught on his way and brought
+in to discover how serious her condition already was.
+
+This Kalliope told them with the desperate quietness of one who could
+not afford to give way. Her own affairs were entirely swallowed up in
+this far greater trouble, and for the present there were no means of
+helping her. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were thoroughly kind, and ready to give
+her efficient aid in her home cares and her nursing; and it could only
+be hoped that Alexis might come back in the evening, and set the poor
+patient's mind at rest.
+
+'We will try to make Mr. White come to a better understanding,' said
+Miss Mohun kindly.
+
+'Thank you' said Kalliope, pushing back her hair with a half-bewildered
+look. 'I remember my poor mother was very anxious about that. But it
+seems a little thing now.'
+
+'May God bless and help you, my dear,' said Miss Mohun, with a parting
+kiss.
+
+Gillian had not spoken all the time; but outside she said--'Oh, aunt! is
+this my doing?'
+
+'Not quite,' said Aunt Jane kindly. 'There were other causes.'
+
+'Oh, if I could do anything!'
+
+'Alas! it is easier to do than to undo.'
+
+Aunt Jane was really kind, and Gillian was grateful, but oh, how she
+longed for her mother!
+
+There was no better news the next morning. Nothing had been heard of
+Alexis, and nothing would persuade his mother in her half-delirious and
+wholly unreasonable state that he had not been sent to prison, and that
+they were not keeping it from her. She was exceedingly ill, and Kalliope
+had been up all night with her.
+
+Such was the report in a note sent up by Mrs. Lee by one of the little
+boys early in the morning, and, as soon as she could reasonably do so,
+Miss Mohun carried the report to Lord Rotherwood, whom she found much
+better, and anxious to renew the tour of inspection which had been
+interrupted.
+
+Before long, Mr. White was shown in, intending to resume the business
+discussion, and Miss Mohun was about to retreat with Lady Rotherwood,
+when her cousin, taking pity on her anxiety, said--
+
+'If you will excuse me for speaking about your family matters, Mr.
+White, my cousin knows these young people well, and I should like you to
+hear what she has been telling me.'
+
+'A gentleman has just been calling on me about them,' said Mr. White,
+not over-graciously.
+
+'Mr. Flight?' asked Jane anxiously.
+
+'Yes; a young clergyman, just what we used to call Puseyite when I left
+England; but that name seems to be gone out now.'
+
+'Anyway,' said Jane, 'I am sure he had nothing but good to say of Miss
+White, or indeed of her brother; and I am afraid the poor mother is very
+ill.'
+
+'That's true, Miss Mohun; but you see there may be one side to a lady or
+a parson, and another to a practical man like my partner. Not but that I
+should be willing enough to do anything in reason for poor Dick's widow
+and children, but not to keep them in idleness, or letting them think
+themselves too good to work.'
+
+'That I am sure these two do not. Their earnings quite keep the family.
+I know no one who works harder than Miss White, between her business,
+her lodgers, the children, and her helpless mother.'
+
+'I saw her mosaics--very fair, very clever, some of them; but I'm afraid
+she is a sad little flirt, Miss Mohun.'
+
+'Mr. White,' said Lord Rotherwood, 'did ever you hear of a poor girl
+beset by an importunate youth, but his family thought it was all her
+fault?'
+
+'If Mr. White would see her,' said Jane, 'he would understand at a
+glance that the attraction is perfectly involuntary; and I know from
+other sources how persistently she has avoided young Stebbing; giving up
+Sunday walks to prevent meeting him, accepting nothing from him, always
+avoiding tete-a-tetes.'
+
+'Hum! But tell me this, madam,' said Mr. White eagerly, 'how is it that,
+if these young folks are so steady and diligent as you would make out,
+that eldest brother writes to me every few months for help to support
+them?'
+
+'Oh!' Jane breathed out, then, rallying, 'I know nothing about that
+eldest. Yes, I do though! His sister told my niece that all the rents
+of the three houses went to enable Richard to appear as he ought at the
+solicitor's office at Leeds.'
+
+'There's a screw loose somewhere plainly,' said Lord Rotherwood.
+
+'The question is, where it is,' said Mr. White.
+
+'And all I hope, said Jane, 'is that Mr. White will judge for himself
+when he has seen Kalliope and made inquiries all round. I do not say
+anything for the mother, poor thing, except that she is exceedingly ill
+just now, but I do thoroughly believe in the daughter.'
+
+'And this runaway scamp, Miss Mohun?'
+
+'I am afraid he is a runaway; but I am quite sure he is no scamp,' said
+Jane.
+
+'Only so clever as to be foolish, eh?' said the Marquis, rather
+provokingly.
+
+'Exactly so,' she answered; 'and I am certain that if Mr. White will
+trust to his own eyes and his own inquiries, he will find that I am
+right.'
+
+She knew she ought to go, and Lord Rotherwood told her afterwards, 'That
+was not an ill-aimed shaft, Jane. Stebbing got more than one snub over
+the survey. I see that White is getting the notion that there's a system
+of hoodwinking going on, and of not letting him alone, and he is not the
+man to stand that.'
+
+'If he only would call on Kalliope!'
+
+'I suspect he is afraid of being beguiled by such a fascinating young
+woman.'
+
+It was a grievous feature in the case to Gillian that she could really
+do nothing. Mrs. White was so ill that going to see Kalliope was of no
+use, and Maura was of an age to be made useful at home; and there were
+features in the affair that rendered it inexpedient for Gillian to speak
+of it except in the strictest confidence to Aunt Jane or Mysie. It was
+as if she had touched a great engine, and it was grinding and clashing
+away above her while she could do nothing to stay its course.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. -- 'THEY COME, THEY COME'
+
+
+
+Dr. Dagger examined Mrs. White and pronounced that there had been mortal
+disease of long standing, and that she had nearly, if not quite,
+reached the last stage. While people had thought her selfish, weak, and
+exacting, she must really have concealed severe suffering, foolishly
+perhaps, but with great fortitude.
+
+And from hearing this sentence, Kalliope had turned to find at last
+tidings of her brother in a letter written from Avoncester, the nearest
+garrison town. He told his sister that, heart-broken already at the
+result of what he knew to be his own presumption, and horrified at the
+fatal consequences of his unhappy neglect, he felt incapable of facing
+any of those whom he had once called his friends, and the letter of
+dismissal had removed all scruples. Had it not been for his faith and
+fear, he would have put an end to his life, but she need have no alarms
+on that score. He had rushed away, scarce knowing what he was doing,
+till he had found himself on the road to Avoncester and then had walked
+on thither and enlisted in the regiment quartered there, where he hoped
+to do his duty, having no other hope left in life!
+
+Part of this letter Kalliope read to Miss Mohun, who had come down to
+hear the doctor's verdict. It was no time to smile at the heart being
+broken by the return of a valentine, or all hope in life being over
+before twenty. Kalliope, who knew what the life of a private was, felt
+wretched over it, and her poor mother was in despair; but Miss Mohun
+tried to persuade her that it was by no means an unfortunate thing,
+since Alexis would be thus detained safely and within reach till Sir
+Jasper arrived to take up the matter, and Mr. White had been able to
+understand it.
+
+'Yes; but he cannot come to my poor mother. And Richard will be so
+angry--think it such a degradation.'
+
+'He ought not. Your father--'
+
+'Oh! but he will. And I must write to him. Mother has been asking for
+him.'
+
+'Tell me, my dear, has Richard ever helped you?'
+
+'Oh no, poor fellow, he could not. He wants all we can send him, or we
+would have put the little boys to a better school.'
+
+'I would not write before it is absolutely necessary,' said Miss
+Mohun. 'A young man hanging about with nothing to do, even under these
+circumstances, might make things harder.'
+
+'Yes, I know,' said Kalliope, with a trembling lip. 'And if it was
+urgent, even Alexis might come. Indeed, I ought to be thankful that he
+is safe, after all my dreadful fears, and not far off.'
+
+Miss Mohun refrained from grieving the poor girl by blaming Alexis for
+the impetuous selfish folly that had so greatly added to the general
+distress of his family, and rendered it so much more difficult to plead
+his cause. In fact, she felt bound to stand up as his champion against
+all his enemies, though he was less easy of defence than his sister; and
+Mr. Flight, the first person she met afterwards, was excessively angry
+and disappointed, speaking of such a step as utter ruin.
+
+'The lad was capable of so much better things,' said he. 'I had hoped so
+much of him, and had so many plans for him, that it is a grievous pity;
+but he had no patience, and now he has thrown himself away. I told him
+it was his first duty to maintain his mother, and if he had stuck to
+that, I would have done more for him as soon as he was old enough, and
+I could see what was to be done for the rest of them; but he grew
+unsettled and impatient, and this is the end of it!'
+
+'Not the end, I hope,' said Miss Mohun. 'It is not exactly slavery
+without redemption.'
+
+'He does not deserve it.'
+
+'Who does? Besides, remember what his father was.'
+
+'His father must have been of the high-spirited, dare-devil sort. This
+lad was made for a scholar--for the priesthood, in fact, and the army
+will be more uncongenial than these marble works! Foolish fellow,
+he will soon have had enough of it, with his refinement, among such
+associates.'
+
+Jane wondered that the young clergyman did not regret that he had
+sufficiently tried the youth's patience to give the sense of neglect and
+oblivion. There had been many factors in the catastrophe, and this had
+certainly been one, since the loan of a few books, and an hour a week of
+direction of study, would have kept Alexis contented, and have obviated
+all the perilous intercourse with Gillian; but she scarcely did the Rev.
+Augustine Flight injustice in thinking that in the aesthetic and the
+emotional side of religion he somewhat lost sight of the daily drudgery
+that works on character chiefly as a preventive. 'He was at the bottom
+of it, little as he knows it,' she said to herself as she walked up
+the hill. 'How much harm is done by good beginnings of a skein left to
+tangle.'
+
+Lady Flight provided a trained nurse to help Kalliope, and sent hosts of
+delicacies; and plenty of abuse was bestowed on Mr. James White for his
+neglect. Meanwhile Mrs. White, though manifestly in a hopeless state,
+seemed likely to linger on for some weeks longer.
+
+In the meantime, Miss Mohun at last found an available house, and was
+gratified by the young people's murmur that 'Il Lido' was too far off
+from Beechcroft. But then their mother would be glad to be so near St.
+Andrew's, for she belonged to the generation that loved and valued daily
+services.
+
+Lord Rotherwood, perhaps owing to his exertions, felt the accident
+more than he had done at first, and had to be kept very quiet, which he
+averred to be best accomplished by having the children in to play with
+him; and as he always insisted on sending for Valetta to make up the
+party, the edict of separation fell to the ground, when Lady Rotherwood,
+having written his letters for him, went out for a drive, taking
+sometimes Miss Elbury, but more often Adeline Mohun, who flattered
+herself that her representations had done much to subdue prejudice and
+smooth matters.
+
+'Which always were smooth,' said Jane; 'smooth and polished as a
+mahogany table, and as easy to get into.'
+
+However, she was quite content that Ada should be the preferred one,
+and perhaps no one less acute than herself would have felt that the
+treatment as intimates and as part of the family was part of the duty of
+a model wife. Both sisters were in request to enliven the captive, and
+Jane forebore to worry him with her own anxieties about the present
+disgrace of the Whites. Nothing could be done for Kalliope in her
+mother's present state, Alexis must drink of his own brewst, and Sir
+Jasper and Lady Merrifield were past Brindisi! As to Mr. White, he
+seemed to be immersed in business, and made no sign of relenting; Jane
+had made one or two attempts to see him, but had not succeeded. Only one
+of her G.F.S. maidens, who was an enthusiastic admirer of Kalliope, and
+in perfect despair at her absence, mentioned that Mr. White had looked
+over all their work and had been immensely struck with Miss White's
+designs, and especially with the table inlaid with autumn leaves, which
+had been set aside as expensive, unprofitable, and not according to the
+public taste, and not shown to him on his first visit to the works with
+Mr. Stebbing. There were rumours in the air that he was not contented
+with the state of things, and might remain for some time to set them on
+a different footing.
+
+Miss Adeline had been driving with Lady Rotherwood, and on coming in
+with her for the afternoon cup of tea, found Mr. White conversing with
+Lord Rotherwood, evidently just finishing the subject--a reading-room or
+institute of some sort for the men at the works.
+
+'All these things are since my time,' said Mr. White. 'We were left
+pretty much to ourselves in those days.'
+
+'And what do you think? Should you have been much the better for them?'
+asked the Marquis.
+
+'Some of us would,' was the answer.
+
+'You would not have thought them a bore!'
+
+'There were some who would, as plenty will now; but we were a rough
+set--we had not so much to start with as the lads, willy nilly, have
+now. But I should have been glad of books, and diversion free from
+lawlessness might have prevented poor Dick's scrapes. By the bye, that
+daughter of his can do good work.'
+
+'Poor thing,' said Miss Adeline, 'she is a very good girl, and in great
+trouble. I was much pleased with her, and I think, she has behaved
+remarkably well under very trying circumstances.'
+
+'I observed that the young women in the mosaic department seemed to be
+much attached to her,' said Mr. White.
+
+'My sister thinks she has been an excellent influence there.'
+
+'She was not there,' said Mr. White.
+
+'No; her mother is too ill to be left--dying, I should think, from what
+I hear.'
+
+'From the shock of that foolish lad's evasion?' asked Lord Rotherwood.
+
+'She was very ill before, I believe, though that brought it to a crisis.
+No one would believe how much that poor girl has had depending on her.
+I wish she had been at the works--I am sure you would have been struck
+with her.'
+
+'Have you any reason to think they are in any distress, Miss Mohun?'
+
+'Not actually at present; but I do not know what they are to do in
+future, with the loss of the salaries those two have had,' said Adeline,
+exceedingly anxious to say neither too much nor too little.
+
+'There is the elder brother.'
+
+'Oh! he is no help, only an expense.'
+
+'Miss Mohun, may I ask, are you sure of that?'
+
+'As sure as I can be of anything. I have always heard that the rents of
+their two or three small houses went to support Richard, and that they
+entirely live on the earnings of the brother and sister, except that
+you are so good as to educate the younger girl. It has come out
+casually--they never ask for anything.'
+
+Mr. White looked very thoughtful. Adeline considered whether importunity
+would do most harm or good; but thought her words might work. When she
+rose to take leave, Mr. White did the same, 'evidently,' thought she,
+'for the sake of escorting her home,' and she might perhaps say another
+word in confidence for the poor young people. She had much reliance, and
+not unjustly, on her powers of persuasion, and she would make the most
+of those few steps to her own door.
+
+'Indeed, Mr. White,' she began, 'excuse me, but I cannot help being very
+much interested in those young people we were speaking of.'
+
+'That is your goodness, Miss Mohun. I have no doubt they are
+attractive--there's no end to the attractiveness of those Southern folk
+they belong to--on one side of the house at least, but unfortunately you
+never know where to have them--there's no truth in them; and though I
+don't want to speak of anything I may have done for them, I can't get
+over their professing never to have had anything from me.'
+
+'May I ask whether you sent it through that eldest brother?'
+
+'Certainly; he always wrote to me.'
+
+'Then, Mr. White, I cannot help believing that the family here never
+heard of it. Do you know anything of that young man?'
+
+'No; I will write to his firm and inquire. Thank you for the hint, Miss
+Mohun.'
+
+They were at Beechcroft Cottage gate, and he seemed about to see her
+even to the door. At that instant a little girlish figure advanced and
+was about to draw back on perceiving that Miss Adeline was not alone,
+when she exclaimed, 'Maura, is it you, out so late! How is your mother?'
+
+'Much the same, thank you, Miss Adeline!'
+
+'Here is one of the very young folks we were mentioning,' said Ada,
+seeing her opportunity and glad that there was light enough to show the
+lady-like little figure. 'This is Maura, Mr. White, whom you are kindly
+educating.'
+
+Mr. White took the hand, which was given with a pretty respectful
+gesture, and said something kind about her mother's illness, while
+Adeline took the girl into the house and asked if she had come on any
+message.
+
+'Yes, if you please,' said Maura, blushing; 'Miss Mohun was so kind as
+to offer to lend us an air-cushion, and poor mamma is so restless and
+uncomfortable that Kally thought it might ease her a little.'
+
+'By all means, my dear. Come in, and I will have it brought,' said
+Adeline, whose property the cushion was, and who was well pleased that
+Mr. White came in likewise, and thus had a full view of Maura's great
+wistful, long-lashed eyes, and delicate refined features, under a little
+old brown velvet cap, and the slight figure in a gray ulster. He did
+not speak while Maura answered Miss Adeline's inquiries, but when the
+cushion had been brought down, and she had taken it under her arm, he
+exclaimed--
+
+'Is she going back alone?'
+
+'Oh yes,' said Maura cheerfully; 'it is not really dark out of doors
+yet.'
+
+'I suppose it could not be helped,' said Miss Adeline.
+
+'No; Theodore is at the school. They keep him late to get things ready
+for the inspection, and Petros had to go to the doctor's to fetch
+something; but he will meet me if he is not kept waiting.'
+
+'It is not fit for a child like that to go alone so late,' said Mr.
+White, who perhaps had imbibed Italian notions of the respectability of
+an escort. 'I will walk down with her.'
+
+Maura looked as if darkness were highly preferable to such a cavalier;
+but Miss Adeline was charmed to see them walk off together, and when
+her sister presently came in with Gillian and Fergus, she could not but
+plume herself a little on her achievement.
+
+'Then it was those two!' exclaimed Jane. 'I thought so from the other
+side of the street, but it was too dark to be certain; and besides,
+there was no believing it.'
+
+'Did not they acknowledge you?'
+
+'Oh no; they were much too busy.'
+
+'Talking. Oh, what fun!' Adeline could not help observing in such
+glee that she looked more like 'our youngest girl' than the handsome
+middle-aged aunt.
+
+'But,' suggested Fergus, somewhat astonished, 'Stebbing says he is no
+end of a horrid brute of a screw.'
+
+'Indeed. What has he been doing?'
+
+'He only tipped him a coach wheel.'
+
+'Well, to tip over as a coach wheel is the last thing I should have
+expected of Mr. White,' said Aunt Jane, misunderstanding on purpose.
+
+'A crown piece then,' growled Fergus; 'and of course he thought it would
+be a sovereign, and so he can't pay me my two ten--shillings, I mean,
+that I lent him, and so I can't get the lovely ammonite I saw at
+Nott's.'
+
+'How could you be so silly as to lend him any money?'
+
+'I didn't want to; but he said he would treat us all round if I wouldn't
+be mean, and after all I only got half a goody, with all the liqueur out
+of it.'
+
+'It served you right,' said Gillian. 'I doubt whether you would see the
+two shillings again, even if he had the sovereign.'
+
+'He faithfully promised I should,' said Fergus, whose allegiance was
+only half broken. 'And old White is a beast, and no mistake. He was
+perfectly savage to Stebbing's major, and he said he wouldn't be under
+him, at no price.'
+
+'Perhaps Mr. White might say the same,' put in Aunt Ada.
+
+'He is a downright old screw and a bear, I tell you,' persisted Fergus.
+'He jawed Frank Stebbing like a pickpocket for just having a cigar in
+the quarry.'
+
+'Close to the blasting powder, eh?' said Miss Mohun.
+
+'And he is boring and worrying them all out of their lives over the
+books,' added Fergus. 'Poking his nose into everything, so that Stebbing
+says his governor vows he can't stand it, and shall cut the concern it
+the old brute does not take himself off to Italy before long.'
+
+'What a good thing!' thought both sisters, looking into each other's
+eyes and auguring well for the future.
+
+All were anxious to hear the result of Maura's walk, and Gillian set out
+in the morning on a voyage of discovery with a glass of jelly for Mrs.
+White; but all she could learn was that the great man had been very kind
+to Maura, though he had not come in, at which Gillian was indignant.
+
+'Men are often shy of going near sickness and sorrow,' said her aunt
+Ada. 'You did not hear what they talked about?'
+
+'No; Maura was at school, and Kally is a bad person to pump.'
+
+'I should like to pump Mr. White,' was Aunt Jane's comment.
+
+'If I could meet him again,' said Aunt Ada, 'I feel sure he would tell
+me.'
+
+Her sister laughed a little, so well did she know that little
+half-conscious, half-gratified tone of assumption of power over the other
+sex; but Miss Adeline proved to be right. Nay, Mr. White actually called
+in the raw cold afternoon, which kept her in when every one else was
+out. He came for the sake of telling her that he was much pleased with
+the little girl--a pretty creature, and simple and true, he really
+believed. Quite artlessly, in answer to his inquiries, she had betrayed
+that her eldest brother never helped them. 'Oh no! Mamma was always
+getting all the money she could to send to him, because he must keep up
+appearances at his office at Leeds, and live like a gentleman, and it
+did not signify about Kalliope and Alexis doing common work.'
+
+'That's one matter cleared up,' rejoiced Jane. 'It won't be brought up
+against them now.'
+
+'And then it seems he asked the child about her sister's lovers.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'It was for a purpose. Don't be old maidish, Jenny!'
+
+'Well, he isn't a gentleman.'
+
+'Now, Jane, I'm sure--'
+
+'Never mind. I want to hear; only I should have thought you would have
+been the first to cry out.'
+
+'Little Maura seems to have risen to the occasion, and made a full
+explanation as far as she knew--and that was more than the child ought
+to have known, by the bye--of how Mr. Frank was always after Kally, and
+how she could not bear him, and gave up the Sunday walk to avoid him,
+and how he had tried to get her to marry him, and go to Italy with him;
+but she would not hear of it.'
+
+'Just the thing the little chatterbox would be proud of, but it is no
+harm that "Mon oncle des iles Philippines" should know.'
+
+'"I see his little game" was what Mr. White said,' repeated Adeline.
+'"The young dog expected to come over me with this pretty young wife--my
+relation, too; but he would have found himself out in his reckoning."'
+
+'So far so good; but it is not fair.'
+
+'However, the ice is broken. What's that? Is the house coming down?'
+
+No; but Gillian and Valetta came rushing in, almost tumbling over one
+another, and each waving a sheet of a letter. Papa and mamma would land
+in three days' time if all went well; but the pity was that they must
+go to London before coming to Rockquay, since Sir Jasper must present
+himself to the military and medical authorities, and likewise see his
+mother, who was in a very failing state.
+
+The children looked and felt as if the meeting were deferred for years;
+but Miss Mohun, remembering the condition of 'Il Lido,' alike as to
+the presence of workmen and absence of servants, felt relieved at the
+respite, proceeded to send a telegram to Macrae, and became busier than
+ever before in her life.
+
+The Rotherwoods were just going to London. The Marquis was wanted for
+a division, and though both he and Dr. Dagger declared his collar-bone
+quite repaired, his wife could not be satisfied without hearing for
+herself a verdict to the same effect from the higher authorities, being
+pretty sure that whatever their report might be, his abstract would be
+'All right. Never mind.'
+
+Fly had gained so much in flesh and strength, and was so much more like
+her real self, that she was to remain at the hotel with Miss Elbury, the
+rooms being kept for her parents till Easter. Mysie was, however, to go
+with them to satisfy her mother, 'with a first mouthful of children,'
+said Lord Rotherwood. 'Gillian had better come too; and we will write to
+the Merrifields to come to us, unless they are bound to the old lady.'
+
+This, however, was unlikely, as she was very infirm, and her small house
+was pretty well filled by her attendants. Lady Rotherwood seconded
+the invitation like a good wife, and Gillian was grateful. Such a
+forestalling was well worth even the being the Marchioness's guest, and
+being treated with careful politeness and supervision as a girl of the
+period, always ready to break out. However, she would have Mysie, and
+she tried to believe Aunt Jane, who told her that she had conjured up a
+spectre of the awful dame. There was a melancholy parting on the side of
+poor little Lady Phyllis. 'What shall I do without you, Mysie dear?'
+
+'It is only for a few days.'
+
+'Yes; but then you will be in a different house, all down in the
+town--it will be only visiting--not like sisters.'
+
+'Sisters are quite a different thing,' said Mysie stoutly; 'but we can
+be the next thing to it in our hearts.'
+
+'It is not equal,' said Fly. 'You don't make a sister of me, and I do of
+you.'
+
+'Because you know no better! Poor Fly, I do wish I could give you a
+sister of your own.'
+
+'Do you know, Mysie, I think--I'm quite sure, that daddy is going to ask
+your father and mother to give you to us, out and out.'
+
+'Oh! I'm sure they won't do that,' cried Mysie in consternation. 'Mamma
+never would!'
+
+'And wouldn't you? Don't you like me as well as Gill and Val?'
+
+'I _like_ you better. Stop, don't, Fly; you are what people call more
+of a companion to me--my friend; but friends aren't the same as sisters,
+are they? They may be more, or they may be less, but it is not the same
+kind. And then it is not only you, there are papa and mamma and all my
+brothers.'
+
+'But you _do_ love daddy, and you have not seen yours for four years,
+and Aunt Florence and all the cousins at Beechcroft say they were quite
+afraid of him.'
+
+'Because he is so--Oh! I don't know how to say it, but he is just like
+Epaminondas, or King Arthur, or Robert Bruce, or--'
+
+'Well, that's enough' said Fly; 'I am sure my daddy would laugh if you
+said he was like all those.'
+
+'To be sure he would!' said Mysie. 'And do you think I would give mine
+for him, though yours is so kind and good and such fun?'
+
+'And I'm sure I'd rather have him than yours,' said Fly.
+
+'Well, that's right. It would be wicked not to like one's own father and
+mother best.'
+
+'But if they thought it would be good for you to have all my governesses
+and advantages, and they took pity on my loneliness. What then?'
+
+'Then? Oh! I'd try to bear it,' said unworldly and uncomplimentary
+Mysie. 'And you need not be lonely now. There's Val!'
+
+The two governesses had made friends, and the embargo on intercourse
+with Valetta had been allowed to drop; but Fly only shook her head, and
+allowed that Val was better than nothing.'
+
+Mysie had a certain confidence that mamma would not give her away if all
+the lords and ladies in the world wanted her; and Gillian confirmed her
+in that belief, so that no misgiving interfered with her joy at finding
+herself in the train, where Lord Rotherwood declared that the two pair
+of eyes shone enough to light a candle by.
+
+'I feel,' said Mysie, jumping up and down in her seat, 'like the man who
+said he had a bird in his bosom.'
+
+'Or a bee in his bonnet, eh?' said Lord Rotherwood, while Mysie obeyed a
+sign from my lady to moderate the restlessness of her ecstasies.
+
+'It really was a bird in his bosom,' said Gillian gravely, 'only he said
+so when he was dying in battle, and he meant his faith to his king.'
+
+'And little Mysie has kept her faith to her mother,' said their cousin,
+putting out his hand to turn the happy face towards him. 'So the bird
+may well sing to her.'
+
+'In spite of parting with Phyllis?' asked Lady Rotherwood.
+
+'I can't help it, _indeed_,' said Mysie, divided between her politeness
+and her dread of being given away; 'it has been very nice, but one's
+own, own papa and mamma must be more than any one.'
+
+'So they ought,' said Lord Rotherwood, and there it ended, chatter in
+the train not being considered desirable.
+
+Gillian longed to show Mysie and Geraldine Grinstead to each other,
+and the first rub with her hostess occurred when the next morning she
+proposed to take a cab and go to Brompton.
+
+'Is not your first visit due to your grandmother?' said Lady Rotherwood.
+'You might walk there, and I will send some one to show you the way.'
+
+'We must not go there till after luncheon,' said Gillian. 'She is not
+ready to see any one, and Bessie Merrifield cannot be spared; but I know
+Mrs. Grinstead will like to see us, and I do so want Mysie to see the
+studio.'
+
+'My dear' (it was not a favourable my dear), 'I had rather you did not
+visit any one I do not know while you are under my charge.'
+
+'She is Phyllis's husband's sister,' pleaded Gillian.
+
+Lady Rotherwood made a little bend of acquiescence, but said no more,
+and departed, while Gillian inly raged. A few months ago she would have
+acted on her own responsibility (if Mysie would not have been too much
+shocked), but she had learnt the wisdom of submission in fact, if not
+in word, for she growled about great ladies and exclusiveness, so that
+Mysie looked mystified.
+
+It was certainly rather dull in the only half-revivified London house,
+and Belgrave Square in Lent did not present a lively scene from the
+windows. The Liddesdales had a house there, but they were not to come
+up till the season began; and Gillian was turning with a sigh to ask if
+there might not be some books in Fly's schoolroom, when Mysie caught the
+sound of a bell, and ventured on an expedition to find her ladyship and
+ask leave to go to church.
+
+There, to their unexpected delight, they beheld not only Bessie, but a
+clerical-looking back, which, after some watching, they so identified
+that they looked at one another with responsive eyes, and Gillian
+doubted whether this were recompense for submission, or reproof for
+discontent.
+
+Very joyful was the meeting on the steps of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge,
+and an exchange of 'Oh! how did you come here? Where are you?'
+
+Harry had come up the day before, and was to go and meet the travellers
+at Southampton with his uncle, Admiral Merrifield, who had brought his
+eldest daughter Susan to relieve her sister or assist her. Great was the
+joy and eager the talk, as first Bessie was escorted by the whole party
+back to grandmamma's house, and then Harry accompanied his sisters to
+Belgrave Square, where he was kept to luncheon, and Lady Rotherwood was
+as glad to resign his sisters to his charge as he could be to receive
+them.
+
+He had numerous commissions to execute for his vicar, and Gillian had
+to assist the masculine brains in the department of Church needlework,
+actually venturing to undertake some herself, trusting to the tuition
+of Aunt Ada, a proficient in the same; while Mysie reverently begged at
+least to hem the borders.
+
+Then they revelled in the little paradises of books and pictures in
+Northumberland Avenue and Westminster Sanctuary, and went to Evensong at
+the Abbey, Mysie's first sight thereof, and nearly the like to Gillian,
+since she only remembered before a longing not to waste time in a dull
+place instead of being in the delightful streets.
+
+'It is a thing never to forget,' she said under her breath, as they
+lingered in the nave.
+
+'I never guessed anything could make one feel so,' added Mysie, with a
+little sigh of rapture.
+
+'That strange unexpected sense of delight always seems to me to explain,
+"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the
+heart of man to conceive,"' said Harry.
+
+Mysie whispered--
+
+
+          'Beneath thy contemplation
+           Sink heart and voice opprest!'
+
+
+'Oh, Harry, can't we stay and see Henry VII.'s Chapel, and Poets'
+Corner, and Edward I.'s monument?' pleaded the sister.
+
+'I am afraid we must not, Gill. I have to see after some vases, and to
+get a lot of things at the Stores, and it will soon be dark. If I don't
+go to Southampton to-morrow, I will take you then. Now then, feet or
+cab?'
+
+'Oh, let us walk! It is ten times the fun.'
+
+'Then mind you don't jerk me back at the crossings.'
+
+There are few pleasures greater of their kind than that of the youthful
+country cousin under the safe escort of a brother or father in London
+streets. The sisters looked in at windows, wondered and enjoyed, till
+they had to own their feet worn out, and submit to a four-wheeler.
+
+'An hour of London is more than a month of Rockquay, or a year of
+Silverfold,' cried Gillian.
+
+'Dear old Silverfold,' said Mysie; 'when shall we go back?'
+
+'By the bye,' said Harry, 'how about the great things that were to be
+done for mother?'
+
+'Primrose is all right,' said Mysie. 'The dear little thing has written
+a nice copybook, and hemmed a whole set of handkerchiefs for papa. She
+is so happy with them.'
+
+'And you, little Mouse?'
+
+'I have done my translation--not quite well, I am afraid, and made the
+little girl's clothes. I wonder if I may go and take them to her.'
+
+'And Val has finished her crewel cushion, thanks to the aunts,' said
+Gillian.
+
+'Fergus's machine, how about that? Perpetual motion, wasn't it?'
+
+'That has turned into mineralogy, worse luck,' said Gillian.
+
+'Gill has done a beautiful sketch of Rockquay,' added Mysie.
+
+'Oh! don't talk of me,' said Gillian. 'I have only made a most
+unmitigated mess of everything.'
+
+But here attention was diverted by Harry's exclaiming--
+
+'Hullo! was that Henderson?'
+
+'Nonsense; the Wardours are at Cork.'
+
+'He may be on leave.'
+
+'Or retired. He is capable of it.'
+
+'I believe it was old Fangs.'
+
+The discussion lasted to Belgrave Square.
+
+And then Sunday was spent upon memorable churches and services under the
+charge of Harry, who was making the most of his holiday. The trio
+went to Evensong at St. Wulstan's, and a grand idea occurred to
+Gillian--could not Theodore White become one of those young choristers,
+who had their home in the Clergy House.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. -- FATHER AND MOTHER
+
+
+
+The telegram came early on Monday morning. Admiral Merrifield and Harry
+started by the earliest train, deciding not to take the girls; whereupon
+their kind host, to mitigate the suspense, placed himself at the young
+ladies' disposal for anything in the world that they might wish to see.
+It was too good an opportunity of seeing the Houses of Parliament to be
+lost, and the spell of Westminster Abbey was upon Mysie.
+
+Cousin Rotherwood was a perfect escort, and declared that he had not
+gone through such a course of English history since he had taken his
+cousin Lilias and his sister Florence the same round more years ago than
+it was civil to recollect. He gave a sigh to the great men he had
+then let them see and hear, and regretted the less that there was no
+possibility of regaling the present pair with a debate. It was all like
+a dream to the two girls. They saw, but suspense was throbbing in their
+hearts all the time, and qualms were crossing Gillian as she recollected
+that in some aspects her father could be rather a terrible personage
+when one was wilfully careless, saucy to authorities, or unable to see
+or confess wrong-doing; and the element of dread began to predominate in
+her state of expectation. The bird in the bosom fluttered very hard as
+the possible periods after the arrivals of trains came round; and it
+was not till nearly eight o'clock that the decisive halt of wheels was
+heard, and in a few moments Mysie was in the dearest arms in the world,
+and Gillian feeling the moustached kiss she had not known for nearly
+four long years, and which was half-strange, half-familiar.
+
+In drawing-room light, there was the mother looking none the worse for
+her journey, her clear brown skin neither sallow nor lined, and the soft
+brown eyes as bright and sweet as ever; but the father must be learnt
+over again, and there was awe enough as well as enthusiastic love to
+make her quail at the thought of her record of self-will.
+
+There was, however, no disappointment in the sight of the fine, tall
+soldierly figure, broad shouldered, but without an ounce of superfluous
+flesh, and only altered by his hair having become thinner and whiter,
+thus adding to the height of his forehead, and making his very dark
+eyebrows and eyes have a different effect, especially as he was still
+pallid beneath the browning of many years, though he declared himself so
+well as to be ashamed of being invalided.
+
+Time was short. Harry and the Admiral, who were coming to dinner,
+had rushed home to dress and to fetch Susan; and Lady Merrifield was
+conducted in haste to her bedroom, and left to the almost too excited
+ministrations of her daughters.
+
+It was well that attentive servants had unfastened the straps, for when
+Gillian had claimed the keys of the dear old familiar box, her hand
+shook so much that they jingled; the key would not go into the hole, and
+she had to resign them to sober Mysie, who had been untying the bonnet,
+with a kiss, and answering for the health of Primrose, whom Uncle
+William was to bring to London in two days' time.
+
+'My dear silly child,' said her mother, surprised at Gillian's emotion.
+
+And the reply was a burst of tears. 'Oh, so silly! so wrong! I have so
+wanted you.'
+
+'I know all about it. You told us all, like an honest child.'
+
+'Oh, such dreadful things--the rock--the poor child killed--Cousin
+Rotherwood hurt.'
+
+'Yes, yes, I heard! We can't have it out now. Here's papa! she is upset
+about these misadventures,' added Lady Merrifield, looking up to her
+husband, who stood amazed at the sobs that greeted him.
+
+'You must control yourself, Gillian,' he said gravely. 'Stop that! Your
+mother is tired, and has to dress! Don't worry her. Go, if you cannot
+leave off.'
+
+The bracing tone made Gillian swallow her tears, the more easily because
+of the familiarity of home atmosphere, confidence, and protection; and a
+mute caress from her mother was a promise of sympathy.
+
+The sense of that presence was the chief pleasure of the short evening,
+for there were too many claimants for the travellers' attention to
+enable them to do more than feast their eyes on their son and daughters,
+while they had to talk of other things, the weddings, the two families,
+the home news, all deeply interesting in their degree, though not
+touching Gillian quite so deeply as the tangle she had left at
+Rockstone, and mamma's view of her behaviour; even though it was
+pleasant to hear of Phyllis's beautiful home in Ceylon, and Alethea's
+bungalow, and how poor Claude had to go off alone to Rawul Pindee. She
+felt sure that her mother was far more acceptable to her hostess than
+either of the aunts, and that, indeed, she might well be so!
+
+Gillian's first feeling was like Mysie's in the morning, that nothing
+could go wrong with her again, but she must perforce have patience
+before she could be heard. Harry could not be spared for another day
+from his curacy, and to him was due the first tete-a-tete with his
+mother, after that most important change his life had yet known, and in
+which she rejoiced so deeply. 'The dream of her heart,' she said, 'had
+always been that one of her sons should be dedicated;' and now that the
+fulfilment had come in her absence, it was precious to her to hear
+all those feelings and hopes and trials that the young man could have
+uttered to no other ears.
+
+Sir Jasper, meantime, had gone out on business, and was to meet the
+rest at luncheon at his mother's house, go with them to call on the
+Grinsteads, and then do some further commissions, Lady Rotherwood
+placing the carriage at their disposal. As to 'real talk,' that seemed
+impossible for the girls, they could only, as Mysie expressed it, 'bask
+in the light of mamma's eyes' and after Harry was gone on an errand for
+his vicar, there were no private interviews for her.
+
+Indeed, the mother did not know how much Gillian had on her mind, and
+thought all she wanted was discussion, and forgiveness for the follies
+explained in the letter, the last received. Of any connection between
+that folly and the accident to Lord Rotherwood of course she was not
+aware, and in fact she had more on her hands than she could well do
+in the time allotted, and more people to see. Gillian had to find that
+things could not be quite the same as when she had been chief companion
+in the seclusion of Silverfold.
+
+And just as she was going out the following letter was put into her
+hands, come by one of the many posts from Rockstone:--
+
+
+'MY DEAR GILLIAN--I write to you because you can explain matters, and I
+want your father's advice, or Cousin Rotherwood's. As I was on the
+way to Il Lido just now I met Mr. Flight, looking much troubled and
+distressed. He caught at me, and begged me to go with him to tell poor
+Kalliope that her brother Alexis is in Avoncester Jail. He knew it
+from having come down in the train with Mr. Stebbing. The charge is
+for having carried away with him L15 in notes, the payment for a marble
+cross for a grave at Barnscombe. You remember that on the day of the
+accident poor Field was taking it in the waggon, when he came home to
+hear of his child's death.
+
+'The receipt for the price was inquired for yesterday, and it appeared
+that the notes had been given to Field in an envelope. In his trouble,
+the poor man forgot to deliver this till the morning; when on his way
+to the office he met young White and gave it to him. Finding it had not
+been paid in, nor entered in the books, and knowing the poor boy to have
+absconded, off went Mr. Stebbing, got a summons, and demanded to have
+him committed for trial.
+
+'Alexis owned to having forgotten the letter in the shock of the
+dismissal, and to having carried it away with him, but said that as
+soon as he had discovered it he had forwarded it to his sister, and had
+desired her to send it to the office. He did not send it direct, because
+he could only, at the moment, get one postage-stamp. On this he was
+remanded till Saturday, when his sisters' evidence can be taken at the
+magistrates meeting. This was the news that Mr. Flight and I had to take
+to that poor girl, who could hardly be spared from her mother to speak
+to us, and how she is to go to Avoncester it is hard to say; but she has
+no fear of not being able to clear her brother, for she says she put
+the dirty and ragged envelope that no doubt contained the notes into
+another, with a brief explanation, addressed it to Mr. Stebbing, and
+sent it by Petros, who told her that he had delivered it.
+
+'I thought nothing could be clearer, and so did Mr. Flight, but
+unluckily Kalliope had destroyed her brother's letter, and had not read
+me this part of it, so that she can bring no actual tangible proof, and
+it is a much more serious matter than it appeared when we were talking
+to her. Mr. White has just been here, whether to condole or to triumph
+I don't exactly know. He has written to Leeds, and heard a very
+unsatisfactory account of that eldest brother, who certainly has
+deceived him shamefully, and this naturally adds to the prejudice
+against the rest of the family. We argued about Kalliope's high
+character, and he waved his hand and said, "My dear ladies, you don't
+understand those Southern women--the more pious, devoted doves they are,
+the blacker they will swear themselves to get off their scamps of
+men." To represent that Kalliope is only one quarter Greek was useless,
+especially as he has been diligently imbued by Mrs. Stebbing with all
+last autumn's gossip, and, as he confided to Aunt Ada, thinks "that they
+take advantage of his kindness!"
+
+'Of course Mr. Flight, and all who really know Alexis and Kalliope, feel
+the accusation absurd; but it is only too possible that the Avoncester
+magistrates may not see the evidence in the same light, as its weight
+depends upon character, and the money is really missing, so that I much
+fear their committing him for trial at the Quarter Sessions. It will
+probably be the best way to employ a solicitor to watch the case at
+once, and I shall speak to Mr. Norton tomorrow, unless your father can
+send me any better advice by post. I hope it is not wicked to believe
+that the very fact of Mr. Norton's being concerned might lead to the
+notes finding themselves.
+
+'Meantime, I am of course doing what I can. Kally is very brave in her
+innocence and her brother's, but, shut up in her mother's sickroom, she
+little guesses how bad things are made to look, or how Greek and false
+are treated as synonymous.
+
+'Much love to your mother. I am afraid this is a damper on your
+happiness, but I am sure that your father would wish to know. Aunt Ada
+tackles Mr. White better than I do, and means if possible to make him go
+to Avoncester himself when the case comes on, so that he should at least
+see and hear for himself.--Your affectionate aunt,
+
+J. M.'
+
+
+What a letter for poor Gillian! She had to pocket it at first, and only
+opened it while taking off her hat at grandmamma's house, and there was
+only time for a blank feeling of uncomprehending consternation before
+she had to go down to luncheon, and hear her father and uncle go on with
+talk about India and Stokesley, to which she could not attend.
+
+Afterwards, Lady Merrifield was taken to visit grandmamma, and Bessie
+gratified the girls with a sight of her special den, where she wrote her
+stories, showing them the queer and flattering gifts that had come to
+her in consequence of her authorship, which was becoming less anonymous,
+since her family were growing hardened to it, and grandmamma was past
+hearing of it or being distressed. It was in Bessie's room that Gillian
+gathered the meaning of her aunt's letter, and was filled with horror
+and dismay. She broke out with a little scream, which brought both Mysie
+and Bessie to her side; but what could they do? Mysie was shocked and
+sympathising enough, and Bessie was trying to understand the complicated
+story, when the summons came for the sisters. There were hopes of
+communicating the catastrophe in the carriage; but no, the first
+exclamation of 'Oh, mamma!' was lost.
+
+Sir Jasper had something so important to tell his wife about his
+interviews at the Horse Guards, that the attempt to interrupt was
+silenced by a look and sign. It was a happy thing to have a father
+at home, but it was different from being mamma's chief companion and
+confidante, and poor Gillian sat boiling over with something very like
+indignation at not being allowed even to allow that she had something to
+tell at least as important as anything papa could be relating.
+
+She hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that the Grinsteads proved
+to be out of town; but at any rate she might be grateful to Lady
+Rotherwood for preventing a vain expedition--a call on another old
+friend, Mrs. Crayon, the Marianne Weston of early youth, and now a
+widow, as she too was out. Then followed some shopping that the parents
+wanted to do together, but at the door of the stores Lady Merrifield
+said--
+
+'I have a host of things to get here for the two brides. Suppose, papa,
+that you walk home with Gillian across the Park. It will suit you better
+than this fearful list.'
+
+Lady Merrifield only thought of letting father and daughter renew their
+acquaintance, and though she saw that Gillian was in an agony to speak
+about something, did not guess what an ordeal the girl felt it to have
+to begin with the father, unseen for four years, and whose searching
+eyes and grave politeness gave a sense of austerity, so that trepidation
+was spoiling all the elation at having a father, and such a father, to
+walk with.
+
+'Well, Gillian,' he said, 'we have a great deal of lee way to make up.
+I want to hear of poor White's children. I am glad you have had the
+opportunity of showing them some kindness.'
+
+'Oh, papa! it is so dreadful! If you would read this letter.'
+
+'I cannot do so here,' said Sir Jasper, who could not well make trial of
+his new spectacles in Great George Street. What is dreadful?'
+
+'This accusation. Poor Alexis! Oh! you don't know. The accident and
+all--our fault--mine really,' gasped Gillian.
+
+'I am not likely to know at this rate,' said Sir Jasper. 'I hope you
+have not caught the infection of incoherency from Lord Rotherwood. Do
+you mean his accident?'
+
+'Yes; they have turned them both off, and now they have gone and put
+Alexis in prison.'
+
+'For the accident? I thought it was a fall of rock.'
+
+'Oh no--I mean yes--it wasn't for that; but it came of that, and Fergus
+and I were at the bottom of it,' said Gillian, in such confusion that
+her words seemed to tumble out without her own control.
+
+'How did you escape with your lives?'
+
+Was he misunderstanding her on purpose, or giving a lesson on slipslop
+at such a provoking moment? Perhaps he was really only patient with the
+daughter who must have seemed to him half-foolish, but she was forced to
+collect her senses and say--
+
+'I only meant that we were the real cause. Fergus is wild about geology,
+and took away a stone that was put to show where the cliff was unsafe.
+He showed the stone to Alexis White, who did not know where it came
+from and let him have it, and that was the way Cousin Rotherwood came to
+tread on the edge of the precipice.'
+
+'What had you to do with it?'
+
+'I--oh! I had disappointed Alexis about the lessons,' said Gillian,
+blushing a little;' and he was out of spirits, and did not mind what he
+was about.'
+
+'H'm! But you cannot mean that this youth can have been imprisoned for
+such a cause.'
+
+'No; that was about the money, but of course he sent it back. He ran
+away when he was dismissed, because he was quite in despair, and did not
+know what he was about.'
+
+'I think not, indeed!'
+
+'Papa,' said Gillian, steadying her voice, 'you must not, please, blame
+him so much, for it was really very much my fault, and that is what
+makes me doubly unhappy. Did you read my last letter to mamma?'
+
+'Yes. I understood that you thought you had not treated your aunts
+rightly by not consulting them about your intercourse with the Whites,
+and that you had very properly resolved to tell them all. I hope you did
+so.'
+
+'Indeed I did, and Aunt Jane was very kind, or else I should have had no
+comfort at all. Was mamma very much shocked at my teaching Alexis?'
+
+'I do not remember. We concluded that whatever you did had your aunts'
+sanction.'
+
+'Ah! that was the point.'
+
+'Did these young people persuade you to secrecy?'
+
+'Oh no, no; Kalliope protested, and I overpowered her, because--because
+I was foolish, and I thought Aunt Jane interfering.'
+
+'I see,' said Sir Jasper, with perhaps more comprehension of the
+antagonism than sisterly habit and affection would have allowed to his
+wife. 'I am glad you saw your error, and tried to repair it; but what
+could you have done to affect this boy so much. How old is he? We
+thought of him as twelve or fourteen, but one forgets how time goes on,
+and you speak of him as in a kind of superintendent's position.'
+
+'He is nineteen.'
+
+Sir Jasper twirled his moustache.
+
+'I begin to perceive,' he said, 'you rushed into an undertaking that
+became awkward, and when you had to draw off, the young fellow was
+upset and did not mind his business. So far I understand, but you said
+something about prison.'
+
+The worst part of the personal confession was over now, and Gillian
+could go on to tell the rest of the Stebbing enmity, of Mr. White's
+arrival, and of the desire to keep his relations aloof from him.
+
+'This is guess work,' said Sir Jasper.
+
+'I think Cousin Rotherwood would say the same' rejoined Gillian, and
+then she explained the dismissal, the flight, and the unfortunate
+consequences, and that Aunt Jane hoped for advice by the morning's post.
+
+'I am afraid it is too late for that,' said Sir Jasper, looking at his
+watch. 'I must read her letter and consider.'
+
+Gillian gave a desperate sigh, and felt more desperate when at that
+moment the very man they had had a glimpse of on Saturday met them,
+exclaiming in a highly delighted tone--
+
+'Sir Jasper Merrifield!'
+
+Any Royal Wardour ought to have been welcome to the Merrifields, but
+this individual had not been a particular favourite with the young
+people. They knew he was the son of a popular dentist, who had made his
+fortune, and had put his son into the army to make a gentleman of him,
+and prevent him from becoming an artist. In the first object there had
+been very fair success; but the taste for art was unquenchable, and it
+had been the fashion of the elder half of the Merrifield family to
+make a joke, and profess to be extremely bored, when 'Fangs,' as they
+naughtily called him among themselves, used to arrive from leave, armed
+with catalogues, or come in with his drawings to find sympathy in his
+colonel's wife. Gillian had caught enough from her four elders to share
+in an unreasoning way their prejudice, and she felt doubly savage and
+contemptuous when she heard--
+
+'Yes, I retired.'
+
+'And what are you doing now?'
+
+'My mother required me as long as she lived' (then Gillian noticed that
+he was in mourning). 'I think I shall go abroad, and take lessons at
+Florence or Rome, though it is too late to do anything seriously--and
+there are affairs to be settled first.'
+
+Then came a whole shoal of other inquiries, and even though they
+actually included 'poor White' and his family, Gillian was angered and
+dismayed at the wretch being actually asked by her father to come in
+with them and see Lady Merrifield, who would be delighted to see him.
+
+'What would Lady Rotherwood think of the liberty?' the displeased mood
+whispered to Gillian.
+
+But Lady Rotherwood, presiding over her pretty Worcester tea-set, was
+quite ready to welcome any of the Merrifield friends. There were various
+people in the room besides Lady Merrifield and Mysie, who had just come
+in. There was the Admiral talking politics with Lord Rotherwood, and
+there was Clement Underwood, who had come with Harry from the city, and
+Bessie discussing with them boys' guilds and their amusements.
+
+Gillian felt frantic. Would no one cast a thought on Alexis in prison?
+If he had been to be hanged the next day, her secret annoyance at their
+indifference to his fate could not have been worse.
+
+And yet at the first opportunity Harry brought Mr. Underwood to talk
+to her about his choir-boys, and to listen to her account of the 7th
+Standard boy, a member of the most musical choir in Rockquay, and the
+highest of the high.
+
+'I hope not cockiest of the cocky,' said Mr. Underwood, smiling. 'Our
+experience is that superlatives may often be so translated.'
+
+'I don't think poor Theodore is cocky,' said Gillian; 'the Whites have
+always been so bullied and sat upon.'
+
+'Is his name Theodore?' asked Mr. Underwood, as if he liked the name,
+which Gillian remembered to have seen on a cross at Vale Leston.
+
+'Being sat upon is hardly the best lesson in humility,' said Harry.
+
+'There's apt to be a reaction,' said Mr. Underwood; 'but the crack voice
+of a country choir is not often in that condition, as I know too well. I
+was the veriest young prig myself under those circumstances!'
+
+'Don't be too hard on cockiness,' said Lord Rotherwood, who had come up
+to them, 'there must be consciousness of powers. How are you to fly, if
+you mustn't flap your wings and crow a little?'
+
+'On a les defauts de ses qualites,' put in Lady Merrifield.
+
+'Yes,' added Mr. Underwood. 'It is quite true that needful
+self-assertion and originality, and sense of the evils around--'
+
+'Which the old folk have outgrown and got used to,' said Lord
+Rotherwood.
+
+'May be condemned as conceit,' concluded Mr. Underwood.
+
+'Ay, exactly as Eliab knew David's pride and the naughtiness of his
+heart,' said Lord Rotherwood. 'If you won't fight your giant yourself,
+you've no business to condemn those who feel it in them to go at him.'
+
+'Ah! we have got to the condemnation of others, instead of the
+exaltation of self,' said Lady Merrifield.
+
+'It is better to cultivate humility in one's self than other people,
+eh?' said the Marquis, and his cousin thought, though she did not say,
+that he was really the most humble and unself-conscious man she had
+ever known. What she did say was, 'It is a plant that grows best
+uncultivated.'
+
+'And if you have it not by happy nature, what then?' said Clement
+Underwood.
+
+'Then I suppose you must plant it, and there will be plenty of tears of
+repentance to water it,' returned she.
+
+'Thank you,' said Clement. 'That is an idea to work upon.'
+
+'All very fine!' sighed Gillian to Mysie, 'but oh, how about Alexis in
+prison! There's papa, now he has got rid of Fangs, actually going to
+walk off with Uncle Sam, and mamma has let Lady Rotherwood get hold of
+her. Will no-body care for anybody?'
+
+'I think I would trust papa,' said Mysie.
+
+He was not long gone, and when he came back he said, 'You may give me
+that letter, Gillian. I posted a card to tell your aunt she should hear
+to-morrow.'
+
+All that Gillian could say to her mother in private that evening
+consisted of, 'Oh, mamma, mamma,' but the answer was, 'I have heard
+about it from papa, my dear; I am glad you told him. He is thinking what
+to do. Be patient.'
+
+Externally, awe and good manners forced Gillian to behave herself; but
+internally she was so far from patient, and had so many bitter feelings
+of indignation, that she felt deeply rebuked when she came down next
+morning to find her father hurrying through his breakfast, with a cab
+ordered to convey him to the station, on his way to see what could be
+done for Alexis White.
+
+That day Gillian had her confidential talk with her mother--a talk that
+she never forgot, trying to dig to the roots of her failures in a manner
+that only the true mother-confessor of her own child can perhaps have
+patience and skill for, and that only when she has studied the creature
+from babyhood. The concatenation, ending (if it was so to end) in the
+committal to Avoncester Jail, and beginning with the interview over the
+rails, had to be traced link by link, and was almost as long as 'the
+house that Jack built.'
+
+'And now I see,' said Gillian, 'that it all came of a nasty sort of
+antagonism to Aunt Jane. I never guessed how like I was to Dolores, and
+I thought her so bad. But if I had only trusted Aunt Jane, and had no
+secrets, she would have helped me in it all, I know now, and never have
+brought the Whites into trouble.'
+
+'Yes,' said Lady Merrifield; 'perhaps I should have warned you a little
+more, but I went off in such a hurry that I had no time to think. You
+children are all very loyal to us ourselves; but I suppose you are all
+rather infected by the modern spirit, that criticises when it ought to
+submit to authorities.'
+
+'But how can one help seeing what is amiss? As some review says, how
+respect what does not make itself respectable? You know I don't mean
+that for my aunts. I have learnt now what Aunt Jane really is--how very
+kind and wise and clever and forgiving--but I was naughty enough to
+think her at first--'
+
+'Well, what? Don't be afraid.'
+
+'Then I did think she was fidgety and worrying--always at one, and
+wanting to poke her nose into everything.'
+
+'Poor Aunt Jane! Those are the faults of her girlhood, which she has
+been struggling against all her life!'
+
+'But in your time, mamma, would such difficulties really not have been
+seen--I mean, if she had been actually what I thought her?'
+
+'I think the difference was that no faults of the elders were dwelt upon
+by a loyal temper. To find fault was thought so wrong that the defects
+were scarcely seen, and were concealed from ourselves as well as
+others. It would scarcely, I suppose, be possible to go back to that
+unquestioning state, now the temper of the times is changed; but I
+belong enough to the older days to believe that the true safety is in
+submission in the spirit as well as the letter.'
+
+'I am sure I should have found it so,' said Gillian. 'And oh! I hope,
+now that papa is come, the Whites may be spared any more of the troubles
+I have brought on them.'
+
+'We will pray that it may be so.' said her mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. -- THE KNIGHT AND THE DRAGON
+
+
+
+A telegram had been received in the morning, which kept Valetta and
+Fergus on the qui vive all day. Valetta was an unspeakable worry to the
+patient Miss Vincent, and Fergus arranged his fossils and minerals.
+
+Both children flew out to meet their father at the gate, but words
+failed them as he came into the house, greeted the aunts, and sat down
+with Fergus on his knee, and Valetta encircled by his arm.
+
+'Yes, Lilias is quite well, very busy and happy--with her first
+instalment of children.'
+
+'I am so thankful that you are come,' said Adeline. 'Jane ventured to
+augur that you would, but I thought it too much to hope for.'
+
+'There was no alternative,' said Sir Jasper.
+
+'I infer that you halted at Avoncester.'
+
+'I did so; I saw the poor boy.'
+
+'What a comfort for his sister!'
+
+'Poor fellow! Mine was the first friendly face he had seen, and he was
+almost overcome by it'--and the strong face quivered with emotion at the
+recollection of the boy's gratitude.
+
+'He is a nice fellow,' said Jane. 'I am glad you have seen him, for
+neither Mr. White nor Rotherwood can believe that he is not utterly
+foolish, if not worse.'
+
+'A boy may do foolish things without being a fool,' said Sir Jasper.
+'Not that this one is such another as his father. I wish he were.'
+
+'I suppose he has more of the student scholarly nature.'
+
+'Yes. The enlistment, which was the making of his father, was a sort of
+moral suicide in him. I got him to tell me all about it, and I find that
+the idea of the inquest, and of having to mention you, you monkey, drove
+him frantic, and the dismissal completed the business.'
+
+'I told them about it,' said Fergus.
+
+'Quite right, my boy; the pity was that he did not trust to your honour,
+but he seems to have worked himself into the state of mind when young
+men run amuck. I saw his colonel, Lydiard, and the captain and sergeant
+of his company, who had from the first seen that he was a man of a
+higher class under a cloud, and had expected further inquiry, though,
+even from the little that had been seen of him, there was a readiness
+to take his word. As the sergeant said, he was not the common sort of
+runaway clerk, and it was a thousand pities that he must go to the civil
+power--in which I am disposed to agree. What sort of man is the cousin
+at the marble works?'
+
+'A regular beast,' murmured Fergus.
+
+'I think,' said Jane, 'that he means to be good and upright.'
+
+'More than means,' said Ada, 'but he is cautious, and says he has been
+so often deceived.'
+
+'As far as I can understand,' said Jane, 'there was originally desperate
+enmity between him and his cousin.'
+
+'He forgave entirely,' said Ada; 'and he really has done a great deal
+for the family, who own that they have no claim upon him.'
+
+'Yes,' said Jane, 'but from a distance, with no personal knowledge, and
+a contempt for the foreign mother, and the pretensions to gentility. He
+would have been far kinder if his cousin had remained a sergeant.'
+
+'He only wished to try them,' said Adeline, 'and he always meant to come
+and see about them; besides, that eldest son has been begging of him on
+false pretences all along.'
+
+'That I can believe,' said Sir Jasper. 'I remember his father's
+distress at his untruth in the regimental school, and his foolish mother
+shielding him. No doubt he might do enough to cause distrust of his
+family; but has Mr. White actually never gone near them, as Gillian told
+me?'
+
+'Excepting once walking Maura home,' said Jane, 'no; but I ascribe all
+that to the partner, Mr. Stebbing, who has had it all his own way here,
+and seems to me to have systematically kept Alexis down to unnecessarily
+distasteful drudgery. Kalliope's talent gave her a place; but young
+Stebbing's pursuit of her, though entirely unrequited, has roused his
+mother's bitter enmity, and there are all manner of stories afloat. I
+believe I could disprove every one of them; but together they have
+set Mr. White against her, and he cannot see her in her office, as her
+mother is too ill to be left. I do believe that if the case against
+Alexis is discharged, they will think she has the money.'
+
+'Stebbing said Maura changed a five-pound note,' put in Fergus; 'and
+when I told him to shut up, for it was all bosh, he punched me.'
+
+I hope Richard sent it' said Ada, 'but you see the sort of report that
+is continually before Mr. White--not that I think he believes half, or
+is satisfied--with the Stebbings.'
+
+'I am sure he is not with Frank Stebbing,' said Jane. 'I do think and
+hope that he is only holding off in order to judge; and I think your
+coming may have a great effect upon him, Jasper.'
+
+The Rotherwoods had requested Sir Jasper to use their apartments at
+the hotel, and he went thither to dress, being received, as he said, by
+little Lady Phyllis with much grace and simplicity.
+
+The evening passed brightly, and when the children were gone to bed,
+their father said rather anxiously that he feared the aunts had had a
+troublesome charge hastily thrust on them.
+
+'We enjoyed it very much,' said Adeline politely.
+
+'We were thankful to have a chance of knowing the young people,' added
+Jane. 'I am only glad you did not come home at Christmas, when I was not
+happy about the two girls.'
+
+'Yes, Valetta got into trouble and wrote a piteous little letter of
+confession about copying.'
+
+'Yes, but you need not be uneasy about that; it was one of those lapses
+that teach women without any serious loss. She did not know what she was
+about, and she told no falsehoods; indeed, each one of your children has
+been perfectly truthful throughout.'
+
+'That is the great point, after all. Lilias could hardly fail to make
+her children true.'
+
+'Fergus is really an excellent little boy, and Gillian--poor Gillian--I
+think she really did want more experience, and was only too innocent.'
+
+'That is what you really think,' said the father anxiously.
+
+'Yes, I do,' said Jane. 'If she had been a fast girl, she would have
+been on her guard against the awkward situation, and have kept out of
+this mess; but very likely would have run into a worse one.'
+
+'I do not think that her elder sisters would have done like her.'
+
+'Perhaps not; but they were living in your regimental world at the age
+when her schoolroom life was going on. I think you have every reason to
+be satisfied with her tone of mind. As you said of the boy, a person may
+commit an imprudence without being imprudent.'
+
+'I quite agree to that,' he said, 'and, indeed, I see that you have
+managed her most wisely, and obtained her affection and gratitude, as
+indeed you have mine!' he added, with a tone in his voice that touched
+Jane to the core of her heart.
+
+'I never heard anything like it before,' she said to her sister over
+their fire at night, with a dew of pleasure in her eyes.
+
+'I never liked Jasper so well before. He is infinitely pleasanter and
+more amiable. Do you remember our first visit? No, it was not you who
+went with me, it was Emily. I am sure he felt bound to be on guard
+all the time against any young officer's attentions to his poor little
+sister-in-law,' said Ada, with her Maid-of-Athens look. 'The smallest
+approach brought those hawk's eyes of his like a dart right through
+one's backbone. It all came back to me to-night, and the way he used to
+set poor Lily to scold me.'
+
+'So that you rejoiced to be grown old. I beg your pardon, but I did. My
+experience was when I went to help Lily pack for foreign service, when I
+suppose my ferret look irritated him, for he snubbed me extensively, and
+I am sure he rejoiced to carry his wife out of reach of all the tribe. I
+dare say I richly deserved it, but I hope we are all "mellered down," as
+Wat Greenwood used to say of his brewery for the pigs.'
+
+'My dear, what a comparison!'
+
+'Redolent of the Old Court, and of Lily, waiting for her swan's nest
+among the reeds, till her stately warrior came, and made her day
+dreams earnest in a way that falls to the lot of few. I don't think his
+severity ever dismayed her for a moment, there was always such sweetness
+in it.
+
+'True knight and lady! Yes. He is grown handsomer than ever, too!'
+
+'I hope he will get those poor children out of their hobble! It is
+chivalrous enough of him to come down about it, in the midst of all his
+business in London.'
+
+Sir Jasper started the next morning with Fergus on his way to school,
+getting on the road a good deal of information, mingled together about
+forms and strata, cricket and geology. Leaving his little son at Mrs.
+Edgar's door, he proceeded to Ivinghoe Terrace, where he waited long
+at the blistered door of the dilapidated house before the little maid
+informed him that Mr. Richard was gone out, and missus was so ill that
+she didn't know as Miss White could see nobody; but she took his card
+and invited him to walk into the parlour, where the breakfast things
+were just left.
+
+Down came Kalliope, with a wan face and eyes worn with sleeplessness,
+but a light of hope and gratitude flashing over her features as she met
+the kind eyes, and felt the firm hand of her father's colonel, a sort of
+king in the eyes of all Royal Wardours.
+
+'My poor child,' he said gently, 'I am come to see if I can help you.'
+
+'Oh! so good of you,' and she squeezed his hand tightly, in the effort
+perhaps not to give way.
+
+'I fear your mother is very ill.'
+
+'Very ill,' said Kalliope. 'Richard came last night, and he let her know
+what we had kept from her; but she is calmer now.'
+
+'Then your brother Richard is here.'
+
+'Yes; he is gone up to Mr. White's.'
+
+'He is in a solicitor's office, I think. Will he be able to undertake
+the case?'
+
+'Oh no, no'--the white cheek flushed, and the hand trembled. 'There is a
+Leeds family here, and he is afraid of their finding out that he has any
+connection with this matter. He says it would be ruin to his prospects.'
+
+'Then we must do our best without him,' Sir Jasper said in a fatherly
+voice, inexpressively comforting to the desolate wounded spirit. 'I
+will not keep you long from your mother, but will you answer me a few
+questions? Your brother tells me--'
+
+She looked up almost radiantly, 'You have seen him?'
+
+'Yes. I saw him yesterday,' and as she gazed as if the news were water
+to a thirsty soul--'he sent his love, and begged his mother and you to
+forgive the distress his precipitancy has caused. I did not think him
+looking ill; indeed, I think the quiet of his cell is almost a rest to
+him, as he makes sure that he can clear himself.'
+
+'Oh, Sir Jasper! how can we ever be grateful enough!'
+
+'Never mind that now, only tell me what is needful, for time is short.
+Your brother sent these notes in their own envelope, he says.'
+
+'Yes, a very dirty one. I did not open it or see them, but enclosed it
+in one of my own, and sent it by my youngest brother, Petros.'
+
+'How was yours addressed?'
+
+'Francis Stebbing, Esq., Marble Works; and I put in a note in
+explanation.'
+
+'Is the son's name likewise Francis?'
+
+'Francis James.'
+
+'Petros delivered it?'
+
+'Yes, certainly.'
+
+Here they were interrupted by Maura's stealing timidly in with the
+message that poor mamma had heard that Sir Jasper was here, and would he
+be so very good as to come up for one minute and speak to her.
+
+'It is asking a great deal,' said Kalliope, 'but it would be very kind,
+and it might ease her mind.'
+
+He was taken to the poor little bedroom full of oppressive atmosphere,
+though the window was open to relieve the labouring breath. It seemed
+absolutely filled with the enormous figure of the poor dropsical woman
+with white ghastly face, sitting pillowed up, incapable of lying down.
+
+'Oh, so good! so angelic!' she gasped.
+
+'I am sorry to see you so ill, Mrs. White.'
+
+'Ah! 'tis dying I am, Colonel Merrifield--begging your pardon, but the
+sight of you brings back the times when my poor captain was living,
+and I was the happy woman. 'Tis the thought of my poor orphans that is
+vexing me, leaving them as I am in a strange land where their own flesh
+and blood is unnatural to them,' she cried, trying to clasp her swollen
+hands, in the excitement that brought out the Irish substructure of her
+nature. 'Ah, Colonel dear, you'll bear in mind their father that would
+have died for you, and be good to them.'
+
+'Indeed, I hope to do what I can for them.'
+
+'They are good children, Sir Jasper, all of them, even the poor boy that
+is in trouble out of the very warmth of his heart; but 'tis Richard
+who would be the credit to you, if you would lend him the helping hand.
+Where is the boy, Kally?'
+
+'He is gone to call on Mr. White.'
+
+'Ah! and you'll say a good word for him with his cousin,' she pleaded,
+'and say how 'tis no discredit to him if things are laid on his poor
+brother that he never did.'
+
+The poor woman was evidently more anxious to bespeak patronage for her
+first-born, the pride and darling of her heart, than for those who might
+be thought to need it more, but she became confused and agitated when
+she thought of Alexis, declaring that the poor boy might have been
+hasty, and have disgraced himself, but it was hard, very hard, if they
+swore away his liberty, and she never saw him more, and she broke into
+distressing sobs. Sir Jasper, in a decided voice, assured her that he
+expected with confidence that her son would be freed the next day, and
+able to come to see her.
+
+'It's the blessing of a dying mother will be on you, Colonel dear! Oh!
+bring him back, that his mother's eyes may rest on the boy that has
+always been dutiful. No--no, Dick, I tell you 'tis no disgrace to wear
+the coat his father wore.' Wandering was beginning, and she was in no
+condition for Kalliope to leave her. The communicative Maura, who went
+downstairs with him, said that Richard was so angry about Alexis that
+it had upset poor mamma sadly. And could Alexis come?' she asked, 'even
+when he is cleared?'
+
+'I will ask for furlough for him.'
+
+'Oh! thank you--that would do mamma more good than anything. She is so
+fond of Richard, he is her favourite, but Alexis is the real help and
+comfort.'
+
+'I can quite believe so. And now will you tell me where I shall find
+your brother who took the letter, Peter or Petros?'
+
+'Petros is his name, but the boys call him Peter. He is at school--the
+Bellevue National School--up that street.'
+
+Repairing to that imposing building, Sir Jasper knocked at the door, and
+sent in his card by an astonished pupil-teacher with a request to the
+master that he might speak to Petros White, waiting in the porch till
+a handsome little fellow appeared, stouter, rosier, and more English
+looking than the others of his family, but very dusty, and rather
+scared.
+
+'You don't remember me,' said Sir Jasper, 'but I was your father's
+colonel, and I want to find some way of helping your brother. Your
+sister tells me she gave you a letter to carry to Mr. Stebbing.'
+
+'Yes, sir.'
+
+'Where did you take it?'
+
+'To his house, Carrara.'
+
+'Was it not directed to the Marble Works?'
+
+'Yes, but--'
+
+'But what? Speak out, my man.'
+
+'At the gate Blake, the porter, was very savage, and would not let us
+in. He said he would have no boys loafing about, we had done harm enough
+for one while, and he would set his dog at us.'
+
+'Then you did not give him the letter?'
+
+'No. I wouldn't after the way he pitched into me. I didn't know if he
+would give it. And he wouldn't hear a word, so we went up to Rockstone
+to the house.'
+
+'Whom did you give it to there?'
+
+'I dropped it into the slit in the door.'
+
+'You only told your sister that you delivered it.'
+
+'Yes, sir. Theodore said I must not tell sister; it would only vex her
+more to hear how every one pitches into us, right and left,' he said,
+with trembling lip.
+
+'Is Theodore your next brother?'
+
+'Yes sir.'
+
+'Was he with you?'
+
+'No; it was Sydney Grove.'
+
+'Is he here? Or--Did any one else see you leave the letter?'
+
+'Mr. Stebbing's son--the young one, George, was in the drive and slanged
+us for not going to the back door.'
+
+'That is important. Thank you, my boy. Give my--my compliments to your
+master, and ask him to be kind enough to spare this Sydney Grove to me
+for a few moments.'
+
+This proved to be an amphibious-looking boy, older and rougher than
+Petros, and evidently his friend and champion. He was much less shy,
+and spoke out boldly, saying how he had gone with little Peter, and the
+porter had rowed them downright shameful, but it was nothing to that
+there young Stebbing ordering them out of the grounds for a couple of
+beastly cads, after no good. He (Grove) had a good mind to ha' give 'un
+a good warming, only 'twas school time, and they was late as it was.
+Everybody was down upon the Whites, and it was a shame when they hadn't
+done nothing, and he didn't see as they was stuck up, not he.
+
+Sir Jasper made a note of Master Grove's residence, and requested an
+interview with the master, from whom he obtained an excellent character
+of both the Whites, especially Theodore. The master lamented that this
+affair of their brother should have given a handle against them, for
+he wanted the services of the elder one as a monitor, eventually as a
+pupil-teacher, but did not know whether the choice would be advisable
+under the present circumstances. The boys' superiority made them
+unpopular, and excited jealousy among a certain set, though they were
+perfectly inoffensive, and they had much to go through in consequence of
+the suspicion that had fallen on their brother. Petros and Sydney should
+have leave from school whenever their testimony was wanted.
+
+As Sir Jasper walked down the street, his elder sister-in-law emerged
+from a tamarisk-flanked gateway. 'This is our new abode, Jasper,' she
+said. 'Come in and see what you think of it! Well, have you had any
+success?'
+
+He explained how the letter could be traced to Mr. Stebbing's house, and
+then consulted her whether to let all come out at the examination before
+the magistrates, or to induce the Stebbings to drop the prosecution.
+
+'It would serve them right if it all came out in public,' she said.
+
+'But would it be well?'
+
+'One must not be vindictive! And to drag poor Kalliope to Avoncester
+would be a dreadful business in her mother's state. Besides, Frank
+Stebbing is young, and it may be fair to give them a chance of hushing
+it up. I ought to be satisfied with clearing Alexis.'
+
+'Then I will go to the house. When shall I be likely to find Mr.
+Stebbing!'
+
+'Just after luncheon, I should say.'
+
+'And shall I take the lawyer?'
+
+'I should say not. If they hope to keep the thing secret, they will be
+the more amenable, but you should have the two boys within reach. Let
+us ask for them to come up after their dinner to Beechcroft. No, it must
+not be to dinner. Petros must not be sent to the kitchen, and Ada would
+expire if the other came to us! Now, do you like to see your house? Here
+is Macrae dying to see you.'
+
+The old soldier had changed his quarters too often to be keenly
+interested in any temporary abode, provided it would hold the requisite
+amount of children, and had a pleasant sitting-room for his Lily, but
+he inspected politely and gratefully, and had a warmly affectionate
+interview with Macrae, who had just arrived with a great convoy of
+needfuls from Silverfold, and who undertook to bring up and guard the
+two boys from any further impertinences that might excite Master Grove's
+pugnacity.
+
+It was a beautiful day, of the lamb-like entrance weather of March, and
+on the way home Miss Adeline was met taking advantage of the noontide
+sunshine to exchange her book at the library, 'where,' she said, 'I
+found Mr. White reading the papers, so I asked him to meet Jasper at
+luncheon, thinking that may be useful.'
+
+If Sir Jasper would rather have managed matters by himself, he forebore
+to say so, and he got on very well with Mr. White on subjects of
+interest, but, to the ladies' vexation, he waited to be alone before
+he began, 'I have come down to see what can be done for this poor young
+man, Mr. White, a connection of yours, I believe.
+
+'A bad business, Sir Jasper, a bad business.'
+
+'I am sorry to hear you say so. I have seen a great deal of service with
+his father, and esteemed him very highly--'
+
+'Ay, ay, very likely. I had a young man's differences with my cousin,
+as lads will fall out, but there was the making of a fine fellow in him.
+But it was the wife, bringing in that Greek taint, worse even than
+the Italian, so that there's no believing a word out of any of their
+mouths.'
+
+'Well, the schoolmaster has just given me a high character of the
+younger one, for truthfulness especially.'
+
+'All art, Sir Jasper, all art. They are deeper than your common English
+sort, and act it out better. I'll just give you an instance or two. That
+eldest son has been with me just now, a smart young chap, who swears he
+has been keeping his mother all this time--he has written to me often
+enough for help to do so. On the other hand, the little sister tells
+me, "Mamma always wants money to send to poor Richard." Then again, Miss
+Mohun assures me that the elder one vows that she never encouraged Frank
+Stebbing for a moment, and to his mother's certain knowledge she is
+keeping up the correspondence.'
+
+'Indeed,' said Sir Jasper. 'And may I ask what is your opinion as to
+this charge? I never knew a young man enlist with fifteen pounds in his
+pocket.'
+
+'Spent it by the way, sir. Ran through it at billiards. Nothing more
+probable; it is the way with those sober-looking lads when something
+upsets them. Then when luck went against him, enlisted out of despair.
+Sister, like all women, ready to lie through thick and thin to save him,
+most likely even on oath.'
+
+'However,' said Sir Jasper, 'I can produce independent witness that the
+youngest boy set off with the letter for the office, and the porter not
+admitting him, carried it to the house.'
+
+'What became of it then?'
+
+'Mr. Stebbing will have to answer that. I propose to lay the evidence
+before him in his own house, so that he may make inquiry, and perhaps
+find it, and drop the prosecution. Will you come with me?'
+
+'Certainly, Sir Jasper. I should be very glad to think as you do. I came
+prepared to act kindly by these children, the only relations I have in
+the world; but I confess that what I have seen and heard has made me
+fear that they, at least the elder ones, are intriguing and undeserving.
+I should be glad of any proof to the contrary.'
+
+Carrara was not far off, and they were just in time to catch Mr.
+Stebbing in his arm-chair, looking over his newspaper, before repairing
+to his office. Mrs. Stebbing stood up, half-flattered, half-fluttered,
+at the call of this stately gentleman, and was scarcely prepared to hear
+him say--
+
+'I have come down about this affair of young White's. His father was my
+friend and brother-officer, and I am very anxious about him.'
+
+'I have been greatly disappointed in those young people, Sir Jasper,'
+said Mr. Stebbing uneasily.
+
+'I understand that you are intending to prosecute Alexis White for the
+disappearance of the fifteen pounds he received on behalf of the firm.'
+
+'Exactly so, Sir Jasper. There's no doubt that the carter, Field, handed
+it to him; he acknowledges as much, but he would have us believe that
+after running away with it, he returned it to his sister to send to me.
+Where is it? I ask.'
+
+'Yes,' put in Mrs. Stebbing, 'and the girl, the little one, changed a
+five-pound note at Glover's.'
+
+'I can account for that,' said Mr. White, with somewhat of an effort. 'I
+gave her one for her sister, and charged them not to mention it.'
+
+He certainly seemed ashamed to mention it before those who accounted it
+a weakness; and Sir Jasper broke the silence by proposing to produce his
+witnesses.
+
+'Really, Sir Jasper, this should be left for the court,' said Mr.
+Stebbing.
+
+'It might be well to settle the matter in private, without dragging Miss
+White into Avoncester away from her dying mother.'
+
+'Those things are so exaggerated,' said the lady.
+
+'I have seen her,' said Sir Jasper gravely.
+
+'May I ask who these witnesses are?' demanded Mr. Stebbing.
+
+'Two are waiting here--the messenger and his companion. Another is your
+porter at the marble works, and the fourth is your youngest son.'
+
+This caused a sensation, and Mrs. Stebbing began--
+
+'I am sure I can't tell what you mean, Sir Jasper.'
+
+'Is he in the house?'
+
+'Yes; he has a bad cold.'
+
+Mrs. Stebbing opened the door and called 'George,' and on the boy's
+appearance, Sir Jasper asked him--
+
+'Do you remember the morning of the 17th of last month--three days after
+the accident? I want to know whether you saw any one in the approach to
+the house.'
+
+'I don't know what day it was,' said the boy, somewhat sulkily.
+
+'You did see some one, and warned them off!'
+
+'I saw two little ca--two boys out of the town on the front door steps.'
+
+'Did you know them?'
+
+'No--that is to say, one was a fisherman's boy.'
+
+'And the other?'
+
+'I thought he belonged to the lot of Whites.'
+
+'Should you know them again?'
+
+'I suppose so.'
+
+'Will you excuse me, and I will call them into the hall?' said Sir
+Jasper.
+
+This was effected, and Master George had to identify the boys, after
+which Sir Jasper elicited that Petros had seen the dirty envelope
+come out of his brother's letter, and that his sister had put it into
+another, which she addressed as he described, and gave into his charge
+to deliver. Then came the account of the way he had been refused
+admittance by the porter.
+
+'Why didn't you give him the letter?' demanded Mr. Stebbing.
+
+'Catch us,' responded Sydney Grove, rejoiced at the opportunity, 'when
+what we got was, "Get out, you young rascals!"'
+
+Petros more discreetly added--
+
+'My sister wanted it to be given to Mr. Stebbing, so we went up to the
+house to wait for him, but it got late for school, and I saw the postman
+drop the letters into the slit in the door, so I thought that would be
+all right.'
+
+'Did you see him do so?' asked Sir Jasper of the independent witness.
+
+'Yes, sir, and he there'--pointing to George--'saw it too, and--'
+
+'Did you?'
+
+'Ay, and thought it like their impudence.'
+
+'That will do, my boys,' said Sir Jasper. 'Now run away.'
+
+Mr. White put something into each paw as the door was opened and the
+pair made their exit.
+
+If Sir Jasper acted as advocate, Mr. White seemed to take the position
+of judge.
+
+'There can be no doubt,' he said, 'that the letter containing the notes
+reached this house.'
+
+'No,' said Mr. Stebbing hotly. 'Why was I not told? Who cleared the
+letter-box?'
+
+It was the page's business, but to remember any particular letter on any
+particular day was quite beyond him, and he only stared wildly and said,
+'Dun no,' on which he was dismissed to the lower regions.
+
+'The address was "Francis Stebbing, Esq.,"' said Sir Jasper
+meditatively, perhaps like a spider pulling his cord. 'Francis--your
+son's name. Can he--'
+
+'Mr. White, I'll thank you to take care what you say of my son!'
+exclaimed Mrs. Stebbing; but there was a blank look of alarm on the
+father's face.
+
+'Where is he?' asked Mr. White.
+
+'He may be able to explain'--courtesy and pity made the General add.
+
+'No, no,' burst out the mother. 'He knows nothing of it. Mr. Stebbing,
+can't you stand up for your own son?'
+
+'Perhaps,' began the poor man, his tone faltering with a terrible
+anxiety, but his wife exclaimed hastily--
+
+'He never saw nor heard of it. I put it in the fire.'
+
+There was a general hush, broken by Mr. Stebbing saying slowly--
+
+'You--put--it--in--the--fire.'
+
+'Yes; I saw those disreputable-looking boys put it into the box. I
+wasn't going to have that bold girl sending billy-doos on the sly to my
+son.'
+
+'Under these circumstances,' drily said Sir Jasper, 'I presume that you
+will think it expedient to withdraw the prosecution.'
+
+'Certainly, certainly,' said Mr. Stebbing, in the tone of one delivered
+from great alarm. 'I will write at once to my solicitor at Avoncester.'
+Then turning on his wife, 'How was it that I never heard this before,
+and you let me go and make a fool of myself?'
+
+'How was I to know, Mr. Stebbing? You started off without a word to me,
+and all you told me when you came back was that the young man said he
+had posted the letter to his sister. I should like to know why he could
+not send it himself to the proper place!'
+
+'Well, Mrs. Stebbing,' said her husband, 'I hope it will be a lesson to
+you against making free with other people's letters.'
+
+She tossed her head, and was about to retire, when Sir Jasper said--
+
+'Before leaving us, madam, in justice to my old friend's daughter,
+I should be much obliged if you would let me know your grounds for
+believing the letter to be what you say.'
+
+'Why--why, Sir Jasper, it has been going on this year or more! She has
+perfectly infatuated the poor boy.'
+
+'I am not asking about your son's sentiments but can you adduce any
+proof of their being encouraged!'
+
+'Sir Jasper! a young man doesn't go on in that way without
+encouragement.'
+
+'What encouragement can you prove?'
+
+'Didn't I surprise a letter from her--?'
+
+'Well'--checked the tone of triumphant conviction.
+
+'A refusal, yes, but we all know what that means, and that there must
+have been something to lead to it'--and as there was an unconvinced
+silence--'Besides--oh, why, every one knew of her arts. You did, Mr.
+Stebbing, and of poor Frank's infatuation. It was the reason of her
+dismissal.'
+
+'I knew what you told me, Mrs. Stebbing,' he answered grimly, not at all
+inclined to support her at this moment of anger. 'I am sure I wish I
+had never listened to you. I never saw anything amiss in the girl's
+behaviour, and they are all at sixes and sevens without her at the
+mosaic work--though she is only absent from her mother's illness at
+present.'
+
+'You! of course she would not show her goings on before you, said the
+lady.
+
+'Is Master Frank in the house?' put in Mr. White; 'I should like to put
+the question before him.'
+
+'You can't expect a young man to make mortifying admissions,' exclaimed
+the mother, and as she saw smiles in answer she added, 'Of course, the
+girl has played the modest and proper throughout! That was her art, to
+draw him on, till he did not know what he was about.'
+
+'Setting aside the supposed purpose,' said Sir Jasper, 'you admit, Mrs.
+Stebbing, that of your own knowledge, Miss White has never encouraged
+your son's attentions.'
+
+'N--no; but we all know what those girls are.'
+
+'Fatherless and unprotected,' said Sir Jasper, 'dependent on their
+own character and exertion, and therefore in especial need of kind
+construction. Good morning, Mrs. Stebbing; I have learnt all that I wish
+to know.'
+
+Overpowered, but not convinced, Mrs. Stebbing saw her visitors depart.
+
+'And I hope her husband will give it to her well,' said Mr. White, as
+they left the house.
+
+They looked in at Beechcroft Cottage with the tidings.
+
+'All safe, I see!' cried Miss Jane. 'Is the money found?'
+
+'No; Mrs. Stebbing burnt it, under the impression that it was a
+love-letter,' drily said Sir Jasper.
+
+Miss Mohun led the way in the hearty fit of laughter, to which the
+gentlemen gave way the more heartily for recent suppression; and Mr.
+White added--
+
+'I assure you, it was as good as a play to hear Sir Jasper worm it out.
+One would think he had been bred a lawyer.'
+
+'And now,' said the General, 'I must go and relieve that poor girl's
+suspense.'
+
+'I will come with you,' volunteered Mr. White. 'I fully believe that she
+is a good girl, though this business and Master Richard's applications
+staggered me; and this soldier fellow must be an ass if he is not a
+scamp.'
+
+'Scarcely that, I think,' said Miss Adelaide, with her pleading smile.
+
+'Well, discipline will be as good for him as for his father,' said Mr.
+White. 'He has done for himself, but that was a nice little lad that you
+had up--too good for a common national school.'
+
+Wherewith they departed, and found that Kalliope must have been on the
+watch, for she ran down to open the door to them, and the gladness which
+irradiated her face as Sir Jasper's first 'All right,' lighted up her
+features, which were so unlike the shop-girl prettiness that Mr. White
+expected as quite to startle him.
+
+Richard was in the parlour in a cloud of smoke, and began to do the
+honours.
+
+'Our acknowledgments are truly due to Sir Jasper. Mr. White, we are much
+honoured. Pray be seated, please to excuse--'
+
+They paid little attention to him, while Sir Jasper told as much to his
+sister as could well be explained as to the fate of her envelope, and
+added--
+
+'You will not be wanted at Avoncester, as the case will not come on.
+I shall go and see all safe, then on to town, but I mean to see your
+brother's commanding officer, and you may tell your mother that I have
+no doubt that he will be allowed a furlough.'
+
+'But, Sir Jasper' broke in Richard, 'I beg your pardon; but there is a
+family from Leeds at Bellevue, the Nortons, and imagine what it would be
+if they reported me as connected with a common private soldier, just out
+of prison too!'
+
+'Let him come to me then,' exclaimed Mr. White.
+
+In spite of appearances of disgust, Richard took the invitation to
+himself, and looked amiable and gratified.
+
+'Thank you, Mr. White, that will obviate the difficulty. When shall I
+move up?'
+
+'You, sir? Did you think I meant you?' said Mr. White contemptuously.
+'No; I prefer a fool to a knave!'
+
+'Mr. White,' interposed Sir Jasper, 'whatever you may have to say to
+Richard White, consider his sister. Or had you not better report our
+success to your mother, my dear?'
+
+'One moment,' said Mr. White. 'Tell me, young lady, if you do not
+object, what assistance have you ever received from me.'
+
+'You have most kindly employed us, and paid for Maura's education,' said
+Kalliope.
+
+'Is that all? Has nothing been transmitted through this brother?'
+
+'I do not understand,' said Kalliope, trembling, as Richard scowled at
+her.
+
+'Sir,' said he, 'I always intended, but unforeseen circumstances--'
+
+'That's enough for the present, sir,' said Mr. White. 'I have heard all
+I wish, and more too.'
+
+'Sir,' said Kalliope, still trembling, 'indeed, Richard is a kind son
+and brother. My mother is much attached to him. I am generally out all
+day, and it is quite possible that she did not tell me all that passed
+between them, as she knew that I did not like you to be applied to.'
+
+'That will do, my dear,' said Mr. White. 'I don't want to say any more
+about it. You shall have your brother to-morrow, if Sir Jasper can
+manage it. I will bring him back to Rockstone as my guest, so that his
+brother need not be molested with his company.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. -- IVINGHOE TERRACE
+
+
+
+On an east-windy Friday afternoon Valetta and Fergus were in a crowning
+state of ecstasy. Rigdum Funnidos was in a hutch in the small garden
+under the cliff, Begum and two small gray kittens were in a basket under
+the kitchen stairs, Aga was purring under everybody's feet, Cocky was
+turning out the guard upon his perch--in short, Il Lido was made as like
+Silverfold as circumstances would permit. Aunt Ada with Miss Vincent was
+sitting on the sofa in the drawing-room, with a newly-worked cosy,
+like a giant's fez, over the teapot, and Valetta's crewel cushion fully
+displayed. She was patiently enduring a rush in and out of the room of
+both children and Quiz once every minute, and had only requested that
+it should not be more than once, and that the door should neither be
+slammed nor left open.
+
+Macrae and the Silverfold carriage were actually gone to the station,
+and, oh! oh! oh! here it really was with papa on the box, and heaps
+of luggage, and here were Primrose and Gillian and mamma and Mrs.
+Halfpenny, all emerging one after another, and Primrose, looking--oh
+dear! more like a schoolroom than a nursery girl--such a great piece of
+black leg below the little crimson skirt; but the dear little face as
+plump as ever.
+
+That was the first apparent fact after the disengaging from the general
+embrace, when all had subsided into different seats, and Aunt Jane, who
+had appeared from somewhere in her little round sealskin hat, had begun
+to pour out the tea. The first sentence that emerged from the melee of
+greetings and intelligence was--
+
+'Fly met her mother at the station; how well she looks!'
+
+'Then Victoria came down with you?'
+
+'Yes; I am glad we went to her. I really do like her very much.'
+
+Then Primrose and Valetta varied the scene by each laying a kitten in
+their mother's lap; and Begum, jumping after her progeny, brushed Lady
+Merrifield's face with her bushy tail, interrupting the information
+about names.
+
+'Come, children,' said Sir Jasper, 'that's enough; take away the cats.'
+It was kindly said, but it was plain that liberties with mamma would not
+continue before him.
+
+'The Whites?' was Gillian's question, as she pressed up to Aunt Jane.
+
+'Poor Mrs. White died the night before last,' was the return. 'I have
+just come from Kally. She is in a stunned state now--actually too busy
+to think and feel, for the funeral must be to-morrow.'
+
+Sir Jasper heard, and came to ask further questions.
+
+'She saw Alexis,' went on Miss Mohun. 'They dressed him in his own
+clothes, and she seemed greatly satisfied when he came to sit by her,
+and had forgotten all that went before. However, the end came very
+suddenly at last, and all those poor children show their southern nature
+in tremendous outbursts of grief--all except Kalliope, who seems not
+to venture on giving way, will not talk, or be comforted, and is, as it
+were, dried up for the present. The big brothers give way quite as
+much as the children, in gusts, that is to say. Poor Alexis reproaches
+himself with having hastened it, and I am afraid his brother does not
+spare him. But Mr. White has bought his discharge.'
+
+'You don't mean it.'
+
+'Yes; whether it was the contrast between Alexis's air of refinement
+and his private soldier's turn-out, or the poor fellow's patience and
+submission, or the brother's horrid behaviour to him, Mr. White has
+taken him up, and bought him out.'
+
+'All because of Richard's brutal speech. That is good! Though I confess
+I should have let the lad have at least a year's discipline for his own
+good, since he had put himself into it; but I can't be sorry. There is
+something engaging about the boy.'
+
+'And Mr. White is the right man to dispose of them.'
+
+No more passed, for here were the children eager and important, doing
+the honours of the new house, and intensely happy at the sense of home,
+which with them depended more on persons than on place.
+
+One schoolroom again,' said Mysie. 'One again with Val and Prim and Miss
+Vincent. Oh, it is happiness!'
+
+Even Mrs. Halfpenny was a delightful sight, perhaps the more so that her
+rightful dominion was over; the nursery was no more, and she was only to
+preside in the workroom, be generally useful, wait on my lady, and look
+after Primrose as far as was needful.
+
+The bustle and excitement of settling in prevented much thought of the
+Whites, even from Gillian, during that evening and the next morning; and
+she was ashamed of her own oblivion of her friend in the new current of
+ideas, when she found that her father meant to attend the funeral out of
+respect to his old fellow-soldier.
+
+Rockquay had outgrown its churchyard, and had a cemetery half a mile
+off, so that people had to go in carriages. Mr. White had made himself
+responsible for expenses, and thus things were not so utterly dreary
+as poverty might have made them. It was a dreary, gusty March day,
+with driving rushes of rain, which had played wildly with Gillian's
+waterproof while she was getting such blossoms and evergreen leaves as
+her aunt's garden afforded, not out of love for the poor Queen of
+the White Ants herself, but thinking the attention might gratify the
+daughters; and her elders moralised a little on the use and abuse of
+wreaths, and how the manifestation of tender affection and respect had
+in many cases been imitated in empty and expensive compliment.
+
+'The world spoils everything with its coarse finger,' said Lady
+Merrifield.
+
+'I hope the custom will not be exaggerated altogether out of fashion,'
+said Jane. 'It is a real comfort to poor little children at funerals
+to have one to carry, and it is as Mrs. Gaskell's Margaret said of
+mourning, something to prevent settling to doing nothing but crying;
+besides that afterwards there is a wholesome sweetness in thus keeping
+up the memory.'
+
+Sir Jasper shared a carriage with Mr. White, and returned somewhat wet
+and very cold, and saying that it had been sadly bleak and wretched for
+the poor young people, who stood trembling, so far as he could see; and
+he was anxious to know how the poor girls were after it. It had seemed
+to him as if Kalliope could scarcely stand. He proved to be right.
+Kalliope had said nothing, not wept demonstratively, perhaps not at all;
+but when the carriage stopped at the door, she proved to be sunk back in
+her corner in a dead faint. She was very long in reviving, and no sooner
+tried to move than she swooned again, and this time it lasted so
+long that the doctor was sent for. Miss Mohun arrived just as he had
+partially restored her, and they had a conversation.
+
+'They must get that poor girl to bed as soon as it is possible to
+undress her,' he said. 'I have seen that she must break down sooner or
+later, and I'm afraid she is in for a serious illness; but as yet there
+is no knowing.'
+
+Nursing was not among Jane's accomplishments, except of her sister Ada's
+chronic, though not severe ailments; but she fetched Mrs. Halfpenny as
+the most effective person within reach, trusting to that good woman's
+Scotch height, strong arms, great decision, and the tenderness which
+real illness always elicited.
+
+Nor was she wrong. Not only did Mrs. Halfpenny get the half-unconscious
+girl into bed, but she stayed till evening, and then came back to snatch
+a meal and say--
+
+'My leddy, if you have no objection, I will sit up with that puir
+lassie the night. They are all men-folk or bairns there, except the
+lodger-lady, who is worn out with helping the mother, and they want some
+one with a head on her shoulders.'
+
+Lady Merrifield consented with all her heart; but the Sunday morning's
+report was no better, when Mrs. Halfpenny came home to dress Primrose,
+and see her lady.
+
+'That eldest brother, set him up, the idle loon, was off by the mail
+train that night, and naething wad serve him but to come in and bid
+good-bye to his sister just as I had gotten her off into something more
+like a sleep. It startled her up, and she went off her head again, poor
+dearie, and began to talk about prison and disgrace, and what not, till
+she fainted again; and when she came to, I was fain to call the other
+lad to pacify her, for I could see the trouble in her puir een, though
+she could scarce win breath to speak.'
+
+'Is Alexis there?'
+
+'Surely he is, my leddy; he's no the lad to leave his sister in sic a
+strait. It was all I could do to gar him lie down when she dozed off
+again, but there's sair stress setting in for all of them, puir things.
+I have sent the little laddie off to beg the doctor to look in as soon
+as he can, for I am much mistaken if there be not fever coming on.'
+
+'Indeed! And what can those poor children do?'
+
+'That's what I'm thinking, my leddy. And since 'tis your pleasure that
+the nursery be done awa' wi', and I have not ta'en any fresh work, I
+should like weel to see the puir lassie through wi' it. Ye'll no mind
+that Captain White and my puir Halfpenny listed the same time, and
+always forgathered as became douce lads. The twa of them got their
+stripes thegither, and when Halfpenny got his sunstroke in that weary
+march, 'twas White who gave him his last sup of water, and brought me
+his bit Bible. So I'd be fain to tend his daughter in her sickness,
+if you could spare me, my leddy, and I'd aye rin home to dress Missie
+Primrose and pit her to bed, and see to matters here.'
+
+'There's no better nurse in the world, dear old Halfpenny,' said Lady
+Merrifield, with tears in her eyes. 'I do feel most thankful to you for
+proposing it. Never mind about Primrose, only you must have your meals
+and a good rest here, and not knock yourself up.'
+
+Mrs. Halfpenny smiled grimly at the notion of her being sooner knocked
+up than a steam-engine. Dr. Dagger entirely confirmed her opinion that
+poor Kalliope was likely to have a serious illness, low nervous fever,
+and failing action of the heart, no doubt from the severe strain that
+she had undergone, more or less, for many months, and latterly fearfully
+enhanced by her mother's illness, and the shock and suspense about
+Alexis, all borne under the necessity of external composure and
+calmness, so that even Mrs. Lee had never entirely understood how much
+it cost her. The doctor did not apprehend extreme danger to one young
+and healthy, but he thought much would depend on good nursing, and on
+absolute protection from any sort of excitement, so that such care as
+Mrs. Halfpenny's was invaluable, since she was well known to be a dove
+to a patient, but a dragon to all outsiders.
+
+Every one around grieved at having done so little to lighten these
+burthens, and having even increased them, her brother Alexis above all;
+but on the other hand, he was the only person who was of any use to her,
+or was suffered to approach her, since his touch and voice calmed the
+recurring distress, lest he were still in prison and danger.
+
+Alexis went back dutifully on the Monday morning to his post at the
+works. The young man was much changed by his fortnight's experiences, or
+rather he had been cured of a temporary fit of distraction, and returned
+to his better self. How many discussions his friends held about him
+cannot be recorded, but after a conversation with Mr. Flight, with whom
+he was really more unreserved than any other being except Kalliope, this
+was the understanding at which Miss Mohun and Lady Merrifield arrived as
+to his nature and character.
+
+Refined, studious, and sensitive, thoroughly religious-minded, and of a
+high tone of thought, his aspirations had been blighted by his father's
+death, his brother's selfishness, and his mother's favouritism. In
+a brave spirit of self-abnegation, he had turned to the uncongenial
+employment set before him for the sake of his family, and which
+was rendered specially trying by the dislike of his fellows to 'the
+gentleman cove,' and the jealousy of the Stebbings. Alike for his
+religious and his refined habits he had suffered patiently, as Mr.
+Flight had always known more or less, and now bore testimony. The
+curate, who had opened to him the first door of hope and comfort, had
+in these weeks begun to see that the apparent fitfulness of his kindness
+had been unsettling.
+
+Then came the brief dream of felicity excited by Gillian and the
+darkness of its extinction, just as Frank Stebbing's failure and
+the near approach of Mr. White had made the malice of his immediate
+superiors render his situation more intolerable than ever. There was the
+added sting of self-reproach for his presumption towards Gillian, and
+the neglect caused by his fit of low spirits. Such a sensitive being,
+in early youth, wearied and goaded on all sides, might probably have
+persevered through the darkness till daylight came; but the catastrophe,
+the dismissal, and the perception that he could only defend himself at
+the expense of his idol's little brother, all exaggerated by youthful
+imagination, were too much for his balance of judgment, and he fled
+without giving himself time to realise how much worse he made it for
+those he left behind him.
+
+Of course he perceived it all now, and the more bitterly from his
+sister's wanderings, but the morbid exaggeration was gone. The actual
+taste of a recruit's life had shown him that there were worse things
+than employment at the quarries with his home awaiting him, and his cell
+had been a place of thought and recovery of his senses. He had never
+seriously expected conviction, and Sir Jasper's visit had given him a
+spring of hopeful resignation, in which thoughts stirred of doing his
+duty, and winning his way after his father's example, and taking the
+trials of his military life as the just cross of his wrong-doing in
+entering it.
+
+His liberation and Mr. White's kindness had not altered this frame. He
+was too unhappy to feel his residence in the great house anything but a
+restraint; he could not help believing that he had hastened his
+mother's death, and could only bow his head meekly under his brother's
+reproaches, alike for that and for his folly and imprudence and the
+disgrace he had brought on the family.
+
+'And now you'll, be currying favour and cutting out every one else,' had
+been a sting which added fresh force to Alexis's desire to escape from
+his kinsman's house to sleep at home as soon as his brother had gone;
+and Richard had seen enough of Sir Jasper and of Mr. White to be anxious
+to return to his office at Leeds as soon as possible, and to regulate
+his affairs beyond their reach.
+
+Alexis knew that he had avoided a duty in not working out his three
+months' term, and likewise that his earnings were necessary to the
+family all the more for his sister being laid aside. He knew that he
+hardly deserved to resume his post, and he merely asked permission so to
+do, and it was granted at once, but curtly and coldly.
+
+Mr. Flight had asked if he had not found the going among the other
+clerks very trying.
+
+'I had other things to think of,' said Alexis sadly, then recalling
+himself. 'Yes; Jones did sneer a little, but the others stopped that.
+They knew I was down, you see.'
+
+'And you mean to go on?'
+
+'If I may. That, and for my sister to get better, is all I can dare to
+hope. My madness and selfishness have shown me unworthy of all that I
+once dreamt of.'
+
+In that resolution it was assuredly best to leave him, only giving him
+such encouragement and sympathy as might prevent that more dangerous
+reaction of giving up all better things; and Sir Jasper impressed on
+Mr. Flight, the only friend who could have aided him in fulfilling his
+former aspirations, that Mr. White had in a manner purchased the
+youth by buying his discharge, and that interference would not only be
+inexpedient, but unjust. The young clergyman chafed a little over not
+being allowed to atone for his neglect; but Sir Jasper was not a person
+to be easily gainsayed. Nor could there be any doubt that Mr. White was
+a good man, though in general so much inclined to reserve his hand that
+his actions were apt to take people by surprise at last, as they had
+never guessed his intentions, and he had a way of sucking people's
+brains without in the least letting them know what use he meant to
+make of their information. The measures he was taking for the temporal,
+intellectual, and spiritual welfare of the people at the works would
+hardly have been known except for the murmurs of Mrs. Stebbing,
+although, without their knowing what he was about with them, Mr.
+Stebbing himself, Mr. Hablot, Miss Mohun, to say nothing of Alexis, the
+foremen and the men and their wives, had given him the groundwork of his
+reforms. Meantime, he came daily to inquire for Kalliope, and lavished
+on her all that could be an alleviation, greatly offending Mrs.
+Halfpenny by continually proffering the services of a hospital nurse.
+
+'A silly tawpie that would be mair trouble than half a dozen sick,' as
+she chose to declare.
+
+She was a born autocrat, and ruled as absolutely in No. l as in her
+nursery, ordering off the three young ones to their schools, in spite
+of Maura's remonstrances and appeals to Lady Merrifield, who agreed with
+nurse that the girl was much better away and occupied than where she
+could be of very little use.
+
+Indeed, Mrs. Halfpenny banished every one from the room except Mrs. Lee
+and Alexis, whom she would allow to take her place, while she stalked
+to Il Lido for her meals, and the duties she would not drop. As to rest,
+she always, in times of sickness, seemed to be made of cast iron, and if
+she ever slept at all, it was in a chair, while Alexis sat by his sister
+in the evening.
+
+The fever never ran very high, but constant vigilance was wanted from
+the extreme exhaustion and faintness. There was no violent delirium,
+but more of delusion and distress; nor was it easy to tell when she
+was conscious or otherwise, for she hardly spoke, and as yet the doctor
+forbade any attempt to rouse her more than was absolutely needful. They
+were only to give nourishment, watch her, and be patient.
+
+A few months ago Gillian would have fussed herself into a frantic state
+of anxiety and self-reproach, but her parents, when her mother had once
+heard as much outpouring as she thought expedient, would not permit what
+Sir Jasper called 'perpetual harping.'
+
+'You have to do your duties all the same, and not worry your mother and
+all the family with your feelings,' he said. She thought it very unkind,
+and went away crying.
+
+'Nobody could hinder her from thinking about Kalliope,' she said to
+herself, and think she did at her prayers, and when the bulletins came
+in, but the embargo on discussion prevented her from being so absolutely
+engrossed, as in weaker hands she might have been, and there was a great
+deal going on to claim her attention. For one thing, the results of the
+Cambridge Examination showed that while Emma Norton and a few others had
+passed triumphantly, she had failed, and conscience carried her back
+to last autumn's disinclination to do just what Aunt Jane especially
+recommended.
+
+She cried bitterly over the failure, for she had a feeling that success
+there would redeem her somewhat in her parents' eyes; but here again she
+experienced the healing kindness of her father. He would not say that
+he should not have been much pleased by her success, but he said
+failure that taught her to do her best without perverseness was really a
+benefit; and as arithmetic and mathematics had been her weakest points,
+he would work at them with her and Mysie for an hour every morning.
+
+It was somewhat formidable, but the girls soon found that what their
+father demanded was application, and that inattention displeased
+him much more than stupidity. His smile, though rare, was one of the
+sweetest things in the world, and his approbation was delightful, and
+gave a stimulus to the entire day's doings. Mysie was more than ever in
+dread of being handed over to the Rotherwoods, though her love for poor
+Fly and pity for her solitude were so strong. She would have been much
+relieved if she had known what had passed; when the offer was seriously
+made, Lord Rotherwood insisted that his wife should do it.
+
+'Then they will believe in it,' he said.
+
+'I do not know why you should say that,' she returned, always dutifully
+blinding herself to that which all their intimates knew perfectly well.
+However, perhaps from having a station and dignity of her own, together
+with great simplicity, Lady Merrifield had from her first arrival got
+on so well with her hostess as not quite to enter into Jane's sarcastic
+descriptions of her efforts at cordiality; and it was with real warmth
+that Lady Rotherwood begged for Mysie as a permanent companion and
+adopted sister to Phyllis, who was to be taken back to London after
+Easter, and in the meantime spent every possible moment with her
+cousins.
+
+Tears at the unkindness to lonely Fly came into Lady Merrifield's eyes
+as she said--
+
+'I cannot do it, Victoria; I do not think I ought to give away my child,
+even if I could.'
+
+'It is not only our feelings,' added Sir Jasper, 'but it is our duty to
+bring up our own child in her natural station; and though we know she
+would learn nothing but good in your family, I cannot think it well that
+a girl should acquire habits, and be used to society ways and of life
+beyond those which she can expect to continue.'
+
+They both cried out at this, Lord Rotherwood with a halting declaration
+of perfect equality, which his lady seconded, with a dexterous reference
+to connections.
+
+'We will not put it on rank then,' said Sir Jasper, 'but on wealth. With
+you, Maria must become accustomed to much that she could not continue,
+and had better not become natural to her. I know there are great
+advantages to manners and general cultivation in being with you, and we
+shall be most thankful to let her pay long visits, and be as much with
+Phyllis as is consistent with feeling her home with us, but I cannot
+think it right to do more.'
+
+'But with introductions,' pleaded Lady Rotherwood, 'she might marry
+well. With her family and connections, she would be a match for any
+one.'
+
+'I hope so,' said Sir Jasper; 'but at the same time it would not be well
+for her to look on such a marriage as the means of continuing the habits
+that would have become second nature.'
+
+'Poor Mysie,' exclaimed Lord Rotherwood, bursting out laughing at the
+idea, and at Lady Merrifield's look as she murmured, 'My Mysie!'
+
+'You misunderstand me,' said the Marchioness composedly. 'I was as far
+as possible from proposing marriage as a speculation for her.'
+
+'I know you were,' said Sir Jasper. 'I know you would deal by Maria as
+by your own daughter, and I am very grateful to you, Lady Rotherwood,
+but I can only come back to my old decision, that as Providence did not
+place her in your rank of life, she had better not become so accustomed
+to it as to render her own distasteful to her.'
+
+'Exactly what I expected,' said Lord Rotherwood.
+
+'Yes,' returned his wife, with an effort of generosity; 'and I believe
+you are right, Jasper, though I am sorry for my little solitary girl,
+and I never saw a friend so perfectly suitable for her as your Mysie.'
+
+'They may be friends still,' said Lord Rotherwood, 'and we will be
+grateful to you whenever you can spare her to us.'
+
+'Perhaps,' added Sir Jasper, 'all the more helpful friends for seeing
+different phases of life.'
+
+'And, said his wife, with one of her warm impulses, 'I do thank you,
+Victoria, for so loving my Mysie.'
+
+'As if any one could help it, after last winter,' said that lady, and an
+impromptu kiss passed between the two mothers, much to the astonishment
+of the Marquis, who had never seen his lady so moved towards any one.
+
+The Merrifields were somewhat on the world, for Sir Jasper, on going
+to Silverfold and corresponding with the trustees of the landlord, had
+found that the place could not be put in a state either of repair or
+sanitation, such as he approved, without more expense than either he
+or the trustees thought advisable, and he decided on giving it up, and
+remaining at Il Lido till he could find something more suitable.
+
+The children, who had been there during the special homemaking age,
+bewailed the decision, and were likely always to look back on Silverfold
+as a sort of Paradise; but the elder ones had been used to changes from
+infancy, and had never settled down, and their mother said that place
+was little to her as long as she had her Jasper by her side, and as to
+the abstract idea of home as a locality, that would always be to her
+under the tulip-tree and by the pond at the Old Court at Beechcroft,
+just as her abstract idea of church was in the old family pew, with the
+carved oak panels, before the restoration, in which she had been the
+most eager of all.
+
+Thus a fortnight passed, and then the fever was decidedly wearing
+off, but returning at night. Kalliope still lay weak, languid, silent,
+fainting at any attempt to move her, not apparently able to think enough
+to ask how time passed, or to be uneasy about anything, simply accepting
+the cares given to her, and lying still. One morning, however, Alexis
+arrived in great distress to speak to Sir Jasper, not that his sister
+was worse, as he explained, but Richard had been selling the house. The
+younger ones at home had never troubled themselves as to whose property
+the three houses in Ivinghoe Terrace were. Perhaps Kalliope knew, but
+she could not be asked; but the fact was that Captain White had been so
+lost sight of, that he had not known that this inheritance had fallen to
+him under the will of his grandfather, who was imbecile at the time of
+his flight. On his deathbed, the Captain had left the little he owned to
+his wife, and she had died intestate, as Richard had ascertained before
+leaving home, so that he, as eldest son, was heir to the ground. He had
+written to Kalliope, a letter which Alexis had opened, informing her
+that he had arranged to sell the houses to a Mr. Gudgeon, letting to
+him their own till the completion of the legal business necessary,
+and therefore desiring his brothers and sisters to move out with their
+lodgers, if not by Lady Day itself, thus giving only a week's spare
+notice, at latest by Old Lady Day.
+
+'Is he not aware of your sister's state?'
+
+'I do not imagine that he has read the letter that I wrote to him. He
+was very much displeased with me, and somewhat disposed to be angry at
+my sister's fainting, and to think that we were all trying to work on
+his feelings. He used to be rather fond of Maura, so I told her to write
+to him, but he has taken no notice, and he can have no conception of
+Kalliope's condition, or he would not have addressed his letter to her.
+I came to ask if you would kindly write to him how impossible it is to
+move her.'
+
+'You had better get a certificate from Dr. Dagger. Either I or Lady
+Merrifield will meet him, and see to that. That will serve both to stay
+him and the purchaser.'
+
+'That is another misfortune. This Gudgeon is the chief officer, or
+whatever they call it, of the Salvation Army. I knew they had been
+looking out for a place for a barracks, and could not get one because
+almost everything belongs to Lord Rotherwood or to Mr. White.'
+
+Sir Jasper could only reply that he would see what could be done in the
+matter, and that, at any rate, Kalliope should not be disturbed.
+
+Accordingly Lady Merrifield repaired to Ivinghoe Terrace for the
+doctor's visit, and obtained from him the requisite certificate that the
+patient could not be removed at present. He gave it, saying, however,
+to Lady Merrifield's surprise, that though he did not think it would
+be possible to remove her in a week's time, yet after that he fully
+believed that she would have more chance of recovering favourably if she
+could be taken out of the small room and the warm atmosphere beneath the
+cliffs--though of course all must depend on her state at the time.
+
+Meantime there was a council of the gentlemen about outbidding the
+Salvation Army. Lord Rotherwood was spending already as much as he could
+afford, in the days of agricultural depression, on the improvements
+planned with Mr. White. That individual was too good a man of business
+to fall, as he said, into the trap, and make a present to that scamp
+Richard of more than the worth of the houses, and only Mr. Flight was
+ready to go to any cost to keep off the Salvation Army; but the answer
+was curt. Richard knew he had no chance with Mr. White, and did not care
+to keep terms with him.
+
+'Mr. Richard White begs to acknowledge the obliging offer of the Rev.
+Augustine Flight, and regrets that arrangements have so far progressed
+with Mr. Gudgeon that he cannot avail himself of it.'
+
+Was this really regret or was the measure out of spite? Only the
+widest charity could accept the former suggestion, and even Sir Jasper
+Merrifield's brief and severe letter and Dr. Dagger's certificate did
+not prevent a letter to Alexis, warning him not to make their sister's
+illness a pretext for unreasonable delay.
+
+What was to be done? Kalliope was still unfit to be consulted or even
+informed, and she had been hitherto so entirely the real head and
+manager of the family that Alexis did not like to make any decision
+without her; and even the acceptance of the St. Wulstan's choristership
+for Theodore had been put off for her to make it, look to his outfit,
+and all that only the woman of the family could do for them.
+
+And here they were at a loss for a roof over their heads, and nowhere
+to bestow the battered old furniture, of which Richard magnanimously
+renounced his sixth share; while she who had hitherto toiled, thought,
+managed, and contrived for all the other four, without care of their
+own, still lay on her bed, sensible indeed and no longer feverish, but
+with the perilous failure of heart, renewed by any kind of exertion or
+excitement, a sudden movement, or a startling sound in the street; and
+Mrs. Halfpenny, guarding her as ferociously as ever, and looking capable
+of murdering any one of her substitutes if they durst hint a word of
+their perplexities. Happily she asked no questions; she was content when
+allowed to be kissed by the others, and to see they were well. Nature
+was enforcing repose, and so far "her senses was all as in a dream bound
+up." Alexis remembered that it had been somewhat thus at Leeds, when,
+after nursing all the rest, she had succumbed to the epidemic; but
+then the mother had been able to watch over her, and had been a more
+effective parent to the rest than she had since become.
+
+The first practical proposal was Mrs. Lee's. They thought of reversing
+the present position, and taking a small house where their present hosts
+might become their lodgers. Moreover, Miss Mohun clenched the affair
+about Theodore, and overcame Alexis's scruples, while Lady Merrifield,
+having once or twice looked in, and been smiled at and thanked by
+Kalliope, undertook to prepare her for his farewell.
+
+Alexis and Maura both declared that she would instantly jump up, and
+want to begin looking over his socks; but she got no further than--
+
+'Dear boy! It is the sort of thing I always wished for him. People are
+very good! But his things--'
+
+'Oh yes, dearie, ye need not fash yourself. I've mended them as I sat by
+you, and packed them all. Lie still. They are all right.'
+
+There was an atmosphere of the Royal Wardours about Mrs. Halfpenny,
+which was at once congenial and commanding; and Kalliope's mind at once
+relinquished the burthen of socks, shirts, and even the elbows of
+the outgrown jacket, nor did any of the family ever know how the
+deficiencies had been supplied.
+
+And when Theodore, well admonished, came softly and timidly for the
+parting kiss, his face quivering all over with the effort at
+self-control, she lay and smiled; but with a great crystal tear on each
+dark eyelash, and her thin transparent fingers softly stroked his
+cheeks, as the low weak voice said--
+
+'Be a good boy, dear--speak truth. Praise God well. Write; I'll write
+when I am better.'
+
+It was the first time she had spoken of being better, and they told
+Theodore to take comfort from it when all the other three walked him up
+to the station.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. -- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
+
+
+
+In the search for a new abode Mrs. Lee was in much difficulty, for it
+was needful to be near St. Kenelm's, and the only vacant houses within
+her means were not desirable for the reception of a feeble convalescent;
+moreover, Mr. Gudgeon grumbled and inquired, and was only withheld by
+warnings enhanced by the police from carrying the whole charivari of the
+Salvation Army along Ivinghoe Terrace on Sunday afternoon.
+
+Perhaps it was this, perhaps it was the fact of having discussed the
+situation with the two Miss Mohuns, that made Mr. White say to Alexis,
+'There are two rooms ready for your sister, as soon as Dagger says she
+can be moved safely. The person who nurses her had better come with her,
+and you may as well come back to your old quarters.'
+
+Alexis could hardly believe his ears, but Mr. White waved off all
+thanks. The Mohun sisters were delighted and triumphant, and Jane came
+down to talk it over with her elder sister, auguring great things from
+that man who loved to deal in surprises.
+
+'That is true,' said Sir Jasper.
+
+'What does that mean, Jasper?' said his wife. 'It sounds significant.'
+
+'I certainly should not be amazed if he did further surprise us all. Has
+it never struck you how that noontide turn of Adeline's corresponds with
+his walk home from the reading-room?'
+
+Lady Merrifield looked rather startled, but Jane only laughed, and said,
+'My dear Jasper, if you only knew Ada as well as I do! Yes, I have seen
+far too many of those little affairs to be taken in by them. Poor Ada! I
+know exactly how she looks, but she is only flattered, like a pussy-cat
+waggling the end of its tail--it means nothing, and never comes to
+anything. The thing that is likely and hopeful is, that he may adopt
+those young people as nephews and nieces.'
+
+'Might it not spoil them?' said Lady Merrifield.
+
+'Oh! I did not mean that. They might work with him still. However, there
+is no use in settling about that. The only thing to be expected of him
+is the unexpected!'
+
+'And the thing to be done,' added her sister, 'is to see how and when
+that poor girl can be got up to Cliff House.'
+
+To the general surprise, Dr. Dagger wished the transit to take place
+without loss of time. A certain look of resigned consternation crossed
+Kalliope's face on being informed of her destiny, but she justified
+Mrs. Halfpenny's commendation of her as the maist douce and conformable
+patient in the world, for she had not energy enough even to plead
+against anything so formidable, and she had not yet been told that
+Ivinghoe Terrace was her home no longer.
+
+The next day she was wrapped in cloaks and carried downstairs between
+her brother and Mrs. Halfpenny, laid on a mattress in the Merrifield
+waggonette, which went up the hill at a foot's pace, and by the same
+hands, with her old friend the caretaker's wife going before, was taken
+upstairs to a beautiful large room, with a window looking out on vernal
+sky and sea. She was too much exhausted on her arrival to know anything
+but the repose on the fresh comfortable bed, whose whiteness was almost
+rivalled by her cheek, and Mrs. Halfpenny ordered off Alexis, who was
+watching her in great anxiety. However, when he came back after his
+afternoon's work, it was to find that she had eaten and slept, and now
+lay, with her eyes open, in quiet interested admiration of a spacious
+and pleasant bedroom, such as to be a great novelty to one whose life
+had been spent in cheap lodging houses. The rooms had been furnished
+twenty years before as a surprise intended for the wife who never
+returned to occupy them, and though there was nothing extraordinary in
+them, there was much to content the eyes accustomed to something very
+like squalidness, for had not Kalliope's lot always been the least
+desirable chamber in the family quarters?
+
+At any rate, from that moment she began to recover, ate with appetite,
+slept and woke to be interested, and to enjoy Theodore's letter of
+description of St. Wulstan's, and even to ask questions. Alexis was
+ready to dance for joy when she first began really to talk to him; and
+could not forbear imparting his gladness to the Miss Mohuns that very
+evening, as well as to Mr. White, and running down after dinner with
+the good news to Maura, Mrs. Lee, and Lady Merrifield. Dinners with Mr.
+White had, on his first sojourn in that house, been a great penance,
+though there were no supercilious servants, for all the waiting was
+by the familiar housekeeper, Mrs. Osborne, who had merely added an
+underling to her establishment on her master's return; but Alexis then
+had been utterly miserable, feeling guilty and ashamed, as one only
+endured on sufferance out of compassion, because his brother cast him
+out, and fresh from the sight of his mother's dying bed; a terrible
+experience altogether, which had entirely burnt out and effaced his
+foolish fit of romantic calf-love, and rendered him much more of a
+man. Now, though not a month had passed, he seemed to be on a different
+footing. He was doing his work steadily, and the hope of his sister's
+recovery had brightened him. Mr. White had begun to talk to him, to ask
+him questions about the doings of the day, and to tell him in return
+some of his own experiences in Italy, and in the earlier days of the
+town. Maura came up to see her sister every day, and tranquillised her
+mind when the move was explained, and anxiety as to the transport of all
+their worldly goods began to set in. Mrs. Lee had found a house where
+she could place two bedrooms and a sitting-room at the disposal of the
+Whites if things were to continue as before, and no hint had been given
+of any change, or of what was to happen when the three months' notice
+given to Kalliope and Alexis should have expired.
+
+By the Easter holidays Mrs. Halfpenny began to get rather restless as to
+the overlooking of the boys' wardrobes; and, indeed, she thought so well
+of her patient's progress as to suggest to Mr. White that the lassie
+would do very well if she had her sister to be with her in the holidays,
+and she herself would come up every day to help at the getting up,
+for Kalliope was now able to be dressed and to lie on a couch in the
+dressing-room, where she could look out over the bay, and she had even
+asked for some knitting.
+
+'And really, Miss Gillian, you could not do her much harm if you came up
+to see her,' said the despot. 'So you may come this very afternoon, if
+ye'll be douce, and not fash her with any of your cantrips.'
+
+Gillian did not feel at all in a mood for cantrips as she slowly
+walked up the broad staircase, and was ushered into the
+dressing-room, cheerful with bright fire and April sunshine, and with a
+large comfortable sofa covered with a bright rug, where Kalliope could
+enjoy both window and fire without glare. The beauty of her face so much
+depended on form and expression that her illness had not lessened it.
+Gillian had scarcely seen her since the autumn, and the first feeling
+was what an air of rest and peace had succeeded the worn, harassed look
+then almost perpetual. There was a calmness now that far better suited
+the noble forehead, dark pencilled eyebrows, and classical features in
+their clear paleness; and with a sort of reverence Gillian bent over
+her, to kiss her and give her a bunch of violets. Then, when the thanks
+had passed, Gillian relieved her own shyness by exclaiming with
+admiration at a beautiful water-coloured copy of an early Italian
+fresco, combining the Nativity and Adoration of the Magi, that hung over
+the mantelpiece.
+
+'Is it not exquisite?' returned Kalliope. 'I do so much enjoy making
+out each head and dwelling on them! Look at that old shepherd's simple
+wonder and reverence, and the little child with the lamb, and the
+contrast with the Wise Man from the East, whose eyes look as if he saw
+so much by faith.'
+
+'Can you see it from there?' asked Gillian, who had got up to look at
+these and further details dwelt on by Kalliope.
+
+'Yes. Not at first; but they come out on me by degrees. It is such a
+pleasure, and so kind of Mr. White to have put it there. He had it hung
+there, Mrs. Halfpenny told me, instead of his own picture just before I
+came in here.'
+
+'Well, he is not a bad-looking man, but it is no harm to him or his
+portrait to say that this is better to look at!'
+
+'It quite does me good! And see,' pointing to a photograph of the Arch
+of Titus hung on the screen that shielded her from the door, 'he sends
+in a fresh one by Alexis every other day.
+
+'How very nice! He really seems to be a dear old man. Don't you think
+so?'
+
+'I am sure he is wonderfully kind, but I have only seen him that once
+when he came with Sir Jasper, and then I knew nothing but that when Sir
+Jasper was come things must go right.'
+
+'Of course; but has he never been to see you now that you are up and
+dressed?'
+
+'No, he lavishes anything on me that I can possibly want, but I have
+only seen him once--never here.'
+
+'It is like Beauty and the Beast!'
+
+'Oh no, no; don't say that!'
+
+'Well, George Stebbing really taught Fergus to call him a beast, and
+you--Kally--I won't tease you with saying what you are.'
+
+'I wish I wasn't, it would be all so much easier.'
+
+'Never mind! I do believe the Stebbings are going away! Does Maura never
+see him?'
+
+'She has met him on the stairs and in the garden, but she has her meals
+here. I trust by the time her Easter holidays are over I may be fit
+to go back with her. But I do hope I may be able to copy a bit of that
+picture first, though, any way, I can never forget it.'
+
+'To go on as before?' exclaimed Gillian, with an interrogative sigh of
+wonder.
+
+'If that notice of dismissal can be revoked,' said Kalliope.
+
+But would you like it--must you?'
+
+'I _should_ like to go back to my girls,' said Kalliope; 'and things
+come into my head, now I am doing nothing, that I want to work out, if I
+might. So, you see, it is not at all a pity that I _must_.'
+
+And why is it must?' said Gillian wistfully. 'You have to get well
+first.'
+
+Yes, I know that; but, you see, there are Maura and Petros. They must
+not be thrown on Alexis, poor dear fellow! And if he could only be set
+free, he might go on with what he once hoped for, though he thinks it is
+his duty to give all that entirely up now and work obediently on. But I
+know the longing will revive, and if I only could improve myself, and be
+worth more, it might still be possible.'
+
+'Only you must not begin too soon and work yourself to death.'
+
+'Hardly after such a rest,' said Kalliope. 'It is not work I mind, but
+worry'--and then a sadder look crossed her for a moment, and she added,
+'I am so thankful.'
+
+'Thankful?' echoed Gillian.
+
+'Yes, indeed! For Sir Jasper's coming and saving us at that dreadful
+moment, and my being able to keep up as long as dear mamma wanted me,
+and then Mrs. Halfpenny being spared by dear Lady Merrifield to give me
+such wonderful care and kindness, and little Theodore being so happily
+placed, and this rest--such a strange quiet rest as I never knew before.
+Oh! it is all so thankworthy'--and the great tears came to dim her eyes.
+'It seems sent to help me to take strength and courage for the future.
+"He hath helped me hitherto."'
+
+'And you are better?'
+
+'Yes, much better. Quite comfortable as long as I am quite still.'
+
+'And content to be still?'
+
+'Yes, I'm very lazy.'
+
+It was a tired voice, and Gillian feared her half-hour was nearly over,
+but she could not help saying--
+
+'Do you know, I think it will be all nicer now. Mr. White is doing so
+much, and Mr. Stebbing hates it so, that Mrs. Stebbing says he is going
+to dissolve the partnership and go away.'
+
+'Then it would all be easier. It seems too good to be true.'
+
+'And that man Mr. White. He must do something for you! He ought.'
+
+'Oh no! He has done a great deal already, and has not been well used.
+Don't talk of that.'
+
+'I believe he is awfully rich. You know he is building an Institute for
+the workmen, and a whole row of model cottages.'
+
+'Yes, Alexis told me. What a difference it will make! I hope he will
+build a room where the girls can dine and rest and read, or have a
+piano; it would be so good for them.'
+
+'You had better talk to him about it.'
+
+'I never see him, and I should not dare.'
+
+'I'll tell my aunts. He always does what Aunt Ada tells him. Is that
+really all you wish?'
+
+'Oh! I don't wish for anything much--I don't seem able to care now dear
+mamma is where they cease from troubling, and I have Alec again.'
+
+'Well, I can't help having great hopes. I can't see why that man should
+not make a daughter of you! Then you would travel and see mountains and
+pictures and everything. Oh, should you not like that?'
+
+'Like? Oh, one does not think about liking things impossible! And for
+the rest, it is nonsense. I should not like to be dependent, and I ought
+not.'
+
+'You don't think what is to come next?'
+
+'No, it would be taking thought for the morrow, would it not? I don't
+want to, while I can't do anything, it would only make me fret, and I
+am glad I am too stupid still to begin vexing myself over it. I suppose
+energy and power of considering will come when my heart does not flutter
+so. In the meantime, I only want to keep quiet, and I hope that's not
+all laziness, but some trust in Him who has helped me all this time.'
+
+'Miss Gillian, you've clavered as long as is good for Miss White, and
+here are the whole clanjamfrie waiting in the road for you. Now be
+douce, my bairn, and mind you are not in the woods at home, and don't
+let the laddies play their tricks with Miss Primrose.'
+
+'I must go,' said Gillian, hastily kissing Kalliope. 'The others were
+going to call for me. When Lady Phyllis was riding with her father she
+spied a wonderful field of daffodils and a valley full of moss at a
+place called Clipston, two miles off, and we are all going to get some
+for the decorations. I'll send you some. Good-bye.'
+
+The clanjamfrie, as Mrs. Halfpenny called it, mustered strong, and
+Gillian's heart leapt at the resumption of the tumultuous family life,
+as she beheld the collection of girls, boys, dogs, and donkeys awaiting
+her in the approach; and, in spite of the two governesses' presence,
+her mind misgave her as to the likelihood of regard to the hint that her
+mother had given that she hoped the elder ones would try to be sober
+in their ways, and not quite forget what week it was. It was in their
+favour that Jasper, now in his last term at school, was much more of a
+man and less of a boy than hitherto, and was likely to be on the side
+of discretion, so that he might keep in order that always difficult
+element, Wilfred, whose two years of preparatory school as yet made him
+only more ingenious in the arts of teasing, and more determined to show
+his superiority to petticoat government. He had driven Fergus nearly
+distracted by threatening to use all his mineralogical specimens to make
+ducks and drakes, and actually confusing them together, so that Fergus
+repented of having exhibited them, and rejoiced that Aunt Jane had let
+them continue in her lumber-room till they could find a permanent home.
+
+Wilfred had a shot for Mrs. Halfpenny, when she came down with Gillian
+and looked for Primrose to secure that there were no interstices between
+the silk handkerchief and fur collar.
+
+'Ha, ha, old Small Change, don't you wish you may get it?'--as Primrose
+proved to be outside the drive on one of the donkeys. 'You've got
+nothing to do but gnaw your fists at us like old Giant Pope.'
+
+'For shame, Wilfred!' said Jasper. 'My mother did Primrose's throat,
+nurse, so she is all right.'
+
+'Bad form,' observed Lord Ivinghoe, shaking his head.
+
+'I'm not going to Eton,' replied Wilfred audaciously.
+
+'I should hope not!'--in a tone of ineffable contempt, not for Wilfred's
+person, but his manners, and therewith his Lordship exclaimed, 'Who's
+that?' as Maura came flying down with Gillian's forgotten basket.
+
+'Oh, that's Maura White!' said Valetta.
+
+'I say, isn't she going with us?'
+
+'Oh no, she has to look after her sister!'
+
+'Don't you think we might take her, Gill?' said Fly. 'She never gets any
+fun.'
+
+'I don't think she ought to leave Kalliope to-day, Fly, for nurse is
+going down to Il Lido; and besides, Aunt Jane said we must not take
+_all_ Rockquay with us.'
+
+'No, they would not let us ask Kitty and Clement Varley, said Fergus
+disconsolately.
+
+'I am sure she is five times as pretty as your Kitty!' returned
+Ivinghoe. 'She is a regular stunner.' Whereby it may be perceived that
+a year at Eton had considerably modified his Lordship's correctness of
+speech, if not of demeanour. Be it further observed that, in spite of
+the escort of the governesses, the young people were as free as if those
+ladies had been absent, for, as Jasper observed, the donkeys neutralised
+them. Miss Elbury, being a bad walker, rode one, and Miss Vincent felt
+bound to keep close to Primrose upon the other; and as neither animal
+could be prevailed on to moderate its pace, they kept far ahead of all
+except Valetta, who was mounted on the pony intended for Lady Phyllis,
+but disdained by her until she should be tired. Lord Ivinghoe's
+admiration of Maura was received contemptuously by Wilfred, who was
+half a year younger than his cousin, and being already, in his own
+estimation, a Wykehamist, had endless rivalries with him.
+
+'She! She's nothing but a cad! Her sister is a shop-girl, and her
+brother is a quarryman.'
+
+'She does not look like it,' observed Ivinghoe, while Mysie and Fly,
+with one voice, exclaimed that her father was an officer in the Royal
+Wardours.
+
+'A private first,' said Wilfred, with boyhood's reiteration. 'Cads and
+quarrymen all of them--the whole boiling, old White and all, though he
+has got such a stuck-up house!'
+
+'Nonsense, Will,' said Fly. 'Why, Mr. White has dined with us.'
+
+'A patent of nobility, said Jasper, smiling.
+
+'I don't care,' said Wilfred; 'if other people choose to chum with old
+stonemasons and convicts, I don't.'
+
+'Wilfred, that is too bad,' said Gillian. 'It is very wrong to talk in
+that way.'
+
+'Oh!' said the audacious Wilfred, 'we all know who is Gill's Jack!'
+
+'Shut up, Will!' cried Fergus, flying at him. 'I told you not to--'
+
+But Wilfred bounded up a steep bank, and from that place of vantage went
+on--
+
+'Didn't she teach him Greek, and wasn't he spoony; and didn't she send
+back his valentine, so that--'
+
+Fergus was scrambling up the bank after him, enraged at the betrayal of
+his confidence, and shouting inarticulately, while poor Gillian moved
+on, overwhelmed with confusion, and Fly uttered the cutting words,
+'Perfectly disgusting!'
+
+'Ay, so it was!' cried the unabashed Wilfred, keeping on at the top of
+the bank, and shaking the bushes at every pause. 'So he broke down the
+rocks, and ran away with the tin, and enlisted, and went to prison. Such
+a sweet young man for Gill!'
+
+Poor Gillian! was her punishment never to end? That scrape of hers,
+hitherto so tenderly and delicately hinted at, and which she would have
+given worlds to have kept from her brothers, now shouted all over the
+country! Sympathy, however, she had, if that would do her any good.
+Mysie and Fly came on each side of Ivinghoe, assuring him, in low eager
+voices, of the utter nonsense of the charge, and explaining ardently;
+and Jasper, with one bound, laid hold of the tormentor, dragged him
+down, and, holding his stick over him, said--
+
+'Now, Wilfred, if you don't hold your tongue, and not behave like a
+brute, I shall send you straight home.'
+
+'It's quite true,' growled Wilfred. 'Ask her.'
+
+'What does that signify? I'm ashamed of you! I've a great mind to thrash
+you this instant. If you speak another word of that sort, I shall. Now
+then, there are the governesses trying to stop to see what's the row.
+I shall give you up to Miss Vincent, if you choose to behave so like a
+spiteful girl.'
+
+A sixth-form youth was far too great a man to be withstood by one who
+was not yet a public schoolboy at all; and Wilfred actually obeyed,
+while Jasper added to Fergus--
+
+'How could you be such a little ass as to go and tell him all that rot?'
+
+'It was true,' grumbled Fergus.
+
+'The more reason not to go cackling about it like an old hen, or a girl!
+Your own sister! I'm ashamed of you both. Mind, I shall thrash you if
+you mention it again.'
+
+Poor Fergus felt the accusation of cackling unjust, since he had only
+told Wilfred in confidence, and that had been betrayed, but he had got
+his lesson on family honour, and he subsided into his wonted look-out
+for curious stones, while Gillian was overtaken by Jasper--whether
+willingly or not, she hardly knew--but his first word was, 'Little
+beast!'
+
+'You didn't hurt him, I hope,' said Gill, accepting the invitation to
+take his arm.
+
+'Oh no! I only threatened to make him walk with the governesses and the
+donkeys.'
+
+'Asses and savants to the centre,' said Gillian; 'like the orders to the
+French army in Egypt.'
+
+'But what's all this about? You wanted me to look after you! Is it that
+Alexis?'
+
+'Oh, Japs! Mamma knows all about it and papa. It was only that he was
+ridiculous because I was so silly as to think I could help him with his
+Greek.'
+
+'You! With his Greek! I pity him!'
+
+'Yes. I found he soon knew too much for me,' said Gillian meekly; 'but,
+indeed, Japs, it wasn't very bad! He only sent me a valentine, and Aunt
+Jane says I need not have been so angry.'
+
+'A cat may look at a king,' said Jasper loftily. 'It is a horrid bad
+thing for a girl to be left to herself without a brother worth having.'
+
+So Gillian got off pretty easily, and after all the walk was not greatly
+spoilt. They coalesced again with the other three, who were tolerably
+discreet, and found the debate on the White gentility had been resumed.
+Ivinghoe was philosophically declaring 'that in these days one must take
+up with everybody, so it did not matter if one was a little more of a
+cad than another; he himself was fag at Eton to a fellow whose father
+was an oilman, and who wasn't half a bad lot.'
+
+'An oilman, Ivy,' said his sister; 'I thought he imported petroleum.'
+
+'Well, it's all the same. I believe he began as an oilman.'
+
+'We shall have Fergus reporting that he's a petroleuse,' put in Jasper.
+
+'No, a petroleuse is a woman.'
+
+'I like Mr. White,' said Fly; 'but, Gillian, you don't think it is true
+that he is going to marry your Aunt Jane?'
+
+There was a great groan, and Japs observed--
+
+'Some one told us Rockquay was a hotbed of gossip, and we seem to have
+got it strong.'
+
+'Where did this choice specimen come from, Fly!' demanded Ivinghoe, in
+his manner most like his mother.
+
+Fly nodded her head towards her governess in the advanced guard.
+
+'She had a cousin to tea with her, and they thought I didn't know whom
+they meant, and they said that he was always up at Rockstone.'
+
+'Well, he is; and Aunt Jane always stands up for him,' said Gillian;
+'but that was because he is so good to the workpeople, and Aunt Ada took
+him for some grand political friend of Cousin Rotherwood's.'
+
+'Aunt Jane!' said Jasper. 'Why, she is the very essence and epitome of
+old maids.'
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian. 'If it came to that, she would quite as soon marry
+the postman.'
+
+'That's lucky' said Ivinghoe. 'One can swallow a good deal, but not
+quite one's own connections.'
+
+'In fact,' said Jasper, 'you had rather be an oilman's fag than a
+quarryman's--what is it?--first cousin once removed in law?'
+
+'It is much more likely,' said Gillian, as they laughed over this, 'that
+Kalliope and Maura will be his adopted daughters, only he never comes
+near them.'
+
+Wherewith there was a halt. Miss Elbury insisted that Phyllis should
+ride, the banks began to show promise of flowers, and, in the search for
+violets, dangerous topics were forgotten, and Wilfred was forgiven. They
+reached the spot marked by Fly, a field with a border of sloping broken
+ground and brushwood, which certainly fulfilled all their desires,
+steeply descending to a stream full of rocks, the ground white with wood
+anemones, long evergreen trails of periwinkles and blue flowers between,
+primroses clustering under the roots of the trees, daffodils gilding the
+grass above, and the banks verdant with exquisite feather-moss. Such a
+springtide wood was joy to all, especially as the first cuckoo of the
+season came to add to their delights and set them counting for the
+augury of happy years, which proved so many that Mysie said they would
+not know what to do with them.
+
+'I should,' said Ivinghoe. 'I should like to live to be a great old
+statesman, as Lord Palmerston did, and have it all my own way. Wouldn't
+I bring things round again!'
+
+'Perhaps they would have gone too far,' suggested Jasper, 'and then you
+would have to gnaw your hand like Giant Pope, as Wilfred says.'
+
+'Catch me, while I could do something better.'
+
+'If one only lived long enough,' speculated Fergus, 'one might find out
+what everything was made of, and how to do everything.'
+
+'I wonder if the people did before the Flood, when they lived eight or
+nine hundred years,' said Fly.
+
+'Perhaps that is the reason there is nothing new under the sun,'
+suggested Valetta, as many a child has before suggested.
+
+'But then,' said Mysie, they got wicked.'
+
+'And then after the Flood it had all to be begun over again,' said
+Ivinghoe. 'Let me see, Methuselah lived about as long as from William
+the Conqueror till now. I think he might have got to steam and
+electricity.'
+
+'And dynamite,' said Gillian. 'Oh, I don't wonder they had to be swept
+away, if they were clever and wicked both!'
+
+'And I suppose they were,' said Jasper. 'At least the giants, and that
+they handed on some of their ability through Ham, to the Egyptians, and
+all those queer primeval coons, whose works we are digging up.'
+
+'From the Conquest till now,' repeated Gillian. 'I'm glad we don't live
+so long now. It tires one to think of it.'
+
+'But we shall,' said Fly.
+
+'Yes,' said Mysie, 'but then we shall be rid of this nasty old self that
+is always getting wrong.'
+
+'That little lady's nasty old self does so as little as any one's,'
+Jasper could not help remarking to his sister; and Fly, pouncing on the
+first purple orchis spike amid its black-spotted leaves, cried--
+
+'At any rate, these dear things go on the same, without any tiresome
+inventing.'
+
+'Except God's just at first,' whispered Mysie.
+
+'And the gardeners do invent new ones,' said Valetta.
+
+'Invent! No; they only fuss them and spoil them, and make ridiculous
+names for them,' said Fly. These darling creatures are ever so much
+better. Look at Primrose there.'
+
+'Yes,' said Gillian, as she saw her little sister in quiet ecstasy over
+the sparkling bells of the daffodils; 'one would not like to live eight
+hundred years away from that experience.'
+
+'But mamma cares just as much still as Primrose does,' said Mysie. 'We
+must get some for her own self as well as for the church.'
+
+'Mine are all for mamma,' proclaimed Primrose; and just then there was
+a shout that a bird's nest had been found--a ring-ousel's nest on the
+banks. Fly and her brother shared a collection of birds' eggs, and were
+so excited about robbing the ousels of a single egg, that Gillian hoped
+that Fergus would not catch the infection and abandon minerals for
+eggs, which would be ever so much worse--only a degree better than
+butterflies, towards which Wilfred showed a certain proclivity.
+
+'I shall be thirteen before next holidays,' he observed, after making a
+vain dash with his hat at a sulphur butterfly, looking like a primrose
+flying away.
+
+'Mamma won't allow any "killing collection" before thirteen years old,'
+explained Mysie.
+
+'She says,' explained Gillian, 'by that time one ought to be old enough
+to discriminate between the lawfulness of killing the creatures for the
+sake of studying their beauty and learning them, and the mere wanton
+amusement of hunting them down under the excuse of collecting.'
+
+'I say,' exclaimed Valetta, who had been exploring above, 'here is such
+a funny old house.'
+
+There was a rush in that direction, and at the other end of the wide
+home-field was perceived a picturesque gray stone house, with large
+mullioned windows, a dilapidated low stone wall, with what had once been
+a handsome gateway, overgrown with ivy, and within big double daffodils
+and white narcissus growing wild.
+
+'It's like the halls of Ivor,' said Mysie, awestruck by the loneliness;
+'no dog, nor horse, nor cow, not even a goose,'
+
+'And what a place to sketch!' cried Miss Vincent. 'Oh, Gillian, we must
+come here another day.'
+
+'Oh, may we gather the flowers?' exclaimed the insatiable Primrose.
+
+'Those poetic narcissuses would be delicious for the choir screen,'
+added Gillian.
+
+'Poetic narcissus--poetic grandmother,' said Wilfred. 'It's old butter
+and eggs.'
+
+'I say!' cried Mysie. 'Look, Ivy--I know that pair of fighting
+lions--ain't these some of your arms over the door?'
+
+'By which you mean a quartering of our shield,' said Ivinghoe.
+'Of course it is the Clipp bearing. Or, two lions azure, regardant
+combatant, their tails couped.'
+
+'Two blue Kilkenny cats, who have begun with each other's tails,'
+commented Jasper.
+
+'Ivinghoe glared a little, but respected the sixth form, and Gillian
+added--
+
+'They clipped them! Then did this place belong to our ancestors?'
+
+'Poetic grandmother, really!' said Mysie.
+
+'Great grandmother,' corrected Ivinghoe. 'To be sure. It was from the
+Clipps that we got all this Rockstone estate!'
+
+'And I suppose this was their house? What a shame to have deserted it!'
+
+'Oh, it has been a farmhouse,' said Fly. 'I heard something about farms
+that wouldn't let.'
+
+'Then is it yours?' cried Valetta, 'and may we gather the flowers?'
+
+'And mayn't we explore?' asked Mysie. 'Oh, what fun!'
+
+'Holloa!' exclaimed Wilfred, transfixed, as if he had seen the ghosts
+of all the Clipps. For just as Valetta and Mysie threw themselves on the
+big bunches of hepatica and the white narcissus, a roar, worthy of the
+clip-tailed lions, proceeded from the window, and the demand, 'Who is
+picking my roses?'
+
+Primrose in terror threw herself on Gillian with a little scream.
+Wilfred crept behind the walls, but after the general start there was
+an equally universal laugh, for between the stout mullions of the oriel
+window Lord Rotherwood's face was seen, and Sir Jasper's behind him.
+
+Great was the jubilation, and there was a rush to the tall door, up
+the dilapidated steps, where curls of fern were peeping out; but the
+gentlemen called out that only the back-door could be opened, and the
+intention of a 'real grand exploration' was cut short by Miss Elbury's
+declaring that she was bound not to let Phyllis stay out till six
+o'clock.
+
+Fly, in her usual good-humoured way, suppressed her sighs and begged the
+others to explore without her, but the general vote declared this to be
+out of the question. Fly had too short a time to remain with her cousins
+to be forsaken even for the charms of 'the halls of Ivor,' or the rival
+Beast's Castle, as Gillian called it, which, after all, would not run
+away.
+
+'But it might be let,' said Mysie.
+
+'Yes, I've got a tenant in agitation,' said Lord Rotherwood
+mischievously. 'Never mind, I dare say he won't inquire what you have
+done with his butter and eggs.'
+
+So with a parting salute to the ancestral halls, the cavalry was set in
+order, big panniers full of moss and flowers disposed on the donkeys,
+Fly placed on her pony, and every maiden taking her basket of flowers,
+Jasper and Ivinghoe alone being amiable, or perhaps trustworthy enough
+to assist in carrying. Fly's pony demurred to the extra burthen, so
+Jasper took hers; and when Gillian declared herself too fond of her
+flowers to part with them, Ivinghoe astonished Miss Vincent, on whom
+some stones of Fergus's, as well as her own share of flowers, had been
+bestowed, by taking one handle of her most cumbrous basket.
+
+Sir Jasper and Lord Rotherwood rode together through the happy young
+troop on the homeward way. Perhaps Ivinghoe was conscious of a special
+nod of approval from his father.
+
+On passing Rock House, the youthful public was rather amused at his
+pausing, and saying--
+
+'Aren't you going to leave some flowers there?'
+
+'Oh yes!' said Gillian. 'I have a basket on purpose.'
+
+'And I have some for Maura,' said Valetta.
+
+Valetta's was an untidy bunch; Gillian's a dainty basket, where white
+violets reposed on moss within a circle of larger blossoms.
+
+'That's something like!' quoth Ivinghoe.
+
+He lingered with them as if he wanted to see that vision again, but only
+the caretaker appeared, and promised to take the flowers upstairs.
+
+Maura afterwards told how they were enjoyed, and they knew of Kalliope's
+calm restfulness in Holy Week thoughts and Paschal Joys.
+
+It was on Easter Tuesday that Mr. White first sent a message asking to
+see his guest, now of nearly three weeks.
+
+He came in very quietly and gently--perhaps the sight of the room he
+had prepared for his young wife was in itself a shock to him, and he had
+lived so long without womankind that he had all a lonely man's awe of an
+invalid. He took with a certain respect the hand that Kalliope held out,
+as she said, with a faint flush in her cheeks--
+
+'I am glad to thank you, sir. You have been very good to me.'
+
+'I am glad to see you better,' he said, with a little embarrassment.
+
+'I ought to be, in this beautiful air, and with these lovely things to
+look at,' and she pointed to the reigning photograph on the stand--the
+facade of St. Mark's.
+
+'You should see it as I did.' And he began to describe it to her,
+she putting in a question or two here and there, which showed her
+appreciation.
+
+'You know something about it already,' he said.
+
+'Yes; when I was quite a little girl one of the officers in the Royal
+Wardours brought some photographs to Malta, and told me about them.'
+
+'But,' he said, recalling himself, that is not my object now. Your
+brother says he does not feel competent to decide without you.' And he
+laid before her two or three prospectuses of grammar schools. 'It is
+time to apply,' he added, 'if that little fellow--Peter, you call him,
+don't you?--is to begin next term.'
+
+'Petros! Oh, sir, this is kindness!'
+
+'I desired that the children's education should be attended to,' said
+Mr. White. 'I did not intend their being sent to an ordinary National
+school.'
+
+'Indeed,' said Kalliope; 'I do not think much time has been lost, for
+they have learnt a good deal there; but I am particularly glad that
+Petros should go to a superior school just now that he has been left
+alone, for he is more lively and sociable than Theodore, and it might be
+less easy for him to keep from bad companions.'
+
+The pros and cons of the several schools were discussed, and
+Hurstpierpoint finally fixed on.
+
+'Never mind about his outfit,' added Mr. White. 'I'll give that fellow
+down in Bellevue an order to rig him out. He is a sharp little sturdy
+fellow, who will make his way in the world.'
+
+'Indeed, I trust so, now that his education is secured. It is another
+load off my mind,' said Kalliope, with a smile of exceeding sweetness
+and gratitude, her hands clasped, and her eyes raised for a moment in
+higher thankfulness,--a look that so enhanced her beauty that Mr. White
+gazed for a moment in wonder. The next moment, however, the dark eyes
+turned on him with a little anxiety, and she said--
+
+'One thing more, sir. Perhaps you will be so kind as to relieve my mind
+again. That notice of dismissal at the quarter's end. Was it not in some
+degree from a mistake?'
+
+'An utter mistake, my dear,' he said hastily. 'Never trouble your head
+about it.'
+
+'Then it does not hold?'
+
+'Certainly not.'
+
+'And I may go back to my office as soon as I am well enough?'
+
+'Is that your wish?'
+
+'Yes, sir. I love my work and my assistants, and I think I could do
+better if a little more scope could be allowed me.'
+
+'Very well, we will see about that--you have to get well first of all.'
+
+'I am so much better that I ought to go home. Mr. Lee is quite ready for
+me.'
+
+Nonsense! You must be much stronger before Dagger would hear of your
+going.'
+
+After this Mr. White came to sit with Kalliope for a time in the course
+of each day, bringing with him something that would interest her, and
+seeming gratified by her responsiveness, quiet as it was, for she
+was still very feeble, and exertion caused a failure of breath and
+fluttering of heart that were so distressing that ten days more passed
+before she was brought downstairs and drawn out in the garden in
+a chair, where she could sit on the sheltered terrace enjoying the
+delicious spring air and soft sea-breezes, sometimes alone, sometimes
+with the company of one friend or another. Gillian and Aunt Jane had,
+with the full connivance of Mr. White, arranged a temporary entrance
+from one garden to the other for the convenience of attending to
+Kalliope, and here one afternoon Miss Mohun was coming in when she
+heard through the laurels two voices speaking to the girl. As she moved
+forward she saw they were the elder and younger Stebbings, and that
+Kalliope had risen to her feet, and was leaning on the back of her
+chair. While she was considering whether to advance Kalliope heard her,
+and called in a breathless voice, 'Miss Mohun! oh, Miss Mohun, come!'
+
+'Miss Mohun! You will do us the justice--' began Mr. Stebbing, speaking
+more to her indignant face and gesture than to any words.
+
+'Miss White is not well,' she said. 'You had better leave her to me.'
+
+And as they withdrew through the house, Kalliope sank back in her chair
+in one of those alarming attacks of deadly faintness that had been
+averted for many days past. Happily an electric bell was always at
+hand, and the housekeeper knew what remedies to bring. Kalliope did
+not attempt a word for many long minutes, though the colour came back
+gradually to her lips. Her first words were,
+
+'Thank you! Oh, I did hope that persecution was over!'
+
+'My poor child! Don't tell me unless you like! Only--it wasn't about
+your work?'
+
+'Oh no, the old story! But he brought his father--to say he
+consented--and wished it--now.'
+
+There was no letting her say any more at that time, but it was all plain
+enough. This had been one more attempt of the Stebbing family to recover
+their former power; Kalliope was assumed to be Mr. White's favoured
+niece; Frank could make capital of having loved her when poor and
+neglected, and his parents were ready to back his suit. The father and
+son had used their familiarity with the house to obtain admittance to
+the garden without announcement or preparation, and had pressed the
+siege, with a confidence that could only be inspired by their own
+self-opinion. Kalliope had been kept up by her native dignity and
+resolution, and had at first gently, then firmly, declined the
+arguments, persuasions, promises, and final reproaches with which they
+beset her--even threatening to disclose what they called encouragement,
+and assuring her that she need not reckon on Mr. White, for the general
+voice declared him likely to marry again, and then where would she be?'
+
+'I don't know what would have become of me, if you had not come,' she
+said.
+
+And when she had rested long enough, and crept into the house, and
+Alexis had come home to carry her upstairs, it was plain that she had
+been seriously thrown back, and she was not able to leave her room for
+two or three days.
+
+Mr. White was necessarily told what had been the cause of the mischief.
+He smiled grimly. 'Ay! ay! Master Frank thought he would come round the
+old man, did he? He will find himself out. Ha, ha! a girl like that in
+the house is like a honey-pot near a wasps' nest, and the little sister
+will be as bad. Didn't I see the young lord, smart little prig as he
+looks, holding an umbrella over her with a smile on his face, as much as
+to say, "I know who is a pretty girl! No one to look after them either!"
+But maybe they will all find themselves mistaken,' and his grim smile
+relaxed into a highly amiable one.
+
+Miss Mohun was not at all uneasy as to the young lord. An Eton boy's
+admiration of a pretty face did not amount to much, even if Ivinghoe
+had not understood 'Noblesse oblige' too well to leave a young girl
+unsheltered. Besides, he and all the rest were going away the next day.
+But what did that final hint mean?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. -- THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN
+
+
+
+One secret was soon out, even before the cruel parting of Fly and Mysie,
+which it greatly mitigated.
+
+Clipston was to be repaired and put in order, to be rented by the
+Merrifields. It was really a fine old substantial squire's house, though
+neglected and consigned to farmers for four generations. It had great
+capabilities--a hall up to the roof, wainscoted rooms--at present
+happy hunting-grounds to boys and terriers--a choked fountain, numerous
+windows, walled up in the days of the 'tax on light,' and never
+reopened, and, moreover, a big stone barn, with a cross on the gable,
+and evident traces of having once been a chapel.
+
+The place was actually in Rockstone Parish, and had a hamlet of six or
+seven houses, for which cottage services were held once a week, but the
+restoration of the chapel would provide a place for these, and it would
+become a province for Lady Merrifield's care, while Sir Jasper was
+absolutely entreated, both by Lord Rotherwood and the rector of
+Rockstone, to become the valuable layman of the parish, nor was he at
+all unwilling thus to bestow his enforced leisure.
+
+It was a beautiful place. The valley of daffodils already visited
+narrowed into a ravine, where the rivulet rushed down from moorlands,
+through a ravine charmingly wooded, and interspersed with rock. It would
+give country delights to the children, and remove them from the gossip
+of the watering-place society, and yet not be too far off for those
+reading-room opportunities beloved of gentlemen.
+
+The young people were in ecstasies, only mourning that they could not
+live there during the repairs, and that those experienced in the nature
+of workmen hesitated to promise that Clipston would be habitable by the
+summer vacation. In the meantime, most of the movables from Silverfold
+were transported thither, and there was a great deal of walking and
+driving to and fro, planning for the future, and revelling in the spring
+outburst of flowers.
+
+Schoolroom work had begun again, and Lady Merrifield was hearing
+Mysie read the Geruasalemme Liberata, while Miss Vincent superintended
+Primrose's copies, and Gillian's chalks were striving to portray a bust
+of Sophocles, when the distant sounds of the piano in the drawing-room
+stopped, and Valetta came in with words always ominous--
+
+'Aunt Jane wants to speak to you, mamma.'
+
+Lady Merrifield gathered up her work and departed, while Valetta,
+addressing the public, said, 'Something's up.'
+
+'Oh!' cried Primrose, 'Sofi hasn't run away again?'
+
+'I hope Kalliope isn't worse,' said Mysie anxiously.
+
+'I guess,' said Valetta, 'somebody said something the other day!'
+
+'Something proving us the hotbeds of gossip,' muttered Gillian.
+
+'You had better get your German exercise, Valetta,' said Miss Vincent.
+'Mysie, you have not finished your sums.'
+
+And a sigh went round; but Valetta added one after-clap.
+
+'Aunt Jane looked--I don't know how!'
+
+Whereat Gillian nodded her head, and looked up at Miss Vincent, who was
+as curious as the rest, but restrained the manifestation manfully.
+
+Meantime Lady Merrifield found her sister standing at the window, and,
+without turning round, the words were uttered--
+
+'Jasper was right, Lily.'
+
+'You don't mean it?'
+
+'Yes; he is after her!'--with a long breath.
+
+'Mr. White!'
+
+'Yes'--then sitting down. 'I did not think much of it before. They
+always are after Ada more or less--and she likes it; but it never has
+come to anything.'
+
+'Why should it now?'
+
+'It has! At least, it has gone further than ever anything did before,
+except Charlie Scott, that ridiculous boy at Beechcroft that William was
+so angry with, and who married somebody else.'
+
+'You don't say that he has proposed to her?'
+
+'Yes, he has--the man! By a letter this morning, and I could see she
+expected it--not that that's any wonder!'
+
+'But, my dear, she can't possibly be thinking of it.'
+
+'Well, I should have said it was impossible; but I see she has not made
+up her mind. Poor dear Ada! It is too bad to laugh; but she does like
+the having a real offer at last, and a great Italian castle laid at her
+feet.'
+
+'But he isn't a gentleman! I don't mean only his birth--and I know he is
+a good man really--but Jasper said he could feel he was not a gentleman
+by the way he fell on Richard White before his sister.'
+
+'I know! I know! I wonder if it would be for her happiness?'
+
+'Then she has not answered him?'
+
+'No; or, rather, I left her going to write. She won't accept him
+certainly now; but I believe she is telling him that she must have time
+to consider and consult her family.'
+
+'She must know pretty well what her family will say. Fancy William!
+Fancy Emily! Fancy Reginald!'
+
+'Yes, oh yes! But Ada--I must say it--she does like to prolong the
+situation.'
+
+'It is not fair on the poor man.'
+
+'Well, she will act as she chooses; but I think she really does want
+to see what amount of opposition--No, not that, but of estrangement it
+would cause.'
+
+'Did you see the letter?'
+
+'Yes; no doubt you will too. I told her I should come to you, and she
+did not object. I think she was glad to be saved broaching the subject,
+for she is half ashamed.'
+
+'I should have thought she would have been as deeply offended at the
+presumption as poor Gillian was with the valentine.'
+
+'Lily, my dear, forty-two is not all one with seventeen, especially when
+there's an estate with an Italian countship attached to it! Though
+I'm sure I'd rather marry Alexis than this man. _He_ is a gentleman in
+grain!'
+
+'Oh, Jenny, you are very severe!'
+
+'I'm afraid it is bitterness, Lily; so I rushed down to have it all out
+with you, and make up my mind what part to take.'
+
+'It is very hard on you, my dear, after you have nursed and waited on
+her all these years.'
+
+'It is the little titillation of vanity--exactly like the Ada of
+sixteen, nay, of six, that worries me, and makes me naughty,' said Jane,
+dashing off a tear. 'Oh, Lily! how could I have borne it if you had not
+come home!'
+
+'But what do you mean about the part to take?'
+
+'Well, you see, Lily, I really do not know what I ought to do. I want to
+clear my mind by talking to you.'
+
+'I am afraid it would make a great difference to you in the matter of
+means.'
+
+'I don't mean about that; but I am not sure whether I ought to stand up
+for her. You see the man is really good at heart, and religious, and
+he is taking out this chaplain. The climate, mountains, and sea might
+really suit her health, and she could have all kinds of comforts and
+luxuries; and if she can get over his birth, and the want of fine edge
+of his manners, I don't know that we have any right to set ourselves
+against it.'
+
+'I should have thought those objections would have weighed most of all
+with her.'
+
+'And I do believe that if the whole family are unanimous in scouting the
+very idea, she will give it up. She _is_ proud of Mohun blood, and
+the Rotherwood connection and all, and if there were a desperate
+opposition--well, she would be rather flattered, and give in; but I am
+not sure that she would not always regret it, and pine after what she
+might have had.'
+
+'Rotherwood likes the man.'
+
+'Like--but that's not liking him to marry his cousin.'
+
+'Rotherwood will not be the person most shocked.'
+
+'No. We shall have a terrible time, however it ends. Oh. I wish it was
+all over!'
+
+'Do you think she really cares for the man--loves him, in fact?'
+
+'My dear Lily, if Ada ever was in love with anybody, it was with Harry
+May, and that was all pure mistake. I never told anybody, but I believe
+it was that which upset her health. But they are both too old to concern
+themselves about such trifles. He does not expect it!'
+
+'I have seen good strong love in a woman over forty.'
+
+'Yes; but this is quite another thing. A lady of the house wanted!
+That's the motive. I should not wonder if he came home as much to look
+for a lady-wife as to set the Stebbings to rights; or, if not, he is
+driven to it by having the Whites on his hands.'
+
+'I don't quite see that. I was going to ask you how it would affect
+them.'
+
+'Well, you see, though she is perfectly willing and anxious to begin
+again, poor dear Kally really can't. She did try to arrange a design
+that had been running in her head for a long time, and she was so bad
+after it that Dr. Dagger said she must not attempt it. Then, though she
+is discreet enough for anything, Mr. White is not really her uncle, and
+could not take her about with him alone or even with Maura; so I gather
+from some expressions in his letter that he would like to take her out
+with them, spend the summer at Rocca Marina, and let her have a winter's
+study at Florence. Then, I suppose she might come back and superintend
+on quite a different footing.
+
+'So he wants Ada as a chaperon for Kalliope?'
+
+'That is an element in the affair, and not a bad one, and I don't think
+Ada will object. She won't be left entirely to his companionship.'
+
+'My dear Jane! Then I'm sure she ought not to marry him!' cried Lady
+Merrifield indignantly. 'Here comes Jasper. May I tell him?'
+
+'You will, whether you may or not.'
+
+And what Sir Jasper said was--
+
+
+          '"Who married the maiden all forlorn--"'
+
+
+At which both sisters, though rather angry, could not help laughing, and
+Lady Merrifield explained that they had always said the events had gone
+on in a concatenation, like the house that Jack built, from Gillian's
+peep through the rails. However, he was of opinion that it was better
+not to make a strenuous opposition.
+
+'Adeline is quite old enough to judge for herself whether the
+incongruities will interfere with her happiness,' he said; 'and this is
+really a worthy man who ought not to be contemned. Violent contradiction
+might leave memories that would make it difficult to be on affectionate
+terms afterwards.'
+
+'Yes,' said Jane; 'that is what I feel. Thank you, Jasper. Now I must
+go to my district. Happily those things run on all the same for the
+present.'
+
+But when she was gone Sir Jasper told his wife that he thought it ought
+to be seriously put before Adeline that Jane ought to be considered. She
+had devoted herself to the care of her sister for many years, and the
+division of their means would tell seriously upon her comfort.
+
+'If it were a matter of affection, there would be nothing to say,' he
+observed; 'but nobody pretends that it is so, and surely Jane deserves
+consideration.
+
+'I should think her a much more comfortable companion than Mr. White,'
+said Lady Merrifield. 'I can't believe it will come to anything.
+Whatever the riches or the castle at Rocca Marina may be, Ada would, in
+a worldly point of view, give up a position of some consideration here,
+and I think that will weigh with her.'
+
+As soon as possible, Lady Merrifield went up to see her sister, and
+found her writing letters in a great flutter of importance. It was quite
+plain that the affair was not to be quashed at once, and that, whether
+the suit were granted or not, all the family were to be aware that
+Adeline had had her choice. Warned by her husband, Lady Merrifield
+guarded the form of her remonstrances.
+
+'Oh yes, dear Lily, I know! It is a sacrifice in many points of view,
+but think what a field is open to me! There are all those English
+workmen and their wives and families living out there, and Mr. White
+does so need a lady to influence them.'
+
+'You have not done much work of that kind. Besides, I thought this
+chaplain was married.'
+
+'Yes, but the moral support of a lady at the head must be needful,' said
+Ada. 'It is quite a work.'
+
+'Perhaps so,' said her sister, who had scarcely been in the habit of
+looking on Ada as a great moral influence. 'But have you thought what
+this will be to Jane?'
+
+'Really, Lily, it is a good deal for Jane's sake. She will be so much
+more free without being bound to poor me!'--and Ada's head went on one
+side. 'You know she would never have lived here but for me; and now she
+will be able to do what she pleases.'
+
+'Not pecuniarily.'
+
+'Oh, it will be quite possible to see to all that! Besides, think of
+the advantage to her schemes. Oh yes, dear Jenny, it will be a wrench to
+her, of course, and she will miss me; but, when that is once got over,
+she will feel that I have acted for the best. Nor will it be such a
+separation; he means always to spend the summer here, and the winter and
+spring at Florence or Rocca Marina.' It was grand to hear the Italian
+syllables roll from Adeline's tongue. 'You know he could take the title
+if he pleased.'
+
+'I am sure I hope he will not do anything so ridiculous!'
+
+'Oh no, of course not!' But it was plain that the secret consciousness
+of being Countess of Rocca Marina was an offset against being plain Mrs.
+White, and Adeline continued: 'There is another thing--I do not quite
+see how it can be managed about Kalliope otherwise, poor girl!'
+
+It was quite true that the care of Kalliope would be greatly facilitated
+by Mr. White's marriage; but what was absurd was to suppose that Ada
+would have made any sacrifice for her sake, or any one else's, and there
+was something comical as well as provoking in this pose of devotion to
+the public good.
+
+'You are decided, then?'
+
+'Oh no! I am only showing you what inducements there are to give up so
+much as I should do here--if I make up my mind to it.'
+
+'There's only one inducement, I should think, valid for a moment.'
+
+'Yes'--bridling a little. 'But, Lily, you always had your romance. We
+don't all meet with a Jasper at the right moment, and--and'--the Maid of
+Athens drooped her eyelids, and ingenuously curved her lips. 'I do think
+the poor man has it very much at heart.'
+
+'Then you ought not to keep him in suspense.'
+
+'And you--you really are not against it, Lily?' (rather in a
+disappointed tone), as if she expected to have her own value enhanced.
+
+'I think you ought to do whatever is most right and just by him, and
+everybody else. If you really care for the man enough to overlook his
+origin, and his occasional betrayals of it, and think he will make you
+better and happier, take him at once; but don't pretend to call it a
+sacrifice, or for anybody's sake but for your own; and, any way, don't
+trifle with him and his suspense.'
+
+Lady Merrifield spoke with unwonted severity, for she was really
+provoked.
+
+'But, Lily, I must see what the others say--William and Emily. I told
+him that William was the head of our family.'
+
+'If you mean to be guided by them, well and good; if not, I see no sense
+in asking them.'
+
+After all, the family commotion fell short of what was expected by
+either of the sisters. The eldest brother, Mr. Mohun, of Beechcroft
+Court, wrote to the lady herself that she was quite old enough to know
+what was for her own happiness, and he had no desire to interfere with
+her choice if she preferred wealth to station. To Lady Merrifield his
+letter began: 'It is very well it is no worse, and as Jasper vouches
+for this being a worthy man, and of substantial means, there is no
+valid objection. I shall take care to overhaul the settlements, and, if
+possible, I must make up poor Jane's income.'
+
+The sister, Lady Henry Grey, in her dowager seclusion at Brighton,
+contented herself with a general moan on the decadence of society,
+and the levelling up that made such an affair possible. She had been
+meditating a visit to Rockquay, to see her dear Lilias (who, by the bye,
+had run down to her at Brighton for a day out of the stay in London),
+but now she would defer it till this matter was over. It would be too
+trying to have to accept this stonemason as one of the family.
+
+As to Colonel Mohun, being one of the younger division of the family,
+there was no idea of consulting him, and he wrote a fairly civil little
+note to Adeline, hoping that she had decided for the best, and would be
+happy; while to the elder of the pair of sisters he said: 'So Ada has
+found her crooked stick at last. I always thought it inevitable. Keep up
+heart, old Jenny, and hold on till Her Majesty turns me off, and then we
+will see what is to be done.'
+
+Perhaps this cool acquiescence was less pleasing to Adeline Mohun than a
+contest that would have proved her value and importance, and her brother
+William's observation that she was old enough to know her own mind was
+the cruellest cut of all. On the other hand, there was no doubt of
+her swain's devotion. If he had been influenced in his decision by
+convenience or calculation, he was certainly by this time heartily in
+love. Not only was Adeline a handsome, graceful woman, whose airs and
+affectations seemed far more absurd to those who had made merry over
+them from childhood than to a stranger of an inferior grade; but there
+was a great charm to a man, able to appreciate refinement, in his first
+familiar intercourse with thorough ladies. Jane began to be touched
+by the sight of his devotion, and convinced of his attachment, and
+sometimes wondered with Lady Merrifield whether Adeline would rise to
+her opportunities and responsibilities, or be satisfied to be a petted
+idol.
+
+One difficulty in this time of suspense was, that the sisters had no
+right to take into their confidence the young folks, who were quite
+sharp-eyed enough to know that something was going on, and, not being
+put on honour, were not withheld from communicating their discoveries
+to one another in no measured words, though fortunately they had sense
+enough, especially under the awe of their father, not to let them go
+any further than Mysie, who was entertaining because she was shocked at
+their audacious jokes and speculations, all at first on the false scent
+of their elder aunt, who certainly was in a state of excitement and
+uncertainty enough to throw her off the even tenor of her way and
+excite some suspicion. When she actually brought down a number of the
+Contemporary Review instead of Friendly Work for the edification of her
+G.F.S., Gillian tried not to look too conscious when some of the girls
+actually tittered in the rear; and she absolutely blushed when Aunt
+Jane deliberately stated that Ascension Day would fall on a Tuesday.
+So Gillian averred as she walked up the hill with Jasper and Mysie. It
+seemed a climax to the diversion she and Jasper had extracted from it in
+private, both wearing Punch's spectacles for the nonce, and holding
+such aberrations as proof positive. Mysie, on the other hand, was much
+exercised.
+
+'Do you think she is in love, then?'
+
+'Oh yes! People always do those things in love. Besides, the Sofi hasn't
+got a single white hair in her, and you know what that always means!'
+
+'I can't make it out! I can't think how Aunt Jane can be in love with a
+great man like that. His voice isn't nice, you know--'
+
+'Not even as sweet as Bully Bottom's,' suggested Gillian.
+
+'You're a chit,' said Jasper, 'or you'd be superior to the notion of
+love being indispensable.'
+
+'When people are so _very_ old,' said Mysie in a meditative voice,
+'perhaps they can't; but Aunt Jane is very good--and I thought it was
+only horrid worldly people that married without love.'
+
+'Trust your good woman for looking to the main chance,' said Jasper, who
+was better read in Trollope and Mrs. Oliphant than his sisters.
+
+''Tis not main chance,' said Gillian. 'Think of the lots of good she
+would do! What a recreation room for the girls, and what schools she
+would set up at Rocca Marina! Depend upon it, it's for that!'
+
+'I suppose it is right if Aunt Jane does it,' said Mysie.
+
+'Well done, Mysie! So, Aunt Jane is your Pope!'
+
+'No; she's the King that can do no wrong,' said Gillian, laughing.
+
+'Wrong--I didn't say wrong--but things aren't always real wrong that
+aren't somehow quite right, said Mysie, with the bewildered reasoning of
+perceptions that outran her powers of expression.
+
+'Mysie's speeches, for instance,' said Jasper.
+
+'Oh, Japs, what did I say wrong?'
+
+'Don't tease her, Japs. He didn't mean morally, but correctly.'
+
+The three were on their way up the hill when they met Primrose, who had
+accompanied Mrs. Halfpenny to see Kalliope, and who was evidently in a
+state of such great discomposure that they all stood round to ask what
+was the matter; but she hung down her head and would not say.
+
+'Hoots! toots! I tell her she need not make such a work about it,' said
+Mrs. Halfpenny. 'The honest man did but kiss her, and no harm for her
+uncle that is to be.'
+
+'He's a nasty man! And he snatched me up! And he is all scrubby and
+tobacco-ey, and I won't have him for an uncle,' cried Primrose.
+
+'I hope he is not going to proceed in that way,' said Gillian sotto voce
+to Mysie.
+
+'People always do snatch up primroses,' said Jasper.
+
+'Don't, Japs! I don't like marble men. I wish they would stay marble.'
+
+'You don't approve of the transformation?'
+
+'Oh, Japs, is it true? Mysie, you know the statue at Rotherwood, where
+Pig-my-lion made a stone figure and it turned into a woman.'
+
+'Yes; but it was a woman and this is a man.'
+
+Mysie began an exposition of classic fable to her little sister, while
+Mrs. Halfpenny explained that this came of Christian folk setting up
+heathen idols in their houses as 'twas a shame for decent folk to
+look at, let alone puir bairnies; while Jasper and Gillian gasped in
+convulsions of laughter, and bandied queries whether their aunt were the
+statue 'Pig-my-lion' had animated, as nothing could be less statuesque
+than she, whether the reverse had taken place, as Primrose observed,
+and she had been the Pygmalion to awaken the soul in the man of marble.
+Here, however, Mrs. Halfpenny became scandalised at such laughter in the
+open street; and, perceiving some one in the distance, she carried off
+Primrose, and enjoined the others to walk on doucely and wiselike.
+
+Gillian was on her way to visit Kalliope and make an appointment for
+her mother to take her out for a drive; but as they passed the gate at
+Beechcroft out burst Valetta and Fergus, quite breathless.
+
+'Oh, Gill, Gill! Mr. White is in the drawing-room, and he has brought
+Aunt Ada the most beautiful box you ever saw, with all the stoppers made
+of gold!'
+
+'And he says I may get all the specimens I like at Rocca Marina,'
+shouted Fergus.
+
+'Ivory brushes, and such a ring--sparkling up to the ceiling!' added
+Valetta.
+
+'But, Val, Ferg, whom did you say?' demanded the elders, coming within
+the shadow of the copper beeches.
+
+'Aunt Ada,' said Valetta; 'there's a great A engraved on all those dear,
+lovely bottles, and--oh, they smell!'
+
+'Aunt Ada! Oh, I thought--'
+
+'What did you think, Gill?' said Aunt Jane, coming from the grass-plat
+suddenly on them.
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, I am so glad!' cried Gillian. 'I thought'--and she
+blushed furiously.
+
+'They made asses of themselves,' said Jasper.
+
+'They said it was you,' added Mysie. 'Miss Mellon told Miss Elbury,' she
+added in excuse.
+
+'Me? No, I thank you! So you are glad, Gillian?'
+
+'Oh yes, aunt! I couldn't have borne for you to do anything--queer'--and
+there was a look in Gillian's face that went to Jane's heart, and under
+other circumstances would have produced a kiss, but she rallied to her
+line of defence.
+
+'My dear, you must not call this queer. Mr. White is very much attached
+to your aunt Ada, and I think he will make her very happy, and give her
+great opportunities of doing good.'
+
+'That's just what Gillian said when she was afraid it was you,' said
+Mysie. 'I suppose that's it? And that makes it real right.'
+
+'And the golden stoppers!' said Valetta innocently, but almost choking
+Jasper with laughter, which must be suppressed before his aunt.
+
+'May one know it now?' asked Gillian, sensible of the perilous ground.
+
+'Yes, my dears; you must have been on tenter-hooks all this time, for,
+of course, you saw there was a crisis, and you behaved much better than
+I should have done at your age; but it was only a fait accompli this
+very day, and we couldn't tell you before.'
+
+'When he brought down the golden stoppers,' Jasper could not help
+saying.
+
+'No, no, you naughty boy! He would not have dared to bring it in
+before; he came before luncheon--all that came after. Oh, my dear, that
+dressing-case is perfectly awful! I wouldn't have such a burthen on my
+mind--for--for all the orphans in London! I hope there are no banditti
+at Rocca Marina.'
+
+'Only accepted to-day! How did he get all his great A's engraved?' said
+Jasper practically.
+
+'He could not have had many doubts,' said Gillian. 'Does Kalliope know?'
+
+'I cannot tell; I think he has probably told her.'
+
+'He must have met Primrose there,' said Jasper. 'Poor Prim!' And the
+offence and the Pig-my-lion story were duly related, much to Aunt Jane's
+amusement.
+
+'But,' she said, 'I think that the soul in the marble man is very
+real, and very warm; and, dear children, don't get into the habit of
+contemning him. Laugh, I suppose you must; I am afraid it must look
+ridiculous at our age; but please don't despise. I am going down to your
+mother.
+
+'May I come with you! said Gillian. 'I don't think I can go to Kally
+till I have digested this a little; and, if you are going to mamma, she
+won't drive her out.'
+
+Jane was much gratified by this volunteer, though Jasper did suggest
+that Gill was afraid of Primrose's treatment. He went on with the other
+three to Clipston, while Gillian exclaimed--
+
+'Oh, Aunt Jane, shall not you be very lonely?'
+
+'Not nearly so much so as if you were not all here,' said her aunt
+cheerfully. 'When you bemoaned your sisters last year we did not think
+the same thing was coming on me.'
+
+'Phyllis and Alethea! It was a very different thing,' said Gillian.
+'Besides, though I hated it so much, I had got used to being without
+them.'
+
+'And to tell you the truth, Gill, nothing in that way ever was so bad to
+me as your own mother going and marrying; and now, you see, I have got
+her back again--and more too.'
+
+Aunt Jane's smile and softened eyes told that the young niece was
+included in the 'more too'; and Gillian felt a thrill of pleasure and
+affection in this proof that after all she was something to the aunt,
+towards whom her feelings had so entirely changed. She proceeded,
+however, to ask with considerable anxiety what would be done about
+the Whites, Kalliope especially; and in return she was told about the
+present plan of Kalliope's being taken to Italy to recover first, and
+then to pursue her studies at Florence, so as to return to her work more
+capable, and in a higher position.
+
+'Oh, how exquisite!' cried Gillian. 'But how about all the others?'
+
+'The very thing I want to see about, and talk over with your mother. I
+am sure she ought to go; and it will not even be wasting time, for she
+cannot earn anything.'
+
+Talking over things with Lady Merrifield was, however, impeded,
+for, behold, there was a visitor in the drawing-room. Aunt and niece
+exchanged glances of consternation as they detected a stranger's voice
+through the open window, and Gillian uttered a vituperative whisper.
+
+'I do believe it is that dreadful Fangs;' then, hoping her aunt had not
+heard--'Captain Henderson, I mean. He threatened to come down after us,
+and now he will always be in and out; and we shall have no peace. He has
+got nothing on earth to do.'
+
+Gillian's guess was right. The neat, trim, soldierly figure, with a long
+fair moustache and pleasant gray eyes, was introduced to Miss Mohun
+as 'Captain Henderson, one of my brother officers,' by Sir Jasper, who
+stood on the rug talking to him. Looks and signs among the ladies were
+token enough that the crisis had come; and Lady Merrifield soon secured
+freedom of speech by proposing to drive her sister to Clipston, while
+Sir Jasper asked his visitor to walk with him.
+
+'You will be in haste to sketch the place,' he said, 'before the workmen
+have done their best to demolish its beauty.'
+
+As for Gillian, she saw her aunt hesitating on account of a parochial
+engagement for that afternoon; and, as it was happily not beyond
+her powers, she offered herself as a substitute, and was thankfully
+accepted. She felt quite glad to do anything obliging towards her aunt
+Jane, and in a mood very unlike last year's grudging service; it was
+only reading to the 'mothers' meeting,' since among the good ladies
+there prevailed such a strange incapacity of reading aloud, that this
+part of the business was left to so few that for one to fail, either in
+presence or in voice, was very inconvenient. All were settled down to
+their needlework, with their babies disposed of as best they might be.
+Mr. Hablot had finished his little lecture, and the one lady with a
+voice had nearly exhausted it, and there was a slight sensation at
+the absence of the unfailing Miss Mohun, when Gillian came in with the
+apologies about going to drive with her mother.
+
+'And,' as she described it afterwards 'didn't those wretched beings all
+grin and titter, even the ladies, who ought to have had more manners,
+and that old Miss Mellon, who is a real growth of the hotbed of gossip,
+simpered and supposed we must look for such things now; and, though I
+pretended not to hear, my cheeks would go and flame up as red
+as--that tasconia, just with longing to tell them Aunt Jane was not so
+ridiculous; and so I took hold of For Half a Crown, and began to read it
+as if I could bite them all!'
+
+She read herself into a state of pacification, but did not attempt to
+see Kalliope that day, being rather shy of all that might be encountered
+in that house, especially after working hours. The next day, however,
+Lady Merrifield's services were required to chaperon the coy betrothed
+in an inspection of Cliff House and furniture, which was to be renovated
+according to her taste, and Gillian was to take that time for a visit to
+Kalliope, whom she expected to find in the garden. The usual corner
+was, however, vacant; and Mr. White was heard making a growl of 'Foolish
+girl! Doesn't know which way her bread is buttered.'
+
+Maura, however, came running up, and said to Gillian, 'Please come this
+way. She is here.'
+
+'What has she hidden herself for?' demanded Mr. White. 'I thought she
+might have been here to welcome this--Miss Adeline.'
+
+'She is not very well to-day,' faltered Maura.
+
+'Oh! ay, fretting. Well, I thought she had more sense.'
+
+Gillian followed Maura, who was no sooner out of hearing than she began:
+'It is too bad of him to be so cross. Kally really is so upset! She did
+not sleep all night, and I thought she would have fainted quite away
+this morning!'
+
+'Oh dear! has he been worrying her?'
+
+'She is very glad and happy, of course, about Miss Ada! and he won't
+believe it, because he wants her to go out to Italy with them for all
+next winter.'
+
+'And won't she? Oh, what a pity!'
+
+'She said she really could not because of us; she could not leave us,
+Petros and all, without a home. She thought it her duty to stay and look
+after us. And then he got cross, and said that she was presuming on the
+hope of living in idleness here, and making him keep us all, but she
+would find herself mistaken, and went off very angry.'
+
+'Oh, horrid! how could he?'
+
+'I believe, if Kally could have walked so far, she would have gone down
+straight to Mr. Lee's. She wanted to, but she was all in a tremble, and
+I persuaded her not, though she did send me down to ask Mrs. Lee when
+she can be ready. Then when Alexis came home, Mr. White told him that he
+didn't in the least mean all that, and would not hear of her going
+away, though he was angry at her being so foolish, but he would give her
+another chance of not throwing away such advantages. And Alexis says she
+ought not. He wants her to go, and declares that he and I can very well
+manage with Mrs. Lee, and look after Petros, and that she must not think
+of rushing off in a huff for a few words said in a passion. So, between
+the two, she was quite upset and couldn't sleep, and, oh, if she were to
+be ill again!'
+
+By this time they were in sight of Kalliope lying back in a
+basket-chair, shaded by the fence of the kitchen-garden, and her weary
+face and trembling hand showed how much this had shaken her in her
+weakness. She sent Maura away, and spoke out her troubles freely to
+Gillian. 'I thought at first my duty was quite clear, and that I ought
+not to go away and enjoy myself and leave the others to get on without
+me. Alec would find it so dreary; and though Mr. and Mrs. Lee are very
+good and kind, they are not quite companions to him. Then Maura has come
+to think so much about people being ladies that I don't feel sure that
+she would attend to Mrs. Lee; and the same with Petros in the holidays.
+If I can't work at first, still I can make a home and look after them.'
+
+'But it is only one winter, and Alexis thinks you ought; and, oh, what
+it would be, and how you would get on!'
+
+'That is what puzzles me. Alexis thinks Mr. White has a right to expect
+me to improve myself, and not go on for ever making white jessamines
+with malachite leaves, and that he can look after Maura and Petros. I
+see, too, that I ought to try to recover, or I might be a burthen on
+Alexis for ever, and hinder all his better hopes. Then, there's the not
+liking to accept a favour after Mr. White said such things, though I
+ought not to think about it since he made that apology; but it is a
+horrid feeling that I ought not to affront him for the sake of the
+others. Altogether I do feel so tossed. I can't get back the feeling I
+had when I was ill that I need not worry, for that God will decide.'
+
+And there were tears in her eyes.
+
+'Can't you ask some one's advice?' said Gillian.
+
+'If I were sure they quite understood! My head is quite tired with
+thinking about it.'
+
+Not many moments had passed before there were steps that made Kalliope
+start painfully, and Maura appeared, piloting another visitor. It was
+Miss Mohun, who had escaped from the survey of the rooms,--so far uneasy
+at what she had gathered from Mr. White, that she was the more anxious
+to make the offer previously agreed to.
+
+'My dear,' she said, 'I am afraid you look tired.'
+
+'They have worried her and knocked her up,' said Gillian indignantly.
+
+'I see! Kally, my dear, we are connections now, you know, and I have
+heard of Mr. White's plan. It made me think whether you would find the
+matter easier if you let me have Maura while you are away to cheer my
+solitude. Then I could see that she did her lessons, and, between all
+Gillian's brothers, we could see that Petros was happy in the holidays.'
+
+'Oh, Miss Mohun! how can I be grateful enough? There is an end of all
+difficulties.'
+
+And when the inspecting party came round, and Adeline bent to kiss the
+white, weary, but no longer distressed face, and kindly said, 'We shall
+see a great deal of each other, I hope,' she replied, with an earnest
+'thank you,' and added to Mr. White, 'Miss Mohun has made it all easy to
+me, sir, and I am very grateful!'
+
+'Ay, ay! You're a good girl at the bottom, and have some sense!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. -- FANGS
+
+
+
+Events came on rapidly that spring. Mr. White was anxious that his
+marriage should take place quickly--afraid, perhaps, that his prize
+would escape him, and be daunted by the passive disapproval of her
+family, though this was only manifested to him in a want of cordiality.
+This, being sincere people, they could not help; and that outbreak to
+Kalliope had made the sisters so uneasy, that they would have willingly
+endured the ridicule of a broken engagement to secure Adeline from the
+risks of a rough temper where gentlemanly instincts were not inbred.
+
+Adeline, however, knew she had gone too far to recede, though she would
+willingly have delayed, in enjoyment of the present homage and shrinking
+from the future plunge away from all her protectors. Though the strong,
+manly will overpowered hers, and made her submit to the necessities of
+the case and fix a day early in July, she clung the more closely to her
+sisters, and insisted on being accompanied by Jane on going to London to
+purchase the outfit that she had often seen in visions before. So Miss
+Mohun's affairs were put in commission, Gillian taking care of them, and
+the two sisters were to go to Mrs. Craydon, once, as Marianne Weston,
+their first friend out of their own family, and now a widow with a house
+in London, well pleased at any recall of old times, though inclined,
+like all the rest, to speak of 'poor Ada.'
+
+Lord Rotherwood was, as his cousins had predicted, less disgusted than
+the rest, as in matters of business he had been able to test the true
+worth that lay beneath the blemishes of tone and of temper; and his wife
+thought the Italian residence and foreign tincture made the affair much
+more endurable than could have been expected. She chose an exquisite
+tea-service for their joint wedding present; but she would not consent
+to let Lady Phyllis be a bridesmaid; though the Marquis, discovering
+that her eldest brother hated the idea of giving her away to the
+stonemason, offered 'not to put too fine a point on it, but to act the
+part of Cousin Phoenix.'
+
+Bridesmaids would have been rather a difficulty; but then the deep
+mourning of Kalliope and Maura made a decided reason for excluding them;
+and Miss Adeline, who knew that a quiet wedding would be in much the
+best taste, resolved to content herself with two tiny maidens, Primrose
+and the contemporary Hablot, her own goddaughter, who, being commonly
+known as Belle, made a reason for equipping each in the colour and with
+the flowers of her name, and the idea was carried out with great taste.
+
+Valetta thought it hard that an outsider should be chosen. The young
+Merrifields had the failing of large families in clannish exclusiveness
+up to the point of hating and despising more or less all who interfered
+with their enjoyment of one another, and of their own ways. The absence
+of society at Silverfold had intensified this farouche tone, and the
+dispersion, instead of curing it, had rendered them more bent on being
+alone together. Worst of all was Wilfred, who had been kept at home very
+inconveniently by some recurring delicacy of brain and eyes, and who,
+at twelve years old, was enough of an imp to be no small torment to his
+sisters. Valetta was unmercifully teased about her affection for Kitty
+Varley and Maura White, and, whenever he durst, there were attempts at
+stings about Alexis, until new game offered itself on whom no one had
+any mercy.
+
+Captain Henderson was as much in the way as a man could be who knew but
+one family in the place, and had no resource but sketching. His yellow
+moustache was to be seen at all manner of unexpected and unwelcome
+times. If that great honour, a walk with papa, was granted, out he
+popped from Marine Hotel, or a seat in the public gardens, evidently
+lying in ambush to spoil their walk. Or he was found tete-a-tete
+with mamma before the five-o'clock tea, talking, no doubt, 'Raphaels,
+Correggios, and stuff,' as in the Royal Wardour days. Even at Clipston,
+or in the coves on the beach, he was only too apt to start up from some
+convenient post for sketching. He really did draw beautifully, and Mysie
+would have been thankful for his counsels if public opinion had not been
+so strong.
+
+Moreover, Kitty Varley conveyed to Valetta the speculations of Rockstone
+whether Gillian was the attraction.
+
+'Now, Val,' said Mysie, 'how can you listen to such nonsense!'
+
+'You said so before, and it wasn't nonsense.'
+
+'It wasn't Aunt Jane.'
+
+'No, but it was somebody.'
+
+'Everybody does marry somebody; but it is no use for us to think about
+it, for it always turns out just the contrary to all the books one ever
+read; so there's no going by anything, and I don't believe it right to
+talk about it.'
+
+'Why not? Every one does.'
+
+'All the good teachings say one should not talk of what one does not
+want one's grown-ups to hear.'
+
+'Oh, but then one would never talk of anything!'
+
+'Oh, Val! I won't be sure, but I don't believe I should mind mamma's
+hearing all I say.'
+
+'Yes; but you've never been to school, and I heard Bee Varley say she
+never saw anybody so childishly simple for her age.'
+
+This brought the colour into Mysie's face, but she said--
+
+'I'd rather be simple than talk as mamma does not like; and, Val, do on
+no account tell Gillian.'
+
+'I haven't.'
+
+'And don't; don't tell Wilfred, or you know how horrid he would be.'
+
+There was a tell-tale colour in Valetta's cheeks, by which Mysie might
+have discerned that Valetta had not resisted the charm of declaring
+'that she knew something,' even though this was sure to lead to tortures
+of various kinds from Wilfred until it was extracted. Still the youth as
+yet was afraid to do much worse than look preternaturally knowing at his
+sister and give hints about Fangs' holding fast and the like, but
+quite enough to startle her into something between being flattered and
+indignant. She was scarcely civil to the Captain, and felt bound to
+express her dislike on every possible occasion, though only to provoke a
+grin from Wilfred and a giggle from Valetta.
+
+Lady Merrifield's basket-carriage and little rough pony had been brought
+from Silverfold, and she took Kalliope out for quiet drives whenever
+it was possible; but a day of showers having prevented this, she was
+concerned to find herself hindered on a second afternoon. Gillian
+offered to be her substitute.
+
+'You know I always drive you, mamma.'
+
+'These are worse hills than at Silverfold, and I don't want you to come
+down by the sea-wall.'
+
+'I am sure I would not go there for something, among all the stupid
+people.'
+
+'If you keep to the turnpike you can't come to much harm with Bruno.'
+
+'That is awfully--I mean horribly dusty! There's the cliff road towards
+Arnscombe.'
+
+'That is safe enough. I don't think you could come to much real damage;
+but remember that for Kally a start or an alarm would be really as
+hurtful as an accident to a person in health.'
+
+'Poor old Bruno could hardly frighten a mouse,' said Gillian.
+
+'Only take care, and don't be enterprising.'
+
+Gillian drove up to the door of Cliff House, and Kalliope took her seat.
+It was an enjoyable afternoon, with the fresh clearness of June sunshine
+after showers, great purple shadows of clouds flitting over the sea,
+dimpled by white crests of wave that broke the golden path of sunshine
+into sparkling ripples, while on the other side of the cliff road lay
+the open moorland, full of furze, stunted in growth, but brilliant in
+colour, and relieved by the purple browns of blossoming grasses and the
+white stars of stitchwort.
+
+'This is delicious!' murmured Kalliope, with a gesture of enjoyment.
+
+'Much nicer than down below!'
+
+'Oh yes; it seems to stretch one's very soul!'
+
+'And the place is so big and wide that no one can worry with sketching.'
+
+'Yes, it defies that!' said Kalliope, laughing.
+
+'So, Fa--Captain Henderson won't crop up as he does at every sketchable
+place. Didn't you know he was here?'
+
+'Yes, Alexis told me he had seen him.'
+
+'Everybody has seen him, I should think; he is always about with nothing
+to do but that everlasting sketching.'
+
+'He must have been very sorry to be obliged to retire.'
+
+'Horrid! It was weak, and he might have been in Egypt, well out of the
+way. No, I didn't mean that'--as Kalliope looked shocked--'but he might
+have been getting distinction and promotion.'
+
+'He used to be very kind,' said Kalliope, in a tone of regretful
+remonstrance. 'It was he who taught me first to draw.'
+
+'He! What, Fa--Captain Henderson?'
+
+'Yes; when I was quite a little girl, and he had only just joined. He
+found me out before our quarters at Gibraltar trying to draw an old
+Spaniard selling oranges, and he helped me, and showed me how to hold my
+pencil. I have got it still--the sketch. Then he used to lend me things
+to copy, and give me hints till--oh, till my father said I was too old
+for that sort of thing! Then, you know, my father got his commission,
+and I went to school at Belfast.'
+
+'And you have never seen him since?'
+
+'Scarcely. Sometimes he was on leave in my holidays, and you know we
+were at the depot afterwards, but I shall always feel that all that I
+have been able to do since has been owing to him.'
+
+'And how you will enjoy studying at Florence!'
+
+'Oh, think what it would be if I could ever do a reredos for a church!
+I keep on dreaming and fancying them, and now there really seems a hope.
+Is that Arnscombe Church?'
+
+'Yes, you know it has been nicely restored.'
+
+'We had the columns to do. The reredos is alabaster, I believe, and we
+had nobody fit to undertake that. I so longed for the power! I almost
+saw it.'
+
+'Have you seen what it is?'
+
+'No; I never had time.'
+
+'I suppose it would be too tiring for you now; but we could see the
+outside.'
+
+Gillian forgot that Arnscombe, whose blunt gray spire protruded through
+the young green elms, lay in a little valley through which a stream
+rushed to the sea. The lane was not very steep, but there were loose
+stones. Bruno stumbled, he was down; the carriage stood still, and the
+two girls were out on opposite sides in a moment, Gillian crying out--
+
+'Don't be frightened--no harm done!'--as she ran to the pony's head.
+He lay quite still with heaving sides, and she felt utterly alone and
+helpless in the solitary road with an invalid companion whom she did not
+like to leave.
+
+'I am afraid I cannot run for help,' said Kalliope quietly, though
+breathlessly; 'but I could sit by the horse and hold his head while you
+go for help.'
+
+'I don't like. Oh, here's some one coming!'
+
+'Can I be of any use?'
+
+Most welcome sound!--though it was actually Captain Henderson the
+ubiquitous wheeling his bicycle up the hill, knapsack of sketching
+materials on his back.
+
+'Miss Merrifield! Miss White! I trust no one is hurt!'
+
+'Oh no, thank you, unless it is the poor pony! Kally, sit down on the
+bank, I insist! Oh, I am so glad you are come!'
+
+'Can you sit on his head while I cut the traces?'
+
+Gillian did that comfortable thing till released, when the pony
+scrambled up again, but with bleeding knees, hip, and side, though the
+Captain did not think any serious harm was done; but it was even more
+awkward at the moment that both the shafts were broken!
+
+'What is to be done?' sighed Gillian. 'Miss White can't walk. Can I run
+down to the village to get something to take her home?'
+
+'The place did not look likely to supply any conveyance better than a
+rough cart,' said their friend.
+
+'It is quite impossible to put the poor pony in anyhow! I don't mind
+walking in the least; but you know how ill she has been.'
+
+'I see. Only one thing to be done,' said the Captain, who had already
+turned the carriage round by the stumps of the shafts; 'you must accept
+me in lieu of your pony.'
+
+'Oh yes, thank you!' cried Gillian eagerly. 'I can lead poor Bruno, and
+take care of your bicycle. Jump in, Kally!'
+
+Kalliope, who had wisely abstained from adding a useless voice to the
+discussion, here demurred. She could not think of such a thing; they
+could very well wait in the carriage while Captain Henderson went on to
+the town on his bicycle and sent out a midge.
+
+But there were showers about, and a damp feeling in the lane. Both
+the others thought this perilous; besides that, there might be rude
+passengers to laugh at their predicament; and Captain Henderson
+protested that the weight was nothing. He prevailed at last; and she
+allowed him to hand her into the basket, when she could hardly stand,
+and wrap the dust-cloth about her. Thus the procession set forth,
+Gillian with poor drooping Bruno's rein in one hand and the other on the
+bicycle, and the Captain gallantly drawing the carriage with Kalliope
+seated in the midst. He tramped on so vigorously as quite to justify his
+declaration that it was no burthen to him. It was not a frequented road,
+and they met no one in the least available to do more than stare or
+ask a question or two, until, as they approached the town and Rockstone
+Church was full in view, who should appear before their eyes but Sir
+Jasper, Wilfred carrying on his back a huge kite that had been for many
+evenings in course of construction, and Fergus acting as trainbearer.
+
+Thus came on the first moment of Gillian's explanation, as Sir Jasper
+took the poor pony from her and held counsel over the damage, with many
+hearty thanks to Captain Henderson.
+
+'I am sure, sir, no one could have shown greater presence of mind than
+the young ladies,' said that gentleman; and her father's 'I am glad
+to hear it!' would have gratified Gillian the more, but for the impish
+grimace with which Wilfred favoured her behind Kalliope's impassive
+back.
+
+The kite-fliers turned, not without an entreaty from the boys that they
+might go on alone and fly their kite.
+
+'No, no, boys,' said their father--'not here; we shall have the kite
+pulling you into the sea over the cliffs. I must take the pony home; but
+I will come if possible to-morrow.'
+
+Much disappointed, they went dolefully in the rear, grumbling sotto voce
+their conviction that there would be no wind to-morrow, and that it was
+all 'Fangs's' fault in some incomprehensible manner.
+
+At Cliff House Kalliope was carefully handed out by Sir Jasper, trying,
+but with failing voice, to thank Captain Henderson, and declaring
+herself not the worse, though her hand shook so much that the General
+was not content without giving her his arm up the stairs, and telling
+Maura that he should send Mrs. Halfpenny up to see after her. The maimed
+carriage was left in the yard, and Captain Henderson then took charge
+of his iron horse, and the whole male party proceeded to the livery
+stables; so that Gillian was able to be alone, when she humbly
+repeated to her mother the tale parents have so often to hear of
+semi-disobedience leading to disaster, but with the self-reproach and
+sorrow that drew the sting of displeasure. Pity for Bruno, grief for
+her mother's deprivation, and anxiety for Kalliope might be penance and
+rebuke sufficient for a bit of thoughtlessness. Lady Merrifield made no
+remark; but there was an odd expression in her face when she heard who
+had come so opportunely to the rescue.
+
+Sir Jasper brought a reassuring account of the poor little steed, which
+would be usable again after a short rest, and the blemish was the less
+important as there was no intention of selling him. Mrs. Halfpenny, too,
+reported that her patient was as quiet as a lamb. 'She wasn't one to
+fash herself for nothing and go into screaming cries, but kenned better
+what was fitting for one born under Her Majesty's colours.'
+
+So there was nothing to hinder amusement when at dinner Sir Jasper
+comically described the procession as he met it. Kalliope White, looking
+only too like Minerva, or some of those Greek goddess statues they used
+to draw about, sitting straight and upright in her triumphal car, drawn
+by her votary; while poor Gillian came behind with the pony on one side
+and the bicycle on the other, very much as if she were conducting the
+wheel on which she was to be broken, as an offering to the idol.
+
+'I think,' said Mysie, 'Captain Henderson was like the two happy sons in
+Solon's story, who dragged their mother to the temple.'
+
+'Only they died of it,' said Gillian.
+
+'And nobody asked how the poor mother felt afterwards,' added Lady
+Merrifield.
+
+'I thought they all had an apotheosis together,' said Sir Jasper. 'Let
+us hope that devotion may have its reward.'
+
+There was a little lawn outside the drawing-room windows at Il Lido.
+Lady Merrifield was sitting just within, and her husband had just
+brought her a letter to read, when they heard Wilfred's impish voice.
+
+'Jack--no, not Jack--Fangs!'
+
+'But Fangs's name is Jack, so it will do as well,' said Valetta's voice.
+
+'Hurrah--so it is! Jack--'
+
+'Hush, Wilfred--this is too foolish!' came Gillian's tones in
+remonstrance.
+
+
+          'Jack and Jill went up the hill
+             To draw--'
+
+
+'To draw! Oh, that's lovely!' interrupted Valetta.
+
+'He is always drawing,' said Gillian, with an odd laugh.
+
+'He was brought up to it. First teeth, and then "picturs," and then--oh,
+my--ladies home from the wash!' went on Wilfred.
+
+'But go on, Will!' entreated Valetta.
+
+
+          'Jack and Jill went up the hill
+             To draw a piece of water--'
+
+
+'No, no,' put in Wilfred--'that's wrong!
+
+
+            'To draw the sergeant's daughter;
+          Fangs dragged down unto the town,
+             And Jill came moaning after!'
+
+
+'I didn't moan--'
+
+'Oh, you don't know how disconsolate you looked! Moaning, you know,
+because her Fangs had to draw the other young woman--eh, Gill? Fangs
+always leave an aching void, you know.'
+
+'You ridiculous boy! I'm sure I wish Fangs would leave a void. It
+wouldn't ache!'
+
+The two parents had been exchanging glances of something very like
+consternation, and of the mute inquiry on one side, 'Were you aware of
+this sort of thing? and an emphatic shake of the head on the other. Then
+Sir Jasper's voice exclaimed aloud--
+
+'Children, we hear every word you say, and are shocked at your
+impertinence and bad taste!'
+
+There was a scatter. Wilfred and Valetta, who had been pinioning Gillian
+on either side by her dress, released her, and fled into the laurels
+that veiled the guinea-pigs; but their father's long strides pursued
+them, and he gravely said--
+
+'I am very sorry to find this is your style of so-called wit!'
+
+'It was only chaff,' said Valetta, the boldest in right of her girlhood.
+
+'Very improper chaff! I am the last person to object to harmless
+merriment; but you are both old enough to know that on these subjects
+such merriment is not harmless.'
+
+'Everybody does it,' whined Valetta, beginning one of her crying fits.
+
+'I am sorry you have been among people who have led you to think so.
+No nicely-minded girl will do so, nor any brother who wishes to see his
+sisters refined, right-feeling women. Go in, Valetta--I can't suffer
+this howling! Go, I say! Your mother will talk to you. Now, Wilfred, do
+you wish to see your sisters like your mother?'
+
+'They'll never be that, if they live to a hundred!'
+
+'Do not you hinder it, then; and never let that insulting nickname pass
+your lips again.'
+
+Wilfred's defence as to universal use in the family was inaudible, and
+he was allowed to slouch away.
+
+Gillian had fled to her mother, entreating her to explain to her father
+that such jests were abhorrent to her.
+
+'But you know, mamma, if I was cross and dignified, Wilfred would enjoy
+it all the more, and be ten times worse.'
+
+'Quite true, my dear. Papa will understand; but we are sorry to hear
+that nickname.
+
+'It was an old Royal Wardour name, mamma. Harry and Claude both used it,
+and--oh, lots of the young officers!'
+
+'That does not make it more becoming in you.'
+
+'N--no. But oh, mamma, he was very kind to-day! But I do wish it had
+been anybody else!'
+
+And her colour rose so as to startle her mother.
+
+'Why, my dear, I thought you would have been glad that a stranger did
+not find you in that plight!'
+
+'But it makes it all the worse. He does beset us, mamma; and it is hard
+on me, after all the other nonsense!'
+
+Lady Merrifield burst out laughing.
+
+'My dear child, he thinks as much of you as of old Halfpenny!'
+
+'Oh, mamma, are you sure?' said Gillian, still hiding her face. 'It was
+not silliness of my own; but Kitty Varley told Val that everybody said
+it--her sister, and Miss Mohun, and all. Why can't he go away, and not
+be always bothering about this horrid place with nothing to do?'
+
+'How thankful I shall be to have you all safe at Clipston!'
+
+'But, mamma, can't you keep him off us?'
+
+Valetta's sobbing entrance here prevented more; but while explaining to
+her the causes of her father's displeasure, her mother extracted a good
+deal more of the gossip, to which she finally returned answer--
+
+'There is no telling the harm that is done by chattering gossip in this
+way. You might have learnt by what happened before what mistakes are
+made. What am I to do, Valetta? I don't want to hinder you from having
+friends and companions; but if you bring home such mischievous stories,
+I shall have to keep you entirely among ourselves till you are older and
+wiser.'
+
+'I never--never will believe--anybody who says anybody is going to marry
+anybody!' sobbed Valetta desperately and incoherently.
+
+'Certainly no one who knows nothing about the matter. There is nothing
+papa and I dislike much more than such foolish talk; and to tease your
+sister about it is even worse; but I will say no more about that, as I
+believe it was chiefly Wilfred's doing.'
+
+'I--told--Will,' murmured Valetta. 'Mysie begged me not, but I had done
+it.'
+
+'How much you would have saved yourself and everybody else if you had
+let the foolish word die with you! Now, good-night, my dear. Bathe your
+eyes well, or they will be very uncomfortable to-morrow; and do try to
+cure yourself of roaring when you cry. It vexes papa so much more.'
+
+Another small scene had to follow with the boy, who was quite willing
+to go off to bed, having no desire to face his father again, though his
+mother had her fears that he was not particularly penitent for 'what
+fellows always did when people were spooning.' He could only be assured
+that he would experience unpleasant consequences if he recurred to the
+practice; but Wilfred had always been the problem in the family.
+
+The summer twilight was just darkening completely, and Lady Merrifield
+had returned to the drawing-room, and was about to ring for lights, when
+Sir Jasper came in through the window, saying--
+
+'No question now about renewal. Angelic features, more than angelic
+calmness and dignity. Ha! you there, young ladies!' he added in some
+dismay as two white dresses struck his eye.
+
+'There's no harm done,' said Lady Merrifield, laughing. 'I was thinking
+whether to relieve Gillian's mind by telling her the state of the case,
+and Mysie is to be trusted.'
+
+'Oh, mamma, then it is Kalliope!' exclaimed Gillian, already relieved,
+for even love could not have perceived calmness and dignity in her
+sitting upon Bruno's head.
+
+'Has she ever talked about him?' asked Lady Merrifield.
+
+'No; except to-day, when I said I hoped she was safe from him on that
+road. She said he had always been very kind to her, and taught her to
+draw when she was quite a little girl.'
+
+'Just so,' said Lady Merrifield. 'Well, when she was a little older,
+poor Mr. White, who was one of the most honourable and scrupulous
+of men, took alarm, and saw that it would never do to have the young
+officers running after her.'
+
+'It was an uncommonly awkward position,' added Sir Jasper, 'with such a
+remarkable-looking girl, and a foolish unmanageable mother. It made poor
+White's retirement the more reasonable when the girl was growing too old
+to be kept at school any longer.'
+
+'And has he been constant to her all these years? How nice!' cried
+Mysie.
+
+'After a fashion,' said Lady Merrifield. 'He made me the receptacle of a
+good deal of youthful despair.'
+
+'All the lads did,' said her husband.
+
+'But he got over it, and it seemed to have passed out of his life.
+However, he asked after the Whites as soon as we met him in London;
+and now he tells me that he never forgot Kalliope--her face always came
+between him and any one whom his mother threw in his way; and he came
+down here, knowing her history, and with the object of seeing her
+again.'
+
+'And he has not, till now?'
+
+'No. Besides the absolute need of keeping her quiet, it would not
+exactly do for him to visit her while she is alone with Maura at Cliff
+House, and I wished him first to see her casually amongst us, for I
+dreaded her not fulfilling his ideal.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'When I think of her at fourteen or fifteen, with that exquisite bloom
+and the floating wavy hair, I see a very different creature from what
+she is now.'
+
+'Peach or ivory carving,' said Sir Jasper.
+
+'Yes; she is nobler, finer altogether, and has gained in countenance
+greatly; but he may not think so, and I should like her to be looking a
+little less ill.'
+
+'Well, I can't help hoping he will be disappointed, and be too stupid to
+care for her!' exclaimed Gillian.
+
+'Indeed?' said her father in a tone of displeased surprise.
+
+'He is so insignificant; he does not seem to suit with her,' said
+Gillian in a tone of defence;' and there does not seem to be anything in
+him.'
+
+'That only shows the effect of nursing prejudice by using foolish
+opprobrious nicknames. Henderson was a good officer, he has shown
+himself an excellent son, always sacrificing his own predilections for
+the sake of duty. He is a right-minded, religious, sensible man, his
+own master, and with no connections to take umbrage at Miss White's
+position. It is no commonplace man who knows how to honour her for it.
+Nothing could be a happier fate for her; and you will be no friend to
+her if you use any foolish terms of disparagement of him because he does
+not happen to please your fancy.'
+
+'I am sure Gillian will do no such thing, now that she understands the
+case' said her mother.
+
+'Oh no, indeed! said Gillian. 'It was only a first feeling.'
+
+'And you will allow for a little annoyance, papa,' added Lady
+Merrifield. 'We really have had a great deal of him, and he does spoil
+the children's walks with you.'
+
+Sir Jasper laughed.
+
+'I agree that the sooner this is over the better. You need have
+no doubts as to the first view, now that Gillian has effected the
+introduction. No words can do justice to her beauty, though, by the bye,
+he must have contemplated her through the back of his head!'
+
+'Well, won't that do! Can't he be sent off for the present, for as to
+love-making now, with all the doubts and scruples in the way, it would
+be the way to kill her outright.'
+
+'You must take that in hand, my lady--it is past me! Come, girls, give
+us some music!'
+
+The two girls went up at bed-time to their room, Mysie capering and
+declaring that here was real, true, nice love, like people in stories,
+and Gillian still bemoaning a little that, whatever papa might say,
+Fa--Captain Henderson would always be too poor a creature for Kalliope.
+
+'If I was quite sure it was not only her beauty,' added Gillian
+philosophically.
+
+Lady Merrifield went up to Cliff House as early as she could the next
+day. She found her patient there very white and shaken, but not so much
+by the adventure of yesterday as by a beautiful bouquet of the choicest
+roses which lay on the table before her sofa, left by Captain Henderson
+when he had called to inquire after her.
+
+'What ought I to do, dear Lady Merrifield?' she asked. 'They came while
+I was dressing, and I did not know.'
+
+'You mean about a message of thanks?'
+
+'Yes; my dear father was so terribly displeased when I wore a rose that
+he gave me before the great review at Belfast that I feel as if I ought
+not to touch these; and yet it is so kind, and after all his wonderful
+kindness yesterday.'
+
+The hand on the side and the trembling lip showed the painful fluttering
+of heart, and the voice died away.
+
+'My dear, things are very different now. Take my word for it, your
+father could not be displeased for a moment at any kindness between you
+and Captain Henderson. Ten years ago he was a very young man, and his
+parents were living, and your father was bound in honour, and for your
+sake too, to prevent attentions from the young officers.'
+
+'Oh yes, I know it would have been shocking to have got into that sort
+of thing!'
+
+'But now he is entirely at his own disposal, and a man of four or
+five-and-thirty, who has gone through a great deal, and I do not think
+that to send him a friendly message of thanks for a bunch of flowers
+to his old fellow-soldier's daughter would be anything but what Captain
+White would think his due.'
+
+'Oh,'--a sigh of relief,--'please tell him, dear Lady Merrifield!' And
+she stretched out her hand for the flowers, and lovingly cooled her
+cheek with their petals, and tenderly admired them singly, venturing now
+to enjoy them and even caress them.
+
+Lady Merrifield ventured on no more; but she carried off ultimately
+hopeful auguries for the gentleman who had been watching for her, very
+anxious to hear her report. She was, however, determined on persuading
+him to patience, reinforcing her assurances with Dr. Dagger's opinion,
+that though Kalliope's constitution needed only quiet and rest entirely
+to shake off the effects of the overstrain of that terrible
+half-year, yet that renewed agitation would probably entail chronic
+heart-complaint; and she insisted that without making any sign the lover
+should go out of reach for several months, making, for instance,
+the expedition to Norway of which he had been talking. He could not
+understand at first that what he meant to propose would not be the best
+means of setting that anxious heart at rest; and Lady Merrifield had to
+dwell on the swarm of conscientious scruples and questions that would
+arise about saddling him with such a family, and should not be put to
+rest as easily as he imagined. At last, by the further representation
+that she would regard her mother's death as far too recent for such
+matters to occupy her, and by the assertion of the now fixed conviction
+that attentions from him at present could only agitate and distress her
+harmfully, and bring on her malicious remarks, the Captain was induced
+to believe that Rocca Marina or Florence would be a far better scene for
+his courtship, and to defer it till he could find her there in better
+health.
+
+He was brought at last to promise to leave Rockquay at once, and dispose
+of himself in Norway, if only Lady Merrifield would procure him one
+meeting with Kalliope, in which he solemnly promised to do nothing that
+could startle her or betray his intentions.
+
+Lady Merrifield managed it cunningly. It had been already fixed that
+Kalliope should come down to a brief twelve-o'clock service held at St.
+Kenelm's for invalids, there to return thanks for her recovery, in what
+she felt as her own church; and she was to come to Il Lido and rest
+there afterwards. Resolving to have no spectators, Lady Merrifield sent
+off the entire family for a picnic at Clipston, promising them with some
+confidence that they would not be haunted by Captain Henderson, and that
+she would come in the waggonette, bringing Fergus as soon as he was out
+of school, drink tea, and fetch home the tired.
+
+Sir Jasper went too, telling her, with a smile, that he was far too shy
+to assist her in acting chaperon.
+
+'Dragon, you had better say--I mean to put on all my teeth and claws.'
+
+These were not, however, very visible at the church door when she met
+Kalliope, who had come down in a bath-chair, but was able afterwards to
+walk slowly to Il Lido. Perhaps Captain Henderson was, however, aware of
+them; for Kalliope had no knowledge of his presence in the church or in
+the street, somewhat in the rear, nor did he venture to present himself
+till there had been time for luncheon and for rest, and till Kalliope
+had been settled in the cool eastern window under the verandah, with an
+Indian cushion behind her that threw out her profile like a cameo.
+
+Then, as if to call on Lady Merrifield, Captain Henderson appeared
+armed, according to a wise suggestion, with his portfolio; and there was
+a very quiet and natural overlooking of his drawings, which evidently
+gave Kalliope immense pleasure, quite unsuspiciously. Precautions had
+been taken against other visitors, and all went off so well and happily
+that Lady Merrifield felt quite triumphant when the waggonette came
+round, and, after picking up Fergus, she set Kalliope down at her own
+door, with something like a colour in her cheeks and lips, and thanks
+for a happy afternoon, and the great pleasure in seeing one of the dear
+old Royal Wardours again.
+
+But, oh mamma,' said Gillian, feeling as if the thorn in her thoughts
+must be extracted, 'are you sure it is not all her beauty?'
+
+'Her beauty, no doubt, began it, and gratifies the artist eye; but I am
+sure his perseverance is due to appreciation of her noble character,'
+said Lady Merrifield.
+
+'Oh, mamma, would he if she had been ever so good, and no prettier than
+other people?'
+
+'Don't pick motives so, my child; her beauty helps to make up the sum
+and substance of his adoration, and she would not have the countenance
+she has without the goodness. Let that satisfy you.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. -- CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+The wedding was imminent by this time. The sisters returned from London,
+the younger looking brilliant and in unusual health, and the elder
+fagged and weary. Shopping, or rather looking on at shopping, had been
+a far more wearying occupation than all the schools and districts in
+Rockquay afforded.
+
+And besides the being left alone, there was the need of considering her
+future. The family had certainly expected that a rich and open-handed
+man like Mr. White would bethink him that half what was sufficient for
+two was not enough for one to live in the same style, and would have
+resigned his bride's fortune to her sister, but, as a rule, he never did
+what was expected of him, and he had, perhaps, been somewhat annoyed by
+Mr. Mohun's pertinacity about settlements, showing a certain distrust
+of commercial wealth. At any rate, all he did was to insist on paying
+handsomely for Maura's board; but still Miss Mohun believed she should
+have to give up the pretty house built by themselves, and go into
+smaller quarters, more especially as it was universally agreed that
+Adeline must have Mrs. Mount with her, and Mrs. Mount would certainly be
+miserable in 'foreign parts' unless her daughter went with her. It was
+demonstrated that the remaining means would just suffice to keep up
+Beechcroft; but Jane knew that it could be only done at the cost of
+her subscriptions and charities, and she merely undertook to take no
+measures till winter--the Rockquay season.
+
+Sir Jasper, who thought she behaved exceedingly well about it,
+authorised an earnest invitation to make her home at Clipston; but
+though she was much gratified, she knew she should be in his way, and,
+perhaps, in that of the boys, and it was too far from the work to which
+she meant to devote herself even more completely, when it would be no
+longer needful to be companionable to a semi-invalid fond of society.
+
+However, just then her brother, the Colonel, came at last for his long
+leave. He knew that his retirement was only a matter of months, and
+declared his intention of joining forces with her, if she would have
+him, and, in the meantime, he was desirous of contributing his full
+share in keeping up the home. Nor did Jane feel it selfish to accept his
+offer, for she knew that Clipston would give him congenial society and
+shooting, and that there was plenty of useful layman work for him in
+the town; and that 'old Reggie' should wish to set up his staff with her
+raised her spirits, so that cheerfulness was no longer an effort.
+
+The wedding was to be very quiet. Only just after the day was finally
+fixed, Mrs. Merrifield's long decay ended unexpectedly, and Sir Jasper
+had to hasten to London, and thence to the funeral at Stokesley. She was
+a second wife, and he her only son, so that he inherited from her means
+that set him much more at his ease with regard to his large family than
+he had ever been before. The intention that Lady Merrifield should act
+mistress of the house at the wedding breakfast had, of course, to be
+given up, and only Primrose's extreme youth made it possible to let her
+still be a bridesmaid.
+
+So the whole party, together with the Whites, were only spectators in
+the background, and the procession into church consisted of just the
+absolutely needful persons--the bride in a delicate nondescript coloured
+dress, such as none but a French dressmaker could describe, and covered
+with transparent lace, like, as Mysie averred, a hedgeback full of
+pig-nut flowers, the justice of the comparison being lost in the
+ugliness of the name; and as all Rockquay tried to squeeze into the
+church to see and admire, the beauty was not thrown away.
+
+No tears were shed there; but afterwards, in her own familiar room,
+between her two sisters, Adeline White shed floods of tears, and,
+clinging to Jane's neck, asked how she could ever have consented to
+leave her, extracting a promise of coming to her in case of illness.
+Nothing but a knock at the door by Valetta, with a peremptory message
+that Mr. White said they should be late for the train, induced her to
+dry her tears and tear herself away.
+
+Kalliope and Maura remained with Miss Mohun during the bridal journey
+to Scotland, and by the time it was ended the former had shaken off the
+invalid habits, and could hardly accept the doctor's assurance that she
+ought not to resume her work, though she was grateful for the delights
+before her, and the opportunities of improvement that she was promised
+at Florence. Her health had certainly been improved by Frank Stebbing's
+departure for America. Something oozed out that made Miss Mohun suspect
+that he had been tampering with the accounts, and then it proved that
+there had been a crisis and discovery, which Mr. White had consented
+to hush up for his partner's sake. Alexis had necessarily known of the
+investigation and disclosure, but had kept absolute silence until it had
+been brought to light in other ways, and the culprit was beyond seas.
+Mr. Stebbing was about to retire from the business, but for many reasons
+the dissolution of the partnership was deferred.
+
+Alexis was now in a post of trust, with a larger salary. He lodged at
+Mrs. Lee's, and was, in a manner, free of Miss Mohun's house; but he
+spent much of his leisure time in study, being now able to pay regularly
+for instruction from the tutor who taught at Mrs. Edgar's school.
+
+Maura asked him rather pertly what was the use of troubling himself
+about Latin and Greek, if he held himself bound to the marble works.
+
+'It is not trouble--it is rest,' he said; and at her gasp, 'Besides,
+marble works or no, one ought to make the best of one's self.'
+
+By the time Mr. and Mrs. White came back from Scotland, the repairs
+at Clipston had been accomplished, and the Merrifields had taken
+possession. It all was most pleasant in that summer weather going
+backwards and forwards between the houses; the Sunday coming into church
+and lunching at Aunt Jane's, where Valetta and Primrose stayed for Mrs.
+Hablot's class, and were escorted home by Macrae in time for evening
+service at Clipston, where their mother, Gillian, and Mysie reigned over
+their little school. There was a kind of homely ease and family life,
+such that Adeline once betrayed that she sometimes felt as if she was
+going into banishment. However, there was no doubt that she enjoyed her
+husband's pride in and devotion to her, as well as all the command of
+money and choice of pretty things that she had obtained, and she looked
+well, handsome, and dignified.
+
+Still it was evident that she was very glad of Kalliope's companionship,
+and that the pair were not on those exclusively intimate terms that
+would make a third person de trop.
+
+By Sir Jasper's advice, Lady Merrifield did not mention the possibility
+of a visit from Captain Henderson, who would come upon Mr. White far
+better on his own merits, and had better not be expected either by
+Adeline or Kalliope.
+
+Enthusiastic letters from both ladies described the delights of the
+journey, which was taken in a leisurely sight-seeing manner; and as to
+Rocca Marina, it seemed to be an absolute paradise. Mr. White had
+taken care to send out an English upholsterer, so that insular ideas of
+comfort might be fulfilled within. Without, the combination of mountain
+and sea, the vine-clad terraces, the chestnut slopes, the magical
+colours of the barer rocks, the coast-line trending far away, the azure
+Mediterranean, with the white-sailed feluccas skimming across it, filled
+Kalliope with the more transport because it satisfied the eyes that
+had unconsciously missed such colouring scenes ever since her early
+childhood.
+
+The English workmen and their families hailed with delight an English
+lady. The chaplain and his wife were already at work among them, and
+their little church only waiting for the bride to lay the first stone.
+
+The accounts of Kalliope's walks as Mrs. White's deputy among these
+people, of her scrambles and her sketching made her recovery evident.
+Adeline had just been writing that the girl was too valuable to both
+herself and Mr. White ever to be parted with, when Captain Henderson
+came back from Norway, and had free permission from Lady Merrifield to
+put his fate to the touch.
+
+English tourists who know how to behave themselves were always welcome
+to enliven the seclusion of Rocca Marina, and admire all, of which
+Adeline was as proud as Mr. White himself. Recommendations to its
+hospitality did not fail, and the first of Adeline's long letters showed
+warm appreciation of this pleasant guest, who seemed enchanted with the
+spot.
+
+Next, Mrs. White's sagacity began to suspect his object, and there
+ensued Kalliope's letter, full of doubts and scruples, unable to help
+being happy, but deferring her reply till she should hear from Lady
+Merrifield, whether it could be right to burthen any man with such a
+family as hers.
+
+The old allegiance to her father's commanding officer, as well as the
+kindness she had received, seemed to make her turn to ask their approval
+as if they were her parents; and of course it was heartily given, Sir
+Jasper himself writing to set before her that John Henderson was no
+suddenly captivated youth unable to calculate consequences, but a man of
+long-tried affection and constancy, free from personal ties, and knowing
+all her concerns. The younger ones all gave promise of making their own
+way, and a wise elder brother was the best thing she could give them.
+Even Richard might be the better for the connection, and Sir Jasper had
+taken care that there should be some knowledge of what he was.
+
+There was reason to think that all hesitation had been overcome even
+before the letters arrived. For it appeared that Captain Henderson had
+fraternised greatly with Mr. White, and that having much wished for
+an occupation, he had decided to become a partner in the marble works,
+bringing the art-knowledge and taste that had been desirable, and
+Kalliope hoped still to superintend the mosaic workers. It was agreed
+that the marriage had far better take place away from Rockquay, and it
+was resolved that it should be at Florence, and that the couple should
+remain there for the winter, studying art, and especially Florentine
+mosaic, and return in the spring, when the Stebbings would have
+concluded their arrangements and vacated their house.
+
+Mr. White, in great delight, franked out Alexis and Maura to be present
+at the wedding, and a longing wish of Kalliope's that Mr. Flight would
+officiate was so far expressed that Lady Merrifield mentioned it to him.
+He was very much moved, for he had been feeling that his relations with
+the Whites had been chiefly harmful, though, as Alexis now assured him,
+his notice had been their first ray of comfort in their changed life at
+Rockquay. The experience had certainly made him older and wiser. Mrs.
+White--or, as her nieces could not help calling her among themselves,
+the Contessa di Rocca Marina--urged that her sister Jane should join the
+company, and bring Gillian to act as the other bridesmaid. This, after
+a little deliberation, was accepted, and the journey was the greatest
+treat to all concerned. Mr. Flight, the only one of the party who had
+travelled before in the sense of being a tourist, was amused by the keen
+and intense delight of Miss Mohun as well as the younger ones in all
+they beheld, and he steered them with full experience of hotels and of
+what ought to be visited, so as to be an excellent courier.
+
+As to Rocca Marina, where they spent a few days, no words would describe
+their admiration, though they brought home a whole book of sketches to
+back their descriptions. They did not, however, bring back Maura. Mrs.
+White had declared that she must remain to supply the place of her
+sister. She was nearly fifteen years old, and already pretty well
+advanced in her studies, she would pick up foreign languages, the
+chaplain would teach her when at Rocca Marina, and music and drawing
+would be attainable in the spring at Florence. Moreover, Mr. White
+promised to regard her as a daughter.
+
+Another point was settled. Alexis had worked in earnest for eight
+months, and had convinced himself that the marble works were not his
+vocation, though he had acquitted himself well enough to induce Mr.
+White to offer him a share in the business, and he would have accepted
+it if needful. He had, however, made up his mind to endeavour to obtain
+a scholarship at Oxford, and Captain Henderson promised that whether
+successful in this or not, he should be enabled to keep his terms there.
+Mr. White could not understand how a man could prefer being a poor
+curate to being a rich quarrymaster, but his wife and the two sisters
+had influence enough to prevent him from being offended, and this was
+the easier, because Theodore had tastes and abilities that made it
+likely that he would be thoroughly available at the works.
+
+What shall be said of the return to Rockstone? Mr. Flight came home
+first, then, after many happy days of appreciative sightseeing, Aunt
+Jane and Gillian. They had not been ashamed of being British spinsters
+with guide-books in their hands; nor, on the other hand, had they been
+obliged to see what they did not care about, and Mr. White had put them
+in the way of the best mode of seeing what they cared about; and above
+all, the vicissitudes of travel, even in easy-going modern fashion,
+had made them one with each other according to Jane's best hopes. It was
+declared that the aunt looked five years younger for such recreation as
+she had never known before, and she set to work with double energy.
+
+When, in May, Captain and Mrs. Henderson took possession of the pretty
+house that had been fitted up for them, though Miss Mellon might whisper
+to a few that she had only been one of the mosaic hands, there was not
+much inclination to attend to the story among the society to which Lady
+Merrifield introduced her. These acquaintances would gladly have seen
+more of her than she had time to give them, between family claims and
+home cares, her attention to the artistic side of the business, for
+which she had not studied in vain, and her personal and individual care
+for the young women concerned therein. For years to come, even, it was
+likely that visitors to Rockstone would ask one another if they had seen
+that remarkably beautiful Mrs. Henderson.
+
+Mrs. White, reigning there in the summer, in her fine house and gardens,
+though handsome as ever, had the good sense to resign the palm of
+beauty, and be gratified with the admiration for one whom she accepted
+as a protegee and appendage, whose praise reflected upon herself. And
+Cliff House under the new regime was a power in Rockstone, with its
+garden-parties, drawing-room meetings on behalf of everything good and
+desirable, its general superintendence and promotion of all that could
+aid in the welfare of the place. There was general rejoicing when it was
+occupied.
+
+Adeline, in better health than she had enjoyed since her early girlhood,
+and feeling her consequence both in Italy and at Rockstone, was
+often radiant, always kind and friendly and ready with patronage and
+assistance. Her sisters wondered at times how absolute her happiness
+was; they sometimes thought she said too much about it, and about her
+dear husband's indulgence, in her letters, to be quite satisfactory;
+and when she came to Rockstone there was an effusiveness of affection
+towards her family, an unwillingness to spare her sisters or nieces from
+her side, an earnest desire to take one back to Italy with her, that
+betrayed something lacking in companionship. Jane detected likewise such
+as the idolising husband felt this attachment a little over much.
+
+It was not quite possible to feel him one with her family, or make him
+feel himself one. He would always be 'company' with them. He had indeed
+been invited to Beechcroft Court, but it was plain that the visit had
+been stiff and wearisome to both parties, even more so than that to
+Rotherwood, where there was no reason to look for much familiarity.
+
+In the same way, to Reginald Mohun, who had been obliged to retire as
+full Colonel, Mr. White was so absolutely distasteful that it was his
+sister's continual fear that he would encourage the young people's
+surreptitious jokes about their marble uncle. Sir Jasper, always feeling
+accountable for having given the first sanction, did his best for the
+brother-in-law; but in spite of regard, there was no getting over the
+uncongeniality that would always be the drop in Adeline's cup. The
+perfect ease and confidence of family intercourse would alter on his
+entrance!
+
+Nobody got on with him so well as Captain Harry May. For I do not speak
+to that dull elf who cannot figure to himself the great family meeting
+that came to pass when the colonists came home--how sweet and matronly
+'Aunt Phyllis' looked, how fresh and bright her daughters were, and how
+surprised Valetta was to find them as well instructed and civilised as
+herself, though she did not like Primrose, expect to see them tattooed.
+One of the party was no other than Dolores Mohun. She had been very
+happy with her father for three years. They had been at Kotorua at the
+time of the earthquake, and Dolores had acquired much credit for her
+reasonableness and self-possession, but there had been also a young
+lady, not much above her own age, who had needed protection and comfort,
+and the acquaintance there begun had ended in her father deciding on a
+marriage with a pretty gentle creature as unlike the wife of his youth
+as could be imagined.
+
+Dolores had behaved very well, as her Aunt Phyllis warmly testified,
+but it was a relief to all parties when the proposal was made that,
+immediately after the wedding, she should go home under her aunt's
+escort to finish her education. She had learnt to love and trust Aunt
+Phyllis; but to be once more with Aunt Lily and Mysie was the greatest
+peace and bliss she could conceive. And she was a very different being
+from the angular defiant girl of those days which seemed so long ago.
+
+There is no need to say more at present of these old friends. There is
+no material for narrative in describing how the 'calm decay' of Dr. May
+in old age was cheered by the presence of his sailor son, nor in
+the scenes where the brothers, sisters, and friends exchanged happy
+recollections, brightened each other's lives with affection and
+stimulated one another in serving God in their generation.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Beechcroft at Rockstone, by Charlotte M. Yonge
+
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